Volume 2 - CH 10.1

Some time has passed again since the secret meeting between the King and Olympia ended, and it is almost time for winter to end. Olympia is back in the country, spreading information about the Demon Empire and also planning the internal collapse of the Evarts' faction. However, the forces of the Demon Empire have already made preparations and will soon resume their war against the kingdom. This information has been passed on to the king through Sophie.

The kingdom was also able to start preparing supplies and securing troops early on in preparation for the coming war, so the preparations were completed without delay. All that remained for both sides was to wait for the battle to begin. In the midst of the tense atmosphere, information finally came in that the forces of the Demon Empire had made their move.

It seems that they have sent out an army of 10,000 men, more than the previous fortress battle, to retake the Istrian fortress. There are currently about five hundred soldiers in the fort, but the difference in strength is hopeless. Even if you take into account the strength of the fort, it's impossible to defend it.

However, there is Elle there. Recently, her skill in magic has improved to the point where she can shoot tactical level magic without error. Even I would have a hard time defeating her, so the Demon Empire would have almost no chance of winning.

However, the kingdom seems to be planning to leave the fort and set up a front in the plains. It is unlikely that a kingdom with an inferior number of troops would challenge a battle in the plains, but the demons of the Demon Empire would be quite fierce in a place where the range of battle is narrow. If that's the case, they probably think it's safer to use a terrain where they can kill them with a single volley of fire.

It is true that if they are going to send in the dragons, it is more convenient for them to be in the plains where they have a clear view and can easily fight in groups.

The three heroes, with the exception of Fairis, will be on the front lines. Fairis is in charge of the first aid team again this time. This time, I was forced to lead a mixed force of magicians and Leshiana's elves into battle. To be honest, I don't think I can command them to match their abilities, but I can handle most situations by myself, so I should be fine. In the first place, when I'm in it, this battle is bound to be won by us.

The only thing that is bothering me is that Elle hasn't come back to royal capital. I thought I heard that Elle was supposed to come back before the end of winter, but it seems she is still at the fort, despite the fact that she never misses a regular call and is still complaining about working at the fort.

(Elle, can you hear me?)

( ...... Master? What is it?)

I sent a telepathic to Elle to test it out, and she came up with the telephatic without any problems, but I couldn't feel any magical response from the magical tools Elle had. Elle's magical tool reactions had become harder to catch since she had improved her ability to generate magical barriers, but lately I hadn't been able to detect any reactions at all. I'm glad to see that her skills are improving, but I'm also a little worried.

(What is the situation in the fort now?)

(As I told you a while ago, it's the same as before, except that the Kingdom's army is building a camp to intercept the Demon Empire's army on the plains a little further ahead.)

El's report is in line with the current situation. It seems that she's indeed in the fort. I've never been unsure of her whereabouts before, so it seems I'm getting restless without this kind of confirmation.

(Why don't you come back to royal capital soon?)

(Right, well, eventually. I have other things to do right now. I can't wait to meet you, Master.)

(I see. Then you'd better finish your business and come back soon. The situation is unstable these days.)

I can't tell her that her recent behavior is somewhat suspicious, so I encourage her to return to the mansion with safe words. I have a feeling that in the past she would have thrown away her work to come back, but since she's packed in the fort under orders from the kingdom, it's frustrating that I can't force her to return.

Just as I cut off communication with Elle, I received news from the King. It seems that the Demon Empire's army is advancing, and we should go out immediately. We have an army waiting near the border now, so even if we say we're going out, it's only the four of us heroes who are still in royal capital who are going. It's a hassle to be seen by Sagami and Fairis, but it's faster to fly by transfer.

I can shorten my time by a few days, and when I'm leisurely preparing for my departure with Tia, Sophie and Natalia arrived. They seemed to have come to greet me before my departure.

「Yard-sama, are you sure that this battle will be all right ......?」

「It's all right, the odds are very good. With the strength of the other heroes, there's no way we can lose.」

「I see. ...... You can run away if it's dangerous, but please make sure you come back.」

「That's not good enough, Sophie. Listen here, Yard, you must come back with a win. I'll never forgive you if you come back as loser, okay?」

「Oh, don't worry. I swear to you, when I come back, I'll bring news of victory.」

I'm trying to act as normal as possible, but I guess the girls will still worry about me. I'm grateful that they're worried about me. But I'm not as uptight as they think I am, so I feel bad that I'm making them worry.

