Ch.363Chapter 363. Lunarien vs. Brans (5)

***

The border between the Hesna Army and the Lunarian Army.

Aski Hesna, the ruler of the Hesna Army who served as the supreme commander, was asking her adjutant with a slightly surprised expression.

“The enemy has come out to intercept?”

“Yes, that’s correct!”

“Really?”

Hesna turned her head to look at Terra.

As if anticipating her question, Terra immediately answered.

“…It doesn’t seem like they have any hidden agenda, as the Lunarian Army gains nothing from this decision…”

“Right? That’s what I think too. But why did they decide to sortie? With that level of troops, shouldn’t they be fortifying instead?”

“That’s…”

Hesna’s strategy was this: Whether they fortified or whatever else, the goal was to drag out time on the battlefield as much as possible.

After all, this battle was just part of her prepared plan. The real action would begin when the Ohana Army attacked Tepelo Castle, and that news reached the enemy Lunarian Army.

The Lunarian Army, suddenly faced with an expanded front, would obviously be thrown into confusion, their morale would hit rock bottom—and she intended to use that opportunity to deploy siege weapons and quickly capture the castle.

There’s nothing easier to cook and boil than confused soldiers on a battlefield.

In that sense, she had secretly hoped they would fortify.

She had planned to drag things out appropriately, then attack when a messenger brought news that “the Ohana Army has begun to move.”

She naturally thought they would do that. Locking down the castle tight with 80,000 troops would be the most efficient approach from the Lunarian Army’s perspective.

‘…What is it? What am I missing?’

Hesna instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

But… she couldn’t figure it out. Because the southern continent had been peaceful for such a long time, instincts and insights like these had naturally dulled.

‘No. Let’s not overthink this.’

In fact, there were many cases where there wasn’t necessarily some hidden agenda.

This meant she couldn’t rule out the possibility that the enemy commander had acted without much thought. The opponent was Francis von Einhart. A young general who hadn’t spent much time on battlefields and hadn’t particularly proven himself beyond his bloodline.

It could simply be that his youthful spirit drove him to sortie in hopes of achieving merit.

“If they’ve come out, well, we should welcome them. Souka, Aramhail.”

“Yes!”

“You called, my lord!”

If the Lunarian Army had Francis and Charlotte as their two wings, the Hesna Army had Souka and Aramhail.

The Fenistra brothers, known for their strength in the southern continent—that was Souka Fenistra and Aramhail Fenistra.

“I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I think we need to teach this young general who dared to crawl out with such few troops what reality is like. Can you do that?”

“Is there any doubt, my lord.”

“I’ve been itching for some action anyway.”

“Yes, that’s reassuring!”

Hesna dispatched the two generals with a bright smile.

Until then, she hadn’t lost her composure. Without even imagining what was about to happen.

***

In the middle of the battlefield.

“Take this!”

“Haaaah!”

Clang!

‘Damn it…!’

Francis, surveying the situation, sensed it.

The Hesna Army’s offensive was fiercer than expected. The Lunarian Army was clearly being pushed back, unable to overcome the difference in troop numbers.

If they continued to be pushed back… if they couldn’t buy time, disaster would be inevitable!

‘I have to stall for time somehow!’

Lord Ginor had said that dragging out time through interception here was more important than anything else.

If that was the case, even if it meant engaging in a one-on-one duel, he had to buy time somehow…!

Once he made up his mind, all that remained was to act.

Francis rode out on his horse and shouted loudly.

“Is there no one who will face me, Francis von Einhart?! It seems the Hesna Army is full of cowards!”

Soon after, a burly man rode out on horseback.

“How amusing! To see the outdated ghost of the Einhart Empire still wandering with its head attached! I, Souka Fenistra, will be your opponent!”

Souka Fenistra.

Francis was well aware that he was a renowned general in the south, but…

He deliberately raised the corner of his mouth in a mocking smile and said:

“A laborer from some nameless province talks too much. Come at me!”

“What did you say? You brat…!!”

Clang!

‘Kuh!’

After exchanging a few blows, he realized it. …I can do this at this level!

It’s okay. He’s certainly strong, but much more manageable than Master Tifa!

I don’t even need to defeat him. As long as I can buy time somehow—

“Haaah!”

“…!!”

As Francis was about to swing his spear at Souka, he barely managed to avoid an axe blade with ghost-like reflexes.

Another man had intervened in the one-on-one duel.

