Ch.619Preparing for the Next Battle

Upon returning to the Wall of Berengaria, I found it bustling with sweaty soldiers everywhere.

Leopold had dispatched two Imperial legions: fifteen thousand infantry, eight thousand archers, and around seven thousand cavalry. A massive force of thirty thousand troops, along with five hundred Imperial knights, filled the military barracks beneath the wall.

“Thrust—spear!”

“Thruuust—speeeear!”

“Stop wavering your spearheads! Put your weight into it and thrust precisely! If you lunge like that, your heads will be flying off the next moment!”

“Yes, sir!”

In the training grounds, senior Imperial commanders drilled obviously inexperienced recruits all day long, while on the opposite side, Imperial knights and Landenburg knights engaged in mock battles against each other.

Complete war footing. Blacksmith masters worked through the night, hammering iron to produce arrows, armor, and spare weapons, while numerous wagons transported supplies back and forth in the rear.

The soldiers’ battle cries, the clash of weapons, the hammering from the forges, and the shouts of workers moving supplies to warehouses—all these sounds blended together, making the inside of the wall as noisy as a marketplace.

“Ugh. It’s unbearably loud.”

It was impossible to rest comfortably.

I closed the window and drew the thick curtains to block out as much noise as possible, grumbling in complaint.

Though it wasn’t comparable to being in the middle of a battlefield, for someone with sensitive senses like me, even this level of noise was irritating enough.

If it were just for a moment, I could ignore it, but all day, for days on end? Good grief.

I understood it was necessary, but… understanding the necessity didn’t make the irritation poking at my brain go away.

“But thanks to that, we’ve gathered a force of forty thousand, right? Isn’t that enough to face the Ka’har if they attack?”

Leonore shrugged with a bitter smile. What she said was nonsense, though. I shook my head and tapped my cigarette ash into the ashtray.

“Even with forty thousand, fifteen thousand of them are recruits no better than a disorganized rabble. I doubt they’ll even be half as effective as they should be.”

“Well… that’s true.”

The Imperial forces Leopold had sent were the 2nd and 3rd Legions.

The 3rd Legion had been honed into elite troops worthy of being the Empire’s main force through continuous monster subjugation operations after the Battle of Einfeld. However, the 2nd Legion had only recently been rebuilt after being completely annihilated, so the quality of their troops was seriously low.

They might be somewhat useful in a defensive battle on the wall, but if we attempted a frontal engagement on the plains, they would be swept away instantly like a sandcastle on the beach.

“But we should be able to hold out by relying on the wall, right?”

“Well… whether it’s possible or not, we don’t have any other option. If we try to maneuver, we’ll suffer a crushing defeat, and surprise attacks to divide and conquer won’t work anymore either.”

Unless Orhan was a fool, he would have already prepared countermeasures against divide-and-conquer tactics. Simply gathering troops that were previously scattered in units of five hundred to a thousand into units of ten thousand would be enough.

If I personally took action, I could devastate even an army of ten thousand by diving from the sky, sweeping through them until my strength was exhausted, and then withdrawing… but that would be an excessively dangerous tactic.

What if Orhan took advantage of my absence to fly to the wall and rampage, or intercepted me just as I was trying to withdraw? I couldn’t take such risks just to defeat a few thousand enemy soldiers.

In the end, our only option was to wage a defensive battle relying on the wall.

The Ka’har cavalry possessed overwhelming mobility and charging power that was difficult for the Empire to match, but siege warfare was a stage for infantry and archers—a battlefield where cavalry’s effectiveness was limited.

“Well… no matter how or where we fight, my job is already determined.”

I took a deep drag of my cigarette, exhaled, and crossed my legs the opposite way on the table.

Stop Orhan.

No, kill him.

In the battlefield where tens of thousands of troops would clash, that was my only role. Because no one in the Empire except me had reached a level where they could face Orhan.

I heard that Frederick, the commander of the Imperial 3rd Legion, had recently “crossed the wall” thanks to being constantly called out for monster subjugation… but unfortunately, even his heroic tale didn’t seem to include a finishing move powerful enough to break through the Unyielding Flesh.

“It’s good to act cool… but can you actually defeat Orhan? You lost last time.”

No, you shouldn’t call that a loss.

