Table of Contents
Table of Contents Page
Prologue: The Direction of the War
Chapter 2: Centena’s Situation
Chapter 4: A Terrifying Situation
Chapter 5: The Strongest Reinforcements
Chapter 7: Yelenetta’s Intentions
Side Story: Dee and Stradale’s Past
Side Story: Till and Esparda’s Past
Newsletter
Copyrights and Credits
Prologue: The Direction of the War
Prologue:
The Direction of the War
“WELCOME, APOLLO,” I SAID, RAISING BOTH HANDS and greeting him by name as the man rushed into the room.
Apollo blinked at me, his expression betraying not so much surprise as the strained look of someone who had just realized something. He straightened his ever so slightly disheveled clothes, then took a breath, stepped up to my table, and looked straight at me.
“It is good to see you again, Lord Van. I’m also pleased to see everyone doing well. First, allow me to apologize for requesting an audience without advance notice. What I wanted to discuss was so pressing that I rushed here at the first opportunity, but it seems I was needlessly worried,” he explained with a smile and a bow.
Behind me, Khamsin, Till, and Arte all bowed in return. Apollo cast his gaze upon the map spread out on my table. I was guessing he had intel on Yelenetta’s movements, and given that he’d rushed over, they were probably doing something unexpected. The thing that would affect us most directly would be, well, Yelenetta attempting to attack Seatoh…but I got the impression that wasn’t the case.
“Am I right in assuming it won’t be a direct assault?” I asked. “What are they up to?” Having been unable to fully read Yelenetta’s intentions, I decided to just ask Apollo straight up. It was a little depressing to have to do so, but it would be even more embarrassing to make confident predictions only to have them proven wrong.
But Apollo seemed impressed. He nodded at me. “I would expect no less from you, Lord Van. I knew you would predict their movements. They have decided to use another country.”
“What?” I blurted, dropping my gaze to the map. Arte and the others standing behind me followed suit. The only nation that both Yelenetta and Scuderia bordered was the United Nations of Shelbia.
“What kind of country is Shelbia?” Till asked over my shoulder.
Apollo was a merchant, yes, but he was also a guest from the Business Guild, a massive organization. But despite Till’s casual tone, he smiled and explained it in simple terms. “It is a bit unusual, as nations go. In fact, it was originally two smaller countries that united to fight a neighboring threat. As a result, its east and west sides have completely different cultures, so instead of a monarchy, they have representatives for each side. Those representatives take turns guiding the country as a whole.”
Till smiled and bowed slightly, apparently realizing she’d slipped up. “Ah, my apologies. I forgot to put out tea,” she said bashfully. It wasn’t the only thing she’d forgotten to do, given the circumstances, but apparently, it was the error she found most embarrassing. That made sense, considering how much she enjoyed teatime.
I smiled. “Well, your tea is absolutely delicious, after all. Oh, and could you bring some snacks too?”
“Certainly. I will prepare them right away.” She left the room looking happy, her steps light as a feather.
I watched her leave, then turned back to Apollo. “So, which side do you think is allying with Yelenetta?”
His face tightened. In a lower tone, he replied, “The east side.”
I nodded. “But isn’t Shelbia allied with Scuderia?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to confirm.
“Before Shelbia became a country,” Apollo said, his expression unchanging, “the west side had an alliance with Scuderia. That remains the case even now. The east side, however, had an alliance with Yelenetta that also remains in place. And now, with the war, the nobility on either side of the country are engaged in some kind of conflict.”
I could sense Khamsin inhaling sharply behind me. Given the circumstances and the parties involved, though, this wasn’t exactly surprising. Yelenetta was winning the information war by leaps and bounds, so I assumed they had nobility, merchants, or even adventurer spies here in Scuderia. And of course I’d considered the possibility of outside interference from another nation.
That was why Apollo’s words weren’t particularly shocking. I mean, yes, I was a little surprised, but not that much. Seriously. With that in mind, I cleared my throat and looked back at the map.
“If that’s the case, then the west side is probably in a vulnerable position, huh? I suppose one look at Yelenetta’s new weapons would be enough to make you think they have the best shot at victory. Well, it is what it is, I guess.” I sighed.
Khamsin couldn’t conceal his indignation. In a tone laced with quiet anger, he said, “I do not think it’s right to abandon someone you’ve formed an alliance with.”
I smiled at this earnest expression of his thoughts, then passed the baton to Arte, who had been listening quietly this entire time. “If you were a representative of Shelbia, what would you do?” I asked her. “Pretend like I’m not in Scuderia.”
“Um…” She mumbled something in a panic. It was extremely cute. “…W-well, if you weren’t in Scuderia, then I might think Yelenetta was the stronger force and side with them. Their black balls would have me worrying about what might happen to Shelbia if we incurred Yelenetta’s ire.”
She sounded apologetic as she shared her analysis, but Arte really was extraordinarily intelligent. She was already thinking about what effects the war would have on our surroundings. To my knowledge, this wasn’t something she had been taught. I wondered how she cultivated such talents. It was mysterious to me.
“Right,” I agreed. “When a powerful nation emerges, you have to come up with all kinds of ways to avoid getting invaded. If you have the power to fight back, great, but if you can’t, you need to ally with them somehow. In other words, Shelbia decided that Yelenetta is stronger and more of a threat than we are. Normally they’d have an internal power struggle to figure out who to side with, but maybe the nobility in favor of Scuderia struggled to convince the others to ally with us.”
I placed my index finger on the map near the border of Shelbia and Yelenetta.
Apollo’s expression darkened, and he nodded. “Still, some of them should have sided with Scuderia. It’s possible that someone on Scuderia’s side has been manipulating the flow of information,” he murmured, carefully examining my reaction.
“If so, it would have to be someone with territory on the border with Shelbia.”
Apollo pointed to a single spot on the map: a location on the border of Scuderia and Shelbia’s west side. Everyone in the room grimaced.
“I’ve brought delicious tea and snacks! Here you go, everyone,” Till said, setting it all down on the table. She noticed me staring down at the map, and in a nonchalant voice, asked, “Ah, that’s Lord Fertio’s territory, yes? Is something going on over there?”
Apollo lifted his finger from the map and looked at me, unsure how to answer her.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I pointed at the capital of Shelbia. “Well, apparently Yelenetta has allied with Shelbia to take us down. We should have gotten intel from House Fertio about that, but there’s been nothing. And that’s odd.” I stopped short of outright calling my father a traitor.
Looking down at the map, Till said half-heartedly, “I see… Ah, I baked some cookies! You should have them while they’re still warm!” Apparently, none of this was particularly interesting to her.
That was enough to break the tension in the room. Apollo, Arte, and Khamsin started to chuckle. I had to hand it to Till: She was great at lightening a mood.
I turned to Apollo. With all the urgency of a conversation about the weather, I asked, “What do you think about all of this? Did my father betray Scuderia? Or is our losing this information war the work of another member of the nobility in his faction?”
Apollo sighed and shook his head. “I apologize, but I do not have an answer. If the flow of information really is stopping in House Fertio’s territory, then I imagine it would be near impossible to fully prevent any leaks unless you had the power and influence of the marquis. That being said, House Fertio took significant damage during the prior battle to defend Scudet, and the marquis still participated in the battle to the very end. He even managed to successfully take back the city and capture a member of Yelenetta’s royal family. If he really is working with Yelenetta, why has he not interfered?”
“In other words, only someone with as much influence as a marquis would be able to manipulate the flow of information—but at the same time, Lord Jalpa has done nothing to imply that he is a traitor. Hmm, I think you’re right. Heck, I watched him completely stop Yelenetta’s new weapons firsthand. And Prince Unimog gave up information super easily, so we had a firm grasp on Yelenetta’s tactics when they invaded Scudet.” Glossing over the bits that were more difficult to predict, I added, “I imagine they only recently decided to cooperate with Shelbia, which means that not much time has passed since that information hit House Fertio’s territory.”
Apollo nodded. Khamsin, on the other hand, stared at the map with an expression that told me he was having trouble following the conversation. I decided to explain things in simpler terms.
First, I pointed at Yelenetta. “This is all just conjecture, but if I were to break down the current situation… At first, having acquired the black balls and cannons, Yelenetta thought they could take down Scuderia on their own. Unfortunately for them, things didn’t go as planned, so they were forced to change their strategy. Now, they’ve essentially threatened Shelbia into cooperating. The east side of Shelbia already had an alliance with them, so they agreed at once. The nation’s current representative is from that east side, which means all of Shelbia is now backing Yelenetta.”
I slid my finger across the map, from Shelbia to House Fertio’s territory. “Meanwhile, the west side, which was allied with us, is pushing back. They’re weighing the possible outcomes if Scuderia wins this war, and colluding with Lord Jalpa under the table. Obviously, they can’t openly defy their own country’s current policy and join forces with us to attack Yelenetta, but they can leak information to us. The problem is that Lord Jalpa hasn’t passed any of that supposed information to His Majesty.”
I looked up and found everyone attentive and somber, listening to my explanation. It wasn’t clear if Till understood what I was saying, but she was at least drinking her tea with a serious look on her face. Well…the fact that she was drinking tea at all suggested to me that she was only half paying attention, but she was doing her best to give off an “I’m quite serious!” aura.
Of course, this was all just conjecture on my part. Conjecture based on imagined scenarios. I continued. “Everything I’m about to say is honestly just my own guesswork, but…knowing my father, he probably believes his position is under threat due to what happened in Scudet and the various battles with Yelenetta leading up to our invasion operation. Lord Jalpa spent a great deal of his life amassing power, and now he feels as though he has failed. In that situation, what would he do?”
I pointed at the area around Seatoh Village.
“Oh, and just for the record, the alleged Chivalric Order that House Fertio sent to participate in His Majesty’s operation was being led by my two older brothers, Jard and Sesto. Which means that House Fertio’s main fighting force—their real Chivalric Order—didn’t answer the call to battle.”
“Oh!” Arte said, surprised.
“Did you think of something?” I asked, encouraging her to share her thoughts.
“U-um, well,” she began, flustered. “House Ferdinatto was in a similar position before, so… Is it possible that Lord Jalpa is attempting to hold back Shelbia all on his own?”
Apollo’s eyes went wide. “I was aware that Lord Van possessed wisdom beyond his years, but it seems his wife is just as wise.”
“Ah, um, I’m not his wife…yet…”
Arte waved her hands, face red as an apple. But Till tossed a cookie into Arte’s mouth and gave Arte a warm look.
“In all honesty, I’ve been treating you as his wife for some time, Lady Arte.”
“Wh-what? Till, come on!”
I smiled at their back-and-forth, then turned to Apollo. “To go back to our discussion, I think if Shelbia makes a move, it will be related to House Fertio one way or another, so we should probably do something. For better or worse, Seatoh is located on the edge of House Fertio’s territory, so we’re close anyway. Might as well go and take a look.” With no other options available to us, I stood up. “Khamsin, can you go get Esparda for me? We’re going to be gone for two or three months.”
Murcia
I HAD ALWAYS BEEN TOO CAREFUL. MY FATHER SCOLDED me for it time and time again, and even I disliked that aspect of my own personality. Then Van made me the lord of a castle and left me to defend it amidst a pivotal war, one in which even His Majesty was participating. The pressure alone was enough to make me want to flee from it all. But with the future in such flux, I couldn’t.
If nothing else, I hoped and prayed that Yelenetta wouldn’t target us. That wish was granted when Yelenetta opted not to pull off a decisive victory against us, but to pursue a much stranger tactic.
“They’re here!” Dee shouted, mere seconds before the sound of explosions shook the ground. Shortly thereafter, Panamera and Ventury, both elemental mages, began to loudly issue commands.
“Mage squad, begin the counterattack!” cried Ventury.
“I will strike first!” Panamera announced, taking the initiative to launch a blast of fire magic. “Anyone who believes their attacks will reach the enemy, follow suit!”
“Yes, ma’am!” The other mages began to cast ice, wind, and earth spells. A magical barrage composed of dozens of spells flew toward the group attacking our fortress city.
The enemy’s cannons, the new weapon that Van had taught us all about, were powerful enough to rival—and in some cases, surpass—an elemental mage. I heard an explosion. Moments later, a part of the wall began to collapse, even though it was nearly out of range of any kind of magic spell. Not even Van’s walls could stand up to multiple fast-flying iron spheres.
A wall that was repaired the standard way would collapse after a single shot to its weak point. First-class elemental mages were valuable, but it took them many years to develop the skill necessary for such an attack. In that sense, these new cannons might be more powerful after all.
His Majesty’s expression darkened as we chased off the cannons multiple times.
“Your Majesty,” Ventury reported, “Yelenetta’s troops have started their retreat.”
His Majesty nodded slightly. “Hmm. Should we march forward with all our men? If the enemy is waiting for us with those cannons of theirs, and the terrain is disadvantageous, we could suffer massive losses.” He raised his head, looked at Ventury and the others, and said in a low voice, “What do you all think? It appears to me as though they are trying to stall for time, but for what? What do they have to gain from that?”
After a moment’s thoughtful silence, Ventury offered his thoughts. “They could be mass-producing those cannons.”
His Majesty frowned and tilted his head. “They were supposed to have acquired them from the Central Continent. Are you suggesting they found a way to begin making them, instead? Or that they’ve already been doing so? If so, the more time we give them, the worse off we will be. I cannot, however, imagine that mass-producing such weapons would be an easy task.”
His Majesty understood the danger implied by Ventury’s hypothesis but remained skeptical about its likelihood. The other nobles hesitated, but when His Majesty cast his gaze on them, they panicked and spoke up.
“Perhaps they hope to keep us pinned down so that they can invade from the coast?” said one.
“Or they could try to take Scudet again…” another suggested.
“Foolishness,” a third scoffed. “That would be impossible without first taking this fortress city.”
His Majesty listened in silence for a time, but nothing they said seemed to resonate with him. He glanced at Panamera, who looked unamused. “You’ve been quiet. Do you have any thoughts on the matter, Lady Panamera?”
All heads turned to look at her. In her position, this would have been enough to make my voice tremble, but Panamera flashed an invincible smile and said confidently, “I’ve been thinking about Yelenetta’s strategy for the past few days. I came up with three scenarios. One, Yelenetta plans to introduce either reinforcements or a new weapon to the battlefield. Two, they plan to invade our country from somewhere else. The third and final possibility is that they will form an alliance with another country, if they haven’t done so already.”
Multiple nobles stirred. His Majesty, by contrast, calmly nodded and turned to me. I braced myself for whatever was coming as he quirked a corner of his mouth and said, “Allied forces, eh? That would be trouble. Murcia, I would like to hear your thoughts.”
Now everyone’s eyes were on me. Seeing Panamera turn her head to carefully observe me, I scrambled to put my thoughts in order. Due to my overcautious personality, I kept coming up with worst case scenarios, but I couldn’t just keep my mouth shut.
“Um, this might be impudent of me, but if they have formed an alliance, our greatest threat would be an invasion from multiple sides. The skilled and proficient Chivalric Orders defending our borders have kept multiple other nations at bay, but if Yelenetta has supplied an ally with the black balls, everything will change. Additionally, um, we have most of our fighting forces stationed here at F-Fortress City Murcia. Yelenetta might be keeping us pinned down here so that they can give a neighboring country an opening. In fact, Shelbia could invade through House Fertio’s territory…”
“I see. It would indeed change the rules of engagement if Shelbia got its hands on black balls and cannons. What do you think we should do? Leave a skeleton crew here and return to Seatoh Village?”
It sounded like he was testing me. I straightened my back. “U-um, I cannot give a definitive answer right now. If we too dramatically reduce the forces stationed here, we run the risk of being unable to fight back a potential invasion. I believe it would be best to send a capable Chivalric Order to Seatoh Village, then have Lord Van go to House Fertio’s territory.”
His Majesty rubbed his chin with his fingers, his smile deepening. “Hmm. So you’re saying that Lord Van could deal with Shelbia, should they have access to Yelenetta’s new weapons? You certainly seem to trust him.” He laughed.
My mouth jumped ahead of my mind. “Of course. Even if Yelenetta has allied with Shelbia, Van would be able to thwart them,” I replied with absolute confidence.
His Majesty burst into loud laughter. “Ha ha ha! Is that so? If you’re that confident in him, then I shall do exactly as you say! Lady Panamera, I thought I might ask you to accompany Lord Van; you are allies, after all. What do you think?”
“As you wish.”
The king not only acknowledging my thoughts, but immediately putting them into action? Not too long ago, this would have been unimaginable. It was like I had become the central figure in this entire discussion. Was I hallucinating? I felt unsteady and uneasy.
Panamera turned to me with a smile. “I appear to have underestimated you, Sir Murcia. Being able to direct one’s attention to places beyond the field of battle and anticipate the enemy’s next move are skills that any good commander must possess. I see you have a real talent for these things.”
I lowered my head bashfully, hoping I hadn’t upset her by speaking so arrogantly despite my lack of peerage. Before I could linger on that thought for too long, though, His Majesty nodded cheerfully and began to explain to us all what the plan would be going forward.
Chapter 1: Departure
Chapter 1:
Departure
NOW THEN, I NEEDED TO PREPARE SO THAT THIS little journey of ours would be a merry one. It took a group our size three weeks of travel to get to House Fertio’s territory, and getting from there to the Shelbia border would take an additional three weeks. Just the thought of a one-way trip taking anywhere from a month to a month and a half was enough to make me groan.
As such, Lil’ Van decided to build his very own luxury carriage. I drew inspiration from the mega-popular, high-class tourist train known as the “Shichisei.” For the record, I’d never actually had a chance to ride it in my previous life, but had really wanted to, leading me to look up all kinds of videos and photos of it back in the day. Relying on my vague memories, I got started making what I called the Cullinan—a super high-class carriage. It had a woodblock frame like all my previous carriages, but its interior boasted a unified dark-brown aesthetic, and the door and window frames were lined with gold. The seats were large, with cushions made from dark beast-hide to convey a posh vibe. I also put wooden blinds on the windows and even set up some ornamental lamps.
At first glance, the interior was so marvelous that you might be forgiven for thinking the carriage was reserved for royal use. I didn’t skimp on the exterior either, applying gold embellishments to the black undercoat for an understated but nonetheless classy look.
Case in point: Apollo. The second he saw the finished product, he exclaimed, “My word!” He took an excited lap around the vehicle. “I was a bit worried when you said you intended to make a carriage, but to think you could make something so brilliant in a day!”
Apollo belonged to the Business Guild, the largest guild in the entire world. He traveled all over and saw everything there was to see on this planet, so if he was surprised, that meant I’d done a good job.
On a personal level, I was pleased with my work. “Well, I put a lot of time and effort into getting it right. It should be super comfortable to ride in too.”
“A lot of time, you say?” Apollo echoed, exasperated. “Huh.” He checked the wheels and body of the carriage, paying extra attention to the frame, the shock-absorbing springs, and the interior. At the end of the day, he was a merchant above all else, so he was probably thinking about how much the carriage would go for on the market.
As I thought about this, Lowe returned, bringing with him a number of carriages loaded with stuff. “Lord Van, we’ve finished preparing your wardrobe, the preserved foods, and various spices!”
“Awesome. Thanks!”
My people had finished readying the most important stuff for our long outing. Khamsin and Till sprinted off to check on the packed carriages and voiced their surprise at the sheer amount of luggage.
“Wow, this sure is a lot of stuff,” Khamsin said.
“Ah, and so many spices!” said Till. “I should be able to do all my usual cooking!”
They stood on their tiptoes to get a look at the carrying trays.
Behind them, Arte covered her mouth with one hand to stifle a giggle. “Normally, a journey of this length would be exhausting, but thanks to you, I have the feeling we’ll be quite comfortable.”
“Right?” I agreed. “And while we’ll be out in the sticks, we’re just going to be following the road, so it should be pretty safe.”
Truth be told, though, I had some concerns. We’d be traveling in a small group this time around. Esparda had to stay behind in Seatoh Village, and I planned to leave the majority of our Seatoh Village Chivalric Order behind as well to defend our home. In other words, it was me, Lowe, Arte, Khamsin, Till, and the elites of my machine bow squad. No one else. I’d never been away from either Dee or Arb for a long period of time.
Like the invasion of Lord Ferdinatto’s territory, there was no way to know for certain where the enemy might choose to invade from next. Of course, it was unlikely Yelenetta would try to do so when they still had an enemy fortress sitting within their own territory. That would leave their capital exposed.
Even so, traveling in such a small group made me anxious. Daily life in the village, which was so much nicer than it had been when I first arrived, had gotten me a little too used to a cozy existence.
“Now then,” I said, “I think we’ll be able to finish getting ready today, so let’s head out tomorrow morning. Guys, make sure you’re not forgetting anything.” I directed that last bit at Arte, Khamsin, and Till.
Till suddenly looked at me. “Ah! Actually, the apkallu and dwarves said they want to talk to you, since you’ll be gone for a little while.”
“Huh? Didn’t they request meetings three days ago?” asked Khamsin.
“I definitely remember hearing that the day before yesterday,” murmured Arte.
“Likewise.”
I shot a pained smile at Till, who’d apparently forgotten to mention this request when she first received it. She giggled and tried to brush it all off.
That evening, I made my way to the apkallu community to meet with the two leaders, Ladavesta and Avtovaz, who greeted me with majestic expressions on their faces.
“Van, I heard you are heading into battle,” said Ladavesta.
“We pray for your good fortunes in battle,” said Avtovaz. “Please take this stone.”
They presented me with some kind of ore. It was bigger and more colorful than any I had seen before.
“Wait, is this…?”
I’d received a similar kind of ore twice before, but judging by the color and quality of this one…wasn’t this that one legendary, priceless metal?
“Even we do not come by such stones often.”
“We have started calling it orichalcum, like you humans do.”
I accepted their gift reverently. Internally, I was jumping for joy. “Thank you. I’ll make good use of this,” I said, taking it in my hands.
The large chunk of orichalcum was as heavy as it looked. I’d be able to make big progress on my plan of making a full set of hero equipment. Just recently, Ortho and the others had completed their mithril equipment sets, and they looked incredible even standing next to the royal family’s personal guard. How amazing would Dee and Khamsin look in full sets of orichalcum armor?
With that image in mind, I began crafting a plan to get my hands on more orichalcum.
I headed to the manor to pack away the orichalcum. On the way, I ran into the dwarves, the next group I intended to visit. Havel was leading the pack. As soon as he saw me, he excitedly raised a hand to speak—and then froze.
His dwarf pals, trailing him, started yelling at him. “Whoa! What’s goin’ on?!”
“Havel, why’re you just stopping in the middle of the road?!”
When they noticed me, they smiled, raised their hands…and then froze up too.
Till burst into laughter. “Wow, they’re like statues!”
Her words seemed to reboot them. They fixated on the piece of orichalcum in Khamsin’s hands, their expressions demonic. It took less than a second for them to start yelling.
“Oooh!”
“Th-that can’t be orichalcum, can it?!”
“And bigger than any piece I’ve ever seen!”
This is bad. “Khamsin, hide that!”
“O-okay!”
“Too late!”
“Lord Van, let us have it!”
“We’ll make you a full set of orichalcum armor!”
“Wooo!”
They were already in celebration mode, though I hadn’t agreed to give them anything.
“H-hold your horses,” I said, trying my best to push back against their excitement. “I wasn’t planning to do anything with this yet.”
But they were in a trance. My words fell on deaf ears.
“Let’s take this thing home and get the furnace ready!”
“It ain’t like the mithril we work with. We gotta keep the temp nice and high!”
“Aye! We won’t be movin’ from the furnace for at least a week! Make sure we got food nearby!”
They were being so loud that a bunch of passersby started to gather around them.
“H-hey, wait!” I protested. “I was planning to store this in the manor for the time being—”
“Say what?! We ain’t askin’ to get paid! To hell with that! I swear on my good name that I’ll make this into the best armor you’ve ever laid eyes on!”
“I’ll have you know that the mightiest countries in the world wish they had a dwarven-made set of orichalcum armor!”
“Please give it to us! Hell, we’ll even pay for it!”
My attempts to reject them only fanned the flames. There was something deeply weird about them offering to pay for the opportunity to craft me some orichalcum armor…especially when armor like that was the envy of other nations. Unfortunately for them, I wanted to make an orichalcum set myself, so I was set on turning them down.
That was when the onlookers started to speak up. Havel and his buddies were loud, so the onlookers had, of course, heard everything. “Hey, that’s orichalcum.”
“They’re asking Lord Van if he’ll let them make him an armor set. Man, not even the most powerful nations on the planet have one of those.”
“Those hard-headed dwarves? Really?”
The fact that the dwarves had said they wanted to personally craft me orichalcum gear was definitely going to circulate outside the village. At this point, all I could do was go along for the ride and make the best of the situation.
“Ugh, fine,” I said at length. I sighed, smirked, and laid out my conditions. “How’s this sound? If you can forge a katana sharper than the mithril katana I made, I’ll acknowledge your abilities and let you use the orichalcum.”
Havel and the other dwarves grimaced and took a few steps back. The onlookers who were newest to the town watched curiously.
“I heard Lord Van’s weapons were all crazy good,” someone said, “but are they better than dwarven arms?”
“They can’t be. Right?”
A man who’d moved here a while ago folded his arms, grinned, and shot them down. “I’ll have you know, Lord Van’s weapons are even better than the dwarven stuff. Especially when it comes to sharpness.”
“Yeah,” someone else chimed in. “That’s what Sir Dee and the adventurers said.”
I started plotting, pretending not to hear any of this. This could prove to be just the push the dwarves needed. Smirking inwardly, I shrugged and said, “It is what it is. If you want, instead of a sword, you guys can craft a set of mithril armor that even Dee is happy with. Then I’ll let you make me orichalcum armor. Whatever you make is going to end up being his equipment, though, so bear in mind that it’ll be used on the front lines.”
The second I eased up on my conditions, their moods improved, and they started smiling and laughing. One dwarf nodded decisively. “In that case, we might be able to make this work!”
Another chimed in, “Yeah! It’d be a waste if our creation ended up being put on display, anyway!”
“Can’t bring out the best in dwarven equipment without usin’ it!”
It was clear they had confidence in their armor-crafting skills. Well, either that or they doubted that they could craft a katana superior to mine.
Either way, I was still looking into ways to improve armor so that it could better handle strikes and slashes. In some cases, you could craft stronger armor with alloys rather than pure iron, mithril, or other metals, but I wasn’t really trying to make stainless steel, so I hadn’t investigated that. In that sense, the dwarves had a better chance of making a well-balanced set of good armor than I did, whether I used pure metals or alloys. So I decided I’d leave the orichalcum in the dwarves’ hands—if they were successful, of course.
“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. I’ll probably be back in about three months.”
“You got it!” Havel and the others responded. They flexed their arms, then returned from whence they came, heading back to their workshop and paying no heed to the many eyes on them. “All right, you blockheads! It’s time to craft some armor!”
“As it happens, I just came up with an idea for the strongest armor in all the world!”
“You damn liar! You know I’m smarter and more talented than you!”
They were exactly as loud and smithing-obsessed as you’d expect dwarves to be. Still, I’d let them know how long I would be gone, which was my original objective. Mission accomplished!
Just as I anticipated, the next day rumors about the dwarves planning to gift me orichalcum armor spread like wildfire, giving Seatoh Village’s notoriety a teeny tiny boost.
“Lord Van, my preparations are complete,” Khamsin said proudly. He was clad in a full set of Van-made armor, a sight I only rarely witnessed. Because Khamsin was still a growing boy, it was a light set comprised of a monster-hide medley, but the materials were good. It had strong defensive properties. He also had his mithril katana at his waist. Personally, I thought a rapid-fire machine bow was a better idea, but Khamsin rarely separated himself from his blade.
Till, on the other hand, had long since dumped the axe I made for her in the storeroom, opting instead to carry a rapid-fire machine bow in her hands. She was still in her maid uniform, so ultimately the weapon was just for self-defense. According to her, she had the axe displayed in her room as an heirloom, but I knew for a fact that it was gathering dust in the storehouse.
And then there was Arte, meticulously prepared for battle. She had two woodblock puppets sitting next to one another, the targets of her marionette magic. They both wore mithril armor and carried halberds. These weapons were so heavy that you had to be at least as extraordinary as Dee to wield them, but that was no problem at all for Arte’s puppets, which could swing them around like they were feather-light, allowing them to face off against dragon-class monsters. This made the pair of puppets a key part of our fighting force.
As for Lowe, I’d given him body armor, bracers, and leg armor made from mithril and monster hide a while back. The result was even more imposing than your average Chivalric Order commander. Behind him was a war wagon equipped with a mobile ballista, plus ten members of my machine bow squad standing in formation.
I looked at my amazing allies and nodded. “Great. We can take down Yelenetta’s forces no problem! Our month-and-a-half journey will be a piece of cake! Not scary at all!”
Everyone nodded back at me, looking proud. I wasn’t completely free of anxiety, though. I was confident that we were more powerful than your average Chivalric Order, but if we had to contend with a massive army, we’d be crushed by sheer numbers. Still, I couldn’t afford to let my people see my anxiety, so I smiled and gazed off into the distance.
I really hope things go well.
Before long, I spotted a Chivalric Order member riding toward us. “I have a message from the gatekeeper!” they cried. “Lady Panamera has returned! She will arrive at Seatoh Village shortly!”
I cocked my head. “Huh?”
Panamera
“I DID NOT EXPECT TO SEE YOU AGAIN SO SOON, BOY!” I said, nodding at the group of familiar faces as I descended from my steed.
The boy at the center of the group shot me a pained smile.
“Indeed. Much, much sooner than I expected.”
The meaning behind his words was plain to me. “Is that so? Then you anticipated the enemy’s movements?”
“No.” Van pointed at the merchant standing behind him. “I have Apollo’s intel to thank for that.”
The merchant smiled and shook his head. I kept him in my peripheral vision as I looked over Van’s followers and soldiers. Their equipment suggested that they anticipated a fierce battle. “I see. It seems your preparations are already complete. What is your destination?”
“First, we’re heading to House Fertio’s territory. His castle, specifically. We need to confirm what’s going on.”
“Hmm. Straightforward. I do not dislike simplicity, boy. In that case, my Chivalric Order and I will accompany you. I can guarantee you a safe journey.”
I smiled, and Van’s face lit up.
“Really?! Awesome!” The childlike joy on his face was so uncommon a sight as to be genuinely heartwarming. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to simply observe the boy.
Changing gears, I looked over Van and his soldiers. “I am certain you understand this, but we are in the process of invading Yelenetta, so we must reach Lord Fertio and resolve this issue as soon as possible. I would appreciate your assistance supplying goods and food to my Chivalric Order. We will leave early tomorrow morning. I assume there are no objections?”
“None,” Van confirmed. “Oh, by the way, we recently distilled some great spirits. The dwarves were raving about them.”
“Oho! Now that is something to look forward to! I shall have a taste before we load up our gear. Just a taste!” I smiled and had the boy guide me to the manor.
I was excited to try his spirits, but my top priority was taking a dip in his large bathhouse. I’d been enraptured with Van’s massive bathhouses ever since I learned of Seatoh Village. There was something magnificent about soaking in hot water in such a spacious environment.
I snuck up on Arte, who was standing near Van, and gently caressed her hair. “All right, Lady Arte! Let’s enjoy a soak in the bath together!”
“Oh, okay… Wait, what?!”
I smiled at her flustered reaction, taking in the peaceful air of Seatoh Village. What a wonderful place. If I ever got my hands on territory to call my own, I would try to replicate Seatoh’s atmosphere.
I enjoyed the view of the road from the comfy interior of my swanky Cullinan carriage. The wood had a reddish tinge to it, the sofa was made from monster hide, and the oil lamps and gold ornamentation lining the window frames lent the whole thing a classy vibe.
Panamera sat across from me. In a critical tone, she whispered, “You really should be more careful, boy.”
“Huh?” I raised my head, surprised. Why was she so upset? “Do you not like the carriage?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “That isn’t the point, boy. Not even the royal family owns such an immense, lavish carriage. What do you think people will say when they see you, a brand-new baron, riding in such a vehicle?” Her voice carried a tinge of exasperation.
I offered her a nod and a pained smile. “Don’t worry. I don’t intend to monopolize this carriage.” I glanced at Till. “Could you prepare some tea and snacks?”
“Certainly!”
Till quickly rose to her feet and retrieved a vacuum-insulated thermos from the shelf attached to the wall, then lined up some teacups on the table and poured black tea into them. Two hours had passed since our departure, but thanks to the thermos’s heat insulation, the tea was still producing steam. Till finished by setting down a basket full of baked snacks wrapped in paper.
I looked it all over, then smiled at Till. “Thanks!”
“Think nothing of it! Um, by the way, may I also…”
“Of course. Eat up.”
Beaming, Till was the first to reach for a treat. I watched her do so, my smile a little strained, then gestured to Panamera to ask if she would like some snacks or tea?
Panamera grabbed a teacup, looking stern for some reason, and took a slow sip, savoring it with much greater elegance than I’d seen her display before. I knew better than to say that part out loud, though, lest I incur her wrath.
“Delicious, right?” I said instead.
Panamera gracefully returned the cup to the saucer, frowning at me. “It is, but that’s not the point! What in the high heavens is that magic tool? How is this tea still hot?!”
I struggled to understand how she could be so angry after indulging in such delicious tea.
Oh, I know! Till’s baked goods will turn that frown upside down! “Please,” I offered cautiously, “help yourself to a snack.”
Still looking displeased, Panamera selected a treat and unwrapped the paper. She cut it in half, even though it was barely half the size of her hand, and put it in her mouth. “Mmm. Delicious.” She took another sip of tea.
Uh, is it just me, or is she still in a bad mood? I watched Panamera, pondering what I should say next, but before long, she shot me a narrow-eyed glare. Then she sighed.
“I understand what you are getting at. You are trying to solidify your standing, correct?” Panamera folded her arms, her tone exasperated and her expression growing more serious. “It is difficult for others to grasp the depths of your powers without seeing the bizarre weapons you’ve made. Nobles with no interest in military power have paid you no mind, but creations like this sublime carriage or that mysterious container would certainly pique their interest. As an up-and-coming member of the nobility, I can tell that these would fetch mighty sums on the market.”
I couldn’t help but grin. This stuff’ll make me money? Awesome! I need to get ready for mass production, then. This type of carriage was both tougher and more mobile than the average carriage, but that was about it. It wouldn’t be a big deal if one fell into the enemy’s hands, so I had no problem with selling them for profit.
Panamera cocked her head slightly and snorted. “What a terrifying boy you are. I cannot believe you’re not even ten years old. Lady Arte, your husband may very well end up ruling his own country in the future. When that comes to pass, would it bother you if I became one of his concubines?”
“H-huh?! Lady Panamera?! I-it’s not my place to give permission for s-something like that,” Arte tried. She was waving her hands around, deeply flustered.
“Oh?” Panamera grinned mischievously. “Lady Arte, I see you have no objections to me calling him your husband. So you’ve already married the boy? Have you spent your first night with him?” She was teasing Arte like the leader of a pack of neighborhood bullies.
Arte blinked in surprise for a moment, and then her ears turned bright red and she let out a squeak. The strange sound made both Panamera and me laugh. “Wh-wh-what are you saying…?!”
“Ha ha ha! I jest, Lady Arte. My apologies. That was a bit cruel of me.”
“Come on, don’t tease Arte like that.”
“Like I said, you have my apologies.”
As Panamera and I went back and forth, I watched Arte from the corner of my eye. She kept opening and closing her mouth like a carp waiting for food. Even Till was giggling, a warm smile on her face as she stuffed another snack into her mouth.
