268 - Six of one, half a dozen of the other
Units of about five hundred men, split into three.
The Count, whose dependent vassals had been attacked by Aria, Miranda, and Baldor's units, had made his move. Unable to retreat in the face of fifteen hundred enemies, he had deployed his main army. However, the soldiers who eventually gathered had dwindled to four thousand.
The reason they hadn't gathered was that some units had not returned from looting. Furthermore, their numbers had been significantly reduced by the efforts of Aria and the others.
With their main camps positioned on opposing low hills, a field battle was about to begin. However, I, who had merged with Aria's three units and ultimately commanded a force of nearly eight thousand, stood before the enemy and pondered.
"They're nearly double our number. Even so, a frontal assault might cause too many casualties."
Since these were borrowed soldiers, I wanted to avoid losing them if possible. I could tell the opponent was bewildered by a force far larger than they had imagined.
When I closed my eyes, the battlefield was displayed three-dimensionally in my head by the Fifth Head's — Dimension — and the Sixth Head's — Search — identified friend and foe. I truly think the simultaneous use of the Fifth and Sixth Heads' skills is in the realm of cheating.
However, such skills are meaningless if not used effectively.
As I climbed to the ceiling of the porter and thought about what to do next, the Seventh Head gave me some advice.
"Liel, look closely at the enemy's deployment. Gather more detailed information. You're probably trying to save mana, but you need to know how the enemy is organized."
I had been scolded for the first time in a while.
"...True. Then, with Real Spec."
The third stage of the Sixth Head's skill — Real Spec — provided me with more detailed information about the opponent. As the amount of information increased rapidly, I felt it flooding into my head... and by temporarily funneling it to Monica, she processed it into a form that was easier for me to understand.
"Basically, they've placed the dependent vassals' units on both flanks of the main army. They're concentrating the cavalry in the center."
The Third Head was calling out the enemy's movements from within the orb.
"Oh, are they gathering for a charge? Certainly, we are superior in terms of soldier morale, training, and equipment... but they might be planning a strategy to take Liel's head in one go."
It helped that the opponent had almost no information on us. If I wanted to, I could lure the enemy into the center, surround them, and crush them.
Then, the Fifth Head spoke in a serious voice.
"Liel, call Baldor's unit to the center. Concentrate the cavalry on both flanks. Position Aria and Miranda on the flanks. Keep Novem and Maxim by your side to intercept anyone who breaks through."
I decided to issue orders according to the Fifth Head's instructions.
"Novem."
"Yes."
Novem, who was nearby, approached me. When I conveyed the Fifth Head's instructions, Novem headed toward the messengers.
Watching this, the Third Head spoke with interest.
"Come to think of it, this is Liel's first time in a war of this scale, isn't it?"
I had fought in Zain and Rolfis before, but it seemed the successive heads of the family were not satisfied with that.
As I gripped the orb, the Third Head laughed.
"Then, watch closely. When the opponent has a similar level of strength, naturally, they will have their own experts. And reasonably skilled magic users too. ...It's going to get flashy."
Listening to the Third Head's words, I looked forward.
—When the Count mounted his horse, he was surrounded by his elite vassals and their soldiers.
The man, the head of the Count's house, which was a family of warriors for better or worse, looked at the army before him.
"Was there a lack of information? To think there were that many soldiers in South Banseime..."
Beside the Count was a reliable knight who served as his vassal. Also mounted on a horse, he held an axe — a battle axe — in his hand.
"Count, we are at a numerical disadvantage. Looking at the enemy's movements, a central breakthrough also seems difficult. Would it not have been better to retreat from this battle?"
The Count scoffed and fastened his helmet's mask. He wore full plate armor, and his horse was also clad in metal armor, he was truly heavily armored. He held a greatsword in one arm and rested it lightly on his shoulder, perhaps from daily training.
"Doing such a thing would stain the family name. ...If only it ended there, but many of the dependent vassals were crushed. If I flee now, resentment will remain even after returning to the territory. Who would follow a patron vassal who cannot be relied upon? At worst, they might defect to neighboring lords along with the territory, which is already prone to skirmishes."
