Chapter 158

–Third Person/Malt POV–

Malt Kingdom Army, Headquarters

「Whaat!? You took the wrong path? Are you guys all idiots!!?」

Pablo’s yelling voice rings out and one of his subordinates get kicked .

An advance guard made up of several hundred soldiers preceded the main army of 10,000 to do reconnaissance and scouting of the topography . That advance guard just notified the main army that they reached a swamp which cut off their path on the way forward . The main army already followed the advance guard in that direction so it would be a considerable waste of time if they were to double back .

「Where did they get it wrong……we followed the path exactly too!」

「Your Highness, perhaps we were wrong from the very beginning……」

「What? Didn’t we head straight in the direction of Rafen when we left? I also checked the markers . 」

「Well……isn’t there a possibility that the markers themselves are fake?」

The air froze over for a short moment .

「Damn! Shit, fuck!! He tricked me, that sneaky fucker!」

「It’s nice how the enemy has it so easy . Seeing how we got caught in some childlike trick and all . 」

Hilario was about to add something and sneer at Pablo, but the commanders have serious looks on their faces . If they knew about it, they would have pointed it out at that moment . Which just means, two grown men fell for some infantile prank .

「Your Highness, there is also an increasing amount of people in the army who are feeling ill . They are especially suffering from stomach pain and intense diarrhea, preventing a lot of them from being able to continue marching……」

「Abandon those weaklings!」

「We are guessing that this has something to do with the wells being tampered-」「Shut up! Is this really the time to worry about some stomach pain!? We’re going right back to the beginning of the path . We’re marching on a stricter schedule to make up the time!」

Not a single person said anything else after that .

They knew Pablo would not get the message, and Hilario is criticizing people but hasn’t made many constructive remarks .

「Abandoning all the ill soldiers and advancing……」

「There really isn’t much choice, we’re already running out of food . If we take them with us, we won’t be able to move at all either . 」

「Let’s consolidate the immobile sick soldiers at a watering hole . Some might survive if they get some clean water, plus the enemy isn’t so inhuman that they would kill all of them . 」

Everyone except the two royalty are crestfallen . Being the invading army, they knew it wasn’t out of the ordinary if Goldonia didn’t show them any mercy .

「Enemy attack! From the left, numbers……about 50!」

「……again?」

Ever since they passed by the first village, they’ve been getting attacked frequently by a group of small forces . This time again, they get showered with arrows from the top of a hill and a few soldiers get taken down .

「Tch, again with this petty harassment! Chase them down and crush them!!」

Infantry and cavalry head out on Pablo’s orders .

However, their arrows couldn’t reach the enemy disappearing below the ridgeline of the hill and by the time they desperately worked their way up the hill, they could no longer catch up to the enemy . The cavalry wanted to close the distance, but there was an area of wetlands on the other side of the hill and would probably stop them from moving if they crossed carelessly, so they gave up .

「Again? ……those soldiers hiding there have already decided where to escape from the very beginning . We’re being led around by the nose . 」

One of the commanders makes a rather pathetic comment .

The casualties suffered from that attack is insignificant, but that’s the third attack today . Having soldiers fall over from small attacks chipping away at the sides does nothing to improve morale .

In addition, there hasn’t been a day where they did not get raided at night ever since they crossed the border, although the scale might be different every time, so the soldiers have not been able to get a decent sleep .

Everytime the weary soldiers see any forests, hills or marshlands, they would feel frightened . Their marching speed slowed down even further and they wouldn’t walk faster than the pace of an old cow no matter how much Pablo yelled at them .

「If only His Excellency Brutus was here……」

「Hey you! What did you just say!?」

Pablo grabs one of the commanders, who was whispering to himself, by the collars and punches him . The commander falls to the ground and suffers a nosebleed, but because Pablo hit the helmet, he winces at the pain he caused his own hand .

「What problem do you have with me, that guy’s superior, taking command!? If you say something like that again, off goes your head!」

Nothing you say to Pablo registers in his mind .

The soldiers have no other choice but to entrust the fate of their lives to the heavens .

「Captain, what are you looking at?」

「The sky . This is the same winter sky as the one I saw in my home village . 」

「It’s not that far away after all, right?」

「You should look too . 」

「Right, sir……」

「This might be the last time . 」

When they start turning back and heading to where they came from, sounds of battle can be heard behind the main army again – the fourth attack today .

–Third Person/Tristan POV–

At the same time, Zan Dora: Defense Headquarters

「Fumu, fumu, it’s roughly what I expected . 」

「The only squads which failed to escape and were captured or exceeded the predicted amount of casualties suffered are the 12th and 17th squads . The squads which lost more than 10 people are the 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 19th squads . 」

「Yes, let’s have the 12th and 17th squads fall back temporarily to Zan Dora and reorganize themselves . Other than that, let’s have the other squads get closer together and work with each other . 」

Suffering a little over 100 casualties while trying to slow down an enemy with over 10 times your forces is a terrifyingly small amount . 20 molded chess pieces representing each of the 50-man squads are placed on top of an open map, with a single red piece in the middle indicating the enemy . Since scouts are tailing the enemy quite closely, their accurate whereabouts can be determined .

