How a Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom

The 30th stratagem in Thirty-Six Stratagems says, “Make the host and guest exchange roles.”

It is most often referred to in the context of a weaker force overcoming a stronger one, but it can also refer to making the defender (the host) trade places with the attacker (the guest). Being the defender is advantageous in war, so it is desirable for the attacker to create a situation where he can fight defensive battles even on campaign.

The battle currently taking place in the outskirts of Randel, the central city of the Carmine Duchy, could have been said to be an example of the later meaning of the 30th stratagem.

— 32nd Day, 9th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar —

In the Carmine Duchy, the Forbidden Army, which should have been the invading force, was fighting a defensive battle against the Army, which should rightly have been the defender. As he hid behind the walls of the “fortress” that was being attacked by a 40,000 strong force from the Army, Halbert Magna was grumbling.

“Damn... Don’t you think the enemy are trying a little too hard?”

“There’s no helping that, you know, Hal.” The response had come from Kaede Foxia, an earth mage attached to the Forbidden Army, who was taking cover behind the same wall as him.

Even as the arrows, fired by enemy and ally alike, flew overhead, she remained nonchalant.

“If you look at it from the enemy’s perspective, they woke up to find a fortress outside,” she said. “One with Forbidden Army troops in it, no less. It’s only natural they would be in a rush to do something about that, you know.”

“Well, yeah...” he said. “I thought it was beyond reckless taking on 40,000 troops from the Army with 10,000 of our own, but apparently the premise was that we’d be fighting in this fortress. Just how well did he prepare in advance for this?”

“There was originally a fortress facing Amidonia at this site,” she told him. “When the border moved far to the west in the time of the king before the last king, it was abandoned. The king simply brought it back to life, you know. And what’s more... this is a considerably more well-defended fortress than the one that was once here.”

It was yesterday that Souma had sent his ultimatum to Georg Carmine. With negotiations having failed, Souma had immediately dispatched a force of 10,000 troops from the Forbidden Army to the Carmine Duchy.

The Forbidden Army had advanced at a speed that overturned all common sense held by the Army. They had approached the central city of the duchy, Randel, and built a “fortress” right in front of their eyes.

That rapid advance and construction had been enabled by the rhinosaurus land train. Thanks to Souma’s honorary little sister, Tomoe, the Forbidden Army had a large number of rhinosauruses that could serve as a rapid cargo transportation system. Thanks to the ability of the rhinosaurus land train to transport massive amounts of cargo, they had been able to send in people and resources in a short amount of time.

The materials for building the fortress had already been partially assembled in the royal capital. They’d used a two-by-four wood frame construction system, so the parts just needed to be put into the designated places on site.

Souma had taken the idea from the One Night Castle that Hideyoshi (then known as Tokichiro Kinoshita) had built in Sunomata. Basically, the rhinosaurus land train had taken the place of the Kiso River.

In addition, the Forbidden Army troops who had constructed the fortress had a secret. Having been sent out under Souma’s orders to assist in the construction of the new city and roads, each and every one of the soldiers of the Forbidden Army was now a capable combat engineer.

The soldiers would dig holes or pile up earth as needed, cover the walls the mages created in Roman concrete, and assemble the materials shipped in from the capital.

The earth mages would gouge out the earth to make ditches, raise the ground’s surface to make walls, use magic to make the Roman concrete poured by the soldiers harden, and use reinforcement magic to strengthen the walls.

The common thinking when building a fortress on open land in this world was to have earth mages do all the work. However, because every non-mage member of the king’s personal forces was able to take part in construction, the work speed was markedly faster.

And so, even though the Forbidden Army had only arrived at the site yesterday evening, by the time morning came, the fortress was complete. From the people of Randel’s perspective, it must have looked like the fortress had been built in one night.

Later historians would come to call this “Randel’s One Night Fortress.”

This blitz of construction had been carried out immediately after the ultimatum, and the Army and corrupt nobles who were shut up in Randel had been able to do nothing to stop it.

“Still, I have to hand it to Duke Carmine, you know,” Kaede said. “The only ones who are visibly unnerved are the nobles’ private troops. The Army is quietly moving to encircle us.”

