“The time for the decisive battle is truly imminent.” (Therese)

Therese looked down at the rebel army led by Duke Nürnberg visible below from atop the field encampment and the further raised and expanded wall.
Just when we accepted the remnants of the escaped Helmut royal army, and finished their rearrangement as well as equipment supply, we were able to confirm the gradual amma.s.sing of the rebel army.

“Around how many people do they have?” (Wendelin)

“Let"s see. I guess it"s around 150.000.” (Philip)

Philip, who led the royal army"s group, answered my question.
Being a excellent tactical commander despite blundering at the inheritance dispute, he accurately saw through the military prowess of the rebel army.

“That"s a lot, isn"t it…?” (Wendelin)

“I think the group at the front are sacrificial p.a.w.ns.” (Philip)

“Eh?”

“Just call them as being in charge of losses. It"s something that often happened in past wars as well. Don"t mind it.”

“In charge of losses, you say…”

Due to Philip"s remark, Erw and Ina"s group, besides me, apparently can"t hide their discomfort.

“Duke Nürnberg wants to keep the losses of his soldiers low. At the same time, he wants to lawfully get rid of or exhaust the group that will become a hindrance to his rule of the empire in battle.”

“Certainly, the equipment and skill of the group at the frontline is second rate. I guess it"s Viscount Foot. If thou consider it that he will get removed sooner or later since his relations.h.i.+p with Duke Nürnberg is really bad, he will be crushed after using him as vanguard, no? It"s a tough world.” (Therese)

While saying that, Therese brings the telescope, which hung around her neck, in front of me.
My and Therese"s faces stuck together and her nice scent tickled my nose, but I tried to not pay any attention to that and observed the vanguard of the enemy army.

“The files of the troops are a mess, aren"t they? Is there a group of elitish soldiers as well?”

“It"s likely the n.o.bles with dodgy loyalty and the folks who were deemed unnecessary by Duke Nürnberg, right? That personage probably wants to advance everything in a logical manner.”

Mobilizing me and other magicians as well as a great number of soldiers, a large-scaled field encampment was completed in the Great Sorbid Wastelands.
For the sake of defending against the rebel army that"s marching north, a large and long wall, which even rivals large scaled castle walls using clay and rock, was finished.
Palings against horses have been erected all over in front of the wall and countless holes have been dug out as well.
No matter how much the liberation army struggles, it won"t be able to gather more soldiers than the rebel army.
Accordingly, Therese opted for a strategy of chipping away the enemy army"s forces with a defence battle in the Great Sorbid Wastelands.
It"s already approximately five months since the rebellion started.
The Great Sorbid Wastelands has developed into a big military base of the liberation army.
Therese was busily working at commanding the change into a military base, controlling the n.o.bles and governments in the rear in preparation for a protracted war and maintaining the liberation army"s organization and its supply structure.
Since I was a.s.signed to the post of staff officer, I have been helping out with the processing of the doc.u.ments together with Ina and Elise for some reason.
Katharina helped in the construction of the field encampment and acted as a.s.sistant of Burkhart-san who was teaching the other magicians.
Luise and Wilma were a.s.sistants for the combat training.
Erw has been taking lessons in the commanding of an army under Philip.
Also, he trained his katana techniques together with Haruka.
Which reminds me, I wonder what has Dous.h.i.+ been normally doing?
For some reason he worked hard at the reclamation and construction of the field encampment, and went hunting in nearby places.
Takeomi-san has been devoting himself to his guard role by staying at my side.
Occasionally, when he had time to spare, he looked at Erw and Haruka with looks and expressions full of anger, but neither of them minded at all.
They created a world for just the two of them.

『Haruka is a child that often accompanied me and onii-sama as a child…』 (Takeomi)

『Even that child will become an adult sooner or later, right?』 (Burkhart)

『I won"t approve that—!!』 (Takeomi)

There were also situations where Takeomi ended up running away while crying after being teased by Burkhart-san during his reminiscent talk.
It"s probably Burkhart-san telling him to finally grow up, but I don"t think that you can cure a siscon that easily.

『My guard… It"s fine since I"m currently handling doc.u.ments, but…』 (Wendelin)

Even after Takeomi-san ran away, I processed doc.u.ments calmly.
There"s Ina next to me, too. I think that it"s the end of the liberation army if an a.s.sa.s.sin is capable of appearing in Therese"s office.

『Earl-sama, you are doing such a job before I even realized, don"t you?』 (Burkhart)

『It"s because I can handle it somehow, I guess? How about it, do you want to help as well, Burkhart-san?』 (Wendelin)

『I"m busy with coaching the magicians.』 (Burkhart)

Burkhart-san taught magic to young magicians even though they were from the empire.
Since it"s only for a short period, their mana won"t grow that much, but there was no one more superior in magic accuracy and mana efficiency than Burkhart-san.
In reality, such a task probably belonged to Bladdson-san, but he had been murdered hideously.
That"s why Burkhart-san took over this job resulting in the number of his pupils once again growing on the distant imperial soil.

『Earl-sama, by now you are already Therese-sama"s retainer, aren"t you?』 (Burkhart)

『Though I still wonder whether that"s fine.』 (Wendelin)

I got incorporated into the liberation army despite being a foreign n.o.ble, but it doesn"t seem to be an issue since I received the peerage of imperial, honorary Earl.
Also, this was the biggest surprise (?).

『Honorary Earl Baumeister has deeds of arms. If you want to relieve him of that position, you just have to raise deeds of arms in the next battle.』 (Therese)

With Therese saying this, she apparently eliminated the meddling by the other n.o.bles.
However, I"d like her to stop agitating them too much.
It"s related to the improvement of the morale, but if things don"t go well, it"s very likely that it will become a primary factor for losing if they get deceived by Duke Nürnberg"s schemes.

『It"s an era where war didn"t exist for a long time, but for a n.o.ble there"s nothing as valuable as deeds of arms.』 (Therese)

It"s as Therese says. Thanks to that I increased my power on the surface.
However, I wonder whether it"s really fine to hold two peerages without getting in contact with His Majesty?
There"s no precedent and the bureaucratic n.o.bles will likely kick up a fuss.

『Even if you worry about it, it can"t be helped. For now we have no other choice but to win.』 (Armstrong)

Even so, I was grateful that Dous.h.i.+ is nearby.
It"s because if he"s able to explain things to His Majesty later, he will likely describe the circ.u.mstances correctly.
Of course we can also expect a lot from him even as war potential.

『True, we now have no other option but to just do that.』

『It"s a time for war. You have to shake off unnecessary dwelling and simply focus on striking down the enemy in front of you.』 (Armstrong)

Dous.h.i.+ stared at the rebel army with a sharp glint in his eyes. It was as if he"s daunting the entire enemy army.
Conversations like these took place as well, but currently I"m watching the battle formation of the approaching rebel army next to Therese.
While having our faces close to each other due to the single binoculars,

“Is it almost the entire force?”

