Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

The right-leaning Aless of Aless sails at a snail's pace.

Fires were barely snuffed in time and smoke can still clearly be seen rising from the gun deck.

「Slowly now. Anybody who rows with power will be thrown in the river.」

I give a warning to the Aless soldiers controlling the oars.

The hole opened in the side of the ship by gunpowder-induced explosions was large enough that temporary repairs could not block it completely, allowing water to continue flowing in.

If we mindlessly row the oars, the flooding would increase or worse, the ship would sink.

「Muuu…… how can a man's ship crowned with the name of Aless be this weak? Can the water not be scooped out faster?」

「What if all of us drinks it up? I can finish one barrel's worth.」

「How about trusting the manly ship and letting us row once with all our strength?」

I throw the last guy overboard, but he somehow grabs onto a rope and hangs on.

「We won’t last much longer. Can we do it?」

I pull up the soldier I threw and kick him back to his station before questioning Sekrit.

「Wait a little more. The flagship is fussing about waiting for the slowpokes.」

All of us were chased deep into the cove.

After the enemy sealed the entrance, they advanced slowly while burying the seriously damaged ships lagging behind.

We're truly in a desperate situation.

「I guess this is good enough…… hard to port, full speed ahead!」

「Finally!」

「Nuooooh!!」

The ship, which avoided turning because of the flooding, steered all the way to the left and accelerated.

「Stop the drainage of water. All personnel, come up onto the deck.」

We separate from the other ships and head in a different direction.

「Even though I know what's going on, it doesn't feel good.」

With the crew stopping the expulsion of water and the increase in speed, the sinking gets worse.

At this point, sinking is inevitable. I might as well start doing warm-up exercises to prepare myself to swim.

「A little to port…… now starboard, a little…… arrgh, that's wrong! Turn to the left, then a little to the right! That's too much, now left!」

Sekrit is standing at the bow instead of the bridge, shouting detailed instructions.

Somehow, the Aless soldiers answer her demands.

The ship moves toward a point near the center of the cove.

Our allies have run to the edge of the coast so there are only enemies in front.

It might appear to be a desperate charge from an outsider's perspective.

Enemy cannons fire at us, but Sekrit only peeks over the bow, focused solely on the water.

After a certain point, she lifts her head and clings to the sub-mast.

「All hands, brace for impact!」

The Aless soldiers react quickly and crowd around.

From the start, the man-chair was already bound with chains, while Lott grabs onto me.

「Au……it feels like it'll go in through the underwear.」

Don't say that. You'll make me hard.

An intense shaking assaults the Aless of Aless.

The deep rumbling can be felt in the pit of my stomach and the vibrations couldn't compare to the likes of cannons discharging.

We were not being bombarded. It wasn't an induced explosion either.

「Guooooooooh!」

Groans can be heard from all over and the ship's loses speed instantly.

The sudden stop flings everything from the back of the ship towards the bow.

Barrels, crates and stray cannonballs collide with each other and break things that they come in contact with.

Deck cannons which were not secured properly also get lifted off the deck, nails and all.

Aless of Aless runs aground on the sandbar in the central part of the cove.

「It is a disgrace for a captain's ship to be grounded and I never expected to order it.」

Sekrit comments with a composed expression, her claws digging into the sub-mast.

「But this is――」

I adjust my hold on Lott, who was about to slip under my arm and fly away, and use my foot to stop a rolling Aless soldier.

If something gets stuck in the wheel of a carriage, there would be a pretty big crash and the entire thing would be stopped in an instant.

For a large battleship that had built up momentum, it isn't easy to stop.

A low rumbling sound is made from the hull of the Aless of Aless grinding along the river bottom, the ship still moving.

「Couldn't you have lowered the speed even more!?」

I yell at Sekrit with Lott in one arm and my foot pushing against the Aless soldier's body.

「Not enough speed would mean only the front of the ship getting on land, which would cause the ship to flip over. On the other hand, going this fast means……look, it worked.」

The ship comes to a complete stop.

I let go of Lott and kick the Aless soldier's ass before taking a peek.

「Haha, what an interesting sight.」

The Aless of Aless literally ran on the soft sand of the shoal and stopped.

From afar, it would look like this ship was on land.

「The angle and position isn't too bad. Hey, you ruffians, how long are you going to stay clinging onto that. Go back to work.」

In response to Sekrit's shout, the Aless soldiers groan in anguish.

Many of them were able to endure the impact or simply shook their heads after falling to the floor and got back up like nothing happened.

