Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

Chapter 361: Southern War ? Withdrawal

Chapter 361: Southern War ? Withdrawal

The sun has risen high into the sky and a cold breeze blows across the empty plains.

Our soldiers are out of breath and wiping the sweat from their brows.

?Run, keep running? Don’t stop moving your feet!?

?Have the cavalry rest the injured on the backs of their horses.?

We marched north in a straight line...... or rather, we ran away.

The royal army, mainly consisting of infantry, have been marching continuously at a very high pace.

?We’ve been marching at such a speed. I don’t think they’ll catch up......?

Celia comments worriedly.

Brian’s help should have made it so the soldiers surrounding Tortoent can’t move until dawn.

?The problem will be the cavalry. No matter how fast we march, the cavalry will merely consider the distance trivial, like a small calculation error.?

Schwartz, who is currently matching the pace of the infantry, yawns boredly as he stares at the ass of a mare.

?If they really tried, they’ll catch up.?

?It’ll be a tough fight for us then.?

As Myla makes a serious face, I feel a weight rest behind me.

?Huhunh.?

Sekrit has jumped on.

She hugs me from behind and licks my neck.

?Hey now, this isn’t the right time.?

Sekrit, keeping an eye on the angry Celia and Myla, speaks in an amused tone of voice.

?The pursuing cavalry isn’t the only thing we should be careful of.?

?What??

When I turn around, she steals my lips.

?Wa?!?

Celia shouts out as Sekrit continues.

?Our escape was known the moment it became dawn. If the cavalry truly wanted to, they could be on us by morning.?

Sekrit playfully points in the direction we are marching.

?If we keep going in a straight line, we will end up running into them on the small hill. Well, there is a road to walk on so it shouldn’t give us any more problems than an upward slope normally would.?

She tilts her head sideways and smiles while looking into my eyes.

That would be a cute gesture if Celia did it, Sekrit just has a malicious air about her.

?What would happen if a defensive formation was created on the hill? What if the cavalry caught up right at that moment??

Sekrit says that much then hops back onto her own horse.

?Nobody aside from the cavalry can catch up and you’re suggesting something like an ambush...... ah!?

Celia puts a hand to her mouth as if suddenly realizing the implication.

Right. Those guys have wagons and are capable of moving at high speeds.

?Yes, it’s convenient...... no wait......?

Myla also makes a troubled face.

Miraculous occurrences, ‘what if’ scenarios with a low possibility of happening, can be safely ruled out.

Mobilizing the wagons immediately after news of our escape reached them by an express messenger, then running full speed around us to the hill to unload their soldiers and setting up a simple encampment ahead of our arrival ......

?It’s possible.?

I don’t care about miracles.

However, simply being able to do anything and everything quickly makes it possible.

Besides, it’s not like the South Yuguria army hasn’t done so before.

Then we reach the aforementioned hill.

?It’s exactly like she said??

On the slope of the hill, we can see the South Yuguria Empire flags lined up along a shallow hurriedly constructed ditch and a similarly rough-looking fence.

?Enemy encampment in front...... approximately 10 000!?

Leopolt and I turn to each other and nod silently.

?Enemy cavalry confirmed behind us! Roughly 20 000!?

If this was all arranged, they certainly executed everything with perfect timing.

?Let’s do this.?

?Yes.?

Leopolt and I separate after a short exchange.

Leopolt will lead the infantry to breakthrough the enemy camp in front.

I will lead the cavalry to charge at the enemy behind us.

?According to theory...... no, we would be losing already according to theory.?

Myla smiles bitterly as she follows Leopolt.

Normally, theory would dictate that the cavalry be the ones to breakthrough the enemy camp while the infantry would stop the enemy cavalry’s attack.

However, defending against a pursuit on an open plains is impossible.

We’ll have to rampage enough so the slow-footed infantry can run away.

?I’m taking this side!?

?Me as well.?

Irijina pumps herself up as she twirls her spear around.

?Leopolt-san has commenced his attack on the enemy formation! The enemy cavalry is also charging in from the rear!?

Celia yells out beside me.

Our opponents are 20 000 strong, meanwhile our forces are short of 5 000.

?Even so, we have to do something.?

I raise my longsword and run up to the front.

?Uoooooh! For the mighty Empire!?

?For the honorable queen!?

Enemy soldiers shout as they run at me.

?Time to charge. You guys, shout out the things you like!?

I kick Schwartz’s stomach to urge him forward.

?Womennn!!?

Celia and Irijina follow me.

?Aegir-samaaaa!?

?Skewering!!?

The rest of the soldiers are next.

?Women for me too!?

?Booze!?

?Big boobs!!?

?I want hot guys!?

?Money!?

?Rich and handsome!?

Everyone expresses their desires.

?Eri at the bar!?

?The wife next door!?

?I want you, Michael!?

?You for me, Gredt!?

If they shout their hearts out, they won’t be seized with fear.

We don’t have to stick with proclaiming loyalty to a certain nation or king.

?Those guys are running at us!?

?That works for us since the infantry can’t outrun us anyways. We can beat these cavalry first.?

?They’re shouting about money, alcohol, women and all their desires......?

Both sides spread out and close the distance.

Nobody has any intentions of stopping or detouring.

?Loose!?

Luna commands and the bow cavalry skillfully launch a swift volley of arrows.

Most of the arrows flew parallel to the ground and were practically drawn to the incoming enemies.

?Guah!?

?Firing arrows while charging......?

?These guys...... gue!?

Getting hit at point blank range meant more than a few of them went down.

Close to 1000 fell off their horses or tumbled to the ground along with their mounts.

?Another volley! Aim for the horses!?

The bow cavalry nock arrows to their bows and shoot another barrage.

Once they’ve released their offerings into the sky, they store away their bows and draw their swords.

I’m always fascinated by how fast they are.

More horses fall and those that don’t have their mobility hindered by the shower of arrows, which end up obstructing the path of their allies.

?My horse is hit!?

?You’re going to get in the way. Move away quickly!?

Here to take advantage of the mess in front are the bow cavalry who have switched to swords, the escort unit and myself.

?Hmph!?

I put my full power behind the first strike to set the tone.

My longsword cuts through the head of a horse and the body of the rider altogether.

With a loud thump, the severed upper body parts dance in the air.

?And one more!?

I turn my sword around after the follow through for another slash.

My blade slices diagonally down from an enemy soldier’s shoulder all the way down to bisect the horse as well.

As if a fruit was split in half, the two parts of the horse’s body fall to the ground in opposite directions.

?Shit, this guy’s dangerous!?

?Get into de?? gugyah!?

Before he could hide behind his shield, I swing my sword to cut him down.

?Defend yourselves if you can.?

I bash another cavalry with my shield to knock him off balance and then kick the rider off as I pass by.

?So you’ve come, demon!?

?This guy, finish this guy off!?

Spears are thrust at me from both sides.

My shield easily deflects the weapon on the left side and I purposely let the one on the right hit my armor.

Although I feel myself get pushed to one side by the impact, I squeeze my abs to restore my posture.

?My target is you.?

Ignoring the two close to me, I set my aim at the commander in the back.

?Not good, protect the commander!?

Too late.

My sword shatters the commander’s sword with a bright clink sound and cleanly chops off his head.

I feel a slight pain in my side, though it isn’t enough to concern me.

Not bad to start.

I twist my body around to look behind me.

?These guys are good! Not just with bows!?

?Eeeei, they’re a measly force! Calm down and defeat them!?

The bow cavalry are fighting hard.

I’m sure the enemy thought they were simply archers riding horses.

Actually, the bow cavalry aren’t weak by any means at close combat.

They’re especially good at slicing enemies as they pass by in this kind of situation where both sides are charging at each other.

I see more blood squirting from the heavily armed enemy soldiers than the bow cavalry.

Luna’s contributions in particular are outstanding.

?Over there! One more!?

She’s shooting down enemies one after the other even as other soldiers approach close enough to touch her.

Right when they’re about to strike, she switches to the sword held in her mouth at blinding speed, then delivers a precise slash to the wrist or neck of the enemies.

