Chapter 1: Battle on the Tableland
Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Hiiro
For the pursuers and the ones being pursued, the former would usually have the upperhand psychologically, and this was no exception.
「Hah! Hah! Hah...!」「Huff! Huff...」「Wheeze… Wheeze...」
A large number of Imperial soldiers were marching back home in a squashed file formation along the meandering mountain paths. They moved fast and didn’t stop often for breaks. The series of up and down slopes weighed painfully on their waist and legs. The fatigue added to the tension of the return trip that was double that of their journey here, casting a gloom on their faces.
It was impossible for the soldiers to feel at ease with the pursuers chasing them. In the mountain range that was already too harsh for humans, the Kioka Army and Alderamin army was right on their tails.
「......」
The commander Matthew Tetzirich moved in the centre of the formation as he watched his men with a serious face.
His army was slowing down as time passed, and their reaction speed became more sluggish. No matter how many times he reminded the men, their formation would crumble very often. After accepting all these facts, he immediately stopped in his tracks.
「... Halt the march. We will have a long break here and let the men rest.」
「But Major—」
This was a break that many soldiers were looking forward to. However, his adjutant was conscious of the enemy right behind them, and his eyes were saying that this was no time to rest. Matthew felt the same way, but he repeated his orders firmly.
「No, we will take a long break. We still have a long way to go, not resting now will have an adverse effect on us in the future.」
Issuing meaningless orders that would wear their troops out was a common mistake made by subpar commanders— the pudgy youth convinced himself with that, and led by example by sitting down with his legs crossed. The soldiers around him also sat down timidly.
His adjutant was still standing hesitantly, so Matthew pulled him over by the arm.
「Here, sit down and grab a bite. Don’t worry, the enemy hasn’t caught up with us.」
Before the adjutant could say anything, the youth shoved a piece of dried almond into his mouth. With a glance at his adjutant who had no choice but to chew, Matthew focused his attention to the rear.
「... It’s fine right, Torway?」
He only mumbled the name of his comrade softly, to avoid anyone hearing him. His comrade who was acting as the rearguard. Torway had grown incredibly reliable, but his changed mentality made Matthew worried
Instead of the safety of himself and his men, he was more worried about the jade-eyed youth.
＊
On the other hand, a few km to the east of the mountain path. In contrast to the gloomy Imperial forces, the Kioka army in pursuit was in high spirits.
「Forward, forward, forward! The enemy is fleeing with their tails between their legs! This is our chance to hit them in their defenceless backs!」
The officers urged their men forth, adhering to the principle that speed was of the essence in military maneuvers. They formed a stark contrast with Matthew who chose to rest despite the dire situation. Sprinting would sap their strength drastically, but considering the situation, this strategy was crude but not entirely wrong.
「Charge forth even if your legs go numb! If we give the enemy time, they will erect a base! If you don’t put in the work now, you will be the one to suffer later!」
The commanders kept pushing them. The soldiers running with ragged breath understood that logic and didn’t complain. The routed enemy was excellent prey, that was a basic stratagem. However—
「Run, run! Catch them before the enemy builds a stronghold and crush them! Don’t even think about resting, charge even if your lungs shyyaaaaa?」
The hoarse voice urging the troops forth stopped suddenly. The commander with a bullet between his brows fell onto his back, and a hail of bullets rained down mercilessly on the soldiers watching this scene. They fell back in a panic, and their advance was stalled.
Attacking the defenceless backs of the enemy wasn’t that easy. It was common sense in the military to leave an reliable unit to stop the pursuers and protect the retreating army that was at its weakest.
「— Seventeen hits. The enemy forward elements have retreated down the slope.」
The spotter observing the results through his telescope reported calmly— about 200m in front of the Kioka army, snipers in camouflage uniforms set up positions on the cliffs flanking the road.
「Continue defensive fire. Fire at will once the enemy is in range.」
The leader of these sharpshooters, Lieutenant Colonel Torway Remeon, ordered with a steadfast tone. From the number of stars on his rank epaulette, he shouldn’t be fighting beside the grunts on the frontlines— but he ignored this convention and continued serving at the frontline by his own will.
「I already know from the start about the difference in our numbers, but how much time can we buy if we continue to fight?」
One sniper asked with his finger still on the trigger. The jade-eyed youth didn’t look his way and answered immediately.
「Unless they break through the other routes, we can hold this place for at least a day. We will fall back when our ammunition falls beneath 30%— then we will delay the enemy and move westwards in stages, repeating the same actions until we link up safely with friendly forces.」
His tone didn’t permit any refusal. His subordinates made their resolve and focused on the enemy movements, while Torway looked in a different direction as if he sensed something.
「............」
「...? What’s the matter, Commanding Officer—?」
An unexpected impact cut his question short. His body was slammed from the side by his superior officer, and he fell over from his kneeling shooting position. Right after that— bullets flew right above him.
「—Tch—」
Torway used the momentum that saved the life of his subordinate and assumed a prone shooting posture. He concentrated at the direction where the shot came from, and squeezed the trigger.
「—Phew!」
「Gyaa—!」
At almost the same time, a Kioka soldier in the grass 150m away died.
「Belsi...?」「Medic!」
Seeing their comrade died in an unexpected circumstance made the soldiers around them waver. But some of the veterans ignored them and were in awe.
「—Are you kidding me? What’s with that shot?」
A scout observing through his telescope said with a quiet trembling voice. The man holding a Wind Gun beside him smirked his lips bitterly.
「... I wished that was just my imagination too, but you saw that, right?」
「Yes… That tall gunner killed Belsi the moment he fell over.」
That was a surreal shot, just grasping how these events were related was a miracle. Dropping to the ground to evade the shot, taking aim and squeezing the trigger— he did all that in less than a second and reaped away the life of Private First Class Belsi. A godly technique in the realm of being ludicrous.
