Chapter 143
Although I knew it was coming, once the enemy came into view, it was clear they vastly outnumbered us.
Seeing them with my own eyes, I felt my stomach clench.
From what I had heard back at the manor, Lord Roa and the officers around him had seemed so calm that I thought it must be nothing, but hearing about something and seeing it for yourself are fundamentally different.
Those men were about to attack us and kill us.
Though my role had ended after my speech in the plaza, I couldn't simply go back alone and hole up somewhere safe inside the manor.
Unlike me, unable to hide my unease, Lord Roa, Wickhart, and the other officers even wore smiles. How reassuring they were.
Perhaps sensing my tension, Lord Roa spoke to me with concern.
"Are you all right? They may look numerous, but from the way they move, they're just a disorganized rabble. You can watch from here, Prince Zeland. You'll be fine."
I tried to smile at Lord Roa's words, but my face was so tense that I couldn't tell whether I was managing it.
Even so, Lord Roa smiled a little, then gave instructions to the two unit commanders.
"Ryuzel. Take half the troops and scatter them, would you? Frein, take 300 soldiers and deal with anyone who tries to flee. There are so many of them, so feel free to thin their numbers a little. We should be able to tell who gave the orders from whoever's left. Let the ones who surrender without running go. Thanks."
"Sure."
"Understood."
"Oh, right. Since we're here, try out the Ten Knight Bow, too. See how many shots you can fire and how it handles from horseback in a real battle."
At Lord Roa's instructions, Ryuzel replied,
"Of course. You don't get prey this easy every day," he said, as if good fortune had just fallen into his lap.
"We could probably take them all down with the Ten Knight Bows alone," Frein boasted.
"Just be careful and put safety first." At Lord Roa's final words, both men set off with their troops.
The Roa Unit, made up entirely of cavalry, closed in on the bandits in no time. Cries of alarm rose from the enemy, and the moment Ryuzel's unit made contact, their ranks crumbled. Ryuzel and his men trampled them as they charged onward. I could only stare, dumbfounded.
Before long, some of the enemy tried to flee in all directions. They could no longer even hold their formation.
Frein and the others picked off every last one who fled. It was then that I realized why they had been so confident.
The famed Tenth Knight Order. A cavalry unit entrusted with an important role, and one that had distinguished itself on the Zetta Plains, was worlds apart from a gang of thugs—like an adult compared to a baby.
As I was thinking that, I saw about ten fleeing soldiers heading toward us.
"Did Frein let some slip through?"
To Lord Roa, who tilted his head beside me,
"No, they're leaving a few for us. I wanted to test-fire one too," Wickhart replied.
"Don't you think Wickhart could do without a Ten Knight Bow?"
"I don't need one, but I'd still like to try it out."
"All right, then, you're in charge. Anyone want to ride out with Wickhart? First come, first served!"
When Wickhart galloped off, soldiers from the Roa Unit followed after him.
Before I could even blink, the enemies rushing toward us had crumpled to the ground.
"Looks like it's almost over."
Where Lord Roa was looking, the bandit forces were being subdued. Almost none of them were still resisting.
... To be honest, I had been terribly anxious about this ritual. What if I failed? Could I face it with dignity and avoid bringing dishonor to my father's name and the royal family? What if I got the procedure wrong? The more I thought about it, the more nervous I became.
But...
Compared to being here, on a battlefield, how small those worries were.
Now that I had felt the struggle for life and death firsthand, my earlier worries seemed utterly foolish.
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... Well, this is a problem.
More soldiers had surrendered than I expected.
"What should we do, Lord Roa? Shall we cut their numbers down a little more?" Wickhart asked, saying something rather frightening in a casual tone. But now that the battle was over, it would be awful to kill them for no reason.
Besides, I had no idea who among them might have important information. I guess we'd have to detain them all and question them one by one... Wait, even excluding the wounded, there are around 800 of them?!
I let out a small sigh and
"For now, we'll have to hear what all the prisoners who surrendered have to say. We need to find out who hired them, and at this point, I'd like to ask Raiz-sama for instructions."
If only Lapiria-sama would come back, she'd probably be able to set us on the right course. Given how long she'd known Raiz-sama, it seemed safest to rely on her judgment.
"So we wait here until the Lapiria Unit gets back?" At Frein's words, I let out another small sigh.
"Wickhart, sorry, but could you take Prince Zeland back to town and announce to everyone that the bandits have been defeated? Then bring Lapiria-sama back when she returns."
"Would you like me to stay and keep watch instead?" Wickhart offered to switch places, but I shook my head slightly.
"If we're going to question as many of them as possible while we wait, it'd be more convenient for me, as unit commander, to stay here."
"...That's true. Understood."
"Take 500 soldiers with you. It wouldn't look good if you took too few."
As Wickhart and I discussed the arrangements, Sazaby cut in with, "Mind if I say something?"
"I'll look around and see if I can find Lapiria-sama and the others. Might be faster than waiting."
"That's true. All right, please do."
Then I looked at the surrendered soldiers again and sighed. Honestly, questioning this many people sounded like an incredible pain.
Seeing me like that, Prince Zeland chuckled.
"What is it?"
"Oh, sorry. I just found it a little amusing that Lord Roa, who won so brilliantly, is now at a loss over the cleanup..."
"You think so? This is a lot of work, you know."
Prince Zeland seemed to find it hilarious and giggled. I looked at him, then at the surrendered soldiers once more, and let out yet another sigh.