Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi Chapter 391

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

Gildress and the 15 000 soldiers of the Aless army he is leading started charging at the South Yuguria army before our eyes as soon as they were acknowledged as enemies.
The 5000 soldiers of the Goldonian army and I were not completely ready to attack, however, we couldn't just watch them attack, so we followed their lead.

It became a pretty messy situation, but the Royal army commanders trained by Erich adapted quickly and acted accordingly. They try to cooperate with the Aless soldiers and gain an advantage in battle.

「The enemy is divided into several groups. Spread out into two wings and limit the freedom of movement――」

「My developed muscles are growling!」
「I'll show you the strength of a man of Aless!」
「Booze, women, and battle! That's how a man lives!」

「Archers aim for the center of the enemy, cavalry circle around from the side and――」

「Uoooooh! It's time to fight!」
「My pecs are throbbing greatly as if they have been waiting for this day for a long time!」
「In a man's fight, there is only a frontal charge!」

They're working together to aim for victory.

「Eh, working together? You mean this?」

Celia turns around with a cold tone.

「Don't worry about it.」

I'm simply escaping reality a little bit.
Goldonia's commanders are definitely shouting various instructions, except the soldiers of Aless aren't paying attention at all.
The only thing they are doing is running straight at the enemy with vigor.

「In the first place, their brains are wired not to listen to anybody else.」

Standing in front of every brawny-looking man and wearing his distinct red cloak is none other than Gildress, the king of Aless.

「My friend, feast your eyes on this! This is how a man of Aless fights!」

Gildress turns around mid-run to face me, then bangs his sword and shield together.
His smile is genuine, displaying true happiness from the bottom of his heart.

「He's calling you.」
「I was prepared for it, but he's more suffocating than expected.」

When I see his face, I no longer feel like asking why they don't need rest after swimming across the North Teries river all through the night or asking how they can run faster than cavalry.

Aless's charge was enough to rattle us, so I can imagine how shaken the South Yuguria army are.
After all, as soon as the sun rose, 15 000 soldiers suddenly appeared in front of them and are charging without delay.
Knowing they have control of the river, the impact of such a scene should be even greater.

「I don't think they can comprehend how they crossed.」

I mean, I probably wouldn't have believed what happened before Gildress told me, and even after hearing it, I still think it sounds pretty stupid.

Except the enemy didn't remain stunned for long.
They probably realized the inconsistency when they saw the emblem and equipment of the charging Aless soldiers differ from that of Goldonia's.
A few light cavalry rushed out and shouted loudly.

「Hold it! We see that you lot are not Goldonian soldiers. Who might you be!?」

「I am Gildress, the king of Aless! I am here to be your enemy in order to fulfill a promise between men, among other things!」

Gildress replies directly, ignoring the light cavalry and continuing his charge.
I guess he won't bother with worthless opponents.

An arrogant-looking messenger stepped forward next.

「This is a battle between Goldonia and our Yuguria Empire, we have no reason to fight Aless. Doesn't Aless feel the same?」

They're trying to persuade him.

「I-if Aless stops now, we'll be finished! I'm worried that musclehead will be deceived by words.」

Celia expresses her concern, but I don't panic.

「It'll be fine. Although he might not be very logical, he is trustworthy.」

Gildress, who couldn't have heard the conversation between Celia and I, eases up his speed and shouts back.

「Nay! A promise to a friend is reason enough for me to fight!」

At the very least, his voice is hoarse and thunderous.
The messenger's horse rears back and Schwartz folds his ears uncomfortably in annoyance.

「If you fight us here, you are declaring all-out war with our nation! You think you have a chance of winning against us!?」

「I don't care! The important thing is that a fight with a powerful opponent is exactly what we want.」

That messenger isn't getting through to him. I know, conversing with Gildress can be a real drag.
Maybe because he was getting impatient, the next thing the messenger said would completely flip the cheerful smile on Gildress's face.

「You're willing to expose your country and its people to danger for a trivial promise!?」

Gildress stops in his tracks, his head pointing slightly down toward the ground.
The Aless soldiers stop with him, a few of them letting out a dubious groan to question the cause for the sudden standstill, however, they show no signs of anxiety or confusion.

