Chapter 63 — Whose Side Are You On? (3)
Chapter 63 — Whose Side Are You On? (3)
Even with high loyalty, it was only natural for questions to arise about things one could not understand.
The working-level officials planning the supply routes centered on Hazak were no different.
Hazak was not close to the capital.
Though it was one of the major border cities scattered far and wide, it was not a city large enough to serve as a supply hub.
Their doubts were resolved on the day news of Erenier's victory arrived.
Every central official involved in the war
finally realized that His Majesty's prophecy had been correct.
It was an unbelievable report of triumph that no one had expected. After all, it was merely a warehouse raid.
They had figured the troops would just set a fire, cut off Merde's supply lines, and flee—yet it was a great victory with over a thousand enemy casualties.
The emperor's subordinates moved swiftly.
It was thanks to the emperor's foresight, which had predicted everything.
The unburned Merdan wheat was rapidly transported into Evirgio's territory.
Winter supplies for the soldiers were already being moved to the front lines as fast as they were completed. These ranged from bedding such as blankets to winter clothing like boots and gloves, as well as various small heating items.
Though Evirgio considered these the warm border regions, there were already places where snow was falling. The demon soldiers faced a winter warmer and fuller than ever before and praised the emperor.
— Your Majesty. It is a tremendous honor to be able to greet you directly.
A rough voice conveyed its greeting to Roan through the Communication Orb.
"You have worked hard, Vice-Captain."
— As Your Majesty's sword, I merely did what was expected.
The Central Knight Order was one of the units that had taken part in the attack on Merde's supply lines. Together with Erenier, they had achieved great merit.
Originally, only the knights of the Lord of the South Black Territory and Erenier were supposed to participate in this attack.
But at Roan's suggestion—out of concern for Erenier, and because he did not want only the Lord of the South Black Territory to reap all the glory—the Central Knight Order had joined.
They were the knight order that gathered the finest elite of the Evirgio military. Even the knight orders led by the great lords deferred to the Central Knight Order.
Such force had taken part.
The result was a greater success than expected.
This time, the Central Knight Order's fatalities were zero.
— Anyone watching would have thought it was a moving procession.
At the not-very-funny joke, Minoreus burst into loud laughter.
Roan, too, let out a small laugh. After all, they were speaking through a magical device that transmitted only voices.
Even superiors had to play the social game.
Perhaps pleased to have made his superiors laugh, the Dullahan knight's voice carried a cheerful note.
— I heard they stripped the place so thoroughly there wasn't even any wheat left to burn. Though of course, we only caught a glimpse of it while fighting the humans during the withdrawal....
The demon army, which had intended to ransack the granaries indiscriminately, set fires and retreat before being surrounded by the enemy, ended up looting wheat until Merde's warehouses were completely empty.
— It was also the first time I had seen Lady Erenier unleash magic so spectacularly like that.
"Hm, is that so?"
Roan, too, had never seen Erenier fight using magic. Even in the game, it had only ever come up through hearsay.
At that, the Dullahan knight began to explain.
He seemed to think that since the subject was the emperor's betrothed, His Majesty would be interested.
— Originally, Lady Erenier is a mage exceptionally skilled in curses and flame. When Lady Erenier swept across the battlefield, there were few survivors.
"Hm."
— Though, of course, allied soldiers were often sacrificed as well.
"...Excuse me?"
Roan, who had been nodding with satisfaction, opened his eyes wide and asked back, but the Dullahan continued speaking in a cheerful tone as if it were nothing.
With an odd feeling, Roan turned to look at Minoreus. But the Knight Commander was also looking back at Roan with a gaze that said, "Is something the matter?"
...Huh? The part about allied soldiers being sacrificed—was that not strange?
— This time, we adjusted our tactics with Your Majesty's words in mind. The method was for knights such as ourselves to defend Lady Erenier while herding the enemy into one place, then attacking that spot with magic.
Adjusted their tactics? Was that not just the normal way to use magic? Was this different from the RPG combat common sense I knew?
"...Before that, was Erenier's magic not used in such a manner?"
— When curse or flame magic is used on a battlefield where friend and foe are intermingled, casualties are unavoidable. That is because it is impossible to place a mage on the very front line and have her attack only the enemy.
So there was no choice but to use the soldiers as shields. For those incompetents, it was a glorious death and a proper use of them.
