Chapter 263 (1/2)

Chapter 263

–Aegir POV–

「Spear unit, support the right! Penetrate the light infantry from the path on the the left side!」

「There is a fence placed on the left! We can’t move forward until the military engineers remove it!」

Agor’s battalion has the advantage in the fight, but can’t seem to push through the enemies who are utilizing encampments and devoting themselves to defense .

「We’re charging through from the side . 」

「Don’t fall behind Aegir-sama! Follow him!」

Celia shouts and the escort squad charges at the enemy in two columns .

After the allied soldiers open up a path for me, I finally catch a glimpse of Agor’s face .

「I’ll break past the enemy formation . Follow after me . 」

That’s all I say to him before raising my sword overhead .

The fence in front of me is buried halfway into the ground .

That makes it hard for me to destroy it and for Schwartz to charge through .

「Schwartz, do your thing afterwards . 」

I stand up on Schwartz’s back as he sprints forward, then I jump over the fence .

The enemy soldier waiting past the fence stares blankly as I land beside him .

At the same time, I swing my long sword and slash away the feet of the bowgun-holding soldier .

「Eh?」

For a second, the soldier couldn’t tell what happened even after losing his legs .

Before he could realize and let out a scream, I turn my blade to another bowgun soldier and slice off his arm .

「That makes three . 」

I pull my body back slightly before thrusting my long sword forward parallel with the ground, piercing straight through the center of the third soldier’s body, then forcibly pulling my blade up and ripping my sword out through his shoulder .

「H-he crossed the fence!」「The bowguns got taken out!」「What is that…… a sword? A spear?」

The enemy soldiers shout once they come to their senses, but by that time the bowguns who took aim at me were already cut down .

Since the spearmen stuck their weapons out through the fence, they couldn’t turn them towards me quick enough .

「s.h.i.+t!」

The enemies let go of their spears and draw the swords on their hips .

But I’m not going to wait for them to get fully prepared .

「Too slow . 」

As one of them gets into a stance, my sword goes straight through the top of his head and out from the bottom of his chin .

I raise the sword which didn’t cleanly cut the first soldier, block the incoming strike from the second soldier and then knock him off his feet .

Before the man could get up, I swing my sword sideways and…… I wanted to send his head flying, but my hand went too high and my sword ended up cutting through the nose instead of the neck .

For some reason, the nearby enemies screamed more when that happened than when I cut somebody’s head off .

Seeing my large swing open up my stance, three more enemies rush in to attack .

I deliberately put my knee on the ground to lower my body and dodge their swords .

And then I, without killing the momentum from my earlier swing, continue spinning at a low orbit with my sword .

「「「Gyaa!」」」

The circular slash takes out everything below their knees, dropping three pairs of legs to the ground and causing the three torsos to somersault in the air before also falling to the ground .

「An openingggg!!」

Seeing the tip of my blade drop down for a second, a man who looks like a commander charges his simple spear at waist level before exploding forward with a fierce thrust .

「Unfortunately, I have none . 」

I don’t have a d.a.m.n opening against frontal a.s.saults .

I slowly bring my right hand up and then thrust straight at the man .

「Gueh……」

The man’s face gets stabbed right through the middle by my long sword and he dies instantly, starting to convulse violently afterwards .

I toss the still moving corpse of the commander back to where his allies are .

「Now then, next is the fence over there?」

I rest the sword on my shoulder and run towards the next encampment .

「Uwah! He’s coming over here!」

「Arrows, fire your arrows! Just shoot him!」

A few arrows fly out at me accompanied by their screaming .

I duck down to avoid them .

「Woah . 」

I brush away the three I couldn’t dodge with my sword but then a bowgun shoots at me .

The projectile from this weapon is faster than an arrow and the small bolt is much harder to evade .

I could see it clearly coming from the front and it looks like it’ll go into my thigh .

Thinking that it will probably hurt, I prepare myself for the pain until I felt a strange impact .

「Hm?」

「I-it missed!?」

No, it definitely hit me .

But the bolt bounced off instead of going into my thigh .

