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Chapter 3
Principality of Kua Toine, western region, 20 kilometers from the border, Town of Gim
Central Calendar year 1639, April 11th, afternoon
Western knight order, 1st and 2nd dragon squadrons
The captain of the western knight order, Moiji, felt uneasy.
The western forces consisted of 2,500 infantry, 200 archers, 500 heavy infantry, 200 cavalry, 100 light cavalry, 24 dragons, and 30 mages.
Kua Toine had many combat-ready soldiers since they were in a semi-state of emergency, but the enemy forces that they could see all along the border surpassed them. What’s more, all of their communications continued to be pointedly ignored by Rowlia.
Some of the citizens had already started evacuating from Gim, at the government’s urging.
“Still nothing from Rowlia, huh?” Moiji asked a communications mage.
“Our messages should be reaching them just fine, but we still haven’t received any response back. I can only conclude that they’re ignoring our communications.”
With a small difference in numbers, a solid strategy could be used to avoid a route. However, with these conditions, it was going to be a slaughter. What should be done
?
“What did HQ say about our request for reinforcements?”
“We’ve repeatedly tried contacting HQ, but the only answer we get is ‘we are currently in an emergency conference,’ they won’t tell us anything more specific.”
“Fuck! This isn’t a picnic! If we have to fight with only the soldiers we have here, without any hope of reinforcements, Gim is already lost! Damn it all
!!!”
With various thoughts swirling in their minds, time passed clouded in uncertainty.
Central Calendar year 1639, April 12th, early morning
20 kilometers from the border, Town of Gim
All of a sudden, red smoke began to rise up at the national border west of Gim. At the same time, a panicked message came in via communication magic.
“A huge number of Rowlian wyverns have invaded Gim! And
 thousands of soldiers are pouring in over the border! The invasion has begun! I repeat
!!! Run for your lives—!! Gahh
! 
”
The call ended. Captain Moiji, after seeing the red beacon signifying Rowlia’s invasion of Kua Toine, roared out orders.
“1st and 2nd dragon squadrons lift off, engage the enemy wyverns! Light cavalry, scramble to the right flank and disrupt them! 200 cavalry, prepare to raid, standby for orders! Infantry, form ranks with heavies in front! Archers, set yourselves up in the back lines and offer support at maximum range! Mages, if you don’t join the offensive, just keep the winds favorable to our position.”
The dragon squadrons took off, twenty-four fully-geared wyverns rising up into the sky. They split into two squadrons, with one staying near the ground while the other ascended to maximum altitude.
Soon after, the skies in Rowlia’s direction became peppered with black dots. After seeing the huge number of growing enemies, Kua Toine’s dragon riders felt their hearts freeze.
Kingdom of Rowlia eastern subjugation army, advance force
1st dragon attack wing, size: 75
Kua Toine’s dragon squadron bravely and boldly flew forward to meet Rowlia’s dragons. Rowlia’s seventy-five dragon riders had them in their sights.
“We’ll take advantage of our air superiority. Prepare to fire.”
The leader, Dragon Rider Captain Aldebaran, intended to wipe them out in one fell swoop. All seventy-five wyverns lined up and opened their mouths. Within, fireballs took shape.
“In five
 four
 three
 two
 one
 fire!!!”
All seventy-five wyverns fired simultaneously. By adding rotation to their fireballs, firing from inside the mouth would drastically increase the range compared to when fired outside the mouth. Using this trick, they were able to fire before Kua Toine’s dragons could even get into range. The twelve Kua Toine dragons suffered direct hits and fell from the sky.
“They’ve split their forces in two
 be on guard.”
Shortly after Aldebaran made this order, twelve wyverns in a row came out of the sky from the sun at his back. They attacked as they passed, taking down three Rowlian dragons. The two groups engaged in a melee. Rowlia had five times as many wyverns, so Kua Toine’s wyverns quickly fell one after another. It only took a few minutes to completely annihilate them.
“We will now assist the ground forces. All units, provide supporting fire.”
The dragon riders descended upon Kua Toine’s army.
“D-damn! They have more wyverns, and their riders are more skilled than ours!” Moiji cried, punching the wall. “Our dragon riders have already been wiped out
!”
The enemy wyverns focused on the ground army, raining fire down on them. The losses were devastating. They only had one way to counterattack: use wind magic to facilitate longbow attacks. Unfortunately, magic power was fundamentally difficult to build up, so not that much was available. They could only manage ten shots, and they wouldn’t be able to help guide those shots.
