Chapter 147
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147
Garot had no idea where Ar kept his important documents. She had tried using detection magic, but it seemed he hadn’t hidden them in any secret compartments.
In cases like this, there was nothing to do but check everything one by one.
After a draining two-hour search, Garot finally found the documents Ar had hidden away.
She caught her breath.
She thought she was prepared for whatever the contents might be, but her heart still pounded with anxiety.
After double-checking that the office was empty, Garot turned the first page.
The truth lay there.
*
“Ah, Boss, it looks like they’re about to start.”
The full-body mirror reflected the vast Annun Plains.
On one side was a massive army of Orcs. The horde, which had repeatedly split and merged, had now finished joining the main force, with the exception of a single independent squad.
“As expected, it seems they plan to break through head-on.”
The main force had originally appeared to be fewer than a hundred thousand, but the number of Orcs now gathered on the plains easily exceeded two hundred thousand.
To even get a rough estimate of the horde’s size, they had to adjust the mirror’s viewpoint dozens of meters into the air.
On the other side was the human army.
At the very front stood at least twenty thousand soldiers armed with spears and bows, followed by around four thousand reinforcements sent by the lords of various territories. In the rear were thousands of subjugation squad members from Riaze, each dressed in completely different attire.
Although they were still numerically disadvantaged, many of the subjugation squad members were skilled enough to slice through a dozen Orcs on their own. Geographically, the humans also held the high ground.
“Is that everything they could scrape together?”
Swallow was quite disappointed with the war so far.
The war he had envisioned was supposed to be a much more entertaining spectacle.
“I thought war would be incredibly desperate, something so thrilling that just watching it would make you feel the very pulse of life.”
The sieges up to this point had been filled with nothing but cowards.
They would shout passionately, “Even if you die, die here!” but at the first sign of the castle gates being breached, they would flee in an instant. Their escape speed was so absurdly fast one might think they had grown wings. How could it be fun when they retreated at the slightest provocation?
“It’s been boring as hell ever since that blazing guy died.”
Just as Swallow was about to fall asleep from sheer boredom, Patrick had stopped him, saying, “The real thing starts now.”
He had explained that the battles so far were merely skirmishes to buy time for conscription. The real fight, he’d promised, would begin the moment they entered the plains, so Swallow should just be patient a little longer.
“There certainly are a lot of them.”
For now, Patrick had succeeded in catching his interest.
“But the humans look completely demoralized. Is it just my imagination?”
“I don’t know. Don’t ask me.”
“Normally, ahead of a war like this, the commander would do everything they could to boost morale. Did their commander run away or something?”
Patrick stared at the mirror with a suspicious look. He leaned his skull so far forward it looked like he was about to be sucked right into the glass.
“Boss, you didn’t go and cause some weird trouble for the humans again, did you?”
“You always suspect me of everything.”
Looking at Patrick with a disappointed gaze, Swallow scratched the back of his neck.
“As if I would do such a thing.”
*
A quiet tension hung over the battlefield.
“It’s going to be a war of annihilation,” Patrick asserted.
On the surface, it seemed like the armies were merely sizing each other up, but that was only true for the frontline soldiers who watched the enemy without moving an inch.
Out of sight in the rear of both camps, supplies and troops were moving busily.
“There are a hell of a lot of them,” Swallow muttered in flat admiration, watching the scene with half-closed eyes. He was referring to the Orc army.
The sheer numbers were overwhelming. What was even more staggering was the perfect order they maintained despite their size—a sight that could crush an enemy’s will to fight before the battle even began.
“I wonder how many there are.”
“I don’t know. How should I know?”
Even trying to estimate a rough count was daunting; there were simply too many.
Bathory zoomed the mirror’s view out as far as possible to fit everything on the screen, but the Orcs were reduced to tiny dots.
“There’s a trick for this.”
Bathory adjusted the mirror, and the view zoomed in on the face of an Imperial soldier. He was a young man standing guard on a makeshift watchtower, his expression visibly stiff with panic.