I hugged them both, and then hugged Tia who had helped me get ready. It's a pity that everyone's face is clouded with worry. Let's hope they greet me with a smile when I come back.

※

When I left the mansion and headed for the castle, the other three had already gathered. These guys are so serious that they always act fast. It seems like I'm always the last one to arrive when the heroes gather.

「You're late, Yard-dono.」

「I'm sorry. Is everyone ready to go?」

「Yes, I've been waiting for you to arrive, Yard-dono. Then let's get going.」

「Do we need to greet the king?」

「No, there's no need. He's asked us to leave without a care.」

I heard that Olympia and the others are already on the move, and there might be some problems with that. However, Olympia hasn't said anything to me, so I don't think it's interfering with our plans.

「If we head there now, we should be able to get there before the two armies clash.」

「About that, I have a magic that can transfer us to the area destination. If we don't have much time, we can use that.」

「...... If you have such a thing, shouldn't you have used it before?」

「There are many troublesome restrictions. You all keep your eyes shut until I say it's okay.」

After confirming that everyone had closed their eyes, I hurriedly drew up a magic circle and activated it. The <Advanced Mass TransferGreater Mass Teleport> was activated, and in the next moment, we were transferred to the immediate vicinity of the fort.

「You can open your eyes now.」

The three of them opened their eyes at my words and looked surprised to find themselves in a place they had never seen before. Fairis had experienced the transition before, so she immediately guessed that this was near our destination, but Alec and Sagami looked around with stunned expressions for a while.

「This here is near Fort Istrian. It wouldn't take more than a day from here to the front lines if we used horses.」

「No, I'm always amazed at you, Yard-dono. I didn't know you could use magic like this.」

Alec taps me on the shoulder and praises me, but I don't respond because I'm not happy to be praised by a man.

「Transfer, huh, will I ever be able to use this?」

「That's impossible. The amount of magic power Sagami-dono has right now is not enough at all.」

「Oh well, it can't be helped.」

Sagami was still interested in this magic, but I refused. You never know what might happen later if you teach this technique to someone in the intelligence field.

After a few hours of renting horses at the fort, we were able to reach the place where the front line base was located. Since we had arrived more than a week earlier than planned, it seemed that the Demon Empire's army hadn't come this far yet.

Alec and Sagami had gone to the local commanders, so I decided to look for a unit to take charge of. Since it was a mixed force, there should be separate representatives for the kingdom's magicians and elves. I had a little acquaintance with the representative of the kingdom, but I hadn't met the representative of the elves yet, so I had to meet them first before I could start talking.

When I heard about the location of the mixed forces, I headed there and found a group of elves and people wearing the kingdom's magician's robes. Thinking that was probably the right group, I approached them and noticed a familiar face on the elf side as well.

「Oh, my Yard-sama. It's been a while.」

There was a High Elf who was more overwhelmingly beautiful than the surrounding Elves. No matter how you look at it, it's Elaine. She was wearing a robe that looked a little more comfortable than before, perhaps for going out. Her appearance was a bit unrefined, but it didn't bother me when I looked at her perfect beauty.

Even though I had heard that the elves of Leshiana would be participating in this mission, I hadn't expected to see a representative of them in person.

「It's been a long time. But why has Elaine been sent all the way here?　Is it okay for the representative to be out of the forest?」

「Fufu, it's my selfishness. It's boring to stay in Leshiana all the time, and I heard that Yard-sama was going to participate in the battle here. Besides, I'm the oldest of the High Elves, so I'm only a representative, but I've never officially represented the High Elves.」

She giggled like a child who'd pulled off a prank. The expression on her face was full of grace, but what she was saying was absurd. This is not the kind of behavior you would expect from someone who has signed a contract with the kingdom, but I guess it's a reaction to being cooped up in Leshiana for so long.

