Chapter 6
Asilie Halliogrant.
It was obvious what had crossed her mind the moment she came face-to-face with me.
Well, she was probably sneering that I was just another wastrel pretending to be polished on the outside, just like all the others.
You couldn't blame Asilie for that.
After all, Asilie Halliogrant had been tormented—and was still being tormented—by those wastrels.
I was thinking about other things instead.
‘Asilie, Asilie…’
The Grand Duchess of the North.
She too had been nothing more than an extra who briefly appeared in the original story.
[Asilie Halliogrant tried to protect the North until the very end, but the woefully inadequate supplies and reinforcements were not enough.]
[The wastrels sent by their respective families were the first to flee. She struggled desperately to make up for the lack of troops, but it was not enough.]
Asilie tried to protect the North to the very end, but it was impossible.
In the end, as the last heir of the grand ducal house, she headed to the Imperial capital to report the severity of the situation, only to be met with responsibility for the defeat, blame, and insults.
Even after losing one arm, she had fought to the very end.
In the end, she was a hero insulted by the very people she had tried to protect.
That was Asilie Halliogrant.
And this time.
‘I won't let that happen.’
The Great Wall of the North would never fall.
And Asilie would not be a hero who fell into a miserable fate.
After this war ended, she would become a hero who shone brighter than anyone else.
It wasn't because I pitied her or felt sorry for her that I intended to make her into such a hero.
Simply.
‘She's useful.’
Asilie and House Halliogrant were useful.
The Great Wall protecting the North was vast, and House Halliogrant had guarded it for generations.
They were perfectly suited to protecting this place to the very end.
“……I’ll have my adjutant show you to your quarters, so go inside and rest for now.”
“Yes.”
At Asilie's words, I saluted her once more and turned away.
Even as I walked, I continued thinking.
The things I had to do from now on.
And the priorities among the things I could do.
I had more or less replenished the North's meager supplies.
But the reality was that this alone was woefully insufficient.
The knights' equipment was worn out. If the equipment of the knights, who boasted tremendous firepower on the front lines, was in that state, I didn't need to see the soldiers' equipment to know what it was like.
I had scratched the First Princess's itch and secured more supplies, but enduring on that alone would be impossible.
Somehow, they were barely holding on even now, but that wasn't my ultimate goal.
‘I have to make it possible for them to move forward.’
Not merely to defend this Great Wall perfectly, but to make the North self-sufficient before the full-scale invasion began.
I had to turn it into a place that could keep moving forward on its own even if supplies dwindled.
To do that, first…
‘I need to make them trust me.’
This would be relatively simple.
After all, I was cut from a different cloth than those worthless wastrels.
From the moment I realized I had transmigrated, I had been preparing to move forward. There was nothing more insulting to me than being compared to those people, who had pointlessly squandered each day.
I lightly tapped the hilt of the sword at my waist and leisurely surveyed my surroundings.
There was no need to rush.
The difference in our abilities would soon become apparent.
@
Fwooooo…!!
Ding, ding, ding!!
What woke the North in the morning was the raucous sound of horns and pealing bells.
Frowning at the noise, I instinctively got to my feet and began putting on my armor.
Damn, this is exactly…
Once again, I realized that I had come to the army.
My second army.
I didn't know how many years I would spend here, but I had no time to complain.
I donned my armor, grabbed the sword leaning against the wall, and rushed outside.
In these quarters packed with wastrels, I was the only one who hurried out.
“Goddammit, it's so loud I'm going to die!!”
Judging by the curses being shouted, it was clear that not a single one of them was useful.
I brushed those thoughts aside and ran.
The cool morning air of the North cleanly awakened my sleep-fogged mind.
“Everyone, get up… Huh.”
Just as I was leaving the quarters, a knight with a fierce-looking face was entering. He stopped short when he saw me.
But I simply passed him, exited the quarters, and looked around.
“Do those damn magical beasts never sleep?”
“You sons of bitches.”
They were running toward one side, cursing as they went.
After roughly judging the direction they were running, I started running that way as well.
