As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The War Begins

“L-Lord Ars! Welcome home!”

No sooner had I stepped into my estate than Rietz sprinted up to me, shouting an enthusiastic welcome. I assumed he’d already been informed of my impending arrival and had been waiting in the entryway to be there the instant I made it back.

“It’s good to be back. And thank you for keeping the place intact in my absence, Rietz.”

“Think nothing of it, Milord. I’m just glad to see you safe and sound! Now then, I’ll have to organize a welcome party at once, and─”

“Wait, wait─no time for a party,” I clarified before Rietz could go overboard. “I know I’ve only just arrived, but I’ll have to leave for Canarre right away.”

“For Canarre? Why?” Rietz asked.

“I have a message to deliver from Lord Couran. I’m planning on setting out tomorrow.”

“I see. Still, even if we don’t have time for a party, we can’t let your homecoming go unacknowledged! I’ll arrange for our dinner tonight to be a lavish one!”

With that, he hurried off to give the news to the cooks who worked at my estate.

“Wow. Rietz didn’t even look at me, did he?” Charlotte grumbled with a pout. “He completely ignored me! Talk about rude!”

She wasn’t wrong. In fact, Rietz hadn’t spared her or Shin the slightest of notice. Considering Shin was a fresh new arrival, the fact that Rietz hadn’t seemed to realize he was there was almost impressive.

Just how relieved to see me was he?

Suddenly, a thought struck me: Shin was from the capital, and everything I’d heard suggested that people in the capital were egregiously racist when it came to Malkans. I glanced over at Shin, wondering what he would think of Rietz and his position among my retainers.

“So this is the Louvent estate, eh? Not much to look at, but eh, I knew he was a small-timer. No real surprise there,” Shin happened to mutter to himself just then. It seemed he wasn’t feeling especially polite at that particular moment, but he also didn’t seem to have felt anything in particular about Rietz’s appearance. Still, I decided to clear up my newfound doubts.

“So, Shin─you saw that I have a Malkan in my employ. If you have any complaints regarding the matter, now would be the time to air them.”

“A Malkan?” Shin blinked. “Oh, yeah, I guess he was, huh? That’s pretty rare for a noble house, isn’t it? I couldn’t give two hoots who you hire as long as you let me build my airship, though. That junk ain’t my problem.”

I was starting to realize he was an apathetic person when it came to just about everything other than airships.

Soon, I reunited with Rosell and Mireille as well. The two of them seemed to have gotten quite a bit of bonding done while I was out of the house. I spent the afternoon passing out the souvenirs I’d bought for everyone, and when night fell, I was treated to a more luxurious dinner than we’d usually serve. Everyone asked me all sorts of questions while we ate─what the capital was like, what the emperor seemed like, that sort of thing. I, meanwhile, asked if anything unusual had happened in Lamberg while I was away, and was relieved to hear that nothing had gone wrong in my absence. We hadn’t received any new info from the Shadows, either.

The next day I set out for Canarre, Lord Couran’s message in hand. I arrived in the early afternoon, made my way to the castle, and was ushered in to meet with Lumeire.

“Ars! Welcome, welcome!” he said as I stepped into the chamber. “I take it your mission from Lord Couran ended without incident?”

“It did, yes. The negotiations were a success.”

“Were they? That’s wonderful news! Lord Couran will have the upper hand now, no doubt about it!” Lumeire exclaimed. “I’m told you have a message for me─could it be that he’s ordered us to set forth?”

“I’m impressed, Lord Lumeire─that’s correct,” I replied, then handed him the letter.

Lumeire opened it up, gave its contents a read, then nodded.

“Yes, it is as I suspected. There’s little chance that Seitz will go on the offensive. That’s why the first thing I did after I learned about the turmoil across the border was send word to Lord Couran. To my knowledge, one of Seitz’s most powerful noblemen rose against its duke in rebellion, and several other lesser nobles followed his example to stage uprisings of their own. The ruling powers of Seitz are in no position to send their troops over to another duchy, that much is for certain.”

This was my first time hearing any of the specifics about what had happened in Seitz. From the sound of things, their duke didn’t strike me as the most capable of leaders.

“I intend to amass Canarre’s forces here in Canarre City, then set out for Semplar,” Lumeire informed me. “Today is the first of the fourth month, so I’m not certain that bringing all our men there by the twentieth will be feasible…but in any case, we will do what we can. As for you, Ars, I would like you to return to Lamberg and bring your troops here at once.”

“Understood,” I replied, then hurried on off back to Lamberg without missing a beat.

The moment I got back to my estate, I issued orders for our troops to prepare to march. This time around, I intended to take Rietz, Charlotte, Mireille, and Rosell with me, leaving only Shin behind. He seemed satisfied with that arrangement─apparently, he planned on using the time I was away to hash out any last flaws or tricky details in his airship plans. I was a little worried about how the estate itself would get along in our absence, but some of my servants had been working there since before I was born, so upon further reflection, I figured they’d be able to keep the place running just fine.

At that moment in time, House Louvent’s standing military was two hundred men strong. We’d bolstered our numbers the past several years, but we were still a very small force in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, I led my men to Canarre.

We weren’t the first group to arrive in the county’s capital, but we also weren’t the last. That meant we’d be spending some time on standby while we waited for the other lords to assemble, and I decided to use that period to wrap up a bit of outstanding business I had in Canarre. Specifically, I was planning on asking the Shadows to shift their priorities.

I knew that as the war progressed and battles became more frequent, I would feel the need to call upon their services in different ways. It seemed reasonable to assume that they could be a huge help in securing us a route into an enemy castle we had to capture, for instance. As such, I asked them to withdraw from Arcantez for the time being and scout Velshdt instead. I offered them the same rates I’d been paying for their work in Arcantez and requested that the information they gained be brought to me in Semplar, since I couldn’t exactly go gallivanting back to the Tremps every single time they had a report for me. Our meeting place would have to change as time went on, depending on the course the war wound up taking.

Ben, my contact with the Shadows, wasn’t present in Canarre at that particular moment. I had a retainer who I’d tasked with accepting all the information that the Shadows brought to us, though, so I entrusted him with the task of informing Ben of my new priorities and requesting that further information be brought to Semplar. I had no way of knowing when they’d show up with my first report, and it was possible that I’d have already moved before that time came, so I told my retainer to hurry off to Semplar the moment my message was delivered and stay there to accept any reports if our timelines didn’t mesh.

A few hours after I settled my business with the Shadows, the Lord of Torbequista, Hammond Pleide, arrived at almost the same time as the Lord of Coumeire, Krall Orslow. Torbequista and Coumeire were both larger and more populated territories than Lamberg, so both of them had brought more troops along than I had provided. Of course, “more troops” was relative─Hammond led a force of three hundred and fifty men, while Krall’s troops numbered only two hundred and fifty, so my contribution didn’t feel too inadequate in comparison. All told, around four thousand soldiers ended up arriving in Canarre City.

When everyone was there, Lumeire stepped up to address us.

“Soldiers of Canarre! You have done well to answer my call,” he cried. “As we speak, the capital of our fair Duchy of Missian, Arcantez, lies in the traitorous hands of a pretender to the throne: Vasmarque! Lord Couran, the true and just ruler of Missian, has requested that we join with his army and reclaim what is rightfully his! We ride to his aid, and we ride to cast Vasmarque out! We shall begin our campaign by occupying the city of Velshdt, which has chosen to side with the enemy. Once Velshdt falls, Arcantez will fall in short order! Soldiers of Missian─today, we march to glory and victory!”

Over four thousand voices rose in an uproarious battle cry. Their shout rang out loud enough that it shook the ground beneath our feet. With that, Lumeire led us out of the city, and our march to Semplar began.

○

We arrived in Semplar on the eighteenth of the month, several days after our march began. A tremendous number of soldiers had already gathered in the city by the time we got there. From what I saw, the best estimate was that close to sixty thousand soldiers were present in Semplar, with another ten thousand scheduled to arrive before long. It seemed Couran’s goal of beginning his offensive the day after tomorrow would be met, and if the remaining ten thousand men didn’t arrive for whatever reason, we wouldn’t be pushing back the schedule to wait.

In total, Couran’s army numbered a hundred thousand strong. The thirty thousand soldiers unaccounted for were either defending strategically significant locations or already on the move to retake sites that had been lost to Vasmarque. Even with thirty percent of his troops elsewhere, the sheer scale of his army astonished me. The thought of all those soldiers going into battle at once had me more nervous than I’d ever been before. Just how large-scale would the battles before me be?

Two days remained until Paradille was scheduled to begin its attack, and I knew that I had to pull myself together. I couldn’t humiliate myself in front of my retainers. I had to resolve not to lose heart no matter what horrors I ended up witnessing.

Two days later, on the twentieth, we received word that Paradille had begun its invasion.

“The time has come!” shouted Couran as he addressed his army. “We march upon the County of Alpharda!”

With that command, I and the rest of his massive host began to advance on our first target.

○

“I bring urgent news, Your Lordship! Mahkfa Sarcassia, the Duke of Paradille, has led a force of thirty thousand across the border! They’ve crossed over into the County of Lund, claimed the city of Menpha with ease, and are advancing upon Castle Lund!”

The report arrived without warning. Vasmarque and his advisors were gathered in Castle Arcantez’s Chamber of Debate at the time, engaged in a war council, and the moment he heard the news, Vasmarque’s famously unreadable expression let slip a rare hint of displeasure.

Vasmarque’s most trusted confidant, Thomas Grunzeon, his tactician, Remus Ives, and the rest of his advisors sitting at the round table in the chamber’s center were all astonished.

“Is this certain? There are no doubts?” Vasmarque asked the soldier who had delivered the message.

“I-I’m afraid so, Your Lordship,” replied the soldier. “His movements would suggest that Mahkfa’s objective is to make his way here, to Arcantez. Word has it that he’s convinced you are an enemy to the emperor, so he’s decided to mount a campaign to keep you from rising against him.”

“An enemy to the emperor…?” Vasmarque muttered, losing himself in thought. “Well, I suppose he’s not entirely mistaken.”

Just then, a second soldier burst into the room.

“I come bearing a report, Your Lordship! Couran has sallied forth from Semplar, and has marched into the County of Alpharda with an army over fifty thousand strong! They’re making their way toward Castle Kranpless at a rapid pace!”

At that, the room fell into deathly silence. Vasmarque’s advisors were capable enough to understand how perilous their situation had become.

“So Couran and Mahkfa have forged an alliance…” Remus mumbled, his brow furrowed. “This spells trouble for our cause─of that, there can be no mistake.”

“That’s right, and there’s no time to waste,” added Thomas, who turned to Vasmarque. “What’s the situation in Seitz?”

“All contact with Seitz’s leadership has ceased since the rebellion began,” replied Vasmarque. “I have very little hope they will be able or willing to provide reinforcements.”

“Figured as much,” Thomas sighed. “Suppose it’s our own damn fault for thinking we could rely on them.”

“For them to have allied with Paradille, however… I can only assume the emperor’s men served as an intermediary,” mused Vasmarque. “Even with imperial backing, it couldn’t have been easy to lure Mahkfa into an alliance…but it wouldn’t have been impossible, either. It seems Couran has managed to betray my expectations.”

“Alas, what’s done is done,” said Remus. “We ought to be thinking of countermeasures, not wallowing in regrets! The enemy aims for Velshdt, of that we can be certain, and if we lose it, we’ll lose all trace of advantage we have left. It’s a small mercy that to take Velshdt, they’ll have to first conquer Alpharda and Samkh.”

“We’ve got about thirty thousand men in and around Velshdt,” added Thomas. “We should assume they’re sending in all their troops, not just the ones we’ve seen. Worst case, we could be dealing with somewhere around eighty thousand. I’d love to say we should take this chance to conquer Semplar while it’s undefended, but Paradille’s attack rules that right the hell out. We’ve got the upper hand in terms of numbers, but Paradille’s troops aren’t the type to mess around. If we give them the chance, they’ll sweep in and take our heads before we know it.”

“And if our allies in Alpharda learn how perilous their situation is, they may surrender,” stated Remus. “The Count of Alpharda has always been an opportunist. I’ve little doubt he’ll betray us at the first sign of weakness on our part. Samkh, at least, is led by Your Lordship’s loyal followers. I would not think that they would betray you, but alas, their army is weak, and Castle Samkh is old and decrepit. They will crumble under the slightest pressure.”

Vasmarque, Thomas, and Remus began a heated discussion, analyzing every last detail of their predicament. Not even the most ardent of optimists could describe their situation as advantageous, and while many ideas were proposed, none seemed to be the masterstroke they needed to save their campaign.

“It seems we’ve no choice,” Remus eventually muttered. “We must find a way to protect Velshdt with what few forces we have available.”

Vasmarque paused for a moment to consider Remus’s words, then nodded to himself.

“Thomas, make your way to Velshdt and take command of their forces. You will be fighting at a disadvantage, but I have faith that your abilities will carry the day. If you buy us the time we need for the rebellion in Seitz to be quelled, the chance for a counterattack will present itself.”

“As you command, Milord,” said Thomas. “I swear to you that I’ll make Couran squeal like the swine he is!”

Vasmarque scrawled a quick letter to the Count of Velshdt, handed it to Thomas, and sent him on his way.

○

Under Couran’s command, we led our troops into the County of Alpharda. The Count of Alpharda maintained his stronghold in a region known as Kranpless. The count had lived in the barony that was Alpharda’s namesake in the past, but had moved his base of operations to Kranpless as a matter of convenience. The relocation of the capital wasn’t enough of a justification to change the cities’ names, so the County of Alpharda was ruled from a seat not located in Alpharda, the city. Incidentally, I’d heard of a few other counties that had gone through similar processes.

A checkpoint existed on the Alphardan border, but with the size of our army, breaking through was more or less trivial. It wasn’t even a fight: the border’s guards took one look at Couran’s force and surrendered. Alpharda’s soldiers, it seemed, weren’t much for loyalty─nor, as it turned out, was their count. Partway through our advance on Kranpless, a message from the count arrived, stating his intention to surrender to Couran. Apparently, he’d heard about the size of our army, realized that with Paradille’s invasion on Vasmarque’s plate, there were no reinforcements coming, and threw in the towel.

The count’s surrender was not, however, unconditional. In short, he demanded that he be allowed to maintain his position as Alpharda’s ruler. A number of Couran’s followers took umbrage to that─why should a man who sided with the enemy be allowed such generous terms, they asked─but the opportunity to take Alpharda without losing a single man was too good to pass up. Plus, refusing his terms would have sent a message to the other counties that offering to surrender wasn’t worth the effort. As such, Couran decided to accept the count’s deal, and Alpharda fell without any real fight to speak of. After spending so much time steeling my resolve for my first campaign, it felt like a bit of an anticlimax to see the battle end before it even began.

After the fall of Alpharda, Couran ordered for messages to be sent to every other county in the vicinity of Velshdt urging their immediate surrender and stating that those who chose to give up would be allowed to keep their station, as the Count of Alpharda had. It wasn’t long before a reply arrived from a county called Muta indicating that they had decided to surrender as well. The armies of Muta and Alpharda totaled around eight thousand, all of whom became a part of our main force.

Not long afterward, Couran called all the prominent nobles within his army together in one of Castle Kranpless’s chambers for a war council. I was allowed to attend once more and got to bring Rietz, Mireille, and Rosell with me, though I ended up attracting the same sort of unpleasant attention as I had the first time. Thankfully, everyone who would have been inclined to complain had already gotten that out of their systems during that first council, so we didn’t face any direct harassment this time around.

“Now then,” said Couran. “Our next objective is the conquest of Samkh. We cannot expect this foe to capitulate as easily as the last, I’m afraid. The Count of Samkh is a cousin of the Count of Velshdt, and their bond is strong. The Count of Velshdt, meanwhile, is Vasmarque’s brother-in-law. It’s hard to believe that any of them would cast aside their allegiance.”

From what I knew, Vasmarque was married to the older sister of the Count of Velshdt.

“With an army our size, the chance of defeat is less than one in a million,” Couran continued. “However, there is always a possibility that our enemy will prove unexpectedly resourceful, and I have no desire to lose men on account of my complacency. I intend to proceed with caution and ensure my plan of action accounts for all contingencies.”

The council began, and Couran’s followers started to offer their suggestions. One advocated for a surprise attack, while another noted that while the Count of Samkh would not betray Vasmarque, the same was not true of his retainers. The latter plan was shot down on account of the count’s retainers being known for their loyalty, while the former was rejected due to the risks far outweighing the benefits─surprise attacks were a go-to tactic for forces that were outnumbered and fighting at a disadvantage.

“Figuring out what our enemy’s next move will be is vital,” Rosell eventually suggested. “Given the circumstances, I doubt they’ll be aiming to defeat us in battle─no, they’ll be doing their best to stall for time. Although Vasmarque is fighting at a significant disadvantage now, with enough time, Seitz may overcome its internal turmoil and send reinforcements, or Paradille could be forced to retreat, enabling Vasmarque to send backup. I know none of that is certain, but my point is that the tides could turn against us at a moment’s notice.”

“Hmm─perhaps. I can’t say I wouldn’t consider just that, in his position. We may be in a position where we can win this war, but we have not won yet. If Vasmarque feels he’s been backed into a corner, he’ll begin plotting to catch us by surprise, or, as you said, he may feel that stalling for time is his best hope,” said Couran. He seemed to agree with Rosell’s line of thought. “As for how he’ll stall for time… Given the trends of the era, I imagine he’ll hatch some scheme involving magic.”

“I believe so as well,” replied Rosell. “There are plenty of ways you can set traps with magic, and I think he’ll use them to try to stall our advance.”

I had come to understand that there were a wide variety of trap spells out there. They all tended to operate off a similar principle: you would cast them on a particular location, and they would activate when someone crossed into their area of effect. They weren’t foolproof. One could be trained to spot places that had been trapped, so sending soldiers who had undergone such training to scout an area was common practice.

“I’d go so far as to guess he’s already begun setting traps,” Rosell continued. “We’ll have to proceed with caution to ensure we don’t get caught in them, but the longer we take the more traps he’ll have time to prepare. If we don’t advance now, at the quickest pace possible, we’ll find it difficult to make progress down the line.”

