T/N:

Unlike in chapter 94, where Wendelin killed his master Alfred in the end and set the supplies of the rebel army ablaze in a fit of vengeance, Wendelin, Burkhart and Dous.h.i.+ lost the fight and were merely rescued by Wendelin using the tactical move of burning the supplies, causing the rebel army to retreat, which interrupted the battle against Alfred (Talrand).

“This is more intense than expected, isn"t it? Even I have grown old.” Burkhart sighs

“It"s the same for me, too.” (Armstrong)

“Though, you do look fine to me, Dous.h.i.+.”

The special magic training held every morning.
Today"s menu included a lot of actual combat-related parts. Burkhart-san, who partic.i.p.ated as well, was out of breath and even Dous.h.i.+ was drenched in sweat. It"s the same for me as well. It"s not really as though I"ve cut corners until now, but either way, I have to do as much as I can. The reason is that we have to definitely defeat Alfred Reinford, my master who was resurrected all of a sudden.
Us three lost to master alone. No matter how much he made use of the Ancient Magic Civilization"s inheritance, those are no more than simple tools. Putting aside Dous.h.i.+, for Burkhart-san to also partic.i.p.ate in the severe special training was because his pride as a magician was deeply hurt when he was deemed to be the easiest one to handle by master who was his pupil in the past.

“The best method to defeat Alf is to become as strong as possible through intensive training anyway. There"s no simple method to defeat that guy.” (Burkhart)

Wiping the sweat away with his hand, Burkhart-san explains to Dous.h.i.+ and me while drinking maté tea from a canteen.

“I suppose master hasn"t anything like a weakness? There"s none, right…?” (Wendelin)

The scary part about master is his skill in counter-attacking while dodging his opponent"s attacks.
No matter how great Dous.h.i.+"s offensive ability might be, it serves no purpose if it doesn"t hit, and that applied to me as well.
My mana that exceeds master was completely useless.

“Having said that, although the first fight was hard, that guy made a mistake.” (Burkhart)

“Mistake?” (Wendelin)

To me it didn"t seem as if master made any mistakes, but…

“He wasn"t able to kill us in that battle. We are not idiots either. We can come up with countermeasures.” (Burkhart)

We will oppose that particular attack, which penetrates 『Magic Barriers』 by thickening the 『Magic Barrier』 the instant we sense it. Right now we are in the middle of having special training for that.
Its effectiveness is apparent and the success rate is gradually rising.
On the other hand, it"s a manefficient attack that breaks only a part of the enemy"s 『Magic Barrier』. This has been successful in its use against enemy magicians who came challenging us after master. I got the hang of it while fighting with master.

“Hmm, in that case, I guess you forcing the rebel army to withdraw by burning down their supplies has been an unexpected accident if seen from Alfred"s standpoint, Earl Baumeister.” (Armstrong)

“After all, Alf has shown up in this world by using the body of the magician kept by Duke Nürnberg, Talrand or something like that, correct?” (Burkhart)

Kept* is a cruel way to phrase it, but for an enemy, who mocks the dead, this level of a.s.sessment is plenty. (T/N: Like a pet, is the meaning here)

“It"s Talrand who is lending his body while keeping control, not master.” (Wendelin)

It might have been possible to defeat us if he kept attacking us, but there was no way that Talrand would defy the rebel army"s order to withdraw after the majority of the supplies went up in flames.
Master"s weakness is the existence of Duke Nürnberg and Talrand.

“Even so, just what is that magic?”

“I know that it"s holy magic. It allows the dead to possess your body. That"s how much I understand.”

“If it"s that kind of magic, it"s better to ask Elise!” (Armstrong)

◆◇◆◇◆

When we headed to Elise"s location following Dous.h.i.+"s suggestion, she was preparing breakfast together with my other wives.

“Wend, the special training has already finished?” (Luise)

“The target is high, but overdoing it too much is unreasonable as well.” (Wendelin)

“Oh well, the path of training won"t be completed in one day. Wend, properly wipe away your sweat.” (Ina)

Once I sat down at the table while having my sweat wiped by Ina, Luise and Wilma immediately started to line up the breakfast dishes on top of the table.

“Huh? What about Erw?” (Wendelin)

“Just like you, Wend, he"s doing a special morning training with Haruka, I think, but he should be back soon.”

“They are practising as a married couple.”

“They aren"t married yet though?”

“Essentially they are like a married couple.”

Certainly, it"s just as Wilma says. It has reached the point that those two are always together.

“I"m back.” (Erwin)

“I have come back.” (Haruka)

With the return of Erw and Haruka, breakfast time began. Meals are provided in a batch within the liberation army, but I could never be like a soldier and regard quant.i.ty being the most important quality of a meal.
Since we are treated as mercenaries, to begin with, there have been no complaints about us taking care of our own meals. There are also some among the n.o.bles who are preparing their own meals as they are fed up with the same kind of meals being served every day. It resulted in Elise and the others now making the meals for us.

“It"s that magic.”

While eating, I ask Elise to explain the magic used by Talrand.
Until now I never heard about having the dead possess one"s body.

“The person called Talrand used holy magic without a doubt.” (Elise)

“So it"s holy magic after all…?”

It"s kind of difficult to explain it with the magic of other attributes.

“It"s rare, but there is a method that allows one to convey the words of the dead residing in Heaven through magic.” (Elise)

Convey the words of the dead? Does that mean he"s like a necromancer of Osorezan? 1

“Never heard of that.”

“That"s because the church doesn"t wish for it to be used.” (Elise)

The church thinks badly of calling the dead who have ascended to Heaven, as it"s not good for the living to depend on the dead.
The church hates this kind of magic.

“It does seem like a fraud, doesn"t it? Like scamming a large reward by saying that they can listen to the words of the deceased, despite being unable to use the magic.”

“Yes… or rather, the majority consists of such kinds of people.”

Even if it"s the church, they probably can"t ignore its believers getting deceived by fake mediums.
The donations to the church would decrease as well, wouldn"t they?

“As a rare exception, that gentleman is the real deal.” (Elise)

The real deal for a change… let alone 『The majority consists of such kind of people』; doesn"t that mean that it"s mostly nothing but imposters?

“Are you saying that it"s something that has evolved even further from the magic to hear the words of the dead?” (Armstrong)

“Yes, uncle-sama.” (Elise)

“It might be unique to not only be able to convey the words of the dead, but also to take those spirits into his body,” Elise added.

“The presence of that gentleman is weak, but Luise-san, you are more of an expert regarding this matter, aren"t you?” (Elise)

“Elise, it"s completely different to erasing one"s presence in martial arts, you know?” (Luise)

“No, the basic principle should be the same.” (Elise)

“Luise, has that guy been erasing his presence?” (Wendelin)

“Hmm… it doesn"t feel as if he"s doing it consciously.” (Luise)

“That"s true. If he was able to switch it on and off like that, he probably wouldn"t get others to forget him in such manner.” (Burkhart)

Having that pointed out by Burkhart-san, we nodded all at once.

“It might be the same as me.” (Wilma)

“The same as you, Wilmsan?” (Katharina)

Katharina tilted her head wondering how Wilma is resembling Talrand.

“I have constantly been maintaining my superhuman strength due to the Hero Syndrome. Even without me doing anything, my mana is still consumed little by little, causing my stomach to be very empty.” (Wilma)

While saying so, Wilma plasters ample amounts of b.u.t.ter on a bread that"s bigger than her own face and starts stuffing her cheeks.

“I guess that"s how it is.” (Haruka)

The one who understood Wilma"s simple explanation first was Haruka.
She"s enjoying the standard breakfast menu of a Mizuho person, namely rice b.a.l.l.s, miso soup, grilled fish and pickled vegetables.

“What do you mean, Haruksan?” (Erwin)

Eating the same menu as Haruka, Erw asked her about the meaning of her words.

“It"s something like Wilmsan casting 『Superhuman Strength』 at any time. The person called Talrand might be doing something similar, always staying in a state of casting magic that erases his presence.” (Haruka)

So he continuously has no presence because he can"t cancel the magic by himself? That means he has been erasing his presence since his childhood, but it doesn"t mean that he can"t be seen by the people around him. He simply doesn"t stand out. As a result, he doesn"t leave any lasting impression of what kind of person he is, despite being present.

“Does that have a relation to the previously mentioned magic? Not having any presence and taking the existence of the dead into his body feels different though.”

“No, Erw-san. It has a good affinity with 『Channeling』 that adopts the speech and conduct of the dead.” (Elise)

“Does that mean that"s it"s easy for the dead to descend into his body by themselves since his own presence is weak?” (Wendelin)

“That"s the feeling I have.” (Elise)

According to Elise, the majority of those, who use the real 『Channeling』, seem to be plain, inconspicuous people.

“(That"s magic most unsuitable to Dous.h.i.+, isn"t it?)” (Erwin)

“(Indeed…)” (Wendelin)

It"s just as Erw says. For Dous.h.i.+, who has a big presence, 『Channeling』 is probably impossible.
But even before that, I think no spirits will approach him.

” As well as being able to erase his presence automatically with magic, he also so happens to possesses the talent for 『Channeling』. That means, not only the speech and conduct, but he can even take the dead into his body.”

“I believe it"s mostly as you say, Insan.”

Although it"s by coincidence, he"s quite the troublesome enemy.

“He"s cut out for being a spy or such, isn"t he?”

“That"s right. Easy a.s.sa.s.sinations or such…”

“””””””…”””””””

Listening to the conversation between Burkhart-san and Katharina, all of us sink into silence.
Why did Duke Nürnberg hide Talrand?
Did he hide him for the critical moment since he isn"t the type of magician you can announce to society like the idiotic four brothers? It should have a high success rate if he uses him behind the scenes because the powerful people will likely watch out for him in fear of a.s.sa.s.sination if they learn of Talrand"s existence.

“Even the death of the previous emperor, His Majesty Wilhelm the 14th…”

“But, I have heard that he had heart disease.”

There"s a poison that causes such condition.”

“Wend-sama, wouldn"t it be better to warn Therese-sama just in case?” (Wilma)

“I guess you"re right.” (Wendelin)

There was no proof for the opinion of doubting whether the previous emperor hadn"t been a.s.sa.s.sinated, but even so, it would be troublesome if Therese ended up dying at this point in time by any chance.

◆◇◆◇◆

After breakfast, I went to Therese"s place and roughly recounted the conversation we had during breakfast.

“His Majesty the Emperor has been… I"d like to believe that it has not been the case, but… I will reinforce the guards. At any rate…” (Therese)

“Yes? What is it?” (Wendelin)

I"m surprised because Therese showed a bright smile all over her face suddenly, even though she had a meek expression at the beginning.

“Thou might be saying this or that, but Wendelin, thou can"t bear worrying about mine well-being, can you? Have a peace of mind. I will stay in good health until I give birth to thy child.” (Therese)

“That story and this story are different, but…” (Wendelin)

I must admit that I have no other official reason but me worrying about her.

“If thee like, thou can immediately with me…” (Therese)

“Hey! Supreme Commander!” (Luise)

Therese tried to embrace me, but that was prevented by Luise who suddenly forced her way between the two of us.

“Therese-sama, your guards still have a lot to learn.” (Luise)

“Ugh, although I really have strengthened my guards…” (Therese)

Therese revealed a frustrated expression due to Luise having been able to get right in front of her just by herself.

“Therese-sama, do your best and establish a tight security net. Well then, I will go back home with Wend.” (Luise)

I watch Therese seeing us off while grinding her teeth after looking at Luise and I leave the tent with our hands connected.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“I"m terribly sorry. The responsibility for the defeat lies with me.”

“No, it"s my fault. There"s no need to worry about it, Talrand.” (Nürnberg)

It was an unexpected defeat.
Although he had the a.s.sistance of the Ancient Magic Civilization"s magic tools, Talrand overwhelmed Earl Baumeister, Burkhart and Armstrong-dous.h.i.+. It should have been easily possible to defeat the three of them. And yet, for them to choose the strategy to burn our army"s supplies…
It looks like I underestimated Earl Baumeister as a man who"s only good at magic.
By no means did I expect him to target our food.
Even if we had defeated Earl Baumeister and the others then and there, Therese"s military forces would have been in perfect shape. The field encampment located in the Great Sorbid Wastelands was st.u.r.dier than I expected. There would have been the danger of our army collapsing due to lacking provisions if we had a hard time attacking that location. As the one leading the troops, making the soldiers starve would be an unspeakable disgrace.
Even if we had tried to procure food locally, there are only a few places where people live in the vicinity of the Great Sorbid Wastelands. We wouldn"t have been able to secure the necessary amount of food at all. In that case, I can a.s.sume that a gracious retreat was the best option.

“Talrand, I have something to talk about with that man.” (Nürnberg)

“As you wish, Sir.” (Talrand)

That man is the extremely skilled magician Alfred Reinford who drove Earl Baumeister and his group into a predicament. Even without being detailed on my order, Talrand guessed what I asked for and summoned him with 『Heroic Spirit Summoning』.

