Kikanshita Yuusha no Gojitsudan : Chapter 38

Chapter 38 Revisiting The Hero 5

　After leaving the royal castle, Tia and I rode on the back of the dragon-turned Leiria and set our course to the west.

　We could see hundreds of people moving about as we flew over the highways. It’s probably the same refugees we saw in the royal capital. According to the story I heard at the royal castle, the ‘invasion of the imperial army’ has already been notified not only in the provincial cities but also in the remote farming villages, and evacuation is underway, so the people who heard about it must be aiming for the royal capital carrying their wealth. (TL: Not quite sure about the last sentence)

　Many people seem to notice us as we fly at a relatively low altitude, pointing at us and making noise, but we just pass by them unconcerned.

　There’s nothing we can do about it right now. Besides, our first priority is to deal with the imperial army.

　However, we saw a group of bandits who seemed to be targeting the refugees twice along the way, so we had to knock them off.

　We thoroughly blew them up with both my magic and Leiria’s breath, so they probably don’t have a chance to attack anybody.

　With various things happening, we passed through the grain producing region and entered a mountainous or rather a hilly area covered with forest after about two hours of flying.

　The width of the road is sufficient, and the ups and downs are not so severe, but the terrain is not suitable for operations involving a large army. It seems that the Kingdom’s army is encamped just beyond this point.

　They are probably planning to draw the imperial army into the narrow path so that the Imperial Army will lose the advantage of a large army they have and turn it into an endurance battle.

　As if to prove my prediction, the camp of the Royal Army came into view at the exit of the road. Hundreds of portable anti-cavalry frame were set up to the north and south of the encampment.

　Portable anti-cavalry frame is a combination of the letter “A” made of logs, with one of the diagonal sticks made longer and with a pointed tip, and was often used in warfare in ancient China. 

　In fact, previously there was no such thing in this world, but I had proposed it and popularized it because it was effective against charging demons and magical beasts. I was wondering why there was no such thing even though they used cavalry horses when fighting in wars between humans, but when I thought about it, I had never heard of anything like it outside of China in the earth’s history, so maybe that’s just the way it is. 

　Anyway, there is no sign of an open war yet, despite the gathering of the kingdom’s army. It seems that the soldiers have noticed us and are hastily moving around.

　For the time being, there was a wide open area near the center of the camp where several tents had been pitched, so we decided to land there.

　There were too many people in the way for Leiria to land, but the people here were all soldiers, so they could probably avoid her somehow.

　The ground rumbled with an incomparable force compared to when we landed at the royal castle.

　Yup. It’s how Leiria always landed. It brings back memories.

　I spotted an eye-catching group of soldiers and knights among the crowd surrounding us.

　The leaders of the military in this world really have a strong presence, don’t they? The great man aura they have is incredible.

　I found the person I was looking for in the center of the group and exhaled with relief, and jumped down with Tia at the same time.

　That person shouted.

“W, Why are you here!!”

　You sound like a villain when you say it like that; you know?

“Looks like we made it just in time.”

　I walked over to the person as I said that and knelt down when I got close to him.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness. I’ve got a letter from His Majesty the King.”

　I then presented the sealed letter I had kept in the item box to the intended person, His Highness Leon.

　His Highness still had a look as if he had something to say, but he chose to look over the letter for the time being. He opened the wax seal and checked the contents.

“There are so many things I want to say and ask you, but Yuya, are the contents of this letter regarding your participation in this battle correct?”

“Yes.”

　The surrounding men around His Highness murmured in unison at my response.

“I understand. Anyway, thank you for coming. We’ll have to change our strategy then. Come with me.”

　He led us inside the largest tent as he said that.

---

　As we followed His Highness into the tent, inside there was a table with several chairs surrounding it.

　Since His Highness would probably be seated at the deepest part of the table, Leiria, I and Tia decided to stand at the chairs on the entrance side of the tent.

　As expected, His Highness sat down first at the far end of the room, followed by the important people who had been accompanying him, who each took a seat.

　Oh. There’s Bruno and Whisper too. If Mel was also there, the hero party would have been complete. Well, it can’t be helped since Mel has to look after Akane.

　We also sat down on our seats as his highness urged us with his gaze.

“First of all, I would like to reconfirm that you will be participating in the war, is that correct? I mean, Tia aside, Leiria-dono too?”

　His highness, who knows that Leiria, a black dragon, does not in principle intervene in conflicts between human races, dares to confirm this by saying it out loud.

“In the end, Leiria will only take part by way of assisting me.”

　I said that, partially affirming it.

　His highness said, “I appreciate it,” and nodded slightly after hearing that.

“I’m sorry, but could you please inform us of the current number and composition of the enemy and allies, the expected tactics used by the Imperial Army, as well as our own strategy?”

　I’m sure everyone here other than us is already informed of this, but we can’t do anything if we don’t know about this information.

　His Highness nodded in response to my questions and turned his gaze to General Regin, the knight commander, I believe, who sat to his right, and the general provided the explanation.

“As of now, the Empire has 20,000 heavy cavalry. 15,000 light cavalry. 40,000 infantry, including warriors. 5,000 archers and transport troops, for a total of 80,000. Unfortunately, it is unknown how many of those are magic soldiers. In addition to the above, there are also several other factors to consider. The breakdown of the troops for the Kingdom, the Ilvenia Empire, and the Union is 6,000 and 2,000 heavy cavalry respectively, 6,000, 3,000, and 2,000 light cavalry, 5,000, 4,000, and 2,500 infantry and archers, and 1,200, 1,000, and 500 magic soldiers.”

　Hmm. That’s a little more than double of what I expected.

　It seems that the difference in strength is not as hopeless as I feared.

　Though it’s quite obvious that we’re in a disadvantageous position, and even if I were to enter the fray, there’s no way I’d be able to eradicate a 42,000 difference in the army by myself.

　It’s still fine if I can use a wide range of annihilation magic like those overpowered protagonist from light novel, but unfortunately for me, I’ve only got a limited amount of time to train my fighting skills to defeat the demon king and the evil gods, so I don’t have the capabilities to take on a large army.

　Of course, the Demon King, who was a prominent demon, and the Evil God, who was literally a god, would be able to do such a feat, as might Leiria, who is a black dragon. And I myself have the ability to fight against such ridiculous groups. But that doesn’t mean I can do the same thing they can myself. After all, the ability to fight against a large army and the ability to fight against an individual are two completely different things.

　I’m confident that I can somehow deal with an army of a hundred or a thousand, but beyond that, I don’t think my magic and physical strength can keep up.

　That’s why when we fought against the Demon Lord’s army and the forces of the evil gods, it was necessary for each country to raise their combined strength. But it seems that the empire didn’t mobilize all of its forces.

　We’re getting off topic.

　Anyway, while the disparity in forces is disadvantageous, there are plenty of ways to overcome it if it’s only twice as large.

　In fact, you need at least six times the number of troops if you want to have an overwhelming difference in strength that makes victory or defeat obvious. And that’s assuming that you have a large enough battlefield to deploy your troops. Otherwise, the majority of the difference in troops would be mere idle soldiers.

　Generally speaking, large armies have an advantage because of the difference in their ability to recover from damage. For example, if an army of 80,000 fights against an army of 40,000, if both sides suffer 20,000 losses, one side would still have an army of 60,000 while the other side will have only half that, 20,000. Even if the difference in strength is the same 40,000 troops, the ratio drops to one third. In other words, there would be a disadvantage in terms of endurance.

　On the contrary, it means that in the short term, even a small number of troops can compete.

　In fact, the Battle of Red Cliffs in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga Oda’s Battle of Okehazama are famous examples of battles in which a five-fold difference in military strength was overturned through short-term battles and strategy.

　That’s why this time we need to settle the fight in one fell swoop without taking too much time.

　First of all, the longer it takes, the more casualties there will be. We have only just begun to recover from the war against the evil gods, so we cannot afford to lose our national strength.

　For this reason, we cannot allow the empire to invade this time.

　We’re going to make sure that they get what they deserve.

“From the scout’s report, based on the layout of the Imperial Army’s formation and the terrain of the plains, I’m guessing that it will probably be a ‘Front half-moon formation’ with light infantry on the right flank, heavy cavalry on the left flank, heavy cavalry and infantry troops in the center, and command vehicles and transportation equipment behind them. The imperial troops will probably launch an assault with the heavy cavalry in the center, while the right wing troops are circumvented to pierce the back of our troops and cut off our retreat, then the heavy cavalry on the left wing will split our troops in front and behind, and the infantry in the center will attack.” (TL: I’m sorry if this part is hard to understand and have some inconsistency)

　I see. Oh, by the way, a “front half-moon formation” is a semicircular formation that expands toward the opponent.

　Well, it’s rather orthodox, but generally, the bigger the army, the less freedom there is in the formation. Otherwise, the number of idle soldiers will increase and you won’t be able to take advantage of the difference in forces. Normally, the ideal would be to surround and annihilate, but that’s impossible with an army that’s only twice as big as ours, and since we were already encamped near the eastern edge of the plain, they couldn’t surround us. That’s why they don’t have any other choice other than that formation.

　That’s exactly what I expected. It looks like my preparations will not be in vain.

“I guess we’ll have to rethink our strategy from the ground up. I mean, we never planned for you to be participating. So, do you have any suggestions?”

　His Highness continued as if taking over the general’s explanation.

　I began speaking as I nodded at his question.

“Since there is a disparity in number, there’s a need for us to end the battle in as short a time as possible. Besides, we should make as few sacrifices as possible for the sake of restoration from the previous battle.”

　They all nodded at my words. But Whisper asked me with a frown.

“Yuya, you’re not planning to use the same technique like when you take over Fort Galdas, are you?”

　He brought up the name of the fort that we lost when we fought the Demon King’s army in the past.

　He looked really uncomfortable, even though he was the one who brought up the name.

“When you mention Fort Galdas, you mean the one where the hero-dono used his magic to annihilate 10.000 of the demon king’s army, but because of that, the fort itself was rendered useless?”

　The man, General Vistas from the Ilvenia Empire, if I’m not mistaken? asked Whisper.

“Not only did the fort become unusable, but more than 20% of the allied soldiers who saw it were traumatized and had to leave the battlefield. And also, it’s not magic, but the ability of one of his summoned beasts.”

　Explained Whisper’s as he scowled at me.

　Fort Gardas was a fort that the Demon Lord’s army used as a bridgehead when they invaded the south.

　It was located in a mountain valley, and even if the allied forces of the neighboring countries defeated the invading Demon King’s army, they would flee into this fort and immediately counterattack, making it a very troublesome fort. Because of its location, we couldn’t attack in numbers or use siege weapons, so I used “Tama’s” ability to gather insects from a radius of several kilometers around the fort and had them attack in under the cover of night. Some people feared it as “The Black Devil”. The majority of those insects originally live in the mountains and forests. Furthermore, they are omnivores and eat everything. If you move them from place to place while keeping the effective range of the skill maximized and collect all the insects, you’ll end up with about billions of them. By using around 100.000 insects to attack each of the demon king army in the fort, the demon king army was wiped out in just a few hours.

　The next morning, we entered the fort after I manipulated the insect to return them to their original location, but most of the soldiers who entered had to produce numerous Monjayaki, including us. The situation inside was a complete mosaic. There were also countless eggs being laid, so all of us who could use fire magic burned the inside of the fort to the ground. Yeah, that was terrible.

“This time I don’t have time, and the place is bad. I won’t do it.”

“So you’ll do it if the conditions are right.”

　Whisper said in disgust at my reply.

　As for me, It’s not that I want to do it willingly, but I’ll do anything if it means fewer casualties on our side.

　So I decided to move the conversation forward.

“Who is in charge of the adventurers?”

　Bruno answered that question for me.

“Adventurers can’t be integrated into the military’s chain of command. For now, A-ranked party who has a base in the kingdom is taking the lead in organizing them. I was going to have them work as a supporting force, but”

　That’s as expected. After all, their equipment, characteristics, and fighting style are different from those of ordinary soldiers. 

“Can I ask you to bring them here?”

　Bruno nodded as I asked him to do so and gave instructions to the knight waiting at the entrance.

　The knight called out to another knight and then ran off to carry out his instructions.

　I’m sure he will be back in a few minutes.

　I explained my plan to the leaders in the room as I pulled out the items I had prepared in Japan from the item box.

“……Certainly this will allow us to crush the imperial army while minimizing our damage. However, the burden on Yuya and the adventurers will be too great. Besides, will they be ready in time?”

“Let’s provide backup for the adventurers with all the magic soldiers from the Kingdom and the Coalition. I think we’ll be able to let the engineers and the earth magic user have some time to rest before the war starts if we begin preparations immediately. Though there’s a need to check on how effective ‘That’ thing that Hero-dono brought is, we can expect a great outcome if there are no problems.”

　General Regin responded to His Highness Leon’s concern.

