Chapter 2 – Dreaming

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At night, Igniz entered the tent together with a messenger. The tent in question had been set up atop the hill. The Official of Divinities sat at a table. Not to do work, but to drink wine. Several empty bottles were rolling at his feet, but he didn’t seem to be drunk. Igniz assumed he couldn’t really get drunk because of the heavy pressure weighing down on him.

“Repo――”

“Why are you here!?” The official shouted, interrupting the messenger.

Igniz sighed lightly and stepped forward.

“The frontline commander was killed in action.”

“What, so that’s why you’re here, huh? Rather than that…why did you leave your station!? I ordered you to remain on standby, didn’t I!?” The official got louder over the course of his speech.

“The sun has gone down. Being on standby in the narrow pat would be dangerous.”

“What’s so dangerous about being there!?”

“The possibility of a night attack.”

“It won’t be a problem if you light bonfires and pay attention!” The official rebutted loudly.

He had apparently forgotten about what happened in the hilly area.

“We should pull back the soldiers for the time being.”

“You think we can do that!? What will we do if they run away!?”

The official’s fist slammed down on the table with a bang. A wine bottle fell down.

“Their task is to stall for time. Not to run away.”

“We can’t tell that for sure, can we!?” The official screamed hysterically and picked up a wine bottle with his hand trembling.

He tried to pour some wine in his glass, but no wine came out of the bottle. Just a few drops. In irritation, he lifted up the bottle and tossed it away.

“You mean to say that we shouldn’t move the soldiers back?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself!” The official shrieked.

Igniz turned on his heel, but then――

“Wait, where are you going!?”

――stopped after being called to halt by the official.

“I’m going back to my men. As long as I’m with them, the enemy commander will probably hesitate to launch a night raid.”

“You are to stay here!”

“Why?”

Igniz looked back at the official while feeling fed up.

“Do you plan to steal my achievement?”

“I don’t――”

“Don’t lie to me!”

The official hit the table once more.

I don’t plan to take his achievements. Well, I even thought it’d be fine to let the imperial army go if they meekly scurry back home on their own accord, but――

“This is an order. You will stay on standby here.”

“As you wish. If it’s an order, I can only abide.”

Igniz sighed after the official worded it rather threateningly. It had been smart to have instructed his subordinates in advance. Suddenly, Van crossed Igniz’s mind. He hoped that Van wouldn’t do anything reckless――

※

Chrono was absentmindedly staring at the bonfire in the resting place set up between First and Second Defense Line. The wood was crackling within the dancing flames. Once he lifted his face, Arided, Deneb, and Taiga were likewise staring at the fire in a daze. Thinking that it’d be better to not speak up to them, he turned his eyes to the First Defense Line. Mino was over there, silently staring beyond.

Fires were flickering in a place around 200 meters ahead of Mino’s look. The enemy was camping. And at present they showed no intention to attack. Chrono looked back at the area between the First and Second Defense Line.

“Gather branches and store them behind the First Defense Line. The soil goes to the Second Defense Line’s location. We’ll also sharpened the tips of the wooden stakes～”

Horus was giving orders in a slow manner. Chrono wondered whether things would be alright with that sort of attitude, but the ones on the receiving end were moving around briskly. They dug holes, gathered branches, and put up soil at the Second Defense Line, and created wooden stakes.

Lastly Chrono looked at the place in front of the Second Defense Line. Lizad and his men were resting over there. Surrounding bonfires, they were turning over something with twigs. Chrono guessed they were heating stones. They were preparing to be able to move at any time, despite being on break right now. Team Three was doing its work properly. All that was left now was for Team Four to do its job.”

“…I guess it’s about time to go.”

Chrono stood up, causing Arided, Deneb, and Lizad to follow suit. Chrono headed over to the Second Defense Line while calling out to his men. Going past that line, the slope would protrude out if you advanced for another hundred meters through the narrow path. Elven archers and beastmen infantry was waiting in the shadows below that slope. They numbered 300――100 archers and 200 infantrymen.

He stopped and surveyed his soldiers. They wore meek expressions. It wasn’t bad for an air of tension to exist, but Chrono felt they were slightly too stiff about this.

“Are you guys ready?”

“Preparing our hearts a bit longer…”

Once Chrono looked over his shoulder, Arided was holding her stomach.

“They all seem to be ready to go.”

“Yes, they are.”

Arided answered Chrono from behind after he had turned his eyes back to the front again. The soldiers couldn’t hold back their laughter, and this caused the atmosphere to relax a bit.

Quite skilled. As expected of an experienced centurion.

“We’re going to launch on the enemy’s flank from now on. We have three objectives. First, we want to decrease the enemy numbers as much as possible. Second, we don’t want to let them rest. And lastly, we cannot allow the enemy to underestimate us. So far it has been a one-sided, defensive battle, but we’ll show them that we can do more than simply keep hiding behind a wall. In short, we’ll make them get the jitters.”

“Yeeeah,” the soldiers raised their voices.

Chrono wanted to get them riled up a bit more, but raising their voices too loudly would just alarm the enemy, so they couldn’t do that. Although the were hiding in the shadow, the enemy was still a stone’s throw away.

“Lastly, archers are to be defeated at highest priority.”

“I kinda feel like that’s four objectives, but maybe it’s my imagination?”

“Yes, it is,” Chrono warded off the retort from Arided.

Their subordinates laughed. Everyone was looking sharp. Chrono wanted all to somehow survive.

“Arided, Deneb, and I will be in charge of the narrow path’s right side, Taiga will take the left side. Splitting the team has already finished, but is there anyone who doesn’t know to which half they belong?”

Some people chuckled, but no one raised a hand.

“Alright, let’s start the operation then.”

“Arided unit, this way.”

“Taiga unit, we gather over here.”

Once Chrono had declared the plan, Arided and Taiga parted to the right and left. Each half consisted of 50 archers and 100 infantrymen. It felt unreliable, but if they took too many soldiers with them, the headquarters would be understaffed. And that’d be like putting the cart before the horse.

“Okay, we shall be going then.”

Taiga climbed the slope, but looked back halfway and thrust his fist in the air.

“Lord Chrono, may the God of War be with you at all times!”

“With you as well!”

Once Chrono answered, Taiga started to ascend, taking his unit with him. It was a fairly steep slope, but they climbed it safely.

“We’re going to climb as well!”

“We’d like everyone to go up first.”

In accordance with Arided and Deneb’s orders, their subordinates climbed the slope.

Then Arided, Deneb, and Chrono also climbed without any hesitation. Half of the infantrymen weren’t soldiers Chrono had brought with him from the Erakis March, but their basic physical abilities were just as high.

“Come on, climb! I will take the lead!”

“I will prop you up when necessary.”

Arided climbed the slope with Chrono following right behind. Deneb was behind him. It became immediately clear why they were handling it like that.

“Whoa, scary! The slope is crazy steep and the wind is blowing hard!” Chrono yelled while clinging to the slope.

Even when looking at it from below, he had already thought that the slope was steep, but now that he actually climbed it, it was worse than he’d imagined. Moreover, the wind up here was strong too.

“If you fall from here…”

“You mustn’t look below!”

“Only upwards! You kinda have to look only upwards!”

Chrono gulped after looking below. In response, Arided and Deneb loudly warned him. Immediately after hurriedly facing upwards again, his foot slipped. His body was enveloped by a floaty sensation. But, that immediately came to an end. Arided had grabbed Chrono’s hand and Deneb was pushing him from behind.

“Fight~!”

“Pull, pull! If you have the time to shout!” Deneb shouted back at Arided.

Chrono quickly secured his footing again, causing the two elves to breathe out in relief. Once again, Chrono began to climb the slope. On the way he encountered several perilous, frightening situations, but in the end he managed to safely climb all the way.”

“We kinda climbed to the top.”

“I’d like you to not forget all my effort.”

Deneb just reached the top as Arided wiped the sweat off her forehead. Just climbing the slope had cost them a lot of energy. Knowing that the reason was 90% him, Chrono felt apologetic.

“Thanks, you two.”

“I just did what is common sense.”

“Big sis, you’re bad for saying it so nonchalantly! BAD!” Deneb drummed her fist on the ground while still on all four as Arided threw out her chest.

Chrono sighed lightly and let his eyes wander. Just as reported, a forest populated the area at the top of the slope. The density of vegetation was lower compared to the primeval forest. He believed he’d be able to walk through it even without needing to be led by hand.

Then he looked down at their own encampment, before shifting his eyes down the narrow path. The bonfires continued almost endlessly. It was a pretty sight to behold. But, once he considered that enemy soldiers were sitting around those bonfires, his legs started to shake.

“”W-What an amazing number!”” Arided and Deneb said with trembling voices.

Chrono laughed and the shaking of his legs settled down.

“I don’t understand how you can laugh under these circumstances.”

“It’s kinda puzzling that it’d imply he becomes more reliable the more difficult the times.”

“Don’t worry, there’s no difference with the combat force we faced last year.”

“”That’s a super positive way of thinking!””

Arided and Deneb covered their faces with their hands.

“Anyway, let’s go.”

“”Roger.””

As soon as Chrono started to walk, the two elves followed suit. Of course, their other subordinates as well. They walked at a slight distance from the slope. After advancing for a while, Chrono ordered his men to halt. He approached the slope with his body bent and looked below.

Enemy soldiers were surrounding bonfires in a place around 300 meters away from Chrono’s encampment.

“…Let’s stop here.”

“”Why is that, kinda?””

He was asked from both his sides after muttering that.

“I don’t feel like I’ll be able to quickly descend the slope since it’s too steep.”

“That’s a fairly weak minded statement.”

“But, if Lord Chrono can get down easily, it’d mean the enemy soldiers can climb easily, too.”

“”Hmm,”” groaned the two elves.

“I kinda want you to leave this part to us.”

“We will look for a place where you can descend as well, Lord Chrono.”

“Could you please do that for me?”

“Of course!”

“I’ve kinda brought a rope with me, thinking that something like that might happen!”

“Sorry for being such a disappointing superior officer.”

He wondered why they hadn’t used the rope earlier, if they had one with them. That thought crossed his mind, but since he’d hate to be told that they didn’t expect him to be unable to climb the slope, he stayed silent about it. He had thrown his pride to the dogs, but he still had some vanity left.

The three went back to their subordinates and started to walk once more. This time Arided and Deneb took the lead. Probably because they could see in the dark. They were walking fast, so it took Chrono all effort to keep up with them.

Suddenly the two stopped and headed to the slope with their bodies lowered. Of course Chrono followed them.

“”How about here?””

“It looks like I’ll be able to somehow manage in this place,” replied Chrono after peering down.

The inclination here was relatively gentle and the height was moderate, too.

“Alright, we’ll launch our attack after having a meeting.”

“”Roger.””

Chrono withdrew from the slope, taking Arided and Deneb along. He retrieved his magical communicator from his pouch and brought it close to his mouth.

“Chrono speaking. Taiga, can you hear me?”

『Loud and clear, Lord Chrono』

“Where are you right now?”

『We are opposite of you』

Chrono looked towards the forest on the other side of the ravine, but he couldn’t see Taiga and his soldiers. He strained his eyes, leading to him feeling like he saw someone hiding in the thickets. But, ultimately it was just a feeling.

“We’re going to launch our attack from now on.”

『……Understood』

Taiga answered after a little pause. He was probably worried about Chrono leading the charge. But, this was a battlefield and Chrono was their leader. Moreover, the current battle situation wasn’t in their favor. At such times it was definitely the duty of the commanding officer to encourage his men by storming at the front. Of course, Chrono didn’t feel like doing dangerous things, but――

『Are we going to attack simultaneously?』

“No, we’ll add a delay. I’d like you to wait for the enemy to focus their attention on us and then stab them in the back.”

『That is dangerous』

“Yes indeed, but it doesn’t seem like we will get an opportunity to pull back if we don’t draw the enemy’s attention. Also, we’ll cover you during your retreat.”

『I…understand』

Taiga agreed while sounding reluctant about it.

“I will leave the rest to Arided.”

『Very well. I will contact Arided-dono henceforth』

This was the end of their communication. The magic communicator was handy to have, but you never knew when it was okay to judge a call as having finished. It felt like indefinitely continuing to reply on messenger services or worrying about the best time to stop a conversation as you didn’t know when to stop replying.

“Arided, I’m counting on you.”

“It’s a kinda heavy responsibility.”

“I will back you up properly,” he added while putting the communicator away.

Arided nodded with a meek expression. Chrono guessed she understood the weight of her responsibility. Deneb clenched her fists.

“Infantry, to the front!”

“Aye, Sir!”

The beastmen infantry stepped forward. The one who stepped forward first was a black panther beastmen. He was wearing Goldi-made equipment. That alone made clear that he was Chrono’s man, but――

“Edgie, are you ready?”

“――gh! Ay, no, you know my name?” Edgie gasped and then asked back.

Chrono smiled wryly, “You stand out after all.”

“I don’t think I actually do,” Edgie said with a confused tone.

Black panther beastmen were inconspicuous in the darkness, but he stood out because he was so black, including his equipment.

“Let me ask once more, are you ready?”

“Yes, milord! Our preparations are in perfect order,” Edgie answered after straightening his back.

Once Chrono started to walk, Edgie followed him with a slight delay. The beastmen infantry followed those two, and behind them came the elven archers led by Arided and Deneb. Chrono looked down the slope. Below enemy soldiers were sitting around the bonfires while relaxing. They apparently hadn’t noticed their approach yet.

“After me!”

Chrono drew his sword and ran down the slope. Edgie and the beastmen followed. Silently. War cries would just alert the enemy. Chrono silently moved his legs, but immediately realized his own blunder. He was rapidly gaining speed. And when he started to believe that this was bad, it was already too late. His legs entangled and he was hurled into the air. His body experienced a floaty sensation, and as soon as that stopped, a shock pierced his whole body.

“…Alive,” he muttered while lying on the ground, face up.

He was still holding his sword. Once he tried to lift his body, he noticed he had squashed an enemy soldier. The man didn’t breathe anymore. It looked as if he had served as cushioning for Chrono. They had assaulted with the intent to kill the enemy, but Chrono still felt bad about this.

“E-Enemy att――”

“Kieeeeeeeh!”

Chrono screamed weirdly and cut down the enemy soldier. Blood danced through the air. The soldier touched his neck with a puzzled look and then lowered his hand. It was crimson red. He stared at his hand for a short moment, but suddenly his eyes rolled back and he collapsed. The enemy soldiers started to act, but it was too late. Chrono thrust his sword out, piercing the throat of a nearby enemy. Bloody foam came out of the man’s mouth before he dropped to the ground. The remaining two stood up, but that was when Edgie’s group arrived. They skewered the two surviving enemy soldiers with their spears and successively brought down the enemy soldiers in the vicinity.

“I was scared to death.”

“I believed that you’d come.”

Edgie sighed deeply. Chrono responded nonchalantly and then let his eyes wander. Most of the nearby enemy soldiers were dead by now. More were running over as calls warning of the enemy attack hung in the air. Their movements weren’t orderly. But, the same could be said about Chrono’s side as well. His men formed a circle with Chrono in the middle. And then they got encircled by the enemy like this.

“Change the formation! Form two rows so that the inflow of enemies is divided!”

“Rows! Form two rows!”

Chrono yelled and Edgie repeated it. At once, their subordinates started to move. But, at this rate, the arrival of enemies would be faster. The instant Chrono bit his lip regretting that he made a wrong call, arrows rained down. It was their archers’ support. As expected of Arided and Deneb.

After screaming curtly, the enemy soldiers collapsed. Some of them escaped the attack, but their movements were definitely slow. In the meantime, Chrono’s men formed two rows.

The covering stopped. Probably considering that a chance, the enemy soldiers charged. But, Chrono’s side had already finished setting up its battle formation. Besides, the enemy soldiers couldn’t cooperate well. Because of that, Chrono’s men could focus on the enemy in front. Each time his subordinates stabbed out their spears, enemy soldiers fell. It didn’t take much time for the narrow path to become buried in corpses. However, despite all these casualties, the enemy still kept coming at them. They still were unable to cooperate well, but they stopped getting killed by one strike. Because of the fatigue of Chrono’s subordinates. No matter how much beastmen might excel humans in physical ability, they’d eventually tire out if they kept fighting.

What should we do? Chrono asked himself. I guess we’ll wait for Taiga’s reinforcement. Just when he extended a hand towards his pouch, trying to use his magical communicator, a loud explosion filled the air. As he narrowed his eyes, he spotted Taiga and his men just running down the slope.

“What!?”

“It’s our reinforcements!”

“Idiot! Can’t you see that they are all beastmen!?”

The enemy soldiers stopped moving and started to yell at each other. They didn’t panic, but they were confused by the complicated situation. If they were going to retreat, Chrono knew that this would be their chance.

“Retreat!”

“Retreat! We’re going to fall back while switching over to a circular formation!” Edgie yelled after Chrono.

He was a soldier who was capable of supplementing the parts Chrono had missed. Chrono suspected that Mino had assigned Edgie to this mission because of that.

“Please go ahead!”

“Sorry, I’ll go first!”

Chrono crawled uphill. The inclination was steep, but not so steep that he couldn’t crawl up. At once, a beastman passed him at the side. He thought he might be able to keep climbing like this, but in reality he had only advanced a bit. Feeling a presence, he looked back over his shoulder, finding a beastman infantryman looking up to him. It seems like her was making them pay attention to his needs. While fully realizing his own worthlessness, he kept crawling up the slope.

Arrows flew down from the top. Support by the archers. But, it didn’t work out overly well, because they had to fire their arrows downwards. As he climbed the slope, Chrono quickly looked below. 90% of his men were crawling up the slope, but Edgie and four others were forming a circle, enduring the enemy attacks. At this rate, they’d be finished off. Chrono wanted to yell that they needed help, but the archers were already doing their best. He looked around him, but couldn’t find anything of use. Or rather, plenty of usable things were growing around there. Chrono stood up――

“Heavenly Pivotal Dance!”

Chrono hurled his magic at a nearby tree. A pain ran through his temples, but he had no time to pay any attention to it. As soon as he clenched his fist, around half of the tree’s trunk was hollowed out, causing the tree itself to crash down. Wondering what was going on, his subordinates watched the tree fall.

“Help!”

Probably comprehending everything with just that, his subordinates started to move faster than Chrono could, carrying the tree over and dropping it down the slope. The tree rolled down with a clattering.

“Dodge!” Chrono leaned over and shouted.

Immediately following, Edgie and his men pressed their bodies against the slope. The tree bounced and mowed down the enemy soldiers after passing over Edgie’s group.

Using that opportunity, Edgie’s group tried to crawl up the hill. One of them rolled down. An enemy soldier had stabbed his thigh with his spear. Edgie looked back down. The injured beastman waved him off, telling him to keep going. Edgie stopped moving. But, probably thinking that he shouldn’t waste his friend’s death, he immediately resumed climbing the slope.

The injured beastman swooped down on the enemy soldiers with his sword at hand. He struggled bravely, but on top of being injured, he was also outnumbered. His movements gradually became more sluggish, before he eventually was stabbed by a spear. At that time, Edgie had reached the top of the slope. Without ever looking back, he left the slope’s edge.

“Let’s go, Lord Chrono,” he said with a low, stifled voice.

“…Gotcha,” Chrono agreed, or rather, he couldn’t do anything but agree.

※

The stench of alcohol, vomit, and excreta filled the inside of the tent. Ingniz kept his breathing shallow so as to inhale as little of the air in here as possible.

“Damn! Even though we had such a precious chance…”

Just when the Official of Divinities reached for the wine bottle, the voice of a messenger could be heard outside. Apparently something had happened in the narrow path. Of course, Igniz had a bad premonition about it. Before long the messenger rushed inside the tent. A cold wind used that opportunity to blow inside as well.

“I have a report to make! We suffered a raid by the imperial army! At least a hundred soldiers were killed!”

“What about the bonfires!?”

“They were burning, but the enemy…well, they aren’t wild animals, so…,” answered the messenger hesitatingly after the official screamed at him hysterically.

“Sir Official, please give us your orders…”

“I’m thinking right now!”

The messenger asked for further instructions, but the official only screamed around like a little child. Once again his hand reached for the wine bottle, but then it stopped. The neighing of a horse could be heard. Probably having a bad feeling about this, the official’s eyes darted around.

Another messenger rushed into the tent alongside another gust of cold air.

“I have a report to make! We have suffered an enemy attack!”

“I already heard as much!”

As soon as the official shouted this in response, the two messengers exchanged a look.

“No, this is another attack…”

“Are you people so incompetent that you would suffer two night raids in the same night!?” The official shouted, swinging his arm sideways.

The wine bottle fell over with a hard sound.

“Shit, shit, shit! If only we can catch Alfort, I’ll be able to offset all my previous failures, and yet…”

The official covered his face with both hands, just to suddenly lift his face, “What are you staring into the air like dolts!? If you suffered an attack――”

“Message!”

“Gaaaaaaahhhhhyyaaa!”

The official released a weird scream as soon as the third messenger rushed into the tent. He grabbed the wine bottle and threw it, but fortunately it missed its mark by leaps and bounds.

“Pursue them, if you suffer an attack! Cause a bloodbath among them!”

“U-Umm…”

The third messenger timidly raised a hand.

“WHAT!? Is there still anything else!? Are you going to challenge my patience any further!? Ah, damn it! Out with it. Just say whatever you want to say, man!”

“The unit pursuing the enemy was annihilated.”

“Uoooohhhhh!”

The official howled like a beast and then slammed his forehead against the table, causing a loud bang. At once, he did the same once more. When he raised his head, blood dyed his face.

“Demons! Demons are trying to ruin me! If we don’t destroy these demons, neither I nor the kingdom will have any future! If we don’t destroy the demons…”

Saying so, the official chewed on the nail of his thumb. His face was smeared with blood, his eyes bloodshot. He clearly looked insane.

Suddenly the official hit the table, causing the three messengers to tremble.

“I made up my mind! Tomorrow we’re going to launch an all-out attack! Inform the soldiers of this!”

“””Yes, Your Excellency!”””

The three messengers answered curtly and left the tent.

“…General Igniz, get ready for the all-out attack tomorrow.”

“As you command.”

There was no reason for him to refuse. Igniz saluted and left the tent. The three messengers mounted their horses and galloped towards the narrow path.

Igniz breathed out lightly. The clear and cold air felt nice.

“Right. It’s my duty to kill demons. I must kill them. I must kill those demons.”

He heard the official’s voice from behind, but Igniz ignored it and headed to his own tent.

※

They are acting fast, Chrono grimaced. Enemy soldiers were sprinting his way with spears at the ready. However, it wasn’t as though they were running without thinking about anything. They were running along the slope where the archers were. Running there greatly lowered the accuracy of the archers’ arrows. In short, they were moving while keeping in mind to take cover from arrows.

Chrono guessed that they had learned after suffering the second attack.

No, that’s wrong. The enemy’s teamwork is quite good.

If he had known that they were so good at teamwork, he wouldn’t have thought of trying to attack the enemy at the end of the line. But, now it was too late to cry over spilled milk. Besides, Chrono didn’t feel like they’d lose when it came to teamwork.

“Kinda drop them!”

“Keep dropping them one after the other!”

Arided and Deneb’s voices echoed across the narrow path as they poured trees and stones on the enemy soldiers. Given that they were throwing everything they could get their hands on, they couldn’t inflict any significant damage. At most it was something at the level of a body blow. Still, it dulled the enemy’s speed.

“It is time to shoot!” Taiga yelled from the slope on the opposite side.

Arrows were shot at the enemy. Some soldiers collapsed, but they weren’t fully annihilated. Chrono’s men and the enemy soldiers clashed. They were able to easily defeat the enemy during the first surprise attack, but now the movements of Chrono’s subordinates had become more unrefined. Exhaustion had piled up. A cry could be heard. The spear of an enemy soldier had pierced one of his men. One of the beastmen moved, trying to back up his comrade. It was only natural to do so, but――

“Don’t break the ranks!”

“Uuuuoooh! Charge in!”

At the same time as Edgie shouted, enemy soldiers pushed in the gap while roaring. Arrows rained down from both sides of the path. But, the enemy’s speed didn’t relax. If it was to be like this, throwing wood and stones had a lot more effect as a deterrent. Guessing that any more would be impossible, Chrono raised his voice.

“Charge!”

“UUUUOOOHHH!!” His men broke into a run while roaring.

Probably confused by this, the enemy’s movements clearly slowed down. Arrows poured down and some of the enemy soldiers screamed curtly. At that point, Chrono’s men rushed in. After inflicting a blow――

“Change formation!” Chrono yelled.

His men immediately distanced themselves from the enemy, starting to form a circle.

The goal of their charge was to stall for time to allow Taiga’s unit to withdraw. During the first and second raid, they had retreated while Taiga’s unit had performed a surprise attack on the enemy from behind, but this time their locations were spotted early on. In exchange, there was support from the left and right. Probably because of that, the enemy’s movements were sluggish.

Just when Chrono hoped that they might be able to retreat without any casualties, an enemy soldier dashed in his direction. He held a round shield. Arrows rained down on him, but he weathered through it by holding up the shield while running through the hail of arrows. An abnormal level of courage.

“Don’t let that guy get close!” Edgie yelled.

His subordinate stepped forward and at almost the same time, the enemy soldier threw his shield. The shield hit Chrono’s man, but didn’t cause much damage. The beastman immediately thrust out his spear, but the spearhead tore through empty space. The enemy soldier had jumped an instant before that. And then he landed in the center of the circle. Edgie stepped forward to cover Chrono. Thereupon――

“My name is Van! I assume you must be Chrono Chroford! I might be of commoner descent, but I demand a duel for the sake of avenging my comrades you slew and for the sake of overcoming my fear of you!” The enemy soldier yelled.

Chrono rubbed his temple. He wondered what that Argo man was thinking to request a duel during a war. He felt a headache tormenting him. But, both armies had stopped. And being faced with that spectacle, he felt that Van’s action might be unexpectedly calculating. Well, it was just a feeling, though――

“What is your response!?”

“Please refuse,” whispered Edgie.

Chrono let his eyes wander. He very much wanted to turn it down, but if he did, all the enemy soldiers would likely assault them at once. His men were tired and it’d hurt to waste the time created by the charge.

“Got it. I’ll take you up on that. In exchange, I want my men to be allowed to retreat.”

“…Very well.”

Van answered after a moment. He drew his sword and held up his sword high.

“All of you, you heard him, right? This is a battle of honor! Don’t get involved in it!”

The enemy soldiers cheered. Chrono exchanged eye signals with his men, including Edgie.

“Ugh,” groaned Edgie, but he took his men along and started to climb the slope.

———— End of Part 3 ————

Once Chrono drew his sword――

“You have my gratitude for responding to my request for a duel. I think it’s very brazen, but I would like you to swear on your father’s name that you’re going to fight and square.”

“I swear on my father Chrod’s name that I will fight fairly.”

Van readied his sword with a satisfied smile on his lips. Chrono followed suit. Silence reigned the place and just as a wind blew past, Van kicked off the ground.

In the next instant, something hit Van’s face ―― an animal cadaver.

Chrono whirled around and ran towards the slope. He ran up and grabbed the rope hanging there. At once he was pulled halfway up the slope. But, at that point his movements stopped. Looking downwards, he found Van to be grabbing onto his ankle.

He kicked the man, but Van showed no signs of weakening his grip.

“You’re running away despite having sworn on your father’s name!? Do you intend to not only sully your own reputation, but even that of your father!?”

“That’s the reason why I didn’t use my mother’s name! Besides, when it comes to Dad…”

His foster mother Ella Frond was the queen’s guardian knight――old nobility with a long and honorable history. Since she had apparently put a lot of emphasis on pride and chivalry in her younger days, Chrono couldn’t afford to sully her name.

“――he would have laughed at this!”

“――gh!”

Van loosened his grip somewhat, and Chrono immediately used that opportunity to drive in another kick. Van rolled down the slope. But, in the next instant, an arrow hit the wall next to Chrono. Apparently one shot by an enemy archer.

Without a moment’s delay, the archers on Chrono’s side responded. Chrono pulled himself up with the rope, quickly climbing the slope.

“”Lord Chrono, are you injured anywhere?””

“It looks like I’m fine,” he answered while twisting his body.

His reply gave Arided and Deneb a feeling of relief.

“Still, you did well to have noticed that I was lying.”

“Well, we’ve known you for some time now.”

“I was kinda startled a bit,” Arided admitted slightly bashfully.

“I was terrified, thinking that you might seriously consider fighting down there,” Edgie commented with a sigh.

“By the way, what are we kinda going to do next?”

“We’re slowly running short on arrows.”

“…Right,” Chrono let his eyes wander after responding to Arided and Deneb.

He recalled the earlier battle. It was clear that everyone was tired. A little while ago they were able to retreat without any casualties thanks to Van’s intervention, but that wouldn’t happen next time. The remaining arrows running low was another worrying factor.

After thinking it over for a while, Chrono decided, “Let’s fall back.”

“”Roger!”” The two elves replied energetically.

“Understood,” Edgie agreed quietly.

Chrono retrieved the magical communicator from his pouch and looked at the three.

“You three go ahead.

“I’d like to agree here, but that’d be bad,” Arided objected to Chrono’s instruction. “Hmm,” she groaned cutely, before adding, “I’ll guard him, so I kinda like you to head back together with the other troops.”

“Roger.”

“…Alright.”

Edgie had answered right away, but Deneb needed some time to do so. Her suspicious looks probably stemmed from Arided’s low trustworthiness.

Deneb and Edgie began to walk while taking the other men along. Chrono brought the communicator close to his mouth.

“Chrono speaking.”

『Taiga here』

“We’re returning to the encampment for the time being.”

『I understand』

Once Chrono started to walk with the communicator in hand, Arided followed.

“…We have lost ten men.”

『Five were killed on our side, but around twenty are injured』

“I see,” answered Chrono with a sigh.

15 losses and 20 injured after they launched three raids and repelled the enemy soldiers pursuing them. Even lower estimates would suggest that the damage their attacks caused amounted to more than ten times as much. Chrono knew that he probably should consider this as a success. Yet, he still wondered whether he couldn’t have done things better.

“Mino, can you hear me?”

『Aye, I do』

I called out to Mino after thinking of an idea, and as it seemed, Mino had been properly listening to their conversation.

“How are things going on your end?”

『No problems here. After yer group launched its attacks, it became slightly noisy, though』

“Quite a bummer.”

『Aye, indeed』

The enemy not launching an attack in retaliation meant they were keeping their calm enough to analyze the situation.

“Tomorrow will decide everything. Let’s weather through it at any cost.”

『I’ll use all my efforts』

『I shall do my utmost』

Mino and Taiga answered reassuringly, causing Chrono to smile wryly.

“That’s all. Over.”

With those words, Chrono put the magic communicator back in his pouch. Probably because they had decided to retreat, resulting in his tension being cut off, he was hit by a wave of fatigue all of a sudden.

“…Lord Chrono.”

“I’m alright.”

“There’s a depression over there.”

“Gyaaahiii!” Chrono screamed.

He slipped down what she had called a depression, despite its considerable difference in elevation. It resulted in him hitting the ground hard with his butt. It hurt quite a bit. He tried to get back up right away, but his back reclined against the wall of the depression. Because of the exhaustion, he felt like taking a little rest.”

“Lord Chrono, are you kinda okay?”

Jumping down the depression, Arided approached Chrono.

“Can you kinda stand?”

“I think that should work, but I’d like to remain seated for a bit longer.”

“Okay, I’ll take a break as well then,” Arided said and sat down next to Chrono.

She was close enough for their shoulders to touch.

“Lod Chrono, are you forcing yourself?”

“I’m not,” lied Chrono.

Even he himself was aware of him forcing things. But, that was the sort of situation they were in right now. He couldn’t whine about it.

Arided breathed out lightly and leaned coquettishly against him.

“We’re your lovers as well, so it’s kinda OK for you to show us your weak side.”

“You’re still at the stage of candidates.”

“――gh!” Arided stared his way with a shocked expression.

She closed her eyes and took several breaths. After a time, she opened her eyes and climbed onto Chrono’s lap. While making sure to directly face him.

“What’s up?”

“You know without telling me, don’t you? But, I don’t hate that part of you either.” Arided put her hands around his neck. “I just thought I might quickly become your lover.”

“What do you like about me anyway?”

“Somehow you’re kinda asking rather annoying things, aren’t you?”

“You think they’re annoying?” Chrono cocked his head in doubt.

He personally considered feelings to be pretty important. But, thinking back on it now, he felt like he mostly jumped into relationships because he couldn’t hold back his horniness or because he went with the flow.

“Deneb might bring up your kindness here, but for me it’s kinda vague. Having said that, I’m basically the devoted type, so it’s kinda unnecessary to worry about betrayal.”

“I don’t get whether that’s a heavy or light burden.”

“I’m kinda OK if you take it lightly, Lord Chrono.”

“You say so, but I’d hate it if you were to fight over who owns me.”

“You’re overthinking what I said before,” Arided spat out a sigh.

She overlapped her own lips with Chrono’s. However, she immediately removed them. Probably out of embarrassment. Her ears were slightly drooping.

“Is it kinda okay to do it once more?”

“That seems slightly impossible.”

“What do y――gugyaaah!”

Arided screamed shortly because Deneb had chopped her head.

“I was worried because you were late and came to check on you, just to find you doing what I thought you’d do.”

“I’d have preferred you wait another five minutes.”

“Five minutes?” Deneb asked back like a parrot.

“I could have handled things one way or another in five minutes.”

“Isn’t that a bit unreasonable?” Chrono muttered while thinking, If it was just me, it’d be totally possible.

※

Chrono’s group returned to the field encampment the way they came. Spotting the Second Defense Line being covered by dirt, Chrono widened his eyes. Firewood had been piled up behind the Second Defense Line, and several trenches and apparent holes had been dug out between the two defense lines. Moreover, they had built scaffolds on the slopes. Chrono assumed that those would be used by archers for sniping.

“Quite the shocker for coming back after just a few hours.”

“I was more shocked by you, Sis.”

Arided’s eyes flew wide open in surprise while Deneb sighed deeply.

Maybe it’d have been better if I had made her wait those five minutes.

As soon as he climbed over the Second Defense line while wondering about that, Mino ran up to him.

“Captain, good work out there.”

“The same back to you. It looks like you reinforced the place quite a bit.”

“Aye. I don’t know how much help it’ll be, but we dug holes as a countermeasure against divine arts practitioners. Of course we also finished restocking stones. Also…we made the pitfalls just as ye taught us, Captain,” Mino explained while looking at the area between the two defense lines.

Four wooden poles stood there. They encompassed a fairly big area, and his men made sure to lie down while staying clear from the outlined square.

“It won’t be funny if ye fall in there, so we put up poles for avoidin’ our folks fallin’ in.”

“Got it. Be careful.”

Chrono nodded while thinking that this setup sure looks like it’d be causing lots of deaths and injuries among the enemies.

“Captain, please take a nap with yer men.”

“What about you, Mino?”

“I’ll also get some sleep when the timing is right.”

“Okay, I’ll go ahead then.”

“Sorry, we couldn’t prepare a tent for ye, but we set up a beddin’.”

“You didn’t have to worry about that part. But, thank you anyway.”

“What, I just did what ye’d expect of an adjutant,” Mino scratched his head awkwardly. “The beddin’ is over there.”

“Good night, Mino.”

Chrono headed in the direction indicated by Mino’s finger. A cloth had been spread out on the ground over there. He sat down on the cloth and took off his cloak.

A moment later, Arided and Deneb sat down next to him.

“Why are you next to me?”

“We won’t fail to sleep together with you as lover candidates,” Arided replied while breathing hard through her nose.

“It’s necessary to watch you so that she doesn’t get a head start,” Deneb answered sullenly.

Chrono lied down while wishing that they could get along a bit more. With a slight delay, the two girls also lied down.

“This is the legendary cohabitation.”

“I feel slightly embarrassed.”

“There’s nothing legendary about it,” Chrono retorted for the time being.

They were arranged in the shape of 川. It felt like a child was sleeping with its parents.

“Please give me the legendary arm pillow.”

“I’d like to request that as well.”

“That’s a bit…”

“”Why?”” The two elves asked in one voice when Chrono faltered to go on.

“If I give both of you an arm pillow, I won’t be able to move around anymore.”

“Hmm, so arm pillows are for when you’re kinda alone with your partner then?”

“Sis, you’ve completely stopped hiding your ulterior motives, haven’t you?”

The two glared at each other across Chrono. It was an atmosphere where it looked very likely that they’d start asking him to make a decision, so he quickly closed his eyes. And probably because he was tired, sleepiness struck him before long.

※

Chrono woke up with a feeling of not having been able to get much sleep. Once he looked down at his chest, he found Arided and Deneb clinging to him.

No wonder I felt like I was suffocating during the night.

Suddenly feeling an urge to piss, he got up. He let his eyes wander while yawning. The night was slowly fading as light started to show. Thanks to the slopes, this place was still quite dim, but the light would also reach this place in a few more hours. And then the battle would start again.

Chrono headed to the Second Defense Line so as to not wake Arided and Deneb. Lizad and his men were sitting around bonfires. Chrono guessed they were preparing heated stones.

For some reason, Horus was with them as well. Chrono wondered whether something happened.

Either way, relieving myself comes first.

He crossed over the Second Defense Line and took care of his business in the shadow of a slope. Once he got back to the encampment after emptying his bladder, he went over to the bonfire with Lizad and Horus.

“You two are up early.”

As soon as Chrono called out to them, Lizad and his men bobbed their heads. Horus didn’t answer. Once Chrono cocked his head, wondering what was going on, he saw that Horus was trembling while holding his knees.

“Are you cold?”

“N-No, that’s n-not it. I’m s-scared.”

“Scared, you say…you fought splendidly yesterday, didn’t you?”

“I-I could handle them because they were amateurs. The opponents today won’t be any amateurs. It’ll be veteran soldiers. I can’t fight against such monsters. This time I’m going to die for sure. Bmoooh,” Horus held his head.

“…Fight.”

“Stop it!”

Lizad touched his shoulder so as to encourage him, but Horus brushed Lizad’s hand away.

“Liza, you don’t get my feelings. I’m a weak guy. I can’t fight as bravely as you. Why did it come to this?” Horus cried with big tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Why don’t you run away then?”

“――gh!” Horus raised his face abruptly.

Was it hope? His eyes were shining. But, they immediately lost their light.

Horus shook his head feebly, “I cannot run away. I have no place to return to, even if I run.”

“You have no place to return to?”

“Our family is dirt-poor. I was chased out after being told that I’m dumb, slow, and stink. It’s not a place where I could go back to. Scary. So damn scary. I wanna run…I really wanna run, but I’d hate to leave behind my friends, escape myself, and get scorned for it. Just why don’t I have any place other than here to call home?”

Horus’s voice was muffled as he was crying. Lizad touched his shoulder once more. This time Horus didn’t resist. Lizad looked at Chrono. And Chrono felt like he was being told that Lizad wanted him to leave the rest in his hands.

Chrono headed over to Mino at the First Defense Line. Mino was glaring at the enemy over there. Probably noticing Chrono’s approach, he looked over his shoulder.

“Captain, somethin’ the matter?”

“I woke up, so I thought I’d check on everyone.”

Chrono planted himself next to Mino and narrowed his eyes. There didn’t seem to be any movement among the enemy.

“Come to think of it, what did ye talk about with Horus?”

“What, so you heard us?”

“I didn’t catch what ye said.”

“Since it looks like Horus became slightly nervous, I left him to Lizad.”

“Thanks for goin’ out of yer way for him.”

“It’s nothing you need to thank me for. I couldn’t do much for him anyway.”

In the end, I’m only working as commander due to my title as noble, Chrono smiled bitterly.

“By the way, why did ye stay back this time, Captain?”

“…Because I’m your superior officer,” replied Chrono after a short while.

“Yer not goin’ t’tell me the real reason?”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I’d love to,” Mino said with a sigh. “Captain, yer a good man. Ye not only care about the people of yer fief, but also ’bout us. Ye even took in former thieves as yer subordinates. On top of that, ye even try to protect slaves and harlots. I’ve seen lots of humans so far, but yer kindness could almost be described as that of a saint.”

“All of that was normal for the world I was born in.”

“Don’t be silly. Even if a fairy-tale like ye comin’ from another world with such values bein’ common were to be true, it’d usually be impossible to to pull that off over here,” argued Mino. “People become unable to do the usual when faced with pressin’ situations. That’s normal. Yet ye do that usual in a situation where yer life’s on the line. That’s anythin’ but normal. Just as I said before, it’s the actin’ of a saint. And that’s also why I don’t get it.”

“You don’t get what?”

“Captain, ye kill way too many people for bein’ a saint,” Mino answered Chrono’s whispered question with a low voice.

But, it didn’t shock Chrono.

“I think I’ve got something similar to a sense of duty in me.”

“Don’t give me such lies. Leavin’ aside yer first battle, ye’re landed nobility right now. Ye got three women warmin’ yer bed. Basically, yer a human who can obtain happiness at any moment, if ye only feel like it. Even an uneducated dork like me knows that it’s a lie for a guy like that to deliberately stay back in a death zone out of somethin’ like duty.”

Chrono smiled wryly. Not because he couldn’t agree with the reason, but because Mino had seen through what he had been trying to hide all the time.

Thinking it was the right time to talk about it, Chrono asked, “…Do you remember my first battle last year?”

“Aye, ye lost yer right eye, but I think ye did yer job as commander splendidly.”

Chrono stroked his right eye. And although he had just moments ago decided that it was a good time to talk about it, he was now getting cold feet. He fully realized that it required courage to be honest.

“When Layla and the others came back, I thought the centurion and those below him let my subordinates die because elves were dullards. I told myself that it wasn’t my fault. The me from back then was a shameless, cowardly piece of trash. That’s why. I don’t mind people talking behind my back. I don’t mind people calling me a coward. But, I’d hate to die after becoming the worst scum on my own accord.”

Chrono was looking downwards, his fists clenched.

“Captain, ye haven’t done anything shameful at all. That’s somethin’ I…we fully understand.”

“…Thanks, Mino,” Chrono smiled weakly.

This had become a bit of a heart-to-heart talk.

“Captain, look ahead!”

Suddenly Mino yelled, and Chrono spotted the enemy in front. The enemy soldiers were on the move. Chrono thought that they might have finally come to attack, but that was wrong. They were retreating. Chrono didn’t believe that they were planning to let them get away. In that case――

“As I thought, today will be the decisive day.”

“So it seems,” Mino agreed with a meek expression.

※

In the morning, Igniz advanced through the narrow path on his horse while hearing the scraping of footsteps behind him. Looking next to him, he found the Official of Divinities riding on his horse. He was murmuring about killing demons while chewing on his thumbnail. He didn’t appear to be sane anymore, but it was hard to decisively tell whether he’d succumbed to madness.

Having said that, the official made the soldiers retreat to the entrance of the narrow path as dawn broke. And then he reshuffled the units and formed a new plan while listening to Igniz’s opinion. At the time when the official requested his view, Igniz thought that he might have finally given up on caring about his appearance. But, when the soldiers had formed up in ranks, the official deployed his own soldiers in the front and Igniz’s men in the rear. Igniz assumed that the official had still enough leeway, if he could care about such things. And that was the reason for him being unable to make a decision about the official’s sanity, too.

Either way, he was able to confirm their combat forces. Combining Ingniz and the official’s men, their army amounted to 5,900 men. They consisted of 900 cavalry, 500 archers, and 4,500 infantry. Horses were ineffective because the imperial army had set up barricades in addition to the terrain being bad for horses. The cavalry would need to dismount and fight like infantry. So they essentially had 500 archers and 4,500 infantrymen.

The imperial army was fielding 1,500 men. So they had almost four times as many soldiers. If both armies had clashed on an open field, Argo would have definitely been able to win. But, the battlefield was a narrow path that made the deployment of the combat forces difficult and the enemy commander was Chrono. There was the worry that Chrono might be about to do something again.

Igniz felt like withdrawing the soldiers. That was his genuine, true feeling. They succeeded in repelling the imperial army, despite suffering a great number of casualties. As such, there was no benefit in sacrificing further, precious personnel.

He stopped his horse. The distance to the imperial army’s encampment was around 200 meters. Igniz let his eyes wander. Chrono was looking his way through a lower part in the barricade. Him staring their way with his arms folded made Igniz feel a certain level of boldness. He looked up the slopes. Scaffolds for archers had been constructed on the upper parts of the slopes. He guessed those archers would be lying in wait up there right now. But, they weren’t attacking right now.

Ignize guessed that they had to be in a situation where they were forced to economize on arrows. According to what he heard from Van, the imperial army frequently relied on archer support. As long as you could resupply arrows, this made sense, but they were stranded on enemy land. It was clear that they’d run out of arrows if they launched attacks over and over again.

“Archers! Fooooorward!” The official yelled and all the archers rushed out.

After going fifty meters ahead, the formed ranks. The path was narrow, not allowing more than 20 people to line up next to each other. Because of that, they were also using the slopes. As soon as they spread out to the sides, the formation took on the shape of a horseshoe.

“Readyyyyy!”

In accordance with the official’s order, the archers nocked their arrows. And just when the official breathed in deeply to give his next order, logs rolled down from the slope. Of course it wasn’t limited to one or two logs. Countless logs rolled down, mowing down the archers. And at that moment――

“Chaaaarge!”

Chrono drew his sword and jumped out of the barricade.

“Hoh,” Igniz reflexively said out loudly.

He’s a cunning man, but not a coward. Leading the charge while cutting through the vanguard makes him look like an outstanding commander.

The beastmen were running after Chrono. But, you couldn’t find any of the bigger races like minotaurs or lizardmen. Igniz assumed that they were planning to quickly close the distance and incapacitate the archers.

“Sir Official, your orders please.”

“A-Au…a――Kill! Kill those demons!” The official screamed.

Igniz sighed deeply. No soldier would be able to move with those orders. The archers recovered and readied their bows once more. But, their numbers were limited, if you going by the count of all archers. Some had died after getting mowed down by the logs, others couldn’t stand up because of their heavy injuries.

“Kill! Kiiiiiill!” The official squealed.

Maybe they considered that to be an order, or they acted on their own judgment. Either way, the archers released their arrows. They hit a few targets, but the beastmen didn’t ease up on their speed.

Have they resolved themselves to death? No, that’s wrong. Their equipment protected them from lethal injuries. Without me noticing, a tiger beastman has taken the lead of their group. Chrono has been swallowed by the stream of beastmen. But, I don’t think he acted like a coward here, but instead his legs couldn’t keep up with the beastmen.

“Flames!”

The tiger beastman dove amidst the archers and brandished his greatsword. An explosion followed with a slight delay. The archers were blown away and then more beastmen rushed in at that point. The archers drew their swords, bravely accepting the challenge, but their numbers were decreased at an astonishing rate. Yet, that was only natural. Archers were fairly unskilled in sword battles, compared to infantrymen. Moreover, there was a difference in physical abilities and equipment, too. Their attacks from the front were blocked , and even surprise attacks were stopped by the sturdy equipment. The archers’ attacks didn’t get through while the enemy was cutting apart their leather armor like it was nothing. It was a demonic scenery, but the archers took around 50 beastmen with them.

“Sir Official, your orders please.”

“Infantry, fooooorward! Save the archers!” The official yelled shrilly.

The infantry moved――

“Retreat!” Chrono yelled at once.

The beastmen turned around on the spot and started to withdraw orderly.

“It’s a chance! Pursue! Pursueeeeeee!”

“Please wai――”

The infantrymen charged while roaring. Igniz’s voice was drowned out by their war cries. But, the high-spirited war cries quickly changed into short screams. Arrows were raining down on them from the slopes. Igniz wondered why the official would let the infantry charge without any protection despite all the scaffolds for archers on the slopes.

The infantry collapsed like flies, saturating the air with the thick stench of blood.

“Ugh,” groaned the official, letting his eyes dart around.

“General Igniz! Do something!”

“…Understood.”

Although he’d have preferred to be relied on earlier, if the official was going to rely on him anyway, Igniz got off his horse and walked towards the field encampment. In the next instant, an arrow stabbed itself right at his feet. He took this as a warning. At the same time, it was a sign that they took him too lightly to think that he’d be stopped by something like this.

“Oh, War God who rules over Crimson Destruction!” Igniz offered a prayer while walking onwards.

A torrent of arrows came down at him. But, all the arrows turned into ash in the air without ever touching him.

“…God.”

He lifted his left hand at the height of his chest and offered a prayer. Red light congregated and turned into an orb. He released it towards one of the slopes. A breath later, a loud explosion occurred. The scaffold and the slope collapsed, resulting in the enemy archers tumbling down.

Infantry rushed over, stabbing out their spears. But, in the next instant, the infantrymen were engulfed in flames. They had suffered a counterattack. The enemy archers had learned magic arts as elves. And the troublesome part of magic arts was that it could be used as long as the caster could move their mouth. Elves were the enemies one should be most wary of on the battlefield.

“Oh, God!”

Leaving the killing of the archers to the infantry, Igniz released his light towards the opposite slope. Just like before, an explosion occurred and the scaffold came down alongside the slope.

Igniz’s visual field shook. It was the secondary effect triggered by an overuse of divine arts. Usually, this much wouldn’t cause him to have this reaction. He supposed it meant he was more tired than he had expected himself. Gritting his teeth, he stared ahead. Chrono was over there as he was trying to return to the field encampment while surrounded by beastmen.

“Oh, god!!” Igniz released his light towards Chrono’s back.

※

When he came to, Chrono was lying in the dirt. He had no memory of what happened. All he knew was that his body hurt all over. The sounds around him sounded muffled. Yet, he couldn’t recall why this had happened to him.

Suddenly he remembered having seen a crimson light.

Right. I was blown away right after I saw that light. Igniz must have used his divine arts. Oh shit. This place is in range of Igniz’s spells. I must get away from here.

Chrono raised his body, just to notice the corpses of his subordinates being scattered all over. Not one of the dead bodies had passed away normally. Some were tightly clenching their own throats. Their eyes red, almost as if they had been crying despite being in a situation that endangered their lives.

“…Oh, God.”

A feeble voice could be heard. Another voice told him to run. The instant Chrono started to work his legs in accordance to the voice, crimson light burst behind him. He was blown away by the explosion. And just when he tried to get up, his body floated. Taiga and Edgie had grabbed Chrono’s arms and were now running.

Both jumped behind the First Defense Line, and collapsed. Chrono tumbled down into the trench.

“Shit, that’s plain cheating!” Chrono spat out.

The scaffold on the slope was destroyed in an instant, dooming many archers to death. Without a doubt the field encampment’s effectiveness had drastically dropped because of that.

Chrono looked down at his hands. They were trembling ever so slightly. Once more he realized that this was scary. Even though he believed it to be foul play, the enemy mercilessly used his divine arts against them.

If possible, Chrono wanted to hide out in the trench until the battle was over, but he was the commander. He couldn’t do something like that. He had no choice but to resist with what he had on hand right now.

He slapped both his cheeks and crawled out of the trench.

The soldiers led by Horus and Lizad were throwing stones at the First Defense Line. Chrono walked up to Mino who stood behind the First Defense Line.

“Captain, it’d be no problem for ye to rest a bit longer.”

“I rested more than enough,” Chrono answered Mino and wiped the lower part of his nose with the back of his hand.

His throat was sore, so he spat out. At once he saw a red stain hit on the ground. He had apparently breathed in the dust that got whirled up by the divine art. After coughing a few times, the discomfortable feeling in his throat abated.

“What about General Igniz?”

“After usin’ his divine art against ye, he suddenly went down on his knees. They took him to the rear.”

Chrono breathed out in relief. It was possible for that man to appear on the front-line once more, but he wouldn’t blow away their encampment right now and here.

“Even without General Igniz present, we can’t relax.”

“Meaning?”

“Look at those.”

Chrono stared at the enemy. The enemy soldiers were closing in on them. It was the same as yesterday. But, the difference in comparison to yesterday were the bundles of tree branches. The stones hit those wooden bundles, causing the enemy soldiers to fall on their backside. But that was all. The enemy immediately got back up and started to walk again.

“What about the cover by the archers?”

“They’ve run outta arrows. We’ve got ’em to re-distribute the arrows, but…”

Chrono grimaced as he listened to Mino whispering to his ear. The arrow consumption was a lot worse than he had anticipated.

“What we goin’ to do? Are we goin’ to concentrate our combat forces?”

“No, even if they can’t provide cover, it’ll hurt if we lose the high ground.”

Suddenly anxiety welled up inside Chrono. Last year, Argo’s army had tried to circumvent their fence during the battle. He was worried that the enemy might try to circumvent their encampment and launch attacks from their flanks.

“Mino, have half the infantrymen move up.”

“Won’t our stronghold down here become shorthanded then?”

“It will, but I’d like to decrease the possibility of us being attacked from the side.”

“Gotcha,” Mino nodded and looked at Taiga and Edgie.

“Taiga, Edgie, take yer men and go up the slopes.”

“As you command.”

“Understood.”

Taiga and Edgie saluted before turning around. After calling their men together, they began to climb the slopes.

At that moment, Horus raised something akin to a scream.

“Stone throwin’ doesn’t work! The enemy has closed most of the distance!!”

Chrono looked in front. And just as Horus said, the enemy soldiers had come very close. They were now less than ten meters away from the First Defense Line. Stone throwing wouldn’t do any good at this point anymore.

Mino yelled, “Stop throwing stones! Pick up your weapons!”

“Got it.”

“…Affirmative.”

Horus and the others dropped the stones on the spot and picked up their weapons. Apparently having understood their aim, the enemy soldiers tossed their wooden bundles away and drew their swords. Then they rushed at the defense line.

“Don’t come over heeere!”

Horus stabbed out his spear, piercing the chest of an enemy soldier. The spear’s blade went through the leather armor like butter. As might be expected of a weapon made by Goldi.

The enemy collapsed. But, the soldier behind him immediately filled the hole. Horus thrust out his spear once again. A difference in reach was nice to have. The enemy had his throat pierced and collapsed then and there.

Breathing out in relief――was nothing they could do. The next enemy was already waiting in the back.

Chrono let his eyes wander. Wherever he looked, he saw the same scenery play out. The area in front of the First Defense Line was carpeted with enemy soldiers. He felt sick from just thinking how much they’d need to kill to get a rest. Looking at the enemy’s rear, he could spot the Official of Divinities clamoring about on his horse.

Chrono and his men were in a tough spot due to the crude strategy of relying on numbers. Anger welled up inside him.

“Captain, calm down, will ye?”

“You’re right, I guess,” Chrono breathed in deeply after getting scolded by Mino.

He looked up to the sky and released the air in his lungs. All of a sudden he heard a loud moooh. The scream of a minotaur.

When Chrono directed his eyes in the direction of the scream, he could just watch a minotaur falling. A spear was stuck in his throat.

Chrono groaned bitterly. He wanted to kill himself for having thought that it was nice to have a difference in reach. The enemy could use the same weapons their side could use. Chrono chided himself for having overlooked something so simple.

“Close the hole! Don’t let them break through, no matter what,” Mino shouted.

A lizardman stepped forwards, thrusting out his spear. In the meantime, the injured minotaur was carried to the rear. He was holding his neck with his hand, but Chrono doubted that he could be saved.

『Lord Chrono! The enemy is kinda in the process of getting closer!』

『Enemy soldiers are approaching over here as well』

Arided and Nasul’s voices could be heard from the magical communicator. Chrono retrieved the item from his pouch and asked, “What about Taiga and Edgie?”

『I have already arrived』

『Same』

Chrono felt relieved hearing their voices through the communicator.

“Taiga, Edgie, you’re to annihilate the enemy soldiers. Arided, Deneb, Nasul, I’d like you to fight while preserving your arrows as much as possible. I know it’ll be difficult, but please.”

『『Roger!』』

Probably as representatives, Arided and Deneb answered. Chrono glared at the Official of Divinities.

“If we don’t kill the enemy commander…”

…things will only get worse, mumbled Chrono under his breath.

※

In the evening, short screams could be heard intermittently. The minotaurs, who had been protecting the First Defense Line, got injured after suffering attacks from the enemy soldiers.

“We’re going to step forward. You guys, fall back to the rear in the meantime!” Horus yelled while thrusting out his spear.

Lizardmen filled the hole created by the fallen minotaurs. The injured minotaurs left the First Defense Line on their own or they were dragged away to the back by their comrades. The back of the defense line was crammed with wounded and killed.

Because the soldiers had received courses in emergency treatments, they could at least treat their injured comrades over there, but the seriously wounded were beyond their abilities. They could only delay their inevitable death by a short time.

『We succeeded in repelling the enemy, but four of my men were killed in the process』

『It’s been three over here』

“We can’t send ye any reinforcements, so make do with what ye have.”

Taiga and Edgie’s sorrowful voices echoed out of the magical communicator. Mino answered with a tone that sounded like a groan. At this point it was unclear how many attacks had been launched against both sides on the slopes. They were holding out up there, but each time they suffered casualties. No, it’d be more correct to describe it as them barely hanging on which was the reason for all those casualties.

Combining the headquarters and both wings, the casualties had exceeded 300, and the number of wounded was endless. Of course, it wasn’t as though Chrono’s men let themselves be slaughtered without any resistance. By now they had slain more than three times as many enemies.

『The arrows! It looks like the arrows have run out!』

『Over here too』

Arided and Deneb screamed. Chrono chewed on his lips. He couldn’t blame the two. No matter what they did, they had to use up arrows to suppress the enemy.

“Redistribute ’em!” Mino shouted into the communicator.

『Even if we redistribute them, it’ll still be less than five arrows person』

“It’s better than nothin’,” answered Mino to Nasul’s dispassionate reply.

『Understood』

Even as Mino shouted, Nasul remained calm and indifferent. He likely didn’t have the leeway anymore to pay attention to Mino sounding as if he was somewhat angry. But of course you could say the same for all of Chrono’s men.

“Fuck! How long is this going to continue,” Chrono spat out, glaring at the rear of the enemy.

The Official of Divinities was over there. He was kicking up a fuss on top of his horse, clamoring about killing and advancing.

Currently it was the evening of the second day. Even though it’d be hopeless to catch Alfort, the enemy didn’t stop his onslaught. Either the objective and means had switched places inside the official or his objective had changed to killing Chrono.

Suddenly a stir occurred among the enemy soldiers. Chrono had a bad feeling about this. The enemies in the back parted to the sides, allowing Igniz to trot forward on his horse. At once, Chrono started to sweat, wondering what they would do if he used his divine arts. But then he shook his head. Not much time had passed since the last time. Besides, he’d definitely hit his allies under the current circumstances, so he shouldn’t be able to use his divine arts.

Igniz appeared in front of the official. In response, the official went ahead of Igniz while donning a sullen expression. All that actually happened was this. Yet, the enemy’s pressure increased. Their soldiers raised battle cries while climbing over their dead comrades and pushing forward.

At last, the First Defense Line was breached. A lizardman collapsed, and the enemy soldiers streamed inside through the gap. At once, the lizardmen and minotaurs dealt with the intruders. They formed a circle around the enemy soldiers and thrust their spears at them. The enemy soldiers were pierced by the sharp blades, but they didn’t scream. They didn’t fall either. They attacked while roaring.

No hope. At this rate, They’re going to break through.

Probably having guessed as much, Mino looked at Chrono, who immediately understood the meaning.

“We’re retreating! Fall back to the Second Defense Line! Get away from the First Defense Line!”

As soon as Chrono yelled, his men became noisy. But, they obeyed his order. Even they understood from experience that their defenses would collapse at this rate. The subordinates, who had been holding the front-line, withdrew and the First Defense Line heeled over due to the weight of the enemy soldiers.

“Lizad!”

“…Lightning,” Lizad muttered as soon Chrono called his name.

Lightning was released from his big mallet. It pushed through the First Defense Line as if licking it all over, and set the firewood in its back on fire. In no time, the First Defense Line was engulfed by raging flames.

The enemy soldiers were excited thanks to Igniz’s appearance on the battlefield, but as might be expected, they weren’t dumb enough to jump into fire. As such, Chrono’s group had succeeded in dividing the enemy. Chrono’s men caused a bloodbath among the enemies who managed to pass the First Defense Line.

“Fall back to the Second Defense Line! Only help the wounded! Leave the…corpses where they are!”

“Gotcha. We’re runnin’!”

“…Affirmative. Retreat.”

Horus and Lizad instructed their soldiers after Mino had raised his voice. The lightly wounded started to move on their own while the seriously wounded got help from their comrades.

Chrono stared at the burning First Defense Line. He suspected that this should buy them a bit of time. He took out his magical communicator from his pouch.

“How are things over there?”

『We’ve been attacked fervently until moments ago, but now the attacks kinda stopped』

『But, they’re glaring at us』

『It’s the same over here as well』

Arided, Deneb, and Nasul answered Chrono’s question. Very likely the enemy had planned to launch his attack as soon as the fires at the First Defense Line died out.

“Take a bit of a rest.”

『『Roger』』

『Got it』

After the three answered him, Chrono put his communicator away.

“Captain, ye gotta fall back”

“Yeah, I know.”

Urged by Mino, Chrono started to walk. The Second Defense Line was just a stone’s throw away. Climbing over the Second Defense Line, which was covered with soil, he let his eyes wander. It looked like the shelters had been finished.

“I’ll have them take breaks in turns.”

“Okay, please do. But, before that…”

Chrono turned his eyes to a wooden box located in a corner of the narrow path.

“I think I have to distribute the gold coins to everyone”

“Ye sure?”

“This is probably the end. I’d like to reward all those who lasted for us up until this point.”

“…Gotcha.”

Mino looked downwards, his shoulders trembling.

“But, I don’t need any money. I’ll stay with ye to the bitter end, Captain.”

“How heavy, man.”

“I’m yer caretaker. I’ll accompany ye even to hell.”

“At least say paradise here,” Chrono laughed, inducing Mino to laugh as well.

“But, I don’t have any intention to give up until the end.”

“Me neither.”

“Aight. I might be called not very noble-like, but I’ll struggle as best as I can.”

Chrono clenched his fists, glaring at the enemy. There were still lots of things he wanted to do. He’d promised that he’d come back alive. He couldn’t afford to die here because of that.

※

“Go! Charge! The one-eyed demon is right there!” The Official of Divinities yelled atop his horse.

But, the soldiers didn’t obey. Naturally so. The barricades were a wall of fire. No one would be able to break through such a wall, even if they were told to do it.

“General Igniz! Use your divine arts! Blow it away with your divine arts!”

“I’ll become unable to protect you, but if that’s fine with you, I can do it.”

“T-That’d be a problem,” answered the official with a shrill voice as Igniz sighed.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the narrow path. One and a half day had passed since the imperial army had started its retreat. Even if they managed to crush Chrono’s forces, it’d be difficult to capture Alfort. Nothing but a downfall would await the official.

And yet, he still prioritized saving his own hide. Igniz suspected that the official couldn’t even fathom his own downfall.

I’m sure we’ll keep doing this until the moment when he falls. Still――

“Sir Official of Divinities, how about pulling back the soldiers?”

“What are you talking about!?”

The official yelled.

As I thought, it was in vain. The feelings of exhaustion are weighing down on me. But, even while knowing that I’m forcing myself, I’m still holding the title of general. I probably should invest some effort into this.

“Even if we crush the enemy in front of us, it will be impossible to catch Alfort.”

“You won’t know until you try, will you!? Besides, we must kill that demon! That demon will definitely become a harbinger of calamity for the Kingdom! I can tell!” The official rattled down.

Igniz assumed that he was only thinking about killing Chrono, but it seemed as though he was still planning to catch Alfort.

“So you won’t pull back the soldiers, you say?”

“I-I do! I was assigned as commander of this army by His Majesty! I haven’t been relieved of my post yet! I’m still the commander! Follow my orders!”

“I understand.”

Igniz nodded quietly. It was an outcome as he had expected, but he still felt disappointed by it. Somehow or another, he had harbored some hope somewhere in his heart. Igniz shifted his eyes to the enemy’s field encampment. The soldiers over there had formed a line and Chrono was handing them something.

Igniz didn’t know what it was, but they had to brace themselves.

※

Chrono stared at the First Defense Line. The wood they used to build was scorching, the flames about to die out. He put his hand into his pouch and retrieved a piece of candy.

“Want to have one, Mino?”

“No, I’ve got my own.”

With those words, Mino pulled a candy out of his pouch. He tossed it into his mouth and smiled in satisfaction. Chrono followed his example. At once sweetness spread inside his mouth. When he looked around, his men had also taken their candy. They gazed at the First Defense Line while rolling the candy around in their mouths. The last traces of fire gradually became smaller and around the time when Chrono’s candy had melted away, the fire died.

White smoke was rising. A gust of wind blew through the ravine. The First Defense Line collapsed. In the next instant――

“Chaaaarge!” The Official of Divinities shouted from atop his horse.

The enemy soldiers advanced on them while holding their wood bundles. Even though Chrono had hoped that they’d be as kind as to not expect them to attack with stone-throwing anymore. He truly hated opponents who were very careful.

Suddenly, an enemy running in the lead vanished. The one following after him also vanished. The third enemy eased up on the speed and looked around himself. And then he shouted, “Pitfalls!”

The enemy came to a halt as he shouted loudly. Two holes had opened up in their vicinity.

“D-Don’t push!”

“Stop!”

“There are pitfalls!”

“I’m also being pushed!”

The following soldiers also stopped and yelled at their comrades. But, that only increased the pressure from behind. Yet, they somehow managed to hold their ground, but eventually they had to give in. Yielding to the pressure, one enemy soldier took a big step forward. The ground caved-in, and the soldier disappeared within.

Screams that caused one’s hairs to stand on end echoed out of the hole, causing the other enemy soldiers to try to go backwards.

Of course, that was impossible. Their allies were behind them like a wall. And being pushed by those very comrades, one enemy soldier after the other dropped into the holes.

“Now!”

“We will give you a barrage of stones!”

“…Stone-throwing.”

In response to Chrono’s yell, Horus and Lizad put down their weapons and picked up stones. Their subordinates as well. At once all of them started to throw stones. Those stones gouged out flesh and shattered bones.

Some enemies escaped that fate thanks to their wood bundles, but the outcome was the same. They lost their balance and became prey to the pitfalls. Even those, who remained safe during the first volley, were soon visited by the same fate because of the pushing. The next thing you knew, the enemy soldiers were standing far away from the pitfalls.

“Advance! Get moooooving! Bury the pitfalls with your own bodies!”

The official clamored on his horse.

It was a devilish order. No, a devil would have shown a bit more mercy. But, probably having some reservations about it, an enemy soldier threw his wooden bundle into a pitfall, just to have his face crushed by a stone the next moment.

The soldiers in the vicinity looked down into the hole as if blaming their comrade for his silly action. Suddenly, they exchanged looks as if they had realized something.

Don’t tell me they’ve come up with a plan to overcome this deadlock in such a short amount of time!?

And just as Chrono had feared, they found a method. Some soldiers holding wooden bundles lined up in front, blocking the stone attacks, while others threw wooden bundles into the pitfalls. The enemy soldiers passed on wooden bundles from the rear like a bucket brigade, quickly filling up the pitfalls.

Once those were buried, the enemies advanced again while roaring. Apparently having gained momentum from having overcome the pitfall-challenge, or maybe because they were angry over their comrades having been killed, they plunged forward without faltering under the barrage of stones.

“Grab your weapons!” Mino yelled.

“Got it!”

Immediately following, Horus picked up his weapon in panic while Lizad grabbed his mallet silently. At that point, the enemy soldiers pushed in.

Chrono’s men thrust out their spears, but the enemy didn’t falter. Igniz’s presence probably pushed their backs. Chrono thought that it’d have been better if he had killed that man during the night raid. And as he indulged in such thoughts――

“Captain!” Mino almost screamed.

It’s the first time for him to produce such a voice. Just what the hell has happened?

Staring in front, Chrono’s eyes widened.

“It’s a batterin’ ram!”

“I can tell myself!” Chrono shouted back.

A battering ram was approaching them. It was a simple construct of a log having been tied to a wagon, but Chrono didn’t know whether the Second Defense Line would be able to withstand it.

He retrieved the magical communicator from his pouch and shouted, “Someone stop that ram!”

There was no reply. Instead, arrows came flying from the slopes. Chrono felt like crying. The density of arrows was far too low. But, they still succeeded in killing several of the enemy soldiers pushing that ram. However, other soldiers immediately took over, and at this point Chrono felt like he could understand the reason why they weren’t faltering away.

The morale support by Igniz’s presence played a role as well, but the enemy soldiers believed they’d be able to win as long as they used a battering ram. Humans exhibit an unbelievable resilience when there’s light at the end of a tunnel. Hope wasn’t limited to just Chrono and his men.

“It’s all ooooover! It’d have been better if I had used up my salary, had I known this would happen!”

Just when Horus wailed around pathetically, Lizad jumped out of the Second Defense Line.

“Stop! Stop that guy!”

“It’s our victory if we destroy the barricade!”

“Hang on! Every second counts! Stall for time!”

Enemy soldiers attacked Lizad, but he pushed his way through them without a care. Bending his body, he readied his big mallet. A magic item might be able to defeat the soldiers pushing the ram, but――

“Lizad! The ram is close!”

“…Lightning.”

Without minding Chrono’s yell, Lizard used his magic item. Lightning surged out of his weapon. The enemy soldiers hit by it collapsed. Yet, the battering ram didn’t stop. It had gained too much momentum. Probably intending to block it himself, Lizad placed the mallet on the ground and got ready.

Lizad and the ram collided. And the ram stopped. But, just for an instant. In the next instant, it crashed into the Second Defense Line alongside Lizad. A part of the defense line collapsed, whirling up a cloud of dust.

Cheers erupted. Of course, coming from the enemy soldiers.

That scene was one of despair for Chrono and his men. They felt like they had lost all hope. But――

『L-Lord C-Chrono, they kinda broke through our ranks!』

『Sorry! Over here as well!』

Arided and Deneb’s voices could be heard from the magical communicator. Once Chrono looked up, he could spot enemy soldiers just running down the slopes. It was basically like adding insult to injury after their Second Defense Line was broken. Laughter welled up in him against his will.

『What should we kinda do!?』

『Forgive me! We kinda couldn’t back you up to the end!』

The two elves sounded like they were going to cry any moment. He could feel them. Even Chrono felt like crying, if only he wasn’t the commander.

“Don’t cry! I’ll definitely do something about it! So, don’t let any more enemies pass!”

『『R-Roger!』』

The two shouted back.

Chrono let his eyes wander. Enemies were pouring into the encampment through the breach in the defense line. Moreover, enemies were also closing in from both flanks.

“Mino, take over Horus’s command and push back the enemy at the Second Defense Line! Horus, get rid of the enemies who have entered our trenches!”

“Gotcha!” Mino replied assertively.

“I-I-I understand! You guys, follow me!” Horus stuttered.

Chrono looked up to the slopes. Several dozens of enemy soldiers were running down the slopes. First, he had to stop these guys.

“…Heavenly Pivotal Dance.”

Once he muttered the art’s name, the magic art’s formula streamed down in front of his eyes. His temples hurt. The art activated, giving birth to a jet-black orb.

Chrono released that orb towards the enemy running at the front. And as soon as it touched his head, Chrono clenched his fist. The enemy’s head vanished, and the torso fell to the ground, becoming a hindrance for the enemies following behind.

“Noooow! Rush at them!” Horus yelled.

The minotaurs rushed over to the enemy soldiers and mercilessly stabbed them with their spears. After short screams, the enemies passed away.

An impact hit his shoulder. Once Chrono looked back while staggering, he was faced with an enemy soldier. It wasn’t as though he had been careless, but he relaxed his attention while dealing with the enemy on one flank.

Chrono drew his sword and thrust its point at the enemy. Probably because his opponent was a conscript, the sword pierced through the throat all too easily, and the enemy soldier fell to the ground.

I’m going to focus my mind from now on. There’s still lots of enemy soldiers.

※

All might be lost, Chrono thought dimly. No matter how many we kill, they keep entering the Second Defense Line. How many more do we still have to kill? My nose has stopped working due to all the blood stench. My head is a damn pain, probably because I overused my divine art. My visual field is blurry at best and everything sounds so far away. Everything happening around me feels like it’s taking place in some distant place.

An enemy soldier swung his sword down on Chrono. He dodged, or rather, staggered aside and swung his own sword down. The enemy grimaced, probably out of pain, Chrono guessed. He couldn’t keep his sword straight, but Chrono didn’t mind that and kept slashing his sword downward. Over and over again. And then, the enemy soldier finally stopped resisting altogether and collapsed.

Chrono let his eyes wander. The trench was littered with corpses wherever you looked. Almost as if the ground consisted of them. Most of them were enemy soldiers as Mino was frantically holding out at the Second Defense Line. He didn’t know what happened to Arided, Deneb, Taiga, Nasul, and Edgie. Every once in a while an elf or beastman tumbled down a slope as if to remind Chrono of their existence, so he assumed they were fighting desperately up there. And even though all of them were fighting so hard, they weren’t able to overturn the battle’s progress.

Chrono searched for Horus, just to find him surrounded by enemy soldiers. Tears and snot were running down his face. But, when Chrono stepped forward to rescue Horus, an enemy blocked his way. He was around as old as Kyle――the poor boy from Argo who was tortured to death. It wouldn’t change anything anymore if he said it, but Chrono thought it’d have been better if he had done his best to guarantee the boy’s safety.

But now it was too late. Kyle was dead and Chrono couldn’t afford to get killed. He was going back. To the Erakis March. He breathed out lightly and took a step forward as if falling forward. The enemy soldier couldn’t react.

Chrono stepped down firmly and drove his elbow against his opponent’s nose bridge. He could tell that the bones were broken. His opponent held out a hand as if pleading for a break, but without caring about that, Chrono swung down his sword. The blade sank into the boy’s shoulder. This time he held the sword straight, but his slash lacked strength.

The enemy soldier fell on his backside, just to use his hands and feet to crawl backwards. Chrono had no intention to show mercy. He slowly closed the distance and raised his sword. In response, the enemy covered his head and screamed. It sounded like Mum.

That pulled Chrono back into reality. Light, sound, and smell swooped down on him all at once. A shock ran through his body. Once he looked down, the enemy soldier was pushing his head against Chrono’s belly. He felt a pain in his thigh and his brain was jolted by a searing pain.

He thrust his opponent away on reflex. Once again, the enemy soldier fell on his butt. Grasping a dagger. Chrono lopped off the enemy soldier’s head with his sword.

“Aahh,” groaned Chrono once more. Several enemy soldiers were inching closer. He vaguely thought that it was all over now. But he still put strength into the hand holding his sword. He had decided to struggle to the end. He had promised to come back. So he would fight.

“Di――”

“Bumooooohh!”

The enemy’s soldier’s voice was drowned out by someone else’s voice. Horus. In the next instant, the enemy soldier got rammed by Horus and was blown away. The other enemies attacked all at once and Horus started to recklessly brandish his spear. Being his by the spearhead, one enemy flew away.

“I won’t let ya! I won’t let ya get Lord Chrono!”

“What, aren’t ye the minotaur from before who’s been bawlin’ like a baby? Bloody hell, we let you live since you begged for your life, and now this… Don’t get in the way now of all times! We’ll be able to go back home if we kill the commander! I wanna go back to my family!” One of the enemy soldiers yelled in annoyance and thrust out his spear.

But, his spear’s tip never reached Horus. The minotaur had swung down his spear before that. The enemy crumbled on the spot.

“I-I’ve never done anythin’ like beggin’ for my life! I’m strong! I’m really strong!! There’s no way I’d beg for my life! I’m not useless! I’m not just being protected! I, I…I’m awesome!”

“We need more here!”

“Please! Please send reinforcements!”

“Wait! I’m on my way!”

The enemy soldiers asked for help, resulting in new enemies showing up. They immediately attacked Horus. But, Horus dealt with them by swinging his spear around. Chrono stepped forward, believing that he had to save the minotaur and fell on his backside. Looking at his thigh, he grimaced. Blood was freely flowing out.

Chrono retrieved a broad piece of cloth from his pouch and coiled it around his upper leg to close up the wound. He stood up and shifted his weight on the injured leg. It hurt quite a bit, but not to the degree of making it impossible for Chrono to walk.

He let his eyes wander, looking for Horus. But he couldn’t find the minotaur anywhere. Chrono got a bad feeling about this. Dragging his foot, he searched for Horus and then came to a halt.

“…Horus.”

Chrono stared at a slope. Horus was leaning against the wall, his limbs stretched out. Chrono walked up to him and shook his shoulder. But, Horus didn’t even twitch. He was dead.

“A battering ram! Another battering ram is on the way!” Someone yelled.

Chrono ran, or tried to, since the injury made it hard.

“Heavenly Pivotal Dance, Heavenly Pivotal Dance, Heavenly Pivotal――”

He activated, activated, and activated his divine art while running――his visual field was buried by overlapping art formulas and an intense headache tormented him. To the degree that he’d blow away his own head, if only he had a gun. Naturally, this world didn’t have any guns. Not even matchlocks. And Chrono didn’t know how to make them either.

His head was lolling. As if the ground had become a cushion.

Once he rushed out of the Second Defense Line, the ram was approaching. He ran towards it. He ran, ran, ran. Enemy soldiers jumped at him, spears came at him. He intended to dodge all of them splendidly, but one grazed his flank.

Alongside a thump, his visual field became pitch-black. And then it returned to normal all of a sudden. The ground was getting closer. He escaped falling over by taking a big step forward. When he raised his face, the ram was right in front of him.

Chrono roared like a beast and kicked off the ground. He rolled on top of it while making a black sphere disappear at the same time. At around more than twenty Heavenly Pivotal Dances, the ram had turned into a swiss cheese. Just like the enemy soldiers pushing it. His visual field shook violently. No, the ram inclined.

He was thrown on the ground alongside a loud sound. After being jolted around repeatedly and finally stopping, he had a light coughing fit. The taste of iron spread in his mouth. It felt as if something slimy had slid deep into his throat. He assumed he had a nosebleed.

Chrono sat up while being tormented by a sensation that couldn’t be clearly defined as pain or heat. The Official of Divinities was clamoring around.

Running his mouth about devil this, killing that as he pleases. I guess it means he’s several dozen meters away. This battle will be over, if only I close that distance. Yet, several dozens of meters is hopelessly far. Not to mention the endless flood of enemy soldiers blocking the way. It’s impossible to close this distance. It might be all over,’ while thinking so, Chrono put strength into his legs, managing to somehow stand up.

His sword was gone. He had likely dropped it somewhere. Hence, he readied his dagger.

“My name is…”

He leaked a hoarse voice. But, he was happy that he could still talk at all.

“My name is Chrono! The son of Chrohd Chroford, the patriotic hero, and Ella Frond! I’m the commander of this unit! If you have no fear, come at me!”

As soon as Chrono laughed, the enemy soldiers stopped!

“Captain!” He heard Mino’s voice.

But since he was facing the front, he couldn’t see what was going on behind him. Yet, it seemed as if he could sense that person advancing while mowing down enemies with his poleax.

It’s alright. I won’t give up. I’ll struggle to the very end. After all, it’s far from over. I’ll definitely survive and go back.

The instant he stepped forward, his strength left him. This time he fell on his knees without being able to stand firm.

Suddenly, his visual field was covered by a shadow. He lifted his face.

“…Lizad,” muttered Chrono while dumbstruck.

Lizad stood there. His whole body was drenched in blood. Maybe he had been unconscious until now or fought all the time. Half his face was torn to pieces. Lizad carelessly tore out a fang, which hung there loosely, and offered it to Chrono.

The boy held out both hands while not understanding what the lizardman wanted to tell him. Lizad let the bloodsoaked fang fall onto Chrono’s hands.

“…Memento,” muttered Lizad quietly, readied his big mallet and started to run.

※

Lizad dashed with the mallet in his hand. Lizardmen had a dull sense of pain, so he didn’t even know just how many injuries he had sustained. Each time he took a step, he felt the power necessary to keep his body working flow out. Lizad knew that he’d die. At this rate, he’d stop breathing any moment, if he stopped moving his legs.

And comprehending as much, Lizad desperately kept moving his feet. Enemy soldiers thrust out their spears, but Lizad didn’t evade them. The spears pierced his arms, chest, and neck.

He wondered why. There was no reason for him, who had been born as a lizardman, to fight for the empire. He should have fought more than enough as a soldier. At the very least, he had no obligation to fight for an army that would turn him into a sacrificial pawn.

For my comrades, for Chrono, no, I’m harboring hope. Universal Declaration of People’s Rights――if it’s Chrono, he should be able to change the world into a place where demihumans, slaves, commoners, and nobles all had the same value.

The word dream crossed Lizad’s mind.

A dream. For the sake of an idealistic dream. It’s for the sake of the dreams my comrades mentioned after we finished our training. We harbored dreams. We were able to dream. We’ve started to embrace expectations for tomorrow.

That alone is plenty, Lizad shook off the enemy soldiers and raised his mallet over his head with one hand. The enemy’s commander was right in front of him. And in the next instant, Lizad’s visual field was filled with flames.

※

Igniz got off his horse and walked up to the fallen lizardman. The demihuman was in a terrible state. Half of his face and his left arm were gone. His body was riddled with spear holes and scaldings.

“…Despite being our enemy, I must admit, it was a marvelous feat.”

He blurted those words of praise out after a short time of hesitation. His praise contained no falsehood. He truly assessed this lizardman to be outstanding. He had come all the way to being one step away from the official while being covered by so many injuries. If Igniz hadn’t gotten in the way, the lizardman might have accomplished his desire.

Yep, it was a desire. This lizardman only had eyes for the official. Very likely he hadn’t noticed Igniz’s presence until the very last moment. And because of that Igniz had wavered whether he had the qualifications to voice that praise.

“Oooh, General Igniz. Well done!”

“…Sir Official of Divinities.”

When Igniz turned his eyes to the man, the official was just approaching after having descended from his horse. He looked down on the lizardman and grimaced. Thereupon――

“You fucking, filthy lizard! How dare you scum to try killing me! Know your own standing!”

“Sir Official!” Igniz spontaneously raised his voice as soon as the official stepped on the lizardman.

“Are you going to protect a demihuman while being a general of the Holy Kingdom of Argo!?”

“That’s no――”

The instant Igniz spoke up to refute, something moved at the corner of his eyes.

“Hahiiiiiiii!!”

Suddenly the official squealed in a weird way and the lizardman was attached to his neck.

“T-T-This lizardman i-is alive!”

The official punched the lizardman’s nose tip while pissing himself. But, the lizardman showed no signs of relaxing his jaws. Far from it. He seemed to even increase his bite. His fangs tore through the skin, stabbing deep into the flesh.

Once the lizardman touched the official’s shoulder, it produced a creaking. The official’s bones were grating. Suddenly the sounds stopped, before the flesh was torn out alongside a nasty ripping sound. Blood gushed out of the official’s neck while the lizardman collapsed then and there. It had used up all of its remaining strength.

“Hiiiiii! Blood, my blood…p-please, General Igniz, please stop the bleeding,” the official clung to Igniz while holding down the wound with the other hand.

“General Igniz, I need a heal.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to use divine arts by yourself?”

“I-I cannot use any d-divine arts.”

I know, Igniz muttered deep in his mind. That’s why I’ve led him all the way here. Having said that, I cannot deny the claim that my own methods were rather lame. It means that hag’s evaluation that I’m completely useless outside of battle was correct. Either way, I’ve accomplished my duty. The rest belongs into the domain of politics.

“G-General Igniz, y-y-yooh b-bashard, d-don tell me…?”

“…”

Igniz didn’t answer. He didn’t have a character kind enough to allow this guy to die in peace.

“T-The tempel won szay sailant!”

“They won’t say anything if they learn that you can’t use divine arts, will they?”

“M-Murderer!” The official yelled while grabbing Igniz’s collar.

Those were his last words. His body lurched over and fell down sideways just like that. Igniz looked down at the official. Seeing the man lying dead in his own blood didn’t make him feel anything.

This man has been too selfish to deserve mourning. At least, no, even just thinking about it is nothing I want to do.

Igniz took a deep breath――

“Sir Official of Divinities passed away! Retreat to the town of Marcab! We will prepare for the attack of the imperial army over there!” He yelled.

The soldiers stirred, but no one dared to oppose his order. The subordinates of the official had suffered heavy losses and were now exhausted to the limit in body and mind.

※

“Sir Official of Divinities passed away! Retreat to the town of Marcab! We will prepare for the attack of the imperial army over there!”

“Retreat? We can defeat them with just another, small push.”

“Nice. I can finally take a break.”

“Why…? They should have called this off much earlier then…”

The enemy soldiers murmured in response to Igniz’s order. But, not a single one seemed intent on opposing his order. Once the first soldiers turned around and walked away, the rest followed soon after.

“…It’s over. Right?” Chrono muttered in astonishment while still sitting on the ground.

They had fought each other so violently. If he had to be honest, he couldn’t quite believe that it was now over, ever after being told so. He remained dumbfounded for a while――

“Captain, we were saved! Thanks to Lizad!”

Mino ran up to Chrono. Seeing Chrono’s thigh, his face twisted into a grimace.

“Can ye stand?”

“Somehow.”

Chrono borrowed Mino’s help and stood up. Once more, Igniz’s voice boomed through the ravine.

“Retreat! Retreat to the town of Marcab! We will encamp there and prepare ourselves for the next attack by the imperial army!”

“That’s no trap, is it?”

“There wouldn’t be any point in plantin’ a trap at this point, Captain,” answered Mino with a sigh.

It was just as the minotaur said. Chrono’s forces were battered to the limit. If Argo’s troops had continued the battle, they’d have been able to annihilate them easily.

“Retreat! Retreat to the town of Marcab! We will encamp there and prepare ourselves for the next attack by the imperial army!”

Igniz’s voice echoed. As if to spell the end of the battle against Chrono’s forces. Chrono guessed that it very likely wasn’t wrong. After all, the enemy soldiers had already started heading towards the town of Marcab. Chrono took his magical communicator out of his pouch.

“Arided, Deneb, Taiga, Nasul, Edgie, are you guys alive?”

『The enemy kinda spared our lives by retreating』

『But, many died』

『We have…a great number of injured』

『Us too』

『We will join up with you after applying first-aid treatments』

“We’ll be waiting.”

Chrono stuffed the communicator away again. Leo had died. Horus had died. Lizad had died. Many others had died as well. He was getting overwhelmed by exhaustion. He was barely standing on quivering legs――

“Everyone, let’s go home,” Chrono spat out alongside a weary sigh.

※

Shaela scooped soup from a pot, distributing it into a smaller bowl. It was an amber soup. After blowing on it a few times, she put it into her mouth. A rich taste spread inside her mouth right away. The soup came out very tasty.

Being able to make this much soup in the kitchen of a frontline base I’m not used to; I feel like I might actually be a genius.

“If it is like this, Lord Chrono will also…”

She was about to say delightfully, but stopped then and there. Her visual field was blurred by tears while she felt a clump in her throat. She thought it’d be bad to break out in tears here, but she couldn’t hold it back. Big tears rolled down her cheeks.

Recently it’s always been like this ever since she bid farewell from Chrono. She’d start crying inadvertently.

If only I knew his current situation, she thought, but she didn’t know anything. No information was passed down to her.

She quickly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Thereupon she was suddenly offered a handkerchief. It was decorated with elaborate, luxurious embroidery.

As soon as she lifted her head reflexively, she found a person in white uniform standing there.

If I remember correctly, she should be called Rio Cheiron.

As she compared the handkerchief and Rio――

“Here, I’ll lend it to you.”

“I cannot lend something so expensive-looking.”

“Okay, then I’ll give it to you.”

Rio pushed the handkerchief into Shaela’s hand and leaned against the kitchen counter. Shaela used the handkerchief to wipe her tears away, thinking it might be rude to not do so.

“Why did you give me this handkerchief? And even before that, a noble sir coming to the kitchen is――”

“Hehe, I’ve heard that you’re Chrono’s mistress. I thought I should take care of you as Chrono’s sweetheart.”

Sweetheart? Shaela’s eyes flew wide open. Then she looked at Rio’s chest and her face. She felt like Rio was a bit too delicate for a guy, but for a woman, her chest was――

No, well, such women exist as well, I guess.

At that point, Shaela stopped pondering about Rio’s gender.

“It’s a joke.”

“What, so you were jok――”

“The part about taking care of you, that is.”

Shaela was about to feel relieved, but then froze on the spot. Rio giggled. Shaela pursed her lips, thinking that Rio didn’t have to choose this time to tease her.

“It’s hard to wait by yourself. So I wanted someone to talk to.”

“Isn’t that something you can easily do with your knights?”

“Unfortunately, knights are a poor sport in this regard since they cannot help but to stay on standby when ordered to do so,” Rio folded her arms and sighed lightly.

“…Count Cheiron, aren’t you worried about Lord Chrono?”

“Hmm? I’m worried about him.”

Rio lowered her hands and placed them on the counter. And then she laughed while looking troubled.

“How to say it? It’s the first time for me to feel like this. I do feel like I can’t calm down, but I don’t know what I should do best. How about you? Ah, you don’t need to worry about how you speak with me.”

“I…,” Shaela brushed up her hair, “…I feel that I want to believe. But somehow I cannot avoid being reminded of my dead husband.”

“Oh, so you’ve been married?”

“Yes. My previous husband…suddenly passed away from illness.”

Why am I telling her such things? Shaela sighed lightly.

“Hmm, so, do you like Chrono?”

“Why must I talk about something like that with you?”

“Because I’m curious,” Rio answered with a light shrug. “And, what’s your answer?”

“Well, I don’t hate him, I guess,” Shaela said with her face averted from Rio.

Her cheeks were burning. Even though she had to answer calmly, with her acting like this, it was almost as if she was confessing her love.

“How about your side?”

“I love Chrono,” Rio replied matter-of-factly.

Shaela envied Rio for her honesty. And she couldn’t see the other woman as bad person――

“I love Chrono so much that I’d want to slaughter all the people of Argo, if Chrono got killed.”

“I-I see.”

Shaela looked away from Rio.

She’s no bad person, but she’s scary.

“I’m waiting for Sir Leonhart and Sir Taur to see whether I have to carry out a massacre.”

“Why those two?”

“Why, you ask…the 1st and 2nd Imperial Knight Orders went out to rescue Chrono.”

“Why has no one told me something so important!? Blast that beard guy!”

Shaela stomped her feet. Beltil hadn’t informed her about any rescue parties heading out towards Chrono.

“You heard her. Why didn’t you tell her?” Rio looked in the direction of the kitchen’s entrance.

Beltil was visible over there. He looked somewhat awkward. Then again, the same applied to Shaela as well.

“It was a measure to avoid the leaking of information. Besides, arranging doctors…,” Beltil mumbled while hiding him partly behind the door.

Shaela didn’t quite catch it, but she felt like he said he was busy.

“Even if you talk about being busy, there’s something you’d call prior――”

“The search party has returned!”

Shaela gasped in response to the voice from outside.

“It’s a rescue team, no?”

“That’s basically the same!”

“There’s demihumans with them as well!”

“――gh!”

Shaela gasped once more, and then started to run. She pushed Beltil, who was still hiding behind the door, aside and rushed out of the kitchen.

The sun had already sunken and the air was chilly. Her body shivered as she scanned the vicinity, but she couldn’t find Chrono or his men anywhere. She asked herself where she should go next, but immediately noticed the soldiers moving in a certain direction.

Chrono must be ahead of them.

Shaela ran without caring about her skirt turning up. When she reached the outer part of the base, a crowd of soldiers had already gathered there. It was so quiet that you could suspect a funeral.

Thinking that it couldn’t be true, Shaela frantically denied all negative possibilities.

He promised me that he’d definitely come back. He promised me that he wouldn’t leave me behind alone.

Just the idea of ending up alone again constricted her chest. While bearing that oppressive feeling, she ran, pushing her way through the soldiers.

She felt like some complained to her about it, but she only cared about Chrono. At last she had passed through the throng of people. Knights in silver armor were lending their shoulders to demihumans and wagons packed with wounded were pulled along.

She leaped among those people and yelled Chrono’s name. She called his name so much that her throat started to hurt. Then Shaela noticed two people approaching her.

One was the captain of the 2nd Imperial Knight Order, Taur. The other one was――Chrono. He was walking while borrowing Taur’s shoulder.

Shaela’s emotions burst forth and she started to sprint. Her feet got twisted and she fell over. Probably having noticed her, Chrono separated from Taur and walked over.

Maybe because of the injury at his thigh, Chrono himself was about to collapse. But, he managed to somehow recover and made three firm steps. Yet, the limit awaited him on his fourth. Chrono’s knee gave in, but he didn’t fall. Because Shaela caught him in her arms.

His heart beat and body temperature was passed on to her.

He’s alive. He’s come back to me alive. He’s kept his promise.

“Shaela, I’m…back.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.”

“Fucking you until you become unable to stand up has to wait for now.”

“Idiot! What are you saying at a time like this!?”

“Sorry,” said Chrono with a frail smile on his lips. “Leo died.”

“I remember. The matter in the hilly area, right?” Shaela nodded.

“Horus too. Lizad too. And many more as well…I did my best, but it wasn’t enough!”

“It’s not your fault! It’s definitely not your fault!”

Chrono wept while Shaela put more strength into her arms as she hugged him. Her tears were overflowing. Her tears weren’t for the soldiers who had died on the battlefield. Her tears were ones of joy over Chrono having come back to her.

What an egoistic woman I am. Truly nasty. But, those are my genuine feelings.

While hugging Chrono, Shaela cried loudly.

※

Chrono and Shaela were embracing each other, weeping. Rio sighed lightly and turned on her heels. She pursed her lips, thinking that she wanted to hug Chrono as well. But at the same time, she thought it might be fine to yield Chrono to the other woman for today. When she quietly started to walk away, Leonhart called out to her.

“Oh my, you won’t have your emotional reunion with him?”

“Unfortunately, I’m a person capable of reading the atmosphere, unlike certain others.”

“Ouch, that one stung. Hahaha,” Leonhart laughed theatrically.

“How are the demi-humans doing?”

“I’m no doctor, so I can’t say it with certainty, but they shouldn’t have any problems if they receive proper medical care. Hehe,” Leonhart chuckled.

“Is something the matter?”

“On the way here, I’ve been asked whether Lord Chrono is alright many times over. I just remembered that.”

“And how is that so funny?” Rio muttered with a sigh. “…People worried about Chrono, huh? It makes me slightly envious.”

“People are worrying about you as well, aren’t they Sir Rio?”

“I don’t mean it like that. Us Imperial Knights don’t have anyone we can dedicate our sword to, but they do. That’s enviable.”

“Were you dissatisfied with Her Highness the Imperial Princess?”

“It’s not that I was dissatisfied with her, but there wasn’t much love between us either.”

If not for her attitude during the ball, I wouldn’t have had any problems being her ally. Then again, I feel like she’d have been betrayed sooner or later, even if I had been on her side during that incident――

“How about you, Sir Leonhart?”

“No matter who might be the leader, I will simply wield my sword as an imperial knight.”

“What a laudable attitude to have.”

Rio shrugged her shoulders lightly. To begin with, she didn’t actually consider it to be laudable at all. It just reaffirmed her thinking that Leonhart might be apathetic to anything.

As they walked next to each other, Leonhart spoke up, as if having suddenly remembered something.

“I hear the founding emperor of Cepheus was a black-haired man who arrived here from another world.”

“What are you talking about out of the blue?”

“I suddenly recalled a story I heard in the past. It’s a legend from the time of the empire’s foundation.”

“Hmm,” grunted Rio conversationally.

She rolled the term legend of the empire’s foundation around inside her mouth.

It doesn’t sound bad at all. The demihumans have no king. They might have had someone equivalent to that in the past, but that king disappeared within the darkness of history. Nowadays no one knows what culture they possess or what sort of history they have experienced.

If they install a king once again and if that king possesses black hair just like the founding king of Cepheus Empire――

Rio looked back over her shoulder. Chrono and Shaela couldn’t be seen as they were hidden by a wall of people. But Rio was sure they were still crying and hugging each other.

“Quite unappealing for a king.”

Anyhow, Chrono’s abilities are a little better than those of an amateur. He hasn’t even received the divine protection of a god. But, he’s a gentle person and a brave man who will go through thick and thin with his men. If the scene just earlier was a part of a legend about the foundation of a nation――

“…That would be its very first cry.”

“Did you say something?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

“Hehe,” giggled Rio.

She knew the legend of a nation’s founding which no one besides her was aware of. Thinking of it like that improved her mood somewhat. Today was the day when the king of all demihumans――or the king of all people oppressed by the empire――was born.

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Translation Notes: