Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi Chapter 508

–Aegir POV–

Schwartz is lying sideways in the stable that Carla guides me to.

「At first, it was simply a stab wound that bled a little. I thought Schwartz would be fine since he's big.」

Carla strokes Schwartz's head softly, then tilts a tub to allow him to drink water.

「But his condition gradually worsened……and he eventually couldn't stand.」

When Schwartz opens his eyes and sees me, he rolls to face the opposite side.
Does he not want me to see him like this that badly?

「It's a little too early for his wound to fester, so I figured it might be poison and used the treatment for snakes.」

There is a gash in his thigh which has a cloth applied to it.
Carla must have cut him with a knife in an attempt to extract the poison.

「Not only did it fail to help, the place I cut him wouldn't stop bleeding……he might be done for.」

As the tearful Carla pats Schwartz's back, he weakly wiggles his ears in response.

I try putting my hand against Schwartz's body.
His temperature is abnormally high and his breathing is rapid like the times I made him run as hard as he could.

Thinking this could be really serious, I try to check his wound, but Schwartz twists his body unwilling to let me get near.

「Stay still. If you die from poison, you can't even be turned into horse meat.」

I hold Schwartz's body down and force his legs open so I can look at his wound.

「H-hello.」

A black elf unexpectedly pops out from between his legs.

When Carla and I exchange looks, Schwartz pretends to be asleep.

「Umm, I'm knowledgeable about poison so I was treating him.」

「You don't have to say any more than that.」

Seeing how the girl's mouth is sticky with a white liquid and Schwartz has an erection, I don't have to ask what she was doing.

「He's not on the verge of dying. He's just aroused from being sucked off. Sleeping with such a nice girl when he's just a damn horse.」

「I was genuinely worried! This perverted horse! Horse Aegir!」

I kick Schwartz in the stomach and Carla dumps the rest of the water in the tub on his face.

After groping the black elf's tight ass briefly, I politely chase her away and sit next to the unamused Schwartz.

「So, how much does it actually hurt?」

Schwartz turns away and neighs spiritedly.
Obviously, he's not going to admit his pain in front of a woman.

「We have the needle that stabbed you in our possession. Natia can make an antidote. It'll take maybe five days?」

Schwartz rolls to the corner of the stable with a disinterested look.

「I guess I can ask for it to be done in three.」

I grab the apple in my pocket and toss it at Schwartz's nose, but he doesn't react and proceeds to sleep.

Still concerned after leaving the stable, Carla and the black elf returned.

「Hey, how is Schwartz?」

「It's like a temporary illness. Because he got excited after his ass was riddled with poison needles, the toxin spread. You'll prolong the condition if you take care of him too much and get him aroused, so leave him alone for two or three days. Hey little elf, how about one round with me?」

「Sorry. I'll pass, Schwartz-sama is bigger.」

「Hitting on another girl in front of your wife……whatever. Fine, I'll just change the water then.」

The two girls pat their chest in relief when I change the topic.

We're talking about Natia here. She always comes through when it's a matter of life or death.

But I won't be able to ride Schwartz for a while.
Aside from moving, I also won't be able to swing a weapon on another horse either since it would be thrown off balance and fall over. For the time being, I'll have to fight on foot.

I'll need to warn the soldiers about that hairy caterpillar too.

「I know it's essential to bugs, but using poison and needles is so fiddly. Why not just utilize the big body they have and charge straight at me? Or maybe there will be an insect that makes the woman it stabs go into heat.」

I mutter foolish thoughts to myself as I walk as fast as I can to where Natia is.
She won't be able to lend a hand when night falls and the enemy attacks. I have to get her to start before then.

The Next Morning.

After a day of fairly fierce fighting, I gently brush the face of Pochi who stands with a dignified expression.

「Everything's ready. I know I'm being persistent, but if you see a beetle with needles growing out of it, fly up high.」

A sturdy cage is strapped around Pochi's back and belly.

「Tight, tight, piiiiー!」
「Scout, scout, what to do, forgot!」
「Something stinks.」

The harpies squawk noisily within the cage.

「Sorry for having to put you in a cage. Do a good job and I'll make sure a feast is prepared when you come back.」

When I peek in the cage, the harpies clamor excitedly.

「A meal, a meal, meat, meat!」
「Fish, meat, no onions.」
「Lots of mating!」

This is one of the reconnaissance operations Leopolt thought of.

He will use Pochi to scout from the sky and find the enemy base where we hypothesized it to be in the Dard mountain.
Anybody could come up with this knowing Pochi's ability.

But the Dard mountain is vast.
The emergence point is also not necessarily in a conspicuous area and there is a limit to how much ground Pochi and Pipi can cover with their four eyes, despite how good they are.
Our defence line won't last if the search continues for dozens of days.

In that case, just use the harpies who also have the ability to fly.
That is a logical way to think.

But harpies can't compare to Pochi in terms of speed and it's difficult for them to fly for an entire day.
They won't make much progress in scouting if they have to rest every so often.

By the time they fly to their destination, it'll be nighttime and the avian eyes of the harpies won't be able to see anything, making them easy prey for the insects.

「Fundamentally speaking, they're too dumb to be useful in scouting.」

「Piiiー, scouting tasty? Mating?」
「Hungry.」

I doubt the harpies can accurately report the location even if they happen to find it.

That's how Leopolt came up with the idea of loading the harpies on Pochi.

Pochi can fly to the Dard mountain within an hour regardless of whether it has to carry the cage or the harpies.
Then, the harpies can be released when Pochi is hovering over the Dard mountain and we can better utilize their eyes.

If the harpies become tired, they can return to Pochi's back and rest instead of landing in the middle of enemies.
Even if the sun goes down, they can return home safely if they go to Pochi.
It's like a floating fortress.

「That creature meets all the requirements for load capacity, mobility and durability. It can operate after evening without any problems.」

「You mean Pochi.」

Leopolt confirms today's scheduled scouting area with Pochi again.

「Furthermore, it is intelligent enough to read maps and make corresponding decisions.」

「It's Pochi.」

Is he being stubborn and deliberately not calling it by name?
I want to hear Leopolt say Pochi.

The harpies can't produce a detailed report of their discovery.
The most they can do is make a fuss that they found something.

That's where Pochi comes in, to verify the location, identify it and return with the information.

「Pipi will be there too, don't worry!!」

I smile at Pipi who waves at me.

As usual, the lazy Messerschmitt is resting on Pipi's head.
He's yawning prior to sortieing and doesn't seem to have any care in the world.

Perhaps the only reason Pochi isn't nervous is because Messerschmitt is there.
In that sense, I guess that mutt has some value.

「The presence of passengers is irrelevant. This creature's map reading ability surpasses that of the girl's.」

「Pochi is clever after all. It's not because Pipi is dumb.」

I don't like bringing it up, but I almost lost to Pochi in a board game once.
Before that could happen, I faked a sneeze and flipped the board, saving myself from embarrassment.

I turn away from the sad Celia and see Pochi and Pipi off.

Alright, let's sleep.
I think Leopolt is going to do something at night again.

At twilight.

The evening sun slowly disappears below the horizon.

After surviving last night's attack, we left the fort and set up camp in a farm village along the highway.

There are no city walls around the perimeter or a single turret as this place is clearly not suited to defense like the fort.
A simple watchtower, an impromptu shallow ditch and a wooden fence is too lonesome to be considered a defensive encampment.

As expected of a farming village, we are surrounded only by fields of wheat that are 80% unharvested.

「Evacuation of all nearby villages is complete!」

「Stationing of troops complete. They are ready to act at any time.」

「Hordes of monsters sighted in the southwest and southeast. Their numbers……I don't know. All I know is that there is a lot of them!!」

I look at Leopolt.

「I just have to do it, right?」

「Considering the pace of the enemy's growth, it is impossible to survive in that fort beyond tonight's attack. There is no other way.」

His response is immediate.
Fine.

