Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Radical or Unconventional (2)
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The examiners were transfixed, their eyes glued to the tapestry hanging on the wall.
The tapestry, which covered the massive wall, visually depicted the virtual war unfolding within “The Rose Garden of Worms.”
“Good heavens. What did I just witness?”
“To shatter the enemy's formation with nothing but drumbeats.”
“More impressive was the deployment of the archers. They're masterfully restricting the enemy's movements.”
Every comment they made was tinged with sheer admiration.
“The night raid on the granary was a prelude to baiting the enemy into an all-out offensive. Meticulous. And skillful. It’s hard to believe this is the strategy and tactics of a mere cadet.”
“A mere cadet, you say. Few knights are capable of maneuvering troops at that level. The only ones who come to mind are the ‘chess players’ of Daisen.”
“I don't know. Aren't the Daisen knights just a bunch of gambling addicts? I'll admit they're skilled with numbers, but I doubt they're capable of such robust military strategy.”
Yet no one objected to placing a mere cadet's skills above those of the elite knights from the Eight Families, who were renowned for their strategy and tactics.
“His leadership in repelling the four-day assault that preceded the all-out offensive, and with minimal losses, is certainly impressive.”
Even the examiner from House Daisen could only offer praise.
“He's commanding the entire defensive force as if they were his own limbs.”
“There's absolutely no waste of manpower. He even makes it look like he has troops to spare.”
“It's not that the other cadets are incompetent. It's just that Number 99 is in a league of his own.”
The leadership displayed by Cadet 99 was just that exceptional.
“Hmm?”
Just then, the examiners caught sight of a hundred cavalrymen, who had been holding back at a distance, charging toward the battlefield.
“Oho. So the cavalry he'd been holding in reserve is finally making a move.”
“Number 88... that would be the girl from the Judgment Knights.”
The examiners assumed Cadet 88's belated entry was a desperate gamble, a reckless charge to do *something* before the battle was completely lost.
But they were wrong.
“That's it! She's planning to use her cavalry to herd the infantry!”
“This year's class is truly something else, isn't it?”
The examiners clenched their fists as they watched the late-arriving cavalry herd the infantry to one side like a flock of sheep.
“The ones who were bogged down by the others and couldn't fight effectively are finally starting to make their move.”
“Their recovery speed is extraordinary. Even accounting for the fact that morale isn't a major factor for the soldiers in a mock battle, that's some impressive leadership. This class definitely has a lot of promising talent.”
The examiners applauded repeatedly as they watched the centuries, having fallen back to regroup, now seeking an opportunity to turn the tide.
“The besiegers still have the superior numbers. This could go on for a few more days.”
“To see this level of performance in the very first mock battle... it's beyond all expectations.”
Everyone was completely engrossed in the mock battle.
However, it seemed the defenders had no intention of letting the examiners' entertainment drag on any longer.
“Huh?”
Their eyes were fixed on a single point on the tapestry.
The fortress gate was opening.
And from that open gate, a hundred cavalrymen charged out.
Leading the cavalry was Cadet 99.
“Damn, did his patience finally run out?”
“If he just opens the gates and rides out, the enemy cavalry won't sit idly by. They'll latch on and won't let go. How does he plan to return?”
The examiners' faces fell, disappointed by the apparent miscalculation from Cadet 99, who until now had displayed a genius for strategy unbecoming of a cadet.
But the situation did not unfold as they had anticipated.
***
Amelia's eyes lit up as she saw the Burgundian cavalry charge out of the open fortress gate.
At their head was a commander with ash-gray hair.
She wheeled her horse around without hesitation.
A hundred cavalry followed in her wake.
“Charge!”
At her command, the hundred horsemen spurred their mounts to a gallop.
Her intention was to crash straight into the enemy cavalry.
She gave no thought to her scattered formation.
This was an opportunity she couldn't afford to miss.
If luck was on her side, she could take down the enemy commander in the first clash and put an end to this wretched mock battle.
And if fortune didn't favor her and her cavalry suffered heavy losses, it didn't matter.
Pinning down the enemy would be enough.
It wouldn't matter if another century, once regrouped, delivered the final blow.
But.
“At a time like this, he's going for the infantry...?”
The enemy cavalry, which she'd expected to meet her charge head-on, instead wheeled around and began trampling the infantry who hadn't yet withdrawn from the field.
She was disgusted by their behavior—instead of fighting an honorable duel, they were trampling helpless foot soldiers.
She gritted her teeth and pursued the enemy cavalry.
And finally, she caught up to their rear.
Or so she thought.
“Agh!”
The enemy's rear guard was gone; instead, her own infantry suddenly appeared right in front of her.
“Damn it...!”
She desperately reined in her horse to avoid trampling her own men.
After narrowly avoiding her foot soldiers, she flipped open her helmet's visor.
In the distance, she could see the backs of the fleeing enemy cavalry.
She regrouped her forces once more and gave chase.
The same scene repeated itself over and over.
Every time she thought she'd caught their rear, her own infantry would appear in her path.
“Fall back! Everyone, just get out of the way!”
Amelia shouted, her patience worn thin.
The other cadets, finally grasping the situation, led their infantry units off the battlefield.
And when there were no more of her own infantry left on the field to be used as human shields.
“Prepare to charge!”
