Translator: Nat
–Third Person POV–
City of Trisnia – Under Rule of South Yuguria Empire.
Wilhelmina silently places the report doc.u.ment on the desk.
Even though she didn"t raise her voice or slam her fist onto the desk, Zaphnes, the 190cm man, flinched when the sheet of paper touched the surface of the high-quality wooden desk.
He had a bandage wrapped around his head and several painful-looking wounds all over his face.
「An offense of this extent reached a standstill. Then, you went on the defensive thereafter…… is my understanding of this correct?」
「Yes…… unfortunately, the losses are too severe. Even if I maintained the offense, it would not yield success.」
Zaphnes, trying to appear composed, takes a gulp of alcohol and speaks in an unconcerned manner.
「I guess. The pieces I prepared were also eliminated. How unlucky.」
Wilhelmina brings the three letters of agreement to the flame of a candlestick, setting them on fire before tossing the burning papers into the fireplace.
Her eyes remain fixed on the flickering embers as she continues on.
「I am an amateur in war, but even I know that I can"t win 100 out of 100 fights. On top of that……」
Her beautiful green eyes s.h.i.+fted to Zaphnes while her elegant countenance remained facing the fireplace.
Her voice sounded like it came from the finest instrument.
「I heard that after the highly probable defeat, there was an illogical forced attack. Being the amateur at war that I am, I know you likely have something in mind. Please enlighten me.」
Wilhelmina looks up at the man who is taller than her by 30 cm.
Her jewel-like eyes gaze deep into his eyes, like she was staring into his soul.
「It was my stubbornness―― no, something a man can"t yield―― ack, ahem! Nevermind. It was an inconsistency in the transmission of intent, which led to the strategic failure.」
The slightest narrowing of Wilhelmina"s eyes caused Zaphnes to clear his throat intensely and correct himself, as he turned to look out the window, avoiding the gravity of her alluring green pupils.
「I would say that I won"t let the same thing happen again, however, regretting a mistake will not bring about a favorable turn of events. What"s important now is to consider the future.」
He didn"t get a response, but he continued on, speaking at a faster pace than usual.
「We have suffered substantial damage to our forces. The central army"s strength has been halved. A large scale restructuring and replenishment is needed. If possible……」
Zaphnes slides his finger across the map in front of him.
The imaginary line he drew went from the capital of Goldonia down to the south to Arkland, past the Majino fort line to Trisnia.
「Since we"re on the topic of replenishment and restructuring, it"s also an option to fall back to Libatis. Acevedo"s army is going strong on the west coast of the river…… however, if we want to call him back, we need to desperately defend the Trisnia port. As long as we control Trisnia, we can also rope in those guys from Meldora.」
「Meldora without s.h.i.+ps?」
Wilhelmina comments disinterestedly.
Since their fleet was annihilated, Meldora"s value within her mind has almost completely vanished.
「If we retreat south of Trisnia, their collapse is inevitable. Their only choice would be to give us everything they have. We"ll be making use of junk.」
Zaphnes nods at Wilhelmina"s mumbling and continues on.
「If we call the western army back as our reserve forces, it would be possible to reorganize an attack. With that said, they"re scattered all across the west coast, so they can"t cross the river in one or two days. In order to get more time, we won"t move the entire army to Trisnia immediately……」
Zaphnes"s finger slides up on the map.
「We"ll leave a certain number of soldiers in Arkland to halt the enemy"s advance. Despite being destroyed here and there, the city walls are still st.u.r.dy. A few simple repairs and Arkland can function sufficiently as a fortress.」
Meanwhile, Wilhelmina doesn"t look at Zaphnes and only stares at the map.
「What"s the possibility of the enemy detouring around Arkland to get to Trisnia?」
Zaphnes sticks out his chest and states definitively.
「That possibility is small. Like us, a high proportion of their army are conscripts and a prompt march would not be desirable. Even supposing they showed signs of doing so, Maestus and his cavalry army are going strong. They can constantly hinder the enemy.」
「Then what about the risk of getting raided before defensive preparations are done?」
Wilhelmina quickly follows up with another question.