「Don't dawdle. We have enemies incoming from the right.」

We ended up in the middle of the inlet with the right side of our ship facing the entrance.

In addition, since we turned hard to port as soon as we ran aground, the ship tilted so that the entire right side was lifted up and the bottom was partially stuck in the mud.

「Right, this isn't the time to be spacing out!」

「Here comes the enemy! We better start fighting!」

Aless soldiers collect themselves and take up their posts.

「Why did we lean the ship this way? It's going to be troublesome to move.」

I ask while putting Lott in a barrel and rolling her to a relatively safe storage room.

「You'll understand soon.」

Sekrit's answer came at the same time as the enemy's cannonfire.

Although the brilliant performance confused the enemy, there was no mistake that a battleship was just singled out.

There was no reason for them not to destroy it.

Within a few seconds, countless cannonballs rained down on us.

Since we have no way of moving the ship, we couldn't do anything other than watch as the Aless of Aless was bombarded.

Continuous clanks from the shots landing on the ship were deafening and the impact from each shell shook our bodies.

From the number of major vibrations felt, I would guess we were hit at least 20 times.

「Damage report.」

There was no delay in the reply.

「Not much!」

Sekrit leisurely leans against the railings on the port side.

「An incline of this extent means that any incoming fire can only hit the side of the ship.」

The Aless of Aless was always durable and it even had its armor reinforced on the side.

It will take more than a weak volley to penetrate this defense.

「Won't they go through the gun deck?」

「Look from the deck, you can only see the sky. If they have mortars capable of high-angle fire, then it might be possible, but combat ships aren't equipped with those. If they only have cannons, they'll hit the armor plating no matter how much they shoot.」

If the ship is tilted, then the apertures of our gun ports would be facing upward diagonally.

Cannonballs that can only fly in a straight line cannot enter a diagonal hole.

「So the enemy will aim at the exposed hull.」

Booms once again roar out and crash into our ship――this time, instead of metallic clanging, the unpleasant sound of splintering wood reaches our ears.

What is normally below the water's surface and has no armor obviously becomes the enemy's target.

Some of the shots must have pierced through and damaged the inside of the ship as well.

「Usually, it would be fatal for the draft of this ship to be hit…… right now, it's absolutely fine.」

That's right, we won't sink no matter how much they destroy the hull.

We're not in the water after all.

「They'll probably aim here next. They'll try to smash the deck and kill the crew.」

Cannonballs fly toward the deck where we're on.

Half of them hit the side of the ship like before and the other half fly over and off into the distance.

「Of course they're not going to hit the deck while it's tilted.」

It's slanted so far to the left that it's hard to stand upright.

There's no way they can hit us if they shoot from the starboard side.

Despite this ship being stranded on land, the enemy can't hit us with a decent attack.

I lean on the same railing Sekrit is on.

The enemy's cannons get louder.

That must mean they increased their power and shortened the distance.

However, the armor on the Aless of Aless isn't normal. It won't be broken so easily.

「It's not like we can do anything with our gun deck on an angle. We would have looked like idiots if they ignored us, so I'm quite pleased they gave us attention.」

「Things are fine. We'll get full marks if we can gather the enemy here.」

Unwilling to admit defeat, the enemy's cannonballs tear off the sub-mast.

Because of its height, the mast inevitably gets hit…… however, the balance of the ship won't be affected so it doesn't really matter.

Other damaged ally ships copy our tactic of riding up onto the sand bar.

Their ship handling was nowhere near Sekrit's level so they could not get the ships to tilt like ours, but having ships that won't sink is a fairly big problem for the enemy.

You either have to shatter the deck to pieces or shoot enough times to cause multiple gunpowder-induced explosions.

I glance over at the land.

There are no towns near the inlet, only a wetland area rampant with aquatic plants.

A small green-colored kite rises from among the grass.

As I stare blankly, I hear "wasshoi, wasshoi" from the gun deck.

「……they're starting something unnecessary again.」

「……I incited them by saying the enemy was coming, but nothing happened.」

Sekrit looks at me and jerks her chin, urging me to come.

Don't lump me in together with them.

「That's nonsense, considering you're wearing the red cape and the single pair of underwear.」

I'm doing it unwillingly.

My clothes were thrown somewhere so I have to look inside the ship with the cape on.

「……idiots.」

She was at a loss for words.

Those guys grew impatient from not being shot at due to the incline and are moving cannons onto the deck.

「I can't see the enemy from being constantly shot at.」

「So we just have to move to a place we can seen them!」

Each cannon was being carried by three Aless soldiers.

