LIGHTNOVELONLINE Book 2: Chapter 6
— 32nd Day, 9th Month, 1,546th Year, Continental Calendar — Red Dragon City —
Ever since Souma had issued his ultimatum, the lord of Red Dragon City, Castor Vargas, had been incredibly busy. Because he had chosen to support Georg Carmine using only his personal troops from Red Dragon City, there was the risk that Red Dragon City itself would become a battlefield.
Castor was aware that this had all come about as a result of his own pride. He couldn’t let the people of his domain suffer for his pride.
Because of that, he ended up having to do the work of evacuating the citizenry to other cities himself. Normally, Castor left these sort of tasks entirely to his steward Tolman, but this time he did the work by himself. He thought this might be the last time he had the chance, so he was trying to fulfill his duties as their lord.
Inside the governmental affairs office in Red Dragon Castle, his castle in Red Dragon City, Castor asked Tolman a question. “How is the evacuation of the citizens going?”
“It is already complete,” Tolman replied. “Now, the only people remaining in Red Dragon City are a unit from the Air Force and those connected to the House of Vargas.”
“I see... I’m glad to hear that,” Castor said, leaning back in his chair, a look of heartfelt relief on his face. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but it’s a load off my shoulders. Without that burden to carry, I can act as an individual warrior.”
“Truly, those were words a lord must never speak.”
“I was never cut out to be a lord anyway,” Castor said. “Though I inherited the Air Force and my subjects from my old man, I never had a gift for management. When I think about what it would have been like without you and Accela, the very thought of it frightens me.”
Castor looked up to the ceiling.
“When I think back now, I realize that King Albert was carrying so much more, and with that timid personality of his. ...And now, that new king, Souma, is carrying that burden. He’s pretty impressive, for a kid his age. I can see why the princess was willing to cut her hair to walk alongside him.”
Liscia had cut her hair as a show of determination towards Georg, but when Castor had seen it, his heart had been moved. Castor had always had a simple personality, so straightforward expressions of emotion like that really hit him hard.
Seeing Castor like this, Tolman asked him in astonishment, “You’ve changed your view of him now, after all this time?”
“Yeah. I have. ...You’re right, it took me far too long,” Castor said, recognizing his own fault.
It was too late to turn back now. He had no intention of trying, either. From here on out, he would face Souma bravely. Even if he was defeated, he would show the king the pride of a long-serving General of the Air Force.
“We have received requests from Air Force units around the country saying they wish to side with you, Master...” Tolman began.
The Air Force was home to a lot of ruffians who felt that might made right, so a brave and fierce commander like Castor got a lot of respect from his subordinates. However, Castor waved his hand at the idea.
“Tell ’em all to take a hike. I’m not letting them join me in my stubborn pride.”
“...I thought you would say that,” Tolman said, looking at his awkward master with resigned dismay. “Now then, master. What do you plan to do now?”
“I’m not gonna do anything,” Castor said. “I’ll just wait here for Souma.”
“You won’t go to join Duke Carmine?”
“I can’t leave Red Dragon City sitting empty. Besides, I wouldn’t mind fighting alongside Duke Carmine, but I’ll have to pass on riding alongside a bunch of corrupt nobles. I couldn’t stay true to my pride like that.”
For Castor, the outcome of this war was secondary. Win or lose, live or die, he thought only of fighting in a way for which no one would be able to laugh at him.
“I will wait in this land for Souma to come,” he said. “If he comes with a great army, I will fall gloriously in battle. If he underestimates me and only sends a small force, I will chew them to pieces. That is all.”
“Ah, but will things go as you’ve planned...?” Tolman said, looking down to the documents in his hands. “According to reports from our scouts, a force of 10,000 from the Forbidden Army has headed towards the Carmine Duchy. It is unclear whether King Souma is accompanying that army, but I do not believe they have any forces to send at us.”
“You’re saying he’s gonna ignore me?” Castor asked.
“We only have one hundred knights, so I believe ignoring you would be an option.”
“Ha, not a chance,” Castor dismissed Tolman’s concerns with a laugh. “The 40,000 strong Army led by Duke Carmine, or 100 knights from the Air Force? Which sounds like the more difficult opponent to you? On top of that, if he defeats me, we have a rule in place that says the entire Air Force will side with Souma. For Souma, the best course of action is to strike me down, then to lead the Air Force into a final battle with Duke Carmine.”
“However, the fact of the matter is that King Souma has no spare troops at his disposal...”
“I dunno about that. The new king’s a shrewd one, and I hear his right-hand-man, the Prime Minister, is sharp, too. They may come up with some method we would never have thought of,” Castor said, smiling in anticipation. His expression was like that of a mischievous boy excited to see whether his prank was going to work or not.
When he saw Castor eagerly awaiting some scheme by his enemies, even though he might soon be in a serious crisis, Tolman held his temples. “Master, I simply cannot understand that sense of yours.”
“Ha ha ha, you don’t really need to understand it. Actually... Tolman, don’t get involved in this battle,” Castor said, suddenly taking on a serious expression.
Tolman was shocked into silence, but after a moment he regained his composure. “...Why is that?” he asked. “I am prepared to serve you to the very end, you realize?”
