Episode 9: Guess I Have No Choice But to Silence Them with Force
I’ve decided to take out Barbat, but there’s one problem here.
To put it mildly, I’m not exactly popular with the military officers.
This First Campaign itself is my father’s production, so all the officers here were handpicked by him.
Therefore, there’s no consensus between me and the officers, and they might even feel awkward about the whole thing.
They’re like those guys who were asked by the president’s son to attend his coming-of-age ceremony as a favor, and they came thinking it would be a sightseeing trip, but somehow they’ve ended up in a desperate situation. Talk about adding insult to injury.
But now I have to send them to a place where they could die any second, so being a commander is tough.
As I was thinking, I unconsciously touched the gold coin in my pocket.
(Alright, let’s do this.)
I turned my gaze to the officers in front of me and clenched my butt.
“Listen up, everyone! We will now defeat the Naia army led by Barbat, and then head to rescue our grandfather!”
I could see the tension run through the officers, and their expressions darkened.
It’s only natural, since a twelve-year-old kid, and a noble’s son with not-so-great rumors at that, is about to decide their life or death.
“I know we’re at a disadvantage. But we of Ortenos cannot become cowards who cower before Naia here. We will now conduct a cavalry charge against the Naia army. Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
I tried to raise my voice as bravely as possible, but the reaction wasn’t great.
Guess I can’t be like my grandfather after all.
As the officers began preparing with a sigh, one old officer stepped forward with an unreadable expression.
“Minashiro-sama, you speak so boldly of defeating Barbat.”
The name of this old officer who voiced his opposition to me is Getrude.
He’s a Satella-Class officer dispatched as my guardian, and also a knight who manages the city within the Ortenos territory.
“Knight Getrude, I, the ‘Guardian’ of Ortenos, have decided. Obey.”
He has a track record of supporting my grandfather for many years, and he’s even capable of acting as my father’s proxy in foreign affairs.
Therefore, Getrude’s opinion is equivalent to the words of Marquis Ortenos, my father.
Even though I’m the superior in this situation, his opinion cannot be ignored.
“Minashiro-sama, have you forgotten the instructions of our lord? Our lord said to defeat the army composed of Satella-Class and below that is gathering near the border. He didn’t say a word about engaging a Stella-Class.”
“Even so, we can’t just leave that group alone, can we?”
Stella-Class is a general term for magicians who possess powerful Magical Power.
The bodies of Stella-Class magicians are so strong that they cannot be pierced by ordinary blades, so Dust, humans without Magical Power, and Satella, humans with some Magical Power, cannot even fight them.
Therefore, I’m the only one here who can face Barbat.
“It’s best to end this with a stalemate. A Stella-Class duel on a First Campaign is far too dangerous.”
“But if we’re surrounded, we’ll lose everything. If we don’t nip them in the bud here, many will die.”
“In that case, it can’t be helped. We will draw Barbat’s attention, so Minashiro-sama, please escape to Ortenatris in the meantime.”
He’s quite a stubborn old man.
If I’m outmaneuvered in this war of words, it will make me look weak as the eldest son of Ortenos.
Guess I have no choice but to silence him with force, like a true noble.
“Getrude, would you say the same even after seeing my Magical Power?”
With the sensation of opening a door to the void deep within my body, I let Magical Power surge throughout my body.
This act, generally expressed as “kneading Magical Power,” is a preparatory stage for using magic, but it has the side effect of making Magical Power easier for others to perceive.
“Huh?”
Getrude tilted his head in confusion.
He must have seen my Magical Power.
The 0 or 1 judgment of whether or not a person possesses Magical Power is something that those with Magical Power can vaguely understand from the beginning.
However, it’s difficult to judge the nature or amount of Magical Power based on that alone.
Therefore, by “kneading Magical Power” for the first time, you can see the Magical Power flowing through the person’s body and perceive what kind of Magical Power it is, or how much output it can produce.
——However, there are also those who are outside the norm.
The surrounding air seemed to stop moving, and the surrounding sounds ceased.
Soon, an ear-splitting sound like the tearing of air resounded, and all the objects around, such as tables, tents, and pottery, began to tremble slightly.
It was a phenomenon as if a sudden earthquake had struck.
All I did was intentionally disrupt the control and leak it out.
If Magical Power is too strong, it will vibrate the surrounding objects if it is not controlled well.
Other Stella-Class can also leak Magical Power, but they don’t reach this kind of phenomenon.
(Speaking of objects, the human body is also an object.)
The officers who were hit by my Magical Power began to tremble unnaturally, as if they were being hit by chills not from the inside, but from the outside of their bodies.
At first, they didn’t understand what was happening, and gradually lost their sense of balance.
In the end, their heads gradually began to associate the vibration with fear.
And one by one, those who could no longer withstand the vibration began to kneel.
I didn’t intend to go this far, so I immediately stopped kneading Magical Power.
“Sorry, I got a little too rough.”
The officers’ eyes as they looked at me were completely those of looking at a monster.