[WN] Emperor's Seventh Son : 18 - 7

18-7

The Boy Who Admired Knights

Translator : PolterGlast

The day I took the guild's promotion exam and brought back a special book I couldn't show anyone, I remembered a schedule I had forgotten.

「A fever, you say?」

「Yes, My Lord. He was stable for a while, but it seems he developed a slight fever today, and food is hardly passing through his throat.」

It's about that boy we rescued from Codwall's storehouse. I intended to check on him, but had completely forgotten. It seems he got a fever.

「Shall I report to you when his condition returns...?」 The maid said reservedly to her master with a weak presence. Practically speaking, the master of this mansion is someone like Atomina-aneue, I suppose.

「No, this is exactly the time for yams.」

「...Eh? Y-Yams, is it?」

「Right. In times like this, nothing beats grated mountain yams. Alright, I'll go gather some. Leave a grater in a conspicuous place in the kitchen for me. See ya.」

「U-Umm, My Lord, it's night right now, you know!? Ah...」

Night is my territory. As soon as I dashed out of the Lord's mansion, I removed the lens covering my eye. I suffered because of this eye, but now it is nothing but a convenient special ability. I dove into the forest north of Erin. And searched for yams. Found them. Since I went through the trouble, I secured 5 or 6 of them and returned to the mansion.

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

「Yes... Come in...」

When I knocked on the door, a feeble boy's voice came from inside. It seems he was awake. A lamp was lit, and the boy was simply gazing at the trees beyond the window. That face turned towards me.

「Eh...!? A-Ashley-sama!?」

「You remembered me. How's your condition?」

「Eh, condition... Ah, yes, it has settled down quite a bit... Thank you for nursing someone like me, even though I can't return anything...」

The boy was formal. But I am not happy being treated with such an attitude. So I thrust a bowl of grated yam towards him.

「I heard you got a fever, so I went and dug up some yams. Here, eat, this will pass through your throat.」

「U-Umm... ehh...? Did you go gather this... for my sake...?」

「I went through the trouble of saving you, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if you died. Come on, don't hold back, gulp it down, it's for your own good.」

「Ugh...」

Since he didn't take it, when I stepped in and thrust it forward, the boy cowered. He has a beautiful face. Although he still had scars of abuse all over his body, he had a cuteness that perverts would likely fancy.

「Sorry, it seems I was a little rough.」

「N-No... This is my problem, so Ashley-sama is not at fault! I-I will partake...」

「Are you still afraid of men?」

「Yes... I'm sorry, even I find it pathetic... This kind of thing...」

When he brought the grated yam to his mouth, perhaps his body was craving nutrition, he started slurping it deliciously. He scraped the bowl with a spoon and ate it all cleanly. ...Come to think of it, I forgot my own portion.

「Phew... I'm sorry, it seems I was hungry...」

「Seems like it. Having you eat it so deliciously makes it worth the trouble of gathering.」

「You are... kind...」

「I wonder about that. I'm just following my intuition. I'm glad it seems you've gotten better.」

Talking to him like this, he was quite an easy guy to talk to. Reserved and humble, he's a rare existence among the folks gathering in this mansion. Every single one of them has strong self-assertion, after all...

「My name is Baldur, Ashley-sama. I am often called Bud by others...」

「A brave name. Nice to meet you, Bud.」

「Yes, nice to meet you too! And, once again, thank you for saving me...! I wanted to thank you the whole time, but kept missing the timing...」

「Rather, it's simply because I'm a human who can't stay in one place.」

Bud, huh. He doesn't have the face of a Baldur, but Bud suits him quite well. He was straight without distortion, and possessed a quality that makes you want to cheer him on.

「It's proof that you are a man of action. Ashley-sama, when this body heals a little more, please let me help you!」

「Help, huh... But if it becomes known that you are helping us, your family might be threatened, you know. That is Yord's method.」

「I am an orphan, so it's fine. My father was a servant, so on his deathbed, he introduced me to the Knight Order.」

He targeted an orphan with no relatives, huh... There were times I felt a bit of guilt about Codwall's end, but... targeting such a child is the lowest of the low.