If only his own honor were at stake, the Count would have retreated. However, the disadvantages that would arise from damaged honor, and the rumors that he failed to avenge his dependent vassals, would make future territorial management difficult.
"...I want a record of having fought. It would be preferable to clash once, inflict some wounds on the opponent, and then escape from there."
At the Count's high ambitions, the knight replied while putting on his own mask.
"You are asking too much. I wonder how many casualties there will be."
The Count whispered.
"More casualties will occur if we flee. A central breakthrough, then gather and withdraw! It is important that I move. Please understand."
"And also."
"Yes?"
"Even if he was cast out, he is a member of the Walt family. He'd want to fight, wouldn't he?"
The knight nodded silently, and the Count shouted loudly. He raised his greatsword, and as the surrounding soldiers responded with loud shouts, his voice slowly spread to every corner of the Count's army.
"Charge!"
With the cavalry at the center and the soldiers following behind, the two armies clashed. From inside his helmet, the Count looked at the army ahead.
"Liel, was it? Now, how will you fight?"
As the surrounding knights raised their left hands, magic shields appeared in the sky. They were prepared to cover a wide area, however thinly, to block magic and arrows. The army galloped under the umbrella of light. This was the basis of a Banseime charge.
The knight watched the enemy's movements. Using a skill to observe the enemy, he shouted to the Count.
"The enemy seems intend to wait for us! Both flanks are moving to surround us! However, they are moving to surround us in a wide arc, and they cannot keep up with our movements!"
The Count laughed inside his helmet.
"Too slow! Before that, we will break through the center where they have thinned out! The Walt family brat... seems to be a disappointment!"
Then, as the two armies gradually drew closer, an enemy unit was waiting ahead.
"What is this? Golems?"
Figures made of iron were holding large shields. The enemy could be seen through the gaps, and looking at the weapons they held, the Count—
"Why should I fear such toys! Raise shields in front!"
Knights raised their shields and deployed magic shields in front. Soldiers ran behind them, but they were gradually falling behind.
Seeing the enemy soldiers aiming guns, the Count thought he could block that much, and he continued the charge without fear even after hearing the gunshots. However—
"W-what!"
The knights in front were blown backward. Blood sprayed, and horses fell, thrashing about. They might have been surprised by the gunshots, but their movements were strange for that.
The Count's favorite horse jumped over a fallen horse in front of it, but those following were tripped up, and some knights were thrown from their horses as they fell.
"Count-sama!"
A young knight who had stepped in front of the Count was shot through the chest along with a gunshot. His iron armor was pierced, and he was blown backward.
"Kuh! If we close in, the chance of victory is ours! Charge without fear! We attack as well!"
Unable to turn around and flee at this point, the knights who could use magic began to fire spells at the enemy before them. Fireballs, lightning, and blades of wind attacked the enemy. However, heavy-looking golems, as if holding large shields in both hands, slammed their shields into the ground and spread them wide. Behind them hid the enemy soldiers with guns.
The magic hit the golems directly and caused explosions, but even if there was damage to the golems' surfaces, it did not reach the enemy soldiers behind them.
The Count, seeing this sight...
"...So you're changing the nature of war, you Walt family brat!"
It wasn't a tactic that had never existed before. It wasn't that there were absolutely no magic users who could use golems, such methods had been considered. However, there were many problems in terms of funding and personnel, so it had not been realized.
Both enemy and ally fired magic at each other and blocked it, and the sound of explosions could be heard incessantly from the surroundings. The Count turned his gaze to the knight beside him.
"There is no longer any victory. But I will not become a prisoner!"
At the Count's words, the knight nodded.
"I shall accompany you."
Then, the horses they rode leaped over the golems in front of them and carried their master into the enemy lines.
Behind them, knights on horseback leaped over the golems one after another. Some were unable to leap and collided with the golems, along with their horses.
Then, near a particularly grotesque golem, a person who seemed to be the enemy commander came into view. Judging from the armor he wore and the knights around him, the Count readied his greatsword.
"The battle is my loss. But it cannot end like this!"