「What's wrong, my King? Are you not going to charge?」
「Are we resting? In that case, I'll eat something.」
「I'm going to change my pants. It feels itchy.」

Some of them actually start eating and take off their pants―― argh, I just saw something disgusting.

In contrast to the composed Aless soldiers, Gildress boils with anger.
It's rare for him to become quiet and it's even eerie.

「Just now…… what did you say?」

His voice is as loud as usual, although the pitch was lower than before, a deep rumbling that carried an intense pressure.
I can tell Schwartz's body tense up despite the nonchalant face he's making.

「You're willing to expose your people for a promise――」

「Shut up!」

Gildress raises his face that has now become filled with anger.

「You said a promise to a friend…… a vow between men, is trivial……?」

All of a sudden, Gildress lets out a beastly growl and runs.

「Hurrgh!」

Gildress charges at a speed at which the messenger couldn't respond and front kicks the horse's chest with all his might.
There was a squashing sound as his foot sunk into the animal's body, the horse's eyes rolling back into its head before falling on its side.

「Guwah! W-what are you doing!? I wanted to negotiate……」

Gildress doesn't seem to be in a mood to listen to the messenger who was flung to the ground.
He stands imposingly over the messenger and shouts, the tip of his sword pointed at the fallen man.

「I don't care about South Yuguria! I don't care about the reason Goldonia is fighting! However, don't think you can talk if you dare make light of a man's vow and promise. You guys and I are not compatible. Since we're not compatible, the only choice left is a fight to the death.」

「D-…… don't……」

Gildress raises his sword.

「Aah, how unlucky.」
「I pity him.」

Celia puts her hands together in a cute little prayer pose.

「Behold our methods! This is the smoke signal to start off the battle!」

Gildress's shimmering blue sword slices the messenger in half from the top of his head.

Soft shrieks and cursing comes from within the South Yuguria camp, meanwhile the Aless soldiers cheer excitedly.

「Oooh, finally!? I'll save the food for later.」
「It doesn't look like I have time to wear it. There shouldn't be a problem if I have my cloak on.」

The men cheerfully store away their food.

「Sorry for keeping you waiting, men. Let us go forward now!」
「Uooooh! A fight at last!」
「It's time to show off our polished fighting techniques!」

The roar's effect ripples through to the Aless soldiers and each of them respond with war cries of their own or by banging their swords against their shields.
Gildress, located smack dab in the middle, apologetically removes the armor covering his chest and tosses it aside.

If I had a say, I would have wanted him to wear clothes that are as thick as possible, but in the end, he has stripped down to only his cloak and leather underwear.

「If you're going to take off the armor before the fight, why wear it in the first place……?」

Celia's sigh was erased by the yelling men.

In any case, the Goldonia soldiers were able to catch up to Gildress after he paused for a bit.
On the other hand, the enemy was able to set up their defenses and the ambush effect wore off.
From this point on, the 30 000 of the enemy forces will face off against the 20 000 troops of the GoldoniAless joint army.

「We can't consider it a joint army. It's 5000 Goldonian soldiers plus 15 000 Aless soldiers. They don't listen to other people so the problem is one that comes before cooperation.」

I guess she's right. Aless's recklessness followed by Gildress's exasperation, leading to him murdering the enemy messenger and letting out a war cry, has completely the Goldonian soldiers behind.

「Aegir-sama is the only one here. I have to do my best.」

Celia pumps herself up adorably.
Lately it feels like Celia is subtly speaking ill of me, but maybe that's my imagination. No, I'm sure it is because of how cute she is.

「「「「Uoooooooh!!」」」」

With a bellow loud enough to shake the earth, the 15 000 Aless soldiers advance in a simple straight line formation, gradually approaching the South Yuguria camp.

「The enemy has already…… gotten into an anti-skirmisher formation. Sending the messenger might have been a ploy to buy time.」

The enemy is in a similar line formation except with added depth, consisting of heavy infantry holding shields in front, light infantry behind them, then archers positioned further behind in the cover of the shields. Cavalry and spearmen cannot be seen.

