The Plains Battle
Stern Valois.
Young lord of House Valois, the dominant power along the northern coast — and, in his own right, a knight who had reached the mid Expert rank.
He was also a commander who had led more than ten battles: rebellions, monster hunts, even wars between territories.
The force under his command arrived at the Frontier Plains.
Two thousand soldiers.
One hundred knights.
Thirty priests of the Moon Cult.
"We hold here."
"Yes, my lord!"
The soldiers set about raising their tents.
Three days remained until the duel.
Three days of rest should be enough.
Before long the command tent was finished, and Stern gathered his key officers inside.
"Status report."
"Troop condition is excellent."
"The knights are in good form as well."
"The enemy has not yet arrived."
Still not here. They were taking their time.
"They haven't lost their nerve over our knight order, have they? Haha."
"Hahahaha."
"Hahahaha."
Stern tossed out the joke and eased the tension in the tent. The battle was three days away; excessive strain this early would do no one any good.
"Staff officer. Review the plan once more."
It was an operation they had checked dozens of times since leaving Valois territory. For this, they had analyzed the Battle of Paonia again and again.
"First: the enemy's soldiers are elite."
Stern nodded. The long-spear infantry — yes, they were elite. Overestimating an enemy was a mistake, but so was underestimating one.
"And our countermeasure?"
He already knew the answer. He asked anyway.
"The priests' blessings. Blessed soldiers can stand against their troops."
The difference from Paonia was clear. Paonia's soldiers had been poorly trained. The men Stern had brought were the cream of Valois — selected and selected again. However strong those long-spear troops might be, his own forces ought to prevail.
Still unfair. That we need blessings just to win...
"The enemy has priests as well."
"True. But fewer than ours. They cannot bless every soldier. Gaps will open."
"And through those gaps?"
A smile touched the staff officer's lips.
"You lead the knights in a charge, my lord."
Stern closed his eyes and pictured the field. He had studied Paonia until he could see how that battle had unfolded. He would recreate it here.
If this chance puts me in the Saintess's favor...
The Battle of Paonia had enraged the Moon Cult.
First: many priests and temple knights dead.
Second: the frontier temple they had built on Ireland destroyed.
Third: the Earth Temple expanding across Ireland instead.
The root of every one of those disasters was the man he was about to fight — Elwin.
If I kill him and earn the Saintess's trust...
Half the Electors already served the Moon Goddess. With the Cult's power at his back, even the imperial throne would no longer be pure fantasy.
It's about time an emperor came out of Valois.
Near the Frontier Plains, Elwin's side had raised a temporary camp of their own.
"Still nothing?"
"My apologies. We received word that they had departed, but..."
The fifty firearms ordered from the Gray Magic Tower had yet to arrive.
"They said they would make this a priority."
He had commissioned the work directly from the deputy tower master, who had promised to deliver as fast as humanly possible. And still they were not here — with the duel only a day away.
"My lord, less than a day remains until the duel. Shouldn't we leave at once?"
"No. As long as they arrive before the duel itself, we'll manage."
Of course, arriving several days early was the sensible thing. The soldiers needed rest; the terrain needed scouting.
But those fifty guns are non-negotiable. We take them with us no matter what.
In the extreme, he had even considered postponing the duel — though the penalties for that would be steep.
Past midnight, at two in the morning, the fifty firearms finally arrived.
They were ninety percent identical to the others. The only difference: a button in place of a trigger.
"Peculiar."
Elwin stepped out of the tent, took up a gun, loaded powder and ball himself, and aimed. He pressed the button where the trigger should have been.
Bang!
Awkward, yes — but not entirely foreign. The button sat exactly where a trigger belonged.
At the sound of the shot, soldiers poured from their tents and fell into combat readiness.
"We move to the duel ground."
"Yes, sir!"
On the morning of the duel, Stern left his tent for his usual morning drills.
Far off, at the edge of the plain, Elwin's soldiers had arrived.
"So. They're finally here."
He swung his sword for an hour, then washed. Even then the enemy camp remained quiet — only the barest watch visible, nothing more.