「None. Adding to what I said, not only did we retreat orderly, the enemy"s losses are also enormous. They will want to reorganize and then hunt stragglers first. On top of their failure, they have to deal with colluders. A normal general would have his hands full doing inspections within his ranks…… the earliest they would march is after 10 days and the latest is after a month.」
It happened right when Zaphnes spoke full of confidence.
「My apologies for interrupting the war council! It"s an urgent report!」
Conversations held between Wilhelmina and Zaphnes are more important than other meetings.
Knocking on the door is not even permitted for run-of-the-mill issues.
「I don"t mind. Enter.」
Zaphnes turned his eyes to her, but before he could say anything, Wilhelmina granted permission.
It was revealed that the person was a staff officer.
He knelt to the ground in front of Zaphnes"s judgmental stare and relayed his message.
「Reporting from the retreating central army! "Goldonia is pursuing――"」
「Impossible! They"ve already caught up!? It isn"t a force reconnaissance or a disturbance strategy!?」
Zaphnes slams his fist onto the table, interrupting the staff officer"s sentence. Wilhelmina urges the officer to finish what he was saying.
「A-ahem, "Goldonia is pursuing―― enemy force is extremely large. It is believed to be a full-scale pursuit of the entire army." That is all.」
Wilhelmina stood up emotionlessly when the staff officer concluded his report.
「It doesn"t seem like we"re up against any ordinary general.」
「No way. If they"ve already caught our tail, that must mean they departed the morning after the battle. That kind of forced march is a complete gamble. Attaining victory and escaping the greatest disaster…… then taking such a huge risk all of a sudden……」
Wilhelmina peeks at Zaphnes who grits his teeth.
The man who was just talking proudly is now looking terrified after his predictions missed the mark completely.
Waiting for him was a beaming smile.
It did not hide any kind of criticism or condemnation.
Her pink lips opened up kindly.
「You were injured in the previous battle, right? I have no words to thank you for the wounds you suffered for me and for the Empire. However, you should show some care for your body. What do you think, spend a little time to rest and heal up?」
「Wh-what are you bringing up at such a time……?」
Zaphnes searched the room.
He thought Wilhelmina was using a polite tone out of consideration for the staff officer who was still in the room. But he was not there any longer.
「If something were to happen, like falling off your horse, it could be fatal. Especially if you hit your head……」
Wilhelmina takes one step forward. Her cheerful smile did not waver.
Zaphnes takes one step backward.
「T-this is nothing! My plans have gone slightly awry, but it"s easily fixed. Everything is still within expectations!」
Wilhelmina was calm compared to Zaphnes who raised his voice.
「Is that so? Well, I"m counting on you next time then. I will wait for news of our victory.」
Wilhelmina grabs Zaphnes by the arm and gazes up at him.
Her eyes look directly at Zaphnes. Nevertheless, the man looks down, refusing to meet her line of sight.
「O-of course! I will make preparations immediately.」
Zaphnes storms out of the room with large strides.
After seeing off the man stumble away, her beautiful eyes turned to the window.
「I need…… something else, huh?」
–Aegir POV–
A Few Days Later. Near Arkland.
「Hmm, it has lowered.」
I say as I inspect the sluggishly marching soldiers.
「This is a rather unreasonable march. It can"t be helped.」
One soldier collapses on the shoulder of the road as Erich and I talk.
Marching on a strict schedule the day after an extremely fierce battle……it was antic.i.p.ated from the start that at least 20 to 30 percent of the soldiers could not keep up.
「Your army is pretty impressive. To have even fewer stragglers than the Royal army……」
「They"re used to fighting after all.」
Compared to the others, few in my personal army fell behind.
Some of it may be due to their regular training, though the biggest factor is their experience in war.
Recklessness and irrationality comes hand-in-hand with war, so being in countless wars accustoms you to those two things.
I glance at the bow cavalry.
「♪~」
The mountain nation are nomadic people who originally lived in a harsh barren environment with scarce amounts of water and food.
They"re no strangers to travelling frequently, in fact, they treat these times as a form of rest.
Gido and Luna are both sleeping on their horses.
