Chapter 137
Chapter 137
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: The Baby Bird Who Left the Nest (4)
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The attacker was an elf.
And not just any elf.
The most belligerent and savage of elves.
The Valkyries.
They were Valkyries.
It was impossible not to know.
The raven-shaped helmets and black cloaks—they were all familiar.
The Crow Mercenaries I had fought alongside on the battlefields of my past life had looked exactly the same.
It was only natural.
The war legions and Crow Mercenaries commanded by Yanick, the Mercenary King, were originally modeled after the Valkyries.
Yanick had used their fighting style, their equipment, and everything else as a template to create the Crows.
But there were two things Yanick hadn't dared to imitate.
And as fate would have it, one of those two things had just appeared before me.
Greatswords, milky-white like freshly drawn milk, that didn't even reflect light.
The treasured swords forged from True Silver, the symbol of the Valkyries. Elven Swords.
With this, there could be no doubt about the attackers' identities.
“Hup!”
My thoughts were long, but my actions were instantaneous.
The moment I saw the pure white blade, I was already moving.
I tossed aside my shield, which would be useless against a sword of True Silver, and drew the sword from my waist, thrusting it forward.
*Clang.*
Sparks flew in the air.
A Valkyrie’s sword, which had closed the distance without me noticing, once again swept toward my waist.
*Clang.*
Sparks scattered once more.
Staring at the Valkyrie beyond the flashing sparks, I hastily retreated.
My opponent did not pursue.
“……?”
She simply tilted her head, looking back and forth between her sword and mine.
She seemed bewildered that my sword, which she had expected to be severed, had withstood her attack.
I was just as bewildered.
I had thrust my sword out in desperation, but I never imagined I could so easily block a treasured blade that could slice through a knight's heavy plate armor like it was cutting grass.
On second thought, it made sense.
The sword now in my hand was no ordinary iron sword, but the peerless treasure that had been used by the 10-Star Knight, Roman.
I readjusted my grip on Baegya.
*Swoosh.*
The Valkyrie, who had been standing idly and watching me, glided forward.
*Shhhk.*
I charged to meet her, swinging my sword.
*Clang.*
Baegya and the Elven Sword clashed in mid-air.
Once, twice, three, four times.
The brow of the reaper beyond the scattering sparks furrowed.
She seemed annoyed that a mere human, who should have been cut down by now, was continuously blocking her attacks.
On the other hand, my confidence grew.
“So much for your fancy gear!”
It was more manageable than I’d thought.
They were fast and sharp, but that was all.
The Valkyrie’s swordsmanship lacked depth.
It felt almost insulting to compare her to the Valkyries I had seen in my past life.
After exchanging a few blows, I realized why.
Just as the knights of my past life had been forged through the Great War, the Valkyries had also grown stronger through their own wars.
And their war had only just begun.
In short, the Valkyrie before me was nothing more than a soft, unfinished lump of iron, yet to be tempered in the crucible of war.
“Hah!”
My confidence soaring, I switched from defense to offense.
I planned to reduce their numbers by at least one before the other Valkyries could intervene.
*Thud.*
I plunged Baegya into the ground and twisted it slightly.
Using the flat of the wide blade, I scooped up mud and flung it.
*Splat.*
The Valkyrie, who took a faceful of mud, squeezed her eyes shut and retreated.
A rookie mistake, one a fledgling mercenary would make.
Her mistake was my opportunity.
“Hup.”
I took a bold step forward and extended my sword.
Baegya cut through the air.
The Valkyrie’s slender neck was right in front of me.
I was about to cut her down.
And I would have, if another sword hadn't suddenly intervened.
*CRASH!*
The intruding sword violently pushed Baegya away.
“Ugh.”
Instead of trying to resist, I let myself be pushed back with my sword.
Having created some distance, I frowned.
My hand gripping Baegya throbbed.
I shook my hand once to relieve the shock and then reset my stance.