“If something happens to me, and then you die, too, who’s gonna lead the Air Force? Besides, I’m concerned for Carl, who I left with Duchess Excel,” Castor said, wearing a somewhat lonely smile as he did. “Duchess Walter has sided with King Souma. Even if something happens to us, I’m sure she’ll have Carl, who I’ve cut ties with, inherit the House of Vargas. But Carl’s still young. Accela can’t handle things all by herself. That’s exactly why I want you there to watch over Carl. You know the House of Vargas well, after all. That’s why... no matter what happens, you have to survive. That’s an order.”
“...You do give cruel orders,” Tolman said, wearing a bitter smile with a tinge of loneliness. However, he quickly took on a serious expression. Standing with his back straight, his feet together, he saluted. “I have most certainly received your order.”
“...I’m counting on you.”
As the master and servant were having this exchange, Castor’s daughter Carla rushed into the room, out of breath.
“Father! Souma’s forces have appeared!”
When he heard those words, Castor stood up, full of vigor. “He’s here, huh! So, how big’s this force he’s leading?”
How many troops Souma had brought would determine whether Castor would be able to show him his pride. Was it 5,000, or 10,000? Castor had hoped for a large force, but Carla’s next words made him doubt his ears.
—The enemy force was... one ship!
“...Are you serious?”
Having come up to the walls to look, Castor saw a battleship advancing across the plains towards them. Red Dragon City was built halfway up a mountain in the middle of the plains. There were no rivers near it that a battleship could traverse. However, that battleship was running along the ground, not along a river or anything else.
“Father, that looks like the battleship Albert,” Carla said, looking through a telescope.
“The Albert? What’s that thing doing running across the land?” Castor asked incredulously.
The battleship Albert. Named for the former king, it was the sole ship held by the Forbidden Army, and also the flagship of the Royal Navy. While its shape was similar to the Mikasa, the flagship of the Combined Fleet at the time of the Battle of Tsushima, instead of being propelled by an internal combustion engine, it was drawn by two sea dragons.
However, it wasn’t sea dragons that were pulling the Albert now.
“Ah! Father, look. The Albert is being drawn by rhinosauruses.”
When Castor took the telescope from Carla to see for himself, he saw that the Albert was being drawn by three of the large, land-dwelling creatures called rhinosauruses.
When he looked closer, he noticed that the Albert’s keel had been modified. There were what looked like wheels on the sides.
“They put wheels on it so they could force it to run on land?! After a modification like that, there’s no way it can go back to being a ship! Do they plan to throw away their flagship here?!”
“It’s not like we had much choice,” said a transmitted voice. “We’ve already got a shortage of manpower.”
“?!”
When he turned to look at the sudden voice which had responded to his questioning, he saw Tolman standing there holding a simple Jewel Voice Broadcast receiver. Standing behind Tolman were a number of Castor’s subordinates who had, for some reason, brought a Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel up onto the wall.
The image of Souma Kazuya was displayed on the simple receiver Tolman was holding. It was too dark to see what was behind him.
“We just received a letter from King Souma requesting to speak with you by Jewel Voice Broadcast, so we made the necessary preparations,” Tolman explained.
Hearing this, Castor said, “...I see,” with a nod. “And? Why’s the Albert all this way inland?”
In response to Castor’s question, Souma just shrugged. “Don’t underestimate the Forbidden Army’s transport capacity. If we use paved roads and rhinosauruses, carrying around a modified battleship is easy.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking why you went to the trouble of bringing it all this way.”
Castor wasn’t asking about how, he wanted to know why.
Souma told him the answer without any theatrics. “To attack and take Red Dragon City, of course.”
The next moment...
Booooooom!
...there was a loud noise. Then, only seconds later, there was crunching sound as a great tremor shook the wall. As he stumbled forward due to the tremor, Castor looked around the area.
“What?! What happened?!”
“W-We’re taking fire from the Albert! It appears to have landed a direct hit on the walls!”
“We’re taking fire?! ...Ah! I see! Cannons, huh?”
Firearms had not developed very far in this world with magic.
Within the kingdom, only the Army had cannons that were meant to be used inland. However, because all types of magic other than water tended to be weaker at sea, battles on the water were mainly fought by ships firing at each other with artillery. Of course, warships were loaded with large cannons. This was also true of the Forbidden Army’s Albert.
Souma had brought the Albert out so that he could use its cannons.
“Since it’s hard work attacking a mountain fortress like Red Dragon City,” Souma explained. “We don’t have much time to spare, either, so I relied on weapons that could attack from long-range.”
“You’re saying you remodeled the battleship for that?” Castor demanded.
What will this guy think of next, Castor thought, feeling as if he was watching a stage magician at work.
If he’d had modern knowledge, he likely would have just thought, All you did was use a battleship like a railway gun. (Which were weapons made by loading the usually large and difficult to transport cannons on a train, making it possible to move them long distances.) However, for the people of this world where there was not yet any concept of a railway gun, Souma’s idea was enough of a shock on its own.
Castor stood dumbfounded for a moment, but soon began to laugh out loud. “Ha ha ha, not bad! I never thought I’d see a ship running across land!”
“You like showy tricks like this, don’t you?” Souma asked, to which Castor nodded.
“I think I’m in love. You may just become one hell of a king.”
“It’s not too late for you to surrender. It’d make this easier, you know?” Souma said, but Castor shook his head in silence.
“Sadly... I can’t do that. I can’t do something as pathetic as folding this late in the game. Now that it’s come to this, let me be the wall that stands in your way. If you have what it takes to be king, climb over me.”
Seeing Castor brimming with the will to fight, Souma narrowed his eyes. “...That is truly regrettable, Castor.”
