Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi-Novel

Chapter 400: Central Plains Unification War ? Headlong Rush

–Aegir POV–

Compared to the strange movements shown by South Yuguria’s Eastern army of dividing their squads and changing their routes, we take the shortest distance and charge in a straight line.

「Several smaller units split off from the main army! Their goal is――」

「Ignore them.」

About ten groups of ten scatter from the main body of the enemy army.

Leopolt might have done something to counter it, but the one in command is me.

We maintain an acute triangle formation and continue forward, aiming at the center of the enemy lines. We don’t change direction or decelerate.

「The main army is changing its formation! The center is protruding out...... while the right and left wings are unevenly falling back!」

「Don’t worry about it.」

The neat line in the front warped into a crooked curve.

Tristan might have responded by changing our formation, but I’m not him.

I don’t care if they expand or retract.

They might be playing all sorts of tricks, but I don’t get what they’re trying to do at all.

「If I can’t figure it out, then I’m just going to ignore it and charge straight ahead. Follow along right behind my ass.」

If my actions are being predicted, then no matter what I do, I’ll lose.

In that case, I’ll let Leopolt handle the rest and run to Rafen.

I turn my head at the front of the pack and glance behind me.

「Hey, the enemy is moving here and there, are we going to be okay!?」

「How would I know!? Ask the commander!」

「I don’t know either! The feudal lord-sama is leading, so I’m sure we’ll be fine. Stop with the idle chatter.」

Although they are uncertain, they still follow.

By no means can our lines be considered orderly, rather each group naturally separates from each other due to their speed. We’re a dumpling consisting of bow cavalry, cavalry, Aless, volunteer soldiers and infantry, in that order.

Me leading also has something to do with it.

If I was at the back and commanded everyone to charge, they wouldn’t be moving as fast.

「Our formation is a mess though. Will this work?」

Celia asks uneasily.

I don’t know if it will work or not.

Worse case, I’ll have Leopolt do something.

「If I had to say one thing-」

I pick up a spear from the pile on Schwartz’s back and hold it out on the right side.

「It’s certain that we are taking time away from them to think.」

Besides, it’s a good sign that the enemy is scrambling.

If we’re running into a trap, they would be sitting still and waiting.

It’s a gut feeling, but I sense that they’re panicking.

「Speed up.」

I kick Schwartz in the belly.

He snorts grumpily and obediently accelerates, turning Celia and the others into little tiny specks behind me.

I hear Celia shout something which I can’t make out clearly from the loud whooshing of the wind.

I test swing the normal lance in my hand.

It’s as thin as a needle and light as a feather.

「It would be nice if I had my longsword.」

I dropped it when I was bringing Sekrit back with me.

At that time, her life was in danger, so the sword wasn’t as important. Now I’m regretting not picking it up.

Even though the Dual Crater is fine, it’s a little too short to use on horseback.

「I’ll have to make do with what I’ve got.」

The enemy is already before our eyes.

「They’re really coming at us like that!」

「They were using tedious tactics and formations up till now...... what happened!?」

I can see the enemy soldiers get flustered.

I’m watching for the enemy’s arrows, but they don’t come.

It’s because I’ve rode too far from my allies, huh.

If they shoot at a single rider like me, they won’t be able to deal with the others who will come at a delayed timing.

「A lone rider and a mass charge!? It’s way too different compared to before......」

「Question His Excellency once more...... no, it’s too late!」

What they experienced was Leopolt’s command. I can’t give them the same thing no matter how much they ask.

「What I can do......」

I pull back the spear in my right hand and tilt my body to one side.

Enemy soldiers in front step forward together with their spears.

Schwartz leaps and passes over the heads of the soldiers in the first row.

「Is only this!」

I thrust my spear forward with all my might.

The weapon penetrates the throat of one enemy soldier and proceeds to stab another soldier in the next row.

Unable to bear the weight of two soldiers simultaneously, the spear snaps in half.

「I knew it.」

I use the remaining half of the spear and force it into the skull of another man.

「I’m glad I brought a lot with me.」

I immediately grab another spear and take a big swing at an enemy soldier’s face.

Hitting him with a metal spear is enough to rob his fighting strength.

