𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟕: 𝐁𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩

Suddenly, a taut rope trips up the galloping horse, which lets out a mournful neigh as it falls.

About two horses.

If the one leading the pack falls, the ones following can’t help but be affected.

Two more horses are caught up and fall, and only six manage to rein in their mounts in time.

“What’s going on!”

“It’s suspicious. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

・・・

『”𝓐𝔀𝓮𝓫𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼.𝓬𝓸𝓶” – 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓬𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓹𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓭𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮, 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓾𝓵𝓰𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓵e𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓼𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 “𝓭𝓪𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓾𝓹𝓭𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼” 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓵𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓸 “𝓪𝓭𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓭 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼”.』

・・・

“Sorry, horses!”

Asuka and I jump out of the bushes and start slashing at the horses’ legs one after another.

Of course, it’s to rob them of their mobility.

The key is not to let a single one escape.

One unfortunate soldier dies instantly, his neck broken in the fall, and while the remaining three struggle to get up, Meg slashes their throats.

That side is OK.

“You! Are you the hand of the rebel Kytes!”

Six soldiers leap off their rampaging horses and attack.

Their movements are well trained.

“But, if you jump, you’re in a blind spot! Ice sphere! Three-way!!”

“Tongue of the fire lizard~.”

The attack magic unleashed by Miliaria and Salieri turns three men in the air into ice statues and one into a charred corpse.

They crash to the ground, scattering white and black fragments.

The kingdom soldiers, who lost four comrades in an instant, were not even given time to be shaken.

Because the moment they landed, they were cut down by Asuka and me.

“Well done.”

Meisha praises us as she casts healing magic on the horses.

This is not about the innocence of animals, but because horses are valuable to capture.

They can be used for carrying goods or riding, they have a wide range of uses.

And if we don’t use them, we can sell them for a good amount of money.

That’s ten horses. We’re quite pleased.

“We won without any damage. That’s good.”

“Rather, the Royal Army is too weak! Boring!”

Miliaria and Asuka express completely opposite opinions.

The latter seems to be scattering them around. I pat her red head.

“They’re just scouts. Don’t let your guard down, Asuka. Stronger ones will appear from now on.”

“Okay! Mommy Nel!”

“Alright. Let’s retreat. We’re going after the generals.”

We get back in the wagon, and the captured horses are strung together in a rosary-like chain to hurry ahead.

❂

“We’ll probably be caught up around here.”

Staff Officer Kirill points to a spot on the military map.

It’s about a day’s journey to the city of Gaillia.

Rather than being caught up, that’s the last place where a trap can be set.

If General Kytes enters Gaillia and is placed under the protection of Count Doros, the Royal Army can’t easily interfere.

“But wait, Mother Nel. Isn’t it possible that Count Doros won’t help General Kytes?”

Miliaria asks a question, half raising her hand.

The night after we took out the reconnaissance unit.

At a strategy meeting in an inn.

“He’ll help. He’s an accomplice.”

I laugh dryly.

Count Doros is conducting secret trade with the Kingdom of Masrur. General Kytes is on such good terms with Demon King Ingral that they can exchange letters.

To think that there is absolutely no relationship between these two is a bit too tropical.

At present, General Kytes is being pursued as a rebel, and if he is captured, Count Doros will also be caught in a domino effect.

The kingdom also has the aim of wanting to whittle down the power of the Gaillia region.

A regional lord with great power is nothing but a nuisance.

And Count Doros doesn’t want his belly, which doesn’t hurt, to be probed. Gaillia is thriving on the secret trade, which is a blatant act of treason against the kingdom.

In this case, he has no choice but to confront the kingdom with determination.

With the military power of the Kingdom of Masrur as a backdrop.

“The question is, who can command the troops that will fight the Royal Army at that time.”

“It’s General Kytes, isn’t it? Both politically and militarily.”

“Correct.”

If General Kytes, a leading general representing the Kingdom of Lintrite, declares that justice is on his side, it will no longer be a rebellion by a regional lord.

You can raise any name you want, like punishing the traitors on your side.

Of course, purely militarily, if the veteran General Kytes leads, the army will become stronger.

If we lose the general, our chances of winning will drop by a digit, so once we enter Gaillia, we’re almost safe. 

“So, as the Royal Army, you absolutely don’t want General Kytes to enter the city of Gaillia.”

“That’s right. But it’s pointless to scatter fast units.”

“Because we’ve defeated them one by one.”

I nodded at Miliaria’s words.

If they think they’ll be defeated one by one again, the enemy captain won’t be able to choose to send out a small number of soldiers.

Strategic action is different from gambling.

If you send out soldiers thinking it might work next time and lose, your forces will decrease.

And the more they decrease, the smaller the chances of winning become.

So, just before the city of Gaillia, we’ll strike with all our forces.

“That’s the only way.”

“Because Lionel and the others captured horses, we had some leeway, so we were able to send a fast horse to Count Doros yesterday.”

Kirill shrugs.

He’s saying that he’s requested reinforcements. That pose probably means he knows the chances are slim.

It’s a two-day journey from here to Gaillia.

If they left yesterday and rode hard, they should be arriving about now, but they can’t move the army immediately.

Even if there is a rapid response unit, they have to have already left to make it in time.

“Well, do what you can with what you have. Staff officer.”

Saying something that wasn’t very comforting, I patted Kirill’s shoulder.

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