Chapter 4 – Conflagration
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Second day of the march, evening.
The imperial army reached the west-east road with a much bigger delay than forecast. The simple trial and the settlement took some time, but much more than that, the decline in morale was grave. The imperial knight orders still maintained their high motivation, but this was because of them being elites. Unfortunately, the common soldiers were different. If this had at least been a battle to protect their own land, they’d have been able to keep up their morale.
But, this wasn’t the case here. They had been summoned while not fully grasping the circumstances and were being pushed around like dorks by the imperial knight orders. Furthermore, things that would have been handled leniently in their home region would be punished harshly over here. Hence they had lost all morale――motivation. The battalion to which Joseph belonged had now clearly the worst morale of all. They believed that their own superior officer had let his man die while another battalion commander had exposed his own body to danger in order to protect his subordinates.
※
Chrono stood on the road, letting his eyes wander. This line connecting Argo with the Free City States extended through wilderness and plains. Once he kicked the ground lightly with his toes, some of the surface was scratched off. It didn’t look like the ground had been pressed together.
Taking national defense into account, a plain road was likely the correct choice. Had they created it as a paved stone road, it’d have been used against them by enemy nations.
“…A road blockade,” Chrono mumbled under his breath.
It was something he had spontaneously voiced out, but thinking about it now, it didn’t sound like a bad idea. Argo was an inland country and should rely on salt imports. Of course, their trade routes weren’t just limited to this one here. It was possible for rocksalt veins and salt lakes to exist in the kingdom.
Still, if we blocked off the road, it’d affect the balance inside the kingdom, wouldn’t it?
As he thought about this, he suddenly felt that something was out of place.
If we blackade the road, no, it’s not necessary to do that. It’s better to simply make sure that the merchants using this route cannot pass the road. So far it wasn’t possible, but now it should be. But then, why――
“――Sir Chrono.”
“――――gh!”
Chrono came to his senses when called out by Taur.
No good. It looks like I got lost in my own thoughts. That’s a terrible mistake while in the midst of delivering provisions.
“Excuse me. I was just thinking about something…”
“I don’t mind. I just wanted to confirm whether these were all the provisions.”
“Oh, yes. This is everything.”
Taur stared at the 34 wagons full of provisions, but then suddenly stopped moving. Ahead of his look stood a young man with a displeased look on his face――Gaur. Gaur turned his face away, causing Taur to smile bitterly.
“That was your son, right?”
“Yes. If he shapes up a bit more, I will be able to retire with a peace of mind, but…”
“Retirement? Are you not the incarnation of youthfulness?”
“Haha, I feel like trying my best for a bit, if you tell me something so flattering.” Taur smiled brightly and then sighed lightly, “Recently I’ve started to feel my age. My stamina…well, I’m confident that I won’t lose to some youngster, but my vitality is something I cannot change either way.”
“Vitality?” Chrono muttered.
Taur was a gentle man. Having vitality brought up by such a person didn’t quite connect with Chrono. If this was his foster father, he’d consider it a dire issue, but――
Probably noticing Chrono’s confusion, a faint, wry smile crept on Taur’s face.
“Very likely my time to fight has come to an end. I believe that I’d like the next generation to take over from now on, but it somehow doesn’t get through to my son…”
“Sir Taur, your feelings are definitely reaching him. I guarantee it,” Chrono answered reassuringly.
Even him and his foster father, who weren’t related by blood, could understand each other. It should be even easier for blood-related parents and their children. If not, it’d be way too sad, thought Chrono.
“It gives me a peace of mind to hear you say that, Sir Chrono. Well then――”
“Sorry, just one last thing.”
“What is it?”
“What is something indispensable for a commander?”
“That’s a difficult question,” Taur folded his arms, brooding.
“For you as well then?”
“The commanders I perceived as capable don’t have much in common.”
‘Honestly, that’s unexpected. I thought Taur would be able to answer right away.
“But, as far as I can see, you possess enough grounding in being a commander, Sir Chrono. If you keep devoting yourself to the task, I have no doubt that you’ll be able to become like Lord Chrod.”
Taur gently tapped Chrono’s shoulder and revealed a smile――an amiable one.
