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Chapter 15: Toward a New Battlefield

We of the Barbar Mercenary Party left Pyrrhus behind and headed east.

Crossing the mountains into the plains, we traveled for several days until we arrived at a fortress of the enemy Algeas Kingdom, Colon Castle, known as the 『Southern Cornerstone』.

「Looks like they are going at it, Uncle Athos.」

「Yeah. It’s a siege.」

Colon Castle sat in flatland bordered by the sea to the east and surrounded by plains on the north, west, and south. It wasn’t a mountaintop fortress, but it had formidable stone walls.

By the time we arrived, the castle had already been surrounded by the Vaffancrow Empire’s army. Camps containing overwhelming numbers of troops surrounded the north, west, and south sides of the fortress.

The Empire’s troops were placing ladders against the castle walls, trying to climb up, but the defenders rained arrows, hurled stones, and thrust back with spears in fierce resistance.

As I watched the battle unfold, Uncle Athos muttered under his breath.

「Soft stuff…」

What did he mean?

I didn’t understand what Uncle Athos was getting at.

After all, this was my first time seeing a siege.

I tried searching Gaia’s memories for clues.

But it seemed even the original Gaia had no experience with siege warfare.

So I decided to ask Uncle Athos for guidance.

「Uncle Athos. This is my first siege. Can you tell me what exactly seems ‘soft’?」

「Hmm. Gaia… The Empire’s assault is weak. If they were serious about it, they’d be attacking from multiple directions all at once.」

「I see…」

I looked again at Colon Castle.

Just as he said, the Empire was only attacking from the west.

The north and south sides weren’t being touched.

「What does it mean? Are they not going all out? Just testing the waters or something…?」

「Hard to say… In any case, let’s head to the Vaffancrow Empire’s main camp.」

We let the Barbar Mercenary Party rest on the outskirts of the battlefield and headed for the Empire’s main camp together.

As Uncle Athos and I made our way toward the largest tent, we saw plenty of Empire soldiers lounging about.

Sitting outside the tents, they nibbled on meat and fruit, chatting leisurely.

「Uncle Athos… They sure seem to lack in tension」

「Hmm…」

Inside the Empire’s main command tent, the same lax atmosphere hung in the air.

(The smell of booze and women… Tch. It’s barely past noon.)

I clicked my tongue in my mind.

Uncle Athos seemed to feel the same, his brows drawn together in a stern frown.

We tried to report our arrival to a nearby officer, but he was red-faced and slurring his words.

After asking around a bit, we finally found a sober young officer and managed to get the report done.

「We, the Barbar Mercenary Party, have arrived. Where should we deploy?」

「Deploy? Right, uh… Let’s see. Where would be good?」

The young officer was unreliable, but he was the only one not drunk.

We had to get him to assign us a position, or we’d be stuck.

From deeper within the tent came laughter and a woman’s shrill giggles.

「Apologies for disturbing you while you’re enjoying yourselves.」

I bowed slightly, lacing the words with a bit of sarcasm.

『Drinking and fooling around during a war, must be nice!』

Or so I intended.

But the young officer didn’t catch my meaning.

「Don’t worry about it.」

I almost sighed out loud at how thick-headed he was, but kept it to myself and pushed on.

「So… do you think it’s safe? What if the enemy launches a sally from the castle…」

「What, you scared? Ha! No need to worry. We’ve got twenty thousand troops. The enemy’s got five thousand. If we take our time, they’ll surrender eventually.」

「In that case, wouldn’t it be better to attack from the north, west, and south all at once?」

「If we did that, the soldiers would get tired. We’re rotating the attacks to avoid fatigue. It’s hot down here in the south, after all. Just surrounding a small castle like this should be enough.」

「I see…」

I was so dumbfounded by his optimism, I didn’t even feel like arguing anymore.

Might as well get the rest over with.

「I’d like to greet the commanding officer. Who is in charge of this army?」

「This force is led by His Highness the Crown Prince.」

「Then I’d like to request an audience with His Highness, 」

「No need. Actually, don’t. His Highness is… well, you see, he’s enjoying himself. He doesn’t like being interrupted.」

So the Vaffancrow Empire’s Crown Prince…

He’s that pudgy brat who kicked me around in front of the Emperor after we were defeated.

If I don’t have to see him, all the better.

I replied halfheartedly.

「Understood… Then please give His Highness and the commanders our regards.」

The young officer nodded, scratched his head, and lazily gave instructions.

「Right, then… Just find a spot somewhere and set up camp wherever. That’s all.」

「Understood! We’ll take our leave now!」

Uncle Athos and I left the command tent, visibly displeased.

We switched from Empire-speak to Barbar language, so the nearby soldiers wouldn’t understand our conversation.

「Uncle Athos… This isn’t good, is it? Our allies are way too careless.」

「Gaia, I feel the same. With twenty thousand against five thousand in a flatland siege… sure, we probably won’t lose. But still, anything can happen in war.」

「Can’t let our guard down…」

「Exactly. The Emperor of the Vaffancrow Empire is a capable man, but his heir, the Crown Prince… Well, you saw him. Without his father watching, he is just doing whatever he pleases.」

The Emperor…

I only met him once after the war between Barbar and the Empire, but just being in his presence gave me chills from his sheer authority.

If he were leading the Imperial Army, they’d be fearsome.

But the Crown Prince? He’s drinking and womanizing in broad daylight.

「Uncle Athos. I don’t like where this is going.」

「No kidding. If only his subordinates were decent…」

I activated the skill [Sma-ho!] and tapped the [People] button.

The screen displayed information on the people within the Vaffancrow Empire’s army.

「This is hopeless…」

I scrolled through the personnel list of the Empire’s main camp and gave up.

It was wall-to-wall incompetence.