“Hey! Don’t expose your face!” Halbert exclaimed. “You’ll get hit by a stray arrow!”

Kaede had been peeking out through an arrow slit, but Halbert pulled her back.

At just that moment—

Boom!

—they heard an incredible explosion nearby.

Halbert saw Kaede was about to fall over backwards, so he quickly supported her. The sudden noise must have caught her by surprise, because Kaede was blinking.

“Th-Thank you for that, Hal,” she said.

“Come on, keep it together,” he said. “...That was pretty close to us, wasn’t it?”

An enemy spell must have struck the walls.

Technically, the walls had been strengthened against magic by Kaede and the other earth mages. That said, if they kept taking direct hits like that one, they weren’t going to hold up.

Halbert wreathed a nearby throwing spear in magical fire, throwing it towards the group he thought had unleashed that last spell. The fire spear flew like a missile, impaling one man and then exploding to incinerate the rest.

“Arghhhhh!”

He could hear their dying screams from here. Seeing that the deed was done, Halbert hid in the shadow of the wall once more.

“Wait, hold on... don’t you think the attack is extra intense just here on the west side?” he asked. “It feels like the other sides are only seeing sporadic attacks.”

“...Those are Zemish mercenaries, you know,” Kaede said as she peeked out from behind the wall. “They must have been hired by the corrupt nobles. The corrupt nobles literally have their necks on the line. If they lose this battle, the only thing waiting for them is a trip to the execution block. It’s do-or-die for them, you know. What with them getting the death penalty and all.”

“I know you think you’re being witty, but that one made me shudder,” Halbert said while throwing his second fire spear. He didn’t miss his mark and many mercenaries burned.

“Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Hot, hot!”

“It burns, it burrrrrrrrrns!”

Halbert watched with a pained smile as the mercenaries turned into balls of flame and rolled around on the ground.

For Halbert, this was his first real battle. While he had much more power than the average person, he wasn’t used to killing.

Well, it’s easier than fighting an Army unit with a lot of guys I know in it, at least, he thought.

As a former member of the Army, Halbert had complicated feelings about this whole situation. Due to their close relationship with the king, Halbert and Kaede were among the few who knew the whole truth behind this war. That was why he understood what the king wanted to accomplish. He understood, but... his feelings about it were still complicated.

“Hal!” Kaede called out to him, snapping Halbert back to his senses.

“What is it, Kaede?!”

“This is awful, you know,” Kaede said. “Look at what the enemy just brought out.”

She pointed at the giant cannons that were being carried onto the battlefield at this very moment. In this world, where gunpowder weapons had never really developed due to the existence of magic, research had continued on cannons for use in naval battles. While they lacked mobility, their destructive power that didn’t rely on magic had caught the Army’s eye. The Army kept three of them for use as siege weapons, where mobility was not so important.

At present, the only force in Elfrieden which had cannons that could be used on land was the Army.

“...Come to think of it, they do have those,” Hal said. “I’d totally forgotten.”

“If you’re going to use those, it should be in the opening stages of the battle, after all,” Kaede said.

“Well, what’re they dragging them out this late in the game for?” he asked.

“Probably the corrupt nobles brought them out because they’re panicking, you know.”

“...Is it really bad?” he asked.

“It is really bad,” she answered. “The anti-magic reinforcement is only effective against magic and flames, you know. Against physical impacts, these are just dirt walls coated with ‘Roman concrete.’ They’re more durable than normal, but if they keep hitting them like that...”

Booooom!

...Thunk!

One of the cannons fired with a sound like the air was being sucked away, the cannonball tracing a parabola before striking the wall and punching into it. The dirt wall crumbled around where it had punched through.

The cannonballs in this world were lumps of solid iron.

It seemed they had considered exploding shells, as well, but while those were flashy, they had been unable to inflict damage on walls reinforced against magic, so there was that historical reason for why they were not used. Simple impact damage worked well against reinforced walls. The lumps of iron that had just been fired into the walls were exactly the kind of high-mass projectiles they were weak against.

Seeing their power, Halbert and Kaede looked to one another.

