Volume 2 - CH 14

Lucy has successfully absorbed the foreign troops led by Tilda.

Now that we have obtained the powerful force of Herderites, our opportunities to become more effective on the battlefield should increase even for a bit.

But it wasn’t only that. The headquarters also issued additional personnel as one of our rewards, so together with the Herderites, Lucy’s force has doubled and has now become two hundred strong.

“We’ve expanded our forces considerably. It’s a big difference from when we first started.”

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“This is because Yuushin has pushed me forward.”

The woman next to me, Lucy, says this as she gives me her gratitude.

“No, it’s because of Lady Finlay’s excellent command. I didn’t do much, to be honest.”

and it’s true.

The actual results of the battle were still largely due to Lucy’s leadership.

As her adjutant, I had offered opinions and counter-arguments, but her expertise had been always several steps ahead of mine, so I wasn’t of much help.

On top of that, the talents she inherited from her father were already blossoming. As such, as long as nothing bad happens, she would be a renowned commander of an excellent combat unit in no time in the future.

“As long as I can serve as your adjutant, that’s all I need.”

“I see. But I……more about you…….”

The last part was too quiet to hear for me, but I didn’t mind.

After all, it was not the kind of story you want to dig up around this place.

“More importantly, about tomorrow’s operation……”

“It’s going well. According to command, the unit that went ahead of us reported that they already found the enemy’s main force.”

Tomorrow’s mission is to defeat a group of monsters that have recently been attacking the farmlands on a large scale.

With a population of over a hundred thousand, the city of Krasland needs a lot of food to sustain itself, and to resolve that, they had built several farms away from the city.

It is said that the maintenance and management of the farms were done by a minimum number of people to prevent monsters from becoming attracted to them, but for some reason, incidents of attacks aimed at the farmlands themselves kept on increasing.

The commander guessed that an intelligent monster like the Goblin King was involved in this act, which might have deviated the monsters’ usual habit of targeting populated areas.

In any case, they decided to send out a large force to take them down, which are us.

“Once the main force is identified, all that needs to be done is to destroy them.”

“Yes, and the target seems to be the same group of goblins as before, or remnants of it. However, unlike before, there are said to be quite a few ogres in the mix.”

“Heh, last time, they only had the goblins on us, but it looks like the enemy is growing up.”

The ogre, which is three meters tall, is much tougher and more destructive than the goblin. If yo u ar e abl e to re ad th is mes sa ge, yo u are r eadi ng fro m an una uth orized aggr e gate site. R ead at my Word Pres s at stabbi n g with a syr inge . ho e. bl og to sup port me and my t ransla tions.

We would have to be more cautious in our actions if we were to battle them this time, due to their sheer size.

“However, if Lady Finlay is able to demonstrate her full potential, I’m sure you’ll be able to destroy a hundred or two hundred ogres on your own.”

“Yuushin, you’re lifting me way too high the pedestal. But I’ll do my best.”

She smiled as she said this, then looked at the training of the troops with a serious expression.

I also returned my gaze and watched the training that was going in place.

But at that time, none of us had expected it. Even I, who was cautious all the time, had never thought “it” would happen to us.

◆　　　　　◆

The mission this time was to utilize 2,000 soldiers to defeat an army of more than 1,000 monsters. As for the numbers, well, it was often believed that you would never lose if you outnumbered the monsters in a fight.

However, even though our forces are already several times larger than the enemy, the command team was still very wary of what’s ahead.

This was not strange at all, as it was also reported that there is the possibility of an intelligent monster appearing to intervene with our plans.

But even with all our precautions, our opponent’s movements still surpassed our expectations.

Yes, just like what is happening now.

According to the information we have recently received, the advance troops heading smoothly towards the enemy’s main force were suddenly ambushed.

The enemy numbes were estimated to be about only 500, but the fact that our army had formed a long line to pass through a narrow road caused us a disaster.

The first blow easily split the army in two, separating us from the advance troops and throwing the rest into confusion.

Thankfully, we are in the rear of the army, so we had more or less enough room to see what was happening.

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“Still, there’s only forest on both sides, so we can’t just move freely. Everyone! We should stick together in small groups before intercepting the enemy!”

Amidst the chaos, Lucy relied orders to her troops with unsurprising calmness.

The soldiers regained their morale at her unhesitating words and began to intercept the oncoming monsters in groups.