Soon, a deputy approached him. The deputy climbed the watchtower, looked down at the plains, and his face instantly took on the exact same panicked expression as the soldier.
The soldier gave a brief report to the deputy.
—There are at least twice as many as reported.
Although no sound came through the mirror, his words were clear from his lip movements.
Patrick spoke.
“It seems they’ve scraped together even the unprepared soldiers who were meant to be kept in reserve. It means the Orcs are just as desperate.”
The newly appeared Orcs were those who had been hiding, avoiding clashes with humans until now. Their armaments and physical builds were poor compared to the main force that had been fighting all along. They had probably dragged out every single able-bodied male in their tribes.
The vast Annun Plains were thick with the scent of Orcs. Phantom beasts circled endlessly in the sky, and familiars created with mana by Orc shamans flew incessantly toward the Imperial army. The Empire’s forces responded in kind.
…Even though the armies of both sides were fully assembled, this standoff had been going on for hours.
“Ah, this is incredibly frustrating.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Swallow frowned.
He had been told it would be interesting from now on, but the same old pattern was repeating, and he was sick of it.
When Swallow glared at Patrick, Patrick merely shrugged.
“I’m seriously going to die of frustration… How much longer is this going to last? It’s so annoying. Should I just go there myself and accelerate the conflict?”
“It would take you a solid month and a half of walking to get to the Annun Plains from here.”
“That was a lie.”
“I like your honesty. In any case, Boss, I understand how you feel, but there’s no need to be so impatient. Both sides are just being cautious. They’re clearing out each other’s traps and trying to find the enemy’s weaknesses.”
Patrick added, “This battle will be different from the ones before.”
Once a clash occurred, the outcome of the war would be decided here. There would be no half-hearted retreats like in the previous sieges…
“By the way, Sir Patrick, there is something I am curious about.”
As a dejected Swallow sighed, Melju cautiously asked Patrick.
“The Orcs have a massive army. Naturally, it’s advantageous for them to fight on the plains, but in a way, wasn’t it the humans who chose this battlefield?”
“That is correct.”
“Why would the humans want to fight in such a place?”
Melju trotted over and spread a large map, which had been lying next to Tanabella, onto the floor.
It was a map of the entire continent, several times larger and far more detailed than the one Patrick always carried in his breast pocket.
“The Primordial Core is here, Hastin is here, and the center of the Empire seems to be around here. Riaze is here… and that place… yes, it’s here!”
Melju’s small finger first located the landmarks, then traced the shortest distance between them. Her tiny finger stopped at one spot.
It was a vast, empty wilderness.
Looking at that spot alone, one might mistake the map for being unfinished—there were no mountains, no rivers, not a single symbol drawn there.
That was the Annun Plains.
A place that perfectly lived up to its name.
“Although the humans are stationed on relatively high ground, as far as I know, the slope there isn’t very steep. It’s unlikely to be a major variable. The humans have a barrier, but… if they’re pushed back to that point, isn’t it practically over anyway?”
“You understand it well.”
Patrick nodded, looking proud.
“Tactics utilizing geographical advantages are impossible there.”
Of course, tactics like changing unit formations to catch the enemy off guard could still be applied, but fighting with the aid of specific environmental features was out of the question.
Even if they launched a surprise attack by changing their formation, they would still clash with the enemy on a wide-open field. In such a scenario, it simply came down to whether one’s own forces were stronger than the enemy’s.
“It doesn’t seem like a very good battlefield for the outnumbered humans.”
“Well, that’s not entirely the case, but…”
Patrick demurred, but his voice was filled with the joy of a teacher whose student had understood ten things after being taught only one.
He glanced at Swallow with a bright expression, only to find him dozing off.
“Boss, aren’t you even curious about the reason?”
“I question the very need to make war so complicated in the first place… Can’t they just go and smash everything?”
Well, that’s only because you’re the Boss.