「Do it.」

I order as I shrug my shoulders.

「I can't really bring myself to do this, but……loose!!」
「God of harvest, forgive me……light it up!」
「What is……going to happen?」

A volley of flaming arrows are shot.

The catapults hurl oil that has been set ablaze.

Soldiers holding torches charge together.

Their targets are not the insects.
They are aiming for the fields spreading before them and the rows of houses.

Fire-tipped arrows stab into the houses and the flames start burning down the buildings.

Oil splashes on the golden wheat fields and the sign of an abundant harvest is cruelly engulfed by fire, leaving just the tips of the crop.

The soldiers set fire to everything that could burn, whether it was a field, a house, or a tree.

「Aah, I don't want to watch. I don't want to watch.」

Tristan exaggerates the shaking of his head and covers his eyes with a blindfold.

The fire envelopes the fields, houses, the forest and everything goes up in flames.
The soldiers do their best to run away and not get caught in the fire they set.

「Horrible……」
「Aegir-sama's territory……」

Myla and Celia are saddened by the sight.

Invaders would not go this far.
They would try to take the wheat that has not been harvested, they would use the houses as sleeping places and even if they were going to burn the houses down, they would loot them before doing so.
They would also not spend time and effort setting fire to grass and trees on the side of the road.

The flames literally reach to the sky and stir up a storm of heat and light.

I could see Leopolt's expressionless face and Nonna clenching her teeth in the distance.

「It's almost like……daytime.」

「That's right.」

Leopolt signals a lookout with his eyes.
While scrunching his face from the heat, the lookout strains his eyes and then shouts.

「The horde of monsters stopped! They are gathering around us, but not getting any closer!」

「So it worked.」

This was Leopolt's aim.

He didn't want to create a wall of fire to block the enemy.
He already knew heat wasn't very effective.
In particular, the insect hydra didn't die even from Alice's powerful fire.

That's why his goal is the light.
By burning everything in the vicinity, the fire would simulate the light during daytime.

「We were fortunate that it was before the spring wheat harvest. Wheat fields are like a carpet of flammable materials. If you set fire to the field at one end, it will spread over a large area quite quickly.」

「It's hard to be pleased by the deliberate burning of food.」

I wonder if Adolph has been informed.
I'm worried he'll die from the shock.

「Well, if it works, it's worth it.」

We're using the fields that farmers spent many months or even years to cultivate like disposable torches.
It may seem unproductive, but without those torches, we'd be dead and the fields would be useless anyway.
Looking at it from that perspective, there is no reason to hesitate.

「With our forces, we cannot continue fending them off for the entire night. Thus, we'll extend the daytime.」

The enemies avoid the light and keep their distance while circling around us.
They don't attack us.
Yet they don't have the intelligence to abandon us as tricky prey to catch and head north.

Occasionally, a single creature would jump up and attempt to approach, but being afraid of the light, its movements are slow and easily dealt with by arrows.

「Mumuu……mumumuu.」

I embrace the conflicted Irijina as she struggles to cope with the barbaric act of burning the fields.

「This will burn for a long time. Hopefully, it will last the whole night.」

Of course that's an impossible ask.
The golden carpet burns wonderfully, but also burns out fast.

A few hours later, as the fire weakens, the insects close the distance.

「Alright, rest time is over. We're going to hold our ground here until dawn.」

I command the soldiers with my Keravnos raised.

「We've already burned away the wheat that was nearing harvest. If we don't win, it will be for naught!」

Dingus also roars and inspires his soldiers.

「Get revenge for the captain. Everyone, fight hard.」

Rinuga also addresses his remaining subordinates but he seems somewhat unreliable.

Because we've been kept in check by being surrounded, the spiders, worms and rhinoceros beetles, which are supposed to arrive at a delayed time, came together.