“As expected, it"s close to the limit at this point in time, I think.”

I feel like Elise mood has unmistakably taken a nosedive, but currently it falls under war preparation.
Thinking that I will cater to her mood later, I averted my look from the rebel army.
It"s definitely not because Elise was scary.

“They took their time with the cleaning up of the royal army that had invaded and laying the groundwork around the imperial capital. We completed this field encampment during that time. Taking this place will likely cost them dearly. Since he likely wants to avoid losses among his own soldiers, it"s a given that the guys at the frontline will be wasted after using them.” (Therese)

Therese is confident after seeing the group at the front she could confirm as n.o.bles from their faces.
That means, just as Philip said, the group at the front is a disposable unit.
That"s why there will be no problems with their equipment being bad and their training being insufficient.

“It"s probably feasible for it to be an annihilation and repulse of the enemy, but…”

“Yes, that"s right. It will exhaust our army, too.” (Therese)

Losses will come up and fatigue will also acc.u.mulate.
We will likely waste a large amount of arrows, too.
At the moment we got exhausted Duke Nürnberg would be able to attack us with his favourite elites causing the risk of the field encampment falling.

“It"s a cruel plan, but it"s very effective, isn"t it?” (Wendelin)

“There"s no way to prevent it either.” (Therese)

Regarding the unneeded n.o.bles and soldiers as nothing but consumable goods can be called as logical thinking at a frightening level.
However, since he and his staff won"t be among those victims, he might not feel overly much mental anguish over it.

“Get ready for interception!”

At the same time of conveying Therese"s order to our entire army, the rebel army… didn"t start moving.
That"s because three knights approached our side while hoisting a white flag, despite their army being in a formation ready for battle.

“Where is d.u.c.h.ess Philip-sama!?”

“I"m here!” (Therese)

The knights hoisting the white flag were military envoys.
They called out to Therese and she answered them.
Despite the opponent being a rebel army, that was etiquette.

“Thee came to ask for our surrender?” (Therese)

“If possible, we hope for that and we have a statement of His Majesty.”

“Humph! A fake emperor that stole the country with a rebellion? Duke Nürnberg-dono, a disappointing man who"s more intolerant than expected.” (Therese)

The knights didn"t ask or say anything towards Therese"s reply that dripped with sarcasm.

“In that case, the rest will follow after we bring it to an end with a battle.”

“I guess that person works swiftly. If possible I"d like to avoid losses though.”

“His Majesty thinks the same. In that case, matters change…”

The military envoys return to their own army"s position after proposing something unexpected to Therese.

“Dining together, what is he planning?” (Therese)

The condition presented to Therese by the military envoy was to hold a dinner between the leaders before the battle.
I wonder just what the h.e.l.l will be achieved by doing something like that?
Is this a flag that often occurs in such kind of stories where we are supposed to think 『The enemy has their own circ.u.mstances as well, so they aren"t really hateable either, right?』 after actually trying to talk and listening to the explanation of the enemy boss?
Or more precisely, something like that is unnecessary this late in the game.
In my eyes I believe that I"d like someone like Duke Nürnberg to perish on his own accord if he gets defeated.

“If you consider it normally, it"s a case where you have to be careful of deliberate murder, right?” (Armstrong)

Everyone including me revealed an expression full of surprise due to Dous.h.i.+ having a decent opinion for a change.

“Well, even I can come up with something to that extent!” (Armstrong)

“But you know, it will be fine with our side preparing the venue and the meal, right?”

Since Burkhart-san was next to Therese as well, he has heard the conditions regarding the dinner of military envoys.
For both sides it was up to three people including the respective leaders.
The location was right at the half point that can be watched by both armies.
Moreover, we were told that it"s fine for our side to prepare the dishes.
Even though there"s also the possibility of us putting poison into it, they still don"t mind.

“Does he want to show his fort.i.tude to the rebel army"s soldiers?”

“However, it"s surely effective.”

In this time"s rebellion play, there was also the means of us killing him with magic in the worst case.
However, that method was actually prohibited by Therese.

“n.o.bles are beings with high pride. No matter how much they might be rebellious elements, the rumours would get worse if you get rid of him with such method. It not unlikely for that to influence the reign after this.” (Therese)

“Even though Duke Nürnberg didn"t lose to d.u.c.h.ess Philip in ability, his life was put to an end after getting killed in the middle of realizing his will. d.u.c.h.ess Philip is expected to be the legitimate winner, but under her government the empire keeps deteriorating. Therefore, this me, who succeeded the will of the hero Duke Nürnberg, will take over! or something like that?”

That means it will be easy to use the existence of Duke Nürnberg, who was murdered premeditatedly, for the next guy to cause a rebellion.

“If he"s turned into a tool of wors.h.i.+p, it will become a nuisance in the distant future. Regarding it on short-term, there will be many victims, but the way of thoroughly and completely crus.h.i.+ng them will nip the buds of the next rebellion and that might eventually result in less losses in long term.” (Therese)

There was the possibility that survivors, who can"t agree with the settlement, and other n.o.bles would use him as a banner for a rebellion.
There"s also the worry that the group that supported Duke Nürnberg would join up with other dissidenting elements to hinder the rule of Therese.

“It"s necessary to establish the fact that Duke Nürnberg died after getting defeated in battle, no matter through which eyes it"s seen. At this late hour there"s no leeway to talk it over, but I guess we will be doubted as being intolerant, if we don"t accept. Unexpectedly, I think he might have hoped that our side would turn him down.” (Therese)

She"s saying that he might have had the intention to advertise Therese"s cowardly behaviour to both sides.

“I have decided to accept it. Now then, it will become an outdoor lunch or dinner, but…” (Therese)

Therese sends a messenger to High Earl Mizuho who has set up his army in the centre just like her.

“If we use the local cuisine of the Philip Dukedom or the Nürnberg Dukedom, it will become unfair. As such I have decided to have them prepare Mizuho cooking.” (Therese)

A few minutes later High Earl Mizuho showed up and accepted Therese"s request.

“Therese-dono, I will take you up on it if you request it, but will Duke Nürnberg eat something like the Mizuho cooking?” (Mizuho)

High Earl Mizuho ordered his retainers at once and they began to put up the tent for the dinner at the halfway point between the two armies.
Furthermore, transferring even such things as magic tools for cooking, the cooks that are employed by the Mizuho household, start their work.
It seems they are preparing something similar to traditional j.a.panese cuisine that"s brought in courses, but it looks like High Earl Mizuho"s worry is about whether Duke Nürnberg, who is famous for hating the Mizuho people, will eat the Mizuho cuisine.

“If he doesn"t eat it despite proposing a dinner meeting by himself for the sake of showing off his bravery, it will be fine to publicly announce that he actually couldn"t eat anything due to succ.u.mbing to his own nervousness. Besides, as a matter of fact, that man is not very good with the dishes of his home town.” (Therese)

“That"s the first time I hear about it!”