Patrick swallowed the words that rose to the tip of his tongue. Right, what’s the use of explaining tactics to a boss who doesn’t even need them? After comforting himself with this silent thought, he turned back to Melju.
“There is a reason they must hold the line here.”
Melju tilted her head.
“It is also the reason why the Orcs boasted they could bring down the Empire in a short period of time.”
Swallow, who had been dozing, slowly opened his eyes at Patrick’s words. Noticing his reaction, Patrick smirked.
“And it is the reason why the Orcs are so desperate to conquer this place.”
To put it simply, it was theoretically possible but practically impossible for the Orcs to bring down the Empire in just three weeks.
Patrick had become certain of this after observing their battles.
Kurak marched his army with a pace that preserved their morale. They took proper rests and consumed their rations as they advanced. Even if they had marched with unstoppable momentum for the entire promised duration, it would still be a tight squeeze to reach Riaze. So why were they taking their time?
“There is a shortcut to bypass everything and reach Riaze in one go.”
When you thought of it that way, the answer presented itself. It was something Patrick hadn’t even considered at first, and it was the very reason the humans had to settle the matter on the Annun Plains at all costs.
“The Teleportation Hub.”
It was an invention that had driven humanity’s rapid development over the past few decades, but at the same time, it was a double-edged sword that wasn’t exclusive to humans.
“There are practically two ways for a monster army to reach Riaze.”
Riaze had six layers of walls.
To conquer it, a monster army would have to breach all six layers of gates. Moreover, every path leading there featured terrain and circumstances advantageous to the humans. Since these barriers had been steadily built up since the founding of the nation, they would not fall easily.
It could never be easy. In history, only a single monster had ever succeeded—the ancient monster who had suddenly appeared in the innermost part of the castle a few months ago.
“There are dozens of Teleportation Hubs on the Annun Plains. This is because transportation in the area is convenient, and it’s a geographically favorable location. The problem is that the humans cannot easily destroy these Teleportation Hubs.”
As long as the Imperial army is stationed on the Annun Plains, they must constantly use the Teleportation Hubs to receive reinforcements and supplies.
Therefore, the moment they destroy those devices, their supply lines would be cut off. Such an act could also be interpreted by the soldiers as being abandoned by the Empire.
“As things stand, the humans on the plains cannot destroy the Teleportation Hubs until their defeat is absolutely certain. No, they might not destroy them even if defeat is guaranteed. Anyway, the important thing is this… those Teleportation Hubs are connected to the ones inside the third wall of Riaze.”
It was the third wall from the innermost core. This meant that if the Orcs captured the hubs, they would only need to breach two more walls to reach the heart of the city.
“But unless the humans are fools, wouldn’t they smash the Teleportation Hubs once their defeat on the plains is certain?”
“But aren’t there those who will prevent them from doing that?”
“Ah.”
—The Holy Knights exist.
“If they conquer the Annun Plains, they won’t just arrive in Riaze immediately—they’ll bypass three walls,” Melju said. “Ah, and from what I hear, there is also a Teleportation Hub exclusive to the Imperial Family. If that is also connected and the humans have left it unattended…”
“Then they’ll get to go on a direct date with the Emperor,” Patrick finished.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, why are you so fond of that expression, ‘go on a direct date’?”
“Rene! Rene wants to go on a direct date with Lord Swallow too!”
“Do you even know what that means when you say it?”
“They’re starting their collective monologue again.”
“In any case, Kurak has used his head quite a bit,” Patrick said.
“By the way, Patrick, where on earth did you pick up the information that there were so many of those things on the Annun Plains?”
“I’m quite well-connected in those parts, after all.”
Patrick shrugged.
To put it simply, if Kurak managed to enter the third wall of Riaze, breaking the remaining two walls would be child’s play. The Empire’s strongest forces would have already perished on the Annun Plains.
“This is also why I said a war of annihilation would occur,” Patrick concluded. “The humans have nowhere to retreat. Once they clash, they will kill and be killed until one of the two forces is completely wiped out.”