I hadn't missed a single day of training, and I hadn't forced myself through an unreasonable schedule on the way here.
Accordingly, I was in peak condition.
Moving as though I were flying, I made my way to the top of the wall. Only then could I see beyond the Great Wall of the North.
A pure white snowfield.
I could see a plain blackened enough to cover that pristine white landscape.
Even newborn babies would have known that the creatures slowly advancing toward the wall, writhing like a swarm of insects, were magical beasts.
“Hah.”
With a small breath, white mist spilled from my mouth.
The flesh-cutting cold had continued until just moments ago, yet paradoxically, the instant I climbed this high wall, it vanished without a trace.
All that remained was the heat and hostility radiating from the enemy.
Only then did it truly sink in that I was standing on a battlefield.
A smile spread across my face.
I had come all this way for this, and at last, I had reached the starting line.
A sense of exhilaration began boiling up inside me rather than fear or dread. That was because of Allen Debert's personality, not my own, though.
Not bad.
If anything, I already knew that this state of mind was more helpful in battle.
“……How many enemies are there?”
“We estimate there are more than ten thousand.”
Ten thousand.
That was just about the right number for a warm-up.
But even so, I had absolutely no intention of jumping from the wall and charging into that swarm of magical beasts alone.
Even viewed in the best possible light, that would make me nothing more than a suicidal fool.
My job wasn't to perform a suicidal act just to show off. It was to accomplish something worthy of being accepted as a member of the North.
For now, all I had to do was wait quietly for orders.
That was what I thought.
“Grand Duchess! Watch closely!! See how well-matched I am with you!”
If only some madman hadn't jumped from the Great Wall.
Boom!!
The man who had leaped over the towering Great Wall began charging fearlessly toward the magical beasts.
‘...What kind of madman is that?’
To be honest, even then I had no intention of going down from the wall.
Why would I follow after a lunatic suicidal fool to rescue him?
Even if I saved that guy, he would obviously do the same thing again the next time.
As I stared blankly at his back as he ran off, I suddenly glanced to the side.
“……Who is that?”
“He’s the young master of Count Delphion’s house.”
“……Prepare the knights.”
Asilie was watching him with a troubled expression.
After all, even if he had rushed out of his own accord, if the son of a count died on the battlefield, the responsibility would fall squarely on the grand ducal house.
It was proof of how much the grand ducal house's authority had declined.
But sadly, that was probably the reality.
I let out a small breath, drew my sword, and slowly opened my mouth.
“Is it enough if I just bring him back?”
“……You?”
The situation was obvious.
It seemed that the young master of Count Delphion's house was doing something insane to impress Asilie.
He had probably fought a few magical beasts before, and anyone who could jump from the wall and remain unscathed would naturally be confident in his abilities.
He must have thought this was the perfect stage for someone who knew nothing to run wild.
Of course, the battlefield was not such an easy place, but people who had never actually experienced one wouldn't know that.
“……Wait, don't tell me you're going too.”
At Asilie's ominous gaze, I shrugged and answered.
“Then are we just leaving him like that? Sending the knights out would be an enormous loss.”
In practical terms, abandoning this towering wall and going outside was madness.
The North already struggled to replenish its troops, so losing knights would mean a tremendous loss of military strength.
“Don't worry. I'll bring him back soon.”
This was also my first time experiencing a real battlefield.
Perhaps I was being arrogant as well.
Just like the deep distrust written across Asilie's face.
But.
‘It’s a path I have to take eventually anyway.’
No, I would have to face far greater numbers, and countless enemies much stronger than these.
So there was no way I was going to die here.
I nimbly leaped onto the top of the wall, gazed down at the magical beasts charging up from below, and let out a quiet breath.
Vrrrmmm…!!
“Hey, wait a second…!!”
Asilie's voice, about to shout something, abruptly fell silent.
I ignored her wavering eyes as she stared at the blue aura surging over the sword in my hand.
I jumped from the wall.
As I was struck by the flesh-cutting wind, I stared impassively ahead.
“Count Delphion.”
It has to be him, right?
Looks like I found one more unexpected asset.