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Vol 5 Chapter 17-1：Castle Siege Destruction Archery《Ballista》

It’s been four days since we left Erucy.
I hurried with Lucy, Yukino, and Roleau along the path to the Empire. Spotting some soldiers halfway there, we took some distance and hid in the forest while keeping close watch.
The imperial soldiers seemed to be walking around comparatively loosely. Most of them were regular citizens who had volunteered, so I assume the light armor was because they couldn’t handle heavy iron armor, plus there wasn’t even enough armor for everyone.
Making them wear heavy armor like that and having them march to Erucy would only guarantee that they drop out.

「Seems like our enemies here are taking a detour, just like you anticipated, Chief.」

Roleau remarked as he peered at the imperial soldiers from afar.

「So it’s just as I thought.」
「Why would they take the long route?」
「Because of Belle Erucy. Yes, only the Empire can topple such a durable fortress, but it would take time, and the casualties would be great. So they’re thinking that avoiding it would be quicker.」

After all, this supply depot of the Empire’s that we seized was originally built all the way up by the Empire as a fortress to hold back enemies on the Erucy border, so it was made to be extremely solid.

In addition, we even brought out the grenades in the last fight. I doubt they’re going to consider fighting from the front again.

「Thanks to Belle Erucy, huh. But hey, Chief, if they’re just gonna go around the long way, then it was meaningless to make Belle Erucy in the first place.」
「Not quite, Roleau. Even if they detour and avoid passing through Belle Erucy by traveling along the roads leading to Erucy and grouping up ahead, the distance they have to travel on foot would increase by 30%. Plus none of the detour roads have been properly paved. The path they’re about to travel is little better than an animal trail. Their feet will slow down, and they’ll get tired. That’s already a huge blow to the soldiers, since they originally were aiming for a decisive battle of brief duration.」

Indeed. Belle Erucy only needed one road in the direction of Erucy, so we had never gone to the trouble of spending so much money on paving a road that we wouldn’t even be using. The imperial soldiers weren’t used to the forest or the mountains, and would end up wasting both their time and their energy.

However, with the power of the high elf Ashuno, it was possible to break through Belle Erucy without any casualties.
She could infiltrate Belle Erucy by jumping over the around 10 meter-high wall and kill everyone in there. Then she could revolve around from inside and open the door. Such a crazy stunt was more than possible for Ashuno.
To tell the truth, that’s what I had feared the most.
However, I had anticipated that she wouldn’t try that. I was the one who said I would be winning the “war”, so it was unlikely that she would be bulldozing the way through with her high elven abilities.
I was able to come to the realization of that weakness of hers thanks to Shujina’s memories. There’s no way I wouldn’t take advantage of that.

「Oh I see, Chief. You anticipated this and had all the refugees stay in Belle Erucy, didn’t you?」
「That’s right. But, well, it’s not like that was the only reason. I also wanted to make a commercial city like that of Erin.」
「I could see you doing that, Cyril.」
「Of course. Lucy. I will do exactly that, no matter what. And that, my love, is why we must win against the Empire.」

Losing here would mean losing everything. Now was not the time to be discussing the future.

「At any rate…I don’t see no blonde-haired, jade-eyed elf walking around anywhere.」

Roleau grumbled as he went back to monitoring the ranks of imperial troops through the binoculars.

「Keep in mind that we’re dealing with an opponent who numbers ten thousand. You shouldn’t expect to find one person amongst that many, my guy.」

When you were dealing with ten thousand people, even if they formed two lines, the overall length from front to back would be 5 kilometers. It’s near impossible to look for one person among that many.

「Hey, Chief. You sure we can’t just get a move on them already?
「Very sure. As I said before we left, this monster, Ashuno, who surpasses me…if she finds us, we’re done. That’s why we absolutely can’t try anything until we get Ashuno in our sight, and no matter what, we don’t enter her 500 meter wind magic detection radius.」
「Yeah, but what are we gonna do, stick our fingers in our mouths as we wait?」
「……Roleau, patience. The pieces are in place. If finding her is difficult, then all we need to do is call her out here.」

That’s what the land mines were for.
We only have three days till we reach the minefield. That’s when the real battle starts.

◇

It’s been three days. We continued our surveillance, but couldn’t detect Ashuno even once.
Roleau’s discontent has accumulated a considerable amount, and he looks like he might explode at any moment.
It’s gotten dark now, so the four of us are camping in the forest, sitting around a campfire.

「Cyril-nisama, I put the tea in.」
「Thanks Yukino.」
「Mm.」

Yukino poured in warm tea with her magic.
The weather was getting warmer, but it was still chilly at night. The warm tea spread throughout my body.
I motioned for Yukino to come, and she quickly ran over to me and sat on my lap with her small body. I caressed her head, and Yukino smiled in a pleased manner.
「Chief, I can’t take it anymore! I don’t even know why we came here in the first place if we’re not going to make any moves!」

Roleau stood up and yelled.

「Let’s calm down, Roleau. Cyril said everything has been set in place, so let’s trust him and wait.」

Lucy drank tea and made herself comfortable as she admonished Roleau.

「Then how frickin’ long do we have to wait? At this rate, those punks are gonna get to Erucy without so much as a scratch on them! Chief is the one who said that we can’t win if that happens.」

I regretted my decision a bit. It might have been too severe for the impatient Roleau to deal with this plan. However, I needed his help no matter what.