High Earl Mizuho showed an expression of surprise due to the personal information about Duke Nürnberg he learns of for the first time.
Certainly, usually he makes one imagine that he likes his home town and that he puts the highest priority on it.

“What kind of dishes are eaten in the Nürnberg Dukedom?”

“Ones with deep flavour.” (Therese)

“The flavour is?”

“The seasoning is extreme. If you use plenty of seasoning, be it sweet or spicy, it produces the idea of a life in luxury, right? Until fish dishes spread, we were also ridiculed for being all about potatoes, bacon, sausages and sauerkraut.” (Therese)

“A feudal lord that hates his own local cuisine…”

The prince-electors and their successors spend long time staying in the imperial capital.
His hate towards the cooking of his home might have grown all the more thanks to that.

“It seems he himself likes dishes with bland taste. He"s encouraging bland taste by saying 『Dishes with too strong flavouring are bad for one"s health』 at home, but this is the only thing producing a bad reputation for him among the population of his fief.” (Therese)

『Something like thin flavouring is for the poor』 and 『It"s better to use plenty of seasoning』 mainly seems to be firmly rooted in the opinions of the elderly.

“Since Duke Nürnberg is like that, his compatibility with Mizuho dishes will probably be good.”

A few hours after that, the setting up of the tent and the cooking preparations had safely come to an end.

“The highest grade of Mizuho cooking by the employed cooks, huh? How regrettable.”

I think I"d like to eat it, but both sides can only bring two attendants.
It"s unlikely that me, a foreign n.o.ble, gets chosen.

“Not being chosen is the correct answer because I think that I won"t enjoy the taste.” (Luise)

It"s as Luise says.
Even if I had a meal with that Duke Nürnberg, I don"t think that I would be able to enjoy the taste of the dishes satisfactorily.

“It"s fine if you go to eat at a delicious restaurant once this war ends.”

“That"s true, I guess. I will eat my fill then.”

“There are many restaurants I want to visit in Earl Mizuho Country.”

Wilma, whose appearance of holding the prototype sniper rifle has become completely familiar, seems to look forward to a Mizuho restaurant tour.
A booklet called Earl Mizuho Country"s National Restaurant Guide was tightly grasped in her hand.
I wonder just when did she obtain that?

“So, who will she choose as her attendants?”

“Let"s see… will you go Katharina?” (Wendelin)

“Before that, there"s no way for me to be chosen.” (Katharina)

Since it was a sudden proposal by the other side, Therese still hasn"t announced her attendants.
However, there was no expectation for me, who is a foreign n.o.ble, to be chosen.
Katharina, who is my wife, will likely not become a candidate either.

“Well, there"s also the move of knocking Duke Nürnberg out of his wits with your splendid manners, Katharina.” (Wendelin)

“Wendelin-san, that"s definitely not praise, is it? Such a position is not something you aim for through popularity, but…” (Katharina)

Katharina apparently remembered about me previously telling her that her etiquette is too exaggerated.

“As candidates, young Duke Baden and someone with the rank of Earl are appropriate, no?” (Ina)

I guess Ina"s prediction can likely be described as mostly valid?
However, it seems that Elise"s opinion was different.

“Dear, get ready to go out.” (Elise)

“Me?” (Wendelin)

“Yes. I believe that you will definitely be chosen.” (Elise)

“I wouldn"t mind at least taking a look if Duke Nürnberg was a beautiful woman, but I have no interest in a guy, okay?” (Erwin)

“You are an old man in such matters, aren"t you?” (Wendelin)

I end up being astonished by Erw, but since I have only once seen that Duke Nürnberg is a discerning, keen, handsome man, he"s nothing more but an enemy for me.
In the end he"s only causing troubles for others. If possible, I wish that Elise"s prediction doesn"t come true.

“Earl Baumeister-sama, Her Excellency d.u.c.h.ess Philip is calling for you.”

“Elise"s prediction was right on the mark, wasn"t it…?”

However, contrary to my hope, Elise"s prediction proved to be right.
Being ordered to attend by Therese, I got stuck with going to see the face of Duke Nürnberg whom I don"t want to see at all.
The option of refusing not existing is likely a remaining habit of my time as salaryman where it was wrong to not entertain the other party, no matter how much I might have hated it.

◆◇◆◇◆

—————————————– End of Part 1 ——————————————-

“It"s been a while, Duke Nürnberg.” (Therese)

“It pleases me above all to see you healthy, d.u.c.h.ess Philip.” (Nürnberg)

“Although I was about to get killed by someone, it seems I had the luck to escape that pitiful fate, right? As such I have the pleasure to still be present in this world.” (Therese)

“That"s great. With you gone, the world might be lacking various appeals after all.” (Nürnberg)

“To say that without shame.” (Therese)

“No, not at all. This is my true opinion.” (Nürnberg)

Duke Nürnberg and Therese exchanged their greetings at the halfway point between the two armies.
Both of them exchanged words filled with sarcasm, but both sides don"t get angry and continue speaking while smiling.
I observed this give-and-take between these two, who were born to be high-ranking n.o.bles, with the look of a petty bourgeois.
Despite thinking that it"s a scene that might very well take place in a historical drama.

“Won"t you partic.i.p.ate in this as well, young Duke Baden-dono?”

“No, I"m fine…” (Baden)

With the recent defeat, young Duke Baden obediently returned to being a person who silently does his work as number 2 of the liberation army.
It might turn into amusing joke material if he perpetrated something again, but from our point of view, who have actually suffered damage, it would be intolerable.
I pray that he will continue with his current meekness.
Even he himself dislikes voluntarily dealing with Duke Nürnberg.
He only did a light greeting following the rules of courtesy.

“Shall we have our meal then?”

Given that the meeting needed preparation as well, it had become time for dinner.
A table and chairs have been placed inside the tent and flower arrangements and hanging scrolls have been put up as decorations, too.
It not being tatami-matted might be out of consideration for Duke Nürnberg.
Chopsticks, spoons and forks have been placed at every seat. Once all of us sit down on our seats, the Mizuho people in charge of waiting upon us carry in the first dish.

“How about we introduce each other"s attendants for starters?” (Therese)

“That"s true, I suppose. It"s just as you say, Therese. Oops, excuse me…” (Nürnberg)

“Max, it might be best for us to use this way of calling, right?” (Therese)

“Let"s go with that then? My attendants are my Junior Commander Zauken and my staff officer and magician Talrand.” (Nürnberg)

Zauken looks to be around 50 years old. He"s a man with a well-trained body and a characteristic scar running across his right cheek.
Talrand was around 30 years old and had no special characteristics.
He has a medium build and his face has no parts that would leave an impression.
He"s a normal man you can find in any city.

“(Huh?)” (Wendelin)

Although he has no special characteristics, conversely the lack thereof makes me feel an excessive, bottomless fear.
Since Burkhart-san isn"t here, I investigate his mana, but going by my estimation, he has slightly more than the previous Katharina.
I think that I"m quite capable of dealing with him, but his ability is clearly superior to that of those four brothers.
What scares me above all is that there were parts in this man I couldn"t read no matter how much I observe him.

