Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Even a Treacherous Subject Has Its Uses
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And in stark contrast to the immense damage inflicted, the Valderian army's casualties numbered only about 200. Moreover, most of these losses were idiots who got caught in the fires they themselves set in the wheat fields and failed to escape in time, or foolish individuals who, rushing to claim glory, got surrounded and killed by enemy knights or soldiers.
"A great victory."
"It's not very satisfying to win against such trash. Hmm..."
"Hahaha, I suppose you're right."
After the victory, while conversing with Beonald and watching Heidi diligently working on the battlefield cleanup, Count Valderian reacted as if he had remembered something.
He must have recalled something about the armor she was wearing.
"Anyway, a win is a win, and I'd like to hear about your handiwork from that friend of yours."
"Let's ask her directly. Heidi! Come here for a moment!"
"Yes! Lord Beonald!"
Since battlefield cleanup after combat was also part of warfare, Heidi, still wearing the 'Mana Armor', swiftly ran over at Beonald's call and gave a proper salute.
However, upon closer inspection, her mana armor was covered in the marks of a fierce battle fought all night long, and the damage was quite severe.
The patched Black Drake hide was torn, the armor plates inscribed with formulas were shattered, and in some parts, the frame was visible... For something described so grandly, the damage from a single battle seemed too extensive.
"Hmm... The damage is severe. Isn't this too much for one fight?"
"One could see it that way... Heidi, what was your total count? Not counting soldiers, just the knight-level enemies."
"About... fifty. That's without distinguishing between lower and intermediate ranks."
"Fifty? Is, is that even possible? Alone, fifty? Counting only knights?"
Count Valderian looked at her with disbelief, but there wasn't a hint of falsehood in Heidi's eyes.
Moreover, suspecting something, he called over other knights who had participated and listened to their testimonies.
"When I went to block the enemy knights, the place was just filled with corpses."
"I saw it. She fought the White Rose Knight Order alone. It was intense, of course, but Sir Heidi prevailed in the end."
"There was only one knight riding a griffin... It's undeniable. By the way, where did you find such a high-level knight candidate? Count."
Listening to the testimonies of the knights and soldiers, it was a continuous series of astonishing facts.
If the achievements were too great, others might become envious and lie in their testimonies, but no one dared to falsify the exploits of a 'high-level knight' for fear of future repercussions. So, everyone told the truth.
Eventually, Count Valderian had no choice but to accept that she had truly single-handedly defeated fifty knights.
"Ahem, ahem! Fifty... And among them, she even faced twenty of the White Rose Knight Order at once... Ahem! Hmm! Well, it's a tremendous feat."
"I didn't expect it to be this much either, Count. Heh~ Well then, I suppose it's understandable. That the damage is like this."
"Actually, it was easy in the initial chaos, but they were knights after all. They fought honorably... and fiercely."
As she spoke, Heidi recalled the final moments of the White Rose Knight Order.
Knowing there was no chance of winning, they still charged at her with all their might to bring down Heidi for the future of their families and houses.
'Don't... make light of... war. Of battle. *Cough!*'
'...!'
The Knight Commander sacrificed himself, impaling himself on Heidi's spear to lock her movement, and the other knights, filled with the will to kill Heidi, attacked disregarding their own lives.
This was a first for Heidi, who panicked so much her face turned pale. She thought she was surely going to die, but fortunately, it was the 'Mana Armor' that saved her life.
"Truly... if it weren't for this armor, I probably wouldn't be standing here right now."
'An aura-infused sword won't pierce it? This hide... could it be?'
'Damn it! How is this possible!'
At the same time, Heidi vividly recalled the moments of the White Rose Knights' frustration and despair.
Building on their commander's sacrifice, they thought they had finally caught this monstrous knight, but their aura-infused swords were blocked by the Black Drake hide, or even if they pierced the hide, their power drastically diminished and was stopped by the formula-inscribed armor plates.
"If it were ordinary armor... I would have died five times over."
"...so she says. Anyway... Let's see, attaching the Black Drake's scale hide to iron plates was a stroke of genius. Thanks to combining the two, such synergy was possible. Oooooh..."
Beonald's eyes sparkled at the unexpected discovery as he began analyzing by removing one of the armor plates.
Of course, the Black Drake's scale hide was sturdy enough, but it was still hide. When struck by an aura-infused sword, leather tends to tear and split open easily, but thanks to the openly placed formula-inscribed iron plate underneath, it became even more robust.
"They complement each other. This principle... could be applied further. Hmm... I just used iron plates to inscribe formulas and attached them to make it lighter..."
In his past life, he had so much money that he never needed to squeeze out savings to this extreme, so he couldn't discover this. Beonald was in a very good mood from this new discovery.
"I think we can make even better improvements. Hmm, hmm..."
"Ahem! Let's discuss this in more detail after we return. We have a great deal to do now. Of course, I will absolutely not forget your and Sir Heidi's merits. So let's postpone it for later."
"Yes, let's do that."
After winning a war, there was even more work to do, and time was pressing.
First, most of the enemy forces had low morale and scattered back to their respective territories. If left alone, they could reorganize, so surrender documents had to be obtained quickly.
Using the knights' corpses as bargaining chips made it not a difficult task, but delivering them to each territory and negotiating kept the schedule very busy.
"Phew~ Since we won easily on our side, it seems like things will be fine if only that damned Duke Kremel and the Imperial Capital Army do their part well."
