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The Red Plains.
They were south of South Mountain.
This meant it was the stretch of land at the southernmost region of Ardell, and it bordered the ocean.
However, unlike its name, rather than a plain, it was closer to a gorge.
Three sides of it were blocked off by tall cliffs, and the only path in was connected to the ocean, so it was a natural fortress for the beasts.
At one point, this was also a part of Ardell’s territory.
But when the mudmen took over this place long ago, the owner of these lands changed from human to mudman.
They were the reason this place started to be called the Red Plains.
“Grrrrrrk…”
Mudmen were a type of mud monster.
They appeared frequently along coasts where the earth and sea met, and they were a humanoid monster, bearing two arms and two legs.
Although individually they weren’t that scary, their main characteristic was their scary reproduction rate.
They multiplied so fast that it was impossible to measure their exact numbers.
“…I think I now know why a place that isn’t even a plain is named Red Plains.”
Because of this, when watching from afar, it looked like a reddish earth was swaying in the wind.
This was the reason why this place was named the Red Plains.
Straang and I finally arrived here after running for two hours from the village walls.
It was kind of like us scouting before we mobilized the 3000—3200, if you were to be more precise—soldiers.
“There’s a ton of them. There’s probably at least ten thousand mudmen, if not more.”
“Yeah… This is also my first time seeing something like this.”
The insane scene in front of me made the scouting practically useless.
“How are you thinking of attacking?”
“Hmm…”
At Straang’s question, I scratched my chin and thought.
Three sides were covered by tall cliffs, and the only way the 3000 troops could get in there at once was through the path from the ocean.
However, for Ardell—who doesn’t have a port, let alone a single boat—it was impossible for Ardell to launch a landing party.
Using the minimap, I was able to locate a path that looked like it may have been in use a long time ago.
The problem was the narrowness of the path.
“Do we need to push ahead and face them head on through there?”
“No. It’ll never work.”
The moment we made a single misstep in that narrow path where we’d be forced to march in pairs walking shoulder to shoulder…
No. Fighting against the waves of mudmen coming down from the cliffs would be akin to hell.
It was obvious that we would be wiped out, with no chance of retreat.
“Then what if Sir Bolvar Patten stood at the front? We can just keep marching if he kills everything at the front.”
“That’s not gonna work, either. There’s too many of them.”
No matter how strong Sir Bolvar Patten was, it was impossible for him to eliminate the near-infinite flood of mudmen that would charge in.
“Mudmen don’t die easily from normal attacks. You need to hit the core in their head with precision, and that’s not an easy task.”
“Ehm, is that so?”
Now I finally understood why the mudmen subjugations constantly failed.
Since there wasn’t a route that many troops could go into at once, it required a lot of sacrifice.
They were the main enemy of Ardell, who used their tenacious survival instincts and ridiculous reproductive rates to hold Ardell in a clutch of terror.
They were quite the tricky opponent.
“Then, is there no way?”
“......”
I moved my gaze up.
Those strange and bizarre cliff faces that surrounded the three sides of the gorge.
There were practically no means to get on top of them.
But if people were able to get on top of those cliffs?
“A way, huh? There might be…”
I felt that a way might appear.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Jreaming
Proofreader - Artethrax
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* * *
It had already been a week since the soldiers had arrived at Ardell.
In that time, the 200 mercenaries hired from Monzo had also gathered at Ardell, and after training the citizens that could fight, another 100 was added to the list.
Including the 3200 soldiers from the capital, that made a fighting force of over 3500.
Since most of the knights from the Golden Light Knight Order were also attending, it was enough to call this a military force.
Although the subjugation preparations had continued smoothly like this, the expedition that everyone was waiting for was still on hold.
It was because there was one problem.
To put it simply, the strategy meeting on ‘how to sweep up the mudmen’ hadn’t ended.
With this, the ‘temporary operations station’ that had been created in the middle of the camp didn’t go out even through the night.
There were two opposing views on what should be done.
And these were…
“There’s only one method. A frontal breakthrough. How can we win if we hesitate to fight?”
Frontal breakthrough, backed by the captain of the Golden Light Knight Order and the supreme commander of the troops from the capital, Sir Murrow.
And…
“Although what you’re saying isn’t wrong, the expected losses are too high.”
That it was necessary to plan more critically, proposed by my father and the father of Ardell, Lord Dellin.
These two weren’t able to make a clear decision in these last few days.
Sir Murrow, the supreme commander of the capital troops, spoke with a frustrated tone.
“Lord Dellin, if the 3200 soldiers from the capital weren’t sponsored to you, you were planning on starting the subjugation with the 300 people made up of mercenaries and citizen soldiers, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You planned to fight with such small numbers before, so why are you hesitating now that you have over 3500 soldiers going into this battle?”
