Espionage

Ferda stepped outside and looked up at the siege engines.

The trebuchet—the culmination of Imperial technology.

Though developed early and old enough that other kingdoms had since figured out its structure and begun making their own, its performance and efficiency were still impressive even by modern standards.

-Fire!

The creaking of wood and the sound of it winding.

At the same time, a heavy rock flew into the sky.

Kuuung……!

He heard the crash of the stone landing inside, but no sound of anything collapsing.

Once one had been launched, they immediately reset the machine and prepared to launch the next stone.

The safety of civilians no longer mattered; all they had to do was send the stones into the area inside the kingdom’s outer walls.

“This is the eighth bombardment. And these are the expected points of impact.”

With more than twenty trebuchets, the map she had marked was densely covered in numbers.

Among them, Ferda saw three locations where the marked areas overlapped.

“You mean there’s been no sound of collapse even after this place was hit three times?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm…….”

Normally, in a case like this, one would conclude it was a sturdy structure that could not be brought down by trebuchets.

But there was no way a private residence, not even part of the outer wall, could be that sturdy.

“That’s good news.”

“Is it?”

“It means he’s maintaining Legion’s power to preserve the kingdom’s form, which in turn means we’re dealing meaningful damage through the siege.”

One thing he could not determine was whether this was compulsion or obsession.

King Heinkel was obsessed with protecting his kingdom, so neither would be strange.

“What did the kings plan to do with their forces?”

“The details differ, but the gist is similar. They plan to create expendable forces and concentrate their attacks on the parts that constitute King Heinkel’s strength.”

“So everyone is aiming for the same thing.”

They wanted power on par with Erdes Roton, president of the Serdes Magic Society.

What exactly was human greed?

It wasn’t as though they didn’t know that such terrifying power came with a price.

On the other hand, he could not say he failed to understand them.

The more eyes watched them, the more anxious they became, and that anxiety demanded even greater power—that was the ugly cycle of human beings.

“Oh? What are you doing here?”

He turned at the familiar voice and saw Zed.

As it happened, Zed’s tent was right beside the spot where Ferda and Garnet were standing.

Scratching his bedhead as he emerged, he looked like someone who had just woken up.

Ferda and Garnet looked at him with expressions of dismay.

“The sun’s nearly overhead, and you’re only coming out now?”

“Ugh, don’t get me started. It was hard sleeping on that hot, humid ground. And I worked hard last night too, you know?”

“Doing what?”

“What do you think? Gathering information, of course.”

Zed flashed a wide grin, and Garnet narrowed her eyes and said,

“Spill it.”

“Goodness, no need to sound so scary. Between us.”

“I said spill.”

“Ahem. I found out yesterday that King Hudret’s army received grenades from the alchemists.”

Alchemists and grenades.

“Explosives?”

“Yes. They have ordinary explosives, but apparently some of the bombs contain deadly poison gas.”

“King Hudret wages war ruthlessly.”

“Apparently, he doesn’t usually operate that way. He likes conquest, but shows mercy to those who surrender and does everything he can to win the favor of those who will become his citizens.”

“Does he?”

“So apparently even the knights had trouble accepting it when they heard the plan to slaughter everyone this time.”

When he heard them talk of wiping everyone out, he had thought Hudret was the same sort of person as Ureas.

Ferda reflected on his own hasty judgment.

“I see.”

He nodded silently at the remarkably detailed information.

But Garnet still regarded him suspiciously.

“Don’t believe him, Regent. Everything that comes out of that gigolo’s mouth is a lie.”

“What?! How can you say something so harsh?”

“How did you learn something even our people don’t know yet?”

“What’s with you? I’m a man doing my job too.”

“No, I know there’s been no report of you leaving, so how are you doing reconnaissance? Are you going to keep lying?”

“Did you watch my tent all day? Why would you do that? To look at my body? You lecherous she-cat….”

Zed tried to seduce Garnet with a greasy smile.

“Changing the subject at a strange point….”

As Garnet took a step closer, Zed instinctively stepped back.

“Freeze.”