I glance over at the 105th army next.
「Guu…… I can"t go on…… this is it for me……」
When someone falls down, another soldier smacks him back up.
「Hey man, what do you think you"re doing by taking it easy? If there"s one less person, my burden is going to increase!」
「You better not have forgotten the three silver I lent you! C"mon, stand up!」
The soldiers dragged themselves along, cursing as they did so.
It seems they have their own method.
Next, I reluctantly glance at the Aless soldiers.
I regretted it immediately.
『We are menー! Men of Alessー!』
「「「Men! Men! Men! Men!」」」
『Men train! Men fight! Men march!』
「「「Men! Men! Men!」」」
『We are men of Aless! Men are invincible! We are invincible! Show your manliness!』
「「「Ooh! Ooh! Oh, oh, oh, oh!!」」」
I"m surprised they can shout so energetically during a march of this pace.
We"ve been maintaining the same pace since early in the morning too.
By the way, it goes without saying that n.o.body in the Aless army lagged behind.
All of them are smiling and having fun.
『We will now sing, a song of men~♪ Of flowing sweat and tensed muscles~♪』
The problem is that many squads around them have been left in the dust.
Who can blame them? Even I would feel like falling over if I"m at the peak of exhaustion and I heard such a song.
「We can see it now.」
I"m seriously going to drop if I watch any more of this.
I s.h.i.+ft my eyes back to the front where the city of Arkland, which I haven"t visited in quite a long time, appears.
「We won"t lay out in a siege formation. We"re going to attack with brute force.」
Ercih declares as he gathers the major commanders after surrounding Arkland.
「We don"t have any siege equipment. Well, we do, but it will take some time for them to arrive.」
Heavy and clunky siege weapons can"t match the speed of our desperate march.
They should be on their way now from all over the place.
「However, our swift advance achieved the same result as hundreds of catapults would have. Look!」
Erich points to the city.
Arkland was once a military city that could essentially be called a fortress.
Its walls were thick and tall, and it normally would be considered ill-advised to attack without the use of siege weapons.
At present time, Arkland"s walls have crumbled in various places and repairs have yet to be done.
Towers and turrets which were supposed to fortify weaker areas have mostly been destroyed, and only a few can function as proper defense…… it is the consequence of Arkland being used as the stage for a war.
「Only the gate has been cleaned up so goods can be acc.u.mulated, but the other damaged portions have not been fixed.」
Leopolt examines the entire city.
Plenty of catapults demolished the walls and gate.
Our rapid a.s.sault left the enemy no time to do any emergency repairs.
「It was a given. I mean, they intended to wipe out Goldonia in one battle, so obviously they delayed mending a city to the rear which they already occupied. The frontlines were at a standstill, so that"s why labor and materials were taken too.」
Tristan comes to an understanding by himself.
「For this time, a complicated plan is not required! All units, force your way into the city as fast as possible!」
The order resounded in a powerful voice.
It"s a simple and dumbed down order, unusual for someone like Erich.
「This is my kind of order.」
A smile naturally appears on my face.
We begin on the east side of the wall.
The infantry unit advances forward, aiming for the crumbled part of the wall.
The archers and bow cavalry provide support with arrows.
Upon closer inspection, there is debris and sandbags piled up roughly, but that work, probably done in a few hours, is lacking solidity.
「Attack.」
At my order, the soldiers instantly run toward the wall.
Simultaneously, the Royal army attacked from the north and west.
Although enemy archers shoot back from atop the ramparts, the infantry soldiers continue charging, ignoring what little casualties they suffered.
「Don"t falter! Charge!」
「We win if we get inside the city! Go, go, go!」
My soldiers are not soft enough to be stopped by arrows, despite the number of deaths increasing to a fairly significant amount.
They flood through the hole in the wall, yelling loudly as they invade the city……just when I thought they did it, it happened.
I hear the familiar low-pitched tw.a.n.g of a heavy bow string and then one second later, a group of soldiers in the vanguard were blown away.
「A ballista……」
Above the part of the wall on the verge of collapsing, a ballista is being pulled taut by human power.