“Wh-What do we do now?!” Kaede stammered.

“Don’t ask me! Can’t you do something with your magic?!” Halbert exclaimed.

“I’m out of magic after building this fortress! What about you, Hal, can’t you intercept them with a throwing spear or something?”

“They’re too fast!” he cried. “That’s like asking me to hit an incoming arrow with a rock!”

While they were bickering back and forth...

“Hmm. How about a bow, then?”

...they heard a calm voice from above them say.

““Huh?””

The two of them turned to see a tough young dark elf (though it was hard to be certain of an elf’s age by his appearance) holding an impressively large bow. The dark elf warrior nocked an arrow, pointing it upwards on a diagonal and taking aim.

Booooom!

Once again, a cannon fired.

At practically the same time, the dark elf warrior let loose his arrow.

In that instant, Halbert and Kaede thought they heard a high-pitched keening sound. The dark elf warrior had probably used a wind magic enchantment on the arrow. Two seconds later, the iron cannonball was smashed to smithereens in mid-air. Halbert and Kaede could only gape.

“Hmph,” the dark elf said. “Easier than taking down a migratory falcon.”

“Wh-Who’re you...?” Halbert stammered.

“Pardon me. I neglected to introduce myself. I have come from the God-Protected Forest. My name is Sur,” the young dark elf man said with a broad smile. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Halbert Magna.”

“Wh-What do you know my name for?”

“You may not remember, but when the major landslide happened in the God-Protected Forest, my daughter was among those you rescued with the king,” Sur answered. “When she heard your name later, she wanted to thank you, but the initial relief force had already returned to the capital, so... back then...”

Booooom!

...Ker-smash!!

“...I am terribly sorry that I did not properly thank you for saving my daughter,” he finished.

Even while talking, Sur was able to accurately shoot down the incoming cannonballs. They had heard dark elves were excellent archers, but this was truly impressive.

“No, I was just following Souma’s... the king’s orders...” Halbert said.

“Even if you were, I still am grateful. Though I must admit to a slight irritation at the fact that, smitten with the way you looked rescuing people, my daughter started saying, ‘Someday, I want to join the Forbidden Army, and join in relief operations like that man.’ Ha ha ha.”

Even as he continued talking like an ordinary father, Sur was shooting down incoming cannonballs one after another. Halbert and Kaede were simply dumbfounded.

“Um, why are you here? You’re not in the Forbidden Army, right?” Kaede asked, bewildered.

To this, Sur gave a jovial laugh. “We heard that His Majesty Souma, the savior of our village, was in serious trouble. In order to repay our debt, we warriors of the dark elf village have been sent to his aid. We have always avoided involvement with the outside world as much as possible, but, this time, not a single person voiced their opposition.”

To repay their debt. Here, the simple, steady accomplishments of Souma’s rule were showing their effects.

“I’m very grateful for this, you know,” Kaede said.

“I scratch your back, you scratch mine,” Sur shrugged. “This is something we have learned from you people.”

When she saw Sur’s smile, Kaede felt the tension melt away, if only a little.

We have more reinforcements than I thought, she thought. At this rate, I think we may manage to defend ourselves.

The Forbidden Army had received reinforcements from more than just the dark elf village. There was also Halbert’s father, Glaive Magna, and those who had defected from the Army like him. They were participating in the battle as volunteer soldiers with Glaive leading them. Combined with the reinforcements from the dark elf village, there were around 5,000 of them.

In other words, there were 15,000 defenders in this fortress.

I hear an attacker must have three times as many soldiers as the defender in order to win a siege, Kaede thought. The Army has seen a lot of deserters, Hal’s father foremost among them, but they were able to keep their numbers at 40,000 with the mercenaries the corrupt nobles managed to scrounge up. This would have been hard with only the 10,000 troops who report directly to the king, but if you add in the reinforcements, we’ve just managed to avoid them having triple our numbers. It was a relief to realize that.

Incidentally, years later, Sur’s now-grown daughter would make good on her word. She would join the military and be fortunate enough to be placed under Halbert’s command. Somehow, she would also shrewdly manage to arrange for her marriage to Halbert, creating a situation Kaede would not be able to feel relieved about at all, but that is a story for another day.

