Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria - Volume 24 - Chapter 4.7

“ Wh-Whoa, whoa, is this really okay?! You’re really just going to go along with my idealistic nonsense without looking into it at all?!”

“Hm? We just said we’re going to look into making it happen,” Arness replied.

“Right,” Sigurd agreed.

“H-Huh...?” He didn’t understand. Did they really value his hopeless opinion that much? It couldn’t be.

“Are you really surprised? You’re the king, Nozomu. What you say goes.”

“Indeed. Our role is to make the ideals of our king reahty.” Arness and Sigurd nodded in unison.

“Hey, hey, don’t forget about me. You aren’t gonna leave me out of this plan, are you?” Rungr cut in.

“I would like to be included as well,” Wiz added. Both of them seemed to be just as eager to participate. How were they all able to so confidently trust in his judgment? They were putting way too much stock in him, he felt. Over the past five years, he had experienced many things, and he thought he’d managed to grow up a bit. But when he’d made up his mind, returned to his hometown, and seen how his younger brothers were leaving him in the dust, he’d been given a reahty check. Was he really so worthy of his siblings’ trust? Try as he might—he couldn’t say yes.

“We just got word from our scout unit. Seems that Babel’s army will be on our doorstep within the hour.”

“I-I see...”

When Nozomu heard Arness’s update, he swallowed hard, and his face turned tense. He’d managed to hold his own in several encounters with pirates since his first battle five years ago, but those were all light skirmishes compared to the threat he was about to face. He couldn’t help but think about all the lives that were at stake should he happen to fail.

“Don’t worry, Big Bro. You’ve got this. The plan’s practically foolproof, right?” Arness replied, making an effort to reassure Nozomu.

That much was true. It was as foolproof as it could get, anyway. A main unit of around two thousand led by Nozomu had marched from the fort to a small hill a short distance from its entrance—the location they anticipated that Babel’s men would arrive from. Meanwhile, two auxiliary units of one thousand each, led by Sigurd and Haugspori respectively, were currently hiding within the forest to either side, where they would ambush the enemy when they appeared. With Nozomu’s forces in front and Sigurd and Haugspori’s to the side, Babel’s men would find themselves completely surrounded. Ideally, Nozomu would’ve liked to have used Yuuto’s patented “Fisher and Bandit” strategy to seal the deal, but he wasn’t confident enough in the proficiency of his troops or his own leadership ability to go with that plan. In truth, “Fisher and Bandit” was a risky maneuver that could backfire and send his own army packing if improperly executed, so perhaps it was just as well.

“Let me and Rungr sweat the small stuff. You just focus on steeling yourself for the battle ahead,” Arness said to Nozomu.

“Gotcha.” A small part of him felt like he was implicitly being told to stay out of their way, but deep down, he knew that wasn’t the case. A supreme commander needed to wear a mask of steel, staying cool and composed no matter the situation. “As long as the commander remains calm, so, too, do the troops. The morale of the troops decides the outcome of the battle itself. ” He’d heard it time and time again. Arness was merely ensuring that Nozomu could successfully carry out his role.

As the two conversed, a scout approached. “The enemy has halted their advance! They’ve likely noticed our presence!”

“I would hope so, considering we had the scout unit deliberately show themselves,” Arness replied with a snicker. Everything was, so far, going according to plan. If Nozomu’s army was going to trap Babel’s men in an encirclement, then the enemy army needed to be encouraged to march toward their main unit. Giving away the position of their main force was required for this to work, basically.

“Now all we need to do is wait for them to resume their march. They will, right?” Nozomu asked hesitantly.

“Definitely. By now, enemy intelligence has probably already learned that our forces number somewhere around four thousand. Since they have almost twice that amount, they’ll surely determine that we’re no threat,” Arness replied.

“Makes sense.” Nozomu nodded. They’d also outfitted their main unit with flags and banners to make it even more conspicuous. If the plan worked, the enemy would be too focused on eliminating the main unit to even notice there were others lurking in the shadows. All they needed to do now was wait. That was the toughest part. “Now it all comes down to a test of patience," Nozomu thought, psyching himself up.

Not even two hours later, they got word that Babel’s troops had resumed their advance. They probably didn’t see Nozomu as enough of a threat to give pause any further. But that was fine—it would prove to be their downfall. He wasn’t prepared for the next part of the scout’s report, however. “Around a thousand of them are on horseback, heading this way!”

