Chapter 31

Published

at 21st of March 2020 03:37:30 PM

Chapter 31

Zweit von Solisthea . A former student of a certain middle-aged magician uncle, and the eldest son of the House of the Duke of Solisthea, as well as its heir . He is well aware of that fact, and because of that, he’s diligent and serious in his studies .   

Sponsored Content

Currently, he’s partic.i.p.ating in his faction’s tactics a.s.sembly, that is to say, the Weissler faction .   However, he was feeling that the discussion happening in front of his eyes was far removed from reality .  

“Therefore, if we place the knights at this point, and spread out our magicians’ magic attacks, the enemy will be caught in a pincer a.s.sault . ”

“But, would that actually work? Since the enemy is also human, they would immediately see through such a simple tactic, in my opinion . ”

“And that’s exactly why it would be effective . You might ask ‘why are we using the knights for, then?’ Am I correct? Well, obviously as disposable p.a.w.ns!”

“Those guys would probably act taking into account their own exhaustion, don’t you think? It’s also a question of whether we can arrange our battle formations before that or not . ”

They’ve gathered to discuss a particular hypothetic case, and to design some kind of ‘simulation’ regarding the best way to attack and take by storm the enemy encampment, however, in this place there are only supposed to be personages with ample knowledge of military tactics, yet they were quibbling at each other over the smallest things . Moreover, although they are making plausible conjectures, none of them have experienced a real battle .  

“Zweit, what do you think about this?”

“Dio, we’re discussing tactics, right? In that case, shouldn’t we call the knights as well, given that they probably understand the battlefield better than any of us?”

As he said those words, the air of the room seemed to freeze . It’s not a secret that the current relationship between the Chivalric Order and magicians is like that of cats and dogs, so it’s unlikely that either side would accept such an invitation . To say nothing of the rest of the Weissler faction’s members, who believe in only trusting their own strength . His words could be taken as a grave insult to their pride .   

“Why do we have to invite the knights? They can’t do anything without our support in the first place . ”

“One can’t wage a war alone . There has to be a thorough back and forth during the tactics’ discussion between the many commanders we have . One person’s opinion should only be that, lest the battle progresses in a disadvantageous way . ”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s unlikely the knights will listen to us, you know?”

“Then, is there even a point in having these kinds of discussions here in the first place? No matter how much we try to devise strategies and the like, the knights will be the ones to execute them in an actual battle, and most importantly, we’re a.s.suming that the enemy’s movements are practically nonexistent . ”

“Really? I think they’re devising the strategy quite skillfully though . ”

Even his friend, Dio, wasn’t aware of this tactics discussion’s tremendous flaw . After returning from Far-flung forest, which is said to be the most dangerous place in the country, it seemed to Zweit that this debate was meaningless .

“Well then, let me ask this –Why are enemies and allies always evenly matched in military strength? Even equipment and supplies, and the number of soldiers? In the previous situation, we had an overwhelming advantage over the enemy . ”

“That’s… because war basically consists of ama.s.sing a military force equal to your enemy’s, right?”

“Dude… listen here, there’s no way such a convenient situation ever happens in the first place! Also, the number of soldiers available depends on things like the political situation and the time of the year, as well as the scale of the country, you know? Based on that, the strategy to be used might change in a drastic way . It’s highly unlikely to ever have a military force evenly matched to the enemy’s, and that they’ll also move according to how we want them to . ”

“Then, what’s your point? I get what you’re saying, but I’m not sure where you’re going with this . ”

“They’re not antic.i.p.ating the worst-case scenario . They a.s.sume from the start that we’re going to win and that the enemy will move according to their predictions . Does it really make sense to have this sort of discussion then?”

This was the current state of the Weissler faction . After all, they’re a gathering of graduate students that have never experienced something as h.e.l.lish as war, and thus they can’t imagine the worst-case scenario .

“So, how would you allocate the troops to face the enemy nation’s army, huh? Please enlighten us . ”

“Hmmm… Then, imagine if a widespread famine suddenly struck the neighboring country, the general prices of food will rise exponentially and people will eventually die because of it . Their army’s numbers will increase as a whole, and then they will invade our country to plunder its riches . Adding the populace into their military strength, that country’s total amount of soldiers would increase by… let’s say 10 times .  

And naturally, as it was a surprise attack, we wouldn’t be able to grasp the enemy army’s movements . ”

The surrounding students, who overheard Zweit and Dio’s conversation immediately kicked up a fuss after hearing the hypothetic enemy’s invasion plan . Until now, they’ve never considered an invasion force with ten times the numbers . Moreover, Zweit’s surprise tactics idea was equally as shocking .  

