123 - - 123Rd, Old General, Muzhuangru.
There were Knogen and Ruara.
"Enemy attack?
"Yes. Ferris is scouting. Look, over there. You see that black mass? That\'s the enemy."
Knogen explains me in a no-nonsense tone.
"We\'re still a long way."
With that, I check the map. I see that a part of the west side of the royal capital has turned red. It seems to be an enemy. Apparently there are about 3,000 of them.
Master!
When I looked, Ferris had returned.
"I think there are about 3,000 to 5,000 enemies. They are all equipped differently, some with armor and some without. However, they are all riding horses. It looked like there was even a wizard."
"Thank you. Knogen, do you know how far it is?
Probably half an hour on horseback, if we charge as fast as we can.
Do you think they will attack?
They will come.
"That\'s where you\'re being an idiot... Oh, there\'s some kind of army moving in."
"They\'re here. All hands, battle stations!
Under the command of Knogen, the soldiers quickly move to their posts.
"...It seems that they are advancing while keeping an eye on things. This one won\'t charge until just before the attack. Hey you guys! The enemy will arrive in an hour. You\'d better finish urinating by then!"
The soldiers laugh. There is no sense of tension or sadness among them. It\'s a very encouraging sign.
"Are they the lords of the Juka Kingdom?
Probably so. They must have heard that we had annihilated Lamaron\'s army and organized an allied force.
That\'s why the equipment is all over the place.
He must have put his forces together in a great hurry.
"But it\'s a bit tricky when you\'re dealing with 3,000 troops in Japan and China."
"Well, I don\'t think that the walls of this royal city will be so easily destroyed, even though they are partially collapsed, and above all, there is the ward of Linos-sama..."
"If we can make it an endurance battle, we\'ll win for sure."
"Yes. I have equipped my men with armor taken from Lamarron\'s soldiers, so they are quite resistant to magic. So I don\'t see any reason for us to lose.
"But I hope we can avoid an endless battle."
What is that, sir?
"I want to destroy them all in one blow. Then they\'ll never try to fight with us again."
"One punishment, one hundred commandments."
Well, that\'s what I\'m talking about.
So, we wait for the night?
"Well... I guess I\'ll just have to ask. Knogen, I\'m going away for a while. I\'ll be back as soon as I can. Ferris, if you need anything, just send me a thought.
"Awe."
With these words, I wired the transition and left the place.
I was transferred to the Imperial Palace in the capital. I immediately told the soldiers that I had an urgent report to make to His Majesty. The soldiers know what they\'re doing and let me enter the castle immediately. I was shown to a meeting room next to His Majesty\'s private chambers. The attendant told me that I was ordered to bring him to his place as soon as and whenever I arrived.
When I entered the room, His Majesty and Lafayence were already sitting there.
"Oh, Mr. Linos, your majesty has just told me about the kingdom of Juka. I am impressed, I should say.
No, thanks to Knogen and the others.
Humble as ever.
"Now, what is your urgent report, Lord Rinos?"
Your Majesty, King\'s Landing has been attacked by the enemy.
"Enemy?"
"It seems, perhaps, that the nobles of Juka have heard of the fall of King\'s Landing and have organized an allied army. Their number is estimated to be about 3,000. My force of 300 is a little too large. They are already in close proximity to the capital. If possible, I would like to ask for reinforcements.
"When is that going to happen, Mister Linos?"
In a calm voice, Lafayence asks a question.
"Today, about 15 minutes ago.
"Today, 15 minutes ago?
Lafayence stares at me, his brow furrowed.
"I\'m going to tell you something, Lafayence. This is a secret. You, Mr. Linos, have the skill of warding off transference.
"Transition wards? It\'s... um..."
"Yes. So, Lord Linos can travel from Juka to the empire in an instant."
"That\'s... also... quite a m! I\'m sure you\'ll be using a lot of M!
Lafayence is too surprised to speak out of turn.
"Well... another civil war in Juca..."
His Majesty crossed his arms and began to think.
"Well, I\'ve already sent out the defense forces of the capital. Now, which troops to pull out..."
"Your Majesty, may I respectfully ask that you leave that task to me, Lafayence?"
"You? How will you defend the north?
If I am not here, my men will do what they can.
I\'m afraid I can\'t let you go alone.
Then I will bring the knights under my command.
"...about 100 people... Is that many people possible, Mr. Rinos?
No problem at all, but I thought for a moment as if to add a touch of grace,
"I\'ll see what I can do."
I reply.
"I see. I have some M!? There\'s a recovery potion in the treasury. Take it."
"Thank you very much."
"You are a pillar of the empire, Lafayence. You are a pillar stone of the empire and you will not die. If you are in danger, you must retreat. And keep Lord Rinos\'s transfer wards secret. Only those who can protect it will be allowed to serve. This is an imperial order.