"It makes me a bit anxious when you put it that way."
"I've sent messengers, so until news returns, let's focus on what needs to be done."
"Then I'll finish researching improvements along with repairing and maintaining the Mana Armor. Well then..."
As Beonald withdrew, Count Valderian immediately called other retainers and began tackling the tasks at hand.
Having swiftly defeated a force twice their size and disbanded the army on this front, and once surrender was obtained from the various territories, the war was essentially over.
By not giving them time to reorganize and forcing surrender documents, preventing further resistance, the only forces left would be the Garkan Republic's army and Baron Vanilo's direct forces.
"Anyway, quickly spread the news of our victory, and starting from the nearest territories, tell them to surrender on the condition we return the corpses. If any refuse, threaten them with an attack."
The news of the Valderian army's victory was immediately relayed to the Kremel army and Imperial Capital Army alliance, who had been locked in a stalemate and war of attrition, and to the Garkan Republic army.
The Kremel army and Imperial Capital Army alliance rejoiced, believing the tide of the war had now completely turned in their favor with the Valderian army's victory.
On the other hand, the Garkan Republic camp naturally had to be displeased with the situation turning sour, but Prime Minister Neumel, as if she had expected it, did not show great agitation and instead had a peculiar look in her eyes.
"I expected the ragtag southern armies, even if they've declined, wouldn't be able to defeat the elite army of the Valderian family, which was 'his' finest... but it seems they fell faster than I thought. Still, I thought they'd hold out a bit longer..."
"They were broken by a single night raid after the harvest, they say."
"Harvest? Honestly... What on earth are they doing in the middle of a war? It's so absurd~"
As the detailed circumstances weren't fully conveyed, Prime Minister Neumel could only find it ridiculous.
In any case, the conclusion didn't change much.
With Baron Vanilo's 50,000-strong army shattered, the Garkan Republic could no longer afford to waste troops in a futile fight.
"Tsk, this is no fun... Hmm~ How about I do this?"
Smiling meaningfully, Prime Minister Neumel immediately began writing a message to send to the Kremel army and Imperial Capital Army.
The message proposed an armistice agreement, but within it, she employed a stratagem: filling it with lavish praise for the House of Valderian, which had defeated an army of 50,000.
It was a kind of wedge-driving tactic, born from her keen awareness that the Valderian and Kremel families did not get along.
The essence of strategy is creating a situation where the opponent has no choice but to take the bait.
One must quickly grasp the complexly intertwined situation of merit, politics, gains, and losses following victory and defeat to lure the opponent into one's trap.
Thinking of her father, who taught her all this wisdom and knowledge, Prime Minister Neumel finished the message and immediately sent it to Duke Kremel's side.
"...Is that damned woman trying to mock me now?"
Prime Minister Neumel's ploy struck perfectly at Duke Kremel's heart, and he tore the message apart, his face red as if his blood pressure had soared severely.
It was an obvious provocation that didn't need closer reading; Duke Kremel immediately realized the surrender intent was undoubtedly a ruse. But this bait... frankly, was bait he couldn't not take.
"Damn it all! That cursed Valderian bastard! Playing around all this time, then the moment the Emperor's messenger arrives, tearing through 50,000 enemies in a single day! How is there not a single proper human under Baron Vanilo?"
"If we had been in that position instead of the Valderian army, we would have torn through them too. Calm down, Your Grace."
"Phew... Right. I should calm down. But the situation isn't good at all. It's not bad if the war ends like this, but... I'm really worried about how high that Valderian bastard's nose will be in the air."
Defeating a force twice their size, albeit of inferior quality, was a fact, and even now, they were likely receiving surrender documents from the surrounding territories.
And if they took that to the Emperor, it would become a great merit, giving them political advantage in the future. In contrast, they, who came to wage war, would end up merely fighting a war of attrition without gaining any benefit, which displeased Duke Kremel.
"Uuuuuuhhhh..."
"Your Grace, it's best to endure for now. This war aside... When winter comes, the Bollea Kingdom bastards will come down, won't they? Anyway, the original justification for the war, securing food stability, is now lost. Half the wheat fields burned, and even more fields burned up north, and the Valderian army harvested for strategic purposes and used it as food. We need to go back quickly and prepare for winter, and even next spring and summer."
"Uuuuuuuuh!"
Though trembling with frustration, Duke Kremel couldn't help but consider his adjutant's words.
Unless he gave in to anger now and fought an all-out battle with the Imperial Capital Army to achieve an overwhelming victory, there was nothing to gain by merely depleting his forces.
Though swept up by momentary emotion, Duke Kremel could quickly become calm again. Humans were creatures who knew how to compromise.
"Very well. Yes, the future is most important. As such... we also need military achievements now. We are a military house. The House of Kremel, a renowned house of the sword, a house of knights, one of the shields guarding the Empire. Maintaining that reputation is also important."
"Th, then..."
"But as you said, we must also think of the future. So tomorrow... I will initiate the first and final all-out battle of this war."
All-out battle. It refers to a large-scale battle where all forces are committed.
Breaking away from the mutual war of attrition and fighting a battle with every soldier brought to the front.
Ideally, it would be best not to do this at all, but if they didn't, their reputation as a military house would be severely damaged. At the very least, they needed to show that they were willing to fight and could have won, but simply ran out of time.