“I see,” said Couran. “Thankfully, we’re more than prepared to deal with trap magic. We shall mobilize the majority of our traphunters and proceed as fast as possible in their wake!”

We went on to discuss the specifics of the plan─who would take point, which route we would travel, and the like─then called the meeting to a close.

○

Our invasion of the County of Samkh had begun. As promised, Couran mobilized all of his magical traphunters, and as Rosell predicted, they found and disabled an astonishing number of magical traps in our path. Fortunately, Couran’s men were up to the task and our main force was able to proceed unharmed─for the most part, anyway. Unlike in Alpharda, Samkh’s rulership had not chosen to roll over and surrender, so we clashed with enemy troops on several occasions, but each time we overcame them with little difficulty and moved along.

“Now then,” said Couran, “our next move is to capture Vakmakro. If we succeed there, Samkh will be within our grasp!”

He had called a war council once again, this time to discuss the capture of a key strategic point between us and the county capital. Vakmakro was one of the County of Samkh’s major cities, and it was also located near the capital city of Samkh itself. If we wished to conquer Samkh, then the fort that stood in Vakmakro had to fall first.

Though the fort itself wasn’t especially well-known, it was still all but guaranteed that the place would be stuffed with magical traps to prevent a direct invasion. Sending a unit to sneak in and disable the traps was too risky, so we were trying to work out a way to take the fort without resorting to that or a frontal assault. Couran had already called for Vakmakro’s surrender, to which we’d never received a reply, and the soldiers occupying the fort seemed to be settling in for a drawn-out siege. They were going to do everything they could to delay our march.

“Lumeire!” said Couran. “I want you to lead the assault on Vakmakro.”

“Yes, Your Lordship,” Lumeire replied with a bow.

Lumeire’s the vanguard?

I was part of Lumeire’s force, which meant it was time for me to experience a real battle first-hand. The skirmishes up to this point had been quick and easy efforts, so we had yet to see a proper engagement.

“Prepare your men for battle, Ars,” Lumeire said to me as we hustled off to get ready for the upcoming assault.

“Understood.”

“If we’re able to claim Vakmakro without difficulty, we’re sure to wind up in Lord Couran’s good graces. Tell me, do you have a proposal for how we should carry out the assault?”

“Not…offhand,” I replied, caught off-guard by the question. “I’ll give it some thought. What about you, Rietz? Do you have any suggestions?”

“Hmm… I’m afraid that without any information on their forces or the fort itself, it would be difficult to formulate a plan.”

“The fort’s walls aren’t particularly tall, and it’s not big enough to accommodate many troops,” said Lumeire. “It seems their magical defenses are lacking, as well.”

“Is that so?” replied Rietz. “In that case, it seems rational to let our mages play a central role in our assault.”

I nodded. We had Charlotte on our side, so if the enemy was unprepared for a magical bombardment, we could hit them where it hurt.

“Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say their defenses are lacking?” I asked.

“Broadly speaking, you need a mage to defend against a mage,” said Lumeire. “That’s as true in a siege as it is anywhere else, and there are specific spells intended for defending castles. There are also extra-large catalyzers made for that purpose. Without one of those catalyzers, the strength of your magical defenses and the area you can safeguard diminishes. Catalyzers like those take up as much space as a turret in and of themselves─why, we had to remodel a tower in Castle Canarre to install one of them.”

I’d never heard of a catalyzer of that scale. I’d thought there were only three sizes, but it made sense that defending a castle would merit something larger. Thinking back, I remembered that one of Castle Canarre’s towers had some sort of strange writing inscribed onto its walls. I hadn’t made much of it at the time, but knowing what I did now, I had to assume that tower was the catalyzer he was referring to.

“According to our scouts, the fort does have a catalyzer tower, but judging by its design, it’s an old and outdated model. I should think that our mages are capable of penetrating its defenses.”

“I see. Fortunately, Charlotte is an exceptional mage. I think she’ll be able to break through the fort’s defenses without issue.”

“Very good. I have spared little expense in training my mages…though none of them measure up to Charlotte’s reputation, of course! I shall requisition large catalyzers and aqua magia from Lord Couran’s stores, and then we’ll mount our attack!”

Lumeire was able to obtain the catalyzers without issue and gave the order for us to march. We advanced toward Fort Vakmakro, trailing behind a troop of magical traphunters who disabled all of the booby traps on our path. Before long, a small fort that I assumed to be our target came into view. It was more or less as it had been described: not only was it rather small, but its walls were also quite low. Given that this was a strategically significant location, the fort’s unimpressive nature led me to assume Samkh wasn’t a very wealthy region.

“The time has come,” said Lumeire. “But how should we go about staging the assault? Shall we blow the walls away with explosive magic, then storm the place afterward?”

“I believe it would be in our best interests to not decimate the fort, Your Lordship,” Rietz gingerly suggested. “I’m sure Lord Couran wishes to use this fort after we seize it, and damaging its defenses will make it easier for our enemies to reclaim it in the future. That, in turn, could lead to a severing of our supply chain, which could spell disaster for our invasion.”

“A fair point,” replied Lumeire. “Though even if we were to take the fort without damaging it, it’s hardly all that defensible to begin with. What’s to stop them from reclaiming it, intact walls or not?”

“Not much, but an intact fort stands more of a chance of surviving an assault than one that’s been halfway obliterated. That goes double in the case of a surprise attack─large catalyzers are too heavy to move around at a rapid pace, so the enemy won’t have access to the sort of magic that we do.”

“Oh, yes. Indeed.”

Large catalyzers were close to the size and shape of an exercise ball, and they were heavy enough that it took at least two people to drag them around in a cart. Speed and stealth were the most vital components when it came to the success or failure of a surprise attack, and having to bring one of those with you would cripple your ability to pull off either. A mid-sized catalyzer was more practical under those conditions, but it seemed to me that even Fort Vakmakro’s outdated defenses would be enough to repel that sort of firepower.

“Of course, while I wouldn’t recommend destroying the walls, damaging part of them shouldn’t pose a problem. I’m certain our troops are capable of rebuilding a single wall, if necessary.”

“Hmm─so, we destroy a segment of the wall with magic, then storm the fort using that entrance?” asked Lumeire.

“Yes, I believe that’s the perfect plan. Though, it remains to be seen how many traps they’ve set in the interior of the fort. I would recommend we send some of our most skilled traphunters in alongside the first wave of troops.”

With that, our strategy was set in stone. We began the operation the very next day, starting with Charlotte’s magical offensive. She stood before a large catalyzer filled with explosive aqua magia and began chanting her incantation. This would be my first time seeing an explosion spell cast in person, so I didn’t know what to expect.

As Charlotte’s incantation came to an end, a red-hot globe of fire burst into being before her, rocketing off toward the fort at an astonishing velocity. Then, moments before it impacted the wall, the fireball detonated.

The sheer scale of the explosion was awe-inspiring. We were pretty far from the fort, but I could still feel the shockwave. However, when the smoke cleared, the fort’s wall was still standing─in fact, it was untouched!

I asked Rietz what had happened, and he explained to me that, “Weak or not, this fort has some degree of magical defenses. I doubt they’ll withstand another spell, however─I’d wager that one blast has already strained them to their limits.”

I’d never gotten a sense of how magic worked, and I couldn’t pretend to understand the details, but I took that to mean that magical defenses had a set degree of durability. Lo and behold, Charlotte’s second spell proved Rietz right─this time it reached the wall before detonating, and blew said wall to smithereens.

“Oh, wow,” I marveled.

“Charlotte’s work is a sight to behold, indeed.”

Charlotte, meanwhile, shot me a smirk, then cast another fireball just for good measure, widening the gap in the wall. A gaping hole had been opened in the fort’s defenses, but we weren’t planning on rushing forward. Instead, we watched and waited as enemy troops gathered by the broken wall…then once again activated our catalyzers, this time to cast flame-aspected magic. The other mages who had accompanied us joined Charlotte this time, and in the blink of an eye the hole in the wall─and the soldiers in that vicinity─were engulfed in a raging inferno. I was too far away to make out what was happening in there, but judging by the intensity of the flames, I assumed the enemy soldiers had been quite literally burned to ashes. Only then did Lumeire give the order to advance.

“Charge!” he bellowed, leading his soldiers on a mad dash through the gap in the wall and into the fort.

I, on the other hand, was left behind. I couldn’t fault Lumeire for deciding to leave me behind─I was self-aware enough to realize that I would have just slowed him and his troops down. Rietz had been prepared to sally forth, as far as I could tell, but had ended up holding back to watch me.

It wasn’t long before we received word that the remaining enemies in the fort had surrendered. Apparently, the one-two punch of the wall being blown to bits and a sizable chunk of their forces being burned to death had done a number on the survivors’ morale, so the whole fort had descended into a state of panic. None of them had imagined that their defenses would fail right away, which meant that they hadn’t realized they’d be facing Charlotte. No, her name still hadn’t finished making the rounds in Missian, so they probably weren’t aware of her at all.

In any case, with the fort’s defenders falling into disorganized chaos, storming the place hadn’t been an issue even with all the traps. Before long, the enemy’s leader had decided that the situation was hopeless and given the order to surrender in hopes of sparing his troops’ lives. All things considered, Fort Vakmakro had fallen with unexpected ease.