Roan felt a moment of dizziness.
Apparently, until now, she had simply been blasting magic right into the middle of mixed friendly and enemy forces.
The face of the Lord of the North White Territory suddenly came to mind.
Were all mages psychopaths? Surely not.
Had she finally realized she should use magic only against the enemy, after he had told her to factor in the survival rate?
— But soldiers aside, would it not be a waste to sacrifice knights to magic?
Aah.
So because they were weak soldiers, it was no great loss.
— So this time, our Central Knight Order and the South Black Territory Knight Order devoted ourselves as much as possible to herding the humans so that Lady Erenier could use her magic efficiently.
Seeing Roan's expression grow subtle, Minoreus abruptly read the emperor's mood and quickly spoke to the Vice-Captain.
"Vice-Captain Turko."
— Yes, Commander!
A clanking, clattering sound of metal armor adjusting its posture could be heard.
"Even a weak soldier is a precious subject of His Majesty. Which means they are His Majesty's property. Handle them with care."
— I shall bear it in mind!
Hearing their exchange, Roan let out a sigh.
Right. Rather than going on about human rights, telling them not to damage my property was far quicker. Minoreus might have already understood it that way.
In any case, as long as allied troops were not being expended for no reason, was that not good enough?
"I interrupted without meaning to. My apologies, Your Majesty."
"It is fine. Continue, Vice-Captain."
— Yes! So Lady Erenier then....
What followed was gore.
Among demonkind, there were many with exceptionally keen night vision.
Demons with undead or bestial traits were said to perceive no distinction between day and night in their field of vision. Demon Beasts, too, had sharp night vision. They were carnivores, after all.
With them at the core, the South Black Territory Knight Order, the Central Knight Order, and Erenier crossed the Evirgio border in the dead of night, racing on Demon Beasts.
The warehouses were neutralized in an instant.
Most were annihilated before they could even light a torch and raise a flame. Those who tried to flee were slaughtered by the Demon Beasts.
Then, while the Evirgio soldiers who had followed behind ransacked the warehouses, the two knight orders and Erenier cast a roadblock.
The South Black Territory Knight Order guarded Erenier, while the Central Knight Order, mounted on Demon Beasts, bounded across the hills like mountain goats and herded the human soldiers into one place.
And then Erenier's magic fell.
The first human unit was swallowed by a fissure from the ground-shaking spell.
The second unit danced until the very moment they burned alive, then perished.
The third unit, it was said, all had their waists sliced clean in half at once by invisible blades.
With that blood as a sacrifice, the fourth unit froze like stone statues and shattered to death.
The soldiers who tried to evade the magic collapsed, spraying blood under the fangs of the Demon Beasts and the combined assault of the two knight orders.
The operation, which began around midnight, was said to have ended only when the sky began to lighten.
— Normally, Lady Erenier uses magic once and then rests for half a day.... But yesterday, she was truly remarkable. I have never seen a mage capable of casting that kind of magic so many times.
Suddenly, Erenier's words came to mind.
Erenier's words, promising that she would win no matter what.
It seemed she had truly wanted to keep that promise. Roan's heart grew tender.
— In the end, I heard, she drew upon her power to such an extent that the knights of the South Black Territory had to restrain her. I was told she collapsed from exhaustion afterward.
"Oh dear. And now?"
Then, suddenly, a noisy sound came through.
— One moment..., wha—!
— No, Lady Erenier, if you do this...!
— Roan♡♡♡
Roan, whose eyes met Minoreus's, ended up laughing softly.
It seemed his worrying had been unnecessary.
— I won♡!!
"Well done, Erenier. You have worked very hard."
— Aah♡ Roan told me, well done♡♡♡
Vice-Captain, did you hear? Did you hear?
— Ah, yes, Lady Erenier.
From a distance, the flustered voice of Vice-Captain Turko could be heard. It seemed the Communication Orb had been snatched from him.
To dare disrupt a report being made to His Majesty.
Strictly by the book, it was grounds for punishment.
Originally, the Central Knight Order and the retainers of the South Black Territory had been on poor terms.
The knights of the South Black Territory had never doubted that the moment the Lord of the South Black Territory became emperor, they too would become the Central Knight Order.
Naturally, the two groups treated each other as bitter rivals.
