Ch.622They Are Coming

The conversation that began about how to handle ghost swords naturally led to a discussion about what he had experienced in the previous battle.

“Barama Hatan had reached the realm of a Hero. Unlike before, he was too much for me to handle with just my abilities.”

His tone suggested I should obviously know that name.

Of course, I had never heard such a name. I could barely remember the names of even ten Ka’har.

‘Who is Barama Hatan?’

A Ka’har who had reached the realm of a Hero would likely be one of Orhan’s trusted men. In other words, he was probably someone who died at Hersella’s hands in the original work.

[He is the war commander of the Red Banner Army. Like other war commanders, he is competent enough to earn Orhan’s trust, but not competent enough to covet Orhan’s position. He never had such thoughts anyway. If he has crossed the wall… then Glar and Ivamai must have also reached the realm of Heroes.]

Ivamai was a name I had heard before.

Harun Ivamai. One of the original Hersella’s subordinates, their relationship wasn’t particularly good, as he was used like a disposable item before being eliminated.

I didn’t know who Glar was, but he was probably one of Orhan’s war commanders like Hatan or Ivamai.

Judging by how he assumed the other two had crossed the wall just because Hatan had reached the realm of a Hero, they must be of similar skill or even better.

So there were three forces that had reached the realm of Heroes, excluding Orhan? While we only had two: 3rd Corps Commander Frederick and Joshua.

“That’s troublesome… What do you mean by ‘too much to handle’? Is he stronger than you, or is it a matter of compatibility?”

“The latter. Hatan’s Tale of Heroes… his technique called Thousand Autumn forces opponents to withstand a weight like a thousand pounds.”

So it was bad compatibility.

“Forcing weight?”

“Yes. The moon blade I received from him carried a weight that was difficult to bear, yet Hatan and his mount seemed unaffected by that weight. Like my Tale of Heroes, the Giant Hunter’s Sword.”

So it’s a power amplification type.

A blade that becomes heavy only for the opponent. Just as the Defying Fate sword increases speed without increasing power, Thousand Autumn increases power without changing speed.

I don’t know how such a thing is possible, but…

“That’s definitely bad compatibility. To think his Tale of Heroes specialized in one-on-one combat.”

Unlike Joshua’s Tale of Heroes, which specialized in sweeping across wide areas, Hatan’s Tale of Heroes showed its true value when fighting one-on-one against an equal opponent.

So of course he would be at a disadvantage.

One side only extends range while the other only increases power—when they clash head-on, which one would break? Obviously the lighter one.

It was remarkable that he had returned alive and well after engaging in single combat with such an opponent.

—-

“It’s been a while, Marquis Median. How have you been?”

“Well, just getting by, I suppose?”

The next person I met after Joshua was Frederick, the 3rd Corps Commander of the Imperial Army.

The Empire’s third Hero. He must have been through a lot, as dark circles extended down to his cheeks, his complexion was dark, and he wore an expression of complete exhaustion.

It seems the workload in the Imperial homeland exceeds imagination. Seeing how someone who had been so vigorous during the Battle of Ainfeld had deteriorated to a state between sickness and death.

The Tale of Heroes that Frederick had awakened was quite powerful. The ability to detonate the weapons he threw. It was essentially a technique close to throwing explosive spears.

“I named it the Flash of Ainfeld. The marquis’s spear that day left quite an impression.”

…That attack back then combined all sorts of blessings with the power of gunpowder.

Impressive how someone who doesn’t even know how to make gunpowder managed to create something resembling an explosion.

“That’s reassuring. Thrown from atop the wall, it could kill hundreds.”

The range might be a bit shorter compared to Millia’s arrows, but the power might surpass her shooting.

—-

The conversation with Frederick wasn’t very long.

As the commander of the Imperial 3rd Corps and the overall commander of the Imperial support troops, he seemed extremely busy with war preparations.

We weren’t particularly close to begin with.

We had fought on the same battlefield, but not enough to feel like comrades. Our relationship was rather distant.

—-

Four days passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, Heinrich, Landenburg’s second sword, returned to the camp.

Heinrich, who had returned through Dane territory, reported that the Dane and Ka’har had clashed once, and that the main Dane force, which had been encroaching on Panam territory, was returning to guard the border.

“Do you think they will clash again?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

Heinrich answered with complete composure, as if it were only natural. Ludwig smiled broadly, pleased. Despite suffering 2,700 casualties, his strategy had worked successfully.

I watched the scene from the balcony of my quarters, just as I had when Joshua returned.

‘That man hasn’t crossed the wall. Though he’s teetering right on the edge.’

Heinrich was a typical Dane with a tall, slender build, tough blonde hair, and blue eyes, but he apparently hadn’t reached the realm of a Hero.

He had stopped right before the wall. He could easily defeat a Champion, but if he faced an opponent of war commander level or higher, he would likely be overwhelmed and defeated.

[He’s about the same level as the old Inferior Sword. If he could take just one more step, he would become a useful force…]

‘Whether he takes that step or not is beyond our control.’

That was entirely up to that Dane.

If a few words of advice from me could help someone cross the wall, I would already have created an order of knights made up of Heroes.

Besides, that man clearly shows signs of not particularly liking me, so he probably wouldn’t listen to my advice anyway.

I watched him until my cigarette burned out completely, then returned to my room.

News of the Ka’har advance came two days later.

—-

“So it begins.”

Upon receiving the scout’s report, Ludwig’s face hardened as he called an emergency meeting.

There was no way an army of 47,000 would just make a show of force and leave. They wanted war, and we had to do our utmost to stop them.

We couldn’t let those hungry wolf-like creatures loose on Imperial land.

“The Ka’har… the Aishan are coming. Estimated forces: 47,000. It seems they’ve brought every warrior they have.”

18,000 infantry who called themselves the White Banner Army, 3,000 from the Blue Banner Army. About 9,000 from the Red Banner Army and 8,000 from the Black Banner Army. Plus what appeared to be two newly organized corps.

It truly seemed they had brought their entire military force.

“47,000…!”

“Isn’t that too many…?”

The knights and commanders gathered at the meeting all wore faces as if they had taken on all the world’s worries and conflicts.

In other words, they looked like death.

“Don’t be afraid. We all expected it would be about this many.”

Ludwig offered words that might have been comfort or encouragement, seeing their complexions.

“Our forces also approach 40,000, so we’re not that outnumbered when you think about it. We would certainly lose in open battle, but defending the wall should be possible.”

“…Do you have some clever strategy, sir?”

A knight asked cautiously. Ludwig simply smiled lightly and glanced in my direction.

As if asking if I remembered when I had asked the same question a few days ago.

His answer was also the same.

“How many clever strategies can there be against enemies who are faster, stronger, and tougher than us? For now, we must understand their movements and respond according to the situation.”

Respond according to the situation.

It was an incredibly vague expression, but there was no better answer.

Even if we came up with a meticulous strategy, if the battle situation developed unexpectedly, it would become meaningless armchair theory. Now was not the time to discuss strategies, but to prepare for a standard defensive battle while understanding the enemy’s movements.

There was one strategy that might—just might—be able to kill Orhan, but that wasn’t something to discuss now either.

Whether the Ka’har forces would directly assault the wall, attempt to outflank through Dane territory, or attack using some other method—in this situation where nothing was certain, discussing a strategy based on the assumption they would attack head-on was meaningless.