Our journey ended up being surprisingly peaceful and fun.
We passed through the fortress city standing in for a checkpoint and continued into Lord Fertio’s territory. The journey took us about two weeks—despite the presence of Panamera’s elite soldiers, traveling with this many people was bound to take some time. On the flip side, we had enough people to send scouts ahead, and more than enough people to take turns guarding us at night, so we reached our destination without accumulating too much fatigue.
Panamera’s strength came from her refusal to let her men push themselves too hard, which left them ready to engage in combat at any time. If we found ourselves in a combat scenario where speed was of the essence, I was confident that Panamera’s Chivalric Order could act more quickly and effectively than any other Order. They were just that well trained. I wondered if Dee could do the same, given ten years to train a Chivalric Order thoroughly.
These were the thoughts on my mind as I watched Panamera’s Chivalric Order march ahead in formation. They were nearly at the gate of the First City—the city in which House Fertio’s castle stood. The city wall and gate were so massive that an unfamiliar visitor might think they were approaching the capital. In fact, I’d based Seatoh Village’s wall and gate off of the First City’s. My rebellious spirit drove me to make them more ornate on every level, but it was true that the design here had heavily influenced my choices.
The barracks’ spires and roofing, which were visible from my position, were so plain as to be uncouth…but their simplicity also made them strangely beautiful. If you looked up “medieval stone stronghold” in an encyclopedia, you’d see the First City.
It was also my old home, a home I hadn’t seen in a long time. Sure, I’d been kicked out, but I did live there for eight whole years. How could I not feel nostalgic?
“Lord Van, are you happy?” Arte asked, looking like she was afraid to pry. It was her words that clued me in to the fact that I was staring at the city in silence. I grimaced at my own conduct and turned to look at Arte.
“Yeah. Well, I don’t know if I’m happy, exactly, but I guess I am feeling kind of nostalgic. I mean, I was born and raised here, you know?”
I heard a sniffle beside me. When I looked over at Till, she was hiding her face with her handkerchief.
“Ugh… My apologies…”
My words must have triggered the poor girl. Meanwhile, Panamera’s expression darkened slightly as she watched us. It was around then that someone knocked on the carriage door from outside.
“Pardon me,” Khamsin said, opening the door. “Lord Van, we have arrived—”
The moment he saw Till, he froze. He glanced at Panamera and her stern expression, looking concerned. Panamera grumbled, “I did not say anything to her,” and Khamsin turned to me, panicked.
“Ah, my bad. I got all up in my feelings when I saw the city, so Till started crying in my place.”
The look on Khamsin’s face was heartbreaking. “I see. Would you like me to keep the windows closed?”
“Nah, there’s no need to go that far. Rosalie said that there were people here who actually missed me, and it’d be nice to see some familiar faces.” Not that I expected to be recognized after more than a year away. Still, I wanted to inject some positivity into the conversation for Khamsin, who nodded wordlessly and left.
In the resulting silence, I looked around at everyone in the carriage. Arte and Panamera were both watching me and Till.
Man, I feel bad for making them worry, I thought, though I also found myself moved to know that there were people in my life who worried for me. The thought warmed me as we completed the gate check without incident and entered the city proper.
Even inside the carriage, it was clear the city was bustling. That wasn’t particularly surprising, given that it was the biggest city in the territory. I cast my gaze out the window and noticed that there were a lot of people gathering around our vehicle…and not because this was the main street.
Someone yelled my name. “Lord Van?!”
I tried to locate the origin of the adorable voice and eventually landed on a young girl in a red dress. She was a little bit taller than I remembered, but I knew exactly who this was: Visa, the sole daughter of one of the guards. On closer inspection, I noticed a man and a woman nearby who both looked to be in their early thirties. That would have been Visa’s father and mother.
“Long time no see, Visa.” I smiled and waved. “Is it just me, or have you gotten taller?”
The woman standing near Visa put both hands on Visa’s shoulders and bowed her head, looking nervous. “Visa, dear! Um, Lord Van, we heard you became a baron. I offer my deepest apologies for my daughter speaking out of turn.”
I frowned. “Aw, don’t say that. Visa is my friend.”
The entire family blinked, still standing stock-still. My words were unbecoming of a nobleman; I’d probably bewildered them. But before I could try to explain myself, the crowd gathered around the carriage began to laugh.
“Ha ha ha! That’s Lord Van for ya!”
“Welcome home, Lord Van!”
“Do you remember me?!”
The citizens approached the carriage, grinning, and suddenly I was the center of attention. Tears pricked my eyes at all the kindness they were showing me.
“Wait a sec!” I said, waving my hands to fend them off. It would have been mortifying if folks realized I was crying because they remembered me. “I can’t reply to everyone if you all come at once!”
But that only made them smile and laugh more.
“Lord Van, this carriage is incredible!”
“Right? I made it myself!”
“Are all these knights yours?”
“Nope! Most of them belong to Lady Panamera’s Chivalric Order.”
Our procession slowed as we made our way through the city, giving me the opportunity to talk to everyone on the way. More and more people kept joining us. I felt like I was in one of those portable Shinto shrines you might see at festivals.
During all this, a young man spoke up. “Lord Van, are you finally home for good?”
I hesitated. It would be a lie to say that seeing everyone like this didn’t make me want to pack up and move back to the city. That was how happy it made me feel to be greeted with such warmth. But I was Baron Van Nei Fertio now, the lord of Seatoh Village. I could never do something so irresponsible.
I switched gears. “My apologies,” I told the young man seriously, “but I am now a nobleman with peerage and territory granted by His Majesty himself. I cannot be away from my land for too long.” I flashed a smile at the crowd around me. “But if you’d like, you’re all welcome to visit Seatoh Village! We have a huge public bathhouse, and the food there is delicious! I’ll even prepare homes for you guys!”
Cheers erupted as I waved cheerily at everyone from inside the carriage.
Behind me, Panamera burst out laughing. “Not bad at all, boy. You have a lot of guts recruiting new citizens in Lord Fertio’s own city. Any other lord would see that as an act of hostility.”
I turned to Panamera, a smile still plastered on my face, and tilted my head.
“What? W-well, I’m sure everything will be fine. Ha ha…”
I spoke lightly, but imagining daddy dearest’s fury left me on edge. I’d already taken citizens from his territory—a lot of people on the outskirts of his land had fled to Seatoh Village once the war with Yelenetta began in earnest, having heard that it was safer there than anywhere else in the region. Inviting people from the First City to move to Seatoh had the potential to accelerate that outflow of migrants.
As I looked up at my old home from inside the carriage, I made all kinds of excuses to myself. I’m sure it’ll be fine. This is the largest city in the northern region. It’s not the kind of place whose citizens will just upend their lives to move to the middle of nowhere. Not when you can get your hands on anything you want right here.
The castle had a bunch of super-tall towers, and the stonework comprising the entire structure had been left its original color. It gave the whole area an oppressive vibe. The building was positioned directly above the main street, from which you could see the second-floor terrace beyond the front gate. The window to my old room was above and to the side of that, though I was fairly certain that it was just another empty bedroom now. Since it looked like every other window on the facade, I doubted anyone paid much attention to it.
“Hmph, Lord Fertio’s castle is every bit as imposing as I expected,” Panamera observed calmly while I was lost in thought. “You can tell he attained his status through pure might.”
“Yeah. To my knowledge, this city has never been a battleground, but it was built to withstand a siege.”
Panamera glanced at me, then snorted. “Is that so?”
I wasn’t sure why she seemed so displeased. She folded her arms and learned back in her seat, and Arte gave her a curious look.
“U-um, was it okay for us to come without letting Lord Fertio know ahead of time?” Arte asked anxiously.
Panamera shrugged and said curtly, “His son has returned home. Why would he need to alert his father ahead of time?”
Arte and I exchanged glances, wary of asking any other questions.
Till, noticing Panamera’s unusual behavior, smiled uncomfortably and changed the subject. “Ah, we have arrived at the front gate! Look, it’s Andre the gatekeeper.”
I glanced outside to see a familiar gatekeeper standing guard. As I watched, Lowe ran over to him, exchanged a few words, and then turned around and ran back to us.
“Lord Jalpa has departed for the Shelbia border with his Chivalric Order,” he reported.
“Then my bad feeling was right on the money. Do you know when he left?”
“Some two weeks ago.”
I nodded. “Two weeks, huh? In that case, he’s probably already arrived.”
“Hmm, I doubt it,” Panamera put in. “If the marquis intended to fight Shelbia back himself, he would have hired at least ten thousand mercenaries, in which case he may not yet have reached the border.”
“Good point. He didn’t come to Seatoh Village, so he would have had over a month to prepare. If he was using that time to get all his ducks in a row and hire mercenaries from neighboring areas, that would make sense.” I poked my head out of the carriage and called to Khamsin. “I need you and the others to do a full resupply of everything we need. I want to leave either tomorrow or the day after, if possible.”
Khamsin stood up straight and barked, “Understood!”
I turned to the coachman. “I’d like to gather intel. Can you take us into the castle?”
“As you wish!” replied the young Chivalric Order member. He led us forward.
When we reached the gate, Andre, the elderly, bearded gatekeeper, looked up at me. “My word! Lord Van? How wonderful to see you again!”
“Long time no see! I’m glad you’re doing well, Andre.”
He returned my smile with one of his own. “Ha ha ha! I see you haven’t changed a bit!” he said jovially, like the good-natured older gentleman he was. “Here in the castle, we were all in a bit of a tizzy to learn that you were granted peerage! And it would appear the folks in the city have heard about it as well.”
I waved a hand at him, a little flustered. “Hey, I just had a stroke of good luck is all. Oh, but if you ever find yourself quitting this job, you’re more than welcome in Seatoh Village. I’d love to have you serve as an instructor for the Chivalric Orders there.”
Andre blinked at me, stunned. “M-me? I’m honored, Lord Van, but as you can see, I am nothing more than a decrepit old man…”
I shook my head hard. “No you’re not! When I was only two, you were a squad captain in Lord Fertio’s Chivalric Order! That’s incredible! This is where you’re supposed to confidently tell me that instructing a group of a hundred is a walk in the park!”
I grinned, and Andre swallowed hard. He began to nod, tears forming in his eyes. “O-of course! I never expected you to remember that. Leave it to me! I will do my best to make my way to you as soon as possible!”
“Awesome! Thanks a bunch. Having you around would be huge for us!” My expression of gratitude broke the dam, and Andre finally broke down in tears.
Panamera, who had been watching this play out from inside the carriage, started to laugh. “Dear me, you really are a trickster. Casually swiping yet another experienced warrior from Lord Fertio’s ranks!”
She said it like she was telling the crepe merchant from Echigo that he was just as bad as the people he was getting revenge on. How rude. All I did was tell someone who underestimated their own abilities that I could make far better use of their skills than their current employer.
“I just said what I was thinking. House Fertio often participates in long-term campaigns and large battles, so my father tends to leave those of his soldiers over the age of 50 behind, since they lack the stamina to keep up. Those people then end up as gatekeepers and patrolmen, which is a total waste of their talents as far as I’m concerned. It’s not my fault that House Fertio’s Chivalric Order is poorly managed.”
I shrugged my shoulders, but Panamera only laughed harder. She smacked me on the back.
Ow.
“Incredible! I see you are finally back to normal! It was terribly boring to watch you act so sentimental. You know what? Why don’t we just keep poaching House Fertio’s talent?” She followed up these terrifying words with another bout of laughter.
Hooold on. I wasn’t planning to do anything as crazy as that. What is this woman saying?!
But at least now I understood why Panamera had been so irritable. If I took her words at face value, she might have seemed annoyed that I was sentimental about my past. But reading between the lines, I sensed something resembling rage toward Jalpa—the very same sentiment she’d had when she first visited my territory. Panamera was probably furious that he’d neglected and hurt his child. She was sympathizing with me, the eight-year-old who was kicked out of his home. Given her personality, she’d likely chosen not to express sympathy out loud out of consideration for my position as both a man and a baron.
In other words, she was a tsundere.
As I watched Panamera laugh, I smiled and exchanged glances with Arte.
Replenishing our supplies took only a day, thanks to Khamsin and Lowe getting help from the House Fertio Chivalric Order members who remained in the city. Additionally, with the cooperation of the citizens, the Seatoh Village and Panamera Chivalric Orders both had super-cheap places to stay. How long had it been since we got to sleep on nice beds? Being well-rested meant we could wake up early the next morning to head out on the next stretch of our journey.
In front of the city gate, I said, “Thank you so much for your cooperation, everyone!”
In addition to the city guards and some of the residents, the maids and butlers from the castle were there to say farewell, as were Andre and the other members of the Fertio Chivalric Order.
“Lord Van, stay safe!”
“Will do! See you all later!”
More than a hundred people, gathered there just to see us off. This put Till in a spectacular mood as she poured us some black tea.
“Please enjoy.”
“Thanks!”
We all indulged in tea and snacks as time passed comfortably. At one point, Arte brought up the city and the castle, noting that the people there seemed to be living good lives. According to her, the city looked more affluent than Lord Ferdinatto’s territory.
She also touched upon the butlers and maids working in the castle. “I was wondering… Why did all the maids you spoke to seem so angry, Till?”
Till stopped mid-snack and put a proud hand to her chest. “They asked me about life in Seatoh Village, you see. It was less that they were angry, and more that they were jealous. After all, when Lord Van was forced out of his home, we came to blows over who would get to accompany him, and I was the victor!” She beamed.
Panamera, who had been listening absentmindedly, spoke up. “Is that so? You mean the maids employed in the very castle in which their master lives volunteered to go with a boy who was to become the lord of a podunk village? The marquis certainly seems unpopular.”
She seemed oddly cheerful about that.
I offered her a strained smile. “Nah, it’s just that a lot of the people working there are extremely kind,” I explained, trying to hide my embarrassment. “They sympathized with my plight, is all. And Till followed me because she was already my caretaker, anyway.”
But Till frowned. “That isn’t true! We were originally going to decide who would go with you by drawing straws, but after we talked it over, we decided to go with a best of three system. The nine of us went back and forth for two straight hours, and I just barely managed to squeeze out a victory. Please don’t deny how hard we fought!”
“I-I’m sorry.” I prostrated myself. Till rarely got angry. “I don’t know why, but I’m sorry.”
Arte and Panamera watched us and laughed.
For all my initial concern about how this journey of ours would go, we were having a great time. I owed a lot of that to Panamera meeting up with us. I would never say so out loud, but I was grateful for what she was doing for me and everyone else as we made our way toward the battlefield.
Chapter 2: Centena’s Situation
Chapter 2:
Centena’s Situation
Jalpa
THE FORTRESS WAS COMPRISED OF A SERIES OF CUBES, designed for both offense and defense. Its stone walls were thick so that it could stand up to magic attacks. Despite being constructed more than fifty years ago, it retained its dignified appearance. The walls were built of reddish stone, but after multiple rounds of repairs, the building was now more gray than red. Steep cliffs stood nearby, and craggy mountains beyond them. This was an important stronghold against the United Nations of Shelbia. As long as it was protected, Shelbia would struggle to invade Scuderia.
Such were my thoughts as I looked up at Centena—the fortress also referred to as the Northern Wall—relieved to see it untouched. I did not, of course, allow any of that emotion to show on my face.
“Your Excellency, I will go ahead and check on things,” Stradale said with his usual unfriendly expression as he rode his horse alongside my carriage.
I grunted in acknowledgment. “Go with the cavalry. If anything seems off, return immediately.”
“As you wish!” Orders received, Stradale rode off. The strength of his leadership was on display as he quickly corralled the cavalry into formation, and the entire group began to ride toward Centena’s front gate.
As the commander of more than ten thousand of my troops, he was the man I trusted above all others. Once, Dee, Stradale’s superior officer and a veteran warrior, was slated to command my Chivalric Order. During a massive battle, however, Stradale accomplished so many feats that I made the surprise choice of granting him the job. He and Dee, then Stradale’s deputy commander, engaged in countless sparring matches, fighting on equal terms. As a solo warrior, Dee was superior in combat, but Stradale came out on top when it came to commanding large groups of soldiers.
Because Stradale was still young, I was confident that his skills as a warrior would eventually surpass Dee’s. That was why I appointed Dee to support him as his deputy commander. What I did not anticipate was that Dee would follow Van when I forced him out. Esparda was the same. I couldn’t fathom why the pair of them would make a choice that was tantamount to suicide.
It felt as if Van had poached key personnel from me. For a long time, I could not hear his name without growing aggravated. And then the boy went and made himself His Majesty’s favorite. I couldn’t join a single battle without having to see his face, and even when he was nowhere around, people would be talking about him. It was infuriating. If he hadn’t gained independence, his accomplishments would have at least been credited to House Fertio. But he was a baron now, which meant he was a separate house entirely.
“Ungrateful brat. How dare he refuse to offer his services to his own family,” I spat. But even I understood why. I’d chased him out of the house when he was only eight years old. Why would he feel any attachment to House Fertio? To this family?
If Van continued to accomplish feats at his current pace, House Fertio could lose both its territory and its power. To prevent that from happening, I needed to prove my worth, and fast.
“The United Nations of Shelbia,” I murmured, encouraging myself with a grin. “Soon you will learn just who it is you’re up against.”
The front gate of Centena Fortress.
“Welcome, Your Excellency.”
I looked at the large man before me, and he tucked his chin in, his long, reddish-brown hair nearly covering his eyes. This was Targa Brescia, the commander of the border Chivalric Order tasked with protecting Centena. He was muscular and comfortably over two meters in height, built like a brick wall, looking like nothing so much as a member of a tribe of giants.
The Chivalric Order that protected Centena was composed of soldiers collected from the high-ranking noble houses in the area: Houses Fertio, Ferdinatto, and Ventury, among others. It also contained soldiers from the royal family and the duke’s family, and the commander was always a knight selected from one family or the other. Two deputy commanders were then chosen from the knights that came from high-ranking nobility. Until recently, the knights who came from the high-ranking nobility’s Chivalric Orders had had significant influence, but since Targa’s arrival, their power had been suppressed. That spoke to how capable he was in combat and tactics.
Targa spoke in a low tone befitting his appearance. “Is it safe to assume that since you have come with your Chivalric Order, you already understand the current situation?”
“Of course. Everything from this fortress and back is part of my territory. I have multiple avenues through which to acquire information about the United Nations of Shelbia.”
He nodded slightly and, apparently deciding no further words were necessary, turned on his heel to pass through the front gate.
“This way, Your Excellency,” said one of the deputy commanders, walking ahead to guide us.
I shot a look at Stradale, who nodded silently and turned to my Chivalric Order.
“Half of us will enter Centena! The rest will begin setting up camp immediately!” he said before taking up the rear.
We walked through the fortress, which consisted of inelegant stone walls and floors. Centena was a fortress at which only five thousand soldiers were stationed at any given time, which might have spoken to how little our kingdom rated Shelbia as a threat. It was mid-sized, as far as fortresses and fortress cities that defended borders went. The halls were so narrow that if five people were to walk side by side, their shoulders would touch. In front of the wall that faced Shelbia were a courtyard with enough space for soldiers to assemble and a series of storehouses for materials, but otherwise, the fortress had a narrow design meant to maximize use of the available space.
I continued down the hall, feeling constrained by the confines of the building, until I came to a large room. At its center was a table with a map spread on it. A single glance told me that it was a map of the United Nations of Shelbia. Targa proceeded to the back of the table, then gestured to a nearby seat, inviting me to sit. I did so silently, my eyes still fixed on the map.
“So,” I asked, “what is the current situation?”
Targa pointed at a spot on the map: one of Shelbia’s fortress cities. It was close to Centena and could be described as a defensive linchpin. “Things were chaotic at first, but we’ve finally detected movement on their end. They’ve gathered their forces here, and we have a firm grasp on the flow of their supply lines. We’ve also detected the presence of some unique weapons.”
“The black balls and cannons, eh?” I said slowly. “I knew Yelenetta was behind this.”
“Precisely. We’ve also spotted carriages flying Yelenetta’s banner and crest. Both the eastern and western sides of Shelbia appear to be in full cooperation with Yelenetta.”
I heaved a sigh and muttered, “How foolish of Yelenetta.”
Everyone turned to look at me. “Do you mean their tactic of joining forces with Shelbia to attack us?” asked one of the deputy commanders.
I clicked my tongue, irate at the stupid question. “You fool! Anyone could have seen this coming from a mile away. Can you think of no reason that Shelbia would fly Yelenetta’s flag so blatantly?!” I shouted.
The deputy commander shrank back pathetically. What Chivalric Order did he belong to? I was irritated just looking at him.
Targa furrowed his brow. “In other words, they are trying to split our forces. Is that what you’re saying? We have essentially gathered all our forces to attack them, so they want to try to split us into smaller groups.”
“Exactly. Seeing Yelenetta’s banner, a fool would bring their forces here…and that is exactly what Yelenetta wants. Anyone who fails to see that is a mediocrity. And even if they did see it, that would make them second-rate at best.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Targa said at length. The other idiots in the room cast their gazes downward, but Targa looked me straight in the eyes. “Then Your Excellency came here knowing precisely what they were plotting. You believe us incapable of protecting this fortress and buying at least a few months’ time?”
I grinned despite myself. What a fascinating man. That he had the guts to criticize my actions after our last back-and-forth spoke to his confidence in his own combat abilities—confidence backed by genuine skill, no doubt. One could not move to act without the skill and confidence to do so. These were necessary qualities for anyone commanding a Chivalric Order.
“Sir Targa. I intend no offense when I say this, but you lack knowledge. Am I correct in guessing you have not witnessed the black balls or cannons in action? It is dangerous to make assumptions about the enemy’s attack power when you lack knowledge.”
Targa nodded, his expression unchanged. “You are correct. All of this is conjecture based on reports from the capital. I have not personally seen the weapons in action. As someone who has, could you explain in detail just how powerful Yelenetta’s new weapons are?”
This was an adept commander. And if he was selected from the royal family or the duke’s, then he must have been a powerful elemental mage as well. If a man like him gained sufficient battle experience across a variety of fronts, he would be a formidable warrior.
“Hmm. The first thing to understand is that the black balls and cannons are completely different from us elemental mages. Neither require an incantation, and as such, anyone can wield them. Used correctly, the enemy could activate them right in front of you before you so much as noticed their presence. Do you understand how terrifying that is? Imagine if an assassin from Yelenetta were among our ranks right now. They could murder everyone in this room in an instant.”
As my words sunk in, the facial expressions in the room changed dramatically. Targa said, “I see. You are correct in surmising that I imagined the black balls to be similar to fire magic. If it is as you say, we will have to pay close attention in combat.”
“Exactly. That is why we’re here. To foil Yelenetta’s plan, we must avoid dividing our forces. If we can do that, we will put Yelenetta on the back foot, because it loaned a number of its precious new weapons to Shelbia.”
“O-oh!” one of the deputy commanders exclaimed in wonder.
I must make sure they know everything I do about the black balls and cannons. This is a race against time.
Cosworth Yelenetta
OUR CURRENT PROSPECTS WERE, QUITE FRANKLY, dire. By losing three battles that we needed to win, we’d taken significant losses to both human life and supplies. Now that our enemy occupied Werner Fortress, we were obligated to split our forces after having amassed them in one location. Scuderia, meanwhile, now had the ability to march straight from Werner to our capital city. They could focus all their military forces on invading us while we had to divide our attention.
We’d already lost the war…if we fought them head-on.
But it didn’t matter if we lost our arms and legs. If we took the enemy’s head, victory was ours. We had sustained significant damage in every battle with Scuderia, but if we could just carve our way into Marquis Fertio’s territory, everything would change. Then we could aim for their capital before they hit ours, perhaps even try to retake Werner Fortress from within Scuderia. If they noticed what we were doing and tried to strike back, it would be too late for them to undo our gains. All that remained was to figure out how to split our forces.
“We need to make Scuderia reconsider their invasion by showing them how vicious we can be on the battlefield. Once they see that, it should give them pause.”
In the name of bringing down Centena Fortress as quickly as possible, I had summoned all the men I could. Obviously, I left soldiers at each key location, including Werner; I made sure our soldiers there kept the pressure up to prevent the enemy from leaving. But I did pull men from everywhere else. I would take personal command of this force, so there was no way we could lose.
“We will crush Scuderia. Onward!”
I drew my sword and raised it up high. My soldiers began to cheer loud enough to shake the ground itself.
Jalpa
THE CHIVALRIC ORDERS WERE READY FOR COMBAT, and I had a firm grasp on the terrain only two days after arriving in Centena. This fortress was within my territory, but just beyond it was land belonging to the United Nations of Shelbia. Fortress City Opel was also only a few miles away.
The setting sun stained the walls of the fortress red. Centena was surrounded on both sides by cliffs, and with the rock face obstructing the light, shadows fell on Centena faster than anywhere else in the immediate vicinity. Where would the enemy come from? They were unlikely to charge us head-on after suffering consecutive losses. Putting myself in their shoes, I contemplated a handful of strategies I might use to take down Centena.
As my mind raced, I heard footsteps approaching behind me.
“Your Excellency,” said a voice, “please come inside. We have watchmen on duty.”
It was Targa. I turned to find the large man standing there, expressionless. It was enough to make me uncomfortable.
I said, “I have already anticipated and prepared for what Yelenetta and Shelbia might do. However, I cannot shake the feeling that I am missing something.”
Targa cast a fierce look at Shelbia’s territory and sighed. “Are you referring to their cannons?”
“Yes. We know they exist, but that does not mean we have the full picture. If they are capable of firing at us from out of range of any of our attacks, we will be forced into a field battle instead of a siege, because we cannot allow them to take this fortress. If that happens, we will have to close the gap with our cavalry by force or die warriors’ deaths—”
Abruptly, I heard a sound I would not soon forget. It came from afar, making it difficult to pinpoint its origin, but I was certain that it was above us.
“What is that sound?” I said quietly.
Targa furrowed his brow and looked up at the cliffs surrounding us.
“Wait,” he murmured in a deep, grumbly tone. “Impossible. They could not have scaled such a precipice with all those men…”
Just then, a massive blast echoed through the area, loud enough to shake the ground beneath us. A moment later, I heard two hard impacts, followed by a series of devastating explosions. From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the towers collapse. It wasn’t a tall, thin spire, either, but a pillar massive enough for dozens of soldiers to stand in formation on its battlement. The entire upper third of the structure crumbled to the ground.
“Curse it all!” I yelled without thinking. This had to be the work of those blasted cannons. I’d seen the black balls in action, but this was something else entirely. These weapons were designed to inflict deep structural damage. I scanned the surrounding cliffs with the ferocity of one seeking their parents’ murderers, eventually spotting smoke rising from a cliff on the eastern side, a little ways away. It was difficult to see much in the dark, but I could clearly make out the smoke billowing into the air.
I needed to make sure they could not fire again. Prioritizing attack speed, I began to chant my spell, then activated it as quickly as I could. “Heat Bow!” I cried, and magic surged at my fingertips.
I waved my hand toward the cliff. My magical energy, which had grown so thick that it was visible, morphed into flames. The cluster of fire zipped directly toward the cliff like an arrow. Everything in the vicinity of the smoke—trees included—was engulfed in flames.
Seeing this, Targa snapped to his senses. “Your Excellency, please return inside! They could attack us from elsewhere.”
“I know that! Damn it all! I should have investigated those cliffs in person! How infuriating!” I drove my first into the castle wall, too furious to even notice the sharp pain that reverberated through my bones.
“It is what it is,” Targa said. “Even a group of veteran adventurers would struggle to ascend a cliff like that. There are monsters in the area too, and as the commander of a Chivalric Order, I can tell you that even if I did ignore the danger and take a small group of knights up there, the enemy would use magic to strike us down from above—much like what just transpired. We would be left with nothing but a pile of corpses.”
I finally realized something then. I had been so focused on the black balls and cannons that I forgot about Yelenetta’s other new weapon. “…Right. That’s right, they have wyverns!”
“Wyverns? They have control of mid-sized monsters?”
“Correct. They use that disgusting marionette magic to subjugate them. Wyverns may be an inferior race of dragons, but they are dragons nonetheless. My spell just now would not have been sufficient to take one down.”
As if my words were a signal to the enemy, a series of large black shadows flew up from the cliff. Their wings were reminiscent of a bat’s, and while not particularly large, they were still big enough to pick up a horse.
Wyverns.
These beasts had scales as hard as steel armor, and their wings could not be harmed by normal arrows or spears. Since the creatures were capable of flight, magic was the only way to deal with them.
“I’ve remembered another delightful fact, Targa,” I said with a defeated sneer.
Targa turned around as we approached the stairway toward the floor below. “And what might that be?”
I snorted and pointed up at the wyverns above us with my thumb. “Those flying lizards drop black balls. It’s a bit like bird shit, actually.”
“How crude,” Targa replied, tucking his chin in.
Shortly thereafter, the ground shook again and a blast of hot air blew into the stairwell. One of the black balls must have made impact with a nearby wall. I was unsure precisely how much explosives the enemy had used, but I could hear fire crackling.
As we descended the stairs, I resisted the urge to rant and rave about the occasional blasts I heard outside. Instead, I made light of the situation. “Ha! My head is finally clear. Ideas for taking down these fools are flooding my mind like water.”
I did not know what Targa was thinking, but he followed suit. “Well, isn’t that lovely.”
But there was no time for jokes. We needed to bring these flying lizards down to the ground.
Targa
BECAUSE CENTENA FORTRESS WAS LOCATED IN HIS territory, Lord Fertio occasionally dropped in with his Chivalric Order. I’d met the man before, but we hadn’t engaged in any large-scale battles with Shelbia in quite some time, so I knew nothing of his skills in battle. Perhaps for that reason, I’d underestimated him. But as I watched him rapidly and succinctly issue commands to the Chivalric Order while simultaneously preparing the fortress’s defenses and getting ready to attack, it dawned on me just how talented a commander he was. He issued orders left and right, and the COs who were not Chivalric Order commanders acted immediately. Then he moved on to the next set of orders.
He was fast and accurate, and he wasn’t the only one. The commander of his Chivalric Order was remarkable as well. If I remember correctly, his name is Stradale…
In terms of appearances, he looked like any other noble knight, but it was clear that he was a veteran fighter. The fundamentals of siege combat saw some archers placed on watchtowers, others on the roofs of buildings alongside mages, and heavy infantry stationed to protect them all. But before the battle could begin, the marquis’s singular orders prompted them to take actions far removed from this strategy. And Stradale put that strange strategy into action as if he’d done so countless times.
“Don’t let yourselves get hit by cannon fire! Take cover behind the buildings! Mage squad, if part of the wall collapses, repair it immediately! Infantry, fill the holes with sandbags! Archers, keep your eyes on the cannons and ensure the enemy cannot approach on foot!”
Stradale’s orders were thorough. From the outside, they could have been perceived as spineless, but anyone familiar with Yelenetta’s new weapons would know otherwise.
“Centena Chivalric Order!” I yelled resolutely as I descended the steps. “Station your cavalry and mages at the front gate! Be ready to move at any time! I want the archers to work with the Fertio Chivalric Order to kill anyone who approaches! Heavy infantry, with me!”
I could see pieces of the ceiling fall and kick up dust every time there was an explosion, but I paid no mind to any of it. The moment I reached the roof, I caught sight of a spell activating.
“Flame Fresia.”
The caster’s black cape fluttered from the blast, bringing into full view the crest it bore: a golden bull and straight sword. Everything from the man’s elbow forward was engulfed in flames, illuminating everything around him. It was the kind of high-temperature blaze that could incinerate anything nearby. The flame burned violently, lashing up into the sky like a belt. The wyverns flew in an arc to avoid the fire, but it followed them no matter where they went.
To manifest that kind of flame for such a long time required a massive store of magical energy alone, to say nothing of the ability to move it so skillfully. This man possessed incredible control over his magic. As for who might be capable of such a feat…there was likely only a single name on everyone’s lips.
The mage known as Lord Fertio was called the Watchman of Scuderia by neighboring nations. It was this imposing man who drove off the wyverns. Inferior to full-sized dragons they may have been, but wyverns nonetheless had scales as tough as steel. To take one down with swords and bows required an immense number of soldiers, so it was standard practice to put mages against them. Few mages, however, could handle wyverns the way Lord Fertio did.
“Your Excellency! Please be careful! The wyverns might be gone, but the cannons are still a threat!”
“I know! We are pulling back for now!”
“Yessir!”
In the time between his order and my response, he had already cast his next spell, blasting raging flames into the sky around us. The sky turned crimson red, and Lord Fertio almost resembled a demon as he walked with this wall of flames at his back. I found myself grateful that this mage was not our enemy.
“Tremendous, Your Excellency,” I said as we descended the stairs. “I am in awe of your skill with magic.”
But he snorted at this and grimaced. “Foolishness,” he grumbled. “I merely bought us some time. Do you understand that? The enemy is advancing even as they assault us with their cannons and drop explosives on us. There is no telling how long we can keep this up. Depending on how much firepower they have available to them, we might not last the next few hours.”
I sighed. “Indeed. All we can do now is destroy their cannons and defeat their wyverns before they attack again, but I am certain they have set traps on their side of the border.”
We were stuck between a rock and a hard place. I couldn’t say as much aloud, being responsible for the safety of this fortress, but it didn’t matter; Lord Fertio sensed how I was feeling. He did nothing to hide his fury as he clicked his tongue and turned to face me.
“How could you be such an idiot?!” he shouted hoarsely. He sounded ready to spit blood. “A commander must always ensure that their region is prepared for combat. That they have the advantage, be it a fortress or a fortress city! What the hell is this?! This is Scudet all over again!”
Intermittent explosions outside overlapped with the voices of panicked soldiers. At the end of the day, the facts were plain: This was the result of my incompetence.
“My deepest apologies. When this is over, I will take full responsibility for what happened here. But for now, we must prioritize fighting back the enemy.”
“You have a lot of nerve, you impudent fool,” Lord Fertio said. “To hell with it! You are not wrong. We must come up with a plan to counter them immediately!”
“Yessir!”
Lord Fertio descended the stairs, his shoulders trembling with rage. I followed him, racking my brain to come up with a plan of action. If the enemy took this fortress, Scuderia’s back would be against the wall.
We had to defend this stronghold. Even if it cost us our lives.
UNITED NATIONS OF SHELBIA MILITARY
Count Towncar Pillars
I HAD HEARD EVERYTHING. THE EASTERN SIDE OF OUR nation had accepted Yelenetta’s request for aid, meaning we would invade Scuderia across our shared border. If we lost, our nation would be annexed by Scuderia, but the only merit to winning would be maintaining our alliance with Yelenetta. No, that wasn’t quite right—apparently, they would have invaded and annihilated us first had we not sided with them.
I could hardly call this an alliance at all. There was a clear hierarchy to our relationship. If that was the case, shouldn’t we have pushed to ally with Scuderia instead? That was what Count Corsair Nolas Aviator, the most powerful nobleman in the western side of the nation, had recommended, but the senate of the capital city shot him down. In the end, eastern Shelbia bent the knee to Yelenetta’s military power. I had no idea how damaging their new weapons actually were, but I was smart enough to realize they had the power to force our hand.
As if to substantiate that, eastern Shelbia mobilized all of its Chivalric Orders, even though the battlefield was located at our western border with Scuderia. They even dispatched Chivalric Orders that were meant to stay back and protect their respective territories. In total, the eastern side sent more than thirty thousand troops off to war, while the western nobles half-heartedly sent a mere ten thousand or so.