「... Could that be the 『Remeon of the Gun』?」
「That’s a shot from over a hundred metre away. Just hitting on the first try is incredible.」
However, they couldn’t continue feeling impressed. Their rage from having a comrade killed before their eyes overwhelmed the back chilling fear they felt, and they gripped their guns tightly.
「—Enough chat, we have to take out that guy. If he gets away, we will lose hundreds of comrades to him in the future!」
「Yes, I know!」
「—Enemy hiding in the shrubs down the slope to the southeast. Section seven, return fire.」
Not knowing how impactful his shot was to the enemy, Torway who was under retaliatory fire calmly instructed his men.
「They saw through our deployments? They are reacting faster than expected.」
「This means the enemy is outstanding— Sergeant Terran, you have 30 seconds to propose the best tactic to wipe out the enemy in that area.」
He pushed his subordinate to think. He already knew the best answer, but intentionally held back. With no regards to the harsh situation, the youth just treated this battle as a test run of his unit. He was determined to spur the growth of his subordinates.
Realizing the intention of his superior, Sergeant Terran fell silent for a moment.
「... I will take my section and detour along the north to the east hills. If everyone draws the enemy’s attention, in twenty minutes—」
At this moment, the Sergeant realized something and stopped. He immediately checked the detour route he proposed with his telescope— from the way the grass was swaying unnaturally, he was certain his judgement was in error.
「—My apologies, the opponent expected this possibility and set up an ambush… Please give me 30 minutes. I will take two sections to take the east hill and give suppressing fire on the enemy.」
「Good. When you capture that hill, the enemy would probably have withdrawn.」
Torway gave a passing grade to his subordinate’s judgement. Sergeant Terran felt a sense of pride well in his chest, then looked at his superior with unease.
「We won’t be able to support the battle on this end, will that be fine?」
「Don’t worry. I won’t think of units that have to redeploy as an idling forces.」
Torway’s immediate answer made the Sergeant hold his breath… The air about him was too tense, even the men who had served under him for a long time felt awe inspiring fear from him.
「Mum*— interesting. Very interesting.」
The white-haired officer climbed up high onto the platform despite his adjutant’s protest, and watched the battlefield with shining eyes.
「Miara, look, this is an unprecedented battlefield. Highly trained Wind Gunners are obstructing our advance, and we are trying to take them out with our snipers too. I can’t get a good look at them, but they are definitely the protagonist of this battlefield.」
「Yes, I heard you, so lower your body! We might be out of range, but a stray bullet might still fly over!」
Miara stood before him as if she was protecting an obstinate child. Jean gently placed his hands on her shoulders and continued:
「I have to admit that right now, their usage of gunners is better than me. They are obviously used to operating in units smaller than sections. Given the range of the weapons, there is no need to gather all the troops in one spot for firepower. However, intensive training would be needed for the small units to decide on their own actions.」
He complimented the enemy frankly without any hostility or bias. So the adjutant had to shoulder these negative aspects. She stiffened her face and commented.
「... I agree that those Wind Gunners are a pain in this place, but they aren’t that much of a threat. They would be a pushover on an open terrain. If they hid in the grass or on cliffs, our Blast Cannon can destroy them along with their cover.」
「Syah*. But we will run into problems if we keep relying on the advantage of our Blast Cannons. I think the way we fight has to evolve too.
Oh right— What’s your view on this battle, Professor?」
Jean kept his eyes on the battlefield as he asked the old sage who scaled the platform behind them. Anarai brushed off the sand on his knees and stood beside Jean with a grunt.
「If you want to break through swiftly, you will need to take care of the enemy shooter.」
「Yah*. I considered starting a smoke screen, but we are downwind. Their accuracy will fall after sunset, but that will make our advance difficult instead.」
「It will be dangerous to walk in the mountains at night. If I’m the Imperials, I will use this golden opportunity. By using the terrain and setting traps, it might be possible to destroy a large army.」
「It is as you say, considering the risks, we can’t move at night, we have to break through in the day.」
Jean nodded. However— Miara knew the truth. When he was describing how arduous the task was, he didn’t show any anxiety or unease. That relaxed tone was how Jean spoke when he had solved a difficult problem.
「And so, I will create a break through.」
＊
「Hah! Hah! Hah——」
In the Imperial Army basecamp, soldiers focused on construction work bustled around. A man was running towards the west of the basecamp with ragged breath. The rank epaulette on his shoulder didn’t match his appearance of a man just past his thirties— he was a Brigadier General.
「— Your Majesty Chamille! Y-You are safe!」
His voice turned shrill from nervousness and fear, making it clear that the person in the west of the basecamp outranked him in every conceivable way. Empress Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik walked casually out of the wall of bodyguards and welcomed her vassal.
「At ease… Sorry for drawing the enemy here.」
Chamille pouted bitterly and cast her gaze behind.
「This basecamp has been moved deeper in than reported, so we linked up a few days later than expected.」
「Yes, my deep apologies...」
「I’m not admonishing you. I have performed disgracefully too, and want to grasp the situation. What happened here?」
Sazarf understood that the Empress was more interested in intel than an apology, and spoke after a brief pause.
「Major Matthew who pursued the devotees to the east suffered a retaliatory blow from the enemy, and is starting to withdraw. We are expecting pursuers, so we shifted the base eastwards to link up with them sooner.」
After getting the answer she expected, Chamille pursed her lips.
「... Things still turned out this badly even with Torway there, huh. This means that we can’t leave this place before linking up with Matthew and the rest.」
「Yes… If we don’t abandon them.」
The young Brigadier General added coldly. Realizing what he was insinuating, the Empress glared at him.