The Count thought he would at least take someone with him, but he saw a man with a light spear beside a man wearing white and blue armor. Then, sand gathered around that man, forming the shape of armor.
"No way... Maxim Danhel!!"
He was a famous knight in Banseime. He had heard rumors that he was missing, but he never thought he would be here.
The knight who was the Count's right hand charged toward Maxim. As he slashed at Maxim, who was clad in sand armor, the axe bit in, and to avoid being thrown from his horse, he discarded the axe and drew his sword.
"I am your opponent!"
"Very well."
While the two fought, the Count headed toward Liel. He slowly drew a weapon like a saber from his waist and signaled for those around him to step back.
(The same weapon as the current head. But do I lack in close combat!)
Either way, he was surrounded, so he would be captured eventually. For the Count, whether he could take Liel's head or not would greatly divide the evaluation of himself after death.
However, he felt a slight sense of incongruity seeing an opponent who did not panic in such a situation.
When he swung the greatsword at Liel, it was parried by a thin, slender sword.
"You have a fine weapon! But!"
The Count let go of the reins and prepared magic in his left hand. He wasn't particularly skilled at magic, but there are no absolutes in war. Therefore, he had trained a single spell as a trump card. Perhaps because of that, instead of an enhancement type, a rear-guard type skill specialized in magic had manifested.
As he pointed his left hand at Liel, a large fireball appeared before the Count's left arm—and he was blown into the air along with his left arm. The blown-away left arm fell to the ground, scattering flames around it. As the enemy magic users nearby extinguished the fire, the Count looked at his left arm.
His left arm was no longer there.
"...Even the armor is a magic tool. You cut through that?"
The stunned Count laughed while looking at Liel, who was floating in the air and pointing a sword at him.
"As I thought, the Walt family is full of monsters!"
The Count was struck by Liel's blow and rolled across the ground, but as he looked at his body still astride the horse, his consciousness faded—.
Maxim-san had pierced the knight who had charged in with the Count with his spear, delivering the finishing blow.
With a spear strike that pierced the chest—the heart—the opponent died while gripping the spear, vomiting blood from inside his helmet.
"...I have heard that name. I heard he had a support-type skill to survey the surroundings. He was a person called the Count's right hand."
As Maxim-san evaluated the enemy knight, I looked around. The knights who had broken through were cut down by us, who had been waiting.
The enemy soldiers could not break through in front of the shield-bearing golems and, having lost their commander, retreated in disarray, but they were already surrounded by Aria and the others, leaving them no place to escape.
The headless body of the Count fell from the horse.
Looking at the katana, it was covered in blood. Novem approached me, worried, but I looked at the Count.
"Why was this man laughing?"
Not understanding why he laughed as he died, I muttered this, and Novem grabbed my arm.
"It means the Count was a knight, for better or worse. He must have been a warrior. Liel-sama, if you dwell on it too much, those around you will become agitated."
"...I suppose so."
I couldn't understand the other person. From within the orb, the Third Head sighed.
"Liel might not understand, but there are people like that. Those who feel they'll die if they don't fight. Those who love the battlefield. They really do exist~"
If they don't have to fight, isn't it okay not to? Then, I checked the battlefield with my skill. I could confirm that the remnants of the enemy were fleeing in the vicinity.
"...This is fine. With this, Banseime cannot ignore us. Make sure to convey the scale accurately."
To me, who was still unable to comprehend, the Fifth Head spoke.
"Looking at them as individuals, there are some you can like. But for some reason... there are people who seek the battlefield. It's different from liking looting or violence. They just want to fight, they want to enjoy fighting. In the Walt family, the first generation probably had a strong tendency toward that."
I don't want to think the first generation was like that. But he seemed like the type who would laugh and charge at a strong enemy.
Mireia-san said to me.
"Liel, remember this. There are people who hold thoughts that you cannot understand. Conversely, there are people who cannot understand us. You must not deny it. Because that is the truth."
I shook my head and looked forward. However, the Seventh Head added.
"From an outsider's perspective, we probably seem quite bellicose too. Well, we won't be laughing until the moment we die, though."