Yelenetta, for its part, put together a fighting force of thirty thousand. Considering that its main army was currently elsewhere, battling Scuderia’s own largest force, that was an absurdly large number of soldiers. If they really were keeping Scuderia at bay with the same number of soldiers on the other battlefield, victory was as good as theirs, and we would be victorious at the border. In the event that Marquis Fertio remained in his territory, he would have no chance against a combined army of seventy thousand soldiers.
“It appears that times have changed,” I whispered to no one in particular as I fixed my sights on Centena.
The sound of consecutive fierce explosions filled the air, and I could see flames rising from all over the fortress. Five wyverns soared through the skies above, concentrating their attacks on the stronghold. The battle had only just begun, but it was clear to me that it was not a matter of if Centena would fall, but when.
“If I were in charge of Centena’s defense, what would I do in this situation?” I mused. “At this point, the only option would be to charge the enemy, knowing full well that death awaited.”
I checked on the current state of my Chivalric Order. We were hiding halfway down the mountainside, just out of view in a basin. We had set traps along the road in case Scuderia tried to rush us, and we also had cannons borrowed from Yelenetta.
The Chivalric Orders belonging to eastern nobility had volunteered to set up their formation on the front line. They were the ones attacking from the cliffs on either side with cannons. It took three days to set up at those locations, so if they were to find themselves on the receiving end of a counterattack, it would be difficult for them to retreat. That in and of itself spoke to their faith in Yelenetta’s new weapons.
And as it happened, their faith was proven largely justified.
“Their range is about half a mile. It will be difficult for the enemy to retaliate under consecutive fire,” I said. The longer it took the enemy to counterattack, the more time they gave us to move the cannons. Setting aside the very best mages, a single magic attack generally had a range of a few dozen yards at most. If we moved our cannons after each shot, they would struggle to accurately target us. “The nature of war truly has changed…”
We were clearly winning, but I felt a hollowness in my chest. The tactics of old—using cavalry and infantry to herd the enemy around as we saw fit so that we could best use our mages—were a thing of the past. From this point on, cannons and explosives would be the main actors on the stage of war, and mages would be used either in support roles or as diversions to help make those attacks successful.
As I thought this, a red light zipped away from Centena’s roof and toward the cliff on the right. It looked like a fiery whip. A moment later, part of the cliff burst into flames. The sheer size of the blaze told me everything I needed to know.
“Marquis Jalpa Bul Ati Fertio. I see… So the Watchman of Scuderia is here.”
I clenched my fists, my eyes fixed on the raging fire magic. It would take much longer to bring down Centena with Marquis Fertio present. Despite what this meant for the battle, I found that part of me was sincerely pleased that a single powerful mage appearing in our enemy’s ranks was enough to influence the flow of battle. It was like he was declaring that the time of mages had yet to come to an end.
Another belt of fire collided with the opposite cliff.
“My Lord!” a commander yelled. “The enemy might cast magic at us. Please retreat to the rear for now!”
I shook my head. “Fear not. That is the work of a single man, and he has made himself an easily spotted target. At this point, he is likely retreating to safety.”
The moment I said this, the sky turned red, almost as if to mock me. I looked up, shocked, and watched a curtain of hellfire engulf the sky.
“Th-that’s impossible…” the commander said, his wide eyes fixed on the spectacle unfolding before him. The sky itself was on fire.
I understood how he felt. I was an earth mage, and he was a fire mage. As elemental magic users, neither of us could fathom a person wielding magic at that level. “With Scuderia’s Watchman blocking our path, this will be no easy fight.”
He was going to be a problem. That was the point I meant to convey. But the commander turned to me with a pained frown and shook his head. “My Lord, you look excited.”
“Hmph. You are imagining things.” I turned my back on Centena to face our headquarters, just off the side of the road. “Although it’s only temporary, they have fended off our wyverns. We might have to change plans.”
“Yessir!” my commander responded, standing at attention as I began walking toward HQ.
Chapter 3: Defense
Chapter 3:
Defense
LORD FERTIO’S STRENGTH BOUGHT CENTENA A TEMPORARY reprieve from death. The cannon fire from the cliffs was significantly reduced, and the sky was free of wyverns. We owed it all to the marquis’s formidable magical powers.
“We must not let this opportunity escape us. Be ready to move as soon as we deploy the scouts.”
“Wait. That might be imprudent.”
“But even if we strengthen our defenses, there’s little likelihood of reinforcements coming to our aid. At this point, our only option is to attack…”
Explosions rocked the ground beneath us, causing small pieces of the ceiling to fall to the floor as we debated our next move. We did not have much time, yet we still did not have a plan. Everyone felt restless; this battle was new and unfamiliar in every way imaginable.
I looked at the man sitting in front of me. “At this rate, there is no way out for us. I, too, believe we have no option but to attack. What do you think, Your Excellency?”
Lord Fertio looked unamused. “Disappointing as it may be, that is the only logical conclusion. We would need to defend this point for at least a week if we wanted to make the enemy retreat, but given how many soldiers and supplies we currently have, we would be lucky to last a few days. Centena will fall tomorrow.” He spat these last words, scowling at us all. The mood in the room grew grim.
Centena Fortress was a cornerstone of our national defenses. Handing it to the enemy would mean inviting tens of thousands of enemy soldiers to move freely through Lord Fertio’s open fields. They would be able to cut off the roads, blocking supply lines to Scudet and Seatoh Village.
If Centena fell, His Majesty would likely retreat for fear of being caught in a pincer attack that would spell certain doom for us all. But in retreating, we would struggle to halt Yelenetta and Shelbia’s invasion. The very fate of our nation was at stake, and no amount of sacrifice on my end could make up for it.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines. Some of the commanders in the room—sons of nobility—began to panic. “Wh-wh-what should we do? H-how can we possibly take responsibility for all of this?”
“You speak as if we even have somewhere to go back to, should we fail here.”
“We must send requests to neighboring lords and mercenary groups for backup, now!”
Lord Fertio’s conjecture was convincing. This was no longer a matter of advancing or retreating; the commanders’ very lives were in danger. I understood how they felt, but the most important thing in that moment was that we were knights. I looked at the men who were foolishly panicking for their lives.
“We need a plan that can overturn our fortunes, Your Excellency,” I said quietly, then turned to Lord Fertio, who knitted his brows even further. I proceeded to explain my plan. “Forgive me, Your Excellency, but I would like you to support our troops from the rear. I want you to counter the cannon attacks around us with magic.”
Lord Fertio folded his arms and snorted. “So you plan to rush the enemy head-on to draw their attention? Then what? Are you going to put together a second and third squad to storm them?” he demanded, his eyes probing me. “Or do you intend to have our people climb the cliffs to get the jump on the enemy while you distract them?”
I gently shook my head. “No. I will put together a cavalry squad that will serve as our main offensive force, and we will storm the enemy encampment.”
“Are you looking to die in combat?” Exasperation laced his words, but he was wrong. I shook my head a second time.
“It will be dangerous, but I think this is our best chance at victory. Judging by everything that’s happened so far, it is safe to assume that the cannons cannot be aimed accurately or used at close range. As such, I suspect the enemy will struggle to contend with a small, fast group of a few dozen fighters.”
“I see. You are correct in thinking you will be able to avoid the cannon fire, but this plan of yours is still shortsighted. Our enemies are not fools. Do you truly believe they have nothing planted on the road leading to their encampment?”
“Absolutely not. I am certain that a massive number of troops are spread out and waiting for us. Regardless, we have no other options,” I said, my voice growing stronger as I returned the veteran mage’s direct gaze.
He shot me a displeased look and let out a long sigh. “I must be growing long in the tooth if I’m finding myself longing for something that I cannot have,” he murmured inscrutably. I couldn’t help but frown and tilt my head in confusion, and Lord Fertio clicked his tongue. “Pay me no mind; I was talking to myself. Very well. If you are going to put your own life at risk to charge the enemy, then we need to put everything we have into this. I will give you the support you desire.”
The sun was setting. The beautiful crimson glow illuminated the sky beyond us, gradually darkening, like a series of flames being put out. Eventually, only a few slight traces of red remained. The silhouetted mountains facing the western sky cast long, dark shadows. Normally, at this time of day, it was impossible to see what lay at the base of the mountains without getting close. But not at the moment.
As soon as I spotted the distant fire, I heard explosions from afar. Flames began to burst intermittently from the ground, illuminating the building nearby.
“Looks like they’re under heavy fire,” I said.
“They most certainly are,” replied Lowe, the acting commander of the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order.
Every so often, I spotted wyvern shadows in the spaces between the mountains. “Is it just me, or does getting close seem kinda dangerous?”
“You are correct. It is very dangerous.” It was starting to feel like our conversation was going in circles.
“You seem rather composed, given that Lord Fertio is stationed at the very fortress that is under attack,” Panamera said from behind me, unable to remain quiet.
I could tell she was exasperated by my reaction. I totally understood where she was coming from. Even at this distance, we could see huge blasts of fire erupting from the ground, and while I had plentiful issues with daddy dearest, he was currently on his own, trying to push back the unified forces of Yelenetta and Shelbia. He wasn’t the type to just drop dead, and if he weren’t currently at Centena, the fortress would’ve fallen already. The fact that they were still engaged in combat suggested that daddy dearest was shooting deadly fireworks at the enemy.
“I guess dealing with that many explosives would pose a problem, huh? He might get mad, but I guess we should join the fray.”
Daddy dearest was such a handful.
Not feeling particularly thrilled about the whole thing, I turned my back to Centena Fortress and faced my Chivalric Order, which at that time consisted of only a few dozen people. Panamera, for her part, had a Chivalric Order numbering over five hundred people present and accounted for. By the standards of high-ranking nobility, that was a pitiful number of soldiers, but Panamera’s soldiers were elites.
Comparing our two Orders was starting to make me feel bad, so I quickly issued directions to my people. “All right! Here’s the plan! I want my super powerful machine bow squad to prepare the ballistae on the war wagons and bring up the rear! I’m going to station Lady Arte’s puppets at the vanguard and move forward when the time is right. Our first order of business is getting inside of Centena Fortress! After that, we’ll resupply the stronghold, improve what needs improving, and then make sure we can keep its defenses up! Any questions?”
With Panamera’s Chivalric Order present, I tried to be as professional as I could. My own Order didn’t appear to have any questions, but Panamera folded her arms and cocked her head.
“Wait a moment, boy. You spoke of Lady Arte’s puppets. Are you referring to her marionette magic? I mean no offense, but what can two puppets accomplish on such a ferocious battlefield?”
Her tone was a bit harsh, but her words were those of someone who had experienced the cruelty of war many times over. Fortunately, her concerns were unfounded. It was no exaggeration to say that Arte was currently our most powerful weapon.
Feeling a strange sense of superiority, I smiled at Panamera, who had no way of knowing just how powerful Arte was. “Fear not. Arte gets things done when it counts.”
Panamera’s eyes sharpened. “That smile of yours irks me for some reason. Fine. If you are so confident in her abilities and promise to have her control her puppets from inside one of the war wagons, I will permit her participation.”
She tended to be a bit overprotective of Arte. If she was like that because Arte was a child, it would have been nice of her to display the same protectiveness toward little ol’ Van. But there was no time to think about that.
“What would you like to do regarding your Chivalric Order?” I asked Panamera. “Personally, I think we can minimize casualties by splitting them up into smaller groups.”
“Hmm. Centena is on the brink of collapse, so I cannot imagine the enemy paying much attention to a small group of reinforcements… In that case, what if I form a unit consisting only of cavalry, then divide the rest of the Order into two groups that can make their way to Centena from either side, out of sight?”
“That sounds great. Okay, let’s get moving!”
With our plan set, we moved into action. The Seatoh Village Chivalric Order had a lot of practice transforming the war wagons and getting the puppets ready, so it wasn’t long before we were good to go.
“’Kay, charge!”
“…Boy, can you try to put a little bit more oomph behind your words?”
Just like that, we began to hurry toward Centena in the hopes of fighting off the invaders.
Just like Panamera predicted, the enemy largely ignored us as we made our way to Centena Fortress. In fact, they weren’t actually attacking us to keep us from coming to Centena’s aid; it was more like we were catching strays from the wyverns.
A few areas nearby erupted with explosions, shaking the ground beneath us. We were all familiar with how terrifying these explosives could be, but seeing and feeling them in person was something else entirely. I spotted more than a few pale faces among Panamera’s Chivalric Order as we marched. Honestly, I was impressed that they hadn’t slipped into a panic.
Anyway, we finally arrived at Centena Fortress. Every time we heard an explosion, the wall itself trembled and pieces of it to fell to the ground—proof that the whole structure was on the verge of collapsing.
“Honestly,” I said to myself, “I’d rather not go inside right now. I’d die if I got hit in the head by rubble. I’m still a kid, y’know?”
Arte nodded, looking serious. “This is the perfect time to use my Aventador,” she said quietly, but with immense strength behind her words.
Panamera blinked at Arte, puzzled by her words. Smiling at the contrast between them, I looked above the gate. I heavily doubted Scuderia’s forces had the leeway to station anyone up there at the moment.
Just to be safe, though, I announced our presence before I put my hand on the small exit attached to the gate. “Pardon our intrusion.” It was made of simple materials, so I decided to make a brand-new door for them. I focused and activated my magic, turning the exit into a set of double doors in about ten seconds. I pushed them open with both hands. “There, it’s open. Let’s head in.”
Panamera was staring at me suspiciously. “Boy, please do not tell me you’ve turned your hand to crime.”
“I’d never do that!” I protested. Apparently, I’d given her the wrong impression.
She continued staring at me with narrowed eyes until we heard more black balls explode in the distance, at which point she sighed and turned to her Chivalric Order. “I feel bad about entering in this fashion, but our path is clear. Infantry, take the lead and keep your shields up. If this fortress is on the verge of collapse, enemy soldiers may be lurking inside. Keep that in mind as we move forward.”
“Yes, ma’am!” the commander said. He turned to relay Panamera’s orders to the others. “Cavalry, dismount from your horses! Infantry, forward!”
“What do you mean you feel bad?” I asked. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“My problem is with possible applications of your magic. Depending on how quickly you mature, you could very well use that skill of yours to sneak into a girl’s bedroom at night.”
“Excuse me?!” I yelled indignantly. This was sexual harassment!
I watched Panamera’s Chivalric Order proceed and followed them with my own Order. There were cracks in all the walls, and parts of the roof had already collapsed. The deeper in we got, the more intense the destruction was. The fortress was in ruins.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anyone here.”
“Do you think they’ve all gone up top to provide projectile support?”
“Not a chance. The commanding officer is probably working out a plan from somewhere safe.”
We went back and forth as we trekked further into the fortress. Eventually, we came upon a courtyard…
…the sight of which could only be described as a tragedy.
The ground was burned in spots, one of the large towers had collapsed, and corpses were strewn everywhere. Behind me, Arte and Till gasped at the hellish tableau. Khamsin and Lowe, meanwhile, stepped forward to protect me, their swords at the ready.
“Lord Van, please be careful,” Khamsin said, scanning the rubble in the area.
I offered him a weak smile and my gratitude. “Thanks. But I’m pretty sure these are all victims of cannon fire and explosions. Let’s get a move on. Staying here is dangerous. I’m guessing that the knights stationed at this fortress are all at the wall that faces Shelbia.”
Khamsin jerked his head up in surprise and turned around to face me. “R-right. Let’s get away from here, fast,” he said, directing his attention upward. His desperation to protect me filled my chest with warmth.
“Now then… Normally, you wouldn’t post people on the roof because of the threat of aerial attacks, but you’d want to be close enough to the action to keep tabs on the enemy’s movement. I think they’re probably on the second or third floor. Shall we?”
Panamera agreed and issued orders to her troops. We made our way swiftly through the courtyard, found the stairs, and proceeded through the completely empty building. At this point, it was starting to feel eerie.
“Did we get here just after everyone abandoned the fortress and ran away?” I whispered.
Panamera furrowed her brow and looked at me. “Not even Lord Fertio would do such a thing. Do you really believe that a possibility?”
“Ah, no, I’m just joking. The lack of people got me thinking, is all,” I said half-heartedly and with a dry laugh.
When at last we reached the top of the stairs, I detected people nearby. We continued down the long hallway, tracing the wall, and heard clattering toward the far end. From what I could tell, each section of the wall was partitioned to function as its own room. This kept the structure stronger than if you built a larger, open space and filled it with support pillars, but it wasn’t fit for stationing a bunch of armored knights. Since this fortress bordered the United Nations of Shelbia, the powers that be probably felt that archers and mages were enough to handle any problems that might arise.
I thought this over as I watched one of Panamera’s knights open the door of the room. I couldn’t see inside from where I stood, but I heard a man’s angry voice yell, “Wh-who’s there?!”
“We are Viscount Panamera Carrera Cayenne’s Chivalric Order, and we have come to your aid! I recall that the commander in charge of the Chivalric Order stationed here is Sir Targa! Is that correct?”
“Yes! Yes, it is! We are so grateful for your assistance! Sir Targa Brescia is in fact the commander stationed here. But right now, we are under orders from His Excellency, Marquis Fertio!”
After this quick exchange of information, we entered the room. It wasn’t particularly spacious, so only Panamera, her commander, Arte, Khamsin, Lowe, Till, and I went in. Okay, Arte’s two puppets were also stationed diagonally in front of me, so I guess our party totaled seven people and two…humanoids?
“Oh!” The Centena knight who had spoken to us looked wonderingly at the puppets. “Who are these massive knights?”
Panamera, meanwhile, took it upon herself to head further into the room. Despite its size, there were about ten knights present when we walked in, and they moved to the side to give her space to walk. She strode gallantly forward, then stopped at the wall. Bringing her face to the window, which was only about a square foot in size, she peered outside.
“I see. They have struck forth into battle, eh? Their backs truly must have been against the wall.”
Hearing this, I panicked and made my way to the window. I tried to look outside, but I was a tad too short to reach the window, so I couldn’t see much. Frustrated, I turned around to find Khamsin hurrying over with a chair, so I climbed on top of it and finally turned my gaze outward. “Gah!”
What I saw was truly awful.
It was late enough at night that a veil of darkness should have covered everything. We were in something of a valley with cliffs towering over us on either side, and the road should have been invisible in the darkness. Instead, the entire area was bathed in red light and blanketed with black smoke.
The trees surrounding the road were burned to a crisp by the black balls. Fires raged from the roadside all the way to the slope of the cliff, their black smoke decreasing visibility. Amidst these flames, countless corpses, presumably once knights, lay scattered on the ground.
Most probably belonged to the Centena Chivalric Order. It was even possible that some were from Jalpa’s Fertio Chivalric Order. Here and there among the bodies, a few wyvern corpses were visible, but it was the dead knights who held my eye. Their presence only heightened the despair anyone from Scuderia would feel to behold this carnage.
“How could anyone see this and not think their plan was foolish?” I murmured.
Panamera snorted and pointed at the ceiling. “Look how badly they were battered. If I were in their position, I would have wanted to come out swinging as well.”
“You gotta be kidding me,” I snapped. Why was she siding with daddy dearest and the others? “You make it sound like a turf war between two groups of delinquents.”
Panamera seemed confused by my choice of words, but only for a moment. Her expression grew serious again, and she looked back out the window. “Jests aside, I do sympathize with Lord Fertio and Sir Targa’s plight. As those charged with protecting this region, they would lose face should the enemy easily break through their forces. They could have retreated to Scudet and returned for a counterattack, but if Centena fell, it would all be over. Lord Fertio’s territory would fall, yes, but given the current state of things, so would Scuderia itself. With holding the line here already a lost cause, they had no choice but to strike back.” She folded her arms, a bitter look crossing her face. “Sadly, putting their lives on the line doesn’t increase their chances of success.”
Perhaps she was thinking about how she might one day find herself in a similar situation. Hell, if it were me, I might’ve made the same choice.
“Correct!” said a knight. “Sir Targa and His Excellency both departed, prepared for death. They divided the cavalry into two squads and the infantry into four. As planned, the cavalry broke through before the enemy cannons could target them, and because the infantry were deployed in a wide formation, half of the soldiers were able to make it past the cannons. That is why Centena’s attacks on us have slowed significantly. Though for some reason, the wyverns are still flying overhead…”
He trailed off, and an instant later, we heard another ground-shaking explosion from somewhere within the fortress. I instinctively crouched a little before poking my head back up to the window.
He was right. Three wyverns were circling in arcs above the fortress.
“I would love to rush to Lord Fertio’s aid,” Panamera said, “but those wyverns will make that difficult. What shall we do, boy?”
I observed their movement in the sky. “Why do they keep going back to those cliffs? Can’t wyverns stay airborne for long periods of time?”
The older knight shook his head and pointed to a spot on top of the cliff. “Normally, yes. I suspect there is a place up there for them to restock their explosives. The problem is that getting near that area is impossible. We tried to do damage to their supply chain, but…” His expression became heavy.
I see, I thought with a nod, then turned around. “In that case, you’re perfect for the job, Arte.”
Arte clenched her tiny fists in front of her chest and tucked her chin in. “L-leave it to me!” she replied enthusiastically, bewildering Centena’s knights.
“Um, pardon me for asking, but who are you, exactly?” the older knight asked me. “The way Lady Panamera speaks to you, I understand you must be nobility, but…”
“Huh? Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself! My apologies,” I said in a panic. “I am Van Nei Fertio. I’ve also been granted the title of baron…”
The older knight stared straight at me, startled. “B-Baron Van? The famous Baron Van has come to our aid?!”
Famous? What? His reaction was so over-the-top that for a second, I wondered if there was another Baron Van somewhere out there. Apparently, I was the right one, though, judging by how he drew close to me, a beaming smile on his face.
“My word! You are him! How did I not notice before?! Your striking silver hair, the appearance of a ten-year-old child… You are exactly as the rumors describe. It is a miracle! At long last, there is light at the end of the tunnel!” Tears welled in his eyes, and spurred by his reaction, the people around him began to weep.
“Uh… In any case, we’re gonna go take care of those wyverns. They’re too dangerous to leave alone.”
“Your carefree attitude is incredible! I would expect nothing less from you. If there is anything we can do to help, please ask.”
“N-nah, we’ll be fine. You don’t have to do anything.”
“As you wish!”
I fled the room, and Panamera’s patience finally hit its limit; she burst into laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! When did you become so famous, boy?”
“I-it’s probably because we’re in Lord Fertio’s territory. Remember, I was technically a member of House Fertio.”
But Panamera seized the opportunity to clown on me. “No need to be so humble! I envy your fame.” This was the sadistic side of her personality that she sometimes let me see. She was like a schoolyard bully.
“The more attention I draw, the more of a pain in the neck it is,” I muttered with a dash of exasperation in my voice, taking long strides down the hall. It wasn’t long before I located the staircase to the roof. “Okay, let’s hurry up and take those wyverns down so we can go help the folks who’ve already left.”
“I am ready,” Arte whispered. Moments later, her two mithril-armor-clad wood-block puppets launched themselves into the air. They descended the fortress wall like the wind, using that momentum to run up the cliff.
“Wow, they’re like ninjas,” I said without thinking.
Arte was too busy focusing to catch my words, but Khamsin looked over at me with great interest.
Panamera, for her part, was awestruck at the sight of the Aventador. “How can they move like that…?”
The fact that she could only muster a hoarse whisper really cheered me up for some reason.
I explained how amazing Arte’s magic was. “I heard that Arte’s two puppets managed to lay waste to a Chivalric Order around two thousand strong. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to see her heroics in action, but the adventurers who accompanied her told me all about it.”
“Is that so? Now that you mention it, I have seen her puppets before, but never in combat. I had no idea she could move them like that…” Panamera was genuinely shaken, a rare sight indeed.
As she spoke, the puppets reached the top of the cliff, where they launched themselves into the sky like rockets. Everyone watched, wide-eyed. The puppets crossed paths with a wyvern returning to restock its explosives, and sharp-eyed onlookers could see the two wooden knights swing their massive swords.
The wyvern lost its balance, spun into a freefall, and ultimately smashed its head into the ground. Which was only to be expected, given one of its wings had been sliced clean off. The whole encounter was straight out of one of those old heroic tales.
“I-incredible…!”
Panamera and the other knights couldn’t hide their shock, but Arte’s puppets weren’t done yet. While the wyvern was falling, the other puppet dashed along the ground toward the next wyvern. Noticing that it was being targeted, the creature hastily changed the angle of its flight path away from the cliff. But Arte’s puppet didn’t give it time to execute its plan. The wooden warrior quickly climbed halfway up the cliff and kicked off the wall, launching itself into the air in a feat no human was capable of.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t quite reach the height it needed to catch the wyvern. The puppet skimmed beneath the wyvern, then swung its sword in an apparent act of desperation. It stretched its arms and body as far as it could, trying to increase its range. To anyone trained in the art of the sword, it was clear that these were the actions of a beginner who hadn’t yet mastered balance. To put a positive spin on it, it was incredible that the puppet was able to swing such a gigantic sword with so much force, but that was the most I could say for the move from a technical perspective.
Luckily, the tip of the massive sword made contact with the wyvern’s leg. Fresh blood splattered into the sky. Although it looked like the puppet had only grazed the wyvern, the beast ended up losing the use of the entire leg, which caused it to lose balance and fall. While it didn’t smash into the ground, the marionette mage riding it did. The beast, having suddenly lost its operator, flew unsteadily through the sky, eventually colliding with the cliff wall and falling to the ground.
Arte watched all of this transpire and let out a relieved sigh. “I-I did it!” She turned to me with a beautiful, radiant smile on her face and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She must have been feeling a lot of pressure.
“Yeah, you were perfect! Now we don’t have to worry about them dropping more explosives on Centena for the time being. It’s time to go save Sir Targa and Lord Fertio.”
Arte nodded and called back her Aventador, but Panamera, her commander, and the members of the Centena Chivalric Order were in no state to follow any of our conversation.
“H-hold on a minute! What the hell was that attack?! It didn’t even look like it made contact!”
“I mean, the wyvern lost its leg, so it probably made contact…”
“How could a scratch like that lead to dismemberment? Those were wyverns. Wyverns! Even if you get a blow to connect, their hides are hard as rock!”
Panamera gripped her head and looked up at the sky, struggling to wrap her mind around what had happened. Eventually, she returned to her senses and looked at me. “I get it now. You made their swords, didn’t you? Those impossibly sharp blades.”
“Of course,” I said matter-of-factly. “The Aventador are also equipped with the best possible armor to bring out their wonderful physical abilities. It’s mithril armor that I made as light as possible, and they have mithril swords that are sharper than anything else I’ve made yet. I’d say they’re just about perfect.”
Panamera narrowed her eyes and glared at me. “Marionette magic should not be capable of such feats. I’ve heard it was used to control servants for assassinations in the past, but it can’t impose complex orders. And there should be limits to activation time and target distance…”
“I see.” Internally, I sorted through what I knew about the subject. People with an affinity for marionette magic rarely announced themselves as such, because it was associated with assassinations and other crimes. As a result, very little research had been done into how it functioned. “I’m thinking it might have something to do with how strong the target’s mind is. Humans have a sophisticated level of intelligence, making them hard to control. When we tried her magic on different types of materials, we found significant differences in results, so that’s probably it. Hmm… Either way, it’ll be hard to know one way or the other until we give it a shot.”
I glanced at Arte, whose puppets had just returned to her.
In a tone laced with exasperation, Panamera said, “Am I imagining things or do those puppets remain in possession of all their limbs? There’s nary a scratch on either of them.”
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, Arte and her puppets are a central pillar of the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order. This sort of thing is nothing for her!” I said proudly, chuckling as Arte bashfully cocked her head.
“P-please, I haven’t done anything…”
Arte was adorable when she got like this, but the two imposing puppets behind her made it hilarious. I decided not to sweat the details.
“I knew Lady Arte had changed, but not like this…”
Chapter 4: A Terrifying Situation
Chapter 4:
A Terrifying Situation
Jalpa
THINGS COULD NOT BE WORSE.
The actions of fools had once disgraced me in front of His Majesty. At the time, it was the worst moment of my life. Looking back on it now, it was nothing.
This was the worst moment of my life.
“Your Excellency! They were waiting for us after all!”
I let out a frustrated shout. “They played everything by the book! Those bastards!”
The goal in rushing the enemy was to bypass their offenses on both sides. Obviously, I had anticipated that they would be waiting for us. At our strategy meeting, I predicted the enemy would either wait for us on the sides of the road, hoping to catch us in a pincer attack, or destroy the road itself and then shower us with arrows from the sides. In either scenario, it would be the cannons that delivered the final blow.
From Shelbia’s perspective, our reaching their fortress city would make it infinitely harder for them to predict our next moves. Their ideal strategy should have been to corral us into an environment where we couldn’t choose our formation, then blast us with their cannons. To my thinking, we would be in the clear if we stopped our forward movement just before the area where the enemy lay in wait. That would provide an opportunity for me to use my flames to burn away anyone waiting ahead or around us. Targa and I were both capable of casting magic from horseback, so if things went well, we could assault them without fear of a counterattack.
That was what I thought. But then something happened that I could never have anticipated.
“Your Excellency! It’s not a wall of soldiers or a stronghold blocking our path forward; it’s a dragon! Some type of earth dragon!”
“Impossible! A second dragon after the one in Scudet?! They should be focusing most of their resources on our battle at the border. How could they possibly have brought a dragon here?!” Either the commanding officer on the other side was out of their mind or our enemies had multiple dragons in their arsenal—but ultimately, none of that mattered in this moment. I barked, “We have no hope of surviving if we’re hit with dragon breath in such a confined space! Retreat at once! We will draw the dragon to us and surround it! Keep moving at all costs! The enemy wants to stop us in our tracks so they can hammer us with their cannons— Huh?!”
An unsettling sound interrupted my orders: footsteps, and enough of them to make it seem as though the ground itself was rumbling. The sound of not one thousand or two thousand soldiers, but ten thousand.
I looked at the enemy infantry flanking us from both sides, kicking up clouds of dust and dirt as they marched, and realized that I’d made a fatal mistake. “We’ve been had! The cannons were a distraction!”
Our fire magic was superior to the enemy’s cannons. Unless they took us by surprise, I was confident that the cannons presented no threat to us at all. Only in that moment did I realize that my confidence was self-delusion, an attempt to hide the fear in my heart, and that it would be my undoing: My plan was failing precisely because I feared the cannons.
I was so certain that the enemy would attack with their new weapons that I overlooked the possibility of a more traditional pincer tactic!
As I stood dumbfounded, my strategy crumbling into a fatal blunder before my eyes, Targa came up to me and yelled, “Your Excellency! We are retreating to Centena Fortress! I assume you have no objections?!”
I looked into his eyes, which were awash with bitter rage. At last, my mind began to function again. “Of course not! That is our only option! Everyone capable of casting magic, fire your best spells at the wall of enemy soldiers flanking us! If we can crush the frontline of their formation, we can slow them down!”
“Yessir!” Stradale rode off to deliver my order to the others.
I turned around on my horse and began to cast a spell. My troops fired off a flurry of arrows, attempting to buy us time to retreat. I took a deep breath, then launched a mid-level fire spell at the incoming enemy army. Targa and the others followed suit moments later, using wide-range, high-level, super-powerful magic. They cast fewer, more powerful spells rather than a greater number of mid-ranged ones, but had much greater reach as a result.
“Flare,” I said, activating my spell. My right arm, which was clad in a gauntlet of mithril and fire dragon hide, was engulfed in swirling flames that moved like they were alive. The flames intensified until they fired off toward the approaching enemy infantry, encircling and engulfing the soldiers in a belt of fire and reducing them to ash.
Over on the other side, the enemy was facing tsunamis and lines of spears made from earth. The combined might of all this magic was enough to halt the massive army that approached like an avalanche down the slopes around us.
A chill raced down my spine, stopping me before I could heave a relieved sigh. If this was all part of Yelenetta’s grand plan, then it wouldn’t end here. They would not be so foolish as to let their prey get away after they’d lured us away from our nest.
“Do not let your guard down!” I cried, lifting my head. “They are stopped in their tracks! Run— Ah!”
The sky went suddenly dark. I couldn’t hear anything, but sharp pain raced through my body. Something was off. I should have been riding my horse, but it felt as if something was pressing against my right shoulder, right hip, and both legs.
My vision slowly returned to me. I still didn’t know what had happened, but I was able to piece together that I was where I’d started. This was dangerous. That cursed dragon was going to arrive before the cannons could finish us off. As my blurry vision cleared, I saw an absurdly large horse racing toward me. It was so big, in fact, that I could not see the face of the person riding it. This was all so strange.
The horse stopped in front of me, kicking some dirt onto my face, and still, I could not hear anything. The rider seemed to be reaching for me and shouting something, but I couldn’t hear a thing. With no understanding of what was happening, I reached out toward the person on the horse and tried to lift my body but was overcome with dizziness.
Ah, I see now. I’m collapsed on the ground.
I glanced at my hand and discovered that it looked nothing like it used to. Two of my fingers were half-gone. It was likely I’d suffered from other major injuries as well, but it was bizarre how distant it all felt, like it was happening to someone else.
“Your Excellency!” The knight descended from his horse and started yelling in my face, looking grave. It seemed my ears were finally working again.
“I…know… Just…wait…” I couldn’t move my mouth very well and could barely make out my own voice. Now that my hearing had returned, my body was going numb and my headache intensifying. I dragged my arms along the ground, trying to stand, and the knight pulled me up and let me lean my weight against his shoulder.
That was when I discovered just how bleak the situation was.
A round from one of the cannons had hit our cavalry’s rear straight on. There were about a hundred corpses in front of me, knights and horses alike. Actually, it was possible that some of them were still alive, but injury on the battlefield meant death, one way or the other.
I supposed the silver lining was that I had divided my Chivalric Order into smaller squads. In the distance, I saw a large number of knights in the process of retreating. But one look around demonstrated how many of my people had become cannon fodder.
War had changed. This was the proof, however painful that was to accept.
I spotted a large knight riding toward us, a short distance away. I would have recognized that massive frame anywhere. It was Targa.
“Your Excellency! Are you all right?!”
What happened to Targa’s Chivalric Order? Perhaps he’d left his deputy commander in charge temporarily.
“We…mustn’t…have all the…commanding officers…in one place!” I said, surprised by how hoarse my voice had become. Both knights understood me perfectly well, however, and Targa nodded, a look of despair on his face.
He glanced at the knight who was holding me up. “Can you get His Excellency on a horse?”
“With your help, yes. We can strap him to my body with some rope.”
As they discussed this, I felt myself growing angrier by the moment. “You fools… I refuse to…be anyone’s…baggage!”
I attempted to move away from the knights, but they quickly stopped me. “Y-you mustn’t move!”
“Your Excellency, your leg is…”
I cast my gaze downward. Doing so hurt my neck, but this wasn’t the time to be concerned with such trivialities. As it turned out, my right leg ended at my knee. Someone had treated it by wrapping my thigh tightly, but I was still rapidly losing blood.
“Just leave…me here. Meet up…with Stradale, and re…organize at Centena.” If they tried to get me back to the fortress, we would all be killed, and the battle would truly be lost.
Then I realized how naive my thinking was. We had already lost.
I heard explosions from afar. Targa calmed his panicking horse and started getting ready for our retreat.
I let out a deep, deep breath. There was no point now in trying to protect my pride. I was Marquis Jalpa Bul Ati Fertio, the upper nobleman charged with protecting this land. If I did not do everything within my power to accomplish that task, I could never face my peers or my country again.