「Don’t belittle me, Sazarf. Do I look like I intend to do that?」
「— I misspoke. Pardon my insolence, Your Majesty.」
Sazarf said with a relieved face and bowed deeply. Chamille continued glaring, then averted her gaze with a sigh.
「... Since you made the resolve to not abandon your subordinates even at the risk of death, I will forgive this time.」
Chamille said with a more mellowed tone. The top priority of the Imperial soldier was to ensure the safety of the Empress— but the Empress had not thought of that at all.
The people who thought of the girl as a tyrant didn’t know. She could be cruel if need be, but she never felt that her life was worth protecting at the expense of others.
「Thank you for your magnanimity, Your Majesty. We have considered the plans to escort Your Majesty to safety, and it is possible to form a detachment unit for this, however—」
Sazarf stopped and looked at the enemy to the west with a stiff face.
「— We will need a large force to protect Your Majesty and break through the enemy forces… About half of the troops we have on hand.」
「If we divide our forces, it will be difficult to fend off the enemy pursuing Matthew’s forces.」
The girl finished his sentence. Sazarf was no longer surprised by how fast she was in grasping the situation and nodded.
「I apologize for my incompetence, it is as you say.」
Chamille looked around her after hearing that answer, then spoke after thinking for a brief moment.
「Will it be difficult to destroy them with all our forces on hand, then come back to help Matthew’s forces?」
「Right now, our entire forces are committed to building up a stronghold. If we send them out to fight, their work will stall. If we win a quick and decisive victory, they might be able to return to their work after that… But if the battle drags on, our base will be defenceless when the enemy comes from the east.」
「I see. We can’t leave before Matthew’s forces return, and the enemy will arrive when they do. So it’s inevitable that we will have to fight on two fronts.」
「Unfortunately, that’s true...」
Sazarf lowered his gaze, ashamed of his own incompetence. But the Empress felt it was a waste to waste any time feeling depressed, and continued with determined eyes.
「Since this is the situation we are in, we have to accept it. Have you considered our actions after we are attacked from both sides?」
There was a strict sense of righteousness in her golden eyes as she waited for Sazarf’s reply. Urged by her gaze, the man straightened his back, looked to the future and answered.
「I did. With the terrain here—」
＊
「...Phew...!」
The Imperial forces continued retreating at their best speed without exhausting the troops to the point of collapsing. At the rear of the formation, explosions of compressed air increased in frequency, but Torway’s breathing remained steady.
「Section 7, support the right flank! The enemy is trying to break through from there!」
「Yes Sir...! But if we go, there will only be twenty odd people here—」
A rifle report drowned out the soldier’s word of concern. As a new corpse appeared in his gun sights, the youth answered his subordinate with eyes that didn’t have a shred of warmth in them.
「We can manage with this numbers— I won’t miss a single shot henceforth.」
「Y-Yes Sir!」
His intimidating aura that gave no room for negotiation sent the soldier scampering off. The jade-eyed youth glanced at his back and thought quickly— He was the commander of the sniping unit, and his duties entailed more than just eliminating the enemy within his field of vision.
With Wind Rifles growing more common in both armies, their effective shooting range was evenly matched. His battalion of 600 men had to delay the Kioka army that numbered over 3,000 under such conditions. Normally, this would only be possible with forts and strongholds, but Torway's outstanding troop deployment overturned this norm.
「... Phew...!」
Their tactic was to not show any traces. Blending into the forest with camouflage uniforms covered in grass and branches, they sniped the enemy from the dark.
When these 「invisible snipers」 displayed extraordinary killing efficiency through their highly trained shooting techniques, how would that affect the enemy psychology?
「— Fear—」
There was only one answer. They would see phantoms. Overestimate the numbers of the enemy they couldn’t see, and tremble at their own delusion. Fearing that the enemy might be there— the things the dark-haired youth mentioned in the past had been nurtured into a monster by Torway Remeon.
「— Fear that darkness. Men or women, young or old, brave or timid. There are no differences between all living beings—!」
「— No, there’s nothing to fear.」
However, there was a hero here who stood up to defy the monster.
「A battalion of 600 men at the most, that’s the extent of your battle potential.」
The white-haired officer concluded and turned gallantly, declaring to his big bodied staff behind him with a fearless smile.
「The deployment of the enemy is what I have told you. Trust me, Harrah.」
「Leave it to me.」
Harrah responded to his instruction without any hesitation, bracing himself and raising his voice at his men standing by.
「Spread out in ranks! Gunners, take aim!」
The soldiers spread out along the entire mountain path as ordered. The first, second and third rank stood in staggered formation, giving everyone a clear shot before them. A tight formation that prioritized causing shock and awe— this tactic might seem outdated compared to the Empire, but they still prepared to attack with pride in their stances.
「Fire!」
Salvo, advance, reload, salvo, advance, reload— the trained shooting actions continued without any stoppages, and the sound of compressed air explosion kept sounding out. Unlike mediocre troopers who only served in the firing line because of the threats from their commanders, they displayed the aesthetics in form through tireless training.
「Don’t leave any gaps in the firing line! The rear will supply ammunition to meet the front’s demand, if there is any gun malfunction, swap places with the rear quickly!」
When they advanced about 50m, Harrah raised a hand and yelled.
「Cease fire! Change target— shift 70 degrees to the left!」
The gunners immediately changed their targets, and the row of guns locked onto the invisible enemy hiding under the shade of the trees.
The snipers were about to change their position to match the advance of the enemy like before. However— a dense hail of bullets suddenly assaulted them from behind.
「What...?」「Hyaa...!」
Wood shreds and leaves scattered around them, and the soldier who got hit in the shoulder squatted down. Realizing that the situation had changed, the snipers turned pale.