Garnet pressed her nose to Zed’s neck, sniffed, and frowned.

“That’s not your scent.”

“I sleep in a place like this, so of course I smell like grass and earth. It’s rubbed off on me, you know?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. This is—”

Rustle.

Something moved heavily inside Zed’s tent.

Though the tent was clearly meant for him alone, someone had been inside.

A moment later, someone burst out.

A woman whose hair was just as disheveled as Zed’s, and whose clothing was equally disordered.

“Hm?”

The woman, who had been stretching with her eyes half-open, belatedly noticed the three and opened her eyes wide.

She gave an embarrassed look, then burst into hearty laughter.

“Haha, I seem to have shown you quite an embarrassing sight.”

“……”

“Allow me to introduce myself, belatedly. It is an honor to meet the Regent of Valdrova. I am Jenin Clive, a knight of the Kingdom of Hudret.”

“……Ferda Valdrova. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Last night, Sir Zed and I exchanged information about operations and took some time to get to know each other. Please don’t worry; Sir Zed didn’t divulge any secrets or anything of the sort.”

“……I see.”

“Then I’ll be going now. Sir Zed.”

“Pardon?”

“Write me a letter when you return. Or feel free to visit before then.”

She winked with an incongruously bashful expression and turned away.

Zed muttered while pressing his fingers to his brow.

“I specifically told her to leave quietly through the back….”

Ferda watched the woman’s retreating back for a while, then realized something and asked him,

“That woman named Jenin—isn’t she the general known as the ‘Bankrupt Lord’?”

“……Yes.”

“I recall she was famous as a beautiful swordmaster who said she would never marry a man weaker than herself.”

“Apparently, that wording left her an old maid.”

“I see.”

“……”

“Don’t misunderstand. She was the one who came on to me first. When we brought Erdes here, King Hudret’s knights came along too. We were talking—‘completely normally’—and then she suggested we exchange strategies, and somehow it ended up like that!”

“I see.”

As far as Ferda was concerned, he wondered whether that was something worth breaking into a sweat over while explaining.

Ferda did not care what Zed did.

Zed was working so hard to explain himself because the person he was trying to convince was not Ferda, but the woman beside him.

Unlike Ferda, Garnet was intensely interested, glaring daggers at Zed.

“Strictly speaking, isn’t this reconnaissance too?”

“……”

“Going deep into enemy territory—”

“Is there no option for you to just shut up?”

Garnet said this, and only then did Zed close his mouth.

* * *

The camp of Count Rooster of the Imperial Army.

Though part of the Imperial Army, it was closer to an independently operating detached unit.

Count Rooster was kneeling and sharpening his sword with a whetstone.

He kept his eyes closed, focusing on the sound of the blade being sharpened.

His mind was tranquil.

It had to be, if he was to plunge into the maelstrom of excitement.

That was why he had returned alive from an operation with a zero-percent survival rate.

-What do you think is a soldier’s duty?

A question that arose in Count Rooster’s mind.

It was a question a man had once asked him when he was a young knight cadet who knew nothing.

-A soldier exists to devote himself to his country. But he must not become someone who is expected to shoulder everything for that reason alone.

That devotion comes from knowing that we have a great future ahead of us, and knowing that one day I, my friends, and my family will be rewarded.

That man had reached out his hand to a nobody like him.

-I will take responsibility for your future. So, will you devote yourself to me?

That man had never treated his own words carelessly, and even now he was keeping that promise.

And so, his answer was the same as it had been then.

Count Rooster slung his sword over his back and stepped outside the tent.

His knights were waiting there for orders.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“We must make absolutely certain there are no mistakes this time. Grand Duke Golt is watching.”

“Yes!”

Count Rooster led the way past them.

The brutal siege was over, and now came the all-out battle.

It was time to pour everything into it.

* * *

After a three-day siege, the full-scale assault began.

Banners fluttered in the wind, and the army advanced in orderly ranks, their footsteps perfectly synchronized.

The plains near the Kingdom of Heinkel were quickly packed with people.

More than 100,000 soldiers were gathering toward a single destination.

