***Arc 8 One Who Spread Death, Chapter 191 Light and Shadow***
It was clear that the enemy was aiming for a gradual retreat――delaying their invasion.
The advantage in the forested western part of Alberan was theirs.
However, Alberan's soldiers were still strong.
Alberan's army moves widely around the battlefield in units of corps, overcoming the offensive with a small number of soldiers, and when they saw an opening in their side, they devoured the weak areas.
They had a total of 120,000 people compared to Alberan’s of just over 60,000, but they were inferior in terms of mutual cooperation.
This was what a fully organized army would look like.
An old general wearing dragon-shaped armor――a man who was said to be over 100 years old, but his reactions were sharp.
He deflected Ledo's full-length sword with his spear from horseback, and didn’t even show any signs of faltering.
"Tch...!"
"Hahaha, you’re young, but has good eyes. You also have good muscles. But... you won't be able to take this old man's head off with just that level."
Old General Felworth Keithriton.
A famous general of Alberan who ravaged countless battlefields decades ago.
Even Ledo, who was born in Elderant, knew of his brilliant military achievements.
This wonderful gradual retreat was understandable if it was this man.
They appears to be retreating, but if he steps in carelessly, it would turns into a trap to destroy the siege――Ledo could only get to this man by leaving his comrades behind as decoys.
And even in old age, this man skill and strong arms to repel Ledo's giant sword――the old general stood before Ledo as a famous sword that never rusts.
"Ledo, time is up! If you keep this up, you'll be surrounded up to your butt!!"
"Fuck……!"
A forcible breakthrough to defeat the enemy general.
The reprieve was only for a short time――but since he couldn't finish it off in that time, it was Ledo's loss this time.
Ledo glared at Felworth, his still youthful face exuding fighting spirit.
"You will definitely be defeated by this Rani's Ledo――don't forget!"
"How vigorous. ...However, Faren is a more frightening man than I am. If you have time to throw out a throwaway line, you should run away quickly."
"You bastard...Bez! Retreat! Go pick up Zuren!"
"Ou!"
The young man shouted to his men and reversed――turning away, Felworth's adjutant, old soldier Tolka, also shouted and ordered his cavalry to pursue them.
Tolka then looked at Felworth.
"He's a young man with a very promising future. He's likely to become a famous general someday. I'd like to finish him off now, but..."
"The subordinates he brings with him are also quite strong. That young man will survive."
Felworth coughed, and Tolka immediately supported his body.
Felworth smiled wryly and said he was fine.
"I have carefully retrained my rusted body but... I’m old. I didn't expect to be out of breath just from that. The spear is also quite heavy."
"Felworth-sama..."
"Don't make that face. It's no big deal. Faren is also working so hard, I need to set an example as his predecessor."
He laughed cheerfully, listened to the battlefield music, and narrowed his eyes.
The world in which he spent most of his youth.
The spark that occurs when two lives collide, and something that was born there.
He recalled the countless battlefields he fought through in the past.
“And I’m sure His Majesty is also looking at me now.”
Remembering the face of the warlord Albaza, whom he had served, Felworth smiled deeply on his wrinkled face.
The Kingdom of Elderant divided its army into three major groups.
The outer line of operations from the north, west, and south――the strategic intention was not absent there, but the reason why they chose it was not only for the strategic reason of defeating the western Alberan army.
The Kingdom of Elderant was a country made up of 23 tribes.
The structure of the system would be close to what should be called feudalism.
Each tribe governs its own recognized territory, and the most powerful tribe leader of the time becomes the next king and unites the tribes.
All 23 tribes are qualified to be kings if they demonstrate military prowess, but in reality, the power relations among the tribes vary, and at present there were at most three tribes with the potential to rule Elderant.
Veeze a large tribe headed by the current king Gorkista.
The second was Meeklea, a large tribe that lasted for five generations until Gorkista rose to the throne.
The third one remaining was Arkaz, which had been showing rapid growth recently.
In a sense, this battle could be said to be a war to decide the next King, and the King would be chosen from among these three tribes based on their military exploits and the distribution of the land.
