My Villains Episode 436
65. The Climax of Spring (11)
Immediately after confirming that Topal-kun was withdrawing, I turned my head to the southeast. And ran without stopping.
Throughout the journey, I maintained a speed close to sprinting, so if I was riding an ordinary horse, I would have foamed and collapsed in less than an hour.
But the bicorn was a demon. Not only did he seldom get tired, but whenever he showed signs of tiredness, a little blood was poured into him, and he quickly regained his energy. It was to the point where I had to worry about me or Mungchi’s ass breaking rather than him getting tired.
Thanks to this, a distance that would have taken a week for an ordinary infantry unit was covered in five or six hours. Around dusk in the evening, we arrived at the corridor where our troops were establishing a defensive line.
“…the smell is real.”
The impression is frowned upon. It was because the faint stench of the light green river water stung my nose. It must be the smell of decay from the swamp of death.
The sensitive bundle was already muzzling its nose, and the bicorn, which would not speak unless it was fresh meat, growled in displeasure.
At that time, six or seven cavalry came running from the defensive line.
“Commander!”
It was Argos, led by Sir Benlow, the Knights of Count Milgrester, and the Hares Keith.
“Is everything okay yet?”
“You have come at an opportune time. Just about two hours ago, the tammas who detected the enemy forces reported it.”
Following Sir Benlow, Argos, who was immediately following him, horse-headed, poured out words like a rapid-fire cannon.
“Enemies will appear before dusk lifts. Naphidad told me to bring them straight to the watchtower in the center.”
“Did you build a watchtower? You must have had a hard time waking up.”
I gave the reins again and entered the long line of defense boats.
“It’s a bunch.”
“yes?”
“Can you find a gothrop and tell me something?”
“What do you mean?”
“Bring Iofia to the watchtower. Oh, tell me to bring some armor too.”
Mungchi, who had been whining about pain in his pelvis, jumped off the bicon as if he had waited and disappeared among the soldiers.
After he disappeared, I leisurely drove the bicorn and looked around the camp.
The length of the defense line reached almost 1 kilometer, no matter how much troops were deployed over the course of two days.
Of course, almost half of the defensive lines were meager, with shallow trenches dug and supply carts filled with earth and stones. However, in other words, the rest of the section was quite plausible, so some parts were surrounded by low wooden fences, and there were six defense bases made by stacking piles high.
In addition, there was a sturdy watchtower that reinforced the siege eggs brought from somewhere with mud in the center of the defense line.
“The soldiers must be tired.”
“After detecting the appropriateness, we reduced the number of construction workers to 30%.”
“hmm. Then let’s stop working after the sun has completely gone down. To focus on vigilance and relaxation. How are the wizards?”
Currently, there are only 20 wizards under his command.
Except for ‘Antrum mage’ Oggshlizo and ‘genius’ Epos, half of them were skilled battle mages brought by Count Ines, and the rest were mercenary mages or those who surrendered from Ice Bobalt.
In other words, out of 20 wizards, only half of them could be trusted.
“All are resting. In most cases, by late noon tomorrow, you should be able to recover your magic by evening.”
I thought it looked pretty strong for two days of construction, but I guess it was helped by the wizards.
“But you said the enemies will show up before the sun goes down?” Sir Benlow lowered his head with a dark expression.
“It is the negligence of me and my staff. The returning imperial army moved a little faster than expected.”
“…I can’t help it. But the defense line seems to be too long. Can you fill it all?”
“This was the limit. Anything shorter would have created a significant detour. In addition, there are several points that can be used as entry roads half of the time, so if you manage to induce the enemy’s offensive…… did not
A light green river cut through the fields and flowed about fifty or sixty meters from the defenses. I calmly retraced the flow and looked upstream, but I suddenly felt a lot of stares.
The brave men who swam far away on the eastern coast of the kingdom, the loyal soldiers who were born and raised in Abiden beyond the Bay of Blades, the bronze-skinned warriors who roam the wilderness without a home or a home.
Their pupils were dyed in many colors.
It was mostly exhaustion and exhaustion. There was never a small amount of anxiety and worry, but there was also a rare sense of optimism or desire. I can’t say it’s perfect, but it was fortunate enough that the fear was not noticeable.
A little out of the blue, I remembered the time when I arrived at High Castle with Prince Ulkar. The eager eyes of the group of refugees and those remaining in the city, and Prince Ulkar looking at them…
I copied the prince’s attitude at that time.
Hold the reins loosely with your right hand and keep your shoulders and back straight. His left hand was clenched into a fist and raised as if straddling a sword.
It was a bit out of the blue for a nice speech, and I was embarrassed to even raise my hand to cheer up.
In the end, all I could do was smile effortlessly and confidently, just like the prince did.
Whoops.
The bicorn fiercely exposed its teeth. I put my weight back a little bit, and that seemed to bother me.
The eyes of the soldiers once again gathered at the killing spree of the Witchbeast. Instead of opening my mouth or taking off the reins, I tapped the bicorn’s side with the heel of my boot. Fortunately, the guy groaned and moved on calmly.
I met the eyes of the soldiers facing this way. He was still smiling confidently – no, arrogantly, and his posture was not much different.
“Commander. Being in a hurry”
“Let’s take it easy. Just because I’m going fast won’t make a big difference to the battle plan the staffs have drawn up.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
After giving a rough answer, I repeated words like ‘like someone who has already won proudly’.