“Okay, I shall pray for your fortunes in war, Sir Chrono.”
“I will do the same for you, Sir Taur.”
Taur saluted, triggering Chrono to do the same in a hurry. After all it was usually the lower rank that saluted first. Taur lowered his hands after a short time and turned around, starting to slowly trudge to a wagon――
“We managed t’safely finish the delivery, aye Captain?”
“I wanted to bask in the lingering memory for a bit longer.”
“Sorry t’interrupt yer fun then,” Mino scratched his head after replying to Chrono’s murmur.
“I guess I’ll go and take a look around for a bit.”
“I’ll accompany ye.”
Chrono walked on the road together with Mino. More than 9,500 soldiers were taking a rest here. When he was with his men, Chrono’s heart felt at rest, but right now it felt as if it was filled with a mixture of worry and fear. He suspected that this stemmed from the few people he could call his own men on this expedition.
As he walked while thinking about all that, he spotted Arided and Deneb. They seemed to be in a deep conversation with elves from another battalion. Chrono dropped his pace just a bit. He didn’t intend to eavesdrop. It was just that he could hear what they were talking by chance.
“You can kinda eat three meals a day in the Erakis March, too.”
“Your gear will be upgraded and if you get injured or fall sick, you can go to the hospital.”
Arided and Deneb boasted with triumphant looks, but the reaction of the elves was lacking. It looked like they doubted how much they could believe this. Suddenly Arided and Deneb’s ears twitched.
“”Lord Chrono!””
Both jumped up and entangled their arms around Chrono’s. The elves gasped. Chrono supposed they expected him to rebuke or abuse the twins.
“Lord Chrono doesn’t get angry, even if we do something like this!”
“He protected us at the risk of his own life!”
“Haha,” Chrono could only laugh weakly. “You two haven’t experienced any harassment ever since then?”
“Ehehe, I feel the love in your words, Lord Chrono.”
“I have a strong premonition that we will be called to his tent.”
“So, how about it?”
“We haven’t been exposed to harassment.”
“In the first place, we’re stationed at a place separate from the other units, so there’s no point in harassing us.”
“That’s great to hear,” Chrono breathed out in relief.
Of course he didn’t intend to relax his attention. Those folks were the type of people who would come to get their revenge eventually.
“Tell me if something happens, okay?”
“Of course!”
“Reporting, contacting, and consulting is kinda important!”
Chrono extracted his arms and let his eyes wander. There he noticed a person lying sprawled amidst a group of minotaurs. It was Horus. Chrono headed over.
“How are you doing?” Chrono addressed him while bending his body down a bit.
“The road is comfortable for traveling, but that doesn’t help with your throat drying out quickly,” answered Horus listlessly.
Chrono assumed him to be dehydrated.
“Well you guys did pull the wagons. Got it. I’ll make sure that you get priority during the distribution of water.
“That’d be a great help.”
Chrono started to walk away with a wry smile. Suddenly Mino called out to him.
“Ye had no problem t’tell which was Horus, eh?”
“Recently I’ve finally become capable of telling them apart somewhat.”
Upon closer look, you’ll find peculiarities in the appearance and behavioral patterns of minotaurs. Especially Horus is a very easy case here.
“But, I’m relieved.”
“Relieved ’bout what?”
“He had fainted during our meeting and gone to the hospital.”
“He’d be a bit easier t’handle if only he had a bit more motivation,” Mino spat out with a sigh.
Chrono headed over to Leo. In spite of everyone sitting and resting, he alone was standing and watching the vicinity.
“Good work, Leo.”
“It’s something I do on my own accord. No need for thanks. How about you call out to Horus instead?”
“I already did. He’s dead tired, but it looks like his spirit has recovered some.”
“I see, that’s good to hear,” Leo breathed out in relief.
He might say this or that, but it looked like Leo had been worried about Horus.
“Wouldn’t it be fine for ye t’speak to him yerself, if yer so worried?” Mino asked with an appalled voice.
“That guy immediately gets carried away. Handling him strictly is just right,” replied Leo with a sigh.
“Which reminds me, how’s Lizad doing?”
“We were about to go meet him, but did something happen to him?”
