Wortenia Senki (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Crimson Lioness and the Twin Blades

Morning dawned on the second day of the war between Ryoma Mikoshiba’s army and Count Salzberg and the ten houses of the north. The sun shone brightly in the clear, blue sky, casting its warmth upon the earth. There was no weather forecast in this world, but the people knew that when the sky was like this, the weather wasn’t likely to suddenly worsen.

The gates of Epirus swung open with a heavy, solemn thud, and a drawbridge slowly descended to the ground. Before long, two men appeared from inside the gates, and an army of six hundred followed behind them.

Yesterday’s battle had proved that swift attacks from the cavalry were the most effective against the enemy. After all, horizontal formations were weak against the wedge and arrowhead formations. That was why they had handpicked experienced cavaliers from the ten houses’ troops to follow the two men in the lead. That did skew their force’s composition, but it was a reasonable choice for mobility and penetrating power. However, the only reason the ten houses’ egotistical nobles had agreed to this formation was because Count Salzberg backed these two men and trusted their judgment.

“The weather isn’t too bad. A fine day for a battle if there ever was one,” Robert Bertrand said as he passed through the gate on horseback. With one hand on the reins, he shielded his eyes from the sun with the other and looked up.

Signus Galveria, who rode half a step behind him, also looked up. “Yes, the weather is nice, but...” Fine weather had a way of lifting one’s spirits, but Signus felt something was off about Robert’s cheery tone.

Right. He’s not used to his weapon.

Robert was gripping a battle ax just like the one he’d used against Ryoma Mikoshiba the day prior. He had prepared a spare in case his weapon broke or he lost in battle. A blacksmith in Epirus had specially made it to match the size and length of his usual weapon.

But upon closer inspection, Robert’s grip was a little different. There was a difference, albeit so small that only he could feel it, between this spare and the ax he always used. Mass-produced weapons were nearly perfect matches for each other, but handmade ones inevitably differed. Even if the same craftsman used the same raw materials, the results would still vary on some level. A skilled artisan would minimize the variations, but a human craftsman still had their limits.

On top of that, even a weapon made by a truly gifted blacksmith would wear after continuous use, and that wear would gradually change the weapon’s weight. They were minute differences, but they could mean the difference between life and death on the battlefield.

Signus was reminded of a saying he’d heard in his youth once.

What was it? ‘A good craftsman doesn’t blame his tools,’ right?

Signus had heard this saying from Rearth from his combat instructor. The instructor had used it to teach Signus that a true master could produce the same result with any set of tools. It was a radical piece of advice, given to him so he could overcome the discrimination he faced from his family as a bastard child.

At the time, Signus had simply nodded at his instructor, no doubt in his mind. It certainly made sense. But after experiencing battle, Signus had realized that the knight was wrong.

Yes, a true artisan can produce fine results no matter what tools they use. But it still won’t be their best work if they have to use subpar tools.

It was hard to say if Signus’s interpretation was correct. Proverbs like that had many meanings depending on who told them. But even professional athletes had preferences when it came to their equipment. Marathon runners were particular about their shoes, and swimmers carefully picked their goggles and suits. They also deeply cared about their coaches and training environments.

However, when an artist failed to make their greatest masterpiece, they could always try again. An athlete could continually challenge their records so long as they didn’t give up. War was different. Depending on the tide of battle, one could lose their life.

Considering the events yesterday, Ryoma Mikoshiba was clearly a considerable opponent. The slightest edge could tip the balance and Signus and Robert would die in combat. War was unpredictable by nature, so even if one planned for every contingency, their preparations could come up short.

“You all right?” Signus asked. It was a concise question, but it did convey his emotions. He couldn’t predict everything, so he thought it would be wise to dispel any doubts ahead of time.

Robert glanced at him from over his shoulder and smirked, looking vicious and carnivorous. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’m just in the mood, is all.”

Robert held up his ax and then swung it down diagonally. It was a light movement similar to a warm-up strike, a simple swing without martial thaumaturgy behind it, yet the wind from it was enough to blow a cloud of dust into the air.

“Still worried?” Robert asked.

Signus shook his head. As far as he could see, nothing about Robert’s slash felt off. The swing of his arm, the movements of his body—they were perfect.

I guess I’m a little on edge too.

Their allies felt terribly inadequate, while Mikoshiba’s army seemed immensely powerful. That coupled with the hint of unease coming from Robert was enough to cast doubt over the heart of a seasoned warrior like Signus.

