216 - The Strategist of the Battlefield
Riding on Mei, I descended to the rear of the Galleria camp and headed toward the tent where Reold-kun was.
"Oh, I can see it from here. Damn... if it's going to be this interesting, I should have watched from a front-row seat."
At my voice, Mei looked to the side. There was a massive hole there, the earth gouged out by incoming magic.
"Don't worry. In a sense, I think Lyell is always in a front-row seat. I've started to understand various things recently."
A giant serpent with nine heads, and a lion warrior with eight arms. Beside them, a giant warrior of flame was fighting a monster that looked like a woman made of ice. It seemed the latter was testing their strength, perhaps thinking the magic used by Novem and the others was powerful.
(They have talent when it comes to magic. While Aria specializes in close-quarters combat, these two are also skilled in long-range magical combat.)
Thinking that this would be truly enjoyable, I arrived at the bustling Galleria tent, where Reold-kun saw me.
"Lyell-dono!!"
He lunged at me in a hug. His eyes were teary, and his face was so pale he looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
"Yes, I am Lyell-dono. Now then, Reold-kun... shall we earn some merit in your first battle?"
I pointed my thumb, informing Reold-kun that a Lusworth unit was approaching nearby. Apparently, some of the lords had intentionally let the Lusworth soldiers through.
I had come to the Galleria tent after observing this situation. While everyone else was captivated by the flashy battlefield, I intended to quietly earn some military achievements.
"No, wait! It would be better after stopping my sisters and the others!"
I laughed.
"No, that's... well, it's interesting, and more importantly, necessary, so I'll let them continue. They need to blow off some steam. Besides, it's more convenient for me if they're exhausted."
Saying so, I had Reold-kun gather the surrounding soldiers and prepare a position to intercept the Lusworth unit.
I devoted myself to support, limiting my involvement to answering questions while observing Reold-kun's command. It wasn't particularly bad, it felt safe and steady.
His basics were solid and not bad, so I left it to him. We surrounded the enemy attempting a surprise attack and then pinched them in as they emerged, cutting them down.
In the midst of a flashy battlefield, this was a plain fight, but merit is merit.
Even if we surrounded and defeated fifty men who had infiltrated with desperate resolve using nearly three hundred of our own, merit is merit.
"You've earned merit in your first battle. Alright, with this, Reold-kun is now a fine knight."
After letting Reold-kun take the credit and having him handle the cleanup, I looked toward the battlefield where the giant golems were fighting.
"...If it were The Fourth, he'd probably say we could make money off this."
Muttering that, I called Mei to my side.
――Glacia was manipulating a giant created from flame.
"I see, this increases the power and expands the range!"
Similarly, Elsa, who had created a giant of ice, was manipulating the giant from above its head, gripping the hair ornament of the female-shaped giant.
Glacia, perched on the giant's shoulder, dodged magic flying in from the side and turned her gaze toward it.
One of the serpent heads was facing Glacia. To be precise, it had been forced to face her by Miranda's golem, but the fact remained that she was being attacked.
"Getting in the way――"
Just as she tried to strike back, the golem Elsa had created charged at her. As it passed through the flame golem, the ice golem melted and became thin.
However, Elsa was nowhere to be seen.
"――Above!"
When Glacia looked up, Elsa had created a great sword of ice on her staff and was swinging it down.
But Elsa flipped her body in mid-air and leaped far away. When Glacia looked toward Novem and the others, the serpent had coiled around the lion warrior, forcing its open mouth to face this direction.
Magic gathered, and the lion warrior fired a mass of wind from its mouth.
Caught in the wind, Glacia's flame golem lost its shape. It was proof that she was not yet used to the manipulation and maintenance of the golem.
Then, from behind, an ice golem with a melted, thin woman's arm gripped Glacia.
As Elsa approached Glacia, running along the arm of her own golem...
"Got you!!"
She attempted a flash of her great sword, aiming for Glacia's neck. However, perhaps Elsa's control was also still lacking, Glacia shrouded her body in flames, melting the golem's hand, and fell straight down.
