Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Clash with Fisher
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A sword suddenly flew in from the blind spot.
“Wha!?”
Even Fisher couldn’t help but be startled. He hadn’t even thought to block the weapon and had to roll his body away.
Snikt! The tip of the sword grazed his neck.
Thud! Fisher, who had rolled across the ground, frantically wiped his neck with his palm.
Blood smeared on his fingertips. Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep cut.
“The left-handed sword... You, are you a warrior of the Chester Style...!”
Als charged at the fallen Fisher without a word. Fisher quickly regained his stance and countered.
The two exchanged over twenty passes in a fierce duel, but in the end, Als had no choice but to fall back.
Facing Fisher, Als felt his mouth go dry.
‘This guy... He might be as strong as Eonia, or even a bit stronger.’
Eonia usually came off as sloppy, and seemed lacking compared to people like Iliya or Anton, but she was actually a considerable powerhouse.
Fisher was a warrior on par with that Eonia.
Als, who had aimed to take him down with a surprise attack, backed off without hesitation once he saw the opponent recover. Giving him space recklessly could mean getting himself killed.
Fisher showed interest in this.
“Not bad. The way you create distance... It looks like you’ve faced plenty of strong opponents.”
“There are tons of those kinds of people around me.”
“Hah, so? You’re just going to retreat like that?”
“No way.”
“...?”
“Dillas! Fire!”
At that command, whoosh! Over fifty mercenaries fired their crossbows at Fisher in unison.
It was one of the greatest advantages of the crossbow.
Unlike a bow, which required drawing the string each time, a crossbow could be pre-loaded and fired instantly on command.
Moreover, at close range, its power was several times that of a bow.
“Tch!”
Judging that he couldn’t dodge all the incoming bolts, Fisher grabbed a nearby ally and used him as a shield.
“G-General!?”
“Sorry. Die for me instead.”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud! The soldier died riddled with bolts all over his body. Since he was wearing iron armor, its defensive effect was superior to most shields.
Even so, a few bolts pierced through and embedded in Fisher’s body and legs. This cost him some of his combat ability, but reinforcements sent by Barrett had closed in nearby, securing his safety.
Als sneered as he spoke.
“How ruthless. Look at the face of the soldier behind you right now. It’s a sight to behold.”
“...A necessary sacrifice. I can’t afford to die.”
Fisher’s wariness toward Als was on a completely different level from how he treated Ruan or Casper.
“You... What’s your name.”
“Ha! If you think I’ll tell you just because you asked, you’re really an idiot.”
“Fine. Consider yourself lucky today. If the situation were different, your head would be saying goodbye to your body right now.”
“You’re the lucky one. If I’d had overall command, you wouldn’t be walking away alive.”
“...?”
Als turned without delay.
“Returning to the formation!”
Fisher stared at his retreating back for a moment before withdrawing to the rearmost medical area to tend his wounds.
*
*
*
When I returned to the formation, Dorothy came rushing over in a fuss.
“Als! Where’d you go, doing something so dangerous!”
“I had some quick business. More importantly, any word from General Delbadova?”
“I heard he’d retreat once the chaos settled, but at this rate, retreat’s impossible!”
“Yeah.”
The enemy forces were already pushing in fiercely.
‘The retreat timing’s missed. Better to counterattack instead.’
That was the calculation behind me going out to capture the big guy myself. Taking him out would at least improve the battle situation somewhat.
I hadn’t killed him, but rendering him combat-ineffective for the time being made counterattacking a viable option.
General Delbadova must have thought the same—retreat would mean too many losses at the tail end—so he abandoned retreat altogether and engaged.
“Repel the enemy! Show them the might of Caliper!”
A chaotic melee on the battlefield. Unable to command other units, I decided to hold position protecting Dorothy’s archer unit.
That alone put tremendous pressure on the enemy.
“Grimwood Archers! Fire!”
Dorothy repeatedly loosed arrows at the enemy center. This pinned down their center, severing the connection between their vanguard and center.
Annoyed by this, the enemy commander targeted Dorothy’s archers with 2,000 troops.
“The enemy’s coming! Ilrain Infantry! We’ll hold them!”
I personally stood at the front and intercepted the enemy.
‘How long has it been since I fought like this...!’
My arm grew heavy from nonstop spear thrusts. Corpses piled up below, leaving little footing, and the splattering blood blurred my vision.
As far as I could remember, the last time I’d fought in such a melee was the first battlefield I’d ever seen, the Pol dik Highlands battle—and that had been the first and last.
After that, with Eonia, Ymir, and the others backing me up, I hadn’t needed to fight this grueling.
Even in close-quarters battles, reliable comrades had my back, so I never felt this sense of crisis—like I could die any moment, every nerve on edge.
The sensation of standing on the death line.
‘This must be what Master wanted to teach me.’
With my nerves on edge, my focus sharpened, and the sharpness and efficiency of my fighting spirit rose. I could even see into blind spots.
“Dieee!”
Killing intent from an enemy soldier charging my flank.
Instinctively, whoosh! I thrust my spear that way.
I hadn’t even looked, but when I checked, the spear had pierced the enemy’s vital spot perfectly.
“Haa! Haa...!”
A boiling surge of exhilaration.
I condensed that exhilaration, honing it razor-sharp.
“Captain!”
Then, Dillas shouted at me.
“Some enemy troops are bypassing the formation toward the archers!”
“Tch!”
If Eonia or Ymir were here, we could handle this easily.
Alone, without authority, I suddenly had too much to do.
“Send troops to protect them now! No... I’ll go!”
I left the remaining fight to Dillas and headed to the archers’ position with 300 troops.