“…Hey, that wasn’t a loss, it was a draw! A draw! I was completely exhausted, true, but Orhan wasn’t in great shape either.”

Sure, I was covered in bruises while Orhan didn’t have a single visible wound… but that was just on the surface. His energy must have been running low too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had any reason to retreat even with Ludwig’s reinforcements approaching.

If I could have fought for just twenty more minutes, I would have seen that infuriating Unyielding Flesh finally break.

“Well… one side could barely stand and only survived thanks to reinforcements, while the other side retreated leisurely without a single wound. If that’s a draw, then couldn’t we call the match between the lady and Demian a draw too?”

But Leonore’s judgment was merciless. So much so that I couldn’t think of any rebuttal.

“Ugh… well, if it weren’t for those Blue Flag troops, I wouldn’t have been pushed back that much…”

[How unsightly, squeezing out excuses like that. Accept what needs to be accepted. That fight was clearly your defeat.]

Hersella clicked her tongue in disapproval.

No, really, if it weren’t for the Blue Flag troops, I could have managed! If I hadn’t wasted my strength on them, I could have fought for twenty more minutes. Why don’t they understand this?

A deep sense of injustice wafted out with the mint smoke.

—-

It was three days later when Joshua’s main force, which had marched toward the southern plains, returned. I went out to the balcony of my chamber and looked down at them while smoking.

“The Landenburg Cavalry Regiment has returned after completing its mission.”

They looked like defeated troops. The cavalry that had finally returned under Joshua was in a more miserable state than expected. I knew it was a difficult mission, but I didn’t think they would suffer such losses.

Out of the three thousand troops that had set out, only two hundred remained. Only the knights had barely survived, with not a single soldier left. It seemed they had lost all three thousand war horses as well.

And moreover…

“…I see. So Sir Klaus and Sir Bertrand have fallen.”

Ludwig, who had come out to greet the returning troops, looked up at the sky and made the sign of the cross. His face was overflowing with sorrow.

“I am deeply ashamed…”

The knight kneeling before Ludwig bowed his head deeply with a grief-stricken face.

‘Hmm. Is that man Joshua?’

Joshua Blake.

The first sword of Landenburg and the first pure Imperial citizen to reach the realm of heroes.

I leaned forward slightly to examine him more closely.

Hair matted with sweat and oil, hollow eyes and unkempt beard, tattered armor that made him look more like a homeless person than a knight. Just like the other knights.

It meant they had been through fierce battles with no time to tidy themselves up. Though I couldn’t be certain because of his armor, his breathing and aura seemed unstable, suggesting he was also considerably injured.

[His aura isn’t bad, but not enough to face Orhan. He looks to be in his forties, yet only at that level at his age. I wonder if it’s a lack of talent or insufficient training…]

A scathing critique that would make Joshua draw his sword in outrage if he heard it. I didn’t say anything since my impression was similar.

He did look strong, befitting a knight who had reached the realm of heroes, but excluding the power of his heroic tale, he was only about as strong as Rurik without regenerative abilities.

Considering when he reached the realm of heroes, he would be stronger than Frederick, but if he were to fight Orhan, he would just end up hammering away at the Unyielding Flesh until his head was cut off. He wasn’t a force that could replace me.

“Due to my lack of strength, we suffered massive casualties…”

“Not at all. Who would dare blame you for any shortcoming? It was only my preparation that was insufficient, so don’t blame yourself.”

Joshua bowed his head even deeper, blaming himself. Ludwig gently patted his shoulder to comfort him. Though it didn’t seem to help much.

—-

“Sir Klaus and Sir Bertrand have fallen… what tragic news.”

Nigel, upon hearing the bad news Joshua had brought, touched her spear with an uncharacteristically somber expression.

“Indeed.”

Though they had eliminated two champions of the enemy’s Red Flag Army, making the exchange somewhat equal, that wouldn’t diminish the grief and anger Nigel was feeling.

For Nigel, her direct seniors had died. As a fellow sword of Landenburg, she couldn’t help but feel devastated.

Even I, who had only crossed blades with them a few times in training, felt a sense of loss.

Bertrand was one thing, but Klaus was a master whose swordsmanship surpassed even mine at that time. To think he would perish so futilely. It was truly regrettable.