CH 214

Chapter 214 – The Battle Is Over

Holy Kingdom’s POV

Stunned. If I had to describe my feelings, this would be the only word I would use to describe them.

The army I led to defeat was a powerful one, without any exaggeration. Trained elite soldiers, holy knights blessed by God, and mages. Excellent subordinates and ample supplies. It was a force that was not inadequate for defeating a rebel army of a single country, or rather, it should have been too much.

I had been secretly tasked with using this holy army gifted to me by His Majesty the Holy King and His Eminence the Pope to eliminate the lowly subhumans with overwhelming force and make an example of them to those who plot rebellion by taking advantage of the war against the abominable Empire, and I had been given the power to do just that.

“How did this happen…?”

In my cell, I held my head tightly. When I closed my eyes, the hellish scene flashed through my mind. I could not even imagine what kind of tactics had been used at the scene of that horrific battlefield.

The shields of the heavily armed infantry had been smashed to bits. The elite soldiers were dismembered as if they had been run over by an ogre. The dead were so broken up that it was impossible to tell exactly how many had died, all of them human. The scene was exactly like that of a river of blood and corpses.

“O, God…”

What was I supposed to do? All I could do was quickly express my willingness to surrender.

I had no idea what the enemy’s attack was. But at an alarming rate, the soldiers were being crushed and ground into meat. According to the stories of prisoners of war who had been returned before the war began, when weapons of a shape they had never seen before burst into flames, their comrades were crushed as if chewed by invisible fangs.

The attack of the abominable bird-women was still understandable. It was obvious at a glance that something cylindrical they had dropped had exploded. Still, the power of that thing was out of my control, but it was still understandable. It must have been a disposable magic tool or something.

But I don’t understand that thing that crushed the soldiers on the front line. What in the world was that thing? Since I don’t know what it is, there is no way to counter it. How could a weapon smash the shields of heavily armed infantry from a distance? Looking at that scene, it is easy to imagine that it is a weapon that unleashes a countless number of attacks of such power. With countless attacks of such power, even a defensive barrier using chorus magic would have no way to prevent them.

It might be able to withstand one, two, or even ten shots. But if more than that, the defensive barrier would shatter. But before that, there was that magic tool dropped by the bird-women. That tool has the power to shatter the defensive barrier of chorus magic with a single blow. If they attack with that weapon after shattering the defensive barriers with that magic tool, there would be nothing we could do.

So, should we just lock ourselves in a fortress or a citadel? That is not the answer. If that were to happen, the enemy would rain down on us with their magic tools. I don’t think it’s so easy to mass-produce such powerful magic tools, but we shouldn’t be… so optimistic.

With those fire-breathing weapons, the bird-woman’s magic tools, and the unfamiliar vehicles, something is happening among the rebels who call themselves the Liberation Army that we don’t understand.　

I must somehow convey this to the home country, but all I can do now is pray to God that my second-in-command… who has returned to lead the soldiers, will do so.

☆★☆

“Yes, and so the subjugation army was defeated. Give us a round of applause.”

“Yay!”

“Yes, yes.”

“Yes-nodesu.”

The three slime girls clapped for us.

After returning from the battlefield, we held a small banquet to celebrate our victory. We were serving the soldiers a sumptuous feast of food and wine, which they were enjoying at a different place from ours. The soldiers who are on patrol in Merinesburg and monitoring the Holy Kingdom’s army are not so lucky, though. They are supposed to be given extra bonuses, so please bear with it.

Ifrita was watching us from a little distance with a sideways glance.

“Hey, is it true? I thought you left in the morning, but you came back in the evening and won, so I’m a bit confused.”

“It is true, you know. Without me having to draw my sword, Kosuke’s men had killed or wounded about 6,000 of the 20,000 troops in just a quarter of an hour. I only talked to the enemy commander briefly at the beginning and end of the battle and issued warnings regarding the transfer of prisoners and other matters.”

“…It all sounds like a lie.”

“I can understand why Your Highness Princess Ifrita feels that way, but it is true, you know.”

Sir Leonard shrugged his shoulders. He made it sound as if I did it all myself, but I didn’t do anything. At best, I just drove everyone around and rained down multipurpose grenades with my automatic grenade launcher. It was mainly Harpy’s bombing squad and the gunners who did the hard work. The gunners, especially, might need some extra mental care. I’ll talk to Ms. Zamir about it later. Or maybe Sir Leonard.

After defeating the Holy Kingdom’s army, treating the wounded, and taking prisoners, we called in air boards with elite soldiers from the rear and returned to Merinesburg with the prisoners in tow. As for the retreating Holy Kingdom forces, the Harpies, gunners, and air boards of elite soldiers are following them in coordination and monitoring them to prevent deserters and others from becoming bandits.

According to the agreement at the time of retreat, any soldier who deserts the main army before leaving the territory of the Kingdom of Merinard is considered a bandit and may be disposed of. Ideally, we would like to avoid even one such group, but I am sure a good number of them will desert. I think they will die in vain, though, since almost none of them will be able to escape from the Harpies’ eyes and the mobility of the air boards. Well, I told them to feel free to contact me if they encounter any problems, so they will probably be fine.

Besides, compared to the vanguard, the damage to the rear guard, or rather the logistics, was less, and although there was some damage to supplies, the fire did not spread. Fortunately or unfortunately, the number of people in the group was greatly reduced, so there seemed to be enough supplies to return to the Holy Kingdom, according to their calculations. At least they would not be stranded due to a lack of supplies.

“What will happen now?”

“Well, I don’t know if it will be a diplomatic battle or if they will send more forces to help their men… but in any case, I don’t think this is the end.”

“I see… let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, Sylphy.”

“Yes, Dri-aneesama.”

Ifrita asked Sir Leonard to explain today’s battle while Sylphy was discussing the future with Driada-san, Aquawill-san, and Seraphita-san over there.

“To that extent?”

“Yes, it was a tremendous scene. I am ashamed to say that it was so terrifying.”

“The power of the weapons Kosuke creates is amazing. But while Kosuke likes to make things, he doesn’t like to actually use them to hurt anything. He’d rather be making fields, clothes, food, and other useful tools for people.”

Over there, it seems that Isla has joined Archbishop Deckard, High Priestess Katerina, and the Adol religion group that includes Ellen, in talking about me. I’m indeed far more comfortable making something than killing people. I don’t mind making weapons, though. I like to make a lot of things in preparation for something, and that includes weapons. I enjoy being prepared for any eventuality.

“Kosuke.”

“Hmm?”

I heard a voice and turned to see Grande standing beside me. I was in a state of undignified dignity as I was somehow entangled with Lime and forced to sit in the Lime chair.

Behind my head is a soft headrest, not boobs. It’s nice, though?

“What’s up?”

“Hmm…”

I don’t know what it was, but Grande climbed up on me sitting on the Lime chair, held my head to her thin chest, and started stroking my head with her burly, clawed hands. Is this some kind of new type of scalp massage?

“What’s really going on?”

“Mother said that a good woman comforts a man coming home from battle.”

“I see. Well, I’m not so damaged this time, though.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…”

But Grande doesn’t seem to intend to stop groping my head. It hurts a little, but it’s rare for Grande to spoil me like this, so I’ll just let her do it. Hah, but I feel like it’s calming me down. It hurts a little. I’m repeating it because it’s important.

And so, I was spoiled by Grande and the three slime girls throughout the banquet.