Day 169 of the Otherworldly Summoning [Defense Battle] Part 2:

'Good! Take it easy, man! We'll stamp out the enemy in one fell swoop! Now is the time to show the power of the Roserian Knights!

At Mikhail's command, five hundred knights were lined up on the high ground, ready for battle.
Hearing his encouragement, a quiet tension filled the knights.

Although the number of opponents was about 100, and although there was plenty of room in terms of troops, Mikhail, who had decided to completely ignore Ryojin's instructions, could not afford to lose.
Both the omission and disregard of the strategy were forgiven if the result was a victory.
But on the flip side, that means losing is not allowed.
I'm sure you'll be able to find the best way to get the best out of this situation.
Even Princess Lupis wouldn't be able to ask for help.

I ... will not be defeated!

Victory was the only thing on Mikhail's mind.
But the heart that craves for victory sometimes hides the truth.

''Charge iiiiiiiiii!''

""Woohoo!"

As soon as Mikhail's sword pointed at the enemy's scouting party, the five hundred knights rushed down the high ground in one fell swoop, raising a cloud of dust.




'What? Say it again!

An angry shout echoed through the camp.
Ryoma couldn't believe the report of the unnamed knight lying in front of him.
Is it correct to say that I don't want to believe it?

''Ha....yes. Mi...heil...sir...the entire reconnaissance team was destroyed. ...was...

Blood dripped from the lacerations, forming a small puddle at his feet.
His words are slurred in places, probably because some of the wounds he has sustained have damaged his internal organs and tangled his throat with blood.
It's clear to everyone that the recovery techniques continued to be performed by the Malfist sisters have only postponed his death by a few minutes.
This man, who was seriously wounded and would have died if he were an ordinary person, is keeping the fire of life alive through the power of his strong will.
The light in his eyes proves it.

'Mikhail ... what happened to him? Is he dead?

Ryoma, who had made the mistake of shouting at the person who was risking his life to report such a report, desperately tried to calm himself down and asked as calmly as he could.

He was already dead.
The rest of his body is just waiting for his soul to leave his body.
But there is something he is trying to tell you with the fire of his last life that is burning out.
If you are a man, you should respect his will and receive as much information as possible that he has.
That is the highest respect you can give him.

Miha... Il... master is in pursuit of Ke-Il... and is in charge of the enemy forces.

Cale?

It was the first name Ryoma had ever heard of.
Quizzically, Ryoma repeated the name.

It's the first time... that... you... are... conducting... things... calmly... for the first time... ...a traitor to... a... traitor to... uh... Irunia... ...of an enemy unit... until we... find out... that it's a...

When Ryouma looked around, the faces of the knights who were there had changed.
They must have an idea of the name Cale Irunia.
But I don't have time to hear that from them now.

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that you have to be able to see that you're not going to be able to get your hands on any of these things.

At Ryoma's words, the knight nodded with all the strength he could muster.
The scene of the scene clearly appeared in Ryoma's mind.

(Probably, Mikhail must have been calm until he found out that this guy called Cale was in command... but for some reason, he found out that the enemy commander was a traitor... and considering Mikhail's character, he can't control it. (Not surprisingly...)

Ryoma understood that Mikhail was feeling impatient.
That's why they were anxious to have him lead a scouting party.
But at the same time, he trusted in his abilities.
He thought he knew when to pull back, even if he was in a hurry to get the job done.
That's why I couldn't believe that Mikhail hadn't backed down until he had wiped out his entire squad.
But if the traitor was in front of you, it's understandable that Mikhail's reasoning was blown away.
Because a knight hates betrayal the most.

'So? How close is the enemy now? How many men do you have?

Ryoma drove his thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on the most important question he needed to ask right now.
The most important thing now is to find out when the enemy will come to this defense facility.
And how many troops will there be?
Ryoma and his team, which was already inferior in number of troops, had been driven even further outnumbered by the total destruction of the reconnaissance team.
If they were attacked by the enemy at this point, even though they have prepared defensive facilities such as moats and fences, they could really be wiped out.

The number of troops...is approximately 5...1,000...the number of troops...following...is not...clear...and...the number of troops...is 1 ...in about five minutes, the... squad will... arrive... here... or...

Ryoma's face changed.

''Rionne! Bolz! I will command 400 men each to defend the North and South! In the middle, me and Laura at 600. Sirrah! You take the rest of the men and get ready for this thing and then stand by to the rear! Now we just need to get someone out there to scout out the enemy's current position! Hurry!

Ryoma quickly stood up and assigned defensive positions to Lionne and the others.
I'm not sure if it's because of the number of people and positions that Lionel and the others have been assigned beforehand.
They nodded and immediately tried to leave the tent.

''Mi...Goson...Shiba...sama...''

'What? Is there more to it?

I'm... sorry... for... your... instructions... to... ignore... I'm...done.

Hearing his words, Ryoma nodded to Laura and the rest of the girls and let them out of the tent, and she herself fell to her knees beside him.
The time to prepare for the enemy's attack is too short.
But those were the last words of a knight who had risked his life to come back.
Ryoma could only listen to his words in silence.

'Good. I know.

Ryoma just nodded deeply.
He was just following Mikhail's command.
You can't blame him for this, because he was dying.