Booooooom! ...Bang!
Another shot was fired into Red Dragon City’s walls.
Castor turned to Carla and ordered her, “Carla, lead the wyvern cavalry out and raise some hell over on that battleship.”
When she received that order, Carla’s eyes went wide with surprise. “I’m going to lead them? What are you going to do, Father?”
“I’ll stay here and watch your battle. Since, no matter what, one of us has to stay behind. Now go out there and shut those cannons up.”
“...Understood!”
Carla rushed over to the wyvern stables. After watching Carla depart, Castor turned to speak to Souma over the simple receiver.
“My daughter is coming for you. Prepare to meet your maker.”
“I suggest you do the same,” Souma replied.
The two men glared at one another.
Thus began the battle for Red Dragon City.
The wyvern cavalry under Carla flew up into the sky with coordinated movements.
Carla, being a dragonewt, could fly by herself, but she usually flew on the back of a wyvern so that she could focus entirely on the battle. They would use wind magic to rise up to an altitude cannons couldn’t reach, and then, after getting into formation, they would perform a diving attack. When they finished forming up, and just as Carla was about to give the order to attack, one of the wyvern cavalry came over to her.
“My Lady, please, wait a moment.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Something’s strange here. We’ve risen to this high of an altitude, but I don’t see any sign of reinforcements behind them. It looks like the Albert really is the entire enemy force.”
As she responded to the wyvern knight, who had a dubious look on his face, Carla tilted her head to the side in puzzlement. “Haven’t we already received reports to that effect?”
“Yes,” he said. “However, I think they may be hiding somewhere, or they might have troops standing by in a separate location. My Lady, do you think it’s possible to take a castle with only a siege weapons unit?”
Carla considered the question. “...No, it’s not. Even if they’re able to attack the castle, they lack the power to occupy it and then maintain that occupation. If they want to hold the castle, they’ll need a unit of infantry in addition to the siege weapons unit.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “However, I see no sign of the enemy having those forces.”
“So, basically... what does that mean?”
“I don’t know. However, do you think the enemy might still have something up their sleeve?”
Carla thought deeply for a moment before shaking her head. “Even if they do, it changes nothing. Right now, Red Dragon Castle is being exposed to cannon fire. In order to ensure Father’s safety, we must destroy that battleship.”
“Well... Yes, I suppose that’s true...” The wyvern knight could see that, too, so he backed down quietly.
Carla raised her right hand up high. “The target of our attack is the battleship Albert! King Souma is a target for capture! Let that king bear witness to the bravery of House Vargas!”
“““Yeahhhhhhhhhh!””” Hearing Carla’s orders, the muscular men of the Air Force raised their voices in a cheer.
Compared to the other forces, the members of the Air Force tended to value power for its own sake. In the Air Force, might made right. Might was an absolute. They could leave the thinking and calculating to the other forces.
Those in the Air Force needed only to be strong, and to be ready at all times to tear apart the enemies before them. That was why the soldiers of the Air Force had such a deep respect for Castor and Carla, with their overwhelming power.
“Wyvern cavalry, here are your orders! Descend, charge, then trample the enemy!” she called.
When Carla, who they deeply respected, brought down her hand, the soldiers of the Air Force began their rapid descent towards the Albert.
The ultimate strategy for fighting with wyvern cavalry on an open field was to descend rapidly while unleashing the wyvern’s fire breath to scorch the ground, and then to turn and ascend once more. By the time the soldiers on the ground had readied their bows, the wyverns would already be long gone. With the equipment used to fight land-based opponents, there was little that could be done to counteract this high-power, high-mobility attack.
Not even the Albert’s main cannon would be able to track them at the speed they went, and its armor wouldn’t last long in the face of an attack by a wyvern unit.
It seemed like only a matter of time before the Albert would fall, but...
Twang, twang, twang, twang, twang...
In the next moment, countless objects flew towards the descending knights from the direction of the Albert. By the time they realized they were arrows as thick as stakes, the wyvern cavalry were already caught in the rain of arrows.
“Wha?! Arrows?!”
“Gwah...!”
“Th-They got my wings! I’m going down!”
“Evade! Evaaaade!”
In this barrage of arrows that seemed to rain up from the ground, the wyvern cavalry were forced to turn back and ascend. A number of wyvern cavalry had been shot down in that barrage alone.
The attack had come from below, so most of the damage had been done to the wyverns rather than the knights. Even among the wyverns that managed to withdraw safely, many were staggering in pain with bolts having struck them somewhere.
As she looked at this debacle, Carla punched her thigh in anger. “What was with those bolts?! How were there so many?!”
“If they can reach a wyvern unit several hundred meters in the air, those arrows weren’t fired by any human,” one of her knights responded. “If we consider the number, too... most likely, it was an anti-air repeating bolt thrower enchanted with wind magic.”
Hearing that report from her wyvern cavalry, Carla’s brow furrowed in concern. “An anti-air repeating bolt thrower?! Why is one of those loaded on a boat?!”
“Most likely... they loaded one from a castle’s wall onto the ship.”
The anti-air repeating bolt thrower was enchanted with wind magic to drastically increase its range and allow it to fire tens of bolts per second. It was a weapon specially created to combat wyverns. Normally they were mounted on castle walls, and it was unheard of for them to be loaded on ships.