The other Valkyries had stepped in front of the rookie, who was still flailing about with mud on her face.
“What’s this? I thought you were comrades, but you’re her guardians?”
To me, they looked like mother birds shielding a baby chick.
“……”
The Valkyries didn't answer.
They simply waited quietly for the baby bird to wipe the mud from her face.
The rookie, having washed her face with rainwater, frowned and readjusted her grip on her sword.
A demonic fire flickered in her glass-like eyes.
It seemed our little baby bird was very angry.
I suddenly wondered.
Was she angry because she got mud on her face, or was she angry for being pushed back by a mere human soldier?
But unfortunately, time did not permit an answer.
*Whoooosh!*
Just as I heard the sound of something cutting through the air, dozens of short spears rained down.
*Thud! Thud!*
The Valkyries swung their greatswords, deflecting the spears.
“Over here!”
A moment later, soldiers came rushing in.
They were from the 21st Century.
A familiar-faced Decurion emerged from among the soldiers.
It was the one they called Mad Dog, the one I had beaten to a pulp.
“How dare you non-humans!”
The man shouted spiritedly and charged toward the Valkyries with his decade.
“Get back!”
I yelled urgently.
But by then, it was already too late.
“Gaaah!”
“Ack!”
The Valkyries’ greatswords had already sliced the soldiers in two, shields and all.
“Huh?”
The Mad Dog, splattered with the blood and flesh of his subordinates, let out a dazed sound.
“You fool!”
I threw Baegya aside and grabbed Barisada.
*Click, twang.*
Without even taking proper aim, I pulled the trigger.
“……!”
The rookie Valkyrie, who was halfway through a downward swing, twisted her sword to deflect the bolt.
But what kind of weapon was Barisada?
Even before it had been fused with a demonic horse, it had enough power to easily pierce through heavy plate armor.
“……!”
The bolt, not fully deflected, struck the Valkyrie in the face.
Clutching one side of her face, she screamed silently.
I nocked another bolt on Barisada.
But by the time I finished reloading and raised Barisada again, the Valkyries were already gone.
All that remained were the corpses of the soldiers sliced in two by the Valkyries, and the Decurion of the 21st Century, sitting stunned in the middle of a pool of their blood.
“Over-Teeeeeeen!”
A long shout made me turn my head.
A mud-covered Trainee Bella was running toward me.
“Are you alriiiiiight—aaack!”
*Splish.*
She slipped and tumbled through the mud in the same posture she’d been running in.
“Pfft, pfft.”
Watching the trainee fluster about, trying to wipe the mud from her face, I turned and headed toward the inside of the garrison.
* * *
“A few barracks on the outskirts were burned, but casualties were low.”
Centurion Bravos’s face was etched with fatigue.
It was understandable, given that he had been up all night in the rain, cleaning up the mess.
“You did great work this time. From firing the signal flare to the swift response of the soldiers under your command, you helped reduce the casualties.”
Fortunately, the Valkyries who had attacked the garrison were only the ones I had faced.
The non-humans who had invaded from other directions were a disorderly rabble of unremarkable species.
And even they hadn't managed to get inside the garrison, as the Triarii had set the barracks on fire.
“Normally, I’d have to hold you accountable for taking the oil without permission, but I’ll let it slide this time.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You deserve a reward, if anything. But don’t be disappointed. That’s just how the army is. If soldiers start thinking they can get away with anything as long as they achieve something, we lose control.”
“I understand completely.”
It wasn't like I did it for a reward, so I wasn't disappointed.
Right now, something else was more important than a commendation.
“We need to prepare for the Valkyries.”
Preparing for the next time the Valkyries showed themselves was the priority.
“Are they that fearsome?”
Centurion Bravos tilted his head.
His tone suggested there was no need to be wary of non-humans who couldn't even pull off a proper night raid.
Although the Valkyries I had faced this time were rookies of an almost laughable level compared to the ones I had seen and fought in my past life, they weren't so weak that we could afford to be complacent.