For now, the only thing Kaede had to wrack her brain over was finding some way to survive this battle with Halbert.

Then...

“Kaede!”

Hearing someone suddenly call her name, Kaede looked towards the gate to see a group of knights, both them and their horses clad in silver armor. These were the Royal Guard who protected the capital and the royal palace.

Standing at the front of the group, looking most impressive of all, was the Captain of the Royal Guard, who was also the head of the Forbidden Army, Ludwin Arcs. He was blonde and handsome, clad in silver armor, and riding atop a white horse. It was a look that seemed “too good to be true,” and Halbert envied him for it.

Someday, I want to be like that... Halbert felt a strong desire to make a name for himself.

Meanwhile, Kaede paid no heed to his dashing figure as she closed in angrily on Ludwin. “What do you think you’re doing?! You’re our commander-in-chief, you know!”

“Sorry, Kaede,” he said. “You take command here for a little while. We’ll go deal with those noisy things.” Ludwin pointed towards the cannons with his lance.

Kaede clutched her head. “We have Hal for petty errands like that, you know!”

“Hey!” Halbert exclaimed.

“Ha ha ha, don’t be like that,” Ludwin said. “Compared to the soldiers who’ve worked so hard building this fortress and defending it, we in the Royal Guard haven’t had a single chance to show off so far. It’ll be bad for our appearance if we don’t fix that.”

“For your appearance... are all men stupid?” Kaede demanded.

“Ha ha ha, you do get it,” Ludwin chuckled. “Well, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Before Kaede could say another word, Ludwin began barking orders at the Royal Guard.

“Open the gates! The target is dead ahead, the three large cannons! We’ll return when they are destroyed! Ignore the enemy soldiers: don’t pursue them too deeply! Focus solely on destroying the target!”

“““Yes, sir!”””

“If any block your path, run them through with your lance!” Ludwin ordered. “If any try to interfere, see them trampled under your horse’s hooves! We are the lance that defends this country! We bear the dignity of His Majesty! Rush forth, and let nothing hold you back!”

And so, the gates were opened.

“Here we go! We’ll show them the Royal Guard aren’t just here to look pretty!” Ludwin called.

“““Yes, sir!”””

With the intensity of a dam breaking, the Royal Guard surged forth.

The attacking mercenaries panicked in the face of this sudden counterattack, breaking ranks. They could no longer impede the Royal Guard’s charge. Some were impaled on Ludwin and his men’s lances, others were trampled under the hooves of their horses.

Many of them were mercenaries that the corrupt nobles had spent their personal wealth scraping together. The mercenaries were strong individually, but they did not work well in groups. With no unified command structure, they each made decisions on their own.

Because they were only working for the money, they lacked loyalty or patriotism. When their lives were at risk, they were quick to flee. As a result, they were especially ill-suited to face a force like Ludwin’s, which was disciplined and could move with one common will. The mercenaries couldn’t stop the group as individuals, yet they also couldn’t work together with their allies. With the mercenaries being mowed down one after another, they broke and ran.

Then, when Ludwin and his men reached the abandoned cannons, they set them on fire.

His Majesty will probably moan about the budget later... but, there’s little choice, Ludwin thought.

He felt it was a bit of a waste, but they couldn’t just leave them there, and they couldn’t afford the time it would take to drag weapons with such low mobility back. Destroying them was the only option.

As the Royal Guard slowly made their triumphant return, there was a loud roar as the cannons exploded behind them, sending up a great black cloud of smoke.

Jumping straight to the conclusion, the Army returned to Randel at sunset having been unable to accomplish anything this day. If we look only at the results of the battle, it could be called a victory for the defenders.

However, the ones who had originally been the attackers were the Forbidden Army. No matter how many defensive battles they won, they would eventually be worn down.

That much was clear to everyone.

That night, in the meeting room of Georg Carmine’s castle, more than a dozen nobles were pressing Georg for answers.

“Duke Carmine! What was that supposed to be?! How can the Army be so unmotivated?!” a corrupt noble demanded.

