Darius the Kuro Panther, mercenary captain.
　He is a high-ranking member of the warbeast race.
　He is the third son of a small baronial family in a certain western nation.

　Darius is one of the Reconstructionists in military history.

　He is one of the Reconstructionists ...... who revived the advanced tactics of the past, which had been forgotten during the chaos that began with the fall of the Lemurian Empire.

　Infantry, cavalry, and archers. Infantry, cavalry, archers.
　This may seem like a common practice, but it is not the case in this world today.

　The fact that Hadrian III, the father of Hercule, neglected the infantry because he was too concerned with heavy cavalry is a clear example of this.

　Even the Lemurian Empire, which has preserved most of the ancient materials, is in this state.
　Not to mention the barbarians.

　With the long history of human warfare and the loss of honed killing techniques, warfare in this world is degenerating into a very primitive form of head-on pitting of armies against each other.

　Not to mention the concept of logistics, even the concept of strategy and tactics has long since been forgotten.
　Prayers to the gods determine who wins or loses a battle. The technology of warfare in this world had degenerated to the extent that a general of a country would seriously say such a thing.

　Therefore, Darius, who could use a combination of infantry, cavalry, and crossbows, was one of the few great generals in this world, and was the "Reconstructionist".






　"How many men have you gathered?
　In addition to 10,000 mercenaries, 5,000 infantrymen and 5,000 crossbowmen, 30,000 infantrymen and 5,000 barbarian light cavalry have already been assembled, for a total of 45,000 troops.
　"Hmm ......, well, if we can gather that many, we should be fine.

　I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's a good idea.
　The mercenary captain Darius nodded in satisfaction at his second-in-command's report.

　Currently, the financial situation of the Pelosonian mercenary territory was in a state of crisis.
　The Pelosonian Peninsula was too weak to sustain 10,000 mercenaries.

　The Pelosonian Peninsula is not a poor region, with industries such as olive oil, wine, and marble.
　But it did not have the economic base to support 10,000 money-eaters all the time, and the Darios Mercenaries lacked the ability to collect taxes.

　Disbanding the mercenary corps would cause a rebellion and give other nations an opening to take advantage.
　However, in order to maintain the mercenary corps, it would be necessary to impose heavy taxes, which would cause resentment among the people and increase the risk of rebellion.

　This is what it means to be poor.

　So Darios decided to take a gamble.
　The plan was to gather mercenaries with his wallet, invade the Lemurian Empire, and snatch the territory and reparations.

　Incidentally, Darius' purse alone was not enough to gather enough troops to extract a major concession from the Lemurian Empire, so he received major financial support from two countries that were enemies of the Lemurian Empire, and also borrowed money from foreign merchants to raise funds... ...and to make up for the lack of funds, he collected mercenaries by allowing them to loot the territory of the Lemurian Empire.

　Darius had defeated the Lemurian Empire twice.
　Even though the Lemurian Empire was in a slump, he was able to smoothly gather both military funds and mercenaries thanks to the fact that he had twice defeated the emperor of a superpower that once ruled the world.

　"But, Captain. Are you sure you want to do this?
　"What, are you worried?

　Darios laughed and patted his second-in-command on the shoulder.

　He was only fifteen years old. He's only fifteen years old and he's the son of Hadrian III.　He's no match for me.

　Darius recalled his battle with Hadrian III.
　The emperor of Lemuria, a great power, was so weak that Darios was disheartened.

　A frog's child is a frog.
　Hadrian III's son would be Hadrian III.

　Darios laughed it off at the thought of ......

　"Captain!　It's a disaster!　The Lemurian Imperial Army is invading our territory!

　Darios' smile froze: ......
　Somewhere, Hercule smiled broadly.





　"Hahaha!　In any case, that black cat said of me, 'A frog's child is only a frog. I'm only a frog's child. I can handle a 15 year old! I'm sure he was saying something like that. How does it feel to be outwitted by a frog?

　Hercule smiled broadly.
　He was probably quite happy to have fooled the famous Kuro Panther, Darios, and was at the peak of his powers.

　In fact, until a short while ago, I was full of anxiety about whether or not I would be exposed and whether or not there were any ambushers ......, and Karolina encouraged me. ...... That's a secret.

　It went well, Your Majesty.
　Yeah. We landed easily.

　The Lemurian Empire's army led by Hercule and his men (800 heavy cavalry (cribanarius), 1500 infantry, 500 longbowmen, total 2800) is stationed at a small port in the Pelosonian mercenary territory.

　Why were they able to land so easily? ...... There are three reasons for this.

　First of all, the Pelosonian Mercenaries do not have any ships. Since they don't even have a transport ship as far as I can tell, it's nearly impossible for them to catch the Lemurian Imperial Navy, let alone prevent it.

