Chapter 90: Muddy Crow

After confirming the safety inside the fort, one of the cavalrymen that Bridgette-san had taken with her came out of the main gate and reported to Astina-denka.

“Grass. We will now talk to General Alejandro. Despite our victory, most of the enemy soldiers remained unharmed. Rather than striking a proposal that is beneficial to us, I would like to see how it goes out first.”

“Understood. Uhm, Your Highness… would it be alright if we also watch the negotiation? We will use magic for them not to notice our presence.”

As I suggested that, Her Highness paused for a moment ―it’s rare that she hesitates about something. I can feel her tension here as well.

“……Will you be able to neutralize the enemy soldiers whenever possible? We are talking about their camp located in the center. If the enemy soldiers are stationed in a position where you can see them, it’s best good to be on your guard.”

“Ye-……, Understood. I’ll definitely do it.”

“Grass…I’m sorry. Pardon me for putting you, a military doctor, in danger. Do count on Presha and please do not overdo it.”

Her Highness enters the fort with the 16 knight guards that she directly supervised and eight cavalry followed them inside ―a total of 128 people were with her. Raquel-san was tasked with maintaining the siege. She’s watching the situation on top of the big horse so as not to overlook the movement of the enemy. Presha-san also temporarily left her horse to her subordinate on the main unit and then she walks back to us. She readied her spear and her eyes become sharper.

“…Sensei, don’t worry. I’m now different from what I used to be… Thanks to Sensei I was able to change.”

“Un, I’m not nervous. I do think that you are very reliable.”

“Uh… I-Is that so? Sensei, for some reason you suddenly became calm huh. You were always nervous and easily flustered a little while back you see.”

“Ah… n-no, I apologize if it feels like I’m being self-important, I just honestly said what I was thinking.”

“That what you “honestly thought” is a problem for me and Leslie… we both have a hard time with it you see.”

“…I’m already used to it though.”

I’m curious about what they were talking about but if I inadvertently bring it up, it will likely bring unnecessary trouble for myself. Right now I have to focus on what we have to do.

“Presha-san, I was able to talk to Her Highness through our contract with the sacred tree. We will also enter the fort and do something to prevent putting Her Highness and the others in danger. It is undeniable that the enemy may make a move while Her Highness is talking to the enemy general.”

“If they could drag everyone out of the fort… I guess that’s how they’ll resist huh. We will not be killed that easily but we have to avoid the fight between our forces as much as possible.”

“I believe that’s also what Her Highness think so. Leslie, I’ll leave the magic to erase our presence to you.”

“Un, got it. Oh spirit of the air, Earia… change the air that surrounds us and cut off all signs of our presence!”

Leslie’s power is unmatched in this infiltration mission. We became “unrecognizable even if we are there”. We passed through the broken main gate of the fort without anyone noticing us.

First, we move to a place where there are no other people nearby ―in front of the tent in the center of the camp where Her Highness and the others headed to, the enemy soldiers and the knights on our side are glaring at each other. The enemy soldiers who let go of their weapons stand in front of the armed cavalry. I sympathize with their mental state but they would have asked us to do the same if they seized our fortress.

“Chloe-san’s troops are on the northern hill. We don’t have to worry about the top of the north wall… There are two lookouts in the west and east of the camp though.”

“Understood, let’s immobilize the lookouts… Noin?”

“…If Alejandro were to do something… it doesn’t matter even if he throws his subordinates away… This fort will…”

Noin’s eyes seemed to be looking at somewhere else, not at the sight in front of her. Did Alejandro inflict so much hatred on her? Or, is it the anxiety of approaching the person who she once followed?

“Noin, do you have some idea on how General Alejandro will come out of this?”

“I…I’m sorry ….I have to get over that man but…”

“…It’s okay. We already came this far, we will never let the enemy general do what he wants you know.”

Leslie holds Noin’s hand. Then she wipes the sweat around her neck ―Noin grasps back Leslie’s hand and the trembling of her body calms down a little.

“… Alejandro will surely do something. We have to reduce his pieces as much as possible.”

“Alright, let’s go to the watchtower on the east side first. I can knock down the soldiers on the watchtower with my spear but, what should we do?”