“Oh my, oh my, if it isn"t Duke Nürnberg-dono who likes to handle his dead roughly.” (Alfred)

This man was more excellent than I thought. However, he still doesn"t obey me fully.
It seems that Talrand is struggling to make him listen to what he"s telling him as well.

“The dead won"t get tired, right?” (Nürnberg)

“There"s a feeling of tiredness, but a spirit body is similar to a cl.u.s.ter of mana. It won"t recover unless some time pa.s.ses.” (Alfred)

“Is that why you let Earl Baumeister and his friends get away?” (Duke Nürnberg)

“Isn"t it odd for you to say that? Even if it was a failure, I only loyally followed your order to retreat after the food ended up getting reduced to ashes, Duke Nürnberg-dono. Or would it have been better if I stayed behind and finished them off?” (Alfred)

This man intends to defy me to the bitter end, doesn"t he? We might have been able to defeat Earl Baumeister"s group if Talrand had continued to attack. However, there"s no way for that Therese to let the exhausted Talrand get away. I"m sure she would have killed Talrand with all her magicians.
Given that Talrand cornered the three magicians of the kingdom in the last battle, there should be many people who consider our side to be superior. In reality, on top of not having taken the field encampment, our army suffered losses beyond expectations. Moreover, a large quant.i.ty of our supplies ended up getting burnt. Several magicians, who protected the supplies died as well.
I deployed them in order to strengthen the protection of the food as magicians that would become intermediate level sooner or later, but… as a result that backfired into harm to our side.
That means my perception is still insufficient. What if Earl Baumeister"s group came aiming for our army"s supplies once again?
I have to dispatch advanced-levelled magicians to the defence of the food. That will lower the number of such magicians I can send out to the frontline, won"t it?

“All things considered, Wend isn"t half bad, I guess. To come up with the idea of burning the supplies in that situation.” (Alfred)

“Are you happy about your pupil"s growth?” (Nürnberg)

“Yes, after all, I"m his teacher.” (Alfred)

Bah, for this d.a.m.ned man to reply cheerfully from the bottom of his heart without any shred of hesitation. It"s not hard to imagine how much Talrand is struggling just to make this guy fight normally.
He"s capable, but difficult to handle.

“Next time you will be able to win, right?” (Nürnberg)

“Who knows?” (Alfred)

“What do you mean with ‘Who knows"?” (Nürnberg)

There are also some of the previous magic tools left, so he should be able to kill those three as long as he"s not careless, as a prerequisite.

“Since this was an order, it couldn"t be helped, but it was a huge blunder that we weren"t capable of defeating those three at that point.” (Alfred)

“Meaning?” (Nürnberg)

“They survived a hard fight that brought them close to death. That experience will likely have a big influence on the next battle. Since I"m a dead man, I can"t grow any further.” (Alfred)

“Hmm, can magicians get stronger so quickly?” (Nürnberg)

“No, not at all. I"m just not taking them lightly. To begin with, the amount of my mana doesn"t measure up with Wend"s and Klimt"s. Now that they gained experience in that battle against me, the next battle has become uncertain.” (Alfred)

“I see.” (Nürnberg)

I guess this guy doesn"t plan on yielding to me no matter what. However, it"s unlikely that he will be able to go against Talrand.
If there are no uncalled-for outsiders, Talrand should overwhelm Earl Baumeister"s group next time for sure.
Once Earl Baumeister and his friends die, the biggest hindrance when I attack the kingdom will be gone.

“You are free to think whatever you like, but Talrand will definitely defeat Earl Baumeister and his group.” (Nürnberg)

Indeed, a puppet is at most good at flapping its mouth impudently.

“My goodness, what a lovely relation between master and servant. Though it has nothing to do with me.” (Alfred)

This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he"s really p.i.s.sing me off.
I was an idiot for considering even for a moment to have him become my retainer if he stays alive.
Your master, best friend and favourite pupil; I will make sure to have them killed next time by all means, for the sake of realising my ambitions.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

In the end, the first decisive battle between Therese and Duke Nürnberg finished without a clear conclusion.

“Tsk! There were only a few losses among the proteges of Duke Nürnberg. You can"t call it a victory like this.”

