The King's Sons (4): The Objective

A little while earlier, before we set out.

As I, Zelando, watched, Roa said during the strategy meeting, "I'm thinking of leaving about fifty cavalry behind."

"What do you mean?" Frein asked. Roa replied simply, "We'll strike the rear of their main camp."

This was Roa's explanation.

Roa's unit, having set out from the capital, would leave fifty cavalry behind some distance away as a detached force, while the main force would arrive later as well. Then, if they took up position while deliberately exposing an opening to the enemy, Ural would eagerly attack, allowing the fifty cavalry left behind to strike the now lightly defended main camp.

"But wouldn't that plan be meaningless unless the enemy sets up camp on the capital side?" Ryuzel voiced his concern. I thought so too. But Roa declared, "No, I think Prince Ural will probably establish his main camp on the eastern side."

Apparently, the training ground had unspoken rules. In general, the stronger force was supposed to camp on the eastern side, with its back to the capital.

Ural was a prince and looked down on Roa. Even if Ural didn't know that rule, his entourage would advise him, so he would probably deploy on the eastern side first.

"Though if the commanders are evenly matched, apparently they decide things through discussion," Roa added.

"But the opposing forces are Granz's and Rapiria's units. If our force has fewer soldiers, won't they notice immediately?" Wickhart asked.

"Of course they'll notice, but whether they'll advise Prince Ural is another matter. Rays-sama declared that he wouldn't advise either army this time. Considering the personalities of those two, I don't think they'll say anything on their own if Rays-sama remains silent. It would be different if Prince Ural asked them for guidance."

"So you think Prince Ural won't ask either commander for advice?"

"That's my guess. What Prince Ural is so determined to prove this time is that both his tactics and his command are superior to mine. If one of the Tenth Knight Order's finest generals acts according to his ideas, he can't lose. Isn't that what he's thinking?"

"I suppose that's certainly possible. But what if Prince Ural asks Granz-sama or Rapiria-sama for guidance?" Frein asked again, but Roa casually replied, "Well, then we'll deal with it when it happens. The fifty cavalry only need to serve as a diversion. After that, just buy us some time, and if Prince Ural gets impatient and sticks his head out of the main camp, Wickhart, could you put a shot through him?"

"Understood."

Despite his easygoing expression, Roa showed no hesitation when devising a plan. He had seen through the personality of Ural, whom he had only just met, and was already issuing precise instructions. I watched Roa give his orders, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Well, I doubt it'll come to that. Also, the detached unit should be Frein... no, could I ask Prince Zelando to lead it, with Frein as his adjutant?"

Roa turned his gaze toward me. I hesitated, then saw that girl, Lufa, smiling at me. I summoned my courage and answered, "I'll do it."

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"It seems Granz's and Rapiria's units have begun moving."

"Th...they really moved...?" Seated behind Frein on his beloved horse, I swallowed hard, my body rigid with tension.

"Look, you can see the dust clouds over there. Roa's unit is beyond them. Don't miss the signal."

"Y-yes."

After a while, a large flag was raised high on Roa's side and began to wave slowly.

First, it was waved broadly from side to side twice. "All right? One signal means the enemy has begun moving. Stay put for now." Roa's words came back to me.

A little later came the second signal. If the flag stopped then, it meant the enemy's movements were unexpected and we were to change the plan.

And then came the third signal.

"I-it was waved three times—the flag was waved three times, wasn't it?!" I turned to look at Frein behind me. "Yes. Now give the order to advance," Frein urged, and I looked around.

The fifty cavalrymen Roa had entrusted to me as a detached unit were waiting for my orders.

Could this really work so easily?

Still half in doubt, I raised my voice and shouted, "C-charge!!"

The outcome was decided in an instant.

When we charged, the rear of Ural's main camp was astonishingly wide open. Not a single person was watching for an attack from behind.

My unit charged up the high ground and immediately succeeded in capturing Ural's main camp.

Feeling as though I had been deceived by some shady sorcerer, I raised a victory cry at what had been Ural's main camp.

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"That's cheating! It's unfair!"

Once the battle was decided, we gathered at the eastern high ground, where Ural and all his attendants had been captured and were sprawled on the ground. Still tied up like that, Ural shouted at me that it was unfair.

...Ryuzel, don't you think this is a bit much? I never told you to tie them up. He's a prince, after all.

When I looked at Ryuzel, he shifted his gaze to Rays-sama. So this had been Rays-sama's order.

"You! Since you couldn't win in a fair fight, you resorted to a cowardly trick and subjected Ural-sama to such humiliation!" Ural's attendants were still tied up, but remained full of energy. Good to see they were doing well.

While this was going on, King Zeurasia approached from where he had been watching a short distance away.

Prince Ural seized the opportunity to complain that he had lost because of a cowardly trick.

But King Zeurasia fixed Prince Ural with an extremely stern expression:

"Ural. You were the one who decided this would be an exercise as close to actual combat as possible, weren't you? What exactly is 'cowardly' about this?"

Faced with these unexpectedly harsh words, Prince Ural faltered.

"But... launching a surprise attack from outside the training ground..."

"You fool! Don't you understand that, on a real battlefield, you'd already have lost your head?! Will you cry foul over a strategy meant to win when you're on the verge of being killed?!"

Whoa, I thought the king was mild-mannered, but he can really lay into someone. Prince Ural was already on the verge of tears.

"Your Majesty, that's enough," Rays-sama interjected. Prince Ural and his attendants were visibly relieved, but the matter was not over yet.

"However, I must say I'm rather disappointed by a performance of this caliber. A careful look should have made it obvious that they were outnumbered. Moving troops without even checking the surrounding area was foolish in the extreme."

"But!" Prince Ural tried to protest, but froze under a single glare from Rays-sama. His icy stare was terrifying to anyone unaccustomed to it.

"To think you've remained undefeated with such childishness, so crude it can't even be called a tactic..."

The one who flinched at those words was Prince Zelando. But Rays-sama's next words were directed elsewhere.

"Your Majesty. It appears the attendants bear much of the responsibility. Were they deliberately holding back during training? Or are they truly incompetent enough to have lost to someone of this caliber? Either way, this is a grave matter."

Prince Ural's attendants raised protests, turning pale and then red, but they fell silent the instant Rays-sama said, "This was supposed to be an exercise as close to actual combat as possible, was it not? By being here, you accepted the possibility of actual combat. As the losers, shall we cut down a few of you?"

"Indeed. However, they have served me faithfully until now. Wouldn't killing them be needlessly cruel?"

The attendants let out sighs of relief once again.

"But Rays is right. It seems being responsible for the prince's education was too much for these people. We shall replace them at once." Having said that, the king also swept his gaze over Prince Zelando's attendants.

"And it is clear that Zelando's attendants are incompetent as well. They could not even teach him how to fight properly against opponents capable only of devising inept plans." At those words, several of them let out groans and sank to their knees.

...This farce. So this was what the king and Rays-sama had been aiming for.

Looking past the prince's attendants as they hung their heads, I looked at Rays-sama with an expression that said, "Surely you're going to explain how conveniently I was used, aren't you?" Rays-sama lifted one corner of his mouth just slightly.