“Targa,” I said at length.
“Sir!” The large man turned around to face me, and I stared him deep in the eyes.
“Call for, Van,” I croaked. “Baron Van…Nei Fertio…is the only person who can…lead us to victory.”
Targa
THE MARQUIS’S REQUEST THAT I CALL FOR BARON VAN evoked a variety of emotions in me, but my priority was getting us out of there.
“S-Sir Targa! The earth dragon is almost here!” said the knight. I nodded.
“We are too close. We won’t be able to escape unless we land a blow on the beast.” I turned to look at the approaching dragon. “Get everyone together and run to Centena. I am counting on you to take care of His Excellency.”
I lifted the marquis one-armed and put him on the knight’s horse, deftly tying the two men together.
The knight tucked his chin in, looking grim. “Good luck, sir. Remember, Centena needs you.”
“I know.”
The knight raced off, and as I watched him go, I began to chant my spell. I was cutting things extremely close. If the earth dragon used its breath now, I was dead.
“A rufus, eh?” I couldn’t help but let slip a laugh on discovering the type of earth dragon we were up against. “And I thought things were already as bad as they could get.”
Earth dragons were known for their tenacity, but consensus was that they were generally slow-moving. Unfortunately, rufus were different. They were closer in nature to woodland dragons, so while they could not fly, they were faster on their feet and more quick-witted than other earth dragons. Like other earth dragons, however, their breath was extremely powerful, if narrow in range. The only bright side I could find in this situation was that they weren’t quite as tough-skinned as the other members of their species.
“Earth Spike,” I uttered. The moment I activated my magic, an array of dirt spears, each the size of a human body, erupted from the ground in front of the dragon, creating a towering wall. Earth dragons were so tough that trying to contend with them using earth magic was a fool’s errand. The best I could hope for was to stall the beast.
And as expected, I only managed to slow the creature down. Using its thick front legs, it trampled the spears, crushing them beneath its feet.
“…I’m a bad match for this thing, but there’s not much I can do about that. Rock Wall!” I yelled, casting my spell and summoning a wall more than five yards high to block the dragon’s path. The wall was just a wall, albeit an extraordinarily thick and tough one; simple magic, but I hoped it was enough to buy me some time.
I had no time to relax, however, before I heard an explosion nearby. At first I thought it was an enemy cannon, but I soon realized that this blast was much smaller in size.
“The black balls!” I whipped around to scan my surroundings and found enemy cavalry riding in from both sides—a few dozen fighters aiming to cut off my means of escape. To make matters worse, I also spotted enemy cavalry pursuing the marquis off in the distance. “Not making this easy for us, are you?!”
I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress my fury. As the taste of blood filled my mouth, I racked my brain for a solution. In the meantime, I kicked my horse into action and cut down one of the men who had veered away from the larger group of soldiers to approach me. Black balls exploded all around me.
The only choice remaining to me was to ride as fast as I could, knowing full well that death lurked around the corner.
I came to understand something about the enemy cannons, even as their rounds exploded around me endlessly: It was near impossible to hit a fleeing target with cannon fire. In most cases, the cannon’s projectile would end up flying somewhere unexpected. I feared the black balls far more; at close range, they were terrifyingly deadly. The dragon breath was equally frightening.
“Tch, I can’t catch up!” As long as I was on my horse, I could dodge the black balls launched by the enemy cavalry, but I was never going to catch up with the marquis at this pace. I was staring at Lord Fertio’s back, irritated by my inability to reach him, when I noticed a large knight approaching me on horseback.
His cape was black, just like the marquis’s, and it had a golden bull on it.
“Sir Stradale!” I shouted as the man rode toward me as if he’d timed his appearance. But that wasn’t the real surprise. No, the real surprise came next.
Stradale rode in from just ahead of the marquis, then charged straight into the cavalry approaching my position from behind. Did he have a death wish? That was the only conclusion I could draw from his actions. But even with his horse galloping at full speed, he managed to take the heads of the cavalrymen racing toward him. They only crossed paths for the briefest of moments, and in that instant, five heads tumbled to the ground.
Without decreasing his speed, he rode up to me. “You have my sword.”
“I am grateful!”
These few words were sufficient for us to understand each other’s intentions. Stradale was Lord Fertio’s right-hand man to the very end. He would put his life on the line to protect his master. I watched Stradale from behind as he raced through explosion after explosion and found myself jealous of the marquis. No, of the relationship they shared.
“Earth Spike.” I cast my magic, splitting the cavalry into two groups. Instantly comprehending my intent, Stradale cut down the soldiers nearby.
Despite the near-constant explosions around us, the man showed no signs of relenting. He managed to keep his terrified horse calm even as he felled enemy soldier after enemy soldier.
In the end, the cavalry retreated.
“I think it’s about time,” I said to Stradale, watching them go.
He turned around swiftly. “Understood.”
Just then, the earth dragon appeared behind him, having finally overcome the wall I’d made. It had stalled the beast for longer than I expected, but whether we had enough time to retreat was far more dubious.
“Forgive me,” I said. “I can only stall the creature.”
“Worry not. Let’s make a fool of the dragon and crush one of its eyes.”
“Are you in earnest?” I asked, astonished that he could crack jokes at a time like this.
Stradale nodded wordlessly, then raced toward the colossal beast.
Flabbergasted and panicked, I began chanting a spell, but the dragon quickly prepared itself to use its breath. I wasn’t sure I could evade it at this point. But then, I saw Stradale throw something, and an explosion erupted right in front of the dragon.
“The black balls…!” When did he get his hands on those? Did he have them from the outset? No, none of that mattered just then; what mattered was that our odds had improved significantly.
As Stradale undoubtedly anticipated, the dragon turned toward him and seemed to conclude that between us, he was the greater threat. Unfortunately for the beast, that was more than a bit naive.
“Leaving your mouth wide open like that is terrible manners,” I said. “Rock Spike!”
As I cast my spell, an enormous stone spear appeared in front of the dragon’s mouth, smashing into its upper jaw. Not even a dragon could control how tender the skin inside its mouth was. I didn’t manage to impale the monster, but the attack was strong enough to keep its breath temporarily at bay.
The dragon let out an ear-shattering roar and shook its head, reducing the stone spear to dust. But while that was happening, Stradale raced to its side. Even from a distance, I heard him let out a sharp breath—“Hah!”—as he swung his sword and cut into the dragon’s leg. His cut didn’t sever the bone, but he did succeed in injuring the immense beast with his weapon, a tremendous accomplishment in itself.
Furious, the dragon whipped its limbs and tail all around, swiping at anything in its vicinity. By then, however, Stradale was well out of its range. To my eyes, it seemed that Stradale and his steed had become one.
When the dragon stopped flailing, I activated my next spell. “Rock Wall!” I cried, summoning a wall between us and the monster and finally giving us the chance to retreat. “We’re done here! Retreat!”
“Understood!” Stradale shouted promptly.
In the same moment, I saw the top of the wall explode as the dragon crashed through it, shooting human-sized pieces of rubble at us. I twisted my upper body, trying to dodge, but a violent impact against my right shoulder sent me flying off my horse. I rolled along the ground multiple times before finally stopping face down in the dirt.
“Ngh…” I groaned in pain, digging my elbow into the ground and raising my head.
One of the cannons had scored a direct hit on the wall. Despite how thick I’d made it, the upper part of the stone structure was blasted away, and I saw the earth dragon resting its front legs on it.
Darkness and despair settled over me.
“S-Sir Stradale…” I called. The marquis’s Chivalric Order commander was the only man I could rely on in this dire situation. He was buried somewhere beneath the rubble. Was he already—?
Before I could finish the thought, I heard someone gallop toward me.
“Sir Targa! Are you okay?!”
It was Stradale. He wasn’t completely unharmed; his helmet was gone and a single trail of blood dripped down his forehead. Fortunately, he had all his limbs intact, and his eyes were still filled with life.
“I-I’m okay,” I replied, lifting my upper body. My right arm was too numb to move, so I pushed the palm of my left hand against the ground and rose to my feet. Stradale observed me carefully and nodded, then shot a glare at the dragon in the distance.
“Our only options are to fight to the death, or risk life and limb to retreat. Which would you prefer?” he asked.
I burst into laughter. “Pfft! Ha ha ha! Which do I prefer? I am a knight. I want to put my life on the line to protect our great nation. If it’s in the cards, I’d also like to take that dragon’s head and become a dragon slayer.”
A laughable sentiment, given that one of my arms was useless, but Stradale smiled anyway and pulled his chin in.
“What a coincidence. A former subordinate of mine defeated a dragon not too long ago, and I was just thinking that I should not allow myself to be outdone. Might I have your assistance?”
“Certainly,” I said with a smile before turning to the dragon and starting my magic chant.
I no longer had the strength of mind to keep an eye out for enemy cannon fire. All I could do was blast the dragon with all the magic I had and draw its attention to me.
My death will be a spectacular one.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Stradale taking up a stance with his sword. My lips formed a smile.
In the next moment, a pair of tall knights blew past us like the wind.
“Wha—?” I said idiotically as I watched what transpired. Trivial thoughts crossed my mind, such as, I’ve never seen a knight taller than me.
My dumbfounded gaze was locked on the backs of the two knights, the spell I was casting utterly forgotten. They raced toward the dragon as it leaned its upper body over the stone wall. The knights dashed at terrifying speeds, and just before they smashed into the wall, they kicked off the ground and into the air, running up the wall in a manner that could only be described as inhuman.
They swung their swords. The earth dragon let out a roar that made me flinch, and the sky was painted red with its blood. The knight on the right had cut clean through the dragon’s front leg while the one on the left sliced off parts of its upper and lower jaws. Humans did not possess this kind of strength.
Stradale, next to me, must have felt similarly. His eyes were wide and locked on the sight unfolding before us. And it didn’t end there. Immediately after those initial attacks, we heard the sound of the air being pierced and the earth dragon began to convulse.
Next to me, I heard a confused Stradale ask, “What happened?” but I possessed no answers. We watched as the dragon bent backwards and collapsed to the ground. I kept my eyes peeled, trying to understand what had happened, and I spotted a single black spot on the stone wall I had made. It wasn’t there before, so perhaps it was a hole.
“Are you telling me something pierced the stone wall and hit the dragon on the other side…?” I did not believe my own words, though that would explain the dragon’s collapse. I struggled to put my thoughts together amid all the confusion. Where was it? Where had I heard about a bolt capable of piercing dragon scales…?
Just then, I heard the laid-back voice of a child. “Are you guys okay?”
The voice came from a distance, but somehow still echoed loudly through the air. I turned to find dozens of cavalry at our rear accompanying a set of strange-looking carriages. Sitting in the coach of the carriage at the vanguard were two children and a knight clad in resplendent armor. I glanced at the silver-haired child in the middle, finally remembering what was on the tip of my tongue.
The youngest child of House Fertio. A genius granted the title of baron before the age of ten. I’d heard all about the unbelievable feats he’d supposedly accomplished on the battlefield.
The boy stopped his carriage next to us and offered up a smile, the kind that didn’t belong on the battlefield. Yet for some reason, it didn’t feel out of place. “I’m glad I made it in time! Now hurry and get on!”
“You have our gratitude,” I said. “Am I correct in thinking you are Baron Van Nei Fertio?”
“That’s me! But we can save the introductions for later! The two of you can get on this carriage. Please hurry. They could start firing at us at any moment!”
“My apologies.” He was right; it wasn’t the time for introductions. I thanked him and boarded the carriage. It was gigantic, but what I found even more fascinating was its design. Atop it sat a giant siege bolt; surely he hadn’t used that to shoot the dragon?
Questions raced through my mind. I entered the carriage, my gaze immediately falling on a beautiful woman whose aura was easily the strongest of anyone present. She was clearly a natural-born soldier. Next, I noticed an out-of-place maid and a beautiful young girl.
The surprises kept coming, leaving me unable to properly react to any of them. Instead, I briefly greeted everyone in the carriage. “Pardon my intrusion. I am Targa Brescia, the commander of the border Chivalric Order charged with protecting Centena. You have my gratitude for coming to our aid.”
The blonde-haired beauty remained seated with her legs crossed and shrugged her shoulders. “Scuderia itself would be in danger of falling into enemy hands if we did not protect this region. You have nothing to thank us for. Ah, I am Panamera Carrera Cayenne, and I am here to render assistance as an ally of Baron Van.”
I furrowed my brow. “Viscount Panamera… I have heard much about you.” That she was tremendously talented. That she had climbed her way into peerage in spite of her bloodline. That she showed no mercy to those who opposed her.
“And what, exactly, have you heard, Sir Targa? I would love to know.”
“Ah, my apologies. I meant no offense,” I said, inelegantly brushing past the subject. “I am sorry for intruding, but would it be all right if I rode with you all?”
I sat down in one of the open seats, next to the maid. The carriage’s interior was much larger than it appeared from outside. Even with four occupants, and myself larger than most people, it remained spacious. Stradale was a large man as well, but he would have no problems either.
I turned toward the door, but the man in question was nowhere to be found. Instead, the silver-haired boy showed up. “Commander Stradale told me to switch places with him,” he said with a guilty smile, climbing into the carriage. He sat down between Panamera and the young girl, an innocent look on his face.
Chapter 5: The Strongest Reinforcements
Chapter 5:
The Strongest Reinforcements
IT’D BEEN A WHILE SINCE I LAST SAW STRADALE, SO I was unsure how to approach him. He was in the middle of fighting a losing battle, and I was a young boy who got chased out of his own house. Could I really just roll up to him and say, “Long time no see?”
Stradale solved the problem by reaching out to me before I could say anything. “Lord Van, thank you so much for coming to our aid.”
“No need to thank me. The whole kingdom’s in danger, after all. If we don’t defend Centena, House Fertio’s territory will be laid to waste, and regardless of my feelings about the marquis, I love the people who live in his domain,” I said, half-joking.
Stradale wiped the blood that was dripping from his forehead with one hand, then raised his sword to his chest. “I will never forget what you have done today. Should you ever find yourself in danger, I vow to come to your aid, even if it means giving up my own life.”
“Ha ha ha, thanks. But look, you don’t have to take this so seriously. Rest up in the carriage, all right? We’ll be back in Centena before you know it.” I smiled at him, but Stradale shook his head, his expression unchanged.
“No. I cannot allow anything to happen to you, Lord Van. Please head inside. I still have my horse; I can keep watch around the carriage.”
“Huh? Are you sure? Aren’t you exhausted?”
“My exhaustion means little right now. I will be able to rest as much as I like when this is all over,” he intoned gravely.
I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. “Ha! You’re just like Dee. Well, okay then. We’re counting on you!”
Stradale’s eyes went wide as I spoke. He was silent for a full second, and then he smiled for the first time. “Just like Sir Dee? It is an honor.”
With this, he got on his horse and rode off. I figured he must have seen some cavalry approaching and gone to beat them back.
I re-collected myself and said, “All right, it’s dangerous here, so let’s get back to Centena ASAP! Lowe, Khamsin, I’m counting on you guys!”
“Yessir!”
I leapt down from the coach and entered the carriage to find a certain large man looking weirdly ashamed of himself. Before him sat Arte and Panamera. For a moment I was confused as to why Till was nowhere to be found, but then I realized that the man was so big that he obscured my view of her.
“Commander Stradale told me to switch places with him,” I said, feeling kind of lame as I cast my gaze around the carriage.
No matter how you sliced it, there was no way I could sit next to the big guy. It wasn’t my fault that I had to sit between a beautiful woman and a beautiful girl; I had no ulterior motives. Lil’ Van was famous for being a gentleman and could not have been acting inappropriately.
“Okay, let’s try introducing ourselves again. My name is Van Nei Fertio. I’ve come here to help defend Centena Fortress to the best of my abilities.” It was a simple introduction, if nothing else.
The large man put his hands on his knees and lowered his head. “You have my gratitude. I am Targa Brescia, the commander of the border Chivalric Order charged with defending Centena Fortress. After concluding that we were incapable of protecting the fortress in a siege battle, we made the decision to risk life and limb and charge the enemy. But as you can see, we were unsuccessful.” Targa gestured to his own body as proof.
The man was in tatters, and it wasn’t just that he was covered in blood. From head to toe, his armor was scarred and bent out of shape. A single glance at Targa was enough to understand how fierce the fighting was.
“Let’s start by getting Centena back into the best possible shape. Once our forces are in order, we can start our counterattack,” I said. Targa nodded silently. “Arte, can you handle the rear left?”
“Ah, of course!” She activated her magic and got her two puppets sprinting. When they collided with the enemy forces, they threw the entire formation into chaos and made a section of it collapse entirely.
“Panamera, think you can use your magic to handle the rear right?”
“It will cost you, boy.” Panamera smirked and leaned out of the window, firing a flaming javelin at the approaching enemy army. The sight of fire magic approaching was enough to strike fear into the hearts of most people, and her attack stopped them in their tracks even more swiftly than Arte’s Aventador.
Targa couldn’t hide his shock to see the two girls engage the enemy in their own ways. “I knew Lady Panamera’s magic was a sight to behold, but those puppet knights are astounding. Lady Arte, is it? From how far can you control them?”
“U-um, probably a mile at most? Any further and it becomes impossible to tell if I am actually controlling them.”
Even with the much larger man looking down at her, Arte maintained eye contact with Targa. It was obvious she was frightened, but this was huge progress for someone as reserved as her.
Perhaps in consideration of Arte’s fear, Targa nodded slightly and turned his attention back to me. “I heard rumors that you were an inventor of formidable weapons, but…I see now that there is more to your rapid success.”
“Of course. I’ve got Commander Dee’s Seatoh Village Chivalric Order and the Espa Chivalric Order led by Esparda, the strongest earth mage alive. I’ve got my trustworthy ally, Lady Panamera. And of course, I have Lady Arte’s tremendous magic. The only reason I’m still alive is because all of them have lent me their aid.”
“…I see.”
Eventually, we managed to make it back to Centena. I heard a Centena Chivalric Order guard on the fortress wall call out, “Open the gate! Hurry!”
I poked my head out of the window and realized that the rest of the knights had already made it back safely. I looked behind us and confirmed that Stradale was still there. “Thank goodness. Looks like we managed to avoid total annihilation for now,” I whispered.
We passed through the gate and into the fortress, then stopped the carriage in the walled courtyard. My tense shoulders loosened at long last.
To be honest, I’d wanted to give up the moment I laid eyes on the battlefield. From what I could see, most of the casualties came from our side; their counterattack failed, both the Centena Chivalric Order and the Fertio Chivalric Order were scattered everywhere by the enemy. I didn’t see Lord Fertio on my way to rescue our forces, but apparently he got himself injured and had to retreat. If Targa or Stradale died in combat, we’d have no hope of recovering from this situation.
Actually, speaking of daddy dearest…
“Ah, where is Lord Jalpa? I was thinking of holding a strategy meeting,” I said, glancing up at Targa, who looked somber.
“His Excellency was gravely injured. He…might not make it.”
Targa knocked at the door and announced in a low voice, “It is me, Targa. I have brought Lord Van with me. Pardon the intrusion.”
He opened the door, revealing a room that looked like a battlefield of its own inside. A bunch of people crowded around the bed in the room, frantically doing their jobs. Others were running back and forth bringing containers of water and fresh cloths.
“We have to stop his bleeding!”
“Get some more water over here, now!”
Amidst the chaos, I gazed at the man lying in bed. My mind went blank at the sight of my father’s pale face. His shoulders, arms, and abdomen were all wrapped in bandages, but what stood out most to me was his right leg. It was gone below his knee. The bed was stained crimson with his blood, and although his thigh had been wrapped tightly in bandages to stop the bleeding, fresh red liquid was still oozing out from the wound.
“A-allow me to help!” Till said, her voice trembling while she rushed to provide first aid. I watched her go, then made my way to the bed.
Closer inspection revealed that Jalpa’s situation was even worse than I thought. He was unconscious; his breathing was shallow and his skin white as a ghost.
“…Lord Van.”
I turned around and Arte gripped my hand tightly, tears in her eyes. I could tell that she didn’t know what to say to me but was still doing her best to lift my spirits. Her unfailing kindness was enough to make me tear up. I nodded and did everything I could to blink back the tears.
I looked at Targa, who stood next to me, staring intently down at Jalpa. “Lord Van,” he said, “this might sound harsh, but I think you need to prepare yourself for the worst.”
Behind him, I saw Stradale’s face contort. In my mind, Stradale was like a samurai. He was quiet, he gave everything he had to the sword and to battle, and he was fiercely loyal to the lord he chose to serve. Seeing that man stare silently down at Jalpa, my eyes welled up all over again.
Khamsin and Lowe weren’t focusing on Jalpa’s face—they were looking at me with deep concern in their eyes. I knew all too well that I was worrying them, but there was nothing I could do to fix that. Elsewhere, Till desperately wiped the sweat from Jalpa’s face and fetched fresh water, even as the knights yelled at her. Everyone in the room was doing their best to save him, but it was clear to us all that his prognosis wasn’t good.
Panamera watched with folded arms as despair settled over the room. She heaved a sigh. “I really do not want to end up the bad guy,” she complained. I turned to face her, confused by her words. She shot me a gaze as sharp as any blade, then put a hand over her face. “I do not know if he will survive, but I can stop the bleeding. Know, however, that in this condition, he has less than a ten percent chance of surviving the process.”
Her hand and wrist began to glow red as flames covered them. “Y-you’re going to cauterize the wound?” I asked.
Panamera looked at Jalpa and shrugged. “The people here have done a decent job stopping his bleeding, but if he loses even a little more blood, his death is certain. By cauterizing his wound, I can fully stop the bleeding…but my experience has shown that many do not survive that process. If that happened, you would resent me.”
“I will not,” I said, resolute in my decision. “Please. Do what you have to do.”
“The death of a family member is not an easy thing to contend with, boy. Though I suppose that if I did nothing, you would resent me for that too. What an awful position to be in,” Panamera said sadly. She approached Jalpa. Till and the knight tending to Jalpa had stopped moving when they heard her words. “You. Take the cloth from his leg. But do not undo the bandage being used to stop the bleeding, understand?”
“Y-yes ma’am!” The knight quickly took the crimson red cloth from Jalpa’s leg, revealing a stump moist with dark red blood. It was hard to look at.
“…Ngh!” Arte strengthened her grip on my hand. I turned to meet her gaze; her shoulders were trembling.
Panamera, meanwhile, remained unmoved. She brought her flaming hand close to the stump of Jalpa’s leg.
The sounds of meat being burned and everyone gulping hard resonated throughout the room. We heard Jalpa groan and struggle as his flesh was cauterized.
“Eek!” Arte gasped at the horrific scene unfolding in front of her.
Till looked pale. The way she gripped her hands in front of her chest while her lips trembled made her look like a nun offering a prayer.
“This is hard to believe,” reported the military physician assigned to the Chivalric Order, “but he is in the clear.”
Everyone in the room let out a deep sigh of relief.
Panamera snorted. “The marquis is strong. He has the vitality of someone who has spent his life on the battlefield,” she said flippantly, though she wore a relieved smile. When she noticed me looking her way, however, she frowned. “You made a mistake, boy. If the marquis had fallen in battle, we would both have secured better titles, and perhaps more territory too.”
I could tell she was just pretending to be mean, so I offered her a pained smile and lowered my head with all the sincerity I could muster. “Thank you so much. It’s thanks to you that my father is still alive.”
Every knight in the room followed my example, bowing their heads in gratitude to the young woman. Even Stradale and Targa.
“Well, my little gamble happened to work out. That is all. It all comes down to how lucky the marquis is,” she said with a shrug, then turned away from us and looked at Jalpa.
Targa said, “I understand how difficult it is to switch gears, but this battle is not over. The rest of us will go ahead and begin the strategy meeting so we can reorganize our troops. I will see you later.” Seeing the time was right, he exited the room. At that moment, his deputy commander was in charge of the Order, so he was probably concerned.
Stradale raised his head next. “I promise I will repay this debt,” he said in a low voice before he followed Targa out of the room.
Panamera watched him from the corner of her eye, and her shoulders trembled with laughter. “Is that earnest knight truly born of nobility? He is far too frank.”
She was whispering, but Targa heard her on the way out. “He is a genuinely spectacular knight.”
“Hmph.”
After this brief exchange, Panamera turned back to me. “Boy, I, too, will attend the meeting. The battle is ongoing, so as much as I would like to give you time to sort through your emotions, we need you back on the frontlines as soon as possible. Please forgive me this cruelty.” With that, she turned on her heel and left without letting me respond.
“Lord Van…”
Arte and Till came up to me, each taking one of my hands in theirs. Their eyes were bright with tears, their genuine concern for me filled me with warmth. I smiled back at the two of them.
“Don’t worry about me, okay? Let’s toughen this place up and make it the strongest fortress we can, huh?” I looked up at Stradale. “Are you okay to be up and about? If you are, I’d love it if we could call a temporary truce.”
Stradale clenched his fists and let out a long breath. He looked away from Jalpa and straight at me. “As you wish. Right now, I am in charge of the Fertio Chivalric Order, so consider our forces at your diposal,” he said with a deep voice.
“Thanks. Shall we?”
After a word to the soldier waiting outside the hall, they took us to the room where the strategy meeting was being held. I knocked on the door and entered to find a large table surrounded by armored men who were in a shouting match over what to do. It was evident that they hadn’t settled on a plan yet.
“That is why I am saying we cannot defend this fortress! So why aren’t we launching an attack on them instead?!”
“Look what attacking did for us! If we’re to put our lives on the line either way, we should pick the option that could lead to potential victory!”
“You mean sitting here and letting the enemy slowly crush us? Because that’s what you’re advocating!”
The battered and bruised middle-aged men went around and around, their voices lined with vitriol. Panamera was glaring at them, clearly displeased by the whole thing, but when she noticed my presence, she smiled invincibly.
“Sir Targa, the supreme commander from House Fertio has arrived,” she said.
Targa was grimacing, but as soon as he heard her words, he cried, “Ooh!” in admiration and turned to face me. Everyone in the room followed his eyes, focusing their attention on me as I stepped up to the table.
“Ah, hi everyone. Mind if I join in?” I asked a bit shyly, standing in front of the table. It was a wee bit tall, so I put both hands on it and stood on my tip toes. Over it was spread a large map with a series of black and white stones placed at various points. “Lemme see… The white stones are our forces, and the black ones belong to Yelenetta and Shelbia, right?”
“Precisely. One stone represents approximately one thousand knights. Lady Panamera and I each have our own stones,” Targa explained, pointing at each stone on the map as he went.
I listened carefully and counted the stones. “Five white stones, and…thirty black stones?”
The expressions around the table darkened. “Correct,” said Targa, looking down at the black stones on the map. “But that’s significantly fewer black stones than before. We started with seventeen white stones and seventy black stones.”
“And one of the white stones that’s no longer on the map is Lord Fertio’s, huh?” I asked absentmindedly. Targa fell silent, a sorrowful look on his face.
I thought I heard someone gritting their teeth behind me and turned around to see Stradale glaring daggers at the map. I saw rage in his eyes, but I was unsure if it was directed toward our enemy or toward himself for being unable to protect his master. With regret lacing his every word, he said, “Yes, though it is shameful to admit that it even happened with us here.”
I waved my hands at him hastily. “Ah, sorry, I wasn’t trying to blame you guys or anything. Anyway, let’s talk about what we’re going to do going forward,” I said, returning ten white stones to the map.
The knights around the table looked vexed. As their representative, Targa asked in a confused tone, “Lord Van, what are those?”
I puffed my chest out proudly. “One of these is Lady Panamera, and another is Lady Arte. The rest are my Seatoh Village Chivalric Order. Oh, and the Panamera Chivalric Order too,” I hurriedly added, scared of what Panamera would do if I forgot her people.
Panamera harumphed. “You need not fuss over me,” she said with a snort.
Somehow, I collected my nerves and got back to the map. Lining up the stones as I spoke, I explained, “Normally we’d be able to hold out for a month with this many troops, but our enemy has cannons and black balls, plus dragons. We might have defeated one, but I think it’s safer to operate under the assumption that they have more. If so, there’s no way can hold out here for much longer.”
The knight who’d said we should launch an attack on the enemy spoke up. “Mm! Precisely. Which is why we need to bet it on a single all-or-nothing attack!” he proclaimed.
But I shook my head at him. “Not at all. It’s clear as day what’ll happen if we try that. The mountains on both sides are dangerous, yes, but if we try to meet our enemy head-on in an open battlefield, our numbers will put us at a major disadvantage. We could always have Panamera set the mountains ablaze, but that’s way too large an area to burn down. It’ll just cause problems for us later.”
The knight sagged so hard he nearly fell over. I made a mental note that this man had some incredible physical reactions. “Then you would have us prepare for a siege battle? Does that mean we have more reinforcements coming?” he asked with a furrowed brow.
Once again, I shook my head.
“Th-then what would you have us do?!” demanded a different knight. “If we aren’t going to rush them, and we aren’t preparing for a siege, then all that’s left is to abandon this fortress and retreat…”
He was clearly upset by the idea of fleeing, and everyone else’s eyes were filled with anxiety, too. Once a commanding officer decided to retreat, everyone else had no option but to do the same…but abandoning an important stronghold that could decide the fate of a war was more than reason enough to be court-martialed. In a scenario like that, a guilty verdict was probable. I understood then what everyone was worried about.
Needless to say, I had no intention of retreating. I wanted to, yes, but I couldn’t. “We will not retreat,” I said, cutting to the point.
Some of the knights sighed with relief, while some others seemed more conflicted. Targa and Panamera had grave looks on their faces.
“What do you mean?” Panamera asked quietly.
Despite the volume of her words, it felt like the entire room froze. I was beginning to wonder if Boss Panamera could cast ice magic too, even though she had an aptitude for fire magic…but of course, this wasn’t the time for jokes.
“Um, to be more specific, we will launch an attack on the enemy army while simultaneously preparing for a siege. We’re going to do both without dropping our defenses.”
Panamera and Targa stared blankly at me. Neither of them seemed to follow me, so I added five new white stones to the map.
“We don’t have much time. First, I’m going to prepare five new white stones as additional firepower on our end. While I do that, I’ll explain my plan.”
At the end of the day, Lil’ Van was a young boy; he loved vehicles, big animals, science in general, and all kinds of new machines. But he had other stuff he loved as well, like history.
Back in my old world, there were girls who loved history, especially Edo-period Japan, and as it happened, Lil’ Van was surrounded by fans of the Bakumatsu. For his part, he was a big fan of the Warring States period, specifically Oda, Masayoshi, and Tokugawa. The events surrounding these men were dramatic as all get-out and made for fascinating reading. Of course, Lil’ Van was also a fan of Takeda, Uesugi, Date, and Sanada.
Leaving out the particulars, because once I started I’d never stop, I happened to adore tales of large armies being trounced by much smaller groups of soldiers. My second favorite kind of story was the sort about a group of people protecting their territory or castle from an overwhelmingly powerful army. Those were the exact predicaments we found ourselves in here at Centena Fortress.
Which meant that Lil’ Van was putting his all into making this work.
“As planned, the Centena and Fertio Chivalric Orders will work together to protect us from above the wall! Targa and the other earth mages will work with me to strengthen the fortress! Panamera and Arte, are the two of you ready?”
“Y-yes…!”
“Leave it to us.”
Not only did the large group of intimidating middle-aged men get moving to carry out my orders, even the beautiful girls responded affirmatively.
Heh. Kinda feels like I’m a shogun or something, I thought as I excitedly issued commands and started making ballistae. I’d already completed ten of them, so next were the iron bolts. Wood block bolts would be plenty powerful, but iron bolts could fly further.
One of the Centena knights reported the scouts’ findings, which they communicated with flags. “Sir! Just like you anticipated, Shelbia’s forces are on the move! According to our scouts, their massive army is getting into formation just out of sight!”
“Ha, I knew it. Have they deployed their wyverns yet?”
“No! Our scouts haven’t spotted any!”
If they weren’t using their wyverns yet, they likely had another objective in mind. Deploying the wyverns after we’d already fired a volley of bolts would make them harder for us to target, but were they really thinking that far ahead?
“A talented shogun would never underestimate his opponent,” I cautioned myself. “Mm. I need to stay on maximum alert.”
I already feel like a historic general. With that silly thought in my head, I issued orders to the soldiers atop the wall. “The enemy might be delaying their wyverns so we can’t target them with our ballistae! For now, respond as planned!”
“Understood!”
The members of the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order scattered throughout the fortress and kept their guard up. Since they had superior vision, they were posted atop the wall and on the top floor of the fortress.
I continued to craft bolts until a tense voice rang down from the wall. “They’re here!”
The soldiers stirred anxiously. I was at the bottom of the wall, getting ready with Khamsin, Till, and Arte, and I noticed the soldiers getting tense. “What kind of formation?” I asked the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order knight.
“They’re thinly spread out to the left and right,” he called back promptly. “Two groups in the front, one in the center, and two at the rear!”
“Hmm, I’m not sure I understand. You mean they’re like a string or a belt going woosh, and they’re divided into five squads?”
“Uh, yeah! That sounds right!”
According to the map, the area further back was basically surrounded by forest and hills, so maybe they were marching toward us in an oblong formation, planning to spread out wide once they cleared that area? If that was the case, their troops must have been extremely well-trained. If they were actually marching in a long, narrow formation, that would have made their commander vulnerable to an Okehazama-style pincer attack. Damn, that would have been a great opportunity to take them down in one fell swoop.
But for the moment, our top priority was getting a firm grip on our enemy’s movement so that we could formulate a plan. The moment I understood Shelbia’s formation, I switched plans. “They’ve thought this out! If that’s their formation, our ballistae are only going to be half as effective as usual, so let’s prioritize destroying their cannons!”
“Yessir! Understood!”
Our best-case scenario would have been the enemy using their heavy infantry to cluster their forces together for fear of Arte’s Aventador, but alas.
Then came the follow-up report. “The enemy’s cannons are within firing range!”
“What? Already?” I raised my head, surprised. Luckily, I’d already crafted a bunch of bolts, so I zipped into action.“I’ve only got five bolts for each ballista right now, so I’m going to craft more ASAP. Khamsin, can you and the other Seatoh folks carry them over to the ballistae for me?”
“Of course! Right away!” He sprinted away like a bullet.
Lowe came down from the top of the wall, where he had been issuing orders. “Lord Van! More than twenty cannons have been spotted in the area! Our ballistae might not be enough to deal with them!”
“All right, then let’s focus on the cannons near the center of their formation! If you think one’s in range, go for it! I’ll be making more bolts!” I smiled at him. He looked anxious, and I imagined some of that anxiety came from the fact that Dee wasn’t there, so I wanted to look as relaxed as possible as I gave him his next orders.
“Understood!”
Lowe immediately turned around and ran back up the stairs of the wall so he could issue orders to the knights on standby near the ballistae. For this operation, the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order was in charge of aiming ballistae while the Centena Chivalric Order operated the weapons themselves. This was born of necessity; I simply hadn’t brought enough people with me. If we let the enemy get close, we’d need my machine bow squad to spring into action, and I also couldn’t afford to have too many of my people busy doing something else.
At first, I worried that all these gruff-looking knights might not be willing to follow the orders of a little kid like me, but with everyone hyperfocused on surviving, nobody stepped out of line.
“Firing the ballista!” announced the ballista operator.
“’Kay!” I called back casually. “Go for it!” This specific unit was in the very center of the line, and it was the first to be ready to fire. Once I gave the okay, the weapon fired its devastating bolt, shaking the air.
