“The invasion of Velshdt has begun. I know that you’re all up to the task, and I’ll be expecting you to give it your best,” I, Ars Louvent, said to my assembled retainers.
“I would put my very life on the line for your sake if the circumstances called for it, Lord Ars,” replied Rietz. “The conquest of Velshdt will be a pivotal step toward our ultimate victory in this war. We can be certain that our accomplishments will earn you the fame and respect you deserve, and as such, I will spare no effort!”
Rietz was far and away the most devoted out of all my retainers, and the most capable to boot. I had absolute faith in his abilities.
“My magic’ll make this a piece of cake,” said Charlotte. Her confidence was well and good, but I couldn’t help but think she was taking our upcoming battles a little too lightly. On the other hand, her magic was almost unimaginably powerful, and she was right in the sense that it would be a major asset in battle.
“I think the pressure’s gonna kill me… Oh, god, my stomach,” groaned Rosell, who looked pallid. His tactical genius was unfortunately accompanied by an inclination toward catastrophic pessimism─in short, he had his strong points and weak points.
“You should try to relax a little, Rosell,” I said, in the hopes of alleviating some of his tension.
“Th-This is going to be an incredibly important stage of the war! We can’t afford to lose, and that means we can’t afford to relax for even a second!” Rosell snapped.
“Kid’s got a point,” added Mireille with an air of knowing authority. “You can never tell what’s gonna happen on the battlefield, no matter how hard you think through the situation.”
Mireille had the most experience in the field out of all my retainers, and her stats were remarkably high as well. The one issue that kept me from putting too much faith in her was her personality. She had quirks, to say the least.
It struck me that I was wrapped up in a situation that was out of my league, considering what my previous life had been like. Before my reincarnation I was just your everyday white-collar office worker in Japan. With that in mind, the idea of me becoming a baron in another world and leading an army into a battle with the fate of the whole duchy on the line was just absurd. I wasn’t built for this sort of drama, and every once in a while the whole scenario felt surreal beyond description. I didn’t have a choice, though: I’d been born into the aristocracy, and that meant I had to do everything in my power to fulfill my role.
○
A soldier burst into the meeting room in Castle Velshdt, the single most important strategic location in all of the County of Velshdt. “News from Samkh!” he shouted. “The castle has fallen, and is occupied by the enemy!”
The Count of Velshdt, Kanses Bandle, had been in the middle of a war council at the time, but the soldier now had his full attention. “Th-That can’t be,” he muttered. “First Vakmakro fell with stunning speed, and now Castle Samkh has suffered the same fate…?”
Castle Samkh was not a fully-fortified citadel, but it was situated in a more defensible location than Fort Vakmakro. It had also been defended by Kanses’s very own cousin, Fredore, a man in whom Kanses had the utmost of faith. For the castle to have fallen nigh instantaneously was news that exceeded even the most pessimistic scenarios Kanses had considered.
“Well, that’s a setback I sure didn’t see coming… Do we know anything about how the castle fell?” asked Thomas Grunzeon, a master tactician who had been dispatched to aid in the defense of Velshdt.
“I’m afraid not, Your Lordship!” replied the soldier. “We were told the castle fell, but nothing about how it happened.”
“All right, then,” said Thomas with a nod. “It’s only a matter of time before the specifics find their way to us…but I’d bet the enemy has a skilled spy in their number.”
“A spy?” repeated Kanses.
“It doesn’t add up otherwise. The castle wouldn’t have fallen so fast without a man inside,” said Thomas.
“But surely Fredore would have ensured his castle was defended against such sabotage?” asked Kanses.
“He probably had,” Thomas admitted. “I’d bet he just didn’t do enough.”
“Hmm. Then perhaps we should redouble our own defenses in that regard,” said Kanses with a thoughtful frown. “Speaking of Fredore, what happened to him? Does he still live?”
“The Count was captured by the enemy,” said the soldier. “He may live, or he may have been executed.”
“I see,” Kanses sighed.
“A man like Fredore would be a valuable hostage,” Thomas noted. “I think there’s a good chance they’d keep him alive, just in case.”
A subtle hint of relief flashed across Kanses’s face. He was fond of his cousin, and would have been bereaved to learn of his passing.
“Thomas,” Kanses said, “what do you believe our enemy’s next move will be?”
“Conventional tactics would call for a swift assault on Castle Staatz. That’d give them a solid staging ground to take on the rest of the county from, and they know we weren’t prepared for Samkh to fall that quickly. They’ll be looking to take advantage of our lowered guard and rush in before we’ve finished preparing for their assault.”
“In which case it would behoove us to prepare our forces to mount a defense as soon as possible,” said Kanses.
“That’s the ticket,” agreed Thomas with a nod. “The good news is that if they make the moves I’m expecting them to, we’ll have a decent shot at winning this.”
“How so?”
“The faster you march an army like theirs, the more openings you end up leaving for a surprise attack to catch you off guard.”
“I see. And if I recall, such ambushes are your specialty.”
“Right. I don’t know if I’d be able to take out Couran himself, but I should be able to sever their supply chain and bring their advance to a standstill.”
“We’re blessed to have a man with your skills on our side,” said Kanses. He’d been worried that Samkh’s sudden fall would spell the imminent end of his rule, but Thomas’s reassurances made him feel a slight resurgence of hope.
“There’s no guarantee that the enemy’ll rush in like I’m hoping, though. Some of them probably know that surprise attacks are my standard procedure, and there’s a chance they’ll be on guard as well. If that ends up being the case, they’ll either move in at a more normal pace or try to pull some other maneuver,” Thomas said, then sank into thought for a moment. “To start, we should make sure we’re prepared to deal with any spies that try to slip their way in. We’ll send troops to the forts near the front, too, and have them prepare for battle posthaste. After that, well, that depends on what sort of new info comes in.”
“Understood. I’ll send word to the commanders of every fort at once,” said Kanses, then hurried off to begin penning his messages. In them, he included notes regarding Castle Samkh’s fall, the fact that they should be prepared for an imminent invasion, and that they should be extra alert for the possibility of spies. Finally, he added that any information regarding the enemy should be relayed to him at once.
Velshdt’s soldiers were few in number, but their preparations for a long, painful defense had begun nonetheless.
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