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Guaral (グァラル, Guararu), also known as the Fortress City of Guaral (城郭都市グァラル, Jōkaku Toshi Guararu) is a heavily fortified Vollachian city, located near the Buddheim Jungle.

Information[]

When it was first visited by Subaru, the Fortress City of Guaral was surrounded by large, protective walls, only able to be entered in the east or west through large gates, and guards that conducted inspections of everyone entering and exiting the city.[1] It could not be said to be brimming with life and its population was in the thousands; in spite of the city's population likely not reaching above ten thousand, an appropriate number of soldiers and checkpoints were within its confines.[2][3] Compared to the cities of Lugunica, Guaral's aesthetic had been more rustic, devoid of color, and prioritized utility over flashiness.[4] In the event of an enemy attack, alarm bells would be rung.

In the immediate aftermath of the Flying Dragon Cataclysm, the destruction that the flying dragons had rained unto the city from the heavens destroyed the defensive wall around the city's perimeter, left countless boulders scattered around, and demolished numerous buildings, leaving less than half of them left.[5] Although work to repair the city's demolition was commenced as quickly as possible, Guaral's defensive capabilities had been significantly diminished, with its western wall being in a grim state and its southern wall having been razed to the ground, and a fair number of its residents had died.[6][7]

History[]

As a city with a storied history, Guaral has faced many occurrences of people finding ways to bypass its outer walls, resulting in there being a number of hidden entrances scattered throughout it.

Subaru first arrived in Guaral with Rem and Rui when he was attempting to leave Vollachia, with Kuna Shudrak and Holly Shudrak as escorts outside of the city. He met and quickly befriended Flop and Medium O'Connell. His short-lived peace was interrupted when the Imperial Soldier he had crossed paths with before, Todd Fang, discovered his presence in Guaral and attempted to eliminate him. Overcoming several death loops to overcome Todd, he was forced to retreat with Rem and Rui and bring the O'Connell siblings to prevent Todd from murdering Flop, just barely escaping from the soldier, his cohort, Jamal Aurélie, and the unit called to hinder their escape by calling for Kuna and Holly's aid.

Anticipating a surprise attack, the acting General administering Guaral, Zikr Osman, made efforts to rigorously locate and seal all of the Fortress City's hidden entrances. A group consisting of Kuna and Taritta Shudrak, as well as the crossdressing trio of Subaru, Flop, and Vincent Abellux, infiltrated the city from the front gate by posing as dancers. They used this tactic to make their way into the City Hall, where Vincent put an unsheathed sword to Zikr's throat, completing the Fall of Guaral with a bloodless siege. The rest of their group made their way into the city and Subaru burned the flag on the roof at Vincent's request, catching the attention of Todd and Jamal. However, Arakiya suddenly appeared, injuring the leg of Mizelda Shudrak in the process, and aiming to assassinate Vincent. However, Priscilla Barielle descends from the sky to confront Arakiya, and Al enters City Hall not that long after. In the end, Arakiya was beaten and taken prisoner in City Hall's basement.

Their victory and proceeding discussion was short-lived, however, as once Jamal perceived Arakiya's identity and he and Todd realized she lost, they slipped into City Hall to retrieve her and make their escape. Once they had no other way out, Jamal left Arakiya's getaway to Todd, and “sacrificed” himself to save the two, falling in battle and becoming a captive in the process. With several Divine Generals already against Vincent's plan to return to the throne, he made it his goal to acquire more Divine Generals than the enemy faction, led by Berstetz Fondalfon. Mizelda's injury forced her to pass on the position of chieftain of the People of Shudrak to her sister, Taritta. The fatalities of seven soldiers hurt Subaru, who had proposed the bloodless siege plan to avoid causing any casualties. Rem lambasted Subaru for his mindset, telling him that he was not a hero, breaking him until Al helped pick him back up. To start with, Vincent charted a course for the Demon City of Chaosflame, intending to recruit Divine General Yorna Mishigure to his faction. A group consisting of him, Subaru, Al, Medium, and Taritta set course for Chaosflame, oblivious that Rui had joined them with Utakata Shudrak's assistance.