In a flash, five cavalry are finished off with arrows and two with her sword. It does wonders to our morale.

?W-what’s that!??

?This isn’t fai...... gya?!!?

There goes Pochi, running around and sending enemies flying.

The initial development is in our favor.

But we can’t return south like this, so we lower our speed and clash with the enemy.

It becomes a melee where both sides stop to cross swords or maneuver their horses skillfully while fighting.

Our side remains superior in terms of skill, however the bow cavalry, lacking shields and wearing light armor, slowly start to get overwhelmed by pure numbers.

?Guah!?

?Hiih!?

No longer are they given luxury to shoot arrows and I see more spears piercing through the bow cavalry.

Momentum shifts to the enemy side.

?Now is our turn!?

That was when the royal army cavalry joined in.

Wielding shields and lances, they don’t give an inch to the enemy.

Standing their ground firmly, they ward off enemy cavalry with protruding spears and shields.

It became a jumbled mess of man and horse.

Despite being fewer in number, it appeared for a brief moment that our side was pushing back the enemy.

Of course, the escort unit and I are also thrown into the chaos.

?One, two, three, and four.?

I plunge the Dual Crater into one enemy, pull it out and decapitate another, then stick my longsword into the headless body and launch it at yet another, knocking two enemies off their horses at once.

?Five, six?? hmp! ......it’s hard keeping count.?

After dodging the spear of the fifth enemy, I slice off his hands, and then I punch the head of the sixth enemy’s horse to send it tumbling to the ground.

Noticing another wave of enemies around me, I take a deep breath before swinging my longsword in a full circle, cutting down everyone in the range of my attack in one fell swoop.

I wince in pain from the wound in my side.

?Kyaa?!?

The scream draws my attention to a female bow cavalry who fell off her horse and is about to be stabbed by the spear of an enemy.

I want to save her, but at this distance I’m not going to make it in time.

?Crap! Someone save her!?

?Got it!?

A bloody red sword runs through the throat of the enemy.

It’s Gido.

?Bastard!?

Two friends of the soldier who Gido just killed tries to take revenge.

?Too slow!?

Gido deflects the spear with his shield and blocks the second enemy’s sword with his own.

He parries upward and then slashes the vulnerable man’s knee.

?Gyaaaa!?

As blood spurts out from the gap in the screaming man’s armor, Gido silences the crippled soldier with a sword through the windpipe.

The remaining enemy hollers angrily as he thrusts out his spear again.

This time Gido stops it with his sword and snaps the spear shaft from above with a forceful strike of his shield.

?What the-!??

Gido doesn’t give the man any time to throw the broken spear away and unsheathe his sword.

In one smooth motion, Gido cuts off the man’s head.

?Are you alright??

?Yes, thank you.?

After the female bow cavalry is helped up by Gido, she promptly jumps back on her horse.

?Don’t screw up next time. I plan to visit you at night when this battle is over.?

?Of course...... I’ll be waiting.?

Gido forgets to watch his back as he acts cool in front of the girl.

?That idiot, what is he doing!??

And then something as quick as lightning flies in.

?Gugya!?

The tip of a spear penetrates the face of the enemy and exits the back of his head.

?Wahahahahaha!! Get skewered! All of you!!?

It’s the loud Irijina with a body and strength uncharacteristic of an average woman.

?More skewering! More and more!?

Her agile thrusts punch holes in the enemy soldiers around her.

?Gyaaaa!!?

One enemy reacts late and dies after getting impaled in the neck.

?Uwah, this, higyaaah!?

A different enemy successfully blocks the first strike only to fall prey to Irijina’s consecutive lunges and cries out in agony when her spear runs through his body.

?Hmp! Hm, hm, hm! Hngah!?

Irijina relies on her strength to break down the defense of a shield-bearing enemy, pressuring with relentless thrusts until she finds an opening to land a knockout blow on his head.

?Wahahahaha! I’m gonna keep fighting! More skewering needs to be done!!?

Irijina spins her spear as she runs off, making enemies scream wherever she goes.

