Chapter 3: Rumble in the Jungle
Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Hiiro
Two hours after linking up with 1,200 soldiers from two other battalions that arrived by an alternate route, Matthew led the Imperial forces into the jungle.
Their field of vision was limited in the dense vegetation as no path had been paved ahead of time. Because of that, Matthew was certain that maintaining the command structure would be incredibly difficult in the jungle, which was half of the reason why he was hesitant about stepping into the jungle. It was impossible to lead the movements of his troops in the jungle like how he did on an open field. Under such conditions, the commander-in-chief couldn’t do anything before they left the jungle. Actions on the ground would be entirely dependent on the Platoon leaders.
「Don’t stop. Let’s hurry through this damn jungle already.」
However, the company commanders and above were not too concerned. They assumed that the enemy wouldn’t be able to fight in such a terrain, since they themselves couldn’t do so. The assumption was ingrained deeply into them, and they believe the enemy to be the same too.
「Damn it, I can’t see...」 「How long do we have to walk in the woods?」
As expected, less than 30 minutes after entering the jungle, communications between units were cut. This wasn’t an abnormal situation, it’s just inevitable that the groups couldn’t keep the same pace due to the physical constraints of forcing a large group into the ever changing terrains of the jungle. It might be possible if they make their formation tighter to match the terrain, but no one wanted to slow the unit down, and the information in front couldn’t be perfectly transmitted to the back anyway. Hence, they decided it was better to spread their men out for now. They could just reorganize before leaving the jungle.
The consequences of their naïve attitude came two hours after entering the jungle.
The familiar sound of compressed air explosion erupted around them, followed by the screams of their allies. This could only mean one thing. The imperial soldiers got ready to engage after sensing the enemy attack.
「Don’t panic, stay alert and continue advancing! These are just uncoordinated shots!」
The enemy struck first, but the commanders weren’t fazed. Enemy shooting from behind tree trunks or from the top of trees were within expectations, but such unorthodox deployment meant the attack lacked any impact. The trees hiding the enemy would also become an obstacle for shooting, and also cover the Imperials too. There would be some losses, but it wouldn’t be serious.
「Don’t stop! We will be out of the woods soon, we will link up with our comrades there!」
The soldiers carried their comrades and kept running. They were certain they had nothing else to worry about. They were temporarily separated into platoons, but they already took that into consideration. Since they were advancing in the same direction, guided by compasses, their allies couldn’t be too far away. After moving forward, they would reorganize into a battalion and exit the jungle as one to fight together ── at least that’s what their OC said.
「──I see it! Light signal from our allies!」
One soldier yelled loudly── by their set protocol, when consolidating their forces in the jungle, they need to first send light signals in the directions where an allied unit might be. Only when that wasn’t enough to convey the message would a gong be struck. Both methods were susceptible to enemy detection, but it wouldn’t be a problem if they had sufficient numbers.
「Alright── scout, head towards the light. To be safe, make sure they are really our allies.」
The scout sprinted out of the bushes on that order, feeling nervous. It might look like the light signal of an Imperial unit, but he would likely die if that were the enemy in disguise.
「Please be our allies...!」
Praying sincerely for that, the scout timidly leaned forth and looked ── then sighed in relief. The people forming up there were all wearing the familiar Imperial uniforms.
「Hey～ I’m Private First Class Gaebo of the 8th Wind Gun platoon! My unit will be coming over to link up! Please be ready to receive us!」
Seeing that the other party had received the message, Private First Class Gaebo immediately turned back to report── this decision would get him in trouble in the future for 「failing to confirm which unit the ally was from」, but the one who got punished wasn’t him, but his superior for failing to train him adequately.
「I have confirmed! They are allies!」
「Good, let’s go link up with them! We have a large group and is easily targeted, don’t let down your guard of our surroundings!」
Following their OC’s instruction, the soldiers walked towards the faint light at the other end of the trees. Linking up with allies would increase morale more than pure numbers might suggest. Being forced to split up in the dim forest caused a lot of pressure on them mentally.
「Sorry for the wait, I’m an OC, First Lieutenant Sueruki. Let’s reorganize, which platoon are you from?」
Some people think that this question should be asked when the scout was sent out. If a platoon was sent out on an independent mission, it would be natural to ask that. However, it didn’t register with them that they were moving independently, and thought they were moving as a battalion and just linking up with their allies who were out of sight momentarily. In short, their lack of sense of danger was their fatal mistake.
「Yes, that’s it, OC Sir.」
Bullets flew out in place of a reply, mowing down the OC and around ten men in an instant.
「── Huh?」
Private First Class Gaebo who was standing slightly behind them escaped the massacre and didn’t realize what was happening. Then his comrades fell before him in the second salvo. The coin finally dropped ── the other party was wearing familiar Imperial uniforms, but their faces in the shadows were unfamiliar to him.
「U-Uwahhh──!」
The third salvo hit the Imperial soldiers standing stiffly, followed by a merciless charge.
After entering the jungle, the commander-in-chief Matthew walked at the rear of the procession. He didn’t shy away from the frontlines if necessary but opt to stay with the rear echelon this time.
「... Hmm...?」
He made this decision in the event something like this happened. A strange aura came from the trees ahead. He could sense something like a beast being herded. He fixed his bayonet onto his Wind Gun on reflex and said to the men around him.
「... Halt. Luminous soldiers, prepare to shine.」
Not many people understood the intent of his orders, but still set about carrying them out. The unit in front aimed their crossbows mounted with Luminous Sprites to the front── seconds later, a figure charged out of the violently shaking woods.
「── Shine the light!」
Matthew yelled at the right timing. The bright light lit up the person charging out, and the pudgy youth yelled when the person stopped briefly.
「Don’t move, we are friendlies! Stand down!」
He conveyed the short facts and gave an order. These were movements drilled into all soldiers who would carry them out on reflex before their minds could grasp what was happening. Matthew asked the person standing still, dazed by the light.
「... You alone? What happened?」
Before Matthew was a hysteric Imperial soldier with a twitching face. After taking tens of seconds to grasp the situation, the soldier sat on his butt in relief.
「Major Tetzirich... I-I’m saved...」
「There’s no time for you to rest, explain the situation.」
On Matthew’s stiff urging, the soldier stood up and said:
「... We got attacked up ahead. Please be careful, Major. The enemy disguised themselves as our allies!」
In all the battlefields in the world, the commanders would prepare for the worst outcome. At times, that would be total annihilation, but most commanders wouldn’t set their worst-case scenario that far. Which was the baseline responsibility of the commander.
In this situation, the worst situation would be failing to break through the jungle and suffer significant losses during the inevitable retreat. Depending on how well prepared the enemy was, Matthew judged that such a tragedy might be possible and was prepared to deal with it. In any case, they could handle everything up to this stage. Cover the retreat of their comrades, rally their forces, and fall back. By giving up on the devotees on the other side of the jungle, they could prevent further losses.
In that sense, it wasn’t a complete loss, such setbacks were within expectations. What they feared was their army being forced into an unexpectedly tight spot.
That was the situation right now. The unit deeper into the forest got attacked ── that much was fine. The problem was the enemy disguising as Imperial troops. The units rushing to rally and getting plummeted would be the worst situation. Most of their forces would fall into disarray and run around the jungle in a panic.
But a further tragedy awaits. The soldiers focused only on escaping death would lose their way in the woods and run into friendlies in the rear if they were lucky, but if they encountered an enemy disguised as allies ── the psychological effect on the army was the biggest blow.
Turning the uplifting reunion with allies in the dim forest into a fearful encounter. Are they really our allies? It would be difficult for them to erase that suspicion.
The means of confirming the other party was too lacking in this jungle. Light messages and voice communications were easy to disguise, even if the safe word was correct, it might be leaked from an ally taken prisoner. Even if a name and unit was reported by a familiar voice, that was still not enough. There might be someone pointing a gun at his back.
And the real Kioka soldiers were advancing to push back the scampering Imperial soldiers. Their goal wasn’t to purge the enemy, but to create chaos on the battlefield. Their actual kill count with the disguised attack might not be too significant, but the mental effect would accumulate. Doubt and suspicion would be the worst epidemic for forces rallying together, leading to one result. Friendly units attacking each other.
「──Mum*, they took the bait. Although this method isn’t refined at all.」
After receiving his subordinate’s report, the 「Insomniac Brilliant General」──Jean Major General Arkinex evaluated the scheme that he laid out. But his adjutant Miara shook her head.
「Don’t mind it, Jean. War is filled with deceit. Simply put, this is the fault of the enemy for showing their weak point.」
His adjutant said nonchalantly, which made Jean smile awkwardly── If the 「Insomniac Brilliant General」 fell for this scheme, she would lash out unreservedly at the enemy. Despite this obvious double standard, Jean wasn’t so dense as to call her out.
「Yes, that’s true── but that’s not the only reason why you made such a sullen face, right? Insomniac Brilliant General.」
The old sage in white robes interjected. No longer surprised at being seen through, Jean nodded quietly.
「Yah*, that’s right… Seeing through this scheme ahead of time is a standard.」
「Which means the enemy commander can’t stand up to you, right? But I think we should judge by how he respond to the situation.」
「I can tell by how the earlier battles were handled. Their commander should be able to escape the jungle with quite a number of his men and fall into a quagmire. If he didn’t abandon a significant number of his troops, they wouldn’t be able to escape.」
Jean said with a sigh. The intense fighting spirit was gone from his eyes, replaced by feelings of pity.
「──All units, fall back! Sound the gong!」
Matthew wasted no time to make that decision, which was praiseworthy. Realizing the enemy’s strategy got the better of him, he accepted this tactical defeat, which leaves retreat as the only option. If they passed through the jungle without coordinating their forces, they would just get defeated piecemeal once they exit.
「Fall back! Fall back!」「Turn around, go back～!」
The gongs announcing the retreat sounded in the jungle, and the units near the source started turning back while sounding the gongs of their own.
By relaying the retreat order this way, they could safely recall more than 80% of their troops ── if things went according to plan.
「Okay── let’s sound the gong too.」
The Kioka soldiers scattered around the jungle sounded their gongs at the same time to disrupt the enemy. The gongs mixed together in the jungle which obscured the original meaning.
「T-This sound── what’s going on?」「What’s happening, damn it!」
The fear of the panicking Imperial soldiers was getting stronger. Aside from retreating, the gongs could also be used to signal a charge. It was impossible to differentiate the signal between enemy and ally. The continuous gong made many of them fear a big enemy offensive was coming.
「W-What the hell!?」「W-What should we do...!」
Many of the wandering Imperial soldiers cut off from the chain of command couldn’t even tell where they were. Unable to tell friend from foe, their bloodshot eyes darted frantically in the dim jungle as the meaningless gong sound continued.
「U-Uwaahhh...!」
In such a situation, it was virtually impossible to differentiate friend from foe. The soldiers in deep confusion fell into two distinctively different categories. Either running wildly like headless chickens or standing stiffly in place.
The former was targets ripe for the picking for Kioka soldiers who found them, while the latter had a higher chance of survival. Ironically, the soldiers who couldn’t move in the jungle played the biggest part in the Insomniac Brilliant General’s scheme.
As they had delved deep into the jungle, it took a long time for the withdrawal to be completed. When the soldiers stopped coming out of the forest, the sky was already dark. Matthew then ordered a roll call of all personnels.
「Report! How many men are still lost!?」
Roll calls were time consuming. Two OCs were missing, so he had to elevate two Second Lieutenants to replace them on the spot. Matthew then understood the situation of his forces.
