by Hyougetsu
“Five hundred, huh? She sure built her squad up fast.”
I guess that means the tunnel’s complete, and she got reinforcements from Rolmund? The mage corps were dangerous because of how easily they could breach castle walls. Even if she’d split her forces in four, if each army had over a hundred mage corps backing it up, it was theoretically possible for her to take four cities in one fell swoop. After all, close to 2,000 men per army was only small if there was a wall separating you from them. Some southern cities barely had populations that large.
However, the cities on the border—Bernheinen, Thuvan, Zaria, and Veira—each had 3,000 skeleton warriors to reinforce them as well. If we included each city’s garrison, the demon army divisions I’d sent to them, and the city’s militias, we easily outnumbered any of Eleora’s individual armies. Plus we still had walls. There was no way Eleora wasn’t aware of that. Which was why I’d expected her to concentrate her 7,000 troops on a single city.
Master seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she cocked her head quizzically.
“I am untrained in military matters, but this strikes me as a reckless operation... Veight, what do you presume our enemy hopes to achieve?”
“You’re right, this plan does seem reckless. But maybe Eleora’s trying to manipulate us into thinking this way.”
No sane commander started a battle they were sure they’d lose. Meaning Eleora definitely had something up her sleeve. Baltze folded his arms and stared at the map.
“So long as we haven’t fully grasped the capabilities of the enemy’s new weapon, we cannot underestimate any force, no matter how small. Every city needs to prepare for any eventuality.”
Kite flipped through his stack of papers and replied, “I’ve informed the four border cities already. Bernheinen’s vampires, Thuvan’s kentauros, and Veira’s honor guard are ready for action.”
“What about Zaria, Sir Kite?”
“Ah, yes. Shardier has dispatched reinforcements to Zaria.”
Nice teamwork. Parker’s expression turned uncharacteristically serious and he turned to me.
“The undead warriors are powerful, but do not rely on them too much. If our opponents are mages, it’s possible some of them may have found ways to neutralize them.”
“What do you mean?”
“Skilled necromancers can forcibly return summoned spirits to the underworld. Though banishing a force as large as three thousand wouldn’t be easy.”
This is exactly what I was worried about. I guess strategies requiring magic aren’t too reliable... Airia gave me a thoughtful look.
“We should send reinforcements from Ryunheit as well. We have those troops Beluza lent us, after all.”
“Good point. Bernheinen’s walls are weak and Zaria’s lacking in troops, so I want to reinforce those cities first, but...”
I scrutinized the map. Something seemed off about this. Eleora was a cautious general. Even when she could have pushed her way to victory through force alone, she’d surrounded cities and waited for them to surrender. Both in order to preserve her troops, and to strengthen her eventual rule. Like me, she always planned for the future. Which was why her actions made no sense.
Was it possible someone other than Eleora had taken charge of the troops? I didn’t have enough information to be sure. Since there were any number of possible explanations, I decided to assume the worst and go from there. Eleora was alive and well, and she had a trump card of some sort hidden up her sleeve. In order to make that trump card work, she’d needed to split her forces into four. That was the hypothesis I decided to work under.
“What effects would the enemy’s actions have on us...”
As I muttered that, Baltze suddenly pointed to a spot on the map, as if he just noticed something.
“By assaulting four cities at once, our enemy has put us in a situation where those cities can’t send aid to each other. As a result of that...”
I realized where Baltze was going with this.
“We’ve been pinned down, Sir Baltze.”
“Precisely. Looking at it that way, Eleora’s actions make sense. It’s possible one of the four forces is comprised entirely of elites, and is the spearhead of her real assault.”
Eleora might have 7,000 troops, but their relative abilities, levels of experience, and morale differed greatly. The best way to make use of a hodgepodge army like that was to have the less skilled troops function only as diversions, and have the best fighters strike decisive blows elsewhere. At least, that was how Baltze explained it. But it made sense. The demon army functioned the same way. Because of how different each race was in terms of power and ability, units were split by race.
The watchtower I’d had built in the Fetid Wastes proved useful here, as the scouts stationed there were able to report on the Rolmund army’s movements. Supposedly, each of the four armies had a detachment of the mage corps with them. That made it difficult to tell which was the real force. If we sent reinforcements to cities that were only going to be attacked by diversion units, we’d be wasting our troops. What a headache. But making us hesitant to commit what reinforcements we had was also surely part of Eleora’s plan. Looks like I’ve got no other choice. I’ll need Master to scout for us.
“Master, could you teleport to Bernheinen for me?”
“Hrmm, that would be for the best, yes. I can discern whether the force attacking Bernheinen is the enemy’s main force or not. If it isn’t, I shall head to Thuvan next. Then Zaria, and lastly Veira.”
