Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

Chapter 217

Aegir POV-

「The archers, they've started shooting!」

「The enemy's return fire…… it's not reaching!」

The Vandolea army shoots their arrows all at once from beyond the river .

They seemed to be somewhat disoriented and was late in switching to a defensive formation so quite a few people were shot down .

They try to reply by quickly firing back at us but their arrows lose momentum right before hitting us and end up falling harmlessly to the ground .

「It looks like their bows have a shorter range than ours . 」

「Our bows can shoot really far!」

Myla calmly analyzes the situation while Irijina barks loudly .

Our archers and bow cavalry are all equipped with powerful composite bows .

In particular, once the bow cavalry of the mountain nation got used to their new weapons, they dramatically improved their already impressive range and accuracy .

「It looks like they're the vanguard . Let's crush them quickly . 」

Celia draws her sword in a dignified manner .

She's been looking really good in armor lately .

I'm sure many soldiers are secretly in love with her, but I'm not gonna giving her up .

「We currently have 2000 infantry and 1000 each of archers and cavalry deployed along the river . Are we going ahead with this composition?」

「Yeah, we'll only make things more chaotic by adding too many troops . We'll defeat them like this . 」

It was right when the archers finished shooting their fifth volley .

By this time, the enemy probably had enough time to get into defensive formation so any further shooting would have a diminished effect .

The next to attack would be the infantry and cavalry .

「Military volunteers…… advance!」

「Military volunteers?」「Idiot, that's us . 」「It looks like we're military volunteers this time . 」

The soldiers had a confused look on their faces for a brief moment before they started moving .

Even though the situation is slightly strange, it doesn't change the fact that an enemy stands in front of them . Leopolt, you better do this properly .

Myla mutters beside me .

「I was worried about the morale of the soldiers since this fight has nothing to do with them, but it doesn't seem too bad . 」

「It's a good thing we always have a pile of reward money for when we win . 」

Furthermore, all the soldiers present here are recruited through drafting and not based on their obligation .

Those in the army who don't have the same intentions as us would probably find it intolerable since we go to war so frequently .

「The soldiers are also looking forward to the special reward from Her Majesty Celestina that they were told about . 」

「I'm worried about that actually . 」

Before this defensive war begun, Celestina stopped by Biado and declared in front of us that she would give out a reward to those who helped make the country peaceful .

She might be small, but the soldiers are expecting something because those words came directly from the King .

If she said something vague, it may actually backfire and cause her reputation to drop .

「It's alright! I want them to have hope!」

I stopped asking her about it after she said that in such a cheerful manner .

The small amount of water in the river flowing between ally and enemy is not enough to hinder the soldiers .

First, the heavy cavalry would charge in and the infantry would follow from both flanks .

The plan is for the cavalry to breakthrough and divide the enemy ranks while the infantry pushes forward from the sides and surrounds the enemy .

The shouts of the infantry and thundering hooves of the galloping cavalry shook the battlefield .

Enemy soldiers scramble to prepare for the clash although they look visibly agitated .

The battle may be settled in a short period of time .

「The soldiers are gradually getting more accustomed . There are visibly less of them who look distressed right before battle . 」

「In terms of battle experience, they're pretty much veterans . They won't panic unless monsters like Gildress appear . 」

「I trained too!」

I rub Celia's head as she tries to wedge herself into the conversation I'm having with Myla .

I entrusted Leopolt with twice the enemy's forces, so there should be nothing to worry about .

「The heavy cavalry charged in!」

Leopolt doesn't value the heavy cavalry too much .

The armor wrapping their entire bodies is expensive, plus their mobility and flexibility are low .

He would rather have the swift spear cavalry, as they will broaden his range of usable tactics .

However, heavy cavalry have enough destructive ability to instantly decide the victor of the battle if the enemy is a step slow in dealing with their charge .

Piercing metallic grinding and agonizing death throes resounded .

The young soldier on the lookout shouts in an excited tone .

「It looks like they forced their way through the enemy's defensive formation . The enemy lines are crumbling!」

「The enemy was out of sorts from the start after all . There must have been somewhere which had thinner defence . 」

Diving straight into an anti-cavalry formation is suicidal, but the thick armor and shields allow the heavy cavalry to aim for a disorderly spot .

Leopolt would definitely not let that opportunity go by .

The lookout's report continues .

「The following spear cavalry charged through the confused enemy and opened a hole!」

「The enemy is desperately trying to seal off the breach in the center . 」

「Look . The infantry are fighting their way through as they circle around from the flanks . ……they've already completed a semi-encirclement . 」

Myla unknowingly widens her eyes in surprise at the soldiers' skills .

