Nobody knew how these two armies — which numbered over 100’000 strong when totalled together — would move, or how the would clash..
The plains where the demihumans waited was flat, with no high ground from which they could overlook the battlefield.
This should have been their cue to set up a watchtower, but they did not have such a structure in their camp.
“…What now?”
“Our mission is to stay here and protect them. Let’s focus on completing it.”
It was practically impossible for the tremendously outnumbered demihuman army to break through the human forces and reach this place. Keeping Shizu — their strongest fighting force — here was a good political move, but it was a poor military move.
If they placed her on the frontlines, it would greatly diminish the losses to the Holy Kingdom’s forces.
Everyone understood that, but nobody could actually do it. That was because they wanted to avoid building Shizu’s reputation even further.
What a senseless waste of lives,Neia thought, but wild horses could not have torn the words from her.
30 minutes later, there were cheers from the right flank. It was not just Neia and her keen ears which picked it up — the cries of joy were loud enough that they reached the ears of everybody in Neia’s squad. They must have scored quite the victory if they could be heard over such a great distance.
10 minutes after that, a messenger from the battlefield loudly announced what had happened.
"Captain Remedios Custodios of the Paladin Corps reports that she has just defeated the enemy commander, one of Jaldabaoth’s henchman demons, the Scale Demon!”
The messenger left after relaying that message.
Neia began to wonder if it was actually true.
No, it was probably true that Remedios had defeated a demon. But was that demon really one of Jaldabaoth’s henchmen?
Neia knew very well the power of the demon she and Shizu had fought in Kalinsha.
She did not think that Remedios could have beaten it.
Is the Captain strong enough to beat something like that? Or… could it be some kind of double? If I don’t ask Sempai…
“Shizu-sempai, I have a question. How strong is that Scale Demon?”
“…Enough that the Captain could beat it.”“But the Circlet was stronger, right?”
“…The existence of strong demons implies that there are weak demons. The Scale Demon is one of the weaker ones.”
“I see…”
Neia was relieved. Two of the henchman demons which had entered this country had already been defeated. While that left the great demon in the hills, there was no point thinking about that one.
“The country’s saved now… Since the enemy commander’s dead, the demihuman army ought to break up. According to the Prince’s plan, everything should be over.”
There was a wistful look on Beldran’s face, because he had lost the chance to avenge himself with his own hands.
“…Still need to hunt down the stragglers.”
“That’s right! I expected nothing less of you, Shizu-sama!
As Beldran answered, his joyful expression suddenly froze.
The left wing — right in the middle of the noble forces, in fact — suddenly sprouted a pillar of flame. The roaring inferno was high enough that they could see it clearly even from this distance, and it looked like it would scorch the sky.
Everyone looked worriedly to Shizu.
They could think of only one being which could do such a thing. Right after that, Shizu confirmed their what they were imagining.
“…Oh no… it’s Jaldabaoth.”
“Captain Remedios Custodios of the Paladin Corps reports that she has just defeated the enemy commander, one of Jaldabaoth’s henchman demons, the Scale Demon!”
The right wing exploded into cheers as they heard what Caspond’s messenger had told them. Marquis Bodipo’s face lit up with a smile.
“Fuhahaha! She did it! She took down the enemy general! Whatever that woman’s brains might be like, her swordsmanship is first rate. That ought to weaken the enemy’s momentum. I order everyone to force them back and kill every last one of those demihumans! Let none survive!”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers spread out immediately upon receiving the Marquis’ orders.
“Truly splendid, Marquis-sama. We are truly fortunate that the commander of the unit facing us in this battle — in the same battle as us — has been eliminated.
Count Cohen, a man who was held in quite high regard in his faction, was all smiles as he said so.
“Indeed it is, Count. Now we’re a step ahead of them.”
Eliminating the commander of the unit that had skirmished repeatedly with the forces of the Southern Noble Alliance during their long confrontation was a massive coup. It was undoubtedly a significant card they could play when negotiating with the other Southern nobles.
Compared to Remedios Custodio, her sister Kelart Custodio had left far more bitter memories in their minds. However, this was an achievement that could wipe that hatred away.
In addition, this was also a feather in the cap for Caspond. Simply put, if he managed to survive until the end, the position of the next Holy King was practically his. Even the remaining Southern nobles with any power would not be able to complain about it, and with the Marquis’ own complete support, there would be no problems at all.
If there were any uncertain elements in this scenario, that would be the other members of the royal family. There would be no problems if all of them were dead. However, he was not yet prepared to stain his hands, so all he could do was pray.
The Marquis joyously imagined the future balance of power in noble society.
If he wanted his family to become the most influential one in the Holy Kingdom, he could not afford any mistakes in the clean-up operation that would follow this. Everything until now had been perfect. All they had to do was keep on going like this.
“Count. Do you think we can drive the demihumans to the south?”
“Marquis-sama, why would you do that?”
The Count looked surprised, and he sounded confused as he asked his question. The Marquis laughed at him in his heart.
There was no way the Count could not understand what he was up to. The Marquis would not have favored anyone who was that incompetent. The Count was pretending surprise even though he knew what the Marquis had in mind.
He must have been trying to give the impression that he could not fathom what the great and mighty Marquis-dono was planning. It was truly a dull attempt at sucking up to him.
The Marquis decided to go with the flow. If he made the Count believe he could be that easily manipulated, it would be easier to use him.
“Are you listening? The demihumans are an excellent tool to weaken the nobles who aren’t of our faction.”
He raised a finger, adopting the air of an old man who could not resist the urge to explain himself.
“Now that the Northern nobles have been weakened, the balance of power between the North and South has been shattered. Things being what they are now, it is unavoidable that the Southern nobles will end up having a greater say in matters… However, that would be problematic for the royal family. In other words, this is what the royal family we are helping will face.”
“I expected nothing less of you, Marquis-sama. To think your considerations stretched that far!”
The flattery was blatant at this point, but the Count still delivered it with a joyful tone and a loud voice.
“Indeed. Nothing would be better than if they would ravage the lands of the nobles who did us no good.”
As he watched the Count look around worriedly, the Marquis stroked his beard and thought, this man really is a good actor.