Volume 8 - CH 9

Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Strategy Meeting」

In front of me, a mighty river meandered from the north to the south.

There was no doubt that the Uiru river started at the Sobiru mountains.

We’d overtaken the undead army by a wide margin, so it was possible they had just left Larissa.

On our way here, we crossed another mountainous area, separated from the Sobiru mountain range by a vast plain, which narrowed the closer we came to the river.

My eyes wandered over to the fort sitting on the opposite bank. If the mountains slowed the undead down, it should take them two days, no… three days to cross the river.

I confirmed the existence of two forts from here.

Sturdy stone walls surrounded both of them.

Those forts initially acted as Nozan’s first line of defense when it still owned these lands…… it was rather pompous to re-purpose those military strongholds as highway patrol stations, but it would undoubtedly be difficult for bandits to cross over from neighboring territories.

There was a massive stone bridge that spanned across the river banks, and it seemed to be impossible to reach the Branier territory from Larussa without crossing it first.

“Hmm, if that is another anti-harassment measure, it should suffice as a base of operation in the case of a large-scale raid. I don’t understand the inner-workings of high society.”

“Kyun!”

Ponta gave me a confused glance as I muttered an utterance both amazement and disgust.

Ponta’s large eyes didn’t reveal if she understood me or not, so I stroked her head and asked Ferufivisurotte to take us down a little bit away from the forts.

“Ferufivisurotte-dono, can you land us a good distance away from the forts?”

Margrave Branier had yet to return from his trip to Nozan…… that meant that news of the current operation hadn’t reached here yet.

Naturally, none of the soldiers tasked with patrolling the border would know who I was. Someone riding an 80-meter tall dragon king would cause an uproar.

Despite landing a reasonable distance away from the fort, my objective was to draw the new transfer coordination, and there would be no point if we were too far away from the forts.

Although it would be risky to approach the fort, as long as the giant dragon king didn’t cause a problem, I should be able to jot down the new location and return to Soulia.

《Don’t fall off.》

After saying that, she landed on the eastern bank of the Uiru river and laid down.

When we landed, there was almost nothing blocking the view of the forts, and I saw a soldier at the top of one of the tower panicking before he disappeared.

His extreme reaction was only natural.

Although we’d landed a reasonable distance away, there was no way a human could ignore a massive dragon appearing out of nowhere.

Luckily, the stone bridge sandwiched between the pair of forts was a distinctive enough feature, a rough sketch should be enough to recall this place from memory.

“Ferufivisurotte-dono, once I’m finished, we’ll be returning to Soulia, so you can return to your human form if you like,”

She nodded at my suggestion.

It was possible to move her large figure with transfer magic, but increasing the size of the magic formation also increased the mana consumption, and I wanted to leave a surplus for what was to come.

I’d probably have to return here with five thousand troops to bolster the defenses of this place after returning to Soulia.

I hopped off her back and immediately pulled out my drawing implements.

“Kyun!”

“Wait a bit longer Ponta. We’ll be returning to Soulia soon.”

I tried to soothe Ponta, who’d started jumping on my head, and did my best to take in the scenery.

The Uriu, which could be seen from the sky, was a rather large river that was well over a hundred meters across.

However, it was a broad, but shallow river, with the small boulders resting along the riverbed causing breaks in the current. The spider chimeras should be able to easily cross it.

I copied down the scenery while taking all of the environmental details into account.

In the midst of my work, Ferufivisurotte-dono had begun her transformation into a humanoid, by the time she’d finished the panicked man from before had returned with several other people.

While the other soldiers seemed annoyed as they scanned the surrounding area, the original watchman pointed and gestured as they tried to explain themselves.

I couldn’t help but feel bad for them as they tried to figure out how the massive dragon suddenly vanished.

“Kyun! Kyun!”

Ponta’s cries and swats at my helmet cleared away the unnecessary thoughts from my head, and my hands resumed their work.

“You’re quite skilled at that.”

The rough outline and secondary overlay had been completed when Ferufivisurotte commented on the drawing as I compared the picture against the scenery it was based on.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Once I’m finished, we can return to Soulia.”

“Yes, it’s been a while since I traveled by transfer magic.”

After placing the drawing into my bag, I faced Ferufivisurotte as her mind traveled to the days of old with a smile on her face.

I’m sure that the first chieftain Evangeline had been able to use transfer magic, so traveling with me must have brought up memories.

“【Transfer Gate】.”

When I invoked the spell, Ferufivisurotte took an interest in the magic formation that appeared at my feet.

I pictured the palace courtyard in Soulia in my mind before everything went dark and our surroundings wholly changed.

“Transfer magic is truly convenient.”

Ferufivisurotte was the first to speak up after we returned.

“No even half a day has passed since we left. It’s thanks to your wings Ferufivisurotte-dono. I appreciate everything you did.”

Because she usually didn’t allow people to ride on her back, I thanked her for putting up with everything.

“Such a stiff fellow, you’re different from Eva-han.”

She had a thin smile on her face as she gave me a funny look.

“Arc-han, didn’t I already tell you this before? I already said that I would help. Ah, I’ll still accept your personal thanks of course. You see?”

Her lips formed into a half-smile and she raised the crystalline sword at the end of her tail over her head after saying that.

“Then, shall we give our report to the others?”

“Kyun! Kyun!”

With that hurried change of topic, I turned on my heels and rushed to the palace with Ponta in hand.

In a specific room inside the palace.

The representatives of each faction in opposition of Hiruku had gathered here.

Ariane, Chiome and Goemon, as well as each of the representatives, were all focused on Ferufivisurotte and me.