「But you're afraid of men, aren't you. It's fine for now, so slowly heal your body and heart.」

「Th-That's... I'm fine... I'm not afraid or anything...」

「Then let's test it.」

「Ugh...?!」

I took the boy's hand and observed his complexion. He's pale and trembling. Reintegrating into society is still impossible.

「I-I'm fine... I am a man, I'm not afraid of men... Ugh, urgh...」

「You are admirable. Trying to face something painful like that. I am always running away from troublesome things.」

As a small consolation, I gently stroked the palm of his hand. Being shown something like this, one cannot help but console him. Gender does not matter.

「A lot of... terrible things were done to me...」

「But you survived like this. The nightmare is already over.」

「He rejoiced at seeing me suffer... When I pleaded for help, he laughed happily... He was a guy like a devil...」

That's what you call a sadist, I suppose. When the defect of a lack of conscience is added to that, a monster who can truly enjoy violence from the bottom of his heart is born. I learned this from the book of the other world too.

「Having a red-hot branding iron pressed against me... Being suddenly hit for no reason... That smelly guy's body squeezed me until my ribs felt like breaking...」

「But Codwall is dead, he's no longer here. He died a miserable death befitting his evil deeds. You are safe now.」

He probably couldn't help but speak of it. He must have wanted to tell someone what was done to him.

「You are a wonderful person...」

The trembling stopped from his body. He squeezed my hand back, and perhaps misunderstanding me in some way, he said something strange looking somewhat happy.

「Please, let me take care of your personal needs. For the current me, that's about all I can do...」

「Sorry but I decline that. I am a prodigal Prince, I am bad at staying in one place, so I do not need a page or the like.」

「Then I will follow you!」

「Even more so, no. That will hinder my freedom. Hm...?」

A knock sounded. Wondering what it was, I turned around and saw Atomina-aneue and Lady Yumil.

「Oh my, Ashley, you were in an unexpected place...」

「You two as well. Hm, what's that?」

「There were yams in the kitchen. Thinking this would pass through Bud-kun's throat, we grated them.」

Everyone thinks the same thing, huh. Let's not mention that I was the one who dug them up.

「Good for you, Bud, you must have been hungry.」

「Eh...?」

「You have to eat properly, okay?」

「I feel like I ended up making too much. But since you haven't eaten anything, you can handle this much. Do your best, Bud!」

However, wouldn't he throw up if made to eat three portions?

「Umm, I already received some from Ashley-sama, so...」

「What are you talking about?」

「Please don't play dumb!?」

「Oh my... Those yams, did you go gather them? You unexpectedly have good points...」

「It's fine, about three portions will fit in♪ After all, you're a boy♪」

「It's impossible, that much won't fit in!!」

「That won't do. You won't get better if you don't eat properly. Besides, these are grated yams that Princess Atomina-sama made while slightly scraping her hand on the grater, you know? I think you'll be punished if you don't eat it properly.」

Personality-wise, it seems Aneue and Yumil get along well. They were pressing bowls filled with grated yam onto the boy while laughing together. Yams fill the stomach more than they look, after all. Bud is probably already full. However, even if I explain that, Aneue in this state won't stop. This is an empirical rule.

「But three portions would kill him. If it's alright, could you give that one to me?」

「Oh my, does Ashley-kun want to eat my home cooking? Let's see... fine, I'll give it to you specially.」

I wonder if just grating yams can be called home cooking. Receiving the bowl from Lady Yumil, I scooped it into my mouth using a spoon.

「Hii?! M-My stomach, it's really full!」

「You mustn't hold back. You hadn't eaten properly, so eat properly.」

「Th-That's why... it won't all fit in at once...」

「It's an Imperial Princess's order. Eat, Bud-kun.」

「Hiiiiii!?」

Unilaterally shoving grated yam into his mouth, that is almost half abuse now. But that too is due to love. I am not great enough to be able to deny Aneue's love. Out of sympathy, I lightly patted Bud's shoulder. Then, it seems he had overcome his androphobia just a little bit. He didn't tremble at the skinship, nor did he raise his voice.

「Even if you have no appetite, you have to eat properly. Atomina-sama, I'll hold him down.」

「Eh!?」

However, I don't know about his gynophobia. For a moment I thought about stopping them, but seeing the sight of him being nursed by Aneue, I changed my mind. A rough cure is also necessary once in a while. Yeah, I am absolutely not jealous of such a weakened boy.

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[WN] Jitsuwa 3-Domedatta : Chapter 379

Chapter 379

(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)

Northern Front ⑯ – The Beginning of a Battle to the Death

Translator : PolterGlast

Driven forward by the absolute instructions of General Golpa, a cataclysmic storm of as many as 1,000 arrows simultaneously took to the sky from the various ballistae, transforming into a lethal, descending lattice of iron that violently rained down upon the heads of each unit. The position of both armies was turned completely upside down; the defenders, who just moments prior had been proudly cornering the invader's army as the 'hunting side', were instantaneously reduced to the status of the helpless 'hunted side'.

「 Wh-What did you say?! Is their maximum range not rigidly locked at 500 meters?! Th-This damage is no laughing matter! Execute a tactical retreat for now—immediately retreat outside of their effective range! 」

Astounded to the absolute center of his soul by a range that exceeded his expectations, Marquis Solis was in the midst of a meticulous withdrawal toward a safe zone, forcefully suppressing the temporary confusion while suffering some degree of heavy damage. Wielding the peerless, battle-hardened clarity of an experienced general who had successfully navigated numerous disadvantageous battles and fierce fighting, his elite soldiers maintained an absolute, ironclad grip on their defensive formations, retreating through the dust while maintaining their formation without falling into disorder.

Conversely, across the western sector, a part of Viscount Kamin's army, which had blindly accelerated its momentum to attack close to the enemy camp, was completely exposed within the effective range. Consequently, they were visited by a severe, devastating storm of arrows that was vastly, exponentially more savage and incomparable to the opposite side. Splitting the atmosphere with a terrifying shriek, they were struck hard by high-power arrows the size of short spears that slammed into their flesh with pure violence.

「 Wh-What the, ahーー?! 」 「 Escape…… guh! 」 「 R-Retreat…… uooh! 」

Their messy military ranks were ruthlessly mowed down, and there was a succession of those violently skewered by the high-power arrows in a grotesque display of kinetic overkill.

「 Now, sound the gong! 」

The exact second General Golpa issued the instruction, a massive, disc-shaped copper gong resounded and erupted into a furious rhythm that violently vibrated the air. In perfect time with that, the commanders of the invading army who had normally received the General's instructions simultaneously turned their horses' heads all at once, shifting to launch a devastating counterattack.

「「「 This is badーー!!! 」」」

Beholding the sudden, violent shift of this state, the three generals across the defensive grid shouted a simultaneous cry of pure horror.

「 Make those wild boars execute an immediate retreat! At this rate they will be completely annihilated! Have couriers run and tell them that once they get outside of range, there is nothing to fear! We will charge in to desperately secure a retreat path! 」

Viscount Kamin let out a desperate scream, and heading to the absolute front lines together with his direct army, he stood directly in front of the enemy soldiers who had shifted to pursuit. He erected his own flesh to become an unyielding wall himself, desperately securing a bleeding retreat path to let his allied forces escape.

「 Send cavalry reinforcements immediately! At this rate they will be one-sidedly whittled down! 」

Dlements immediately entrusted his premier cavalry elements to his trusted subordinates, deploying them to launch a desperate rescue formation to save their allied forces who had fallen into a crumbling predicament.

Due to the situation violently turning around, the anxieties raised beforehand hit the mark.

The third issue: it was the catastrophic shallowness of the soldiers' real combat experience. In the first place, they, who had not been considered important even in the First Prince's camp, entirely lacked opportunities to follow him and serve in the military across large-scale expeditions. As a direct consequence, including the nobles who led them, they completely lack the tactical subtleties and mental strength required to survive on the battlefield. While they were riding on the momentum of an effortless victory it was fine, but the exact fraction of a second they collapsed, their psychological baseline proved extremely fragile. Coming here to this juncture, they had begun to violently expose that raw fragility. Dissolving into a screaming, hysterical state of frenzy, they began to lawlessly rout, engulfing the Viscount Kamin army that had come out to rescue them and drastically promoting catastrophic confusion across the entire wing.

「 Extend the right wing to its absolute limit! At this rate we will be eaten through! 」

Left with zero alternative, Dlements unavoidably systematically moved his disciplined infantry to the right side, desperately trying to fill the massive empty hole. However, within the rigid mathematics of the battlefield, that sweeping lateral movement simultaneously caused his own central front to become critically thin, creating a large, hollow opening down the spine of his command.

「 That is so…… We cannot abandon an allied force that has fallen into a predicament to be slaughtered in the dirt. His tactical choice is correct, but…… No matter how much of a magnificent, famous general Lord Kamin is, if over half the allies have dissolved into a screaming mob like that, he won't be able to hold them up. The same harsh reality wallops Lord Dlements who moved to their rescue. From here on out, my First Army will extend our defensive camp to the right and deploy our own assets to assist Lord Dlements! 」

「 But Your Excellency, if our division commits to that lateral shift, then our own left flank willーー 」

Marquis Gorman cast a sharp, chilling glare at his subordinate who raised a voice of anxiety, and merely shook his head slightly. Although he was a man he hadn't been able to like since the old days, his veteran intellect knows Marquis Solis is a commander profoundly worthy of his absolute trust upon the field. He possessed a flawless conviction that if it were him, he would accurately look at the war situation and execute a disciplined retreat, and after solidifying his defense, move his elite forces to break out of the predicament. Driven strictly by that profound trust, Marquis Gorman's First Army also systematically moved its weight to the right side matching the Empire army's movements, and the macro-geometry of the battlefield was about to undergo a massive, sweeping alteration.

※

「 Fufufu, exactly as my intelligence calculated. That would be it. The Demon Territory Dukedom army is elite and boasts a formidable pool of legionnaires, they have confidence in their army's strength, and the prominent generals leading their banners are all excellent, battle-hardened veterans of many battles. But precisely because their minds operate on such high standards of orthodox warfare…… conversely, their tactical reactions are laughably easy for my intellect to read. 」

General Golpa, who was watching the shifting transition of the battlefield from atop the temporary wooden watchtower, offered a chillingly calm nod with deep satisfaction.

「 I feel deeply sorry for their brave souls for utilizing such deception, but…… this too is the immutable, unyielding custom of the battlefield. We shall systematically shave off just enough of their excess power so that we can 'retreat' safely and return to our borders without them launching a pursuit. Give the orders to each unit! All active divisions, go on the full-scale macro-offensive! 」

The exact fraction of a second this command resonated across the plain, a sequence of cataclysmic events that the various generals on the Demon Territory Dukedom side, starting with Marquis Gorman, had not even anticipated in their wildest calculations exploded across the field. First as the first unexpected variable, the 300 traditional ballistae of the Lute Kingdom army deployed at the front as a vanguard suddenly accelerated, advancing rapidly at an unbelievable velocity to drastically close the distance. They then violently unleashed an intense barrage and attacked the Marquis Gorman army that had deployed and fanned out to fill the gap the Empire army had moved from.

「 What?! For ballistae to be this agile……artillery units attached with custom-engineered iron wheel-axles…… huh?! Outrageous!!! 」

It was no wonder Marquis Gorman was astounded and allowed a rare wave of pure shock to wallop his register. Because originally, under all traditional old-world military paradigms, due to their immense physical weight and structural size, ballistae were ultimately used strictly as fixed, stationary units; even in rare instances where they could be moved, their movement velocity was torturously slow, and the grueling hours required for re-setting, calibrating, and adjusting their target-lines rendered rapid offensive redeployment a mathematical impossibility.

