Chapter 546: Road to Kingdom ③ The Enemy is Before Your Eyes

Nat

We march on, climbing over hills, crossing rivers, cutting down bridges, and burning towns.

The path to the capital, which I always hum as I travel, is indeed far away.

The bow cavalry joined with us from the rear and our military strength instantly increased.

Our only group who hasn’t caught up is the mountain nation without equipment acting as transportation for the infantry.

No matter how much mobility a squad of cavalry boasts, their speed will naturally decrease when more people are added.

「We are 20% behind schedule. An option would be to get rid of some bulky fodder and water.」

「This much of a delay is within the margin of error. We should not throw away supplies for the sake of the mountain nation and infantry that will be joining us from behind. ……we also have a different option.」

Leopolt and Tristan look to me for input.

Myla also sends me a sidelong glance with an expression of disapproval and distress on her face.

「It should be fine if we don’t throw anything out yet. We can also pillage, but that will take extra time.」

Myla sighs in relief.

Irijina came along when she heard the word pillage to tell me how it was wrong to do.

She left feeling satisfied after I gave her a boiled egg.

「Accounting for the delay in our march, the time we will arrive at the capital is――enemy spotted.」

A harpy flies back screaming.

「Piii! Red, red, blue, blue, black! Don’t raise red, no black or blue!」

Leopolt decided that a red flag would be the signal for an armed group, a blue flag would be the signal for an unarmed group, and a black flag would be the signal for if the group noticed our presence, but obviously the harpies can’t remember everything and are waving all the flags.

I think we should be grateful that they at least told us “something” was spotted.

「Everyone, halt. Standby until further orders are given.」

I scan the surroundings and ride Schwartz towards a slightly elevated plateau.

Celia and Leopolt follow behind me.

I strain my eyes atop the plateau.

Plodding in our direction was definitely an army of some sort.

「They are too heavily-armed to be guards of the territory. Their composition is solely infantry, amounting approximately 300. Each platoon is led by a knight――they are the armies of the regional lords, not the royal army.」

I think I heard a hint of relief mixed with Leopolt’s voice just now. I can’t really tell from his tone though.

「Muu, I don’t get the point. There are too many of them for this to be a coincidental encounter, yet there are too few of them to subjugate us.」

Celia cocks her head to the side in bewilderment while I can somehow understand what this could be.

Tristan catches up to us and explains before I can open my mouth.

「Ah, first of all the ones who witnessed the tragedy in Salaedo rush back to the capital. But they can’t make it to the capital in one trip so they stop in the feudal lord’s land to replenish their horses and water. In this time, the lord is informed of the disaster.」

I’ll take over from here.

「Once they hear the investigation team is in serious trouble, they don’t ask for any details and run off with their troops to help. Many of them are guys who think of what to do during the march. I’m sure some guy in the new nobles……is an impulsive type.」

「That flag……if I recall, belongs to Count Oylun.」

I’m not sure if I’ve heard of him before.

「We are in the basin, out of their line of sight. And they are simply going south without understanding the situation or sending any scouts. It is not impossible to wait for them to pass……」

It would take hours for infantry to pass by on foot.

「Time is precious.」

「It is at least more precious than their lives.」

Leopolt’s words match mine, while Myla gulps and mutters.

「Can’t we negotiate? Or maybe there are ways to make them surrender……」

I shake my head.

「We can’t spare time to persuade them. Bring the bow cavalry forward.」

The bow cavalry waits for my instructions.

「H-hey, the enemy is coming, right? We started a rebellion, meaning our enemies are……」

「Don’t say it! My heart will be conflicted. Just watch the feudal lord’s back……I’m going to stare at Celia-sama’s legs.」

I disregard the few comments of uncertainty from the soldiers and give the order in an unwavering voice.

「Advance, climb up the hill.」

Maintaining a horizontal line formation, the bow cavalry instantly ran up the slope.

「A row of cavalry on the hill in front! Numbers, more than a hundred!! They appeared suddenly!」

「Could they be barbarians――no, I can see a flag! It’s Margrave Hardlett’s flag.」

Count Oylun’s troops……the enemy troops don’t hide the relief on their faces.