“It’s because this isn’t a problem with numbers. The biggest problem is that we need to get through a narrow valley to clear out the mudmen. However, those things will never just allow us to pass through that valley. No matter if our numbers are 300, 3000, or 30 000, nothing will change.”
“Hah. And so the conversation comes all the way back around. It’s not like you don’t have a better method either, do you?”
“…Rather than us going to them, we need to drag them out.”
“How will you do that?”
“I’m currently thinking of a method. Please wait a little longer.”
“Lord Dellin, we don’t have all the time in the world. We’re not in a position to stay in Ardell for a long time. The supplied rations are also running low…”
“......”
“You have a side that is too passive, Lord Dellin. How will you obtain victory like this? Sacrifice is necessary in war. In any case, the commander on scene won’t be you, but me. If you don’t have a good plan, I’ll just go along as I will.”
As Commander Murrow tried to end the meeting, Sir Bolvar, who had been just silently observing the whole thing, spoke up.
“Commander, I also don’t think your plan is effective.”
“…S-Sir Bovlar Patten.”
Sir Bolvar Patten was currently the hot topic among the knights.
The sole knight of the Kingdom to be recorded in the Record of Knights.
The one who could be called the greatest spearman in the continent was still alive?
On top of that, he would be fighting alongside them?
It was an undeniable honor.
Even Commander Murrow thought that way.
After all, he held more respect for Sir Bolvar than anyone else.
“Do you perhaps have a good idea as well, Sir Bolvar?”
He looked at Sir Bolvar with eyes full of expectation.
However, Sir Bolvar just shook his head.
“Regretfully, I do not. However, I can tell you this with certainty.”
“Wh-what is it? Please tell me your thoughts.”
“If you were to go for a frontal breakthrough, you would lose all our troops.”
“......”
As Sir Bolvar, the one who he practically idolized, also advocated for a cautious path, Commander Murrow scratched his head and muttered with anguish,
“Uwaaah! Not this, not that, then what is right…?”
Choosing the most simple plan of a frontal breakthrough would be consigning ourselves to defeat in this situation.
But there wasn’t a clear alternative.
This slow and fruitless strategy meeting continued on for a while…
…and I was quietly listening in on this a little away from them.
I also couldn’t think of a good plan in this situation.
Since this regarded the lives of thousands of people, I wanted to leave this problem to the experienced adults.
But.
But…
“…Doesn’t this sound good?”
A thought flashed through my mind.
And to share it, I could only intervene in this talk.
Hearing me, Commander Murrow asked,
“Sound good? Do you have a good idea, Young Lord?”
The answer was already here.
“Yes. The answer was already said by my father. We won’t go in there, but will drag them out.”
“I also know that such a plan is good. The problem is figuring out how we would drag those bastards out of the valley.”
“We just need to attack from atop the cliffs.”
Hearing me, Commander Murrow narrowed his eyes as if he couldn’t imagine it.
“…The cliffs? You mean the things that are surrounding the valley?”
“That’s right.”
“Isn’t that impossible to get to?”
The strange rock formation between South Mountain and the Red Plains was impossible for humans to climb. There just wasn’t anywhere to get a firm foothold.
“There’s no need for many people to go up there. It’ll be enough with just one or two magicians. We just need to flush them out by bombarding them with magic from above.”
“Oh ho. That is a good idea, but getting up there is still a problem. Can you perhaps use the spell Fly?”
“No.”
“…Then, aren’t we back at the start? This is frustrating. I feel like the talks have only been going in circles.”
In this scenario where we didn’t have a high ranking magician who could cast Fly, how would we get on top of that cliff?
But there was a way.
I pointed at Jason, who was sitting at the side and blankly eating corn off the cob.
“This guy can get up there.”
“…Hm? C-cough! What? Me?”
At that, Jason coughed up all the corn he had been chewing.
“Wh-what are you saying? How can I go up somewhere you can’t?”
“No, you can get there.”
“…I-I can?”
“Yeah.”
From the perspective of Jason, who was cleaning the streets every day, garnering the love and friendship of all the citizens of the territory, and generally enjoying his time relaxing while eating apples and corn and whatever, this statement was completely out of the blue.
However…
“Having watched you for a while, I think you’re underestimating your own talent too much.”
“I have talent? How do you know about talent even I don’t know of?”
“Trust me, I know. You’re my friend who’s braver than anyone else.”
“Th-that’s true, but—”
“Don’t worry. You can get up there.”
I gave Jason a bright smile.
“Because I’m going to throw you up there.”
That’s right.
I would throw him.
If I threw Jason up onto that cliff, he would land safely at the top.
“…Are you trying to kill me?”
Jason’s face folded like origami, but I just smiled while shrugging my shoulders.
“You can do it.”
Though, I would need some preparation.