「Remain a safe distance against the spiders. If possible, fight them with a fence or ditch in between and finish them off with arrows!」

The claws and poisonous tube are deadly, but the spiders have a short reach.
Since their bodies are also soft, it's best to outrange the spiders by using pole weapons like spears.

Using the cluttered fences as shields, soldiers, three per group, pin down the spiders with spears while archers and crossbowmen provide support from the rear.

「Get close as soon as you see a worm! Use ballistae and catapults to make the giant ones flinch, then charge in and beat them to death!」

Ranged attacks like arrows and spears aren't effective against the worms.
In addition, the reach of the enormous woms is so wide that it's disadvantageous to be at a distance.

Soldiers proud of their strength rush the small worms, stomp on them, crush them with rocks or smash them with war hammers.

A few get killed by the larger ones, but ballista bolts hit their mark from the rear, allowing the men to pounce and shower the fallen worms with blows.

「For the rhinoceros beetles――lure them to Tristan-dono!」

「Don't say it like that or they'll actually come to me. Say it like you mean the encampment I created.」

Soldiers lightly poke the beetles and retreat.
Naturally, the beetles give chase, but they are slow as usual and even average soldiers easily get away.

「Good, right here. Now come!」
「Ora, ora, try to eat my ass!」

The insects are obviously being taunted, but they don't have the intelligence to see through it.

The beetles make a beeline for the soldiers.
And then they all fall into holes.

「Got 'em. Well, it's a little silly to rejoice over insects falling into a trap.」

Beetles fall in one hole after another with heavy thuds.
The soldiers cheer.

「Pitfalls are a classic trap, but don't you think they're too shallow?」

The holes which the beetles fell into are merely 50 cm deep, and the width is also much smaller than the size of the beetles' bodies.
Even Messerschmitt could easily jump out.

「It's fine. Have you seen their bodies? They are carrying a terribly heavy outer shell and have many short legs.They won't be able to cross a hole or a small step. Take a look.」

The beetles are stuck and flailing in a hole that is one third the size of their bodies.
Some stepped on their fellow insects to escape, but they fell head first into another hole before they could adjust themselves.

「There is no need to “drop” them. It's sufficient to “tilt” them. Besides, digging a whole bunch of pitfalls in the short time from yesterday to now is impossible. Making one of these shallow holes takes just ten minutes.」

The rhinoceros beetles fall into the countless crude trap holes.

「With that said, they'd eventually get out if left alone, that's why-」

Tristan gives a signal and an irrigation canal opens.
The waterways that originally sent water to the fields were altered with hasty construction and redirected to the place where the pitfalls are.

The beetles sink into the water while still stuck in the holes.

「They won't float to the surface?」

「Well, the dead bodies sank to the bottom when we tossed them in the water. Also, their mouth is just above the ground. In other words――」

After briefly struggling, the beetles stopped moving.

「A dozen centimeters or so of water is enough to drown them. That takes care of the first battle, I guess.」

Roughly a thousand rhinoceros beetles perished with their faces in the mud.
If we wanted to fight them head-on, we would have needed cannons, catapults and five thousand soldiers.
Although it requires a certain amount of preparation, this is quite the feat.

Overall, the battle is shifting in our favor.
But fatigue is beginning to show on the soldiers due to the neverending waves of bugs.

「Time for me to pump myself up and step in.」

I knock my heels on Schwartz's belly.

「……wait, it's not him.」

I'm riding a replacement horse and it is already breathing hard merely from standing and carrying me with my equipment.
If I go into battle, the horse will surely collapse.

I dismount and, with my Keravnos, run towards a group of soldiers engaged with spiders.

「I came to help.」

I say as I thrust my spear and defeat a spider.

「It's Lord Hardlett! Everyone, it's going to be alright!」

I sweep my spear to the right as the soldiers cheer.
Four fore legs are sent flying in the air.

I crush the head of one spider that fell forward with my foot while plunging the tip of my spear into the head of another.

「Watch out behind you!」

Rafaella, who is on my back, draws her sword and parries the incoming tube.