“What?!” Nozomu and Arness’s mouths dropped open in unison. The enemy shouldn’t have had any mounted units. Stirrups were considered technology from the future—in other words, forbidden knowledge.

“Why am I surprised? There was never any guarantee Babel was going to uphold my dad’s wishes, after all,” Nozomu said glumly. Of course, Babel wouldn’t have made the technology public, or he would’ve risked a confrontation with Yuuto down the line. But Nozomu had known since long ago that Babel had always been the ambitious sort. He should’ve considered that this might happen. Even so, the possibility had not just eluded Nozomu, but everyone else as well. They’d probably ruled it out within their subconscious, telling themselves that Babel wouldn’t possibly go that far.

“So, he plans to antagonize dad as well...” Nozomu was so stunned he couldn’t even fathom it. Babel should’ve known that he wouldn’t be able to use technology from the land beyond the heavens without incurring Yuuto’s wrath. Even if he managed to defeat Nozomu’s army here, he had to have known that he’d have Yuuto to answer to afterward. Babel had originally been under Yuuto. He had seen the face of the war god firsthand. With everything he knew about the man, he still meant to make Yuuto his enemy? He had to be insane.

“Looks like he still had some tricks up his sleeve,” Arness muttered, grimacing. Yuuto had brought plenty of knowledge with him from the land beyond the heavens. If Babel had already brought stirrups out, that wasn’t likely all he had in store. He was sure to have advanced weaponry waiting in the wings.

“And in comparison, our weapons are as primitive as can be,” Nozomu groaned, a crease forming between his brows. Every man under Nozomu’s command was outfitted with weapons and equipment from the current era. Not only did they not have stirrups, but they also lacked tanegashimas, compound bows, and tetsuhaus. In short, they were at an extreme disadvantage.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The cavalry loosed one hail of arrows after another upon Nozomu’s main unit.

“Dammit... If they’re firing from that distance, they aren’t using regular bows. Those are compound bows!” Nozomu gritted his teeth.

“Indeed. This isn’t good. Their arrows have no trouble reaching our men, but our own keep falling short,” Arness said.

“And they’ll only flee if we try to get closer, most likely. Horses are much faster than soldiers on foot, after all.” Nozomu muttered.

“Yeah. Actually, if we did try to chase them, the troops might get so caught up in the moment that we’d become unable to control them, which’d deal an awful blow to our chain of command,” Arness pointed out.

“Sigurd and Haugspori’s units are still lying in wait. How about using them to execute a pincer attack?” Nozomu asked.

“That’s exactly what the enemy will be expecting. In fact, the reason they only moved a small cavalry unit forward was probably to flush out a potential ambush.” Arness replied.

“So we’re up against the wall then...” Nozomu bit his thumbnail in frustration. Even though they’d had a foolproof plan and the home advantage, they’d found themselves totally outmatched. It drove home just how frighteningly powerful Yuuto’s modern technology really was. Of course, that alone hadn’t allowed Yuuto to become the conqueror of Yggdrasil, but it had certainly been an important factor. Nozomu was now coming to realize just how important.

“Dammit... Should we have gone with the siege plan after all?” He accidentally let slip a lack of confidence in his own actions. By chasing after lofty, unattainable ideals, he was worried that he might have accidentally put everyone in unnecessary danger.

“No, I think you made the right choice. If we’d done that, Babel’s tetsuhaus and trebuchets would’ve made our troops panic,” Arness replied, his hand on his chin.

“O-Oh, that’s a relief then...” Finally realizing that frightening possibility, Nozomu shuddered. As long as the troops holed up in the fort, they assumed they were safe and sound. If they were confronted with high- powered weaponry that completely shattered that assumption, however, there would be pandemonium among them. It turned out to be a massive stroke of good luck that they’d decided to pivot away from that plan at the very last moment.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A seemingly endless barrage of arrows continued to rain down upon Nozomu’s men. This was no time for any of them to be celebrating anything at all. The distance between them and the enemy allowed the troops enough time to block the arrows with their shields, to a degree, but it wasn’t a perfect defense by any means. The casualties would likely only increase with the passage of time.