※

In the past, having historically been frightened by the terrifying invasions of the Empire army and having successfully demonstrated repelling them once to preserve their sovereignty, the Lute, Ville, and Cain Kingdoms had designated the heavy ballista as the absolute, crowning decisive battle weapon of their national survival frameworks. Even after politically splitting into three countries, they had each driven its technical evolution independently down vastly separate paths. Among them, the Ville Kingdom had dedicated its absolute focus and specialized in extending the effective firing range, developing sturdier, structurally reinforced, and larger super-ballistae. Therefore, their specialized platforms boasted a terrifying, high-velocity range vastly surpassing the obsolete captured ballistae of the Cain Kingdom, and as a direct result, this technical discrepancy caused the Demon Territory Dukedom side to completely miscalculate and misidentify the boundaries of the safe zone across the open plain.

The Lute Kingdom had likewise pursued an entirely separate engineering doctrine. They bordered a mysterious religious state, the Istoria Imperial Kingdom, and even after splitting into three countries, their national security bureaus had spent consecutive decades experiencing countless sudden, uncoordinated border conflicts many times. Therefore, ruthlessly prioritizing and specializing in absolute battlefield mobility so they could be deployed anywhere on the vast border line, not only were they meticulously equipped with wheel-axles, but to be able to instantaneously wheel and aim them at a new target-grid within minutes, they even integrated and equipped each unit with a manual elevation-calibrator sight responding to the elevation angle and a horizontal spirit level-indicator, albeit simple ones.

The singular nation across the entire triumvirate left behind in that industrial evolution was the Cain Kingdom, where the borders were nestled comfortably safe and imminent external security threats were the fewest. Their military bureaus had spent the past several decades lounging in absolute complacency, and there had been no major technical evolution from the primitive, traditional ones for the past few decades, but…… Capturing the obsolete ballista of that most delayed Cain Kingdom resulted in causing Alexis and the central staff facing them to completely make a fatal misjudgment regarding their parameters. General Golpa had masterfully constructed his sweeping tactics and built a masterclass of tactical deception by meticulously weaving in the psychological results arising from those intentionally lost battles as a new operation blueprint as well.

※

「 Tch, guh……It can't be helped. We will execute a temporary, controlled retreat here to re-establish a safe distance! 」

Marquis Gorman was forced to bite his lip until it bled, and couldn't help but make the painful decision, wringing the command out from his throat. Across every historical engagement in the battles up to now, his First Army had effortlessly dictated the flow by utilizing the peerless, overwhelmingly superior range of the modernized Estol Bows and proceeding with the battles advantageously; yet, when confronted by the raw mechanical violence of a modernized artillery barrage, even they too were as expected incapable of matching the range of the ballistae. As his regiments fought through the dust, continuing the painful battle to maintain their integrity under the pounding iron, an unanticipated event that dealt a further, catastrophic blow violently walloped his line.

The second unexpected variable was the suicidal, almost reckless demoniacal charge launched by the Cain Kingdom army. Across the opening acts up until now, the shattered remnants of the Cain Kingdom army had failed to secure a single drop of military prestige and had no good points at all, leaving the commanding Second Prince leading them completely cornered into a political abyss. Having spent the morning unsightlily fumbling through a clumsy performance acting out the panicked retreat stipulated in the operation script, the sudden, cataclysmic turning of the tide and change in the war situation ignited a wave of unhinged desperation, prompting them to commence a frantic, desperate charge to extract a miraculous revival.