“C-cowardly… intervening in a one-on-one duel?!”

“What are you doing, Aramhail!”

“Brother, this is war! Not children’s play! If this youngster is the commander, we must kill him here and now!”

“…!!”

Francis quickly mounted his horse and pulled back.

“Where do you think you’re going! Are you running away?!”

‘That’s enough…!’

He couldn’t buy more time… but this should be sufficient.

Now all he had to do was wait. Wait until “that moment” Ginor had mentioned arrived.

***

After the one-on-one duel.

The front lines between the two countries had maintained a stalemate for quite some time.

The Lunarian Army would seem like they were about to push forward, then pull back their troops depending on the situation. It was an incomprehensible operation reminiscent of guerrilla warfare.

The exchange ratio of troops also couldn’t overcome the numerical difference. 1.5:1. The Lunarian Army was being pushed back by the Hesna Army—not one-sidedly, but gradually yet surely.

Moreover, true to their reputation, the Fenistra brothers’ efforts were significantly boosting the morale of the Hesna Army.

They had more troops. While Francis was clearly skilled and not just some random general, the Hesna side had the Fenistra brothers.

By all accounts, the Hesna Army’s memorable first battle seemed destined to end in their victory.

Perhaps that’s why?

Initially, the Hesna Army had avoided approaching the castle walls, if only to avoid the arrows that might fly from them—

“Chase after the fleeing enemy!”

“If possible, we’ll attack the castle! The momentum has shifted to our army! Charge for Lady Hesna!”

They were gradually approaching Arollan Castle.

Hesna, who was observing the situation from a distance, let out a short sigh.

‘This might end up being an unexpectedly easy victory?’

Lunarian Ineanne.

Given that she was a woman who had swallowed Karelia whole, Hesna had thought she would have prepared something… but faced with such an underwhelming result, she honestly felt her heart growing cold.

‘Did I overestimate that woman?’

Thinking about it, the disaster in Karelia happened because Karelia was so stubborn; she felt that if it had been her, she could have easily eliminated someone like Lunarian.

She wondered if she had unnecessarily helped Ohana grow by receiving his aid, but… anyway, the issue with the Ohana Army could be addressed after dealing with the Lunarian Army and dividing the southern continent.

She was confident. Confident in her ability to control Ohana.

“My lord!!”

—Until a messenger with a red armband rushed here with an urgent expression.

“What is it?”

“The Ohana Army… the Ohana Army has moved!”

So they’ve finally moved.

Honestly, she had expected it would take some time. Ohana was a cunning person, so it wouldn’t be strange if he waited until our Hesna Army showed signs of victory to move and try to reap the benefits.

“Oh? Well, it took some time, but they’ve moved. I wonder if that news has reached the Lunarian Army yet?”

However.

Unlike the composed Hesna, the soldier’s expression showed no composure at all.

“Th-that’s not it! My lord!”

“Huh?”

“The Ohana Army has moved… but, well, that is…!”

A chill!

For some reason, a chilling sensation ran up Hesna’s spine as she heard the voice of the soldier who was trembling in terror.

It was intuition. The signal that served as her lifeline, which had brought her to this position, when something had gone terribly wrong.

“What? What about Ohana?”

“Well… the O-Ohana Army… has sent troops to… our Bestille Castle…!”

“…!!!”

Hesna turned pale and froze on the spot.

—Ohana has invaded our army?

Did he join hands with Lunarian? Or is it betrayal? If not that, then…

‘Is he insane?!’

Could that stupid and petty Ohana not calculate the gains and losses of this?

For the Ohana Army to attack our Hesna Army now was essentially offering the southern continent to the Lunarian Army on a silver platter.

The reason Hesna had confidently made her proposal to Ohana was based on the fact that he was a small-minded person who would never tolerate his own losses.

In other words, her plan was built on the belief that he would never do something that would harm himself—like turning his blade against the Hesna Army!

But why… why on earth?

Hesna was speechless, faced with such an absurd situation.

But the soldier had a duty to relay what he had heard.

Even if it seemed nonsensical.

“Well… it’s true that the Ohana Army sent troops, but they are not the Ohana Army…!”

“…What?”

And the soldier’s answer was—

“—They are the Lunarian Army!”

“!!!”

“The soldiers of the Ohana Army… carrying bright light green flags, wearing Lunarian Army armor… are advancing toward our army!”

It was a story more shocking than she could have imagined.