This was because one of the differences between dragons and wyverns was that, while dragons didn’t fear the sea, wyverns did. When wyverns were out far enough to sea that they could no longer see land, they grew frightened and would thrash around to the point that they became completely uncontrollable. In other words, wyverns almost never fought battleships, so ships had no need to carry anti-wyvern equipment.
Because of that, Carla and her wyvern cavalry had forgotten their natural enemy, the anti-air repeating bolt thrower, until this very moment.
Carla punched her thigh in anger once more. “Damn! He outwitted us by taking advantage of our expectations...”
When she thought back, from the moment this battle had begun, their understanding of how things worked had been falling to pieces. There was a ship running across the land, loaded with weapons it wouldn’t usually have. Because they had tried to resort to their common sense, the enemy had been able to toy with them.
I don’t know if this was that king’s scheme, or if the Prime Minister in Black came up with it, but whichever of them it was, he’s downright nasty, Carla thought to herself bitterly.
In fact, this plan had been a collaborative work by Souma and Hakuya. Souma had proposed ideas to Hakuya based on weapons and tactics from his world, while Hakuya had formulated them into a plan that would catch the enemy by surprise. If anyone was nasty, it was both of them.
However, that mattered little to Carla at the moment.
The wyvern knight told her, “If they’ve got an anti-air repeating bolt thrower on board, that battleship is a little castle in its own right. This is dangerous.”
Hearing one of the wyvern knights under her analyze the situation, Carla clicked her tongue. “Damn...! What do we do?”
“Well... It may be like a little castle now, but it is still shaped like a battleship, so I suspect it may still have the same blind spots.”
“Where are a battleship’s blind spots?” Carla asked.
“The area between the water’s surface and the deck. A battleship has no means of attacking enemies lower than its deck. For the Albert, the area from the ground to its deck should be a blind spot for it. In short, if we’re going to attack that ship...”
“...we just have to fly in really low on the approach!” Carla said with glee, pleased to have found a good strategy.
Ordinarily, minimum altitude flight with wyverns was dangerous. It could result in crashing into the ground at any moment. However, they were a seasoned unit from the Air Force.
“You heard that!” Carla called. “All knights, fly at low altitude and approach the Albert. Move quickly to neutralize all weapons, including the main cannon and anti-air repeating bolt throwers!”
“Roger that, but only the weapons? Wouldn’t it be faster to crush the bridge?” one wyvern knight asked, but Carla shook her head silently in response.
“We believe Souma is on that battleship. If Souma is there, Liscia may be close at hand. If we attack the bridge and Liscia gets hurt, that will be unacceptable. Therefore, we just need to neutralize their weapons. Take Souma alive.”
Even as she gave those orders to her subordinates, Carla herself felt differently. Besides, if we kill Souma, I’m sure Liscia would be sad.
Carla had been watching from behind Castor while Souma had delivered his ultimatum. Of course she had seen everything, including Liscia cutting her hair.
Castor might have been moved by Liscia’s determination, but as her friend, and as a woman herself, Carla had been moved even more powerfully. Liscia had been so determined to live at Souma’s side that she had been able to cut off her beautiful hair without hesitation.
The engagement had been forced on her by her parents at first. That was why Carla had been so angry, and she had chosen to stay with her father when he’d opposed the king, saying she was going to save Liscia. ...However, after being shown that level of determination, she had no choice but to accept it. Liscia already loved Souma from the depths of her heart.
If I were really thinking of Liscia, I should have tried to persuade Father, Carla thought. Then, rather than opposing them, I should have served under them, I’m sure... Well, it’s a little late for regrets now.
How was she supposed to face Liscia now?
Carla shook her head, as if to shake herself free from those feelings, then bowed to the knights following her. “I know I’ll be putting you all through unnecessary trouble, but I’m counting on you.”
When Carla bowed, the men all pounded their chests once. “Leave it to us, My Lady.”
“We swear we’ll capture Souma for you!”
Hearing the men’s reassuring response, Carla nodded and raised her right hand. Then...
“Charge!”
...she lowered her hand, giving the order to charge once more.
All of the wyvern cavalry fell vertically, head first, like puppets with their strings cut. Then, they recovered mere instants before impacting with the ground and flew at minimum altitude, as if crawling along the surface. It was a dangerous flight path, but as a testament to the rigorous training they underwent daily, not one of the knights dropped out while accomplishing this feat.
With Carla at their head, the wyvern cavalry continued flying at minimum altitude, heading straight towards the Albert. As they had anticipated, there was no cannon fire or rain of bolts. Carla visually confirmed the presence of anti-air bolt throwers mounted on the sides of the Albert.
“Found them! All knights, proceed as planned to attack the enemy armaments! We don’t know where Souma is, so don’t hit any section of the ship that you don’t have to!”
“““Yes, ma’am.”””
“Here we go... Fire!”
As Carla gave the order, balls of fire erupted from the wyverns’ mouths. The fireballs impacted the weapons aboard the Albert one after another. The two main batteries at the fore and aft of the Albert exploded, and the bolt throwers burned. The difference in what exploded and what didn’t was decided by whether it was a gunpowder weapon or not.
With all of the weapons destroyed in an instant, the wyvern knight unit climbed upwards away from the Albert, as if riding the rising smoke.
Confident of her victory, Carla had her wyvern fly in a graceful circle. “Good! Now, storm the Albert! Take Souma into custody!”
“Yeahhhhhh!”
But she said nothing in return.
Among the fired up wyvern cavalry, Carla was alone in wearing a dubious expression.