「...? We are moving in the forest, but their volley caught up with us!」
「Prone down! It’s a firing line salvo, we can’t lift our heads under such firing density!」
The snipers prone down to dodge the bullets. They had no choice but to crawl, and it would be hard to catch up with the enemy that had moved ahead. When they reach the next engagement area, the enemy would have gotten out of range.
By using the agility of section level movements, they could move into the best position before the enemy does and engage them. However, the new tactic they had been using didn’t work this time— The anxiety of this fact hit them along with the volley fire from the mountain path.
「Damn it! They saw through us...!」
「— That’s...!」
Torway sensed something was wrong from the way the enemy was walking boldly on the path. His subordinate who was observing through a telescope shouted in a shrill tone.
「Commanding Officer, the enemy is advancing in a firing line! They are building up momentum! Their suppressing fire is keeping our sniping in check...」
In contrast with the soldier who was reporting, the enemy advanced with sure and confident steps. The jade-eyed youth looked at the enemy with stern eyes and grit his teeth.
「There’s a bigger problem… They are not afraid of the dark. They saw through our deployment!」
「Yah*— In a straight up fight, the side with more soldiers will have the advantage. That’s the norm on the battlefield, boss of the snipers I have yet to met.」
Jean watched the units suppressing the enemy’s retaliatory fire and advancing deeper with a fearless smile.
「We have been held back here by more than 3 hours. Trying to act like an invisible Phantom after so long is asking for too much when facing an opponent like me. That is more than enough time to clearly see the things we couldn’t see.」
Phantom moved quietly in the dark forest. However— the white-haired officer’s eyes with outstanding analysis skill and imagination could clearly see their movement.
「Sniper units in groups smaller than a section— I admit that is a threat. But since their goal is to delay us, given the terrain, there would be a given pattern in their deployment and movement. By deducing the best answer, and working back from the spots where our soldiers had been shot thus far, I can predict the mentality and personality of the enemy within a margin of error.」
All the time spent up to this moment was to find this answer. Jean was not a kind idiot that would let the enemy keep up their shroud of invisibility.
「Sniper boss, your ideal is probably for every soldier to act independently, and cooperate at a higher level than troopers of the past to keep up the fight. My home nation Kioka had an ideology of respecting the independence of the citizens and minimizing governing prowess, known as 『Small Government』. I am frankly impressed that you came up with a military version of this. However, humans are social creatures by nature and act in groups. For the military, the action of the organized soldiers will inevitably reflect the intent of the commander.」
<TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_government>
Jean not only saw through the positions of the enemy hiding in the dark, he also saw through their thinking. The Insomniac Brilliant General had completely grasped the nature of the new generation sniper unit nurtured by the Imperial elite Torway Remeon.
「The impression of your troop deployment feels more gentle and timid than others, and the resolve to suppress everything to step on the battlefield— Something like that. Interesting. An image that isn’t very soldier-like.」
Jean often reminded himself not to lose himself to his innocent curiosity towards the unknown with no regards for friend or foe. But after meeting Anarai Khan, that tendency had grown stronger. That was why he felt joy in pummeling this foe who was worthy of praise.
「I hope he is willing to be taken prisoner alive. There can never be too much good help—!」
＊
On the other hand, in the basecamp commanded by Brigadier General Sazarf, his forces that had linked up with Empress Chamille’s troop were waiting anxiously for their allies’ return.
「— I see them! The vanguard of friendlies!」
A soldier watching the east yelled loudly. Sazarf rushed out of his command tent and confirmed it personally with his telescope, then ordered his men:
「Good, remove the barricade and let them in! Field hospital, get ready to take in casualties! On the double, more will be coming soon!」
「Hah! Hah! — We finally made it—」
Matthew finally returned with his exhausted men. After going up the narrow path to the high grounds, he was surprised to see his Monarch.
「— Your Majesty...? Why are you here!?」
Chamille approached him with her black robes fluttering in the wind, and said with a serious expression.
「I was planning to reinforce your group, but got snagged in a trap.」
「Even so, there’s no reason for you to idle here! Brigadier General Sazarf, why didn’t you form an escort unit for Her Majesty to leave!? The enemy will be coming here soon...!」
Matthew forgot about his exhaustion and pressed his superior for an answer. But before he could hear the reason from Sazarf, the subject of his worry said sharply:
「Don’t overstep your bounds, Matthew Tetzirich. Only I can decide where to go and what to do. You just need to worry about breaking through the current quagmire.」
As a vassal, it was natural for him to be worried, and being refuted made the youth seethe in anger. Chamille pretended not to notice and quietly changed the topic.
「The soldiers at the rear of the group are probably under attack by the Kioka forces and the Alderamin Holy Army. Given the forces you have on hand, is the rear guard Lieutenant Colonel Torway?」
「... Yes. If not for his timely reinforcements, more soldiers would have died.」
「That’s the point of sending them in. When can we expect the rest of your group?」
「All of them should reach in the afternoon two days later… And the enemy is projected to reach at about the same time.」
Because of their earlier argument, Matthew added in the hope that she would realize how dangerous the situation was. However, the Empress just nodded and turned as if that was only natural.
「Start a war conference. I already have the outlines of a plan in mind— but I still want to hear your views, Major Matthew.」
Four days after Matthew’s group arrived, the Kioka and Alderamin Holy Army led by Jean arrived before the enemy basecamp.
「—Hum, I see, they set up their camp here.」
He muttered as he surveyed the terrain that stretched tens of km from north to south, with perilous cliffs that were over 90 degrees in angle. A crude cliff face sheltered Jean’s group, and he could catch glimpses of Imperial soldiers scouting for enemies— When the top ground layer was tough while the bottom layer was soft, the bottom would get eroded faster by the weather and form such a terrain over time.
