The Piper Knight
The Piper Knight
I had somehow managed to overcome it without much trouble, but the fact that the Demon King's Army had attempted assassination through a member of the Human Race was not something to be taken lightly, so the Levien Margraviate remained in a state of unrest for some time.
Alt Brigade Commander reached the extremely simple conclusion through a meeting to strengthen inspections, and there, not only regular soldiers but also the airborne unit members, who had nothing left to do thanks to the Demon King's Army's increasingly meticulous response, were naturally called out.
From what I later heard from the knights, it seemed they had been caught secretly tapping a beer keg and were drafted as a result. Of course, I was not included in that misfortune, so I could occasionally enjoy watching the airborne unit members I encountered during walks.
However, that didn't mean I had just lazed about until the fighting around Levien had reached a lull. Having exchanged all the honor and rewards that would have fallen to me for information on the Demon King's Army as per the contract while carrying out raids, I holed up in my quarters and began investigating Special Operations Command, which I'd heard about from Water Buffalo Horn.
Obviously, as I was not even a soldier, the information I could access was not very plentiful. But the royal family and the Noble Council, perhaps judging that letting a mad dog like me loose moderately was beneficial to the front lines, used various military merits as an excuse to provide me with information up to a razor's edge, and thanks to that, though not as much as the Holy Light Cross Order materials piled up at home, a fairly thick stack of reports and materials accumulated in my quarters.
But most of it was useless content. Rather than them giving me only this kind of information to screw with me, it felt more like the policy for dealing with Special Operations Command was different, and thus the information handled was different as well.
To the kingdom's military, Special Operations Command was not a target to find and smash, but an object of avoidance.
They shared information only on combat units that had shown their faces to some extent externally, and their policy was to, if outmatched, hold out as long as possible or flee, and even if capable, to join up with allies and confront them.
According to what was written, not only did their strength fluctuate so wildly that it was impossible to gauge, but the very fact that they had shown themselves might be part of an operation Special Operations Command was planning—that was the reason given, filled with extreme paranoia... It seemed they had been burned by deception tactics quite a lot.
But aside from the appearances of some combat personnel, there was not much that was helpful.
Since the kingdom had never advanced deep into the Demon King's Army's interior, information was limited. There were records of attempts to do as the Demonfolk did, planting spies or disruption units, but unlike those bastards who could move around freely using their own gates, they had to infiltrate by physical means, so the results were never good.
Get to work, Royal Intelligence Department...!
In the end, it took four days to receive the information from the capital, and another four days to read through it all, yet the gains were meager. Meanwhile, the victory reports from the Silver Eagle Independent Combat Brigade continued, as did the praises directed at the airborne unit and me.
The enemies had finally begun to exert force in the rear to check the airborne unit, which weakened the front. According to rumors, some units were so afflicted they could barely sleep, almost to the point of neurosis; even if that was partly propaganda to boost morale, it was a pretty positive outcome.
It probably wasn't an outright lie. It was something Ragnis had said after hearing it directly from Alt Brigade Commander.
"Alt Brigade Commander concluded that if things go like this, we could completely retake Levien within a month at the earliest and establish it as a fortress city. He said the enemy's offensive wasn't that tenacious."
For the first time in a while, I sat in Ragnis's office having tea, and most of our conversation was about such things.
The royal family was recruiting immigrants, supplies were arriving much faster and more plentifully than expected, and so on.
Since it was a city that had been in Demonfolk hands for years, in the early days of occupation there were not only Demon King's Army but also many civilians, and there were even more traces of the lives they had built. From private houses to commercial districts.
And most of it had been left behind without being properly retrieved due to the sudden breach of the outer fortress. Ragnis added that even though they hadn't actively spread rumors, merchants who had caught wind of the general news were already scrambling to set up shop and develop the area.
"Thanks to that, my head feels like it's going to explode."
Unlike me, who had lazed about and rested for eight days, Ragnis still hadn't parted ways with her dark circles. The stacks of documents on her desk were neatly arranged, but precisely because of that, they felt like high, sturdy ramparts or towers, making them seem even more numerous.