“Rather than Lizad, it affects all lizardmen, I suppose. It seems like all of them are in bad shape.”
“Got it. I’ll go and check on him right away.”
“Yeah, please do so. For me as well.”
Chrono bid farewell to Leo and headed over to Lizad.
“Lizad, how are you?”
“………Cold,” Lizad answered Chrono’s question with a delay.
‘The pause before he gave an answer felt longer than usual. Just as Leo said, he seems to be in a bad shape. Coldness might be the cause of this, but――
“I don’t feel cold, though?” Mino commented.
“Me neither――――gh!” Chrono immediately fell silent.
A gust had blown by. And because of that he came up with a certain hypothesis.
Argo has many wetlands. When the wind blows across those wetlands, it might have its warmth stolen from it. In that case, things are simple. He just needs to warm his body. But, how can he do that?
Suddenly Chrono recalled the origin of traditional Japanese tea-ceremony dishes. It’s said that those simple dishes originate from Zen priests having inserted hot stones beneath their attire at their breast to distract themselves from hunger. In other words――
“We will wrap heated stones in cloth so that you can warm yourself with those.”
“…”
Lizad agreed by bobbing his head.
“Okay, then let’s search for stones with the appropriate size when preparing dinner.”
“…Affirmative.”
Even though I knew that lizardmen are weak to cold temperatures, Chrono scratched his head while heading towards Clay.
Clay was looking rather pale.
“You okay?”
“I should have worked out normally.”
“Forgive me, but how is the condition of my men?”
“Lord Chrono, your men are the picture of health, but people with health issues have appeared among other battalions. Is it alright for me to treat them as well?”
“…” Chrono couldn’t answer at once.
If he had to be brutally honest, he wanted Clay to focus solely on the treatment of his men, but――
“I understand. I leave it to you, Clay.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it. Treating injuries and illnesses is the job of a doctor after all.”
Chrono gently tapped Clay’s shoulder and then started to walk off.
“Ye sure?”
“I want Clay to work here with a good feeling. Besides, it might earn us some favors with the soldiers.”
“They’re gonna forget it right away, I believe.”
“They only need to keep it in mind until this war is over.”
Chrono wanted to avoid being left stranded on a battlefield full of enemies.
※
Third day of the march.
Chrono was surveying the area below from atop a hill together with Mino. It was a terrain dominated by gentle undulations as might be expected of a hilly region.
Given that there’s a bottleneck ahead of here, the army’s command has probably decided to battle Argo in this area. But, is Argo going to go along with that wish? They could have an advantageous fight by building a simple fort at the exit of the narrow path ahead of us, or if they can’t do that, they simply need to occupy a favorable position. There’s no reason for Argo to fight in this hilly area. Well, it’s not my decision to make, Chrono concluded.
The 12th Imperial Knight Order and four battalions had lined up at the foot of the hill while three battalions were situated halfway up the hill. And, if you looked at the hill’s summit, you’d find the headquarters, aka Alfort and the 1st Imperial Knight Order. Every division had deployed its infantry in the center, flanked by archers on either side, while the cavalry, the core of the offense, was waiting in the rear. Going by Chrono’s memory, the breakdown should be 800 cavalrymen, 6,000 infantrymen, and 2,200 archers.
By the way, the supply unit――Chrono’s unit――was guarding the provisions in the back of the headquarters. Leonhart had said he’d count on them as reserve, but that was no more than lip service. Of course, Chrono had no problem with that at all. He’d prefer them keeping the position as reserve until the very end of this campaign.
“Captain, what are we goin’ t’do?”
“There’s nothing in particular we’d need to do, but…how about we build a paling, just in case?”
“‘nother one of those?”
“Fences are important. If you build them around you, they can protect you from cavalry.”
“I know that.”
“In reality, I’d love to add pitfalls and such as well, though.”
“Captain, ye really love yer traps.”
“I merely came to the conclusion of setting up traps after thinking it over seriously. It’s not like I like them or anything.”
“For us it’s very welcome, but it’s gonna hurt yer reputation, Captain.”
“It’s already hit rock-bottom, so it’s okay,” Chrono answered with a wry smile.
“Were things with ye the same during yer time at the military academy too?”
