Risou no Himo Seikatsu - Volume 12 - Chapter 3.5

Intermission — The One-Eyed Mercenary’s Battle

The next day, Yan led his twelve hundred men out of Pomorskie and north along the roads. They continued for the day before making camp and setting up watches as the sun set. Then, they began marching again after their rest.

“Mercenary” was a wide-ranging title, but those under the employ of Pomorskie—one of the leading cities in the country—were more skilled than not. Still, they would not be a match for the knights.

“Which means asking for too much skill could end up getting us burned instead. It would be best to ambush them on a narrow path in the forest, but taking command of an improvised battalion with poor visibility is a recipe for disaster.”

Yan had been considering things throughout the march. The majority of his men were infantry, but they had several horses as well. In particular, they had three especially swift horses that would be their trump card if needed. The horses had skilled riders who were entirely forbidden from participating in the battle itself. They had a single role: if Yan’s men were unable to succeed, they would return to Pomorskie as quickly as possible to report.

Yan had two predictions about where they would be called upon. The first was if they lost to the knights. Frankly, it seemed all too possible, even to him. He had no desire to throw his life away here, so if they were in a no-win position, he would cede the road to their foe.

The issue was the second possibility—that they wouldn’t find the knights. In other words, if his predictions were either wrong or mostly right but fell apart on the specifics, with the two parties managing to miss each other. News needed to get back to Pomorskie as quickly as possible in that case.

“We just don’t have enough information...or prep time, for that matter. We’re having to assume that we’re making the right moves. Will the princess even forgive us for making a mistake?”

The general let out a massive sigh as if trying to expel the melancholy as he complained to himself about the situation.

Eventually, they made their way through the forest and out onto grassy plains, setting up along the road. If the men were as trained as he preferred, they could hide in the forest and ambush the knights as they entered. But given the size of the trees, the men he was leading, and their skill levels, he had his doubts that they would manage to conceal themselves.

Failing the ambush and fighting in the trees was the worst choice for them. While the knights could not use their vaunted speed and charges in the trees, they would have clearly superior skill, equipment, and training on an individual level. Carelessly engaging them could end with even more casualties.

One of the captains had suggested forming up on a nearby hill, but Yan had refused. If they lay in wait off the road, the knights could just ignore them and they’d look like fools. The speed of the knights was a threat. Even Yan’s eyesight didn’t change the fact that if the knights tried to ignore them and push past, they would need to sprint at full speed to manage to flank them.

Any precision in command would be impossible in that situation. If the knights were feinting and actually turned to face them head-on, the mercenaries would be taken out in a single attack. Thus, even aware of the disadvantage, Yan had his men set up on the plain with the trees at their backs.

“All right, you lot, start digging. You’re not setting up camp. We don’t have the time, or the supplies, for that matter. Rough up the ground so the horses can’t get a foothold. Fetch some decent logs and rope them off for a fence. It probably won’t do much, but still.”

It wasn’t exactly the best defensive formation, but it was better than nothing.

“Hey, Yan, we really facing the knights out in the open like this?”

“It’s too risky, ain’t it?”

A couple of his acquaintances had headed over and were speaking to him in hushed tones.

“Don’t worry about it. This is the best way to carry out our sponsor’s orders with the fewest casualties.”

“Seriously?”

“We’re trusting you here.”

While they were still somewhat doubtful, Yan’s prior accomplishments meant that they followed him regardless.

“You’d better,” Yan said with a thumbs-up.

“What’s the plan if it fails?”

“Just saying ‘sorry’ ain’t gonna be enough.”

“If that happens, I’ll drown you guys in booze,” he promised them.

“No going back on that, all right?”

“Too late to say anythin’ else now.”

“Well, if you survive and make it back, that is.”

“Nah shit.”

“Can’t drink if we’re dead.”

Yan made sure the jibing and joking was loud enough that the younger mercenaries could hear to help them relax. The conversation continued for a fair while after.

It was just after their defenses were in place that they heard a rumbling from over the horizon.

“They’re coming! Everyone, ready!”

The soldiers all prepared for battle in response to his yell. Eventually, the source of the noise became visible.

It was the knights. They were far enough away that it wasn’t possible to see just how many there were, but there were easily over a thousand. They were marching rather than charging, so the speed at which they were advancing was relatively slow. Still, it was far faster than an infantry march.

The horses were huge. They had to carry knights in full armor, so only the biggest were ever selected for use. Atop each massive horse was a knight in gleaming armor, and over a thousand of them were approaching at once. The infantry could set up all the spear walls they liked; it would be hard to resist the force of their advance.

Still, as the knights approached, they came to an unnatural stop.

“What’s going on?”

“They stopped.”

Yan grinned at the questioning mercenaries.

“Hah! They weren’t expecting us to be here.” Despite the fierce smile on his face, he was praying inside.

Go home. Just leave.

The knights’ current reaction was part of the reason he had chosen such a visible place to set up. Seeing the mercenaries lying in wait here would show the knights their surprise had failed. They should also, therefore, know that they had no chance of taking the city. The enemy turning around and leaving was the best result Yan could hope for.

