CH 183

Conditions for a hero

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by Zil

After a forced march, the cavalry led by Raidorl arrived at the western border region.

Upon arriving, Raidorl with his generals Darren Garst, the thousand-horse chief, Saara Leifet, Justy Oigist, and ……an Ero maid, with a force of 3,000 cavalry. They are followed by 5,000 infantry, but their arrival will still take a few days.

On their way here, they passed many displaced people on the road.

The former inhabitants of this land were thin and pale, and were fleeing eastwards at a slow pace.

Their faces were as pale as a sick man’s, as if they had been through something terrible, and their eyes were devoid of life.

“Oh,……! You’ve come, Your Highness Raidorl….!”

Raidorl was greeted by a soldier who had been a subordinate of Usuta Gordo, the captain of the thousand men who had come to the land with a distant view of the Fernigesh Range, the border mountain range separating the two countries.

“Well, well, you’ve come…Geho! Gohogoho …!”

“Hey, are you alright? Stay with me!”

When the young, thin soldier saw Raidorl’s face, his eyes filled with tears and he coughed on the spot.

Raidorl hurriedly ordered his men to treat the soldier and gave him a drink of water while he listened to his story.

“Do you have the energy left to report?　Do your duty as a survivor.”

As much as Raidorl would have liked to give the wounded and exhausted soldiers a rest, he was in the middle of a war. The freshness of information often determines the outcome of a battle. He had to hear what the soldiers had to say, no matter what.

“No problem. I can talk……!”

The soldier, in a faltering tone, recounted the events he had seen and heard here.

The report was, until halfway through, the same as what he had heard from the soldier who had been sent to the palace as a messenger.

What Raidorl doesn’t know was half of the story. The end that followed Usuta Gordo.

“Captain Gordo sent some young men, including myself, to a neighbouring village, where we holed up in a fort to meet the enemy. After seven days and seven nights of fighting, he set fire to the fort. When I returned to see what was the matter, the fort was already on fire. The captain probably also ……”

“I see…”

Although Raidorl ordered Gordo to be the captain of a thousand men, it is not clear that they had much conversation. He was one of Raidorl’s subordinates but was not close enough to him to be a close associate like Darren or Sven.

But……When he heard the report of the loss of life of his men who had been sent to the West by his orders, he felt a searing pain in his heart.

“……Gordo was Baron Eladin’s man, wasn’t he? The thought of having to talk to Shirley makes me uneasy.”

Shirley Eladine is the daughter of Baron Eladin, and currently works as a servant in the royal household.

She was born with the power of enchantment in her magical eye, although her body was young and unfeminine.

She entertains and charms male visitors to the palace and extracts valuable information from them, playing an active role in the background.

“Whenever she gets the chance, she would try to sneak into my bedroom. She seems to have inherited all the bad parts from that erotic maid, but ……she’s still my subordinate. I didn’t want to see her sad if I could help it.”

“… Gordo’s death will be avenged. Keep reporting.”

“Ha….. The hordes of undead that have fallen from their strongholds seem to have split up into two groups, one to the north and one to the south, and are attacking the villages and towns of the western region. They are slow on the uptake and thanks to early evacuation advisories, no major damage has been done, but there have been casualties from villagers who have failed to flee.”

“…… So where is the enemy now?”

“Few soldiers have followed them and they are probably now at …….”

The soldiers spoke of the western border area, on the north and south roads.

Both of them are not far from this place, but even so, to attack both of them at the same time, you need to divide your forces into two.

“If possible, we would like to destroy each of them individually, not spread out our forces. ……”

“But …… that could allow the enemy to pass to the rear later.”

Raising an opinion from the side was Darren Garst, who had become a general in the army of the Kingdom of Zain.

“From what Lady Neimilia has told us, both of the enemy armies must be in excess of 10,000 men. They may not be very well trained, but they will be very difficult to defeat in a short time. While we are killing one enemy, the other may catch up with the refugees in the rear.”

“Hm…”

The image of people evacuating with the gait of a sick man flashed through Raidorl’s mind.

The undead seem to be slow, but they can keep moving without getting tired. Eventually they will catch up with the refugees.

“……If we were to destroy them individually, we would be abandoning the refugees in the rear. But isn’t it suicidal to split a unit in two?”

“That’s right. Even though the undead are not very good at fighting, we have only 3,000.  The enemies to the north and south are each over 10,000 strong. If we spread out our forces carelessly, we will be swallowed up by sheer numbers…….The best thing to do in this situation is to abandon the refugees.”

Darren frowned, but made his point clearly.

“Depending on the strength of the [Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse], if we can defeat the enemies in the north and south in turn without compromising……our strength, we will be able to win the war. Perhaps we will not be defeated if we abandon the refugess.”

The army of the Undead are divided into North and South. Whichever side they attack first, the latter will catch up with the refugees in the rear and slaughter them.

However, the infantry troops are still following behind the cavalry troops led by…..Raidorl, so the enemy cannot penetrate further into the Kingdom of Zain. If necessary, cavalry and infantry troops can attack the enemy between them.

The decision to abandon the refugees is all that is needed to win this battle.

“It’s not …… bad. I guess it’s not …… a bad idea.”

Raidorl sighed deeply.

It is not enough to be a good ruler. A person who stands above others sometimes has to make cruel decisions.

If Raidorl wants to be sure of a victory, he should accept Darren’s advice and try to destroy the enemy individually.

“No, you can’t! There’s no way that’s possible!”

A voice of protest arose.

It was Neferte Athena, the crown prince of the kingdom of Athena, who uttered a voice that cut through the atmosphere.

Raidorl hadn’t planned to bring Neferte along on this expedition, but in summoning Justy Oigist, the news of the undead attack came to the ears of Neferte, who was being escorted by Justy.

The undead who destroyed his country have come to the kingdom of Zain, where he has fled.

When Neferte found out, he made a quick decision to join the expedition, forcing Justy to accompany him.

“Those who have been killed by the undead will become undead as well!　We can’t allow the people of this country to suffer the same fate as the people of Athena!”

“His Highness Neferte …”

Justy’s face turns painful as Neferte tearfully complains.

In the meantime, Neferte, with all eyes on him, continued to express his feelings.

“I am an incompetent Prince. I abandoned my people, I abandoned my father, and I could only escape to this country alone. But……Your Highness, Raidorl, you are not! You are the hero chosen by the holy sword, do not abandon your people! Please don’t give the people the same despair as the people of Athena….!”

“…… Your Highness Raidorl. I would like to ask you to do the same. I hope you will reconsider.”

Justy also bows his head to Neferte, who expresses his grief.

“I am aware of the sacrifices that must be made to ensure victory. As the Regent of the country, I can only express my deepest sympathies for the suffering of His Highness. But please do not abandon the people who are fleeing….Please…..!”

“Oi,oi…you’re making me look like a bad guy.”

Raidorl return to his regular face and laughed at Neferte and Justy, who appealed to him.

When did these two become such good friends Raidorl wondered, and thrust out his fist.

“I’m not going to abandon the refugees from the start. It should be us warriors who die in battle. We must not sacrifice the innocent.”

“That means….”

“Aaa”

At Neferte’s clinging gaze, Raidorl nodded vigorously.

“The enemy army will be destroyed. We’re going to help the refugees, we’re going to do both, we’re going to be heroes! It’s going to be a tough road, so be prepared!”