Episode 109: To the royal castle of Heartaut country
With General Durva in command, Roccia's army marches through the country of Hartaut.
I was watching the well-organized march from the rear of the column with Princess Pulvera and my family while riding on horseback.
"I'm kind of sorry. In the end, I ended up dragging you here and there."
When I expressed my gratitude, Princess Pulvera smiled.
"There's no need to apologize. It's quite fun going to various places like this."
As I was appreciating the words, I heard a small gush from my family.
"Pfft. Princess Palvera didn't even try to leave the royal castle when she was in Kunimoto. She's changed a lot since she met Prince Milimos."
"Now, family! If you're going to say something like that to me, I'd like you to do it when it's just the two of us!"
"Isn't it nice to hear such a casual conversation? Hey, Prince Milimos."
I thought that he would not ask me a topic that would be difficult to answer, but I had no choice but to answer.
“When you hear stories of failure like that, it makes you feel closer.”
“I-Is that so?”
While Princess Pulvera is embarrassed, the family members look regretful and say, ``You fought back well.''
Regardless of me, as I was pleading with my family not to play with Princess Palvera, a messenger came running towards me.
As I was tilting my head, wondering what was going on, the messenger informed me.
"I reported it to General Durva, and he told me to tell Prince Milimos as well."
“Was there something dangerous ahead?”
"The problem is not that it's dangerous, but rather that it's not dangerous."
Not only me, but Princess Palbella and the family members tilted their heads at the pointless words.
Seeing our confusion, the messenger continued speaking.
``We are sending out reconnaissance to the villages of Hartaut Country to find out if the forces of Felocony Country are occupying the country, but the villagers are just surprised that our army is advancing across the border. They say they don't know about the army of the Ferocony country.''
With this explanation, I understood what the messenger was worried about.
“Actually, the forces of Felocony have not entered the country of Heartaut, but you are worried that our forces of Rocha have entered their territory, right?”
"Yes. The reason why we entered the Heartaut country was to request reinforcements and provide relief. If the Ferocony country's army is not there, this reason will collapse."
I understand your concerns, but I think you're too scared.
Because the reason why I am moving Rocha's army is because of the request of the Crown Prince of the Heartaut country. Even if he was lying and the forces of Ferocony had not attacked the royal capital, this failure was the crown prince's fault for asking for help. Rocha's army will not be slandered.
It seems obvious if you think about it calmly, but just as you think about it, you remember that Rocha's army was forced to lose when their cause collapsed before.
Actually, I was the one who used that tactic.
Precisely because of such a past, he is probably concerned about losing his cause.
I agree and gesture to the messenger not to worry.
"Even if there is no army from Ferocony, it won't be a problem."
“If we don’t have a reason, this march could be interpreted as an invasion, right?”
I understand your concerns, but I think things should be handled more flexibly.
"It's okay. Putting aside the Ferokony country, it is a fact that the forces of the Purnya country are attacking Zadu Fort. Therefore, if the official reason for marching at the moment is reinforcements to Zadu Fort, there will be no problem."
"I see. We are advancing towards Zadu Fort, but in the middle of our journey, we learn that the royal castle of the Heartaut Kingdom is being attacked, so we rush to its aid."
"That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
When I asked him to confirm how his family was doing, he replied sarcastically, ``I'm thinking of something smart.''
“Even if you don’t think about that, it would be fine if I assured you in the name of the Holy Knights that this was the request of the Crown Prince of Heartaut.”
“The name of a knightly kingdom is not something you can bring up lightly, right?”
“I don’t think these are the words of Prince Milimos, who uses them so much.”
"Since he's regretting that he's relied too much on the Knighthood, I think he's trying to be even a little more auspicious."
Although Familis acted like he had no intention of fighting, I decided that he accepted the reason why Rocha's army was advancing.
“So please give General Durva an explanation.”
"Okay. I'll go!"
The messenger runs to the front of the line.
After a while, the speed of the march increased slightly.
Perhaps they decided to move quickly so as not to intimidate the nearby villages, or perhaps they headed to the royal castle of Heartaut country early to ascertain the truth.
Now then, let's move on while looking forward to finding out whether what Crown Prince Akin said was wrong, or whether General Durva's concerns were correct.
They came to an open area beyond the forest area - a place where they could see the royal castle of the Heartaut country and the royal capital nearby.
At this point, a voice rose from the front of Rocha's army that they had approached the enemy.
"I found a person! He's wearing armor! He's not a soldier from the Heartaut nation!"
"From their appearance, they're mercenaries! We're guessing they're an army from Ferocony!"
"Catch me! Or kill me!"
At General Durva's command, Rocha's soldiers begin to move like a single living creature.
The targeted mercenary must have been no stranger, as even I, who was in the rear, could hear his cries of dismay.
"Why are reinforcements coming to the Heartaut country! Don't listen to me!"
"That full body armor, that long weapon! There's no doubt it's a Rocha soldier!"
"Run, run! This is a species that has a life on its hands!"
The mercenaries screamed and ran away, but the soldiers commanded by General Durva chased and captured them.
However, the soldiers in full body armor were slow, and it seemed that nearly half of the mercenaries were able to escape.
General Durva apologized to me for that.
"I'm sorry. Perhaps it seems that our arrival was reported to the country of Felocony."
"Now we can't make a surprise attack on the Ferocony country's army -- or, depending on how you think about it, this situation might be useful."
General Durva was surprised that I changed my mind.
“I think this is a blunder that is equivalent to losing one advantage?”
"Many of the forces of Ferocony Country are mercenaries. And just now, the mercenaries saw us and immediately ran away. Don't you think this could be useful?"
General Durva immediately understood what I was trying to say.
"I see. You're taking advantage of the already known fact and intentionally making them aware of the military prowess of Rocha's soldiers, thereby reducing their will to fight."
"Mercenaries are more of a bunch than numbers. They're not the kind of people who can fight to the death when they see our 5,000 numbers and their half-baked attacks have no effect on their armor."
"Then, let's move on to the forces of Ferocony country. That way, they'll probably lose their nerve."
General Durva begins to take command with great enthusiasm, and Rocha's soldiers form a formation and begin to advance in an orderly manner.
Eventually, as I passed through the forest, I saw a group of mercenaries thinly surrounding the royal castle, and the regular soldiers of Ferocony country encamped near the gates of the royal castle.
Comments
Post a Comment