Inevitably, there was no way for them to take a joint stand, and this was the reason for the division of the army into three parts.
West――Veeze in the center.
South――Meeklea on the right wing.
North――Arkaz on the left wing.
The tribes of Rani Ledo were affiliated with the Central Veeze.
After today's battle was over, Ledo wielded his giant sword while everyone was having a party, sweat dripping from his body.
"Ku..."
"You're slow, Ledo. That's why you come back without being able to defeat the enemy general."
"I know!!"
Opposite him was a beautiful woman with beautiful flaxen hair.
She wore pants that were cinched below the knees, a shirt, and a cloak.
She wasn’t particularly gorgeous, but she was a beautiful woman who vividly manipulates her slender and graceful straight sword, and continue to parry Ledo's sword, that could even break giant trees.
"...With this... ugh!?"
Seeing an opportunity, Ledo let go of his giant sword and brought out his foot sword――but the woman who already read it easily dodged him, grabbed Ledo's arm, and slammed him into the ground.
"That’s it, Ledo loses. That's why don’t try to rush the match."
"Damn...why are you so strong..."
"It’s Shelna-sama, not ‘you’, loser Ledo."
The woman with small stature――Shelna Veeze, laughed sticking out her modest breasts, and held out her hand.
Grabbing it with a discouraged look, Ledo gets up and scratches his short black hair.
"You're relying too much on your strength. You're not calm enough, your movements are full of waste, and your footing isn't good enough. You should be grateful that Keithriton didn't kill you.”
“Guh...”
"Hahaha, Ledo also can't best Shelna-sama huh."
The large man with a rugged face laughed, and Ledo glared at him.
"Shut up, Zuren. Who do you think saved you?"
"Oh, how scary. Do you remember that we acted as decoys for you? It's pathetic that you came back as a loser. If you left it to me, I would have killed him.”
"Han, can you defeat the opponent even I couldn't defeat?"
"You said it huh, you bastard? Okay, I'll be your opponent――”
“Stop it. Don't waste your strength.”
Shelna said with a wry smile exasperated.
“But well, if Ledo is going to rub your head on the ground and beg me, then how about I go out with you next time?”
"Don't make fun of me, I'll definitely do it next time. Besides, what are you going to do if you, the supreme commander, went out to the front lines?"
Shelna Veeze was the supreme commander of this army in place of her father, the king, who had fallen ill.
That she want to went to the frontline it was crazy
"Hmm...I think that would be the quickest way."
"Don't say that seriously, I'm getting kind of pissed off."
However Shelna's deep, indigo eyes.
The words were not false, and he felt that they were in fact true.
Even though she was only 20 years old and she was known as the Sword Princess of Veeze, a heretic with genius sword skills.
In the recent battle against Gulshan, she easily defeated the War Lion Commander.
Although Ledo has outstanding ability considering his age of 22, he hadn’t won even a single match against her so far.
She was still unfathomable――she was truly an existence that could be called a genius.
She wasn’t as diligent in her training as Ledo, and she didn’t even carry her sword more than once a month if she didn’t need to.
But once she had her sword in her hands, she would never be defeated――Felworth Keithriton was certainly a fierce fighter, but he could never imagine him defeating her.
"He's kind of a coward, isn't he?"
“What, are you sulking?”
Shelna brought her beautiful face closer, and she smiled and stroked Ledo's head.
"Ledo is also getting stronger and stronger. You still has a long way to go though."
"shut up"
Grabbing her hand, Ledo sighed and looked east.
"Besides, what are we going to do after tomorrow? Things have dropped considerably over there."
"...That's right. I guess we'll just have to increase our vigilance and narrow the distance. I'd like Meeklea or Arkaz to take the lead before we reach a stalemate. Well, I guess Veeze's hunting squad will take a break for a while."
“A day off…huh.”
"It's important to take time off. ...There was some damage, so I think you need some time to calm down."
Shelna said quietly and she looked at the men making noise around her.
Forcible breakthrough, enemy pursuit――one-fifth of Veeze's hunting squad led by Ledo, a 3,000-strong private army under Shelna's direct control, was killed or injured.