“D-direct hit!”
“Ooh!”
“What incredible power!”
It sounded like everything went well. I saw the tension leave the soldiers’ shoulders now that the first shot was a success.
“Okaaay! Keep ’em coming!” I said cheerfully. Lowe nodded and issued orders for the next shots.
The ballistae went off one after another, their force shaking the ground itself as they throttled the enemy forces.
At least, they should have been throttling them.
With our enemy spread out to either side, our ballistae weren’t nearly as effective as they’d normally be. We had to score direct hits on their cannons to do any real damage. Plus, it took a hot minute to rotate the ballistae, making them difficult to use against huge armies of infantry. It would’ve been one thing if I had dozens of ballistae like in Seatoh Village, but I was improvising.
I was plucking away at crafting more bolts and going over the situation in my mind when the thing I feared most came to pass. I heard a shocked yell from atop the wall. “One of the cannons, it’s—!”
The ground shook and an explosion rocked the air itself.
I scrunched up my face against the pain in my eardrums, then tried to confirm what had happened. “Where’d it hit?!” I yelled.
“Just in front of the wall!” Lowe shouted back. It was impressive that he could hear me after an explosion that loud.
“All right! Target the cannon that shot us!”
“Yessir! Open fire!”
While all this was going down, we heard explosions from the opposite side of the wall. The cannons of this world were still primitive, which fortunately meant that their aim wasn’t remotely accurate. Sadly, that didn’t make them any less powerful, and they happened to land a shot on our wall. I watched part of the structure collapse, bringing down a ballista with it.
“We have casualties! Call the med team immediately!” Targa shouted. I’d made Targa the CO of the defense squad, so he was the first person to get moving. “Lord Van! Can you repair the wall?!”
“You got it! I’m on my way! Mages can use their magic now!”
“Understood!”
He started chanting a spell, and the earth mages I’d put him in charge of began to cast their magic too. By the time I got to them, they’d already begun to repair the area around the wall.
Now that is one reliable knight, I thought, admiring Targa’s decisiveness as the brand-new wall started to harden.
I would’ve preferred to use reinforced concrete, but I didn’t have enough materials for that, so I went with a kind of pseudo-concrete instead. The new wall took shape, sturdier and more impressive than it was before.
“M-my word…”
“What incredible speed!”
I nearly chuckled out loud at the surprised voices around me, but this wasn’t the time to gas myself up. I hardened my expression, turned around, and looked at Arte. “Arte! Do you mind?”
She gripped both hands in front of her chest and nodded resolutely.
Istana Yelenetta
I GAVE COUNSEL TO COSWORTH MULTIPLE TIMES AFTEr it was decided that I would participate in the operation to take Centena, but each time, he rejected my advice, claiming this was the only way forward for our nation. As a prince of Yelenetta, I understood that I needed to prepare for the worst, but with my life on the line, I couldn’t resist trying to push back at least a little.
This was my final attempt at offering my older brother counsel, so I told it to him straight: “Brother! Please retreat! We can no longer win this battle!”
Unfortunately, Cosworth’s cheeks went red with rage.
“Istana, this is the plan. I understand that your experience at Verner might have you feeling anxious, but Scudet’s main forces are occupied elsewhere, and we’ve taken down Scuderia’s infamous Watchman. We still have plentiful cannons and wyverns. Victory is as good as ours—”
My panic mounted as Cosworth offered this calm explanation, until finally I cut him off. “That’s not it! Scuderia’s Royal Chivalric Order and Marquis Fertio aren’t the problem! Our enemy’s terrifying construction ability has grown into something unfathomable, and in only a few months! I am willing to bet those immortal knights are present as well!”
“Silence!” Cosworth shouted, completely ignoring my suggestion to retreat. “I understand your concern, but we have yet to even deploy our entire army! Those so-called immortal knights stand no chance against the might of our cannons! Be quiet and watch!”
At this point, there was little hope of him lending me his ear any further. I stepped back in silence and prayed that things went as my brother anticipated. I wanted to flee, but I knew that if I did, I would be vilified even more than my younger brothers already had been.
There was nowhere left to run.
Cosworth Yelenetta
“PRINCE COSWORTH! THEY HAVE REPAIRED THE WALLS yet again!”
“What a formidable power. Are you telling me we need to land consecutive blows just to bring it down?”
It was hard to tell at this distance, but the direct hits on their wall were doing damage. That should have been enough to reduce it to a pile of rubble, but the enemy’s persistent repairs were dragging things out.
“Shall we deploy the wyverns?” asked the commander of the Chivalric Order.
I imagined how the enemy would respond to such a move. It was time to enter the second phase of the operation. “That is a good idea. I had hoped to confuse their aim, but right now, bringing down the wall is our top priority. If we don’t, the knights we have spread out on the battlefield will be slaughtered before they can reach Centena. Have the wyverns fly in large arcs from either side and drop explosives on the enemy. I imagine at least a few of them will make it to Centena, at which point they’ll strike with explosives from above while we shower the fortress with cannon fire. The enemy’s panic will leave them wide open, allowing us to charge in from the openings in the wall. Understand?”
“Yessir! Understood!”
The commander got moving. Not long thereafter, I received a new report.
“Sir Cosworth! We have scored five direct hits on the wall! Each caused part of the wall to collapse, but the enemy was able to repair the damage within about ten seconds every time, and the rebuilt wall is even stronger than it was before! Direct hits aren’t bringing it down anymore!”
“What?!” I was outraged. Either the enemy’s construction abilities were more complex than they sounded, or some other technology was at work. I muttered, “The longer we spend on this, the greater our disadvantage will be.”
I raised my head. I knew what had to be done. If we did not win here, Yelenetta was doomed.
“Deploy our last earth dragon. I will be heading to the battlefield myself,” I announced. The commander nodded determinedly, and the people from Shelbia replied in a manner affirmative but anxious.
I quickly put together a formation with our mages, then lined up with my cannon squad to march forth. My aim was to send the earth dragon ahead to draw the enemy’s attention, then use magic and cannon fire to attack Centena from a distance. It was crucial that we divide their forces so that we could bomb them from the air with our wyverns.
I stood on the battlefield, revising the plan in my head, when I felt a presence that seemed to suddenly change the atmosphere itself.
“Has there been yet another change at Centena?” I murmured, glaring at the fortress from horseback. Then I caught sight of a mysterious light.
At that precise moment, Count Towncar, leader of the vanguard, came riding over, panic in his eyes. “S-Sir Cosworth! Sir Cosworth, our enemy has left Centena Fortress! They collided with my Chivalric Order head-on and are ripping through our formation!”
“Then what I saw was no mistake?” I replied as though my words carried some sort of otherworldly nuance. I fixed my gaze beyond the earth dragon, where people were screaming and being flung through the air in an almost comical fashion. Towncar seemed unsure how to respond, staring at me with a perturbed look on his face. “How many enemies are there? Give me more details.”
“O-of course. The enemy consists of two enormous knights. They’re both wielding long, spear-like straight swords and tower shields half their size. Perhaps I was seeing things, but I believe they dropped down from the top of Centena’s wall and approached my Chivalric Order at inhuman speed! They sprinted forward, and a few swings of their swords were enough to send six people flying.”
None of this felt real. All I could do was laugh.
“We prepared for the worst-case scenario. Take care of them,” I said.
I could practically hear Towncar grind his teeth. He made an angry sound. “If we do that, it will be my Chivalric Order that suffers!”
“Better than our entire army collapsing. Do it. And be quick about it.”
“Those are my people! Shelbia’s people! They are the ones who will die out there!” Towncar shouted, rage lacing his every word.
I turned my gaze to him but ignored his tempestuous objection. There was no room for debate. To the deputy commander of the Yelenetta Chivalric Order, who was waiting in the back, I said, “Deputy commander, I want you to relay my orders in Lord Towncar’s stead! Have the mage squad use earth magic to stall the enemy, then blast the two knights with our cannons!”
“Yessir!” The deputy commander sprinted away.
Towncar, aghast, watched him leave. “I hope this is a fight you can win, Sir Cosworth,” he said in a low, earth-rattling voice.
It was a foolish comment, but one that I nonetheless had to respond to. “This is the only path forward. For both Yelenetta and Shelbia.”
Van
ACCORDING TO ARTE, SHE COULDN’T CONTROL THE puppets unless she could see them, so we moved to the top of the wall with Lowe and Khamsin protecting us.
“Lord Van, you better come back quickly. Do you understand?” Till asked, her face ashen with worry.
I shot her a pained smile and nodded.
Given how dangerous it was up top, I set up a defense wall shaped like a semicircle. It kind of looked like that one building in Odaiba. Looking out at the battlefield from a horizontal slit I’d put in the wall, I asked Arte, “Are you good?”
She nodded, even as her shoulders trembled. “I am fine. Go, Aventador!”
Arte activated her magic as though she was praying, and soon, I heard a loud noise from outside. I could see the two puppets’ long, slender arms and their gleaming mithril swords.
Wow, they really do move like people.
Suddenly, they leapt from the top of the wall down to the ground. Centena wasn’t gigantic, but its wall still towered over the area below. Their light armor notwithstanding, the puppets were made from wood blocks; I’d crafted them to be as strong as iron, but I still worried whether they could hold up from a drop that high. I stayed quiet so as to not disturb Arte’s focus, but internally, I panicked as I watched the two figures rapidly descend.
As it turned out, my concerns were unwarranted. Arte’s puppets hit the ground and immediately sprinted toward the enemy Chivalric Order. For the enemy’s cannons to hit them at that speed was basically impossible.
Of course, there was another weapon we needed to be wary of.
“Arte, watch out for the black balls. If you see someone looking like they’re about to throw something, dodge to the side.”
“O-okay!” Arte replied, frantically controlling her Aventador.
As soon as I noticed the enemy drawing near, I told Arte to deploy her puppets. But it turned out that the enemy was further away than I thought, which had me worried about her magic reserves holding up.
Before I could get too caught up in my thoughts, though, there were multiple explosions near the Aventador. As I suspected, the enemy had explosives.
“I-I dodged them!”
“Excellent. Next, have the Aventador sprint around the enemy so that they can’t just throw them willy-nilly without catching their own troops in the explosions.”
“On it!”
She had her puppets dash through the clouds of dust kicked up by the explosions and straight into the line of knights, who were tossed to the sides like pins being knocked around by a bowling ball. The Aventador continued forward without stopping. Some of the enemy soldiers threw their swords down and tried to flee. Hell, I’d probably have done the same if I saw those things fearlessly smashing through my allies. That’d be terrifying.
I didn’t have much time to ponder the brutality of Arte’s puppets before I received a report: “Lord Van! Wyverns! They have deployed wyverns!”
I peeked up at the sky from the slit in the wall and saw them approaching from up high. Dang, they’re really far up.
“Our ballistae aren’t going to be able to hit them. Hmm, I wonder where Panamera is…”
As I looked around for Panamera from behind the wall, her face popped up right in front of the slit. “You called?”
Panamera guffawed as I jumped backward. She was bold if nothing else, especially considering all the explosions popping off all around us.
“Don’t startle me like that!” I complained. She smiled deviously at me and shook her head.
“That was not my intention. I simply answered your call.”
It was true that she didn’t do anything specifically to scare me, but knowing her, I strongly suspected that was her intention. Sighing, I decided to trust her just this once.
I pointed at the wyverns. “I was hoping you could do something about those.”
“Was that not the plan from the start?” A fierce smile crossed her face. “I will handle them.”
She stepped away from our mini-enclosure. Maybe 30 seconds later, the sky turned crimson. The knights stationed at the ballistae looked up at it in awe.
“M-my word!”
“This rivals even Lord Fertio’s magic!”
Looks like Panamera can handle the wyverns, then.
I located Stradale running around the top of the wall and gave him further orders. “Commander Stradale, keep issuing orders to the ballistae operators and protect Panamera, okay?”
“Understood!” The powerful knight showed not a moment’s hesitation. He was probably well accustomed to labor exploitation at this point.
“Excellent. I think it’s about time we have the Aventador come back,” I said with my gaze locked back on the battlefield.
Arte turned around, eyes wide. “Huh? Are you sure? There are still ranks of enemies further back…” Her voice was tinged with a dash of disappointment.
I looked at her, surprised by how assertive she was being, and pointed at the battlefield. “At the end of the day, this is a siege battle. Now that we’ve disrupted their formation so heavily, they’ll be quick work for our ballistae. I’m more concerned about the wyverns, to be honest. I was gonna ask you to help Panamera take care of them.”
“Okay, understood.” Arte nodded and refocused on her Aventador. I built a door into the enclosure and stepped outside.
“Is it okay for you to be out here?!” Till asked, pale with fear. I waved a hand and pointed at the bottom of the fortress wall.
“The cannons shouldn’t be in range anymore, so I want to sneak in some repairs while I can. A bunch of areas got busted, right? I need both of you ladies to stay here. Khamsin, can you come with me?”
“Of course!” he replied, trotting over like a loyal dog.
I left Lowe in charge of giving orders to the Seatoh Village Chivalric Order and hurried down the wall. Truth be told, I was anxious about leaving the girls there alone, but there wasn’t much I could do for the time being.
At the bottom of the wall, Targa was hurriedly dragging the earth mages around.
“Targa! What part of the wall did you guys just repair?” I yelled.
He turned his entire body around, a relieved look on his face. “The west side! We are currently heading for the east side wall, since it hasn’t been fixed yet. Is that okay?!”
“Go for it! Once I finish strengthening the west side, I’ll meet up with you guys over there!”
“You have my gratitude!”
We turned our backs to one another and got to work. While I was giving orders to Arte, Targa had been taking the earth mages around to try and repair the collapsed walls, a role that couldn’t have been easy under these circumstances. The act of making a wall out of dirt was hard enough, and the whole thing would collapse if the casters stopped infusing magic into it. On top of that, they had to split into two groups to handle all the damage, which would have impacted the height and thickness of the wall.
If I didn’t get to the west side and reinforce the wall as soon as possible, the enemy might break into the fortress.
“Once we push the enemy back, I’m going to rebuild all these walls so that nobody’ll ever be able to destroy them again!”
“A wonderful idea!” Khamsin said. “Your walls are perfect, after all!” I let him gas me up as we sprinted to the west side of the fortress.
If the enemy kept to their current tactics, we’d be okay. In terms of terrain, they’d have a hard time trying to circle to the east side of the fortress if they wanted to cut off our supply line and surround us. The one thing we had to be careful of was poison or disease. In the wars of old, armies sent corpses into enemy encampments to spread disease, but I found it doubtful our current enemy would resort to those tactics. Even if they did, Panamera could just torch the bodies.
The other thing that scared me was the possibility of an overwhelming number of wyverns aerial bombing us to high hell. I had yet to strengthen the fortress overall, so an aerial bombing combined with cannon fire would not only cost us countless lives but also send people into a panic and prevent our army from functioning properly.
I’ve only seen five wyverns at any given time so far, but I can’t let my guard down, I thought as I ran.
Behind me, Khamsin yelled, “Lord Van! Watch out!”
A silver ray of light flashed before my eyes, almost drawing me into it. My field of vision was consumed by a slow-mo view of twin straight swords closing in on me, their blades reflecting light.
Actually, they were more like rapiers than straight swords: a bit long, but with sharp tips for thrusting. And the tips of those swords got within range of my face before sparks flew in front of me. The sound of metal clashing on metal hurt my ears, and I instinctively closed my eyes against the brightness of the light, then rolled backward on the ground to try to dodge whatever was coming next.
I heard someone click their tongue—“Tch!”—and in the next moment, another clash of metal.
“Lord Van, run!”
Hearing that frantic voice, I deduced that it was a bad situation and rolled to the side. This mystery enemy was probably on my right side and thrusting the sword with their right hand, so I rolled to the left to put some distance between us. I didn’t have the time to carefully analyze the situation, so this was pure instinct. My choice was quickly proven right as I heard something pierce the ground directly beside my right ear, sending a vibration through my whole body.
“Curses!”
That must have been the same person who clicked their tongue earlier. Some dirt got in my mouth, but now wasn’t the time to complain. It was bitter and crunchy, but I endured it, putting both hands on the ground to push myself up.
I got to my feet, and when I raised my head, I found two men standing in front of me. Off to my right, Khamsin was facing off with two other people. Everyone had weapons in hand, and it was clear that they had no misgivings about using them on me.
I reflexively jumped to the left, but I accidentally let out a dorky scream at the same time. “Eek!”
“He’s nimble!”
“Aim at his legs!”
“I’ll circle around him!”
All four men were clearly well-trained; no sooner did they exchange these words than they moved and changed formation, as if they were a single living creature. Each was cloaked in black attire, and I couldn’t see a single piece of armor on any of them. It was possible they wore chainmail-like armor underneath their clothes, but even in that case, they were lightly equipped. That probably explained how quickly two of the men were able to shift to my rear. If they surrounded us, we were screwed.
However, one of the men broke from their formation and turned his back to me. Before I could figure out what he was doing, I heard multiple clangs of steel on steel from his direction.
“Not on my watch!”
It was Khamsin. He wasn’t tall enough to reach our enemy’s shoulders, but he was desperately swinging his sword to prevent the man from executing his plan. How did the would-be assassin manage to deflect Khamsin’s super sharp sword? What kind of material was his weapon forged from?
Don’t tell me it’s mithril?
For an instant, the remaining three men stopped in their tracks, their eyes darting back and forth as they weighed whether to take down Khamsin first or go after me. Then I heard a woman’s deep voice from behind them. “One of you should be able to handle that child. The rest of you, stick to the plan and target the baron.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
There was a mastermind commanding these men, though she had yet to show herself.
“I’m not gonna be able to run, huh?” I said with a frustrated smile as I drew the two weapons at my hips. They were a pair of orichalcum katana. I posed with them, hoping to buy some time. “Tonight, my beloved blades yearn for the taste of blo— Gah!”
One of the jerks took the opportunity to thrust his sword at me. I swung both of my weapons and retreated backward, deflecting the man’s blade with the side of mine. It was a tremendously lucky move, and to be honest, I wished I’d managed to hit it with the sharp side of my katana so I could completely defang him.
But our enemies pressed the attack, not giving me time to cry over spilled milk.
“Damn it! It’s hard being so popular!” I continued to swing my swords, trying not to cry while I continued my retreat. My enemies were thrusting at me from three different directions. I managed to repel their attacks, just barely, but I was hitting my limit.
I felt an impact on my hand and grunted, dropping one of my swords. One of my horizontal slashes had crossed paths with an enemy attack coming down from up high, and the impact knocked one of my precious swords out of my grip. “Gah, I can’t feel my hand!” I barked without meaning to. The three men grinned.
A little ways off, Khamsin noticed my dire situation. “L-Lord Van!” He swung his katana in a line perpendicular to the ground and turned in my direction. Something about that attack must have been different, because the man he was facing off against took a fully defensive stance.
The slash cut his blade in two.
Khamsin was sprinting toward me, so the man himself came out of the exchange unharmed, but at least now he was less of a threat. Of course, I was also less of a threat than before; losing my katana had left me vulnerable.
While I considered my grim position, the three men noticed Khamsin approaching and, without saying a word to one another, leapt into action. Much to my surprise, they ignored Khamsin entirely and sprinted for me. They were willing to throw their lives away if it meant completing their mission.
Look. I was young, yes, but I had also been personally trained by Dee. I lacked Khamsin’s raw talent, but I was confident I could fight on equal ground with Arb and Lowe. I could at least stall for time against two swordsmen, so if one person was stuck engaging Khamsin, I’d be okay. But there was no way I could take on three opponents, and my loyal friend was never going to make it in time.
Maybe it was finally time to prepare myself for the inevitable.
“If I fall here, please take care of Till and Arte for me,” I said to Khamsin while the three men raced toward me, swords raised.
I didn’t speak very loudly, but he seemed to hear me anyway. “Lord Van!”
His scream reached my ears as I kicked off the ground and went left in a desperate bid to increase my chances of survival, however slightly. The three men were coming at me from three different directions, but if I headed left, I’d get closer to the man approaching me from that direction and a little further from the other two, including the one who was nearest Khamsin. That gave me a brief window to engage the man on the left in one-on-one combat.
I moved quickly and successfully deflected a single sword attack in my desperation. Unfortunately, the second and third swords were incoming. My chances weren’t great, but I might’ve been able to use my momentum to deflect the attack from the man in the middle. The problem was that I had no strategy for the third guy. I wouldn’t have time to fend off a third attack. There was no point thinking about that now, though. All I could do was risk my life to block the second man’s attack. Once I managed that, I’d try to avoid being fatally injured from the third assassin. Again, my chances were slim, but it was the best shot I had at surviving.
I thought through all of this and reached my conclusion in an instant. The situation was deadly, but I found that my senses were sharper than they’d ever been. As a result, I was able to twist my body more accurately than I anticipated. To build strength, I lowered my upper body on a diagonal, and then I twisted my hips and swung my sword as fast as possible at the second man.
The clash of steel filled my ears, and I felt the shock of the impact in my pinkie finger. As planned, I successfully defended against the second man’s attack with an attack of my own, and I definitely deserved praise for that. But I was also right that there was nothing I could do about the third assassin. I had swung my sword left as fast as I could, then brought it back to the right, which required lowering my center of gravity to stabilize my attacks. Unfortunately, that meant I was in no position to make another move.
I’m probably going to die, I thought distantly, watching the tip of my enemy’s sword approach me at petrifying speed.
But in the next moment, the sword vanished. The weapon that signaled my demise was suddenly gone.
The assassin was still there, and as if to highlight the strangeness of the situation, his arm was still extended as if he were holding the sword. Was he trying to kill me with some other technique? No, that couldn’t be it; even he seemed surprised.
“Wh-what happened?!”
My attacker looked at my face, looked down at his empty hand, and scowled. He reached down to his waist to grab something, but as he did so, Khamsin finally caught up from behind him and slashed at his defenseless back. The assassin screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground.
“A-are you okay, Lord Van?” Khamsin asked, his shoulders heaving from exertion. He was holding both his katana and another sword.
Chapter 6: Khamsin’s Magic
Chapter 6:
Khamsin’s Magic
KHAMSIN DID SOMETHING. ON AN INSTINCTUAL level, I understood this, but I didn’t have the time to figure out what exactly that something was.
“Sh-shit!”
“Hurry and cut him down!”
Having seen their compatriot slain, the assassins adjusted their grips on their swords and continued toward me. Unfortunately for them, the situation had changed. One of the men was pursuing Khamsin, but now there was a bit of distance between us. Between Khamsin and me, we could at least stall for time against the pair that were closest to us.
“You’d be surprised how tough two kids can be,” I told them. Now that I was free of my fatal predicament, I found myself able to crack wise again.
“How dare you point your blade at Lord Van!”
The genius Lil’ Van and the always-serious Khamsin were now engaged in a fight to the death with two of our pursuers. Sadly, it was clear that my loyal friend would struggle to cut through their swords with his katana. My amazing orichalcum sword, on the other hand, sliced right through the assassin’s weapon in one slash.
“They might have concealed weapons, so be careful!” I cautioned Khamsin, quickly backing off from the man I’d disarmed as he tried to do something.
“R-right!” Khamsin used the stolen sword as a shield to block his opponent’s attack, then followed that up with a slash from the katana in his other hand. His blade sliced the man’s arm, rendering it unusable even though he was unable to cut it off entirely.
I raised my head, determined not to let Khamsin show me up, and noticed something approaching us from behind the assassins.
“Khamsin, dodge!” I yelled, falling sideways.
Projectiles shot right over my head, and I heard them pierce the ground right behind me, one after the other. I raised my head, body still on the ground, and turned to look at the impact zone. A bunch of sharp icicles were sticking straight out of the ground. I looked next to me and found Khamsin in the same position as me, having successfully dodged the icicles.
“Someone is attacking us with magic from the shadows!” he yelled, collecting himself and swinging his katana as he rose to his feet.
I followed him and scrambled to put a plan together in my head. There was no chance the two of us could get away now. The second we turned around, we’d be filled with holes. What could we do?
Just as my brain began to hurt from trying to whip together a plan, I heard a man behind us yell in a deep voice, “There he is! Protect Lord Van at all costs!”
His cries were followed by the shouts of numerous men. Even without turning around, I knew it was Stradale leading the charge.
The three assassins hesitated, one of them making a frustrated noise.
“It’s over! Fall back!” ordered the hidden woman. They turned around and fled with their backs to us.
Khamsin made to pursue them, but I stopped him in his tracks. “Khamsin, leave the rest to Commander Stradale.”
The young boy turned around to look at me, at which point I finally fell on my butt. Knights ran past us on either side in pursuit of the mystery assassins.
“Lord Van! Are you all right?!” Stradale appeared next to me, his sword drawn and his guard up as he surveyed our surroundings.
“They got me while everyone was busy trying to repair the walls. Next time, I gotta make it a point to take at least five bodyguards with me, even if I’m just walking around in the fortress.”
“Please do. Where is Lowe? Your Chivalric Order?” he asked with a serious tone.
If I cracked a joke here, Lowe would probably get a fist in his face later. That was the vibe Stradale was giving me. “Ah, I have Lowe and the rest of the Order helping the ballista operators on the wall. Now that we’ve lost a few of them, our only option is to improve the accuracy of our remaining units.”
This was my attempt to cover for Lowe so he didn’t get in trouble, but Stradale cared not. He shot me a fierce look.
“Lowe has an obligation to prioritize your safety, regardless of your orders,” he said, his voice quiet and furious. He glanced at Khamsin, who held the enemy’s sword in one hand and the katana I made for him in the other. “You are the slave Lord Van purchased, correct? You fought extremely well. As a slave, you can never be granted knighthood, but as far as I am concerned, you are a true knight.”
Khamsin bowed hastily. “Thank you very much.”
Despite his origins as a slave, my trustworthy friend was receiving accolades from the commander of the all-powerful Fertio Chivalric Order. His status didn’t matter—this was the highest honor he could have received.
I was so happy for him that I shot him a smile. “I’m really proud of you, Khamsin.”
Stradale tucked his chin in and looked at me. “Lord Van, this boy overperformed in every sense of the word. Not only did he protect you, his actions allowed us to keep defending this fortress. I will speak with your father and His Majesty and suggest that he receive a medal of honor for his actions.”
Khamsin straightened his back. On closer inspection, I saw tears forming in his eyes. It was rare for Stradale to praise another person at such length. That he was doing so now spoke volumes about how much he respected Khamsin’s abilities and actions.
“That seems only right. Khamsin, think long and hard about what you want. His Majesty might just give it to you!” I suggested, smiling.
Khamsin turned around and quietly shook his head. “As long as you are well, I need nothing else,” he said in a decisive tone.
There was nothing Stradale could say to that. For my part, I stayed silent too. What could I say after seeing him express such earnest loyalty?
C’mon, man. Don’t make me cry. You know how sensitive I
can be.
That day, the combined Yelenetta and Shelbia forces abandoned their attempts to take Centena Fortress and retreated. I received word from the top of the wall that an earth dragon was spotted in the distance, but after sensing how much of a threat the Aventador, Panamera’s magic, and our ballistae posed, the enemy must have pulled the beast back.
I’d run myself ragged maintaining the walls and building more ballistae, so the moment I heard that the enemy had retreated, I went to my room and collapsed on the bed. I was too exhausted to even think anymore. “I’m at my limit,” I groaned.
There was so much to think about, but I fell into a deep sleep.
Till was the first person I saw upon waking.
“Ah, Lord Van! Good morning.” She trotted over, and I rolled over in bed, still exhausted from the day’s events.
“G’morning, Till. What happened? How much time has passed?”
“Um, you went to bed before sunset, and now it’s the next morning. As for the current situation…”
She raised her head to look at someone.
I heard another voice from the opposite side of the bed. “We are at a standstill. We don’t have the manpower to launch an attack, and our enemy is keeping their guard up and staying put. Our scouts have the enemy army in sight, so we know they haven’t fully withdrawn.”
It was Khamsin. I rolled in the opposite direction to look at him, and he stood at attention.
“Then it’s possible they’re waiting on supplies from Yelenetta. Or they’re going to hire mercenaries.” I sighed. “Either way, I doubt they’ll launch another attack anytime soon.”
Khamsin stared at me, his eyes betraying concern. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and smiled weakly. “Maybe I’m coming down with a cold or something. I’m not feeling great. I can’t just stay in bed all day though. I need to make sure this place is tough as nails.”
I attempted to sit up, but immediately felt a hand on my shoulder from behind. Was Till trying to put me back to bed? I turned to find Arte sitting on my bed and watching me. She must have been sitting there the whole time.
She frowned at me and pressed on my shoulder. “Please rest, Lord Van. You look much worse than you probably realize. You cannot possibly be all right,” she insisted, then pushed me firmly back to bed.
How could I say no when she looked like she was about to cry?
“Are you sure?” I murmured worriedly. “I am super exhausted, and I’d love to take a break, but—”
Another voice—this one an adult man—spoke up from somewhere by the door. “Please do not worry. I have been guarding you since last night. I will protect you at all costs.”
I looked toward the door and found Lowe there, looking guilty. “Huh? Lowe?”
Something wasn’t right about the tense soldier vibes he was giving off right now. I mean, he was a knight, so maybe this was normal behavior, but it felt wrong. Like Arb, Lowe usually had a chill, neighborly, big-brother vibe.
Maybe sensing that I was puzzled by this change in him, Khamsin leaned in and whispered, “Sir Stradale scolded him for over an hour yesterday.”
“Right. Gotcha.” With that explained, I laid back down. It was true that at this point, our enemy’s only real option was to send in more assassins. I suspected that they might try to bomb the walls, but unless they dug under the ground, we’d spot them and rain ballista fire on them. I decided to do as suggested and get some rest…and once I made that call, all the tension in my body started to fade. It was time to let Till dote on me a little.
“Till? Could I get some hot tea and snacks?”
She beamed at me. “Of course! Give me one moment,” she said, then left the room with a skip in her step.
When she was gone, I looked at Arte. “You really did great out there with your marionette magic. You’re one of the reasons this fortress is still standing, so thank you.”
“P-please, it was nothing,” she replied with a bashful smile.
I returned her smile with one of my own and looked at Khamsin next. He was looking more confident than ever, owing in no small part to Stradale’s acknowledgment. “Khamsin, did you use thieving magic to take that assassin’s sword yesterday?”
His face tensed up and he trembled a little. Arte turned to him too, surprised by my question. When I first purchased Khamsin as a slave, I was told that he had an affinity for thieving magic—hence the conclusion I’d just reached. I waited in silence for him to answer me, and after a few seconds, he finally spoke.
“Yes. Actually, I’ve been practicing it on my own ever since I first saw Lady Arte’s magic. I thought that one day even my magic might be useful to you. It’s just… I can’t steal anything outside of a six-foot range, and if my target is looking at me, I can’t use it at all,” he said quietly.
I nodded. “So you thought it was useless?” I asked, anticipating his next words.
His shoulders drooped and he nodded.
Arte smiled sadly, watching him. I was willing to bet that she saw herself in Khamsin. She had struggled, despairing, with this exact problem for years before she awoke to the many possibilities her magic actually offered. If Khamsin could have that kind of breakthrough too…
I gave him a big smile. “Well, I’d say you were worried over nothing. It’s definitely not useless, Khamsin. I’m alive because of you. You’re the one that saved my life. And I’ll always be grateful for that,” I said definitively.
Khamsin lifted his head and started to sob quietly, and Arte followed suit. I truly hoped that one day Khamsin could be proud of his magic.
Next, I looked over at Lowe. “How is Fa— Um, how is Lord Fertio?” I asked, finally managing to squeeze out the words that had been on my mind this whole time.
Lowe furrowed his brow and pulled his chin in. “Lord Fertio is still unconscious. His caretakers have managed to keep him hydrated, but his wounds are serious.”
“…Right, thanks. Oh, and Lowe? You did well yesterday. Make sure you get some rest at some point too.”
I closed my eyes. There was a lot on my mind, but I needed to focus on getting my stamina back. This fight was far from over.
I ended up resting for an entire day! I felt a bit feverish at points, but by the end I was in perfect condition.
“Here, Lord Van. I cut some fruit for you.”
“Yaaay!” I cheerfully stuffed my cheeks with sweet fruit while Till and Arte watched benevolently from the side. What a kind world we lived in.
Elsewhere, it looked as though our enemy was becoming active again. Lowe and Khamsin were taking turns on bodyguard duty, going in and out of the room.
“Sounds like things are getting busy again,” I commented as I ate.
“Yes, though I haven’t heard cannon fire yet,” Till murmured. She sounded concerned.
“No worries. I’m feeling great now, so I can get back to toughening this place up. We’ll be fine.”
This brought a relieved smile to Till’s face. “That is lovely to hear, Lord Van.”
“Yes, I am relieved as well,” Arte said. She and Till exchanged smiles.
Casually, I stretched my arms up toward the ceiling. “Mm! All right. I’ll get to work after I’ve had some meat for lunch. Ha ha ha.”
The door swung open with nary a knock and Panamera barged in. For a hot second, I almost imagined I heard a videogame-worthy door-slam SFX. “Boy! I hear you are feeling better? Come! It’s time to rebuild Centena Fortress! Everyone is waiting!”
Straight to talking about work. Alarms went off in my head, telling me that I’d be screwed if I looked like I was doing too well. “Uh… I’m feeling kind of dizzy, actually… I don’t think I’ll be of much use until I’ve had lunch…”
I tried to look like I was out of it, but Panamera narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me. “I heard that just a moment ago you had a breakfast big enough for two people. When I asked, Khamsin seemed thrilled about how much better you were doing. Was he lying?”
Khamsin leaked intel to Panamera! Curses. Lil’ Van’s plan to laze about until the afternoon had fallen apart before it could even come together.
“In all seriousness, are you good to be about? Answer me honestly,” said Panamera.
“…I am.”
“Excellent. I am glad to hear it.”
With that, she left the room. My escape route officially cut off, I asked Till to prepare my clothes so I could get changed. I would be stuck running around doing repairs on the fortress during the early hours of the morning.
I left my room annoyed and spotted a bunch of knights running around frantically. One of them noticed me coming out into the hall and stopped in his tracks.
“Ah, Lord Van! Lord Fertio is awake!”
“What? Really?” What incredible timing.
Surprised, I followed the knights who were running down the hall and arrived at daddy dearest’s room, where a bunch of knights had gathered. Upon closer inspection, I realized that they were all members of the Fertio Chivalric Order. One of the knights noticed me and called out my name, prompting the others to clear a path into the room.
“Thanks.” I passed the knights and knocked on the door. Moments later, Stradale opened it from the inside.
“Lord Van,” he said before stepping to the side to invite me in.
When I looked away from him, I saw Jalpa lying on the bed in the back of the room. Stradale shot Till and Arte a look that asked them to leave us be, so I moved forward alone.
“Pardon me.”
Before he could say anything, I made my way to Jalpa’s bed. He set his eyes on me. He was much thinner than before, hollow-cheeked and looking generally emaciated. There was no strength in his eyes, and his face, neck, and hands were covered in small wounds.
“Father, how are you feeling?” I asked point-blank.
For a long moment, Jalpa averted his eyes and said nothing, merely looked up at the ceiling. Finally, he said, “I heard everything from Stradale. You repelled Yelenetta and Shelbia?”
“No, not entirely, but I plan to use today to improve Centena’s defenses. Please do not worry.”