Many people thought Signus was the same as Robert, but Signus was more reasonable than his comrade. They were both powerful commanders who had made their bodies into weapons through martial thaumaturgy, but Robert relied on his intuition. Signus, on the other hand, relied on facts and calculations.

As Signus tried to assuage his worry, an army of soldiers in black appeared in the distance. Like yesterday, there were roughly a thousand soldiers.

“Hm. Looks like the enemy is raring to go today too,” Robert said, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Being the savage warrior that he was, Robert had likely caught the scent of blood on the battlefield. And in this case, Signus wasn’t much different.

Robert added, “Well, since your anxiety’s all taken care of, let’s kick off our second day of fighting, shall we?”

“Right,” Signus said. “And this time, I’ll be fighting from the very beginning. Let’s see which one of us takes that man’s head first.”

Robert and Signus exchanged looks and nodded. They took a deep breath and used the prana circulating through their bodies to activate their chakras. The Mikoshiba barony’s flags, weaved from silver and golden threads, grew larger as they advanced. They let out battle cries that echoed throughout the battlefield.

♱

The force from Epirus charged toward Lione’s army, kicking up dust in its wake. They had somewhere between five to six hundred men. Using thaumaturgy to reinforce her vision, Lione confirmed the two men in the lead and shrugged.

“So those are House Salzberg’s Twin Blades, huh? Even if it’s the boy’s orders, fighting those two is scary.”

There were still a few miles between Lione’s army and the Twin Blades. Even with thaumaturgy augmenting her eyesight, it was hard to make out their facial features from this distance. However, a seasoned warrior like Lione could still pull it off. Her title as the “Crimson Lioness” was well earned.

Laura, who was standing next to Lione, seemed dissatisfied. “Lione, if Master Ryoma’s plan is to succeed, it’s imperative that we win this battle. Could you please take this a little more seriously?!”

It was highly unusual for Laura to chide Lione like this, especially because Lione always regarded Ryoma half-heartedly. Getting mad at her now would be greatly missing the point, and Laura knew this.

Lione cracked a smile and placed a hand on Laura’s head. “What’s wrong? Ain’t everyday I see ya this tense.”

By now, Laura and Lione had spent several years together. From Lione’s point of view, Laura was like a much younger sister.

“No, I’m nothing of the sort,” Laura said brusquely as she gently brushed off Lione’s hand. This was her way of asking not to be treated like a child. Still, it was clear from her voice that she was nervous.

“I can get being nervous about goin’ up against those two,” Lione said, glancing at the cloud of dust approaching them.

Though she had been smiling before, Lione’s expression was now quite grave. Laura realized that Lione wasn’t as complacent as her earlier tone had implied.

“I’ve been wondering since the briefing with Master Ryoma last night, but do you know those two, Lione?”

Ryoma’s group had heard a great deal about the Twin Blades from the Igasaki clan’s ninjas—their family structure, their personalities, and their past achievements. But Laura got the sense that Lione knew them on a more personal level.

“Well, Robert Bertrand and Signus Galveria are two of the strongest warriors in Rhoadseria,” Lione said concisely.

A mercenary made their living through war. So long as their client paid, they would battle against anyone, even if those people were friends, acquaintances, or family. Of course, mercenaries weren’t madmen who willingly chose to fight people they knew. But once the contract was signed and money had exchanged hands, they couldn’t back down just because they happened to know someone on the other side. The guild would never accept a mercenary who would do so. At best, they would beat them half to death. At worst, they’d beat them fully to death. The only way to maintain a client’s trust was to know what you were up against.

Because of that, mercenaries relied on intelligence. They always needed to know who their allies and foes were. They gathered information as soon as they could, even if it was expensive to do so. That was how they kept themselves and their loved ones safe.

“Fellow mercenaries often mentioned their names as people to be wary of,” Lione explained. “They said fighting them was suicide and I should never take a job that pitted me against them.”

Avoiding battle with an overwhelmingly strong enemy was a reasonable choice and a wise decision.

“Besides, I’ve had a long career in this line of work. A whole lot of stuff happened. Dammit, just facing those two is hard enough as it is,” Lione said, huffing in displeasure.

Ryoma had given Lione two orders. The first was to not lose under any circumstances until he returned. Lione had no issues with that order. Given who they were fighting, there could be no guarantees, but she and Laura were leading an army trained by the Crimson Lions. Most of them looked like children in their mid teens, but their skill was genuine.