As expected, the details have not been relayed to them yet.

「We came after hearing about the attack on Salaedo. Please tell us any information you have. If there is anything we can do, we’ll assist you.」

A man who seems to be the count himself waves his hand at me.

「He’s a bit slow on the uptake, but he’s a nice guy. Sorry for this.」

I swing my hand down at the count.

Not even one second later, hundreds of bow cavalry released the taut bowstring of their composite bows.

An ambush from a high place with plenty of time to aim and overwhelming skill.

「…………」

It was just one volley.

In the time it took Myla to look away, 80% of the enemy troops were shot down.

「――charge.」

The bow cavalry gallops down the hill before the screaming ends.

Although the bow cavalry aren’t typically suited for close combat, the enemy is already close to being torn to pieces.

Three seconds in and one volley turned the battle into an extermination operation.

「Resume the march. No need for battle formation.」

Leopolt orders for the troops to move.

The time lost was five or ten minutes, which is about what their lives are worth.

「W-what are you doing!? I-I am Oylun! Like you, I serve His Majesty and Lord Radhalde!」

Whether it was good luck or bad luck, none of the arrows hit the count.

He frantically appeals to me as his eyes dart around at his fallen soldiers.

I kick Schwartz’s belly and urge him forward.

「It’s pointless.」

Ignoring Leopolt, I stand before the count.

The count shouts at me with a confused expression.

「Lord Hardlett!? What are you doing here personally!? Don’t tell me you have mistaken this face of mine as a barbarian’s! Some time ago, we were drinking with Lord Radhalde and comparing――」

I remember now. This guy came up several times in my conversation with Erich.

Erich said he has a talent for military prowess, but lamented that he is not perceptive and has a tendency to rush into things.

It is also rumored that he enjoys using oil from the territory for perverted play, and when Nonna and I tried it out, it was amazing.

I suppress my emotions so my face resembles Leopolt’s as much as possible and look down on the count.

「You can’t tell?」

「Call off your attack……」

Cavalry, bow cavalry, and wagons near ten thousand in numbers, and even the chariots and field artillery appear on the hill.

「W-wait, is this a rebellion――!!」

I reflexively smile.

「How slow can you be? This is why Erich complained for so long.」

I say as I dismount and wait, resting my Dual Crater on my shoulder.

My shoulders slump again as the count stares blankly at me.

「I shot arrows at a fellow new noble and noble of Goldonia. What is there to discuss at this point……fool.」

I waited because killing him like an unknown small fry made me feel bad, but he’s truly too slow.

Count Oylun naturally becomes flustered and looks around him, but there aren’t many survivors left.

「――very well. Although I don’t know Lord Hardlett’s circumstances, it appears you have become my enemy…… I am also one who rose up with a single sword.」

Oylun assumes an overhead stance with a two-handed sword 120-130 cm long, a tad bit smaller than the Dual Crater.

「Here I come! Haaa!!」

He steps in firmly and swings his sword down.

The steel sword, weighing around 10 kg, makes a whoosh as it falls.

A fast and sharp swing.

I see, although I did not fight with him side-by-side, it is true he has excellent skill.

I swing my Dual Crater upward while looking at Oylun’s razor-like spirit contained in his eyes, and cleave his head together with the incoming blade.

The man’s eyes change from being amazed to accepting defeat, then lose their light.

「Swinging above his swing……」

「He can do it because his speed and power are many times greater……that guy was no match.」

Myla and Celia mumble.

I pick up the severed head and toss it at Leopolt.

「I don’t have time to do the burial, but I’ll put him in a visible spot. Oil play is still one of my favorites now.」

「This is unnecessary effort and dangerous. I suggest you avoid these needless actions.」

Leopolt takes the head and advises coldly.

There is so little change in his expression that it’s hard to tell who spoke.

「This much shouldn’t be a big deal. You went ahead and did as you liked, let me do at least this.」

I hop on Schwartz and survey the battlefield which is closer to the aftermath of a trampling.

「We’ll have to ignore the rest of the soldiers.」

Crows swoop down from the sky and start to gather, having caught wind of the scent below.