He lets out a nasty-sounding grunt and a white tooth flies out of his mouth along with splashes of blood.

The spear completely bent 90 degrees after one hit, but I can still use it to whack people.

I get Schwartz to run around left and right, allowing me to strike enemies down one after the other.

After destroying the face of a fourth soldier, the spear is bent to the point that it’s hard to swing, so I throw it away.

「I have to use it with more care―― huh! Again......?」

I thrust the third spear into the chest of a man resembling the enemy commander.

The blow utilizing Schwartz’s speed made the commander cough up blood, however my spear also broke in the process.

Next, when I hold a spear in each of my hands, I hear a loud yell from behind.

It looks like my allies have caught up.

Arrows fly back and forth above my head.

The bow cavalry must have loosed their arrows before charging, followed by the hurried response from the enemy archers.

「Their bow cavalry again...... such accuracy while running―― ugyaa!」

「There are an incredible amount of them this time! Is Hardlett really a simple feudal lord!? Gueh......」

Judging by those cries, the bow cavalry are winning the shootout.

Including the bow cavalry who came after hearing of Rafen’s troubles, their numbers total to 10 000.

Upon closer inspection, extremely young and old members of the tribe have also decided to participate in the attack, which is good since we need all the help we can get.

Using their mobility and precise volleys, the bow cavalry can one-sidedly dominate the enemy with hit-and-run tactics.

Except this time――

「Everyone, draw your swords! Charge――!!」

The bow cavalry put away their bows after firing their arrows, mix in with the cavalry of my personal army and charge at the enemy with their swords.

That confused the enemy.

「They’re not going to shoot at us!? We’ve never seen this kind of movement before!」

「Cavalry should charge in a more orderly manner! This kind of reckless charge......」

「They’re operating in a totally different way than the guys before! Our countermeasures don’t work! Get headquarters to send new orders!」

It seems the same thing is happening like when Leopolt unexpectedly faced the change in the enemy’s command.

Due to our outrageous method of attack, the battle seems to be transitioning to the melee phase.

However, the enemy tries desperately to shuffle troops around to regain order, almost like they dislike chaotic fighting.

「Have the spearmen who can’t maneuver well fall back! Light infantry, hold the enemy back!」

「Recreate the battle lines 100 m back! Commander Raleigh has ordered us strictly to avoid melee!」

Unfortunately, individuals who will make that effort go to waste have caught up to them.

「Wahahahaha!! Let’s battle!!」

A loud roar echoes to every corner of the rampaging battlefield.

The voice obviously belongs to Gildress.

「Have a good look at the way we fight!」

「I’ll show you my well-sculpted body too!」

「If you want, I’ll even show you my burly cock!」

Aless soldiers run into the enemy at full speed.

「What nonsense, coming from light infantry wearing cruddy armor――」

As the bad-mouthing South Yuguria soldier blocks the incoming slash, he is slammed into the ground along with his shield.

「They only have swords! Kill them with short spears!」

Two Aless soldiers get surrounded by eight South Yuguria spearmen.

「Here they come, man!」

「Yeah! I’ve got your back!」

After a few clashes, the eight South Yuguria soldiers all fall down.

As expected, the Aless soldiers have overwhelming talent when it comes to individual combat.

Standing out among those Aless soldiers is him.

「Nuoooh!!」

「What is this guy...... dowaah!」

Gildress jumps at the line of heavy infantry, aligns his feet and kicks the enemy, launching what should have been a chunk of metal like a paper balloon.

「A-a drop kick......」

Celia mutters in amazement.

「I’m not done yet―― nuuun!」

Gildress cuts another three with his sword, then takes the last soldier in his arms, arches his back and throws him into the ground.

「The way he fights is a little strange.」

「I would agree, except Aegir-sama also displayed that technique once.」

I can’t hear the unnecessary jab.

「The enemy is in disarray! Charge inー!!」

A horizontal line of Infantry rush into the enemy ranks which were jumbled by the Aless soldiers earlier.

The archers clinging to the tail could not use bows in such cluttered conditions and also pull out their swords attached to their hips so they can participate in the close-quarters combat.

「What was beautiful is now a hodgepodge.」

Ally or enemy cannot be distinguished from far away any longer.

Unveiling tricks in this situation is impossible.

And then two messengers arrived.

「Message from Leopolt-sama! “The battlefield is exceedingly chaotic, leaving no room to initiate any plans. Rely on your own individual strength and momentum”」

That damn Leopolt, is he telling me that I have to go wild?

If even he is saying that, I’m sure the enemy can’t implement any effective strategies either.

「Message from Tristan-sama! Let’s see here......”When it’s gotten like this, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll be sitting in the back drinking tea, so the Margrave can take care of the rest”. My apologies.」

Tristan is saying that he can’t intervene?

Damn him, I’ll submerge him in pea soup later.

「Teyaaaah!!」

What a pretty voice to hear on the battlefield.

「Luna, huh? I already told her that I think she’s getting a little too excited.」

Luna rushes onto the battlefield with a ghastly expression.

She shoots and kills two enemy soldiers aiming at her with their bows and then pulls out her sword to slice, in passing, the enemy who closed in on her.

She engages a cavalry who tries to stop her, and after a few clashes, she was able to cut off the enemy’s army and run her sword into his neck.

「You’re mine!」

A different cavalry exploits the opening to target Luna’s back with his blade......

「I won’t let you!」

The enemy’s blade was parried by another sword and the soldier’s head was quickly lopped off as he was thrown off-balance.

「Luna-san, please watch your back too! And chief, I thought you were told not to go too far ahead!」

The one who protected Luna was Gido.

He locks swords with two additional riders, taking no time to behead one and dismount the other by stabbing his horse.

Gido has gotten considerably strong lately as a result of his accumulated experience and the growth of his body.

Not only is he skilled in the mountain nation specialty of mounted combat, he doesn’t fall behind to most in straightforward sword fights either.

He can’t be compared to the average elite soldier anymore.

It might be interesting to let him spar against an Aless soldier.

His philandering habits, which according to the town girls and prostitutes is bad, has me a little curious.

「I’ll take the right. Cover me, Gido.」

「Got it!」

Luna pulls out her bow in the middle of the melee, firing left and right at any enemy she sees.

Naturally, the enemy would want to stop her, but every single one gets intercepted and cut down by Gido.

「On the right!」

「Seei!」

Luna’s arrow hits the target pointed at with Gido’s sword.

「Take care of the back!」

「I know!」

While she notices the enemies coming from behind, she deliberately chooses not to turn around and continues firing her arrows.

Gido answers her trust by finishing off those enemies.

As fellow mountain nation, their cooperation is perfectly synced.

「We’re doing good!」

「Yes, inde―― don’t let your guard down!」

Luna’s horse springs up.

A hidden enemy lying in wait on the ground tries to aim at Gido’s horse, but his head is crushed by the hooves of Luna’s horse before he could do anything.

「You owe me. I’ll take a free meal.」

「Haha, sure―― watch out!」

Gido suddenly swings his sword to block an arrow flying towards Luna.

「Now, you owe me. Maybe keep it a secret from the chief and let me go one...... uwaah! Nevermind!」

Gido seems to be flustered about something when I approach them.

What a weird guy,

「I can’t lose either. I’ll show them.」

I glance around me and find a comparatively less busy place on the battlefield.

One enemy squad seems to be fortifying their defenses with a square formation.

Let me break that up.

「Here I go.」

「I’ll accompany you.」

「I’m here too!!」

I grab spears in both hands and run.

The enemy is distracted by the other skirmishes and doesn’t see me.

「One per person, what a luxury. Be honored.」

As I say that, I throw two spears.

I grab the spear before the skewered enemy falls over.

「Y-you are――」

It’s too late, as by the time he notices me and turns his horse to face me, his face is already being stabbed by my spear.

Since it’s bent anyways, I purposely leave that spear alone and grab the next one, then run into the enemy formation.

「It’s a demon! A demon appeared!」

「I’m not going to let you pass! I’ll defend to the death!」

When I got inside the square formation, a group of knights wearing splendid capes jumped out.

「Mu.」

I try striking one of them in the torso only to find out their equipment are not like the others.

The knight recoils from the impact, however the spear bends out of shape and I failed to kill him.