「... About half of our men are still in the forest?」
It took all that he had to state this fact without his voice trembling. The better he grasped the situation, the more he wanted to sit on the ground with his head in his hands. He realized he was facing a huge problem.
「There are more than 2,000 men left inside the forest.」
Matthew spoke as calmly as he could── if this was the case, he had to bring back the lost troopers as their commander. He had to use all the tricks in the bag to rescue his comrades who are standing stiffly in place from shock in the darkness, who would die in the hands of the Kioka soldiers soon.
── So this is the enemy’s plan all along? Damn it.
Suppressing the curses he couldn’t let his subordinates hear in his heart, the slightly plump youth took several deep breaths and started cleaning up after this defeat── focusing on cutting his losses and fighting a long painful battle devoid of any chance of victory.
Jean Arkinex described Matthew’s situation as a quagmire, and as time passed, this description proved to be accurate── Five days after they started their rescue operation, there were still more than 1,000 soldiers in the jungle.
「Damn it...!」
Matthew couldn’t help grumbling. Running into a situation he had never faced before and running a rescue operation instead of fighting a battle, he couldn’t deal with the situation properly.
In the first place, there was a big contradiction in his rescue plan. They had to enter the jungle to rescue their comrades who were left behind, and the enemy would aim for that and attack. So the rescue operation might create more casualties.
If they weren’t careful── or rather, if their plans weren’t executed perfectly, there might be more losses than the people they actually rescue. In fact, there were already more than a hundred casualties. The more they struggled, the more the devious plan drew them in like a quagmire. They had to be careful to not open their wounds further, which waste even more time. In the meantime, their comrades were growing more exhausted in the jungle, so even time was on the enemy’s side.
「Our rescue targets are bait in the enemy’s eyes, huh… The ease of operation between us and the enemy is too different, it’s only natural we will fall into a quagmire.」
Compared to the enemy who just need to kill the Imperial soldiers in the jungle and their rescuers, Matthew’s rescue operation was much more tedious. First, the rescue targets were reluctant to be saved. The disguised attack by the Kioka made them suspicious, and hunger lowered their decision making abilities, leading them to point their weapons at allies. Just convincing them to leave took a lot of effort, and they had to be wary of Kioka attacks at the same time.
「What should I do… The situation is getting worse.」
Matthew was walking circles inside his tent, just like his train of thought that was trapped in a loop. The problem wasn’t his command or the performance of his men, but the situation in hand. It was hard to overturn the unfavourable strategic situation through the use of tactics, the only way was to add in some new elements ──
「Major Tetzirich!」
His adjutant interjected his neverending train of thought. There was a cheer in his tone, which made Matthew look his way with surprise and expectation.
「What is it? Has a unit returned?」
「Unfortunately, no… But this news is equally good.」
His adjutant said as he pointed out the tent. Matthew walked out confusedly── and understood when he saw the unit in tidy formation outside.
「──Torway?」
The Wind Gunners stood with their rifles in hand, and the tall commander in their fore was the jade-eyed youth Matthew was so familiar with── Lieutenant Colonel Torway Remeon.
「Sorry for being late. Reinforcements have arrived, Ma-kun.」
That was the first thing Torway said. His tone was firmer compared to two years ago, and a gloom clouded his eyes── but the sense of reliability he had overpowered all that. Matthew hurried to his side.
「Aren’t you focusing on training your subordinates? You rushed over after setting aside the training?」
「Yes. They are shaping up well, so I think it’s a good chance to commit them into battle.」
Torway looked behind him where his men stood in neat ranks, eager to get into action.
「I bought the best trained battalion with me. It will depend on the situation, but they wouldn’t get in the way. How goes the battle?」
「Really badly. Many of our comrades are still left in the jungle.」
Matthew quickly briefed him on the situation. Torway understood the situation from the briefing that touched on all the key points and nodded.
「I see. Rescuing our comrades will still be tricky── that aside, the battlefield is the jungle, right?」
「Huh? Y-Yes.」
There was a strange eagerness in his question, and Matthew tilted his head puzzledly. Torway looked at the problematic jungle and said.
「I was right to come here… This is a great chance for a debut battle.」
A chill went down Matthew’s spine. It was just an instant, but he saw the jade-eyed youth curled his lips.
For the Kioka soldiers deployed in the woods, the battle they fought so far had been one sided.
They had not encountered any effective resistance so far, spending most of their time chasing demoralized Imperial soldiers and engaging those who were trying to rescue them. They had the initiative for both scenarios, and didn’t need to be too concerned about their sporadic retaliatory fire.
What worried them was fighting each other. To prevent that, most of the disguised units had retreated. They contributed greatly in making the enemy spooked and suspicious, but their continued presence would do more harm than good. Allies would hesitate to attack if they knew a friendly unit was disguised as the enemy.
「...Hmm, speaking of which, our brilliant General is amazing.」
For a foot soldier, they would never mistake the advantage to be their own doing. The grunts all knew that this situation was created by their commander.
The entire plan started with the incitement of Aldera devotees to escape the Empire. Using the devotees as bait, they lure the Imperial army to the mountain to set up a repeat of the grueling battle of the Northern Territories. If the Imperials didn’t repeat the mistake and fought valiantly, they would lure them into the jungle where a new quagmire had been set up.
No matter how they struggled, the enemy was played like a fiddle by Jean Arkinex from beginning to the end. As they were feeling awed by this fact, the Kioka soldiers sensed the presence of prey from their high vantage point in the trees.
── There’s light in the bushes over there.
The soldier gestured with a look silently, and his comrade in the neighbouring tree nodded.
── I will signal our allies. They will be here soon.
── It’s too far. Wait for them to come nearer.
They nodded and climbed down from the trees. Moving quietly, they soon set up position in the woods close to the targets.
── Hold your fire. Wait for them to link up before wiping them all out.
── I know. I won’t mess this up now.
