The Battle of Morena Territory (1)
The Battle of Morena Territory (1)
Dawn, before the sun had even risen.
Viscount Morena had just gotten out of bed when his butler arrived right on cue. He frowned at the report.
"...There's been an improvement?"
"Yes. He's passed the critical stage and is recovering rapidly. It seems the potion has finally taken effect, albeit late."
"That's impossible... It wasn't a wound a potion could heal."
"Nevertheless, I've confirmed it myself. Ivana was relieved as well and went to bed just a moment ago."
"If it wasn't the potion, could it be Ivana's ability? I heard it restores a person's physical condition to its peak, but does it have healing properties too?"
The Viscount muttered to himself while the butler waited for him to make a decision.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Since Ohen survived, I can take Ivana with me without any worries."
"About that... You said you'd take her once Sir Ohen passed away..."
The Viscount glared at the butler.
Even though he had gone to the capital and hadn't shown his face for a long time, he was still the lord of this territory.
How dare the butler question his word?
He let it slide for now because he had no one else to give orders to, but he resolved once again to clean house completely after the civil war ended.
Honestly, he had never liked the people of this house or this territory.
Ever since he was a child, this small, rustic town had felt suffocating.
He had seized a rare opportunity to soar to the capital, but the 'Morena' name attached to him had always weighed him down.
Now it was time to shake off that name.
"She only refused to leave because she was worried about Ohen, so if he's alive, there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
The Viscount stared intently at the butler.
The man should have understood by now.
But the butler seemed to have more to say.
"Murasen's forces are still outside the village. If they attack again after you leave, my lord, we won't be able to defend ourselves. Ivana can't help but worry, either."
The Viscount smirked.
In the end, they were only saying this because they feared they would be in danger once he left.
That was actually more comfortable than some half-baked display of loyalty.
It would make abandoning them all the easier.
"Once Ohen wakes up, you can defend the place with him, can't you?"
Feeling lighter, the Viscount gave the butler a childish reply.
The butler's expression stiffened, and the Viscount watched his face with amusement.
"I have to discuss the grand state of affairs with the Crown Prince. I can't waste my time in a backwater like this. Just because we were pushed back on the first move doesn't mean we can keep getting dragged along."
The Viscount waved a hand at the butler.
"We'll depart in the morning as scheduled. Wake Ivana when the sun rises and bring her here."
"...Understood."
At the Viscount's command, the butler bowed and left the room.
After he had gone, another person hurried into the Viscount's bedroom.
The Viscount was about to get angry, but when he saw who had entered, he couldn't bring himself to.
It was a Royal Knight.
The knight was fully clad in plate armor. He seemed to have been on guard duty through the night.
"Murasen's forces are moving toward the village. It looks like they're planning to attack again."
At the knight's words, the Viscount grimaced.
Seeing that they hadn't retreated even after losing the battle, he had expected them to try again.
But they could have waited just one more day... If they attacked now, he had no choice but to fight.
It was bound to be a tiresome affair for both sides.
The Viscount decided to look on the bright side of what had already happened.
They were nobles of the Second Prince's faction, whom he would have to fight sooner or later anyway.
Besides—
"If we make Murasen's forces retreat, Ivana won't hesitate any longer."
Since Ivana's ability seemed quite useful in its own way, he needed to coax her a little.
"This might be the first time I experience mana depletion."
Barely a day had passed since the Viscount had unleashed his ability at full force.
If he used his power again, there was a high chance he would suffer from mana depletion.
'I heard it's incredibly grueling...'
He was worried, but if he used it this time, he wouldn't have to use his ability again for a while.
All he had to do was stay close to the Crown Prince in the capital and meddle in this and that.
"Tell the vice-commander to have all the knights ready. This time, we'll pierce through the enemy lines and capture their nobles—or the lord himself."
"Understood."
The knight saluted him as though he were a senior knight, then rushed outside.
The Viscount looked satisfied by the knight's respectful demeanor.
Although he had received command authority from the First Prince, the Royal Knights had been stiff and uncooperative before he demonstrated his ability.
But after the first battle, the knights treated him with proper respect.
That was how remarkable the Viscount's inherited ability was.
"If I'd joined the military, I would have been quite successful, wouldn't I?"
Indeed, the Viscount's ability was highly advantageous in battle.
If he had pursued a military career, he could easily have become a general or higher, and perhaps even been promoted in rank.
"Tsk. Well, it didn't suit my personality anyway."
Even now, he was fighting out of necessity, but combat really wasn't to his liking.
He much preferred chatting with noble ladies infatuated with him at banquets to standing on a blood-drenched battlefield.
"I'm better suited to a battlefield of schemes and strategies than to outright brawling."
He had never actually succeeded in any such schemes, of course, but the Viscount nodded as he checked his handsome face in the mirror.
Dawn, just as the sun was beginning to rise.
With the rising sun at their backs, a force of over a thousand men began to move.
Some were farmers wielding pitchforks; others were territorial soldiers, properly armed with spears and clad in leather armor.
Murasen's forces had recovered from their defeat and were on the move once more.
To think they still had that many men after suffering heavy casualties in the first battle. It seemed they had conscripted almost every young man in their territory.
The village was a hive of activity, too.
Soldiers climbed atop the wooden palisades, while the clanking of armor and neighing of horses echoed from within the village, signaling that they were preparing for battle.
The heat of war was beginning to flare up once more.
I watched the scene from a half-ruined house a little way off the road—the very house where the knight and soldiers who had blocked our path had stayed.
A territorial war involving a thousand men.