「Instead of a hill and valley— this is closer to being a tableland. The only path up to the highgrounds is the narrow path to the south, and it is already blockaded.」
「Syah*. We can go around this place, but that would take more than 3 days. The enemy will probably flee westward given that time.」
After confirming the relative position of both sides with the map in his mind, the white-haired officer continued analyzing the situation.
「Mum*— speaking of which, the enemy commander-in-chief is rather brave. They could have waited for their allies closer to the entrance to the mountains, which would be a better plan, but he still stepped deep into the mountains. This showed his resolve to save as many soldiers as possible.」
Jean raised the corners of his lips satisfactory, complimenting the enemy’s tenacity despite being the underdog.
「The enemy is not beaten yet. Don’t let your guard down, Miara.」
Jean warned his adjutant sharply and turned to the Scientist diagonally behind him.
「Oh right— What’s wrong, Professor? You have been watching the sky for a while now.」
「Yes. There is a rarely seen bird flying in the air.」
Anarai Khan answered with his eyes upwards. This old sage wouldn’t miss the tiniest detail that most people would ignore.
「That bird has been circling above us for a while now. There shouldn’t be any large birds native to this area, so that intrigued me.」
Jean followed Anarai’s curious gaze and quickly identified the rare bird that the old man was talking about.
「... Oh! Your eyes are sharp, Professor, that’s the pet bird of the 『Great Mother of White Wings』— Misai, over here! Come down!」
He shouted and whistled to get the bird’s attention, and succeeded in getting it to fly down. A few seconds later, the large bird landed with a large gust of wind. The soldiers backed away on reflex, and only Jean raised his hand and approached it intimately as if he was welcoming a friend.
「You are acting as a messenger, huh, that’s a big help. I will read and reply to the letter right now, please wait a while.」
After that, he untied the letter on Misai’s feet. On the other hand, Anarai was not interested in the message, and inspected the creature before him instead.
「Hawk… Condor...! No, this is an Osprey. To think I will see a seabird in the treacherous Grand Arfatra Mountains.」
The old man lowered his body and leaned forward. Misai probably sensed danger from his eyes and adopted a wary posture.
「Did this Osprey land here because it recognized you? Not just that, it’s waiting obediently for you to write a reply, interesting. Perhaps I need to reevaluate the intelligence level of birds.」
Anarai committed himself completely into his observations and inspected his subject from the front, back, sides and diagonal. This scene made Jean smile awkwardly.
「Professor, don’t tease it too much. Misai is a very proud creature, it will peck you if you went overboard.」
「I understand, just a bit more… Gwahh!」
Right after Jean warned him, Anarai had to dodge the sharp beaks of the bird. Miara laughed out loud, but the white-haired officer beside her frowned.
「... The Empress is with them. The situation has gotten a little troublesome.」
「Huh—? Jean, what...」
Jean ordered his soldiers to prepare his stationery and table, then swiftly pened a reply. He didn’t hesitate and finished in just a few minutes.
「...Yah*, I have written the reply. Return this to your mistress, Misai.」
He tied the letter onto the bird’s leg, and Misai cawed impatiently before taking to the sky. Ignoring Anarai who looked disappointed, Miara asked his superior:
「Finished already? What did you write on the letter?」
「Nothing special. Just our current situation, size of our forces and the future battle plans.」
「You even wrote down the plan? Before chairing a war conference?」
「Given the situation before us, there isn’t any need to seek the opinion of the staff officers. The Empress’ presence was unexpected, but it won’t affect the big picture. That’s because— when the enemy decided to set up their base on the tableland, the results was already clear.」
The white-haired officer said as if the reason was obvious, then returned his gaze to the tableland.
「Spread the men out before the highgrounds and apply pressure. We will then wait for the opportunity to come.」
「After two years in captivity, this can’t be helped.」
On the other hand, the 「Great Mother of White Wings」 couldn’t help complaining after arriving at the other side of the tableland where the Imperial forces were based.
「The top management asked us for a prison break, so we did. Climbing up the mountains is harsh for sailors, but we can manage if it is just this one time… But asking us to tackle these issues one after another is too reckless. What do you think, Greg?」
Elulufay laid on a smooth boulder exhaustively and asked her vassal who had a scary face. Marine Commander Greg Ayuzadori nodded with a shrug.
「We have to look after 10,000 refugees, so I feel the same. The Prime Minister seems to be thinking that we are just lazing around in the Empire for the last two years.」
「That’s right. So, how are they doing?」
「They were full of drive when they just scaled the mountains, but their passion has cooled off now, and their attitude is wavering. They want to hide behind and leave the fighting to us.」
「Yes, that’s good. Much better than them charging recklessly to the frontlines. We are not used to fighting in the hills, having armed civilians mixed in will just create more chaos. We will handle the fighting then.」
She was lying down as they conversed, and sat up at this point. Misai then landed on her arm. Elulufay was happy to see her pet bird return, and looked at its feet.
「Welcome back, Misai. So you did see Jean.」
She untied the letter and read it right away, then sighed in relief.
「... Hmm, looks like our hard days are over. Greg, can you smile to show you are happy?」
「Like this?」
Greg opened his mouth slit that reached right to his ear. The Great Mother of White Wings smiled and admired the vicious face that could make any child cry.
「Your smile is as charming as ever. Tell the good news to the men with this face.」
「Got it～」
The Marine Commander turned around at her urging. The seamen screamed wherever he went, and Elulufay curled up her body and dozed off with the screams as her lullaby.
Because of the personality of their commander, the unit under the 「Great Mother of White Wings」 remained cheerful despite their arduous situation. And in contrast, a battalion that just arrived at the Imperial basecamp could only be described as gloomy.
「... The Sniper battalion has returned.」
The unit commander passed through the blockade and mechanically saluted the allies receiving him. A pudgy youth then jogged towards him with ragged breath.
