Holy Imperial Army――Mountain command post.
The trees in the area have been cut down and replaced with countless tents
A defensive barricade has been built around the camp with simple watchtowers here and there, but the sentries on watch were yawning, their morale was not very high.
Their defensive encampment is quite formidable and they are deep inside a solid defensive line.
This place is safe as long as the defensive line holds and they have not received report of an enemy attack.
The vanguard is still staring off with the enemy’s forth corps, so the sentries could not be blamed for letting their guard down.
“Oi, Bardo, who’s that?”
“Eh?”
Bardo――a messenger attached to the command post deployed in the mountains, was having his meal when he saw the girl.
She was dressed in a pitch black cloak and her long silver hair fluttered in the wind.
In the dawn light, she looked like something out of a fairy tale, but also looked out of place.
――This is the battlefield.
And this is their camp.
It is not a place she can just happen to wander into.
Bardo tilted his head in confusion as he watched the girl who had appeared near the guards, then saw something flash in the air around her.
Blood spurted like a fountain from the necks of the two soldiers that had approached her.
The girl was already behind them――on this side.
Bardo could not understand what had happened for an instant.
Then he realised the girl held a blood-stained curved sword in her hand.
“……!”
He also realised the cloak he had thought was pitch black, was actually soaked with so much blood that it was dripping.
The bell that warned of an immediate enemy attack rang and those that had been resting burst out of their tents.
Bardo finally realised the girl was an enemy only after hearing that sound.
In just a brief span of time, a terrifying number of bloody flowers bloomed around her.
The girl danced among them――spinning in circles, slowing and speeding up, but accurately slicing the throats of the soldiers.
He could clearly see her movements at this distance, but the soldiers nearby would not be able to keep track of her.
――She is perfectly slipping through the gaps in their consciousness.
Bardo himself is quite versed in the sword and immediately understood how abnormal this is.
A single beautiful girl creating five, ten bloody flowers just did not feel real.
Although Bardo understood what was going on, he froze, unable to move.
“Oi! Let’s go, I’ll report to the vice-general! You go to his assistant!”
Bardo finally came back to his senses when his colleague slapped him.
“! Ah, yeah!”
Bardo stood up and glanced back.
In that instant, he met her eyes.
Gem-like purple eyes――even at this distance, he could see the inhuman glint in them, sending a chill down his spine.
Then he saw that purple turn to Kerg, his colleague.
Driven by a mix of fear and duty, Bardo ran.
He and Kerg ran towards different tents and in the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the girl closing in on Kerg.
Vice-general Dakrasha stepped out of his tent, dressed in his armour, but he looked confused.
Of course. They are deep inside their defensive line but they were suddenly attacked without receiving any warning.
The girl easily overtook Kerg and casually lopped off his head as she passed by, closing in――and throwing something at vice-general Dakrasha.
A knife.
But despite his confusion, Dakrasha is strong enough to become the vice-general.
He deftly used his sword to deflect the knife that came flying at him faster than an arrow――
“A, ga――!?”
But in the next instant, the silver monster beheaded him.
At the same time, Bardo heard new shouts and screams.
They were coming from the direction of the tent Bardo was running towards.
That is opposite side from where the girl had come――countless arrows rained on the soldiers stationed there.
Some managed to raise their shields in the confusion, but soldiers bearing the kingdom’s crest charged them.
Hundred, two hundred――Bardo could not tell how many.
But there were enough to deal devastating damage to this camp and among them, he saw another girl.
This girl had beautiful blonde hair and headed for the vice-general’s assistant.
He must have been resting and only grabbed his sword before stepping out. He was not wearing armour.
Even if the vice-general’s assistant is a famed warrior, he had just woken up to a surprise attack and did not have the time to put on his armour, the odds are just too bad for him.
The soldiers that tried to go to his aid were blocked by the enemy and unable to move.
This is the command post. Naturally the soldiers stationed here are all hardened veterans.
But the enemy soldiers did not look to be any inferior.
Because many of the soldiers had headed towards the silver-haired girl, there were not many here. If their skill is comparable, then the empire would lose due to the difference in numbers.
Bardo had to get the assistant out of here.
But even as he thought that, he could see that though not at the level of the silver-haired girl, the blonde girl’s swordsmanship was far beyond what her appearance suggested.
It was quick and smooth――and relentless.
Three feints for every thrust.
A normal soldier would have been cut down instantly, the only reason it is not over already is because the opponent is the vice-general’s assistant.
But the thrusts from that thin and elegant sword were sharp and gradually cornering the assistant.
A wind blew past Bardo.
――A silver wind.
“Ah……”
By the time he realised that it was the girl that had just massacred the soldiers, the assistant had been beheaded.
The assistant had died without ever noticing the silver-haired girl.
The girl crashed into the tent because of her momentum, but she stood up immediately and started killing the soldiers around her.
Countless screams rang out.
The entire camp is in chaos.
Bardo’s panic had grown so great he could not think of much, only focusing on what he should do.
The command post’s messengers――the messengers sent to pass messages through the mountains are excellent soldiers.
He quickly leapt onto a nearby horse and set off towards the main force.
“U, gu……!?”
A sharp pain ran through his left arm.
He turned and realised a knife was stabbed in his arm. The silver visible in the distance was looking this way.
How could she throw so accurately at this distance――Bardo realised the knife had been targeted at him and he urged the horse to greater speeds in his mounting terror.
Enemy soldiers had already circled in front of him.
But he did not care.
As long as he could get away from that monster.
Bardo endured the pain and drew his sword, parrying an enemy sword and decapitating another soldier as he galloped by.