This time, she was certain the enemy had no choice but to engage in a cavalry battle.
But it seemed the enemy commander thought differently.
Instead of an honorable clash, they wheeled their horses around and fled once more.
“You coward...!”
Seething with rage, she led her cavalry in hot pursuit.
The chase continued for some time.
*Thwip-thwip-thwip.*
Suddenly, a volley of arrows rained down on them from the flank.
***
As if on cue, the examiners shot up from their seats.
The emotion etched on their faces was one and the same: not just admiration, but utter astonishment.
No one dared to speak.
“...As of today, I'm resigning my post as professor of horsemanship. I'm going back to my family estate to raise horses.”
The first to speak was the Second Examiner.
“Who am I to teach anyone?”
It was an uncharacteristic remark from a man who prided himself on being second to none in the art of cavalry deployment.
The others all felt the same.
The spectacle Cadet 99 had orchestrated was just that astonishing.
The audacity to expose his rear to the enemy.
The cunning to maintain a tantalizing distance, just out of reach, shattering their composure.
The masterful horsemanship that stretched their formation thin without them even realizing it.
All of it culminated in the girl from the Judgment Knights unknowingly exposing her flank to the archers waiting in ambush within the fortress's range.
“A hundred cavalry, wiped out in a single volley. It's a feat I've never seen or even heard of.”
And just like that, he devoured the cavalry once their flank was exposed.
It was an unprecedented feat, the likes of which had never been recorded in the Empire's military history.
“He perfectly exploited the blind spot created by a cavalry helmet's narrow field of vision. That's a tactic you couldn't even conceive of unless you've spent years on the battlefield.”
“Which makes it all the more baffling. Number 99 is only fourteen. He's at an age where he couldn't have even been near a battlefield, let alone fought on one.”
“This must be an innate talent.”
The examiners, their faces a mixture of awe and disbelief, vied to praise Number 99's tactical genius.
“They said he defeated a wizard and drove off a sorcerer. I'm dying to know what kind of trick he used. Does anyone know?”
“The Director might know. Or perhaps the Vice Director.”
With flushed faces, the examiners turned back to the tapestry.
“It's over.”
Cadet 99, who had been ruthlessly decimating the enemy infantry now that their cavalry was gone, vanished back into the fortress.
Just before the gates closed, a few cadets managed to slip inside with their soldiers, only to be surrounded on three sides by defenders lying in wait and ruthlessly slaughtered.
Seeing how he'd allowed just enough men through to be easily overwhelmed before immediately shutting the gates, it was clear that this too had been a deliberate trap.
All that remained of the besieging force were a mere twenty or so centuries.
It wasn't a small number, but there was no way they could now capture a fortress they had failed to breach with five times that number.
The examiners' predictions had been wrong time and again, but not this time.
That night, a surprise attack from the defenders shattered the remaining twenty centuries, and with their collapse, the victor of the virtual war—which had lasted five days in the Rose Garden's time, a full day in the real world—was decided.
“I find this deeply concerning.”
Just then, the old knight—the First Examiner—spoke in a heavy tone.
“Number 99's talent is certainly a rare thing in this world. However...”
The tapestry's depiction of the Rose Garden showed bodies piled like mountains.
“His disposition, to witness so much bloodshed and show no apparent emotion... that is what worries me.”
The old knight continued to voice his concerns.
He wasn't a veteran worn down by countless battles, yet Cadet 99's utter indifference to bloodshed was not normal.
“Perhaps he's only so composed because he knows it's all a fabrication of the artifact...”
The Vice Director, who had appeared from nowhere, replied nonchalantly to the old knight's words.
“If his letter of recommendation is to be believed, this is a boy who once fought dozens of bandits alone to save refugees he'd never met, fighting until he was on the verge of death. So please, don't worry too much.”
“Is that so? I suppose you're right. It seems I saw too many terrible things in the war thirty years ago. Pay me no mind.”
Despite his words, the old knight's face was still etched with concern.
“Not at all. How could I disregard advice born from such experience? I will keep a close eye on him.”
“My apologies. It seems I've only given you more to worry about.”
“Don't mention it. Weeding out cadets like that is part of the Cradle's duty, is it not?”
Only after hearing the Vice Director's response did the old knight's tense expression finally soften.
“By the way, where has our Director gone? Shouldn't he have appeared by now to declare the end of the mock battle?”
The old knight changed the subject, perhaps sensing the heavy atmosphere in the room.
At his words, the Vice Director frowned, explaining that he had stopped by because he, too, was looking for the Director.
“...Vice Director?”
Just then, the Third Examiner called out to the Vice Director.
“...I think I know where the Director is.”
The Third Examiner said, pointing at the tapestry with a sheepish expression.
***
“You Burgundian coward!”
As the battlefield was being cleared, a man appeared out of nowhere and pointed his sword at me.
“The Empire is never defeated! It is far too soon for Burgundy to raise a toast to victory!”
His tone was exaggerated, as if he were in a play.
And yet, his voice was incredibly familiar.
A voice that was somehow... flippant.
It was unmistakably the voice that had announced the start of the mock battle.
“...Aren't you the one in charge of evaluating the mock battle?”
“Enough talk! Face my blade!”
His nerve struck, the man lunged at me with his sword.