Ferda watched the situation from the front line with the commanders.

“They’ve moved this far, yet they still aren’t showing themselves.”

“Indeed.”

It was customary for them to show themselves just before the start of hostilities and conduct one final negotiation.

There was nothing—not even a soldier stationed atop the castle gate.

It was as though death awaited anyone who went inside.

Ureas shouted as though he liked the situation.

“All that remains is merciless conquest. Sound the battle horn!”

Bwooooo—!

The horn’s deep resonance announced preparations for battle.

The commanders returned to their armies, and Ferda did so as well.

The Far Eastern forces took their places in the battle line as planned.

However, instead of placing the spearmen who were to serve as expendable pawns at the front, they had positioned the knights, who represented the full strength of the force.

Every one of them was armed with a large shield and a relatively short sword, which alone offered a glimpse of their tactics.

They were a moving wall, blocking all damage that might reach the rear ranks.

As long as they did not collapse, Ferda’s army would suffer the fewest casualties.

But reality and ideals were different, and veteran commanders seeing that tactic would surely have called it a dream of inexperienced recruits lost in idealism.

However, Ferda’s army had Alberto.

When he stood in the middle of the battle line holding a huge shield like the gate of the royal castle and a long club, there was no fortress more impregnable.

Ferda approached the commander standing in the battle line.

As they had discussed, Olivia was in command of the tactical infantry, with William standing beside her as her adjutant.

“Please take good care of my soldiers, Your Highness.”

“May Althe’s blessing be with you, Regent.”

Olivia gave William a subtle look and signaled him with her eyes.

William understood at once, turned, and shouted to Hestia’s army.

“Our future rests on you, soldiers! Who are we?!”

“Who are we?!”

The fired-up knights led the chant, pounding the Valdrova emblem on their shoulders.

The tactical infantry standing behind them responded.

“The guardians of the front line!”

“Where is our homeland?!”

“The last bastion of humanity guarding the continent!”

“What is our mission?!”

“To punish all evil with the blue flame!”

“For the weak!”

“A warm campfire!”

“For the sinful!”

“The flames of hellfire!”

“Glory to the Aspect of Fire!”

“Glory to Hestia!”

Though it was an army of only 500, it radiated an overwhelming presence.

“Magnificent.”

Ferda smiled in satisfaction.

Since it felt awkward to simply leave after making his presence felt, Ferda said to William,

“When the war is over, I will give everyone an additional reward regardless of their contributions. Pass that along.”

“Yes, Regent.”

Ferda then moved back to the rear and stayed there with his escort.

His escort was a small elite unit consisting of Luri, Zed, and Arwen.

Ferda looked at Arwen and asked,

“Was your wedding this autumn, Sir Consilius?”

“That’s right. And I would appreciate it if you simply called me Arwen….”

Arwen said, his face reddening.

Even though he had been Count Consilius’s adopted son for some time, it still felt awkward.

Zed knew that and needled him.

“What’s wrong, Sir Consilius? Are you embarrassed by being a Consilius?”

“You are the last person I want to hear that from.”

“By the way, are you sure this is okay? Someone getting married this autumn is throwing himself into a place like this.”

“Now that I am Count Consilius’s adopted son, shouldn’t I do so all the more? It is my duty to assist Regent Ferda.”

“A man about to walk into hell shouldn’t be so careless with his life.”

“Even if this is hell, it will be less hellish than for someone caught cheating.”

“Cheating?”

“The rumor’s everywhere. They say you spent the night with the Bankrupt Lord and your wife caught you red-handed.”

“That was espionage. And why would she be my wife? She’s nothing to me.”

“Can I tell Supply Commander Garnet that?”

“Hey, what’s gotten into you? You punch someone just for teasing you a little. That’s not fair, man.”

Luri, displeased by their snickering over such pointless conversation, said,

“Lord Ferda.”

“What is it?”

“I will protect you, Lord Ferda.”

Though she was small, carrying on her shoulder a massive ax that most grown men would not even dare lift, she looked tremendously reliable.

Bwooooo—!

Once again, the battle horn sounded.

The war had begun.