The Girl Raised by the Death God Holds the Sword of Darkness in Her Arms - Volume 6 - Chapter 3.5

V

Twenty days had passed since the outset of the conflict later known as the Battle of Turner. The Azure Knights’ forces numbered around twenty thousand, and the Eighth Legion had been reduced to fourteen thousand.

It was all but inevitable that, considering they had begun the battle with five thousand fewer soldiers and had thus far succeeded in containing Death God Olivia, morale among the Azure Knights had risen to an all-time high. Every soldier in their ranks was in thrall to their youthful commander and his skill at arms, and placed their absolute trust in him. Yet Felix himself only felt the lines in his brow deepen as the days passed.

Azure Knights Main Command, Early Morning

“For you, my lord.” At the tentative voice, Felix opened his eyes and saw a steaming teacup held out to him. He gently untangled his folded arms.

“Thank you. You’re up early. The sun has barely risen.”

“You’re one to talk, my lord,” Teresa replied, smiling. Felix accepted the cup. It contained his favorite Hausen tea, a bitter drink that somehow left a faint sweetness in his mouth as he sipped. He let out a breath, then placed the cup on the table.

“Delicious.”

“Shall I bring you another cup?” Teresa asked, tidying the teacup away. Felix refused with a small shake of his head. Usually, Teresa would have left then, but for some reason today she lingered, still clutching the cup. Felix looked at her face and saw her eyes roving this way. But the restlessness only lasted a few moments before she turned to look directly at him. Felix made himself sit up straighter.

“My lord, I am your aide, aren’t I?” Teresa asked. At first, Felix could not find the words to reply. That Teresa was his aide was hardly something that still needed confirming, and so truthfully, her asking him as much took him by surprise. It would be one thing if a personnel change had occurred, but Felix, for better or for worse, knew of none more capable than her.

Teresa repeated her question, so Felix simply nodded his head.

“In that case, as your aide, I would like to know what is troubling you.”

Felix paused. “Do I look troubled?”

“Yes, my lord,” Teresa replied without hesitation. “Very much so.” Felix stared at her, then rubbed the back of his head. Teresa continued. “If it’s too painful to talk about, then allow me to shoulder the burden. At present, the battle goes in our favor. It is only a matter of time before the Eighth Legion is unable to hold the front line. Despite this, you are troubled, and the reason—the reason is Death God Olivia, correct?”

Felix hesitated, then said, “I’ve been a little, well...uncertain.”

With the exception of a few powerful units, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion had far more bark than bite, as Felix had first assumed. The threat had come via the many tactical plays he couldn’t help but admire. In battle, there was nothing so foolish as musing on what-ifs, but Felix thought if the soldiers of the Eighth Legion had had sufficient training, they would have given the Azure Knights a run for their money indeed. At the very least, he would not have been able to sit here sipping the Hausen tea Teresa brought him.

At first, he’d thought that Olivia was in charge of all their battle plans. But the kaleidoscopic shifts in the enemy’s tactics had planted doubt in his mind, and that doubt had borne weakness. This left them often on the back foot, unable to employ the tactics they were best at: acting first to contain their opponent. They had struggled considerably in the early stages as a result. Nevertheless, as the battle progressed and the might of the Azure Knights came to the fore, the sense grew within Felix that something was wrong, and he could not shake it off. Tactics were subject to the influence of the tactician’s innate character—in ways even tacticians themselves were not aware of. The many plays the enemy had made thus far were alike in that they were all extraordinary, but were entirely different in nature. Like the two sides of a coin, or light and shadow, seemingly contradictory but unable to exist without the other.

Felix had concluded that the Eighth Legion’s tactics—sometimes subtle, sometimes audacious—had been thought up by Olivia and one other person. Once he understood he had not one but two tacticians on his hands, dealing with them was no great feat. Felix only had to divide his mind into two, then employ the appropriate tactics for each of them. After the battle reached its middle stages, he had succeeded in gaining control of the field and driving the Eighth Legion back while the Azure Knights were still able to continue their counteroffensive.

“It may sound strange, but it’s precisely because we’ve taken the advantage that I’m uncertain. The Eighth Legion will likely start to consider retreating next, and while that would be ideal for us too...” He trailed off. He had had an unfortunate report that the fighting was going badly for the forty-thousand-strong detached force that had broken off from the Azure Knights. He was counting on it taking significant time for the Eighth Legion to retreat back to home soil or to rejoin with the Royal Army and regroup. If the Azure Knights used that time to build a solid defensive position, the Royal Army’s invasion of the empire would end in failure. The force laying siege to Kier Fortress as a diversion would likely withdraw as well. Nothing was more important than preventing the Royal Army from invading the imperial capital, and it was still too soon for optimistic predictions, but he saw his objective as eighty percent accomplished.