In addition, they all wore the same gear, produced by and purchased from the dark elves of Wortenia. Since they’d been produced in bulk, the craftsmen had used slightly lower-grade raw materials, so their gear wasn’t as exceptional as what Lione and Laura were wearing. Even so, their armor and weapons had been blessed with the powerful endowed thaumaturgy of the dark elves. Their gear didn’t pale in comparison to a knight’s.

The other order Ryoma had given Lione was to not kill Robert Bertrand and Signus Galveria. Lione had complained about that one. Asking her to avoid such a specific and important target seemed almost contradictory.

“If all we had to do was hold back, there’s plenty of ways to do that. But this...” Lione whispered.

“Master Ryoma knows that,” Laura said, shaking her head. “But if he deems those two as necessary for the future, we must follow his instructions.”

I figured she’d say that.

Laura was acting as a retainer should. Plus, Lione didn’t really think Ryoma’s decision was wrong. If he was going to expand his political influence, he needed as many skilled men on his side as he could get. He would need Signus and Robert to work for him in the future.

“Don’t look so worried. I ain’t gonna run or anything,” Lione said, giving Laura an ironic smile.

Still, she couldn’t make any promises under these conditions.

“Eh, we’ll manage, somehow. I’ll handle this!” Lione declared, combing her fingers through her flaming red hair.

“Yeah,” Laura said, finally regaining her smile. “I’ll take my position in the rear guard. Good luck.” She then bowed and returned to her post.

As Lione watched Laura leave, she went over her plan once again.

I don’t like making gambles on the battlefield, but...I guess I’ve got no choice.

Lione regarded Robert and Signus with the utmost caution. Her experience and abilities aside, she knew she was no match for either of them. For a young mercenary, Lione had claimed the lives of her fair share of enemy commanders. But even she was greatly opposed to fighting House Salzberg’s Twin Blades. Their power was superhuman. They had been blessed from birth with great strength and had honed their skills since they were still boys. Those two were, without a doubt, very nearly the greatest warriors alive.

Not quite, though. But that’s only because those two monsters aren’t complete yet.

From what Lione had heard, Robert and Signus had only mastered up to the fifth chakra, the Vishuddha chakra located in the throat. With more experience, it wouldn’t be long until they reached the seventh chakra located on the top of the head, the Sahasrara chakra.

Doing so would bring them to the threshold of human achievement, the ability to wield the most powerful martial thaumaturgy. When they coupled their polished skills with a reinforced body at its absolute limits, they would become what was known as ascendants. They could possibly reach beyond even that.

Transcendents. In this world, that word was akin to a fairytale monster. Ascendants were called such because they’d risen to the peak of human potential, but transcendents were those who had completely broken past the bounds. They were practically living gods...or perhaps living devils.

Of course, it wasn’t yet certain that Signus and Robert would become transcendents. That was nothing more than a rumor or a joke that mercenaries told while sharing a drink. However, those two were menacing enough to turn that joke into a convincing possibility.

Facing people who were rumored to be capable of reaching such a level would be suicide. But even if they were on the border of becoming living gods, they weren’t real gods. Ascendants and transcendents were still human beings. And any human could be killed. In fact, while legends spoke of their superhuman abilities, they often also depicted their tragic ends. Even men who matched a thousand soldiers had met their deaths.

Those were all myths and legends, so one couldn’t rely on them as facts. And as far as Lione knew, there was no proof that any of the legendary heroes of this world ever existed. There was the chance that they’d lived quiet lives away from the public eye, but it was easier to assume that transcendents hadn’t found a way to cheat death.

Even if they had reached the zenith of mankind, they were not immortal. And if so, Lione was confident she could find a way to kill them. Besides, Robert and Signus hadn’t reached that level yet. They might someday, but at present they were still unascended humans, which meant there was no shortage of ways to kill them. Stabbing, bludgeoning, poisoning, burning... She could drown them, or she could use Earth Sink to trap them and then bury them alive.

If Ryoma had merely ordered them not to lose, Lione would have come up with a way to take them out. But the fact she wasn’t allowed to kill them made her task doubly difficult. The one silver lining was that Ryoma’s first order was to “not lose.”

Well, if Boltz can get that thing from Fort Tilt, we should be able to hang on until the boy returns. Besides, the information he sprinkled for ’em yesterday seems to have worked. They changed their main force to cavalry.

Lione smirked as she heard the galloping of hoofs in the distance.