The large cannons, which were basically masses of steel, took nearly ten soldiers to lift.

This might actually be interesting.

「It's boring to wait while they shoot at us. We'll shoot back from the deck.」

「Huh? Do you know how much work it is to move cannons? And installing them on the battlefield is――」

Sekrit's voice fades as she watches the Aless soldiers carry the cannons.

「Don't install them, shoot while you carry them. I want four per cannon, three to hold it and one to light the fuse. When the enemy shoots back, move to a different spot immediately.」

A delighted "ohh" shouts back.

Before they could do anything, the ship shakes from the collective cannonfire from the enemy.

「Now. Go!」

A brief pause after the barrage granted the Aless soldiers time to run up the slanted deck with the cannons and push the barrels of the cannons out above the starboard railing.

「Fire!」

A few shots from the irregularly-timed cannonfire manage to land on the enemy.

「Ooh, got 'em!」

「We can do this!」

I rejoice along with the Aless soldiers.

Even though the enemy quickly fires back, we move backwards quickly and don't get hit.

「A couple of tiny ships are coming this way.」

「Maybe they're coming to set us on fire since we can't move.」

「Blow them away.」

After loading the cannon, the Aless soldiers relocate.

This time, the point the cannons downward and fire at the enemy barely approaching the sand bar.

「Alright, we did it! But there's a big one coming.」

「Let's greet them with the big cannons.」

Aless soldiers run around the deck with cannons in their arms, poke their heads out and fire.

Nobody seems to be having trouble with the slanted ground. Since people are shifting the cannons, the angle and direction of fire can be changed at will.

「Amazing. Do as you please. Don't overthink things.」

Sekrit couldn't help heaping praise on their hard work.

During all that, the color of the kite changes to yellow.

While watching out for the reef, the enemy advances deeper into the cove.

It appears they don't want to match us in a shootout anymore.

「They'll circle around soon.」

「Yeah.」

Although the Aless soldiers were able to shock and deal some damage to the enemy, it doesn't change the fact that the Aless of Aless can't move.

Aiming at us from the starboard side won't work, but if they move to the port side, we're a non-moving target.

If they blast the upper part of the ship where there is no armor, the ship will eventually be destroyed or explode.

「And that would seal Ivanna's fate.」

Ivanna is trying to reorganize what little of the ally ships remain, but her forces are only one fourth the size of the enemy's.

Not to mention they're cornered and can't do any complicated maneuvers.

It's a hopeless situation.

「We're reaching our limit here.」

Just in case, I order the Aless soldiers to bring one cannon and point it to the unmanned area…… the wetland area lush with water weeds.

It turns out I didn't have to give a fruitless order, the yellow kite returns to the ground and a red kite flies in its place.

「They're here.」

Sekrit tenses her abs and raises her body up from the railings she was leaning against.

「Finally.」

Damn Leopolt.

I was really getting worried since there are two females' lives on the line here.

We are in the dead-center of the cove, on the sand bar where ships cannot pass.

The front of the enemy fleet is in the middle of the inlet and the end of their queue has also completely entered the bay.

Our ally fleet is located on the edge of the shore…… the perfect position.

「It's coming.」

Sekrit and I watch the enemy with a strange sense of anticipation like we were watching a thrilling opera.

Aless soldiers are running around, creating a lot of noise, but I understand that theatres also have annoying guests as well.

There was a low-pitched thump.

I'm certain that was from a cannon, although I can't tell purely from the sound.

That was just how far it was.

「5, 6, 7, 8, 9…… that's pretty far.」

Sekrit is counting how long it takes for the shell to land…… or basically, measuring the range of the cannon, and she was quite surprised at the result.

The large enemy ship at the very front was hit.

There was a mix of destructive sounds and then multiple explosions…… in mere seconds, what followed those heterogeneous noises was the forward tipping of the ship's bow into the water and the eventual sinking of the ship.

「It pierced through the armor plating, destroyed the hull, then ignited oil or gunpowder…… all it took was one shot.」

Sekrit's eyes narrow.

That was the prelude to the barrage that was to come.

The attack was extremely accurate yet powerful enough to split medium and small ships in half, and even destroy or sink larger ships too.

As the enemy ships pass by us, we hear yelling coming from the crew.

They don't have the luxury to care about us anymore.

