Day 169 of the Otherworld Summoning [Defense Battle] Part 4:

'Mikoshiba-sama! We have movement in enemy lines!

One of the knights, Ryoumaru, who was in command of the central section, poured out.

''Hm? It doesn't look like you're going to draw your troops you enemy commander you're going to end this all at once?

Liang Zhen's eyes quickly detect the movement of the enemy camp.

''It's getting hectic around the enemy's main camp...''

'Oh, it looks like you want to get this over with today... what's the rush...'

Ryoma doesn't know who Cale is.
Of course, he doesn't know that Cale voluntarily asked Lord Gerhardt to go into battle.
But he could tell that he was in a hurry to do something.

(Although the three gates, north, south, and center, make it easier to cross the empty moat, an unprepared force would not be able to cross it. Are we so stupid that we can't understand that? Well that's not true. Maybe they underestimated our defenses. They figured that if they outnumbered us, they would break our hearts. So they came to us and forced us to attack them but why didn't they just draw their army? .........I don't know how many peasants' lives are light enough to be wasted......)

Even in a world where people's lives are light, fewer farmers will have an impact on tax revenues.
They may not care about it, but I don't think they will consume it unnecessarily.
Unless there's a good reason.

(What's the hurry?) Are our reinforcements arriving? Well I'm sure they're aware that the march will take a long time if that's the case.

Hey! Who knows what Cale is!

'Ha! I am well aware of that!

Hearing Ryouma's voice, one of the knights at his side raised his hand.

''What kind of character is he?''

'Well you see ... a very selfish, cunning, cowardly coward ...'

It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you can get your hands on it.
Well, if he betrayed Princess Lupis, he would be hated like a snake by the knights who swore an oath of allegiance to the princess.

(Apparently, the way these guys talk about it makes a biased assessment.......

Ryoma was not happy in this area either.
It's fine to dislike Cale.
But if you can't do justice to its abilities, you can't win the war.
He's strong because I like him.
I don't like him, that's why he's weak.
The personal likes and dislikes of a person have nothing to do with his or her abilities.
But Roselia's knight was remarkably poorly versed in that area.
In other words, he's an immature child.

Selfishness probably means being able to weigh the risks and benefits.
Cunning would mean being thoughtful.
From a different point of view, the reputation of being a coward means that you are a cautious person.
The evaluation of a person changes completely depending on whether or not he or she tries to be malicious.

(But...what does that mean? (That would mean a completely different person... isn't that Cale at the helm?

Liangma couldn't help but compare the knight's assessment with the situation in front of him, and he couldn't believe that Cale was in command.
Yes, until he heard his next words.

'He was a proud, arrogant, big-mouthed guy!

"? Pride and big talk? ...By the way, do you know what kind of big mouth you've been talking about and the content?

'Ha! That must have been about four years ago now. At that time, the Celestial Martial Arts Competition was held in the Kingdom of Roselia...

The knight's words can be summarized as follows.
Four years ago at a martial arts tournament, he boasted that he could defeat Mikhail, who was said to be the favorite to win the tournament at the time, in one minute, but it seems that Mikhail defeated him in the first round when they clashed with each other with a single sword.
It seems to have come from the conversation in the tavern about who is the best knight in the Kingdom of Roselia.

I was there, I'm sure of it.

By the way, how is Cale's skill, in all fairness? Is it so low that you can't talk about it?

The question is whether he had the ability to be worthy of that big talk.
The game is an uncertain one with a lot of luck and bad luck.
So the fact that Cale lost does not immediately prove his ability.
In the extreme, even though he is weaker than Mikhail, if Cale is the second most powerful man in the country, his words are no longer the sleep of a fool.

Hearing Ryouma's words, the knight twisted his face.
In other words, the more I don't want to say, the better arm I have.

)

Having thought this far, Ryoma realized.

(Right! Cale is confident in his own abilities, so he says to Gerhardt, "If you leave it to me, I'll kick the enemy's ass. I'm sure if you left it to me, we'd be able to kick the enemy's troops to the curb in no time at all, or something like that I can understand why the enemy is in such a hurry.

Ryouma accurately grasped the situation that Cale was in.
Since he was a traitor, his position in the aristocracy should be quite fragile.
There are often people who want achievements to strengthen their own position and do the impossible.

(Kukku........if they're willing to do that, we can use our strategy without worrying......)

When Ryouma was sure that Cale's army didn't have any tricks up their sleeve, he decided to use the strategy he had prepared.

''Message! Now the enemy will hit the north, south, and center of the city at the same time. Tell Volz and Rionne that we're going to use the first step, although it's ahead of schedule. Tell Saara to move north and wait for the signal!

Ha!

Under Ryoma's direction, the knights run to Saara's side.
Ryoma led the knights around him to Laura, who was guarding the front line.


You'll be able to find out more about this. Increase your rapid-fire speed! There are countless enemies out there!

The central gate guarded by Laura was also undergoing a great battle.
Enemy soldiers were rushing to the gate like the very locusts.

''Tasteless! Spearmen forward! ....poke!

The peasant soldiers reached the front of the fence again, preventing a rain of arrows.
Laura ordered the spearmen again, for the umpteenth time.

'Master Laura! There are too many enemies........................

The knight by Laura's side made such a whining noise.
The unbroken thrust of the enemy was putting a great deal of stress on the nerves of the knights involved in the defense.
The deviation would be natural.

''Shut up! We are outnumbered! We are guarding the gates without losing any of us under Ryojin-sama's command!

