Ch.326326. A Single Victory (1)

The battle at the Ripol River had ended.

With a victory for the Duchy’s forces, who had successfully inflicted significant damage on Ashpern and his beasts who had underestimated the power of nature.

The soldiers cheered as the tactical plan they had followed with skepticism achieved a miraculous victory, and even the civilians who had worn sour expressions each time the front lines were pushed back now wept with relief, saying they wouldn’t need to flee anymore.

Considering the path the Duchy had walked thus far, it was an invaluable victory.

A glimmer of possibility had emerged—the possibility of avoiding a future where they would be pushed back, becoming prey for the beasts and facing annihilation.

However, while all humans were celebrating the unexpected victory and enjoying the aftermath, only one person showed a contrary attitude.

The very person who had led this battle to victory: Junon.

“Hmm…”

*Tap, tap.*

Junon tapped his pen on the table, lost in thought. Unlike the other Duchy soldiers, far from being happy, he was actually immersed in worry. Normally, he wouldn’t make such noises to avoid waking Renias who was sleeping with her head on his thigh, but he was experiencing such deep internal conflict that he couldn’t help making the tapping sound.

“The soldiers moved to eliminate the beasts that jumped out. Ashpern… he neutralized my blue flame verses too easily even when I fired them repeatedly.”

“Oh, Ashpern? I was… focusing on enhancing the rockfall effect with explosion magic and alchemy… S-sorry! I didn’t see properly…”

“Signs of tampering with the river water? No, there weren’t any. If it had been water-flow manipulation, I would have definitely detected it, and if it had frozen, I would have noticed even faster. There were no abnormalities in buoyancy or surface tension either.”

Michelle, Aris, and Charlotte.

He had listened to all their testimonies, but gained nothing useful.

‘Still, something feels off. Why exactly… was Ashpern so weakened?’

Without a doubt, intelligent beasts are the most threatening enemies to humans.

If they learn from observing human formations, they’ll exploit the weaknesses of vulnerable formations, and the moment they figure out how to counter a tactic, dozens or hundreds of lives can be lost easily.

Ashpern was an individual with such intelligence.

His intelligence was so outstanding that the Duchy’s forces led by Professor Muniher had to retreat multiple times, and his thinking and learning abilities were by no means inferior to the human brain.

Nevertheless, Ashpern had failed to choose the easy paths that should have been obvious to him. It wasn’t that he chose not to—he was unable to.

So then.

‘Why?’

Why couldn’t he use them?

Junon needed to find the answer to this question himself.

Why?

While a victory obtained by borrowing the power of nature was certainly something to celebrate, the opponent was Ashpern—an extremely troublesome beast capable of intelligence and continued learning just like humans.

Given that he had been caught off guard and suffered a major defeat at the Ripol River, if he had any intelligence, he wouldn’t act rashly again.

If one were to identify the causes, it was because he didn’t know the terrain of Sirah well, and his carelessness stemmed from underestimating nature. In other words, having experienced the power of the river and the force of falling rocks at the Ripol River battle, the same trick wouldn’t work twice.

A new strategy had to be devised.

Before Ashpern led another beast corps capable of facing the Duchy’s forces.

However…

“…Damn it.”

No matter how much Junon racked his brain and calculated, he couldn’t guarantee consecutive victories for the current Duchy forces.

“Time is too tight.”

While news of victory was spreading, there were two realities facing them:

First, they had defeated a beast corps—not Ashpern himself—a corps that would soon recover.

Second, even as they faced Ashpern, the seal on Peltibourgos, which had entered its recovery phase, was likely being undone.

If they wanted to establish the formula that they could face even one named beast as Professor Muniher intended, they would have to decisively defeat Ashpern before Professor Muniher’s sealing formula was released.

If they failed, everyone would die. Before support from the Empire could arrive.

“…I guess I have no choice but to extend the time.”

He vaguely remembered that there was still time.

As in the past, it took surprisingly long for Peltibourgos to undo Professor Muniher’s formula. Of course, that wasn’t enough time to afford any leisure.

This time would approach before they could even blink.

“The cycle in which Peltibourgos awakens. There was a time when we carried out a dangerous operation to extend it. However, that operation…”

The number of casualties was large, too large.

Should he proceed with the operation recklessly, using the lives of other soldiers?

Or should he abandon this tactic because he couldn’t ignore their lives?

There weren’t many cards left to play. Opportunities to catch Ashpern off guard, like at the Ripol River battle, were limited to just a few at best.

Even if he turned away from it now, it was a problem he would have to face again as time grew tighter. This was the immense weight carried by the commander of the Duchy’s forces.

As Junon was caught in this great dilemma, a knock sounded at the commander’s office door.

“Junon. It’s Michelle.”

‘Michelle…?’

Though he didn’t know why she had come, Junon gave permission to enter.

“Excuse me… oh!”

Michelle saw Renias sleeping on Junon’s thigh and quickly lowered her voice.

“Ahem. The timing is quite bad. I’ll go back.”

“It’s fine. Just keep talking like this and she won’t wake up.”

More importantly, there must be a reason she sought him out at this hour, so Junon asked her to explain that first.

“Well… I’ll report right away. There are signs of movement from Ashpern’s Second Corps approaching from the southeast.”

And with that, he received news that wasn’t particularly good.

The mention of a Second Corps meant that, as he had feared, there was another force comparable to the one the Duchy’s forces had defeated at the Ripol River battle.

“But… how should I put it? The beasts’ movements were quite strange.”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

“Well…”

Michelle expressed a peculiar look, saying she didn’t understand it herself.

However, as Junon continued to listen to Michelle’s story, he too began to wear a curious expression.

