Chapter 23
"Only those taking part in the surprise attack know about this. I wasn't told either."
Within the dimly lit command tent, Laimar-san squeezed the words out bitterly.
"How did you find out, Laimar-san?"
"I went to the tent to advise Wickhart-sama that things should remain as they were until the Tenth Knight Order arrived, even after tomorrow. There, I happened to overhear the two of them talking... After that, I secretly investigated the situation, and when it became clear that the deployment was definitely going ahead, I..."
"Then why did you come to our camp?"
"...To be honest, I don't know who I can trust regarding this matter..."
Even in the darkness, I could tell that Laimar-san was dejected.
"To be honest, I can't bring myself to blame Skudelia-dono. If I had been in that position, I have no doubt I would have supported the surprise attack as well," Captain Ryuzel said, showing his understanding, but that was a separate matter.
"I think Wickhart-sama is in a very difficult position right now..." Laimar-san's shoulders jerked at my words.
Wickhart-sama had once accepted the proposal Roays-sama had brought on behalf of the Knight Order directly under the king, only to go back on it. If he were then defeated and inflicted serious damage on his own country....
"Don't tell me you're suggesting we pretend the meeting this afternoon never happened?" Captain Ryuzel realized the same thing I had, and his tone grew sharper.
Rays-sama's words had come too late. If so, Wickhart-sama would have grounds for leniency. At the same time, Captain Ryuzel and I would be branded incompetent.
With so many soldiers watching, there was no way to hide the fact that we had arrived before the deployment. If it turned out that our message had not reached Wickhart-sama despite that, people would ask what exactly we had gone there for.
Leaving me aside, Captain Ryuzel could never accept an offer like that.
"No, that's not what I mean! I was wondering if there was still some way to stop Wickhart-sama, even now. That's why I came to ask for your advice!" Laimar-san hurriedly denied it.
"In that case, all right, but... Roa, do you have anything we can use to persuade him?"
It probably wouldn't work. At this point, nothing we could do would get through to them. At worst, it could lead to infighting.
When I remained silent, Captain Ryuzel continued.
"Still, I never expected things to line up like this... Fate is cruel."
I felt something strange about those words.
Could it really be a coincidence?
At present, the Fourth and Sixth Knight Orders are holding the front against Golbel. The Seventh Knight Order is also conducting patrols, but it primarily functions as rear support.
The Fourth Knight Order is currently diverting manpower to fortify Ellen's Village in the northwest. If Golbel marched south under these circumstances, the Sixth Knight Order would naturally be called into action.
To begin with, it was strange that Golbel had established a camp in a place like this. They should know that the Haksha Plains were easy to get bogged down in and unsuitable for an advance.
There were bridges to the north and south a little farther away—not exactly close, but still within reach—so why had they established a camp in such a difficult place to advance through?
It was possible that they had been forced to camp here to secure a line of retreat after the mountain road connecting Golbel and Rudek was blocked by a rockfall.
But no, that couldn't be it—not if history was unfolding as I knew it. In other words, everything was a trap aimed at the Sixth Knight Order. From the very beginning, they had singled out this knight order, which had momentum but was still lacking in some respects.
Even accounting for his experience, was General Franklurt really this formidable a commander? No. The only battles I remembered him taking part in were the one against Naisol-sama and this battle with Wickhart-sama. I didn't recall him distinguishing himself in any other major engagements.
If this was a strategy coordinated with Ellen's Village... I couldn't shake the feeling that someone behind the scenes had devised a plan on this scale.
A name surfaced in my mind.
They had stayed off the public stage for a long time and appeared only rarely even in Golbel's records.
Yet there was one person whose posthumous reputation as "Golbel's shadowy mastermind" survived in several private documents.
Their name was Sakuri. Even in the era I had lived through, they were an enigmatic military strategist whose very existence had never been clearly established.
〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
"Hey, Roa? Are you listening?"
Captain Ryuzel shook my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.
"Ah, sorry. I was thinking."
"Thinking? A plan to stop Wickhart-sama?" The two of them looked at me with a hint of expectation in their eyes. By delaying Wickhart-sama's surprise attack for a day earlier that afternoon, I seemed to have given them hope that I could come up with something.
But persuasion probably wouldn't work anymore. And once Wickhart-sama launched his surprise attack, the river would flood.
I had two options.
One was to abandon Wickhart-sama. It was the quickest solution. Since the surprise attack would be carried out by a small elite force, most of the soldiers would be left behind.
I could gather up the remaining soldiers and... wait for Rays-sama to arrive. That would be the most reliable course.
Yes, I could call it a battle to avenge Wickhart-sama. It would probably raise the morale of the Sixth Knight Order as well.
Just thinking that way made me shudder at my own thoughts. Reading about it in a book, that would be one thing. But this wasn't a story. Could I abandon someone right in front of me? Could I? Me?
———"But if they accept your plan, it'll be a way to keep deaths to a minimum, won't it?"———
Frain's words came back to me—Frain had sacrificed their own time to teach me to ride.
"Ugh, come on!"
I vigorously scratched my head, then gathered up the tiny bit of courage I possessed and looked Captain Ryuzel straight in the eye.
Then I drew a breath.
"Captain Ryuzel, would you be willing to die with me?" I said.