Jalpa started laughing. It was a clumsy, silent, somehow self-deprecating laugh. Puzzled, I watched him carefully until he looked off into the distance and sighed. “‘Do not worry,’ you say? To me? You are a child, and yet… I, the Watchman of Scuderia. The lord of House Fertio…”
He trailed off with more powerless laughter. I watched him, wondering whether I’d said the wrong thing.
But to my surprise, Jalpa didn’t get angry. When his quiet laughter tapered off, he shot me a fierce look. “Prove it. If you manage to keep this fortress safe, then I will have no choice but to recognize your abilities. Make this place impregnable.” I smirked automatically, and he shot me an exasperated look. “What is so funny?”
“Oh, there’s nothing funny about any of it. It’s just… I’m relieved, you see. You’ve ordered me to do the one thing I know I can do.”
Jalpa froze, wide-eyed. Then he snorted and looked away. “…You’re certainly confident. Prove your worth.”
“Oh, I will.”
With that, I left the room to find Till and Arte waiting with worry written all over their faces.
“Lord Van, how was your father?” Arte asked.
I smiled and lifted my chin. “He seems to be doing well! And he gave me a job to do.”
“A job?” Till cocked her head.
Still smiling, I replied, “He told me to make this place impregnable.”
I took a step forward. Now things are getting interesting.
“All right. I think we’re good!” I said, looking up at the finished fortress with satisfaction.
The first thing I did was repair and remodel the fortress in its entirety. Then, for my last act, I redid the walls. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
Targa was behind me, looking up at the fortress. He sounded exasperated as he said, “It might as well be a completely new fortress.”
Stradale nodded in agreement, and Panamera laughed loudly, her arms folded. “Ha ha ha ha! Well done, boy! I can’t wait to see what surprises you have in store for us this time.”
She was looking up at the new fortress with great interest. At this point, she was used to my shenanigans.
Targa, who’d helped me overhaul the fortress, replied to Panamera’s words with a dry laugh. “Are you telling me Lord Van does this kind of thing regularly?”
“This is fairly standard for him, at least in terms of exterior design.”
“Unbelievable…”
I cast them a sidelong glance before finally starting the grand tour of the new Centena Fortress. “Saddle up, everyone! I’ll be explaining everything as we go.”
“R-right.”
“Seatoh Village Chivalric Order, follow close behind us.”
“Yessir!”
I took the lead, and since Targa, his people, and my Order were all coming along, we were moving in a pretty large cluster of people. I started the tour itself at the fortress gate facing Scuderia but began my explanation with the exterior everyone had been gawking at a moment ago.
“Okay, so while it might look like a giant turtle shell, it’s actually quite tough against external impact,” I explained, looking up at the dome-like fortress that towered over our surroundings. Everyone followed suit, and I kept going as if I were a tour guide. “The building itself is four stories tall, making it pretty big, I think. From the outside, it’s pretty much impossible to tell how the interior is structured. The gate on this side is easy to spot, but the one on the other side is meant to blend in with the wall. Shall we enter?”
“Okay!” Till said.
“I cannot wait,” said Arte.
Their excitement made this all kind of feel like an elementary school field trip, but it wasn’t. We were touring Centena Fortress, a linchpin of our national defenses. I need everyone to take this more seriously! Heh.
Wearing my best serious expression, I led everyone into the fortress and began to explain the remodeled outer walls. “I’ve made the wall surrounding us much thicker and designed it so that people can actually live inside of it. That meant shrinking the courtyard, but as it stands, this place can house about five thousand troops at any given time. I also installed a simple cafeteria and a bathhouse in the wall and the fortress itself, obviously.”
We continued to walk through the wall as I explained its features. Targa was looking around curiously, and Panamera, Till, and Arte gazed all around the interior with great fascination. Oh, and of course, Khamsin and Stradale carefully examined the structural layout of the wall’s interior, burning every nook and cranny of it into their minds.
“…so we have more than enough lodging space here. All right, moving on to the most important part of all of this…” I slapped my hand on the wall that was facing out of the fortress. “On the second floor, there are observation windows where we can set up small ballistae. I know the interior design is a bit complex, by the way, but that’s to prevent enemies from being able to quickly map the place if they somehow get in.”
Next, I took everyone to the courtyard. To protect it from aerial attacks, I’d installed a semicircular roof over it. I expanded the fortress and made the surrounding wall extra thick to make the whole stronghold sturdier, but the courtyard in its current form just surrounded the fortress. It was what occupied the space between the wall and the fortress itself. This was initially designed as a place for the troops to get into formation before they headed out to attack an enemy, but the problem was that this fortress was never designed to be an offensive stronghold.
After I explained that to everyone, I looked up at the actual fortress in the center. “Next, it’s time to talk about this bad boy.”
That was when Targa raised his hand, a perplexed look on his face. “Um… Centena essentially has a roof over it, so why is it so bright?”
It was a simple question, but if someone looked carefully, they’d notice that the roof itself was multi-layered.
“There are three layers of roofing that overlap with one another,” I explained, “which allows a little bit of indirect light to get into the fortress. I actually wanted to use unbreakable glass, but gave up on that, since there was no chance it’d stand up against cannon fire. I’ve set up a ton of lamps in place of street lights, so when it starts to get dark, don’t forget to turn those on.”
Targa blinked, looking up at the ceiling. “It looks like a single roof to me, yet you say it has multiple layers?”
Stradale nodded shallowly. “Hm, if you look closely, you can just barely see where the light is coming from. But would not such a trick reduce the structure’s overall durability?”
“The overlapping sections are connected with pillars, but if one of the enemy’s projectiles somehow made its way into a gap used for lighting, sure, it’d be trouble. That being said, it would take more than one or two hits for it to collapse.”
Stradale scratched his chin and nodded slightly. It seemed my answer was good enough for him.
I took the quiet crowd into the building. “This door is made of metal, so it can hold up against cannon fire. Its thickness means it’s also pretty heavy, though, so sorry about that.” Moving into the hall, I began to explain the new fortress’s primary facilities. “First and foremost, we have a cafeteria and a bathhouse, both important for day-to-day life here at the fortress. To reduce how much cleaning has to be done, given how many people will be stationed here, I made the bathhouse free-flowing. It draws water from the river, which powers a water wheel, then runs through a heating device before flowing into the bathhouse at an appropriate temperature. The water drainage from this system is also being used to wash away sewage, which should improve the overall hygiene of the fortress.”
I opened the door to the bathhouse and led my audience into the dressing room. Before us was an area large enough for fifty people to comfortably bathe at once. I went with a rectangular design for the tub itself to maximize the space, and I made it from stone so it wouldn’t fall apart anytime soon.
Owing to the higher temperature, the room was permeated with steam. I put a waterfall shower in the room so that the water in the tub itself would maintain the perfect temperature. Of course, that meant the shower was probably too hot, but I decided to just pretend that was good for your physical health. Sure. Totally!
“I-I cannot believe you can shower in here,” Targa remarked.
Stradale sounded just as stunned as Targa. “With a bathhouse this large, everyone could bathe once every two days, as long as we took turns.”
That was exactly the reaction I’d hoped for.
Next, I showed off the cafeteria and large kitchen, then guided the crowd to the second floor. The second, third, and fourth floors held the sleeping spaces. Obviously, I didn’t have the time to make beds for everyone yet, so I was going to have them handle that later.
At the center of each floor was a storage room for weapons and armor. I’d put all the ballista bolts on the fourth floor. As a precaution against enemies who might gain access to the fortress, the stairway was incredibly steep, and the observation windows couldn’t be opened from the outside. Any intruders would find it difficult to make their way up through the fortress, since the staircase was designed so that we could thrust spears at incoming enemies from higher ground. We could also attack with machine bows and the like from the observation windows.
I continued to explain things as we left the ballista bolt storage room on the top floor and used the stairs to get to the roof.
“Last but not least, this is the roof,” I said, reaching it first and taking a few steps forward before I turned around to face the group. The bright sunlight made them squint, but once they adjusted to the brightness, they noticed our surroundings.
“This is… My word…”
“Huh…?”
Targa was rendered speechless, but Panamera was fascinated. She looked around briefly, then asked, “How does this work?”
I gently cleared my throat. “Allow me to explain! First, let me address the roof’s defenses. As you can see, I have twenty ballistae lined up in a row so that we can deal with any large armies that approach us. Additionally, in case we’re attacked from the sky by wyverns, I’ve installed ten ballistae capable of aiming up and down at much sharper angles.” I walked across the spacious roof and toward one of the ballistae so I could explain how I’d modified it. “Please take a close look at its form.”
“It’s different,” she said slowly.
I nodded and pointed out what had changed. The buckler that extended from the left and right sides of the ballista itself was separate from the base of the weapon. When you turned the ballista to either side to adjust your aim, the buckler moved with it. With this change, the buckler could defend you from attacks even as you kept firing. The one drawback was that it limited the operator’s field of view a fair bit, but having other personnel to help with aiming would fix that problem.
“Now our ballista operators will be protected while they attack. I made the exterior of the wall super tough, so we won’t have to worry too much about it collapsing on us. We’ve still gotta deal with the black balls, which is why I set up a bunch of ballistae that can be aimed at the sky more easily.”
Targa seemed exasperated as he looked around. Finally, he said, “A total of thirty ballistae, yes? How could you have done this in such a short span of time?”
“Lord Van is always doing this sort of thing,” Panamera interjected with a pained smile.
Targa could only offer her a similar smile in return.
Chapter 7: Yelenetta’s Intentions
Chapter 7:
Yelenetta’s Intentions
Cosworth Yelenetta
I REFERRED TO THE MAP BACK AT OUR BASE CAMP FOR the operation to take Centena Fortress. It was riddled with notes, each of which seemed to indicate that we had our backs against the wall. We had superior numbers. We had cannons and black balls, weapons that Scuderia lacked. We were able to attack from the sky, something else the enemy was incapable of.
And yet, I no longer knew what we could do against Centena. This strategy meeting had long since devolved into chaos; I didn’t have to say anything since the others were already arguing with each other.
Someone angrily smacked the table the map was on and yelled, “Answer the question! How are we supposed to bring down that wall when our cannons couldn’t do the job? Even if we got close enough, they could take us out with those giant crossbows! Those things are more powerful than our cannons! And what can we possibly do against that pair of absurd knights? I heard they decapitated a wyvern in a single blow! One! How are we supposed to fight those things?!”
One of my commanders replied, “We have no choice but to attack! If we can get close to the fortress, they won’t be able to hit us with those ridiculous crossbows. I doubt the fortress walls extend deep underground, so if we can just dig beneath them, we can blow them up with our explosives!”
“What, and then watch our enemy repair them on the spot?” protested a commander from Shelbia. “Did you not witness the absurd battle we just had?! No matter how many times we brought down their walls, they repaired them instantly! The wyverns couldn’t get close because of their fire magic, and then three of them were defeated by the enemy’s crossbows and immortal knights. And don’t you dare even mention our earth dragon! It would be slaughtered once it got in range of the enemy!”
Whenever the commander from Yelenetta presented a path forward, the Shelbian commander shot it down mercilessly. In many ways, the argument between these two men was a microcosm of our nations’ current relationship. Before we attacked Centena, everyone would have loyally followed my commander’s orders, but after our devastating defeat, the Shelbian forces stopped following our lead. This didn’t only apply to the lower-ranking commanders, either.
“Sir Cosworth,” Towncar said to me, “I regret to inform you that our forces are to temporarily retreat to Fortress City Opel. I believe we can wage an advantageous defensive battle there.”
“Foolishness,” I replied immediately. “If we retreat now, this battle is lost. For all of you as much as for us.”
He shot me an irritable look. “Sir Cosworth, you should be more careful with your words. Surely you understand the situation we find ourselves in,” he said in a low voice, barely trying to hide his contempt.
I laughed outright. “Ha! Do you mean to imply that I should be careful, lest you take our heads and present them to Scuderia as an olive branch? Our main army is engaged with theirs as we speak, so I am unconvinced of the wisdom of that plan. Should you side with Scuderia, our forces will crush and annex Shelbia first.”
This was my attempt to shake Towncar’s resolve, and indeed, he grimaced bitterly. The truth was that Shelbia lacked the power of Yelenetta and Scuderia. Cutting ties with us was not a choice that could be made so easily.
However, Towncar didn’t back down. His expression still grave, he chose his next words carefully. “Then do you have a plan to bring down Centena despite our current predicament? If so, I would love to hear it. A public facade it may be, but Shelbia is here as your ally. We did not agree to follow your orders mindlessly. If we believe your plan ill-advised, we have the right to refuse to go along with it.”
“Even if it means we crush Shelbia before Scuderia?”
Towncar nodded silently, his gaze unwavering on mine.
Just then, one of our messengers ran into the room, kicking up a fuss.
“What is it?!” one of Shelbia’s knights yelled.
Looking tense, the messenger replied, “There is movement at Centena! Th-this may be hard to believe, but C-Centena looks completely different! They rebuilt it in a single day! According to our scout, it is still in the process of changing!”
“That construction ability again?” I said after a pause. Anger began to boil beneath my skin. “I highly doubt its appearance is the only thing that has changed. Do you have anything else to report?”
The messenger took a deep breath to collect himself. His expression was grim. “Well, sir,” he said slowly, “the scout seemed extremely confused. By his account, the fortress was morphing like a living creature. Its shape is currently round, but it is difficult to say more, given that it might change further!”
This caused a stir. “What?” someone said. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Wait. If the fortress is round, that means there’s less space on the roof for those crossbows of theirs.”
“What a stupid conclusion to jump to! What if that’s what they want us to think? We could find ourselves under concentrated fire the moment we drew near!”
“Foolishness. In that case, we could simply barrage the wall with cannon fire and bring it down.”
“Are you willing to stake your life on that? We run the risk of our cannons being destroyed if we put them in range of their crossbows. Or have you already forgotten?”
Everyone was talking over one another, and it was getting us nowhere. Perhaps that was the clearest indication of the anxiety we felt about Scuderia. As the bickering reached a boiling point, I yelled, “Calm yourselves! Their actions are focused on protecting Centena, so we need to come up with a plan to bring it down! There is no reason for us to fight them head-on!”
A new messenger arrived then.
“What is it?” I demanded, driven to insult by my anger. “Has Centena changed again? Is it a cube now? A pillar?!”
The messenger frantically shook his head. “N-no! Approximately 500 cavalry, 2,000 knights, and ten large carriages are headed straight for us! A total of roughly 2,500 soldiers!”
Everyone in the room went statue-still. After a moment’s silence, someone asked, “What? Do you realize what you’re saying?”
“H-hey, what do you mean by that?” said someone else. “You make it sound as if they’re marching toward us with a small attack force…”
Understanding finally dawned on me. “Calm down! What this means is that the enemy has abandoned its shield to attack us head-on! We won’t have another chance like this!”
After her tour of the new Centena Fortress and its various amenities, Panamera muttered something odd. “I am irritated.”
“Huh?” I paused. “Do you need lotion for that?”
The smack she delivered to my back made a loud noise. “I have never had to use lotion for my skin.”
“Oh, c’mon. No way.” I shot her a doubtful look, which she returned with a sharp glare that made my mouth snap shut.
Once she was sure I’d gone quiet, Panamera spread her arms wide in front of the ballistae and turned to face everyone. “It is true that with these facilities, we can defend against a coordinated attack by Yelenetta and Shelbia. This will certainly suffice, given that we cannot afford to divert all of our nation’s troops to Centena. But are you satisfied with that? Our enemies nearly killed Lord Fertio, and we have lost countless others in combat. Once those cowards see this reborn Centena, they may give up entirely. Are you okay with that?”
Some of the knights looked down, their expressions bitter. A smile crept onto Panamera’s face when she saw more than a few individuals react this way.
“I have a plan,” she continued. “Do you want in? I can promise you that we will make them regret ever picking a fight with Centena Fortress.”
It seemed to me that her words lit a fire in everyone who heard them, and just like that, Panamera put together a new strike force composed of knights from Centena and House Fertio. She shared her plan with them, and it sounded reckless to me, but for some reason, Panamera’s words carried weight.
“Boy, I will get revenge for your father. Lend me those carriages of yours and the entirety of your machine bow squad.”
“You know he’s not dead, right?!” I yelled back reflexively.
Her shoulders shook with laughter. “Ah, yes, yes. I cauterized his wound and stopped his bleeding, correct? Forgive me.”
I sighed before mentally going over my Order’s current condition. My priority was upgrading Centena Fortress, so I’d only brought fifteen war wagons with me. That meant she could only take fifty members of the machine bow squad, give or take. “If you give me another day, I can make another five wagons for you.”
“No. Once the enemy sees what has happened here, they will take some sort of action. I intend to make fools of them before they do something we did not anticipate. If their Chivalric Order returns from the capital, we will have a problem. If, on the other hand, we defeat all their knights here and deliver a heavy blow to Shelbia’s forces, we could very well win the entire war here and now.”
Panamera wasn’t going to wait for me. I understood where she was coming from, but what if we got attacked from the mountains while she was gone? We needed people here to defend Centena.
“In that case, I can lend you ten war wagons and twenty of my people, but the machine bow squad stays at the very rear.”
“That is not enough. Not even remotely.”
“Look, I didn’t bring that many people to begin with,” I said with a frown, returning her complaint with a complaint.
“A mere ten war wagons? Can’t you be a bit more generous?”
“Nope. I don’t even agree with your plan, frankly. You should be happy with ten wagons. And if things look bad, you’d better retreat.”
We were both frowning at each other now, but eventually Panamera relented with a sigh. “Boy, take care not to grow up to be a stingy man. There are few things duller than men with tight wallets.”
“I’m loaning you all of this for free. If anything, I’d say I’m rather loose with my wallet,” I replied, letting Panamera’s grievances wash right over me.
She shook her head, looking annoyed, and set about getting things ready on her end.
In less than two hours, Panamera managed to assemble a startling number of knights. She stood at the front of the formation beside Stradale and Targa, looking at the largest war wagon in the back.
“Is it just me,” she said slowly, “or is your carriage the biggest?”
“I’ve got a lot stuffed in here,” I said. “Oh, and I’m the only one who can use this, so you’re not having it.”
“If you lent me someone who could drive it, I could bring it to the front lines with me…”
“No.”
“Argh! You cheapskate.” She stomped one foot angrily against the ground.
Eventually, she collected herself and turned toward the gate. She mounted her beautiful white horse, then spun to face everyone. The throng of knights all straightened their backs at once, and Panamera looked over the group of elite soldiers for a long moment before she spoke.
“Now that I know Lord Van is a cheapskate, it is time for us to act. I am sure you have some built-up resentment from being on the defensive for so long, yes? Then let us smash that resentment into our enemies! Yelenetta’s cannons are nothing! I will burn away any wyverns that approach us from the sky! Come! It is time to strike down the enemy that stands before us!”
All two thousand soldiers yelled in unison. Stradale was particularly charged up, no doubt owing to the fact that his master had been nearly killed. Where he usually looked emotionless atop his horse, now he was raising his sword in the air and shouting.
Who is she calling a cheapskate?!
“Is everyone going to be okay?” Arte asked anxiously. I shrugged and sighed.
“Well, I’ll be tagging along, and unlike last time, we have a strategy in place,” I said, though in truth, I was worried.
The brand-new gate opened up, allowing light from outside to shine into the fortress. No one was there waiting for us on the Shelbia side, of course. Our scouts reported that our enemies had been maintaining their distance since their retreat and showed no signs of activity, so that was to be expected.
“Now,” said Panamera, “let us proceed as planned. We will take formation once we are outside the fortress. Sir Targa, you will provide cover for us with the remaining members of the machine bow squad up on the wall.”
“Yes, ma’am! As you wish!” Targa saluted Panamera. At some point, he’d become totally subservient to her.
Truth be told, I wanted to hang back at Centena too, but Panamera included me in her strategy. I didn’t have the courage to say no, and she didn’t care about my feelings on the matter.
Panamera led us out of Centena. I hated to admit it, but she looked positively gallant on her steed. There was little doubt in my mind that the way she stepped out in front of her knights, her golden blonde hair swaying in the wind, would inspire the regular soldiers to follow her into battle.
She issued rapid orders as she rode. “Front line, hurry and take formation! Rear guard, join the lines in an orderly fashion! Separate units are to maintain their distance as we march!” The soldiers hurried into formation behind her.
“Oh well,” I said eventually. “Lowe, I want you to hang with the machine bow squad and war wagons. If we come under cannon fire, take cover behind one of them as fast as you can.”
“Understood!” he replied, looking tense. He took off running after Panamera’s Order.
Since I didn’t have many people with me, we were able to slide into formation and get marching without wasting much time. Once I saw that everyone else was on their way, I boarded my personal war wagon.
Towncar
“IT IS JUST AS SIR COSWORTH SAID.”
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“If we win here, everything will proceed as planned.”
Given our dire situation and the consensus of those around me, I was forced to agree with the plan to intercept the enemy.
“We have nowhere left to run,” I heard Cosworth’s little brother, Istana, murmuring to himself. He stood atop the wall, facing Centena and gazing out at the mountain road. “That they are willing to abandon their advantageous position and charge perilously into enemy territory suggests they have something frightening up their sleeve…”
He seemed to have an ill omen about this, whether due to the messenger’s report or as a consequence of suffering two losses in a row. Either way, I found that he was nothing like his older brother.
Anxiety was contagious. After a time, Istana’s needless muttering made one of my soldiers nervous enough to speak up. “Are we going to be okay?” he asked.
I understood how he felt, but there was no turning back from this. His feelings could change nothing at this point. I plastered a smile on my face and shook my head. “I do not know, but I do know that we can no longer run from this. If our only option is to fight, then our time would be best spent considering how to win.”
“Right, sir!”
It wasn’t as though he was suddenly free of reservations, but at least the man was looking forward now. My words were primarily intended to ease his mind, but they were directed internally as well. I found Scuderia’s weapons and strategies impossible to wrap my head around and therefore impossible to plan for.
Truth be told, my personal opinion was that we should have sided with Scuderia, but now it was too late for that. I hated that things were going as Cosworth wanted them, but in the end, we had agreed to his plan to engage in a defensive battle. If I took Cosworth’s and Istana’s heads to Scuderia now and pressed for peace, they would never trust us as allies. Not after seeing how quick we were to turn on Yelenetta.
Those flames lead me to believe that the Watchman of Scuderia is still fit for battle.
In a siege, the key to taking down the enemy’s fortress was to be at least five times stronger than the opposition. That was why Yelenetta sought Shelbia as an ally to boost its numbers. We might have lost to Scuderia in battle, but we still had an overwhelming advantage in numbers.
About 2,500 soldiers left Centena Fortress. Even at a generous estimate, they had, at most, 3,000 people. They didn’t have the military strength to take down our stronghold. What were they plotting?
Are they just trying to keep us in check, or do they really believe they can take us down with their smaller numbers?
Victory was as good as theirs if they focused on fortifying Centena’s defenses. So why risk everything to launch an attack?
Well, the answer would eventually become clear to me, one way or the other.
Continuing to look out from the top of the wall, I saw a group of people riding down the mountain road. They were out of range of our cannons, and before long, I realized that they were knights from Shelbia: the scouts posted in the mountains.
“Two hundred knights are approaching from Centena! Our scouts have returned!”
I nodded slightly and racked my brain to figure out what had happened. The scouts we had lurking in the mountains were thoroughly familiar with the region. They were not easily located, and even if the enemy did find them, they were more than capable of getting away unharmed. So what prompted their return?
“Lord Towncar! Smoke! Smoke from the mountains!”
“Are they scorching the forest?” I barked, though the messenger could not possibly hear me. “That’s the tactic of a cornered army!”
This was clearly the work of a formidable fire mage. The smoke was climbing into the air slowly, which was why we hadn’t spotted it from our position. Our scouts must have judged that the flames would spread quickly and fled as soon as they could.
Burning the forest was a risky move. There was no guarantee that Centena wouldn’t be damaged by the flames too. Why do something so rash?
Gradually, the mountain morphed into a crimson hellscape, and the sky turned black with smoke. From our observation point, the mountain road looked to be surrounded on all sides by flames. And it was from beyond those flames that Scuderia’s Chivalric Order appeared.
The cavalry swiftly spread out to the left and right, likely to avoid cannon fire. They were followed by strangely shaped carriages that emerged from beyond the flames, then knights who were likely infantry. Just like that, the fighting force we were warned about materialized before the flaming mountain and marched toward us.
“Keep them in check! Fire the cannons!” Cosworth yelled from the center of the wall.
The cannons on either side of him launched a barrage of projectiles at the approaching enemy, flames bursting from the long barrels. Unfortunately, these shells were so fast that they rarely landed where they were aimed. The projectiles smashed into the earth ahead of the enemy, shaking the ground with their impact, but they should still have been enough to take some of the wind out of the enemy’s sails. Most people would hesitate in the face of such destruction.
It was a whisper of hope, but our enemies were not so easily thwarted. The cannon fire altered the terrain with each explosion, smoke rising from the mountain road, yet our enemy continued to advance.
One of the cavalry shouted to us. “What an elegant greeting! As a representative of Scuderia, allow me to offer you my sincerest gratitude! Now, allow me to respond in kind: I, Panamera Carrera Cayenne, will give you a show the likes of which you have never seen!”
I did not expect the person in question to be a woman. She was so far off that I could not discern any of her facial features, but her voice was loud and clear. The way she held her sword in the air as her golden blonde hair waved in the wind made her look like a Valkyrie.
My knights were unable to hide their shock and confusion. “Panamera…” one of them said. “Viscount Panamera, the Ashen Witch?”
“Why would someone like that be here?”
“What’s she doing here? Did she see through our strategy and lead Scuderia’s main army to provide aid to Centena?”
It was their right to be surprised by the arrival of an entity as infamous as the Ashen Witch, but this was no time to get distracted. “Fools!” I shouted. “Fire the cannons immediately! Do not give her a chance to act!”
I couldn’t understand why Scuderia wasn’t using its giant crossbows, but we could not afford to let this chance pass us by.
Cosworth must have felt the same, for he immediately followed my words with orders to the cannon operators, initiating the attack. “Everyone! Fire at will! Do not let them near us!”
The resulting barrage of cannon fire was like nothing I had ever witnessed. Some twenty to thirty cannons went off at once, firing their high-speed rounds at the enemy. Their destructive power rivaled that of a simultaneous attack from ten high-level mages. As expected, the road was engulfed in fiery explosions. Even at a distance, we could feel the blasts of heat.
My soldiers began to whisper to one another. “Are they retreating?”
“Idiot. There’s no way to see through this smoke.”
I glanced at them and chose to ignore their comments; I was, after all, silently praying for the same result. At my height, I could just barely make out the flames, though the smoke rising into the sky was plenty visible.
Then I saw a single mounted figure leap through that smoke.
“H-hey! I see someone! One person!”
“It’s that blonde woman!”
How did Panamera manage to calm her horse after all the explosions? She leapt elegantly over the wall of flames and past the cloud of smoke, creating a vision so gallant and bold as to carve itself into the heart of every knight who witnessed it.
“Scared, are we?” Panamera shouted. “If you can take me down, victory is yours! Now come, face me in battle!” She rode toward us on her white steed.
Chapter 8: Panamera’s Plan
Chapter 8:
Panamera’s Plan
I WATCHED FROM JUST BEYOND THE RANGE OF THEenemy’s cannons, my eyes wide at Panamera’s insane actions. If she was willing to do something as ballsy as this, she really was built different. Surrounded by flames and explosions that would stop anyone else in their tracks, she rode forward, valiant, through the wall of rising smoke.
“If I were them, I’d shift to two or three separate bombardments,” I mused.
Was it important to make it look like you didn’t fear death? Important enough to risk your life to make yourself seem invincible? As I thought this over, Khamsin, who was a bit afraid to move due to all the explosions, spoke up, looking worried. “Lord Van, Lady Panamera went off on her own. The other cavalry are in no condition to move.”
Panamera’s plan hinged on her charging forth alone. The actual circumstances were slightly different than planned, but the end result was ultimately the same. “Don’t worry. Let’s have faith in her,” I said, then went back to watching the battle unfold.
Her plan was simple, and she was the key. Her role was to ride around on her horse, casting magic at the enemy to sow chaos, and she was fulfilling that role as Khamsin and I spoke.
The smoke was gradually clearing, restoring visibility to the area, and I could hear explosions everywhere. Even at this distance, I was scared that one of the shells might find its way over to us. Meanwhile, Panamera’s Chivalric Order and Stradale’s knights rode after her, into the battlefield of raining cannon fire. “Follow Lady Panamera!” Stradale cried out, and the rest of the soldiers yelled in response.
My war wagons were at the front of this formation, the foot soldiers close behind them. The cavalry rode separately so as not to make easy targets.
When the cannons finished firing at and missing Panamera, she seized the opportunity to cast a fire spell. It was unbelievable that she could wield such powerful magic from horseback, but nonetheless, her fire arrow flew toward the wall and instantly set a section of it ablaze. This single spell possessed tremendous destructive power, and the accuracy with which she wielded it was astonishing. Honestly, even with a rifle, that kind of accuracy on horseback was remarkable.
“Ha ha ha! What’s wrong, Yelenetta?! What’s the matter, Shelbia?! Perhaps I didn’t need to bring two thousand fighters with me! I didn’t realize you were so weak that you couldn’t even take down a single woman!” she cackled, riding around and casting more spells.
Her overpowering magic and commanding presence inspired the rest of the knights to shout appreciatively as they continued to advance on the enemy.
“Oooh!”
“Lady Panamera!”
“Follow her! Go, go, go!”
For Panamera’s part, she didn’t truly think she could bring down the enemy fortress city alone. She was bluffing to make Shelbia’s knights question themselves. The cannons fired with increasing vigor in response to her provocation, but even as the shells landed around her, Panamera rode through the explosions and flames, inspiring her troops and lowering enemy morale.
But this one-sided battle wouldn’t continue for long. Regardless of Panamera’s individual effectiveness, we were up against a significantly larger army, one that had weapons we lacked: the cannons and black balls. They still had the advantage.
I heard a strangled shout from someone. “Arrows, incoming!” they yelled, having spotted a change in tactics.
I squinted and saw a battery of arrows fly from the wall, tracing an arc in the air—hundreds of them, maybe even a thousand. This immense, flying wall of death rose rapidly into the sky, then began its descent to the ground.
Even at a distance, I had trouble wrapping my head around what I was seeing. Panamera’s going to have to use her trump card.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Panamera finished casting her magic. “Flame Bane.” Flames began gushing from the palms of her hands; they spread up, as if to burn the sky itself, and created a wall of fire more than a hundred meters wide. The second the arrows made contact with it, they fell as ash to the ground.
Most of the knights escaped being struck by arrows thanks to Panamera’s burning wall, but some of the people on the right flank went unprotected. Among them was Stradale, who had his sword up and at the ready as he rode forward.
“Stradale!” I yelled without thinking. The situation was dire. But his expression remained unchanged as he looked up at the sky and swung his sword.
It was a small slash in which he just barely twisted his body, but it was enough to make the arrows slam into the ground around him as if they were avoiding him entirely. It looked like he was only cutting down the arrows that were actually going to hit him, defending against them as he rode. And that was the thing that really got me: He was doing all of this on the spot while riding a horse. I understood then why daddy dearest had chosen him over Dee to command the Fertio Chivalric Order.
Our cavalry suffered significant casualties, but our enemy was in worse condition. We were attacking them with a huge disadvantage in numbers, yet here we were.
“It’s about time,” I whispered, casting my gaze at the war wagons that were now within range of the fortress city.
At the same moment, Panamera returned from the front lines. “Ballistae! Prepare to fire!”
Hearing her orders, the knights behind the war wagons hastened to get ready. The men and women commanding those knights were the members of my super powerful rapid-fire machine bow squad. The veteran squad members were experts at operating machine bows and ballistae, so their directions to the knights were clear and concise.
“Get the armor up! Take off the panels on the right and left and put them on the ground! Make sure the ballista string is pulled all the way back!”
“Be sure nothing gets in the way of the pulley!”
“Circle around to the pedestal and check if the string receiver is straight!”
They made sure to set down the shield parts first, and fortunately for everyone involved, none of the ten war wagons came under fire while they were being set up. We wouldn’t have been able to avoid casualties if that happened.
The first team to finish was the war wagon in the center of the formation. “The mobile ballista is ready!”
Panamera pointed in front of them. “Aim at the gate and fire! Once the second and third ballistae are complete, aim for the watchtowers up top!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The ballistae began to fire their bolts in quick succession. The first one collided with the gate, and the ones that followed flew at the watchtowers as directed.
“Direct hits on the gate and four watchtowers! The remaining five bolts all scored direct hits on the wall!”
I squinted to get a better look at what happened. Fortunately, Khamsin stepped in to report the results.
“Our ballistae are significantly more accurate than their cannons. Lady Panamera said that as long as we know how to deal with them, there’s nothing to be afraid of. It seems as though she is right,” he explained, his eyes practically sparkling.
I smiled at his words and clenched my jaw, looking off into the distance. It was true that for the moment, these cannons weren’t more effective than experienced mages. But if research on them continued at its current pace, they would surpass mages in the not-so-distant future. We had to prepare for that day.
Panamera’s plan went well. We successfully dodged the enemy’s cannon fire, giving us the opportunity to set up our ballistae within striking range of their fortress city and even fire off some bolts. Obviously, if I were in charge I wouldn’t have gone this route, but Panamera did manage to launch an amazing preemptive attack on the enemy without too many casualties.
At this point, Yelenetta and Shelbia would likely start targeting Panamera and the ballistae exclusively. Once that happened, it was the infantry’s job to make their way to the fortress wall. Under normal circumstances, that could never have happened without them getting blown away by the enemy cannons. Panamera’s plan made it possible.
By the way, I was analyzing the situation from the rear, well out of the cannons’ range and line of sight. In fact, I watched it all unfold from inside my war wagon with Arte and Till.
Look, after I was attacked by those assassins, who could blame me?
“Lord Van, the Chivalric Order has entered cannon range. I think our war wagons might start getting attacked,” Khamsin said nervously from the driver’s position.
He had been worried about Panamera’s decoy plan from the start, specifically out of fear for her safety. Now that she had safely executed her part of the plan, though, he’d shifted his concern to the much slower war wagons.
To fire their ballistae, the war wagons needed to be stabilized by setting their legs into the ground. The problem was that it made them sitting ducks, and if the enemy used that chance to attack, the result would be catastrophic. That being said, I’d enhanced the shields at the front of the war wagons, so in theory they could hold up against cannon fire.
Well, I hoped they could. Unfortunately, none of my war wagons had ever been on the receiving end of cannon fire, so I didn’t know if they’d hold up for certain. In the worst case scenario, I could build some more war wagons, but there was nothing I could do about the operators. I felt bad for prioritizing my own people over the others, but I refused to let any of my villagers die on this battlefield.
“All right. I think it’s about time to disrupt things a bit. Panamera’s not going to ask, but I’m sure she’s expecting it from us.” I smiled painfully at the thought of how worked up she probably was, then looked at Arte. “Are the Aventador good to go?”
“O-of course!” Arte stood up in the war wagon and opened the double doors leading outside. She exited, then turned around and cast a serious look at her two wooden knights. “I am counting on you, my Aventador.”
She cast her marionette magic as she spoke. The puppets started on one knee each, then smoothly rose to their feet and got off the war wagon.
Arte always spoke to them as if they had minds of their own, even going so far as to personally clean them off after battle and offer them words of praise. At times, her actions made me wonder whether they really did have wills of their own.
“Lady Arte, good luck!” Till exclaimed from inside the wagon.