The enemy force that had broken through numbered 200. Their goal was to close in on the archers and stop them from shooting.
But even archers weren’t just bow-only.
They were issued swords and wooden shields as secondary weapons.
Units with too many troops might not get them, but our Caliper force was only 20,000 strong, so the soldiers were well-equipped.
As the enemy approached, the archers stowed their bows and drew swords and shields.
That was enough. The approaching enemy was just 200.
Meanwhile, even as archers, Dorothy’s unit had 2,000.
Charging in meant annihilation.
So the enemy aimed for vitals.
“Target the officers!”
The archers’ Achilles’ heel was their officers. Without officers to command, an archer unit’s efficiency plummeted.
The enemy knew and hunted officers.
Their first target: Dorothy, standing cluelessly in the front row.
Dorothy trembled, pale-faced. She held a sword, but when the enemy officer swung, ting! She dropped it limply.
The enemy officer, unaware she was the commander, swung indifferently like he was cutting down a grunt.
“Ah, ahh...!”
Dorothy stared vacantly at the sword falling toward her head.
“Damn it!”
Too far away, I threw my spear to save her, but thud! It embedded in an enemy soldier who’d suddenly crossed the path.
A desperate moment.
I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch.
But then.
“Raaargh!”
Whoosh, whoosh-whoosh, crunch! A guy guarding Dorothy’s front, mowing down enemies with a cheap sword issued to regular soldiers.
“Heh heh, about time for my turn!”
It was Aegert, attached to Dorothy as her orderly.
He faced the enemy soldiers with fierce eyes.
“Come on! All of you, come at me!”
With natural body movements, he butchered the enemy. In that instant, he took down over ten.
Securing immediate safety, Aegert extended a hand to Dorothy.
“You commanders are all such weaklings. I’ll protect you, so get up already.”
“Y-Yeah. Th-Thank you.”
The crisis wasn’t over. As Aegert showed his prowess, the enemy mistook him for an officer and swarmed more.
“Yeah, come on!”
Aegert entered combat stance.
Before they could, I crashed in and swept the enemy away.
“Haaaaah!”
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom! A six-strike combo with full power. Not stopping there, I drew my left-hand sword and cleared them in one go.
I then toyed with approaching soldiers using Chester Style’s signature fluid movements, like a dance.
“Whew...! Aegert, just protect Dorothy. I’ll handle the rest.”
“O-Okay, weakling captain... Wait, not a weakling!?”
Leaving Dorothy’s protection to Aegert, I methodically eliminated the group raiding the archers.
*
*
*
A fierce battle raged on the field.
Barrett furrowed his brow at the unexpectedly stubborn resistance.
“They fight well. As expected of the army that took down Rexite.”
The battle was even. Casualties were similar on both sides.
“Too bad Fisher left the field early. This... Excessive losses aren’t ideal.”
Then, a scout knelt before him.
“Message from General Landon Crowe! Bekavia forces are forming reinforcements as expected! They’ll march soon to relieve the Caliper army!”
“Good. We need to inflate those reinforcements’ numbers as much as possible. Tell Landon Crowe to press hard!”
“Yes!”
The scheme began to unfold.
“This should buy enough time. Alright, vanguard—withdraw!”
Around noon, Barrett pulled back his army. Western losses: 6,000. Caliper: 5,500. Nearly equal.
As the Western army withdrew, the Caliper forces simply gathered wounded and immediately fled.
Our fleeing army could only rest once night deepened.
With no supplies, soldiers clutched hungry stomachs and forced sleep.
Even we officers got rations, but barely enough.
‘I came prepared for this!’
My secret weapon: Eonia’s lunchbox.
I untied the bundle in my satchel’s right pocket.
It contained jerky made by Eonia herself.
Normal jerky was tasteless, but Eonia’s was top-tier. One bite reminded me of premium department store jerky, full of umami.
I chewed the jerky vigorously, sating my hunger.
“Whoops, I ended up scarfing it down.”
To be safe, I decided to ration Eonia’s lunchbox.
I pulled out the second emergency ration from my satchel’s left pocket: Ymir’s lunchbox.
Ymir’s was hardtack. Its standout feature: a deep green color.
One bite, and thick grass flavor hit.
“Urk!”
I dry-heaved involuntarily, but as it digested, my body warmed and felt invigorated.
“Als? What’re you doing?”
It was Dorothy.
With a weary face, she said,
“The officers’ meeting’s about to start. If we don’t go soon...”
Dorothy’s eyes fixed on the jerky still in my satchel. She soon licked her lips, salivating.
“What’s... that?”
“Emergency rations from home. Didn’t you bring any?”
“I did, but... I gave them away.”
“Gave them? To who?”
“Aegert. It’d be weird if I ate while he starved.”
“Sigh, you even gave away your officer rations?”
“Yeah...”
“Always so nice. Here, have one. High nutrition—one’s enough.”
“Really okay?”
“Yeah. Bekavia guys’ll bring supplies tomorrow anyway. And if you collapse from hunger, that’d be worse.”
“Yeah, thanks then.”
Dorothy bit into the jerky and soon wore an ecstatic expression.
“What is this? First time for jerky this good!”
“Hah, of course.”
“You didn’t make it, right? Wow, your chef’s amazing!”
“Ch-Chef?”
Chef. I could picture Eonia’s face if she heard.
‘Can’t argue, though.’
To me, Eonia was the best chef too.
After devouring the jerky, Dorothy’s face brightened.
We headed together to the command tent for the officers’ meeting.
The others were already there, voices audible.
“Do you even know what you’ve done!”
Curses rained down on the cadet officers, including Casper.