「Was that because of the armor?」

I forgot I was wearing the dragon skin armor .

Celia put it on me before the fight just in case .

The armor had lots of gaps to facilitate easier movement, but luckily for me the bolt was blocked .

「You guys don’t have any luck either . 」

I grin at the soldier who fired his bowgun at me .

「The face! Aim for the head!」

They quickly target my head with their bolts .

In order to have clear vision, I didn’t wear any armor on my head .

However there is nothing easier to see than attacks coming at me from the front .

I let out a soft groan and then dash forward, deflecting the incoming bolt with the arm guard on my left hand .

I tilt myself to barely avoid the second bolt coming at my head and then raise my sword before the third bolt was even fired .

「I-inside the fence . 」

「It’s no use . 」

When I bring down my sword with all my strength, it tears into the bowgun soldier through the thick wooden fence .

I’m not done yet .

「Guoooooh!」

After my downward slash, I spin with my sword and, making sure I don’t sever the fence, dig the middle part of my sword into the wood and lift it up .

「You’re kidding!」「That fence was secured into the ground with stakes!」

The fence is lifted up and pulled out of the ground, creaking and cracking all the while .

「Hrrngah!」

The three meter fence finally gets completely pulled out and collapses on top of the enemy soldiers as it falls apart .

「Gyaaa!」「Gueeh!」

Although the soldiers pinned under the debris are not dead, they probably can’t move anymore .

「Chargeeee!!」

I hear the sound of multiple shouts and the footsteps of many metal boots coming from behind me .

So while I was rampaging, my allies have broken down the fences and flooded in .

The escort squad and the poor group’s squad chase after me, pursuing the enemy soldiers who are starting to flee and abandon their positions while taking them down .

Agor’s battalion follows closely behind them .

With such a large hole opened up in their formation, the hard-working enemies beside us will quickly be surrounded on all sides and then annihilated .

The enemies start to retreat when they realize that, though the Royal army is not so incompetent to let them do so without resistance .

The battle has become a rout and a one-sided affair .

「As usual, you’re a great man no words can describe . 」

Agor, seeing that the battle is over, comes over to greet me .

「I guess so . 」

More importantly, my crotch is starting to swell .

I should get either Celia or Myla into some shade and…… .

「S-stop, don’t kill me!」

I turn around after hearing a woman’s scream and see three allied soldiers surrounding an enemy .

The three allied soldiers are oozing with bloodl.u.s.t and look like they could finish her off at any moment .

I hurry and push my way through to her .

「I surrender! At least spare my life!」

When I take off her helmet, a considerably pretty face is revealed .

Of course I’m not going to kill her .

「There, there, if you throw down your weapon and give up, I’m not going to kill you . 」

I hug the woman’s shoulder, comforting her as she pleads for her life and abandons her sword .

The others will misunderstand if she’s still wearing armor so let’s take that off .

「The soldiers are murderous . Let’s get into one of these houses for now . 」

「Gusu…… I won’t resist anymore……」

There, there, they can see your boots and armor, and the shoulder pads have to go too, let’s take them off .

「Just sit on that bed there, take some deep breaths and relax . I won’t treat you badly . 」

「Fueh . 」

I comfort her by gently rubbing her while taking the clothes she’s wearing under her armor as well .

Ooh, what well-shaped b.r.e.a.s.t.s he has .

And then I see Agor glancing at me .

Celia is also beside him, extremely upset .

「……the battle is over . We just have to clean up and advance to the center of the city so I don’t think the army commander needs to take action . 」

Yeah, of course, I knew that .

「…… things will be finished in one hour . You have until then, that’s it!」

Celia barks roughly, then turns away with a pouting face .

Yeah, that’s plenty of time .

I gently pat the head of the female soldier who seems to have gotten anxious again, letting out a coaxing voice which doesn’t match my appearance .

「You’ll be fine in my arms . Come on over . 」

The female soldier doesn’t understand what is going on, but she trusts me enough to believe that I don’t intend to hurt her from the soft tone I was using .

She slowly rests her face against my chest .

I’ll take that as consent .