?She looks like she’s having fun.?

Aside from Gido, the other heavily armed escort unit members are shining remarkably bright.

It isn’t uncommon for any one of them to take out multiple enemies by themselves.

Nevertheless, the difference in numbers was too great.

As the enemy grew impatient, they would deliberately pull several thousand soldiers back and then have them charge at us repeatedly.

It didn’t matter if we knew they were coming, it still dealt a significant amount of damage and also dampened our morale.

After the second and third time, our disadvantage was made clear.

?This is tough.?

?They should have suffered way more casualties. How come they aren’t falling apart??

Celia complains in frustration.

I’ve felt this since the initial meeting with South Yuguria’s forces.

They don’t really collapse unless you the commander or completely rip their army to shreds.

?The commander...... I can’t get him.?

Naturally, their headquarters is at the very back.

It’s far enough that I can’t easily go there, kill everyone and come back.

?They’re weakening! Attack all-out, run them over!?

The enemy charges with more intensity.

?Has Leopolt made it through yet? We’re at our limits here.?

I know complaining won’t make a difference so I tighten my grip on the longsword and run up to the front.

?Preparations are complete, firing now!?

Celia suddenly shouts beside me.

I unconsciously look down at my crotch, then I realize that’s not what she meant.

Giant bolts rain down on the furiously charging enemies.

Knowing there isn’t enough time to set up ballistae, this must be coming from the chariots.

?They’re firing from the highest point. This should confuse the enemy a little!?

Only 60 chariots or so remain and that is nowhere near enough to stop the enemy.

Still, the unblockable bolts dull the enemy’s advance.

?Ballistae!? Where!??

?It’s those strange carts! Demolish them!?

Chariots start to get targeted.

Obviously they run from the enemy, allowing our allies to flank from the side.

?Shit, how annoying! Just make it easy for yourselves and surrender!?

?Get away from those things!?

?Good job Celia.?

?Yes! ......except it’s merely a way to stall for time.?

It can’t be helped.

This entire battle itself is a way to buy time for the infantry to breakthrough the enemy camp.

The enemy is dealing with another mess in a different location.

?This is weird! Isn’t this definitely strange!??

?No way! This is not possible!?

Pochi is standing on its hindlegs and running wild in the enemy lines.

Its claws tear through enemy soldiers and its tail sends them flying.

When spears and swords challenge the large creature’s body, it results only in a metal clanking sound.

Oh, its breathing fire too...... an empty space is created with Pochi in the center.

That’s what an armored lizard can do.

Actually, I’ve recently started to doubt whether it’s a lizard.

At that moment, a thunderous sound resonates from the direction Leopolt is attacking.

Simultaneously, I feel the vibrations travel to my stomach.

When I touch my side, blood is left on my fingers.

?Is he firing cannons??

?We didn’t bring any cannons......?

Celia looks around.

I nod and lower my head so she can climb on and see further.

Her crotch has gotten nice and moist from fighting.

?That’s...... horses and wagons are running into the enemy. Ah, they exploded! It looks like they’re packed with gunpowder!?

?How extreme.?

So he had his own secret plan prepared.

I can tell Leopolt can’t afford to fight a long arduous battle.

He must have determined a certain amount of recklessness is needed to get through a force larger than ours in a short amount of time.

There were successive explosions, the booms echoing for a while until that moment.

?They’re through! They managed to breakthrough the enemy camp!?

The one who came running was Myla.

She wanted to inform us immediately and chose not to send a messenger.

Why didn’t she just run away...... I don’t have a blanket to wrap her in.

?There’s no need to continue stalling. Please withdraw now. We have a plan!?

I think the infantry would get chased down if we run now, but if Leopolt says so, we’re not prolonging our stay here any longer.

?Everyone fall back. Careful not to let them cut you from behind.?

A collective sigh of relief can be heard when the ally soldiers hear that command.

As expected, this situation is rather tiring.

?Don’t let them run! Chase!?

?It would be shameful if we let them escape like this!?

The enemy cavalry pursue us in a frenzied state.