Master wasn’t a master of spatial magic yet, so she couldn’t teleport in quick succession. It would take her some time to check all of the cities. Still, she could get messages across faster than anyone else. But should we really be sending our most important member to the front lines? As I was brooding over that, Airia turned to me and said, “We should send messengers to Beluza and Lotz to tell them to have their forces on standby to move at any time. Once we discovered where Princess Eleora’s main force is, they can reinforce the right city at once.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Got it, I’ll leave keeping them informed to you. We should make sure the members of the demon army stationed in Ryunheit are ready to move at any time as well. Can I count on you to make the necessary preparations, Sir Baltze?”
“Of course.”
“I guess now all we can do is wait until we get more intel...”
No wait, if I use magic to strengthen my legs, I should be able to scout out the four cities as well. Just as I thought that, everyone grabbed onto my shoulders.
“Hold on, Sir Veight.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Veight.”
“You better stay right here!”
“I see this bad habit of yours hasn’t changed...”
Why’s everyone so worried? Seeing my expression, Airia smiled and said, “If you refuse to stay put, Lord Veight, I’ll have to ask the council to formally forbid you from fighting.”
“O-Okay...”
I’ll be good.
* * * *
—Eleora’s War Record: Part 7—
Eleora brushed a strand of her black hair out of her face and nodded.
“It looks like things went well.”
Borsche saluted and replied, “The mage corps are in good health. None of our mercenaries have deserted either.”
Eleora asked, “Do you think our knights will serve as good scarecrows?”
“We promised them medals for simply forming up and making it seem as though they’ll attack, so I imagine they’ll obey orders... but you can never be sure.”
In Rolmund, soldiers who earned medals were granted lifelong pensions proportional to the merit of the medal. For that reason, they weren’t given out as often as they were in Meraldia, where medals were generally accompanied by a one-time cash reward. However, right now Eleora needed men more than money.
“Because of my mismanagement, the morale of Meraldia’s knights is low. At this point, they’ll be more useful re
stricting the enemy movements than actually fighting. Besides, it gives me an excuse to award them all medals.”
Borsche furrowed his brows.
“However, don’t you think granting them the Medal of the Holy Cavalry is going too far? If those who earned that medal back in the homeland learn of this, they’ll resent you.”
Among the medals Eleora was authorized to award, the Medal of the Holy Cavalry was the most prestigious. She smiled wryly and said, “This is an investment toward the future. Besides, if they refuse to perform their mission, this southern campaign is doomed. Their cooperation is necessary for our success. I won’t let anyone from the homeland question my decision.”
Eleora squeezed her Blast Grimoire and grinned fearlessly.
“At first glance, the Southern Commonwealth might seem like a united monolith, but it’s actually a monolith composed of two strata, humans and demons. And the Black Werewolf King is the glue holding those strata together.”
“You mean to say that if he dies, the Commonwealth will shatter?”
Eleora nodded in response, “Eventually, yes. The people of the south are united through their leaders. If they lose even one, their alliance will inevitably crack. And if that leader happens to be the Black Werewolf King, it’ll shatter entirely.”
“But surely the enemy is aware of that as well. The demon capital’s defenses are likely stronger than that of any other city.”
Eleora chuckled and shook her head.
“Think about it, Borsche. Do you truly believe humans will risk their lives to protect a demon?”
“Now that you mention it, that has never once happened in the history of either Rolmund or Meraldia.”
“The demons of Meraldia have put their lives on the line to protect humans. That is something that both impressed and surprised me. But even so, the humans of Meraldia have never once risked themselves to protect their fellow demons.”
Before beginning her invasion of Meraldia, Eleora had studied their history and found that there was no precedent for humans fighting for demons.
Captain Lenkov dashed into Eleora’s headquarters and ran over to her.
“Assault preparations are complete, ma’am. I left my communicator with Saban, so I’ve come here to report in person.”
“Good work. It’s quite inconvenient to do anything without a communicator, isn’t it?”
“Tell me about it. I’ll be returning to my post then.”
Despite being in the middle of an extremely dangerous mission, Lenkov ran off with a smile. Eleora touched her earring and began issuing orders.
“Saban, can you hear me? It’s me.”
“Loud and clear, ma’am!”
“How well do the camouflage cloaks and night vision spectacles work?”
“Perfectly, ma’am.”
Saban’s voice was calm and collected. Relieved that her subordinates hadn’t gotten themselves in danger, Eleora sternly reminded him, “The camouflage cloaks simply mimic the surrounding scenery. They don’t make you invisible. Nor do they protect you against a werewolf’s acute hearing or sense of smell. Don’t rely on them too much.”
“Yes ma’am, we’ll be careful.”
“Good.”
Eleora nodded in satisfaction, then added, “We’ve also modified the Blast Canes so they won’t misfire unless you load more than twice the usual amount of blastpowder. You know that, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I know I’m repeating myself, but since we won’t need to fire them more than once, feel free to load even three times as much into them. But make sure to keep them level at all times. If you tilt them even slightly, the magic crests will come into contact with the blastpowder and they’ll ignite.”
“We’ll be careful, ma’am.”
Eleora had briefed everyone on all this in the meeting before the operation, so she knew she was being a bit overprotective. But she absolutely did not want to lose one of her precious men over something as ridiculous as a weapon misfiring. Borsche had been listening in on Eleora’s conversation, and he grinned impishly.
