Prologue 2

The plateau to the east of Jugfena was engulfed in war for the first time in six years.

I remembered that I joined the ranks of a small defensive battle, that has been almost forgotten in the capital, with a meagre army of only 50 men.

It was supposed to be my first battle; buried in people’s memories without even being recognised as a skirmish between nations, which came to be called a foolish name; 『The Secret Defensive Battle』. So on paper, this was my first battle.

The Kaldia army numbered 250 men. At the age of 12, I was on the left of the elite royal army troops, leading a small army of which more than half consisted of cavalrymen.

――― It’s funny, isn’t it? Didn’t I say that our army would mainly provide logistical support to the fiefs bordering my fief? Why did it turn out like this? We were supposed to be training on how to quickly transport supplies, injured people and information, but before I knew it, we were on the frontline.

The armed forces of Rindarl Union Dukedom which was established last spring ――― or to be more precise, the armed forces under Densel Dukedom, totalled 30,000 people. In contrast, Arxia’s army had 48,000 people. The sword fights, shouts, screams, death throes, gunpowder and horse hooves of the black crowd that filled the plateau shook the earth.

“Fuck, what was that arrow? The sound and power are demoralising the soldiers and the front row of the central army is starting to collapse!!”

From the central army, the man who was the liaising soldier of the army which was directly led by the commander of the royal army, shouted this as soon as he returned from the frontline on his horse. I told him to calm down when he shouted at me with his terrible Artolas accent.

“The core of the central army is made up of this kingdom’s top military unit. They’ll reorganise straight away. More importantly ―――.”

The loud sound of gunpowder exploding resounded on the other side of where the infantry unit was fighting. This was the fifth time this happened since the battle began. A shriek pierced through the air and the soldiers around me groaned and shrank back.

――― Guns, I guess. I remembered running away from the explosives in Jugfena Fortress six years ago. It was quite possible that Densel had developed that weapon in the course of their research on gunpowder.

On the battlefield where bows, swords and spears are used, if an unknown weapon with little preparatory movement suddenly appeared, then it was normal for the soldiers who hadn’t been exposed to that weapon to be confused. It was frightening to run into such a weapon while only clad in a piece of armour, not knowing how it worked or when it would be fired.

This was war in this world so it was something that couldn’t be changed.

“… The march further north is veering away. Enemy forces, allies, the weapon doesn’t care about who it hits. It’s too dangerous at this rate.”

“I know Theo.”

I nodded as Theo warned me from the side and thought best how we should move. I had 30 seconds to make a decision. I couldn’t afford to think for longer than that.

The 250 members of the Kaldia army, which had been pushed to the front line with the private fief armies while they were providing logistical support and replenishing supplies, was positioned between the centre and left flank armies when the war began. They were swept to the left side of the planned course, due to the confusion caused by the collision with the enemy army, and are now quietly hiding their breath just to the right of the cloud of dust heading in the opposite direction.

We were far ahead of any of the royal army troops. I could hear the commotion caused by the infantry soldiers from right behind us. We have to retreat to get into battle formation. However, the rear was already blocked by the left flank army’s infantry, and we would need to take a different path to retreat.

And somehow, we were in a situation where we had captured the defenceless right flank of the enemy’s central forces.

“… Can we only prepare ourselves for the worse? We’ll use the fact that the enemy forces don’t recognise us as an opportunity to distract their forces with their new weapon.”

“Well that’s an interesting idea!”

When I said this with determination, Claudia, who was already by my side, smiled belligerently.

“Report to me what the new arrow looks like!”

“Yes! The enemy soldiers were carrying what looked like a long tube as tall as a man! We heard a loud noise and then a number of soldiers at the end of the tube died… They seemed to be firing invisible arrows!”

The liaison soldier riding a warhorse from the Sill Tribe responded to Claudia’s voice, which sounded too excited for the battlefield, as if he had snapped. So, the new weapon that the Densel soldiers had is a gun.

“How many soldiers are equipped with that weapon?”

“About 30 light infantry troops. After they all fire their invisible arrows, they run back and hide behind the ranks of heavily armed cavalry. The cavalry seems to be supporting them and are as adept with horses as we are.”

As good as the Sill Tribe? Does that mean they’re an equestrian tribe? The plains which were part of the former Artolas Kingdom were once home to countless horsemen before it was swallowed up by the expanding Densel Dukedom. Some of them must have surrendered to Densel.

“It probably can’t be shot in rapid succession like a conventional bow. It takes time and effort to put a new arrow into the tube. That’s why they fall back into the battle formation… We’re going to take them by surprise the next time they come back to the front.”

“Do you have any idea how we’re going to attack, Eliza-sama?”

“… They’re probably vulnerable to flank attacks since they’re using a long tube. I think the cavalry is guarding that unit with the new weapon. It’s not surprising that Densel doesn’t want to lose their newly developed weapon. How about we form a unit with light cavalry troops, knock down the long-tube arrow unit that come out to the front, and then join up with the central army?”

Most of the members of the light cavalry unit were Sill Tribe warriors. It has been two years since the skirmish with Rindarl, and although they have been doing nothing but imitating couriers, they are originally an elite equestrian tribe. When it came to attacks using horses, they had the ability to topple the knights of the Arxian army and call themselves the best… I believe this.

“Hmm. That seems like enough of a distraction. Have Claudia-dono lead the rest of the troops with Gunter to draw out a thin layer of the infantry unit in the right rear.”

“Very well. Claudia, you’re the commander of the squad. You’re in charge of changing the strategy depending on the situation. I’ll go with Theo to lead the light cavalry.”

“But, Milord, you can’t…”

“Gunter, what are you worried about?”