「Asalus, disabled! Purango, sunk! Tsulark, heavily damaged! What is this!? What's going on!?」

「We're obviously being bombarded! Look at the splashes created…… I've never seen any cannon like this. The strength of the shells are also strange…… look! They go right through to the other side even though they hit the armor plating!」

「More importantly, find out where they're shooting from! The smoke is coming from…… land? ……Shit, they set us up!!」

That's right, this is a trap.

The shadows near the plants belong to my army who have readied all of their cannons.

It would be difficult for us to win against an enemy fleet with overwhelmingly few numbers, let alone annihilate them.

If the enemy fleet survives and hides, we would have to be constantly wary of potential raids and we wouldn't be able to join the frontal war front.

If we were going to fight, we needed to draw out all of the enemy forces and eliminate all of them.

Leopolt came up with a plan to do just that.

The fleet battle was stage one and this is stage two.

「The large cannons and…… those other cannons I said I wanted.」

To be precise, it was 22 large cannons and 16 of the special dwarven cannons. They also had 60 regular cannons.

The dwarven cannons were particularly heavy, hard to manage, and honestly unfit for marching, but once they get set up, their power is on another level.

They aren't simply larger than normal cannons by three or four times.

They are created with different materials, which allow the cannonball to be propelled at extremely high speeds, and even I can shoot with utmost accuracy, despite not knowing how to operate it, as long as I use the sighting device.

「There's also cheating going on.」

I glance at the water.

Drifting on the surface of the rough river are rotten boats.

It isn't anything rare, but if something abnormal has to be pointed out, it's that they're staying in the same place no matter how much they are rocked by the water.

They were fastened to stones in the water after all.

When enemy ships pass beside the boats, they would get hit by three shots from large cannons.

「It's not necessary to aim every single time. Directions and angles are determined ahead of time so that there is no delay in adjusting the cannons. Buoys are placed in spots to mark where the cannonballs will land…… and then, when the enemy reaches the corresponding area, the cannons can be fired without much thought.」

This is essentially the same thing Sekrit did with the color markings for the Aless soldiers.

If one looks closely, there are also ragged flags that appear to float unnaturally close to barrels, fishing boats, and clumps of grass that stay in one place in spite of the intense bombardment.

「The accuracy may be higher, but the disastrous scene is a result of the cannon's ability. This power…… while not impossible to be reproduced by Federation technology, they would have to be cannons that tower high in the sky with no way to hide.」

All the cannons shooting at the enemy can be broken down as follows: 10% regular cannons, 20% large cannons, and 70% dwarven cannons.

Normal cannons won't do much damage to combat ships anyways.

It's the large cannons that can deal significant damage and the dwarven cannons that can kill in one hit.

With that said, the enemy won't let us fire freely.

「Here comes their counterattack.」

The enemy aimed and fired at the coast.

Easily over 10 times the number of projectiles were launched.

「……it doesn't seem to have any effect. The construction of the encampment is also well done.」

As if proving the health of the encampment, an enemy ship approaching the coast while firing gets blown away.

「Yeah, Leopolt has a nasty personality. He likes to show how meaningless the enemy's desperate attack is.」

I didn't like how Sekrit was praising Leopolt so I lowered him a little, which made her show a slight smile with her eyes.

Leopolt had calculated the direction in which the enemy would be lured in and ensured that the mound of aquatic plants and camouflaged encampments look nothing like camps from where they come from.

A mid-sized ship has over 10 cannons and a large ship has several dozens of cannons, and both are extremely powerful, capable of obliterating fortresses constructed with sturdy rocks.

However, it's a different story if they can't figure out where they are being shot at.

Smoke can be used to estimate a rough location, although their precision would be very low without a concrete position.

Moreover, smoke rises from places other than the supposed encampments.

Leopolt must have had wheat flour or quicklime sprinkled in various areas. This would further confuse the enemy.

In particular, the installation of dwarven cannons requires firm ground to be chosen and a hole to be dug.

That would make them difficult to be destroyed by cannons.

「They're not stupid enough to remain flustered though. Look, they're reversing the situation.」

They realized the trap and found out that shooting at the cannons on land won't silence them.

So, what can they do?…… It's simple, they can run.

Unlike combat ships that can chase with their cannons, cannons on land cannot move in the middle of battle.

For ships that can move at high speeds, it's imperative they get out of range as soon as possible.

Of course, the enemy does just that.

Paddles are lowered and they turn around, trying to leave the cove quickly.

「That being the case, we already won the moment they entered the cove.」

When the enemy fleet turned around, the front ships―― in other words, the last to enter and naturally unharmed ships, were showered with a rain of fire.