They were already familiar with how to efficiently take out the pitiful Imperials, biding their time for a good shot── suddenly, the sound of exploding compressed air came from the distance.
──...? Where did that gunshot come from?
The worried soldier elbowed his comrade laying prone beside him, but didn’t get a response. He looked his way quizzingly.
──Huh?
He saw a comrade collapse with a hole his forehead.
「... No way, hey──」
He couldn’t immediately understand the situation and called out. That instant, a second gunshot rang out── and he met the same fate as the man beside him.
「── Second round, head shot. Both targets aren’t moving, probably dead.」
「Understood. Any other signs of the enemy nearby?」
「None yet. Continuing with search and rescue operation.」
「Hah, hah──」
There were many people who didn’t run into an ally after losing contact with their units, and crawled fearfully in the grass. They attempted to head west by following their compass, but as they couldn’t head in that direction in a beeline, they couldn’t grasp how close they were to the destination.
「No no no… I don’t want to die...!」
A man kept repeating that as he focused on hiding, advancing, and hiding again.
He felt several presence along the way, but he didn’t seek help from them. Because four days ago, he witnessed a fellow Imperial soldier shot by people wearing Imperial uniforms they were seeking help from.
He couldn’t trust anyone. That was how he felt, and he didn’t think there was any way out aside from traveling to the basecamp by himself. That was why he crawled forward in fear, occasionally running for less than 10 seconds before proning down again. If he wasted any more time, his unit would have left before he reached. This sense of danger made him even more anxious.
「Ughh, Ugghh… Woaahh?」
The soldier who was crawling into a deadend suddenly found the world upside down. He was hanging by his feet with his head pointed to the ground.
「Huh… Wha...?」
It happened so suddenly that he just stared with his eyes and mouth wide open. Someone grabbed him from behind.
「──?」
「Calm down, I’m on your side.」
The other party whispered into his ear, but he was too frantic to accept it literally. The soldier struggled in this upside down position, and a punch landed on his chest mercilessly.
「Guahh──!」
「I told you to calm down. If I’m your enemy, you would already be dead, got it?」
The soldier gasped for air a little as the hand that hit his chest sooth his back this time. Feeling no hostility from that hand, the soldier slowly collected himself. The man who caught him played both the good guy and the bad guy in this scenario, but no one thought it was a problem.
「Composed yourself yet? Understand that we are on the same team?」
「── Y-Yes.」
「I’m letting you down, don’t pounce on me. I caught you with this trap to temporary incapacitate you, for the safety of both of us.」
The man explained curtly as he untied the rope around the soldier’s ankle. Standing on the ground once again, the soldier finally realized he had escaped his dead end.
Half a day after Torway joined the fray, the gradual changes in the jungle reached the commander of the Kioka camp.
「... We suffered significant losses?」
Reading the reports submitted to him repeatedly, Jean’s eyes turned serious. This was completely out of his expectation and not something he could ignore easily. If that man wasn’t with the enemy, the Imperial army would be helpless in the jungle── that was how he felt.
「... Something’s wrong. This battlefield was set up by me, so they couldn’t have known the jungle would become the main stage. But the enemy is retaliating effectively at such a timing...」
「It has been six days, so there’s a handful of enemies who can deal with this situation? It doesn’t change the big picture much...」
「No, even if you say that, we shouldn’t be suffering this much losses. A new element has joined the battle, for example...」
「For example, reinforcements skilled in jungle warfare? That’s a big threat. Their standards might be even better than the Phantom Unit.」
Anarai said a terrible line. Unable to refute that, the people around him fell silent, and only Jean showed a fearless smile.
「Yah*, that is a threat, but they didn’t turn the tide. In the end, this doesn’t change the fact that the enemy is on the defensive.」
「You are right. But the rescue of their forces will be expedited, I assume you already have the next plan in mind, correct?」
「There’s no need for that, this is just the best chance to attack a retreating enemy.」
「Which means── there’s no need to change the battle inside the jungle?」
「Correct. They probably want to withdraw quickly, so this situation won’t last too long, and we won’t need to dwell over the difficult to grasp jungle battle. As for the identity of their reinforcements, we can just investigate and deal with them after they are out of the woods.」
「Indeed. Since the enemy covering their retreat is as good as the Phantom Unit, you will have your share of fun too.」
The old sage taunted a little more than usual. Harrah who had been quiet took a step forward with his arms crossed.
「You are looking down on our Major General a little too much there, Gramps Anarai. It can’t be helped since you don’t know, but the real Phantom Unit isn’t Jean’s ally right from the outset. He defeated those Shadows with his own strength to earn their respect and loyalty.」
He said proudly with a hand on Miara’s head.
「Even Miara was a crazy bitch when they first met, nothing like how she is now.」
「Harrah! I told you tons of times not to mention the past!」
「Oh, that’s the first time I heard that. Seems like you have plenty of heroic exploits, tell me more in detail when we have the time.」
「Yah*, as you wish, Professor. However, I’m more interested in the battle at hand instead of the victories of the past.」
Jean turned his eyes back to the jungle mid conversation. Anarai conceded that he didn’t need to taunt Jean in the first place, since Jean wasn’t being careless at all.
While Matthew and Torway were struggling against Jean’s scheme, the perspective changes westward, to the foot of the mountain range, where the Imperial forces faced off against the devotees refusing to disperse. However, the arrival of a new face raised the tension of the soldiers dramatically.
「... They are actually reenacting the Grand Escape in the Bible. 『Fear not, and do not turn back. God has abandoned this land』── so that’s how it is, huh.」
Empress Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik recited from the Bible as she looked at the devotees. As the monarch of the nation betrayed by the Church followers, how did she feel about this? No one could guess what she thought.
「The rot has set in for far too long, so there is no way to save the nation. Is that what God has judged, Shia?」
「...」
The Fire Sprite inside the pouch on her waist held its peace. The Sprites which were the servants of God, neither confirm nor deny the teachings of the Aldera Church.