...It’s strange. The Albert has secondary guns, but the only ones to fire on us were the two main batteries and the anti-air repeating bolt throwers. If they’d wanted to put up a curtain of fire, the more guns firing, the better, I would think. Maybe that battleship... doesn’t have the numbers for it?
As Carla was growing suspicious, the wyvern cavalry had already headed for the bridge of the Albert. Despite her doubts, Carla followed after them.
When Carla reached the Albert’s bridge, there wasn’t a person in sight. The bridge was empty.
It made sense that now, at this particular moment, she couldn’t see anyone, but there was no sign of anyone having been here recently at all. As Carla stood there dumbfounded, a wyvern knight ran in to give her his report.
“Reporting in! We are presently searching the inside of the Albert, but we have yet to find a single soldier, let alone Souma!”
“That’s absurd! Then who were we fighting up until now?!” she demanded.
She felt like the wool had been pulled over her eyes somehow. The ship lay vacant. The gunners were nowhere to be found. It was practically one of those ghost ships she had heard of. Did King Souma have some bizarre secret powers at his disposal?
As a cold chill began to creep up the wyvern knights’ backs, a new report came in.
“I have a report! We have recovered parts of what appears to be armor from around the destroyed main batteries and bolt throwers!”
“Armor? Were there dead bodies?”
“About that... inside the gloves we found, there were hands from a mannequin.”
“A mannequin?”
Mannequins had been found instead of gunners.
Then there was the premonition she had felt herself, that maybe the ship lacked numbers. When she considered all of that, Carla came to a conclusion.
“All knights, return to the castle on the double!”
“But we haven’t found Souma yet!”
The wyvern cavalry reacted to the now-frantic Carla with puzzlement.
Carla explained to the wyvern cavalry, her face filled with regret, “No... Souma probably isn’t aboard this ship. I don’t know what magic he used, but he was controlling the mannequins we found to have them attack us. The unmanned Albert was bait, and we fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”
“It was bait...?! Then what was his real target?!”
Seeing it beginning to dawn on the wyvern cavalry, Carla nodded gravely. “Most likely, it was my father back in Red Dragon Castle.”
—One hour earlier. As seen by Souma Kazuya.
Castor’s opposition was not something we had expected.
Georg had been making unsettling moves, and Castor had left his wife and child with Excel after she’d tried to persuade him. However, even if he took a rebellious attitude up until the last moment, I had thought Castor would side with us in the end.
However, that was a naive hope. We had underestimated Castor’s sense of chivalry.
I’d never thought Castor would side with the enemy, ready to martyr himself for his friendship with Georg. It was a small respite that out of concern for his subordinates, he had only taken himself and one hundred of his personal troops. Still, when Excel’s spies had brought that information to us, both Hakuya and I held our heads in our hands.
That was because it meant we were going to have to change part of our carefully formulated plan.
When it was confirmed that Castor would oppose us, the biggest problem was that I had no forces to send to Red Dragon City.
Of the 15,000 troops I could move, the 10,000 from the Royal Guard and Forbidden Army had to go to the Carmine Duchy, while the remaining 5,000 had been dispatched to the south of the kingdom where the armies of the Principality of Amidonia were. While I had managed to secure Excel’s cooperation, I had other orders for the Navy.
So the problem was, I had almost no troops left on hand.
Even though Castor only had one hundred of his personal troops, they were all wyvern knights, said to be equivalent to five hundred soldiers from the Army. If I sent anything less than a proper force, they wouldn’t be able to take Red Dragon City.
With this lack of manpower, Hakuya and I chose to befuddle our opponent with scheme after scheme, then try to take Red Dragon City in one quick strike.
First we remodeled the Forbidden Army’s battleship, the Albert, to be able to operate on land.
In order to put pressure on Red Dragon City, which was halfway up a small mountain, we absolutely needed to have long range weapons. That was why it had occurred to me to use the Albert’s cannons. The idea had come from the railway gun I had seen in a war manga.
By putting wheels on the ship and having it pulled by the rhinosauruses that Tomoe had managed to gather for us, we were able to make it so it could run across land.
...Though, after a crazy remodel like that, we’d probably never be able to make it back into a ship again. It meant that I’d thrown away the Forbidden Army’s only battleship, but hard decisions had to be made.
Using the Albert as a mobile artillery platform, the first thing I did was bombard Red Dragon City. That must have surprised the enemy. I mean, there was a ship running across the land and firing on them.
At the same time, I used the jewel for the Jewel Voice Broadcast to contact Castor. When I did that, it made him think I was on the Albert.
Plans that took advantage of human psychology like this were Hakuya’s specialty.
Castor was sure to lead his hundred personal troops out to attack the Albert. Wyvern cavalry were a type of troop that had both power and mobility. Even though cannons could destroy castle walls, it didn’t matter how powerful they were if they couldn’t hit them. Since all we had done was drag the Albert up on land, it would probably be destroyed by the wyvern cavalry in a matter of moments.
In order to prevent that, we loaded a wyvern killer, the anti-air repeating bolt thrower, onto the Albert. If there were anti-air repeating bolt throwers aboard, the wyvern cavalry couldn’t approach it easily. At the very least, it would buy time.
By the way, the Albert’s cannons and the anti-air repeating bolt throwers were being operated by dolls I controlled with my Living Poltergeists. In other words, the Albert was unmanned.