They are drinking and keeping a cheerful mood, since Ledo killed the enemy corps commander in the first battle, but, the morale was likely to be somewhat damaged by today's failure.
Ledo nodded at Shelna's words.
“Zuren, I’m sorry but…”
"Ah, I'll take a look at it properly... Shelna-sama, I'm sure the soldiers won't be able to complain if you're here. Today, let's take a look."
"...Okay. I'll leave it to you."
Saying this, Shelna urges Ledo with her eyes and starts walking toward her own tent, which was a little far away.
Ledo followed without saying anything and entered her tent.
"...*sigh*"
Shelna jumps onto the bed and sighed.
Ledo scratched his head and made her a cup of tea without saying a word.
“Did the old men say something?”
"Well, a bit. I was reminded to aim for the head of the enemy general even if it was impossible. Siegret-sama covered us saying Veeze was currently the most successful."
"Battle results... huh? I'm sorry."
"It's okay because I know you're working harder than anyone else. To make me your wife, that is."
"...You"
Shelna laughed happily and turned sideways.
When they were together like this, they were a little childish, and it hadn't changed since in the past.
The first princess of Veeze, Shelna, and Ledo had a relationship that could be called childhood friends due to their parents' relationship.
And although there is a difference in status due to the power relationship between Veeze and Rani, if Ledo did well in this battle, he would be allowed to marry Shelna as a son-in-law.
In other words, he was Shelna’s fiancée.
"...If Veeze wins a big victory in this battle, the unification of Elderant will be in sight. I can understand the feelings of the chief and the other’s feeling.”
"Unification of Elderant... Is it really possible?"
"It’s possible. ...You'll help me too, right?"
Shelna smiled as she get up and received the tea from Ledo.
The strong become the King――Elderant bound by ancient customs.
Every time a king dies, a fight breaks out among them, and the country become unstable――even Veeze and Rani, two tribes who now have a pact, were enemies in the past.
Elderant needs to be reborn once.
Destroy everything with strong power and become one big country.
"If we defeat Alberan, we will make the next civil war the last one. I'm sure many people will die, but I don't care what they say. If that will brings peace in a few decades."
“Civil war… huh?”
"Yeah. Reluctant?"
"...No. I just remembered."
Both Shelna and Ledo experienced civil war twice.
The first time was when they were a child――the battle in which Shelna's father, Gorkista, won the throne.
Many adults around them died. Caught up in this, many villages were burnt down, and Elderant was filled with cries of sadness.
Five years ago, it was a skirmish.
It all started when Shelna was almost kidnapped while on a field trip to a tribe's land, but at that time too, much blood was shed.
Ledo's first battle as Shelna's bodyguard was that battle――he killed dozens of people.
When he saw for the first time the reality of the village being burnt down, he threw up many times.
A dark, sludge-like shadow arises along with the brilliance of war, colored by military exploits.
The scene created by human malice was still deeply etched in Ledo's memory.
In this battle as well, he saw the village of Alberan, which seemed to have escaped too late, being burnt down.
Punish the commander, but――do not forget the eyes of the women and children who became the village's few survivors.
There was opposition within the military to Shelna's choice.
They must have wondered was she whitewashing for in the middle of war.
He had heard voices saying that Shelna, a woman, was not fit to serve as supreme commander after all.
“…I wonder which one is human?”
“What is it all of a sudden?”
“..wills collide, and what they've cultivated up until now is thrown at each other, risking their only lives... Honestly, there's something fascinating about that way of being. But in the end, it's just murder. You use violence to force the other person to obey you and then take it from them.''
When he was a child, innocently admired it, and even now, that feeling of his remains.
“Killing each other, trampling each other... I sometimes think that humans are the ones who take pleasure in that. They decorate it with pretty words, impose rules that make them feel good, and look down on them when they win. What's the difference between me and the scum who enjoy burning down villages?"
No matter what words were used, murder was outrageous.
Unreasonable, irrational, no arguing about it.
That's what he thought about when he come back to hus senses after getting high on the battlefield.
