Chapter 404 (1/2)

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Translator: Nat

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–Third Person POV–

North Teries – North Coast

「The enemy s.h.i.+ps are coming closer…… filled with soldiers.」

「They’re really coming to where we are…… we aren't lucky at all.」

Sekrit doesn’t give the enemy anything more than a quick glance despite all the complaints and puts a sausage into her mouth.

「Won’t the messenger we already sent to Patena take two whole days?」

「We don’t even have 1000 here…… the enemy is definitely at least a few thousand, there’s no way we can win……」

Sekrit savagely bites down and tears off a chunk of sausage, the meat snapping crisply.

「Don’t squeak so much, you little birds.」

Sekrit puts a hand on the head of a man next to her and uses it as support to stand up.

Being near 180 cm in height, the other men couldn’t look down on her, but it was her almost-arrogant att.i.tude and her expression filled with confidence that overwhelmed those nervous men.

「The enemy has great numbers? Hmpf, sending that amount of soldiers and s.h.i.+ps to land in front us, do they think I’m a mere trembling fawn?」

Sekrit snickers and then grins.

It wasn’t a smile that rea.s.sured those around her.

Like the lifting of the corners of a wolf’s mouth when prey appears before it…… that was the kind of smile it was.

Sekrit spits the chewed tip of the sausage onto the ground before going on.

「All hands, get your weapons ready. Don’t do anything yet though. Find something to kill time with until they reach the sh.o.r.e and start disembarking from the s.h.i.+ps.」

She immediately gets backlash from her ally soldiers.

「Wait until they land!? We should be shooting them with arrows as soon as they enter our range!」

「That’s right, that’s right! If we shoot them like crazy, the enemy might give up――mmgh!」

Sekrit reaches out with her right hand and seizes the soldier by the lapels.

「Gagh…… w-what…… uugh.」

The soldier grabs Sekrit’s arm with both hands, but he realizes she had more grip strength than he expected and wasn’t able to push her away.

「I told you to do it. Will you obey or be executed or maybe start a rebellion? Choose now.」

Her question rattled the soldiers.

「What’s with the was she speaks…… in the first place, why do we have to move according to this woman’s orders?」

「A proxy of Lord Hardlett, she says…… she probably gained his favor in bed.」

「Then what do we do? Should we find an excuse to throw her out?」

「No, that won’t work. Lord Hardlett would rip us apart. He apparently has the recognition of the Military Commissioner……」

Sekrit smirks when she sees the faces of those soldiers.

「That guy is engrossed with my body. If I tell him that I was teased, I wonder what would happen……fufufu.」

Sekrit throws the man back to the ground, then sits back down in her chair.

At that moment, a lookout shouted loudly to alert of an urgent situation.

「The enemy fleet separated into two groups! One is approaching the sh.o.r.e…… it looks like they're trying to land!」

The soldiers collectively look to Sekrit for guidance.

They came to the conclusion that it wasn't time to argue amongst each other.

Sekrit simply grabs the next sausage and takes a bite.

「Are you guys imbeciles? What did I just say?」

The lookout continues to provide updates.

「Small boats are being lowered! They're finally landing…… they're right in front of us!」

Sekrit spits out the end of the sausage again, then drinks a few gulps of water.

「Leave them until they come up. If they get caught in the diversion, we can kill them, so stay put with that in mind. We can respond after they start to land. That's good enough――」

She crosses her brown-skinned thighs again with an air of composure.

The soldiers' gazes follow the movements of those slender legs.

「The fun time of killing is around the corner.」

Her red tongue licks the glistening oil on her lips.

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South Yuguria Landing Army.

Aboard a transport s.h.i.+p affiliated with city state, Meldora.

「So slow―― they're moving at a crawling speed.」

The captain of South Yuguria's landing army grumbles in irritation as he watches.

「Hahaha, this isn't a few dozen we're talking about. There are 5000 soldiers landing.」

Answering in a carefree manner is the captain of the Meldora s.h.i.+p.

「……to not have large landing crafts or support s.h.i.+ps, the Empire is――no, nevermind.」

The army captain mutters.

「Captain, the fleet may be made up of amateurs, but I'm sure Goldonia has no idea how to defend against a landing operation. From what I can see, they don't have cannons or large weapons. That means we can push through with pure numbers.」

After considering what his subordinate said, the captain also nods in agreement.

Meldora's s.h.i.+p captain dubiously watches their exchange until his allies start to land, which prompts him to run to the bow of the s.h.i.+p.

「It's starting! The landing is finally starting!」

The s.h.i.+p captain exclaims excitedly while the commanders of South Yuguria calmly observe the situation.

「The enemy isn't making a move.」

「Do you think they're in fear from the difference in troop strength?」

「I hope so……」

When South Yuguria gets close to the sh.o.r.e, they board rowboats and head onto land.

Since the transport s.h.i.+ps weren't specifically made for landing, they couldn't ride directly onto the sh.o.r.e.

「Landing force is approaching land, they're disembarking…… aah!?」

Goldonia, who hasn't reacted since then, suddenly begins to act.

It was during the timing right as the landing army was about to climb off their boats and onto the sh.o.r.e.

「Not good, this is the worst timing……」

The weakest point during a landing is when the small boats are laboriously moving to the coast.

In order to exploit this opening, a large amount of arrows, catapults and ballistae are needed.

Considering Goldonia's troop strength and equipment, it didn't seem very realistic.

Then what is the best timing of the present Goldonia?

That would be the moment when the enemy jumps out of their small boats and are trying to regroup on unstable footing.

Naturally, that timing is the worst for South Yuguria.