“You aren’t sure whether to settle things with Death God Olivia, are you, my lord?” Teresa said, striking to the crux of the matter.

Felix smiled wryly. “That girl remains a threat to the imperial army, now and in the future. I have to admit that this is our single greatest chance to take care of her once and for all.”

“In that case,” Teresa said at length, “as your aide, I have some advice. I know you are strong, my lord, but you ought to avoid a direct confrontation with Death God Olivia.”

Felix waited, assuming that she would of course give a reason, but Teresa shut her mouth there, turned on her heel, and left. Felix watched her go without a word.

“Am I supposed to just know how my aide is feeling...?” Felix wondered aloud, but there was no one there to answer him. Smiling to himself, he closed his eyes again.

The sun set without Felix arriving at a decision. The following day, the news arrived that the Eighth Legion was showing increased activity.

“They’ve started to retreat!” At the runner’s breathless cry, the assembled officers all cheered as one. They could be heard exclaiming that Death God Olivia had been defeated, chatting and laughing with expressions of pride.

Weaving through the others to kneel before Felix came one of his three veteran commanders: Major General Balboa Kreutzel.

“I will pursue them at your command, my lord.” Balboa’s grave tone effectively extinguished the cheerful chatter. The officers all turned toward Felix, then, following Balboa’s lead, they knelt.

Weathering the heat of their simmering stares, Felix ran his thumb along his chin.

“Which way are they retreating?” he asked.

“They are moving northeast, ser!”

Felix took the map Teresa proffered, then unfurled it on the table.

“Northeast...” he murmured. “So the Elfiel Canyon?” The Elfiel Canyon, with its great cliffs of red-brown rock, was known for its narrowness.

“Something bothers you?” asked Balboa, reverence in his eyes.

“They likely have an ambush already in position in the canyon. Pursue them, but only to the canyon mouth.”

After the array of tactics the Eighth Legion had employed in the battle so far, they were not likely to retreat without purpose. Felix explained that he predicted that in order to frustrate their pursuit, the Eighth Legion would mount a counterattack at the point where their ranks were the most extended, around the midpoint of the formation.

“A trap...” Violet spoke up in a lovely voice like the chirping of little birds. “A moment, my lord?” Just like that, she stepped lightly over to stand beside him, then leaned in to stare at the map. As she did so, a strand of her hair brushed against Felix’s cheek, and a sweet, gentle aroma wafted over to him. “It is rarely used and so not marked on the map, but there is a path that passes by the mouth of the Elfiel Canyon. A shortcut, if you will, around here.” She ran a finger through a forest on the map. “If we send horses, we’ll have them by the nose for certain. They’ll never expect us to be waiting right in front.”

“A shortcut, you say...” Felix considered. “Come to think of it, you mentioned you were born in these parts, didn’t you, Lieutenant General?”

Violet’s smile was delighted. “I was, my lord. When I was young, I often hunted in these lands.”

“You are still very young.”

“Oh, my. I never thought to receive such a compliment from you, my lord. May I assume there is hope for me yet?” She gave Felix a dazzling smile, and he found himself at a rare loss for where to rest his gaze. He heard Teresa clear her throat repeatedly behind him and, for no reason he could explain, followed her example.

“Then can I leave the command of the pursuit to you, Lieutenant General?”

“Of course, ser! Consider it done!”

“We have already achieved our objective. Please just don’t do anything foolish.”

Violet, with her sharp mind and unwavering courage, was indispensable to the Azure Knights. He could not lose her now, when victory was all but within reach.

Without lowering her salute, Violet replied, “I know when to withdraw, ser, so fear not—I shall return as flawless as I depart. You may be assured of that!”

Felix nodded tentatively, feeling eyes boring holes into the back of his head as he did so.

Immediately afterward, Felix reorganized his forces, giving command of the first pursuit force to Balboa. Balboa led seven thousand soldiers east, following after the retreating Eighth Legion. Violet took another force of seven thousand through the forest to the northeast. Staying behind on the Turner Plains, Felix set to work at once on formulating his net of defenses. And yet no sooner had he begun than the face of a certain girl flashed across the back of his mind. His pen, running over the map, scratched to a halt.

That they chose to retreat through the Elfiel Canyon means there’s no doubt they’re planning on withdrawing to Fernest rather than rejoining with their other force... he thought. But I wonder if this was really the right thing to do.

Perhaps something inside Felix was telling him that no matter how bitter the fighting became, Olivia would never have chosen to retreat. That thought had delayed his judgment, there was no doubt of that, but in the end, the Royal Army’s invasion of the imperial capital had ended in failure. Naturally, he meant to make sure they never overran imperial territory again, and the idea of Felix permitting any weaknesses in their defenses from here on out was unthinkable.

This will have to do for now, he told himself, then turned his eyes down once more to the map.