Battle in the North (2)
How many days had passed since Kalintz’s army marched out to assault the castle?
The news that arrived was, as one might fully expect, nothing good.
“You’re saying our army’s defeat is all but certain?”
“Yes. At present some eighteen thousand have become casualties, and they are preparing to withdraw using the five thousand troops previously stationed to secure a retreat route. Lord Kalintz has not yet made the final decision, but… I believe he will order a retreat.”
“Hah… I see. So it has come to that after all.”
Park, the fortress commander, let out a short sigh. Even an ordinary general like him had naturally expected defeat. The price of recklessly charging into a battle everyone knew they would lose was devastating.
So only about ten thousand left, then.
At least Airen had somehow managed to persuade them to place five thousand soldiers in the rear and secure an escape route. A small mercy amid the misfortune.
They needed to abandon the fight and pull back as quickly as possible. That they were still hesitating meant—
The defeat is clear, yet somehow they’re barely hanging on.
Kalintz was an S-Class General in his own right, and Airen possessed the Siege specialty. So they were managing to scrape by somehow. Just a little more and they could breach the gates. If they only broke through the gates, they could reverse the tide… something like that, and so they kept pushing.
It would have been better to retreat at once. But the fact that they had sent a messenger instead of withdrawing suggested they had no such intention.
“……Understood. We will prepare to receive the wounded on this end. I would like to send reinforcements, but we have only about three thousand troops left… I’m sorry. For now I will also relay the news to Kelstein Castle.”
“Understood.”
After dismissing the messenger who had brought the report, Park heaved several heavy sighs, then looked at the rest of us gathered in the conference room.
“I no longer know what we ought to do.”
“……”
Park sighed again. Including myself, Jack, and Silin, the six generals present said nothing. All the capable officers who had originally defended this fortress had sortied with Kalintz; only mediocre C-Class generals remained. Even if no brilliant plan emerged, there was little to be done about it.
At that moment, Jack, standing beside me, cautiously raised his hand.
“Um, Fortress Commander.”
“Speak.”
“I have been uneasy from the start, but… the garrison inside the fortress is far too small. If we were attacked, we would lose it in no time. Would it not be wiser to request reinforcements from Kelstein Castle even now?”
I had been thinking the same thing. Serpina’s army was not about to leave our forces alone after we had, in a sense, stabbed them in the back first. Had they succeeded in taking the castle, they would have ignored a fortress like this and concentrated everything on reclaiming the lost Cherien Castle. But that was not the situation now.
“Hmm… I do not know whether Lord Rasion will send any, but we should at least make the request.”
After that, as expected, no further opinions were offered. We disbanded and hastily organized the officers who would go out as support. It was decided that roughly three generals, including Jack, would accompany the force that would receive our fleeing soldiers.
My only concern was one thing: whether Airen was still alive.
Airen was an extremely strong general, and I had already told her in advance that this was a battle we would lose. She would not overextend herself. Yet if, while repeating these meaningless wars, she were captured as a prisoner, it would be extremely troublesome.
If she returns safely, I should simply tell Kalintz to pull back to Kelstein.
Continuing to fight these razor-thin battles here was far too dangerous. Now that Kalintz had been thoroughly crushed, he would not stubbornly insist any further. Arrogant as he might be, his basic intelligence still functioned; this time he would make a calm, composed judgment. His pride would be thoroughly trampled by so crushing a defeat, but when one considered the soldiers who might have died because of his decisions—and everything those soldiers could have accomplished—it was merely cheap pride.
Thinking that, how many days had I waited for our defeated army to return?
A soldier on watch along the walls suddenly shouted.
“I see a banner over there!”
Soldiers were racing toward the fortress, carrying the sky-blue banner emblazoned with the symbol of the Brans army. Seeing quite a number of troops, it seemed they had managed to retreat safely. We ran out after Park to greet them.
“I have heard the news, General Miguel. Did you flee in defeat?”
The man at the front—Miguel—answered. A face I had seen a few times before. A B-Class general well-suited to serve as an adjutant.
“……Yes. Fortunately the enemy did not form a pursuit force, so we were able to arrive safely. But… the fact that we were defeated remains unchanged.”
“It is all right. I am simply glad you returned alive.”
At Park’s words Miguel could say nothing and only hung his head.
Then, including Park, we all noticed a subtle change. Kalintz, who should have been at the vanguard, was nowhere to be seen.
“Um… where is General Kalintz……?”
“……”
Miguel was silent for a moment, then spoke in a wretched tone.
“General Kalintz has…… become a prisoner of Ian’s army.”
“What did you say……?”
Because he had taken the vanguard, he must have fought while commanding deep into the fray—and so had been captured.
And then—
……?
Looking more carefully, it was not only Kalintz who was missing. Airen’s figure… was also nowhere to be seen.
