The thirty or so musketeers fired their guns in concert at the leading orc, shredding it to a honeycomb. The other orcs at the forefront were felled onto the ground as well, blocking the advance of the group behind them. Not the type to let such an opportunity go, Nicola bellowed his next order without hesitation.
“2nd platoon! Fire—!”
Although the orcs were capable of waving their clubs about even after a barrage of bullets, they still couldn’t endure the impact of the dozens of bullets fired at such close quarters.
The orcs which were trailing behind decided to retreat, but between the narrow breach of the wall and the orc at the rear that had been knocked to the ground by Guiche’s magic, they were unable to move. At the front, they were obstructed by the corpses of their allies. Just as they stumbled and trudged through the corpses to charge through, they were greeted with the volley fire of the remaining musketeers.
The last few remaining orcs were then met with the charging pikemen and were quickly eliminated.
Staring at the twenty or so orc corpses on the ground, Guiche exclaimed in admiration,
“S-so powerful...”
While he instructed the musketeers to reload their bullets, Nicolas revealed a grin.
“It's because these guys are very simple-minded- once they spot the enemy, they’ll come charging straight at them.”
The veteran sergeant laughed as he patted Guiche’s shoulder.
“Company Commander sir, look, now you can earn the highest merit.”
And just like that, the ragtag Battalion demonstrated an extraordinary level of solidarity. Meanwhile on another front, was the solitary “trump card” of the allied army.
It was Louise and her familiar.
Saxe-Gotha was built upon a relatively high mountain. Encircled on all sides by a wall, a main road shaped like a five-pointed star was constructed within. Legend says that this was the first city built by the Founder on the continent of Albion; Whether this was the truth or not was impossible to know.
However, it was only the five roads of that pentagram that displayed that elegant geometric design, within it was a complex of countless side streets and disorderly alleyways. It was no different than the other cities that could be seen all over Halkeginia.
At the moment, Louise was running frantically through a small alleyway. Saito could be seen by her side with Delflinger firmly in his grasp, followed closely by the various members of the dragon knights in disguise.
Chasing them from their rear were ten or so huge trolls and fang-bearing ogres; both were giants that measured roughly five meters tall.
Fortunately, this being a small alleyway, the beasts seemed to be struggling to squeeze through. Because they were crashing through protruding walls and windows alike as they chased through, it took them quite a while. If it had been a wide open plain instead, Louise and them would surely have been caught up to in an instant.
To find out why Louise was running back and forth through the maze of alleyways within Saxe-Gotha, we would have to begin from the mission that they had accepted.
In the simplest sense, their objective coincided with that of the assaulting main force: Infiltrate the city from the opposite side. Their original purpose was to use “Illusion” to create a phantom army, thus plunging the enemy into disarray…
“Why did you have to suddenly yell out like that?! Hey!” shouted Louise as she ran.
Three hours ago, they had snuck into the city under the cover of darkness.
“Didn’t I already tell you? No matter what you see, don’t act surprised! Hey!”
“B-but... It's too big! That troll thing! That ogre or something!”
The thing is, Louise’s Void magic required an exceptionally long incantation period.
Just as she was chanting the incantation on a street corner whilst pretending to be preaching, an Albion noble responsible for patrolling went over to inquire:
“Who are you people supposed to be?”
“We are participants in the Founder’s Rite of Passage, which has brought us to this ancient city of Saxe-Gotha. We wish for Albion to achieve victory, so we are currently praying to the heavens.”
Although René had said so without blinking an eye, the patrolling magician, with a peculiar expression, still asked..
“Don’t tell me... you're spies sent by Tristain and Germania?!”
Louise hastily shook her head rapidly.
René also shook his head.
Then Saito, noticing the huge troll standing behind the magician, inadvertently cried out loud:
“It's so big! Just what is it?”
The magician immediately brought his face close to Saito, who had unwittingly cried out. “A very rarely seen face...”
I’m suspected, Saito thought, assuming a straight posture. The magician meticulously measured Saito up.
“Let me ask you - who is the General that commands the 2nd Army of the Holy Republic of Albion?”
Saito tensed up.
A general!? How am I supposed to know things like this? Looking around him, all he could see were the beads of the sweat on everyone’s foreheads. Crap, the success of the mission depends all on my answer. But... I have no idea what the general’s name is.
The enemy magician pressed his face closer, glaring fiercely at him, and said,
“What’s wrong? You don’t know? You don’t even know the name of the General who protects this place? Do you really hail from Albion? Spit it out!!”
Saito’s mind began plunge into disarray. And, having plunged into disarray...his mind was completely blank.
“Tokugawa Ieyasu.”
He made up such an answer. When it came to general’s names, he only knew this one.
“What Tokugawa Ieyasu?! Where’s he from?! Why couldn’t you give a more appropriate answer?!” shouted Louise as she ran.
“It’s not like there was another choice! He was the only one I knew!”
“Whatever, I won’t blame you for now.”
No, rather it was all his fault, but nothing could be done now. Louise continued,
“But why didn’t you just take care of them like usual? There was only a few of them!”
When Saito had replied “Tokugawa Ieyasu”, the mage was taken aback, before yelling “Suspicious persons!” and launching a surprise attack with the troll.
Saito was originally going to block their attacks... but was sent flying by the troll in one hit.
The overwhelming strength of the gigantic humanoid creatures... it was difficult to endure, even though he was Gandálfr. And there were almost ten of those monsters, to boot. Even if I can’t kill them, I should be able to at least resist their attacks... However, today’s Saito was not the same as his usual self.
“What’s wrong, Partner? Why don't I sense any enthusiasm from you?”
After blocking the enemy attack, even Derflinger noticed. Somehow, with Rene’s and other's magic cover, they were able to repel the enemy and run away. However, since most of dragon knights were Dot mages, they quickly ran out of magic.
The number of pursuers increased while they were trying to escape. Residents all along the street slightly opened windows and anxiously watched the chase.
At that moment, from the other side of the town, the explosive sound was heard. The main force's attack started.
“The attack started!”
Louise firmly primed her lips. Their mission to assist in the main force's attack by creating disturbance… failed.
“It’s because of you!”
She shouted at Saito, who ran next to her.
“Wha-what…”
Saito muttered frustrated.
His body felt heavy.
Usually… if he gripped a weapon, his body felt light, like it just grew wings, his arms and legs moved freely… but now it somehow felt like it was bound with elastic.