「It's because they were too cocky and chased us.」

Sekrit watches happily as the enemy ships start to burn.

It wasn't a special cannon or powerful magic that was shot at them.

They're ordinary flaming arrows, which have been used for thousands of years.

By the looks of things, there are at least a thousand of them.

「F-flaming arrows!? Impossible, we're not even close to land!」

「Are they in small boats or something!? They can't be, we'd notice if they had that many!」

Their consternation is clear as day.

Actually, the answer was quite simple. We had footing put together from the coast to the sand bar.

The depth of water on the shoals of a cove isn't typically deep, plus there is almost no current.

As long as we can predict where the enemy will enter and how they will run, it's easy to create a foundation to stand on.

Then, we just have to camouflage them like we did with the cannons.

On our way here, it was funny to see the archers covering themselves with the plants.

「Well, it's not bad. It would take me some effort to find it even if I knew it was there.」

Honestly, I found them right away.

There wasn't any mistaking Celia's cute ass sticking out.

It's hard to deal with flaming arrows at close range, and more so when there are close to a thousand of them.

Add to that the fact that a combat ship isn't prepared to deal with such an attack.

In the blink of an eye, several ships catch fire and stop moving.

Indeed, this was what we wanted.

A ship wasn't going to sink purely by the barrage of flaming arrows.

That's why we wanted to cause a fire or kill the commander and soldiers on the deck.

Once that happens, the ships would be in disarray, be incapacitated and become a large torch.

They would then also serve as obstacles blocking the narrow opening of the cove.

「Kuku, an excellent barrier. A fine example of the plan working.」

「All the archers did well. Tell them they can retreat.」

After the signal was given, the archers scatter, either running along the footpath to the coast…… or diving into the water.

In frustration, the enemy would later demolish the footing with cannons.

「They can't advance forward. They don't have an exit.」

Sekrit mutters and I join in.

「The enraged wolf will then pounce.」

The Suvorov leads the rest of the ships toward the dispersing enemies.

「Kuku, I'll tell her that later.」

Please don't. She'll flare up at me too.

Anyways, that settles it.

「Hey man! We'll participate too!」

Tired of carrying the cannons around, the Aless soldiers approach me.

「It's not like we can move.」

The Aless of Aless is grounded and in tatters.

「So what if the ship can't move? We can still move our bodies!」

Before I knew it, they were carrying boats instead of cannons.

Well, there's no point in stopping them since the battle has been decided.

「Do whatever you want. Go fight to your heart's desire!」

「Yeah, watch us! We'll display our bravery for everyone to see!」

They let out joyful roars as they jump off the ship and start running on the sand.

They proceed to enter the water and swim furiously toward the enemy…… all while carrying the boats.

「Hey, why are they bringing the boats?」

Sekrit asks, tilting her head adorably.

「How would I know……?」

The Aless soldiers swim endlessly with the boats.

What followed was a one-sided development.

Ivanna chased the disorganized enemies, dishing out relentless attacks as revenge for what happened earlier.

The enemy tries to escape the cove, but with the chain of command fractured by cannonfire and flaming arrows, they could only flee chaotically.

Any attempts at counterattacks are suppressed by cannons, ships trying to slip past their burning allies get caught in the explosions, those who move too close to the coast fall over and become grounded, and then nobody even notices the nearing Aless soldiers board their ships.

Only a few lucky ships manage to escape from the hellish pot that the cove turned into.

Ultimately, the enemy lost over 90% of their forces and can be considered annihilated.

Our plan was a success and now we can meet up with Erich's main army without worry of being threatened by the enemy from behind.

――After the battle.

An enemy battleship slowly sinks into the water.

This particular ship managed to break free alone after a fierce exchange of cannonfire with the pursuing Suvorov, but was eventually shot in the draft and was about exhaust the rest of its energy.

As the ship continues to tilt to the right, it eventually falls onto its side.

Many soldiers jumped into the river from the deck, but they were unfortunately outside of the cove.

Fatigued and weak from the tiring battle, the enemy soldiers had no strength to resist the current and sank under the water.

Nobody thought about risking their lives to save others.

This was their fate.

Nevertheless, some of them survive and flow to where we are.

At the brink of total exhaustion, they can't struggle or run away.

Standing in front of them was Sekrit.

She happily detached her prosthetic arm, and hesitated for a brief moment before choosing to equip the arm capable of gripping objects.

She raises a sword and swings it down on the enemy soldier who is on the verge of tears――

「Hey now.」

I grab her right arm.

「Mmn.」

An Aless soldier grabs her left arm.