「Maybe God and I will get along better than I expected.」
The Empress cracked a joke unbecoming of a monarch. Shia was the only one who heard her, which was a blessing in a sense.
At this moment── a figure approached the Empress who had an aura that kept others away in both a positive and negative sense. Standing beside her intimately in a way only members of the Knights Corp could, Haro said to her.
「They are not giving up… I don’t understand the feelings of people fleeing from their country of birth.」
「... Well, I shouldn’t assume anything.」
The Empress said discreetly. If you dilute my hatred towards this country by 10,000 parts, that should be how they feel── she stopped herself from answering that way.
「In any case, this is just a matter of time. I don’t intend to yield here. When starving to death becomes a clear threat, they will start to see reason.」
The Empress showed a tragic smile. At the same time, there was self mockery in her smile. She was getting good at playing the role of the tyrant and saying such lines.
「To be frank, Matthew and the others on the front line is a bigger concern for me. No matter how tough the situation might be, Torway should be of some help── Hmm?」
The Empress stopped mid sentence and looked past the dazed Haro and into the distance. At the horizon opposite from the devotees.
「...Haro. I remember you saying that reinforcements will be coming.」
「Huh? Oh, right. The base said they will be sending 2,000 men over, but they seemed to be delayed.」
「The numbers match up── Is that our reinforcements?」
The Empress asked with her gaze locked at a fixed point. The unusual air about her made Haro carefully look in the same direction── Shortly after, she found 2,000 soldiers in tidy formation advancing this way.
「Hmm──? T-That’s──」
「Those aren’t civilians, but the formation differs from the Imperial military. It sounds hard to believe── but that appears to be Kioka forces.」
「B-But this is Imperial territory? It’s so far away from the borders──」
「I can think of a few possibilities, but their origins aren't the issue right now. Send a cavalry regiment── No, we won’t make it from this position.」
They pulled some distance away to prevent an uprising, but that had an adverse effect right now── the Empress clicked her tongue and turned.
「Their goal is to get the devotees── or link up with them. It’s too late to stop them from getting into contact, things are getting troublesome.」
Chamille exited the base tent. Troubled by the speed she changed her approach── no, pretending to be troubled by that, the woman with Haro’s face pulled away from the Empress and muttered to herself.
「... They are finally here. I made so many arrangements and they are acting so slowly～ really now.」
Patrenshina shrugged after saying that── she did summon 2,000 reinforcements from nearby. But that unit left the prison camp before the prison break, then turned back after receiving news of the prison break. She made them run around in circles.
「Fufufu.」
In the end, the ones here were a new 2,000 enemy unit── her mouth arc seductively, smiling viciously in a different manner from the Empress.
「Well, looks like a battle will be breaking out.」
Looking at the Imperial army who had noticed their approach and was readying for battle, Greg sighed. With the 「Great Mother of White Wings」 taking back command, his tense shoulders had relaxed a little.
Right now, they had 2,000 odd soldiers. After securing supplies from a base they passed by, They headed to the mountains and picked up their 400 men in the Prison Camp. At first, these soldiers were ready to become sacrifices, but they managed to escape by using the hostages from the Prison Camp. This was great news for Greg, but the imminent battle weighed heavily on his heart.
「Our main occupation is sea battle, but things had been hard ever since we escaped the Prison Camp.」
「Even when I sat by the window and waited quietly for rescue, there wasn't any young clan head coming to fetch me on his golden eagle. Reality isn’t as idealistic as the stories.」
Elulufay said calmly with her arms crossed. The unfamiliar terms made Greg tilt his head quizzingly before saying.
「... If I’m not wrong, is that a rip off of 『Prince Charming』 and his white steed?」
「I only have a vague idea, but you are probably right. The Falconer Tribes don’t have royals or the culture of riding horses.」
「Oh～ Rear Admiral, there was a time when you have such fantasies too?」
「Of course. Unfortunately, I realized settling the problem myself is faster than waiting for aid.」
「So you buried your maiden heart and are too busy for your fated meeting with the young clan head. How pitiful.」
「Hmm, I just realized something. You might be my adjutant, but in a sense, you are also a large lump of meat── Don’t you agree, Misai!?」
「No, I’m just kidding. Wait, stop, Misai, I’m sorry, staph. Uwah, uwahh!」
With a sideway glance at the fierce battle between her adjutant and beloved bird, Elulufay swept her gaze at the horde of Imperial citizens that covered her entire field of vision.
「Alright, these must be the refugees who want to escape. They seem wary of us, so let’s give them a little gift.」
She snapped her fingers and her men pulled wagons over. After pulling the covers back, there were all sorts of supplies like food, clothing and medical supplies. The mob cried at that sight, and also──
「It might be weird for me to say this since I’m executing this plan, but the person who envisioned this development is really despicable.」
With that line implying her hidden disgust, the guns glinted under the sunlight── The Wind Guns that became outdated with the advent of the Air Rifles. They simply piled the guns they looted from the base’s warehouse onto the wagons.
「Sigh, I won’t criticize this plan for being illogical. I heard the Grand Escape that formed the basis of this plan wasn’t a rescue, but a trial── There is no point if you don’t work for it yourselves, there must be some religious significance here.」
Before them were weapons of war. In the past, the devotees couldn’t get this power, and it was a taboo even if they did. And now, it’s within their reach.
「...」「...」「──」
The devotees had a dangerous gleam in their eyes── soon, the first one hesitantly reached out for the gun, as if they were mesmerized by its metallic gleam.
They soon learn that the trial of a god and the temptation of the devil were at times ironically similar.
Chapter 4: Patrenshina
Let’s tell a story that begins with 「A long long time ago～」.
There was a girl from a certain place.
She was an impoverished girl that stood out in no other way except for her height. She was the eldest daughter of the poorest sharecropping family, taking care of her five younger brothers in place of her parents who spent all day in the field.
