Chapter 72: The Reason They Don’t Retreat
Five days have passed since we moved our defensive position to Oldol Fort.
During that time, the Daltone Army showed vigorous activity.
First, they dealt with their casualties, publicly executed soldiers who had likely attempted to desert, and at the same time, five thousand Imperial soldiers began to withdraw.
I was relieved, thinking that since their main force was retreating, the war would end, but there’s still no sign of the remaining seven thousand soldiers leaving.
Normally, they’ve suffered losses that would force them to retreat, no matter how you look at it.
And yet, I couldn’t find any reason for them to still be here.
It doesn’t seem like my understanding is wrong on this point. Others share the same view.
They had set up camp about a kilometer from Oldol Fort, practically blocking the highway, and had moved their base there.
It’s strange. They’ve been on the highway for three days now without taking any action.
Unlike the day the war started, they don’t seem to be burdened with injured men; it’s obvious they had the retreating five thousand take them.
Based on these thoughts, we were holding a general meeting at Oldol Fort.
“The reason those guys aren’t moving, huh…
Could it be they’re just being stubborn but don’t have the guts to attack?”
Viscount Dora’s words were met with relaxed voices, “That’s possible!” “Hahaha, that sounds about right.”
The fact that we had finished the battle at Fort Fondale, defeating over ten thousand soldiers with zero casualties, had made the Belfast Army complacent.
The atmosphere was as if the war had already ended in victory.
“With His Highness here, there’s nothing to fear! Perhaps we should sally forth!?”
“Next time, I too shall participate!”
“Hahaha, naturally, me too! I can’t let you get ahead of me!”
The old men exchanged cheerful words. They weren’t just fair-weather folk.
They were brave warriors who had come out with do-or-die resolve, even when it was said to be a completely losing battle.
If the order was given, they would likely charge headfirst for the sake of the country, each trying to be the first.
It’s precisely because they are people who care for this country that we mustn’t let them die.
It’s time to tighten the reins here, I thought, turning my gaze to the General.
“Silence, if you please. This is a war council, not a victory celebration.
Proposals are welcome, but understand this is not a place for idle chatter.”
He must have understood my intent. After confirming the silence, the General turned his gaze back to me.
“As the General said, we need to shift our mindset.
First, despite five thousand Imperial soldiers returning, the Daltone Army did not retreat.
Second, those five thousand Imperial soldiers returned to Duct and then, for some reason, hastily headed north.
Third, we only have two thousand soldiers, but the enemy still has seven thousand.
I would like to continue our discussion based on these points.
We have achieved an unparalleled military success.
However, if we make a misstep here, we are still in a situation where we can be easily defeated.
I share your desire to celebrate this sweeping victory. But let’s hold off on letting our guard down for now.”
When I said that, everyone straightened their posture.
“Your Highness, where are the Imperial soldiers who retreated and headed north now?”
Roosevelt, Knight Commander, who had been frowning, asked.
“They formed a normal column and moved towards Vent. I’d think if they went that far, they’re heading home, right?” I replied, and he tilted his head, “Eh, Vent? That’s strange… odd.”
Vent is a town adjacent to Viscount Ispool’s territory.
On the map, I thought going straight north near the border was the shortest route to the Empire.
“If they’re returning to the Empire, isn’t the direction correct?”
Right. The point I raised as a question was why a part of the Imperial Army retreated when they still had several times our numbers.
If the entire Imperial Army were retreating, it wouldn’t be strange, but I only brought it up as a topic because it’s odd that they withdrew a large portion while leaving some soldiers behind, even though they must have judged us a threat.
They’ve left two thousand soldiers.
I don’t think they’ve given up, but considering our success at Fort Fondale, they should realize they can’t attack with that number.
There’s a possibility they had to leave them due to some alliance agreement, but if they were serious about taking us down, they wouldn’t have sent troops home.
I held this meeting precisely to resolve such questions.
However, the Knight Commander seemed to have become interested in that particular point.
“No. Vent is a town at the foot of the mountains. The mountains there are treacherous, and the Monsters are strong.
If they were to return to the Empire from there, they would have to turn back once and take a detour.
It would be different if they could pass through Lestall, but there’s no way Lestall would permit an army to pass.”
So, even if they went, it would lead to a standoff with the Lestall Army, huh…
Are they planning to meddle with Lestall?
No, no, what can they do with five thousand?
At this point, I don’t think that would have any meaning in this war.