「Thanks.」

I reverse my spear and thrust it in the opposite direction from under my arm to stab the spider.

Without delay, I turn around and gouge out the heads of two more that stick their tubes at me from either side.

After lingering for a split second, Rafaella returns to my back and the spiders curl up and die.

「That's that.」

「Haha, we were told to fight the spiders with three people no matter what.」
「But Lord Hardlett killed six by himself in an instant……」

Rafaella asserts herself but is ignored.

「Lord Hardlett, we are fine here. The troops over there seem to be struggling with the worms!」

I glance in that direction and start running.

「I-it's no good! We're done for!」
「Uwaaaa!! Someoneee!」

There are dozens of soldiers surrounded by worms.
In comparison, there are a hundred enemies. The ratio of worm to human is 10 to 1, a hopeless difference.

But I was neither afraid or pessimistic.

I rush into the middle of my allies alone, lower my hips and hold the Dual Crater with both hands.

Five medium-sized worms attack.
They open their circular mouth full of teeth and jump at me.

「This is not about skill, it's a difference in weapons.」

I swing my sword down and back up to sequentially cut the worms that fly at me.
I switch to a one-handed grip, swing the sword right and then bring it back to the left.
Lastly, I return to wielding my sword with two hands and slice the final worm in half from around one meter from its mouth.

「Five in an instant――!?」
「It's like he's squishing earthworms……」

I'm happy to receive praise, but it's nothing to be proud of.

The greatest threat of the worm is their impenetrable skin.
That's why the soldiers are forced into using hammers, rocks and war hammers.

Meanwhile, the Dual Crater cuts through the worms without any issues.

Unlike the spiders who attack with claws and a poisonous tube, the worms only bite with their mouths.
In other words, they're like logs that aim for vital points like the head.

「Woah.」

After cutting down several worms that haven't learnt their lesson, a boss-looking worm about six meters long appears.
It jumps at me and opens its mouth that is large enough to swallow me whole.

I position my sword above me as Rafaella and the soldiers scream.

A moment before the giant worm's mouth reaches me, I swing the Dual Crater as fast as lightning, tearing through that thing's mouth, splitting the worm in half and saving myself from being bitten.

「Nothing to it. You guys can handle the rest, right?」

「Y-yes.」
「So strong……no, isn't he too strong? It's like……he isn't human?」

I'll pretend I didn't hear that rude remark.

「Ah, behind.」

I turn around, prompted by Rafaella,'s voice, and encounter a group of rhinoceros beetles that did not get caught in Tristan's trap.
There is no urgency in her voice, probably because the insects are moving slow.

These guys have an outer shell that can't be pierced by normal weapons.
I have to really put my back into my swing and think about the angle in order to cut through them with my Dual Crater.

「I won't dare cut them.」

I sheathe my Dual Crater and face the beetles head on.

Their attacks are simple.
They approach slowly and use their front jaws to sever legs or torsos.

The moment one of the beetles got close to me and widened its jaws, I withdraw slightly to avoid the attack and then leap forward.

「Hup!」

I slip my hand under the body of the beetle, drop my waist and lift the insect up.
Now, it can't do anything.

「Noooo!! Put it down, stop, I can see the underside!! It's gross.」

The one drawback is that the reverse side is disgusting.

I pick up the beetle and slam it against a pointed wooden fence.
With a similar sensation to soft butter, the beetle is skewered.

「The underside is unbelievably soft. If we flip them――」

I dodge the attack of another beetle, circle around to its side and kick it towards uneven ground.
The beetle tilts sideways, unable to do anything……

「What the-?」

The beetle rolled up into a ball.

「Is it protecting the weak underside? This is my first time seeing such a behavior.」

Sekrit comments curiously as she continues hunting spiders.

「Certainly, that hides its stomach……but-」

The beetle is perfectly round.
Sekrit and I exchange looks and smile.

「Go!!」

I grab the curled-up beetle, and with a shout, throw it at the swarm of spiders.