You will need to be able to use this to your advantage.
His words were so thin and weak that he couldn't hear them otherwise.

''Your son...Shiba-sama...Le...Pis, your highness...must...must...be...King of Roselia...''

After saying that much, the strength drained from his body.
There were probably many more thoughts he wanted to convey, but the fire of his life was nearly extinguished with just a few words of apology to Ryoma.
That's why he summoned the last of his strength and entrusted it to Ryoma.
His most likely wish.

"You fool...

Hearing the unnamed knight's wish, words that could be described as both pity and ridicule escaped from Ryoma's mouth.

''Mikoshiba-dono! Enemy presence one kilometer ahead! Approximately 7,000!

That's 2,000 more than the report I just received.

(Chi. Reinforcements have joined up with us!

Ryouma struggled to hide his tongue.
With the inferiority of the battle, if the commander revealed his unrest, the unrest would spread to the side receiving orders.
If that's the case, even a winnable battle can't be won.

I get it! Tell both Lyonne Bolts to defend themselves as instructed! I'll lead the center!

Ryouma's instructions and Denrei runs off to Rionne and the others.

Ryoma chases out the words of the knight who was turned into a wreck from his head.

(His Highness Lupis as the king...)

If you think about that now, you might lose your own life.
All you need on the battlefield is the will to live and a strong will to kill.
That is all you need.

First you have to survive and then it's all over!

Ryoma grabbed his spear and ran to his post.
To grasp his future.


''What do you mean! How could you build such a strong position in such a short time!

The sun is about to disappear from the western sky.
Considering the difficulty of fighting after the sun has gone down, this is the very last minute to attack.
Normally, the usual course of action would be to use the momentum of annihilating the Scout Squadron 500 to hit the main body directly.
There was no need to hesitate.
However, seeing the camp in front of him illuminated by the setting sun, Cale hesitated to give the order to charge.

(What's going on?) ...We can't carry out Lord Gerhardt's orders, can we?

'But, Master Cale. I can't ignore His Excellency Gerhardt's orders.

The second in command's wise advice gets under Cale's nose.
It's always annoying when someone else puts into words what's on your mind.

I know!

The second in command cowered under Kale's angry voice.

(Fool! (You don't think anything of this defensive facility!

In front of them lay an empty moat as wide as twenty meters.
According to the news the scouting team had just received, it was covering the enemy lines in a crescent shape.
It would be about 1 kilometer long.
It's also fairly deep.
It's unlikely that they'll be able to break through so easily.

(But ... it's only three to four hours? (What kind of magic trick did you use?!)

Cale's surprise was no surprise.
In a world without civil engineering equipment, construction has been done by hand.
And it is the farmers who are responsible for the work.
That is to say, we need people.

(We haven't heard of farmers being requisitioned from the neighborhood! ...then you've brought someone from King's Landing? It's impossible. That'll slow down our march and that's how it works? Even if we all worked together, this speed would not be possible.

There are many fences made of wood lined up at the edge of the moat.
We even needed time to make them.
They are so strong that it's hard to believe that they were prepared after the troops arrived at the site this afternoon.

(Kuh! (Should we have left Mikhail and others alone and attacked the main camp quickly?

The face of Mikhail, whom he had just defeated, flashed in Cale's mind.

(d*mn it! You keep messing with me!

Cale couldn't control the anger that was bubbling up.
He was well aware that it was recrimination, but what makes him angry is angry.

You're not going to be able to get away with it.

The deputy visited again.
He must have understood Cale's frustration.
His voice was fearful.

'We have no choice but to charge!

Ha!

In fact, there are no other options available to Cale.
Cale himself, who learned of the small number of troops on the other side through reports from neighboring residents, had personally requested Duke Gerhardt to go into battle.
When he was allowed to go into battle, his master, Lord Gerhardt, had given him strict orders to destroy the enemy.
He couldn't just sit back and watch as the defense facility was completed and he was too weak to do anything about it.

(Mikhail's reconnaissance force was about 500. (Mikhail's reconnaissance force is about five hundred, and now that we've wiped them out, there are between fourteen and fifteen hundred of them, and we have seven thousand! There was no way we could lose. (A hasty moat will prove to be of no use to us!

Kale's mind gradually calmed down.
No, he pretended to have calmed down.
Even though the defense was unexpectedly strong, Cale's side still had an overwhelming advantage in terms of the number of troops.

(We can't lose! ...no...win!

There is no way out for Cale, who turned to Duke Gerhardt despite being a close associate of Princess Lupis.
He, too, inevitably needs achievements to survive among the aristocracy.
But he didn't know that.
That his current state of mind was very similar to Mikhail's mind, which he himself had just defeated earlier.

'Master Cale! We're ready to go!

Cale nodded loudly as he listened to his second-in-command's words.
Cale drew the sword at his waist and directed the enemy line and shouted.

''Charge yiiii!''

The bannermen follow Cale's instructions and raise the flag of the all-arms assault high.

''Ooooooooooooh!''

Seven thousand soldiers rush into the empty moat with a battle cry.
They do not know.
They don't know of the death trap that has been set up in their path.

Here and now, the battle for the future of the Roserian Kingdom has begun.