Volume 9 - Chapter 4 – Side Story 8: Lithia’s Struggle (2/2)

“Y-yes sir!”

The relief knight team’s commander Johannes gave the order.

The severely wounded people who couldn’t walk by themselves were transported with carts. Despite having to shoulder the carts’ baggage themselves, the relief knight troops were running about securing usable carts.

(The cart Jin-san made was amazing, wasn’t it…)

Lithia remembered the cart that could carry all the wheat used for the payment of taxes from Kaina Village to Toka Village in one go.

She didn’t remember the word ‘trailer’ but she had been surprised by its transport capabilities.

(If our country had that technology, then surely…)

That’s when Lithia’s thoughts were interrupted.

“Enemy attack! Ready for combat!”

Before the evacuation preparations were even completed, Frantz Kingdom’s army came to attack.

“Ah…That’s!”

Frantz Kingdom’s reinforcements were golems. Moreover, she recognized the model.

“The golems that…once attacked Toka Village?”

The resemblance to the golems Jin had once repelled and destroyed with his mysterious magic was striking. There were 20 of them. They stood as the vanguard of the enemy soldiers and came attacking.

“Urgh!”

“Eek!”

Screams were heard, blood splashes scattered around, and the number of severely wounded people rose.

Meanwhile, the team of 25 relief knights retreated while being protected by the third knight battalion. The plan wasn’t to abandon anyone except for some of the severely wounded people.

“Ah, why at a time like this?”

Lithia shed tears as her expression was a mixture of bitterness and sorrow.

“[Flame Lance]!”

Then, magic was fired in front of Lithia.

The [Flame Lance] melted a golem that seemed to be made of bronze and mowed down enemy soldiers.

“Ooh, it’s the magi knight unit!”

It was the company that specialized in magical attacks. Their original purpose was to provide long-distance support, but they rushed to in to help with the crisis of the third knight battalion and the relief knight team.

“[Flame Lance]!”

The consecutively fired [Flame Lance]s massacred the 20 enemy golems to less than half the number.

After seeing that the enemy commander took the losses into consideration and turned to retreat.

The magi knights, instead of pursuing the enemy, began aiding the injured. Many of the magi knights were capable of not only attack magic but healing magic too.

“Over here! Healing magic, quickly!”

“Styptic! Hurry!”

The people with minor injuries were made to retreat by themselves, while all the relief knight team members administered medical treatment to the wounded.

“Oof, this is…”

Blood ceaselessly poured out of the wounds opened just now. Lithia fought the welling up nausea while going around applying healing magic.

First aid treatment took priority over completely curing them.

Although the battle was finished before noon, before she noticed it had turned to evening. Somehow the basic emergency treatments were completed, and all of the exhausted relief knight team members lay down on the ground.

(Even so…There were many people that couldn’t be saved…)

Although she was tormented by the feeling of powerlessness, Lithia did not regret her actions.

Before long the night came, and behind the torn tent and the partially destroyed carts rested the knight troops. The magi knight unit which had done as much as possible had already retreated to the back taking the severely wounded with them.

“There’s 58 remaining injured people, and my relief knight team also has five injured people.”

There was a total of 63 injured, while 20 of the relief knight team members were alright. In addition there were 15 soldiers with insignificant wounds that did not hinder their actions.

That was everyone who was left here. The number of casualties was still unknown but it was probably not less than 50 people.

In the middle of it all the figure of Lithia could be seen going around feeding the wounded with rice gruel she had made out of the unscathed food.

“I’ll do my best to do what I can.”

While muttering so to encourage herself, Lithia kept going from one injured person to another.

Two days after this, the battle that could be said to be a routine would tentatively come to an end.

Both sides suffered meaningless casualties.