I looked down at Gunter, who wanted to object since I said I would lead the unit that was charging straight at the enemy soldier, and patted the neck of the giant draconis, who I was riding. Rashiok snorted proudly, opened his wings slightly without making a sound and created a gentle breeze.

“Who do you think my partner is? He’s a draconis who can run three times faster than a horse if he needs to. He’s also extremely strong against arrows. He’ll certainly reduce the number of casualties.”

There was no objection. I could see the heavily armed cavalry splitting through the cloud of dust. A number of soldiers ran between the group of cavalrymen.

“Then, let’s go! Let’s all come back alive if we can!”

I ran through the enemy soldiers at once as if I was grazing them.

I gripped the halberd with an underhand grip and passed through all the spears, mowing down soldiers with all my might.

Blood rained down on me. I was leading the soldiers and had this much blood on me, so the soldiers behind me must be drowning in blood.

Ergnard, who had taught me how to use a spear, once told me that getting blood on yourself is a good thing in the battlefield. I wonder if the enemy soldiers would avoid me if I followed his advice and bathed myself in blood. I thought as I let Rashiok carry me while slashing the necks of the enemy soldiers’ horses with my spear. I shouted angrily from the bottom of my stomach as if to add to the screams of the dying horses.

I thrusted the tip of my halberd into the soldiers who were holding guns and hiding behind the heavily armed cavalrymen. I felt the heavy lump of metal graze against them for a few seconds.

That’s a given. The ones I missed would have been killed by the other soldiers. I heard the sound of gunpowder exploding from behind me. That wasn’t the sound of a gun being fired, so that must mean that it was an explosion. The weapons must have exploded and engulfed the surrounding area. I heard the sound of several heavy objects hitting the ground.

… Please don’t let the sounds of my soldiers dying be included.

A dense formation is vulnerable to attacks from the side. The cavalry that were originally supposed to protect the flank were placed on the left and right wings of the army so they could prioritise surrounding the Arxian army.

The Arxian cavalry gathered in the centre front of the central army and aimed to break through before they were surrounded. It seemed like Rindarl had planned to stop them with guns, but they didn’t account for us, the leftovers from the logistical support unit, being pushed to the front.

“Kick them around, Rashiok!!”

I pointed the tip of my halberd at the enemy soldiers who were advancing to stop our advance. Rashiok responded to my voice with a roar. The roar of a carnivorous animal instinctively made people shrink back.

The huge body of the draconis plunged into the wall of people before they were ready, together with the stormy wind. Rashiok’s scales repelled or crushed the tips of slightly mis-aimed spears and he easily tore apart the wall of horses and people and scattered them.

Argggh, they shrieked. The sounds of several heavy horse hooves following me turned into screams of desperation. My good ears picked up on the sounds of metal armour falling apart and blood splashing.

“We’ve broken through! Join up with the main force!!”

I glanced back behind me to make sure that the soldiers with the guns were mostly killed. The enemy line had fallen into complete confusion. It wasn’t strange for them to be confused since their close formation was being cut down from the side.

I raised my halberd and tilted it to the right. Seeing my signal, Theomer gave the order for the soldiers to separate. The excellent lightly armed cavalrymen, who were organised around the warriors of the Sill Tribe, aligned their horses and began galloping diagonally right to the front all at once.

When they overtook the unarmed soldiers in the front line that were coming from the left flank, Claudia was there.

“Go straight! Now that the enemy soldiers have thinned down, it’s time to charge their defences!”

“Do it!!”

I promptly decided that what she said couldn’t be wrong. Gunter swiftly commanded the other troops one by one.

The Arxian infantry, who were in battle, withdrew and the Rindarl soldiers were driven away to the Arxian side, like a flock of sheep. How many soldiers can we trap? … Roughly two to three hundred? If we can get the same number of soldiers into a group, then have we done well? There were some light cavalrymen in the mix. And a low ranking commander?

“Kill them, they’re small fries who aren’t even worth keeping as prisoners!”

“Please stop,” they screamed. My soldiers, with their spears ready, pierced the enemy soldiers from the outside.

The soldiers were powerless since their formation had been destroyed and they were surrounded. The soldiers on the inside had no way of attacking and were crushed by the soldiers on the outside. The soldiers on the outside were pushed by the soldiers on the inside and fell down without being able to coordinate their attacks with the soldiers next to them.

“Slaughtering us from on top of your horses! Arxian people are atrocious! Bastards! Not only have you forgotten about chivalry, but you’ve also forgotten about humanity!!”

A slightly well geared man, whose horse had been killed and had rolled down, screamed right in front of me.

The man must have noticed Rashiok because he suddenly looked up and stared at me. The look in his eyes was one of fright, followed by a look of hatred and contempt.

“Get off your horse and fight fair and square!! You cowardly, cowardly brat!! Duel me here and now with your pride as a knight on the line-,”

The man, who barked at me, had a strange look on his face for a second.

Then as soon as he realised that my sword had pierced his neck, he coughed up a large amount of blood instead of screaming a deafening scream. He fell to the ground with a thud and never spoke again.

“… There is no such thing as cowardice on the battlefield. There is only death.”

I exhaled and jumped down from Rashiok. I approached the man’s corpse and put my hand on the hilt of my sword.

A gasp escaped from my lips when I spotted the Densel’s engraved crest of a superior knight glistening from the clasp of the man’s cloak. I’m a feudal lord, not a knight. I’m different from you, I don’t know what chivalry is. In the first place, a man had no reason to shout about chivalry or humanity when they shout at a child for a duel.

I pulled out my sword and instead, swung my halberd down and beheaded him.

At the very least, I hope the head of this man, who seems to be of knightly rank, will count as an achievement. He had been placed in the frontlines of a battle like this. The more rewards the better.