“Well, for the most part. I got praised by the teacher for supplementary classes for it being an interesting idea.”
“And that teacher was a neo-noble?”
“He is an old noble. He mentioned that he became a teacher after getting injured during the civil war.”
“Nobles got all kinds of stuff goin’ on as well, eh?”
Mino snorted loudly.
※
“What do you think, General Igniz!? With these forces we will never lose against those Cepheus invaders!”
The Official of Divinities proudly stretched his back and held his head high as he looked down at the soldiers from atop his horse.
700 archers stood in the front row, 5,000 infantrymen in the center, and 1,000 cavalrymen in the rear――a total of 6,500 troops. If all of these soldiers happened to be regular soldiers, Igniz would have doubtlessly expected that they’d be able to put up a reasonable fight, even if he wouldn’t have been able to act as proudly about it as the official.
But, half of the main force, the infantry, were farmers who had been gathered from the nearby villages. Moreover, against their will. For this reason, their morale was low.
Normally it would take the royal army two days to reach the hilly area, where the imperial took up position, from Markab, and yet they still hadn’t arrived. The waste of provisions was one problem of this, but the much bigger problem was how the Official of Divinities hadn’t noticed the low morale.
“It will be necessary to coordinate with the border fort to win, but have you sent a messenger?”
“Obviously I did,” the official answered testily. “As long as it’s him, he will be able to match his pace to ours, even without us worrying about it.”
“I pray it happens as you say.”
“Ugh,” the official groaned unhappily.
According to the scouts, the imperial army apparently didn’t watch for attacks from the back of the hill. The scouts also mentioned that the scale of the army had dropped in number.
The road has already been blocked off, so we shouldn’t expect any reinforcements to reach us anymore. At least, that’s what I’d have done as commander, Igniz assessed. In such a case, it’d also be possible to take up formation inside the narrow path or wait for the arrival of my men while holing up in the town of Markab.
No, Igniz shook his head. Even if I ask for the moon, it’s in vain. Right now and here I can only keep the damage low by using my current authority to the fullest.
※
Fourth day of the march.
Chrono stood together with Mino on the hill. Something like a black cloth sprawled out ahead of their eyes. Of course, that was no black cloth, but the royal army of Argo.
Their army was slowly but inevitably getting closer. Before long, its whole extent became clear.
5,000, no, a lot more, huh? There’s still quite some distance left. Yet, I feel like I can hear the rough breathing and violent stomping of the enemy soldiers. Scary. My legs are quivering so much that it’s pathetic to look at. My stomach feels like shit, too.
“Sir Chrono, are you trembling out of excitement?”
“Captain, just spare us from wetting yer pants.”
The voices of Leonhart, who had shown up unnoticed, and Mino overlapped. The two looked at each other with a timing making one believe they had arranged it beforehand, and then turned their faces away, looking awkward.
“I heard this is not your first campaign, Sir Chrono, but did you wet your pants during your first campaign?”
“Back then, I believe he didn’t wet himself. Well, ain’t like I made sure of it myself, though…”
“I hear it’s not rare for people to wet themselves on their first campaign.”
“How was it for you, Sir Leonhart?”
“Of course, I didn’t wet myself.”
Leonhart answered Chrono with a decisive tone.
“Are you alright?”
“What, you don’t need to worry. Deputy Corps Commander Bertil is a capable commander.”
Leonhart stared down to the bottom of the hill where the 12th Imperial Knight Order was situated in the center of the front row.
“Well then, I must look after His Highness, so please excuse me at this point.”
With those words Leonhart headed back to the troop headquarters.
“What do you think is going to happen?”
“First there’ll be an exchange of archery. I can say much ’bout what’s goin’ to happen afterwards, but the ones whose formation breaks apart first will be the losers. If Deputy Corps Commander Bertil is as as capable as Lord Leonhart makes him out t’be, our side won’t collapse all of a sudden.”
“I see,” Chrono looked at the two armies staring each other down.
Argo had adopted a big, square formation while their side had set up a triangle formation that piled up on a small square formation.
“It’s startin’.”