「The enemy’s advance guard should be approaching the swamp now . They’re going to realize they went in the wrong direction and turn back, so let’s deploy the 4th squad and kill their momentum . 」

The chess piece with the number 4 written on it is moved to the path the enemy would turn back and take on the map .

「That person is really commanding without even a glance at the battlefield . 」

「I’ve never seen that before . 」

Tristan opens a book and begins to read, as if saying ‘All that’s left is to wait’, while the soldiers in the headquarters speak in amazement .

But their eyes have no hint of doubt .

They have no reason to complain when the individual has shown his ability to put up a good fight against an enemy with 10 times their numbers .

「Defense Commander, emergency report . It looks like a part of the enemy is branching off and doing a thorough patrol . 」

「Well that’s a problem . Let’s move squads here and here . The patrol unit shouldn’t be that powerful, so we can defeat them if we lure them correctly . 」

Contrary to his words, Tristan doesn’t seem impatient at all and gives instructions while holding his book in one hand .

「If they send out a patrol squad now, then they won’t do it when the enemy is in front of them . There isn’t much meaning in sending them when all areas around you are suspicious……in any case, this enemy is just like the ones in books . 」

The soldiers were peeking curiously so Tristan opens the book up and shows them .

「Here look, taboos in war – “Invading without knowledge of the enemy’s position nor the terrain/routes”, “Making use of the food and water left in enemy territory”, “Believing information gained from the enemy grounds without close scrutiny” ……see? The enemy is doing everything you’re not supposed to do, so of course we’re having an easy time . 」

「Even so, can’t you consider not allowing the enemy with 10 times your numbers to invade as a product of your ability?」

「The enemy is organized in so many different formations, so it seems they aren’t bringing any veteran soldiers . When we pit a 50-man squad against this long vertical line of 10,000 soldiers, we actually have about 100 people against them, you see . Things will be easy on us if we just run away before they can gather themselves . 」

「Is that how it is?」

「Yes, the enemy’s most optimal move is heading to Rafen in a straight line . If they come straight at us from the front, we would have 10 times our numbers alive and knocking on our doors . I did make preparations around Rafen just in case, but it would have been a much harder fight than it is now . 」

It is usually the case when facing a smaller army that the most optimal solution is to just charge in a straight line without any petty tricks . Tristan must have remembered the time he got his confidence crushed as he makes a slightly displeased face .

「Well, I wasn’t thinking of creating something like a peasant country anyways . Maybe this is just fate . 」

「Then if the enemy changes their strategy in the future and makes heads into Zan Dora at full speed, would we be in a dilemma?」

「I guess……I’ll leave 300 bow cavalry behind just in case, but……that would be bad . 」

The soldiers look uneasy again, but Tristan smiles .

「It’ll be too late though . See, look……」

As if Tristan was done thinking, he tosses his conducting baton on the map spread out on his desk .

Listening carefully, one might hear the cheers of joy from the soldiers on top of the watchtowers .

「The enemy doesn’t have the numerical advantage anymore, you see . 」

A pitch-black flag was being flown from beyond the horizon .

The faint cloud rising in the air wasn’t fog nor sand blown up by the winter breeze . It was the dust kicked up by the hooves of several thousand horses .

「Looks like time’s up . 」

The soldiers in the headquarters also stick their heads out of the windows and wave flags .

The feudal lord’s main force has come back from Magrado at last .

Now that he knew his job is finished, Tristan picks up his book in one hand and begins reading while sipping his tea .

–Aegir POV–

「Ally flags are being flown in Zan Dora! It doesn’t look like they’re being surrounded . 」

Celia informs me happily .

「So Tristan’s done his job . I was prepared for Zan Dora to have fallen already, but he’s quite the impressive fellow . 」

「Now that we have arrived, an army of 10,000 or so shouldn’t be a problem at all . Let’s thoroughly annihilate them . 」

「They’ll all be skewered!」

Myla and Irijina are in high spirits too .

But don’t say anything too extreme .

「……Uuu」

There, look, Celestina is troubled now .

In her eyes, the citizens are people she should be protecting, even though she was chased out . Since Celestina is especially kind, she thinks that being chased out is partly her fault too .

On the way to Zan Dora, we returned Gido to Rafen and brought Celestina along .

It made us a little late, but the situation doesn’t seem too depressing from what Tristan told me, and there should be more benefit to picking up the girl than to arriving one or two days earlier .

「Here, come . 」

I pick up Celestina who is clinging to Monica .

「……brother, are you going to