To sum it up, an invasion at the scale of a whole army will begin, and things like foodstuffs will immediately be plundered .

On top of such a terrible situation, no one could promptly create a plan to counter the hypothetic enemy .

“Preposterous! That’s just baseless speculation!!”

“Why is it ‘preposterous’? From the enemy nation’s point of view, it’s better to plunder the neighboring country than to let its people starve, and above all, they’ll be able to expand their territory .

Alliances are, after all, nothing more than words on a paper, that sort of thing can’t be trusted when push comes to shove . When that happens, the invaded countries will definitely be destroyed, wouldn’t you agree?”

“T-That’s…”

“So? How would you guys resolve this situation? While you make your petty complaints about my ideas the invasion continues, the people are killed and your property is seized . You’re required to make quick decisions and take immediate action . ”

They were unable to devise a suitable plan to beat Zweit’s enemy invasion scenario . They could only imagine a battle they were a.s.sured to win, and couldn’t come up with an emergency strategy on the spot . Namely, a strategy the a.s.sumes the worst-case scenario and practical application in a real battle .  

“By the way, I’d leave behind half of my soldiers to defend Fort Laos . I’d use other troops like knights and mercenaries to help evacuate the people from the battlefield while collecting and burning all the food we can find to starve the enemy at the same time . Thereupon, saving a large percentage of people . ”

“But that would make us lose the majority of our territory!!”

“The country wouldn’t be saved!”

“It would be incredibly difficult for the enemy to take Fort Laos . And because they would be starving at the same time, the war front will naturally have to be expanded for them to secure a supply line, which we will then be attacking every time a convoy is sent . Their country will fall to ruin before we even finish evacuating the people . ”

It wasn’t a strategy to win but to destroy the enemy nation . Their constant plundering would slow down the speed of their invasion, giving the defending side enough time to evacuate its citizens .  

In addition, because of the need to secure provisions for their soldiers, the invading side wouldn’t be able to disperse their forces, thus eliminating the need of having to face their whole army at once .   

And, to effectively implement said strategy, it would be required to have a solid grasp on the country’s information, and keep a military force that’s able to be deployed at any given time .  

Incidentally, in this hypothetic strategy, the magicians are sent to the frontlines to burn down the food supplies with their magic .

“What nonsense is this!? Why should we be on the frontlines!?”

“Burn down our food supplies to starve the enemy? Magicians on the frontlines? What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?”

“The knights are for carrying the oil and other supplies, right? Hahaha!”

“Do you think it’s possible to do that in case of an emergency? We’d be able to burn at most 10% of the supplies, don’t you think?”

Sponsored Content

“But even so, for knights to use magic is…”

“Oi, that’s like saying we don’t need magicians anymore, you know? If were knights to learn to use magic, there wouldn’t be a reason for us to exist . In the first place, magicians aren’t suitable to be sent to the frontlines . ”

Everyone was at a loss of words . Zweit’s hypothetical war scenario was the worst conceivable thing for them, requiring them to be quick-witted and to swiftly take action to beat it .  

If were the King’s command, the magicians wouldn’t be able to avoid being deployed on the frontlines, and also wouldn’t be able to use the simplistic tactics they’ve been using up until now .  

“War is the most detrimental policy to have, but do you really think you’ll be able to stay in the backlines launching small magics attacks forever? How naive you guys are! In some situations, you can expect to starve, and for the sake of things like preserving your stamina and securing food, all sorts of different abilities are needed .

But you guys already knew all this, right? Having these sorts of discussions, again, do they actually matter? Even though there are more ways of waging a war other than simply pushing our troops forward towards the enemy . What do you think about this area here? we can completely cut off and isolate the enemy’s forces, for example . ”

It was an acceptable opinion . A graduate student, who’s never experienced a real war, can’t imagine such a disastrous situation .  

War is like a living creature, and victory or defeat is only clear once one side has killed the other .  

(*T . N: I didn’t really get what the author meant; 戦争は生き物であり、勝敗がハッキリ分かれる殺し合いなのだ。)

The people tasked with the country’s protection couldn’t help being anxious at their future prospects .

“ Zweit! Those are quite the self-important words you’re spewing for someone who hasn’t experienced a real war . ”

“That’s true, I haven’t been in a war, but I have experienced real combat . When monsters destroyed our food supplies, we had to survive for four days… inside Far-flung forest . ”

“““!?”””

“At that time I realized… that you not only need the knowledge but also the skill and experience to survive in harsh conditions…”

It was a special kind of dreadfulness that people who haven’t experienced real combat wouldn’t understand . With that in mind, Zweit has been earnestly preparing to deal with such situations in the future .