As soon as Mino muttered so, the arrow rally began. Arrows poured down on both armies. Both side’s archers immediately hid behind shields after releasing their arrows. In the tumult it wasn’t quite obvious which side held the advantage. But, the arrows shot by Argo’s army had visibly decreased.
‘Is it because of a difference in archery skill? No, this stems from the numerical difference. We have three times as many archers as Argo. And this is just an expression of the result of that.
“Mino, you have a magic communicator on you, don’t you?”
“Of course, I do.”
While they were having such an exchange, the number of Argo’s archers kept dwindling and before long, only the imperial army continued to shower Argo’s army with arrows.
The enemy infantry hid behind its shields, but that didn’t hold up for long either. Some of them were shot to death when they tried to escape, others had their shields broken. Yet, this didn’t lead to a complete rout.
“At this rate, we won’t see a turn this time.”
“That’d be great, but I got a bad feeling about this. Why are no divine art practitioners stepping forward?”
“Isn’t that because they’re stingy with usin’ ’em?”
“Under these circumstances?”
“They hesitate to play their trump card and will naturally miss their chance to use it altogether as a result.”
“Indeed.”
When told so by Mino, Chrono felt inclined to agree. But he couldn’t fully rid himself of the anxiety gnawing at him.
Argo’s army made its move at that moment. One cavalryman dashed forward and close to a thousand riders followed him. The imperial archers switched their targets, but the enemy cavalryman calmly plowed his way through the rain of arrows. The cooperation between the archers didn’t work out well and thus the density of arrows ended up too thin.
The lance of the cavalryman shone brightly as he cut through the vanguard. A divine art of the War God ruling over Crimson Destruction. The red light didn’t just envelop the lance but the whole body of the enemy cavalryman.
The imperial infantry readied their spears, trying to stop the charge. The enemy cavalryman transformed into a single streak of light as he plunged into the line of spears.
With a single blow, the enemy cavalryman routed the infantry and proceeded towards the imperial cavalry stationed behind the infantry. The imperial cavalry tried to meet his charge, but the enemy rider tossed his lance away and drew his sword. And then he brandished the blade with his left arm alone. With each slash arms and heads whirled through the air and torsos fell to the ground.
“Captain, that’s…”
“General Igniz, yep.”
It was hard to tell from their position, but Chrono was sure that this had to be Igniz.
Suddenly the formation of the front row lapsed into chaos, and the enemy cavalry plunged into the gap created by Igniz. Moreover, the enemy’s third wave attacked. Angry bellows and screams were mixed together into a single, loud cacophony.
It was a rout.
Despite being able to crush the enemy cavalry if they felt like it, the imperial army allowed itself to be overrun. Chrono suspected that they wouldn’t be able to recover their formation any more.
Igniz spurred on his horse once more. His aim was the imperial army’s troop headquarter. Just when Chrono thought that they had to stop him――
“Sir Chrono! I leave the rest to you!” Leonhart spurred on his favorite horse, galloping down the hill.
“He’s leaving the rest to me, he says…but what am I supposed to do?”
“Ye puttin’ me in a bid when yer askin’ me.”
While Chrono and Mino were confused, Leonhart continued down the hill. The white light of his divine art coiled itself around him.
‘A threat, no, I guess it’s a demonstration of power. He’S making clear that a divine arts user is present, urging Igniz to make a choice.
Igniz turned the neck of his horse around and began to fall back. The enemy cavalry moved accordingly. But, that caused the imperial cavalry to recover some of its motivation. Pushing aside the infantry, they pursued the retreating enemy.
Bertil attempted to detain his men. The reason for this was very clear from up on the hill. The enemy cavalry was one cluster while the imperial cavalry moved in a line. The imperial knights were lured into doing this. The enemy turned their horses around and rushed down the slope. While meandering. Meandering was the perfect word here as the enemy cavalry swallowed up the imperial cavalry like a big snake.
『『Lord Chrono!』』
Suddenly Arided and Deneb’s voices were audible from Chrono’s magic communicator. Chrono immediately knew the reason. The enemy cavalry had approached the troop headquarters. Chrono assumed that they had drawn closer while hiding in the back of the hill. They numbered less than fifty, but it’d be possible for them to break through the headquarters and kill Alfort.
“Mino!”
“On it!”
