3 bar menu

Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 7

「I think it is time to remind them of their place. 」

 

Nabir declared so to his subordinate Lords.

 

He decided to place a force led by three men on his right to attack the Lord of the enemy, while he himself will take his position on the left and will confront the allied forces of the independent Lords who have come to his aid. He also plans to crush every enemy he will encounter along the way.

 

He thought that it would be better to defeat many independent Lords and obtain their Crests from them in order to make himself that much stronger. On the other hand, one of his other intentions was to have the three Barons on his side compete with each other to see which one of them is going to kill this Theo first, because he promised them that whoever manages to kill the wandering Lord Theo is going to have his court rank doubled, effective immediately.

 

With the promise of such a reward, it was more than sure that they would all try to give it their best in order to rise up above the others

 

The three barons rejoiced at the king’s decision and snorted wildly, as they returned to their respective camps.

 

「What do you think? It is a splendid arrangement. 」

 

Nabir called out to the slim contracted Mage whowas standing next to him.

 

 

「It is true that there are times when good results can be obtained by making the Lords compete with one another. However, if you rely on such a tactic too often then you will lose the benefit of having your Lords cooperate with one another, and sometimes we can even make mistakes that could have been easily avoided if we were not in such a hurry to succeed. 」

 

In response to the contracted Mage’s answer, Nabir made a bitter expression.

 

「Why do you object to each and every one of my decisions whenever I happen to make one? It’s your job as a contracted Mage to make sure that what I’ve decided comes into fruition, right? 」

 

「It is exactly as you say. However, following your every command and being compliant to your opinions are not a part of my job description. 」

 

Nabir’s contracted Mage replied with an expressionless tone of voice. Of course, there are Mages who are good at following orders and being compliant with every single decision of the Lords that they have been contracted to. However, if the only thing that the Mages are going to be good at will be nodding their heads affirmatively at everything that their Lords are saying, then they are not going to be able to express their own opinions when their Lord is going to make a wrong decision.

 

「I… I see… 」

 

Nabir glared at his contracted Mage. The immediate thing that he wanted to do was to kill him right here and now, but if he did that then that would be the clear violation of the agreement. If the Mages Association caught wind of what he did, then in the best case scenario he would be denied the opportunity to make a contract with another Mage, and in the worst case scenario his title, lands and peerage would have been taken from him.

「Then maybe you should stand on the front lines with the other two and defeat as many enemies as possible. That would be much better for me. 」

 

This is the most effective way to use contracted Mage in battle, devised by The Iron-blooded Earl Jürgen Kraische himself. That way, even if the contracted Mage would indeed command the soldiers on the front lines and died in battle, it won’t be a violation of the agreement.

 

「As you wish. 」

 

Nabir’s contracted Mage quietly nodded, and then he nodded at the other two Mages and left Nabir’s side.

 

「It is time to do some cleaning. 」

 

Nabir snorted to himself.

 

「A Mage should only be concerned with using magic. I will be using my head in the meantime. 」

 

Navbir gathered his main knights and gave them all their respective battle orders.

 

He possesses the battle flag with the 「Phalanx」ability, which allows him to transform the members of his heavy infantry into the units as strong as giants. Even if they were forced to run for a long time without rest, not a single drop of sweat would fall from their foreheads, and their armor would be strengthened to withstand even the fiercest of blows without getting as much as a scratch on it. Even if they were to be sniped from afar with an arrow, it would bounce right  back from their heads. The knights under his command were always glad to make full use of that ability whenever they could.

 

Once upon a time, a great Lord used this tactic of coordinating heavy infantry and cavalry in close formation to build a great kingdom that unified the region. However, the kingdom was split in just one generation, and the current situation was such that the independent Lords were all competing with each other instead of being unified under the rule of a single Lord.

 

「I want to become a person exactly like that great Lord once was. 」

 

King of  Selvis muttered as he surveyed the battlefield with his eyes. However, aside from the glaring competition between the two sides, nothing worthy of taking note has happened, and it was only the day after that the two sides have finally clashed with one another.

 

First thing in the morning, one of the three Barons who served King Selvis rushed into Theo’s camp. Not to be late, the remaining two Barons also advance their own armies to not fall too far behind.

 

「They are coming after all. 」

 

Theo said leisurely while looking at the enemy army coming towards them from the other side of the grassland. Siluca also saw the movements of the enemy and understood that the three Barons under King Selvis must probably be vying for fame. That was the first thing that came to her mind when she saw how the enemy units were placed.

 

 

「Having them compete against one another for fame and titles is not a bad thing, since it is going to keep their offensive momentum going. But once they are going to be pushed back to the defensive, it should be rather easy to break them apart because there should be no coordination between them at all. 」

 

Siluca remembered the lessons that she heard when she was still at the Magic University and when she studied military science at the Red Faculty of Magic.

 

 

「The enemy is undoubtedly targeting Lord Theo. Since it has already come to that, then let us use Lord Theo as a decoy and have him engage the enemy, and after you fight them for a while I will have you flee. 」

 

「So what, you are going to go as far as to use your own Lord as a decoy to catch the enemy army off guard? 」

 

Moreno made an expression like he could not believe what he was hearing right now.

 

「If Moreno-senpai wants to be a decoy I Lord Theo’s place, then you are very welcomed to do it. 」

 

Siluca continued to talk after giving Moreno a cold look.

 

「Lord Lassc and Lord Neman should be divided into left and right sides and flank the enemies who are pursuing Lord Theo. Mr Blacksmith, for the time being, you should take the youths from the village and hide yourself in the tall grass, and when the enemies are going to be coming near you, please stand up all at once and shout out. That is going to be a signal for Lord Theo that it is time for him to counterattack. 」

 

It was a simple tactic, but it was supposed to be effective in defeating the enemy who was gaining momentum. It is going to be hard to route their enemies successfully, but the soldiers who carry the Patriot flag have neither honor nor fear to worry about, since all that they need to do is to carry out the strategy faithfully.

 

「I shall be praying for your success! 」

 

「Good luck! 」

 

Lassic and Neman lead their respective soldiers out, moving towards the left and right flanks respectively.

 

As Theo rode forward on horseback, he looked at the oncoming enemy forces.

 

「Captain Grak, please protect Lord Theo at all costs. If the enemy starts firing arrows at him, I will protect him with my magic. 」

 

Whether it i’s elemental magic or motion magic, there are various ways to block projectiles, and Siluca was already thinking about many of them and pictured them in her mind.

 

「Aishela, I want you to go around the battlefield and defeat the enemies that are going to look especially tough. 」