「Spears are not strong against the charge of lightweight skirmishers. They intend to block with their line of shields, disorient with their arrows, then eliminate with their light infantry! If there is a chance, cavalry can aim for the side and……prrrr…… hey, please don't do that in the middle of a battle!」

I'm so happy Celia is taking it upon herself to act as staff officer that I just couldn't help scratching her under her chin.

All the charging Aless soldiers are still light infantry, regardless of how intense they appear.
Not to mention, the man acting as their general is leading the way, leaving us, the Goldonian soldiers, deserted, almost like they are charging without any semblance of strategy, making them look like an easy opponent to construct a formation against.

「Let's see if things will proceed as smoothly as they like.」

Jumping in with them now won't bring about a positive result.
First, I'll let Gildress show me how he fights. Celia's commentary is also pleasing to the ear.

「Arrows have been fired by the enemy!」

Right away, South Yuguria launches a sizable volley of arrows.
On top of the Aless army holding round shields, they're in the middle of charging. In normal circumstances, a great deal of casualties would be unavoidable……

「Men of Aless, defense!」
「「「Ooohh!」」」

Gildress's command was answered promptly.
All of the Aless soldiers came to a stop, clumped together in groups of 5 to 10 people and lined up their shields tightly.

「They're quick.」
「Even though it looks like they crowded together without much thought……」

Not a single soldier falls over from the shower of arrows.

「Men of Aless, advance!」
「「「Ooh!」」」

As soon as the arrows ceased, Gildress gives another order, which disperses the clusters of soldiers, and the soldiers resume charging.
South Yuguria would loose a second and third volley, but the Aless soldiers defended the same way, demonstrating such an attack had no effect.

「The groups formed each time are with different people each time. That means they aren't assigned to a certain group.」

I realized as well.
Typically, armies are separated into certain squads and soldiers would gather with their own respective squads during defense. That goes for the Royal army, my personal army and the South Yuguria army.
In Aless's case, the soldiers are forming groups with whoever happens to be closest to them.

In other words, no such assigned groups exist within the Aless army, rather each individual is cooperating with each other.
Even if the soldiers were divided for any reason or if the commander was taken out, no strength would be lost until the soldiers themselves die.

「Still, nobody is falling over at all. It's impressive how they can use such a small shield to block all the incoming arrows.」

「No, look closer. Many of them were hit in the stomach or leg.」

When I strain my eyes, what she said is true.
Nevertheless, the Aless soldiers don't stop moving forward and they don't seem to be in pain.
In fact, they have large grins on their faces like they're having fun fighting.

「These guys are not normal……」

Having persisted through the third volley, the Aless army close in on the South Yuguria army again.

「Calm down, they are still light infantry in the end. They're no match for us in full plate armor!」
「Let's send them flying with our shields and then counterattack!」
「Show them our loyalty to our fatherland and Her Majesty!」

The enemy is not fazed.
A neat line is formed under each commander with each soldier in the line holding out their shields in unison.
Large shields fit perfectly alongside each other, creating the image of a single sturdy wall with no gaps.

「Uooooh! Get fired up, men, this is where the real battle begins!」
「Just charge through! Get through and go wild!」
「Show them your trained bodies and honed skills!」

On Aless's side, they are psyching themselves up, almost like Christoph does when he goes to a brothel at my expense.
They roar and rush in like an avalanche…… or so I thought. Right before impact, their movements synced up in an instant to form a shield of their own.

The collision was between two walls.
The sound created from the crash was more similar to a cannon being fired than metal slamming into metal and it was loud enough that we scrunch our faces, despite being at a distance from the scene.
Then――――

「Such a familiar sight……」
「Indeed.」

South Yuguria's line of heavy infantry danced beautifully in the air.

「Eh? They're flying?」
「Eeh…… those are full plate heavy infantry we're talking about.」

The enemy soldiers behind stare blankly at their allies flying above their heads.

One beat later, the heavy infantry fell down on their fellow soldiers, eliciting cries of pain from those spectating after getting pinned to the ground.
Hearing such a reaction, the Aless soldiers smile grandly.