The tired soldiers who were sitting on piles of dirt or on carts only looked up at me with faces darkened by the sun and dirt. However, some of them seemed to have their eyes slightly brighter.
Climbing the watchtower, I put on plate armor with the help of Atalanta. It was not completely equipped with a suit, but only the breastplate, shoulder gauntlets, and shin guards were worn.
“You don’t wear a helmet?”
“uh.”
“The liver is too big.”
“It’s more annoying and dangerous if it’s crushed and worn.”
After acquiring the special passive skill, ‘Legendary Lineage’, I invested quite a bit of skill points, so my skin became much tougher than cowhide, and my bones became quite strong. Quite a few attacks have become a level that can be received with bare body.
Of course, even so, the back of my head is no harder than a well-made iron helmet. However, in a melee, it is more valuable to open my eyesight and sharpen my senses than to get a little better, so at some point I stopped wearing a helmet.
In a word, it means that the demerit that occurs when wearing a stuffy helmet cannot be offset with decent equipment. Well, if you get a magic helmet with excellent effects, the words will change, but there is no such thing right now…
Atalanta, who had a slightly worried expression, nodded as if he agreed.
“but. If you’re in a hurry, you can wear that disgusting scale.”
“…the disgusting scales.”
What a shocking story. I thought in my heart that ‘Iron Blood Armor’ was a very cool technique among blood manipulation.
“…Here they come.”
I was about to protest, but the one who spoke up was Count Ines, who was standing on one side of the watchtower and carefully examining the east.
The young high lord, in his mid-teens, wore a white hood under his eyes to keep out the stench. The girl had her hand on the earring infused with the ‘Clairvoyance’ spell, which caused a blue translucent film to float in front of her eyes.
“Do you see something?”
“I see the Alzenberg flag.”
The spell cast by the magic earring did not show enough effect to befit the grandiose name of Chun Lian. However, it seemed that it was not difficult to see the farthest among those gathered in the watchtower.
Count Ines, who had narrowed his eyebrows and wiggled his fingers as if counting something, opened his mouth in a heavy voice.
“There will be over 1,000 people… I don’t think there will be 1,500 even if there are many.”
“It looks like they’re in the advance team.”
Atalanta’s amber eyes twinkled.
“Wouldn’t it be fun if we attacked quickly?”
“Whose dog is Thousand? Besides, Altenberg’s slave corps are no ordinary conscripts.” After my negative reaction, Lord Langbolt agreed.
“The main unit won’t be too far away either, so if you run ahead aiming for the first attack, you’ll be swept away by the enemy that follows.”
A few other knights and officers offered their opinions, but the middle opinion gathered in the direction of guarding the line of defense rather than acting recklessly.
Fogan, the Milgrester family’s chief of staff, hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
“…As you are well aware, it is not possible to defeat an army of 6,000 at this level of Jojinji. If they were simply outnumbered, they would have many imperial knights and dragon knights, and they also had hundreds of magic bottles.”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head politely. Fogan continued with a slightly distorted face.
“Wouldn’t it be better to move to Eisbowald and start a sit-in? If you hang torches on wooden fences and mounds and feed your troops covertly, you will be able to fool the enemy for a night or so.” “no. Then you can kill time, but you can’t win.”
“If you take your time, you can seize the opportunity. Altzenberg seems to be withdrawing from the war, so a rift may form between them-”
I cut him off this time, shaking my head resolutely.
“Didn’t I tell you that we have to destroy them here to end this war?”
“Do you really believe that His Highness the Three Princes will appear here?”
“yes.”
“Haven’t you only exchanged messengers once since High Castle collapsed? Expecting a pincer attack without proper contact is difficult even with countless luck.”
Shall we say that it is like a soldier who has earned the trust of a prestigious family? Fogan’s words were persuasive. Sir Langboldt, Atalanta, and Earl Ines looked calm, but the other commanders looked sideways at me with heavy expressions, as if agreeing with him.
Then a light began to shine from the dark horizon far to the east. Alzenberg’s army was about to appear.
I looked at them and opened my mouth.
“Prince Ulkar will take care of it.”
“…yes?”
“Before the blade fell, the prince said that. Follow my judgment. Then you can win.”
“Are you saying to trust the three princes?”
“hmm. It’s similar, but a little different.”
I continued, recalling the battles I had fought with Prince Ulkar in the highlands and the training I had done under his supervision.
“He must be anticipating how I will move.”
“…what does that mean?”
“I have played wargames – no mock battles – over hundreds of times, asking where to move in this situation and how to deal with that situation.”
While stationed at Highcastle, Prince Ulkar convened officers and noncommissioned officers several times a day and held mock battles using maps and horses.
A training in which a horse with the type of troops and strength engraved on it is placed on a grid-drawn map and moves according to its mobility and environment to engage in battle with the opponent’s horse. And I have a discussion.
In the process, Prince Ulkar transplanted his fighting style as the commander-in-chief to all officers and noncommissioned officers. And some knights, including me, were actually entrusted with troops and observed how they operated.
“And by the time the process, whether it be training or evaluation, is over,”
I thought of my last conversation with the prince and let out a chuckle.
“My prince knows me better than I do.”
I added my words with conviction.
“Then you will come. clearly.”
Fogan and others still looked confused as if they didn’t understand. I left them behind and headed down the watchtower.
“But I think we need to buy some time tonight, so let’s go down.”
“What are you going to do?”
At Atalanta’s question, I shrugged.
“I have to bluff or something.”
“……Bluff?”
“Uh. You’ve improved a lot lately.”
