Chapter 407
Chapter 407: I keep saying that it’s Gunnery Sergeant Hartman-san’s fault, and not mine at all, but they just don’t get it.
Day 95 – Evening, Lord’s Mansion
Notified of the Church’s Arianna-sama’s arrival by my aide, I left mid-training and went straight for my office, but the mansion has grown so vast that it’s now a long walk. And even now, passing through the lavish hallway of the ornate reception room lined with expensive artwork makes me tense up. I walk through, pressured by the majestic paintings on the walls and the solemn grandeur of the sculptures on display.
Not long ago, we lived surrounded by stone walls so bare that there wasn’t even a wallpaper to change. Now, I’m overwhelmed by the sheer colorfulness of the walls and the luxurious furnishings hung and placed upon them. Entering my office again, I’m hit by that familiar pang in my gut. No matter how many times I enter, the majesty of that large painting dazzles me, and the chair, so extravagant and comfortable, that it on the contrary actually makes it even harder to relax… I used to complain about my old rickety chair that creaked when I sat down, but now I miss it so much I actually went digging through the storage room to find it.
「Omui-sama, was there something from the Church? If they are demanding our custody, we will return immediately, so please, do not let us become a burden to the Frontier.」
Taking a seat I invite her to sit down on the sofa, but she refuses. This leather sofa, luxurious and elegant, still makes me nervous every time I sit on it. I was surprised and delighted by the opulence of MuriMuri Castle, but living in the Lord’s Mansion, which is my own home, and feeling nervous every single day is seriously starting to wear on my stomach.
「Please, don’t worry. As of now, nothing has come. But I want you to remember this: You are guests who extended a hand to us here in the Frontier. If the Church dares to baselessly accuse you of a crime, then we in the Frontier will be your allies. That is something I want you to never forget. No matter what kind of training that boy and his comrades performed, waging war against a nation with barely twenty people is beyond reckless. Besides, at this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Theocracy is essentially enemy territory for you?」
It is reckless. But they say they’re being trained under someone who specializes in recklessness, someone who uses such deep, far-reaching strategies that it makes you question what reckless even means. It was said they can already overwhelm the Church’s knight order and even fight against the elite Ordinators. If the boy says so, then it must be true. No matter how absurd, no matter how groundless it sounds, if that boy says it, I will believe it without a shred of doubt. If I can’t believe what he says, then what in this world could possibly be worth believing?
「He taught us how to protect ourselves. He said we were still far from being able to protect others, but rather than giving up in weakness, we gained the means to fight. I want this strength to be something that brings happiness to others. Please, do not put the Frontier in danger on our account.」
Truly kind and noble priests. A fragment of genuine conscience left in a thoroughly rotten Church. They haven’t changed a bit since the day they arrived… Well, their outfits are kinda resique, but besides that, they still look like nothing but pure and immaculate clergy. Can they really fight? No, if the boy says they can, then it must be true.
No matter how unrealistic his words might sound, no matter how delusional they appear, that boy, Haruka-kun, has done it all. He put everything into practice and proved it. He made real what everyone believed was impossible: the dream of bringing happiness to this forsaken Frontier. What was just a fantasy, nothing but a pipe dream that would make anyone laugh, he made it real. If you can’t believe that, what can you believe? If he says it can be done, then it can be done. Even if I can’t picture it, the mere act of trying to imagine something involving that boy borders on madness. If reality contradicts him, then reality is what’s wrong. That boy is the miracle of the Frontier itself, reality has no right to oppose him.
「Our Frontier Army may be a powerless force before the threats of the Frontier, but we are also a force that has continued to resist those threats and survived. Not one of us fears fighting for the sake of our benefactors. We will protect the peace of the Frontier and our guests as well, please, do not worry.」
And so the conversation stayed at an impasse. Hoping to ease their worries by showing the strength of the Frontier Army, I invited them to join a training session, thinking I’d share a bit of instruction, and thus we headed to the training grounds…
「These habits(armor) given to us by Haruka-sama, what are they for?!」
「「「To kill the enemy, rip off their [bleep], and shove it up their [bleep], ma’am!」」」
「Those greatswords(falchions) gifted by Haruka-sama, are they for decoration?!」
「「「A blade for slashing through [bleep], letting it drink blood, and scattering [bleep], ma’am!」」」
「What did Pres-samas teach you?!」
「「「To kill, kill, kill, kill! (Destroy, Destroy, Destroy)」」」
「If you understand, then [bleep] the [bleep] out of the [bleep] across the universe! Advance!」
「「「Yes, ma’am!!」」」
Haruka-kun… Just what did you teach them? What kind of training was that? The Frontier Army’s formation was shattered with just the first strike. Unable to withstand that first clash, the troops are thrown back, destroying the formation. Even their counterattacks were being countered. To think the elites of the Frontier would be unable to even half them!