After the battle was over, those of us who’d been left in the rearguard made our way up to the fort to help in the post-battle cleanup. Before I could step into the fort myself, Rietz held out a hand to stop me.

“Lord Ars…I think it would be for the best if you didn’t look inside.”

It didn’t take much thought to realize what he meant. The battle had just concluded, so it was easy to imagine that the inside of the fort was a veritable hellscape. In particular, the area that had been devastated by magical flames was in an unspeakable state.

Nevertheless, I knew that I had to witness all of it─I couldn’t run away. Lumeire may have been in command of this operation, but my retainers had still been responsible for the deaths of countless soldiers. I believed that averting my eyes from the consequences of my actions was unconscionable for a person of my status. Plus, on a more practical note, I knew that I’d end up setting foot on battlefield after battlefield in the future, and the quicker I got used to seeing corpses, the less likely I would be to panic and screw up at the worst possible moment. Familiarity with the horrors of war could mean the difference between life and death.

“There’s no need to shelter me, Rietz,” I said, brushing past him. “I’ll be going inside.”

“Very well, Milord.”

Rietz sounded reluctant, but he understood where my resolve was coming from and didn’t try to stop me again.

I stepped into the fort along with Lumeire and his men, and as expected, past the wall was a field of corpses. It was hellish─worse than anything I’d ever seen before─and a sudden wave of nausea almost overcame me. I just knew Rietz would worry if he saw me retching, so I fought it back.

A fair number of the bodies had been reduced to charcoal by our flame magic, and in a sense, those were the easiest to look at. I couldn’t recognize them as human bodies, even when standing right next to them.

I wasn’t the only one experiencing my first battlefield─Rosell had come along as well, and he couldn’t tear his eyes off the horrors around us. Rosell was still a child, and a part of me worried that exposing him to a mountain of charred and brutalized bodies might not have been the best thing for his psychological development, but at the very least, he didn’t seem to be so shaken he’d lost himself. The rest of my retainers were used to this sort of thing, so they barely paid any mind to the sight at all.

We proceeded deeper into the fort, where we came across a group of people who had been disarmed and tied up. They were, I assumed, the fort’s surviving soldiers and commanding officers.

“What will you do with them now that we’ve won?” I asked Lumeire.

“It is up to Lord Couran to decide. That said, though circumstances have led us to come to blows, these men are our fellow Missian countrymen. I’m confident that His Lordship will spare their lives. We won’t be letting them go until this affair has been resolved, but take care to ensure that they’re kept safe and comfortable.”

“Understood,” I replied. I couldn’t predict how Couran would react to the prisoners, but I agreed with Lumeire, since I couldn’t imagine him ordering their executions.

Several of the prisoners were looking at us with clear and undisguised animosity in their eyes. Their leader may have ordered his troops to surrender, but I got the sense that not all of the troops had been pleased with his decision. Some of them were fiercely loyal toward the Count of Samkh, and I had a horrible feeling that their executions would prove unavoidable…though of course, I could always petition Couran for mercy if it came to that.

“Now then─we must have this fort back in a defensible state on the double. I leave that task in your capable hands, Menas,” said Lumeire.

“Yes, Milord,” replied Menas. He was one of Lumeire’s most trusted retainers, and given his B-ranked aptitude for Fortification, I presumed he was knowledgeable when it came to those sorts of repairs. Menas gathered up a few of Lumeire’s mages and started giving them directions on how to mend the wall.

“So, umm, about the bodies,” I said to Lumeire. “I think it would be a good idea to lay them to rest, if that’s an option.”

My proposal wasn’t motivated by respect for the dead─I just didn’t think I could tolerate being around them for that much longer.

“A fine point. Our casualties were few, but we did lose some men, and as I said a moment ago, our enemies were also fellow countrymen. They ought to be treated with respect in death.”

Lumeire ordered a few of his men to begin preparations for a funeral service. Cremation was standard practice in Missian, and after bodies were burned, the bones of the dead were buried in graves. The local customs were similar to those of Japan, all things considered. We could identify our own casualties, and I assumed their remains would be returned to their families, but there was no way for us to determine who our fallen enemies had been. We burned them together and laid their bones to rest in a mass grave.

After we’d finished dealing with the corpses, all that was left was for us to wait for Couran to make his way to the fort. I couldn’t seem to calm down as I waited, which was no surprise─it would have been more surprising if I had been calm after witnessing all those bodies. Rietz, Charlotte, and the others all seemed fine, but I was beginning to understand that I just wasn’t built for the battlefield. Even ignoring my mental weakness, I was also frail and had never had much of a mind for tactics. Frankly, I didn’t think I was of much use at all.

Not even my Appraisal ability was useful─it wasn’t like I could tell everyone to stop fighting and spare an enemy soldier if I realized they were talented. It was kill or be killed on the battlefield, and I wasn’t naïve enough to think that sort of softness would fly. I wanted to end this war as soon as possible, receive my promised promotion to Count of Canarre, and redouble my efforts to seek out and recruit more capable retainers.

As I mulled over my plans for the future, Rietz stepped up to me.

“There’s been a development, Lord Ars,” he said. “It seems Pham has made his way here.”

“What?” I gasped, stunned by the news.

Why would Pham be here? I thought I asked the Shadows to infiltrate Velshdt.

“He wishes to speak with you.”

“All right, then─I’ll be right there,” I replied, then set off to find Pham without wasting a second.

○

“Hey, there. Been a while,” said Pham as Rietz and I approached him. We’d found him just a short ways away from the fort, accompanied by the retainer who I’d tasked with working as my point of contact with the Shadows. It seemed he was the one who had informed Rietz of Pham’s visit.

“Considering the fact that I asked you to move your operation to Velshdt in my last message and you’re here instead, I’m guessing something about the request wasn’t to your liking?” I said, cutting straight to the point at hand.

“You’d better believe it. I mean, if the particulars of a job are gonna change that much, I wanna hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Miscommunication can be fatal in this line of work.”

That makes sense, I guess.

In retrospect, completely shifting the objective of his operation based on a message he didn’t even know had come from me seemed a little unwise, yes─not to mention that our working relationship didn’t go back very far, and he didn’t have any particular reason to trust me.

In any case, it just so happened that I was beginning to rethink my plan to have him infiltrate Velshdt. Conquering the city was going to be the most formidable obstacle in our path, certainly, but there were still several forts and castles to deal with first, and not all of them were going to be as easy to topple as Fort Vakmakro.

I figured the Shadows’ skills might help us take those castles down. They could disable traps that had been set up within them, for instance, or open their gates from the inside, or poison the soldiers stationed there, or set fire to their provisions and ensure they couldn’t withstand a long-term siege. Having a group like theirs on our side would open up all sorts of options.

I’d spoken with Rietz about my idea earlier.

“I see… Yes, I believe that would be wise. It could be much quicker and easier to claim the forts in our path with the Shadows’ aid,” he’d replied at the time. “Of course, I can’t say with certainty whether participating in battles is at all their forte.”

“Fair enough. Still, there’s no harm in asking.”

And ask was what I did, in the end.

“If possible, I was hoping the Shadows would be willing to help us in battle. Specifically, I’d be asking for you to infiltrate castles, disable traps, open gates─that sort of thing. Are any of those activities that your people are willing to engage in?”

“Willing? That’s our bread and butter, if anything,” replied Pham.

“Oh, it is?” I asked, a little surprised.

“Well, we all have our strong points, ’course. My specialty just happens to be infiltration and sabotage.”

Yeah, I can see that being helpful in a siege.

“’Course, I’ll be charging you a lot more for it than I was for gathering information. Think you can afford our rates?”

“How much are we talking?”

“A minimum of two hundred gold per infiltration. We’ll be putting our lives on the line, so it’s a fair rate, by my measure.”

“That’s…a little outside my budget,” I admitted with a wince. “However, I believe Lord Couran would be willing to pay you at that rate.”

“Your general, right? Meh, no skin off my back─all coin is worth the same,” replied Pham with a shrug.

It seemed I’d have to bring Pham up to Couran the next time I had the opportunity. Given that Couran had faith in my Appraisal skill, I had a feeling he’d be willing to play along.

“So, guess you had second thoughts about the Velshdt thing?”

“Right. I’m changing my request. We’ll be staging assaults on numerous enemy bases in the immediate future, and I would like the Shadows to be available in case we end up needing your services. I’d like you to travel with our army for the time being, if that’s doable.”

“Works for me,” Pham immediately agreed. He explained that while some of the other members of the Shadows had accompanied him, they’d be holding back and tailing our forces rather than traveling with us. If he ended up needing them, Pham had methods for calling them over.

Pham himself, incidentally, would have to stay by my side while traveling with our troops, and explained that he’d be playing the role of my maid to explain his presence. The story would be that he’d been so worried about his─or rather, “her”─beloved master that she’d been unable to stop herself from running off to join me.

It was kind of astonishing how fast he changed into his maid outfit. I didn’t even catch where he’d been keeping the thing! I also had to wonder why he’d had it on him, given that he’d had no idea he’d wind up impersonating my maid when he came to see me.