Arte nodded. “I will do my best!” Big Sis Till’s words of encouragement cheered her up, and watching their back-and-forth was enough to relieve some of my tension.
Unfortunately, we were still in the middle of a battle. I didn’t have the luxury of just warmly observing them. “Remember, Arte, you don’t have to fight head-on. The Aventador will hold up against their arrows, but a direct hit from one of the cannons could do some serious damage. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Arte nodded and moved her puppets to the front of the war wagon. They picked up their respective swords, each larger than their entire bodies, and held them in front of their wooden chests. The way they stood, blades pointing up at the sky, made them look like seasoned fighters.
“Yes, I know,” Arte said, her response uncharacteristically quick. “All right, here I go.” The Aventador crouched and then launched their upper bodies forward, kicking off the ground in a sprint.
Something felt off to me. It was like Arte was flustered or in a hurry. Desperate, even.
The Aventador sprinted straight into the battlefield while I contemplated this.
After a moment, I said, “At that speed, they can probably just rush in without fear of getting hit by cannon fire. Still, no reason not to be careful. Have them move separately on the right and left to confuse the enemy and draw their fire.”
“Understood!”
Arte split the puppets up and moved them to separate sides of the battlefield. They were so fast that they were already closing in on the knights who had left ahead of them. Those knights were pressing forward despite their fear of the cannons, but as the Aventador passed them, they began to cheer loudly. There were a few among their number who had never seen or heard of the puppets before, but most of them knew all about Arte’s immortal silver knights, and we were using those rumors to our advantage to boost morale.
When our enemy heard those cheers, they would realize that the Aventador had taken to the battlefield. And once that happened, they would focus their cannons on the puppets. Then we would only need to close the distance to bring this siege to an unusually quick end.
But then something unexpected happened. Yes, cannons were targeting the Aventador, but only a handful of them. Perhaps they were bad at aiming, but it was clear that more than half of the cannons were still targeting our ballistae.
Did they conclude that their wall can withstand an attack from our immortal knights? Have they decided our ballistae are the bigger threat?
For the enemy to assume the Aventador were just regular knights would have been extremely risky and naive, but it was true that regular knights couldn’t do much to the front gate of a fortress. Theoretically, they could put up a ladder or try to use a battering ram, but that required hundreds of people. So either our enemies were confident in their ability to hold out, or they had something up their sleeve.
As I turned that over in my brain, it occurred to me that it was never smart to put all your eggs in one basket when there were still uncertainties on the battlefield.
“Arte, pull the Aventador back a little.”
She looked surprised. “Huh? You want to bring them back? But, um, if we keep moving, I think we’ll be able to reach the fortress city wall.”
It was uncommon for her to be so assertive. Was this newfound confidence? Or perhaps she thought this was our chance to claim victory. Either way, it worried me that I couldn’t read our enemy. “Yeah, that’s true… Okay, then if things look dangerous, pull back, all right? Your Aventador are an important part of our fighting force, so there’s no reason to push them too hard when we already have the advantage.”
Arte nodded, relief clear on her face. “Yes, I understand.”
She had her puppets sprint toward the fortress city, and as she made them run in zigzags to avoid cannon fire, I sensed her desire to attack the fortress. This was a new, unexpected side to someone who was usually so quiet and mild mannered.
The enemy was firing a barrage of arrows at the puppets, but since the puppets were made of wood blocks and dressed in mithril armor, none of the projectiles were effective against them. They had no problem ignoring the arrows. Arte must have had the same thought, because she had the Aventador rush toward the fortress with their massive shields up in front of them.
I didn’t mean to say anything, but I had such a bad feeling about all of this that I said, “Arte! You’re too close to the fortress!”
“Huh?” She turned around with a look of surprise on her face. Meanwhile, her puppets, which couldn’t change their actions without orders from Arte, drew close to the fortress.
Either way, my warning came too late. I heard an incredible explosion from near the fortress, and black smoke began to rise above the wall.
Cosworth Yelenetta
WHEN THE SILVER KNIGHTS APPEARED, PANIC spread across the top of the wall.
“Th-they’re here! Those immortal knights! Two of them!”
“They’re too fast! We won’t be able to stop them with our cannons!”
Seeing them in person, I understood at last why my soldiers were acting the way they were. The knights were gigantic and clad in silver armor, yet they moved like the wind itself. They wielded immense swords capable of sending three people flying at once. Any seasoned Chivalric Order that faced them head-on would be crushed.
If they were allies, they would have been figures straight out of legend. But as enemies, they were demons summoned from hell.
The cannon operators immediately began to target the two strange knights, but I knew that would play right into Scuderia’s hands.
“Fools! I haven’t given you any orders! I want only the three central cannons to target those knights! The rest of you fire on either the carriages carrying bows or that mage! Understand?!” I yelled so loudly that even the enemy might have heard me. But that volume was what snapped my people back to their senses. “They can’t easily get to the wall! Destroy their long-range weapons first!”
Everyone responded in acknowledgment and moved into action. While this was happening, the two knights split up and approached the fortress city. Three of the cannons remained fixed on them, but the knights moved so fast that our cannon operators had no hope of actually scoring a direct hit.
“Prince Cosworth! They’ve almost reached the wall!” one of my knights reported in a panic. “They don’t have battering rams, but they could cause massive damage with those superhuman swords!”
I knew that already, which was precisely why I’d made preparations ahead of time. “Heavy infantry, forward!”
Hearing my orders, the line of infantrymen on standby at the back of the wall stepped forward, switching places with the line of archers.
Once I was confident they were in place, I issued my next orders. “It is time to strike back! Drop the black balls and oil bottles!”
“Yessir!”
Simultaneously, nearly two hundred infantrymen proceeded to drop black balls and bottles filled with oil over the side of the wall. A few seconds later, the entire wall shook from the massive explosion below, and the oil ignited, creating a pillar of flames as tall as the wall itself. It was a literal fire wall, the likes of which not even a group of ten fire mages could hope to reproduce. The blast of flames was so powerful that some of the heavy infantrymen who dropped their explosives fell backward.
I quickly issued orders to my soldiers, who were taken aback by the fierce explosion. “Cannon operators! Archers! There is nothing to fear! Prepare to attack! Once the enemy realizes they cannot approach, they will return to long-range attacks! If any of their mobile bows or cavalry are stopped in place, target them!”
My people collected themselves and resumed their attacks.
This must have startled our enemy. From my vantage point, I could see their men moving more slowly and cautiously than moments before.
This was our chance. We would show Scuderia just how fearsome Yelenetta could be.
Van
A MASSIVE EXPLOSION ROCKED THE BASE OF THE wall like it had been hit by a missile. In the next instant, a wall of flames spread out in front of the structure.
“Wh-what the heck?!” I heard someone cry out in shock.
We’d never seen a scale of explosion quite like this. For those unfamiliar with modern-day weapons, this was such a shock that they probably couldn’t even put words to it. As for me, well, I’d at least seen this kind of thing in war films, so I had some context for it—and thanks to that, I was able to recover more quickly than the others.
“Hurry and pull our forces back!” I shouted at the top of my voice. “The attack happened just in front of their wall! We have to blast them with our ballistae from just within range, or they’re going to follow up with more attacks!”
We were at a sudden disadvantage, and the explosion had thrown our forces into panic. Yelenetta and Shelbia would never pass up this chance; they had to have a next move in mind. Right now, going on the defensive without a plan was the worst possible choice we could make.
Arte’s puppets were a core part of our fighting force, and recovering them was a top priority. I turned around and called, “Arte! Can the Aventador move?!”
Her shoulders trembled and she failed to answer me. Arte was shaken.
“Arte?”
This time, she jolted up and got moving again. “M-my apologies! I-I’ll move them right away…!”
She started moving the Aventador, even though I had yet to issue any actual orders. For the moment, I took that as confirmation that they were still mobile. “If they’re okay, do you think you can use them to open the gate?” I asked, and she nodded silently.
And then there was a change in the flaming wall: Part of it collapsed. Arte’s puppets had likely done the job with their massive swords, and our enemy probably had no clue what had happened.
“The gate is open!” Khamsin yelled, prompting cheers from all around us. It was time to rush the enemy.
“Go!” Panamera yelled at the frontlines. “Take over the enemy fortress city! Ballistae, provide support fire!” She charged in herself.
Obviously, our enemy didn’t intend to just wait around and let this happen; they started firing not only their cannons but also a swath of arrows at us. An unbelievable number of arrows flew at Panamera, but the enemy’s struggle was meaningless in the face of someone like her. Even as she made her way toward the fortress city, she was already chanting her spell in preparation for this moment. She raised her voice and cast her spell, producing a wall of flames in the air that burned away the arrows. It was a surprisingly wide-range spell.
“Charge!” she cried, thrusting her sword toward her wall of flames and riding heroically forward.
Victory was as good as ours.
“Wh-whoa,” I said without thinking.
Panamera and Stradale stormed the fortress like a pair of roaring flames and, in an instant, managed to take the top of the wall and disable the enemy cannons. Yelenetta’s Chivalric Order decided to retreat the moment we breached the gate, abandoning the fortress city in its entirety. At this point, Shelbia’s morale was in the dirt.
Now that things had quieted down, our war wagon cautiously made its way through the collapsed gate. On the other side, we came upon a group of knights who were sitting down on the main street, their weapons on the ground. A bearded, middle-aged man was at the front of this group, and Panamera and Stradale stood before him.
“Ah, boy,” Panamera said to me in a low tone. “We are victorious…though Yelenetta’s commanding officer managed to flee.” Stradale pulled his chin, keeping his arms folded. He was probably frustrated that he was unable to get revenge on the man who caused Jalpa so much suffering.
I kept them in my field of view as I looked at the knight who appeared to have the highest rank in the bunch. “Then is this guy nobility from Shelbia?” I asked.
The middle-aged man snapped to attention and looked at me. “Perchance, are you Baron Van Nei Fertio?”
“Huh? You know who I am?” I asked, surprised to hear my name come up out of nowhere.
The knight nodded and observed my face carefully. After a pause, he said, “You really are as young as they say. My name is Towncar Pillars, and I am a count in Shelbia. I have heard much about you from Sir Cosworth of Yelenetta. That you were a young boy with astonishing construction skills that allow you to control the battlefield itself…”
I couldn’t resist the urge to respond, humility be damned. “Wha—? Oh, I’m not that great. Heh heh, how embarrassing.” I offered him a bashful smile, and Towncar nodded, a contented expression on his face.
“You often hear that geniuses are eccentric, and now I see that is true…”
I frowned at Towncar. Who’s he calling eccentric? Man, and here I was all happy because I thought this bearded dude was paying me a compliment.
Panamera snorted. “None of that matters. Our first priority right now is figuring out how to deal with Shelbia now that they have made enemies of us. His Majesty is quite fiery, you see, so I hope you are prepared for what comes next,” she added with a savage grin.
Towncar nodded, his expression ever serious. “I have already surrendered and therefore have no say in the matter. If it is possible, however, I would like you to meet with our representatives and reform a conditional alliance with us. It is now clear as day that we should have allied with Scuderia from the beginning. I will do everything in my power to convince our representatives to be of use to you.”
Panamera frowned, clearly unamused by his response. “How dull. If you had stood your ground to the last man, I could have acquired territory for myself…” she whispered threateningly. Towncar shot her an exasperated look.
“Are you saying that you wish to annihilate Shelbia even as you war with Yelenetta? Is that not reckless? Surely your king wants to focus on the war. In this situation, I cannot imagine that it would be wise to strike out on your own against Shelbia,” he said. But Panamera waved a hand at him, dismissing his attempt to dissuade her.
“Yes, yes. I know. I will let Lord Fertio know what you have said. For now, hurry and send out a messenger. Just to be clear, I will be taking charge of you, your soldiers, and this fortress city, and I do not intend to compromise on the matter. Let the higher-ups know that if they do not offer us the best possible conditions for this deal, things will not end well for them,” she said in a low, threatening tone, glaring at him and his men.
Towncar pulled his chin in and agreed to do as told.
That settled, we decided to head back to Centena for the time being. A number of the Shelbian knights would stay behind at the fortress city to do repairs, so I decided to let them handle the work. Lil’ Van was terribly exhausted after everything that had happened, and maintaining a good work-life balance was important!
Before long, I noticed that Arte looked under the weather. Her Aventador had suffered significant damage as a result of Yelenetta’s explosives. Parts of their armor were gone, and their bodies were covered in scars, all of which did little for Arte’s mood.
The moment she saw me, her eyes welled up with tears and she began to apologize. “I am so sorry, Lord Van. You put so much effort into making them for me…”
How could I ever be angry with her after that?
“No worries. I can repair them, no problem. And look, you’re the reason we were able to bust down their front door. Please don’t beat yourself up over this,” I told her as gently as possible. But all she had to offer was a sad response.
“If I had just listened to you and backed off, the Aventador would not have suffered so much damage. I am truly, truly sorry…”
She was dwelling on what she perceived as her failure: getting the puppets caught up in the explosion earlier. Nearly losing them must have come as a huge shock to her, considering how little my words of encouragement did to improve her mental state. If only I could find a way to cheer her up…
Istana Yelenetta
THIS WAS THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO. THANKS TO Cosworth, we were on the fast track toward the worst future imaginable.
No, it wasn’t just him. Everyone had become restless when they saw the power of the black balls and cannons, His Majesty included. But on the frontlines, Cosworth was in charge, and it was his decision to continue fighting a losing battle that led us to this point.
We should have realized sooner that it was over. We should have pressed for peace the moment that Scuderia began to grow cautious of us. Now it was too late. Given its king’s temperament, it was doubtful that Scuderia would agree to an end to the hostilities. Now that our enemy had such a great advantage, it would take everything from us, no matter what conditions we put on the table. Our only path forward would be to somehow get them to recognize us as a vassal state.
As I racked my brain for a solution, I heard groans from elsewhere in the carriage. I looked over and saw Cosworth writhing in pain, his upper body badly burned.
Was I going to die because of him? The thought made me want to punch him in the face. Doing so, however, would not improve my fortunes.
“Lord Istana! We are going to pass through a Shelbian town! Is that all right?”
“We fled and left Count Towncar behind! If he dispatches messengers, we may very well find ourselves enemies of the state! We need to return to Yelenetta as soon as possible without slowing down!”
“Y-yessir!”
Including Cosworth’s personal forces, we had around fifteen thousand knights with us, but that did nothing to soothe my fears. Things felt hopeless; we had started the battle with thirty thousand knights, and after two clashes, only half remained. Shelbia was in the same situation, so it wasn’t as though we could push through to victory with numbers alone.
“We must return to the capital at once and convince His Majesty that any further fighting would be fruitless!” I said. Who cared about dignity at this point? With our entire nation and royal family on the line, there was no time for such foolishness.
We fought off Yelenetta and Shelbia, and I turned Centena into an impregnable defensive stronghold. Even though Shelbia still had an army numbering close to ten thousand knights, Towncar took the admirable stance as a commander and surrendered.
Jalpa, still heavily wounded and bedridden, refused to see anyone, so Panamera and I ended up negotiating with Towncar ourselves. Panamera had already laid out her conditions, though, and the meeting ended with her relaying Jalpa’s will and Towncar taking half of his people back to Shelbia’s capital city.
For my part, I was relieved; with daddy dearest on the mend, it looked like I’d finally be able to go home. “Father can walk now with the aid of a cane,” I announced to Panamera, Targa, and Stradale during one of our meetings, “so I’m thinking it’s time to head home.”
The blonde Valkyrie folded her arms and shook her head. “What are you talking about? Now is the time to assemble as many Shelbian knights as possible and strike at the heart of Yelenetta,” she said grumpily.
Targa, too, smiled and nodded. “Indeed. We should take full advantage of Shelbia’s cooperation. That being said, it is entirely due to your assistance that we were able to protect Centena, Lord Van. If you wish to return home, we have no right to stop you.”
Oh, my dear Targa. You really do have a good head on your shoulders. All I want is to go home and take a long hot soak in the bathhouse. Fare thee well!
Stradale looked over at me, his expression complicated. “Lord Van. I do not expect Lord Jalpa to be able to return to the battlefield anytime soon. I understand this is a selfish request, but is there any way I could convince you to stay and protect Centena?”
After seeing how weak daddy dearest looked, it was exceedingly difficult for me to just say no. “Hmm… Okay, how about this? I’ll give Targa some mobile ballistae that he can use to protect Centena. I’ll also make swords for you both.”
“Oh, that would be splendid.” Targa seemed genuinely pleased. He might have been the biggest person I’d ever met, but he was very affable.
Stradale sighed, resigned. “I suppose I have no choice but to accept. In the end, it is House Fertio’s duty to protect Centena, as it neighbors our territory. It is not your responsibility, Lord Van.”
This made Panamera snort. “Have you forgotten that it was Lord Fertio himself who chased the boy out? How interesting that the house that rejected him is now asking him to risk life and limb. Personally, I could never be so bold as to make such a request,” she said in a nasty tone.
Stradale’s expression darkened. “The truth hurts to hear,” he said at length. “I tell you this in confidence, but since the day Lord Van left, numerous knights and maids have asked me to appeal to Lord Fertio to call him back. I cannot and should not question his decisions, however.”
“Hmph. To my mind, House Fertio’s greatest mistake was letting go of Sir Esparda and Sir Dee. Retainers who can voice dissenting opinions to their master are key assets for a leader. Everything falls apart when leaders surround themselves with yes-men,” Panamera said condescendingly. She kept her eyes locked on Stradale’s until he broke the gaze and looked down in silence.
“N-now, now,” I put in, tempted to follow it up with, Stop fighting over lil’ old me! But Stradale looked so miserable, I couldn’t bring myself to joke around. “I’m heading home in any case, okay? I’ll make sure you guys can defend this place. I hope that works for you.”
Stradale gave me a deep bow. “I appreciate your immense kindness.”
“Seriously, it’s no big deal.” Thank goodness I hadn’t said anything else; I totally forgot how serious Stradale could be. “I’ll make you and Targa some killer new weapons, so I want you both to do your best and hold down the fort here.”
“Understood.”
“Even if it costs me my life…”
“Let’s not go there!”
After that, it was finally time for me to head back to Seatoh Village.
I arrived at the room Jalpa was resting in to find him sitting on the couch instead of resting in bed. He looked so exhausted and thin that I actually doubted it was him at first. Not only was he suffering the pain of his wounds, but it appeared as though he hadn’t been eating or sleeping much at all.
“Oh, it’s you, Van,” he said in his rasping voice. For some reason it felt like he was about to get mad at me, which made it difficult to step forward. “Sit there.”
“…Yessir.”
Hesitantly, I did as he asked, sitting down quietly and uncomfortably. There was a small table between us. I stole a glance at Jalpa; yep, he was still missing the parts of his body that he’d lost. He was clothed, but certain areas looked deflated, making it obvious at a glance that he was missing entire chunks of his body.
What was I supposed to say? Would he get mad if I told him I was going home?
Before I could say anything, though, he looked straight at me and said, “Van, what will you do from here on out?”
It was as direct a question as he could have asked, and it made me feel oddly nostalgic. Oh, right…back when I lived at my old home, he’d asked me a similar question every morning. Back then, I think I usually said I was going to study and do sword training. I remember thinking Jalpa was terrifying at the time, so I always made it a point to answer in a way that wouldn’t incur his wrath.
Nostalgic, yes. But seeing Jalpa so much weaker than he was back then also made me deeply sad.
Jalpa frowned. “What is the matter? Why…won’t you answer me?”
I nodded slightly and met his eyes. “I am going to go back to Seatoh Village for now.”
“…What? At this point, Shelbia is essentially a vassal state. Now is obviously the time to secure their cooperation and storm Yelenetta. With Yelenetta’s main army occupied elsewhere, we would be able to take the capital city,” he said in a low, hoarse voice.
I understood all of that, but it would take months to travel through Shelbia to the fortresses on the border and then take them down. And if we did take the capital, I’d likely be forced to repair it myself. Hell, in the worst-case scenario, it could be a full year before I returned home. I required a day-to-day lifestyle that allowed me to comfortably take long baths and eat good food.
I couldn’t say any of that to Jalpa, though, so I came up with a more acceptable excuse. “My goals are more long reaching than that. I want to take the Central Continent. Shelbia and Yelenetta are simply means to an end, and I have no desire to waste my time on them.”
I watched Jalpa carefully for his reaction. He opened his eyes slightly, visibly shocked. Was he going to get mad at me for being so pompous? Maybe he figured out that I was basically trying to make His Majesty and the royal army do all the fighting while I chilled out somewhere safe. I waited anxiously for his response.
Eventually, he sighed and narrowed his eyes. “I have made many mistakes, but I have come to realize that perhaps this is the biggest mistake of all.”
“Do you mean me?” I asked, confused. He snorted and adopted a meaningful smile.
“You have your own house now. You may only be a baron, but you are still a lord. Figure that out for yourself.”
He fell silent after that. For the moment, I took it as a win that he didn’t try to stop me from going home. “In that case, I will act according to my own desires,” I said, attempting to sound as serious as I could. Then I left the room.
Time to head home!
Final Chapter: Return
Final Chapter:
Return
WE’D MANAGED TO DEFEND CENTENA AND DEVISE a means by which to form an advantageous alliance with Shelbia. Jalpa had suffered major injuries, but he was on the mend, and Centena itself was stronger than ever. I’d say I did a pretty good job overall. And in the clash between our main forces and Yelenetta’s, we clearly had the advantage. Centena was marching over with tens of thousands of soldiers at this very moment, so that battle would be concluded quickly enough.
It was with optimism in my heart that I returned to Seatoh Village.
I wanted to get home as soon as possible, so we only took detours at two cities, where I bought a mere handful of gifts for my friends. I was exhausted, and the second I saw the Adventurer’s Town, relief welled up in my chest. At this point, Seatoh Village was well and truly my home.
Esparda and the others greeted me as soon as the gate opened. “Welcome home.”
“It’s good to be back, Esparda.”
It looked like the members of the Order who had stayed behind were doing well. I entered Seatoh Village proper, fielding chatter from everyone around me, and headed straight for the manor.
“Lord Van!”
“Welcome back!”
“Hiya, everyone! Good to be home!” I soaked up the crowd’s cheers, feeling like some kind of idol.
When we arrived at the manor, Till was the first to leap down from the carriage. “We are finally home.”
I smiled at her, but behind her, Esparda pointedly cleared his throat. “Inappropriate behavior for a lady, and even more inappropriate for Lord Van’s maid.”
“I-I am so sorry!” She had probably let her guard down since it’d been so long since Esparda last scolded her, thereby earning herself a stern lecture. For me, though, the whole exchange felt tremendously nostalgic and cozy. I watched it unfold with a smile.
Khamsin was next to step outside. He looked at Lowe. “Sir Lowe! Please train me!”
“Huh?! Like, right now?!” Lowe boggled. Khamsin was already swinging his sword around, ready to practice, so it was difficult for Lowe to say no.
In the end, Lowe dropped his shoulders, picked up his sword, and made his way over to Khamsin. Despite his trepidations, he really was a thoughtful guy.
While Till was getting scolded and Lowe prepared to train Khamsin, Arte finally descended from the carriage. She was doing better than before, but every now and then on the journey home, her expression darkened and Till, concerned, served her some tea and snacks. Till’s attempts to cheer Arte up were super transparent, but I was certain she was doing the best she could. Thanks to her efforts, Arte had regained some of her natural warmth, but just the other day, while we were camping, I saw her shed tears as she gazed at the Aventador.
“All right! Now that we’re finally home, it’s barbecue time!” Hoping this would cheer Arte up, I turned to Esparda, interrupting him mid-lecture. “Esparda, do we have what we need?”
Till turned to me as if I were her knight in shining armor, though I hadn’t cut off his lecture to save her. Still, she was so moved by my actions, I decided not to ruin the moment.
“We have a lot of meat, since the adventurers eliminated a host of monsters on their way to and from the dungeon the other day. There is a limit to how much meat we can smoke and preserve, so I believe a barbecue should pose no problems,” Esparda replied.
I nodded and looked over at Till. “Cool. Can you get in touch with the Bell Rango Company and tell them to prepare for a barbecue? If you guys need me to make anything, just let me know.”
“Of course! I’ll be on my way!” Till skipped cheerfully into action.
Esparda watched her leave, then set his eyes on me. “I imagine this will take a few hours to prepare, so in the meantime, there is something I would like you to make.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Esparda took out a bundle of papers resembling a ledger. He flipped through the pages, stopping with his hand in the middle. “About a month ago and two weeks ago, we had a population increase. Like before, approximately one thousand immigrants arrived from the marquis’s and the count’s territories, plus three hundred or so slaves brought in by the Bell Rango Company and Mary Chamber of Commerce. I purchased them at my own discretion.”
“Ah, gotcha. That should be fine, but…are you asking me to build more housing?” I feared the answer I knew was coming. Esparda nodded. “Huh?! But we have carpenters now! Haven’t they already built a bunch of houses?”
“We need more. Even if we put four people to a house, we would need more than three hundred of them. In the span of a month, our carpenters were only able to build ten houses—and while that may seem slow to you, it usually takes close to a month to build a single house. The number of people we have working as carpenters is not—”
“Gah! I get it! I get it already!” I said, realizing he was about to start in on a lecture. “I’ll do my best. Let me do my best. Arte, you rest back at home. I’ll call you when we’re ready to start the barbecue.” Left with no other choice, I left Arte behind and went off to build new housing.
Till wasn’t around, meaning that for the first time in a while, I was alone and working with Esparda. There were already lots of houses leading from the wall to the center of the village, and there were also shops, inns, and, on the edge of the village, the dwarf forge and the smithy. We actually needed quite a few more facilities, but we didn’t have the flexibility for that at the moment. I decided to ask the Bell Rango Company and the Mary Chamber of Commerce for help on that end in the near future. We would need people with specialized knowledge if we wanted to build new facilities and offer more services.
“We’ve got a lot of open space off to the right of the main entrance, so I was thinking of building housing over there,” I said.
Esparda rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. “That does make sense. We have a number of shops and the Adventurer’s Guild between the main entrance and the manor, so building houses off to the sides would be an effective use of space. They would be a bit far away, but it might be wise to concentrate the residential housing on the left-hand side of the manor. Our population continues to grow beyond expectations, so large buildings that can house multiple families would be ideal.”
I see. Esparda’s thinking about how to improve Seatoh Village, too. If multiple families are going to be living in a single building, then apartments make a lot of sense. Of course, I wasn’t about to build a high-rise apartment building in a middle-of-nowhere village like this.
“Okay. After I build a street running along the wall, I’ll build some apartment buildings. They’ll be three stories tall, but I think if I really put my back into it, they’ll be able to hold six families a pop. Once the buildings are all lined up, that’ll accommodate a pretty large number of people.”
Esparda went silent in thought for a few seconds, then pointed at some housing close by. “Just to confirm the numbers, what size of building could you make in a space large enough to fit those two houses?”
“Those two? Hmm… If I made it with a staircase in the center and 3LDKs to either side of it, I could make a four-story… No, a five-story building, I think. With more space, I could probably build a ten-story complex, but…”
I trailed off. I was starting to get a bad feeling about all of this. When I looked at Esparda, I found him whispering to himself.
“Forty people into ten square meters,” he was saying. “That would make for two hundred people in a single lot, versus eighty people making for four hundred per lot. Keeping future growth in mind, it would be best to go with taller buildings, but after a few decades, the buildings could start to deteriorate and fall over. That would be difficult to contend with, should it happen, so perhaps we should keep the buildings to two or three stories apiece. If we use all the open space in Seatoh Village, we could always expand to the Adventurer’s Town and absorb it into the village.”
Esparda was going so far as to propose countermeasures against earthquakes in a country that did not have them. Only the truly wise factored in any and all possibilities and dangers. Personally, I’d just been thinking the bigger, the better.
“Then let’s go with three stories,” I said. “Should I build the roads like a grid?”
“Well… If we have the buildings back-to-back, we could run streets between them.”
“Okay, let’s go with that. We’re going to need folks to bring wood blocks and logs over to the construction zone. Could someone go get some people—”
Arte materialized behind me. “Ah! I-I will go!”
“Arte? I thought you were resting at home.”
She shook her head, a serious look on her face. “Do not worry. I will summon the Chivalric Order. Please wait here.”
Arte hurried over to the front gate. There was a guard station right by the gate, so she had the right idea, but I could see her startling the guards by popping up out of nowhere by herself. “Esparda, can you go with her?”
“Hmm… Certainly.” He trailed after Arte.
“Lord Van, the barbecue preparations are complete!” Till yelled from afar.
Meanwhile, under Esparda’s careful guidance, Arte, Khamsin—who was done training—and the rest of the knights were carrying logs over to the construction zone.
“Ah, Lady Arte! I can carry that!”
“I…can do it…”
I had my doubts as to how much she was actually helping, but she was trying her best to hold up a corner of one of the logs. It was considerate of the knights to just let her be there.
“All right, that’s two buildings done for now. Let’s call an end to this for today and enjoy the barbecue!” I said loudly. It was time to stop work and shift into party mode.
The Order members, Khamsin, and Arte all looked relieved; they must have been exhausted by this point. The folks who’d stayed behind in Seatoh Village during the war shouted in earnest excitement about the prospect of a barbecue.
When I relocated to the venue, I noticed there were already campfires—they were way too big to call them anything else—set up at equal distances from one another in the middle of the main street. Around them, the villagers were partying it up. It couldn’t have been normal to start such huge fires in the middle of a village.
Wooden plates were piled with meat. A few held fruits and vegetables too. What everyone’s eyes were fixed on, however, were the barrels full of alcohol. I’d had my people prepare fruit wine this time around since it was so popular with younger women, and pretty much all of the adults were excited to drink.
“Ooh, looks like we’re all ready to go,” I said as I entered the venue.
The villagers began to cheer. “Lord Van!”
Yes, it is me! Listen to the crowd! Who knew that genius Lil’ Van had so many stans? Maybe I should start a new religion?
As I walked forward, I offered the crowd some fanservice in the form of a smile. They showered me with even more cheers.
“Wooo! Let’s get started already!”
“Meat! Meat!”
“Lord Van, can ten-year-olds drink, too?!”
But the cheers weren’t exactly passionate adoration. As it turned out, they weren’t showering me with love at all. Cursed sinners. I’d originally set taxes to well below half of where they should’ve been, but now I was gonna hike them ten times higher!
Heartbroken, Lil’ Van silently booed the crowd as he moved to the center of the gathering. Then I turned toward the jeering villagers who had no idea that taxes were about to increase tenfold.
Obviously, I was just joking about that.
“Howdy! Before we get started, let me just say that you need to be twenty and over to drink here! That’s a cold, hard rule!”
This prompted a load of booing.
“Whaaat?!”
“But why?!”
“No fair!”
All of the underaged kids were yelling angrily at me, and since we’d apparently had an influx of younger citizens, the booing was intense.
All right, fine, have it your way. I’ll multiply taxes by twenty! Anyone who apologizes will get a one-year tax exemption.
I clenched my jaw slightly, then got back to my opening remarks. “Okay, okay! Let the barbecue commence! First, everyone raise your cups for a toast! Ah, and remember, only those twenty and older can drink alcohol! Anyone underage that gets caught drinking will have to take part in Dee’s special training!”
Just like that, the booing came to an end and the whole area went quiet. I glanced over the silent peanut gallery, then took my drink from Till. I wasn’t drinking alcohol either, of course—it was fruit water.
“Now then, let us toast to Seatoh Village’s further development, and to Scuderia’s victory! Cheers!”
As one, everyone yelled, “Cheers!” and downed their beverages. As soon as the adults had alcohol, their collective mood improved, and the youngsters grinned as they dug into the meat. It didn’t take long for a party vibe to settle over the venue. Heck, I even heard people singing. Even watching from a distance made me feel warm and fuzzy.
“It’s been a long time,” Till whispered softly.
“Really? Has it actually been that long?” I asked.
Till shook her head with a wry smile. “No, it just feels that way. Probably because of how much has happened since the last barbecue.”
I nodded. “True enough. Things really got dangerous this time. But hey, we managed to land Centena a power up, and while Father is injured, Stradale is there to take care of things. Oh, and Targa is a super good knight, too.”
I stole a glance next to me and my eyes stopped on Arte’s face, which bore a gloomy expression. The barbecue’s lively energy wasn’t enough to improve her mood.
What else could I do? I turned that problem over in my head for a bit, finally arriving at a solution. “Arte, could you try controlling a puppet for me?”
She turned around, plainly shocked. “Huh?”
I picked up a wood block and mapped out a mental image of what I wanted to turn it into: a super detailed female puppet in a dress, about the same size as a small child. I made the dress itself a bit shorter than normal so that it would be easy to move in, but otherwise the puppet turned out pretty classy looking. I also made sure it had perfect articulation.
“Could you make this puppet dance like you did before?”
Arte’s trepidation was clear on her face, but she nodded nonetheless and activated her magic.
Everyone at the barbecue was so busy having a grand old time that barely anyone noticed the puppet girl dancing. Eventually, though, a small child noticed and exclaimed in delight, prompting people who I assumed were their parents to look over. They watched in wonder.
“Wow!”
“What a beautiful dance…”
Hearing their praise, Arte cast a bashful glance downward. The puppet girl danced so gracefully that an observer could be forgiven for thinking it was actually alive. Soon enough, more people near the child began to notice the performance, and it wasn’t long before Arte’s excited audience grew to a whole crowd.
Arte’s magical talents were the only reason the puppet girl could dance like this, and it was those talents that garnered a crowd of laughing and smiling onlookers. I saw joy slowly return to Arte’s face, and before long, she, too, was smiling.
“She’ll be okay,” I whispered, my gaze fixed on Arte.
It seemed to me that having her precious Aventador damaged filled her with so much guilt that she lost the confidence she had slowly been building over time. Privately, I hoped that this would help her regain even a small fraction of that.
Truth be told, I wanted her to have more confidence in herself in general, but I knew that was easier said than done. All I could really do was make sure we spent our days together in such a way that she could slowly start to hold her head high. If she could start to believe in herself, start to love herself, I knew she would eventually be able to smile even more brightly than she did now.
Thinking all this over, I took a sip of my fruit water and bit into the meat that Till had prepared for me. The surface of the meat was crispy, but once I put a little strength into my bite, I had no problem chewing into it. The aroma of the tender meat tickled my nostrils and its juices flooded my mouth. This kind of meat had a slight sweetness to it that went well with just salt and pepper, but my special salty-sweet barbecue sauce made it even tastier. Applied correctly, it paired spectacularly with the meat’s sweetness, making for a perfect harmony of flavor.
“Dang, that’s good. Crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside! I bet this’d go great with beer or red wine,” I said without thinking.
Till’s eyes went wide. “Um, Lord Van? No drinking for anyone under twenty.”
A whole month passed, and the aftertaste of that fierce battle was long gone from my mouth. I was back to my usual routine: sword training in the morning, doing my work as the lord in the afternoon, and studying at night. At this rate, I’m gonna choose the path of a delinquent. Mark my words, Dee, Esparda!
As always, I was soaking in the bath to try to heal my exhausted mind and body before bed. “Taking a bath is like doing laundry for your body,” I murmured. Or was it the soul? Of course your body got clean. That was the whole point of a bath.
It was then that I heard the pitter-patter of frantic footsteps approaching the bathhouse.
Hey, now. This is Lil’ Van’s private bathhouse. What’s going on here? Silence!
I stayed submerged in the bathtub and looked over at the entrance as Khamsin burst into the room. “Lord Van!”
“You perv.”