── We will leave the house work to you, you are a good girl, right?
Her parents used these words as a charm to give many responsibilities to their daughter. The girl who thought this was natural wasn’t unhappy. Her brothers were bothersome, but everyone was cute. When she saw her parents return in exhaustion, she didn’t want to burden them more with her wilfulness. Because of her nature, she would choose to endure when she was sad. She was a good girl throughout her impoverished life.
This kind girl has terrible luck, her parents died one after another from exhaustion when she was eight. She and her five brothers were kicked from relatives to relatives like a ball, before a distant relative with a large family took them in.
And of course, they weren’t taken in as a part of their family. They were servants in name and were in fact, slaves. This was a common occurrence.
Even so, the family who took them in kept up appearance as being benevolent to their neighbours. The girl was just eight, and the only ones who could work were her and the eldest son, maybe the second son too. The other three brothers were just too young.
There were six more mouths to feed, and three of them freeloaded── from that perspective, the people were impressed by that large family who took care of their relatives. The girl and her brothers had no objections. They knew from the start that they were in no position to complain, and understood they were an eyesore to that family. Because their distant relatives told them in no uncertain terms.
Anyway, the girl worked hard from the day she was adopted. Her distant relative threatened to not feed her brothers, so she had no other choice. From laundry, cleaning, waiting on others, caring for life stocks and chores── she had to shoulder all these laborious tasks without any mercy. The workload was obviously too heavy, and simply put, she was treated like a tool that they didn’t mind breaking at any moment. They grinded her mercilessly with the intention of wearing her down, her masters often failing to give her food or any sleep.
The girl’s only salvation was her relatively healthy body, given her nutrition and age, or she would have died like her parents. In her despairing situation, this was the only silver lining── No, this was actually her biggest misfortune.
No matter how hard she worked to build up a bulwark for their livelihood, it was difficult to protect her brothers’ health from the harsh working environment. The first to fall ill was the second son── his dry cough was getting worse and he was having trouble breathing. The girl nursed him during her breaks between work, but his condition didn’t improve after a month. Her distant relatives wanted to 「send him to the doctor to recuperate」, brought the second son out of the house and told the remaining siblings.
── If you do your work properly, I will let your kid brother receive adequate treatment.
So you have to work twice as hard, they said. The girl nodded and did as they said. Since she could save her brother, she didn’t have any other choice.
Three years passed. In this harsh environment, her brothers collapsed one after another. There wasn’t any good news. No matter how much she yearned, the second son and the first son who got taken away next didn’t return.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if she collapsed in such an environment, but the girl’s body was so tough that it even surprised herself, getting used to the rough meals and short sleep. In contrast, her contribution was twice as much as others, but her distant relatives didn’t improve their treatment towards her. They just smiled at this tool that lasted longer than expected, as if to congratulate themselves for picking the right goods.
Her distant relatives harassed her frequently. The boondocks they lived in lacked entertainment, so people who were obviously of a lower cast would often end up as their prey. Sneers and admonishments were fine, but physical violence happened often too. But even such bullying required a superficial reason, and the reason they used was her filthy appearance. That was the most convenient excuse for them, because they didn’t give her any change of clothes, so she was always dirty.
Despite these abuses, the girl never bore any grudge towards the distant relatives. She locked away her discontent deep inside, thinking that she only got to survive thanks to them. The girl’s gentle personality made her choose this.
However── there would be times when her heart couldn’t take it anymore. She would curl herself into a ball in her bed made from straws, and hum the song her late mother sang to her.
── The mischievous girl Patrenshina couldn’t sit still today too.
She opened her eyes wide in search of prey.
Found one, found one, a girl walking on the streets in red.
Going to the next town to deliver lunch to her carpenter Dad.
Watch me eat that lunch and put in a snake!
The thought of that made her heart pound as she started to hum.
「Let’s start our wonderful work. Let’s get on with it」──
The light hearted rhythm of the children’s tale described the life of the worrisome girl Patrenshina who loves to pull pranks.
Of all the songs her parents sang to her, she liked this one the most. Because Patrenshina depicted in the lyrics was so carefree. Dreaming about such a liberal life could even make the girl forget about her circumstances and get a momentary respite. Because Patrenshina did things for her that she couldn’t do.
The mischievous child was forgiven by the people around her, which meant that they lived an easy life. For the girl who had never enjoyed any luxuries, she had no choice but to be a good girl── Hence, Patrenshina was a hero to her in a sense, an aspiration she could never reach. As she imagined her appearance, words and action── Patrenshina became more than just a fictional character, and was akin to the best friend of the girl.
The girl dreamed. How would Patrenshina prank her distant relatives? Only at times like this, she would concoct cruel plans for vengeance that she had never tried before. The ideas the girl couldn’t imagine, Patrenshina could. The things she couldn’t do, Patrenshina could. That’s right── because Patrenshina wasn’t herself, she could do anything.
Her imagination was her only solace, and the girl quietly lived through the harsh days. By the end of the fourth year, her last brother was 「sent to the doctor」. To avoid their treatment from being stopped, the girl worked desperately, waiting for the day her brothers returned in good health.
One night. Receiving instructions to clean up as usual, the girl headed to the rarely used shack.
But the lights were on in the shack. That shack was used as a place for the young sons of the family to chat, away from the ears of their parents. They did so today too. The girl who had the instructions to clean the shack stood outside at a loss, then heard the conversation inside the shack.
── That wench sure is dumb, she still believes her brothers will come back.
── Our stingy father will never send freeloaders to the hospital.
The girl turned stiff. She creeped close to the window and peeked in quietly.
── It’s bothersome to take care of them one by one. They still resist even though they are sick.
── That’s right, they put up quite a fight and even bit my hand.
── Your technique is lacking. Slaughtering them is no different from slaughtering pigs, right? Just like this～
The eldest son demonstrated the steps he took 「back then」, with an insidious smile as if he was showing off his skills.