“I always keep my disguise kit on hand,” Pham explained before I even had the chance to ask. My questions must have shown through on my face.

Shortly thereafter, the three of us returned to the fort. Pham’s maid act was flawless, and not a single person even began to suspect him of anything untoward. He’d told us to call him Rin while he was in his maid persona. Even Charlotte, who’d met him before, was taken in and asked me when I’d hired a maid like her…though when I explained that “she” was Pham, it turned out that Charlotte had just forgotten about him altogether.

We didn’t meet him that long ago, did we?

Rosell remembered everything about our meeting with Pham, and much to my surprise, Mireille took one look at him and said, “Oh! Is that you, Rin?”

It took me up until that moment to remember I’d hired her on Pham’s recommendation, and I assumed that he’d already been using the Rin persona back when he’d first met her. Mireille didn’t seem to have seen through to his true identity, though I had a feeling that she at least had her suspicions. I had mentioned to her that I had a band of skilled spies in my employ, and she seemed like the sort of person who’d put those pieces together.

“O-Oh, is that you, Mireille? It’s been ages!” exclaimed Pham, barely missing a beat before dropping into character.

“Yeah, good to see you. Got myself a new lord to serve thanks to your reference.”

“Oh, congratulations!”

“Thanks. And hey, that maid outfit really suits you! I could just eat you right up,” said Mireille with a mischievous smirk. If she had seen through Pham’s identity, I didn’t get the sense she was planning on pointing it out…or at least, not until she walked up to me and whispered, “So, just how good of a spy is he?”

Yeah, of course she’d figure it out.

“He’s good, no doubt there. His group managed to infiltrate a castle and steal a letter.”

“Hmm… Sounds like little ol’ Rin’s quite something─if that is his real name. Anyway, what’s his role in their operation?”

“He’s the leader.”

“The leader?! But he’s just a kid!” Mireille gaped.

“He may look like a kid, but he’s twenty-two.”

“No kidding? I figured out he was a guy easily enough, but I didn’t see that one coming, that’s for damn sure.”

“Speaking of which, how’d you figure out he was a guy?”

“I mean, you can tell just by looking at him, right?” replied Mireille with a shrug.

Uh, no… In fact, I doubt I’d have ever figured it out if I couldn’t appraise him.

Hell, there were times I couldn’t believe it even after I’d appraised him. I still had my doubts, on some level─it wasn’t like I’d ever seen any concrete evidence one way or another. He’d told me he was a boy, and my infallible Appraisal skill had corroborated that claim, but his cross-dressing was just so convincing that I couldn’t help but question that reality…and yet somehow, Mireille had seen through it in an instant.

Maybe she’s been cross-dressing this whole time and knows from experience… She’s never struck me as feminine, come to think of it…

“You’re thinking something real rude right now, aren’t you?” said Mireille.

“N-No, not at all!”

“Well, keep it that way! Anyway, if he can work his magic when we get to Castle Samkh, the county will more or less be ours already. We’ve got ’em outnumbered, and if they lose their main stronghold on top of it, surrender’ll be their only option.”

Oddly enough, Mireille didn’t seem all that excited about the thought.

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“Nah, not exactly. I just thought this war would test me, y’know? Thought it’d give me a real thrill. Guess I’ll just be bored from here to Velshdt,” Mireille said as she stifled a yawn. It seemed that the ease with which we’d claimed Fort Vakmakro had made her lose motivation. I hoped I could count on her to find it again when we needed her, but I was starting to get pretty concerned about her attitude.

We spent a few days after that in the fort. Eventually, our report reached Couran and he arrived to meet us.

“Splendid work, Lumeire! I’m astonished─to think you’d claim the fort with almost no losses! Well done, my man!” said Couran, singing our commanding officer’s praises the moment he arrived. “And you deserve commendation as well, I’m sure. I imagine your service proved invaluable, Ars.”

“Not at all, I barely did anything.”

“Ha ha ha! No need for such humility─I’ve already heard that Charlotte, one of your retainers, proved instrumental in your victory!”

That, I couldn’t deny. Charlotte’s presence had made all the difference, and I had a hard time imagining the fort’s wall would have fallen so fast without her. I’d done some asking around after the battle ended, in fact, and had learned that even though the fort’s magical defenses were weak, it would have taken an ordinary mage far longer to penetrate them. It seemed the defenders’ state of disorder had been sparked in no small part by those defenses falling much sooner than anyone could have anticipated. In that sense, Charlotte was more or less the battle’s MVP.

“What shall we do with the soldiers we took prisoner, Milord?” asked Lumeire.

“Hmm… If at all possible, I’d absorb them into my own army to get them to fight for my cause,” said Couran. “But I’m sure some of them would refuse to swear loyalty to me. Those who follow me can be spared, but the rest will have to be put to death.”

That was more or less how I’d expected him to treat the captives. I’d actually made a point of not appraising them because I’d known it might come to this. If I found out that one of them was talented, and if that soldier refused to swear fealty to Couran, I wouldn’t put it past myself to beg for them to be spared, and that would sour Couran’s opinion of me.

I had no confidence in my ability to sit back and watch a soldier with Nobunaga-level stats get beheaded. Of course, considering that human life was equally weighted whether or not the human in question was talented, the way I was viewing the whole issue was kind of messed up. I knew that on an intellectual level. I just couldn’t help but feel that executing somebody with talent was an unbearable waste. Long story short: I’d resolved to only appraise the prisoners after it had been determined that their lives would be spared.

“Ars,” said Couran, “have you appraised the prisoners yet?”

“No, not yet,” I replied.

“Then you should do so at once. I would prefer not to kill someone with the potential for greatness.”

Does that mean he might spare someone if I say that they’re talented enough, even if they don’t swear fealty to him? It’d be way too dangerous to let them go, so maybe he’s planning on throwing them in jail until they change their mind.

That was something to be celebrated, but it led to an immediate, much less appealing realization: by identifying someone as not talented, I would be sentencing them to death. The thought was a little distressing, to say the least, but I couldn’t deny the rationality of the solution. I knew that I could lie and claim that all of them were talented, but that sort of ruse would be easy to see through. I’d have to put pity to the side, tell the truth, and accept whatever came from it.

I set about appraising the prisoners. There were just about fifty of them in total, and it took me some time and quite a bit of eye strain, but I eventually appraised them all. None of them turned out to have the sort of superhuman talents I’d found in Rietz and Charlotte, but five of them were rather remarkable by more ordinary standards, and three of those individuals had refused to defect to Couran’s side. Those three were dragged away, still tied up, and I was told they’d be transported to Castle Kranpless, which had a jail they wouldn’t be breaking out of any time soon.

The soldiers who had agreed to serve Couran were released from their bonds and told to remain in Fort Vakmakro, where they’d serve as part of its guard. That left just twenty soldiers who neither had exceptional talents nor were willing to disavow their former masters. There were actually thirty of them at first, but after some persuasion, ten of them had been convinced that their loyalty wasn’t worth their lives and had agreed to switch sides. The remaining twenty were those who had refused to serve Couran come hell or high water. Eventually, Couran concluded that convincing them otherwise would be impossible and ordered their execution.

The twenty soldiers were lined up on their knees, their heads laid down upon stools. An equal number of executioners stood to the side, axes held at the ready. I wasn’t required to witness the deed being done, but I decided that it would only be right for me to see it through. They were dying because I hadn’t picked them out as being talented, so I felt I had an obligation to see this through to the end.

I’d witnessed an execution before, just once, and the man who had been killed back then was a criminal and a murderer─the lowest of the low. These men weren’t criminals, though. If anything, their refusal to betray their cause proved their loyalty and sincerity. I almost couldn’t bear to watch…but I forced myself to anyway.

“Do it,” said Couran. The executioners’ axes fell, and the prisoners’ heads plopped to the ground, which was soon stained red by the blood flowing from the stumps of their necks.

I watched it all, from start to finish, without averting my gaze once. This time, nausea didn’t overtake me. Part of that was because I was starting to grow desensitized to violence, but mostly, my disgust at the spectacle was overwhelmed by the sorrow I felt at the senselessness of their deaths. Some of them were still young─they couldn’t even have been twenty yet. Taking part in a battle meant putting your life on the line, and I knew they’d accepted the possibility of their deaths, but I still couldn’t help but grieve for the futures that had been denied to them. I could only pray that, like me, they would be reincarnated and granted another chance at life.

○

After the prisoners’ bodies were cleared away, Couran gathered all of his commanding officers and advisors for a meeting.

“Fort Vakmakro is ours,” he said. “I wish to keep this momentum going and claim Castle Samkh next. Once the castle is in our hands, our control over the county at large will be indisputable.”

“Umm…may I suggest something?” I asked, raising my hand.

“As you will.”

“In regards to our attack on Castle Samkh, I believe that the services of a group of spies I’m acquainted with could prove helpful. If we have them lay the groundwork for our assault, it could make claiming the castle much easier. And since we’ll still have plenty of fighting to do before Velshdt falls, we should do whatever we can to expend as few men and resources on Castle Samkh as possible.”

“Oh?” said Couran, raising an eyebrow. “Would these spies of yours happen to be the same band who pilfered the letter that brought Perreina to our side? If so, their abilities have already been thoroughly proven. This could be a tenable plan indeed.”