Landing on the ground ravaged by the melted and gouged golems, Glacia was out of breath.
Elsa's golem also crumbled as if the ice were shattering, and as she landed in front of Glacia, both of them were panting.
Partly because they were doing something unfamiliar, this was the first time for both of them to fight continuously while giving their all. Their pacing had been disrupted.
With Novem and Miranda fighting with golems nearby, the two faced each other and readied their weapons.
Just as they intended to end it with this one blow... a voice called out from the sky.
"Both of you, lower your weapons! Look around you!"
It was Lyell――.
――Aria had arrived at the place where the elves were watching the battlefield.
Having run across the battlefield using skills in rapid succession, Aria collapsed in front of Eva, out of breath.
"...Where is Lyell?"
As sweat poured down Aria's face, Eva handed her a water bottle and pointed to the sky. Heartlessly, she told Aria that she was too late.
"He's over there now. Look, it's already the climax."
Meeting Eva's desperate smile, Aria looked in the indicated direction. There, she saw Lyell riding the kirin, bathed in the light filtering through the clouds.
Aria's consciousness began to fade right there on the ground. In the midst of that...
"I'll absolutely never forgive you, Lyell..."
She uttered her anger toward Lyell――.
Everyone was looking at me, astride Mei in kirin form.
Under the gaze of the soldiers on the battlefield, I slowly instructed Mei to descend.
While drawing everyone's attention, Novem and Miranda, who had created giant golems, returned their golems to mere clumps of earth.
The battlefield was terrible.
It was a happy miscalculation that the abilities of Novem and Miranda, who had experienced "growth" since before, had risen this much. A laugh welled up inside me, but the looks Novem and Miranda gave me were colder than usual.
Novem seemed truly angry, and Miranda still looked dissatisfied. She had likely intended to beat Novem.
Descending to the ground, I raised my voice from Mei's back.
"Look around you!"
There, not only Elsa and Glacia, but soldiers from each camp caught in the combat of Novem and Miranda lay fallen.
It was certainly a gruesome sight, but it was also a fact that I had aimed for this.
(They are people who have enjoyed themselves by betraying and trampling others, but seeing them like this, they are almost pitiful.)
There were many who were terrified and had stopped moving. Considering what they had done until now, this might be a very lenient treatment.
(They must have trampled on the weak themselves. Now, the time has come to put The Fourth's teachings into practice!)
Looking around, I declared.
"What a pathetic sight! Involving not only the enemy but your own allies! In this war, there are no winners on either side! If you intend to fight any further, I, Lyell Walt, shall be your opponent!"
Drawing the sword I had received from Aria and thrusting it toward the heavens from Mei's back, the soldiers of both camps fell to their knees.
They likely hadn't expected the battle to reach this point. And at the same time, they hadn't expected the existence they had been utilizing to be this formidable.
Furthermore, I was able to demonstrate that such existences still existed in the outside world.
(Perfect. I'm perfect!)
If Glacia and Elsa had cooperated and fought Novem and Miranda... they might have lost.
However, in the current situation, it appeared that the two of them had collapsed first because they couldn't manage their pacing. Isn't the timing just the best?
I was able to move various things behind the scenes and even let Reold-kun earn a small amount of merit. I am satisfied with the results this time.
Among the soldiers of both camps, some began to let go of their weapons. One by one, the soldiers dropped their arms.
I descended from Mei and walked across the muddy ground, looking down at the two women who had collapsed to their knees.
"...Honestly, doing something like this."
When I spoke with an exasperated tone, the two women, who were older than me, lowered their gazes awkwardly. I thought they had no immunity to men, and this was indeed a good feeling.
"This wasn't supposed to be in the plan, was it?"
Glacia-san began to speak hesitantly.
"No, at first I just thought I'd let everyone see Reold's splendid figure... that was all. But then the automatons withdrew and I couldn't get in touch."
Elsa-san looked up at me.