“What the hell can I do?!” Nozomu was helplessly cornered. On top of that, he had to contend with his own bad habit of his mind going blank whenever he was at a disadvantage. Even if there was a way to turn the situation around, he couldn’t think of it.

“Shit, this all started because of my own selfishness, so I have to be the one to finish it! But how?!” He gritted his teeth in vexation. Why could he not be like his father? Why could he not do what his father had done? Why was he so powerless? Nozomu hated his useless self with every fiber of his being.

“Hm, I think you’ve got it a bit wrong,” Nozomu’s adviser Rungr said, putting a finger to his chin and cocking his head.

“Yep. You’re way off base,” Arness agreed with an emphatic nod.

“Huh? How so?” Nozomu asked, visibly confused.

“Remember what I said earlier? You’re the commander. Focus on that. We’ll take care of the rest.” There were no traces of doubt in Arness’s words. Nozomu was stunned at how he was able to remain so confident in such a desperate situation.

“You’ll take care of the rest? How do you plan to do that?” Nozomu asked.

“Ah, well, you know. I have something up my sleeve, though I’d really prefer not to use it.” Arness frowned in displeasure.

“Huh?! Well, we can’t afford to be choosy right now! What is it?!” Nozomu asked once more, almost overwhelmingly flustered by this point.

“For now, hold our defenses and buy time,” Arness replied.

“That’s it?!” Nozomu yelled in response.

“Yep. The enemy’s sure to run out of arrows sooner or later, so we just need to hold out till their supply’s exhausted,” Arness explained.

Nozomu merely pouted in response.

“If they charge at us after that, perfect! We can wipe them out with the pincer attack,” Arness continued. “If they decide to retreat instead, that’ll give us a chance to regroup so we can use our secret weapon.”

“We have a secret weapon?” Nozomu had no idea such a thing even existed. He was supposed to be the supreme commander, so why had no one told him? “If we’ve got something like that, then why didn’t you let me know earlier?!”

“Because I was hoping we wouldn’t have to use it,” Arness replied. “I’d wanted to keep it in our back pocket as insurance for if things really went south.”

“Well, now you’ve just got me intrigued! What the hell is it?!” Nozomu barked.

“Let’s save that conversation for later. Right now, we need to focus on getting through our current predicament,” Arness said, skirting around the subject as best he could.

“Fine, I guess.” Even as they spoke, Nozomu’s army was getting bombarded by the enemy. If they didn’t do something about that first, a secret weapon would be worthless.

“So, we just have to hold the line?” Nozomu asked.

“Precisely,” Arness replied.

“All units! Fortify your defenses! Remember, we’re up against cavalry. Do not throw caution to the wind and attempt to pursue them. I don’t want to lose anyone. Focus your efforts on enduring!” Nozomu’s raised voice rang out.

For a while after, the enemy’s barrages continued, until they quite abruptly came to a stop. They had likely exhausted their supply of arrows. Thus ended Nozomu’s first battle as a supreme commander. Frankly speaking, he was off to a rough start.

“Phew... Man, I can’t believe we managed to get through that.” Glaring at the enemy cavalry as they retreated, he grimaced and let out a sigh once they were all gone. For now, the threat had abated, but it was no cause for celebration. Once they resupplied their stock of arrows, they would undoubtedly be back with a vengeance.

Casualties on Nozomu’s side were still quite light, but the injury count and death toll would only increase if this battle dragged out. The stress on the troops would build up, and morale would plummet. In other words, Nozomu needed to take swift action.

“Right. Arness, what’s that secret weapon you mentioned?” Coming to a quick decision, Nozomu asked Arness about the thing he’d been on tenterhooks about during the whole battle.

“Ah, that? It’s nothing to be proud of, just to let you know.”

“Oh, enough dodging the question. How can I judge it when I don’t even know what it is?”

“I suppose so. Well, then...” With a truly reluctant expression, Arness began to explain the particulars of his secret weapon. As he talked, Nozomu’s eyes became wider and wider.

“Whoa... We had that option all along?” Frankly, it was a completely unfair method. A total cheat. To be honest, he doubted whether his father Yuuto would even let him have the throne if he heard that Nozomu had used such a ploy. In the worst case, he might declare Nozomu unfit to be reginarch and maybe even disown him. That said, it was more than enough to win this war—of that, Nozomu was certain. And right now, that was all he needed. There was just one problem...