Then, once Castor and his wyvern cavalry went to attack the Albert, I thought we would take Red Dragon City while it was lightly defended.
Because Excel had sided with us, we knew that there was a series of escape tunnels under Red Dragon City, just like the ones in the capital. By using those tunnels, if we sent in an elite unit led by Aisha, no matter how firm the castle’s defenses were, they would be able to easily occupy it.
Once Red Dragon City was taken, the city’s anti-air repeating bolt throwers would be used to attack Castor and his troops as they returned. Besides which, once his own castle fell, Castor would finally have to admit defeat... or so I thought.
However, this was where something we hadn’t planned for happened.
Castor had remained in Red Dragon City.
When we came up to the castle walls to seize Red Dragon City’s anti-air repeating bolt throwers, we ran right into Castor. Standing behind him was a middle-aged man who looked like the family steward.
When our eyes met...
“...Castor Vargas.”
“...Souma Kazuya, huh.”
Like that, Castor and I each said the other’s name. This was our first time meeting face to face.
Meeting him in person, Castor was both large and looked younger than he had when I saw him on a screen. While he had red hair, dragon wings, and a tail, he also had fine features that made him look more like a young man than a general.
I didn’t have the luxury of time, but I chose to give my name as a show of respect. “I am the one serving as the provisional king of the Elfrieden Kingdom, Souma Kazuya.”
“I am General of the Air Force, Castor Vargas.” When I gave my name, Castor responded in kind. Then, Castor cocked his head to the side and asked, “If you guys’re here, does that mean the battleship putting up a big showy firefight over there is a diversion?”
“Yeah. The plan was to take Red Dragon City while it was lightly guarded, but, well...”
“Ha ha ha, too bad for you that I stayed behind,” Castor laughed jovially.
When I saw Castor acting like that, I grew suspicious. “Sure, you stayed behind, but it’s just the two of you, right? I don’t think you ought to be laughing right now.”
“Whoa there, I’m the only one who’ll fight you,” he said. “Leave Tolman here out of it.”
“I am Tolman, steward to the House of Vargas,” the middle-aged man behind Castor turned to me and bowed. “I also served as Duke Vargas’ second-in-command in the Air Force.”
“Tolman has nothing to do with all this,” Castor went on. “If I lose, you can have him lead the Air Force. He ought to make a fine General of the Air Force.”
As he said that, Castor slapped Tolman on the back vigorously.
He had considered what would happen after his defeat, and he was making recommendations for his successor, huh?
“...If you’re going to be that good a sport about it, why don’t we just call this off entirely?” I asked. “You must realize it by now, right? This battle is pointless.”
“It’s not pointless. You can become the man who bested me,” Castor said and then grinned. “Besting ‘General of the Air Force Castor Vargas’ will earn you a lot of prestige. Duchess Excel already follows you. Now, just try defeating Duke Carmine. If you do that, I’m sure all of the nobles who are acting like fair-weather allies will be stumbling over one another to come serve you.”
“You...”
“Though, that said, I have no intent of making it easy on you.”
When he finished saying that, Castor drew the sword at his hip.
“Sire, stay back!”
Aisha and the others in the infiltration team moved up, putting themselves between me and Castor. A number of my Little Musashibo (Large) dolls were mixed in with them, which made for a surreal scene.
Castor turned his blade towards me. “You’re a hero, aren’t you? Want to take me one-on-one?”
“Don’t be crazy. An ordinary guy who spends all his time doing nothing but administrative work isn’t going to be any match for you.”
If he wanted to challenge me to a duel, I was just going to have to shrug.
I had come here as part of the infiltration team, but I hadn’t defeated a single one of the guards. Well, though I wasn’t any use here, I was in the middle of fighting elsewhere right now.
By using my divided consciousness to the fullest, my armored dolls were manning the Albert’s main guns and the anti-air repeating bolt throwers we had secretly loaded aboard. I was using them to fight against the wyvern cavalry that we had lured in.
However... the wyvern cavalry were better trained than I had imagined.
It seemed I had caught them by surprise, but even the weapon called the wyvern killer, the anti-air repeating bolt thrower, might not be able to stall them for long.
While I was thinking about that, Aisha took a swing with her great sword. “Castor! How long do you intend to point your blade at His Majesty?!”
“Guh! For a little kid, she has incredible idiot strength!” Castor cried.
He said that, but given that he had stopped Aisha’s great sword with his own blade, I figured he had some “idiot strength” himself.
Aisha seemed indignant at being called a little kid. “I’d rather not say this in front of His Majesty, but I’ll have you know I’ve been alive for decades!”
“Hmph! Well, I’ve been fighting for this country for over a century!” he declared.
“Mrrrrgh...”
Come on, what were they competing over? Was this a pride thing because they were both from long-lived races? That was what I was wondering, when....
“If you underestimate a dragonewt, born of dragon blood, you’re going to get more than just hurt!” Castor shouted, spreading his wings wide to intimidate her.
The gust of wind that created was powerful enough on its own to blow a number of the nearby soldiers up against the wall. Aisha was managing to withstand it by putting her hands on the ground.
...So, that was the power of a dragonewt. It looked like he’d gotten more than just a cool look out of belonging to a race descended from dragons.
Then, in the next instant, Castor kicked off from the ground, remaining in the air as he dove forward. He didn’t pay the others any heed, thrusting his sword out straight forward as he tried to impale me on it.
“Sire!”