Sending in agents to cause a rift between us and Lestall?
No, if that were the case, they’d do it secretly and use professionals. There’s no need to send five thousand soldiers.
In the first place, their target is Belfast.
I think the possibility of them attacking Lestall at the same time is low…
No good, I can’t piece it together.
“Are there any conceivable reasons?”
I asked, looking around at everyone, not just the Knight Commander.
“If they could pass through Lestall, there’s a possibility they could attack Belfast from the north, but… Ispool is next to Randall, after all…”
When Viscount Dora, one of the younger of the old guard, muttered this, others also chimed in with bits of information.
Apparently, Marquis Randall’s army is ridiculously strong.
And, the surrounding nobles all say that if any trouble arises in the vicinity, Marquis Randall will immediately rush to their aid.
Therefore, the consensus was that entering Ispool territory would highly likely lead to a clash with Marquis Randall’s army, so they shouldn’t be able to enter carelessly.
The moment I heard the Viscount’s words, I thought it might be somewhat plausible given the situation, but if everyone says it’s not, then I guess that’s that.
“I see. I heard Emperor Bercould threatened King Lestall, saying he’d attack if Lestall didn’t stay out of the war between Belfast and Daltone, so I wondered if it was a possibility, but…”
“””―――!?”””
Voices flew from all directions, asking if that was true.
I looked at the General, but he replied unpleasantly, “I was just told they couldn’t send troops.”
There, I explained in detail the series of events that led to the treaty being broken.
“So, that’s why Lestall decided they couldn’t help us to the extent of losing their own country.”
Accusatory voices didn’t stop, “Don’t screw with us!” “Unforgivable!” “They must be condemned!”
“Please wait!!
We must not make an enemy of Lestall.
If we can’t win them over to our side, Belfast has no future.
It’s fine to vent your grudges and bitterness here, but please do so with that understanding, okay?”
Yeah. Everyone here is on the side whose promise was broken, so it’s natural for harsh words to come out.
But we can’t afford to have a war provoked against us. Or rather, if that happened, I’d seriously lose it.
I raised my voice against the mood of the room, thinking I had to nip this in the bud.
If all surrounding countries become enemies, we won’t survive even if blessed with good fortune.
They understood this fact, however reluctantly, so though they frowned, no objections were raised.
“Your Highness, more importantly for now…” It was Roosevelt, Knight Commander, who interjected.
“If they yielded to threats, then there’s a good chance the Empire will move its army into Ispool territory.
Yielding to threats means avoiding an attack until the very last moment.
If they’ve already entered and say they’re just passing through the edge of the country, Lestall would likely have no choice but to overlook it.”
Eh…
Could it be that if you combine this with them going to Vent, it’s pretty much confirmed?
But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be faster to go through the forest?
No matter how much they worry about fires, there’s water magic, too.
“No, there’s a large valley. Since it’s near the border, there are no bridges.
They cannot come here unless they go around it.”
“So, detouring from Vent is the shortest route to avoid being spotted by us?”
When I muttered that, he nodded with a pale face.
“Are there any forts north of Belfast?”
“No. Apart from a dispute with Lestall eighty years ago, there hasn’t been a war on a scale of centuries.
Before that, the other side is just an empty plain, so a fort wouldn’t be very meaningful…”
That makes sense. For the fifteen years until recently, we were the same country.
This is no time for such heartwarming thoughts!
Right now, I feel we absolutely have to come up with a breakthrough plan, but it doesn’t seem like that’s getting through to those around me.
To make them understand, I raised my voice with a feigned sense of urgency while organizing the situation.
“Wait, wait, wait, we don’t have enough forces to split our army in two and operate without a fort!
If they split into two groups of five thousand and seven thousand and attack us simultaneously, it’s over!
Damn it… To quickly crush the nearby seven thousand, too many of our soldiers will die.
Even if that goes well, we still won’t be able to defeat the five thousand.
What should I do…”
I explained the situation loudly, hoping for suggestions from others, but there wasn’t a single thing that could be called a plan.
That’s to be expected. No matter how you look at it, we’re short on manpower.
It’s fine here. We have a fort.
Just by buying time, enemies will keep falling from the fort’s fire.
However, if we face a larger enemy force on an open plain with nothing, it becomes even more disadvantageous, especially for defense.
We have to protect the town, so we can’t let the enemy escape.
If they split their forces of two thousand five hundred and send one contingent to the town, we’d have to pursue them.
Even if we’re being attacked from behind.