“Indeed,” another said angrily. “This is not like you, the one once feared as a fierce god of the battlefield.”

“We were the only ones out there taking the fight seriously!” another noble exclaimed.

All of these men had fled as soon as Souma had accused them of corruption. They had gathered, like moths to the flame, under the banner of Georg, who had made his opposition to the king clear.

Having embezzled more than they could ever repay, and now even rebelling against the king, they had nowhere left to go. If they lost the war with Souma, it would be the end of them. That was why they had spent their personal fortunes on Zemish mercenaries and challenged the Forbidden Army.

However, they were not satisfied with the way Georg had fought.

The Army had been too passive in today’s battle. They understood that the soldiers’ morale would be low from fighting the king’s forces, but Georg had shown no intention of even trying to encourage the troops. This attitude was unlike the Georg Carmine known for his relentless offenses, and it angered the nobles.

“The Army is full of spineless cowards!” one of the nobles spat. “The battle with the king has already begun, you realize!”

“Show us the power that made the name of Georg Carmine famous throughout the kingdom!”

“Surely you don’t mean to tell us you’re scared now!” another one shouted.

“Oh...?” Georg glared at the nobles. That alone was enough to knock the fight out of them, making them fall silent and take a step back away from him. “Who are you suggesting I am afraid of?”

There was silence.

With those words alone, Georg took control of the room.

As he looked to each of the nobles, who were speechless in the face of the fierce general’s intensity, Georg spoke in a calm, composed tone.

“Do any of you understand the situation? The enemy has only ten, maybe twenty thousand troops. It was a surprise that they built that fortress overnight, but if we slowly close in on them, they are the ones that will be pushed into a corner. Where is the need to recklessly attack?”

“I-If that is the case... if they are only ten thousand, shouldn’t we push the attack and defeat them in one fell swoop?” One of the nobles worked up his courage to speak, but Georg only snorted derisively.

“You tried that and were driven off, were you not?” he asked. “What’s more, you even pulled three cannons out of the armory, and then, in your blundering, managed to have them destroyed.”

“Urgh... I can’t apologize enough for that.” The noble who had spoken shrank under Georg’s glare.

In fact, deploying the cannons had been a decision the corrupt nobles had made themselves, frustrated that they couldn’t take the fortress. They had used their titles to intimidate the person in charge of the armory, forcing him to lend them the weapons. As a result, they had needlessly lost three cannons. Now, the Army looked at the nobles’ forces with contempt.

Georg continued, “There was one other thing I found concerning. I couldn’t sense Souma in that fortress.”

“Hasn’t he left the war to his vassals, while he stays trembling back in the royal capital?” one of the corrupt nobles asked.

“Do you think that that king could do that?” Georg asked. “Even if we can’t see him, he’s definitely out there doing something. That is why we need to lure him out.”

“In other words, you want to use the soldiers in that fortress as bait?” a noble asked.

Georg nodded at the noble’s suggestion. “Right now, there is no way to know where Souma is or what he is plotting, but if he leaves the troops he’s dispatched to die, both the soldiers and the people will abandon him. Eventually, he has no choice but to appear on this battlefield. When he does, we simply need to crush him along with the soldiers of the fortress.” He grinned.

Georg was a lion-headed beastman. When he grinned, it exposed his fangs.

When the nobles saw those, it sent a chill down their spines. They knew, if nothing else, they must never make this man their enemy.

Georg rose from his seat. “However, you must all be tired from today’s attack. This is not a battle that will be ending tomorrow or the day after. We of the Army will handle the attack alone, so all of you will take the day tomorrow to rest.”

“““Y-Yes, sir!”””

Having received those words of appreciation from Georg, the nobles bowed their heads and departed from the meeting room.

Once they did, a single man came in, as if trading places with them. “Pardon me, Duke Carmine.”

“...Beowulf,” Georg said.

The man’s name was Beowulf Gardner. He was a wolf-faced beastman who wore a black military uniform. In the Army, he and Glaive Magna, who had now parted ways with them, were the two closest to Georg Carmine. He was the second-in-command of the army now.

Using few words, Georg asked Beowulf, “The preparations are complete, I presume?”