「Torway, you alright?」
The first thing he asked was the safety of his friend, but the jade-eyed youth didn’t raise his head.
「Because of the mounting losses, we have to cease independent operations… How disgraceful. I was planning to stall them for two more days...!」
His fingers around the stock of his Wind Gun were trembling slightly. Faced with Torway’s strong self reproach, Matthew didn’t know what to say.
You already bought us the minimal number of days we agreed on before setting off, so don’t be too hard on yourself— Matthew knew very well, that Torway won’t listen to that. What was torturing Torway was the high standards he set for himself. With the vermillion-haired girl and dark-haired youth gone, he was demanding himself to take over the obligation of leading the Imperial military in their place. Without anyone saying anything, Torway put all the blame on himself.
The slightly plump youth had no words, and the Empress approached from behind him to speak in his place.
「Don’t be frustrated, Torway, you have completed your mission. Report to headquarters, I have to brief you on our plans.」
Chamille informed him calmly, then turned and left. The jade-eyed youth followed with silent steps, and Matthew was right behind him with a bitter face.
「Our plan is simple.」
Standing before the officers, the Empress explained using a map.
「For the Kioka and Aldera coalition Army coming from the east, this tableland is a barrier. We have blockaded the direct path into the tableland, and can hold out for two or three days easily. We will use this chance to decimate the forces in the west— the escaped prisoners and the devotees group, then leave the mountains with haste.」
She summarized the plan in just tens of seconds. On behalf of how all the officers felt, Matthew’s face started to cramp.
「... Your Majesty, you want to decimate them?」
「I did. Is there any other course of action when facing a hostile enemy blocking my path?」
Chamille declared nonchalantly. In the silent tent, only her voice tinted with murderous intent quivered in the air.
「I will be in overall command of this plan. We will launch the attack at daybreak tomorrow— when most of the devotees are still asleep. The former Kioka prisoners of war aside, crushing the other enemies will be as easy as cutting down strawman.」
Matthew grit his teeth and walked forth, his gaze clashing against those golden eyes.
「You want to kill the citizens… like cutting down strawman? Even though our goal is to bring them back?」
「That will be right if they are just wandering off. But since they took up arms and show us hostility, I will not hesitate to treat them as enemies.」
「That’s part of Kioka’s plan too! They give Wind Guns to the devotees forced to their wit’s end, and coerce them into an armed uprising! If we murder our fellow countrymen, that will be playing right into the enemy’s hands?」
The youth crossed the line of advising the Empress and was directly rebuking her. But she just shook her head with a serious face.
「I have made up my name. The order is given in my name, and I will take the responsibility for it.」
She ignored all attempts to persuade her with that one sentence. The Empress’ reply was too cruel in response to Matthew’s appeal on behalf of the devotees. Rage burned in the youth’s eyes. At the same time, sadness of equal parts also lingered within him.
「... I can’t carry out this order. Defending the nation against external enemies is the duty of a soldier. This is the only time I feel the same way as Mitokazuruku. An army that massacre its citizens wilfully shouldn’t exist...!」
There was an uproar in the tent, and Sazarf who was looking for a chance to intervene turned pale. When Matthew clearly stepped over the line, all emotions drained from the Empress’ face.
「—Major Matthew Tetzirich. I have a high evaluation of you, and hope that you will grow into a man capable of shouldering the army in the future. That was why I planned to elevate you for this investigative trip. However—」
She drew the sabre on her waist and pointed the tip at the pudgy youth.
「— If you refuse to abide by my decision and continue to defy me, I won’t let your disobedience slide.」
The Empress coldly gave her ultimatum. With the blade pointed at him, Matthew’s eyes quickly turned cold.
「— You want to cut off my head with that blade?」
He parted his dry lips and said with the strongest sense of irony… That sabre was wielded by the vermillion-haired girl in the past and had saved the Knights Corp from dire situations countless times. The youth clenched his trembling fists and closed his eyes.
「Kill me then. If you can do that… Then you are no longer the Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik I knew.」
A despairing silence fell between them. No one had the courage to speak and mediate— because they understood that this argument wasn’t limited to just this one time, but the friction of the last two years being brought to the surface. They had to accept that the Master-vassal relationship between them was at its limits.
「Y-Your Majesty—」
Sazarf understood all that, but he still squeezed his voice out with a suicidal resolve— at this moment, an out of place cheerful voice echoed in the tense tent.
「Hmm hmm～ everyone, tea is ready! Uwah! Uwah! —Ahh?」
Haro passed by the officers towards Chamille and Matthew, and suddenly lost her balance, spilling the tea pot in her hands. The steaming hot tea spilled onto Matthew’s calf, and he opened his eyes wide open because of the burns.
「It burns～～～～!」
「Huhh? S-Sorry! I will ice it for you!」
Haro quickly called out her partner water Sprite Mia to create ice. Sazarf who was watching stiffly all this while saw the chance to change the mood in the tent.
「...Major Haro, sorry to trouble you, but please bring Major Matthew out. The coming battles will be tense, and a scalding might lead to more serious problems if left unattended.」
「O-Okay! Pardon my intrusion!」
Haro took Matthew’s hand and left after apologizing profusely. She put on a ditzy act to fudge over the clash between the two. The woman with Haro’s face giggled in her heart.
— It’s still too early, Princess.
And of course, she wasn’t doing this out of kindness. Deepening the animosity between Chamille and Matthew went against her goal, so she stopped it. That was all.
— You need to accumulate more. The end you are hoping for isn’t so cheap that it will happen here.
She patiently sowed the seeds of discord in the fertile soil of human relationships, nurturing them carefully to stop them from wilting. She imagined the seeds blooming at the absolute worst time as she passionately poured in her twisted emotions.
— You really make me worry. Fufufu!