「Wahaha! There was practically no resistance.」
「Humans don't get thrown up in the air that easily, so they must be ghosts. Scary, scary, gahahahaha!」

One South Yuguria soldier bounced like a rock skipped on the surface of the water and crashed into his allies.

「Gyaaaah!!」

I don't need to guess who did that. Obviously, it was Gildress.

「Nuun, this is what those who make light of men amount to. Weak, frail, and nothing to fear! I'll show you what a real man looks like!」

Gildress's shout was answered by a chorus of roars from his men.
The Aless army disperses and engages the South Yuguria army in a melee.

「Savage!」

「I won't be done in by a bean sprout like you!」

One Aless soldier blocks a sword swung down with his shield, pushes back a bit before knocking away the enemy's shield with a front kick.
On the counterattack, the Aless soldier swings his sword with power, disarming the enemy on the first strike, then splitting the enemy's helmet and head on the second strike.

「They're strong in one-on-ones! Team up!」

「Oh, come, come! It's more fun when there are more of you!」

I see an Aless soldier is fighting a two vs. one.
A short spear and sword thrust at his mostly vulnerable stomach, which was deflected by his shield and sword respectively.

「I've got you now!」

One of the enemies swings their shield at the Aless soldier after confirming both hands have become occupied.

「Come at me!」

The Aless soldier receives the blow deliberately with his face.
Although blood trickles from his nose, it was the enemy soldier who became more off-balanced after the attack.

「Soft! That doesn't even come close to a punch from my wife.」

The Aless soldier raises his sword, first cutting down the enemy holding the short spear, then promptly bashing the unsteady enemy swordsman in the face with his shield.
Unlike what occurred earlier, the enemy's face caves in, dying instantly.

With blood still dripping from his nose, the Aless soldier shouts "8 more to go" before running off to take on more enemies.

「Prepare yourself!」
「Ugh!」

A different Aless soldier gets stabbed in the back by a short spear.
Instead of falling down, the Aless soldier turns around with a smile.

「W-why didn't it do anything!?」
「I got used to being stabbed by my wife everytime I cheated on her. She pierces me deeper than a weakling like you.」

Pulling out his spear in a panic, the enemy aims for a second thrust to the face, which doesn't hit this time.
In return, the Aless soldier runs his sword into the enemy's throat for a kill.

「That makes 7, and that's 8!」

Yet another Aless soldier swings his sword and shield, taking out enemies left and right.
Perhaps going too deep, he ends up being surrounded by enemies and stabbed in the side and back.
The sword is deep, probably reaching to his internal organs.

「Guuh! Argh, how pathetic…… is this the end?」

That Aless soldier falls to his knees and coughs up a mouthful of blood.

「They got Gerzeig!」
「Gerzeig, hang in there!」

The South Yuguria soldiers provoke the other Aless soldiers who call out in support.

「Heh, he can't be saved.」
「The rest of you will become like him eventually.」

However, the other Aless soldiers don't try to save their friend.

「Gerzeig! Since you're still conscious, can you count how many you've killed!?」
「Only 8, which is 2 short of the promised amount! If I die like this, I will disappoint the god of war!」

With those words, Gerzeig widens his eyes, trying to fight off death.

Then he stands up, his stomach still punctured and blood still flowing from his mouth like a waterfall.

「Wh, this guy can still move!?」
「Uwaah!」

He grabs the two closest enemies by the neck.

「Ugooooh!!」

Using the last of his strength, his buff arms lift up the two men and his hands squeezes tightly around their necks.
A few seconds later, there were two occurrences of a cracking sound, almost like a dry branch being snapped, and those two enemies fall lifelessly.

「Well done Gerzeig! That's how a man of Aless should be!」
「You should be proud. Now, hold your head high and be with the god of battle!」

The man smiled, bathing in the praises of his comrades, then slowly fell forward and died.

「Ooh, he killed! He was killed!」

「This is a fight, and fights are a man's great ambition! Training one's body is all for this purpose!」

「Let us continue to fight on! Let us collide, flesh on flesh.」

The Aless soldiers are truly enjoying the fight.
Seeing that, the enemy takes a step back, in awe.