When the bow cavalry aimed at the ballista, s.h.i.+elds were appropriately propped up to guard.
Another bolt was flung at the rus.h.i.+ng soldiers, blowing away more of them.
「Kuh……if only we had a catapult, we can take them out in one shot.」
Myla bites her lips in frustration.
The enemy ballista is in plain sight, but it"s out of our reach.
If we continue charging, we"ll be pushed back and we"ll lose a lot of troops.
「Can we get through?」
Leopolt asks.
「No.」
Before I could step forward, a hand rests on my shoulder.
It was a rugged hand that made me uncomfortable, and when I turned around, I saw Gildress with a radiant smile.
「Leave it to us. We have a catapult.」
「What?」
「You"re lying! You only came with one pair of pants!」
Celia yells.
I"m happy she"s full of spirit.
Well, I already knew these guys came empty-handed.
They wouldn"t be carrying heavy objects like siege weapons.
However Gildress doesn"t bother listening.
「Men of Aless! We"re doing a man-catapult!!」
「「「Oh!!」」」
Aless soldiers move into action with an enthusiastic reply.
I think I heard an incredible word used.
They prepare a st.u.r.dy rope.
It was fixed on a rock that was lying around and a few people began swinging the other end of the rope together.
「That"s not enough! This isn"t the extent of your honed bodies, is it!?」
The revolutions gradually increase in momentum and the rock attached to the end of the rope turns into a blur.
When the rock reached peak velocity, it was released.
The rope and rock flew in an arc……straight at the ballista, blowing it apart.
「Did you see that!?」
I can do that, no problem.
I wonder if I can hit the ballista with such accuracy though.
「Nothing is impossible for the body of an Aless man.」
I"ll let them believe that.
Without the ballista, our soldiers could resume their charge, storming into the city in the face of arrows.
Just when I thought we won, the battle in between the wall doesn"t end.
We encounter intense resistance on the other side as well. The constant rain of arrows is also annoying.
「The enemy must have stationed quite a few of their soldiers here. I mean, they know we"ll be coming through the collapsed part…… to disperse their forces, how about spreading out and climbing over the wall from the left and right? If things go our way, we can take control of the wall. Worst case and we fail, we can still thin out the enemy"s defense.」
Let"s try it out.
「Yakov. Climb from the left. Gildress, go from the right.」
「Got it, General!」
「Nuun, leave it to me!」
「Hurry it up, peeping tom.」「Pant-wetter.」
Myla, Celia, don"t break Yakov"s spirit before he goes into battle.
Do it after the war.
The 105th army makes their way to the left.
Using the time when arrows are concentrated on the soldiers within the city, the 105 army close in on the wall, following siege tactics by the book, and putting up ladders.
The enemy responds quickly, but the 105th army"s experience with naval battles helped them climb ladders faster than other soldiers. A few of them even throw grappling hooks, which latch onto the top, allowing them to pull themselves up.
「Who are these guys!?」
「Uwah! They"re already up!!」
Along with backup from the bow cavalry, it didn"t long for the 105th army to finish climbing.
「Hyahahー! Easy!」
「Gyahaha! You"re all dead!」
「Kekekeke! Hand over your lives, your treasure, and your women!」
I"ll overlook their vulgar behavior just this once.
Anyways, this battle is ours now that we"ve brought it to close combat. That"s the left side taken care of.
What about the Aless army on the right side?
The 105th attacked first so the enemy is on alert.
Aless might have drawn the short end of the stick.
「Form into a man-turret!」
On Gildress"s orders, the Aless soldiers start jumping onto each other"s shoulders.
Actually, they were standing instead of sitting and another person stood on their shoulders.
The last person on top wielded a sword and s.h.i.+eld and stood on the bottom person"s head.
「Height aside, performing an acrobatic move like that won"t――」
Myla couldn"t finish expressing her common sense opinion.
「Gooo!」
Gildress bellowed. Four human columns charged forward.
The stunned Myla dropped her sword unconsciously.
「It"s better to think of them as animals. Overthinking things will tire you out.」
After the man-turrets closed in to the walls, they began clas.h.i.+ng directly with the enemy.