“I understand that you’re trying to gain control of the Chivalric Order, but that’s impossible right now, isn’t it? And also, it’s true that since we’re only shooting magic from the back, we might hit our allies on the battlefield, but since they’re merely disposable p.a.w.ns, I don’t see why we should bestow them with more authority . ”

“You really said they were your disposable p.a.w.ns, right? You son of a b.i.t.c.h!?”

“They’re a disorderly mob that would have no other use than being an artillery battery . Because of that, they’ll probably only be a hindrance, will a knight that has learned magic truly be useful in a battle?  Besides… I wonder how many of our people will they really protect at the end of the day, don’t you think so?”

“Right! W-We can use powerful magic! Are you saying that we can’t even protect our own bodies!?”

“And when you can’t use magic to attack after exhausting your mana, or when it’s about to run out? You have to also think about a situation where you have to make do without magic potions, and where you won’t be able to obtain supplies . In the end, magicians who aren’t skilled in close-quarters combat will definitely end up dead . And actually, I would’ve died if a magician acquaintance of mine wasn’t there to rescue at that time . ”

“Then, as expected, magic is truly incredible!”

“That person was cleaving monsters in half only with his sword, you know? Despite being a magician too . He protected me by slashing them left and right, and before we went to the forest, he even said ‘magicians without any proficiency in hand-to-hand combat are destined to die on the battlefield, you know?’”

“““・・・・・・・・・・・”””

No matter how much they discuss this impractical, imaginary case, chances are that reality would be completely different . Tactics are important, but it’s the humans themselves who are in charge of executing them, and there’s no way of successfully organizing a defensive formation when the different army units have no intention of cooperating with each other, to begin with .

It’s often the case to be isolated on the battlefield, with no possibility of maintaining constant and reliable communication with each other, and in addition, the inept implementation of poorly thought-out tactics is more than likely to amplify the damages to one’s own side .   

Zweit took the contents of all the precedent pseudo-tactics they had discussed so far, pointing out in detail every aspect that was flawed, and refuting all the plans the other graduate students made . His words thrashed their confidence from the roots by way of sound and logical arguments and counterarguments .  

In the end, the meeting lasted for three more hours .  

“I think it’s better to differentiate the magicians who fight on the battlefield from those who dedicate themselves to magical research . As things are today, only half-baked magicians are being formed, and there’s no way they’d be useful in a real war .

I’m not particularly criticizing the existence of the factions, you know? However, we also need to objectively reexamine our current situation . ”

“… Kuh… Even though you said you only real combat once… yet you’re acting all high and mighty . ”

(*T . N: I didn’t know how to translate it properly into English, but this ‘once’ implies one occurrence or experience in general, not that he only fought one time against one monster in particular . )

“Yeah, it might look that way from the point of view of you guys, but during this summer vacation, was there a time where your lives were truly in danger? Having to kill monster after monster… I experienced h.e.l.l during those four days .

We had to hunt to survive, but we encountered endless waves of monsters . Even after defeating one, there was another one following right behind it . The lookouts were changed every hour but still, everyone ended up beat up when a swarm of monsters appeared, rinse and repeat for four days .

It was supposed a week-long training camp, but I realized how lucky I was to survive after I returned back home . I experienced h.e.l.l and I started to wake up at the slightest noise at night . Only recently I’ve been able to sleep well . ”

“““・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・”””

It was a horrible event for him . He underwent a real battle only once, but in all honesty, it was a terribly hard and h.e.l.lish experience to go through . It’s not something students would experience first hand .  

It was more dangerous than monster hunting, which was the usual training method for the Chivalric Order, and even a single moment of carelessness could prove to be fatal .

“The previous training I went through really helped me out, you know? Thanks to it, I could keep my composure and carefully a.n.a.lyze the situation after I ran out of mana . I have pretty much experienced every situation . ”

He recalls the h.e.l.lish training that his mentor put him through . Without the combat training against the Golems with regenerative abilities, he wouldn’t be alive today . He made use of that experience inside Far-flung forest, and despite struggling, he could feel becoming stronger from it . And he also remembers the exhilarating sensation he was feeling before, on the last day, waiting for the enemies to come .

“Hmph! It’s true that a magician that has actual battle experience is valuable, but with the wide-range annihilation magic that our faction is currently researching, there’s no need to fear the likes of those commoners . ”

“That… Yes, that might be so, but have you managed to successfully develop it? For that kind of magic to be used by a single magician, they would have to process an enormous magic formula to activate it . And besides, a person with enough mana to do so probably doesn’t exist, to begin with . You should stop before turning your magicians into cripples . ”

“The h.e.l.l you know, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! That magic formula is our faction’s masterpiece, I won’t stand for this mockery!”

