Chapter 220

“Just how large is the enemy force? You are fighting the Holy Empire’s Emperor—surely it cannot be that big.”

It was the formidable army of the Holy Empire’s Emperor. There was no way it could have been beaten back in such a short time, so it was only reasonable to assume that, upon hearing the emergency, only a portion of the forces had been sent as reinforcements.

But Crown Prince Charles I’s hope was shattered at once.

“T-that is…. It is the main army led by the Margrave of Bellua. The number is about ten thousand.”

“What? The Margrave of Bellua’s main force?”

“And…. there are also more than five thousand cavalry raiding our territory, Your Highness.”

“What nonsense is this! What in the world is the Holy Empire’s Emperor doing?!”

He flared in disbelief, but the messenger’s troubled expression only confirmed that the report was true.

“Where are they? Where are they now? We still have enough time to withdraw, do we not?”

“They appear to be about three days away. But their speed is so fast that I cannot guarantee it, Your Highness.”

At the report, Crown Prince Charles I felt his breath catch in his throat.

“We were only one last push away…!”

The outer wall was nearly taken. All they had to do was press on and seize the inner castle, yet the situation had turned into this.

“Y-Your Highness, we must withdraw at once.”

“That is right. If we are late by even a little, we will be surrounded from both front and rear.”

“And did we not ignore the fortresses behind us as we rushed here? If they strike in concert with the Margrave of Bellua, it may become difficult even to retreat.”

Crown Prince Charles I’s retainers shouted urgently. The danger was that severe.

“…….”

To begin with, the inner castle’s walls were far thicker and higher than the outer wall. If the defenders resolved to hold, it would not be easily breached.

His retainers’ arguments were sound.

Only a lingering trace of regret had seized Crown Prince Charles I’s ankle.

But his deliberation did not last long.

“Withdraw…. We withdraw….”

In the end, Crown Prince Charles I had no choice but to give the order.

This expedition was a failure.

A catastrophic failure at that—suffering immense losses and gaining nothing at all.

***

-Waaaaah—!

-Bel-lua! Bel-lua!

The moment Crown Prince Charles I’s army pulled back, the people of the Duchy of Aquitaine, who had endured inside the city, cheered and cried out my name.

When a long and brutal siege ended, a harsh price always followed.

And that price was usually paid by those inside the walls.

If I had not appeared and Crown Prince Charles I had taken the city as he was, the capital of the Duchy of Aquitaine would have been looted into ruin.

“Your Excellency! Oh, Your Excellency!”

“Thank you for saving us!”

“O Margrave of Bellua, beloved by God. Honor itself must surely mean Your Excellency.”

Nobles and merchants rushed out of the city in a frenzy, pouring out praise that was embarrassing to hear.

But I was hardly the sort to relax and grow soft because of words like these.

“Where are Sir Biden and the Duchy of Aquitaine’s leadership?”

“T-that is…. They retreated to the inner castle, so the news should have only just reached them.”

“Is that so?”

Hearing that, I nodded and looked to Magician Agpiel.

“Sage, please take charge of restoring order here. As you did in the County of Campania before.”

“Why? Are you thinking of pursuing Crown Prince Charles I?”

“Yes. It would be a shame to let him go so neatly, would it not? Heh.”

At my words, Magician Agpiel frowned.

“You are not going to do something strange again, are you? You must not treat a crown prince lightly. And you must certainly not kill him.”

“…What in the world do you take me for?”

Kill him?

He spoke as though I slaughtered everyone I fought.

Though…. come to think of it, had I not killed every knight I met in duels?

“Ahem. A-ahem.”

“Tsk, tsk. Do you understand now why I said it?”

“It is a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding, Magician Agpiel. Ahem. In any case, I will track him down and return. If we capture him, so much the better. If we inflict heavy losses, that is better still, is it not?”

“Haa…. Do as you please. You are the one in command, are you not? Still….”

“Yes. ‘Do not get carried away and be careful,’ is that what you mean?”

“That is right. If you understand, that is enough. Then go, and return safely.”

Magician Agpiel grumbled for no reason at all as he said it. A prickly old man, in his own way.

I laughed at the sight of him.

“Hahaha. Understood. I will bring back good news. Then I leave it to you, Magician Agpiel.”

With that, I selected a group of knights and spurred forward at full speed. I intended to show Crown Prince Charles I my strength while he still had not withdrawn far.

“W-wha…? Your Excellency! Where are you going?!”

The nobles in the inner castle, who arrived too late, could only stare after my retreating back in bewilderment.

***

Until recently, Crown Prince Charles I believed he had made the decision to withdraw with admirable speed.

He had left the battlefield before the Margrave of Bellua arrived, preserving the bulk of his forces.

Nothing was harder than retreat.

No one enjoyed risking his life in battle.

If the situation was bad enough to demand retreat, then a mediocre commander would have lost most of his army during the withdrawal.

In that sense, preserving most of his troops while falling back toward his territory was an achievement worthy of praise.

That was—until he met the Margrave of Bellua.

-Neighhhhh!

-Kyaaagh—!

-The Margrave of Bellua has appeared!

-R-run!

I picked elite knights and pursued Crown Prince Charles I’s army, using the greatest strength of cavalry to its fullest.

A brutal lance charge.

Crown Prince Charles I’s army had never imagined I would chase them, and the sudden strike inflicted tremendous losses.

-CRUNCH!

-CRACK!

-Guhhhk!

Even with a proper phalanx, it was difficult to stop a cavalry charge.

But during a retreat, while careless, and then cavalry charges in?

There was no stopping it.

With a single attack, hundreds were cut down.

“Damn it! Intercept them at once!”

Of course, Crown Prince Charles I did not stand idle.

He immediately dispatched knights to protect his troops.

“Whoa—! We turn back!”

But I was not going to fight those knights like an idiot. If Crown Prince Charles I sent many cavalry, I turned my horse without hesitation and fled.

“You cowardly bastard! And you call yourself a knight?!”

His knights cursed and hurled insults, but as if such words would have any effect on me.

I snorted and, as though taunting them, repeated the pattern—strike, then flee.

As time passed, the damage to Crown Prince Charles I’s army grew exponentially.

On the first day, over a hundred.

On the second day, several hundred.

And now, after a full week—

“Y-Your Highness. The soldiers are scattering. Each night passes, and the next morning it is difficult even to see their faces.”

“…How many remain?”

“I am sorry. I could not determine—”

“No. Enough.”

Crown Prince Charles I did not need a report. He could see with his own eyes that his army was crumbling into grains of sand.

“The Margrave of Bellua…. He is vicious. To think he would go this far. Hah… hahahah….”

With hollow bitterness, Crown Prince Charles I let out a dry laugh.

To think a man with such renown would wage war in so petty a way. Or perhaps it was precisely because he fought like this that he had won so many victories.

An enemy, yet undeniably formidable.

But he could not simply praise his enemy.

If this continued, his army might collapse completely. And then it would become difficult to break through the siege ring of the Duchy of Aquitaine’s fortresses that he had ignored.

He had to choose something—anything.

“Hm….”

After a brief struggle, Crown Prince Charles I made his decision and nodded.

“Divide the army.”

“Yes?”

“Divide the army into three. Each will move in a different direction.”

He would throw out bait so that the Margrave of Bellua could not pursue them all.

After all, the force the Margrave of Bellua had brought was no more than about five hundred cavalry. With over ten thousand troops still remaining, even split three ways each group would still have roughly three thousand—an uncomfortable number to attack head-on.

And since he could not chase all three, if one group served as bait, at least the other two would survive.

Of course—

“B-but then Your Highness’s honor…! And if he attacks the group Your Highness leads, what then?”

“That is right. It is far too dangerous. And it may accelerate desertion even further.”

There were many problems, just as they said.

But was there any real difference? Whether he fled like this or continued as he was, the end might be the same.

If he was going to fall, better to fall after trying something.

And honor—if he survived, he could restore it later.

So Crown Prince Charles I decided to accept another humiliation.

He would take on the infamy of a coward who abandoned subordinates, throw out bait, and run.

“What? Crown Prince Charles I’s army scattered and fled in three directions? Then we stop the pursuit. Let the rear fortresses handle the rest. Why bother with men driven mad with rage? Hah.”

The moment I heard the news, I gave a soft chuckle and ordered the withdrawal.

I had inflicted immense losses, and I had smeared the honor of a powerful rival.

The pursuit force had accomplished its purpose.

If Crown Prince Charles I heard this, he would likely clutch his neck and collapse.

Of course, he was too busy fleeing through the night to learn it immediately.

Heh-heh-heh.

***

“You are the sort who torments people painfully.”

“Pardon? Me?”

“Yes. If one becomes your enemy, it must be exhausting. Rather than striking once and ending it, you do that—harassing them again and again.”

The moment I returned, Magician Agpiel said this. It sounded like a rebuke, but his expression suggested he was teasing me again.

Truly!

“Do you think I did that because I wanted to? If I crush them in one blow, the damage is greater. I did it to minimize losses.”

“Oh, listen to you. If only your mouth were as quiet as your hands.”

“Heh-heh. Is this not eloquence I learned from you, Magician Agpiel?”

I shrugged brazenly, then sat down and asked him.

“By the way, how is Aquitaine? From what I saw on the way back, it seems they have recovered from the damage fairly well.”

“I have been driving the administrators hard and pouring everything into restoring administrative capacity. The chaos will soon subside.”

“That is a relief.”

Magician Agpiel truly was capable.

To bend officials to his will in such a short time—

and in another man’s domain, no less.

Because of that, I thought this affair might finally end smoothly. I only wanted to end this damn war and return to my own lands to rest.

But then—

“Hm…. There is a problem. It is something Azuela told me….”

“Yes? Now? What problem is it?”

Why did another problem have to emerge now? And Azuela? Just hearing her name made me uneasy.

“You know, Azuela was treating Duchess Maceania after the poisoning.”

“That is what I heard. Did the treatment fail?”

“No. That is not it. But….”

Magician Agpiel glanced at me, then scratched his head with a deeply troubled look and spoke.

“To wake Duchess Maceania, they say they need you.”

“??”

“They say they need your kiss, at that. They told me to send you to her the moment you arrived. Ahem.”

As expected, in this world of Pangea Universalise, accidents always happened from the most unexpected places.

“????????????”