"N-no! I thought I had been taken away by a messenger... a-and so..."
I shook my head. After that, they said things like how they sent messengers because I had been taken, and then they fell into mutual suspicion. It was exactly as I imagined, I became afraid of my own talent.
(Now, first I'll bring them down.)
Then, looking down at the two with a cold gaze, I spoke in a cold tone.
"Since when did I become your subordinate? Besides, looking at you two, you seem almost like lovers. Let me be clear. I do not belong to either of you."
I stated it boldly and with confidence. Before Glacia and Elsa could look down with frustrated expressions, they seemed to feel ashamed of themselves.
They must have realized they had been carried away.
(Now's the time.)
"I don't belong to you. However, you two now belong to me. I will not permit you to get injured on your own. Now, show me your faces."
As I crouched down and wiped the mud from their faces, the two were stunned. Then, their cheeks flushed. As expected, my good looks are top-class even on this continent.
If I smile, most things can be managed. Helping the two of them stand up, I said to them.
"Everything about you belongs to me. From now on, devote yourselves to me. If you do... I will give you a future with me, the man who will take this continent."
The fact that they are exhausted and their judgment is impaired is also an important point. I act kindly after inflicting exhaustion and shock, to the point where they don't feel any incongruity in this subtle flow.
(The Fourth... right now, I am putting your teachings into practice. Creating a mood, exhausting them to rob them of their judgment, and being kind to women... it's all thanks to The Fourth's teachings.)
He said creating a mood is important. However, the part about exhausting and rushing them to dull their judgment was about combat. I didn't hear that I should be cold before being kind to women... but if I think of it as an application, there's no problem.
Then, both of them looked moved――.
"Yes. I swear upon this spear."
"I swear upon this staff, I will work for Lyell-dono... Lyell-sama."
Perhaps because they have no immunity to men, both of them looked at me with sparkling eyes. Aren't they cute? However, those around us were looking at us with different eyes.
But looking only at the results...
(Alright, mission complete!!)
I transported Elsa and Glacia to both camps on Mei.
There, surrounded by the high officials of Lusworth, I was questioned.
'You said it, didn't you! You said the Queen belongs to you, didn't you!? You're going to take responsibility, right!!'
It was the same at Galleria. To the lords surrounding Reold-kun.
'You'll take her, right? It would be a real problem if you were lying. A real problem!'
That's what they said. They had rampaged that flashily. Both sides must have understood how dangerous their situation had been.
And, having clashed seriously for the first time, Elsa and Glacia must have been able to measure their own strength.
After everything finished and I tried to return to my own tent, my companions were waiting for me with subtle expressions.
Novem seemed worried, and her gaze was harsher than usual.
Miranda was smiling, but her eyes weren't. She must be angry that I disappeared halfway through.
Aria, with an exhausted expression, was glaring at me. She probably searched all over for me and couldn't catch me.
Shannon was flustered, looking around. Since the atmosphere was bad and she couldn't rely on anyone, she didn't seem to know what to do.
Clara was grumbling. Since she kept glancing at Miranda, she must be angry that Miranda had hidden the fact that she could use golem magic.
Eva... was checking her notes, ignoring the atmosphere around her.
Mei was the same. Or rather, she was my accomplice who fled with me.
(Honestly, they get angry over this little thing... aren't they cute?)
Monica came toward me, trembling.
"You... you chicken coward!! The Line! The Line with the chicken coward won't recover! My bond with the chicken coward is!!"
To such a Monica, Number One, who possesses the external battery, muttered.
"It was a fleeting bond."
That's what he whispered behind Monica. Number Two and Number Three must be thinking the same thing while looking at Monica.
Just as I wondered why Monica's movements were so strange, I realized I was still using the magic tool. Gripping the handle, thinking about what the anger of the successive heads and Mireia-san would be like now that everything was over...
(Damn. I forgot. Well, it doesn't affect the result, so it's fine. Still, just being yelled at would be boring.)
"Alright, you lot, line up. It's reward time."
...I thought of a secret plan.