Don’t tell me……!
My heart dropped. I quietly slipped away to check the rear, walking among the defeated soldiers who had entered the fortress, searching for her.
No. I did not care about the likes of Kalintz. He had stupidly charged in and gotten himself captured—who was there to blame? But Airen must not be taken. I needed to raise her affection so she could defect to the Lunarien army; if she were captured here……!
No. That was not it.
Only after thinking that far did I realize. If it were only for that reason, there was no cause for my heart to pound so anxiously. There were plenty of excellent generals besides her. In the first place, once Tifa—who already deeply followed Lunarien—awakened to magic, she would become an SS-Class general incomparable to Airen.
I—
I was worried about her herself. Not as an S-Class general who would one day serve the Lunarien army, but simply hoping that the woman named Airen Juliette was safe.
Lady Airen……!
I ran around frantically, gasping for breath. How long did I thrash about among the throngs of soldiers? Amid the agonized groans of the wounded, a now-familiar woman’s voice reached me.
“Just hold on a little longer. We have arrived at the fortress.”
“……!!!”
I looked toward the voice. Airen, wearing the armor engraved with her pride, was tending a wounded soldier.
“……Haa, haa.”
Only then, realizing how mindlessly I had been running, a deep sigh escaped from within me. My already poor stamina, combined with the wild sprint, left my head slightly dizzy. And she, still tending the wounded, noticed my gaze and turned her head toward me.
“……Swen?”
“Lady Airen.”
I slowly approached her. When I reached right in front of her, my legs gave out and I nearly collapsed; she caught me.
“S-Swen?! Are you all right?”
“Lady Airen…… you’re safe. You’re safe—I’m so glad.”
Damn it. I felt as though I might cry. It was a feeling similar to the moment I had parted from Lunarien. Was I truly this emotional a person?
Airen, wearing a startled expression, supported me as I gasped for breath. Then, with an extremely tender smile, she gently patted my back.
“Did I not promise you? That I would return alive.”
“……”
Warm. I could feel this woman’s body heat. Stripping away every modifier—S-Class general, siege specialist, general oppressed by her lord—the simple fact that the woman named Airen existed here, breathing, was conveyed wholly to me. And that fact was, for me, truly a great comfort.
“……Um, well.”
“……?”
“It is not that I dislike it, but… how long do you intend to stay like this? It is… a little embarrassing.”
“Ah.”
Only then did I realize I was resting my face against her chest. She was wearing armor that protected her breast, so the sensation was hard and I felt little, but from her perspective it seemed rather embarrassing. After I put some distance between us, she cleared her throat several times and spoke.
“Ahem. More importantly…… though we retreated safely without pursuit troops, in the end—”
“Lord Kalintz became a prisoner, you mean?”
“So you have already heard.”
“What on earth happened?”
Airen spoke with a dark expression.
“Exactly as it sounds. The soldiers of Cherien Castle were far stronger than expected. There was no sign of their morale dropping or their formation collapsing. Of course we were able to inflict quite significant damage, but naturally our side’s losses were greater. It is fortunate I somehow persuaded them to station five thousand in the rear; the soldiers who took the vanguard were nearly annihilated.”
“Then the casualties……?”
“……A total of some twenty-eight thousand.”
So excluding the wounded, the troops who returned alive—aside from the five thousand placed in the rear for retreat—numbered only about two thousand.
“It was a razor-thin defeat. If we had just a few more soldiers, we might have been able to occupy the castle.”
Airen said that with a bitter smile. She had realized it too: that this battle had ultimately only done Serpina’s army a favor. Hearing her words, I looked around. Everywhere, only soldiers letting out agonized groans. Captured in this scenery alone, it was nothing short of a picture of hell.
A catastrophic defeat.
I thought anew how fortunate it was that I had proposed not to place Airen in the vanguard. Had I not, the one taken prisoner might well have been her.
“Anyway, I am glad you returned safely. Tending the wounded is good, but for now let us go report to Lord Park.”
“Mm. Let us do that.”
Just as I was about to turn—
“……Ah.”
Because my strength had left me, I nearly tripped and fell; Airen caught me again.
“Are you all right, Swen?”
“You saved me. Thank you.”
A body with low Martial power is truly inconvenient beyond measure. As I was thinking that, she blushed slightly and said,
“Um…… if it is all right, I could…… hold your hand, and walk with you.”
“My hand?”
“No, I mean… that is… I should say support you. Swen, you look as though even walking right now is extremely difficult. I… I am fine. With holding hands.”
The way she cleared her throat while desperately trying to hide her embarrassment somehow seemed cute. Should I simply accept the kindness here?
“Then I will take you up on that.”
“Mm.”
I clasped the hand she offered. It was warm. I could feel, intact, the warmth I had wanted so badly to preserve.