　Secondly, he did not expect to be attacked because he was planning to attack. In other words, Darios was completely careless.

　Third, Hercule had put the standing army on a ship in the middle of the night and sailed from the capital under the cover of darkness, and he was using merchants to control information.

　The cooks and servants working in the palace of the Lemurian Empire are now finally asking, "What?　Where did His Majesty go? Darios would be a psychic if he knew where Hercule was.

　Now that Hercule and his men have successfully made a surprise attack, the odds are not in their favor.

　I don't know how many troops Darios has gathered, but they're probably bigger than us. In order to make up for this difference, we must always take the initiative. We have to make the first move.

　Hercule said and unfolded the map.
　It was a very accurate map of the Pelosonian Peninsula that had been lying in the archives of the Lemurian Empire.

　I'm sure it's much more accurate than the map Darios has.

　Here's where we are. South of here is the largest city in Pelosonia. Darios' home base is the citadel north of ...... near the border of the Lemurian Empire.

　This means that Hercule has one of two possible destinations for his army.

　Either the fortified city where Darios is based, or the largest city on the Pelosonian Peninsula.



　From here, we can go south or north.
　We have to go one way or the other.

　Well, the first thing that's unlikely is a raid on a fortified city. Am I right?　Gulphis.
　I'm inclined to agree. It's out of the question.

　Having reached a consensus, both sides confidently eliminated the idea of a raid on the fortress city as an option.

　But there was one girl with a disapproving look on her face.
　Karolina.

　"Why is that not possible?　We'll take out Darios directly. It's that simple.
　It's simple. First of all, the fortress city is the farthest away. That's why the soldiers are exhausted. Besides, the Darios don't need to move, they can wait anywhere. ...... This leaves the initiative in the hands of Darios. The effect of surprise will be meaningless.

　As they are outnumbered, Hercule and his men must always take the initiative.
　The most time-consuming option would be to give them more time, which is out of the question.

　But if we take too long to attack the castle, we'll be pinned down from behind.
　"Don't worry, I have a plan to bring it down.

　I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it," said Hercule, patting Carolina on the head with one hand and pointing to the largest city a short distance away.

　"We'll take it by surprise. Any objections?　Galfis.
　"Yes, sir, I have no objection.

　Galfis grinned.








　"You young bastard. ！！！！！

　Darios had his head in his hands.
　The Lemurian Empire's forces were in the harbor.

　When he got the information that the Lemurian army had landed at the port.
　When Darios received the news that the Lemurian army had landed at the port, he had three options in his mind.

　Would they invade the north?
　Or would they come to take the largest city in the south?

　Darios predicted that Lemuria would choose the latter and immediately marched to the south.
　At this point, Darios had plenty of time.

　This was because the largest city had walls of a certain height, and he had 100 infantry and 200 crossbow troops among his trusted mercenaries, and 200 infantry hired from outside. He had a total of 500 men on the defensive.

　They couldn't be taken down that easily.
　All that was left to do was to attack from behind and pin them down while Hercule staggered.

　
　You're just a kid. ...... You scared me.
　Darios was chasing after Hercule, thinking.

　After a while, Darios received a report that the largest city had fallen.
　The report was that the city had fallen in one day.

　A city with 500 defenders could not be defeated so easily.
　So there were two possible reasons for the city's fall.

　A revolt of the city's inhabitants.
　Or betrayal by mercenaries.





　"Your Majesty, how long have you been preparing for this?
　About three months. We were planning to attack soon, whether Darios was preparing for war or not.

　Hercule speaks to Karolina with great enthusiasm.
　It was as Darios had predicted that Hercule was able to bring the city down in a single day.

　The city's inhabitants revolted and the mercenaries betrayed them.

　For three months now, Hercule had been bribing Darios' newly hired mercenaries.
　It was difficult to bribe the mercenaries because they had a certain amount of loyalty to Darios.
　However, the newly hired mercenaries were easy to bribe.

　To make matters worse, Hercule provoked a rebellion among the city's residents.
　He sent secret agents into the city in advance and had them incite the people to revolt.

　The city's inhabitants, who had originally been fed up with Darios' rule, were overjoyed that Hercule had come to their rescue and rioted.
　It might have been different if the mercenaries under Darios' command had suppressed it immediately. ......

　They were completely unsettled by Hercule's surprise attack.
　Taking advantage of this opportunity, the mercenaries who had been bribed in advance opened the city gates, and the Lemurian army entered at once.

　The city fell easily.

　The city fell easily. "Well, the game was already decided three months ago. ...... Now, let's get out of here. Darius will be here the day after tomorrow. We'll meet him on the best battlefield.

　Darios needs to take the city back.
　Then he must defeat Hercule in a short battle.

　So ......

　I can choose the battlefield. Darios is already in my hands.

　Hercule smiled fearlessly.