The round beetle――or, I guess it's more like a ball now.
The ball rolls loudly and crashes directly into the spiders.

「Kuku, six……no, seven.」

The ball weighing over 200 kg knocks the comparatively lightweight spiders and sends them flying in an amusing way.
Three are propelled pretty far, two get pinned under and squashed, and another one gets tangled with the rolling object until finally crashing into the last spider stuck on the wall.

「Hey, I made another one.」

The quick-witted and agile Sekrit doesn't get hit by the beetles' attacks.
She jumps left, right and even onto the beetle's shell to avoid the slow movements.

Then she corners the beetles extremely easily onto uneven ground or a slope and flips them over.
Like an instinct, the beetles roll up once on their back and turn into a ball.

「That's――a miss, only got three. Aim the next one……got six, how disappointing. Get up higher and show me a ten or something.」

Seeking greater power, we move to elevated ground.

「What is Lord Hardlett doing!?」
「He's throwing the rhinoceros beetles?」
「He's laughing with the woman beside him……in a sense, he's scarier than the insects.」

A giant spider crawling towards me enters my vision.
It's over seven meters, an especially big one.

「One of those and you'll get a special prize. If you kill it――fufu, I'll lick your asshole.」

「Okay, no going back on your word.」

I wind my arm back, rotate my body and put my entire strength into the throw.

This time, the ball doesn't roll, rather it flies in a straight line at the spider through the air.

The spider immediately sticks out all of its forelegs, but it's not enough to block the energy-filled throw.
Its legs bend and break in different directions and the ball dents the spider's body with a bang.

The giant spider wobbles and then collapses.

「Hah, bullseye. You monster.」

Sekrit guffaws.

I join her in laughter while keeping an eye on my surroundings.

「O wind……wind……wind!」

Following the chants, a worm is sliced in half.
Elf magic supports the soldiers.

「Gather into a mass and strike them.」

Water from the irrigation canal forms into a rock and crushes the worm's head.
This is the work of a black elf.

As expected, having support from magic is really strong.
One elf is probably equivalent to the strength of 20 to 30 soldiers.

「Number of enemies: eight. Non-intelligent lifeforms, exterminate, exterminate.」

Tikuku pummels the spiders with her bare hands and rips apart the worms.
She occasionally gets eaten by a worm, but she breaks back out from the inside.

She's easily worth more than a hundred soldiers.
……she got hit in the forehead by a tube again. Why does she always get hit there?

「Tch, damn pest.」

A thunderous boom and the shaking of the ground accompanies the cold voice.

I look over and see Brynhildr wielding a partially burnt iron pole.
Her opponent is a rhinoceros beetle, which usually has to be flipped over for normal weapons to――

「It is a servant's job to squash bugs.」

The pole that Brynhildr swings destroys the entire beetle along with its outer shell, causing its pieces to splatter everywhere.

「Like splitting watermelons……」

I couldn't help being amazed.
Sekrit looks at me expecting a similar performance, but I can't replicate that.

There are no more places that seem likely to be broken through.
The sky in the east is becoming brighter and the enemies seem to be backing off, so it's safe to say we survived tonight.

「Get ready to retreat. You can sleep afterward.」

We leave the burnt remains of the field as is and move to the next farming village――in other words, another place that has flammable materials.
We'll fight by burning land and enduring the enemy's assault until the source of their spawning can be found.

「If we don't find it fast, the territory will become bald.」

The morning sun rises and the insects leave.

At the same time, Pochi and the harpies, who have been resting during the night, get ready to depart.

「There will likely be a larger attack tonight. However, our private army will arrive at noon today and the first of the Kingdom's reinforcements will arrive tomorrow evening.」

「Will it be a war of attrition like it was against South Yuguria?」

Tristan shakes his head.

「I'm afraid not. We have a limited supply of reinforcements while the enemy is inexhaustible. We're simply walking a tightrope and our lifeline is the scouting party. Things will be settled, for better or for worse, within a week.」

Pochi looks at me with a somber expression and groans.