「……what is the meaning of this? Let go.」

「There's no point in killing them needlessly.」

I'm also tired and in no mood to fight.

「It is not manly to kill those who are prostrating on the ground in defeat.」

The Aless soldier puffs out his chest.

At that moment, the enemy soldier lets out a plea in a weak voice.

「D-dammit…… there's no hope―― for the 200 people still onboard the ship. Alex……Missa……」

I take away Sekrit's sword and wrap my arm around the man's shoulder.

「Is Missa the name of a woman? Women are on that ship? Answer me.」

In a few more minutes, the ship will completely vanish beneath the water.

I slap the man's cheek a couple times.

「Ebh, gabh…… yeah, about 50 are left――」

I immediately leave the man's side and call out to the Aless soldiers.

「Let's go. It can't be helped if enemy soldiers die, but saving women is what men do.」

「「Oooh!!」」

I jump into the river, followed closely by the Aless soldiers.

Several minutes later, we returned with all the women on the ship and a handful of men.

「……uu, we're saved.」

「…… but now we're prisoners.」

Despite being sailors, the females were worn out and couldn't swim, so we put them in barrels with ropes attached to them and pulled them along to the shore.

「Look at all those men…… they look barbaric…… we're definitely going to be violated.」

「Umu, that's for sure. But we'll save you.」

The Aless soldier gives an honest answer.

「Aah…… I knew it.」

「It still doesn't guarantee our lives.」

Bobbing up and down in the barrels, the women resolve themselves.

By the time I reached the coast, Sekrit was nowhere to be found.

I wonder if she's sulking about what I did.

Trying to find her so I can follow up, I happen to see her standing in front of an enemy vessel.

It appears like they surrendered quickly and, as a result, didn't suffer any noticeable damage. Aside from the captain, everybody had abandoned their weapons.

A win by capitulation? If Sekrit tries to kill them, I have to stop her.

Just when I thought she was about to attack, a man suddenly steps forward and kneels before her.

「Hm?」

Something doesn't feel right.

It's not rare for the side who yielded to kneel to their opponents.

However, that man didn't seem to pay attention to anyone except Sekrit.

She was urged by the man to move behind a patch of aquatic plants.

Things are still hectic so nobody made any note of their movement.

I was the only one who kept a close eye on them.

「――」

The man seems to be telling Sekrit something.

「What is he saying……?」

In response, Sekrit scoffed mockingly.

Unlike the previous instance, she didn't seem to show signs of cutting him down.

I get closer.

「It's been too long―― general. I am extremely delighted―― to meet on this occasion.――」

「I don't―― who you are――?」

I only hear broken pieces. It seems the man has an interest in Sekrit.

A smile forms on my face.

I know she's beautiful, but it's unheard of to seduce someone after surrendering to them.

The next moment, my smile froze over.

「――document from―― addressed directly――」

「――nes. Kuku, what a nostalgic name――」

Sekrit walks up to the man and snatches the letter from him.

I didn't expect her to accept it.

「He doesn't know when to give up―― connection from the past―――― go ahead.」

「It's an honor―――― happy to―――― next week.」

On top of accepting the letter, she even agreed to the next promise.

What does she mean by connection from the past? My mind is going really fast and I can't think properly.

One final blow was delivered.

「――――oh right, Rehercles.」

Sekrit calls the man by his name.

She said it smoothly, almost like she was familiar with it.

「I no longer have any doubts.」

I look at the man's face again.

He appears to be in his thirties and is keeping his back straight unlike the other prisoners.

「……he's a handsome one too.」

Gido has recently gotten really cheeky and been called handsome many times too, but he doesn't compare to this man.

As a man, I have to admit that he's got a nice face.

「A clandestine meeting…… a promise to cheat?」

My hand balls into a fist.

It would be easy for me to step in uninvited and sentence the man with my authority.

However, that would be pathetic of me.

I wouldn't be able to regain Sekrit's heart either.

I have to show her how much better I am than him.

「――looking forward―― next week―――― tell him.」

I can't help it if Sekrit wants to meet with such a handsome man.

It's my fault that she even had that thought. If a woman gets stolen, it is due to a man's worthlessness.

「But I can take her back.」

If something is stolen, I only have to steal it back.

I'll show her my charm and prove that I'm the superior man.

I'll seduce Sekrit in front of him and pummel his handsome face…… no, I'll have passionate sex in front of him.

「I'm not going to lose. This is a man's battle.」

I renew my determination and head to where the rescued women are so I can restore my energy.