“No, if you think calmly, it’s impossible to activate such a spell with the mana capacity of a human . And even if you could, how and where would you place such a ridiculously huge magic circle?”

“That is… It’s engraved into the brain, of course…”

“That’s impossible . There’s a limit on the number of spells a person can memorize, and said capacity will decrease faster depending on the density of the spell’s magic formula . You would have to increase your levels if you want to improve the capacity, and a magician that hasn’t experienced actual combat would also have a low mana capacity . At the very least they’d need a level over 1000 to use that kind of magic . Who would be able to use it?”

Their research of wide-range annihilation magic was flawed from its very foundations . The amount of mana a person needs to activate such a magic formula would be colossal, which again, it’s close to impossible, and even if for argument’s sake there was someone capable, as a prerequisite they would first need to have a magician with a level of over 1000 .

Sponsored Content

Even if they say that their research is not a futile endeavor, it will still end as a failure given that the theory itself is flawed . To begin with, the magic construction process of Zeros is fundamentally different .  

In his former world, he connected the gaming console with his homebuilt personal computer, using it as a dedicated server to compensate for the former’s lack of processing capacity . The magic could be used thanks to the processing power of the original master system, the supercomputer ‘Babel’, and because of that, the time and effort required to activate magic in this world would be several times higher than in j.a.pan .  

When he was reincarnated into this world, he was recreated using his in-game avatar as a base, and only the magic formulas already etched into his brain could be used, but to recreate them now, it would take a significant amount of work .

Up until now, the amount of information contained in the formula of an annihilation magic spell wasn’t something the human brain could withstand . Zeros’ annihilation magic incorporates a high-speed-processing-formula system into the spell’s own magic formula . That way, the user only has to point towards the enemy and pour in the necessary amount of mana to activate the formula . And as a matter of fact, in this world, it was impossible to create magic formulas made out of 0s and 1s . Only this middle-aged magician would be able to make something like that .

He made a formula processing system, which used the existing magic characters, and ran it on his computer . Subsequently, the high-speed processing CPU is tasked with transforming said characters into 0s and 1s and creating a system with an enormous processing power by repeating this process over and over . However, whether the person in question was willing to make it again was another story altogether .  

In short, there wasn’t a single human capable of using wide-range annihilation magic at this point in time other than Zeros .

Because Zweit had been observed this super high-cla.s.s, half-hearted magician from up close, he immediately realized how inexperienced the people in front of him were .

“Instead of clinging to something you don’t know if it will ever be useful, I think it’d be more useful to train and temper yourselves . ”

“You… This is an insult to my faction!”

“That’s not the case, I’m just saying that I’m the only magician currently capable to stand for this country . Saying treason this, betrayal that… What sort of authority do you have to declare that, Samtroll*?”

(*T . N:サムトロール[samutorouru]; Yeah, that’s this dude’s name . I have no clue if it’s supposed to be a pun or not . It kinda sounds like the city’s name tho サントール[santouru])

“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…!”

“You’re wrong about one thing . This is not ‘your’ faction, it’s ours . Get some self-awareness, this here is not your personal property, you know?” 

Samtroll’s stern face was reddened, and he was desperately trying to endure his rage . He was the second son of the House of the Marquess of Weissler and had the ambition of becoming the faction’s leader in the future . However, because of his hot-headed and belligerent personality, one couldn’t say he was a person with many virtues .  

He wanted to obtain control of the faction from the shadows, but he crashed against the wall known as the eldest son of the Duke of Solisthea .  

Originally, he was supposed to use his influence to strengthen the faction’s power, but he ended up wallowing in his self-conceitedness . He used various behind-the-scenes maneuvers to win Zweit over, but it all ended up as wasted time after this summer vacation since he emerged as a powerful rival .

He’s feeling impatient because, at this rate, the faction might be completely controlled by him .

“What good is a weak magician . Leave researching to the Saint-Germain faction . We should improve our own strength and organize our country’s domestic situation . That way, if there’s a war, we won’t be crushed . ”

“Are you saying we’re going to be defeated!? Aren’t you underestimating us a bit too much?”

“It’s a fact . Can you really say that, while we were fighting among ourselves for political power, other countries hadn’t been increasing their national power?”

*** You are reading on https://www.novelhall.com/ ***

Zweit calmly receives Samtroll’s glare . At this point, it was clear the difference in character .  

*** You are reading on https://www.novelhall.com/ ***