Zirconia Empire’s First Military Camp. A third of all the troops in Zirconia army were stationed in that military camp located across a canal that served as a border replacement for the Kingdom of Lezenia.
That is all in the past now, the reason for that was because of the unsuccessful attack on the Isle Rose Fortress, in addition to that, the battle against the monsters in northern mountains and the residents of the “Forest of the End” in the west, who have been a long-standing threat to Zirconia, has intensified. Thus, it became necessary to divide their troops.
Alejandro Fresbel, one of the “three winged general” standing at the top of Zirconia army, was forced to return 1,000 of his remaining 5,000 men to the Capital. It also means that ten of his subordinate centurions had left.
His remaining troop now only totalled to 4,000 ―from the information that Alejandro has obtained, their strength still surpass that of the Isle Rose Fortress. But if he were to attack and defeat such strong fortress, ideally, he needs to have 10,000 troops. Even so, Alejandro was convinced of victory even with such situation until just yesterday.
The core of his tactics was the magician who appeared as a secret messenger from none other than Lezenia itself ―her unexpected magical attack was successful, and even if it ended in defeat, Alejandro believed that he could make the Isle Rose Fortress fall by making better use of her magical powers.
“Guaa… uh…a-a-agu…”
“G-General… Please calm your anger, Leda will die if this goes on!”
Inside the largest tent in the military camp, Alejandro was hoisting the neck of his subordinate who just finished reporting. After he emotionlessly stared at his subordinate who’s struggling, he flung his subordinate to the ground.
The sound of rain slamming on the roof of the tent echoes inside. In this rain, no other soldier would notice what is happening here.
“Cough, cough…cough…”
“I told you to bring Noin back! That magician can’t leave my side… It’s impossible that you can’t find her. Why would you lie like that?”
“I-I’m not lying… N-Noin-dono is nowhere to be found inside the fort. In addition, one warship has disappeared… Aack…!”
The soldier called Leda was blown away after Alejandro kicked her. Another man –a middle-aged deputy who assists Alejandro, stands in front of Leda, who’s now lying down on the ground coughing up blood, and he tries to cover for her.
“Please forgive her and don’t take this any further… If you want to kill Leda, please kill me instead!”
“…Vice captain…which…”
Leda’s armor had a broken clasp, and the armor beneath it was ripped and torn, exposing her skin. Most of Zirconia’s soldiers are men, but the soldiers that served as messengers and the Transportation Corps, which is responsible for their transportation from the rear, are sometimes women –Leda was one of them.
Whether it be male or female, Alejandro disregards gender differences and treats them all the same as soldiers. However, Vice Captain Richard was someone who did not completely do that.
“Richard. What do you think of the current report?”
“Noin-dono….. Losing a combat magician means that we can’t use magic-based tactics…”
“There is no such useful magician in Zirconia. In a situation where there were no magicians dispatched to the Isle Rose Fortress, but we, on the other hand, had one, we could have brought that fortress down without any problem…. I wonder why that didn’t happen.”
Even before Alejandro asked him, Richard also realized it. The archer’s bow suddenly became unusable and impossible to release –the reason for those was certainly not because of the poor maintenance of the bows.
“It is probable that a magician has joined the Isle Rose Fortress. During the previous battle, I wonder if they already participate in the counter-attack…”
Noin’s whereabouts are unknown, and a magician has joined the enemy army. If that fact is communicated to the soldiers, it will significantly reduce their morale.
However, even now that he has punished Leda and confirmed the disadvantage of his army, Alejandro remained unaffected. In his long career as a deputy, Richard had never seen a general this young and was not even slightly agitated in the war.
―Alejandro suddenly made an evil grin. Richard was scared stiff and while having cold sweat, he faced the young general with white hair and ash colored pupils.
“The disappearance of Noin and the magician who joined Isle Rose… There is a connection between the two. Richard, do you understand what I mean?”
“Uh-…Y-Yes…If we can eliminate the enemy magician, we still have a chance. I wonder if the enemy magician knows the whereabouts of Noin… Only another magician can know how much of threat a magician is after all.”
“…Baile has disappeared from the fort to which Noin was sent. It is probable that he had no intention of cooperating with us anyway. As the commander of the Lezenia Invasion Army,
I hereby charge treason to Baile. Even if he is alive, we don’t have to think about rescuing him.”
Alejandro intended to send Noin to entice Baile, who was the commander at the western fort that doubled as a shipyard.
Alejandro isn’t interested in women, but he understands how Noin is viewed by men. The middle-aged man, Richard, only looked at her like a daughter. However, Baile, who had only met her once already showed a clear interest for Noin.
Alejandro thinks it was an easy way to control him. However, he also thought that if she was taken from him, he could just take her back.
“Even if Noin is in the hands of the enemy army, no one can control “that”. “That” is bound by a contract that only accepts my orders after all.”
Alejandro sees humans as nothing more than pawns –he doesn’t always behave that way, but he sometimes shows his true feelings in front of Richard.
“It is possible that Noin sneaked into the enemy’s army by herself. If Noin, a citizen of Lezenia, offered to cooperate, the enemy would not doubt it.”