The white and black pieces from yesterday had been reset on the opened map on the main table.

I picked up the black piece that had been set near Larissa and moved it to a new eastern position.

“What!? They’ve already captured Larissa and are heading eastward!?”

Margrave Branier let out a surprised shout as he watched the rearrangement of the pieces, as the movements of the black pieces…… showed the actions of the undead army.

“Yes, only the bare minimum of troops had been left behind to occupy Larissa, and the rest of their forces have begun their march to the Branier territory.  While it isn’t a normal march, all of the undead are steadily heading eastward……”

As I explained the situation to everyone, Ferufivisurotte began playing with one of the black pieces, a thin smile covering her face.

“If they walked in formation like humans, I could’ve blown them away with a single breath.”

The human representatives, Prince Sect, King Asparuf and Margrave Branier all became distraught by her commit. Only Princess Lille looked puzzled by their reactions.

“If Ferufivisurotte-sama is so strong, then the people attacked by the undead can be at ease. Why are you making such a difficult expression father?”

Under Lille’s serious look, King Asparuf cleared his throat and began contemplating his next course of action.

Margrave Branier returned to his senses thanks to that and took another look at the map.

“Arc-dono, do you have any idea how long it will take them to reach my territory? It doesn’t need to be accurate, but an estimation would be of great help.”

Margrave Branier clung to his territory…… I looked him in his praying eyes and told him how many days remained until the army reached his home.

“Based on what I saw, two or three days.”

“……That’s remarkably fast.”

Deep wrinkled formed above margrave Branier’s eyebrows as he began mumbling to himself. Dylan’s gaze rose from the map before he made a few observations about the enemy’s movement.

“The undead do not need to sleep or eat like regular people. A vast amount of distance can be cover since they don’t need to rest. Given the topography, it should only take them four days at most.”

As Dylan had said, undead didn’t have to waste time eating or sleeping while they relocated.

They didn’t have to cart around luggage or food…… without enough food, or water for the horses at the very least, it would be impossible for humans to match their marching speed.

Soldiers able to fight fight 24/7 without tiring could be considered the ultimate soldiers

Also, since they were already dead, they would never die naturally.

There was a vast difference between them and my undead appearance; I could still eat, sleep in a bed and take pleasure in bathing.

While I contemplated the differences between me and legitimate undead, Ferufivisurotte tapped the white piece placed near the Uiru river.

“For the time being, the forts long the Uiru river shall act as our defensive line. If you can reduce their numbers a little and halt their movements we can handle the rest.”

While King Asparuf and Margrave Branier seemed confused by her statement, both Dylan and great elder Furgas nodded along with it.

“I never thought I’d live long enough to see one of Ferufivisurotte-sama’s serious attacks.”

The King and the Margrave shared a look and nodded after listening to elder Fargus’s remark and his chuckle.

The dragon king had just conveyed a plan to fight the two-hundred-thousand undead that could hardly be considered a strategy, and the experienced dark elf commander didn’t seem the slightest bit anxious about it. They seemed to realize that this war was no longer in human hands.

Elder Fargus and Dylan already understood that they would, for the most part, be relegated to clean up after Ferufivisurotte unleashed her attack.

I would’ve liked to see her in action myself, but she’d been placed in charge of Salma, while I would handle Delfuento.

“Then, the two forts on our side of the frontlines with Salma should be composed of troops from Rhoden and the Branier territory, with roughly one thousand carefully selected Canadian warriors acting as the rearguard. Any objections?”

Dylan sought the consensuses of everyone present after outlining his plans for the Salman front.

The silence seemed to reflect their agreement with the idea.

“Because there’s a limited amount of time remaining, the forces from Rhoden and Canada will be led by prince Sect and elder Fargus respectively.  Arc-kun, we will be relying on your magic once more.”

Dylan placed two white pieces along the edge of the Uiru river before putting two more in the forested area nearby.

“After the troops have been transported, there should be enough time for margrave Branier to return to his base and lead his troops to the designated area. I hope that the warriors of Doranto will participate, but I will summarize the situation to elder Fargus and the other Canadian warriors later.”

Dylan paused once more and locked gazes with everyone.

“Once the deployment to the Salman front is completed, we’ll need to check the status of things on the front lines in Delfuento. The forces over there will be composed of Canadian warriors and the members of the Blade Heart Clan, and shall be centered around Arc-kun and Williahsfim-sama.”

Dylan turned to me for confirmation after saying that.

“While I approve of your plan Dylan-dono, I’m gonna have to request postponing the deployment of Ferufivisurotte-dono, as I still need to set a location for Delfuento’s capital……”

Given the concerning speed of the undead, it was necessary to get ahold of the situation in Delfuento before things changed.

According to Goemon’s report, they seemed to be staying in the capital, but they could already be on the move.

In a world where information rarely traveled at the speed of my near instantaneous transfer magic, or the flight speed of a dragon king, the movement of an undead horde was a more significant threat than I first thought.

The Kingdoms of Salma and Delfuento had already fallen to these undead hordes.

I, who’d been raised in a modern society, had underestimated the importance of superior mobility.

To reliably stay ahead of the undead, we couldn’t afford to lose the dragon king’s ability to soar above the topography. While I intended to rely on Ferufivisurotte’s wings once more, the person in question nominated someone else.

“Well, isn’t there another dragon king here? There shouldn’t be an issue if you ask him, right?”

Her mouth formed into a crescent moon as she calmly chuckled.

It seems I would be riding on Williahsfim’s back instead of Ferufivisurotte’s this time…… a dry laugh left my lips as I remembered the time I unknowing walked across his back.