「Food! Lots of food.」

「Stinks! Hard! Pii!」

Come on girls, you can’t eat the crows.

「So this is a rebellion. The allies we had in the past are now enemies……」

Myla’s face somehow becomes more wicked as she resolves herself.

It’s like she is a brainwashed female knight and that kind of turns me on.

「I simply follow Aegir-sama no matter where he goes. I have nothing to doubt.」

She is wearing a backward-facing hat, a dirty cloth around her neck, and chewing something in a vulgar manner.

This is Celia’s complete rebel image.

As for Irijina, who is wearing a headband with the character ‘defy’, I’ll leave her alone.

We travel further north.

As we go north, we pass through even larger cities.

「We can’t spare any time to siege. It’s best if we can get them to surrender, otherwise we’ll have to set the place on fire.」

I don’t need Leopolt to remind me, I’m committing after coming this far.

Fortunately, our forces are overwhelming enough to make low-level nobles and governors lose their will to fight from the beginning.

A few cities shut the gates to show resistance for form’s sake, but after two or three volleys of flaming arrows, they also quickly raised the white flag.

「It’s important that they at least appear to resist or the consequences will be brutal later. I think they honestly don’t believe the kingdom will lose. In other words, if we lose once, they will come attack from behind.」

So Tristan says.

When we have one day left until we arrive at the capital, heavily-armed kingdom knights finally appear.

「The kingdom flag with the emblem of the royal family. They are unmistakably the kingdom’s knights.」

Leopolt calmly states.

They number roughly a thousand, though the size of the rearguard is unknown.

「The timing is perfect if we assume they flew out from the capital, knowing of our rebellion and advance.」

Tristan chimes in, also in a calm tone.

It is a thousand of them versus our eight thousand or so.

Normally it would be reckless for them to attack us.

「No, they’re coming. Get into battle formation.」

The knights move into a triangular formation.

It’s an assault formation used by heavy cavalry to ram into the enemy.

「Chargeee――!!」

The captain shouts heroically with his sword pointed at us, and his knights let out a war cry as they rush forward.

The sound made by the horseshoes of the heavy cavalry is fierce.

「It’s amusing that I’m on the receiving side.」

Because we are in a hurry to march, there is an inevitable gap between the vanguard and rearguard.

They must have seen our thinned out ranks and thought they had a chance of winning if they broke through.

「It’s not that easy though.」

Thousands of arrows rain down from the bow cavalry.

They are mounted archers so they can make effective attacks regardless of formation as long as they have a clear line of sight.

No matter how heavily-armed the knights are, they can’t hold a shield large enough to cover their whole body when riding a horse.

If arrows hit unguarded areas like the cracks in armor or the leg joints of the horse, they will instantly fall.

「Well, they were made for that reason.」

Fire blows out from the field artillery, and a split second later, sparks scatter from the body of a knight.

Unlike siege cannons, the field artillery have shorter range, but the speed of deployment and firing can be performed at a much faster time.

It wasn’t their mistake for not being cautious of cannons in an engagement like this.

「Spear unit, deployment complete.」

A wall of spears lines up in front of the knights who ducked past the arrows and cannonballs.

Infantry alight from the wagons and assemble in an anti-cavalry formation.

The enemy, who likely aimed to break through what they believed was the transportation corps, is met with the worst development for cavalry; they are skewered by the forest of spears or they stop in time to be shot by crossbows.

「Retreat――everyone retreat――!!」

The captain shouts again, and half the original number of knights run back to the capital after the brief battle.

「It’s our complete victory!」

Celia rejoices adorably, only to realize she’s supposed to act like a rebel and corrects herself by letting out a crude grunt.

Isn’t she clumping rebels with barbarians? Whatever, she’s cute either way.

On the other hand, Leopolt and Tristan have a doubtful air about them.

「They gave up rather easily and retreated cleanly.」

「Agreed. Based on the situation, their only hope was to focus on a single point, yet they deliberately spread out. It was as if they wanted to take on our entire army. That is them scouting our strength.」

I have no qualms about that evaluation.

They are after all soldiers of the kingdom, in other words Erich should be the one commanding them.