"Awe."
We bowed reverently and left his Majesty\'s service.
"Well, let\'s go get ready! Lord Rinos, wait for me at the gate!"
Lafayence ran out of the house, looking very happy. I went outside and returned to the house. I told Fairy to tell the others about King\'s Landing when they returned, and moved to the front gate again with Ilimo.
About 30 minutes later, Lafayence and his men appeared in front of the gate, wearing swords, armor, and helmets and fully prepared for battle.
"Here you are, my friends. Well, Master Linos, let\'s go!"
The old general is ready to go. The knights behind him are smiling. I\'ll set up a transfer zone in the plaza in front of the gate. With about a hundred people, it took quite a big ward, but I managed to get them all inside.
"Okay, here we go."
When the warding is activated, the scenery changes instantly. As expected, everyone seemed to be a little flustered.
"Where am I? A forest?"
Yes. It is in the northern part of the Kingdom of Juka, in a forest called the Lunois Forest.
"Lunois Forest..."
The exit is that way. As soon as you exit the forest, you will see the north gate of the Royal City of Juka. Let\'s head there first.
As we passed through the forest, we heard the cheers of soldiers. It seemed that a battle had begun.
"Yeah? Is there a battle going on? Where is it?"
That\'s the north gate of the royal city. The enemy is probably attacking the west gate. If you look at that north gate on your left and go along the city wall, you will hit the enemy.
"Right, everyone, go on!"
Lafayence and his men ran out of there as fast as the wind.
Ilimo and I will move to the west gate. As we climbed to the top of the gate, we saw Knogen standing poised and Ferris and Ruara attacking with magic.
"...Is the enemy applying all their forces to the west gate?"
"It seems so. They are attacking with magic, led by Ferris and Ruara, but there seems to be a warder on the other side, so some of their attacks are being blocked.
"Some?"
"Partially."
And the magical attacks...?
"To a certain extent, yes. Well, it seems that the sorcerer is now casting a restorative spell, but that will run out sooner or later.
I see that the enemy is attacking with arrows and magic, but they are blocked by my warding. So, they seem to be adopting a strategy of charging toward the gate in a foolish manner. Then our soldiers are launching magic attacks like a crossfire from the top of the castle walls, and Ferris and Ruara are attacking from the front.
"...They\'re tougher than I thought, aren\'t they?
"Yes. Some of the soldiers seem to be well trained. By the way, what happened to the reinforcements?
"Yes, Lafayence and his merry band of friends have come to reinforce us."
"Oh, the general... That\'s something to see."
Knogen looks pleased. After a while, he saw a small army coming toward them from the rear with great speed.
"Mr. Linos! It\'s the General! It\'s the Lafayence unit!"
In the blink of an eye, the Lafayens were close behind the enemy and charged straight at them. The enemy was suddenly attacked from behind, and all hell broke loose. One after another, Lafayence\'s troops knocked down the enemy. Above all, Lafayence himself was leading the charge, slashing the enemy to pieces.
"The old general is a great man!"
"When he was young, they called him \'the devil\'."
Lafayence\'s well-trained and highly-skilled troops deployed left and right, playing with the enemy. Above all, Lafayence\'s swordsmanship was exceptionally fast. The enemy, intimidated by this, retreats, and Lafayence and his merry band of men charge into the retreat. And when the enemy force was completely divided, I ordered all of them to attack.
"Open the gates! "Come on, come on, come on!"
Knogen also went into action, and Ferris jumped into the midst of the enemy.
"Oh, Ferris, look out!
"Ruara, you support Ferris. You are to magically attack any enemy that gets close to her. Don\'t hit Ferris!
"Yes, sir!"
Surrounded by only 400 soldiers, the 3,000 soldiers are helplessly overrun. Some are cut down, others are desperately trying to open a blood route to escape.
After about 30 minutes, the battle is over. This time we have missed quite a few escapees. They are going back to their respective territories to spread the word of our "strength".
Soldiers are coming back to the west gate in droves. The west gate of the capital is closed again as Lafayence\'s troops pass through the west gate after capturing the enemy general alive.
"Well, it\'s been a long time since I was on the front lines, but my arm is not rusty yet.
Lafayence\'s face, full of smiles, appeared from inside his helmet.
"I thought your forces were a bit thin, but it was a brilliant move to take that opportunity to attack from the castle," said Lafayence. Thanks to you, the whole enemy was shaken up.
"You are very good, General."
Oh, Knogen. I\'m glad to see you\'re in such good health.
Once again, we had managed to completely shut down the enemy without suffering a single casualty. Many of them were wounded, so we cast a recovery spell on them.
"No~, I love combat."
Lafayence smiles a healthy smile. I smiled at him and wondered if this nice-looking old general might be a bit of a battle fanatic.