“I’m here for times like this. Leslie, get your air ball ready.”

Right now, Her Highness, accompanied by her subordinates, entered the tent where Alejandro was supposed to be waiting ―while we are placed hidden from the enemy’s view, I summoned Arlaune and then we approached the watchtower on the east side.

Leslie’s air balls are filled with Arlaune’s hypnotic pollen ―trying to affect the entire fort will shorten its duration and quickly deplete my magical powers. However, it is not that hard to hypnotize a single person.

“Summoner-sama, I already hypnotized the person above us.”

“Well done Laune. Leslie, can you take care of Laune for me?”

“Grass-sensei, I’ll carry you on my back and then we’ll go up at once. It will be faster and we can save Sensei’s physical strength.”

“Y-Yes, I’ll leave it to … uah!”

The next moment, Presha-san already carried me and then she ran up vertically instead of climbing the ladder –this is possible because Leslie’s magic cuts off the sound and signs of our presence, but then again, it’s all thanks to her physical strength too. Once again, I am impressed by her strength. There, we found the soldier on the lookout sitting on the floor. When I raised his face, the hypnosis due to the pollen of Arlaune is fully effective.

“If we could do it well, the same method would work for Alejandro…”

“No, this hypnosis only allows a person to answer questions, but it can’t actively make them do what I say. However, the enemy soldiers will most likely no longer obey Alejandro who is no longer able to act as a general.”

“Ah… s-sorry, I was over thinking things…”

“I too thought about the same thing. But above anything else, Her Highness wouldn’t want such magical interference.”

Although hypnosis magic is an insurance to know if the negotiation will fail, there is also a risk to it. In case the enemy soldier covers his mouth and nose with a cloth, it will take some time before it takes effect ―as far as I can see, the soldiers from Zirconia had their mouths covered. The lookout here does not have his mouth covered but it is only temporary as he also has a cloth wrapped around his neck. This only meant that he does cover his mouth.

“I’ll ask you some questions. Is this fort really going to accept the surrender recommendation? Tell me what is your aim by raising the white flag.  What is General Alejandro thinking of doing?”

“…General Alejandro….won’t reveal any plans… to us soldiers…just, for us to find…”

“Find…? What is it that you need to find?”

“…There are magicians… in the enemy army… As soon as we find those magicians, we either kill or capture them…” 

A chill run all over my body ―realizing our existence, Alejandro has clearly turned his murderous impulse towards us. If he just realized that Noin is on this side, he wouldn’t say “magicians”. It’s possible that he sensed not only Noin’s but also mine and Leslie’s presence as well.

“Sensei, I’ll look around from the watchtower. If you still have something you want to hear, ask him the question.”

The soldier spoke about a “plan” ―that he personally thinks Alejandro is going to do. We don’t have much time. What should be the best questions here ―what should I ask?

“Is there an adjutant that General Alejandro trusts?”                                        

“…Richard, the thousand man chief… Originally, he was the one who commanded this camp, but as the general commander of the Lezenia Invasion Army, General Alejandro became his superior….”

Should I hypnotize that person named Richard? ―No, it won’t work as it would take too long.

“―Grass”

At that moment I heard Astina-denka’s voice. She was supposed to be in the middle of the talk with General Alejandro but she dared to speak to me.

“The person we are looking at… he calls himself Alejandro but…, although he says that he will surrender, he also carelessly asks for a concession. There is a sense of incongruity in him, as if he talks as directed by someone rather than his own will.”

Her Highness Astina’s words lead to one deduction―if that is correct, we don’t have time to spare.

“Does General Alejandro have any distinct facial features?”

“…His white hair stands out… he also looks tall and slender… has a well-trained body… There is an old scar on his cheeks. His age… he is less than thirty… the youngest of the generals…”

“―Your Highness, are there any scar on the cheeks of the person in front of you?”

“Scar…? Yes, there were traces of treatment on it, perhaps he was injured a little while back.”

This soldier said it was an old scar but Her Highness says it’s a new scar ―that inconsistency only means one thing.

“―Your Highness, the person in front of you is not General Alejandro, there’s a possibility that he is a double!”

“Uh…Everyone, get out of this tent! The soldiers outside too, quickly!”