「Uooooh!」

「Eh!? Kyaaa!」

I’m already in nothing but my underwear, as I push the woman onto the bed, spread her legs and mount her .

One Hour Later .

「And who are these guys?」

In the largest building of the city, normally a place used as an a.s.sembly hall, three men tied up with rope are kneeling on the ground .

「Sir! This man is the one who led the army . 」

One of the battalion commanders kicks the middle-aged man out of the bunch .

「This one is his son and second in command . 」

He looks like a man in his twenties .

「And this one is the city’s leader . He rounded up the citizens and urged them to proactively cooperate with the rebel army . 」

He’s an elderly person .

The three of them are visibly shaken and a foul stench is coming from the son .

He probably soiled himself with more than just urine .

「So, what should we do with them?」

「「「Execute them all . 」」」

Leopolt, Myla and Wittmann all say the same thing at the same time .

Well of course they would agree .

They appear to be a legitimate army but wars and rebellions are completely different .

In war, we have to treat even enemies with a certain level of respect, and it is deemed barbaric to ma.s.sacre the opponents after they have surrendered .

On the other hand, rebellions are not like that .

Soldiers in a rebel army betrayed the nation they once pledged allegiance to and are not proper enemies .

They fall in the same category as bandits or brigands and is normal upon capture for them to be executed on the spot .

「Going by the book, the Magrado region falls under the jurisdiction of the general governorate, which means the Governor General Dunois should be making the decision . 」

Myla states the general rule, continued by Leopolt .

「Right now Lord Hardlett is the highest authority figure and holds the right of command over the area including control over the governorate army . There should be no problem if he makes an independent decision here . 」

Fumu .

「In that case, we’ll defer their execution . Let’s take them to Odoros . 」

The three of them seem shocked .

We’re going back to Odoros anyways before heading to Karudia .

It won’t take extra effort to deliver them there as prisoners .

「Are you going to spare them!?」

Wittman asks in surprise .

「n.o.body said that . I just have a strange feeling . If we’re going to kill them, we can do so whenever we want . 」

I have no reason to save this middle-aged man or his soiled son .

If I find out they’re nothing special, I’ll hang them immediately .

「It’s getting late today . We’ll stay here for the night and return to Odoros tomorrow . 」

「Preparations are already complete . 」

As expected of Leopolt .

「Then divide the citizens into groups of a hundred and have them sleep beside the soldiers . 」

The one who appeared was Tristan .

Once it pa.s.ses the evening, this guy gets livelier and shows up .

「I understand the prisoners but……the unarmed residents as well?」

There are 1000 citizens in this city at most .

Even if they were to try something in the dead of night, I don’t think they should be able to maneuver around 15 000 armed soldiers .

「That’s true . But there is bound to be one or two stupid people out of those hundred citizens . 」

Tristan heaves a giant sigh, adding he also experienced something similar before .

「One person won’t find anyone who will believe, but it will seem more plausible when ten or more people are gathered, even if the opinion is a stupid one . 」

I see, stupid people may get together and do something foolish if we leave the citizens alone carelessly .

If that happened, the soldiers will naturally counterattack and things will get gruesome .

If we split the residents into groups of a hundred, I don’t think anything will come of it .

An idiot might try to prattle on to the others but no one will listen .

Tristan is pretty kind .

「If they cause a dispute, it’ll give us more trouble . In war, it’s the best if we win with as few fights as possible . 」

Leopolt speaks up .

「If clas.h.i.+ng with the citizens is too much of a ha.s.sle, I have a solution . We can gather all of them in one place under the pretense of feeding them emergency rations, then surround them with archers . 」

Stop, that would kill the women too .

Myla snaps at the inhuman Leopolt when they start talking about some kind of controversy, I decide to turn in for the night .

As I leave the building, Gido who was waiting outside comes up to me .

「Where’s Celia?」

「Celia-san said she was going to check on the distribution of citizens and the security . 」

If she’s starting now, she probably won’t come back until very late .

I can still hear Myla arguing with Leopolt .

So I guess I’ll go with Irijina .

「Irijia-san became highly strung from her first battle in a while and went running on her horse . 」