「They clashed with us once to see what we’re capable of. They will have a countermeasure next time, I’m sure of it.」

「But our only path is forward.」

At the end of the battle, peasants hiding nearby peek their heads out.

They breathe a sigh of relief when we’re the only ones remaining.

「I thought the era of war ended when my son came back……will we always be oppressed?」

I turn my head at the source of the voice.

The peasant screams, but I’m not going to cut down a peasant who isn’t in my way.

「It’ll be over when I win. There won’t be anybody left to oppose me.」

「Hiiii……」

I nailed the delivery. Wasn’t that cool?

「Lord Hardlett can be this frightening as the enemy……aah!!」

Metallic clattering and heavy footsteps overlap with the trembling voice.

「Traitor who dares to draw their bow at the kingdom! Die by my honorable sword!!」

I guess this knight’s duty is to protect this farming village.

He rushes forward in between me and the peasant and lunges at my neck with his sword.

「Fumu.」

I take half a step to the right before the tip of his sword reaches me and avoid his thrust.

「He disappeared! I-is this witchcraft!?」

「You’re just slow. If you can’t aim properly, aim for the body.」

I sink my Dual Crater into the knight’s torso through his armor, and fling him up into the air.

「Aah! Meat, meat!」

I stop the harpy from grabbing the knight.

Regardless of how shabby he is, it’s not right to let him be torn to pieces in front of the citizens.

「Tired! Rest!」

「Give water, give meat!」

I pet the heads of the harpies that perch on my shoulders.

「H-harpies! Aren’t those monsters that eat humans……」

「Hey, look up!!」

The peasants gaze at the sky and discover dozens of harpies circling above me.

「「Demon king……」」

No other words were uttered by the peasants from that point on.

Unwilling as I am, I have to scare them this much so they don’t think of doing anything strange, which might be a good thing.

The misunderstanding can be resolved after everything is finished.

「He’s really playing the part.」

「As the villain, yes. Ufufufufufu……kuuu, kukuku.」

I look over at Myla as she laughs cynically.

The patterns on her armor and undershirt have changed to more malevolent colors like red and black.

She is somewhat exposing more skin, she has an eerie glint in her eyes and she is licking her lips in a bewitching manner.

I feel like she’s also misinterpreting what a rebel is.

That initial probing attack was the last attack.

The sun was setting on the royal capital.

「All of you can rest. No need to keep watch.」

I have the soldiers rest up the fatigue built up from the extended march and combat.

It’s fine to extinguish the fires too.

「Normally in the middle of the enemy, we’d need at least half of them awake in case of a night raid.」

「I’d like to see them try to ambush vampires at night.」

Brynhildr and her subordinates will stay up in place of the soldiers.

Even humans with excellent eyesight are powerless against them.

I’ve never been able to openly say not to worry because we have vampires on our side, but there’s no need to hide them now.

I don’t have the luxury to hide them.

After telling her to bring all she has, she comes with 100.

If a small party of 100 or 200 raids us, it’s like they are serving themselves on a dinner table.

「Ah, here comes dinner.」

I wash Celia’s face, which now has an eyepatch, with a wet towel and then strain my eyes.

「No way, would anyone attack us head-on with torches in hand?」

I tell Brynhildr to let him through as she bares her fangs at me seeking confirmation.

For some reason, I got bitten.

That guy wanders cluelessly in the darkness.

「Wagyaa!」

Brynhildr grabs the person by the collar and throws him at my feet.

「Lord Hardlett!」

「Hey.」

It’s a boy aged 14 or 15.

He has a pretty face that is androgynous, and if the front part of his body was hidden and I was asked to f――

「What do you say?」

「It’s misleading, so please don’t talk to yourself.」

Leopolt’s straight face snaps me back to reality right away.

「I have top secret information. I cannot say it even if my master is dead.」

The boy sticks a hand into his mouth, and while gagging, pulls out a roll of parchment tied with a string.

「I am sorry it’s dirty. I can’t let others see it.」

He washes it as he opens up the paper, which certainly has handwriting I’m familiar with.

「The royal army has already gathered two army corps under the command of the military commissioner. Including the defense force, there is a total of 45 000 men who are combat ready. Another 30 000 will be ready the day after tomorrow and a provisional army of 30 000 will be ready one week later……uwah, they got us.」

Tristan closes his eyes and tilts his head up at the sky.

Our forces consist of 6000 bow cavalry, 1000 cavalry, and roughly 5000 wagon infantry and infantry in the rearguard combined, for a total of 12 000 altogether. It’s more than a little tough for the attacking side to have a fourth of the numbers of the defending side.

「I’ll continue. There are no troops to attack your rear or Rafen. You have also splendidly incited the Ribatis populace, the surviving Federation fleet, the Altair religious organization, and Aless.」

Leopolt and I exchange glances.

「Aless?」

「I do not have any recollection.」

They are a bunch of people who don’t make sense to begin with, so they probably did things that don’t make sense. We’ll ignore them.

「If you’ll excuse me.」

I grab the boy’s shoulder as he tries to leave.

「Ahn.」

Don’t make weird noises.

You have a nice face so you’ll make me feel weird.

「Why did you tell me?」

I knew the sender from the handwriting so I didn’t have to ask who it was.

The question is why.

「――said it was insurance.」

I smile and throw away the letter.

「I see, so I’m insurance? Fine.」

Certainly, there’s a chance she’ll be in trouble if she abandons me.

Then that means the possibility exists from her point of view too.

「If that’s all――」

I grab the boy’s shoulder again.

「Afuun.」

Like I said, stop with the sexy moans.

「One last thing……you’re not Rebecca’s lover, right?」

「I-I cannot answer!」

Is he referring to the sender? Or maybe it’s regarding the part about being a lover!?

「Further questions are a waste of time. If the identity of the sender is confirmed, then the information is more credible. We will have to rethink our tactics.」

I’ll leave that to you guys, you can tell me later.

「Excuse me!」

The boy runs off.

「Are you the one penetrating Rebecca, or perhaps Rebecca is the one penetrating you!? Does Rebecca like penetrating men? Which one is it?」

The boy disappears into the darkness without answering.

「Fuu.」

I stare at the darkness feeling a lingering sense of regret.

I wasn’t really interested in the relationship between Rebecca and the boy anyways, much less wanting to pound his ass.

「Ready and waiting for us, huh?」

It must be a terrible situation.

But that’s not the important thing.

「I have to fight with Erich.」

I understood that much.

Although my heart is prepared, my mind is unsettled when actually confronting him.

「Aegir-sama.」

I almost forgot to pat Celia, as she quietly leans over to remind me.

「We’re going to be killing each other. What an unpleasant path.」

This is Erich we’re talking about.

Surely he also covered for me on this incident too.

Is he angry that I did something stupid?

Maybe he is holding his head in distress?

I wonder what kind of face he made when he heard I was rebelling.

An indescribable feeling wells up inside me when I try to picture it.

If I can detour, I would have turned immediately.

I wouldn’t mind taking a bit of a longer road.

However, there is no other path.

There is only one road to the kingdom.

I either keep walking or I stop, that’s it.

「My heart is a mess. I feel guilty. I might also feel sad.」

I scratch Celia’s chin.

She doesn’t purr like she usually does.

「But I don’t have any intention of stopping. I’ve come this far acting as the villain. All I can do now is put on a smile and go kill people.」

Military Strength Comparison

Hardlett Rebel Army

Forces

Human Troops

Cavalry: 1000, Bow Cavalry: 6000, Wagon Infantry: 800, Infantry (105th corps main force): approx. 4000

Chariots: 40, Field Artillery: 15

Night Battle Unit

Vampire Raid Unit: 100

Aerial Reconnaissance and Bombing Unit

Pochi: 1

Harpies: 50

Unarmed

Mountain Nation: Approx. 4000

-

Goldonian Army

Ready to Fight: 45 500

Army Corps: 30 000

Capital Defense: 15 000

Kingdom Knights Survivors: 500

In Preparation: 60 000

Army Corps: 30 000

Provisional Army: 30 000

Other Feudal Lords’ Armies: Unknown

Regional Troops: Immobilized