Chapter 10
For a moment, I thought I must have misheard, but Prien’s eyes were filled with certainty.
“……The binoculars.”
“Yes, Lieutenant!”
I took the binoculars Prien handed me and examined the entrance to the gorge, furrowing my brow.
Just as Prien had said, a company-sized unit was advancing.
But why on earth had they come to Edelcral Gorge, a mined area?
Puzzled, I examined their formation and let out an incredulous laugh.
‘They’re marching ten abreast. Two soldiers are walking far ahead at the head of the formation.’
The soldiers walking at the front were, quite literally, a mine-clearing detail.
If no explosion occurred along their path, it meant there were no mines there.
So Jeremy’s unit was following in the footsteps of the soldiers at the front.
‘The soldiers at the front…… don’t look like they volunteered for the job.’
When I increased the binoculars’ magnification, I saw that the soldiers walking at the front had faces full of fear.
Would they have volunteered to lead while trembling that badly? Absolutely not.
The chances were high that they had been threatened somehow.
When I turned the binoculars, I saw a soldier in the rear, about thirty meters away, openly aiming his rifle at the soldier in front.
Shoot them immediately if they leave the lead.
Jeremy had undoubtedly given an order along those lines.
‘He’s using his men’s lives to check for mines…….’
It was a truly diabolical idea.
Still, war history was full of things even worse than this, so it wasn’t anything to be surprised about.
I lowered the binoculars with a sigh, looked around, and spoke.
“The target is approaching. All squads, prepare for battle.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than the platoon members lowered themselves and pulled the rifles from their shoulders.
After confirming that everything was in order, I lay prone at the edge of the cliff and took aim.
The soldiers lined up along the cliff after me.
As I looked down at Colonel Jeremy’s company gradually entering deeper into the gorge, I whispered just loudly enough for the soldiers to hear.
“I’ll handle the enemy commander. The instant I open fire, shoot into their rear and block their escape route. Prepare magic bullets.”
“Prepare magic bullets!”
Like me, the soldiers shouted in low voices and channeled mana through the hands gripping their magazines.
It was the act of temporarily imbuing bullets with mana to increase their destructive power and penetration.
Mana-infused bullets not only surpassed most ordinary magic in power, but also required no incantation—one merely had to pour mana into them—so they were extremely easy to cast as well.
Just as medieval knights vanished with the development of firearms, once the utility of magic bullets had been proven, magic in this world became an obsolete relic except for a few practically useful forms.
It was a prime example of technological advancement ruining romance.
‘That aside…….’
If I succeeded in killing Colonel Jeremy here, wouldn’t I earn another military achievement?
With the princess watching from behind, I would have to fight, but earning another achievement here would be tantamount to losing my chance to escape the Empire.
Then what should I do? Feeling Selvia’s gaze, I raised the scope on my rifle.
I braced the rifle’s stock against my shoulder and looked down through the scope, spotting Colonel Jeremy walking near the center of the formation.
The scope’s magnification wasn’t high enough for me to make out his face, but since he was the only one wearing a high-ranking officer’s uniform, that had to be Colonel Jeremy.
If I succeeded in killing Colonel Jeremy here, I would certainly be given another accelerated promotion.
That was the one thing I couldn’t allow. I didn’t want to become any more entangled with the Empire.
‘In that case…….’
Even though the opportunity had come, all I had to do was become an idiot who failed to kill Colonel Jeremy.
‘I’ll have to make it look like I missed.’
Having made my decision, I turned the muzzle slightly and aimed at the soldier walking alongside Colonel Jeremy.
I took a deep breath, held it, generated a magic bullet, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet tore through the air and pierced the soldier’s head.
Immediately afterward, the platoon members’ gunshots rang out one after another, leaving my ears ringing.
I cautiously raised my head and looked behind us, where about seventeen Allied soldiers were collapsing one after another in bursts of blood.
It was a respectable opening volley.
However, the enemy commander was still alive.
If they realized that around twenty soldiers had been killed in the opening volley, they would easily notice that the enemy force was only platoon-sized.
As far as I knew, Jeremy was a seasoned rat. He would surely deploy a mana barrier immediately and flee either forward or backward.
A great many soldiers would die in the process, but would a man who used his subordinates as a mine-clearing detail care?