“Yes, sir! Everything is flawless.”

“Good.”

As Beowulf saluted him, Georg nodded in satisfaction, grinning broadly.

Meanwhile, around that time, Halbert and Kaede were sitting side by side, eating together.

They were eating Souma’s invention, “instant gelin udon.”

The gelin udon was first boiled, then it was spiced heavily and dried out. When they wanted to eat it, they would pour boiling water on it and wait for one minute. (It absorbed water faster than instant ramen.) So long as they had a cup and boiling water, it could be eaten anywhere. Because of that convenience, it was well regarded by the Forbidden Army soldiers who received it as part of their rations.

“Being able to eat this stuff even in the field...slurp... it’s nice, isn’t it?” Halbert commented.

“His Majesty was complaining... slurp... ‘I wanted to fry them, but they melted when I put them in oil! Even though I prefer the savory taste of fried noodles to non-fried ones!’ you know,” Kaede said.

“I don’t really get... slurp... why he’d be so particular about that,” Halbert said.

Once they finished their meal over that sort of conversation, Kaede leaned against Halbert’s shoulder. The scent of Kaede’s hair so close to him made Halbert blink rapidly in confusion.

“H-Hey, Kaede. What’re you doing?”

“Hee hee. Hal, I’m happy, you know.”

“Huh?! About what?!” he exclaimed.

“Having you at my side, like this,” Kaede said with a little laugh. “I’m glad you came to the Forbidden Army. If you were still in the Army, we might have been enemies, you know. We might not be here.”

“Yeah, but thanks to that, I’m surrounded by 40,000 soldiers from the Army,” he said.

Kaede smiled to see Halbert rub the bridge of his nose bashfully as he said that.

“It will all be decided today and tomorrow, you know,” she said. “If we can just last that long...”

“Then what?” he asked.

“If we just get past this, I hope the rest will work out.”

“Don’t end it with what you’re hoping for!” he exclaimed. “If you’re going to say that much, then tell me the rest, too!”

“So make sure you protect me, okay? Hal.”

With his childhood friend asking him so cutely, Halbert scratched his head vigorously. “Ugh, fine, I get it! I’ll protect you and everything else!”

“I’m counting on you, you know, Hal,” she said.

In a fortress in the middle of the battlefield, the two nestled close and smiled together.

— 1st Day, 10th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar —

The night came to an end, and the Army resumed their attack.

However, unlike the day before, there were only sporadic attacks on all sides.

While arrows and magic came flying, there were no units trying to press the attack hard. Halbert was a little perplexed at the complete change to such a passive mode of fighting after the day before.

“The enemy’s suddenly let up on the attack,” he said.

“I don’t see any Zemish mercenaries, either,” Kaede said, surveying the enemy. “The change in deployment may mean that the enemy has changed to fighting a war of attrition.”

Halbert spun his shoulders in circles. “In that case, it’ll make things a bit easier, maybe.”

“One must always remain vigilant on the battlefield, Hal,” she said. “You’ll get tripped up otherwise, you know.”

“...I know.”

And so, the sporadic attacks by the Army continued. Then, when the sun was at its zenith, it happened.

The soldier in the lookout post shouted loudly, “Multiple units of wyverns sighted in the sky to the east! It’s the Air Force!”

When Halbert and Kaede looked up to the eastern sky, alarmed by the lookout’s voice, they saw several thousand wyverns flying towards them in formation.

Halbert unconsciously pulled Kaede tight against him.

Kaede put her own hand on the hand Halbert had put around her shoulder, saying, “It’s okay, Hal,” with a gentle smile. “We’ve won our bet, you know.”

The wyverns passed by the fortress where Halbert and Kaede were, flying towards Randel.

Elfrieden Historical Idiom Lessons: Number 2

“Randel’s One Night Fortress”

Type: Stratagem

Meaning: To use everything at your disposal to achieve an objective.

Origin: When King Souma was subduing Georg’s rebellion, he made use of the Forbidden Army’s capabilities as combat engineers to revive an abandoned fortress.

Synonyms: Thirty-Six Stratagems’ 14th stratagem, “Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul.”