"Don’t know. Whether humans are good or evil is such a noble question, I don't understand it. You're worrying about something trivial huh."
“You, I’m taking this seriously you know.”
“What I think is the most wasteful thing in this world is the thoughts Ledo makes with his stupid head.”
“...You”
Shelna smiled and stood up.
She then stroked Ledo's cheek.
"What is right? What is good and evil? After all, that is just a play on words. Everyone is different."
Her deep blue eyes were wrapped in her long eyelashes.
Shelna was always, beautiful.
“For example, it's enough for me to make one stupid, sloppy Ledo happy. But Ledo is an idiot, so he won't be happy if he's the only one happy, so he's going to create a country where other people can be happy too.”
“……”
“When mother passed away, you said that you would make me happy. So I will make Ledo happy too. Isn't that what humans are like, and what a good society is like? ”
Ledo scratched his head and looked away from her.
"...You look like you're smart, but you're an idiot."
"You idiot. It's because I’m smart that I don't think about unnecessary things. But, fufu, I don't dislike that kind of stupid Ledo."
Shelna pressed her lips to his and cradled Ledo's head.
"Once the war is over and the civil war is over, I'll be together with you as much as I want. So before you start thinking like that, please think of yourself first so that you can come back home safely. Ledo is still weak after all, I’m worried.”
“...Shut up.”
"Fufu, you're embarrassed, aren't you?"
"I’m not."
Shelna smiled happily and pulls away, looking happy.
Ledo looked away from her, his cheeks flushing.
"...The painful part is only a little longer. Let's do our best, shall we?"
"……Ou"
The two bump their fist.
――In a patchy forest in the southwestern part of the kingdom.
With one central general and reinforcements from Eluga, Felworth's gradual retreat seemed to be going well.
As far as listening to reports from the Griffin Cavalry, who had eliminated the spies and headed for reconnaissance ahead of them, their movements did not deviate greatly from expectations, and were satisfying even for Krische.
“…Here it is.”
"Is this a recently established village? It's not in the records of the kingdom."
The sun was still high in the sky, and Krische narrowed her eyes as she looked at the burnt village that Vinthril had guided her to.
The purpose was a strategic surprise attack.
Only Krische, the Griffin Cavalry, and the Black Flag Special Force would take the lead――they would select a route so that the 15,000 who were behind them would not get caught up in the enemy's search.
The right wing of Elderant's army was a fair distance away from the army deployed to the south, so things had gone smoothly so far.
However, the Griffin Cavalry, which preceded the Black Flag Special Force, discovered a small village that was not on the map.
Many parts of the village had already been burnt down, houses and fences had collapsed, and the village no longer functioned as a village.
"The evacuation carriage probably wasn't running properly. The smell was terrible."
"...Can you confirm?"
"Yes. Bald Eagle, keep some to keep an eye on the surroundings."
"Yes ma’am. Corinth look north and east, Tagel look west."
Dagra gave instructions with a stern look on his face.
Kalua frowned at the stench, and Mia's gaze wandered as if she had already imagined what happened.
Bodies hanging from pillars and trees could be seen even from outside the village.
The situation worsened as they proceeded inside from what was probably the entrance.
Heads casually rolled or lined up.
Without exception, children were among the corpses, and the bodies of young women were stripped of their clothes.
Moving forward, scattering the wolves and crows that devour corpses, Krische jumps from the Suiko――Gururun.
In the center of the square, the corpse of an old man was crucified with a wooden stake pierced from his butt to his mouth.
She stared at it and folded her arms calmly.
It was so brutal that most people turned their sight away.
"It didn’t look like they’ve been dead that long."
"That's right. It's been about two days. The degree of decomposition is slight...maybe it was because the temperature was low...Gururun, you shouldn't eat these."
While looking at the corpse, Krische nodded at the words of Aleha, who was standing next to her.
Although there was a slight smell of rot, the flesh of the corpse could still be said to be fresh.
"Bald Eagle, the corpse?"