Aisha stood between us to protect me, using her great sword to block Castor’s charge. The clang of metal on metal echoed as their blades collided.
“Ha ha ha! You’re not half bad, dark elf girl!”
“My name is Aisha! I will not allow you to lay so much as one finger on His Majesty!” Aisha swung her great sword with all her might, knocking Castor away.
Castor made a graceful landing before hurling some verbal abuse her way. “Damn your idiot strength!”
“Yes. I’m not very smart. But if he needs a smart person, there’s the princess, or Sir Hakuya, or Madam Juna, or Duchess Walter. If my strength can still be of aid to His Majesty’s rule, if it will let me stay by his side, I don’t mind having ‘idiot strength’!”
Aisha adjusted her grip on her great sword. She was slowly closing the gap between herself and Castor.
Castor laughed jovially. “A fine display of loyalty. Is Souma a good master to you?”
“I don’t know!” she declared.
“Oh, come on...” I muttered.
She didn’t have to be that blunt. That hurt my feelings.
“I’m an idiot, so I don’t know what a good master is like,” Aisha went on. “However, I wish to be at His Majesty’s side! Because he heard my plea. Because his country’s food is delicious. Because he saved my village. I have many reasons, but the biggest must be because I like him! I want to be with His Majesty and the princess forever!”
It was a straight response, not calculated at all, which was so very like Aisha.
...It was a bit embarrassing.
I knew it wasn’t that kind of scene, but how could I not be happy when a beautiful dark elf had so many good things to say about me? I could feel myself barely holding back a grin.
Castor laughed even more jovially. “Ha ha ha! I knew you were like my Carla! But...!” Castor’s expression grew serious and he took up a fighting stance with his sword. “If you lack the power to back up that loyalty, you won’t be able to protect your master or yourself.”
With those words, Castor was about to attack Aisha again, when...
“I won’t let you do that.”
“?!”
One of the Little Musashibo (Large) dolls that was behind Castor came at him swinging its naginata. Castor turned suddenly to block it, but the moment he went to counterattack, the Little Musashibo spun around. When it did, its back split open like a cocoon, and someone leapt out.
The person who leapt out of the Little Musashibo doll was none other than Liscia, rapier at the ready.
“Wha?! Princess Liscia?!” Castor cried.
Faced with Liscia’s surprise attack, Castor pulled his sword back despite himself. Liscia was a member of the family that he had sworn loyalty to. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t be someone he could point his sword at.
Had he been aware it was Liscia he was facing from the beginning, with Castor’s martial prowess he could no doubt have incapacitated her without bringing her to harm.
In order to prevent that, and anticipating this might happen, Liscia had hidden inside a Little Musashibo doll, waiting for an opportunity.
This hesitation would be Castor’s undoing.
“Freeze! Ice Sword Mountain!” she shouted.
“Urkh!”
Not missing her opening, Liscia unleashed an ice magic attack at close range. Castor narrowly avoided it, but the magic struck the stone wall and floor, creating spikes of ice. Because of his large wings, Castor got caught in the spikes and was unable to move.
“Dammit!”
“Aisha!” she called.
“I’m on it, princess!”
While Castor was rendered immobile, Aisha swung the flat side of her great sword into him at full force. Castor was knocked flying along with the ice. There was the sound of ice shattering against the wall and then, an instant later, the sound of Castor slamming against it, too.
Right before my eyes was a scene of a person being thrown into a wall and leaving cracks in it, something I had only ever seen in battle anime before. After seeing him take a hit that I was sure would have killed me instantly, Castor was bruised but still conscious. I guess that’s what made dragonewts so impressive, huh.
With his back to the wall, he slumped down, groaning, “Urgh... So this is it, huh... I admit defeat, princess.”
“Duke Castor...”
Seeing the sad look on Liscia’s face, Castor smiled a little. “Don’t look like that. I stayed true to my pride, fought, and was defeated. I have no regrets. But, that aside... I’d like to ask you the same thing I asked the dark elf girl.”
“...What might that be?” Liscia asked.
“Is Souma... a good king?”
“Yes. For me, he’s a good king.” Liscia gave a clear answer to Castor’s question. “Whether he was good for the country and people is something to be decided once a king has died. There is no end to the number of kings who ruled well at first, only to become tyrants in later years. So, I can only give you my own opinion.”
“...”
“Many of Souma’s political measures can be roundabout, or downright strange, but I feel at ease watching him. That’s because I can feel that this country is slowly but steadily improving. So... call me selfish if you want, but I want Souma to be king. If my father demands his crown back, I’ll fight him at Souma’s side.”
I had heard those words before. If I recalled correctly, they had come before we’d gone to the planned construction site for the new city. While I had been exhausted from repeated all-nighters, Liscia had said this to me when I’d been trying to take a nap.
“Never forget. You’re the one I want to be king, Souma. I’ll accept no substitutes. If my father were to demand the crown back, I’d fight him at your side.”
Since her words hadn’t changed, was that proof that her feelings hadn’t either?
...I was happy. At the fact there was someone who would say they wanted me to be king. That she could feel at ease with me in that position. It was because Liscia was at my side that I was able to be king.
As I was thinking that, I saw the Albert explode in the distance.
“Liscia, the Air Force is coming back,” I said. “Hurry and get that thing out.”