Their hollow swordsmanship would naturally fill out as they gained real combat experience.
And above all, the true strength of the Valkyries did not lie in their swords.
“The Valkyries are not only excellent warriors but also recruiting officers. Their draft call does not discriminate by species.”
The true power of the Valkyries lay in their special ability to summon an army.
When they circled a forest, a legion of elves and beastmen would form. When they passed through swamps and plains, legions of lizardmen and orcs would be born.
“It’s highly likely that the large-scale non-human forces that have appeared on the front lines are those who have gathered in response to the Valkyries’ conscription.”
“Indeed, the non-humans who attacked the garrison during the night were a mix of species that would never normally travel together.”
The fatigue on Centurion Bravos’s face deepened.
“I’ve been fighting these non-humans here for decades, but I’ve never heard of such beings.”
“That’s because they don’t show themselves unless it’s a time of war.”
“Are you saying what we’ve been doing until now wasn’t a war?”
I hadn't intended to belittle the skirmishes they'd fought so far as child's play, but I couldn't exactly deny it either.
So I chose to keep my mouth shut rather than offer a clumsy reply.
“Well, you’re not wrong. This is the first time the 13th Legion has fought against an enemy of legion-scale.”
Fortunately, Centurion Bravos calmly accepted the reality of the situation instead of getting angry at my words.
“Is there anything else I should know?”
“Armies led by Valkyries know no fear.”
That wasn't a metaphor; it was literal.
The armies commanded by Valkyries felt no fear whatsoever, and their morale never dropped.
“Ugh. It’s one thing after another. All of this is hard to believe.”
As the Centurion said he would gather the high command to devise countermeasures against the Valkyries, I breathed a sigh of relief internally.
It would have been a real headache if he had dismissed it as nonsense.
It seemed dropping the name of the Cradle here and there had paid off.
“But did the knight from the mainland not get involved at all?”
“Involved? He refused to even receive a report on what happened yesterday. Said he didn’t want to be bothered with trivial matters.”
The Centurion’s expression was one of utter disbelief.
Though they had gotten through it without major damage, he seemed not to have expected such complete indifference.
For my part, it was what I had expected.
Knights were, by nature, a selfish lot.
A knight would charge headfirst into a fight they deemed worthy, even if everyone around them tried to stop them. And a knight wouldn't bat an eye even if they saw their allies dying in droves right next to them, if they didn't feel like it.
I took the opportunity to give him a lengthy explanation of these knightly characteristics.
Just in case the Centurion made the mistake of including a knight in his strategic planning, only to have it all go wrong.
“……You.”
After a long moment, the Centurion spoke.
“You’re incredibly scathing. Listening to you, one would think all knights are madmen.”
“……?”
What else was I supposed to call madmen, if not madmen?
“Advice that must not have been easy to give as an Esquire. I thank you for your loyalty and good intentions.”
I was left bewildered by the intense gaze he suddenly fixed on me.
* * *
The rain, which seemed like it would stop, never did.
The plains turned into a complete bog, and our already slow advance became even slower.
Mud clung to our feet with every step, and carts frequently got stuck in the mire, halting our progress.
The patrol range of our few light cavalrymen had shrunk to the point where they could barely scout the area within sight.
It was as if the entire plain had turned against us.
Even I, who had trudged through endless battlefields in my past life, was sick of it.
“That braggart must have said that without ever coming here himself.”
I endlessly cursed a certain blowhard who had claimed he could have turned the tide of the war with just a single century under his command.
I guarantee even Yanick wouldn't feel wronged if he were in my situation.
That’s how bad things were.
[The Emperor Who Abandoned His Country] This rain and these clouds, they aren’t natural…….
[The Elegant Left-Hander] Weakening the blessing…….
[The Curious Sloth] Be careful…….
So bad that even the stars were warning me.
The messages from the stars were all cut off, as if they had been interrupted.
“Enemy to the front!”
In that instant, the battle began.