「No need to worry!!」

Sadly, the knight would not live on.

He gets pierced by Irijina’s spear and gets knocked to the ground.

「Thanks.」

「Wahahaha! My heirloom spear isn’t soft!!」

Irijina laughs heartily.

「I will be useful too!」

Celia appropriately backs up Irijina.

「I can’t just let the women fight.」

I grab a new spear and inhale deeply.

「Nuuun!」

「Eh?」

I lunge forward with my spear while shouting.

Like before, I strike the knight in the torso.

And same as before, the spear breaks, although the amount of power behind that attack was different. This time, the knight’s armor dents and a pained groan escapes from his mouth as he falls off his horse.

「There’s more where that came from!!」

I pull out another and hit an enemy on his head, then stab his eye with the broken shaft of the spear.

Reaching for another spear, I plunge it into a horse as I run past.

True to my word, I used one spear per person and I have one more left.

It just so happens that a remarkably fancy-looking knight stands in my way.

His silver armor glitters, a red feather adorns his helmet, and gold chains hang from his shoulder attachments.

He’s an upper-class commander no matter how I look at it.

「I’ve been seeing knights with different equipment for a while now. The enemy headquarters must be beyond this point!」

Celia says excitedly.

How convenient.

If it wasn’t for the melee, I couldn’t have reached the headquarters of a 50 000-strong enemy.

「Seeei!」

「Woah.」

When I grinned, the fancy knight attacks me.

I block on instinct with the spear, which is cut in half when I do.

「I am a renowned knight! This sword of mine shall not give you time to look away!」

「I wonder about that...... step back, you two.」

I unsheath my Dual Crater after the girls are behind me.

「Here I come, demon. Face my sword!」

The man puts some distance between us, then raises his sword arm and runs at me on his horse.

He intends to decide the battle in one go.

「It’s easier that way.」

I also lift my Dual Crater and run at the knight.

「The demon’s life will be ended by my treasured blade!!」

The distance between us gradually closes.

「Teyaaah!!」

The man lets out a short shout and―― lets go of his sword.

「「Aah!」」

「Die, demon!」

He grabs the short spear kept on the side of his horse with his left hand and points it at me.

Celia and Irijina scream at the same time.

The spear comes at me from the opposite direction than a sword would from overhead. Its tip accurately targets my side――

「Woah.」

And is grabbed by my left hand.

「What!?」

I pull the spear toward me and take the man off his horse.

「You trying to appeal by saying, “sword this, sword that” is too blatant.」

To begin with, your center of gravity didn’t seem right for a full-powered swing, so there’s no way you could deceive me.

I look down at the man on the ground from on top of Schwartz.

「If you’re going to call me demon or whatever, then don’t underestimate me.」

Schwartz smashes the man’s upper body with his hooves.

A terrifying death agony resounds, then gradually fades away.

That probably acted as the trigger.

「Your Excellency! Let us retreat for now to the south. In a melee like this, Your Excellency can’t display your ingenuity!」

「Your Excellency should prioritize your own safety.」

「These guys are practically different people than the ones we’ve been fighting...... maybe the top has changed...... shit!」

I can see a group that are not dressed any less splendidly than the knight I defeated move south.

「Hardlett-dono! That enemy is――」

Schwartz and I run after them before Irijina could finish her sentence.

The dashing Schwartz kicks away those standing in his way as he chases the fleeing group.

「――!?」

「Your Excellency! The demon――」

I cut down the two who were about to open their mouth with my Dual Crater.

There are ten of them.

Four of them are heavily armed knights acting as escorts while five look like staff officers, and then there’s the last one.

「An enemy all the way here――!? Eei, what a ridiculous way to fight!」

「This way, Your Excellency! Are these all the allies we have!?」

「Stand in his way! Protect His Excellency at all costs!」

The man everyone is guarding is completely clad in red armor and points with an impractically decorated sword.

I have no doubts he is the highest in command.

No more words are needed.

If I kill him, this fight will end in our victory.

I roar and charge at the group of knights.

「Protect His Excellency!」

The four escort knights block my path.

I duck under the slash from the first knight, and then slice his stomach with my Dual Crater.