"Currently... there are about 60. Considering the size of the village, I think there are at most less than 200 people in this village. There were also about three corpses of Elderant soldiers lying around."
"Then it's a bit one-sided. Considering the traces of the battle."
There was a corpse that looks like a vigilante group with simple weapons.
It wasn't a complete surprise attack, they were probably on guard.
Seeing that there were several corpses lying around the simple guard tower, it was clear that they resisted.
The other party is likely to be a somewhat organized group.
"It's far from the enemy's right wing main camp, so it's probably an independent small unit."
"There's a possibility that they’re not far away. I don't know if they’re just a deserter from the army or if they’re looking for an enemy."
"Either way, it's troublesome, kill all of them."
Krische coldly declared.
Aleha turns to Krische.
“This village would have lost its will to fight once it lost its vigilante group, and looking at this situation, what was carried out was a massacre. It's convenient, if we find them, we can torture them to get information without worrying about the Holy Spirit Covenant.”
The reason why plundering and rape at the village was allowed was only a tacit understanding.
There was no law that allowed this, and hurting a non-resisting person was a violation of the Holy Spirit Covenant, which ostensibly speaks of humanity.
In principle, the military fights against the military.
The moment a village was burnt down and a massacre was committed, there was no need to recognize the person who committed the crime as a prisoner of the enemy’s military, and they only need to treat them with the same restraint as with bandits.
There was no righteous indignation on Krische’s face, there was even a smile on her face.
Aleha felt a shiver of fear run down his spine, and he smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Like the others, he had nothing to say.
From the beginning, this girl was such creature.
"Vinthril, the Griffin Cavalry waits for night and takes to the sky. If it looks like this, I'm sure they'll use fire in a grand manner not too far away.”
“Yes ma’am.”
"Bald Eagle, it stinks here, so take a rest early upwind. If it's close, we'll kill them in the evening."
"Yes ma’am. ...Krische-sama."
"...?"
Krische turns to Dagra.
“If possible, I would like to bury them.…Well, corpses can become a breeding ground for disease, so I would like to dispose of them while there is little decomposition so that there’s no negative impact on the troops that will come later.”
"Hmm...Krische doesn't want to make the soldiers too tired but"
Krische looked troubled and thoughts as Kalua approaches and hugged her from behind.
"Usa-chan, the enemy is small, right? Don't worry, we've all been walking for a while now and our bodies are a bit dull, so we need to get some exercise before the battle."
"Hmm... I see."
Kalua told her that, understanding Dagra’s intentions, and Krische turned to Mia, who looked like about to cry.
“…Does Mia agree with it?”
"...Yes. It's too cruel to be left out in the open in such terrible conditions."
“What about Areha?”
“I agree with Commander Dagra. Also, this tragic situation could lower the morale of the soldiers following in the rear. Adjutant Mia's reaction is a normal one as a human being... It may not be the case on the battlefield, but not everyone can accept facts as facts as soldiers.''
Krische became even more troubled about it and pouted her lips, then moved away from Kalua and patted Mia's head.
"It can't be helped. Mia should be more resolute Mia is the adjutant after all."
"……sorry"
"Bald Eagle, Krische allow it. However, you can't make a big fuss. Just bury it."
"Thank you. Koza, please tell the soldiers that the burial will be carried out as per Krische-sama’s orders. Please also send a few teams to Tagel and the others."
It was a mental problem, not that it was necessary.
Not many would be pleased with the disposal of a dead body.
Krische opinion was also valid, and leaving it alone was quite possible.
But Douglas understood Krische, and because he was fascinated by her even knowing that, he ordered the soldiers to do so.
The brilliance of the battlefield and the sludge of its shadow.
Logic and emotion.
"Hmm, then Beltz, you should prepare lunch for now. It's already noon, and everyone should be hungry by now."
"Yes ma’am. I'd like to focus on vegetables for lunch today..."
"...? Yes, Krische doesn't mind, but...give Gururun meat too. If you don't keep her stomach full, she'll likely end up eating the corpses lying around. It’s nice that there were just enough carcasses of livestock..."
It was their role to eliminate the distortions that arise in her here.