「These guys are crazy!」
「They're insane…… they're not normal!!」

You agree as well? Yeah, that's what I think too.

「Their lines are in shambles. Aless is gradually encroaching into the enemy camp.」

We didn't participate, so the Aless soldiers should be outnumbered two to one, 15 000 to 30 000, however it is mostly South Yuguria being routed.

「Their individual strength is too great. This army is not one where you can fight head-on.」

During the time I fought with them, a mere 100 men took out over 1000 soldiers.
Sure, the terrain also played a part in that, but it doesn't change our overwhelming advantage in numbers and equipment.

This time, there aren't just 100 Aless soldiers. If I was the enemy commander, I would retreat right away.
I would pull back and get Leopolt to do something.

「They're too strong! We can't do anything!」
「Stay calm, aim for the commander. He's foolish enough to be in the front――」

The plan seems good on paper, but I don't think it's practical.

「Nuun!」

As if agreeing with me, Gildress grunts and slices the enemy soldier in half with his sword.

「Bastard, I'll kill you with my thrust.」

A spear aims for his trunk which only has underwear on.
After Gildress grabbed the spearhead, it was as if the tip got stuck in a rock and the weapon couldn't be moved.

「You're not going to kill me with power equal to a child. Come back and challenge me in your next life.」

Gildress pushes the spear in the opposite direction.
The enemy soldier was stabbed with his own spear…… and he groans as the blunt end of the spear penetrates his body.

「Eeei, let's team up!」
「Sure!」

More enemies attempts to attack, but before they could finish speaking, Gildress lops off the head of one soldier and sends the other flying in a parabolic trajectory with his shield.

「Nuu, you were so slow, I couldn't wait.」

Two additional enemies approach the bored Gildress from behind.
I stop Celia, who wanted to warn him, knowing he already realized.

「Yaaaah!!」

Gildress was stabbed in the stomach by two spears as soon as he turned around.
Blood doesn't exit his wounds.

「Muun. That won't be enough to get through my muscles.」

Gildress picks one of them up and bends his body the wrong way until his spine snaps.
Finishing with the first, he reaches out to the second.

「…… how regretful, this is it.」

Accepting the fact that resistance is futile, the soldier's shoulders slump. Suddenly, Gildress also stops.

「You're a woman.」

As soon as Gildress discovered that, he grabs onto the soldier's armor and tears it off, including the clothes she was wearing underneath.

「Hiiiiiiiiih!!」

The soldier's gender was proven after becoming half naked as her bountiful breasts spilled out into the open.

「「Umu, a fine pair of breasts!」」

「Aegir-sama……」

Oops, Gildress and I expressed the same thought.

「I'll embrace you after battle. Until then, be good and stay put.」

Gildress releases the woman from his grasp.
The female soldier, confused as she is, covers up her exposed chest and sits on the ground.

「He feels strangely similar.」
「There shouldn't be anybody who comes close to resembling this man.」

Why is Celia looking at me and narrowing her eyes?

The Aless army proceeded to enter deep into the enemy camp.
It was then that cavalry rushed out from the side to flank the Aless soldiers.

「Enemy cavalry have appeared! A charging formation…… well, it's put together rather roughly. It feels like they were in a hurry. At this rate, Aless is going to hit from the side!」

Even Aless might not escape unscathed if enemy cavalry flank them while they're concentrating on the enemy in front.
With that said, splitting their attention to the front and back is more dangerous.

We can't remain spectators forever.

「Let's stop the cavalry and chariots which are likely to follow.」

As long as we stop the cavalry, Aless can take care of the rest.
This is what we call a division of labor.

「Let's go. Follow me.」

「「Oooh!!」」

The Goldonian soldiers also sound energetic.
Watching Aless's brave fighting must have filled their spirits with vigor.
Aless soldiers are outside the realm of normalcy and outshone everyone else, but the Goldonian soldiers are by no means weak.

And so, it is our turn to take the battlefield.