Many of the troops in charge of inflicting damage, who were left behind when the elites led by Duke Nürnberg withdrew, were killed or became prisoners due to Therese"s order for pursuit.
If you go by the loss ratio, it"s probably our side"s victory, but it"s hard to say that we delivered fatal damage to Duke Nürnberg"s trusted military forces.
Even Philip, who is leading the kingdom"s forces, was grim-faced.

“There were many who surrendered. Thus it looks like their management has become troublesome, correct?”

“Therese-sama was at her wits" end with their management.”

“Certainly there"s no way that she can simply execute all of them. Humans will die if they don"t get anything to eat. Securing the food necessary to feed them is what troubles Therese-sama.”

Because they were used as disposable p.a.w.ns, they ended up surrendering easily once Duke Nürnberg pulled back his army. There are also many n.o.bles among them who are angry at Duke Nürnberg, but it"s hard to treat them as allies just because of that.
Given that their territories and families have been taken hostage, it"s possible that they will betray us once again as soon as it turns into a battle.

“So even the prisoners are a trap…?”

“To make such far-sighted judgement in that instant, huh? It seems Duke Nürnberg is an excellent soldier.”

“Though, honestly you can"t admire him as a human,” Philip added in a self-deprecating manner.

“I wonder what we are going to do from now on? Will it turn into a standoff once again?”

“No, we have no other choice but to advance ahead.”

“Isn"t that dangerous?”

“It might be dangerous, but if we let Duke Nürnberg act as he pleases, the empire will only become barren. In order to defeat him and a.s.sert the legitimacy of her political power, Therese-sama has to set out.”

“I see. Then why did you make such big blunder in the dispute the other day despite having an understanding of political decisions?”

“Don"t talk about that. There"s a difference between stating one"s opinion from the sideline and making the right decision as a concerned party.”

Having that pointed out by me, Philip"s expression becomes even more bitter.

◆◇◆◇◆

“We will take Alhans.” (Therese)

“Isn"t that an important military position?” (Wendelin)

“That"s why we are going to take it.” (Therese)

Both sides keeping staring at each other will just ruin the empire. She especially seems to have the impression that it"s dangerous to leave the imperial capital in Duke Nürnberg"s palms any longer.
Since I had roughly checked the map of the empire, I knew the location of Alhans.
It"s located around the halfway point between the Great Sorbid Wastelands and the capital. It"s a major military base of the imperial army.
It"s a huge citadel and military base with an adjoining city boasting a population of over 30,000 residents.
Although it"s not official, it"s a major city treated as the secondary capital by the empire"s people. If we take this place, it might become possible to take a peek at the imperial capital.

“Won"t that be harsh on our military power?”

“It"s also a move to bolster that military power.”

There haven"t been that many losses on our side in the battles so far. Rather, the losses on the rebel army"s side are bigger. However, if we talk about the distribution of military power, Duke Nürnberg"s side is still ahead of us. It"s doubtful whether we would be able to win against him at the moment.

“If it"s the current forces of arms, they"ve increased.”

Therese explained that she addressed my concern by adding the aforementioned prisoners of war.

“Are you tempting the n.o.bles north of Alhans to turn their back on Duke Nürnberg?”

“They feel animosity towards the way Duke Nürnberg does things. If their territories enter the liberation army"s sphere of influence, the necessity of worrying about a possible betrayal will vanish, too. Fresh reinforcements from the rear will arrive as well. That should also lower our numerical disadvantage.” (Therese)

“That might be the case, but…” (Wendelin)

“Duke Nürnberg lost a great number of provisions and supplies. It"s highly unlikely for him to go on the offensive with his whole army for a while.” (Therese)

Apparently, it"s because I burned down the rebel army"s large-scaled supply point in the previous battle.

“Once again gathering the supplies allowing him to move an army with more than 100,000 soldiers will take time. He should withdraw to the neighbourhood of the capital after taking his supply routes being cut off into consideration.” (Therese)

“Won"t it be fine if they resupply with magic bags?” (Wendelin)

“Aren"t thou the one who burned those magic bags along the magicians carrying them, Wendelin?” (Therese)

Since the amount of goods consumed by an army is large, magic bags and normal wagons are used at the same time.
Not depending on just one of those methods is a simple security measure.
The supplies that had been transported with conventional means and the general-purpose magic bags had been placed at that storage location.
A majority of those went up in flames due to my magic.

“Even Duke Nürnberg is likely struck by terror due to thy quick-wittedness and magic that burned down the supply point and the supply unit which were both located quite far in the back, Wendelin.” (Therese)

“Are you sure?” (Wendelin)

He might have considered it as unexpected, but it"s not really as though I"m excelling as a soldier.
I think he probably won"t be that cautious of me.

“Either way, I"d like thou to depart alongside the advance guard.” (Therese)

“Understood.” (Wendelin)

◆◇◆◇◆

Receiving Therese"s order, we start heading south with a military force of around 60,000.
However, our kingdom"s forces of 1,500 will take independent actions, being treated as flying squadron.

“Captain Erwin-dono, right now it"s fine for you not to be so tense.”

A middle-aged veteran commander called out to Erw with a banter.
Erw, whom I had left in Philip"s care, commanded around 500 soldiers from the kingdom"s army that he had been entrusted with as company commander. Erw with his mere 16 years in age has become frozen stiff on his horse because of nervousness due to this heavy responsibility.

“E-Erw-san, relax.” (Haruka)

“Haruksan, please relax as well. You are also too stiff.”

The middle-aged royal army soldier, who"s acting as vice-captain, pointed out Haruka"s own tension as she was trying to ease Erw"s nervousness.
Haruka is accompanying Erw not only as his fiancée but also in her job as Erw"s a.s.sistant.

“I"m not nervous or anything like that.” (Haruka)

“I have also experienced the same in my early days. For now, let"s calm down by taking a deep breath. After all, there won"t be any battle for a while.”

Feeling doubts towards the prediction of the vice-captain who helps Erw, I try asking Philip, who is confidently riding his horse next to mine, his opinion.

“He"s saying something like that, but… will it be alright?” (Wendelin)

“Duke Nürnberg forced the troops of the n.o.bles, who aren"t his own proteges, to take such unreasonable actions. Those n.o.bles, whose territories are around here, are likely raging within their hearts at Duke Nürnberg. Thus I don"t expect them to be hostile towards us but rather to cooperate with our side due to their hatred of Duke Nürnberg.” (Philip)

“That"s why there probably won"t be that many battles until our objective, Alhans,” Philip and the middle-aged vice-captain predicted.

“The majority of the 60,000 troops currently spearheaded by us are n.o.bles who possess territory north of Alhans. They will surely announce their partic.i.p.ation in the liberation army after returning to their territories.” (Philip)

Even though many of their allies were killed by the liberation army in the previous battle, they will only be treated as disposables again if they join up with the rebel army once more at this point in time.
Until now they had no other choice but to obey Duke Nürnberg out of fear.
I can understand the grief of those n.o.bles.

“We will leave the negotiations with the n.o.bles around here and matters regarding the military government after the occupation to Alfons-dono, and simply advance onwards, right? It"s not like we will move to the very front anyway.” (Philip)

“Are we going to deal with guerilla warfare trying to sever our supply lines?” (Wendelin)

“Of course we will do that, but there"s a limit to what we can do with 1,500 soldiers. Besides, this unit is treated as an a.s.sembly of mercenaries and outsiders, right? Christoph.” (Philip)

“Yes, nii-san.” (Christoph)

“Show that map to Earl Baumeister.” (Philip)

“Here you go.” (Christoph)

Christoph hands a map over to me.
The roads in this area had been drawn in quite a detailed manner on it.

“We have secured several supply routes usable by wagons, but it"s very likely that these will be cut off. However, since we are doing on the a.s.sumption that they will be cut off, we will immediately know the enemy"s position once it happens. Even if they attack or run away, it"s useful for the securing of supply routes. That"s why we entrusted a large number of goods that don"t need to be replenished to you in advance, Earl Baumeister.” (Philip)

“Making use of our past experience, escape routes have been prepared at five locations. They are perfect as they are mountain routes that aren"t used overly much by people.”

“I guess we can feel relieved in that case.”

I agree with Philip"s and Christoph"s explanations.
It"s because I completely consented to their policy of quickly running away if things go west.

“Though it would have been great if you could have used that ability of yours in that dispute, don"t you agree?” (Wendelin)

“We told you, don"t talk about that!”

I ended up getting retorted by both brothers at the same time.

◆◇◆◇◆

Our advance continues after that.
However, each time we pa.s.s through the several n.o.ble territories and cities along the way, we make a stopover.
That"s because we are asked to sell them some food since they don"t have much.

“There"s no food?”

“Yes. It was completely bought up by the emperor"s forces after and before the rumoured battle that took place a few days ago…”

Though we are in a civil war, even Duke Nürnberg is probably avoiding openly pillaging in imperial territory. But, it appears that he bought the food forcibly at a price that"s much cheaper than the market price.

“If you have some food, even if it"s just a little bit, please sell it to us, so that we can barely last until the harvest…”

“Isn"t that a questionable scorched-earth strategy…?”

Christoph turned my way with an expression as if asking me 『What are we going to do?』.
I can"t consider it as anything but sabotage against the advancing liberation army.
Duke Nürnberg is probably aiming for the liberation army to provoke the residents" opposition by making it forcefully procuring its food locally.

“Sorry, but we don"t have any food to spare either.”

We advance forward while continuing to refuse their pleas.
There are many territories that joined the liberation army after the feudal lord"s army returned, but there were also places where the feudal lord has died in battle or is still missing, and n.o.bles who came attacking us while still allied with Duke Nürnberg this late in the game.
They tried to launch surprise attacks against us by capitalising on their locational advantage.

“We cannot afford to have too many losses, okay?”

A few dozen soldiers have launched an ambush from the mountain road"s side, but they were swiftly dealt with as I had sensed them long ago.

“A knight peerage, huh? Erwin, you are in charge of the left-wing after we have surrounded them.” (Philip)

“Roger.” (Erwin)

Even their carefully planned-out surprise attack comes to nothing due to me discovering them in advance. They end up getting surrounded by us easily.
Receiving help from his vice-captain and Haruka, Erw moved his unit as ordered by Philip.

“Are we going to wrap it up in one go?” (Philip)

“No, there"s the proverb 『A cornered rat will bite the cat』, right?” (Wendelin)

“Are they really going to surrender without even fighting once?” (Philip)

“I will make them.” (Wendelin)

Philip was sceptical, but I go out in front and cast a very weak 『Area Stun』 against the enemy army lying in wait. Since the power is at a level of a low-frequency medical device, they yell in surprise and easily give away their positions.

“In case you don"t surrender, I will have all of you die without even the time for you to swing your swords at us…” (Wendelin)

“We surrender!”

Once the ambush ended in failure, the commanding n.o.ble immediately threw away his weapon and surrendered.
A low-ranking elderly n.o.ble, seemingly a Knight, and soldiers wearing shabby equipment. It seems he formed his feudal army by recruiting peasants.

“If I don"t at least pretend to fight…”

The elderly n.o.ble was grandly toyed with in this civil war as a poor Knight.
Apparently, he announced his partic.i.p.ation in the rebel army in the beginning and was ordered to guard the road without departing to the frontline since his rank is too low.
Thanks to that, he suffered no losses since he didn"t attack the liberation army"s field encampment.

“You will likely think badly of someone like me, who surrendered, asking something like this, but what"s going on with the civil war?”

“Umm…”

It"s probably the sorrow of a small feudal lord living at the boundary between both powers.
It"s because there"s the possibility of not only him, but even the fief"s population getting annihilated if he makes a mistake in joining the wrong side.

“Since we are still continuing our advance south, this place should also soon enter the liberation army"s sphere of influence.”

“…” He sighs and asks “Alhans, is it?”

“I can"t tell you because we are in the midst of a military operation.”

He"s an old man with a strangely good perception.
I tried to dodge the issue, but I guess anyone with a bit of military knowledge will realise that Alhans is our current target.

“For that reason, please stay in your territory without scheming anything unnecessary.”

“Umm… Can"t you take us along?”

“Huh?”

Advancing while adding the military forces that just surrendered is a pattern that often comes up in military history records, but I don"t know whether we can trust them.
If we were betrayed after advancing even further south, we will end up getting attacked from behind.
Since I can"t come to a decision, I s.h.i.+ft my look towards Philip, seeking his advice.

“We won"t get anywhere if you don"t make the decisions as supreme commander.” (Philip)

“The number of our troops is going to grow, and they will also serve as guides. Once we take Alhans, the area around here will turn into a safety zone, so it"s probably alright, I think?”

“That"s what I believe, too.” (Philip)

“Guiding you it is, right? Please leave it to us. Let me introduce myself properly. I"m Bernal Günther von Popek. I serve as the family head of a humble, poor Knight household. By the way, about those accompanying me…”

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