「This time, I was forced to join Yard-sama's unit. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of magic you, her master, will show me, since even your apprentice Elmaire used such wonderful magic.」

「I basically don't participate in battles, though.」

Well, I'm grateful that she's here. If she's so that skilled that she's more useful than all the magicians in the kingdom combined, I wouldn't stand out even if I act a little flashy.

Suddenly, I noticed that she was staring at my face. She was smiling at me with a hint of a smile.

「Yard-sama, I'm going to refrain from talking to you here because of the publicity, but I hope that we'll get a chance to be alone together again soon.」

「I don't care if you want to make a big deal out of it, but at least wait until after this battle is over, okay?」

「Sure, I think I have the common sense to do so. But what you did for me is more than I can ever repay, so please keep that in mind, okay?」

She tugged her clothes slightly with her fingers and showed me where I had implanted the nucleus. She was probably just expressing her happiness, but from the side, it looked like she was trying to sexually provoke me by showing me her breasts.

「Elaine-dono, I have just given you a warning.」

「Oh my, pardon me. I didn't mean it that way. Please forgive me.」

She apologized with her mouth, but Elaine would never think that. She was smiling at me like a child who has successfully played a prank. I wonder if she's still upset that I hasn't seen her since my visit to Leshiana.

「Anyway, let's talk about the coming battle.」

「Yes, you're right.」

After talking with her for a bit, I called the captain of the magician unit and briefly explained the policy. I don't expect them to be able to shoot magic properly, so I asked the elves to be in charge of defensive magics and the magicians to be in charge of offensive magics, leaving the former captain in charge of offense and Elaine in charge of defense.

There was no way I could give detailed instructions in battle, so I basically listened to the leader's orders during the battle and just gave him general instructions.

※

Until the arrival of the Demon Empire army, all we did was train and exercise our troop command. It was true that there was nothing else to do, but it was also impossible to conduct experiments since I didn't have the equipment to do so. After several days of wondering if they would come soon, the appearance of the Demon Empire's army was confirmed.

They were accompanied by a number of huge humanoid creatures that could be seen from a distance, and there were quite a few dragons flying in the sky. There was also a black wolves and an unfamiliar four-legged Demonic Beast as reported before, but the sheer number of Demons in the crowd was far more terrifying to the kingdom's soldiers than anything they had seen before.

There was a hopeless difference in size between giants and dragons and humans. A single swing of their arms would be enough to kill many soldiers, and our swords and bows would be easily repelled by their thick, hard skin.

If this continues, the ordinary soldiers won't be able to fight properly, so the magican unit led by me decided to crush the giant and the dragon first. To be honest, I think Elaine can handle it on her own, but if she is left to her own devices, the kingdom will owe her a lot and the magicians will lose face, so I'm asking the magicians to do their part.

I thought that with such a large difference in strength, they would attack immediately, but it seems that the Demon Empire was more cautious than I thought, and time passed as we stared at each other for a while.

Meanwhile, a scouting party appeared. They were probably looking for weapons that could pose a threat to the large creatures and the location of the magicians, but we couldn't let them know that easily either. Fortunately, we were only good enough to be caught by the magicians' detection, so we crushed them before they knew our location.

As we crushed those reconnaissance units several times, the enemy became impatient, and the Demon Empire side finally began to move. Apparently, the plan was to create a state of confusion by having only the Demon troops assault first. It's true that with allies around, it's difficult to fire large-scale magics that are effective against large creatures.

The sight of a huge army of giants and dragons attacking is quite intimidating, but the distance to the kingdom's position is quite large. The speed at which they are coming towards us is quite fast, probably because they are thinking of contacting us before they unleash their large-scale magic formula, but such a strategy is just what we want.

「Elaine, the defense team should prepare fear resistance, general-purpose defense wards, and anti-physical defense wards.」

「Yes, right away. The target is all of the Kingdom's soldiers, is that correct?」

「Yeah, that's correct.」

Hearing my words, Elaine immediately activated the magic formula. The effect on one person is small because it targets all the soldiers of the kingdom, but the soldiers who were in a state of mild confusion in front of the large creatures attacking them seem to have calmed down.

