Chapter 102
Hardy of House Dostra, a baronial house in Count Graham's domain of the Kingdom of Lionel, was heading north straight for the Gaela Mountains, leading a hundred cavalrymen from the knightly order entrusted to him.
As he swayed in the saddle, he stroked his proud beard.
Playing with his beard was a habit that surfaced whenever he had something weighing on his mind. He knew that about himself and was aware that he was troubled. Yet stroking his neatly trimmed beard did nothing to clear his mind, nor could it resolve his worries.
It was a dispiriting mission. But when it came directly from his immediate superior, Count Graham, he could hardly refuse.
"I wonder if the young lady is safe?"
The deputy commander riding beside him, Demil, hit upon the source of his concern.
"She's Count Graham's only daughter. If she isn't safe, we'll lose our heads."
I warned Demil off his casual references to death. He was capable at his job, but his loose tongue was his one flaw.
The mission Count Graham had personally entrusted to me was to take his only daughter, Lady Romelia, into custody.
For reasons known only to herself, Lady Romelia had raised troops in the Cashew region and set out to exterminate monsters.
Since the region was remote and beyond his reach, she had, before anyone knew it, seized a fortress, entered into collusion with merchants, developed a gold mine, and even built a new port.
Her father, Count Graham, had ordered me to secure Lady Romelia with a hundred cavalrymen.
"Honestly, why can't that young lady sit still? Is she under some kind of curse?"
"Stop it, you fool."
I reprimanded him for speaking so disrespectfully about a count's daughter. I added inwardly that this was why, despite his ability, he would never rise above being my deputy.
Still, Demil had a point.
Lady Romelia was one of the companions who had followed Prince Henri on his journey to defeat the Demon King three years ago, and one of the comrades who had helped him bring down the Demon King.
But apparently she had incurred the prince's displeasure during the journey. After returning home, her engagement was broken off, she was not even counted among those credited with defeating the Demon King, and she had badly tarnished her family's name.
It would have been fine if she had quietly kept to herself in some remote corner of the country. I never expected her to lead troops in a campaign against monsters.
"The ideal of exterminating monsters for the sake of the common people is wonderful in itself, but I feel sorry for the soldiers being dragged into it."
Demil kept joking, but I couldn't deny what he said.
Nobles who knew nothing about the battlefield would sometimes develop a sudden compassion for the common people and announce that they wanted to save them.
I did not deny the ideal itself, but such ventures rarely ended well.
They would use up soldiers without hesitation to save the common people and accept any sacrifice for the sake of their ideals, even though those very soldiers were among the people they were supposed to protect.
In the end, they were merely intoxicated by their own ideals, while those dragged along had to suffer for it.
Lady Romelia was probably that sort as well. I had to pull her away from the army before she caused a major disaster.
Thinking about what would come afterward gave me another headache, but for now I had to deal with the problem in front of me.
Lady Romelia was currently heading to the Gaela Mountains to exterminate the antfolk. I had to secure her before the battle began.
Apparently, she had four hundred soldiers at her disposal. I never expected soldiers of the same kingdom to end up fighting one another, but I could not afford to let my guard down. I would have to proceed carefully.
"Hurry up. Tell them to increase the pace a little more. I want to arrive before noon."
"You don't need to hurry that much. They only just reached the foot of the mountains, didn't they? We should have several days."
Demil was optimistic. According to the reports, he was certainly right. Considering their marching speed, they should be reaching the mountains today, and surely they would not begin combat on the day they arrived. That meant we had at least a day to spare.
"I have a bad feeling. That woman is capable of anything."
I had rushed here on an instinctive sense of foreboding, but the unpleasant feeling still would not go away.
"I'll feel at ease only after I have her in my custody."
Of course, that would probably saddle me with even more trouble.
"Messenger!"
Just as I was about to have Demil issue further instructions, the soldier we had sent ahead as a scout came riding back.
"Captain Hardy! The Cashew garrison is already engaged with the antfolk swarm!"
My blood ran cold when I heard the scout's report.
Too soon—far too soon. I had thought we had another day or two, but perhaps they had anticipated our movements and already begun the battle.
"This is bad."
The deputy who had been joking moments earlier muttered the words with a grimace.
The antfolk were weak individually, but their numbers and coordinated attacks were not to be underestimated. The reason the antfolk of the Gaela Mountains had been left alone until now was not merely consideration for the Kingdom of Hameil. The simple difficulty of exterminating them had been a major factor as well.
"Hurry!"
We spurred our horses and rushed forward. At the very least, I had to secure Lady Romelia unharmed.
We whipped our horses and raced at full speed until we reached the Gaela Mountains.
We climbed a hill overlooking the foothills and surveyed the battlefield. Just as the messenger had said, the battle had already been joined.
"Captain, that's bad."
I could only groan at the deputy's words. Below us, antfolk and soldiers were mixed together in a chaotic melee.
The antfolk were weak individually, so maintaining the battle line was crucial when fighting them. Even against superior numbers, we could fight at an advantage as long as we established a defensive line.
But once friend and foe became mixed together in a melee, the difference in numbers would have its full effect.
"We're going to their aid at once."
At this point, we could no longer make out where Lady Romelia was, but we had to rescue her regardless.