I purposely allow the thrust from the second knight to slide off the armor protecting my forehead, and then in passing, knock him off his horse with my elbow.

Schwartz tackles the horse of the third knight, taking down the rider as well, while I decapitate the head of the fourth knight.

Although it felt like an extended period of time, only about three seconds passed in reality for all four enemies to be defeated..

「T-those master knights in an instant――」

「We can’t run away though!」

The staff officers resolve themselves and draw their swords as I approach.

Meanwhile, the commander looks quite dignified on his horse behind his staff officers.

At first glance, he seems composed, but his shoulders are in fact trembling.

「Doryaaaah!」

「Glory to the South Yuguria Empire!」

Four of them come at me altogether.

Well, they’re staff officers after all. Their movements are lethargic compared to the knights.

It didn’t take more than two seconds for all four of them to be turned into corpses.

Now the only one left is the commander.

「Glory...... to the Empire! Glory to His Excellency, Zaphnes!」

The last remaining staff officer shouted differently than the others as he attacked.

That slash of his was quite sharp, even among those I’ve fought in this battle, but I could still see it.

Zaphnes is a name that sounds familiar...... who was it again?

The enemy’s sword passes before my eyes.

「Who would have thought everything will come to end in a remote region like this? What an unlucky life......」

As the man mutters something, he closes his eyes.

At the same time, my Dual Crater tears through the man’s neck.

Blood splashes and then the man falls over.

Once that happened, the commander stands up in shock.

It won’t be funny if I let him escape after coming this far.

「See ya.」

I swing my Dual Crater at the top of the commander’s head, intending to slice all the way down to his crotch.

「Noooooooo!!!」

At the moment prior to my sword making contact with the commander, a shrill scream enters my ears.

「Uooh!」

On instinct, my hand redirects the path of the sword to the side, cutting off the commander’s helmet and grazing the armor before burying into the ground.

When the helmet splits in half, long glamorous hair spills out from the center.

Furthermore, when the body armor and the clothes underneath slide off, the symbol of a woman – her breasts – also spill out.

「A woman!?」

「S-stay away! Stay away! Don’t come near meee!!」

She clings tightly to her horse and runs to the south.

「I won’t let you escape!」

Celia throws a dagger at her.

「Woah.」

As the dagger flies in front of me, my hand reaches out and grabs it.

「Why did you stop it!?」

「It’s a woman. We can’t kill her.」

More so, she’s running and screaming.

I can never allow a woman to be struck in the back by a blade.

「I can still do it now! If we finish her off, it will be our complete victory!!」

Celia insists, but I won’t be myself anymore if something like that is done.

Winning a war is more important than most things, however, not killing a female is one of those few exceptions that have a higher priority.

「Besides, it’s fine if we don’t take her life.」

I watch as the woman flees.

「Waaaaah!! Save meeee! Someone save meee!!」

The woman runs along the middle of the battlefield, crying all the way.

「Your Excellency! Please wait, Your Excellency Raleigh!」

「The fight is close, but we haven’t lost yet. If we move the headquarters to a different location......」

The woman doesn’t listen to a single word.

「I don’t want to die! I don’t want to dieee!!」

Seeing their commander wailing in retreat, the morale of the enemy soldiers visibly lower.

「Eeei, we can’t help it when the commander is like that!」

「There’s no choice. Fall back, fall back!」

「Ueeeehnn! Someone save meee! Protect meee!!」

The enemy army follows after the crying commander.

Of course, collapsing in a free-for-all would invite a swift pursuit.

This situation isn’t much different than if the commander was taken out.

「......pathetic. As a female myself, I’m annoyed. It’s because of women like that that people say women can’t be soldiers. And to think that I was outmaneuvered by that woman...... mmgrrrh.」

I can hear Myla’s frustrations.

Myla, who was supposed to be holding the enemy at bay at the back, is beside me before I realized.

Since the enemy completely crumbled, it wasn’t necessary to defend anymore, I guess.

「Not to mention she wet herself. Look, a dirty liquid trail was left behind the horse.」

Celia ‘hmphs’ and turns her head in disgust.

I don’t think we have to be so harsh on her.

I only caught a quick glimpse, but she was reasonably beautiful and had a nice pair of breasts.