“Your Highness, can’t you set up your magic tools?”
“That only works because we know they’ll gather in one spot…
If I just throw them in, they’ll be smashed. And since it’s within their magic range, if they realize I’m the one doing it, they’ll come at me with an all-out attack to crush me. I don’t have the skill to withstand that.”
Wait a minute… if explosives are thrown at you, you’d normally run, right?
No, I guess some guys would try to bat them back.
But since activation depends on my Mana Manipulation, I suppose throwing them is an option.
Like making them explode in mid-air…
Mid-air, explosion?
Huh… I feel like I’m forgetting something…
Then, I remembered the words of the magic tool craftsman.
He said they couldn’t store magical power because they didn’t have the backpack material.
—-We have it now, don’t we!
If that’s the case, there’s no need for a wired connection, and there are no distance limitations.
Couldn’t it be possible to detonate them on impact from a fall?
If so, we could fly at a considerable altitude and drop them all at once…
Then, there would be absolutely no worry about damage to our own forces, including myself.
Then I have to hurry back!
“Sorry, I just thought of a plan. We’re still short, so continue the meeting.
But I’m going to give instructions to the craftsmen!”
“Ooh!” voices rose. Ignoring them, I flew out of Oldol Fort.
Returning to Belfast, I gathered all the craftsmen and asked them. They replied that it was indeed possible.
However, they said they needed time for the design and that production would also take time.
Even if it could be done, it would take at least three days. If it was delayed, it could take up to a week.
Understanding how dangerous these things were, it was only natural to double and triple-check the design.
But I couldn’t give up on this, so I explained the current situation.
“Have you confirmed that they’re coming from the north?”
“No, not yet. But it seems almost certain.
Oh, of course, I’ll go confirm it too.”
When I answered the lead engineer that way, he let out a long sigh, “Fuuu.”
“We have no choice, do we… Understood. Let’s do it…”
“Hey, I get being scared of that kind of power.
But we solved that by attaching an insulator, right?
All that’s left is to put magical power into the backpack material and set it.
Then, can’t we just make it a two-stage process: peeling off the insulator and the impact crushing the magical power pouch?”
The leather-clad man questioned why the magic tool craftsman was so scared.
“Naive. Your thinking is naive. What happens if you accidentally apply impact and then peel off the insulator?”
At the adult engineer’s voice, Mizuki muttered, “It’ll go ‘boom’ on the spot, huh…” and everyone looked down, lost in thought.
“No, we just need to design it so that the magical power easily leaks out if the proper procedure isn’t followed.
Any idiot who applies impact while peeling it off deserves to die, right?”
The leather-clad man was being unreasonable, but as a safety system, it wasn’t that bad.
Of course, a misfire would also be very problematic in terms of information leakage, but considering the possibility of it exploding in hand or losing the battle, having some that occasionally don’t explode is better.
If it explodes in your hand, anyone would die.
“Wait. What if we make it so the insulator peels off with the impact?”
Mizuki demonstrated, “Like this…” showing how a rod could pierce the seal at the same time as the pouch.
“That’s a good idea. But I feel like its reliability is a bit low.
It would be better to attach a mithril needle to the side with the magic circle to transmit the magical power.
If we also add a stopper to that shaft, it would be within a practical range. Let’s refine it along those lines.”
The lead magic tool craftsman quickly sketched a blueprint and asked, “Any improvements?” accepting suggestions and overwriting the design.
It was getting a bit messy, so I quickly redrew it more neatly on a new sheet of paper.
The result was an egg-shaped bomb with a large protruding button. It had a pin, and unless it was pulled, the impact-receiving part couldn’t be pressed.
“This much is fine, but we have to order the creation of these parts.
That will inevitably take time. You guys, how quickly can you make this at the fastest?”
The two blacksmiths, whose gazes were drawn by the magic tool craftsmen, looked at each other.
“Well, if the client makes a prototype, we can make about twenty by tonight. The projectiles and internal parts are repurposed, right?”
“Ah, yes. Repurposing is correct, but the client making it?”
As soon as he said that, I got to work. First, I made a mold.
It was a design where the final cover of the conventional bomb was further encased in an egg-shaped shell. I made a mold and poured molten iron into it. I also made a cylindrical rod and drilled a hole to fit it perfectly. Then, the parts to support the magical power pouch.
I made a complete set and had them check it.
At first, everyone looked stunned, but after a moment of realization, they quickly got to work.
“It’s too thick. The last one can be thin.
The projectile spread from the explosion was good.”
As instructed, I reheated it and squeezed it tight.
After getting the okay, I quickly made ten sets of parts.
Then, I left a prototype set so the blacksmiths could make more.
“The outer frame is done, but how many do you think we can make with this?”
“Hey, at least tell us the work period.
We haven’t even thought about the mechanism yet, and you’re asking without even mentioning the construction period.”
Oops, I must have been pretty flustered, I forgot to say.
“First, by the morning after next. No matter how fast they are, that should be the quickest they can arrive from the north.”
That’s right. Since they were at Vent’s place at that time, I told them the number of days, figuring it would take a full day of travel tomorrow.
“Well then, even if we work all night, the best we can do is swap out all the ready-made ones. Think of twenty as the limit.
My job is to finish at least twenty, no matter what.”
Looking at the blueprint, he said, “So we start by attaching the leather from here on out,” and after carefully examining the blueprint, he returned to his workbench.
If we have twenty bombs that can be aimed, there’s still a chance. I know that if we can successfully drop five on them while they’re in formation, we can take out two thousand. This time, if we detonate them all at once, most of them should be rendered unable to fight.
Ten seems pretty tough, but in the worst-case scenario, we’ll just have to get through it with magic.
Ah, speaking of magic… I took out my staff and showed it to the staff-maker.
“Sorry, it broke in one shot. But it took down about three hundred soldiers in a single blow.”
“Wha-!? Hey, hey! Three hundred, you say!? That already exceeds the projected number of bombs!!”
The excited man urged me to tell him more, snatching the staff while asking for every detail.
So, I told him what happened.
“Huh? There’s no way you can create such a large magic circle.”
“No, I can. Look!”
When I expanded the light magic circle to fill the workshop in a standby state, the craftsmen panicked.
I apologized and faced him again.
“You really are worthy of being my partner!!
It’s fine now! I’ll entrust this to you too!”
What he brought out was the same staff. But there was no way those guys would all make the exact same thing.
“What’s been improved?”
“The number of uses. The power has dropped a little, but it should last about three times longer than the previous one.
If it breaks in one shot again this time, I’m at a loss. It’s impossible right now…
Oh, make sure to tell me exactly how the power compares to last time!”
He paced around restlessly, saying that if it broke in one hit, it was highly likely that the staff’s amplification didn’t kick in partway through.
“No, there’s no point thinking about it now. Yeah. Anything’s fine for now.
For the time being, my job is to repair this, then improve it, and then… improve it.
It’s a continuous process. For a mage of your caliber, magic is your lifeline, right?”
I nodded at his words and bowed my head, saying, “I’m counting on you.”
After that, I went to check on Vent, then returned to Oldol and reported that they hadn’t moved yet, and was informed that there had been no progress in the meeting either.
I tried to cheer them up by telling them we might have one trump card up our sleeve, but several people were looking at me with stern expressions.
“Your Highness, we still wish to sally forth…!
We don’t mind being decoys to draw them to this fort!!”
“I also implore you. We will not let them pass beyond the fort.
If we have support, we will survive to see it through.”
Judging by how in sync they were, it seemed like a proposal that had been brought up in the meeting but rejected.
When I asked what it was, it was simple and clear: a frontal assault with magical support.
I wanted to dismiss it as reckless, but having seen the generals in action, I couldn’t say it wasn’t worth discussing.
Several dozen new sets of Abyss equipment had also been made.
It was only natural, given how many days had passed since the start of the war.
However, should we really engage in a battle here and now that will result in casualties…
“If everyone dies, Belfast will fall. You’re saying this knowing that, so you’ll survive no matter what. You have that confidence, right?”
“Of course. I will vouch for those who have spoken up here.
There are none among us so weak as to break with Your Highness’s support and Elixirs.”
The General was the first to respond to that voice. Following him, the others each spoke up as well.
“Very well,” the General said. “In that case, for our next strategy, shall we go with a frontal assault…? Even if we break through there, we’ll face a relentless series of battles, but if we win here, we will see a glimmer of hope.”
We had the entirety of tomorrow before those from the north would arrive. During that time, the plan was to crush as many of them as possible. It was a tremendous gamble, but it was judged to offer a better chance of victory than merely squandering time on pointless debate. The fact that we’d been driven into such a corner, despite our string of decisive victories up to this point, was galling. Still, I steeled my resolve, knowing there was no use in lamenting the situation.