"My darling daughter, you're finally home!"
Viscount Zeref exclaimed as he raised me in the air and twirled as if I was still his five-year-old girl.
I sighed.
Father never changed. He never wanted to accept that I was already a grown woman.
It was to the point that he refused any betrothal request for me despite I was already of age.
Not that I wanted any.
And it was actually for the best since I could keep focusing on learning magic and do my research. Though I had decided to stop doing those as of today.
Seeing father did not show any sign of putting me back down, I spoke up.
"Father, that's enough. We've got work to do, remember?"
Since I had brought up work, my father quickly came to his senses and dropped me down.
"Ah, that's right. That's right."
He promptly regained his dignified look instead that of a doting father.
My two brothers could not help but to chuckle at the sight of this.
"It's nice to see some things haven't changed."
"Indeed. I really needed that during these awful times."
I straightened my dress and greeted my brothers.
"Leon, Aizen. I hope you two didn't cause much trouble while this sister of yours was away."
"Aw, Fina, still treating us as if we were teenagers."
"You should know that Leon and I are already married and have our own wife and children, you know?"
I lightly chuckled at their light reprimand.
Though I was the little sister, it had become a habit since we were children for me to scold them every time these two did something naughty.
Considering the circumstances, I could not help but wanting to relive those peaceful time, albeit just for a few seconds.
I looked around and observed the camp the Zeref military had formed along the Danau river.
Hundreds of knights were bustling all over the encampment, trying to hold a secure defensive line.
"So…"
I called out. The expression on my father and brothers' face were serious and tense.
"…shall we discuss our next move?"
The four of us moved to the main tent where a strategy meeting took place.
The meeting was attended by the Zeref family as well as the knight captains.
Normally the strategy meeting would be conducted at the Zeref flagship. However, as seen before, all ships, except for mine were undergoing repairs after recent expedition.
"Ever since we reclaimed Danau river, the Zeref army could not advance further toward the ruin due to the massive number of monsters."
My father stated to all personnel in front of him.
"Since we're nearing the ruin, the monsters' reinforcement arrived quicker and more rapidly, preventing us from gaining further ground."
Father was referring to the fact that the monsters were originating from the ruins.
We had monsters who lived in their own preexisting habitat all over the continent. But those kind of monsters did not multiply endlessly like the ones who emerged from the ruins.
It was the very reason why the region in which its ruins occurred an outbreak always fallen.
The solution to this problem would be to do something to the ruin which kept spawning monsters.
But we needed to get close to the ruin first if we were to ever hope to do something to it.
My father continued.
"We've attempted using airships to push back the monsters. However, hundreds of trebuchets were installed by the monsters all over the mountains surrounding the ruin."
It was definitely uncommon to find monsters using siege weapons. Especially ones who used theirs in this strategic way.
Just uncommon. Not rare anymore.
"Every time our airships approached the mountains, toward the ruin, we would get hailed by house-sized blazing boulders. My sons and I barely escaped with our lives after our last attempt."
That explained the condition of the airships.
Although airships were reinforced with steel armor, it could still get damaged by boulder impact.
There were airships reinforced with magic shield and better armor plating which could provide better defense, but unfortunately the Zeref airships were not that kind of ships.
And to make matters worse, our airships did not have the right magic core to provide buoyancy that allowed us to fly over the mountains.
We had to get through the valley in between them. Which meant suicide because of the trebuchets.
Though cannons were installed on the airships, at best we could only destroy a few dozens of those trebuchets right before we got rained down by more dozens of boulders.
Our ships were not equipped with the right weaponry to handle this kind of scenario.
We could request reinforcement from the Empire. And we did.
But the Damai region was not the only place where a ruin outbreak was happening. This phenomenon was occurring all over the continent.
The imperial army barely had any forces to even secure the capital and the great cities. Let alone sending help for a far out region like ours.
That being said, something needed to be done to the ruin in our land.
If not, it would be the end for us. A scenario I would not accept.
I returned home for a reason and it was to save my homeland.
"We could try by sealing the valley."
I proposed. All eyes were suddenly directed to me.
"Care to elaborate, Fina?"
My father asked.
"If we form a small infiltration team that could escort me safely to the peaks of the two mountains, I could use my magic to create a great avalanche that would completely block the valley connecting to the ruin."
My brothers promptly nodded, understanding my intention.
"If the valley is blocked, the enemy reinforcements could be stopped for a while."
"And the avalanche could also wipe out most of the trebuchets installed on the mountains. It would be safer for our soldiers and airships to advance."
"That's right, brothers. We could use the opportunity to regain our grounds up to the mouth of the valley. It would be much easier for us to approach the ruin from then on."
Despite the good prospects, my father put on a worried look upon my suggestion.
"But that would mean sending you behind the enemy lines, Fina."
My father stated.
"You and my brothers are renowned swordsmen in the western part of the Empire. And the Zeref knights are known for their combat skills. I'll be safe."
I reassured him.
"I'm confident about the might of our knights. I'm just not comfortable sending someone as precious as you to such risky mission."
Father was probably referring myself both as his daughter and a mage to the Zeref Household.
The former was obvious. But in terms of the latter, I was the only mage in our army.
Not many people had the talent to become a mage. As such, mages were rare in the continent.
It was understandable why my father was hesitant to send me.
However, we could no longer play it safe, anymore.
If we wanted to win, we had to take a risk.
"I understand what you're saying, father. But as a member of the Zeref Household, I have a duty to give my all in protecting our land. I'll do anything, and I mean anything, to save our people."
Right at the end of my hopeful speech, the earth beneath us rumbled.