Well, Irijina is pretty quiet for once. I would have thought she’d be louder when we won.

「Hahaha! Even if it was a female, a soldier should be more vigorous! Hahahahaha! Haha......」

Irijina unusually talks in a roundabout way.

「It might have been her timid and crybaby nature that led her to using so many schemes.」

I was upset at the attack on Rafen, but I can’t hold a grudge against a cowardly woman like that. Rather, I feel like comforting her.

In any case, that signals the rout of the eastern army.

All we have to do now is a thorough pursuit.

Just when I was thinking of passing off responsibility to Leopolt or Tristan, Gido calls out to me.

「Chief! This way please!」

I enter a tent which I can hear a voice coming from.

What I find when I step inside is――

「Hmp...... if this is a decision of the mountain god, then I’ll accept it without regrets.」

A middle-aged man is sitting cross-legged and, judging by his clothes, is one of the mountain nation.

His eyes are closed like he resigned himself to his fate and he doesn’t speak much after the first sentence.

「You’re a disgrace to our people...... don’t think you’ll be let of easy.」

Gido glares at the man with piercing eyes.

The other person is a young female who I can’t tell if she’s an adult or not.

「Hic...... hic, hic...... wwaaaah......」

She’s covering her face with both hands and sobbing.

「What’s all this?」

Someone explain this to me.

「I have a question too...... Aegir-sama, lately a “nuun” sound naturally comes out of your mouth. ......you won’t, right? You won’t become like that, right!?」

I don’t understand a whole bunch of things.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 25 years old. Summer.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.

Elf Mediator. Sex King of White City.

Family:

Nonna (legal wife), Carla (concubine), Mel (concubine), Miti (concubine), Maria (concubine), Catherine (concubine)

Brynhildr (gathering), Gretel (concubine), Melissa (fainted), Kuu (lover), Ruu (lover)

Mireille (lover), Pipi (aerial bombing), Casie (untraceable), Rita (head maid), Yoguri (playwright), Leah (injured)

Marceline (lover), Daughters – Stephanie (lover), Bridget (lover), Felicie (lover)

Natia (wealthy person), Sofia (lover), Sekrit (off on her own)

Sebastian (confined to home), Dorothea (capital mansion supervisor), Claudia (volunteer soldier), Clara (resignation)

Celestina (weak), Monica (troubled), Adela (embarrassed)

Subordinates:

Celia (adjutant), Myla (commander), Marta (attendant), Irijina (commander), Peticheri (intelligence), Luna (indignant), Ruby (around somewhere), Gido (indignant), Polte (dealing with aftermath)

Leopolt (staff officer), Tristan (staff officer)

Claire & Laurie (total exhaustion), Lilian (relaxing), Kroll (dealing with aftermath), Alma (dealing with aftermath)

Rafen Defense:

Adolph (dealing with aftermath), Jim (Rafen defense), Suzy (no-good staff officer A), Solana (no-good staff officer B)

Felteris (fishing for men), Alice (relieving fatigue)

Non-humans:

Lammy (monster unit), Alraune (potted plant), Mirumi (monster unit), Balbano (disaster), harpies (equipping with bombs)

Pet:

Pochi (tactical bombing), Messerschmitt (aboard a flight), Schwartz (horse)

Citizens: 220,000 (uncertain in wartime)

Major Cities – Rafen: 40,000. Lintbloom: 7000. Special Cultivation District: 14,000.

Rafen Defense Force:

Security: 150 men

Guards: 500 men

Volunteer Soldiers/ Recruits: 16 000 men

Under Protagonist: 28 250

Escort Unit: 130 ⇒ 120

Infantry: 14 000 ⇒ 12 000

Cavalry: 1500 ⇒ 1300

Archers: 1500 ⇒ 1400

Cannoneers: 450

Bow Cavalry: 10 000 ⇒ 9000

Aless Soldiers: 3990 ⇒ 3980

Cannons: 60, Large Cannons: 30, Dwarven Cannons: 16, Field Artillery: 20, Chariots: 50

On Their Own

Aless Soldiers: 10 000

Assets: 100 000 gold

Sexual Partners: 782, children who have been born: 68 + 565 + ???