Following Guaral's fall, rumours concerning the person responsible for orchestrating the city's capture, the black-haired maiden “Natsumi Schwartz”, began spreading throughout the Empire. At the behest of Berstetz Fondalfon, Madelyn Eschart arrived to lay waste to Guaral from the skies in order to impede Vincent's counterattack, instigating what would come to be known as the Flying Dragon Cataclysm. She was directly confronted by Heinkel Astrea, with Flop, Schult, and Utakata on the side. Making quick work of Heinkel and failing to maim Schult due to the usage of the Soul Marriage Technique, the one responsible for using it on him, Priscilla Barielle, arrived to challenge her. The two began to clash, only for Priscilla to be joined by Emilia, whose arrival with the Emilia Camp coincided with the Flying Dragon Cataclysm. The two fended off Madelyn together and pressured her to resort to calling for Mezoreia to attack them, making her escape from the duo in the process. She then happened upon Rem and Flop, attempting to attack the Oni girl on what seemed to be defensive instinct rather than actual killing intent, and Flop pushed her out of the way, receiving a fatal injury from Madelyn. When she noticed the fang of Carillon hanging around his neck, she allowed Rem to activate healing magic on him, but at Flop's request, he was not healed fully. Realizing his intent, Rem gave Madelyn the ultimatum to either completely suspend the attack on Guaral and have her heal Flop, or stay and allow him to die, to which she accepted the former option, ending the invasion.

Once the group from Chaosflame arrived at the devastated Fortress City, a meeting between them, the parties already present in Guaral, including several of the Emilia Camp's members, who had arrived in response to the rumours of Natsumi Schwartz's involvement in Guaral's fall, was held, where it was determined that they were to launch an invasion on the Imperial Capital of Lupugana. Madelyn's assault on Guaral had tremendous shockwaves throughout the country, as the rumour of a rebel army repelling a Divine General triggered various uprisings across Vollachia all at once, kicking the Imperial Civil War into full gear.[8][9]

Locations[]

  • City Hall: The City Hall of Guaral. It was requisitioned by the Imperial Army regiment during the occupation of the city, later becoming a provisional base of operations for Vincent and his allies. It has multiple stories, a basement where prisoners are ordinarily held while awaiting trial by the mayor, a treasury where money is stored, and an office intended for the city's mayor. Zikr used the office during his occupation, and Vincent took it over once he gained control of the city. The roof and upper areas of the building were destroyed in Arakiya's attack.
  • Large Mansion: The largest mansion in Guaral. Second in size to City Hall, it could accommodate twenty to thirty people. Due to its luxurious bathhouse and her unwillingness to stay at a small lodging or in solders' barracks, Priscilla seized the mansion by force, much to its original owners' dismay, to use as a temporary residence while in the city.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In early Arc 7 web novel chapters, Guaral was also referred to as a Fortified City, the same designation given to Garkla. The light novel later edited these mentions in order to distinguish the two locations.

References[]

  1. Guaral was surrounded on all four sides by a protective wall, and entering or exiting to the east and west was limited by means of large gates. Even from a distance, stern guards could be seen conducting a rigorous inspection. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 27, Chapter 2, Section 1.
  2. ――It was hard to say Guaral was brimming with life for a city. The queued checkpoints, and the boorish dark colors of the streets stood out. Altogether, the place’s impression was a far cry from gorgeous. The size of the city too, appeared to be in the thousands. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 27, Chapter 2, Section 1.
  3. The scale of the city probably did not reach 10,000 people in size, but there should be a suitable number of soldiers protecting the city’s law and order to match. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 27, Chapter 4, Section 3.
  4. So to speak, compared to the parallel fantasy world noble-like feel of the Kingdom, the stores and houses in the streets of the Empire seemed more rustic and devoid of color. It gave an impression of valuing utility over showiness. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 27, Chapter 2, Section 1.
  5. The splendid defensive wall that surrounded the city had been destroyed, and the numerous boulders that had been dropped from on high were still scattered around the city. The damage to the buildings was extensive, less than half of them having survived unscathed. A fair number of people had died, and the house where Emilia and her group were sleeping, with its second floor collapsed, was one that no longer had residents to return to it. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 32, Chapter 1, Section 1.
  6. Having been assailed by countless flying dragons, the walls of the famed Fortress City of Guaral had been severely damaged. The damage yielded by the boulders thrown from a high altitude had been extensive, and although the crumbling, demolished walls were being repaired as fast as possible, the city’s defensive abilities were considerably lowered. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 32, Chapter 1, Section 2.
  7. In particular, the city’s southern wall had been the one to suffer the greatest damage. The western wall, which had borne the first attack, was also in a rather horrible state, but that was nothing compared to this. Forget about the wall, the entire area had been razed to the ground. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 32, Chapter 1, Section 2.
  8. Ironically, what had ended up triggering those rebels’ simultaneous uprisings was the battle at the Fortress City of Guaral, which also caused the abduction of Rem and many others―― the Imperial Army’s all-out offensive, with even a Divine General having been dispatched, had been narrowly staved off by the hodgepodge rebel army. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 32, Chapter 3, Section 4.
  9. There even was a rumor praising an indomitable city which splendidly repelled the merciless attack led by the Flying Dragon General, further boosting the belief that there was naught to fear from an Imperial Army helplessly driven away. Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 32, Chapter 3, Section 4.
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