If Jeremy escaped this place just like that, I could become an officer who had failed his mission.
‘Come on. Hurry up and run, Colonel Jeremy!’
As I waited with my eye to the scope, I saw Colonel Jeremy’s company in a panic.
One of the men who appeared to be an officer began shouting something, then put down his weapon.
‘……Huh? Why are they putting down their weapons?’
I stared blankly, unable to understand, as the enemy officer and soldiers knelt one after another and raised both hands.
It was an unmistakable sign of surrender—a declaration that they had no intention of continuing the fight.
Prien, who had been firing beside me, tilted her head as if she found it strange too.
“……They’re surrendering?”
“No. It could be a deception tactic. They may be planning to pick up their guns and attack when we come down…….”
Almost as soon as I said it, the officer shouted something and threw his firearm toward the minefield.
Following the officer’s example, the soldiers threw all their firearms into what appeared to be the minefield.
“……They’re definitely surrendering.”
Why on earth? I couldn’t figure out the reason, but in any case, the enemy had surrendered, so the operation was over as of this moment.
“Everyone, get up. We’re going down to restrain them.”
*
After going down into the gorge, I ordered the platoon members to bind the prisoners, then walked over to Colonel Jeremy and told him to explain what had happened.
More precisely, I wanted him to explain why they had surrendered.
“You shot the colonel dead!”
Colonel Jeremy—no, correction. The look-alike wearing Colonel Jeremy’s uniform glared at me and shouted.
“We were ambushed. And if the intelligence gap was so great that you even knew we’d switched clothes, it was obvious we couldn’t win. Running forward meant a minefield, and running backward meant getting slaughtered for nothing.”
In short, the soldier I had killed with my first shot had actually been Colonel Jeremy in disguise.
Having lost their commander in an instant, the company judged that the enemy had the upper hand in everything, causing their morale to plummet; they had surrendered on the spot.
‘Damn…….’
I was so dumbfounded that I rubbed my face, and the soldier clenched his fist in frustration.
“Fuck……! Damn Imperial Army bastards! If we’d known you were nothing but a platoon, we would have fought back! You devilish bastard……! You tricked all of us! Go to hell—”
Thud! The soldier collapsed into the snow.
Prien, who had been listening to the explanation, had struck the soldier in the neck with the butt of her rifle.
Prien looked down coldly at the enemy soldier, then turned to me and saluted.
“Platoon commander! We have restrained eighty-seven enemy soldiers, excluding the eighteen who were killed!”
Listening to Prien, I finally felt the reality of having defeated a company with a mere platoon.
As I stood silent, exhaling a chilly breath, Prien added,
“……You’ve earned another military achievement. Aren’t you happy? Ah! I suppose such a result is only natural for you, Lieutenant. I apologize for my rudeness!”
What was this woman talking about? As I furrowed my brow, a camera shutter went off with a *click*.
I flinched and closed my eyes, then turned toward the place where the shutter had sounded and saw Selvia standing there.
Selvia lowered the camera and looked at me with an approving gaze.
“Congratulations. Not only did you devise the operation, you executed the killing of the target perfectly.”
“Wait. That picture you just took…….”
“When we return to the capital, I’ll order them to publish it in the papers…… No, I’ll ask them. A war hero who took down an entire company with a platoon has been born. Don’t you think I should be happy to help?”
I wanted to tell her not to, but she was the princess. I had no right to refuse.
Selvia seemed to have taken a liking to me, because she stepped closer and playfully poked me in the waist.
“Well? How does it feel to be a war hero?”
“……”
It was the worst.
But there was no way I could say that to the princess of the Empire.
Once I had composed myself, I spoke as calmly as possible.
“I merely did what was necessary for the Empire, so calling me a war hero is absurd. What I did was simply one of the countless battles taking place on the front lines. So I’m worried that reporting this battle to the capital might make it seem as though we’re making a fuss over nothing.”
I was saying, in a roundabout way, Please don’t announce my military achievement in the capital.
However, when Selvia heard me, her expression briefly turned surprised, then she soon gave a faint smile.
“As expected. Just as I’d heard, you’re a model soldier. I want to whisk you away so badly that I can hardly wait.”
……I think she’s gotten the wrong idea about me. It’s probably just my imagination, right?