Compared to the battles involving tens of thousands of soldiers that I had read and heard about in my past life, this was a minor skirmish.
But with a thousand soldiers marching right before my eyes, I couldn't bring myself to think of it so lightly.
It had an intensity on a completely different level from any movie scene I'd watched in my past life.
Originally, I had planned to leave as soon as I received Ivana's ability.
I believed healing Sir Ohen was more than enough repayment for the ability I'd received.
But after stepping outside the village and meeting Priest Lesty, I decided to postpone my departure for a while.
I'd heard that Murasen's forces would attack again at dawn.
I couldn't miss the chance to witness a territorial war firsthand. Besides, I could observe Viscount Morena's ability once more.
Even though it was in a timeline that had been erased, I had died once because of Viscount Morena.
Now that such an opportunity had presented itself, I couldn't let it slip away.
At the same time, I couldn't just let Murasen win and allow Ivana to die.
"I suppose some delicate fine-tuning is in order..."
At my words, Lesty looked puzzled.
"Pardon?"
Balea, though, shook her head.
"What are you planning to do this time?"
I had told the two of them that we'd leave right after watching the battle. That was why Lesty was so confused by my remark.
Unfortunately, Balea didn't believe me. Perhaps it was because of her past experiences with me.
Still, to hear that from Balea...
No matter how I looked at it, it felt rather unfair.
I shook my head and picked up the helmet and breastplate Lesty had set aside.
The helmet was dented and scratched, and the breastplate was made of leather.
"I'll borrow these."
"I don't mind, but why that armor..."
It was the breastplate and helmet Lesty had used to spy on Murasen's forces.
They were among the items retrieved from the knight and soldiers who had occupied this house, and they were relatively cleaner than the other gear.
"I want to get a closer look."
At my words, Balea pouted.
"And by 'getting a closer look,' you mean you're going to meddle."
Terrifying Balea. She knew me all too well.
"Will you be all right? It will be dangerous..."
Lesty started to voice his concern, but quickly trailed off.
It seemed he had realized that I wouldn't actually be in any danger.
Just as he thought, moving among the soldiers wasn't particularly dangerous for me.
With my skills, there was no risk of being pierced by a stray spear or arrow.
I wasn't putting on this armor just to wander around among the soldiers, of course, but...
Fortunately, Balea didn't ask to come along.
It was a wise decision.
Balea wasn't a physical ability user, so slipping into a battlefield like that would be difficult for her.
I put on the armor, donned the helmet, and slipped out of the half-ruined house.
Murasen's forces were already in complete disarray, their formation broken.
There was no way forcibly conscripted peasants could maintain a proper military formation.
With knights and territorial soldiers guarding the rear to prevent desertions, the conscripts had no choice but to keep marching toward the village and its palisades.
Using the darkness of dawn, I blended in among the soldiers.
I moved among the corpses and churned-up earth, and no one noticed me infiltrating their ranks.
Once I squeezed in among the soldiers, a heavy pressure closed in from all sides.
Huff. Huff.
Rough, heavy breathing echoed all around me, and the pungent stench of anxious sweat stung my nose.
Whether they had downed alcohol or drugs before setting out, the conscripts' eyes were bloodshot.
'So this is what real war is like...'
It felt entirely different from any fight I'd experienced so far.
Even for someone like me, whose mind and body far surpassed those of ordinary people, it was difficult to keep a clear head in this environment.
The desperate desire to survive and the drug-induced madness filled the air.
It felt almost like a mental attack.
I enveloped myself in mana, pushing back the encroaching madness.
Once the madness cleared, I realized the wooden palisades were already close at hand.
'Are we going to have a siege...'
A siege would be a bit troublesome.
Most of the people defending the palisades were just villagers.
I wasn't particularly keen on seeing innocent villagers, who had nothing to do with this civil war, get hurt.
A siege wasn't what I wanted.
What I wanted was...
At that moment, the village gates began to open.
Rumble!
Shouts erupted from the rear.
"Everyone, raise your spears!"
"Point your weapons forward! The knights are coming!"
The gates swung wide open, and the knights charged out.
They were the Royal Knights, their crests erased to conceal their identities.
It was a shallow deception, but in a world without journalists or newspapers, it was more than enough.
Bursting through the gates, the knights charged toward the soldiers.
The breathing around me grew even more ragged.
"Please..."
"Damn it! I don't want to die!"
"Mother..."
Fear spread rapidly among the soldiers.
Though fear gradually pushed back the madness, the soldiers couldn't stop marching.
"Do not stop! Anyone who retreats will be beheaded on the spot!"
That was because of the knights shouting from behind.
'Aren't knights supposed to fight other knights? If they push the soldiers forward like this, the enemy knights will slaughter them all.'
Standing among the soldiers who were being forced forward, I tilted my head in confusion.
I simply couldn't comprehend Murasen's suicidal strategy.
But the shouts that rang out again soon answered my question.
"Knights, fall back! Do you plan to get wiped out like last time? The enemy knights will be dealt with by the soldiers!"
Hearing those shouts, I understood why Murasen, despite suffering a crushing defeat, was attacking again so soon.
Murasen's command intended to use the soldiers as shields to block Viscount Morena's ability.
Since their knights had been weakened by the ability last time, they figured they would let the common soldiers take the hit instead.
It was a trashy strategy that treated the soldiers as though their lives meant nothing—and a one-dimensional way of thinking that didn't even consider the possibility of the enemy using a different tactic.
The consequences of that choice unfolded right before my eyes.
The charging knights collided with the soldiers.
Boom!