── Grab their head tightly from behind and slit their throat. Isn’t that simple?
Seeing the illusion of her brother dying from a cut throat── the girl desperately suppressed the scream and left with her mind blank.
She charged into the rundown shack she used to spend the night, and lay face down onto the straws. The girl slowly collected her thoughts as she recovered from her fears. Realizing the truth, she screamed in silence and groaned in pain.
Indeed── She had never doubted. The girl wasn’t stupid. After saying he was sending them to see a doctor, why didn’t any of his brothers return? Why wasn’t she allowed to visit? Why is the only news about her brothers 「they’re still recuperating」? The conclusion from all that was obvious, but the girl forced herself not to think in order to keep her hopes alive── but that was extinguished by the confession of the two sons.
They lied, the girl muttered. Her brothers were still alive, and will return in good health soon. That was why she worked so hard all this while.
However── someone in her heart refuted coldly. You are wrong, right from the start, those people have no reason to let your brothers live.
── Hey, what should we do?
A voice rang in her head. The voice sounded familiar, filled with the cruelty the girl lacked, corrupting her mind like thorns in a vine.
── Hey, what do you want to do?
The girl shook her head at the direct question── I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. Because she was a good girl, she always warned herself not to harbor anger and be driven by hatred. She worked hard to not bear any ill will. At times like this, she didn’t know what action to take.
── Then I will do what I please.
Hence── this proposal was the last salvation for the girl.
She stopped thinking. She understood that being a good girl wouldn’t get her anything in return── which meant the girl needed a hero at this moment. She wished from the bottom of her heart for an existence that could easily do the thing that she couldn’t do.
And so, 「she」 answering this wish was inevitable.
── The mischievous girl who likes to pull pranks, Patrenshina, couldn’t stay still today too.
She opened her eyes wide and searched for prey──
The girl naturally opened her mouth and sang. Her song was earnest, as if she was praying for salvation from the gods.
── Found it, found it, the big family of meanies.
The whole family that laughed as they tormented sick children──
Her passionate voice was trembling. The negative feelings locked firmly inside her overflowed like scorching lava.
── I will ■ them, ■ them ■ them ■ them all!
Her heart pounded at that thought and she started humming──
Rage and hatred raised to its peak and gave off a sense of insanity. Her mouth arcs ominously.
「── Let’s start our wonderful work. Let’s get on with it.」
The end of the tale was also a beginning. After that announcement── the gentle girl who stood up from the hay was a completely different being.
The night of tragedy quietly drew its curtains.
The deafening gunshots and roars echoed at the foot of the Grand Arfatra Mountains, the music of a battlefield.
Two thousand former prisoners and ten thousand partially armed devotees flooded towards the Imperial army before them. There weren't any teams or groups, a gathering of untrained amateurs── but with enough numbers, they were still a force to be reckoned with. Facing numbers five-folds more than theirs, even trained soldiers would be in danger.
「「「「Fire──!」」」」
Warning and threats were no longer effective. The wind gunners in neat formation pulled their triggers with twitching faces… The shots rang out sporadically, showing their hesitation about shooting their own citizens. Other than exceptions like the Shinnack Tribe uprising, these Imperial soldiers didn’t have any experience dealing with a strife started by civilians.
「Hyaa──!」「Hyaa!」「Ehh...!」
The ones who got hit fell with a scream, immediately replaced by the flood charging forth. They were holding the old type Wind Gun distributed by Elulufay’s group to retaliate. They were not in groups and using a weapon for the first time, their accuracy was low. But that might not be true if they closed the distance. The soldiers started looking anxious.
「All units hold position! Stop spreading out!」
The Empress shouted loudly at the frantic soldiers. To stop the devotees from charging forth, the Imperials had deployed in a wide frontage to stop the mob, but was admonished by Chamille to be an inadequate move.
「But Your Majesty, they will escape into the mountains──」
「Imbecile. You want to chase after a flock of sheeps in front of feral wolves?」
She glared sharply at the protesting officer. She had rightly judged that this situation had something to do with the incidents that happened earlier.
「Spreading the troops out would weaken our defences. When we are distracted by the rioters, the Kioka soldiers would strike. Our camp is flying the banners of the Empress all this while. Don’t you understand that the enemy will attack with all their might at the signs of any gaps?」
When the king was in sight, any chess player would make an attempt to capture it. Unlike the devotees only trying to escape out of the nation, the Kioka soldiers had an obvious tactical objective. In order to raise morale, Chamille took to the frontlines personally. Announcing her presence with the Empress’ banners also included such inherent risks.
Imagining the enemy swarming her way, Chamille said sternly.
「Firm up the defences, form square formations! It will reduce our mobility, the pressing issue right now is to defend against the enemy’s charge. If we don’t show any openings, they won’t be able to do anything!」
Right now, the 2,000 troops under her command were spread out, blocking the mountain path with their backs to the mountain. However, it was possible to enter the mountain via another way, but it was more dangerous with a more winding path. If the devotees tried to go around, Chamille was originally planning to spread out and stop them. But given the situation, she had to go about it differently.
The Imperials had 2,000 regular soldiers, while the devotees and the Kioka army that suddenly showed up numbered 12,000. That might be so, but it included a large number of non-combatants, and the Kioka army couldn’t supply that many weapons. So the actual fighting strength was around 4,000. Their armament was old Wind Guns, so 4,000 didn’t really reflect their combat effectiveness. Considering that the opponents were mostly amateurs, the Imperials had the upper hand.
As the Empress gave specific instructions, an officer ran over with a tense face. He knelt before the Empress and reported.
「Your Majesty! It’s regrettable, but the frontlines are faltering because of the pressure from the enemy! To ensure your safety, please pull back to the mountains with the Royal guards!」
「── What?」
Chamille furrowed her brows. Her troops were railing just a few minutes after the battle started── it was too soon. They were outnumbered, but the ones charging were just commoners holding weapons, and would be easily stopped by the salvos of the windgunners in formation.