As expected of him, he's not just a gloomy guy .

「We've won!!」

「Stop that!」

Irijina exclaims our victory although Celia tells her to stop .

It certainly seems our victory is at hand .

It's impossible for this situation to be overturned and the only thing the enemy commander can do at this point is to let as many soldiers as possible escape .

「Impressively done . Oops, don't tell Leopolt I said that . 」

He gets irritated whenever he gets praised for some reason .

I give a signal to Luna and the bow cavalry who are waiting in the back .

They returned their prepared arrows back into their quivers and neatly put their bows away .

I had them get ready just in case, but it doesn't look like they are needed anymore .

「It's a rout! The cavalry are beginning to give chase! The infantry are also surrounding small groups of enemies in various places!」

In just 30 minutes, the enemy has completely collapsed .

「Let them pursue and collect their spoils of war . If we allow this to be their reward, the soldiers' morale will increase even further!」

It looks like Irijina herself wants to go too .

「You're right . But that was just their vanguard . They have the main army behind them so don't chase too deep . 」

After giving my permission, Irijina happily brandishes her spear and charges forward .

If you charge in by yourself…… aah, there's four people surrounding you now .

「…… they got defeated instead . She's skewering people and rampaging wildly . 」

Irijina really likes to fight .

I didn't get a turn this time, but I'll do something the next time .

「Muh! Aegir-sama, please fall back . The remnants of the defeated army are coming here too!」

We are positioned on top of a hill not too far from the river but the confused enemy soldiers have lost their sense of direction .

Because the soldiers relaxed their battle posture just recently, they were slightly late to respond to the approaching enemies, but it shouldn't be a big deal .

「M-move it!!」

The enemy soldier swings his sword frantically and I was about to meet his weapon with my spear and think about how to deal with him .

「Fuh!」

A shadow jumps from my side and blocks the enemy's sword .

「Celia…… she's here . 」

Celia's usually the one who deals with situations like these, but she's currently right beside me .

「Kroll, you!」

So it was him .

He volunteered to follow me and accompany me as one of my escorts on his own accord this time .

Celia opposed it at first, but a strange intensity pressured her to approve .

「Move out of the way, you brat!!」

The enemy soldier desperately searches for a path to escape but Kroll deflects all the attacks directed at him .

That shield…… it's the pot lid .

「……You won't win against me with such an unstable heart . 」

「What's Kroll saying?」

Don't ask me, Celia .

「Bastard, I'll cut you……」

「Hmph!」

Right as the enemy raises his sword up, blood sprays out and he slowly falls to the ground .

「Bastard, I thought you were just some kid!!」

The remaining two enemies, enraged after seeing their companion killed, rush towards Kroll .

I would have thought he needs back up at this point .

「I can see them…… I can see your movements . 」

Kroll tilts his head to one side to evade the downward slash of one enemy's sword, then spins his body to dodge the sword aimed at his feet .

Kroll isn't agile and quick-witted like Celia so his movements just now were sluggish .

The unbelievable part though is that he started moving to dodge before the enemy even swung .

And then in just two swings, Kroll slashed the thighs of the enemy soldiers .

In particular, his eyes were closed when he cut the last enemy .

「「Guaaaaah!」」

Before I knew it, he already took care of the three enemies .

Celia is also looking at Kroll like she can't believe her eyes .

「I feel wickedness from you…… that's why I knew how you would move before your body moved!」

After that statement, Kroll calmly sheathed his sword .

Where on earth are you trying to go?

「Now that the first attack is over, we can prepare for the next advance . We'll enter fort Ram and meet the enemy as planned . 」

According to a scout, the enemy's main army has about 10,000 soldiers . While I don't doubt we can win in a field battle, we will probably suffer fewer casualties if we set up camp in a defensive structure .

「We can't use those heavy things on the field after all . 」

The large cannons given to us by the dwarves are made of a different material so they're fairly heavy .

We want to use them by fixing them on a fort if possible .

「……Military volunteers who have heavy cavalry and cannons……」

Myla sighs astonishingly but there's nothing we can do about it now .

「Military volunteer is just a cover, the truth being discovered has already been taken into account . But Lord Hardlett can't head to the front, got it?」

「Why? I want to fight too……」

「If you lead the charge and fight at the front, the last remaining piece of cover will be blown!」

Myla shouts and Celia nods in agreement .

Kuh…… if I can't fight, then there's nothing for me to do except have sex .

It will be Myla tonight, I'll definitely make her scream .