「 Charge, CHARGEーーー!!! Focus every drop of your brawn to just advance forward! The exact fraction of a second we break the enemy's central vanguard camp, it is our absolute victory! 」

Drawn by the mad Second Prince advancing at the tip of the vanguard with a terrifyingly fierce, ghost-like appearance and his bloodshot eyes wide open, they were transformed into a desperate force of death-defying suicidal soldiers who violently crashed into and attacked Marquis Gorman's withdrawing columns which were in the midst of retreating. Confronted by an asymmetrical equation of 5,000 frenzied attackers against barely 3,000 withdrawing defenders; Marquis Gorman's brave army, which had already extended and thinned out its ranks long horizontally across a fragile lateral axis to follow up on the Empire army flank, was physically unable to leverage its standard density to work according to its numbers, fumbling into an exceptionally grueling, unexpected hard fight to preserve their lives.

And then…… the third, ultimate unexpected catastrophe exploded across the Left Wing: The sudden, catastrophic withdrawal from the command matrix and battle line of Marquis Solis, who had occupied and remained at the absolute very rear of his own Second Army on the left wing of the Demon Territory Dukedom army to personally oversee and command the disciplined retreat. When the final, long-distance ballistic fire channeled by the 200 upgraded super-ballistae released at the end assaulted his sector, in a cruel twist of fate, the veteran Marquis's body was unfortunately and violently hurled high into the air by a high-velocity iron arrow that directly slammed into and hit his warhorse mount. Slamming brutally against the hard stones of the plain, as a direct result, the Marquis instantaneously fell into a state of absolute, helpless unconsciousness and temporarily fainted. The exact fraction of a second their beloved lord fell silent, his elite army, which had been retreating in a beautifully synchronized, orderly fashion, temporarily lost its central directive commander and ground to a halt, falling into an acute state of great localized confusion. While their elite discipline naturally prevented them from dissolving into a lawless stampede and unsightlily routing like the Empire nobles, their internal communication lines fractured, completely paralyzing their capacity to coordinate their movements or pay consideration to protect the exposed flank of their allied force (the Marquis Gorman army). Seizing upon this structural fracture, even more so because the Lute Kingdom army, whose combat morale had surged into a towering tsunami and revived, forcefully reversed its momentum, turned around, and launched a ferocious, sweeping counter-offensive straight into the defensive rifts there.

「 Report! At this rate our lines cannot hold them up and sustain a pressure of this magnitudeーーthe enemy vanguard will execute a fatal breakthrough! 」

「 Tch, guh……deploy our remaining reserve soldiers to the left flank and do whatever it takes! Under no circumstances do you dare permit their steel to slice through our center and let them break through! If our lines buckle here at this rate…… 」

Confronted by the ferocious offensive of the invading enemy army that had gained near-unstoppable momentum which was not ordinary, to the grim report of his closest confidant retainers, Marquis Gorman himself could do nothing more than lock his jaw, desperately wringing every single scrap of endurance from his vessel and having no choice but to merely endure. If they allow the suicidal charge of the Cain Kingdom army to successfully puncture a hole and break through his center, it was obvious the invading forces would instantaneously turn around, assault their exposed rearguard, and launch a devastating pincer attack. If that fatal vise happens, it is abundantly clear that the massive division unit of the Ville Kingdom currently compressing and pressuring the Empire army led by Dlements next to them would also cascade across the plain like an avalanche towards here. If he himself and his center collapses, the entire northern front battle line will completely, irreversibly collapse into absolute ruin. Exactly like how a colossal, sturdy stone embankment crumbles and shatters due to a single, microscopic hairline hole made by an ant, the defensive grid was teetering on the absolute brink of total existential annihilation, and the battlefield was truly presenting that terrifying aspect.

Reaching this terrifying juncture of the slaughter, in various places across every single square meter of the bloody plain, there was absolutely no luxury or time for the individual commanders to engineer clever tricks or play with tactics. It had dissolved into a brutal, raw equation of simply a battle of sheer numbers against numbers deployed across the entire area, leaving the proud generals whom Takuhir had entrusted with the affairs of safeguarding the realm after him fallen into an absolute, suffocating predicament amidst the screaming chaos and fierce fighting.

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