In spite of how vigorous the soldiers were moving, not even the person at the very bottom of the turret seemed likely to fall over.
「Now! Make a man-mountain!」
While the enemy was preoccupied with the man-turrets, about 50 Aless soldiers ran in front of the walls and knelt down.
At first, they seemed to be prostrating, but they were holding out their hands in a line.
「What is that?」
Celia tilts her head and asks adorably. Unfortunately, I don"t know either.
Another row of Aless soldiers formed on top of the first row. This time the row had slightly fewer people.
When the second row was completed, another row formed on top, and then another, then one more……
「D-don"t tell me they"re planning to get over the wall like that……」
Celia"s jaw drops.
Poking her cute tongue causes her mouth to close around my finger reflexively.
Celia"s premonition happened to be on the mark and the platform continued to grow taller.
It was already several levels high.
Those soldiers at the bottom carrying the brunt of the weight amazingly did not waver one bit.
The enemy also noticed that and tried shooting arrows or throwing rocks to no avail.
「Uugh! Hahaha, 10 or 20 arrows won"t bring down a man of Aless!」
「Exactly! Even my daughter hurts more…… gugh!」
Albeit sporadic, the enemy"s counterattack was drawn to the moving turrets, however, the Aless soldiers acting as the foundation did not have a way to dodge.
Large rocks thrown down directly hit the head of a soldier at the bottom.
That appeared to be a fatal injury or probably an instant death.
But, the Aless soldier doesn"t let himself fall, regardless of how much blood and brain matter is dripping out.
Even when he"s about to die, he focuses on fulfilling his duty.
Seeing that really motivates me, prompting me to draw my Dual Crater.
「I"m heading to the front.」
Having said that, I ran off.
I head to the left side where the Aless soldiers were crowding and step on the man-mountain that is nearing the height of the wall.
Soldiers on the brink of death remained firm as I stepped on their back and I praised them for a job well done before moving on.
「Man, you are going too!?」
Gildress was beside me before I knew it.
「Yeah.」
A man holding a spear and s.h.i.+eld was waiting for me after I climbed up.
「Repel these absurd perverts!」
「Who are you calling a pervert?」
I hop off the man-mountain to the ramparts, using the momentum to unleash an elbow strike on the s.h.i.+eld-wielding enemy.
He gets knocked off the wall and falls into the city.
「Nuuun!」
Next to me, Gildress flas.h.i.+ly dropkicks two enemy soldiers.
I inhale and ready my Dual Crater.
Approaching me are three spearmen, 3 swordsmen and 2 s.h.i.+eldbearers.
I purposely stand still, allowing the three soldiers wielding spears to aim at my throat, chest and crotch respectively.
They fell for the bait, like I wanted.
My left foot deflects the spear aimed at my crotch, my left gauntlet blocks the spear aimed at my chest, and my Dual Crater splits apart the spear aimed at my throat.
「Fall back――」
「Like I"ll let you.」
I plant my raised left foot firmly on the ground and dash off.
My Dual Crater pierces through the stomach of the soldier who tried to distance himself, then a kick lands on another enemy which knocks him into the city, and then I punch the last soldier in the face.
Next to fight are the three swordsmen.
I"m greeted with a horizontal slash, a lunge and a downward strike from above.
As I raise my sword diagonally, I take one step back to hide my preliminary action.
Both the horizontal and downward slash cut through air, leaving only the man who lunged in front of me.
Letting out a short breath, I slash at that man.
The tip of his sword, his head and his right hand slide off.
「This guy"s fa――」
In the blink of an eye, I step in front of the remaining two.
My body turns as I knock aside the torso of one soldier and sweep his legs.
His lower body fell down while his upper body spun around several times before dropping into the city.
The last individual attempts to avenge his buddy, but freezes before he could take a swing.
「I-it can"t be, you"re―― a demon.」
It turns out the voice was surprisingly feminine.
After her sword gets knocked away by me, she helplessly collapses on the spot.
I pluck off her helmet and steal her lips for now.
She flinches and wets herself out of fear, then pa.s.ses out.