　The other leaders also nodded their heads in agreement with a smile on their faces.

“Leilia, as I explained, please take care of the light cavalry on the right flank of the Imperial Army. There’s no need to annihilate them. If we focus on the commander of the unit and crush them, they should have no other choice but to retreat. Tia, ride on Leilia’s back and locate any commander who might be a company commander or above and instruct Leilia.”

“I understand!”

“Umu. Leave it to me. Though, I can even destroy their main force if you want me to, is that okay?”

　While Tia responded obediently to my words, Leiria seemed slightly dissatisfied.

“In the end, this is still a war between the kingdom and the empire. Aside from me, who was originally a hero from the kingdom, it might cause problems in the future if the dragon tribe, which originally did not interfere in human conflicts, played the leading role. This time, I would like to keep you as support.”

　This war is a quarrel that the empire brought to the kingdoms and other surrounding nations. We won’t be able to make the involved party take responsibility in the end unless they take the lead as much as possible, and we want to avoid that. (TL: There’s probably some miss translation in this part)

---

　I heard the knight’s calling from outside as I finished outlining my plan and we all started talking about the specific deployment and arrangements.

“The adventuring party ‘Minotaur’s Fang’ has arrived!”

　…… Minotaurs are those bull-headed monsters, right? Do they have fangs?

　And before that, the word Minotaurs means “The Bull of Minos”, right? Why is there a Minotaur in another world that has nothing to do with Greece?

　4 people who definitely look like adventurers came in from the entrance of the tent as I was making such a comment in my head.

　They are not carrying weapons at the moment as expected, but all of them are tall and stout men with well-trained physiques wrapped in leather armor.

　All of their levels are over 200 and their status is high. They must be very experienced.

　They do not show any signs of timidity, even in the face of the leaders of the army.

　I see. They are able to organize adventurers with strong personalities.

“We’ve come to answer your call.”

　The first large man to enter bowed to His Highness as he spoke. And then he turned to me and showed a look of surprise.

“I’ve called you here because I want to ask for your cooperation in our strategy. Um, may I ask your name?”

　The man next to the first man began to introduce himself after hearing my response.

“I was surprised because I heard that you had left. My name is Binnie Bourne(TL: Vinyl Hon/Books). A shield bearer.”

“Buru Birumu (TL: Blue Film). I’m a spearman.”

“Eru Gemania (TL: Eroge Mania). I can handle close combat, but I’m usually in charge of magical support.”

　And then the big guy at the beginning.

“I was surprised, too. It’s an honor to be able to fight alongside the hero again. I’m Erect Kock (TL: …), leader of the Minotaur Fang.”

　They all greeted me. Many of the adventurers were violent, but they seemed to have a good sense of humanity. But!

“…… They’re all out!”

“ “ “ “ Why!?” “ “ “

　Don’t ‘Why’ me!

　What’s with the vinyl books, the blue films, and the eroge mania? Especially the fourth one! What are you going to do if I’m forced to move to Nocturne?

“…… Well, whatever. Anyway, please take care of me.”

　I regained my composure and explained the plan.

　The adventurers will be in charge of a crucial part of this operation.

　In other words, the adventurers will have to stop the heavy cavalry on the left wing of the Imperial Army. If we can’t stop them, our main force will be split up by the heavy cavalry rushing in from the right.

　And only these adventurers who can do that.

　The members of the team seemed to understand the reason and the importance of their actions after listening to the explanation.

“I see. Certainly only us adventurers who are capable of doing this. Leave it to us. We’ll make sure to stop them!”

　He laughed with a ferocious look on his face, brimming with fighting spirit.

　All four of them have the same expression.

　You can say that they are really reliable.

“All of their names sucks, though.”

“ “ “ “ Why!?” “ “ “

　Anyway, we’d better get ready.

　The battle will finally begin tomorrow.

---

Translator’s Note:

I’m finally able to get out of procrastination hell. Well, I still have my feet stuck there though. I apologize for not posting for around a month(?). 

Vinyls Books (ビニ本: Bini bon) is some kind of “Adult Magazine” that is wrapped in Vinyl plastic so it can’t be read on the store.

I don’t know about the Nocturne part. But, is it possible that it refers to the R18 version of syosetsu?

About the wooden barricade, I know it was used in other countries too in the past, so if you want to complain, send it to the author

*Edit: I changed “cheval de frise” to “portable anti-cavalry frame​”

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