「Lord Hardlett, preparations to travel are complete . 」

Leopolt speaks in a matter-of-fact tone, not even lingering on the earlier victory .

There is nothing to celebrate because it was already assumed we would win .

Well, one day I'll have you spill the beans on your sex life with Nina .

「What about the spoils of war?」

「As planned, the Malt soldiers are gathering and transporting it to Biado . Their mobility would be affected if they carry it with them after all . 」

This is a fight to protect the land of Malt .

Naturally, that included the defeated Malt army which ran back to the capital, which is why Leopolt, Myla and myself reached a consensus to have them in charge of the transportation of goods or the protection of the nearby peasants .

If we fight alongside weak soldiers, we would need back up, so they're honestly in our way .

However, they're the reason our supplying and transportation of food supplies is going smoothly .

The Malt soldiers looked rather happy when they were told to take care of the supplying and transportation .

They want to protect their queen and country but they don't want to fight…… it's unfortunate, but I'll have to put Malt under my protection for a while .

「Alright, time to march . You'll take command for now . 」

「……understood . Where will you be you going?」

「Just some minor business . 」

「I want to start the march promptly so could you keep your search for women within the squad?」

「That's not it!!」

This guy is actually treating me like an idiot .

-Third Person POV-

A Few Days Later . Vandolea . Malt Invasion Army, Main Army . Near Fort Ram .

「So that is the fort which the enemy has set up camp in…… it's so small that enemies are left standing outside . 」

「Sir, the fortress itself is small and doesn't look particularly durable . 」

「But they're the ones who defeated the vanguard . We can't underestimate them . 」

The commander of the Malt invasion army, Bejček, narrows his eyes and stares at the entire fort .

His subordinates follow suit, looking at the fort from a distance and trying to learn the bigger picture .

「The flag they raised is…… something I don't know . The flag is just painted with a single color, so military volunteers . 」

「It appears that way, but comrade Cerny reports that they're the army of a foreign country disguising as military volunteers . He said they had excellent equipment and leadership……」

Bejček strokes his black beard .

「Losing to military volunteers would make anyone want to lie…… but he's not an idiot either . He might be average but he's not the type of man who fights in an unsightly manner . Let's just go with the standard practice for siege warfare . 」

If the enemy was truly a motley group of military volunteers, he could crush them with strength alone .

However Bejček chose the most surefire method .

「Commander, if we are to prepare for an all-out siege, it may take an extra few days . 」

「I don't mind . If the enemy is really as strong as reported, they're definitely the main force . After defeating them here, we can take over the rest of Malt like coloring in a picture we drew . 」

The subordinates were convinced and began making preparations .

「Assemble the catapult!」「Prop up the large shield . Arrows from the turret can reach us from a long distance away!」

The siege weapon is being constructed .

Naturally, the other squads do not let their guards down, paying attention to when anyone exits from the castle to the field .

「How long will it take just to ready the catapult?」

「Sir! It will be done by evening!」

In that case, it will be in time for an attack at night .

If burning rocks are launched in the dead of night, it will have a strong visual impact as well .

If the enemies are truly military volunteers, they may all run away come morning time .

In the evening, Bejček was about to tilt his cup and take a sip of tea until a loud boom shook the air .

「Buhah! W-what was that!?」

The noise made Bejček drop his favorite cup, and when he saw it shatter, he shouts out with an annoyed look on his face .

「I-I don't know . The ground just suddenly burst open! Uwahh!! Watch out!」

There was another loud boom and then the half-assembled catapult was smashed into pieces, scattering shards of wood everywhere .

With the base completely destroyed, the catapult slowly crumbles to the ground, the broken pieces falling onto the soldiers preparing the siege weapon .

「We should move to the back for now! It's dangerous here!」

Before he could finish speaking, something lands in the middle of the ranks of spearmen and knocks away the soldiers who were hit directly .

「Kuh!」

Bejček instantly looks up the walls of the fort and sees white smoke rising from various places .

Thundering roars and white smoke…… add that to the ability to send soldiers flying and a single answer is produced .

「Cannons…… -the hell!? Military volunteers, my ass!」

It wasn't as if Vandolea didn't possess cannons .

It was because those weapons were rather high priced and it was difficult to gather enough gunpowder, not to mention nobody thought it was necessary to prepare such powerful and expensive equipment against a small nation like Malt .

「How can they have so many cannons…… uwah!」

There was another impact and the neighboring tent, as well as the people inside, were sent scattering in different directions .

At this point, it was obvious the enemy had more than just one or two cannons .

More than 10 cannons were firing away at the same time .