“That is correct, yes. There’s just one thing─their services come at quite the cost. They want at least two hundred gold coins to get the job done. That sort of cost is beyond my means, I’m afraid, but if you would be willing to hire them…”

“Two hundred gold is more than affordable,” Couran said without hesitation. “Their skills have already been proven, as I said, and I trust your ability to judge their worth. I look forward to the benefits their services will provide.”

Thankfully, it didn’t take much convincing at all to get Couran to foot the Shadows’ bill. I was relieved to know that they’d be on our side going forward. I hadn’t heard much about Castle Samkh, but I knew it wouldn’t fall as easily as Fort Vakmakro.

“I would like to hear what these spies will do for us directly from their leader, if possible. Will you bring him to our next council?” asked Couran.

“Umm… I’d like to, but their leader makes a point of not exposing his identity in public. I doubt it would be easy to convince him to attend a meeting like this,” I replied.

“Hmm. Understandable, I suppose, considering his profession. In that case, I shall leave it to you to serve as an intermediary. As far as my priorities for their services are concerned, I would be most interested in them opening the gates, disabling any magical traps within the castle, or destroying their supplies of aqua magia. Any of those would make our assault far easier.”

I blinked.

“You want to destroy their aqua magia? With all due respect, won’t our forces be able to use them once we’ve seized the castle?”

“Our supplies are more than ample already. The potential to gain a surplus is worth less to me than reducing our enemies’ ability to drive us off.”

“Understood. I’ll see to it that your message is delivered.”

“Good,” said Couran. “And with that, I call this meeting to a close. We shall decide upon a date for our assault as soon as Ars’s spies inform us their work is complete.”

After the council disbanded, I went out to find Pham. The moment I made contact with him, I launched into negotiating for the Shadows’ services.

“We’re hoping to hire you to open Castle Samkh’s gates, disable any magical traps you find inside, and destroy their stocks of aqua magia. Will that be possible?” I asked.

“A three-parter, eh…? Should be doable. I’ve taken a look at Castle Samkh before, and from what I could tell the place isn’t locked down very tight. Shouldn’t be hard to slip right in.”

“And how much would you charge for the task?”

“For all three objectives? Two hundred and fifty gold, with fifty paid up front.”

“Understood. I’ll speak with Lord Couran about paying your advance. Is there any way for you to inform us when your work is finished?”

“Yeah, that won’t be a problem. We’ll have Ben standing by outside the castle, and he can use sound magic to send a message once we’re done.”

“Perfect,” I replied. All things considered, our negotiations concluded without a hitch. I reported back to Couran on the matter, and as expected, he approved the advance payment without question.

After that, we began our advance upon Castle Samkh, taking great care not to wander into any magical traps along the way. We set up our encampment in a wide-open field a short ways away from the castle, close enough that the moment we received word that the gates had been opened, we’d be able to storm inside.

The enemy showed no signs of sallying forth to engage with our army─it seemed they were intent on settling in for a long siege. There’d been no reports of the castle receiving reinforcements from Velshdt, and Rosell and Mireille theorized their goal was to stall as long as they could using as few troops as possible, thus buying Velshdt more time to prepare.

Assuming the troops who remained in Castle Samkh knew all this, they were prepared to fight to the death. They weren’t lacking in morale, that was certain, and I knew that soldiers who were prepared to die were far more dangerous than those who valued their lives. Breaking a siege by force wasn’t impossible, by any means, but it would take time and involved sacrificing quite a few of our troops. It seemed my choice to rely on espionage had been a good one.

“I’ve received another request from Lord Couran,” I told Pham, who I’d met to update him on our plans. “He wants you to open the gates after dark, if possible.”

We were hoping to catch the castle’s defenders off-guard, and they’d more likely notice the gates opening during the middle of the day.

“Didn’t need to tell me that,” replied Pham. “That was our plan from the start.”

“Oh? Well, good.”

“All right─we’ll be sneaking into the castle, so this’ll be the last you hear from me for a while. Ben will contact you as soon as we’re finished laying the groundwork. You remember what Ben looks like, right?”

“I, umm…”

I remembered how unmemorable Ben’s appearance was. I’d taken to recognizing him by his real name instead, which was unique, to say the least: Alexandros Vermandolt. I figured that if I saw a person who looked unremarkable, but had that name upon appraisal, I could be certain it was Ben, so I told Pham I remembered him for simplicity’s sake.

After that, Pham set off for the castle. I was pretty sure some of the other Shadows would be sneaking in with him─not that I could see them─and I said a quick prayer for their success, then settled in to wait for their report.

○

The County of Samkh was situated in the eastern reaches of Missian, and Castle Samkh was the single most strategically significant structure in the county. That significance was part of the reason why tensions within the castle were running so high.

“I knew they’d take Vakmakro, but I never thought it would happen this soon,” muttered Fredore Bandle, the reigning Count of Samkh. His long and bushy beard covered the lower half of his face, but it wasn’t enough to hide the obvious traces of fatigue that colored his complexion. He’d hardly slept a wink since hearing the news of Couran’s troops marching on him.

Fredore had known that Fort Vakmakro’s defenses wouldn’t hold under pressure, but it had come as quite a shock to hear that it had fallen in a day.

“I’m told that one of the enemy’s mages was fearsomely powerful,” said the retainer who had brought Fredore the news.

“Fearsome indeed. And now we’re supposed to stand up to that very same mage?” Fredore grumbled.

Couran’s army had set up an encampment near his castle. They had yet to lay siege to the structure, nor had they attempted a direct assault, but Fredore knew it would be coming any minute. The best he could hope to do was stall for time, and he was certain Couran was aware of that fact as well, so he expected an all-out offensive soon. They were just taking their time preparing for the attack─there was no telling when they’d go on the offensive, and the castle’s residents had to be alert for fear of getting caught unawares by a sneak attack.

“Are you certain this was wise, Milord?” asked the retainer. “You could have petitioned Lord Kanses for reinforcements.”

“And I’m sure he would have been happy to provide. My cousin has always been too generous for his own good,” Fredore sighed. “Sending us soldiers would have been a foolish decision on his part, though. Losing this battle is inevitable, but if we hope to win the war, we must delay the enemy here for as long as possible, using as few troops and resources as we can manage.”

Kanses Bandle, the Count of Velshdt and Fredore’s cousin, would have been eager to aid him, and Fredore knew it. Unfortunately, he knew just as well that doing so would have spelled doom for Kanses in the long run.

“We’ve trapped this castle to the nines, and we’ll be making our enemies’ lives hell even after they claim it. Couran’s strategy will fail, and this is where it will all fall to pieces,” said Fredore with a malicious smirk. He’d made peace with the fact that he would die before the battle was over, and he’d ensured that the only soldiers who remained in Castle Samkh all shared his resolve.

Later that night, Fredore had found the time to take a brief nap. Nervous as he was, no one could stay awake forever. However, he’d chosen a poor moment to catch up on his rest.

“It’s an emergency, Milord!” a soldier bellowed as he burst into Fredore’s bedchamber.

“Has it begun?!” Fredore shouted as he leaped out of bed, certain that Couran had commenced his assault.

“N-No, it’s not the enemy,” the soldier sputtered. “It’s our aqua magia storehouse! There’s been an explosion, and our reserves have been wasted!”

“Th-They what?!”

“All of our flame and explosion-aspected aqua magia is gone! We won’t be able to repel an enemy assault at this rate!”

Despite having just been roused from a dead slumber, Fredore was as wide awake as he’d ever been. The shock was just that intense. The castle’s aqua magia reserves were meant to supply an enormous catalyzer installed within the keep. It would have allowed them to rain hell down upon an attacking army, gouging away at their numbers and dealing a massive blow to their morale. It was painfully easy for Fredore to understand just how much the loss of that capability would set his castle’s defenses back.

“Have we been infiltrated?!”

“I-I believe so…”

“And the spy?! Have you found him?! This will only get worse if you don’t catch him! The aqua magia could be the least of our worries! He could throw the damn gates open, in the worst case! We wouldn’t last a day! Find him! Find him now!” Fredore shrieked, his face pallid with panic and anger.

“Yes, Milord!” the soldier shouted, then spun around to search for the spy.

At that precise moment, however, a thunderous noise rang out. Fredore had heard such sounds before─it was the noise generated by a Rumble spell, and a noise that almost always spelled trouble. Fredore felt a sinking sensation in his gut the second he heard it, and a moment later, that feeling was proven all too prescient as a voice, enhanced to many times its natural volume by sound magic, echoed through the castle.

“Attack! We’re under attack! The north gate’s been breached!”

○

Night had long since fallen, but Couran’s encampment outside of Castle Samkh was abuzz with activity. His soldiers stood at the ready, prepared to begin their assault at any moment. I didn’t anticipate that I’d be participating in said assault, however─nor would Couran, Lumeire, or any of the army’s other high-ranking commanding officers.

As far as I understood the plan, the moment the gates opened, a group of Couran’s most elite soldiers would rush inside to secure the gatehouse. Earlier that evening, Ben had found me and informed me that the Shadows would tell us that the gate was open by way of a Rumble spell. I’d already informed Couran, who in turn had informed his soldiers, so that spell would be the signal that set the whole operation off.

Eventually, the distinctive sound of a Rumble spell echoed across the plains. It was too dark out to see what was happening in detail, but I could tell that the entire army had started moving out. Our assault on Castle Samkh had begun.

“Now we just have to hope the castle falls with little resistance,” muttered Couran, who was standing nearby.

Before long, shouts, screams, and the enemy’s magically-enhanced messages and orders began to ring out, accompanied by the occasional explosion. Those last noises I could attribute to our own mages, who’d been supplied with explosive aqua magia for this particular mission. Charlotte, however, was not among them─she and Rietz were both with me, standing by as part of our reserve force.

Mireille, on the other hand, had chosen to participate in the initial attack. In her own words, “I’ll lose my edge if I don’t get a decent fight in one of these days!”

I was a little caught off-guard by that, considering what a lazy bum she came off as most of the time. On the other hand, she was as strong as most men, and a capable fighter to boot. She’d chosen to wield a glaive in this particular battle: a weapon that resembled a spear with a sword attached to one end. It was on the hefty side of things, but Mireille swung it around with practiced ease.

Mireille had trained with a wide variety of weapons, it seemed, but the glaive was her personal favorite. She’d also brought along a small catalyzer, enabling her to wield magic as well. I knew well how tough Mireille was, but I had to admit, I was still a little worried about her. She didn’t seem like the sort of person who would die in vain, so those worries were likely groundless, but still.

We stood there, waiting for word from our invading force. After a far too brief period, a single soldier rushed over to deliver a report.

“Castle Samkh has fallen, Your Lordship! The enemy is routed, and the Count of Samkh has been apprehended!”

“Well done!” Couran shouted. “And with such speed! You certainly didn’t take your time!”

“It seems the enemy planned their defense around magical traps within the castle walls,” the soldier explained. “By the time we arrived, however, every single one of them had been disabled. The spies you sent in may well have won us the day.”

“Did they, now? Then you are owed a fair share of credit for introducing them to us, Ars,” said Couran, turning to me. “Thanks to your contribution, we’ve claimed Castle Samkh with ease. I see once again that I was right to turn to you for help.”

I was happy to receive his praise, but I also felt a little uncomfortable considering that, once again, I hadn’t done much on the actual battlefield.

“Now then, I wish to speak to the count. Bring Fredore here at once.”

“Yes, Milord!” the soldier replied, then spun about and rushed back toward the castle.

I soon learned that we’d taken an awful lot of captives this time around. That, I assumed, meant I’d be put to use for the same sort of judicial process as at Fort Vakmakro. I wasn’t at all excited by the prospect, but I knew that if Couran ordered me to do so, I’d have very little choice in the matter. All I could do was prepare myself for when the moment came.

As I tried to steel my nerves for that development, a woman wearing a maid uniform stepped up to me. It took me a moment longer than it should’ve to realize that “she” was, in fact, Pham. His work complete, he’d returned to me much quicker than I’d anticipated.

“Nicely done,” I whispered to ensure nobody around us overheard me.

“Great, thanks. So, think you could throw a bonus onto that payment?” Pham asked.

“What for?”

“There was an unexpected factor we took care of for you,” he explained. “We could’ve ignored it, but you might’ve lost half your army if things went south, so we figured you’d prefer we get it done.”

“What? Start over, and actually explain it this time.”

“The basement was rigged with a real nasty, specialized magical trap. Long story short, they were ready to blow the whole damn place up, castle and all. Whoever set the thing up must’ve been an incredible mage─dunno who it was, and considering it looked like it was cast around a hundred years ago, they’re probably dead. Point is, it was a real pain in the ass to disarm.”

They were going to blow up the entire castle?!

In other words, if the castle ever fell and its defenders were killed, they had a system in place to ensure the structure itself wouldn’t be used against them. That was a rather crafty move, and the fact that Pham’s crew had disarmed it saved us from incurring massive losses. I did have to wonder how much of a “pain in the ass” disarming the trap had been, considering the plan had gone according to schedule, but I decided not to question it.

“I’ll negotiate with Lord Couran on your behalf,” I promised.

“You do that,” Pham said, then left just as quickly as he’d appeared.

The Count of Samkh, Fredore Bandle, was brought to us. Our soldiers had to carry him, on account of him being bound hand and foot. His beard was the first thing I noticed about him. It was long and didn’t seem particularly well-kept. It was downright scraggly, even. His height wasn’t remarkable─I would’ve described it as average─and he had a muscular build that told me he could hold his own in a fight.

According to Couran, Fredore would not join his side no matter what we said or did to him. Killing him, however, would bring all sorts of complications with it, so Couran had decided to spare his life for the moment. In the long term, however, keeping him jailed had the potential to be even more tiresome, so it wasn’t the easiest of decisions to make. In any case, his capabilities wouldn’t play a factor in his fate, so I decided to refrain from appraising him.

“Hello, Fredore,” said Couran. “I hardly need to ask, but for the record: have you any interest in becoming my subordinate?”

“If you would have me,” Fredore said, hesitating for just a moment. “I would enter your service and fight by your side, Lord Couran.”

Couran looked taken aback. That was not the answer he’d been expecting. His shock was only visible for a moment─it wouldn’t do to let his true feelings show during this sort of conversation─but that single instant was enough to tell me how surprised he was.

Fredore went on to tell us about how he’d fallen into conflict with his cousin, how he had no end of doubts regarding the manner in which Vasmarque conducted himself, and a wide variety of other explanations for his decision. Still, even with all those factors taken into consideration, it was hard to believe he was willing to side with us.

Unless… Wait… Of course!

The pieces finally clicked together the moment I remembered the trap that Pham mentioned. Fredore, in all likelihood, had no idea that it had been disabled. It seemed plausible that Fredore was plotting to lure Couran into the castle under the pretense of surrendering, then light the whole place up, killing both of them in the process. Unfortunately for his scheme, the trap that the whole plot centered around had already been dealt with. His self-sacrificing assassination attempt would never come to fruition.

“Very well,” said Couran after Fredore finished his explanation. “I understand your position, and I would gladly─”

“Might I have a word, Your Lordship?” I asked, interrupting him before he could make any promises.

“What is it?” asked Couran.

“I thought you would want to hear a piece of information the spies I hired passed to me a moment ago. It seems there was an unbelievably dangerous trap set up within Castle Samkh that they’ve managed to disable.”

“What?!” Fredore shouted in shock.

“As such, if you intended to lure Lord Couran into your castle and end his life, you should know the effort would be wasted.”

“I-Impossible,” Fredore stammered. One look at him was enough to convince Couran my story was true, and he asked me for the details, which I readily provided, from the particulars of the trap to the plan I assumed Fredore had concocted.

“Hmm… Judging by how the good count has reacted to this news, I assume it’s all true. I never knew such a trap was possible─it seems I’ll have to be more vigilant than ever, going forward. Your spies will be rewarded generously for their service, Ars.”

“Ugh!” grunted Fredore, the color draining from his face. He may have lost his castle in the span of a single night, but I presumed he thought he’d still be able to redeem himself by taking Couran with him.

“Shall I assume, Fredore, that everything you just told me was a fabrication?” asked Couran.

Fredore didn’t respond. Instead, he just glared at Couran with a gaze as cold as ice and as baleful as hellfire. I would’ve been shaken to see someone give me that sort of look, but Couran seemed unmoved. It was, I supposed, the composure of a man who’d managed to maintain a position of power for years on end in the unstable environment that was the Summerforth Empire.

“Lock him up in the castle jails,” Couran commanded. “Don’t let him out, no matter what happens.”

“Yes, Milord!” replied one of the nearby soldiers.

“Speak with his surviving followers as well. Those who are willing to swear fealty to me shall be spared, while those who refuse will be appraised by Ars. As before, I will take his report regarding their talents into consideration, then decide who will be jailed and who will be executed.”

Soon, a procession of prisoners was brought before me. Some of Fredore’s soldiers had fled toward Velshdt, but the majority of them had been captured. I wouldn’t have to appraise an entire castle’s worth of troops, since the successful escapees, those who were slain in battle, and the small number who agreed to swear allegiance to Couran made up most of the castle’s soldiers.

“The appraisals, if you would,” said Couran.

“Right,” I replied. I had way more people to deal with than I’d had back at Fort Vakmakro. However, I had no choice but to do what I could. It took quite some time, but I managed to make it through all of them.

Nobody struck me as truly exceptional this time around, though I did find that one of their commanding officers had a Valor of 88, which put him far above the mid-seventies score I’d expect from people in his position. Seven others seemed skilled enough that killing them would have been a waste, but that was about it. Once again, I was surprised by how rare talented individuals were. I was starting to appreciate just how lucky I’d been to meet Rietz and the others when I was young.

I told Couran everything I’d seen, sparing no detail, and he declared that those who would not serve him would be put to death the next day. Then, we retired to Castle Samkh to rest and discuss our strategy for the next stage of the war.

○

“Now that was the workout I’d been looking for!” said Mireille. She’d started drinking the second she got back from the assault on Castle Samkh. She’d sustained a few minor flesh wounds, but thankfully, she seemed fine.

“Just don’t go taking any unnecessary risks, please,” I sighed.