He fed his men a generous meal and put them through one last formation drill. Through it all, the enemy tents stayed silent.
Inside the command tent:
"What are they doing over there that keeps them so quiet?"
The staff officer rose.
"From what I've learned... they're sleeping."
"Sleeping? At this hour?"
"Elwin's force only arrived at dawn today. It seems they marched through the night."
"Ha!"
It was absurd. They called it a duel, but it was still a battle of blood. And they had only reached the field at dawn on the day itself?
It made no sense by Stern's standards.
Do they take this duel lightly? Or are they simply looking down on me? Either way — I'll crush them thoroughly.
"Final checks. Today we paint the Frontier Plains with their blood."
Elwin let his soldiers sleep until two hours before the duel — making up for the night they had lost. He himself stayed awake, reviewing the plan.
"When they wake, feed them breakfast. Plenty of meat."
"Understood."
The men rose and began a late morning meal. That was when the examiner arrived. He glanced at the soldiers eating, then spoke.
"Little time remains until the duel. Please move out as soon as the meal is finished."
"We'll start from over there."
Elwin pointed to the far edge of the plain.
"There, my lord?"
The examiner looked that way with a puzzled expression. It was a considerable distance from the designated center of the field.
"Is there a problem?"
"Not as such. However — if no engagement occurs for an extended period, the army holding the central ground is declared the victor."
Elwin already knew that. One side could simply refuse battle and keep running; in that case, whoever held the center won.
"We'll prepare over there. Pass that along. We won't be late for the appointed hour."
"Understood."
Ten minutes before the duel began, Stern studied the enemy force at the edge of the plain.
"They're starting from that far out?"
Five minutes.
One minute.
Right up to the start of the duel, Elwin's troops simply waited at a distance.
"Do they mean to run?"
"My lord, what are your orders?"
"We take the center first. Tell the priests to conserve their holy power."
"Yes, my lord."
The duel began. Stern's soldiers seized the heart of the field. From there he watched Elwin's force.
A certain victory — or a small gamble.
If he simply held position, the duel was his. But then he would not kill Elwin.
To catch the Saintess's eye, I need Elwin dead. That's the sure path.
He studied the enemy carefully. They had taken the highest ground the plain offered.
So they have some thought behind it.
The starting position was not bad — though they would still have to come down eventually. The center was here.
"Why are they so busy over there?"
"My apologies. I can't make it out from this distance."
Some of the enemy soldiers were hauling earth inward, continuously.
A trap?
Then a thought struck him.
Did Elwin assume I would take the risk?
That he would dig in on the rise and prepare a trap for exactly that reason.
How much does he know? Does he know my goal? Is that why he's certain I'll attack instead of taking the safe win?
Otherwise he would never have camped so far from the center.
The Elwin who had seemed so easy was beginning to look different. This was not a simple contest of strength. This was psychological warfare. Elwin was baiting him — climb higher if you dare, come here and beat me. If you lack the courage, take your safe little victory and go.
"What a cunning creature this Elwin is."
"My lord!?"
The staff officer beside him asked in startled confusion.
"Can you not see it? He has laid a scheme. If you want to kill me, come to this ground. If you haven't the courage, settle for a safe win."
"I... see. Then shall we attack?"
A man this deep in calculation would certainly have prepared a trap worthy of it.
Elwin wants me to strike first.
But there was no need to move as Elwin expected.
"No. We choose the safe victory. Let them dig their holes. We'll watch."
Elwin's camp.
"My lord, the enemy isn't moving."
"Good. Hurry and finish the firing platform!"
There was only one reason they had taken the outer edge of the field: to build a firing platform.
Bows and crossbows could arc their shots. Firearms could only fire in a straight line. That meant you could not shoot with allies in front of you — and if those allies stood in a dense formation like a Phalanx, it was even worse.
The solution was the platform: an artificial rise at the center of a circular formation. From there, the guns could fire over the heads of the Phalanx and into the enemy.
"Faster! We need at least two meters of height!"
Soldiers dug earth outside the ring and carried it in. Elena and her companions hardened it with magic as it arrived.
And until the platform reached a usable height, the enemy did not move.