But this was the Central Knight Order, which had witnessed Erenier's desperate battle firsthand. Their assessment of the emperor's betrothed had changed considerably over the course of that single day.
They were comrades who had risked their lives fighting together, after all.
So the Vice-Captain, who in the past would have nitpicked every detail and insisted that the knight order’s honor had been sullied, merely smiled as he watched the emperor’s betrothed eager to boast of her battle honors.
'I want to see my girlfriend too....'
That was roughly what crossed his mind.
— Thank you, Roan♡
"Since you kept your promise, I ought to give you a gift. I shall give it to you at the New Year Festival."
— A gi-, a gift?! Roan's gift♡ Can I ask what it is?!
Roan grinned.
"I shall make you pregnant."
— ......! P-preg, ......!
Silence.
"...Erenier?"
And then a scream.
— Kyaa, Lady Erenier!
— Is anyone outside! Summon an apothecary!
— We told you not to overexert yourself!
Suddenly, everything became noisy and chaotic.
...I-, I was only joking....
He felt Minoreus's sharp gaze on the back of his head.
"...Erm."
Having already heard the gist of the report anyway, the Vice-Captain's briefing ultimately petered out amid the commotion. In any case, they had won. Was that not enough?
Roan was greatly relieved that history was proceeding according to the game's course. Though that was not all there was to it.
News of the victory stirred the entire castle into excitement.
Aranya appeared in the emperor's office with a beaming face. The person she had brought along was Shwikviena.
"Your Majesty. Congratulations."
"I offer my congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Erenier and the knight orders did the hard work."
"There is no need for Your Majesty to hide your own credit."
The chancellor's eyes gleamed.
"Had the Central Knight Order not participated under Your Majesty's command, could such a great victory have been achieved?"
Aranya was the one who stood at the head of the central nobles who kept the great lords in check. If power were concentrated in someone other than the emperor, imperial authority would waver.
Thus, she was most pleased above all that the Lord of the South Black Territory had not monopolized the battle honors alone.
"We were fortunate."
Once again, the chancellor marveled at the emperor's humility.
"In any case, how fare your own troops?"
Right after that, when the sun rose, the Merdan army, driven by fury, had launched a frenzied pursuit all the way to the border.
Because if they did not recover the wheat by any means, their own winter preparations would be disrupted.
But that, too, had been anticipated.
The forces of the lords guarding the south blocked the advancing Merdan army as if they had been lying in wait. In the end, the Merdan army, gnashing their teeth, had no choice but to withdraw with little to show for it in order to reduce their losses.
Among those forces were the troops of Aranya and Shwikviena.
"They would not have had the confidence to cross the border themselves. They could have been surrounded, after all. They retreated the moment they judged they could not recover the wheat carts and wagons. Casualties were light, Your Majesty."
"We lost not a single soldier, Your Majesty."
Shwikviena smiled.
Though it had been a passive defensive engagement, when one had to count the numbers, losing no soldiers was a deeply gratifying result.
"It is said the soldiers' movements have changed markedly. Perhaps that is why, Your Majesty."
"Their movements have changed?"
At Roan's question, Shwikviena answered.
"Yes. Their concentration is said to have improved, and their actions have grown faster. I have heard that, with morale elevated overall, the execution of orders has become far more efficient."
It was only to be expected.
They slept soundly in barracks that had grown a little warmer,
wore equipment that had grown a little warmer,
and ate meals that were a little better provided.
With just that, people gained ample strength.
Shwikviena, who had realized that obvious truth, would now likely pay a bit more attention to her soldiers.
"The portable warming device Your Majesty mentioned some time ago has also been well received."
"You mean the hand warmer?"
"Ah. Yes."
Aranya, as if unaccustomed to it, rolled the word "hand warmer" around in her mouth a few times.
It was an essential winter item, but hand warmers did not exist here.
Roan had pondered whether something similar could somehow be supplied as a substitute.
When he had asked if there was a way to carry heated stones while preserving their warmth for a long time, a capable research team at a defense contractor had discovered a type of ore that retained heat for extended periods.
Originally, this stone—no matter how much it was heated, it produced only a faint warmth and had been discarded as useless—suddenly became an essential item for every Evirgio soldier.
"They like it?"
It was not something he had made himself, but hearing that his idea was excellent was gratifying all the same.
Aranya's eyes went round.