Bardo’s expert swordsmanship and decision to run through the enemy worked out.
If he had tried to escape through the front, he would have ran into the enemy’s forth corps.
If he had run in any other direction, since he is clearly a messenger at a glance (Imperial messengers wear a red feather on their chest), Krische would not have let him escape.
Bardo broke through enemy lines alone and deftly navigated his horse through the trees. A few arrows hit him, but he made it to an ally force and managed to make his report before losing consciousness.
A silver-haired monster.
The vice-general and his assistant are dead, the mountain command post is destroyed.
Another messenger heard this unbelievable report immediately rode towards Aleha.
Selene’s squad attacked from the rear while Krische caused a diversion.
Krische was powerful enough to cause absolute chaos by herself, so casualties were extremely light.
They managed to take down both commanders and destroy the chain of command.
The enemy soldiers panicked and prioritised escape over resistance.
Once soldiers lose command, they easily revert back to mere humans.
Soldiers are generally educated to not think or make decisions themselves.
This is because independence would cause discipline to crumble and when it comes to controlling an army of hundreds, thousands――at times, tens of thousand, this would lead to fatal errors.
Face right, face left, raise shields, retreat.
Even such simple orders are difficult to carry out at a scale of hundreds, thousands of people.
Orders from above are like a telephone game, there is a time lag before they trickle all the way down. If soldiers acted independently between orders and started acting against the commanders’ plans, things would get out of hand.
Soldiers have to be foolishly obedient enough to suppress their fear and obey the order to advance through a rain of arrows.
――Even if they were to die.
It is only because such discipline is maintained that the system, the army can function.
Orders from above must be unconditionally obeyed.
That is an absolute condition for soldiers and it is the duty of commanders to take care of and arrange for soldiers to always be ready to react to orders when needed.
Soldiers also value their own lives.
If maintaining discipline does not protect their lives――or other lives, they would die meaninglessly.
To soldiers, losing their superiors, losing command is a terrifying situation.
Soldiers can only carry out the orders they are given and require orders to save them from a predicament.
Losing command means losing any hope of salvation and once death is all that is left, they easily abandoned their identity as soldiers.
The instant they saw the flames rise from the vice-general’s and his assistant’s tents, they realised they had lost their commanders and anybody they were meant to protect. They forgot their duties as soldiers and ran.
They had already been rationing supplies, forced to eat even bugs, their morale was horrible. When taken completely by surprise and driven into such a predicament, they lost all hope.
First soldiers at the edges, then the rest scattered in every direction.
Selene watched them go and let out a sigh of relief, then pinched Krische’s cheek.
“Uuu……”
“Seriously, I almost cut you by accident! Say something at least, idiot!”
“Kuishe, noht idiout……”
Selene released Krische and examined their surroundings.
That was just about a perfect ambush.
The enemy command chain has been completely destroyed.
It will be difficult for them to regroup in the mountains.
The forth corps would have seen the smoke and should be breaking through the Empire’s defensive line now.
“Krische, only tried to help Selene……”
“I know that……thank you.”
From the start, Selene had not been trying to compete.
She had no complaints about Krsiche stealing the glory.
She only stepped in because she had noticed a man that used mana.
Selene knows that there are many others in this world that are better than her at the sword, she would not draw her sword just for glory――Selene’s position does not allow her to act so simply.
Selene has grown to the point where she can snatch a few wins from her father, Bogan. But that does not mean she is better than Bogan, neither is Bogan the strongest swordsman in the world.
Bogan has said that if there is even a chance of losing, then avoid fighting.
That small chance might just come to pass.
They are commanders, their sword is only for self-defence.
People in such a position must not be killed.
Selene had the advantage in that fight and probably would have won.
But there was no absolute guarantee of her victory.
Selene has not forgotten her role.
Her current role is to command the troops and cause confusion among the enemy, not to wield the sword herself.
She also understands that in order to do this, she is letting Krische do the dirty work.
“……seriously.”
Selene patted Krische’s head. Wet blood stuck to her gauntlet.
――How many more has she killed?
Krische’s hair and cheek were stained with blood.
She must have hit bone, her sturdy sword was also slightly nicked.
Although Krische is superhuman in a way, she still has limits.
Krische hates getting dirty and takes good care of her equipment. These stains and nicks shows how much pressure she was under.
She had also crashed into the tent after killing Selene’s opponent and is still breathing heavily, very unusual for her.
Krische is extremely devoted and is doing her best for Selene.
Because of this, Selene feels that she has the obligation to do her part for Krische.
Selene commanded the soldiers to watch out for remaining enemies while carefully, as if she was handling a gem, wiped Krische’s cheek with a handkerchief.
“……I’ll clean you up properly later, so endure it for now.”
“……okay.”
Krische smiled happily. An innocent smile.
A smile no different from those back in the estate. She feels nothing about the lives she has just taken.
It was necessary.
That was all Krische felt.
Selene feels happy to be necessary to Krische, but also felt scared of Krische’s precarious state where everything else is worthless to Krische.
Just like Bery said, she should not be here.
Whether this purity remains clean or is dirtied depends on the people around her.
Krische is simply Krische.
Even if dirtied, Krische will be Krische.
But if possible, Selene would prefer to see a pure Krische.
“Once we are done, let’s go back to Bery. I also feel like eating cookies.”
“……Selene feels like tea-time?”
“Yeah, I’m in the mood.”
Krische smiled a little, blushing. Selene kissed her brow and gently stroked her head, wiping the blood off her hair.
That is all Selene can do.
-End-