「The attacking forces should go after the dragon first. The dragons would immune to physical techniques, so use magics that can penetrate the scales' defenses to some extent, such as Cold Air and Electric Shock, and if that is not possible, target it wing membrane.」

「Understood, sir!」

At my instruction, they all started chanting at once, and one by one, they unleashed their magic towards the flock of dragons. But even if some of the attacks went through, with the speed of the dragons flying through the sky, it would not be long before they reached us.

I drew a magic circle and activated it while giving instructions to my troops. The Fourth Type of Tactical Class magic, <Delay>, is activated, and the dragons that were heading towards us at a tremendous speed stopped as if they had hit an invisible wall, and their speed dropped to the point where it was hard to tell if they were moving forward, as if they were crawling like snails.

Even the dragons that were flying with overwhelming speed become like that, and the Demon Beasts that were running on the ground were standing still as if they had completely stopped moving.

The Demon Empire army seems to be upset that the Demons have suddenly stopped moving. It seems that the enemy magicians immediately understood that the attack was based on magic, and they tried to break the spell or unleash attacking magic to weave between the Demons to defeat the magician, but for some reason, many of the magic was elementary and could not penetrate our wards, so it dissipated.

「Drop the dragon while you can. I'll hold off the Demon Beasts.」

「Understood, sir!」

One or two shots of the royal magician's magic had no effect at all, but the dragons, unable to move or even evade, were shot down by the magic in large numbers, and their numbers were decreasing rapidly.

The morale of the kingdom's soldiers has been boosted by the sight of demons being killed one after another, which would normally require dozens of high-ranking magicians to defeat it. On the contrary, there is widespread unrest among the forces of the Demon Empire at the sight of an unknown magic formula, and the archers and magicians who unleash the magic formula do not seem to be able to coordinate well.

「With the sorcerer squad holding it down, now's our chance!」

The commander gave orders to the archers, and they shot arrows one after another at the motionless dragons and giants. Thanks to their hard scales, the bows are completely ineffective against the dragons, but the giants' skin is not as hard as the dragons', so the arrows are starting to pierce them little by little, though they are not fatal.

「Don't aim for their body, or your attack will repelled! Eyes, aim for the eyes!」

As I checked towards the Demon Empire, while watching the commander shouting out instructions, the opponent unleashed all the remaining Demons they had preserved. Most of them were caught in the area of effect of the <Delay> and stopped moving, but there were a few that escaped the area of effect and approached the kingdom army.

The magic units here are desperate to take down the large creatures, and I have my hands full with controlling the magic formula, so I'll have the rest of the kingdom soldiers and Alec and the other heroes do their best here.

A fierce battle began between the vanguard troops and the Demons that had reached us. Thanks to Elaine's defensive magics, the Kingdom's army able to avoid fatal wounds from the Demons' attacks, which would normally have killed us instantly with a single blow, and we were able to fight more evenly. In the end, the Kingdom's soldiers, who were outnumbered, gradually defeated the Demons, although some were injured.

By this time, the number of dragons and giants had dwindled considerably, and the commander of the Demon Empire finally realized their absolute disadvantage and began to retreat. In the end, the number of wounded on our side was a fair number, but the result was quite a blow to the Demon troops.

Considering the reinforcements from Olympia and the others, victory would be assured at this rate.

※

The next day, the kingdom was still remaned dominant, pushing back the forces of the Demon Empire that outnumbered them. It seems that the opponents are trying to take advantage of their numbers and are attempting to assault with almost their entire army, but they are being beaten helplessly by the soldiers strengthened by magic. However, there is something strange about this. The number of magicians on the other side was obviously small.

To be precise, the number of magicians they had is greater than the kingdom, but their quality is very poor. It was as if they had mobilized even their own trainers to fight. It's not as if the Imperial Capital is under attack, but it's unthinkable to send such people to fight.

「Elaine, what do you think of the enemy magician unit?」

「Well, I think that the main force of the magician units is missing because the main magicians were placed in another direction.　The Empire can't afford to devote its defense power only to the Kingdom.」

「I hope that's the only reason.」

I have a bad feeling about this, but I can't think of any reason that would make them stop a fight that's already going on. In the end, they decided to continue the fight.