“Oh! I-I am so sorry!”
I meant it as a joke, but Khamsin panicked, apologized, and left the room. I forgot how serious he could be. “I’m just kidding! What’s up?”
He reentered the room quietly. “You really scared me.”
It was rare for him to complain in such a huff like this. Seriously, my bad.
“I was just messing with you. So, what’s the matter?” I asked, getting things back on track.
Khamsin quickly switched gears and got serious. “Just a moment ago, messengers from His Majesty’s royal army arrived.”
“Wait, messengers? Don’t tell me the king wants me to rebuild another fortress city. I’m done with his crazy requests.” I grimaced, but Khamsin shook his head.
“No. If the messengers mentioned something like that, I would have sent them away.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t do that. We’re talking about messengers from the king. If that was what he wanted, then our best option would be to make it look like we sympathized and simultaneously come up with reasons why we couldn’t help…”
It was important for me to instruct Khamsin on the delicate handling of such situations, like a mature adult. Considering how terrifying the alternative was, that seemed like the best course of action.
But Khamsin ignored my response and kept talking. “According to the messengers, Yelenetta has been defeated.”
“What?” I said after a startled pause. “You mean at the border? We successfully defended Fortress City Murcia?”
Khamsin shook his head again. “No. Yelenetta requested a ceasefire, but His Majesty declined. After he announced his intention to storm the capital, Yelenetta offered to surrender under certain conditions. They negotiated the conditions, and His Majesty accepted.”
“Huh, they surrendered? They must have realized that their alliance with Shelbia had ended in failure.” I was surprised but also impressed that they were smart enough to throw in the towel. If they continued to fight, their capital would have suffered catastrophic damages, and their royal family (and plenty of their higher-ranking nobility) would have been executed. “All right, I’ll go hear what these messengers have to say.”
I wanted to hear what had happened. I exited the bath, dried myself off, and quickly got changed.
Till prepared my clothes for me, and my outfit ended up being extremely gaudy. This was probably her intention. With the Mary Chamber of Commerce and the Business Guild bringing products here, we’d started getting the sort of highly ornate clothing you’d never expect to see in a backwater region like this. Till was probably getting clothes from them. I wasn’t a fan of this kind of formal wear, but she clearly wanted me to stand out.
This time around I was stuck wearing deep-blue attire with silver embroidery; I definitely looked like a nobleman. Since I couldn’t exactly go out naked, I begrudgingly put the clothes on.
“The messengers are waiting in here,” Khamsin said after he led me to one of the guest lounges. The door was already open, and Till carried in a serving table.
“Ah, Lord Van. Are you already finished with your bath?”
“Yeah, it was great.” I turned my attention to the men sitting on the sofa…and found myself rendered speechless. “Jard? Sesto?”
Jard snorted and narrowed his eyes. His arms were folded, and he wore a sour look on his face. “How lucky you are, Van.”
Side Story: Dee and Stradale’s Past
Side Story:
Dee and Stradale’s Past
THE FIERCE SOUNDS OF CLASHING SWORDS ECHOED through the air. Beneath the light of the sun, the men put their muscular bodies through their paces, drenched in sweat. They wielded their swords as if they were in a real duel to the death.
There were smaller individuals among them too—squires and young warriors-in-training who hoped to one day become knights themselves. These boys were undergoing the same intense regimen as the adults, and were already strong enough to take on any run-of-the-mill outlaws or mercenaries. Most were in their early teens, but one was a boy even smaller and younger than the rest.
It was Van Nei Fertio, a boy of whom many in the marquis’s territory spoke in hushed tones behind the scenes.
One boy, who was a whole head taller than Van, shouted, “Heeyah!” and swung his wooden sword in a downward arc. Van dodged the strike by leaping backward and slightly to the side, then swung his own sword at the side of his opponent’s weapon. The taller boy was incapable of absorbing the impact of this horizontal slash while his arms were extended, and his weapon fell from his hands.
He brought his numb hands to his chest and groaned, looking at Van with genuine surprise in his eyes. “W-well done,” he said with not a lick of anger or jealousy at having lost to someone younger than himself.
Van, on the other hand, flopped down on the ground and gasped for air. “I’m beat! I can’t go on!” he complained loudly, making the other boys laugh.
Amidst this friendly atmosphere, Dee, who was training with the other adults, cackled. “Now that I think about it, you have been doing consecutive sparring matches for over an hour! All right, let’s run for thirty minutes as a bit of a break!”
“How is that a break?” Van whispered, looking like he was on the brink of death. “I demand an explanation…”
Dee’s shoulders shook as he laughed. “Because you won’t be getting hurt! Ha ha ha!”
Van stared off into the distance. “Huh? Is that what ‘break’ means? Have I been wrong this whole time?” he muttered, but Dee wasn’t listening to him anymore.
This was a common sight during daily training. A tall man with navy-blue hair slipped into the fray undetected, quietly stepped up beside Dee, and looked down at Van where he lay on the ground. “Sir Dee.”
“Gah!” Dee yelped. “Stradale, do not surprise me like that!” Dee yelled in shock after suddenly hearing the other man speak to him at such a close proximity.
Stradale gave him a solemn nod. “I apologize for startling you.”
“Ha ha ha! Worry not! And now that you are the commander of a Chivalric Order, you should not apologize so readily!” Dee declared. Stradale replied with a chuckle.
The knights Dee was training wore wry smiles, detecting something off about this back-and-forth. Just the other day, Stradale had been promoted to commander of the Chivalric Order following the previous commander’s retirement. Dee was the older and more experienced knight, and Stradale respected him deeply as the Order’s deputy commander. For his part, Dee acknowledged Stradale’s honesty and ability to command platoons of soldiers. Thanks to their excellent hierarchical relationship, nothing changed between them after Stradale was promoted.
Stradale himself saw or felt nothing odd about the situation. He looked down at Van, who was still breathing heavily on the ground. “I heard Lord Van defeated one of the young recruits.”
“Ooh, word travels fast. He only had his first victory three days ago, and now he wins about half the time. He devises all sorts of strategies to defeat enemies with greater reach and power, which makes his fighting style far more practical than the swordplay knights usually learn. I would definitely recommend taking a look.”
“I see. In that case…” Stradale nodded.
“Uh, I’m planning on taking a three-day break, actually…”
Whether Dee even heard Van’s words was difficult to say. He turned in the opposite direction and called out the name of one of the squires. “Hey, Miller! You’re going to spar with Lord Van now!”
Hearing his name, Miller raised his head. “Huh? M-me?” he asked, looking surprised. He was a fairly big kid among his peers, tall and large enough to be treated like an adult, so his uncertainty about being asked to spar with a boy much smaller and younger than him made sense.
Van was opposed to the idea as well. “No way! Miller’s fourteen, right?! When I heard his birthday was last week, I even got him some snacks as a present! He’s not just way taller than me but also way older!” he argued, flailing his arms around.
But the other kids only heard one part of his passionate appeal. “Huh? You got him snacks?!”
“For real, Miller?!”
“Lord Van, my birthday’s coming up soon!”
Dee waved a hand and yelled, “Argh! Silence! Come on, Miller. Step up!” Miller straightened his back and marched forward.
Children they may have been, but all the kids here were training in the way of the sword within a Chivalric Order. As soon as they heard Dee yell, they fell silent and formed a row. All of them, that was, but Van, who was still sprawled out on the ground and grumbling discontentedly.
“No way, no how! I’d lose even with a real sword!” Van yelled.
Miller looked to Dee for guidance, but Dee’s response was to cackle loudly and hand him a wooden training sword. “This is all part of Lord Van’s plan. Do not let your guard down, my boy.”
“No, feel free to let your guard down. I promise I won’t get mad if you pull your punches. Heck, would you mind fighting with your eyes closed?”
In the end, Miller chose to follow Dee’s orders. He held his training sword up and took a tight, cautious stance, pointing the tip of the weapon at Van as he waited for the match to begin. Van watched him with an expression of annoyance and rose to his feet. Just like his opponent, he took a stance and let out a heavy sigh.
Stradale trusted Dee’s words, but he didn’t truly believe that Van would be able to fight on equal footing with Miller. Even putting the significant difference in their body types aside, Miller was a much better-trained sword fighter. He assumed that this was to be an exhibition match to demonstrate how Van would fight against someone more skilled than himself.
Reality, however, handily upended Stradale’s expectations.
“Begin!” Dee said, and both boys moved immediately. In a single bound, Miller closed the distance between them, using the natural advantages his body gave him to swing his sword down just within range. Van reacted by holding his sword diagonally above his head while moving to the side.
Van’s sword collided with the edge of Miller’s sword, almost like it was pulling the weapon in toward itself, and changed its trajectory. This alone was impressive swordplay, but Van didn’t stop there—he advanced while maintaining his defensive stance, closing the distance between himself and Miller, then aimed a kick at the back of the boy’s knee.
Even a child’s weak kick could break a person’s balance if it landed on the right spot.
“Ngh?!” Miller hadn’t let his guard down, but this was an unexpected attack, and it caused his posture to slip.
Van didn’t let this opportunity escape him. He swung his sword parallel to the ground in an attack aimed directly at Miller’s shoulder. Miller tried to take up a defensive stance, but he was unable to react quickly enough and his shoulder took a heavy blow.
“Urgh…”
If they were the same size, that attack might have scored Van the victory, but at the end of the day, a child as young as Van could do nothing but cause the older boy to grimace.
Still in pain from the shoulder strike, Miller grit his teeth and swung his sword around. At first, Van was able to guard against the attack with the grip of his weapon, but Miller’s strength proved too much for him to contend with. Van spun in a circle, rolled along the ground, and came to a stop face down.
The older knights panicked. “A-are you okay?!”
“Miller, what were you thinking?!”
Some were concerned for Van’s safety, and others scolded Miller for his actions.
Worried, Miller hurried over to Van. “Are you all right?!”
As soon as Miller spoke to him, Van leapt to his feet in a huff. “See?! I told you I couldn’t win! Dee, you big jerk! You monster!”
Dee burst out laughing at the sight of Van standing up as if nothing had happened and stomping the ground. “Ha ha ha! You fought perfectly well, though still not well enough to compensate for your size difference!”
Miller was still looking at Van with concern in his eyes. Noticing this, Van smiled and patted him on the back.
“Is your shoulder okay? Go easy on me next time and I’ll get you more snacks,” he said.
Miller let out a sigh of relief and nodded. “O-of course!”
Stradale watched them, his eyes widening ever so slightly in quiet surprise. “Has Lord Van been training during the evening as well?” he asked. Knowing Dee, it wouldn’t have surprised him to learn Dee had been extending the young boy’s training hours.
The answer he received, however, was unexpected. “No. Unfortunately, Sir Esparda has been using that time for Lord Van’s studies. He makes Lord Van study for great lengths of time—three times the norm, even.”
“Three times? Then he does not even have much time for sword training?”
“I would say three to four hours a day.”
Stradale folded his arms and furrowed his brow. Van noticed his gaze and slowly started to look for a place to hide. Stradale continued to watch him as he continued to probe Dee. “Lord Van most certainly has a talent for the sword. I would love to see his abilities as a commander someday.”
“Oh? Now you’re starting to get it!” Dee grinned.
Stradale nodded calmly, his eyes still trained on Van’s back even as Van receded into the distance. “Frankly, I am surprised,” he continued, unable to stop himself. “He’s not just far more skilled than his siblings—his talents may even rival our own in ten years’ time. I am especially impressed by his composure. The best commanders are imaginative and composed. If he ends up being more talented in those respects than our current lord, then he could bring further glory to this house, even without an aptitude for fire magic.”
These words would be shocking to anyone who knew how stoic Stradale usually was. Dee was no exception; his eyes were wide. “Ha ha ha! All right, then why don’t you and I go tell Sir Esparda? If we split Lord Van’s training into the morning and afternoon, we can teach him swordplay and battle stratagems! Wouldn’t that be fascinating?”
His enthusiasm made Stradale laugh as well. “Indeed, it would be. But I must accompany Lord Jalpa on his trip to inspect the lands. Unfortunately, I will have to look forward to watching Lord Van grow from a distance,” he said apologetically.
Dee sighed, disappointed. “I imagine Lord Jalpa wants to give you more experience as the commander of his Chivalric Order. This is also a good chance to show off to the Orders stationed in the other cities. It is what it is.” When Stradale let out a disappointed sigh of his own, an idea occurred to Dee. He looked at the younger man. “Hmm. Why don’t we take this opportunity to have a mock battle for Van?”
“…In what way?”
“I was thinking fifty vs fifty.”
Stradale smiled. “Now that sounds fun. Do not regret your words.”
“Ha ha ha! You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that!”
Just like that, they decided to hold a large-scale mock battle. Van, unable to flee in time, was made to stand on the top of the wall where he could see everything, with Arb and Lowe next to him providing commentary.
“Lord Van. On the left is Sir Stradale, and on the right is Sir Dee.”
“Watch carefully. You have a front row seat to how different their commanding styles are, even with only fifty men each.”
Van made thoughtful noises. He set both hands on the fence and watched.
The battle was taking place outside the wall, away from the main road. A small river ran through the area, and compared to where the road was, there was a sizeable difference in elevation.
“How would you fight in this scenario, Lord Van?” Lowe asked with great interest.
Van groaned slightly and pointed at the small river. “Well, that river is capable of limiting the enemy’s movements, so I would love to use it if I could. It could function like a natural defensive wall, and I’d use the full brunt of my forces to crush them as they tried to cross it, little by little.”
Arb and Lowe stared at him. “…How old are you again, Lord Van?”
“Six!”
They exchanged looks and blinked.
Meanwhile, Dee and Stradale were waiting for the signal to begin. “They are taking too long,” Dee murmured, sitting astride his horse with his arms folded. He glanced up at the wall and saw Van standing between Arb and Lowe, the three of them deep in conversation. Grumpily, he added, “They better not have forgotten what their job is.”
In the next moment, up on the wall, Arb panicked and started ringing the bell. It was a beautiful sound not at all befitting a signal to start the battle, but the moment he heard it, Dee’s lips curled into a smile.
“All right! Time to show them our strength! Follow me!” he yelled from the pit of his stomach. He rode forward and toward the top of the hill, seeking the geographical advantage.
Stradale, meanwhile, spread his people out to the left and right, splitting them into two separate squads. He planned to catch Dee in a pincer attack.
Realizing this, Dee smirked. “Oho? Have your senses dulled from dealing with too many bandits? If you split such a small number of knights into two groups, both of them will be crushed. Is he baiting me? Fascinating! I will take the bait.” Dee turned around, bared his teeth in a wide smile, and shouted, “I intended to have you all form a square formation once we reached the top of the hill, but there has been a change of plans! We shall face the enemy head-on. Let’s start by crushing the group on the left with everything we have!”
Dee’s soldiers shouted back affirmatively. The fifty of them charged as one, as if they were a giant sword made of people.
“Gah ha ha ha! Now what, Stradale?!”
But Stradale’s expression remained unchanged as he delivered orders to his knights. “As anticipated, Sir Dee has taken the bait. Second team, split into three groups and ride away from his soldiers! My group will take the enemy’s rear!”
He turned his own group of twenty-five soldiers around, intent on cutting deep into Dee’s forces from a rear angle. A squad rushing in a single direction was vulnerable to an attack from the rear; they wouldn’t have enough time to reverse directions and reorganize their formation.
Van continued to watch from atop the wall, convinced that Stradale’s plan was the winning strategy. However, Dee was also keeping a close eye on Stradale’s actions, and before long he burst into laughter.
“You get fifty points, Stradale! That plan is more effective when you have more soldiers!” Dee shifted his attention, issuing orders of his own. “Maintain your speed! Each of you, focus on striking down a single foe! It does not matter if you hit them! After that, make a wide turn at full speed! You hear me?! Full speed!”
He was the first to attack the enemy unit’s rear. Since this was a mock battle using wooden swords, the rules dictated that a hit to the head or the torso constituted death, so the knights were doing their best to flee from Dee’s swings, pained looks on their faces.
“You all need more horseback training!” Dee said with a big smile as he hit one armored knight on the back, knocking him off his horse. The others frantically dodged him.
Dee’s squad used this momentum to “kill” ten knights before they began their approach to the right. Meanwhile, Stradale’s team had been galloping at full speed, so while they weren’t able to directly strike the rear of Dee’s squad, they did manage to charge into them from the side. The mock battle morphed into close-quarters combat as the commanders barked out their respective orders.
“We may not have the advantage in numbers, but we still have a stronger position! Strike at their opening and cut them down!”
“Prepare to fight back! If you try to flee, you’ll only give them an opening to cut you down from behind! If the person in front of you falls, immediately support them from the rear!”
It was incredible how well they fought, even on horseback.
Stradale’s team was fighting in a strong defensive formation while Dee’s team surrounded them. Dee continued to attack Stradale without giving him the chance to move. Stradale had switched to defense while he looked for an opening to attack, but unfortunately, the longer this attack from multiple directions persisted, the less capable Stradale’s team was of matching Dee’s squad’s numbers. Eventually, Stradale’s team lost so many soldiers that the difference was insurmountable. What started as one person against two became one person against three, and by the time that happened, the battle was already lost.
“…I submit,” Stradale announced.
“Lay down your arms! Victory is ours!” Dee crowed to everyone on the battlefield.
Hearing this, the knights who were clashing only a moment earlier sat down on the ground, looking relieved that the fight was finally over.
“Well done,” Stradale said, his praise earnest but his voice betraying some regret.
“Ha ha ha ha! While I would love to gloat and tell you that you’ve yet to surpass me, the reality is that a field battle with only cavalry is a unique scenario. We would need armies of more than a thousand fighters, mages included, to get a true feel for someone’s talents as a commander. Stradale, if you are going to command House Fertio’s Chivalric Order, you need to remember that you will be in charge of tens of thousands of people at any given time,” Dee said in a rare moment of seriousness.
Stradale let out a sigh and smiled. “I will keep that in mind.” He and Dee exchanged grins.
Van watched all of this from the wall and found himself smiling as well. “This is one heck of a Chivalric Order.”
Side Story: Till and Esparda’s Past
Side Story:
Till and Esparda’s Past
VAN HAD ONLY JUST TURNED EIGHT. DESPITE THE GAG order, rumors circulated around the castle about the young boy being expelled from his home.
“Lord Van…?”
“That can’t be. Wasn’t it decided at the servant meeting that Lord Van would be the next head of the family?”
“Well, that was just an unofficial meeting…”
People were whispering amongst themselves all throughout the castle, and those whispers reached Esparda’s ears. With his usual blank expression firmly in place, the butler was currently headed somewhere—the kitchen, a place where rumors gathered naturally.
“But that can’t be. I mean… Ah, Sir Esparda!”
“Huh?”
It was clear there was no need to have this many maids present. As soon as they noticed Esparda’s presence, they snapped their mouths shut and turned to face him.
Esparda let out a slight sigh and offered them a warning. “I will not tell you not to talk among yourselves, but please reserve it for after you do your jobs.”
The young maids stood up straight and answered like soldiers. “Y-yessir!”
“We are so sorry!”
One maid in the back was younger than the rest. She looked at Esparda with a serious expression. “U-um, Sir Esparda…?”
Hearing his name, he looked down at her. “What is it, Till?”
Till furrowed her brow. “Is it true that Lord Van is being expelled from House Fertio because he doesn’t have an aptitude for elemental magic?”
Esparda sighed again and made a noncommittal noise. “Only the head of the house knows the answer to that. I do not know whether the reason is his magical aptitude or something else. Perhaps Lord Fertio wishes to give the boy practical training, since he shows so much potential as a successor.”
But Esparda knew all too well that Jalpa was expelling Van because he’d learned about Van’s magical aptitude. Having watched the head of the house for so long, Esparda could accurately judge his intentions.
It was why Esparda felt such sorrow at Van’s expulsion. Had Jalpa’s reasons been different, Esparda might have been able to come to terms with his decision. As it was, Esparda knew Van had unprecedented talent and potential. He absorbed knowledge at an astonishing rate, which was why Esparda went above and beyond in dedicating himself to Van’s education. The thought that he wouldn’t be able to see Van grow up filled him with an unspeakable sadness. Till was no different in that respect, so he couldn’t bring himself to chastise her for her rude behavior, even if she had only just secured the position of maid.
“Sir Esparda, Lord Van only recently turned eight. Who is Lord Fertio planning to send with him?”
“I have not heard this from His Excellency directly, but it seems that he does not intend to loan Van any knights from the Chivalric Order,” he answered in a low tone.
The maids cried out in anguish, unable to believe their ears. “But that’s—!”
“It would be one thing if Van were permitted to stay in the city, but he’s not! And now you tell us that he won’t be given a single knight?!”
Esparda shook his head. “As servants under Lord Fertio’s employ, we must not criticize his actions. Even,” he added sadly, “if it is out of concern for Lord Van’s safety.”
His words cast a dark cloud over the kitchen. Many of the butlers and maids knew nothing of the outside world. Some, in fact, had never set foot outside the city. To them, it felt like Van was being banished to some unknown, hostile world. Few could help but feel pessimistic about the situation.
Till, however, looked like a warrior about to charge into battle. “We are holding a servant meeting! An emergency servant meeting!” she proclaimed.
“Huh?” One maid, a young woman in her twenties, looked at Till in surprise. “You don’t have that kind of authority. You could get in big trouble for that.”
“I do not care. I cannot accept this.”
Till was usually a mild-mannered girl. To see her boiling over with rage was a rare thing indeed.
Esparda looked at her and nodded. “Then I will hold a servant meeting.”
“Huh?”
“You will, Sir Esparda?!”
Everyone looked shocked, even Till.
With all eyes on him, Esparda kept his face blank. “Is that a problem?”
The maids shook their heads.
That night, after their employers ate and bathed, the servants quietly gathered in the empty dining hall to hold a servant meeting. Counting Esparda, five butlers were present. On the maid side, an astounding twenty-five girls turned up to the meeting. Since some people employed at the castle were in charge of patrols, routine tasks, and following the Fertio family around, this was the largest number of people that could be gathered at any given time.
Servant meetings were typically held in secret, so they often had a maximum of ten or so participants. This was the largest gathering ever, owing in large part to Esparda having called it. Under normal circumstances, a handful of ill-mannered servants ate and drank during meetings, but with Esparda sitting in one of the seats, the tension in the room didn’t allow for it.
“Thank you for coming today,” Esparda said.
One of the middle-aged maids smiled elegantly. “Not at all, Sir Esparda. This is the first time you’ve ever attended one of these meetings—and you were the one who called for the meeting too. How could we refuse your call?”
A butler, also middle-aged, gently stroked his mustache and nodded. “Precisely. I find myself rather curious about the topic of discussion.”
The young butlers and maids around the table nodded at this, though the maids sitting at a precise diagonal to Esparda simply watched, their expressions serious.
Once he confirmed that everyone was focused on him, Esparda answered slowly. “As I am sure you are all aware, we are here to discuss Lord Van.”
The expressions on everyone’s faces changed, and people clamored to be heard.
“So this is about Lord Van leaving the castle?”
“Please do not make it sound like it is his choice.”
“Exactly. Lord Van still has much to learn here. He is only a child! This is all happening too soon.”
Even younger maids were speaking tearily against the marquis’s decision. Esparda listened to each opinion before he opened his mouth again. “I, too, hoped to watch Lord Van grow and mature with my own two eyes.”
Although his words were whispered amidst all the chatter, his voice somehow came through clear as day. Silence swept over the dining hall, and everyone looked at Esparda.
“You always did look like you were having fun when you instructed him. A rare sight, certainly.”
“And whenever you had free time, you spent it reading books to figure out what you wanted to teach him next…”
“Lord Van’s wisdom beyond his years is something to behold, after all.”
One of the young maids smiled at this, nodding her agreement. “Lord Van is incredibly smart, and he puts his all into his sword training. But the best thing about him is how kind he is. Kinder than anyone I know. Lord Murcia is also a gentle spirit, but he doesn’t talk to us in the same friendly way that Lord Van does. At the end of the day, they are nobility, so I realize that people like Lord Van are uncommon, but…”
She trailed off, unable to put her thoughts together, but the other servants in the room understood her meaning perfectly.
“Indeed.”
“If only Lord Van could become the head of the house…”
“You mustn’t say something so disrespectful.”
With emotions running high in the room, the more extreme comments began to stand out. Perhaps it was this mood that led Till to her decision.
“If I may,” Till said, “I wish to accompany Lord Van as his servant.”
One of the middle-aged butlers frowned slightly. “That is for Lord Jalpa to decide.”
A number of people nodded, and others frowned. More people seemed to endorse Till’s position than the butler’s. The middle-aged maid took in the servants’ reactions and smiled, shrugging her shoulders.
“Should Lord Jalpa choose not to give Lord Van any accompaniment,” Till continued, “I will go with him. Even if it means that I can no longer be a servant of House Fertio.”
This caused a commotion. “Till, I know you understand how blessed you are to be able to work in the home of a preeminent noble family,” one of the young butlers said. Till nodded silently. “And I am not referring strictly to our wages. It could be said that our social standing is equal to or even higher than the denizens of other towns. If you become a servant like Sir Esparda, even minor nobility will look at you in awe.”
“You exaggerate,” Esparda said to the butler.
“Not at all. When Baron Sevres visited, he spoke to you with reverence.”
Another butler put in, “Did he not ask you to join him upon retirement?”
“Huh? He did? That’s incredible! You’re being scouted?! That means you will be received as far more than a butler!”
Excitement stirred among the servants, but Till shook her head. “I do not need money, nor do I need social status! I just want to be with Lord Van!”
Her feelings had reached a boiling point; her eyes shone with tears and her voice trembled. Everyone was surprised by this except Esparda, whose expression remained unchanged.
“Are you certain you do not feel that way merely because you are sympathetic to the boy’s plight?” he asked. Till went quiet once more. The senior butler looked at her and let out a shallow sigh. “I do not blame you for how you feel, but if your words come from such a half-hearted place, then—”
“Th-that isn’t the case at all!” Till said, interrupting him.
Everyone in the room knew how disrespectful this was, but Esparda did not admonish her. Instead, he said, “I understand. Then, should Lord Van get attacked by bandits on his journey, would you willingly sacrifice yourself to save him? Should he run out of food, would you gladly give up your own, even if it meant dying of starvation?”
“Yes!” answered Till without a moment of hesitation.
This was so surprising that even Esparda widened his eyes. Her words gave the other maids the strength to speak up as well.
“I-I wish to accompany Lord Van as well!”
“Me too!”
Suddenly, nearly ten maids were throwing their names into the hat. Even one of the young butlers wanted in. The middle-aged maids and butlers looked exasperated.
“Hey now, I think you’re all taking this a little too lightly. Lord Jalpa is a generous master, but even he would not stay quiet if a pack of ungrateful servants left en masse.”
“Lord Jalpa managed to go from being a count to a marquis. Do you understand how impressive that is? If you fall into his bad graces…”
Esparda nodded slightly. “That is true. In that case, I will recommend a caretaker for Lord Van to our master. Discuss amongst yourselves and choose one person.”
Till was the first to stand up and raise her hand. “I will do it!” No one reacted to this. They’d all expected she would put herself forward. In the end, one butler and seven more maids raised their hands.
Esparda made a contemplative sound. “Then how shall we decide who will be Lord Van’s caretaker?”
The young butler who had raised his hand said, “If Lord Van is not going to have a knight to accompany him, then whoever goes with the young master must possess a certain measure of strength. As a man, I believe that makes me the optimal—”
The maids raised objections immediately. “Being a man or a woman doesn’t matter if you’ve received no combat training!”
“More importantly, if Lord Van isn’t given any knights for protection, then I believe we should hire mercenaries!”
The butler’s shoulders sagged as the fierce debate raged on. Esparda pulled his chin inward, keeping his eye on the proceedings. “I will prepare the funds necessary to hire mercenaries. Right now, our top priority is choosing a servant who will swear loyalty to Lord Van.”
“Y-you are going to pay out of pocket?” the butler asked. “A-anyway, how can we possibly determine who is more loyal?”
Esparda went silent as he thought about this.
Till spoke up next. “U-um… What about a quiz composed of questions about Lord Van? Any servant who truly cares for Lord Van should be able to answer easily.”
The group exchanged looks. “But you have been with him since he was born,” a maid protested. “Does that not give you an advantage?”
Esparda, however, agreed with her proposal. “It is true that the answers would be obvious to one who is truly loyal to Lord Van. I have no objections.”
If Esparda was amenable to the idea, there could be no further objections. The group went back and forth a little longer before settling on a quiz tournament about their young master. For the sake of fairness, the question presenter would change each round, and there would be twenty-five questions in total.
The first presenter was Esparda. “Let us begin. First question. What subject of study does Lord Van specialize in?”
The group exchanged glances. One maid tried, “Lord Van has long been called a child prodigy. Does he not excel at all subjects?”
Esparda shook his head. “Lord Van is certainly talented enough to be called a prodigy—but that only applies to his imagination and ability to absorb knowledge. He was not born already in possession of great knowledge.”
Till nodded. “Exactly. I have answered many of his questions since he was two, and most of them were basic things like what our country is called. However, even back then he seemed to have an innate knowledge of arithmetic, so that is my answer.”
“Correct,” Esparda said, nodding deeply. The other participants’ expressions darkened.
“Th-then I will be asking the next question! What is Lord Van’s favorite food?!”
“He loves sweets!” answered a young maid first.
But Till raised her hand. “Lord Van loves sweets and meat. As far as beverages are concerned, he adores tea. He hates green vegetables. I do believe he loves sweets over most other things, but if the question is what kind of sweets he enjoys the most, I believe the answer is baked goods. Specifically, baked goods made with plentiful amounts of butter.”
Esparda nodded again. “Correct. You each get a point.”
Although both the first person who answered and the person who provided more details got points, everyone was in awe of Till’s knowledge. From this point on, both the participants and the question presenters paid close attention to how Till answered.
“His shoe size is twenty centimeters.”
“That is correct. The tops of Lord Van’s feet are a bit wide, so his shoes are made with a unique wooden form. Last year, his feet were eighteen centimeters long, so he has new shoes made every six months.”
“He weighs twenty—no, twenty-five kilograms!”
“Twenty-six and a half kilograms. He has noticed that he is smaller in stature than other children his age. However, he has started to gain some height as of late, so I believe he is growing just fine.”
With each question, Till expanded on the other participants’ answers in greater detail. In this way, she quickly took control of the event.
A maid in her twenties raised her hand, hoping to put an end to this situation. “W-wait a moment. This really does not feel fair. Is there no other way to choose a caretaker?”
“Hmm…” Esparda rubbed his chin as he considered her question. “You make a good point. In that case, let us make this a set of three contests, the second of which will be a competition measuring each participant’s skills as a servant. These are necessary skills for anyone who will be serving Lord Van.”
Most of the contestants were satisfied with this change. Till was obviously displeased, given that she was on the cusp of winning, but she didn’t complain.
“First, all participants must brew a cup of tea.”
“Yessir!”
The servants all got to work. They had polished their skills over many long years, so it was little surprise that their execution was impressive.
“I won’t lose! I’ve been hard at work serving as his personal maid every single day!” Till said confidently as she showed off her skills.
Esparda made the participants compete across a variety of challenges. “Tea brewing, bath preparation, making sure Lord Van’s attire and armor are tended to. Cleaning his room, keeping his bed and furniture tidy…”
Everyone scored points in their respective specialties, turning the affair into a massive competition.
“…That is all. The top scorers of this competition are…” Esparda calculated the scores across twenty individual battles, looking at the names of the nine participants. “In first place, Kei. In second, Mahn.”
The maid in her twenties and the young butler both cried out in joy. Elsewhere, Till held her head low, having landed in sixth place.
Keeping her visible in the corner of his eye, Esparda presented the last stage of the competition. “The final category of this competition focuses on skills necessary for long journeys. Lord Van will be on the road for who knows how long, and being able to give him the help he requires is equivalent to protecting him. Prepare yourselves.”
“O-of course!” The participants tensed up.
Once he was confident that they were ready, Esparda continued. “First come the basics of camping: setting up a tent, starting a fire, and keeping an eye out for monsters. Next comes basic knowledge about carriages. After that…”
Esparda went down the list of necessary knowledge, things that most servants would know little about due to the nature of their jobs. Only one person was capable, though just barely, of answering his questions.
“In order to um, start a fire, you need to add…heat to oxygen and something flammable! That’s why, uh, you have to use a flint to light branches on fire…”
“Correct.”
Despite her anxiety, Till managed to answer first three, then four questions correctly.
One of the young butlers, watching her, said, “How are you getting these questions right? You’ve never even left the castle before. Where did you learn all of this?”
Till puffed her chest out proudly. “Lord Van taught me! He said men are all about campfires and barbecues!”
Esparda nodded slightly. “In the end, Till is victorious in this final category.”
Till threw both her arms up. “I did it!” she shouted gleefully. As she hopped around in delight, the other participants applauded despite their pained smiles.
The veteran servants also recognized her knowledge and skills with applause. “Congratulations. You did well.”
“You were wonderful, Till.”
But amidst all this, Esparda whispered to himself, “Till is doing her best, but she leaves me with concerns, especially when it comes to life on the road and in a new land. Perhaps I should also accompany the young master…”
He was so quiet that nobody heard him.
Afterword
Afterword
IT’S ME, SOU AKAIKE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FORpurchasing this volume. Now that Volume 6 is out, I’m jumping for joy whenever I get a break from writing manuscripts, and the only reason I can do that is because you’ve all been reading this series. Thank you so much.
I just remembered that I said I was going to Tokyo Disney last time. That trip was partly meant to be for research, so I took a good long look at how the park and its attractions are designed. FYI: My favorite attractions were the Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, Pooh’s Honey Hunt, the Magic Lamp Theater, and Mickey’s PhilharMagic. I also rode the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull and the Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time, and both of them were a blast.
All the attractions came with their own lore and stories, and the areas around them were designed to make you feel like you’d entered the world they inhabited. The Aladdin area (Arabian Coast) I’d seen as a kid, and it was my favorite back in the day, but this time I noticed that even the bathroom signs were patterned after princes and princesses!
The scenery was so impressive and thorough in its design that I ended up not even noticing the emergency exit signs or fire extinguishers. I looked this up on the Internet after the fact, and apparently, they’re designed to be easily identifiable in the case of an emergency—but I didn’t notice them at all.
I went into writing this new setting for Volume 6 with the hopes of putting everything I learned on that trip into practice: the importance of atmosphere and scenery. To pull back the curtain a little, the whole point of this story was to have Van defend all of House Fertio’s key defensive strongholds, forcing his hardheaded, arrogant father to finally recognize his talents. I think that, given his position as a fairly invincible figure, Lil’ Van chose the path that best fit who he is deep down.
I regret that the influx of new characters meant that some of them stood out less than I’d hoped, but I’m glad I could allow Van to express himself fully. Now, you may ask, where in Volume 6 did I make use of the knowledge I gained on my trip to Tokyo Disney? I recommend doing a thorough reread and trying to figure that out for yourself. I’d be overjoyed if you did so after purchasing all the books and volumes of the manga adaptation.
Now then, it’s time to offer my thanks to everyone who helped me get here. To H, who always whips my words into shape and is willing to talk to me about just about anything. To Overlap for letting me write these books based on my hobbies and interests. To Oraidou for the necessary edits. To Kururi for their magnificent illustrations that truly enhance my work. To Maro Aoiro for breathing new life into this story with his manga adaptation. And finally, to all of you for picking up this book. Thank you so, so much. You have all of the gratitude I have to give.