「Line up your spears. Squad 1 to the north, squad 2 to the west. They'll come from both sides.」

「Archers, don't change your aim unless you're told. The enemy will be running all over. Shoot when they enter your assigned range!」

「Lord Hardlett flipped over a chariot! We should follow―― maybe not exactly, so aim for the shooters instead.」

We somehow protect Aless from the cavalry.
Eventually, it becomes tough for us to continue.

「The spear unit on the right wing has been taken out by the enemy chariot! If the right falls back, the formation won't work!」

Celia screams in distress after trying her best to overturn the situation to no avail, and slowly tears well up in her eyes. I can't be letting her cry.

「Then I'll go――」

Before I could say "I'll take out those chariots", I hear a whoosh of wind.
Something grazes my ear and sticks into the ground.

「……a ballista? No, this isn't the kind of short spear used by South Yuguria.」

Looking around us, I also see that the enemy cavalry are being toppled one after the other and the shooters on the chariots are shrieking.

「Over there!」

Turning to where Celia points, I see a muscular Aless soldier cocking back and hurling a spear.

It seems the enemy who were locked in combat with the Aless soldiers are starting to withdraw.
They only realized our predicament after taking a breather.

「This isn't the range for a javelin…… yet it flew further than an arrow.」

It might be a result of their muscles, plus they're accurate.
For some reason, the accidental firing came only to me.

As usual, the Aless soldiers are led by Gildress, who shouts in a loud voice.

「Activate your muscles and throw! Blow your nose first though. Or else you will sneeze and end up throwing in a different direction like me!」

「It was you!?」

I unconsciously yell, but the culprit doesn't hear me.
A volley of short spears are launched into the air and flies toward the enemy.

「Umu, good enough. Now we just have to charge. Follow me.」

Gildress leads his soldiers and runs in our direction.

「I know they're coming to support us……」

I know what Celia, who is hugging herself and shaking, wants to say.
Most of the men are wearing nothing but underwear. Seeing 15 000 of them running at you is quite a terrifying sight to behold in more than one way.
I want to praise South Yuguria for not running away from the start.

「Uooooh! We're here!」

「Hey, the help is appreciated.」

I avoid the embrace from Gildress who runs straight to me first and we exchange pats on the shoulder instead.

Gildress tilts his head as he watches the enemy cavalry run around.

「I see horses pulling a strange cart. What are those?」

「Those are chariots. I guess you can consider them a new kind of weapon.」

I don't think there's a point to explaining in detail, plus there isn't any time for that.

「I see. How do you defeat them?」

Celia peeks out from behind my back to explain.

「They are fundamentally wagons, meaning their wheels are the weak point. However, the blades attached to the wheels are a considerable threat, so please be careful. Then there is also the ballista mounted on the back which allows for long range attacks and there are soldiers on-board equipped with crossbows……」

Mid-explanation, Gildress turns back toward the Aless soldiers and shouts after thinking briefly.

「Warriors of Aless! Those are called chariots, flip them over!!」
「「「Ooooooooh!!」」」

「What about my explanation……」
「I knew it was going to be like this.」

Gildress totally ignores Celia's comprehensive and cute explanation, and faces the chariots head-on.

The blades on the wheels of a chariot rush towards an Aless soldier.

「Nuu, that was close!」

He managed to react in time to block with a shield, although the force pushed him back.

The enemy takes aim with the mounted ballista.

「Wahaha, a weird arrow which requires a complicated and time-consuming contraption to use isn't going to hit me!」

Since the Aless soldiers are spread out and move too quickly, the bolts don't land.

An Aless soldier grabs a giant log from who knows where and wields it like a weapon.

「Oooh, this has a decent weight. Here I go!」
「Takeー that!」

As the chariot passes by, the Aless soldier sticks out the thick log from the side.
It breaks the wheels and blades and trips up the chariot, causing the entire thing to be destroyed.

「A rock is enough to deal with a weak weapon with wheels.」
「Now, throw it!」

Different Aless soldiers hurl rocks one after the other.

「I think a rock that needs two hands to hold is more of a boulder.」

The boulders, as Celia corrected, flattened the soldiers on-board, crushed the steel wheels and robbed the chariots of their mobility.