“I never imagined you, the inventor of the Blast Canes and the founder of the mage corps would be willing to destroy the very weapons you designed in order to blow up the gates.”
Eleora sighed.
“That just goes to show I’ve been backed into a corner. Don’t write this down in the official records. I don’t want historians discovering such a pathetic plan.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.”
From atop a small hill, Eleora looked down at the flickering lights of Ryunheit. She then touched her earring communicator again and said, “All units, our objective is to assassinate the most important general of the demon army, the Black Werewolf King Veight. Make sure you do your best not to attack the humans in the city.”
This was the first time in her military career that Eleora was attempting such a risky strategy. But right now, this was the only plan she had.
“Everything is proceeding as planned. Begin the operation.”
That night, a group of canine soldiers were patrolling the walls near Ryunheit’s west gate.
“I’m hungry,” muttered the canine whose face resembled a Shiba Inu. Next to him, a beagle-faced canine took his cap off. The canines’ hats resembled the shakos worn by soldiers in industrial-era Europe. The short canines preferred it because it made them look taller.
“I think I can fix that.” The second canine rummaged through his hat and pulled out some thin strips of dried potato. “Want some?”
He started munching on one himself while he proffered the other to his comrade.
“Where on earth did you stash that?”
“My hat.”
“That was a rhetorical question.”
The canine with the Shiba Inu face sighed. His partner cocked his head, still munching on his snack.
“You don’t like dried potatoes?”
“I don’t have a problem with the potatoes. But you can’t just put food in your military hat. Sir Veight’s going to yell at you if he finds out.”
“No way. When Sir Veight first saw this, he...”
The beagle-faced canine trailed off and stashed his snacks back into his hat. Now it was the other canine’s turn to cock his head.
“What’s wrong?”
The beagle-faced canine suddenly started sniffing the air.
“Something smells weird. Is it a bird?”
“Hm? Now that you mention it... I don’t recognize that scent.”
The canine with the Shiba Inu face looked around. Like werewolves, canines had excellent night vision. Their ability to discern colors suffered in return, but even this dim midnight light was as bright as midday to them. However, the canine was unable to spot anything out of the ordinary. Just for a moment though, he thought he saw something strange near the edge of the castle walls. It looked as if the scenery was moving, or shifting.
“Hey, did you see that over there?”
“See what?”
“That over there. It’s like a thingy... no, more like a feeling-ish?”
But when he looked back there, the phenomenon was gone. The two canines exchanged glances, then cocked their heads.
“Something weird?”
“Definitely something weird!”
They nodded to each other.
“Sound the alarm!”
“Okay!”
The canine with the Shiba Inu face put his mouth to the dog whistle hanging around his neck. But before he could blow on it, the gates exploded. The explosion rocked the walls, and the two canines reflexively squatted down.
“Uwaaah!?”
“What just happened!?”
“B-Blow the whistle! Now!”
The two of them blew on their whistles as hard as they could. They then shouted, “The west gate is under attack!”
“Enemy raid!”
Immediately, members of Beluza’s landing forces and canine guardsmen started running toward the gates. At
the same time, everyone heard a muffled explosion come from the direction of the east gate.
“There too!?”
Around the same time, at the werewolf barracks in Ryunheit.
“Whistles were blown at both the east and west gates! We’ve confirmed there were two explosions as well!” Fahn shouted to the dragonkin engineer on duty. He nodded and said, “Understood, I’ll launch the emergency signal flare.”
The engineer ran outside and sent up the signal flare. It burst high in the sky, lighting up the night.
Baltze grabbed his twin swords and dashed outside. The moment he saw the smoking gates he realized what was going on.
“All units, assemble! Strengthen the inner gates’ defenses and protect Lady Airia and Lord Veight at all costs! Azure Knights, follow me to the east gate!”
In the distance, Baltze could make out intermittent flashes of light. He guessed they were from Rolmund’s new weapon. As he was running eastward, Grizz—captain of Beluza’s landing forces—sprinted over to him. He was wearing a garish outfit that was clearly visible even in the dark, and carrying a massive spiked mace.
“Yo, Baltze! The eastern and western gates have already been breached!”
“So it seems. Can I count on you to reinforce our men there?”
“Yeah, my men are duking it out on the west side. But the enemy’s already made it into the new residential district.”
Baltze saddled his wyvern and leapt onto it.
“They must not have brought many troops if they were able to conceal their approach. Use our superior numbers to push back the ones who’ve made it inside.”
“You got it, boss! Don’t die out there!”
“May the fortunes of war be with you, Sir Grizz!”
The two captains saluted to each other, then ran back to their respective squads. Ryunheit’s night sky was filled with intermittent flashes of light.
* * * *
After hearing that we were under attack, Airia and I began reorganizing the city’s defenses. According to the canine messenger’s report, Ryunheit’s eastern and western outer walls had been breached.
