CH 84

Chapter 84 – Forerunner of The Start of The War

I step into a desolate town in a Humvee.

It is a three-way junction where the road connecting the empire and the kingdom intersects with the liaison road to Casemaian. It is a ruin located three miles (less than five kilometers) toward the empire side from where there was once a battle with the imperial army detachment. It was not visible on our previous trip because of its location at the end of the road. It is said to have prospered as a post town when Casemaian was prosperous, but now the side roads connecting the town and the road were covered with bushes, and the town itself was about to be buried in the forest.

“Be careful; we are in the wild west.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about in the last half, but I understand the atmosphere.”

We had heard from the winged tribe on airborne surveillance that an advance unit of the Imperial Army was working on something, so we headed over to check it out.

My companions were Myrril-san, who was holding a UZI in the passenger seat, and Minya, who was in high spirits in the gun turret.

I don’t particularly care, but she really put elf-like ears on the side mirrors, making it hard to see and making wind noise when I speed up, and it’s really depressing. I wonder if I can’t take them off.

The shape of this thing is strangely realistic, and it shines like a sword. The fact that it is fixed so tightly also makes me uneasy.

“Hey, Minya. These ears…”

“It’s good, isn’t it? I had Heimann-jiichan carve it out of steel. It’s got a blade on the edge so you can slash your enemies as you pass by.”

“Scary! And this is steel. I wouldn’t pass by an enemy this close!”

“Shh! Something’s coming!”

What is it, though, could only be the enemy. In fact, it was a cavalryman who appeared, apparently a scout for the Imperial Army. They may have been alerted by the sound of our exhaust, but they had already drawn their swords.

With the momentum of the scramble through the bushes, the horse that passed us made contact with a vehicle over two meters in height and was slashed to pieces. The horse neighs briefly, and the soldier lets out a high-pitched scream.

“See?”

See, that ain’t right. The cavalryman, whose leg was severed at the thigh, tumbled down, spewing blood, while the horse was ripped open and its guts overflowed. Walking unsteadily, the horse falls over on its side and doesn’t even twitch.

…Oof. If this was intended, then it’s a very devilish idea. It would have been a threat if we had passed each other in a place where there was no escape, but I had never thought that such a situation really existed.

The first thing that happened was a group of light infantrymen and mages rushed into the street after hearing the screams, and nearly ten men froze and were hit in the eyeballs by a .45-caliber round fired by Myrril-san, and fell down.

I’ve given strict orders to Minya not to shoot anyone but the armored and the Golem, as the 7.62mm NATO rounds are bare. It is over-specified (mainly in terms of cost) to shoot living creatures.

“…I’m bored.”

“Being bored on the battlefield is a luxury I can’t afford.”

In the direction from which the infantry came out, there were remnants of a brick building that may have been a church, with three bronze mortars mounted at their bases, facing diagonally. The direction they were aiming for was around the passageway leading to Casemaian. It seemed that they intended to strike a blow when we sent out our troops.

Compared to the kingdom’s army, they seemed to have a little more brains to think. They said they could at least prepare weapons (even though Rinko had made the original plan). In response to their efforts, I made a booby trap out of a hand grenade. I set it so that the entire barrel explodes when it gets close to the mortar, stores the bodies, and returns to Casemaian.

As we cross the bridge again and enter the plains, the Dwarven tankmen peek out of the hatches, looking bored.

“Are the tanks ready to go yet?”

“I suspect it will take another day or two.”

“Yoshua, the winged tribe has a message for you. The head of the mounted golem force is three miles away from the junction…”

Boom, a heavy sound is transmitted from far away. It seems that they have caught on to our trap.

We could see smoke rising in the distance, probably from the jerry cans I had planted there.

“All hands, prepare for battle!”

Now, the long-awaited tank battle against a giant robot (a golem, actually) begins.