As Laura pointed out, Ryojin's strategy is working well so far.
The moat and fence will block the enemy's advance, and by concentrating the enemy's forces on three gates, they will be able to use a small number of forces efficiently.
Then, he reduces the enemy force by shooting the enemy soldiers from inside the fence to kill them with arrows at long range.
Completely forbids knights' individual skills and strengthens their cooperation as a unit.
Each knight reduces the casualty rate by covering each other.
Although it was unpopular with the knights, Laura appreciated Ryojin's strategy.
And Laura scolded him, desperately recalling the image of her father in her childhood memories.

Remember, Laura," she said, "the person at the top should never show weakness. The person in charge should never show weakness. The person in charge must never show any weaknesses, even if they are afraid or want to run away. That's the quality of the person in charge.

No matter how amazing Ryojin's strategy was, if Laura showed weakness here, the front line could collapse at once.
It's the last thing that matters on the battlefield is your mental capacity.
If the weak words he spat out were to be left as they were, they would spread like poison and lower the morale of the troops.

''Exactly! They will wipe us out soon enough! Just hold on until then!

Ryoma-sama!

Laura was surprised.
Although Ryoma was guarding the central gate, he also had to give general direction.
That's why he should be commanding from the main camp, which is a little far away from the front line.

The enemy's main body is moving and they're probably going to end it all at once.

So I thought that ... the pressure from the enemy had increased dramatically.

Laura nodded.

That's why I'll be in charge of the front line...

Ryouma's gaze turns to the front line.
There doesn't seem to be any problems at the moment.

''Is it okay? ...or...how about...Rionne and the others?

Yeah. Yeah. I've sent out your message. It's just a matter of when we send the signal to Saara.

Are you sure? ...or...well...I just used it...

Laura asked after hearing Ryouma's words.
That plan is supposed to be to stop the enemy's main body from going into battle.

'Ah. I know it's earlier than planned, but the enemy wants to die, what choice do I have? And if you kill him when you can, it'll be easier to kill him later on because you'll still have a hand. It's okay.

Ryouma smiled cruelly.
It's a mockery of the pitiful soldiers led by a foolish commander and a lone wretch.

The inferiority of Liang Zhen and his men had to focus on two things in order to win.
The first was to reduce their losses as much as possible.
The second was not to demoralize themselves.
Now that we are protected by the moat and the fence, we have accomplished the first, which is to reduce the damage.
But what about the second, not to demoralize?
Honestly, the minimum is just barely holding up.
This could be said to be unavoidable.
With morale, the attacker inevitably has the upper hand.
It's a lot less psychological stress for them to attack than to defend.
It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with your friends.
The trust of a drifter in Ryojin is not high.
The most important commander in the defensive battle is low, so morale is naturally low.
It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with them.
That's why Ryoma has to show his knights the fruits of his labor.
Along with the correctness of his instructions.

''Alright! Almost there! We're going to have to be patient for a while longer!

""Woohoo!"

The knights answered the commander's encouragement.


'What are you doing! Are you still tearing it up?!

Cale shouted in frustration.
He had put 2,000 knights in the front line.
He expected them to immediately pull down the fence and cut into the enemy camp.
However, he still hasn't been able to break through the defenses of Liangzhen and the others.

He stepped into the empty moat himself.
He had stepped into the ground of death himself.
And Ryoma was not one to miss it.

''Now! Signal to Sarra!

Liang Shin's instructions were passed on to the mercenary who was waiting behind him.
A fire arrow was launched high into the heavens.
It became a wolfsbane that heralded the slaughter that was about to take place.


''Miss! That's Mikoshiba-sama's signal!

One of the mercenaries attached underneath Saara points to a red light trail launched into the sky to the south.

'How's it going over here? How much water do you have!

We'll be fine! I'm ready whenever you are!

A U-shaped weir on the banks of the Thebes partially blocks the flow of the river.
Thebes, which boasts of an abundant amount of water, is indeed a river.
Less than three or four hours after the weir was built, there was enough water stored in the river to fill the empty moat.

"There's enough water to fill the moat!

'Okay! Give it to me!

""Hey!"

Under Saara's command, the mercenaries begin chanting in unison.

''Spirit gnomes who rule the earth! Receive your blessing, and at my request, change your form!

"Good! The only thing that will sink in is the 20 meters of ground between the Thebes and the empty moat! Don't get your measurements wrong!


...the earth-sinking

The mercenaries' hands were slammed into the earth all at once.

Bashaaa!
The water of the dammed-up Thebes River found an outlet and flowed at once into the empty moat.
As if to relieve the resentment that had held them down until now.


The sound was noticed by a certain peasant soldier attacking the north side of the river.
The surroundings are filled with shouting and shouting.
But he was a hunter by profession, and his eyes and ears were very keen.

''Hey! Didn't you hear something?

He called out to the colleague next to him, even though he was in the middle of a battle.
Because a bad feeling passed through his brain.

'Fool! We don't have time to talk! I'm going to die!

The person who spoke to me was a fellow countryman.
That's why they responded to his words, even if they were cursing.
From inside the fence, the knights commanded by Bortz come slamming down like a rain of arrows.
He was quite daredevil to talk in such a situation.

''No! Didn't you really hear me?!

'What are you talking about? Now isn't the time to worry about that!

My hometown man is right.
There was no way a man who turned away from the battle before him on the battlefield could survive.
But he couldn't let go of the premonition he felt.
He turned his gaze to the north.
And then he would see.
A wall of water filled the empty moat.

''Mi........water!

A scream escaped his mouth.
It was a natural scream as an empty moat filled with a wall of water rushing toward him.
The hustle and bustle of the battlefield has ceased.
There is no one to scream.
The sound of rushing water can be heard clearly in the ears of the soldiers present.
It was the sound of death, similar to an angel's trumpet, which was to be blown at the final judgment.