Ch.173173. Invasion, Omen (3)

After deciding to join the allied forces against the great orc invasion.

“Gregory, going alone is certainly not a good choice.”

“Is… that so?”

“Indeed. It would be better to take some soldiers with you, and to go with Sophia as well.”

Upon hearing the news, my mother advised me that going to war alone wasn’t a particularly wise decision, and added a few more points.

According to her, while a Superior-rank fighter certainly possesses power on the level of a strategic weapon, in continental-scale military conflicts, one person alone cannot have much of a voice.

In this world, the term ‘individual’ is often accepted as a metaphor for lacking special political power, so participating alone might cause the leadership to view me as someone they can use without much consideration.

One might wonder how they could treat a Superior-rank that way, but it’s possible precisely because the leadership itself consists of Superior-ranks.

However, if I were to lead even a small number of troops into battle, the story changes completely.

Rather than being just an individual Superior-rank, I would qualify as a commander of a unit with troops under my command, guaranteeing a kind of political position that would prevent me from being pushed around in internal politics.

This phenomenon occurs due to the difference between a “strong individual” and a “group led by a strong individual,” and more importantly, thanks to this dynamic, one-sided disadvantages disappear.

“Thank you, Mother. Thanks to you, I don’t think any accidents will happen.”

“No need to thank me. It’s nothing.”

Anyway, after expressing my gratitude to my mother for sharing this insight, I began to consider what forces I could mobilize at present.

First to come to mind were the cavalry from my estate, which would be the best choice at this point.

The value of cavalry is typically on a different level from infantry, and bringing them would give a different weight to my presence.

In a large-scale battlefield, 100 infantry soldiers might disappear instantly after a single frontal engagement, but 100 cavalry units could be held in reserve and deployed to change the tide of battle when needed.

Therefore, having resolved to mobilize at least 40 out of my 100 cavalry units, the next group I thought of was naturally the infantry from my estate, but…

‘…Hmm.’

Honestly, I’m reluctant to bring the infantry, and that’s the reality.

Objectively speaking, the infantry of my territory are certainly powerful soldiers who deserve to be called elite troops without exaggeration.

All of them have achieved at least the ability to strengthen their bodies by circulating mana, and they’ve acquired various scouting techniques suited to forest terrain where they operate.

Skills like silent walking techniques, hiding among dense trees, quickly disengaging from the battlefield, and minimizing the presence of living beings without being detected—these techniques are sufficient to maximize their stealth capabilities.

And with the addition of skills for creating and setting simple traps, plus the magically imbued equipment issued to the soldiers…

My estate’s soldiers have been reborn as specialists in mountain warfare who, at least in forest environments, can easily handle dozens of enemies alone.

But conversely… this means that in non-forest environments, their combat effectiveness is greatly reduced.

Objectively speaking, since my soldiers are undoubtedly elite among elites, they could certainly pull their weight in battles on open plains, but this would frankly be little different from the foolish actions of a madman.

Deploying my soldiers in battles on flat terrain would be like using an expensively trained special forces unit as ordinary infantry.

Thus, while they might be suitable for guerrilla warfare in forests, it’s naturally reluctant to deploy soldiers who cannot exert their full power in frontal battle situations…

Decisively, it’s nearly impossible for ordinary infantry to be effective in the environment of the great plains.

The only obstacles obstructing vision are shrubs at most. Additionally, the ground is hard due to the lack of water sources, making it perfect for horses and beasts to run quickly without any hindrance.

Therefore, in such an environment, cavalry inevitably becomes the dominant force, and consequently, these environmental characteristics create an even harsher environment for infantry.

In terrain where mobility is important and ideal for horseback riding, infantry naturally become helpless targets for the arrows shot by nomadic orcs, treated as meat shields at best.

However… even so, bringing only cavalry isn’t feasible either, given the current situation.

The 40 cavalry units I can bring without creating a security vacuum in my estate might be a considerable force in this vicinity filled with small and medium-sized territories, but it’s somewhat ambiguous in the face of the great orc invasion.

The first reason is that numbers create an impression, and one needs to bring at least about 100 people, roughly a company-sized unit, to have some voice on the battlefield.

But if I take all 100 cavalry, it would indeed disrupt the security of my estate, and if I bring infantry instead, I’m concerned about the fragility of imperial infantry.

As I was wavering and unable to clearly decide which direction to take, my mentor, who had approached me at some point, sent information about “them” into my mind.

“Gregory, take this.”

“…Huh? Mother, is it okay to…”

“I’m staking the name of Aleinost Forest on this, so of course I must provide soldiers as well.”

“Th-thank you! Thank you so much!”

Specifically, she gave me information about natural bodies that host “nature spirits”—entities that serve as territorial troops, assuming Aleinost Forest is considered a domain, tasked with protecting the forest.

Of course, I have no aptitude for nature magic and cannot handle nature spirits, but my mentor, who is several times more knowledgeable than me in this field, would certainly know this.

Naturally, this “information” from my mentor isn’t simply about the structure of natural bodies that can host nature spirits, but about the method itself of creating bodies that operate by allowing spiritual entities to dwell within them and granting them self-awareness.

Normally, this would be impossible for someone not specialized in nature magic, but it’s entirely possible using this blueprint my mentor provided.

This blueprint is like a meal kit—it gives me the power to recreate, albeit inadequately, something from a realm I couldn’t otherwise touch.

Ah, of course, while I might be able to handle natural bodies (a kind of pseudo-physical form for nature spirits), I cannot handle nature spirits themselves due to my poor aptitude for nature magic…

This problem, however, can be easily solved through “Animal Spirits.”

Some animals with spiritual talents or magical powers at the species level occasionally transform into animal spirits, a kind of quasi-spirit, after death. High-level wild magic can handle these animal spirits.

The most representative magic involves allowing animal spirits to dwell in physical bodies, borrowing the power they possessed in life, and most summoning magic in wild magic is closely related to these animal spirits.

And by utilizing the natural body creation technique my mother gave me, it’s possible to make these animal spirits stay on earth semi-permanently.

“…Could you lend a hand?”

“Of course, ask me anything.”

Thus, with my mother’s full support, I was able to complete hundreds of shells to host animal spirits sooner than expected.

A total of 300 shells made of clay, bark, wood, and vines are animated by animal spirits who have agreed to a contract of obedience in exchange for providing them with bodies.

Of these, 100 take the form of bears—large, ferocious fire bears—and naturally, being the largest and heaviest of the animal spirit-inhabited shells, they serve as heavy cavalry.

Of the remaining 200, half are wolves. Though not as large as the bears, they have shells depicting dire wolves—large wolves exceeding the size of normal wolves—and their role is that of light melee cavalry.

The absence of a rider on their backs means they have even more agile movements, and reflecting their living characteristics, they are extremely powerful in terms of group coordination.

And finally, the remaining 100 shells have the appearance of giant monstrous crows called “Hunter Ravens.”

Their most distinctive feature is their size, approaching that of humans rather than large birds of prey, and they are predators capable of cleanly snatching a person with their talons.

Looking at this army of animal spirits that seemed capable of fighting even against human armies without issue, I… gained a certain confidence.

‘With this much, perhaps there won’t be any problems…’

With 300 animal spirit golems (tentative name), I could surely have independent operational authority within the army.