That must have been quite the shock for her.
「「Uooooh!!」」
Oops, I forgot about the two s.h.i.+eld guys.
They charge at me yelling, their s.h.i.+elds held out in front of their bodies.
Since the ramparts aren"t very s.p.a.cious, I don"t have much room to dodge when those two s.h.i.+elds are lined up side-by-side.
「We will vanquish the demon――」
「With our own hands――」
The duo declare as they cover their faces and commit to a full-powered s.h.i.+eld charge.
I stab my Dual Crater into the ground and hold my hands out in front of me.
Then, they crash into me――
「Fumu.」
I don"t budge an inch, let along a single millimeter. My hands caught each of the s.h.i.+elds.
「Fumu.」
「Ga…… ggh……」
「C-can"t move.」
The two of them roar like animals to squeeze out as much strength as possible, but only their own feet slide.
I casually clench my teeth and push off the ground.
「Hmph!」
Almost like time was turned backward, both of them were pushed back, cras.h.i.+ng into their allies and tumbling down altogether.
「Are you done?」
I turn around to check on Gildress.
「I just finished.」
With a grunt, Gildress breaks the neck of a final enemy by turning it sideways.
The tides of battle have s.h.i.+fted completely in our favor now.
The rest of the Aless soldiers crawl up the mountain of men, while the 105 army also occupy their side of the wall.
My personal army has also completely breached through the enemy"s defenses.
「Uwaaah! It"s here!」
「I don"t want to be eaten…… eei, jump off!」
Enemies who still resist after we cornered them start leaping off the walls suddenly.
Thinking about what could possibly be the cause, I see Pochi climbing the wall too.
Pochi can climb a vertical wall with its sharp claws.
A large hole would be opened up in the walls so Pochi is forbidden from entering the mansion back home. The last time it happened, Pochi was scolded by Rita non-stop, ending up dejected for three days.
The Royal army has also busted through the wall and are flooding into the city.
There are still quite a few enemy soldiers within the city, however, there isn"t much they can do when surrounded and their defenses are being penetrated.
The battle has been decided.
「With that said, we can"t just say "that"s it" and go to sleep.」
I call Pochi over and grab onto its leg.
Gildress jumps and holds onto the other leg. We travel away from the walls and land directly in the center of the city.
「It"s a Pochi carriage.」
Pipi cries out happily, followed by a cheerful roar from Pochi.
I don"t really pay much attention to the blank stares of nearby allies.
Oh yeah, Gildress didn"t react when he saw Pochi.
「It looks a bit strange, but this is what a dog will become if a true man raises it. Let"s call it a man-dog for now.」
Pochi lets out a sad whine.
We advance to the central part of the city as the battle rages on.
In the urban areas, large-scale battles can not be conducted so smaller skirmishes have broken out in various places.
「Small fights are exactly what we want, but coming into this is……」
When we turned the corner, we encountered the enemy.
「How annoying!」
I stick out a leg instead of my sword, kicking away the enemy.
「Uwaaaaaah!!」
The enemy soldier cries out pathetically as he is sent flying into the wall of a house and dies――or so I thought. Due to the fighting, there was a hole in the wall he was supposed to crash into, and flew inside the residence instead.
There was no sound of impact after that, rather a few seconds later, some white dust rose from the house.
It looks like flour. This building is probably a storage for ingredients and the enemy flew into a bag of flour.
I couldn"t see his face, but judging by his aura and weakness, he was clearly a small fry.
I don"t have to spend any effort to chase and finish him off.
「Aah――ph got hit!」
「Hang in there, Chri――! I"m here for you!」
「Splash some water on him and wake him up! This city is done for. Let"s get ready to escape.」
Shortly after, the center of Arkland was recaptured.
With the fall of the center, the enemy will probably decide to retreat completely.
The main force of the enemy army finds a thinner part to breakthrough and manages to narrowly leave the city.
「Don"t let them get away, wipe them out!」
Naturally, we pursue, however……
「The main army has left! Stand your ground!」
The enemy general holds firm.
Compared to the 100 000 we have, they only have a few thousand――
「They stopped moving.」
Leopolt responds to me.