With both of us being cavalry, it’s hard to catch up once we have a head start.

And there’s one more factor.

?Rear volley! Loose!?

Arrows from the bow cavalry pour down on the enemies behind them.

Wearing lighter armor also means the bow cavalry are quicker.

The enemy could not get any closer and one-sidedly get shot full of arrows.

?Uwah! Damnmt!?

?How are they shooting behind...... argh, no good. Stop for now!?

I see their pace decrease.

Good, we can shake them off like this.

?Kyaa!?

An unfortunate accident happened at the end.

One ally at the tail of the line slowed down too much after shooting arrows and got caught by the enemy’s spear.

Luckily the spear only grazed her body, but it was enough to knock her down from her horse.

?She’s......?

That sad look as she sits on the ground is very familiar.

She’s a bow cavalry girl whose virginity I took not long ago.

Normally, it shouldn’t be me who goes.

As a commander, that would be irresponsible of me.

Although if I weigh that responsibility and the responsibility of a man who stole her virginity, it’s clear which one would win.

?You guys go on!?

?Aegir-sama!? You can’t!?

?What are you doing!??

I rush past Celia and Myla.

Schwartz also seems to put forth more effort, running the fastest since this battle started.

?Move it!?

I charge into a group of enemies without losing any speed.

Schwartz barrels into two horses, tackling them to the ground with his massive body, while I bash another with my shield.

?Chief, why??!??

?Get on.?

I grab the girl and pull her up onto my horse.

It’s time to run.

However the enemy isn’t making things easy and have surrounded us.

Did I underestimate their reaction?

?Keep your head low and hang onto me tightly.?

After instructing the girl, I wield both the longsword and Dual Crater.

?There’s no escape. If you surrender now, you???

His head gets lopped off before he could finish his sentence with “??can be a prisoner”.

?Enough talk. Come.?

My eyes ooze with bloodlust.

In an instant, the enemy stops any idle chatter.

?This guy’s a demon, don’t treat him as human. Nothing is considered unfair...... we’ll all go at once.?

???Yeah!???

Multiple enemies attack at the same time.

Four are approaching while two more spears are thrown at me.

?My deepest apologies, chief.?

The tearful voice of the girl clinging to my waist gives me strength.

For one of the incoming spears, I let the arm guard of my left hand brush it aside. For the other, I bend my body backwards to dodge.

?Uooooh!?

Seeing me off balance, the enemies come running quickly.

?Hey.?

Schwartz answers me by rocking his body forward, jolting me back to the center.

?Good enough.?

I swing my longsword up and slice through one enemy.

Using the butt of the Dual Crater’s hilt, I deflect the sword of the second enemy and make him unstable.

Schwartz rams his body into the third cavalry’s horse before I get hit.

That allows me enough to time to shove my Dual Crater into the fourth cavalry.

His sword hits my shoulder while mine goes through his throat.

?Finish.?

One swing from my longsword ends the two staggering enemies.

?Don’t falter! Our opponent is a demon so we’re prepared for at least 50 to die before taking him down!?

?Don’t let him catch his breath!?

None of the enemies hesitate to charge with spears and swords one after the other.

Schwartz has no opening to run and I’m forced to stay and fight.

I make it a point to punch the attacking enemy soldier with the hand holding the Dual Crater, then slash the other behind me.

My longsword intercepts a cavalry charging in with a spear.

Since the blade is long enough to act as a lance of my own, the one who gets skewered first is him.

?Do something about the left.?

Schwartz neighs, bumping a horse to the ground.

?Uoooh!?

Behind the next enemy charging at me, I see another one aiming with a javelin.

?Here. Hold this for a second, will you??

?Gueh!?

I stick my longsword into the chest of the charging enemy, let go of the handle, quickly switch to my shield and block the thrown spear.

?Thanks.?

I leave my shield immediately after I felt the impact and then retrieve my longsword from the first enemy’s body, kicking away to free my weapon.

?Chief, behind!?

My reply to the girls’ scream comes in the form of sticking my Dual Crater in that direction.