“Risks? Hah! You think I’d get myself killed in a place like this?” Mireille replied indignantly. “You should’ve come along, Rietz!”

“Perhaps I should have. It has been too long since my last engagement,” Rietz replied. It seemed he was a little more battle-hungry than I’d thought.

“I didn’t get to fight this time. I wanna hurry up and take on someone who’s worth my time!” Charlotte grumbled. I was starting to suspect that people with high Valor scores were just more combative on the whole.

“Meh, you wouldn’t have had much luck there. We only faced grunts and small fries this time around. Hope we’ll get some real opponents in the next battle.”

She’s planning on fighting again next time?

“Oh, right! I got some good info from one of the prisoners,” Mireille continued. “Seems my little brother got sent over to Velshdt!”

“Your little brother?” I repeated.

“Yeah, he’s one of Vasmarque’s flunkies. Not exactly top-shelf material, but he is my brother, so he’s got a little more fight in him than the trash we dealt with here. Taking Velshdt might be an actual struggle! This is gonna be fun!”

“You seem awfully excited to go to war with your own brother,” I observed. “Wouldn’t most people be upset about that?”

“Upset? Why?”

“I mean, isn’t it normal to not want to fight your family?!”

“Oooh, I get it. We used to get along okay, sure, but not so much these days. I’d be fine with killing him if it came to that,” Mireille casually explained. It didn’t seem like she was putting on a front, either─there was no sense of familial affection in how she talked about her brother. I was once again reminded that Mireille had a very unusual way of looking at the world.

“What sort of person is your brother, Master?” asked Rosell. He’d taken to calling her “Master” in the time I’d been away from my estate, it seemed.

“Hmm─good question… He used to be a brainless little moron, but he learned to use his head a little as he grew up. I’ve heard rumors that he’s Vasmarque’s right-hand man these days, if you can believe it.”

“Doesn’t that mean he’s kind of amazing?” asked Rosell.

“Hard to say. He’s smarter than the average peasant, for sure.”

I was having a hard time telling if she held her brother’s capabilities in high esteem or not. I couldn’t imagine Vasmarque would have sent him to Velshdt if he was incompetent, though. If he were, that would be a sign that Vasmarque was awful at choosing his most trusted subordinates.

In any case, it was clear that the fight for Velshdt would be harder than the conquest of Castle Samkh in terms of its leadership, its garrison, and the sturdiness of the castle itself. We would still have them outnumbered, but that didn’t mean we’d be able to just waltz in and storm the place this time. Castle Samkh might have proven simple to claim, but I couldn’t let myself get used to that sort of good fortune. I’d have to plan and prepare with great caution before our next engagement. Conveniently enough, it wasn’t long before Couran gathered his retainers for a meeting regarding the imminent conquest of Velshdt.

○

“The battle for Castle Samkh is won, and thanks to your valiant efforts, our victory came at negligible cost! All of you have my sincerest thanks,” Couran said as our latest council of war began.

He went on to explain that our next move would be to bring the entirety of the County of Samkh under our control. We’d claimed the castle, but there were still pockets of resistance elsewhere in the county, and we couldn’t claim to have conquered Samkh until all of them were eliminated. Luckily, there weren’t all that many of them, so he didn’t anticipate the mop-up process would take an egregious amount of time. Couran declared who would be responsible for suppressing the remaining resistance in Samkh, and neither I nor Lumeire were among them.

After that discussion concluded, we moved to the primary topic at hand: the strategy for our invasion of Velshdt.

“To begin with,” said Couran. “Rosell. What are your thoughts on the matter?”

“I believe that we should carry out our attack with all due haste─even quicker than we swept through Samkh,” Rosell replied. After all the plans he’d contributed to so far, it seemed Couran and the rest of his followers had formed quite a high opinion of Rosell and his perspective. Virtually no one looked down on him on account of his age anymore, and even the nobles present lent his words serious consideration.

“I don’t imagine our enemy anticipated that we would advance this quickly, and I’m certain they aren’t yet prepared to face us. If we take advantage of this opportunity to strike several key strategic locations, it could prove instrumental in the long term.”

“Indeed,” said Couran. “As it so happens, I had the same thought. Pressing our advantage will incur no small number of risks, but I believe it is for the best. We will have to claim Castle Staatz before an invasion of Castle Velshdt is feasible, of course, and Castle Staatz is known for being nigh impregnable. If we give them the time to improve their defenses, the losses we’ll incur will be severe─and needless to say, the fewer casualties now, the easier our eventual invasion of Velshdt will become.”

Couran’s other advisors spoke up one after the other to advocate for his and Rosell’s plan. I was motivated to get the war over with as quickly as possible, so I also agreed with that course of action. I thought that nobody was going to object until suddenly, Mireille leaped into the conversation.

“Wait a minute─bad plan. You’ll get us all killed at this rate,” she said. I was a little surprised. I’d expected her to be the sort of person who’d be all for seizing the initiative. “I’m guessing you haven’t heard that my brother’s gonna be in charge of the enemy’s forces from now on, right?”

“I have, in fact, been informed of that matter. To my understanding, Thomas has been stationed in Velshdt to coordinate their defense.”

“Then I shouldn’t have to tell you that you need to tread lightly. Ambushes are my brother’s specialty. If your army has a weakness that can be exploited, he’ll see through it and hit you right where it hurts most when you least expect it. Rush into a battle with him, and you’ll regret it.”

“Hmm… I must admit, you would know Thomas better than any of us,” said Couran. “However, I cannot dismiss the possibility that you’ve chosen to advocate for a passive strategy out of a desire to not see your own brother slain.”

“You’re kidding, right? My brother’s one of the enemy’s key advisors! Do you realize how far up in the world I’d move if I offed him? Why would I not want him dead? If he were here, I’d chop his head off myself.”

“You have very little regard for your own family, it would seem,” said Couran with a frown.

“I’m surprised you’d criticize me for that, considering you’re trying to kill your brother for the title of duke.”

Couran fell silent. That, it seemed, was a point he couldn’t argue against. Unfortunately, it was also not a point he’d be pleased with, and Mireille was my subordinate. If I didn’t chastise her, I knew it would reflect poorly on me.

“That’s enough, Mireille,” I said. “You’ve spoken out of turn.”

“Hm? Oh, right. My bad.”

I wasn’t convinced she understood what was wrong with what she’d said, but I was grateful that she apologized anyway.

“For the record, I’m not saying this ’cause he’s my brother─I’m saying it ’cause keeping that in mind will increase our odds of victory.”

“Yes, I understand very well now that compassion does not motivate your actions,” said Couran. “Nevertheless, if we do not seize the initiative here, I cannot see how we’ll ever hope to topple Castle Staatz.”

“I’m not saying we have to slow our advance to a crawl or anything,” replied Mireille. “I just mean that moving faster than we already are would open us up to attacks. You can see how that would be a problem, yeah?”

“So you propose that we advance at the same rate as before?” asked Couran.

“Right. I think our current pace strikes just the right balance between speed and caution.”

“And if we progress at the same rate, will we be able to claim Castle Staatz?”

“Good question. They’ll be bolstering their defenses, so we should start working out a plan for taking down a fully fortified castle, just in case.”

“What would such a plan entail? Sending in spies as we did for Castle Samkh?”

“That’d be a tough trick to pull off twice. Our enemies aren’t stupid, and when they learn how quickly the castle fell, it won’t be hard for them to figure out that spies were to blame. Their guards will be wary of that sort of trick, and no matter how skilled your spies are, it’d be hard to pull off a job when your target’s ready for you.”

I wouldn’t be convinced of that until I’d asked Pham for his perspective, but I had to admit that infiltrating a fort that was alerted to your presence did sound much harder than infiltrating a fort that was unaware of the danger you posed. All of that, however, left a question burning in my mind.

“But wait, Mireille,” I said. “In that case, how should we take down the castle?”

“We’ve got plenty of options. We could find a way to blackmail one of their commanders or leak false info to throw their defenses into chaos. We could lure the defenders out of the castle and into a trap or declare a ceasefire, then ambush them the second they lower their guard. We could take this in all sorts of directions, but I can’t say which would be the most effective yet. First things first, we need more info. Those spies of yours might not be able to bring the whole castle down again, but they can do that much for us, can’t they? And hey, even if they can’t make it into the castle to get the juiciest info, tidbits gleaned from the surrounding area could make all the difference.”

I was convinced by her logic. It wasn’t like we’d be able to clean up the resistance in the County of Samkh and proceed directly to Castle Staatz─there were smaller forts on the border that we’d have to deal with, so we’d have plenty of time to gather information. Couran seemed to agree, as he declared that he would refrain from moving forward with excessive haste. We’d gather information on Castle Staatz, then iron out a concrete plan once we had a clear picture of what we were dealing with.

Our invasion of Velshdt would begin soon. If we emerged victorious, it would increase Couran’s odds of defeating Vasmarque and claiming his place as the Duke of Missian.

My ultimate goal was to make the land I lived in as prosperous and peaceful as possible. If Couran defeated Vasmarque and granted me the position of Count of Canarre, as promised, I’d have taken a major step toward the fulfillment of that objective. War was far from my area of expertise, but I was resolved to do everything in my power to help lead us to victory.