「Eeei, how meddlesome. We'll use the simplest way.」
「Sure! Wait for the direction to change…… now!」
「Get on!」

When the chariots decelerate during their turning, an Aless soldier dashes at full speed from behind.
In a panic, the enemy tries to pick up speed to shake him off, but the Aless soldier is frighteningly fast, able to reach out and latch onto the rear of the chariot.

Although his legs are dragging on the ground, there is no sign of the Aless soldier losing grip.

「T-these guys!」

As long as he is clinging on, the ballista can't be used.
Not to mention, due to the shaking of the chariot and the imminent threat of being boarded, the crossbowmen could not aim well, hitting the Aless soldier in the shoulder.
Such an injury was not going to make the Aless soldier let go.

「You persistent bastard!」

In an attempt to pry off the soldier, the enemy thrusts out a spear.
That was the wrong move as the enemy soldier exposed his ankle and allowed the Aless soldier to grab on.

「Nuuun…… I've grabbed on!」

The Aless soldier proceeded to throw the enemy off the chariot, then kill the driver as well, which ultimately resulted in the chariot losing control and flipping over.

A thunderous boom accompanied the crash of the chariot and the impact flung the Aless soldier to the ground, although he got up almost immediately, like his wound and shoulder didn't hurt, then he smiled before moving on to his next chariot.

「M-……my explanation…… geez, I hate muscular men! Ah, that doesn't include Aegir-sama, of course.」

While Celia gets adorably mad, chariots are being taken out left and right with the most primitive methods, leading to South Yuguria's eventual full-on retreat.

Our surroundings were littered with the corpses of enemies, whereas there are few, if any, of ally bodies.
This victory is the first in a long time where it felt pretty good.

「We won. Will we pursue?」

Gildress flexes his massive biceps as if saying he can fight more.

「No, let's stop here.」

The soldiers are exhausted from the battle.

I'm sure the Aless soldiers can't hide their fatigue either from the battle immediately following their long journey.

「Oooh, we won!」
「Onto the next! When is the next one!」
「Tomorrow? The day after? I'm fine with it being now!」

They don't look tired, but I'm sure they're tired.
Even though my confidence is gradually diminishing, I'll believe they are tired.

「Fumu, let us leave things here for now and set up camp.」

Gildress boldly declares his victory then drops himself onto the plains.

「Aren't you going to camp?」

「That's what I'm doing.」

How odd. To me, it looks like he's simply sitting on the grass.

「I didn't bring a tent or any small articles or bulky items. It isn't very manly to carry such things.」

Is he picking a fight with the word logistics?

「Then what did you bring? Surely, you didn't only bring weapons, right?」

「Of course not. We can't participate in a military campaign solely with a sword and shield.」

Gildress is the king of a nation, even if that nation is a city state.
He can't be that stupid.

「Men of Aless! Show them our campaign tools!」
「「「Oooh!」」」

The Aless soldiers reach around their neck on the inside of their cloaks and unties the wrapping cloth.
Can't they communicate without shouting for once?

「Food!」

They have a ball of rice, three pieces of something grilled, a piece of bread as hard as a rock, and a heap of dried meat.

「Water!」

They have a large metal canteen.

「Clothes!」

They have one extra pair of leather underwear to change into.

「That's it.」

I feel my mind leaving me as more things pile up for me to do.
First, I have to see if the Royal army has any spare tents to share.
Then, we have to gather food and fuel.
Count Monashi is skilled at that, so I think I can count on him there.

Is this how Adolph feels when I do whatever I want?
I'll name this inexplicable feeling as "Adolph's feeling".

「Auu, the military common sense I studied is crumbling into pieces.」

Celia slumps over dejectedly.

Gildress, seeing us, continues speaking further.

「By the way, I'm wearing the only pair of pants I brought. Not a big deal though, I can just turn it inside out and it'll dry and become clean.」

We achieved victory.
But no matter how many battles we win, we won't win the war.

In order to win the war, the king needs to do what he is supposed to do.
I want to believe that this victory will open the king's eyes.

Chapter end