"Great power comes with great responsibility, they say."
"...That seems right, but why does it feel weird when you say it?"
Ragnis made a peculiar expression and glared at me with dagger eyes, but because I knew this situation was a stable outcome in its own way, I openly giggled.
Alt Brigade Commander was competent. The army following him was competent too, and the rear support that followed was unstinting.
"It seems I've done everything I can here now."
My tasks, for someone who only knew how to fight, had almost all vanished. As I thought that and spoke, Ragnis's eyes blazed.
"What? You're going to leave me all alone in this dangerous place and return?"
"Yes. You heard correctly."
"...I thought you'd at least act a little flustered or pretend to be sorry."
Seeing Ragnis shake her head at my shamelessness and relax her expression, I laughed once more.
In any case, Sir Radnelbandes would be with her on her path. I hadn't seen him in action this time because the battlefields didn't overlap, but the magic he had shown on the first day during the siege was incredible. Even though the Demon King's Army had blocked it, he alone played the role of four or five high-ranking mages, so just because I was gone, a situation where her life hung in the balance wouldn't arise.
"And actually, it's safer without me."
"Why?"
"I'm the infamous Piper Knight, after all."
The assassination attempt was aimed solely at me. Not targeting key figures simultaneously, just me.
If I stayed in Levien, where security had grown even tighter, would they really give up? On the contrary, they were more likely to become more meticulous and deploy stronger forces to break through. It would be the same after they realized I was no longer moving with the airborne unit. They'd figure I was commanding operations or something and try to kill me.
In just a few days, my notoriety had risen to that level. Because I had dealt a blow that devastating, Alt Brigade Commander had been able to solidify the front lines.
"If I go to the capital, I'll feed information together with Alt Brigade Commander. That the Piper Knight has moved. But if the wyvern unit remains intact and keeps aiming for the rear whenever there's a gap, they'll probably think I moved to do the same on another front. I didn't get the chance to tell you, but my notoriety has risen that much."
I thought I was giving her, who had been too busy with paperwork to know, new and astonishing information, but Ragnis actually gave me a sideways glance as if I were pathetic and asked, unable to hide her exasperation.
"Do you know you're called the Wall Destroyer?"
"No, seriously, what's that supposed to be? What did I destroy to be called a destroyer?"
"Thought so. What would you, flying around on wyverns for fun, know about rumors."
At her clicking her tongue as if I were worthless, I finally burst out laughing, and Ragnis did as well.
But she didn't stop there; she abruptly stood up from her seat and plopped down on my lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Margrave? If you suddenly do this..."
"Why? Is this Esmue's reserved seat?"
"...You might be uncomfortable, so I was just trying to let you sit comfortably."
With so many sins on my conscience, I had nothing to say. As I just shifted my posture slightly, Ragnis, who had been glaring at me fiercely, let out a deep sigh and gently hugged me.
"Thank you."
"What for, all of a sudden?"
"Not for this expedition. For everything, since the first time we met."
I didn't think there was any reason to be thanked for things that had been nothing but my whims and self-satisfaction from start to finish, but I didn't voice that.
"It's all the result of your efforts. Remember? I only provided the opportunity."
"How could I forget."
When the hug ended, Ragnis's eyes, as she gazed at me, were still full of fatigue, but she showed me a confident smile.
"I'll keep working hard from now on, so watch closely."
If she wanted to stay by my side and receive help, I wouldn't stop her. Looking back, it seemed Ragnis had undergone many changes of heart since her meeting with Esmue. In a quite positive and desirable form. I could feel her mentality and confidence, which had grown as thick as her forearms.
"What I regret is that from now on I'll have to do that hard work in my own territory and won't be able to see you often."
"It was the same when we were in the capital anyway. I'll be busy chasing after those bastards from Special Operations Command for a while too, so think of it as killing two birds with one stone."
"...You won't be reckless, right?"
At her response, spoken in a tone pretending to be worried, I could only give a hollow laugh and an obvious answer.
"If it were a problem that could be solved by being reckless, I would have done it long ago."
But unlike usual, I didn't bother to mention that the fact I couldn't do that was regrettable.