“No, my liege, you mustn’t…” Carlion muttered when he was informed of Brandika’s departure.
His already slender body was now nothing more than bones and skin. And his skin was so white it was basically transparent.
Despite that Cell still gathered the information he asked for, and when Carlion heard of Brandika’s departure and the rebellions, he closed his eyes.
As the person who knew Brandika the most, Carlion could tell what sort of mindset Brandika had when he left.
It was probably too difficult for him to bear the burning emotions just sitting atop his bloodstained throne.
In the first place, Brandika wasn’t a schemer. He was a man who valued bravery and preferred to face the world with his own strength. He probably couldn’t bear the weight of the throne unless he fought a powerful foe. And odds were that he wasn’t even aware of that.
“Did I change him?” [1]
Genius Tactician? What a joke. Carlion smiled in self-derision.
To present one’s liege the greatest throne.
It sounded nice in theory, but the truth was that Carlion actually wasn’t sure if that was really what Brandika wanted. But then again it might be nothing more than Carlion’s self-conceit that has made him suspect that Brandika might have actually been satisfied as a mere clan leader.
“Are you going?” Cell, who was tending to Carlion, cast her eyes down.
“Yes. Partly for the sake of my master, and… Partly because if I’m going to die, I’d like to die in the battlefield. I suppose you could say that it’s my real motive.”
“You… No. It’s fine.”
Carlion wryly smiled and gave her the order to go east.
“Please inform Grave-san to prioritize time. Tell him to try and make peace. As for Saldin, it’s okay to abandon the likes of Tortoki, so tell him to rendezvous with the king as fast as he can.”
As Cell nodded, Carlion smiled.
“The enemy seems dead set on the king, so it’s probably a survivor of the Elks clan. But odds are that the reason Elks Clan is picking a fight now is because they think they can kill the king. Send a messenger to Germion Kingdom…”
Carlion’s hands shook like a withered tree as he got out of bebd and changed his cslothes.
“Ha ha ha… Riding a horse with this body might prove difficult.
Carlion tottered and was even about to fall, but Cell supported him with her shoulder.
“Is that your last order?” Cell asked.
“Take care of yourself…” Carlion replied.
“…You’re the worst.”
“I know.”
After finally being able to leave his bed, Carlion looked up at the sky. Its beautiful azure hue covered the expanse above as dazzlingly as ever.
◆◇◆
Pale Symphoria used the darkness of the night and the morning fog to toy around with the 6,000 soldiers of the mixed army. She only had 500 demihumans under her, since the other human forces were busy completing the construction of the fortress of the foggy plains, Melgion. But the movements of the mixed army were being leaked to her thanks to a spy she managed to sneak into the mixed army.
Which is why even though the enemy forces numbered tens of times more than her own, she was able to somehow put up a fight. But no matter what, dealing with so many with so few meant that they couldn’t engage directly, and that greatly burdened Pale. One wrong move and the fog between her and the enemy would disappear.
With Shirak as their base, Pale and the centaurs of Tianos scouted the enemy repeatedly. They would come out in the night, coat the area under their eyes with a special medicine, and depart with an eminence of centaurs that could see in the night.
The mixed army slept in the various towns of the borderlands, but only Shirak Town had walls. Originally, the mixed army would’ve liked to position themselves behind its walls, but Pale’s incessant interferences forced them to give up that position.
“The town is within sight,” Tianos said.
“Any shadows near the watch fires?” Pale asked.
“Please wait,” Tianos said with a kneel, then the scouts came back and reported with great detail.
The late Daizos, their old chief, was excessively loyal to the elves; hence, the centaurs themselves were meek when it came to an order from the elves.
After receiving the information of the scout, Pale immediately gave an order.
“Three volleys in succession. Shoot the watch fires. Wait for my arrow. Afterwards, we will retreat while shooting down the enemies as they come.”
“Understood.”
Although Pale spoke casually, Tianos naturally bowed his head when he replied.
The sound of bowstrings being drawn to the limits resounded faintly within the dark of the night. The bow Pale is using is a favorite of hers from the time when she was an adventurer. She nocked an arrow on that bow and aimed at the distant camp of the enemy.
After a moment of silence came an air-tearing arrow that shot through the night sky, behind which followed countless arrows. One moment passed, then Pale heard the sound of screams and angry yells coming from the enemy camp.
After a moment, Pale shot more arrows toward the night sky, landing themselves into the soldiers that were just about to leave their tents, causing the screams to become louder.
“Let us retreat.”
Tianos believed they could do even more damage if they were to just keep shooting at the humans, but he did as Pale commanded and retreated.
Perhaps they might have indeed dealt more damage to the humans, but being able to deal damage didn’t mean also being able to escape. Centaurs shined the brightest when they were able to attack while moving. Hence, harassing the enemy was the most that they could do.
By the time the mixed army had readied their forces and were about to strike back, Pale and her centaurs were long gone and a rain of arrows once again descending from the darkness.
Being attacked one-sidedly not only struck fear into the hearts of the mixed army’s soldiers, but it also did a great deal of damage mentally. And after repeating this several times, Pale had managed to corner the mixed army mentally.
When Melgion fortress was almost complete and Pale was beginning to repair Shirak Town, word of Attibel’s King, Brandika, arriving at the battlefield reached her.
[1] – Could be ‘it’ too. Could be referring to the plans instead of Brandika since he mocks himself for his ‘genius tactician’ title.
