Chapter 6
"At long last, those fools from Rudek have arrived."
The man who spoke with that air of composure was the bearded man in charge of the fortified mine. His name was Givan.
He was one of the few regular Golbel soldiers among the band of outlaws. Their role was to oversee the fortification and buy time if Rudek mobilized its army.
If Rudek's soldiers moved, Golbel would also dispatch troops, claiming that its borders had been threatened.
However, Golbel would not send troops until a little later, once the fortification of this site was complete.
At this stage, there was no benefit in mobilizing troops to this backwater.
They did have a new ore vein as a prize of sorts, but because they were prioritizing turning the abandoned mine into a base, its output was still unknown—not enough to justify mobilizing troops.
He knew that a suppression force would arrive sooner or later because some of the thugs had run wild. But he had also counted on Rudek underestimating them as mere bandits from the countryside.
The mine's fortifications were about eighty percent complete. In addition, they had secretly brought in nearly five hundred men.
In this situation, they should be able to hold out for a while.
—Buy us a little time. Preparations for deployment are underway.—
He recalled the words of Sakri-sama, the mastermind behind the operation. Sakri-sama's insight was second to none in Golbel. Once a strong base had been established here, it would provide a major foothold for conquering Rudek.
All he had to do was trust Sakri-sama's words and wait.
He had also been instructed, "If things look like they're going badly, withdraw." After all, this was taking place in someone else's territory. Even if they failed, it would not hurt them all that much. The cost of the fortifications had been covered to some extent by the ore they had already mined.
Even so, Givan had no intention of retreating so soon. This was a long-planned operation. It would be a shame to give it up. Success here would mean advancement for Givan.
He had come this far in such a filthy place, cajoling and placating hopeless scum.
Failure was unthinkable. First, he would make the area around Eren his fief. But that would only be a foothold; from there, he would rise all the way to the top of Golbel!
Givan could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting at the thought, but moments later, his spirits were doused with cold water.
"There are more than 5,000 enemy soldiers!! They're deployed to the west of here...!"
He could scarcely believe what he had heard from the few subordinates Givan had brought with him.
"What? What did you just say?"
"There are more than 5,000 soldiers!! They're deployed to the west, near the Golbel border!"
"No way! It's just a campaign against bandits! That's as many men as an entire knightly order! And they're to the west? Could you have mistaken reinforcements from our army for the enemy!?"
The information was incomprehensible to Givan. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been impossible. Even taking Rudek's ample funds into account, and conceding that this was near the border with Golbel, it was still utterly absurd. How much did they think this would cost...?
No, there was only one possibility.
"Has our plan been seen through...?"
How had they seen through it? That incompetent lord? No, that was impossible. He could say with certainty that the lord and his son no longer had any choice but to throw in their lot with Golbel. Then who...?
"From the banners, it appears that the force is led by Rays Stein."
"As expected, it's that man... But why? The Fourth Knight Order is supposed to be responsible for this area. Why would he take the field while ignoring the Fourth Knight Order?"
"You're absolutely right... However..."
He had no intention of blaming his subordinate.
"How long we've spent getting this far... But we still have five hundred soldiers here. Somehow, we'll hold out until reinforcements arrive from home!"
"Understood... What should we do about the lord?"
"Leave him. If Rays has taken the field, then they've seen through the lord's treachery. In any case, once we control this area, we won't need him. Whatever happens to him is none of my concern."
"Understood." The conversation was over, and just as the subordinate was about to rush off to carry out the order, another subordinate came running in.
"Givan-sama! We have a serious problem! The soldiers...!"
"What now!?"
"The soldiers are fleeing one after another after seeing the size of the enemy army! We can't stop them, and in some places, deserters have even started fighting our troops!"
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"Oh, a fire's broken out..." Glantz murmured from the main camp, set up on a hill some distance away, as he watched the scene.
"Looks like the infighting has started, just as Roa predicted." Rays narrowed his eyes as he watched smoke rise from the abandoned mine.
They deployed as many soldiers as they could mobilize across the plain west of the abandoned mine.
That was the strategy Roa had proposed.
"If the people in the abandoned mine are mainly thugs, then regardless of whether Golbel is pulling their strings, the sight of this many soldiers should make them flee for their lives. It would be ideal if they all ran, but the fewer people left to barricade themselves inside the mine, the easier it will be for us to attack. Besides, taking up positions to the west sends the bandits the message, 'We know about your connection to Golbel.'"
Roa's strategy seemed to be working. Although the knights had not moved an inch from their positions, confusion was already spreading through the abandoned mine.
At Rays's order, a messenger dashed out of the main camp.
The two arrived shortly afterward.
"It turned out just as you predicted, Roa. What should we do from here?"
After thinking for a moment, Roa replied,
"Wouldn't it be best to leave things as they are until the thugs flee?"
Roa still had a lot to learn about this sort of judgment, Rays thought.
"That won't be enough. Frain."
"Yes, sir." Frain knelt under Rays's gaze.
"Seize the mine," Rays ordered curtly.
After watching Frain's back as he quickly left the command tent, Roa looked back and forth between Rays and Glantz, unsure what to do.
"Roa, you will remain here."
"Y-yes..." Rays told the anxious Roa to sit down.
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And so, my first battle ended with almost laughable ease.
For me, it was simply a battle that left me profoundly relieved, but this incident would cause no small stir among those around me.