Chrono and Mino started to sprint in order to join up with their men. A very loud clattering could be heard. The enemy cavalry and the 1st Imperial Knight Order had clashed.
The archers got blown away and the infantry went into cover.
Seeing that, Chrono felt like something was out of place, but for now he decided to focus on joining up with his own men first. After reaching them, he confirmed their safety. Everyone looked to be okay.
The enemy cavalry was in a melee with the 1st Imperial Knight Order and thus had no time to care about the provisions.
Arided and Deneb’s ears were twitching. Chrono reflexively scanned the vicinity, just to have his breath taken away. A second wave of enemy cavalrymen was approaching headquarters.
The numbered around fifty, but the 1st Imperial Knight Order was in the midst of close combat on top of not having a commander right now. Although they were the most elite forces of the empire, they wouldn’t be able to fully protect Alfort at this rate.
‘They got us good. We totally fell for Argo’s scheme.
“Mino, Horus, Lizad, protect the women! Arided, Deneb, assist them! Leo, grab a stake and follow me!”
“Roger!” Mino and the others shouted.
Chrono shouldered a stake and started to run. This stake was a leftover from when they had built the fence. Its tip was pointed for the sake of stabbing it into the ground. Its length was suitable, too.
‘This should work as a substitute for spears.
Chrono wedged himself between the enemy cavalry and headquarters together with hundred beastmen.
“L-Line uuuuup!”
Once Chrono raised his voice, his men formed a line.
“It’s okay! Cavalrymen are so weak that you can take them down with a single rope!” Chrono yelled.
However, those were words to encourage himself, and not so much his men.
“Crouch dooooown!”
Chrono knelt down on one knee. The violent trembling of the ground was passed on to him as the enemy cavalry drew closer. The sight of muscled war horses getting ever closer was a fear-inspiring sight. Chrono’s hands quivered out of fear.
“Lord Chrono, calm down.”
Chrono suddenly heard. Looking to his side while taken aback, he found Leo staring at him.
“It’s alright. I’ll protect you.”
“Thanks, Leo.
After giving Leo his thanks, Chrono scowled at the enemy cavalry. They hadn’t lowered their speed at all.
“Readyyyyyyy!”
Chrono readied his stake. Just to have his whole body jolted by impacts in the next instant. A big and a small impact ensued. The big impact came from him clashing with an enemy cavalryman, but he didn’t know what had caused the small impact. Because he had pathetically squeezed his eyes shut. He also didn’t know the identity of the wind-cutting sound that followed the small impact. When he timidly opened his eyes again, the enemy cavalryman had been pierced by the stake. The other enemy cavalrymen turned their horses around and began to retreat.
After breathing out in relief, Chrono looked at Leo.
“That was quite an amazing impact, wasn’t it Leo?”
Leo didn’t answer. He was lying on the ground, looking up to the sky.”
“Nothing less of you, Leo. Thanks to you I was safe. Keep…”
“…Lord Chrono.” A tiger beastman──Taiga hesitatingly called out to Chrono.
“Keep protecting me from now on as well. Well, I will do my best so I can protect myself, but please take care of me until then. Right. Could you train the sword with me next time? As long as you hold back───”
“Lord Chrono, he’s already───”
“I know, damn it!” Chrono yelled at Taiga.
I know. I friggin’ understand it myself. I get that it’s pointless even if I talk to Leo. Leo───has died.
Half his head was gone. That half was scattered all over the place. Because he directly took on the enemy cavalryman’s attack while covering for Chrono. The delusional question whether it’d be possible to heal him if you scraped together all the chunks of flesh and brain matter crossed Chrono’s mind. Yep, it was a delusion. Even if Chrono did something like that, it wouldn’t bring back Leo.
He felt like something dropped with a thud. He suspected that he might have finally shat himself, but that wasn’t the case. Chrono slowly stood up and looked at the enemy cavalrymen.
They’re probably vexed over their plan having failed. They aren’t that far away either. It’s a range where we can still kill them.
“Arided! Deneb! Don’t let those guys get away!”
“”Roger!””
In response to Chrono’s yell, the two elves had the archers under their command fire their arrows. The arrows shot by the mechanic bows were like a barrage. Some cavalrymen were procurpined alongside their horses, some died in their saddle, and some were thrown off their horses. A few also managed to get away safely.
Chrono ran down the hill and attacked a cavalryman who had fallen off his horse. The cavalryman drew his sword and slashed at Chrono sideways. Chrono slipped past the blade and swung his sword upwards as he turned around. His enemy’s arm flew through the air. Chrono held his sword at hip height and charged.
His opponent dodged the stab, but he couldn’t evade the ramming attack that followed right after.
Both men rolled down the slope as if entangled together. Then something hit Chrono’s temporal region. The cavalryman had struck Chrono’s temple with his elbow.
Chrono’s consciousness was cut, and once he came to, the enemy was straddling him. His hand touched something. Chrono didn’t have the spare time to check what it was. The enemy cavalryman had raised a fist overhead, so Chrono struck him with that something ── a fist-sized stone.
The helmet warped quite a bit, but the enemy didn’t move. When he struck him a second time, his opponent’s body heeled over. Chrono dragged him down on the ground and straddled him instead. And then he drove the stone down on his opponent. Over and over again.
Midway his opponent lifted a hand as if asking Chrono to stop, but Chrono continued his bloody work without a care. When his enemy had stopped moving altogether, Chrono tossed the stone away. The stone was blood-smeared while blood was seeping out through the gaps in the enemy’s helmet which was now completely tattered.
Chrono breathed out and stood up. Probably because of the blow to his temples, he felt a headache. While tormented by that pain and exhaustion, he climbed the slope.
※
In the evening Chrono was staring down at Leo’s grave. It was a plain gravesite with just a wooden stake erected.
“Captain, the nights gettin’ chilly ’round here.”
“I want to stay a bit longer here. No battle is going on anyway.”
Right now, the battle had halted. Night battle was accompanied by various dangers for humans who couldn’t see in the dark. Because of that, it had become an unwritten law to cease all combat activities during night.
“Then we’re going to warm you up.”
“I’m kinda not hesitant to comfort you either.”
“Thanks.”
Being hugged by Arided and Deneb, Chrono smiled bitterly. He thought he was no match for these two. They had associated with Leo much longer than him.
They must be sad about his death as well. And yet they’re trying to cheer me up. Their feelings are truly priceless.
“…What are you so depressed over the death of some lousy demihuman?”
“──gh!”
Once he looked back, he found a guy standing there. His arm was limply hanging down as it likely got injured during the battle. From his clothes, Chrono could tell that he was a battalion commander.
“If you got the spare time to bury demihumans──”
Chrono didn’t listen to the end of the man’s words. His head blanked out. When he came to, Chrono was being pinned down to the ground by Mino. Something akin to a beast’s growling could be heard. From Chrono.
“Let go of me!”
“Captain! Ye gotta resist!”
“That guy…sullied my honor and Leo’s life! I’m going to kill him!”
Chrono was trying to get up with his arm still twisted. You could hear the creaking of his bones. In the next moment a loud crack was audible. His shoulder had been dislodged. A sharp pain directly assailed his brain, but Chrono didn’t give a damn. In front of his rage that was burning like a conflagration in him, something like pain held no meaning.
“Captain! Leo wouldn’t have wanted this!”
“He’s right! We’d be in trouble if you were challenged to a duel, Lord Chrono!”
“I wouldn’t know what to do if you were gone, Lord Chrono!”
Arided and Deneb yelled after Mino. Their word helped Chrono to regain his calm. He was still angry. It was impossible to get rid of it so easily. But, Chrono was a commander. He had to protect his men. He bit his lips and lowered his face.
“…Get lost. Next time I’ll kill you,” he somehow managed to squeeze out.
When he lifted his face after a while, the man was gone.
“Mino, I’m fine now.”
Mino let go of him, so Chrono raised his body. While sitting cross-legged, he stroked the scar on his right eye.
“Dad told me before, a commander must laugh harder the more painful the times.”
“…That’s quite the father ye got there.”
“True. But, it’s true.”
Chrono stood up while holding his dislocated shoulder.
“That’s because a commander has no time to cry.”
I can’t cry right now, Chrono persuaded himself.
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Translation Notes: