Chapter 5 – Night Raid
<– Previous Chapter | Table of Content | Next Chapter –>
Chrono walked through the field hospital set up behind the headquarters while holding his shoulder. The thick stench of blood hung in the air while he could hear voices from all over that made him wish he could cover his ears.
Injured soldiers were lying on sheets spread out on the ground. People who lost an arm, people who lost a leg, people who cried and screamed as their stomachs were cut wide open, people who glared at empty space in silence while having their stomachs torn in the same way, people begging for death――the hospital was pregnant with despair.
Clay continued to treat the wounded as if to fight off the overwhelming despair. He wasn’t alone in this either. Doctors and nurses gave their best to save the injured men.
Chrono silently left the hospital. He wanted to check whether his shoulder had been put back in properly, but after seeing the state of the hospital, he decided to not waste the limited time of the personnel on something as minor as his own injury.
As soon as he left the field hospital, Mino ran up to him.
“Captain, did they fix yer shoulder?”
“They seem busy in there, so I had no chance to bring it up. It’s making weird sounds, but I think it’s okay.”
“If yer alright with that, it ain’t my place t’say ‘nything ’bout it.”
Chrono climbed the hill while focusing on the ground at his feet.
“Captain, ye won’t find our tents over there.”
“They’re having a war council, so this way is fine.”
“Does that mean ye were finally approved of thanks to the recent events?”
“They simply don’t have any leeway, I’d guess.”
The casualties in the previous battle amounted to 100 cavalrymen, 300 infantrymen, and 100 archers. If you included the seriously wounded, they had lost numbers equaling a whole battalion. And most of them died to the enemy cavalry.
“Fine, I’ll look after everyone in yer stead then, Lord Chrono.”
“Wait, wait! Mino, you’re my adjutant, so I’d be troubled if you don’t accompany me.”
Mino had started to descend the hill, so Chrono quickly went around and cut his path.
“Captain, I’m a demihuman.”
“And I’m an otherworldler.”
“Ye can make such jokes t’the fellows who’re feelin’ down.”
“……Okay,” agreed Chrono after a short pause.
Then he began to persuade Mino to attend the war council together with him. At first Mino stayed reluctant, but eventually he gave in.
“I plan to suggest a night raid during the council. What do you think?”
“I mean, if ye gather all the demihumans and tell ’em t’do it, they will. But, we’ll be branded as cowards if we attack durin’ the night.”
“That’s a necessary evil.”
“Captain, nothin’ ’bout ye is noble-like.”
“I’ve been wracking my brain to lower the casualties as much as possible. If you call that the act of a coward or not very noble-like, so be it.”
“If ye’ve made up yer mind, I’ll follow.”
“Okay, please follow me to the war council first then.”
“………..Aye, gotcha,” answered Mino after a long break.
Chrono and Mino climbed the hill, heading to the tent where the council would be held. Once Chrono opened the tent’s flap, Bertil’s face distorted in displeasure.
“Why is a demihuman attending our war council?”
“He’s my adjutant. Besides, I haven’t heard of any rules stating that demihumans aren’t allowed to attend war councils.”
Bertil sighed lightly, probably having given up.
“Oh well, whatever. Enter.”
“Thank you.”
Chrono saluted and stepped inside the tent. Inside he found a table. Bertil, Leonhart, and three battalion commanders, including the guy who had trash-talked at Leo’s grave, were surrounding it. Behind each of them stood an adjutant. With just men, it’d be sweaty and filthy, but one of the adjutants was a woman. Cecily, a member of the 12th. While being suspicious of her presence here, he took up a position opposite of Bertil.
“Gentlemen, as you know, we lost 500 men during today’s battle. Among them were four battalion commanders and five adjutants. One of them was my adjutant…,” Bertil muttered gloomily, but Cecily remained calm throughout all of his words.
“The battalions who lost their commanders and adjutants have had their command transferred to our Imperial Knight Orders. As for the formation, Sir Leonhart’s 1st Imperial Knight Order will switch places with my 12th Imperial Knight Order. Any objections? No? Okay, then this council has been adj――”
“Excuse me!” Chrono interrupted Bertil.
“Lord Chrono, do you have something to tell us?”
“I understand that you’re changing the deployment and formation of the units because of today’s battle outcome…”
Asked by Leonhart, Chrono timidly began to speak. Thereupon――
“Oh? Are you doubting Lord Leonhart’s ability? Lord Leonhart is the eldest son of the Palatium family and he’s an outstanding master in swordsmanship and divine arts. Even a humble estimate of his abilities excels your father――the Slaughterer――by leaps and bounds.”
“That’s something we cannot tell for sure,” Leonhart rebutted with a light shrug of his shoulders to Cecily’s praise.
‘She apparently wanted to say that I don’t need to worry about anything, but we’re not on the same page at all here. Just how should I propose a night raid?
After worrying about it, Chrono decided to bet on a straight ball here.
“I propose a night raid against Argo.”
“Do you know what you’re talking about by saying that!?”
“Right! Do you have no honor as a noble!?”
“Shame on you! You coward!”
“I guess leading demihumans messes one’s head up.”
Cecily and the three battalion commanders yelled in response to Chrono’s direct approach.
“I believe I have made a rational suggestion here. Certainly, Sir Leonhart should be able to fight General Igniz evenly. But, in such a case we’re simply acting in accordance with our opponent’s expectations.”
“I understand. Sir Chrono, you’re vigilant of us falling for the enemy’s schemes.”
“That’s no――”
“Even if your enemy tries to use some underhanded schemes, nobles are nobles because they crush such things straight from the front!” Cecily shouted, interrupting Chrono.
This pissed him off slightly. It’d be one thing if it was Leonhart, she had no right to speak of such things.
He breathed out lightly, and said, “You should spout such lines after you actually bear the full brunt of an attack.”
“What does the son of a neo-noble understand of nobility anyway!?” Cecily screamed hysterically.”
“Nothing.”
“Of course not. There is no way that the son of an upstart, no, a filthy mercenary would be able to understand the honor of a noble.”
“Sure, I can’t understand the honor of the nobility you’re talking about. So, how about you teach me all about it?”
“What an admirable mindset. If you go this far, I won’t mind teaching you what it means to be a noble,” Cecily generously nodded at Chrono’s remark.
“That’s wonderful. Okay, let us head to the field hospital right away.”
“What are you talking about?” Cecily stared at Chrono with eyes lacking any sort of understanding.
“I’m telling you to teach me about that honor of yours in front of the soldiers who are on the verge of death in the field hospital.”
“As if I could do something like that!”
“Why can’t you?”
“I-It’s impossible for commoners to understand the honor of nobles. And it’s meaningless.”
“Oh, you’re right. For commoners something like a noble’s honor or pride is absolutely meaningless.” Chrono knocked on the table with a finger. “I don’t intend to deny the honor of nobles. But, using such honor as an excuse to shirk your duty as commander is wrong.”
“Do you plan to mock me!?”
Chrono silently glared at Cecily. After a short while, Bertil spoke up.
“Marquis Erakis, does this have a chance of success?”
“Of course. We will set up a raid party of demihumans who can see in the dark, and use this for a smooth cooperation.”
Chrono took a magic communicator out of his pocket.
“You’re quite well prepared. So, what sort of plan do you have in mind?”
“The main force will launch an attack on the enemy headquarters under the cover of the night while a detached unit is going to burn down their supplies.”
“I see. So you want to rob the enemy of his ability to keep fighting while launching a diversion.”
“You cannot fight on an empty stomach. That’s a truth that applies across all countries, eras, and even worlds.”
“Hmph,” snorted Bertil as he folded his arms to deliberate the idea.
“It seems we need to have a discussion about this issue. I’d like everyone except for Sir Leonhart, Marquis Erakis, and their adjutants to take a rest in preparation for tomorrow.”
“D-Don’t kid around!”
“Cecily, I told you to take a rest,” Bertil said to Cecily with a low, subdued voice.
“But!”
“Do you prefer to clean the stables over being an adjutant?”
“I-I shall follow your order at once!”
Having a demotion hinted at her, Cecily immediately left the tent. The other battalion commanders didn’t seem to be overly amused either, but they didn’t try to resist.
Bertil slumped down on his chair with a deep sigh.
“Marquis Erakis, how did today’s battle look from your point of view?”
“Mino, what’s your take?”
“You’re delegating it to me!?” Mino dropped his shoulders in dejection. “…Would you please allow me to speak openly?”
“Go ahead. Compared to a night raid, listening to the words of a demihuman is no big deal,” Bertil spat out in annoyance.
“From my point of view, the situation isn’t good for us. We managed to win today, but although we cannot reinforce our troops, our opponent is free to draw as many men as they need. To make matters worse, the morale is low, so no matter whether we do a night raid or whatever, we have no choice but to quickly assault the town.”
“I share Mino’s view,” Chrono added proudly.
For some reason he felt a stare stabbing the back of his head, but that didn’t change him having the same opinion.
“Sir Leonhart, what about you?” Bertil asked.
“Cecily had said all that, but I’m no superman who can crush any trap,” Leonhart answered with a sigh.
“Is it okay for me to take this as an approval for a night raid?”
“I don’t mind.”
Chrono’s eyes widened slightly. He hadn’t expected Leonhart to agree to a night raid. Besides, he wondered whether it was fine to act like he was pledging his commitment to it.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, I just didn’t expect you to agree to a night raid.”
“If this was my problem alone, I would stick to my principles as well, but it affects the lives of my men. So it cannot be helped,” Leonhart explained with a bitter smile.
The rest depended on Bertil’s decision, but Chrono didn’t have a good feeling on this one. After all, Bertil had been looking his way with probing eyes for a while now.
“In my position, I cannot approve of a night raid. But I could give my tacit consent to you taking such action.”
“In other words, you’re telling me to do it on my own accord?”
“Isn’t that somewhat too convenient for you?”
Bertil fell silent due to Chrono and Leonhart’s remarks. Chrono suspected that Bertil knew he was saying something selfish there.
Still, it’s a matter of how you look at it.
“Very well. I’m fine with the night raid being set as me acting on my own judgment.”
“Oohh, Marquis Erakis!” Bertil trembled as if being emotionally moved.
“Of course that’s not for free, is it?”
“What, is that so?” Bertil asked in disappointment due to Leonhart’s limitation.
“Well, we’ll be risking our lives after all. It’d be asking a bit much to do it for free.”
“So, what do you want?”
“Regardless of the operation’s outcome, please promise to reward my men appropriately and give them the best possible medical treatment.”
“You think a court noble like me can fork over money!?” Bertil jumped up from his chair, shouting.
“Is it impossible?”
“Y-Yes, it is.”
“It’s wrong to lie, Sir Deputy Regimental Commander Bertil.”
A soft, alto voice hit Chrono’s ears. Once he looked in the direction of its owner, Rio was standing in the entrance of the tent. She wasn’t wearing armor, but her military uniform.
“C-Countess Cheiron? Why are you here?”
“I was bored, so I went ahead by myself,” Rio casually answered Bertil’s shrill question.
“It’s dangerous to go ahead alone.”
“I’m happy to hear that you’re worried about me,” Rio moved next to Chrono while smiling happily.
“Deputy Regimental Commander Bertil, do you believe I don’t know anything? Oh, right, if I remember correctly――”
“I-I got it! I promise to pay a reward and the best medical treatment for the soldiers participating in the night raid!” Bertil interrupted Rio by shouting.
Apparently Rio had a hold on his weakness.
“Then I shall act as witness.”
“Then I must act as witness, too.”
Bertil dropped his shoulders in dejection after hearing Leonhart and Rio.
※
Chrono went back to his men after the war council ended. Of course, Mino and Rio came with him. His men were surrounding the campfires as they had apparently finished eating their dinner just a little while ago.
Chrono narrowed his eyes as he felt like his men had grown in number. The detailed number was unclear, but he felt like they had increased by around 30%.
“Is somethin’ wrong?”
“I’ve got a feeling that our men have grown in number…”
“Oh, yer right. They did increase. I think they came over after their superior officers died.”
“Is it okay for them to do as they please?”
“Are ye goin’ t’chase ’em out?”
“That’d be a bit cruel. People would start seeing me as a nasty guy,” Chrono mumbled under his breath and then looked at Rio.
“Is something the matter?”
“I ignored it earlier, but is it okay for you to neglect your work?”
“It’s all fine as long as I let the geezer handle it. That’s why I’ll participate in the night raid, too.”
“Thanks, that will be a big help.”
“It’s natural for me to do that as your lover. Hehe,” Rio grinned.
It made Chrono feel bad for using her good will. But, she was an excellent sword fighter and divine artist. She was quite attractive as a combat force.
“Mino, I’m going to grab the luggage from my tent, so――”
“Gotcha. I’m goin’ t’pick the members who will participate in the night raid.”
“Also, give Rio some armor and a mechanical bow.”
“Roger.”
“Thanks.”
Chrono went to his own tent. Once he entered, he opened a wooden box. A change of clothes was stored inside. He placed the outfit on a nearby box and pressed the plank of the now empty box. In response, the bottom plank got disconnected, revealing lots of gold coins and wine bottles.”
“It’s great that they didn’t break.”
“What didn’t break?”
Suddenly he heard a voice from behind. Once he looked back, he found Shaela standing there with a tray in her hand.
“Oh, it’s you, Landlady.”
Shaela silently walked up to him and peered into the box.
“No one would pull such a relieved expression when possessing such a load of cash. Don’t you think I’m going to steal it?”
“I trust you.”
“Sheesh, if you phrase it like that, I can’t really steal it, now can I?” Shaela pursed her lips, looking sulky.
Chrono returned the box to its previous state while leaving the wine bottles stoved away.
“So, what are you going to do about dinner?”
“I don’t have much of an appetite…”
“Eating it yourself or being fed by me, which do you prefer?”
“I’ll eat.”
“It’s nice to see you get it.”
Shaela snorted and placed the tray on the table. Once Chrono sat down, she sat down opposite of him. Dinner was a simple meal consisting of bread and soup. Chrono felt that he could immediately eat such a light menu, and thus he poured the soup into his stomach after taking a bite of the bread.
“Calm down a bit while you eat, will you?”
“I must head out into battle soon.”
“If I had known that, I’d have made a slightly more scrumptious meal for you.”
“You can do that once we get back to the Erakis March.”
“――gh! Y-You’re right. It can wait until we get back,” Shaela gasped and then looked away awkwardly.
Those words with a slightly negative connotation likely left her mouth because she was grieving for her husband.
“It’s alright, I won’t leave you, Landlady.”
“D-Don’t tease someone who’s older than you,” Shaela objected with her face bright red.
“Now then,” Chrono stood up from his chair, “I’m off, Landlady.”
“Alright, be careful out there.”
With her words echoing from behind, Chrono left his tent, just to run into Mino.
“What about everyone else?”
“They’re waitin’ over there.”
Chrono followed after Mino.
“What about the selection of personnel?”
“The minotaurs can’t see as well in the dark as other beastmen, so they’ll stay back. Arided, Deneb, and Taiga will lead their respective units.”
“Does it feel like Taiga can take over from Leo?”
“Aye. He’s got his men together well.”
“I see. Let’s promote him officially when we get a chance.”
“Gotcha. ‘nyway, Lizad said they can be a bit unreasonable thanks t’the heated stones. His unit got fifty people on top of the 34 original lizardmen. I’ll be in charge of the new unit that consists of our new elves and beastmen.”
“What’s the breakdown of the new unit?”
“Seventy beastmen and thirty elven archers.”
“So we’ve got 484 in total, huh? No one with a sane mind would go through with that, would they?”
“No kiddin’.”
Chrono exchanged a look with Mino, both laughing. Seeing Mino laugh, Chrono felt like things would somehow work out one way or the other.
After walking for a bit longer, his men came into sight. They were orderly lined up in ranks, their backs straightened. Chrono raised his head and stretched his back. If a commander looked cowering, his men would start to feel anxious.
He came to a halt and looked at his soldiers, “We’re going to launch a night raid on Argo’s army! Before that…”
Chrono knocked over a nearby barrel, causing water to splash out and form a puddle. After smearing himself with mud all over, he lifted his face, just to find Arided and Deneb looking at him with expressions as if feeling pity.
“Lord Chrono lost his mind.”
“It’s wrong for you to say that. We kinda must support him.”
“I’m sligh――gyaaaah!”
Chrono dragged Arided into the puddle of water.
“Arided, you sure say some mean things, don’t you?”
“Ugh, you’ve perfected how to tell us apart!” Arided lamented woefully.
“Hurry up and smear yourself with mud!”
“Playing with mud at this age is――gyaaaah!”
Arided screamed once again. Chrono had plastered her with a thick lump of mud. At that moment, he had ended up tightly grabbing her chest, but that was unrelated to the scream.
“Make sure to not get any mud in your eyes while coating yourself with it! Come on, all of you, cover your whole bodies in mud! Those with free hands, cut some dry grass and prepare strings!”
Once Chrono yelled his orders, his men quickly coated their bodies with mud.
※
“No reinforcements came from the border fortress, but uncertainty is always part of a war. If we consider that we caused great damage to the enemy, you might be able to say that the plan worked out successfully,” the Official of Divinities tilted the wine glass in his hand while looking contend with himself.
Igniz sighed, lightly enough so that the other party wouldn’t notice it.
Certainly, the outcome of the battle was acceptable, but we lost 500 archers, 500 infantrymen, and 100 cavalrymen. If we include the seriously wounded soldiers who won’t be able to fight anymore, you can probably increase those numbers by 50%. And despite all these casualties, we didn’t manage to take down the enemy commander.
Naturally Igniz felt depressed about it.
“Why are you pulling such a long face? It should have been arranged for the reservists to arrive tomorrow evening. Won’t the morale of the troops plummet if you look so gloomy? Hahaha,” the official drained his wine in a good mood.
Replenishing the soldiers is possible, but those are farmers who have been made soldiers. Even if we manage to repel the empire, we must be ready for drastic decreases in tax revenue.
“General Igniz, you have a drink too.”
“It will diminish the divine protection of the war god.”
The official offered him an empty glass, but Igniz bowed and left the tent. After breathing out deeply, he started to walk.
It’d be fine to go back to my tent right away, but sometimes it’s not bad to make a detour while using this as a chance to patrol the area. No, let’s be honest here, I just want some distraction. In the end, I don’t get used to my men dying. If we had taken down the enemy commander, it might have eased that feeling somewhat. If we had taken down the enemy commander, my men’s death wouldn’t have been in vain. I could have comforted my guilty conscience in such a way. Even if it’d be no more than hair-splitting. But, sometimes such hair-splitting is necessary too. We must repel the empire,” Igniz tightly clenched his fists.
※
The camp of Argo’s army had been constructed so that it’d adjoin the forest. At the moment, Chrono and his men were crawling on the ground around a hundred meters from that camp.
“Surprisingly no one has spotted us yet, huh?”
“It’d be too pitiful if we were spotted easily after having been forced to go through such an ordeal,” Rio bickered in response to Chrono’s whisper.
By the way, the ordeal mentioned by her related to their bodies being mud-caked and covered by weeds. Most likely, any children would cry, if they saw them right now.
“To make matters worse, we’re approaching the enemy camp while creeping along the ground like cockroaches. I could never show this to my men.”
“This is going to become the standard all over the world in several hundred years, so don’t mind it too much. It’ll probably get its own entry in history books.”
“Having this shameful conduct recorded in history several hundred years later is nothing other than a pure nightmare,” Rio lamented.
Chrono stopped moving, staring at the enemy camp. Soldiers who appeared to be guards were patrolling the area, but they apparently hadn’t noticed Chrono’s group yet.
“What are we going to do next?”
“You, Mino, Taiga, and I will infiltrate just like this. Arided and Deneb will shoot down any enemy they spot while hiding in the forest.”
Chrono took his magic communicator out of his pouch and talked into it.
“Arided, Deneb, did you take up your positions?”
『『Ayes, Sir!』』
Their answer could be heard through the communicator. Rio tilted her head in bewilderment.
“Where are those two? We didn’t decide on any positions, did we?”
『That’s when it’s kinda important to go with flow and such』
『Actually we’ve been on standby in the forest behind you』
Hearing the two laugh foolishly right afterwards, Rio sighed as if being fed up.
“You two, once I give you the signal, shoot the guards to death. Afterwards, cover us after we’ve infiltrated the enemy camp.”
『『Roger!』』
Once he finished the conversation, Mino, Lizad, and Taiga crawled up to Chrono.
“Now listen. Once the guards are dead, we’ll charge while shouting loudly.”
The three nodded with faithful expressions.
“Our goal is to set the provisions on fire, so we’ll avoid battle as much as possible. Those capable of using fire magic are to indiscriminately set everything on fire. Also, don’t touch women and injured people.”
“Oh my, you’re awfully kind, aren’t you?”
“If we try to kill their women, the enemy will likely counterattack like madmen, and injured people naturally become a burden for any army because of their treatment and so on.”
“I take my earlier words back. Chrono, you’re quite evil,” Rio said with a light shrug of her shoulders.
This shrug showed a decent level of skill as she was currently lying on her belly. Chrono took another look at the patrolling guards. One of them stopped.
At once Chrono lowered his head, suspecting that he might have been spotted, but that wasn’t it. The soldier simply had to yawn.
“Now!”
『『Roger!』』
No sooner than Chrono yelled, Arided and Deneb’s voices could be heard through the communicator, and in the next moment, the soldiers collapsed with arrows spiking their head.
Chrono stood up and drew his sword, “Let’s go! Follow me! YAAAAAAAAA!”
“C-Captain! That’s way too reckless!”
Once Chrono started to run while roaring loudly, Moino followed with a slight delay.
“I shall run!”
“…Run.”
“Haha, you rock!”
Chrono dashed towards the enemy camp. The war cries of his subordinates pushed his back alongside the pressure of them running right after him. No enemy soldiers had shown up yet.
When there were several meters left, an enemy soldier stepped out of a tent. Probably because he was still half-asleep, he apparently didn’t notice the approach of Chrono’s group.
However, just when Chrono thought that this might actually work, Taiga passed Chrono, followed by one of his subordinates after the other overtaking him. Hearing a noisy lumbering, Chrono looked next to him, just to have Mino jump into his visual field while shouldering his poleax. And he could also see Lizad shouldering his big mallet at a little distance.
Chrono had been running at full speed, but the other two looked like they were on a relaxed jog.
“Chrono, make sure to not be left behind.”
“Everyone is so fast on their feet.”
Looking at the opposite side, he found Rio running next to him. It didn’t seem as though she was using her divine arts, but her breathing was as calm as always. When the lead of their group, Taiga, invaded the enemy camp, the enemy soldier noticed them.
“Enemy att――gh!”
The enemy soldier tried to yell a warning, but Taiga was faster. Swinging down his greatsword, he cleaved the soldier apart down to the solar plexus.
“Burn, you shall!”
In response to Taiga’s yell, flames swelled up and blew the soldiers away. Beastmen couldn’t use magic arts, so the flames originated from the sword, which Chrono had given to Leo after discovering it in the storehouse of the marquis mansion.
Likely having heard the ruckus outside, another soldier stepped out of a tent.
“Enemy attack! Enem――gh!”
The soldier’s head dropped down. All it took was one flash of Taiga’s sword. Now the soldier was dead. But, his shouting wasn’t in vain. Enemy soldiers rushed out of their tents. But, you could only describe their timing as pretty bad.
After all, Chrono’s men had just rushed into the place where the soldiers had appeared. Not wearing any armor, the enemy soldiers were easy prey for the beastmen. At the time when Chrono got there, a part of the enemy camp was littered with corpses of imperial soldiers.
He came to a halt, panting hard.
“Captain, ye gave me a scare there.”
“Sorry,” Chrono apologized while sheathing his sword.
“Alright! Set everythin’ on fire!”
“Flamedance!”
“Violent Dance of Fireballs!”
Two elves released their spells in response to Mino’s call. Flamedance was a spell that scattered flames with a loud rumbling while Violent Dance of Fireballs caused many fireballs to hit a target. The tents caught fire thanks to the two spells, but the force of the fire was lacking.
“If only a wind――”
“Whirlwind Dance!”
A female elf used a wind spell in response to Chrono’s murmur. The whirlwind fanned the flames, strengthening the fire’s force. Chrono took a good look at the woman.
If I remember correctly, she had talked with Arided and Deneb on the road.
“Thanks,” Chrono said.
“……No, don’t mention it,” she cast her eyes down, looking embarrassed.
“Everyone, it’s time to run!”
Chrono’s group ran through the enemy camp in one unit. They killed the enemy soldiers who came out of their tents while randomly setting things on fire.
However, their advance didn’t last long. The enemy soldiers had started to regain their composure.
“Captain, ain’t this weird?”
“You think we’re being lured in?”
Were they trying to lure Chrono’s group into the center of the camp to cut off their path of retreat? Still, considering that, the imperial army’s losses were too high. Mino alone had slain around ten people while commanding the mixed unit. Taiga and Lizad’s units had killed more than 500 men at this point.
“Let’s give it a try.”
“What are ye goin’ to do?”
“The enemy is targeting our supplies! Protect the supplies!”
“The enemy is targeting our supplies!”
“Hurry! Reinforce the defenses!”
The enemy soldiers reacted to Chrono’s yelling. It seemed as though the enemy wasn’t coordinating their movements. Breathing out in relief, Chrono took the magic communicator out of his pouch.
“Arided, Deneb, the enemy soldiers are moving in order to protect the supplies, so kill them. Also, any guys looking like messengers. Just to make sure.”
『We’re kinda at it right now!』
『Uuugh! There’s so many obstructions! It’s hard to target!』
“Taiga, Lizad, the enemy is confused, but run without letting your guards down!”
『So it shall be!』
『……Roger』
Chrono put the communicator back into his pouch and started to run again. On the way through the camp, he heard a thud behind him. He stopped and turned around. There he spotted a lizardman lying on the ground. Large amounts of blood were spilling out of his body. Chrono couldn’t see any enemies, but the lizardman had clearly been killed.
“――――rh!” Chrono gasped.
He realized that the ranks had stretched out. The difference in physical ability between the various races of the mixed unit had materialized itself at this point.
“Captain, what we goin’ to do?”
“Run! Whatever you do, run at full speed!”
After shouting that, Chrono resumed running. Even if they tried to get the ranks back in order, it’d take time. As such, he had judged that the casualties would be lower if they ran through the camp disorderly. However, one after the other of his subordinates dropped. They got stabbed by spears coming at them from the shadows.
As of yet, those weren’t organized attacks, but Chrono’s unit was about to lose the advantage that came from having launched a surprise attack.
‘If only I had one more hand to play――
Chrono wracked his brain to find an idea on how to plunge the enemy into chaos. He dashed past corpses while enduring the impulse of slitting his enemy’s throats.
Then he took out his magic communicator and yelled, “Arided, Deneb, we need some backup here!”
『We’ve been frantically working on it for a while now.』
『The tents and the large group of people running all over the place are getting in our way!』
“That’s the state of the retreat?”
『Taiga and Lizad’s units are kinda holding out!』
『But, more and more enemies are showing up! We kinda cannot shoot our arrows while remaining hidden!』
Arided and Deneb’s replies were close to screams. Chrono chewed on his lips, brooding over a method to break their current deadlock. He recalled Layla’s spell ― Exploding Fire Dance.
‘That one should…no, wait. We won’t be able to cover the entire battlefield with Exploding Fire Dances.
At that point he recalled Rio’s existence. Chrono let his eyes wander, but couldn’t find her anywhere.
He yelled at the magic communicator, “Rio! Are you there!?”
『…Is』, Lizad’s voice answered through the device.
“Pass the communicator to her!”
『Hey! Things are quite bad over here. How are things on your end?』, Rio spoke up right away.
Her voice was pretty carefree, considering their current situation.
“Rio, join up with Arided and Deneb! Blow away the places where enemies could be lurking with your divine arts!”
『Got it. If I leave here, the attacks will get worse, but make sure to survive』
“Reinforcements are――eeeek!”
A spear jumped at Chrono from the side, causing him to bend back in panic. The spear’s tip grazed his chest.
“Bmooooooh!” Mion swung his poleax down with a war cry.
The enemy soldier crumbled on the spot.
“Ye gotta be on yer guard! It’s gonna be our loss if you end up dead, even if the night raid succeeds!”
“I-I have been on my guard from the very beginning!”
Chrono had dodged the enemy attack while stumbling. Once he turned around, the enemy had raised his spear overhead. The enemy stepped in, probably intending to swing down his weapon――
“RRYYYAAAAAA!” Chrono shrieked something strange, causing his foe to cower.
Using that opening, he swung his sword down in a messy, absurd way. The enemy’s head caved in, his eyeballs popping out. Chrono had basically beaten him to death.
“Run, run, ruuuuuuuun!”
“Captain, ye should run yerself as well!” Mino shouted.
Chrono started to run. After a short while, he understood just how true Rio’s words had been. The number of enemies jumping at them from the sides increased and so did the number of his fallen men.
Just how many enemies has she drawn in? I guess the title of Imperial Knight Captain isn’t for show.
“Captain!” Mino yelled while crushing the head of an enemy.
At last, they had run out of enemies to dispose of.
“I believe in Rio! Rio is…a woman who does what she has to do!”
“H-He’s a guy!”
As Chrono clamored about, a sound could be heard. It was similar to the tune of a flute. Immediately following, green light pierced through the tents, blowing them up. Enemy soldiers were whirled into the air alongside loads of soil. Just like you’d see in movies. The enemies soon crashed back on the ground, lying there unmoving.
“Rio, you’re the best! I love you!”
『Me too』
Rio giggled when Chrono yelled into the magical communicator. Once again, the flute sound reverberated, causing Chrono to reflexively look up to the sky. Green light had torn the night sky apart. It wasn’t just one or two flashes either. As far as he could count, there were more than ten of them. The light poured down on the ground and exploded. Each time enemy soldiers were blown away.
At this rate, Rio would completely blow away all enemy soldiers who were hidden in the shadows. Chrono recovered his composure, running through the camp. Just when a little bit of distance was left for him to reach the forest, an enemy rushed at him. He held a spear, but his attack never came to be. He had been slain from behind. The guy collapsed on the spot, revealing his murderer. It was Taiga. The tiger beastman was covered in blood all over his body, probably from blood spurts.
“This way, Milord!”
Taiga waved his hand widely. The forest was within a stone’s throw. It wouldn’t take ten seconds to run the distance. He’d be able to fall back into safety. And just when Chrono breathed out in relief――
“Captain!”
“――――gh!”
Chrono reflexively looked back upon Mino’s yell. Thereupon he saw how an elven woman had her path of retreat blocked by four enemy soldiers. It was the same woman who had strengthened the fire with a wind spell. She looked at Chrono and then averted her face. It was a gesture as if she’d just confirmed that Chrono wouldn’t come to her help.
“――――zt!”
Chrono gritted his teeth and ran. He’d be able to reach safety after a few more steps. There would be no meaning in this surprise attack, if the commander got killed. And while aware of all that, he ran in order to save the elf.
“Heavenly Pivotal Dance!”
A dull pain ran through his temples and the magic chant spilled out of him like a waterfall. A black sphere flew off. As soon as it covered the head of an enemy soldier, Chrono clenched his fist. The enemy’s head vanished without sound or trace. But, Chrono couldn’t feel relieved yet. Three more enemies remained.
Chrono drew his dagger and stabbed it into the back of one of them. The elf’s eyes flew wide open. She had probably noticed Chrono’s presence just now. The enemy soldiers turned around at the same time.
Chrono thrust away the man who had become unable to stand after having his spine destroyed. Probably out of reflex, the remaining two tried to catch their comrade. Chrono drew his longsword and stabbed. The sword’s point pierced the neck of one of the two remaining enemies.
The last enemy drew his sword. Or rather, he tried to do so, but couldn’t quite get it done. The enemy soldier lifted his sword――
“Violent Fireball Dance!”
The elven woman cast her magic. Several fireballs directly hit the man, resulting in him being engulfed by flames in no time. He tried to extinguish the flames by rolling on the ground, but eventually he stopped moving. Chrono lowered his sword and sheathed it. He offered his hand to the elf.
“Thanks to you, I――”
“Captain!”
Mino dragged Chrono down and covered him with his body. In the next instant, the flames devoured the woman.
“Mino! Let go of me!”
“Ye won’t be in time!”
“No, she can still be saved!”
“That girl has died! She’s dead!”
The elf writhed within the flames and collapsed at the same moment as the flames disappeared. She crumbled apart, just to be scattered by the wind in the next moment.
All power left Chrono’s hand.
“Why?” Chrono murmured.
Why am I so weak? I can’t use magic nor sword in any decent manner. I don’t have a single special power. I can’t even save a single woman in front of my eyes.
“For us to meet again in such a place…fate sure is funny.”
Chronor could hear the voice so clearly that it was unnatural. The man slowly approached them. His body was clad in crimson armor, but his right arm was missing, seeing how the empty sleeve was gently fluttering. The man’s name was――
“…Igniz…Formalhaut.”
“You know me?”
Igniz’s eyes widened in surprise as he revealed a puzzled expression.
“You’re the one from the Erakis March――”
“Chrono. Chrono Chroford,” Chrono interrupted Igniz’s words to introduce himself.
Normally he should have probably introduced himself as MArquis Erakis. But He felt he should go with Chrono Chroford. Mino stood up and readied his poleax. Chrono could sense his determination, but Mino wouldn’t be able to win alone.
“Captain, I’m goin’ t’buy ye time.”
“No, I cannot afford to retreat here as a noble.”
“You’re talking about nobility while performing a night raid, Chrono Chroford?” Igniz frowned and drew his sword.
He readied his broad sword with just his left arm. The tip didn’t shake in the slightest. He didn’t use any divine arts. Rather, he was supporting the sword with his raw strength. A strength that went beyond human realms. However, despite having readied his sword, Igniz didn’t come at them.
At that point, Chrono noticed that he was waiting from him to get up. So he did and plated himself in front of Mino.
“God, grant my blade thy blessing.”
Upon Igniz’s dignified chant, his word’s blade was engulfed by crimson flames. Divine Art – Celebrative Holy Blade ―― an art to lift the offensive ability of a weapon by cladding its blade in divine power. Now that the blade had received the blessing of the War God ruling over Crimson Destruction, it’d cut through plate armor like butter.
Chrono smiled bitterly and took out his wine bottle.
“You plan to fight me with that bottle?”
“It’s a custom of my hometown.”
Chrono threw the bottle. Igniz sighed in disappointment and cut the bottle that had flown his way while drawing a gentle parabola. In the next instant, Igniz was wrapped up by flames. The liquid within the bottle had scattered and caught fire.
“Gaaah! My eyes! MY EYES! What did you do!?”
Igniz’s face was twisted in agony. Chrono silently hurled himself at Igniz, stabbing the dagger deep into his opponent’s flank.
Unable to endure the pain, Igniz let go of his sword.
“Gu..gaah――――――――!”
Igniz’s face warped and twisted. For any ordinary opponent, this would be the end. But, he was anything but ordinary. He lifted Chrono up with just his left arm and slammed him on the ground.
“Y-You coward! Where is your honor as a noble!?”
“I threw trash like that to the dogs a long time ago!”
Once Chrono twisted his dagger, Igniz’s strength waned. Using that opening, Chrono kicked Igniz away.
“Mino!”
Following Chrono’s shout, Mino dashed over, his poleax raised overhead――
“Oh God!”
“Oh Wind!”
Igniz and Mino yelled at the same time. The poleax clashed into a red wall. In the next instant, the poleax lit up, emitting a green light. The red wall broke apart with the sound of glass shattering and the unleashed shock wave blew away Igniz. Igniz flew away as if having been hit by a truck, before slamming on the ground.
“Mino, we’re running!”
As soon as Chrono stood up and ran off, Mino shouldered his poleax and followed.
“Captain, what was that just now?”
“Plain old alcohol.”
“Alcohol?” Mino asked while cocking his head in confusion.
It was something he had produced for the sake of disinfecting wounds, but it came in handy at an unexpected place. Chrono and Mino plunged into the forest――
“How many were done in?”
“…Ten people.”
“We have lost twenty people.”
“My unit only lost the elf from before.”
“So thirty people, huh?”
Chrono bit down on his lip after confirming the losses. If he had stationed Rio in the forest from the start, if he had performed a careful, preparatory meeting beforehands, if he had thought of proper compositions for the units, and if only he had had a bit more strength; his mind was filled with nothing but regret.
“The night raid succeeded. What are we goin’ t’do next?”
“I’d like to retreat, but there’s something I want to try first.”
‘Though it’d be questionable what to think of that as a human being,’ Chrono thought, fully aware of the moral damnability of what he was about to do.
※
The awakening was sudden. Igniz jumped up, just to get thrown back by a sharp, excruciating pain. His whole body burned while the core of his head felt numb and hazy. Almost as if he was in a delirious fever.
“Have you woken up, General Igniz?”
“Where am I?”
Igniz let his eyes wander after being asked so by a robed guy. Apparently he had been put to red on a bed. But, he had no memory of that.
If I remember correctly――
“In the field hospital. The imperial army set many places on fire, but they didn’t touch this place.”
“Right! What about the night attack? What happened to the imperial army?”
Igniz’s memories connected due to the robed man’s――the doctor’s words. Last night Igniz had fought against Chrono and lost. In addition, he had been attacked in an unguarded moment with an underhanded trick. Igniz groaned as he tried to get up. A stinging pain at his side tormented him. Enduring that pain, he forced himself off the pain.”
“You shouldn’t be moving around yet.”
“It’s no problem.”
As he stepped out of the tent, his eyes flew wide open. The camp was in a terrible state. More than a third of the tents were burned down and the area around the field hospital was awash with injured soldiers.
“G-General Igniz!”
“Van! It’s great to see that you survived.”
Van was a veteran. Last year he had invaded Cepheus together with Igniz. He was a brave warrior who managed to come back alive many times over his long career. He unsteadily walked up to Igniz, just to crumble to his knees as if having lost all strength. And then he started to bawl. Even Igniz couldn’t hide his shock at seeing that.
“G-General Igniz, j-just what did you make us fight?”
“Wait, what happened?”
“T-Those…”
Van pointed at a cloth as his voice failed him. Going by the bulge, Igniz guessed that the cloth was covering a corpse. He walked up to it while bearing the pain in his flank and knelt down next to it.
Once he turned the blanket over, his face distorted in disgust. The corpse looked as if wild beasts had feasted upon it. Its intestines were gone. The eyeballs had been stuffed into the mouth. Profane insults had been carved onto its chest. Most likely rage should have welled up in Igniz over the dead’s dignity having been sullied, but all he could feel was dread.
“W-Why, did they do something like that…”
“L-Last night――”
Igniz had intended this to be a comment to himself, but Van started to intermittently narrate the events of yesterday night.
After the attack on the camp, the demihumans had apparently fled into the forest and nothing happened for a while. Everyone believed that there wouldn’t be another attack.
And then the curtain to a nightmarish play was raised all of a sudden.
At first, the thigh of a lookout was shot by an arrow. Van had tried to rescue his injured comrade, but he couldn’t. His thigh got shot as well. Fearing that he’d be killed at this rate, Van hid himself in the shadow of a tent, watching the whole drama unfold.
Soldiers were shot over and over again with arrows after becoming unable to move. The archers missed their vital spots as if to torment their targets. Their comrades, who ran over to save them, were all, without exception, shot by arrows. Either they were killed or left as bait for the next prey. Eventually, all of them had stopped moving.
“You abandoned your comrades?”
“I couldn’t help it! Some folks also tried to kill the enemies lurking in the forest.”
“And this is the outcome of it, huh?” Igniz groaned as Van pointed a trembling finger at the corpse.
Very likely Chrono has ordered them to do this. For what reason did they torment the soldiers? Why did they do something as atrocious as desecrating the dead? Is it because they hold a grudge against us? No, it’s obvious that they resent us. But, how much do you have to hate someone to do something like this to them?
No matter how much he thought about it, he found no answer. Logically so. If he could find an answer――if he truly understood Chrono’s way of thinking, he felt like he’d have his whole life denied.
※
Bertil had been born into a Knight family. They were court nobles without a fief, their only redeeming worth being their longstanding service to the Empire. Ever since his childhood, Bertil had spent all his time training himself so as to try making his family prosper with the power of his sword. He believed that he’d be rewarded if only he piled up enough training. Him having believed such a thing for ten years could only be described as proof of his youth.
Eventually Bertil became an imperial knight and he started to butter up to his superiors. He felt no resistance to that. Even if he belonged to a certain faction, he felt no resistance to switch to another if it was opportune. Everyone was doing this, so he thought it was the right thing to do in order to rise through the ranks.
There was no reason why Bertil became how he was today. At the very least, he couldn’t think of anything that could be called a turning point. He was never betrayed by his close friends, lovers, or superior officers. If forced to give a reason, it’d probably be him having grown old enough to understand how the real world worked.
If someone were to ask him what he thought of his current self, he’d answer that he was satisfied with himself. He was married to a wife of a reasonably good family and he was experiencing a reasonably happy life. He considered his life to be smooth sailing. If you ignore the fact that he’d quickly break up with lovers, even if he was surrounded by them――
Suddenly he recalled Fay Muhlifain. She definitely possessed talent. But, she was too outstanding. And on top of that, she was too much of a fool. A knight order was an organization. Talent that couldn’t stay in tune with the pace of the other knights was unnecessary. He couldn’t hide his irritation when seeing her pointless struggle without giving up hope.
But, now he wondered whether he hadn’t gone too far with his treatment of her. If he had known that she’d transfer to the Erakis March, he would have been a bit more considerate. He regretted the rude things he did to her.
Why am I suddenly thinking about all this? It’s obvious. It’s because I’m standing on the edge between life and death. Otherwise, I’d never feel apologetic to that dung woman. Yep, I hated her. And that’s why I shunned her. That’s all there is to it.
“……I wonder whether things went well for Marquis Erakis,” muttered Bertil atop his horse.
In front of him――a stone’s throw away――archers were firing their arrows. The probability for the enemy arrows to fly all the way to his location was low, but it wasn’t zero.
Why have things turned out like this? He sighed, in the end, we didn’t change the deployment. It’s because Alfort wanted Leonhart to be by his side. I mean, I can understand his feelings. If I was in his shoes, I’d have likely wanted to deploy Leonhart close to me as well. But, despite being a figurehead, Alfort is still the corps commander. I’d like him to show a bit more backbone as corps commander.
“Oh God,” murmured Bertil.
He was praying for Marquis Erakis to deliver a heavy blow against Argo. He was also praying for General Igniz to die, if possible. Those were fleeting wishes. The enemy’s number had decreased, but Marquis Erakis hadn’t come back.
I probably should think of him as dead.
Suddenly the arrows stopped coming from the enemy side. Bertil was unsure whether it was a sign for trouble on the enemy’s side or a trap――
“Bah, whatever! Cease fire! Follow me!”
He spurred his horse on. If General Igniz were to appear, he’d be killed without being able to do a single thing. In that case, he might as well inflict as much damage to the enemy as possible, was his line of thinking. He might have given in to despair.
A little less than 200 cavalrymen were following him. Bertil felt doubts whether such numbers would be enough to inflict any damage on the enemy gnaw at him. A cavalry charge exhibited its true value when the cavalry charged in a group.
Should we slow down and wait for more people to gather?
He pondered this, but if they were to stop here, they’d become targets for the archers. He had no choice but to keep galloping onwards. When he climbed a slope, he noticed something.
The enemy soldiers weren’t looking at him.
Once he let his eyes wander a bit, he found an abnormal group at the end of the enemy’s line of sight. Grass monsters. That was the only way you could describe them. One of those monsters raised its sword and started to run, causing the other monsters to roar as they followed the first.
‘Is that possibly Marquis Erakis? Still, why does he look so weird? I don’t get what’s going on here. But――
“I-It’s demihumans!”
“Fuck! T-Those blasted demons! After all that killing, they still don’t have enough!?”
It seemed like the enemy soldiers felt intimidated. At that point, arrows flew in. Like a wind-whipped rain from the side.
The enemy soldiers screamed shortly, before collapsing with clattering. The arrows had tremendous force behind them to pierce through armor after being shot horizontally.
“R-Run!”
“Hiiii!”
“You damn monsters, just what did we do to you!?”
Once a single soldier dropped his weapon and ran away, it quickly developed into a rout.
“Get them! However, don’t kill the grass monsters! Those are our allies!” Bertil pursued the fleeing enemy while feeling relieved.
※
“Amazing! That’s truly incredible, Deputy Corps Commander Bertil!” Alfort squealed like a kid upon hearing Bertil’s war report.
Bertil had to use all his strength to keep a poker face. He hadn’t done anything worth mentioning. He had simply chased down an enemy that was running. It was a one-sided massacre you couldn’t call battle. This allowed them to recover from their previous errors, but thinking of his dead men and their families, he immediately became depressed.
“Once we get back to Alfirk, I’ll consult with the prime minister about your reward…about the possibility of giving you territory.”
“Really!? Ah, no, nevermind…”
Bertil had bent himself forward, but immediately came back to his senses. Being able to get a fief made him happy. But, currently Alfort was no more than the illegitimate child of Ramal the Fifth.
Of course, Prime Minister Alfort would likely do as much as possible. But, there was also the example of the neo-nobles. It wasn’t said that he’d be sent away to some backwater territory like them. In the first place, even if he received territory, he wouldn’t be able to run it. It was plain obvious that he’d struggle. As such, his truthful thinking was that he didn’t want to risk losing his current life.
But, he didn’t want to incur Alfort’s enmity by damaging his honor either. As he let his thoughts wander whether he could find a point of compromise where no one would lose anything, he came up with a marvelous idea that wouldn’t hurt anyone.
“With all due respect, Your Highness, I cannot give you all the details, but it was thanks to Marquis Erakis’s outstanding efforts that we were able to achieve such results this time. Therefore, I would like to ask you to give the territory to him.”
“I understand.”
Bertil chuckled in his mind. He didn’t plan to break his promise with Marquis Erakis, but he assumed that Marquis Erakis likely wouldn’t make any excessive demands if he was able to receive some territory. Besides, it’d also improve Alfort’s opinion of him. On top of that, it meant he wouldn’t need to brave any risks either. A win-win-win situation.
※
Chrono stood motionlessly in front of 30 graves. The enemy had already retreated. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to bury his men. Then again, he left the actual digging to his subordinates. When it came to his part in the whole show, it’d be limited to him closing his eyes and putting his hands together in prayer.
However, he even couldn’t do that for some people. For example, that elven woman. She had changed into ash and got carried away by the wind.
While thinking that he should have asked for her name, he lightly shook his head. His head felt mushy, probably because of the lack of sleep.
“Captain, yer ‘kay?”
“Yeah. Rather than that, what about everyone else?”
“I made them get a rest since we’re gonna march tomorrow. Well…”
Mino became evasive. His feeling that he had ended up saying something thoughtless was passed on to Chrono.
“Well, it looks as though they’re a tiny bit scared of ye, Captain.”
“I see…makes sense.”
Chrono sighed as he remembered last night’s events. Yesterday he had ordered the archers to snipe the enemy. Or to be precise, he ordered them to wound one and shoot all those coming to their rescue. It was a tactic he’d seen in a movie back in his previous world.
If I remember correctly, it was called something like live decoy baiting. It’s a sly and brutal strategy. They’ve watched it happen from within the forest. It’s already this late in the game, but――
“…Maybe I’m going crazy.”
Chrono couldn’t think of himself as sane. The instant he was about to kill a person, he’d hesitate. But, after killing them, he wouldn’t feel any guilt. He only felt a lead-like exhaustion weigh down on him. He wondered whether that exhaustion would go away, if he continued killing people.
“…Captain?”
“It’s okay. Even if I’m ostracized as a coward, even if I’m feared by everyone, I’ll be fine. No matter how atrocious the act, I can do it calmly. As long as it spares the life of even one of my men, I won’t shy away from going through with it. It’s okay,” continued Chrono to mutter.
<– Previous Chapter | Table of Content | Next Chapter –>
Translation Notes: