“You should be saying that after you’ve fled!” Gulland replied.
Gulland swung his great sword from atop his steed, crushing down onto the helmet of the general. Normally, he would have killed the enemy general here, but a captured traitor was worth more alive than dead, so he purposely held back.
He was with Blanche, who held a politically strong position, so it was only natural that his fighting style would lean toward politics.
Blanche and her mana guard were able to capture the general along with several other prisoners of war without losing even a single soldier. Of course, there were some that were wounded, but no one died.
They brought out the prisoners to be interrogated before Blanche.
“S-Save me! I’ll do anything!” The general said.
As soon as the general was brought before her, Gulland’s expression twisted.
“Hmm… You want to be saved? You’ll do anything?” Blanche asked.
“Yes, of course! I mean, of course, ma’am.” The general replied.
“Then go and act like the mud pig you are.”
“What!? I-I mean yes! Right away!”
When the general started crawling on the mud like a pig, Blanche laughed loudly.
“Fu fu fu! Fu ha ha ha! That’s hilarious. Since you’re so funny, you can keep doing that while you listen.”
She sat on the chair specially prepared for her, switched the position of her long legs, and smiled as she said those cold words.
“Thanks to you, Shirad Kingdom will now be forced to make a decision. That is to either surrender or fight with my country. But Shirad Kingdom has lost most of its soldiers in this war. And even if Shirad is able to avoid a war, Shushunu will not interfere when the other countries start poking their noses in. Your country will become the center of conflict.”
The more she spoke, the more the general desperately tried to play the mud pig. After all, he could tell that her voice was getting colder and colder.
“From here on Shirad Kingdom will wander along the brink of destruction. And it will all be your fault. Even if you surrender to us, my country will not renew the alliance. After we receive what we are owed, our countries will no longer have any relationship with each other. At the very least, that’s what I intend to do. Can you understand it? The misery that the people of your country will experience from here on?”
The smile on her face was now but a mere shape plastered upon that beautiful canvas. Her eyes were as cold as the depths of the icy oceans.
“Behead this pig.”
“No! Eek—”
Without even waiting for the general to finish what he was about to say, the aide lopped off his head.
“…Slow!”
She said as she slapped her aide.
“My apologies.”
“There is no need to talk to a pig. Pigs are only useful for offerings.”
The War Princess looked back to the dull open eyes of the dead general and laughed.
◆◆◇
The Goblin King still was yet to make an appearance in the battle between the goblins and Germion Kingdom, but the front lines were already being one-sidedly pushed by the goblins.
Gi Go Amatsuki, who attacked from the north, confronted the holy knight, Lili, and without retreating a step, nailed her army down in the north. Gi Gu Verbena and Ra Gilmi Fishiga, who were attacking from the west, were taking over the fortresses with the help of the siege weapons.
Gi Ga Rax, who was attacking from the south, made use of their speed to quickly go up north from the southern region. Without Sivara the Ripper Knight and Jize the One-Eyed Knight at the south, there was nothing to stop the divine speed of Aransain, and they were able to break through the border easily.
Meanwhile, Sivara had his hands tied with the insurrection caused by the Burning Bright Moons.
The adventurers confined themselves inside the metropolitan area. Sivara was unable to bring them into the kind of battle he excelled at, so he was forced to fight by their rules. Unfortunately, these adventurers were very patient.
The southern front lines were fragile and were easily broken through by Gi Ga.
This was a result brought about due to the lack of person who could bring the forces of the south together. Without a holy knight or someone with skills on the level of the minister of the military, it was impossible to bring together the strength of the southern side of Germion Kingdom. As a result, the nobles were broken through one after another by Gi Ga.
To the nobles of the south who were used to the speed of humans, the speed of goblins that handled monster beasts was simply too abnormal. That was all the more truer for Gi Ga’s army that prioritized speed. Gi Ga’s army would trample over their forces before they could even prepare their defenses.
As Pale the Tactician listened to the reports pouring into her tent one after another, a smile appeared on her face and she looked down on the map.
On her eyes were reflected the meadows in the distant snowy mountains.
“The prey is wounded. Already, it has no place left to run nor does it have any strength to… Fu fu.”
The victory of the goblins was within grasp.
“Only the finishing blow is left now.”
On the eyes of the tactician were clearly reflected the picture of victory.