“It seems that Talrand is interested in Earl Baumeister. Thus I brought him along.” (Nürnberg)

Talrand bowed to me while staying expressionless.
The bow doesn"t make one feel any impoliteness at all, but it"s not something that gives a good impression to the other party either.

“(I wonder what it is? This unpleasant feeling… I see! This man is empty!)” (Wendelin)

Despite being a male magician that possesses quite the mana pool, he doesn"t leave any impression with me for some reason.
I only sense eeriness from him.
Well I wonder what Therese feels in regards to Talrand?
Currently I can"t ask her, but I"m really curious about it.

“I"m hungry. How about we start eating?” (Therese)

Upon Therese"s signal, the young male soldiers in Mizuho uniform take over the the role of servers and the dishes are carried in.
As expected, the dishes seem to be similar to traditional j.a.panese cuisine.
On top of the table there was a menu with skillfully written characters on paper resembling j.a.panese paper.

Appetizer: Tofu, Abalone, Sweet Coltsfoot, Bean-curd lees.
Supper: Sea bream in tofu skin, cooked ink, hen-of-the-woods.
Different Flavours: Black tuna, squid, flounder, prawn, blood clam.
Medium-sized snacks: Common clam, mizuna, dipped garden eel, bamboo shoot with pepper stir-fry, stewed sardine, kelp with herring roe.
Flame-broiled: Mackerel pickled in sweet miso, f.u.ki flower buds.
Boiled dishes: Small turnip, fish liver and eggs in tea cloth, cabbage, taro cormel.
Pickled dishes: Halfbeak, red turnip, wood jellyfish.
Main dish: Matsutake rice.
Finis.h.i.+ng supper: Red miso soup.
Pickled vegetables: bok choy, chopped vegetables pickled in salt with red s.h.i.+so leaves.
Dessert: Soft sweet bean jelly, pear, powdered green tea.
(T/N: Don"t ask me to explain all of these… pwease…)

“(It"s a traditional j.a.panese course at a magnificent level…)”

It properly resembles the menu of the high-cla.s.s traditional j.a.panese cuisine I was taken along to only once during my time as trading company member.
The sense of the season in the ingredients was all over the place, but that"s probably because they can be kept in a fresh state once you put them into a magic bag.
That point is more advantageous than j.a.pan. The dishes that came out in order were delicious as well.

“Your way of using the chopsticks is skillful, isn"t it, Earl Baumeister?”

“Is that so?” (Wendelin)

Even though I planned to focus on the food and stay silent, I"m immediately addressed by Duke Nürnberg.
Since I, who"s not a Mizuho person, handles the chopsticks skillfully, he might consider that as strange.

“I was a Mizuho person in my previous life, I"m pretty sure.” (Wendelin)

In reality I was a j.a.panese whose customs and culture resembled theirs quite a bit, but there"s definitely no way that I will tell him that.
Though, even if I told him, it"s very unlikely for him to believe me.

“I see. Such retort exists as well, huh?” (Nürnberg)

“I think I just learned it quickly by chance.” (Wendelin)

“Does that mean that alongside magic, you are also strong at learning the Mizuho culture, Earl Baumeister?” (Nürnberg)

“I don"t have any redeeming qualities besides those.” (Wendelin)

For some reason Duke Nürnberg frequently addresses me.
Once I wonder whether he and Therese will start the negotiations of the terms for surrendering, he talks with Therese occasionally, otherwise he concentrates on the food.
Young Duke Baden focuses on the dinner as well. Zauken of the other party didn"t know what to do with the dishes that were presented to him.
Given that the flavour capitalizes on the ingredients, it probably feels bland to a native person of Nürnberg Dukedom.
Talrand put the food into his mouth silently just like a machine.

“(This is a tactic, right?)”

“Even if we told each other to surrender at this point in time, it"s futile. That"s why there"s unexpectedly nothing to talk about once we actually meet, right? The Mizuho cooking feels very delicious to me. I"d like you to pardon Zauken as there"s a difference in taste between the north and the south.” (Nürnberg)

Duke Nürnberg seemed more straightforward than I expected.
After all he"s at least capable of following up on his subordinate who seems to dislike the Mizuho dishes.

“However, the acc.u.mulation of such differences gives birth to friction between the various areas and territories. I have risen into action for the sake of reforming that.” (Nürnberg)

“Wouldn"t it have been fine if you had left it to nature and time?” (Therese)

“I"m impatient. It would be best to unify this continent into one.” (Nürnberg)

Duke Nürnberg boldly state that he"s going to unify this continent by himself.
His eloquent manner of speaking is very befitting of him.
There are likely many people who are supporting him after getting charmed by this.
Even without saying anything, someone with a superior appearance has an advantage.

“It"s a magnificent dream, isn"t it?” (Wendelin)

“If you become my retainer, it might unexpectedly work out quite easily.” (Nürnberg)

I had expected it but, due to me getting headhunted by Duke Nürnberg, I see Therese"s face warping for an instant.

“Hey, Max, that proposal is a grave breach of manners!” (Therese)

“I"m sorry, Therese, okay? I guess I leaked my wishes on the spur of a moment.” (Nürnberg)

When Therese rebuked Duke Nürnberg"s statement, he obediently apologised.

“Earl Baumeister is a man who is indispensable to me, you know?” (Therese)

“Not retainer, but man, huh? But I guess it won"t turn out well.” (Nürnberg)

“Earl Baumeister is a slightly shy person. He should come under my wing before long.” (Therese)

“If you say so, Therese. You have always been bad at giving up.” (Nürnberg)

“Max, you too, right?” (Therese)

Since he"s a man who aims for the hegemony of the empire to the extent of even causing a rebellion, he seems to be bad at giving up just as Therese has said.

“Earl Baumeister, what do you think of me?” (Nürnberg)

“If it"s about your military ability, I hear that you are set as authority of the imperial army.” (Wendelin)

I can"t come up with anything but this.
And there was also something like 『Thanks to you, there have already been a large amount of victims, but what do you think about that?』, but I locked this away in my chest.

“Even though you are young, your way of thinking is that of a cautious person, isn"t it?” (Nürnberg)

“Really? Though I believe that the majority of the people of this world want to spend their lives normally. Although one might say that they have aspirations, it"s at most at the level of succeeding in their respective social standing or being successful at business, right?”

“I want to aim for the hegemony of the empire and afterwards, the unification of the continent. If I don"t declare at least this much, it looks like it will be difficult even if I seize the empire"s hegemony, don"t you think? I will succeed in my social position as authority of the imperial army. You are a genius and as such you can think like that.” (Nürnberg)

“Genius? Me?” (Wendelin)

Duke Nürnberg stated that I"m a genius.
There are parts where I can agree such as magic, but since I think that I"m normal in other matters, it doesn"t actually feel like me being a genius at all.

“You are a genius in magic. That"s why you can"t understand my sentiments. Listen, what"s the essential component to change the status quo? It"s being bad at giving up.” (Nürnberg)

“Giving up?” (Wendelin)

“A genius can live in society without any hards.h.i.+ps. Therefore they don"t desire something like a reformation of society. I"m bad at giving up. That"s why I desire the empire"s hegemony to the extent of causing a rebellion.” (Nürnberg)

He continued to strive for victory in the emperor selection, but he missed it by one more step.
He says that"s the reason why he occupied the imperial capital and went as far as causing a rebellion.
Duke Nürnberg talks about his own ideas.

“I don"t think that I have to actually apologise to the victims so far. I face this battle with my back to the wall. If I win, I will obtain the empire"s hegemony. If I lose, I will die unsightly as stupid rebel and will be criticised as fool after my death.” (Nürnberg)

“I"d like thee to consider my situation a bit more.” (Therese)

“If I lose, you will become empress, huh? I guess the empire"s reign will be difficult.” (Nürnberg)

“Is His Majesty still alive?” (Therese)

“I have kept him alive, but that man is mediocre. I"m sure he will just turn into a puppet even if you reinstate him after the rebellion. Therese, you won"t have any other choice but to deal with him somehow.” (Nürnberg)

Therese"s and Duke Nürnberg"s gazes clash.
Both of these two are thinking that they are suitable as next ruler if you choose only by ability.

“The person of us that wins will become the next emperor. Isn"t that a wonderfully simple situation?” (Nürnberg)

“Humph! Thee are convinced of thy victory, Max. Otherwise thee wouldn"t have held such a meeting.” (Therese)

“Indeed, I"m confident. Therese, there are several excellent magicians in your ranks, right? But, our Talrand isn"t a useless person either.” (Nürnberg)

As expected of someone that was brought along to this dinner meeting. Talrand seems to be a magician of whom Duke Nürnberg expects a lot after all.
He hasn"t uttered a single word. He"s politely and quietly stuffing his mouth with the dishes.
There"s no　『Delicious』 or 『Disgusting』 either.
Since he"s simply eating the food in silence, I even forgot about his existence for a while.

“(Actually, on the contrary, that"s weird…)”

I can"t feel anything but a sense of discomfort due to his non-existent presence.
It deviates from the level of simply not standing out. I wonder whether a state like that isn"t caused by some kind of magic talent.
However, there was no evidence of him using magic.

“Talrand is a slightly special magician, you know? Earl Baumeister, I"m confident in a future where you will lose to Talrand. You won"t die if you surrender to me and I will promise you an appropriate treatment.” (Nürnberg)

Around ten minutes after that, Duke Nürnberg went back after enjoying the dinner until the final powdered green tea.
We leave the cleaning up of the tent to High Earl Mizuho and depart on the way back, but since we couldn"t use horses, we walked by foot.
Since Therese is incessantly talking at my side, young Duke Baden, who felt uncomfortable, returns to the field encampment first by running.
There are past circ.u.mstances between us, and so I didn"t help him since it"s not like we got a particularly good relations.h.i.+p.

“Wendelin, are thou worried about the magician called Talrand?” (Therese)

“I will set up countermeasure until tomorrow… No, wait, I don"t know the magic that man uses.” (Wendelin)

“Was it alright for it to not develop into a night warfare?” (Therese)

Duke Nürnberg stated that the start of war would be early in the morning of the next day.
It"s not because he"s a particularly fair man who wishes a fair and square battle.
Even in the empire, units that can carry out an organized night attack are extremely limited in number.
He probably judged that it would be meaningless since it will only pointlessly increase the losses even if he sends out a night attack to pa.s.s through the fences and moats against horses that have been repeatedly set up in front of the field encampment"s wall.
The unit capable of a night attack are the soldiers under the direct control of Duke Nürnberg after all.

“There"s no choice but to deal with him, ad hoc. Rather than that, there"s something important.” (Therese)

“Something important?” (Wendelin)

Not understanding what she"s talking about, I tilt my head to the side.

“I"m a sorrowful woman who will fight to the death with my acquaintance Max. It"s only natural for a man to console me at this point, right?” (Therese)

“Were you that close to each other?” (Wendelin)

“We called each other with our first names, right? There were also several times in our childhood where we played together.” (Therese)

She probably wants to tell me that they were childhood friends as they are close in age, too?
Considering all that, they didn"t show such a behaviour in the beginning.

“These last few years Max always harboured such feelings. I guess it"s only natural for us to grow estrange?” (Therese)

“Is that so?” (Wendelin)

I don"t know whether it"s the truth or not, but I gloss it over by throwing suitable responses into the conversation.

“For that reason I"m a misfortunate woman. Please comfort me.” (Therese)

No sooner than saying that, Therese links her arm with mine and puts her face on my shoulder.
In addition, she does so in front of the field encampment"s main gate.
Of course the soldiers atop the wall watched us with astonished expressions.

“Therese-dono…”

“I"m showing off the intimacy of the supreme commander and her staff officer before the decisive battle.” (Therese)

While that might be true, I don"t think this is the truth here.
Once I looked in the direction where I sensed blood thirst, I found Elise standing there while showing a cold expression.

“Elise is angry.” (Wendelin)

Elise rarely got angry over things, but most recently she"s often mad at Therese.
Given that she"s expressionless today, she"s probably angry to the degree of forgetting her forced smile.
Next Elise gently placed her hands on the shoulders of Wilma and Luise.
Once she does, the two of them jumped off the wall that has a height exceeding five meters by making use of their marvellous physical abilities and ran up to my location.

“Welcome back, Wend.” (Luise)

“Wend-sama, the food was delicious?” (Wilma)

They tear off Therese and place themselves at my sides.

“I"m back. Let"s search for a restaurant that makes dishes that resemble the cooking that was served by Earl Mizuho Country this time?” (Wendelin)

“Yea, let"s do that. Whoa, there were various dishes, eh?” (Luise)

“Looks high cla.s.s.” (Wilma)

Luise and Wilma looked together at the j.a.panese paper that listed today"s menu.

“Excuse me! Don"t thee have to say anything about them suddenly tearing me off?” (Therese)

“Therese-sama, how vulgar.” (Luise)

“Not really. We only came to welcome Wend-sama.” (Wilma)

The two calmy retort Therese"s protest.
Since something like that happens often, even Therese"s retainers already stopped say something like 『What disrespect!』
It"s because they don"t wish for Therese to cling to me.

“Wend, let"s go sleep in preparation for tomorrow.” (Luise)

“As expected, I think today"s no good.”

“I know that. We will only sleep together.”

We will connect the beds of everyone and sleep normally.
Certainly that in itself was something I was looking forward to.

“I"d like to join thee as well.” (Therese)

“The solitude of the supreme commander is a rule. It will be plenty enough with you sleeping alone.”

“Wilma, your wicked tongue is getting better…”

———————————– End of Part 2 ————————————–

I pa.s.s through the opened main gate while listening to the quarrel of the three, but the eyes of my guard, Takeomi-san, had become tear-choked again.
It looks like it"s about Haruka again.

“Takeomi-san?” (Wendelin)

“Uuh…” (Takeomi)

Erw, who waited with Haruka for me to come back, talked with her happily at a slightly separated place.

“High-cla.s.s cuisine of Mizuho, huh? Just how much does it cost?” (Erwin)

“Let"s see. If it"s a restaurant like the ones master visits, it will be five shu for one course.” (Haruka)

“I wonder, is it delicious?” (Erwin)

“It"s famous for being delicious.” (Haruka)

“In that case, let"s go together next time?” (Erwin)

“But, it"s expensive!” (Haruka)

“Isn"t it fine from time to time? Since we are at war, we have to get a reward afterwards. Let"s go to a nice place at least for our first date.” (Erwin)

“Date… first date… I guess so. I"m looking forward to it.” (Haruka)

Haruka happily replied to Erw"s invitation for a date.

“Harukaaaa~~~!” (Takeomi)

Of course the siscon Takeomi-san raised a beast-like cry.
Naturally the soldiers present in the surroundings back off as if they had seen something scary.

“My younger sister is too adorable, right?” (Takeomi)

“That might be the case, but since I don"t have a younger sister, I can"t understand it well…” (Wendelin)

In my previous life I only had a younger brother and in this world I was the youngest child.
I couldn"t deny the possibility of father"s illegitimate children existing somewhere, but even if they do, there"s no guarantee that there"s a younger sister among them.

“Dear, welcome back.” (Elise)

“I"m back, Elise.” (Wendelin)

After that we decide to go back home with everyone and to sleep normally in preparation for tomorrow.
It"s no good if I don"t show my full power tomorrow, so I make sure to not have any exhaustion left.
That"s because the figure of that eerie Talrand still popped up in my mind.
And then, on the next morning, the final battle between the two armies begins at last.

“Teacher, what was that dinner meeting about in the end?” (Katharina)

“Don"t ask me… I haven"t taken part to begin with, so go and ask Earl-sama.” (Burkhart)

“Wendelin-san said 『It was a last meeting between childhood friends who had grown estrange for a long time』.” (Katharina)

“If Earl-sama said that, then it must be so. Even high-ranking people have various circ.u.mstances, right?” (Burkhart)

While Burkhart-san and Katharina indulged in an idle chat, the rebel army moved in a grand manner.
The next morning after the aforementioned dinner meeting, the advance guard all at once started a charge towards the field encampment.

“The rebel army"s vanguard counts 40.000 according to estimation. I guess they plan to saturate our side"s ability to intercept.”

The troop headquarters of the central army has been transferred to atop the front gate. Therese elegantly gazes at the approaching advance guard of the rebel army.
Of course arrows and spells come flying, but they are blocked with a 『Magic Barrier』 by Burkhart-san and Katharina who are on standby for that sake.
The spells are only at the level of being fired by elementary magicians, as such both of them defended against those easily.
Since there"s also Mizuho"s army in the central army led by Therese, they immediately fire their magic guns and magic tool applied ballistae.
It was a weapon that still has problems in the department of cost and usage limit, but even so, it  mowed down many soldiers that entered into hits firing range.
At the moment the enemy soldiers were stopped by the moats and fences, as well as the arrows and bullets coming flying.
The soldiers fall. The wounded are taken away to the rear whereas the casualties are abandoned just like that.
The small unit that went furthest ahead had been mostly annihilated, but the next batch was immediately thrown into the ring.
There are many victims, but one by one they are able to place boards across the moats and the fences are pulled down by horses.
Even though the rebel army"s advance guard suffered great losses, they gradually approached the wall.

“I wonder how many we can kill until they take hold of the wall?” (Wendelin)

Philip, who takes charge of the royal army"s group, gave Erw and me a simple explanation while the royal army to use their bows as well.
As usual he has a rude tone, but if you consider his past circ.u.mstances, it cannot be helped in some ways.
He is fulfilling his duty as commander and, even though it"s for a short time, he was giving Erw a proper education.

“It"s similar to wasting soldiers…” (Wendelin)

“That"s actually not true.” (Philip)

Philip doesn"t seem to feel any doubt about Duke Nürnberg"s strategy at all.

“The rebel army won"t be able to attack the north if they don"t take this field encampment no matter whether they send out the elites or the disposable troops first. In that case it"s common to exhaust our side with the disposable troops first, right?” (Philip)

It"s a dry a.n.a.lysis that doesn"t regard the war potential as anything but numbers.
It might be necessary for a commander, but I can"t go that far.
In other words, that means that I"m not cut out to be a soldier.

“Even if they don"t attack from the front pointlessly, for example, by making a detour and doing a surprise attack or such…?” (Wendelin)

“Earl Baumeister, it"s easy to say that, but something like a surprise attack isn"t that simple to pull off.” (Philip)

“Really?” (Wendelin)

“The majority of the northern lords other than those in this field encampment are affiliated with the liberation army. Even if they take a detour, it will get reported right away and they will likely suffer a counter attack instead, right? While we are at it, they will be easily caught in the search net of d.u.c.h.ess Philip and High Earl Mizuho.” (Philip)

It doesn"t seem to be as simple to change the war situation with a surprise attack like in historical military stories.
That"s the reason why those, who succeeded in a surprise attack, are highly evaluated in history books.

“Then, why did you guys lose?” (Wendelin)

“Duke Nürnberg had an excellently advantageous position and Marquis Läger was incompetent to a frightening degree as soldier. Seeing that the main army got dissolved by a surprise attack, we had no other choice but to gather the remaining soldiers and to escape in order to keep the losses low.” (Philip)

In such circ.u.mstances, Philip even went north and succeeded in running away to this place.
Even now his command style was a big deal. That means Minister Edgar didn"t make a mistake in his character evaluation.

“Even though it would have been great if he had used that ability as a soldier in the previous dispute.”

“No kidding.”

“Nii-san, we wouldn"t have lost in the dispute if you had gone out from the start. The dispute itself wouldn"t have taken place to begin with.” (Christoph)

Christoph, who is supporting the rear of the royal army"s group, reveals in a whisper.
These two were probably crushed by their retainers and the maternal relatives they have employed, and thus ended up taking a wrong turn.
If they hadn"t quarreled over the succession issue, that troop dispatch wouldn"t have happened to begin with.
The act of pus.h.i.+ng Karla onto me to raise money was quite constructive and didn"t cost much money either after all.

“If we win in this, it might be possible to receive an appropriate peerage. Let"s kill them to our best ability. We will be alright in regards to the stock of arrows for a while.” (Christoph)

I have a problem with the sentiments in Christoph"s way of talking, but the things he says are not wrong.
We have no other choice but to kill the soldiers of the rebel army.

“Earl Baumeister, it"s fine for you to preserve your mana.”

After around three hours, the enemy forces took hold of the walls.
Considering it"s a unit of disposable troops, it felt like a hard fight, but the reason for that is simple.
There are commanding combat units in the rear. They made sure to be able to fire a large amount of arrows at any time.
While were are at it, Duke Nürnberg gathered the high-ranking magicians in the unit directly defending him.
It looks like they feel threatened that spells will come flying if they run away or turn traitor.
Also, it"s likely that their families had been taken hostage.

“It"s the height of fiendishness, right!?”

“Well, it"s a valid move, isn"t it?”

For Duke Nürnberg it will be a win as long as he can damage the liberation army that has little reserve soldiers even if his advance guard gets annihilated.
In addition, once they are gone, he can freely take their territories and peerages.
If he a.s.signs those to his proteges, it will increase Duke Nürnberg"s sovereignty.
Dous.h.i.+ and Burkhart-san, who understand that, seem tho consider it to not be funny in their minds despite having a carefree banter as usual.
Alongside Burkhart-san"s agreement, Dous.h.i.+ tossed a huge boulder at the commanding combat forces.
The archers that were hit directly got crushed like bugs and died.
The commander, who definitely didn"t expect the boulders to reach such a distance, tried to retreat, but he was killed by the next rock thrown by Dous.h.i.+.

“It"s irritating, but I guess we can"t get rid of all the command groups.”

It was only one command group that got crushed by the rock throwing, but it apparently succeeded in striking the rebel army with fear.
The attack momentum of the forces at the front line also fell.

“Umm, Burkhart-san.” (Wendelin)

“Earl-sama, you have to still preserve your mana.” (Burkhart)

Therese gracefully sits on a chair in the troop headquarters and raises the moral of our allies by urging the soldiers to fight more vigorously.
The arrows and spells that came flying were all blocked by the 『Magic Barrier』 of Burkhart-san and Katharina.
It"s the strategy for those two to focus on this job in order to protect Therese without fail. In exchange, the magicians employed by the Duke Philip household were deployed to all units and strengthened the offence and defence with their magic.

“I wonder whether Elise is alright?” (Wendelin)

“There haven"t been that many injured people as of yet.”

Elise, who is lacking in means of attacking, is this time also treating the soldiers in the rear.
Ina continues to hurl throwing spears. Luise also shoots rocks and stones that she had gathered around the area with a stringed slingshot.
Stones are an unexpectedly effective weapon in a war.
After strengthening their power with a bit of mana, she skillfully hits the faces of soldiers.
If she hits the face directly, her victims were either transported to the rear with a cracked forehead or died in worst case.

“Their offensive doesn"t weaken readily, does it?” (Ina)

"They are really tenacious, aren"t they?” (Luise)

The two of them seem to be bored with continuing the same old attacks.

“Found them.” (Wilma)

Wilma continues to shoot magicians and officers with the prototype sniper rifle she was lent by High Earl Mizuho.
In the end this magic gun requires a lot of skill and talent to snipe from a long distance. At present it was only Wilma who could master it. Therefore only she made use of it.
She snipes one person after the other. Once she runs out of mana, she resupplies her mana with the magic gems she had prepared in advance.
The silent Wilma continues to snipe at the same level as a certain ○lgo 13.

“Wendelin-san, you are saving your mana?” (Katharina)

“There"s one guy who will need my attention.” (Wendelin)

It"s the magician called Talrand whom I met at yesterday"s dinner meeting.
He has slightly more mana than those four brothers, but for some reason I feel something eerie from him and my intuition"s alarm bells are ringing.
Once I consulted with Burkhart-san and Dous.h.i.+ afterwards, both of them backed my opinion.

“It"s wrong to make light of such intuition!” (Armstrong)

“I guess I share the same opinion as Dous.h.i.+.” (Burkhart)

Me staying on standby is something owed to the support of those two.
For a while the life and death struggle between the rebel army that tries to climb the wall and the liberation that tries to prevent that continues.
The loss ratio was overwhelmingly advantageous for the liberation army which is the defending side, but gradually the victims, who are pierced by spears and shot by arrows or spells, increase.

“I"m going to the front!”

Ina went to the front and thrust down her spear at the soldiers who were climbing the walls in succession.
After continuing in such manner for a while, some kind of disturbance takes place on the rebel army"s side.
At last that man started to shorten the distance to me while walking just like a ghost.
Talrand doesn"t care about allies or enemies on this battlefield.
He"s simply walking slowly towards the front gate where we are.
There was another ominous part about him.
Our guards don"t fire arrows or spells at him for some reason.

“(There are only few people who are aware of Talrand?)”

I release cold sweat due to his eeriness.

“Who"s that?”

“Some weird guy has come!”

Wilma snipes at him and Luise throws a big rock, but those get completely blocked by his 『Magic Barrier』.
As expected, he was an excellent magician.

“That Talrand-dono…”

With even our allies receding from him, he finally stood in front of the gate and spoke with a quiet voice.

“Earl Baumeister, I have come to kill you.” (Talrand)

Even though it"s a quiet murmur-like voice, it clearly reached my ears even on the battlefield that was overflowing with various sounds.
Since he was silent during the dinner meeting, it was the first time for me to hear Talrand"s voice, but I can"t feel anything special from it after all.
Because he"s simply talking dispa.s.sionately, I end up feel the eeriness all the more.

“He"s really ghastly.”

Even that Dous.h.i.+ appears to feel some indescribably eeriness.

“Earl-sama, will you accept his challenge?” (Burkhart)

“I will. If I have to fight him anyway, I will get through it as soon as possible.”

“I see. Be careful.”

Burkhart-san didn"t stop me.
He"s probably thinking that the battle between me and Talrand is unavoidable.

“In that case, I will make sure to get rid of unnecessary nuisances!” (Armstrong)

I descend the wall with a ladder and square off against Talrand who stood before the front gate.
The rebel army had already deserted the front gate.
With Talrand being a big wig and as even the rebel army seems to be weirded off by him, no one approached us.

“It"s a kind of ominous view, isn"t it?

Only around the front gate both armies had stopped battling and were watching our duel.
Since the struggle for life and death is still continuing as before at other places, that difference was uncanny in any way.
If you ask why it turned into such a situation, it"s probably because of the eeriness released by the man called Talrand.
There"s no other adequate explanation for it.

“I"m here for the sake of preventing any hindrance to your one-on-one duel.” (Armstrong)

Dous.h.i.+ descended the ladder together with me and got ready to deal with any disturbance by the rebel army"s side behind me.

“Then, start!” (Armstrong)

Once I start to prepare deploying my magic, Talrand suddenly begins to talk with a voice that has no intonation or character.

“Even though I had mana since my time as child, my presence was thin for some reason.” (Talrand)

Despite him having a simple monologue without talking to anyone in specific, it"s eerie. I unintentionally end up hesitating to attack.
I ended up setting up my 『Magic Barrier』 in a hurry while wondering whether some kind of special magic will come flying at me.

“It"s the same even after I became a high-ranking magician. There are only few people who called out to me to let me serve them. Those troublesome days were resolved on a certain day for some reason.” (Talrand)

“What are you talking about?” (Wendelin)

“The thinness of my existence was the requirement to learn a special magic. The man called Talrand is nothing more than a mere body that can use that magic.” (Talrand)

“Special magic?” (Wendelin)

“Indeed. My magic is a kind of 『Holy』 magic. 『Hero Summoning』. Being killed by past heroes, you will be finished off by that person, Earl Baumeister.” (Talrand)

Talrand holds up both his hands towards the sky and immediately following that, a thunderbolt descend from the sky and directly hits Talrand"s body.
I reflexively end up closing my eyes, but when I opened my eyes, the figure of Talrand had vanished from that place.
In exchange, there is a person standing there who really resembles an acquaintance of mine.
His body is covered by an armour of muscles across his large build. He wears a violet robe and knuckles are equipped on both his hands.
And, with the special traits of having a handlebar mustache and a hairstyle resembling a calyx of a pineapple, a person that was exactly like Dous.h.i.+ stood stock still there.

“Dous.h.i.+!” (Wendelin)

I check behind me on impulse, but since Dous.h.i.+ stood there just as before, it"s someone else.

“Mine name is Arhand Michael von Armstrong.”

Even his voice resembles Dous.h.i.+"s voice quite well.
The only difference is that he doesn"t hold a wand but has equipped knuckles on both his hands.

“It"s ancestor-sama!?” (Armstrong)

“Ancestor-sama?” (Wendelin)

“Indeed. As a matter of fact, the founding Earl Armstrong was a magician!” (Armstrong)

It was the first time for me to hear that shocking truth.

“As heir of a poor Knight he was a magician by chance. Thanks to that he became an Earl.” (Armstrong)

“All things considered, he resembles you quite a bit, doesn"t he?”

If he wore the same clothes, I wouldn"t be able to tell them apart at all.

“The first generation was apparently a power fighter who exceeds me.” (Armstrong)

“That"s the worst compatibility with meee~~~!” (Wendelin)

Even so, I have to defeat him somehow.
Since the battle has already started, I will start with releasing several fireb.a.l.l.s as feint.
However, the founding Earl Armstrong repels those with his fists by cladding them with a 『Magic Barrier』 and closes the distance in one go.
As he stood in front of me in the blinking of an eye, I received his powerful blow.
I defend against it by holding both hand in front of me and cladding them with multiple layers of 『Magic Barrier』 at once, but immediately following that, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my hand.

“His offensive ability is higher than that of Dous.h.i.+!”

The founding Earl Armstrong seems to be the type that specialises on magic close combat even more than Dous.h.i.+.
After that I continuously receive a series of kicks and thrusts loaded with mana and each time the damage to my body acc.u.mulates.
With a rib apparently getting cracked due to a blow that was delivered into my abdomen, a sharp pain travelled through my stomach.

“Fortunately he seems to be bad with emission magic.” (Wendelin)

It looks like the bones at the back of my hand were fissured during the first attack.
While healing both parts with healing magic, I consider my plans from now on.

“There"s no other choice but to gain time for now.” (Wendelin)

The founding Earl Armstrong"s attacks continue in a barrage.
At first I received everything, but after a short while I got apparently used to his attack patterns.
Now that it has come to this, it seems to have been correct to receive Dous.h.i.+"s unreasonable training during my time in the royal capital.
For the sake of saving mana, I concentrate my 『Magic Barrier』, which I had spread above my entire body until then, on my arms changing it into a s.h.i.+eld. I dodge the founding Earl Armstrong"s attacks by freely using those as slanted armour.

“What controls raging streams are clear streams.”

“How cryptic.”

Ignoring the mutter of Dous.h.i.+ who is behind me, I continue to parry the enemy"s attacks.
Since my eyes had already gotten used to them, I next attempted to launch a counterattack right after parrying an attack.
Dodging the the punch, I deliver a blow filled with mana into his defenseless abdomen.

“Gufuuh.”

Due to the blow that concentrated the mana on one single point, the founding Earl Armstrong coughed up blood from his mouth.
It seems like I was able to damage his internal organs.
Next a kick from an overhead position approaches me, but after dodging this as well, I charge one leg with mana and make him trip up.
The founding Earl Armstrong ends up falling after having his balance disturbed.
I tried charging my foot with mana and nail it into his face, but this was barely avoided by him.

“Not bad.”

“I guess he isn"t overly powerful.”

I can"t clearly declare it since I don"t understand the special magic called 『Hero Summoning』 well, but I feel like this founding Earl Armstrong is weaker than the person himself.
His power and technique might be the same, but I feel like those don"t measure up to the ability of the ones who mastered those.
Or, maybe his body isn"t completely in synchronization?

“Ancestor-sama wasn"t this weak.” (Armstrong)

“Did I play around a bit too much? As expected, if it isn"t a hero of the same line, I won"t be able to display their power.” (Talrand)

Talrand, who had the appearance of the founding Earl Armstrong, swiftly heals his wounds with healing magic and one again points both his hands towards the sky.
Once again a thunderbolt descends and once it vanishes, Talrand had transformed into another person.

“Even though he"s a similar magician, this man is probably close to a combat type, right? Well then, let"s start, Wend?”

“No way…”

When a new figure showed up from Talrand after the thunderbolt was dispelled, my time stopped.
It"s because my heart was fiercely shaken by the person into whom he transformed.
Right, I haven"t forgotten.
That person who taught me magic during my childhood, ten years ago.

The same figure as the late Alfred Reinford, my master, stood in front of me.

“Alfred!” (Armstrong)

“Al!” (Burkhart)

Due to his pupil suddenly appearing, Burkhart-san bent himself over the wall and shouted.
Even Dous.h.i.+ apparently can"t hide his surprise due to the appearance of his close friend.
And, even I stood stock still on the spot.

“No… it"s just a fake that imitated his figure and appearance…” (Wendelin)

“It"s different, Wend. 『Hero Summoning』 is a spell that combines people who died in the past with me, Talrand, who has a presence close to not existing. That"s why I"m Talrand and at the same time Alfred.”

The figure, appearance and voice were completely the same with master.
Moreover, Talrand delivers a new shock to me next.

“Wend, you have the bad habit of gathering a lot of mana in your dominant hand, don"t you? You improved on that greatly, but you still need to put much more effort into it, okay?”

“No way…”

That advice was something that master told me at the time when I trained with him.
I have been told the same thing by Burkhart-san as well, but being told the same words in the same manner up to this extent, I had no other choice but to accept that the person in front of me is my master for real.

“Well then, I wonder whether Wend, who is the pupil, can win against me who is the master? You can feel relieved. Even if you die, Wend, I will continue your magic training in the other world.”

I ended up being tossed into a battle with master with whom I reunited by force.