As she looked to the frontlines, she arrived at the answer.
「... Our troops are hesitant on attacking?」
She muttered to herself. As they had their backs to the Grand Arfatra Mountains, the frontlines to the rear echelons where the Empress was located had a gradual slope. This gave Chamille a high vantage point to observe her army.
The soldiers who were struggling to perform their duty against the swarming mob reflected on her pupils. Firing upon their own citizens made them lose their fighting spirits, and the rate of fire dropped significantly──
「Sigh── Like I said, this method has such poor taste.」
Elulufay mumbled at the back of the devotees. The scene before her was far from her ideal battlefield.
「I will have nightmares tonight. They might be citizens of an enemy nation, but using civilians as meat shields doesn’t make me happy.」
「That’s true, but we can’t stand in the front. They will just shoot us down.」
Greg calmly stated his conclusion after considering their difference in armaments. The 「Great Mother of White Wings」 nodded reluctantly.
「You are right. There’s no other way, I will harden myself for the sake of my sweet children── prepare to charge!」
Elulufay suppressed her dissatisfaction and ordered with her loud voice. Although she was pushed into sudden combat, her skills had not rusted at all.
「... I see. For better or worse, they believe that we will protect them── huh?」
On the other hand, the Empress recalled what an officer said during Mitokazuruku’s revolt.
This comment wasn’t confined to just civilians. The Imperial soldiers also recognized their obligations as guardians. It had been a long time since they experienced a large scale civilian revolt, and it was tormenting them.
「... If the eastern territories weren’t seized by Kioka, we would have experienced at least one civilian riot. Is this the result for not shedding blood that should be shed?」
Chamille muttered. Saying that was problematic for a monarch at this point of time, but it was partly true. In the slow death and decline of a country, there was no way the citizens would willingly die together with it. The citizens stirred from their long slumber and seized power to govern themselves── that was what the Empress wanted, but this was terrible timing.
「Looks like I have to speak to them personally.」
Be it citizens or any other foes, if they came at her with hostility, she would take them down. The Empress took a step forward to drive that home to the soldiers, but was stopped by the officer beside her.
「P-Pardon my insolence, Your Majesty! But the risk of exposing you to the enemy would be too high. Why don’t we fall back to the mountains? With the high ground and terrain suitable for defending, the fight would be much easier. We can retaliate after Brigadier General Sazarf’s unit return...!」
The officer remained kneeling as he raised the advantages of retreating. It took a lifetime of courage for him to continue his persuasion under the Empress’ dangerous glare. However, his courage also stemmed from his pride branded into his heart as a guardian.
A hard and icy silence hung over the air. As the Empress reply seemed to be taking forever, the officer blinked away tears. He was worried about losing his head── when he heard a gentle voice of salvation.
「Your Majesty, I feel the same. We should fall back for now.」
「...Haro.」
The blue haired female officer spoke to her from behind, softening the Empress’ eyes a little. The other officers all sighed in relief. There was no better candidate more suited to persuade their monarch.
「Right now, in that group, there are unarmed people, the children and the elderly mixed in with the armed soldiers coming right at us, it would be difficult to attack them. However, the difference in their stamina would show when they scale the mountains. Those with the endurance and fighting spirit would run in front, those without would follow behind. That would make our battle easier.」
Haro gave the advantages of retreating. After closing her eyes and thinking for a few seconds, Chamille accepted this proposal. It was important to change the perspective of the soldiers, but it was more important to minimize their losses.
「...Alright. The mentality of the soldiers aside, this is a logical choice. Leaving a reckless charge on the plains like this aside, I don’t think a militia mob can fight in the mountains.」
Empress added to convince herself. Having decided on retreating, she immediately gave the orders to her subordinates.
「Keep firing during our retreat. Don’t panic── the mountains aren’t too far away.」
When Chamille’s group was attacked by the combined forces of the devotee rioters and Kioka soldiers, and started falling back to the mountains── the battle in the jungle in the frontlines far away was changing.
「... This is it.」
The pudgy youth said bitterly with the dense jungle before him. He was torn between his obligations to his men and the demands of him as a commander. Had he saved all his soldiers stuck in the jungle after falling into a trap? ── The answer was no. The situation improved dramatically after Torway’s unit proficient in jungle warfare entered the fray, and 70% of the lost soldiers had been retrieved. But that also meant 30% of the lost soldiers were still missing in action.
However, most of them were probably dead or captured. The huge drop in rescued soldiers since two days ago supported this speculation.
「Is this the right time to cease the operation── Damn it!」
Matthew muttered as if to convince himself. He couldn’t just stay here either. The moment they were forced to take back their citizens, the battle was already lost. The best he could do now was to minimize their losses.
From that perspective, their next course of action would be crucial. The Kioka forces and Aldera Holy Army would use this chance to attack when they return by their meandering mountain path. It would be difficult to shake off the pursuit and return to the northern territories. And so── in order to preserve their strength to deal with that situation, he had to stop the rescue operation when the efficiency fell below a certain level.
「... When the unit in the woods returns, all units will start to withdraw. Keep it discreet and pretend we are still continuing with rescue efforts. I want to delay the enemy pursuit as much as possible.」
「「「「Yes Sir!」」」」
Understanding Matthew’s intent, the junior officers started taking action. Those who usually rebuke their young superior were much more cooperative. It was clear their reckless action led to this dire situation, and Torway’s unit who turned things around respecting Matthew also played a part… Even if they disregard all that, they couldn’t afford to pick on their superiors if they wish to stop their rank insignia from downgrading after the war.
「... Although our opponent won’t fall for that so easily.」
Matthew watched his men go and muttered softly. He had a feeling that the worst was yet to come, and he couldn’t afford to be optimistic yet. The battlefield before him was devoid of such hopes.
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