The Dual Crater nicely penetrates the enemy through his forehead, and he twitches a bit before falling off his horse.

?Clear the waaaayyy!!?

Three more cavalry run in with spears.

I take them all out with a single sweep from my longsword, except the momentum of a fallen horse carries the body into us.

?......tch.?

Schwartz recovers quickly even though it was a direct hit to his stomach.

I can see through his nonchalant expression that it was not an insignificant amount of damage.

?Keep it up, don’t stop attacking until he’s defeated!?

Three spears fly toward me.

I knock down two out of the three with each of my swords, and the last one hits my back.

It doesn’t pierce through my armor, but the force of impact is not even close to that of an arrow.

?Guh......?

When I let out a groan, the girl at my waist moves to cover my back.

?I’ll be your armor! Even if I die, I won’t let...... mugya.?

I push her head down with one hand and then chop off the head of an enemy coming from behind.

?It would really trouble me if you died after I spent so much effort to save you. Why don’t you count how enemies I killed instead.?

?R-right...... um, 14 after the last one.?

Still only 14?

The endless fight continued with me swinging both swords, using my shield, my head and my legs.

?25...... 27...... 29, chief.?

I have no chance to run when the enemy isn’t giving me an inch of space.

?Chief, they’re all around you!?

?Got it!?

I change to holding my longsword with both hands and do a complete spin with a full-powered swing.

An interesting assortment of severed parts fly into the air.

My sword cut through shields like they weren’t there.

Several heads of soldiers looking totally shocked were among the airborne objects.

When I was about to bisect the last soldier, a sharp pain shoots up to my head from my side.

?Guh......?

My muscles contract from the pain and I feel my strength leave me.

I stop moving right before my longsword makes contact.

The spear thrust by the enemy stabs into my throat.

?Eh??

In disbelief, the girl tenses up and freezes in place.

Similarly, the one who stuck out his spear has also stopped moving, surprised at what happened.

Blood overflows from the hole in my neck and stains the front of my body.

?Ah...... ah......?

The flustered girl attempts to say something, but couldn’t form any words.

She couldn’t even breathe properly.

?D-did we get him??

?Wait, don’t get close until we confirm he’s dead.?

Enemy soldiers take slow steps closer toward me.

I can’t breathe, my consciousness is fading and I can’t move.

The enemy soldiers ready their spears.

This is bad.

?Time to kill the demon.?

?Glory to the Empire and Her Majesty the queen!?

I feel the girl hug my back.

?It is an unexpected honor to die together with the chief. What pains my heart is how it was my fault the great chief died???

My eyes open.

If I die, I can’t save this girl.

Celia, Myla, and all the girls left in the mansion will also be saddened.

My hand grabs the spear.

The girls will find new love.

Celia will get in bed with another man, Nonna will let another man bury his face in her enormous breasts.

Strength returns to my arm as I grip the shaft and slowly pull the spear out.

Eventually the girls will have kids.

Some guy I’ve never seen before will groan on top of Carla and Maria, pour his seed into them and get them pregnant.

I’m not going to let that happen.

I’m the only one who is allowed to fuck them and impregnate them.

?Guuuuuh......?

I forcefully rip the spear out.

Blood gushes out from the hole, but at the same time air also goes in.

My mind revives, my eyes lock onto the enemy, and now my limbs do as they are told.

?Gaaaaaah!!?

I extend the spear just pulled out of my neck at the group of enemies coming at me.

?The demon???

My spear plunges deep into the eye of one enemy.

?Revived???

I grab the spear and toss the enemy soldier up into the air.

?I thought so, he’s not human!?

An attack lands on my face.

The enemy soldier’s smile lasts for a second and his face instantly dyes with fear.

His spear goes into my mouth and gets caught with my teeth.

I cave in his face with one punch, take his spear and swing it around.

I whack them with the shaft and ram the tip into their bodies.

Even when the spear gets flimsy, I continue using it like an ordinary stick.

Tumultuous noise alerts to me fighting, which brings my attention to the escort unit.

I told them to go first and they came back.

No words are coming out of my mouth so I can’t say anything.

My only chance is now.