“Yuushin, any word from the chief commander?”

The girl on the horse asks me, then stood beside me.

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost contact. Also, only about half of the rear group were able to organize themselves before they engaged combat, including us.”

All of our reliable allies are troops with a lot of experience in actual combat. Lucy also holds the largest number of soldiers, 200, and is the highest-ranking noblewoman among them. And now, she has to become the pillar to break through this situation.

Fleeing troops are defenseless and prone to spreading casualties. And considering this ambush alone has already done half of the rear’s forces, covering them is already an urgent need.

Also, as long as we still don’t know what’s going on with the troops that got separated from us, we can’t retreat.

“We’ll cover the retreating friendly forces first. Once that’s complete, we’ll secure contact with the separated vanguard.”

“Understood. Messengers! Relay our orders!” I called the soldiers on standby to relay the information to the other units that are still fighting back.

After our continued struggle for 30 minutes, the retreat of our fleeing allies was complete.

It was difficult to respond to the attacks of the small goblins in an environment that was flanked on both sides by forests with poor visibility.

Nevertheless, Tilda took care of the occasional ogres that appeared, but we are still getting pushed back even then.　

Eventually, the order was finally given after the surviving allies had completed their retreat and the rear army reorganized.

“We will now launch a counterattack until we reach the advance troops. All units, advance!”

At the commander’s orders, the soldiers keeping the monsters in check stepped forward. They began to advance as if they were releasing the frustration of being beaten up hard when they covered their retreated allies earlier.

Tilda also led the way, with the Herderites following behind her.

The monsters’ offensive was immediately slowed down by their fierce attacks, making it hard to believe that they had been the same ones defending themselves earlier.

In the meantime, the rest of the soldiers also stepped up their attack and moved forward.

We were able to concentrate on the front, thanks to the new formation of the allied troops in the forest to our sides, and soon we were able to see the presence of the advance troops within ten minutes. Th is chap te r tran slat ion is ma de possi ble b y stab b ing wit h a syr in ge tra nslatio ns. ch eck onl y up -t o-da te tra nslat ions on my Wo rdpr ess si te.

“That’s…… shit, they’re being pushed pretty hard.”

The advance troops we saw behind the wall of monsters were already considerably reduced in number and were obviously on the defensive.

Moreover, there was a group of nearly 20 ogres between them and us, so we couldn’t easily break through.

“Just as we’re almost there……!”

There was no sign of closing the distance to the advance troops, and Lucy’s voice showed her impatience.

“There’s also the possibility of the enemy’s main force, which still showed no signs of popping up, coming in to get us if we recklessly charged in. In the worst-case scenario, it could also become us to be surrounded from the front and rear.”

As I put the scenario I could think of into words, I found myself getting chills.

But if the advance troops got pinned down and got destroyed here, the remaining enemy monsters would have to be defeated by only five hundred troops on the rear, which are us.

And since we are in the middle of the forest, we couldn’t let Tilda’s troops run into them like before.

Moreover, if the Herderites, who had not yet recovered their strength, were to be sent out recklessly, they would soon lose their ability to rush forward and get annihilated in the blink of an eye.

Not to mention the allied troops that escaped to the rear are still not yet in a condition to return to the front.

“……Hahaha, just when you thought all was lost.”

“Yuushin, this is no time to be laughing……!!” Lucy was about to say a few words to me, but she was cut off midway.

I could hear the slight sound of hooves behind me.

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The sound grew louder and louder until it became a clear indication.

The cavalry is coming.

“Friend? ……or foe?”

It is not surprising that Lucy was alarmed.

It was only an hour or so after the attack. It’s too early for reinforcements to arrive from the city.

But I recognized the approaching cavalry unit right away.

“After all, that was the first I saw …… when I first dropped off here.”

I’ll never forget the first time I saw them fighting in that war after being thrown into this world.

The same cavalry unit that jumped out of the allied army and attacked the enemy ogre and took it down while I was watching on top of a cliff, butt naked.

And from what the soldiers said afterward, I was immediately sure who the commander of that unit was.

“It’s the Count. That is Count Luke Krall’s cavalry unit!”

My hunch was right.

The cavalry troops led by Count Luke himself, the successor to the Marquis who was in charge of Krasland, has finally arrived.

And just in time.