The battle continued for a while, and while the damage on the kingdom side was minimal, the damage on the Demon Empire side was about to reach 20%. When the Demon Empire realized that they were completely outnumbered and were about to start retreating again, they heard reinforcements coming from behind the Demon Empire army.

The soldiers of the Demon Empire who came to reinforce them were flying the flag of the Gran family, so I knew immediately who had come to reinforce them. It was the 2nd Magic Corps of the Demon Empire, led by Olympia, whose troops were mostly made up of magicians. There were as many as a thousand of them, and they were one of the most powerful units in the Empire, on par with the First Magic Corps, which is said to be the strongest in the Empire.

「The 2nd Magic Corps has come to reinforce us! Now we have a chance to win. Now is the time to defeat the Kingdom's army!」

The Demon Empire army was about to overrun the kingdom army, energized by the arrival of the reinforcements, but the troops they thought were the reinforcements began to attack the same Demon Empire army. Being attacked by troops that were supposed to be on their side, the Demon Empire army fell into a state of complete confusion and stopped attacking the Kingdom army.

I didn't want to miss this opportunity, so I instructed the magicians in charge of the attack to attack with all their might and went forward. I told Alec, who was fighting on the front line, that I was cooperating with Olympia, in order to stop the attack on the 2nd Magic Corps.

On the front lines, Alec, who had been strengthened by the magic formula, was cutting down the enemy soldiers one after another.

「Alec-dono, the troops attacking the Demon Empire army are on our side. Please stop attacking those troops.」

「Is that so! All right, everyone! The troops you just saw are our reinforcements! We'll drive the Demon Empire's army into a pincer attack!」

The Kingdom's soldiers, suddenly energized by Alec's words, charged at the Demon Empire's army, which was still in the midst of chaos.

The demoralized soldiers of the Demon Empire could not stop the assault of the Kingdom Army, and the confusion caused by the pincer attack by Olympia and the others reduced their numbers one after another until they finally surrendered.

When the battle was over, the forces of the Demon Empire had been destroyed, and the victory of the Kingdom was clear for all to see.

The 2nd Magic Corps and the Kingdom's army were still in a standoff, so I hurried forward to tell them once again that they were not enemies. When I told them that the reinforcements were ordered by the king and showed them the paper with the seal of the kingdom, the stubborn commander showed his understanding.

As Olympia came forward, I approached her with Alec, Sagami, and the commander. When she noticed me, she waved her hand lightly at me.

「Are you the commander of the Demon Empire? My name is Alec Ray Gilflea.」

「Nice to meet you, my name is Olympia Lea Gran Daro. The number of people defending the Imperial Capital was less than I expected, so I was able to arrive earlier than planned, but from the looks of it, it seems that our help was unnecessary.」

「No, thanks to you, we were able to reduce the damage considerably. What are you going to do after this?」

「The Imperial Capital is currently held by about 5,000 soldiers led by Duke Stark and several senior nobles. They seem to think the Kingdom is their ally and are letting their guard down, but they don't care about the soldiers, they will take care of those nobles and take control of the Imperial Capital..」

「Is that so? If they're also on the side of the kingdom, I'd be happy to make them join us as it is, what do you think of it?」

「I don't mind, but from the kingdom's point of view, it would be better to stop. I'm sure they'll insist on maintaining their vested interests and the rewards they've earned in the post-war process.」

「I see. ...... Have you heard anything, Yard-dono?」

「Yes, the King told me that was the plan. He told me to keep it a secret until it was done.」

What the King and Olympia made that day was a secret agreement to help only the Gran family. The nobles of the Demon Empire seemed to think that they would become part of the Kingdom while maintaining their own status and territory, but the King knew that allowing such a thing would not only be of no benefit, but might create an even more troublesome situation. Duke Stark and the others were pitiful, but it was worse to be deceived.

「Olympia-dono, let's head for the capital as soon as possible.」

「Right.」

The two armies began to march towards the Imperial Capital, led by the 2nd Magic Corps. Fortunately, there were still plenty of supplies left over from the Demon Empire's army, so there was no impact on the food supply for the march. The speed of the march was slow due to the loss of some horses during the battle, but at the very least, we would reach the Imperial Capital within a week.