「Please rest too, Lord Hardlett. You must be tired after throwing all those balls.」

「Umu, it was fun but tiring.」

I stretch my body and crack my neck.
Guess I'll eat something, take a bath and then fuck a woman.

「Check on Schwartz before that.」

I suddenly realize I'm not alone, turn around and speak to Rafaella.

「It's not like I'm worried about him or anything.」
「Ah, right.」

I turn to the opposite side and address Celia who brought me warm water.

「I asked Natia to help so it would feel bad if he went and died.」
「Haa……」

I walk a short distance and also speak to Sekrit.

「If he dies now, I won't be able to make horse meat out of him because of the poison. If he's going to die, do it after the poison has been extracted.」
「……pfff.」

Did she just snicker?

Anyway, whatever will be, will be.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 25 years old. Autumn.
Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend.
Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.
Elf Mediator. Sex King of White City. Mad Demon God. Secret Golden Lager.

Family:
Nonna (ready), Carla (uneasy), Mel (OK), Leah (ready), Pipi (reconnaissance), Miti (ready), Maria (ready), Catherine (ready), Gretel (ready), Melissa (ready), Kuu (ready), Ruu (ready), Mireille (ready), Casie (6 head figure), Rita (ready), Yoguri (playwright), Alice (sleep), Mother: Marceline (OK), Daughters: Eldest – Stephanie (OK), Second – Bridget (OK), Youngest – Felicie (OK)
Sofia (ready), Dorothea (in trouble), Claudia (imposing stance), Clara (riding on shoulder), Adela (masturbating)
Celestina (reigning queen), Monica (mama attendant), Benel (coma)

Subordinates:
Dingus (eastern army commander), Rinuga (total exhaustion), Rafaella (back parasite)
Celia (deep sleep), Myla (commander), Irijina (commander), Luna (commander)
Leopolt (staff officer), Tristan (staff officer), Yakov (emergency sortie), Gido (desperation), Mack (arrived), Christoph (reinstated), Guigue (villain)
Adolph (domestic affairs official), Sebastian (butler), Marta (ready), Sally (ready), Maruru (ready)
Jim (sortie, low morale), Suzy (sortie), Solana (given up), Altair (founder), Remia (victim)

Others:
Erich (sortie), Ijaris (cooperating), Yularen (cooperating)
Sekrit (deep sleep), T-99 (combat mode), Brynhildr (splitting watermelons), Natia (analyzing), Felteris (quarrel)
Piris (insane, house arrest), Baroness Rukino Escaote (ready), Seika (squeeze)
Busco (promoted), Gildress (training), Visitacion (confined home with child)

Non-humans:
Lammy (moving), Alraune (potted plant), Mirumi (hunch), Pochi (reconnaissance), Messerschmitt​ (sleeping)
Tropical Smooth-scaled Monitor Lizard ( ), Schwartz (severely poisoned)
————————————————————————————————
Defence Line Army

Hardlett Army:
Escort Unit: 43
Infantry: 3000
Cavalry: 400
Archers: 400
Cannoneers: 400
Bow Cavalry: 1000
105 Army Corps: 3700
(war time, weapons are produced as necessary, being deployed)
Cannons: 50, Large Cannons: 25, Dwarven Cannons: 15, Field Artillery: 20, Chariots: 38

Reinforcements / Allied Forces:
Eastern Army: 13 000 ⇒ 12 500 + ???
Mixed Refugee Team: 5800 ⇒ 5500
Elves: Black: 200, White: 200
God Altair's Army: 2800 ⇒ 3300 (Rafen charity work, inviting)

Teries Fleet: Battleship Suvorov, Battleship Leviathan IV (temporary), Large Combat Ships: 3, Medium Combat Ships: 7 (in repair)
————————————————————————————————
Assets: -75 000 gold
Sexual Partners: 805
Children who have been born: 70 + 567
Current Location: North Kisatto, abandoned fort

Chapter end