***

“As instructed, I sent out the reconnaissance team, and the soldiers reported that beasts were swarming there too. The strange thing is that they seemed to be on guard, like… if I had to compare it to something, they were behaving similarly to sentries or guards.”

On guard? Sentries? Guards?

With such a force, they could attack at any time, couldn’t they?

‘No. To put it bluntly, they have the advantage no matter what they do.’

First of all, about calling it the Second Corps.

The exact scale or number of beasts still couldn’t be accurately gauged.

But the fact that Michelle mentioned a “Second Corps” already suggested that there was another corps equal to the one they had seen at the Ripol River today. Having to face those numbers again? Just hearing that one phrase filled him with dread.

In other words, if Ashpern had that much military strength, it wouldn’t be strange if he attacked right away.

He must know that humans would be exhausted after the battle, and at night, human vision is noticeably weaker than during the day.

What about the accuracy of magic, and what about magic that weakens or loses precision at night? These are undeniably unfavorable conditions.

Without going into detail, considering the human weaknesses that become apparent, the current nighttime environment is one where a night raid could easily be attempted. Yet, he didn’t attack.

Despite having a force worthy of being called the Second Corps, and despite all the unfavorable conditions for humans.

“What’s the reason? The Ripol River battle earlier today? Did he learn not to act rashly after being defeated there?”

No. That alone is hard to accept.

How big is the difference in forces to begin with? And how big is the difference in the power of the corps they lead?

If they won by luck due to terrain differences, shouldn’t they just change their approach and attack?

Even if they acknowledge that they can’t go against nature, is there any reason not to invade Sirah from Algenib?

There isn’t.

No matter how I think about it, there’s no plausible reason.

Which means…

“…Do you have a weakness too?”

A hunch comes to me.

Perfection cannot exist in this world. Even if all the outer coverings appear solid, there’s a vulnerable heart inside, a vital point. Whether it’s a physical weak point or a mental trauma, there’s something one wants to avoid.

Yes. Ashpern would be no exception.

Although he can nullify all magic with his vast magical power that makes human magic seem trivial, and if drawn into close combat, he overwhelms opponents with the power of oblivion imbued in his magical spear.

And based on the knowledge gained through his learning ability, he leads to victory in any situation.

Truly flawless. I thought he might be a being without weaknesses, seeming to have no gaps to exploit.

But he was clearly unnatural.

Setting aside the fact that he’s not leading his beast corps to attack the Duchy’s forces right now, why was he helplessly swept away by the rapids at the Ripol River?

“Could it be because he couldn’t touch the rapids?”

It was almost an exaggeration. While humans can’t go against the power of nature, for Ashpern, who can use all kinds of magic, river water is just droplets that can be neutralized with a few spells.

But if this hypothesis is correct, all the clues start to fit together.

“If it wasn’t just my feeling but he really was weakened… if that’s why he couldn’t stop the rapids.”

Even if he leads his beast corps to attack the Duchy’s forces, if we unleash the river water again, he would once again be unable to cope and be swept away. Naturally, the Second Corps he brought would end up like the shattered First Corps.

According to Michelle’s report, they merely appeared to be on guard, but if he still can’t touch the flowing river water and has to miss even the chance of a night raid?

He will surely try to return. He’ll be looking for another direction to move in order to avoid those rapids.

But I couldn’t cross the final gate.

Evidence?

Because I couldn’t answer a single self-inquiry.

“…Damn it. Is there… any more evidence?”

If I could just answer this question, I could immediately penetrate Ashpern’s weakness.

I could drastically revise the plan and choke his lifeline right away.

But, unfortunately, I have no means to prove the hypothesis that Ashpern has been weakened.

“Damn it. Damn it!”

Feeling frustrated by the elusive clue, I could only pound the table.

And naturally… that woke her up, the one sleeping on my thigh.

“Wh-what?!”

“…Huh?”

“I just heard a loud noise?! Did a beast appear?!”

“No… um… I’m sorry, Renias.”

“Eh…? Then what happened to make such a noise?”

“Well…”

She was sleeping soundly when suddenly there was a banging sound on the table… of course she’d be startled.

I told her that I was pondering that elusive story and unconsciously pounded the table.

Then Renias brought a chair to the opposite side of the table and sat down.

“Tell me what you were worrying about.”

“Huh?”

“We agreed to worry together and consult each other. That’s how we’ve been solving things all along, so at least I can worry with you, right?”

“Hmm…”

Right. That was our promise.

To bear hardships together. To share good things.

Renias told me to organize my thoughts slowly while she made coffee, and as soon as she brought the coffee, I summarized what I had organized and told her.

The hypothesis that Ashpern might also have a weakness.

“Hmm… I wonder if that’s related to it too…?”

“To what?”

“You told me not to get involved, remember? That I shouldn’t meet Ashpern directly.”

Wait. Come to think of it… I did say that.

That was also why I hadn’t let Renias participate in battle until now?

“Yes… that’s right. Ronelion told me to never let you and Ashpern meet.”

“This is a bit of a different topic, but… I’ve actually been curious about that. Why he said such a thing to you.”

Renias is right. Why did Ronelion say that?

Simply to prevent her from falling victim to the power of oblivion?

Or because Renias, being a magician, has a bad compatibility with Ashpern?

“…No.”

That’s not it.

*BANG!*

“Eh? Brother?”

“He couldn’t freeze the river water, nor evaporate it with fire magic… he couldn’t even put up a wall against the approaching water… Yes, that’s it!!”

“Eek?! Brother, if you hug and shake me like that, I’ll get dizzy!”

“Thank you, thank you Renias!!”

He had it too.

A weakness that I thought might not exist.