「You’ve got guts to stand in our way! I’ll turn your [bleep] into a souvenir and shove it up your [bleep] until you [bleep]! Charge!」
「「「Yes, ma’am! Advance, go ahead!」」」
「「Kill(Destroy), Kill(Destroy), Kill(Destroy), Kill(Destroy) …」」」
Actually, they’re scared. The Frontier Army, trying not to injure them, took up a defensive formation, and got hit head-on… But the sheer force of that first strike, paired with their suddenly savage and brutal demeanor, left them rattled and overwhelmed. These are seasoned veterans who used to laugh while fighting hordes of monsters, now they’re afraid. Well yeah, that’s scary! Like, damn, that’s too crazy! Haruka-kun, what did you do to them?!
In the chaos they do their best to regroup and reform the lines, but they’re broken again with a single attack. Trying to draw them in and encircle without clashing head-on, the tables turned on them with a single-point breakthrough. Both sides wear tough, heavy equipment, leading to a chaotic melee. The Church side can’t land a decisive blow, and the Frontier Army keeps fixing formation to prevent that decisive blow. It’s a deadlock, an endless formation dance to avoid a decisive outcome.
They simply can’t push them back. That first slash, they can’t deal with it. If they do, they’re taken out by the second wave. Alternating strikes would collapse the entire line. If they retreat, they don’t pursue. If they surround, they’re broken through. Yeah, even the Theocracy’s army would have a hard time dealing with this. They’ve been drilled and sharpened to fight exactly like this. And in just these short few days, they’re trading blows with battle-hardened veterans… Yeah, next time we’re asking them to train us too. From what I’ve heard from Meriel and Princess Shariceres, it’s mentally devastating, your worldview gets shattered, and you end up depressed, but this strength is real.
That’s why I’ll step in as well. There’s much I need to teach them, but first, they must learn what the boy wanted to convey, the difficulty of retreat.
「「Kill(Destroy), Kill(Destroy), Kill(Destroy), Kill(Destroy) …」」」
Whooa, that’s soooo scary!
「Being trained by the Frontier Army, renowned as the strongest on the continent, will be a lifelong memory. Haruka-sama told us that hit-and-run tactics were our only path to survival, but experiencing it firsthand in battle made us understand it deep to our very bones. Thank you very much.」
「Ahh… well, good for you? I mean, against a normal army, just that first strike would’ve been enough to cause a total collapse…」
In spite of terror, I somehow managed to recover the situation and suppress them, but if that had been a real battle… before we could regroup, a panic likely would’ve spread, leading to either a full massacre or an encirclement, bracing for heavy casualties. Indeed, they are strong enough to instill dread in the enemy robbing them of their will to fight. Very few have the nerve to face someone who comes at them with intent to kill in a single stroke.
Now that I’ve actually crossed swords with them, I fully understand why even soldiers of the Frontier would be frightened. That was terrifying! Even the Church’s army, which is often mocked for enjoying slaughter and rampage, would hesitate and tremble before this. Wearing robes of a holy order, and yet delivering death with a single blow, such strength would shake anyone.
But… Haruka-kun. That person may have cast aside her worldly titles to become a mere nun, but she’s still a princess of the Theocracy, you know? Why are you teaching her stuff like [bleep] and [bleep] and how to shove [bleep] into a [bleep]?! A cleric should not be saying things like 『twist off their [bleep] and jam it into their [bleep]!』 Come on, Haruka-kun! Do something about this!
Now that I think about it… Haruka-kun didn’t seem to care one bit about the princess of the Kingdom either. Completely indifferent. He even bullied the King, didn’t he?
I always thought he was a different kind of person altogether, but now I realize, it’s not just that his depths are unfathomable. You can’t even see the edge of the rim of his vessel as a person. The interpreter once said his vessel had a hole in the bottom, too, but honestly, I have no idea how to measure someone like him. As for Arianna-sama… what do we even do now? Wouldn’t returning her to the Theocracy cause problems? Like… big problems? International incident? I mean, it’s [bleep] , and stuff…?
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