Without saying anything, I urge Schwartz to run.

......he’s running awkwardly, so he must be hurt somewhere.

An enemy yells something and then crossbows are aimed at me from horseback.

My back will probably take lots of hits.

I pull the girl in front of me before running off regardless.

?Aim...... no, wait!?

?My grand appearance??!?

A single rider rushes in.

It’s Christoph.

?Shit, it’s one of those heavily armed cavalry! They’re tough!?

The enemy has already seen the brave fighting from my escort unit.

They couldn’t just ignore the well-built Christoph who charges in yelling courageously.

I use that time to dive into the escort’s cover.

Celia opens up a hole to give me space and panics when she sees me covered in blood, relaxing only a little when I pat her head.

I hope Christoph forgives me for not praising his good work since I can’t speak right now.

?Hahahahaha! Did you see that, I’ve been in perfect form since yesterday!?

Seeing me get away safely, Christoph turns tail and runs.

Of course, he never wanted to charge in from the start, he simply wanted to be a distraction.

?Nice going Christoph!?

?Amazing Christoph!?

?Today is your day, Christoph!?

Several escort unit members pour on the praise.

As he puffs out his chest proudly on his way back???? he falls off his horse.

?Uwaaaaaah!!?

?Aaah, there goes Christoph!?

?It’s that rock! The horse stumbled on it!?

?It’s because you were looking away!?

His horse mercilessly runs off with him still on the ground.

Christoph gets surrounded in a flash.

?He’s...... done for.?

Myla mutters.

I can’t save him even though I want to. I’m at my limit with the hole in my throat.

?Christoph, you did well to save Aegir-sama.?

Celia salutes him while pressing a cloth down on my neck.

The other escort unit members also salute him and retreat with me in the center.

?Damn, they’re getting away!?

?Resume the chase. It’s because of that demon, he delayed everyone.?

?It seems this guy is a high ranking knight. Let’s capture him alive and interrogate him.?

?Uwaaaah! Uwaaaaah!?

It looks like they aren’t going to kill him.

Now that I owe you, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if you died.

You better survive.

We somehow make our way out of that place and ride up the hill which is hard on my wounds.

?The enemy’s pursuit has begun!?

So fast......

At this rate, the infantry won’t get away.

What does Leopolt have in mind?

As we climbed up the hill, we see a few wagons in front of us.

Despite feeling suspicious about those things, there’s no time to stop moving.

The moment the chasing enemies get close...... the wagons exploded.

?I see...... the same method used to breakthrough......?

?That’s not all.?

Sekrit shows up from nowhere.

I didn’t see her at all this whole time.

Her eyes narrow at my neck, then she gives it a few pokes as a test before exhaling softly.

?A simple explosion would only blow up the guys in front. This one has a little trick to it.?

Upon further inspection, the smoke from the initial blast is not disappearing.

In fact, the smoke seems to be getting thicker.

?Is it...... some sort of powder??

?It’s powdered lime. The explosion was nothing more than a way to scatter that...... that Leopolt guy is pretty interesting.?

When the enemy cavalry try running through the smoke, they quickly stop in their tracks.

Both rider and horse cough so severely that they could no longer think about chasing.

?Jumping into the lime will induce choking and irritate the eyes. The powder will travel down the hill from that spot and affect a lot of them.?

I see, it would be difficult for them to continue pursuing us while their eyes and throats are in pain.

This is way more effective than using gunpowder to blow up a hundred or two.

?The battle itself resulted in extraordinary losses plus the Goldonia border is close. If I were in that position, I wouldn’t chase.?

After Sekrit says that, she checks on my injury again.

?You’ll be fine if you put some ointment on it. Then you can devour a woman while you heal. That woman can be me.?

Sekrit adds one more thing as an afterthought.

?Oh yeah, that stuffy idiot from Libatis has something to say to you.?

?Treatment comes first. That can wait.?

Celia wraps a bandage around my neck.

Myla wraps me in a blanket for some reason.

With my throat in such a sorry state, I can’t talk...... guess I’ll have to listen for the whole trip.