“...I know.” At my urging, Liscia took something black out of her pocket and fastened it around Castor’s neck. “I’m sure you’re aware, but that is an item called a slave collar. It can be tightened at the master’s will, and if the wearer seeks to harm their master, the collar has a spell in it to automatically decapitate them. It will decapitate the wearer if they attempt to remove the collar contrary to their master’s wishes, too. They can’t commit suicide, either. Also, the master of this collar is set to be Souma Kazuya.”
“...I don’t have the will left in me to resist at this point,” Castor said.
Having been collared, Castor limply let go of the sword he had been holding. The hilt guard bounced on the stone floor with a clatter. This was the moment the battle was decided.
Then...
“Father!”
A girl with blazing red hair, gleaming golden eyes, dragon wings, and a tail flew down from the sky, rushing over to Castor, who had his shoulders slumped.
Come to think of it, Excel had told me “I have a granddaughter who stayed with Castor” with a deeply pained look on her face, hadn’t she? In that case, this girl had to be Castor’s daughter, Carla.
The Albert had just blown up moments ago, but when I saw her red armor, it occurred to me that she may have been fighting with the Albert up until now.
The moment she saw my face, Carla unsheathed the sword at her hip. “Curse you! How dare you do this to my father?!”
“Stop, Carla!”
Castor stopped Carla just as she was about to come swinging at me.
“Father?! But...”
“That’s enough. We’ve lost.”
Liscia stood between me and Carla, spreading her arms wide. “Stop this already, Carla! Duke Vargas is already wearing a slave collar! If you kill Souma, Duke Vargas will die, too!”
“Liscia...?!” she gasped. “I see... We lost, huh.”
The strength seemed to drain from Carla’s body. The sword fell from her hands and Carla limply slumped to the ground where she stood. She wore a stunned look, tears streaming from her eyes.
It pained me a little to see it, but she had taken part in this rebellion. I couldn’t show her preferential treatment. I asked Aisha to put a slave collar on her, too.
Around that time, the wyvern cavalry who had been fighting the battleship Albert began to gather. They were all seething with anger, but as soon as they saw the collars on Castor and Carla, they realized they couldn’t touch us and just ground their teeth in frustration.
The glares of the wyvern cavalry hurt, but I didn’t have time to be concerned by that now. “Tolman, steward to the House of Vargas!”
“...I am here.”
I raised my voice, and Tolman, who hadn’t interfered and had just silently watched how things had played out, just as Castor had said he would, stepped forward.
“You recall the rule that was agreed on when I delivered my ultimatum, I trust,” I said. “‘If one of us is struck down or captured, that person’s subordinates will immediately come under the command of the other side.’”
“Yes...”
“As you can see, I have captured General of the Air Force Castor Vargas,” I said. “From this moment, I temporarily give the powers of the General of the Air Force to you. You are to lead the Air Force under the command of the Forbidden Army!”
“Yes, sir. I understand... However, might I ask one question?” Tolman asked with a face stricken with grief.
“...What is it?”
“What will become of Duke Vargas and Lady Carla?”
“We will deliberate on what is to be done with them after the war. There is no need to decide that right here and now.”
Then, looking to the wyvern cavalry around me, I said, “If you come under the command of the Forbidden Army now, you will be treated as only having acted under the orders of Castor. Those who do not comply will be tried alongside Castor as traitors when the war is over.”
“You want us to sell out our masters?!”
“Yeah! We won’t abandon Lord Castor!”
Some spirited voices shouted out from amidst the wyvern cavalry. I glared in the direction of those voices.
“Consider this carefully. This country has a system of joint responsibility for crimes. If you are found guilty of treason, your relatives will be punished, as well. I hope you were prepared for that before you spoke!”
““...””
The room fell silent. Surely even the fearless soldiers of the Air Force weren’t willing to gamble with lives other than their own. When told their families would be implicated as well, they didn’t have the spine to go through with it.
In that heavy atmosphere, Tolman bowed his head to me. “...I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
“S-Sir Tolman!”
“We can still fight!”
“Silence! Can’t you see that the more you resist, the worse you make Duke Vargas’s position?!”
“Urkh...”
Having silenced all opposition, Tolman bowed to me once more. “Your orders, please, sire. How would you have the Air Force move from here?”
As Tolman admirably bowed before me, I gave him my order.
“First, announce the end of the battle using the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Announce to the people of your domain that Duke Vargas has been captured and the Air Force will come under the command structure of the Forbidden Army. After that, call up the members of the Air Force that aren’t present here. Once your forces have gathered, I will have you head to the Carmine Duchy. Also, I want you to announce that anyone who continues to resist, especially after all that’s happened, will be judged as a traitor once the war is over. Do I make myself understood?”
“Yes, sir! It will be done.” Tolman saluted me, then moved to carry out his orders at once.
With this, the terrible battle in the Vargas Duchy, which had been a “needless battle” for both the losers and the winners, came to a close. That was one obstacle surmounted.
Now, finally... I can head to the Carmine Duchy.
From the wall, I looked off into the distant west. There, I knew that man must be waiting for me.
“I’ve kept you waiting, Georg Carmine. I’m coming now.”
Liscia was watching me with silent concern, but I barely noticed it.
Elfrieden Historical Idiom Lessons: Number 3
“Attack a Castle with a Battleship”
Type: Figure of Speech
Meaning: Doing a thing that no one had ever thought of before.
Origin: During the One Week War, when King Souma attacked the rebellious Castor’s castle, he employed the unusual strategy of using a battleship on land to win.
Synonyms: “Copernican Revolution,” “Egg of Columbus”