I was arranging the battle line and about to order a charge when the deputy who was usually useful in situations like this began looking away.
"Captain, look at that!"
Demil pointed toward the battlefield. When I turned my head back toward it, something astonishing was happening.
The battlefield had been a chaos of intermingled enemies and allies, as though milk had been stirred into tea. Then, as if the milk had suddenly separated, the Cashew garrison gathered together, rebuilt its battle line, and drove back the antfolk swarm.
"Good heavens."
"Amazing! They can actually do something like that!"
Demil and the other soldiers could not believe what they were seeing. Could a battlefield that had fallen into such a melee really be reorganized?
"Captain, isn't that Lady Romelia beneath that flag?"
When I looked where he indicated, I saw a woman beneath the lily-of-the-valley flag, wielding a sword and directing the battle.
I did not know what Lady Romelia looked like, but there were few women on the battlefield. Judging by the expensive armor, there could be no mistake.
"Did that lady do what we just saw?"
"Nonsense. That can't possibly be true."
There was no way a woman could have done something like that. Surely the second son of House Niccolo was participating as a military strategist. He had been called a prodigy as a child. Though he was apparently estranged from his family, this had to be his doing.
"Prepare to charge. We'll strike the antfolk in the rear."
The battle line had been rebuilt, but many antfolk remained. In particular, a group that appeared to be their main force was targeting the headquarters where Lady Romelia was located. If we took their rear and charged, we could shatter them.
I immediately had the soldiers prepare to charge, but before they were ready, an assault force emerged from the headquarters. Lady Romelia was among them.
"Damn it, why didn't she wait?"
Of course, that was a baseless complaint. They had no way of knowing we were here, but launching an attack with so few soldiers was still far too reckless.
I expected the force of about twenty to be surrounded and immobilized at once, but they raced freely across the battlefield, broke through the enemy formation, joined our allies who were engaged with the enemy's main force, and plunged into the fight.
Yet the battle was an overwhelming rout. With a single clash, they sent the enemy flying and cut them down.
"Those are elite soldiers. Is the Cashew garrison really that strong?"
"No, that can't be."
Cashew was a frontier with no military value. The soldiers stationed there should have been locally conscripted peasant troops.
"They must have pulled elite soldiers from somewhere. That's the only explanation."
A force that strong should not have gone unnoticed. Perhaps they had borrowed a great noble's private knights—or maybe they were foreign mercenaries.
They had probably spent a fortune gathering them. I worried about the expense, but as long as Lady Romelia was safe, that was all that mattered.
"Let's go, men! Break through the antfolk in the rear and make for Lady Romelia!"
The antfolk were still holding their main force in reserve. If we did not join up with her and withdraw before it charged, things would turn disastrous.
Once the soldiers had formed up, I led them down the hill.
"Wait, you there! Who are you?"
As we cut down antfolk and made our way toward Lady Romelia, the soldiers fighting nearby noticed us and challenged us, asking who we were. Even as they questioned us, they readied their spears and formed a defensive formation centered around the woman in gleaming white armor.
Though every one of them was wounded and battered, their formation showed no sign of disorder. Their resolve to let not a single enemy through was plain to see. They really were highly trained elites.
While I watched in admiration, the woman at the center of the defensive formation raised a hand slightly and held back her soldiers.
"Judging by that banner, you appear to be knights serving House Graham of the Kingdom of Lionel. Who are you?"
Her voice carried clearly across the battlefield, and her dignified bearing suggested nobility.
"Since this is a battlefield, forgive the discourtesy of my not dismounting. I am Hardy of House Dostra, captain of the Third Unit of the Graham Knights. I have come at Count Graham's command. Are you Lady Romelia?"
"Indeed, I am Romelia. Why have you come?"
Though she knew perfectly well why we had come, she still asked the question.
"I have come to escort you, Lady Romelia. Now, let us go to Count Graham at once."
Until now, every letter sent to the count's daughter had either been ignored outright or met with evasive replies that kept us waiting. The battle here was no different; its timing had been shifted in the reports. She did not negotiate; she simply imposed her own will.
"That is acceptable, but I cannot leave this place right now."
She refused as though it were obvious, but I intended to force the matter no matter what.
"No. You are coming with us. It will be difficult to withdraw from this situation, but we will assist you in retreating."
There would probably be no way to withdraw without casualties. Any losses on our side would have to be accepted.
"Retreat? I have no intention of running away. We're about to win. Why would we need to flee?"
"You say we will win? Are you serious?"
As I thought, this young lady could not see what was happening on the battlefield.
It was admirable that she had fought this far, but the enemy was still holding its main force in reserve, while our side was battered and exhausted. A war could not be won simply by enduring.
"We cannot defeat that enemy."
Cavalry was immensely powerful, but its true strength lay in using mobility to strike weak points and disrupt the enemy formation. We had no time to circle around to the rear now. We would be crushed before we could do so.
"I'm not asking you to fight as the main force. My soldiers—my main force—will defeat the enemy."
With complete confidence, she turned around and pointed toward the antfolk headquarters far in the rear of the battlefield. A cavalry unit had appeared there at some point and was closing in on the enemy headquarters, attacking it from behind.