“…Yes indeed. However, if that’s not the case, I’m not going to end it just like that.”
Even if you retire from the army, the scars of war will still remain. Until he rose to the rank of a general, Alejandro was not someone who’s undefeated –however, even if he’s defeated, he left wounds on his opponents that would lead to him being the victor in the end.
Hence, the birth of the “White Crow”. Alejandro is called by that nickname because he has stood over the countless death of his men and he turns to be the victor in the end.
(…When the General attacks Isle Rose again, he will eliminate the enemy magician… and if he can, he even considers about taking Noin back. Once that is done, he will leave the camp at once. Even if he makes many sacrifices to eliminate the enemy magician, the inquiry from His Majesty and the other generals should be minimal.)
Zirconia considers the magician from Lezenia as a great threat. There are magicians in Zirconia, but no one can exert as much power as a combat magician, and they don’t have training institution like the one in Lezenia, so it was a question of whether their logistical support would be useful to some extent.
“The magician from Isle Rose will definitely appear again. Don’t overlook even the slightest anomaly.”
“Yes. That’s what I’ll…”
―Right at the moment when Richard was answering, the ground and the tent shook with a sound that shook their eardrums. The military camp suddenly became noisy, and Alejandro went out of the tent with his sword drawn.
Richard did not immediately follow him, he approaches Leda, who is lying on the ground instead.
“…Richard-sama… I…”
“Don’t speak. His Excellency Alejandro will be defeated if he returns to the Capital as it is, but if even the enemy magician is killed, that may not be the case.”
Richard tries to pull Leda, but Leda refuses his help and gets up on her own. She is battered, but the light in her eyes hasn’t disappeared.
“…If I kill the magician, Uncle… can I take the place of that person…?”
At Leda’s words, Richard looks behind him. Alejandro, who went out of the tent, does not seem to return ―but he hears voices from the outside. It was not unexpected that this military camp would be attacked by the enemy.
Alejandro was convinced that Lezenia would not issue an attack order thus he was planning accordingly. Richard knew that Alejandro had an insider in Lezenia. That’s also why he was beginning to wonder about continuing to be in the position of being the second-in-command ―keeping in touch with the enemy is good if they win, but if they lose, the crux of the matter is that they will be considered as war criminals.
“You only need to look for an opportunity. In case you find that magician, at that time… Don’t kill Noin, we have to capture her as much as possible.”
After Leda nodded, Alejandro called him out. Richard then walked out of the tent. In the pouring rain, black smoke was rising from the eastern side of the military camp. The fire was already extinguished, but the damage was enormous –the wooden barricade was extremely destroyed and even the turrets were smashed.
“T-This is… what on earth…”
“A warship has appeared on the canal and it bombarded us from the east! We believed it was caused by a cannon!”
“Don’t be stupid, cannons can’t be used! In this pouring rain… uh!”
Richard is filled with indignation but Alejandro remained unfazed. He summons the messenger soldiers and had them ring the bells so as to stop the confused soldiers from moving.
“―Keep the warship in check with the catapults and crossbows. Don’t let the cannon be used anymore!”
“…Your Excellency, if the knights land from the warship, it would allow them to invade the camp!”
“That prediction is precisely what the enemy aims. If that is a diversion, where would the enemy come from?… It’s in the western plains.”
“Well then… Relay that to the whole army! As soon as we are ready to attack, get out of the main gate and carry out the formation! From there, the Lezenia army will…”
The moment Richard tried to give out instructions – screaming cries of soldiers was heard from “Northern side of the camp”.
“Enemy attack, enemy attaaaaaack! Too-, Too late! The enemy army has already taken a detour… From the hill… uuh, guaaah–!”
Arrows fall from the sky ―the archers did not come down from the warship though.
Despite the constant presence of lookouts in all directions, the enemy troops have already circled around the back of the military camp. Even if they mixed in such downpour of the rain, such march should have been absolutely impossible.
“―General Alejandro!”
As if he just come to, Alejandro straddles his nearby beloved horse and heads for the main gate of the military camp.
The rain that was pouring down begins to get stronger. Alejandro finally realizes that this rain was caused by magic –it’s Noin, and she’s doing it against him.
“―Uwaaaaa!”
“B-Before I knew it, they already reached… uh, uuu-, uwaaaaaaaaa!!”
The lookout in the main gate let out a howling cry. As the black clouds broke and the sunlight passed through the gaps, Alejandro felt like he’s been cursed.
―The main gate has been pierced by a battering ram. Beyond the wreckage of the destroyed main gate, Alejandro and the Zirconia soldiers saw a nightmarish scene.
They can see the Lezenia knights in a battle formation with their flag fluttering in the sky.
“…Astina… Lezenia…”
Richard certainly heard that murmur as he caught up with Alejandro in the midst of the confused soldiers’ frenzy.
The Sword Princess general has turned to the offensive. The Knights of Isle Rose, who suddenly emerged as soon as the rain was gone, had already completely surrounded the Zirconia’s military camp.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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Thanks for the chapter
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Thank you megami-sama.
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