“Is it even doable...?” It was going to be incredibly difficult to cany out. By Nozomu’s estimation, nearly impossible.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll manage. If we couldn’t, I wouldn’t have even brought it up,” Arness replied.

“R-Right.” Nozomu nodded. He was so blown away by what he’d heard that he could only muster that much of a response. No, he wasn’t just impressed—he was astonished. Arness had considered every single possibility and even come up with backup plans for his backup plans, just like he’d heard his father Yuuto had done back in Yggdrasil. It was something that was far easier said than done—at least, it’d be an impossible feat for someone like Nozomu.

“You really are amazing, Arness.”

“Nah, not really.”

“You’re far more suited to be king than some average loser like me.” With a deflated expression, Nozomu spoke as though he’d lost all motivation. At this point, he had no choice but to admit it—in this war so far, all he’d done was get tossed around by every new development. The one at the center of the operation, the strategist and the executor, had been none other than Arness. Nozomu had only been a mere decoration, a figurehead that could do nothing but get in everyone’s way. The pride that Nozomu had built up over the past five years had long since been torn to shreds. What little remained was in tatters.

“Me, king? No way. I wouldn’t be good at it at all.”

“In what way?! I don’t know anyone smarter or cleverer than you! You’d be fantastic at it!”

“Well, I will admit that the cogs in my brain spin a bit faster than most, but that’s not enough to be a king. The quality that a king needs most, I happen to lack.”

“And what would that be?” Nozomu had no idea what he meant whatsoever. Physical ability, maybe? Arness came up a bit short in that department, that much was true. But it wasn’t like he was sickly—in fact, he was the very picture of health. A lack of athleticism wouldn’t bar him from becoming a king.

Seeing that Nozomu was clueless, Arness forced a grin. “What I lack, Big Bro, is popularity. I have a tendency to say whatever comes to my mind, which doesn’t exactly win people over.”

“Th-That’s not...” He was about to say it wasn’t true, but he stopped himself midsentence. Arness was courteous and friendly enough on the surface, but itwas superficial, something he put on for appearance’s sake. Perhaps a capable person like Arness simply didn’t realize how the incapable felt. Even though he didn’t intend to come across that way, he often ended up giving others the impression that he was looking down on them for being less intelligent. Nozomu himself had felt like that with Arness more than a few times, and it had indeed irritated him.

“Heh heh. I know myself better than anyone else, Big Bro. Sure, I may have inherited the talent for scheming and strategy from our parents, but I don’t have their compassion, so I can never be as popular.” Arness had a faraway look in his eye as he criticized himself. “If I was king, my siblings would surely forsake me. Right, Big Bro Rungr? Big Sis Wiz?” His self-deprecating smile became a mischievous grin as he turned his gaze toward the two of them. Rungr and Wiz both nodded without the slightest hesitation.

“Frankly, I’d rather die than be under your rule,” Rungr responded.

“No big sister alive wants to serve their little brother,” Wiz added.

“And there you have it,” Arness said with a shrug that was meant to suggest the matter was settled. Of course, Nozomu still had reservations.

“That’s just because they’re older than you,” Nozomu rebutted.

“No, Sigurd, Saya, and Clea would undoubtedly forsake me as well.” Saya was Ingrid’s daughter, and Clea was Albertina’s. Though both were still young girls, they’d already displayed talent, clearly inherited from their mothers, so impressive that many highly anticipated seeing where the future would take them. “Simply put, I don’t have the ability to keep our brothers and sisters together. Perhaps my rule would even culminate in a bloodbath between us all. You’re the only one who can unite us, Nozomu.”

“That’s right. It has to be you, Big Brother.” Rungr agreed. Nozomu glanced over at Wiz, but she too was nodding in approval.

“That can’t be...can it?” Nozomu asked doubtfully, apparently the only one unable to acknowledge it.

“Yes, it can. And it is,” Arness replied matter-of-factly. “Sure, you may be pretty average overall, but that just makes us want to help you more. It’s like, ‘If I don’t stick with this guy, he might get into trouble,’ or something like that.”

“Oh yeah, that totally makes me feel better,” Nozomu said sarcastically. In fact, it made him wonder if deep down, his siblings actually thought he was unreliable, or that he couldn’t be trusted. Those thoughts depressed him even further.