Of course, the princess wants us to fight and win instead, he mused. Still, the princess craving a name for herself ultimately had nothing to do with him.

The most important thing for a mercenary was survival, followed by budget. If they had a numerical advantage, then earning her favor might be on the table, but they were roughly even with their foe. Facing the elite knights on open ground was more of an issue than pay.

Even if they didn’t fight, the claim that Yan had repelled the invaders would still be accurate. Thus, his prayers.

Unfortunately, they were not answered.

“Damn, they’re forming up.”

“Yeah, they’re raring to go. What’s our play, Yan?”

He held back the urge to scowl and curse as his men were doing, keeping a wide grin as he gave his orders.

“I planned for this. Don’t worry. Archers, nock arrows. Pipers, forward.”

While he gave his instructions, he considered the situation. The knights had spotted them, stopped, and then began moving in an offensive formation. They had not been stationary for long at all. Their commander was no fool. He would already know that their planned ambush was no longer a surprise.

In that case, there was a strong possibility that this offensive front was a feint. The mercenary assumed they would push through his troops if they could, and if not, they would give in and retreat. If his side could hold off the first charge, they could win.

While these thoughts passed through his mind, the knights had readied themselves and were getting ready to rush them.

“Here they come! Clench your arse cheeks!” he ordered in a bellow.

Even that yell was nothing more than a gentle breeze compared to the thousand-strong knights yelling in unison as they charged.

“We ain’t gonna cower! Show them what you’re made of!”

In response to their commander’s rebuke, the mercenaries let loose a roar as well. It was not a unified yell like the knights, more of a desperate raging, yelling, and even screaming. Letting out such yells calmed people and let them relax.

Not yet. Not yet. Hold... Now!

“Loose arrows!” Yan commanded, his eye fixed in a glare on the advancing knights. This was the best time to command the archers. Actually, it was slightly before the best time to loose the arrows, but with the archers’ current level of training in mind, it was more suitable.

“Raaah!”

“Take that!”

“Agh!”

As he’d expected, only around a third of the men had let their arrows fly when he’d actually ordered it. The rest were, as he would say, “Like dribbles of piss down your leg,” coming in fits and starts.

The Crimson Dragon Kingdom’s longbowmen would file an official protest if he had called their assault “a volley.” Still, even the fully armored knights were not unharmed by the rain of projectiles. Arrows stuck into the metal armor, and the unlucky ones took hits to their horses’ backs or necks, falling down.

Of course, they had taken out fewer than ten of the knights all told. The ones who had fallen had gotten out of the way as their training demanded, to prevent getting in the way of the knights behind them. They had to be decently trained to be part of this force, after all.

They moved quickly, and the untrained archers would have no chance for a second round.

“Cavalry, head back and report!”

“Good fortune!”

“The rest is on you!”

“Leave the castle to us!”

The three mounted soldiers headed off before everyone else. The horses they were riding were swift-hoofed, provided by the marquis himself. The riders were also the most skilled on horseback and almost completely unarmored. Sending them off now meant that even if the mercenaries failed, the knights wouldn’t be able to catch them.

Sending all three of the messengers off at once was theoretically unsound, but Yan’s next move would render them more of a liability, so he had no choice.

He heard them leaving as the knights reached their defensive line, where the ground had been churned with wood and rope fences. It was only a slight difference, but the knights slowed. This would be his only chance.

“Pipers, now!” he commanded his trump card, the pipers.

There were only thirty of them, far fewer than the archers. However, they had all been trained personally by Yan. They would not miss the order.

This time, it was a proper volley. There was an echoing of thirty sharp retorts, accompanied by the billowing white smoke characteristic of burning fresh wood. Several of the leading knights, with no apparent cause, fell down.

The bigger impact, though, was that of the unfamiliar noise on the horses. They reared.

“What the?!”

“Whoa, whoa, boy!”

“Yaahhh?!”

The actual damage to the knights was not terribly different from the archer’s attack, but the explosions had spooked the horses, and keeping them under control was the best they could manage.

The chaos was spurred on by several knights collapsing for no apparent reason. The mercenaries had heard the “pipes” as well, but they had been warned ahead of time and were quicker to recover than the enemy. Above all else, the fact that they were not on horseback made it easier for them to move.

“Now! Charge!” Yan roared.

As if to show them how it was done, he himself plunged through the smoke towards the knights.

“Follow the commander!”

His men followed immediately afterwards, returning their pipes to their waists and taking up their spears. The fact that the other mercenaries only followed after that was proof of just how much of a shock the effect of the pipes was to witness for the first time.

“Yeah...”

“What’s with this smoke? My ears are still ringing.”

Fortunately, the knights were in even more disarray, so the delay didn’t matter.

“Look, they’re strugglin’ even more!”

“Now’s our chance!”

“Tch, we’re gonna be paying for his drinks again, ain’t we?”

The mercenaries recovered and fell upon the knights as the latter clung to their spooked horses, trying to avoid a tumble. For better or worse, common mercenaries were poorly suited in strength, but they became much more formidable when their opponents were weakened.

“Let’s go, then!”

“Take this, you bastards!”

“Leave the horses! They’ll fetch a nice sum!”

At this point, the outcome was already decided.