「... Damn it! … Damn it! Damn! Damn...!」
After his light burns were treated, Matthew stayed inside his personal tent and kept cursing out.
「— Calm down, Major Matthew. I know how you feel, but the massacre isn’t set in stone yet.」
A while later, Sazarf came to check on him after his war conference. He said to the youth sitting on his bed with his head hung low.
「I have permission from Her Majesty to assign my men as the vanguard to break through the west, allowing us to seize the initiative on the frontlines. The Kioka might use the devotees as human shields, but...」
Sazarf tried to not upset Matthew, but he quickly reached his limits. He understood there were many holes in his arguments, and changed tracks with a sigh.
「...No, I have to make this clear. If the devotees become a target during the battle, I will fire upon them without any mercy.」
「......!」
Matthew looked at his superior in shock. Sazarf quickly added:
「That’s only limited to the beginning. When the devotees run away in fear, we will switch targets to the Kioka former prisoners of war. It’s regrettable, but the current situation… the more we care for the devotees, the more losses we will suffer.」
Sazarf forced his subordinate to see the harsh truth. He believed this was his responsibility as a superior.
「Protecting Her Majesty is a given, and I want to bring as many of my men back to the Empire alive. I want to achieve that even if I have to kill my own citizens… Empress Chamille took on overall command because she had the resolve to shoulder all the blame and losses for this battle. You know that, right?」
Matthew looked down and bit his lips— That’s right, deep down he knew that the Empress’ harsh decision was the right move. And he didn’t have the right to say anything about that.
「The situation deteriorated this badly because we messed up from the start… We can’t complain even if we died here. I’m not telling you to accept this, but you must have the resolve to dirty your hands.」
「......」
「We will start the plan tomorrow at daybreak. Compared to experienced campers like us, the Kioka seamen and the refugees should find camping in the wild much more draining… But if the battle drags on, we will have a tough time too.」
Having said all that he wanted to, Sazarf quietly turned around. He judged that his subordinate would need some time to get his feelings in order— when he was about to exit the tent, he remembered something and added:
「You should learn to do whatever it takes to survive… I order you to rest until 2 am tomorrow. At least forget about the devotees for a while, and think about your family or a girl you fancy.」
Sazarf passed through the curtains at the entrance and left for real this time. Matthew stayed in the tent alone, since surviving until the next day was not a guarantee, his superior’s words made him think of home.
「... Dad… Mom...」
Matthew’s nostalgic hometown flashed across his mind. The crops sparkling with the morning dew and the gentle smiles of his parents. And also— the face of a girl, which made the youth grip the compass talisman hidden behind his shirt.
「......Pommy ......」
Late that night. As if to mimic the nickname of their commander-in-chief, the Kioka army at the foot of the cliff was bustling around with no regards for sleep.
「—Mum*. The enemy seems to be planning for an attack at day break.」
Jean looked up at the enemy base some distance away from the cliff and stroked his chin.
「We need to rush our job too. How’s the sappers’ progress?」
「Yes, we will probably know right about—」
Miara looked around when she was asked, and an officer jogged towards them.
「Huff! Puff! ...Reporting! We have completed the inspection! We can start pumping on your orders!」
After receiving the report he was waiting anxiously for, the white-haired officer’s smile deepened.
「Syool*— Let’s get started immediately. But any mistakes will cause a big accident, fire is prohibited in the work area.」
「Yes Sir, we will execute the plan meticulously!」
「Also, arrange for note takers not participating in battle. There are few instances of Dynamic Air being used in such a way, so this will be valuable data. Can you find someone suitable from your unit?」
「Yes Sir! I will assign someone who can make meticulous records!」
That subordinate turned and jogged off after receiving these additional orders. Jean was not stressed at all, since he could even take note of things not directly related to combat. When he took out a map and compared it to the terrain before him, Anarai found something that interested him and poked his head out.
「Hmm, this will be an interesting experiment. From my predictions… there, there and there will remain intact?」
「Yah*, I think this area will be fine too. We can’t see inside with the naked eye, and we lack experience in actual application in this realm too.」
「Let’s make records too. Looks like tomorrow will be a busy day.」
Jean nodded in agreement and watched his men go about their work energetically.
The officer who received Jean’s orders ran back down the cliff and observed the scene lit by his Luminous Sprite’s Lantern.
「...Ugh.」
Before him were piles of sand, and an even leveled cave dug right into the base of the tableland. To let the soldiers carry out their work, parts of the cave were exposed, but it would be covered with sand once they finished their work today. Not just that, there was a wooden structure inside, which couldn’t have been erected in a short period of time.
「The Major General has granted permission! All sections move on to the final phase!」
The soldiers wield their shovels on that order, covering the gaps they dug to inspect the interior. When the spaces had been sealed securely, only dozens of tubes made from tree sap were connected from the inside to the Fire Sprites of the soldiers outside. This made it easy for the Fire Sprite to inject Dynamic Air into the cave through their 「Fire Holes」.
「Good— Start pumping!」
On their officer’s command, the soldiers started working with their Sprite partners to release Dynamic Air. These were sent through the soft tubes into the enclosed cave, and started accumulating.
The next morning. On the tableland illuminated by the faint light from the sunrise, the Imperial soldiers stood in tidy formation, ready to charge the enemy.
「—It is time.」
Chamille who was commanding from the rear of the formation announced stoically that the moment has come, and confirmed with her vassal standing by her side.
「Is everything ready, Brigadier General Sazarf?」
「... Yes, you can start whenever you are ready.」
Sazarf answered and looked behind him— to the east of the base, the opposite direction of the enemy forces they were attempting to break through. Matthew’s unit assigned to the rearguard was deployed there… This was a necessary arrangement to keep the enemy to the east in check, but Matthew being assigned to this task reminded everyone of the tense atmosphere during the war conference yesterday.