A longbow fired into the sky. Unfortunately, in this world, anti-air attacks basically never hit and were largely for appearances. (In the three major civilizations, there were apparently some more effective weapons
)
Kua Toine’s knight order suffered heavy losses from the mob of wyverns harassing them. Their numbers were already reduced by a third. Right then, twenty-five thousand infantry in Rowlia’s advance force joined the battle. Within thirty minutes, the Kua Toine knight order was completely annihilated.
Captain Moiji, hands tied behind his back, was now a prisoner of war, while the advance force was now encircling Gim.
“So weak! With these numbers, even Moiji couldn’t possibly put up a fight. We didn’t even get to use our beasts!” Lieutenant General Adem gloated over Moiji. “Oh, that’s right
 your wife and daughter live in Gim, don’t they?”
“What’s that supposed to mean!”
“Hey,” Adem called out to his men, “bring Moiji’s wife and daughter here. After they’ve been shown a good time in front of him, we’ll feed them to the beasts.”
“You fucking monster!!!” Moiji screamed as he tried to jump at Adem, but he was easily subdued.
“Don’t worry. After you’ve watched the show, you can join them as beast food.”
“I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
Adem’s terrible orders were carried out that day. The town of Gim was filled with murder, looting, rape, and destruction. The Modim family was not spared from its tragic end. One hundred townspeople were set loose to spread fear to the surrounding towns.
However, once Japan learned of this event, it would give them the moral pretext to deploy in order to protect the people of Kua Toine from genocide.
Central Calendar year 1639, April 22nd, Principality of Kua Toine, governmental meeting
The western town of Gim had fallen to Rowlian forces. Furthermore, it was a catastrophe where nearly all of its citizens were massacred. The meeting was infected with an oppressive mood.
“Please give us the latest report,” Prime Minister Kanata ordered.
The military officer broke into a cold sweat.
“Sir! The western region surrounding Gim is now occupied by Rowlian forces. Their invasion force currently consists of over thirty thousand soldiers. Our spies report that Rowlia mobilized five hundred thousand soldiers in all. In addition, the Papaldia Empire of the Third Civilization, the superpower of Fillades, is rumored to be providing military support. While this rumor is unconfirmed, Rowlia does have five hundred wyverns at their disposal. Finally, over four thousand Rowlian ships have left port, their whereabouts unknown.”
Total silence.
The meeting attendees held their collective breath as the information from the report slowly sank in. The number “five hundred thousand” was ten times the size of their own total forces, including their reserve forces. On top of that, they had five hundred wyverns. If that was not bad enough, there were over four thousand unaccounted ships. Rowlia was dead serious in their continental conquest, and there was absolutely nothing Kua Toine could do to stop them.
Utter hopelessness—that was the feeling pervading the room. Suddenly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs hesitantly raised his hand.
“Mr. Prime Minister, may I speak?”
“What is it?”
“Actually, when this meeting was about to begin, we received a message from the Japanese embassy.”
“What did they say?”
“Yes
 let me read it out loud.”
The government of Japan cannot overlook the brutal conquest and inhumane massacre of the town of Gim in Kua Toine. We insist that you apprehend the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes. Should the government of Kua Toine request it, Japan is willing to send the JSDF to assist in bringing these criminals to justice.
“
is the text of the message.”
“
does that mean
 they’re sending reinforcements?”
“Though the message avoids saying it outright, I believe the underlying intent is that if we request it, they would indeed send reinforcements. Their constitution forbids them from resolving international conflicts using armed force, so, while it is a bit incredible, I believe they are trying to call the Kingdom of Rowlia a rogue group of armed criminals and ignoring their status as a country. This is probably just a ploy in order to intervene; because their country has poor food production, like Quira, they cannot afford to lose our food exports.”
The room started buzzing with noise. It felt like the sun of hope was rising after a long, dark night of despair.
“This is it! Send a request for Japan’s help in eliminating the rogue armed forces at once! Let them know that we will supply all their forces. Furthermore, authorize their transit through our land, sea, and air until all rogue forces have been totally eliminated. They are to have free rein. And last, Mr. Minister!”
“Yes sir!”
“Give orders to all remaining knight orders and dragon squadrons to cooperate fully with Japan!”
“Understood!”
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