「Enemy light infantry are rus.h.i.+ng in!」

「They're firing a concentrated volley of arrows!」

「Something is being pulled out…… that's a fence with wheels? They're lining them up along the coast!」

Both armies clash in knee-deep, and depending on the location up to waist-deep, water.

However, the conditions for both sides are not equal.

Goldonia is pus.h.i.+ng out from land and are in well-organized ranks on the sand bar.

Meanwhile, the South Yuguria soldiers are split up into groups according to how many can fit inside the small boats and are running ash.o.r.e as soon as they can. They don't have time to form ranks.

Furthermore, Goldonia's archers can provide supporting fire from a secure place, compared to South Yuguria's archers who are forced to shoot from the wobbling boats.

「Uwa, don't rock the boat! You're going to make me shoot our allies!」

「You're the one shaking it after every shot!」

With most of the archers being inexperienced at shooting on unstable footing, they become useless.

It's possible to shoot from the larger and more stable transport s.h.i.+ps, but there is a risk of grounding the s.h.i.+p if they move too close to the sh.o.r.e.

Under those unfavorable conditions, the soldiers of South Yuguria, who were supposed to dominate with greater numbers, collapsed like sand.

「At this rate, the vanguard will be annihilated! Send the rearguard right away, what are you doing!」

「I-I know, but it isn't that easy……」

The s.h.i.+p captain rushes to communicate with a rapid succession of flags and smoke signals.

However, transport s.h.i.+ps are already sluggish to begin with, and with a melee breaking out near the water's edge involving the small boats and transport s.h.i.+ps, the reinforcement can not proceed smoothly.

Seeing such a disgraceful display, the captain of the South Yuguria landing army yells impatiently.

「Enough! Let all of us land over there!」

He points to a certain area in front of a small village somewhat distanced from where the combat was taking place.

The shallow beach wasn't large enough to be called a port, but had fis.h.i.+ng boats tied alongside the sh.o.r.e and arguably suitable for landing.

「It's away from the fighting.」

「That's the point. It's not easy for the enemy to move now when they're engaging the vanguard. When our main force is on land, they won't be able to do anything no matter how far away we are! Run the transport s.h.i.+p up there!!」

「That would make the s.h.i.+p usel―― hiih, understood!」

A sword was held up to the reluctant s.h.i.+p captain's face.

The fleet changed direction at once and moved to the designated land ma.s.s.

As the distance to the village decreased, tension built up within all those aboard.

And then, the s.h.i.+p suddenly grinds to a halt, accompanied by a low rumbling sound.

「Guwaaa!」

「What was that!?」

Everyone screamed and fell forward as the boat violently lurched. Some were even thrown overboard and into the water.

「The s.h.i.+p's grounded!」

「No way, we're still far from the sh.o.r.e! A reef shouldn't be……」

Before he could finish, there was another loud rumbling and the sudden stopping of a different transport s.h.i.+p.

Due to its speed, the bow of the s.h.i.+p was torn apart, which quickly led to the entire vessel tipping over.

Even the s.h.i.+ps that altered their course in fear of hitting the reefs b.u.mp into something and sink, capsizing in the blink of an eye.

「Something in the riverbed…… the reef…… no, it's a bed of large rocks!! It clearly looks like someone's handiwork!」

Everyone was rendered speechless.

「They predicted that we would try to land here out of all the places on the wide river? That's impossible……」

Looking closer, there were more than rocks under the water.

Logs and iron rods were stuck into the riverbed.

Nevertheless, they were not given any time to be surprised.

The lookout points upstream and lets out a piercing cry.

The captain of the South Yuguria forces aboard the grounded, immobile transport s.h.i.+p takes off his hat and mutters.

「It turns out we're the only amateurs here. I don't get how Goldonia would have a master at surface warfare――」

Impact sounds continue to resound.

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Goldonia Camp.

「The enemy transport s.h.i.+ps are grounding one by one! They fell for it beautifully!」

Hearing the report, Sekrit crosses her legs happily.

「And the finis.h.i.+ng blow?」

「Smoke signal has already been…… there it is!」

The finisher she referred to was a large collection of lumber flowing downstream.

A number of logs, which were sent along the river where the water was calculated to be fast enough, attacked the grounded transport s.h.i.+ps and nearby s.h.i.+ps brought to a standstill, and destroyed the sides and hulls of the s.h.i.+ps.

s.h.i.+ps start cras.h.i.+ng into the broken s.h.i.+ps while others try to veer away only to ground themselves.

Countless enemy soldiers were hurled into the water and can been struggling desperately against the current.

「We can't finish them outright without cannons or similar weapons, so this will have to do.」

Sekrit extends her right hand.

「H-here you go!」

A Goldonian soldier hands her a cup, his att.i.tude completely different from before.

「Their most optimal move was undoubtedly a forced landing near that vicinity. Choosing to play that move against an enemy who had time to prepare was not the right decision.」

When Sekrit extends her legs, another soldier wipes off the dirt on her shoes.

「It's quite regrettable though. If I had at least ten or twenty battles.h.i.+ps, the fight would have been more entertaining.」

「Auu.」

Sekrit uses the girl waiting beside her as a platform to stand up.

「To make up for that…… I'll have fun with them.」

Her gaze was directed at the pathetic enemy who just lost their rearguard.

「The battle has already been decided. The enemy is getting back into their small boats and running……」

He doesn't finish.

That's because Sekrit kicked the soldier in the crotch.

「Are you an idiot? Who ends a party in the middle?」

A malicious smile appears on her wonderfully imposing face.