「Good— Listen up, soldiers. The Katjvarna Empire 28th Generation Empress Chamille Kitra Katjvanmaninik hereby decree.」
Empress declared fluently. This was no simple order, but a decree to murder and expose this tyrant in broad daylight.
「— Phew...」
She closed her eyes and sucked in air deep into her lungs. Two years ago— when she killed her father to seize the throne, she made an oath that there wouldn’t be a shred of righteousness in the path she will take. For Chamille who made that decision, all the sins and responsibility of war rested solely on her.
She would not leave that burden to anyone else— fueled by that determination, she roared.
「Everyone you see before you are all our enemies— destroy them all!」
「「「「「「Wooooahhhh!」」」」」」
With their boots stamping the ground, the soldiers advanced as one. Moving forth to sweep away the enemy and their own citizens.
「—Oh～ho! It’s starting! They are charging right at us!」
「Of course, they have nowhere to run now— engage the enemy!」
At the same time, the seamen led by Elulufay Tenerexilla immediately fought back.
They have kept their fighting spirit up because of Elulufay’s presence, but fear still flashed across the faces of the seamen. Great Mother felt this couldn’t be helped, and stated the difference between her army and the enemies.
「The equipment and training level are too different. We erected a blockade for our peace of mind… Sigh, it can probably just hold for ten minutes.」
「If we use the refugees as human shields, we might be able to double that.」
「That’s true, but when we switch to the offensive, they will become a burden. So this is the correct answer.」
The only ones who could jest in a situation like this were Elulufay and Greg. With the soldiers around her looking at her with pleadful eyes, the 「Great Mother of White Wings」 smiled gently.
「Everyone, don’t worry. I know Jean Arkinex very well, and he is not a man who will fail at a time like this.」
Elulufay said without any hesitation. She had no doubt that the white-haired officer who had reached her rank and would probably surpass her, was the messiah in this situation.
「He is a hero. When the lives of his comrades are at stake, he will show his prowess to the fullest extent.」
The Imperial forces descended the tableland and set off westwards. The leading units were already engaging in a shootout against the Kioka seamen, and they clearly held the upper hand.
「... Good, their retaliatory attack is within our expectations! It will work, we just need to push through!」
The sound of compressed air exploding was deafening. The soldiers used the newest Air Rifles model to lay down suppressing fire on the enemy still using old Air Rifles. The difference in equipment led to an inevitable result, and they didn’t even want to give the enemy a chance to stall for time. Sazarf stood on the battlefield and solemnly swore to bring his men back to the plains alive.
As if to make light of his resolve, a loud boom came from behind him shortly after the battle ensured.
「—? What’s going on?」
He turned around to look, and saw dust flying on the other side of the tablelands. The confused Sazarf stood stiffly in place, and the Empress beside him turned even more tense.
「... Ughh...」
After the loud explosion and tremor, a sense of vertigo followed right after. A battered soldier groaned and opened his eyes slightly.
「...Ugh… What, happened...」
His vision was blurred because of the pain, and the dust in the air slowly cleared away, and eventually revealed the sky dyed red by the sunrise. No, not just the sky. His field of vision included a cliff. It had crumbled beyond recognition— but he was looking up at the tablelands he was standing on just moments ago.
「W-Why...!」
The soldier couldn’t understand what was happening and tried desperately to sit up. But before he could do that, he sensed a large number of footsteps had passed him by.
「... A-Ahhh...!」
Then he saw it. Behind the dust cloud that was settling, around the spot he was at— Countless Kioka soldiers were climbing up a slope.
「— What—」
A similarly chaotic scene developed above the cliff. Matthew looked in shock at the crumbling grounds just meters before him, still sitting on his butt and disorientated.
「— What’s, going on—」
The scene before him was beyond his comprehension, negating the adaptive instincts he had honed over the past two years. That was to be expected— going by military norm, the terrain couldn’t be changed in an instant. There wasn’t any torrential rain to loosen the foundations, so the ground that was before him just now couldn’t have collapsed in a blink of an eye. As if to mock his common sense, the terrain changed right before Matthew’s eyes.
If possible, he wanted to just sit there and space out. However, the presence of the enemy below pulled him back to reality. Matthew quickly got on his feet and yelled at his men.
「The enemy is coming...! Send out the reserves immediately! Protect the vanguard unit’s flank on the cliffside and hold the line! The cliff blocking the enemy’s advance has vanished!」
「—Hum, the performance is mediocre. I give it 70 points.」
Jean calmly evaluated the results as he observed the partial collapse of the enemy base.
「Even without Blast Cannons, we can still use Dynamic Air this way. We have forged the path for our soldiers to go through. If we level the overhanging cliffs, the tableland will be no different from a hill.」
The results weren’t too different from his expectations, so this was no surprise for him. No, not just that— the lack of anything that might subvert his expectations disappointed him.
「Anyway— the Imperial Army is too careless. We have control over this area for over two years since the battle of the Northern territories. They might be at their wits end in finding a terrain suitable for a defensive battle, but not suspecting any traps from behind is too optimistic.」
「— Rear guard unit, go around to the edge of the cliff! Stop the enemy coming from the east!」
She had not grasped the whole situation yet, but Chamille still gave the most adequate order. She only understood that her opponent had shaved off a corner of the tableland through some means. She gritted her teeth to suppress the uneasiness in her heart.
「The enemy shouldn’t have any Blast Cannons...! Do they have a different contraption to utilize Dynamic Air? And it’s powerful enough to change the terrain in an instant...!」
As she was thinking about that, a battle had broken out in the east of the base against enemy troops attempting to scale the highgrounds. Sazarf snapped back to his senses at that scene, and said with a stiff face.
「Your Majesty, grave news...! This situation is no different than being surrounded on a hill!」
「Tch...!」
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