Induction Ceremony Mock Battle (5): Rays's Sword

As the respective units in the center moved, a straight path opened from the western main camp, where I was, to the eastern main camp, where Rays-sama was.

The force I finally sent out from our main camp was the 500-man Sixth Knight Order. Opposing us were 300 soldiers from the Tenth Knight Order under Rays-sama. What's more, neither Granz-sama nor Lapiria-sama was there.

If we collided head-on like this, we'd have a good chance of winning.

But naturally, things wouldn't go as planned.

Lapiria-sama cut through the flank of the 500-man Sixth Knight Order, which had stretched into a long column as it raced through the center, and leaped into the middle of the battlefield!

It was an unbelievable maneuver. She had been facing Ryuzel and Frein's two units until just moments ago.

The only ones who weren't stopped by Lapiria-sama were the roughly 100 cavalrymen at the front. They glanced back for an instant, then continued their advance toward Rays-sama's main camp.

Without even looking at the 100 cavalrymen she'd failed to stop, Lapiria-sama attacked the group that had been confronting Granz-sama from behind.

The soldiers were thrown into confusion by the unexpected attack from behind. Granz-sama was quick to seize the opening, immediately going on the offensive and dragging the battle in the center into a chaotic melee involving both sides.

Even amid all that, Lapiria-sama's movements stood out.

She moved with complete freedom. What kind of instinct did she have? Amid the chaos, she accurately struck weak points with devastating blows, then swept in an arc toward her next target in an instant.

The Battle Princess's Dance.

I'd heard the phrase countless times, but this was my first time seeing it for real. It gave me goosebumps.

Our breakthrough in the center had been stopped, and only 100 cavalrymen had escaped. Rays-sama still had 300 defensive troops at his disposal. The situation had reversed in an instant.

Then the defenders at Rays-sama's main camp began moving to crush our escaped cavalrymen.

I watched them as if praying.

Two hundred... No, there were 250. They'd left only the bare minimum of defenders behind and were determined to crush those 100 cavalrymen...

Ignoring the chaos in the center, I kept my eyes fixed on the 250 soldiers who had sortied from Rays-sama's main camp.

They would soon collide with the 100 cavalrymen of the Sixth Knight Order who had gone ahead.

Our cavalry was moving slowly, decelerating as though waiting for the rest of the force to catch up.

And just as Rays-sama's defenders and the 100 cavalrymen of the Sixth Knight Order were about to collide,

I shouted without thinking, "We've won!"

The next thing I saw wasn't the chaos in the center or the 100 cavalrymen of the Sixth Knight Order. It was the northern part of the battlefield. There, I could clearly make out a unit charging toward Rays-sama's main camp.

Ryuzel and Frein's units.

I'd intended to use those two units as my trump card from the very beginning.

Everything had been to free Ryuzel and Frein's units—to keep them outside Lapiria-sama's awareness. The plan to use the entire Sixth Knight Order and the new recruits as decoys had succeeded.

If the 100 cavalrymen could hold Rays-sama's defenders at bay, Ryuzel and Frein's two units could win with their charge!

Neither Ryuzel's unit nor Frein's had come through unscathed. They had been fighting Lapiria-sama, after all, and fewer than 150 soldiers remained. But there were only about 50 defenders with Rays-sama. It was enough.

But it wasn't going to be that easy.

The 250-man defensive force, which seemed about to collide with the 100 cavalrymen, changed direction just before reaching the decoy force. As if they had known about it in advance, they charged ferociously at both Ryuzel's and Frein's units!

I was stunned. No way! There had been no sign that any orders had come from Rays-sama's main camp. Could they really change their objective so smoothly?

I wasn't the only one left dumbfounded.

The 100 cavalrymen froze for an instant when the enemy suddenly veered away right before their eyes. Immediately afterward, soldiers Granz-sama had dispatched attacked them from behind.

Ryuzel's and Frein's units were completely held at bay, while the center remained in utter confusion.

Amid that chaos, I saw Lapiria-sama weaving through the melee and closing in on my main camp with nimble movements.

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"Nghhh... We lost! Damn it! We made it pretty far, too!"

"Yeah, I thought we could win, too," Ryuzel agreed with the frustrated Frein.

The mock battle was over. A drinking party to celebrate everyone's efforts had begun right there at the training ground.

We had lost. It certainly looked as though we'd come close.

But once I looked back on it calmly after it was over, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd made some fundamental mistake somewhere. I felt strangely restless.

"I'm sorry we were so inadequate..." said Fogard-san, the Sixth Knight Order unit commander, bowing his head.

"No, not at all! Using the entire Sixth Knight Order as decoys must have been unpleasant, but you carried it out perfectly. If anything, it was my fault... I'm sorry."

"No, Roa-sama, you have nothing to apologize for... If only we'd managed to break through with a few more soldiers..."

"No, I'm the one who should apologize. If only I'd worked out a better plan..."

As we vied to take responsibility for the defeat, we each apologized profusely.

"Roa-sama, Fogard-dono, I don't think you need to put yourselves down quite so much. It was a battle well worth watching," said Nerphia, who had casually joined the after-party as well.

"Exactly. The Sixth Knight Order is still being rebuilt, and this was Roa-sama's first battle leading it. Under those circumstances, I think you put up a remarkably good fight," Sazaby added.

As we chatted and sipped our drinks, a messenger I knew well came looking for me.

"Rays-sama is calling for you. Can you come?"

I glanced around before standing up and heading over to Rays-sama.