「How could they be military volunteers!? Have the squad fall back and regroup! At this rate, they'll be shooting us like fish in a barrel!」

「Have the soldiers spread out . The cannons won't deal as much damage if we aren't grouped together . 」

Bejček nods at his subordinate's proposal and when the instructions to start dispersing as they retreat are given out, they hear a shout from the lookout .

「Enemy attack!! 2000 cavalry are heading this way!」

「2000 cavalry…… from which country!?」

Nobody believed that the enemy in front of them were military volunteers anymore .

The army attacking them were sent here specifically to stop Vandolea's invasion on Malt .

It was a powerful one at that .

「Tell me the details of the enemy!」

Bejček could not hide his irritation as he bellows at the lookout .

「They have varied flags as usual――ah, I can see a pure black flag! Huh? The enemy hurriedly hid it away . 」

「A pitch black flag, you say…… is it 'that' feudal lord? Anyways, we have to do something about the enemy in front of us first . Hurry up and get into formation!」

The cavalry charged forward to engage the Vandolean army who still hasn't recovered from their earlier confusion and is still being yelled at by Bejček .

-Aegir POV-

Side Story . Rafen Mansion . Snake's Den .

「You're really fine with just this? I could have a sturdy building constructed for you . 」

「No, this is good enough . 」

Lammy and I are laying under the starry sky as we stare at the new home she will now be living in .

As expected, just leaving her in the mansion would scare many people .

After all, lamias are powerful monsters incomparable to goblins and have been known to eat humans .

That's why we decided to build a home in an empty space inside the courtyard designed for her to live in .

It isn't possible to create anything too big because of the limitations on space, but I was thinking of building a nice stone structure……

「Stone is too cold during winter and I wouldn't want to move . I'd like a wooden house instead . 」

It seems Lammy goes to sleep in cold places and will continue sleeping until it gets warmer .

There was apparently one time where she was in the middle of drawing water and felt sleepy, then woke up only to find out it was spring .

In just two days, the shabby little house was erected exactly as she requested .

「It doesn't have a door . 」

「Aah, having to go through a human door is a real pain, to be honest . I have this instead . 」

Lammy points to a hole she dug in the ground which is also connected to a second hole dug inside the house .

She's going to squirm through the tunnel to travel between both areas .

Liking narrow places must be in a snake's blood .

「If you like it, then I have nothing else to say……」

By the way, she likes having a nice long sunbath, so the windows were made especially big .

「Ufufu, thank you for giving me so much, even a house! As thanks, do you wanna do something naughty now?」

「Yeah, let's do it!」

Let's cover this new home with the scent from our lovemaking .

…… because there's no door, I'm sneaking through the window, and it makes me appear like an adulterer .

「Your tongue in my urethra……」

「You like that? 'Kay, then this time I'll be more intense than before . 」

As I look forward to the pleasure I'm about to experience, I spot something curious outside the window .

「There's a place in the courtyard where you dug up…… did you plant some vegetables there?」

「Hm? No, I just thought the garden seemed empty so I planted a seed yesterday . 」

The Treia family's rose garden is at the back of the courtyard, but it will take some time for Lammy to get used to it .

「A seed? So you got one from the gardener?」

「When I approached the gardener, he ran away crying . That's a seed I got from Aegir . I don't know what kind of seed it is, but I'm getting more excited to find out as I help it grow . 」

A seed, huh? Did I have something like that?

Whatever, no use trying to remember something as unimportant as that . I'll leave that for later and enjoy my time with Lammy .

「Uwah…… it's really big as usual~! This thing is definitely not something a human has . 」

「I'll be using it to ravish Lammy's hole a lot today . 」

「Geez! The last time you stuffed my ass, it tore and it really hurt!」

Apparently lamias can get hemorrhoids too .

「If Aegir's going to be like that, then I'll do this…… to your urethra!」

「Guuoooooooooooh!! That's amazing Lammy!!」

The two of us have a good time .

A large shoot is already sprouting from the seed which Lammy planted yesterday .

She must have gotten the date wrong, there's no way a seed would grow so much in just one day .

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett . 23 years old . Autumn .

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave . Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area . King of the Mountains . Friend of the Dwarves . Friend of the King of Aless .

Citizens: 163,000 . Major Cities - Rafen: 24,000 . Lintbloom: 4500 .

Army: 12 000 men (Standing By Within the Territory: 2000)

Infantry: 6000 , Cavalry: 1000, Archers: 1000, Bow Cavalry: 2000

Cannons: 30, Large Cannons: 10

Kroll (Awakened)

Assets: 1070 gold

Sexual Partners: 226, children who have been born: 48 + 555 fish