「Our victory has been confirmed. Soldiers will not want to lose their lives after a win.」
Yeah, that"s true.
n.o.body wants to risk their lives in a fight that has already been decided.
「Effects of the forced march are also showing. At top condition, they would not have let the enemy escape so easily.」
「It hurts that we don"t have them either.」
The main forces of the Aless soldiers and 105th army went toward the city center.
Other squads also headed for the center, and it was the moment when the city got congested that the enemy devised a plan to run.
I hope the Aless soldiers don"t push allies aside just to chase the enemy. I"d rather not jinx it.
The enemy rearguard gets run over from being outnumbered.
But by that time, the enemy was already far away and the sun was starting to set.
「This is as far as we go. We should avoid needless pursuit.」
Erich appears with a mix of emotions in his face.
「I wanted to annihilate them here if possible……but I needed to prepare for them even if it meant having a thinner encirclement.」
In front of Erich, there were 20 000 soldiers without roles waiting on standby.
If they partic.i.p.ated in the siege, the enemy likely would not have gotten away.
「The enemy"s cavalry?」
「That"s right. The necessity of being equipped for those guys is more important than lessening the risk of the enemy"s escape from the city. It can"t be helped. Anyways, we reclaimed Arkland…… let"s be satisfied with that.」
That particular group did not show up this time.
However, their mobility is exceptional. They might not be in front of us now, but that doesn"t mean we can relax.
「So we have to crush them somewhere.」
「Umu.」
Erich and I exchange small nods.
In the corner of my eye, I see Celia shouting for victory, Myla directing others to hunt for remnants of the enemy, and Gido lifting up and touching a female prisoner.
「Eei, eei, ohー! Ei, ei, ohー!」
「Uncover every last survivor of the enemy in the city!」
「You"re going to become my woman now. Got it?」
「N-no, I don"t want to…… yet my body can"t resist such a handsome man, I hate it!」
Ultimately, we won and took back the city which was stolen.
The endless defensive can transition into offense.
Will it be Trisnia next, or perhaps……
Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 25 years old. Summer.
Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend.
Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.
Elf Mediator. s.e.x King of White City.
Subordinates:
Myla (militia commander), Sekrit (mischief), Leopolt (staff officer A), Tristan (staff officer B), Celia (battalion commander)
Yakov (105th army commander), Irijina (commander), Luna (bow cavalry commander), Gido (captured)
Ivanna (on standby), Brynhildr (on standby), Annette (princess of the 105)
Mysterious Page (step-sister)
Army - Southern Goldonia
Under Protagonist
Escort Unit: 80 ⇒ 75
Infantry: 7500 ⇒ 7000
Cavalry: 750 ⇒ 750
Archers: 900 ⇒ 850
Cannoneers: 430 ⇒ 430
Bow Cavalry: 7500 ⇒ 7500
Independent Celia Squad: restructuring
Conscripts + Security Unit: 18 000 ⇒ 17 000
Cannons: 50, Large Cannons: 25, Dwarven Cannons: 16, Field Artillery: 20, Chariots: 50
Reinforcements / Allied Forces
Aless Soldiers: 13 928
105 Army Corps: 3800
Fleet
Battles.h.i.+p Suvorov (medium damage), Battles.h.i.+p Aless of Aless (heavy damage, reached the bottom)
Large Combat s.h.i.+ps: 2, Small Combat s.h.i.+ps: 8, Transport s.h.i.+ps: 20
Ally Forces: Frontal Warfront - Royal Army: 80 000 ⇒ 77 000
Conscripts: 60 000 ⇒ 50 000
Enemy Force
Frontal Warfront - Regular Soldiers: 30 000 ⇒ 29 000
Conscripts: 90 000 ⇒ 70 000
Cavalry Army: 25 000 ⇒ ???
West Coast of River - Regular Soldiers: 40 000
Magrado Local Army: 30 000
Meldora Fleet: annihilated, only a few small s.h.i.+ps remaining
a.s.sets: -10 000 gold
s.e.xual Partners: 783, children who have been born: 69 + 565