Her Highness shouts ―the next moment, something that shouldn’t occur happened.

“w-what in…!?”

The roaring sound is deafening. The impact even shakes the air ―then the smell of gunpowder permeated my nose.

“Those guys… don’t tell me… Her Highness…!”

“The one who met up with Her Highness wasn’t Alejandro but a fake… I wish I could have noticed earlier…!”

Noin’s mutter flashed through my mind. Even if his subordinate’s life were thrown away, he tries to prevent the “fall” of this fort –we didn’t consider that there really were people who would use such measure.

I look at the central camp from the watch tower. At that moment, Her Highness also escapes outside, Her Highness’ subordinates outside were already controlling the enemy soldiers around them. However, the situation is still unpredictable.

“Your Highness, escape from the fort! The enemy is trying to take advantage of the turmoil and defeat you, Your Highness!”

“…Don’t worry about me Grass. I thought Alejandro also had the pride of being a knight. However, it wasn’t the case.”

An arrow flies toward the central camp –but,

“―Haaa!”

Her Highness knocks it all down with a flash of her sword. It’s as if she could predict all the directions of the flying arrows.

“Cavalry, spread out and conquer the fort! The main unit will continue to siege so as not to let the enemy general escape. Tell Raquel to rush in. Chloe’s unit should block the escape route in the north side and from the wall, shoot them with the arrows!”

The cavalry under the direct control of Her Highness begin to move –Raquel-san’s unit, who rushed in from the main gate, pushed forward while wiping out what they see, as if to defeat the fighting spirit of the remaining soldiers.

“Presha-san, let’s move too… uh, Presha-san?”

Presha-san stayed put as she stared in one direction. When I look in the same direction where she’s looking at, there was a knight wearing a cloak while straddling a bluish dapple-gray horse.

“…white hair… that… he’s the real Alejandro…!”

“Presha-san…!”

“I’ll defeat him Sensei… That way, the fight will be over. So I…!”

Presha-san descends from the watchtower with a spear in her hand –she then rushes towards Alejandro while knocking down the enemy soldiers standing her way. The enemy soldiers who once let go of their weapons tried to fight with the ones at hand but that doesn’t stop Presha-san.

“Grass-nii…”

“Grass-sama, let me defeat Alejandro! That man, without that man I…”

As soon as I got off the watchtower, Noin said that –I chanted “Green healing” to calm her mind.

“Right now it’s safe to cut our way through this place. We can’t leave Presha-san alone… However, even though most of the enemy soldiers in this fort are deprived of arms, it’s not a good idea to fight head-on.”

“…I want to protect Glass-sama. But… with me like this, I…”

“Don’t overdo it Noin-san. I will protect the both of you.”

“I know you hate Alejandro but you are not fighting alone. Don’t forget that.”

Noin replied with a nod –she then pulls out her self-defense dagger. Leslie too, compared to me, she’s more on the self-defense, still, we must avoid engaging in battle.

“Did you lose your pride as a knight!? There is nothing you can get by abandoning your allies, why do you not understand…!”

I can hear Raquel-san’s voice. Hiding gunpowder in the center of the camp and exploding it –the fake General Alejandro including the enemy soldiers who accompanied him, probably died in an instant. Her Highness too couldn’t stay safe if she was late to escape. Still, the white crow’s plot was prevented ―it did not go according to his wishes.

“―My name is Presha Hortensia! If you are a proud knight, let’s have a match, General Alejandro!”

When Presha-san reaches Alejandro, she jumps and swings down her long spear towards him―he parries it with his longsword held in both hands and then Alejandro repels Presha-san’s strike.

“Kuu…!”

“Pride isn’t as valuable as a victory sipped from a muddy water. Brave little knight, I will deal with you once and for all.”

If he is thinking about running away when his plan did not come into fruition, he wouldn’t admit that he is indeed Alejandro –however, he accepted the match against Presha-san’s. He’s not just a man who makes strategies. Alejandro also has absolute confidence in his abilities as a knight.

“Though you are speaking of that from such a high place, this “little knight” will definitely defeat you!”

Presha-san holds her spear. Alejandro also holds his longsword and he looks down on her from his horse –his eyes were not at all guarded.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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