♱

Riding forward, Signus could see the enemy formation in front of him.

“Hey! Did you notice?!” Robert barked.

Signus nodded. “Yeah. Looks like the enemy’s changed their approach since yesterday.”

It had been hard to tell from afar, but now that they’d closed the distance, the change was evident. The soldiers were equipped with spears and large shields that hid their entire bodies. They stood huddled together in multiple rows. And though their armor looked roughly the same from a distance, there were a number of particular differences compared to what Signus remembered.

But the most suspicious detail was that the soldiers seemed to be moving in a way that greatly contrasted their aggressive movements from yesterday.

“Shields and spears... And they way they move...” Robert muttered. “Based on their armor, I’d say they’re heavy infantry focused on defense.”

“What do we do, Robert? Charge in?”

Their initial prediction was that the enemy would be using the same armor as yesterday. Most people wouldn’t think different armor made that big of a difference, but Signus had seen enough people struck down after underestimating the smallest differences. He believed that falling back and reevaluating their options was a valid idea.

But while falling back would spare them from losing soldiers, returning to Epirus empty-handed would have its own consequences. If nothing else, the ten houses of the north, who had lent them these cavaliers, would criticize Signus and Robert for returning without fighting.

Besides, the fact that we don’t know what they’re doing is honestly pretty bad. We should probably launch at least one attack on them, even if it’ll cost us some troops.

In truth, the problem lay in how one approached this. Whether Signus chose to stick to caution or brave some risk, there was no way of knowing the outcome. That said, if Robert decided to charge forward, Signus would have no choice but to follow him as his partner.

Should they retreat and regroup, or should they strike to suss out the enemy’s plan? Both were viable options, depending on the commander’s outlook. If Robert were torn between those two choices, he’d sooner charge than retreat.

“I’ll go in from the right. You go in from the left. All right?” Robert asked.

Signus nodded. As he’d expected, Robert had no intention of pulling back now.

“Let’s go in, then!” Robert howled, turning his steed to the right.

“No, we don’t know what they’re planning!” Signus called out to him. “Let’s launch a light strike first. If their lines crumble, we can extend the attack.”

“Fine!”

Signus turned his horse to the left and rode ahead. His parting from Robert was like watching an arrow flying toward its target suddenly splitting in two.

Signus spurred his horse forward, riding with momentum toward the row of shields before him. He was a vanguard in the truest sense of the word. Normally, a commander wouldn’t place himself at risk by fighting on the frontlines, but in Signus’s case, this was the most efficient use of his strength.

So they’re going to try to block me directly. Fine, then. Let’s see what they can do.

Signus was already close enough to see the faces of every soldier in front of him.

“Oooooh!”

Signus raised his voice in an animalistic battle cry. He swung the metal rod in his hands up and then brought it down with a howl on the enemy shields. A deafening metallic crash shook the battlefield. The soldier who’d been holding the shield flew backward, along with the soldier behind him.

Signus wasn’t satisfied with this result, though.

This toughness, this weight!

When his iron rod clashed with the shield, the impact had shaken him all the way to the top of his head. He had been able to time it with the revolution of his chakras, conjuring enough strength to smash their guard. But he hadn’t matched it with his horse’s charge.

They had pushed Signus back. Their formation and composition was far stronger than the one they’d used yesterday.

But now I know!

Signus gave up on trying to break through and attempted to pull back in something similar to a U-turn. However, his intent wasn’t to retreat, but to gain enough distance to charge forward again.

He looked quickly to his right, confirming that Robert had come to the same conclusion.

♱

But this was what Lione, who commanded the opposing army, was hoping they would do.

“Their second strike’s comin’! Have the injured soldiers fall to the rear guard and close the hole in our ranks! But this time form a diagonal line, not a horizontal one! Like a dragon opening its maw to swallow up prey!”

The soldiers swiftly followed her orders, tracing the motions they’d practiced countless times already.

♱

Signus launched a second charge, approaching the soldiers.

Wait, they switched over to a diagonal formation?

Looking to the right, he saw that the line Robert was charging toward was moving the same way, except slanted in the opposite direction. Signus then realized they were being lured in.

Dammit, it’s a trap!

Ryoma would have described this formation as a crane spreading its wings, rather than a dragon’s maw like Lione had. But no matter the name, it didn’t change the fact that Signus and Robert had been duped. As the Twin Blades charged in, the enemy soldiers began blocking off the road behind them.

Just like yesterday, they’re gonna hit us from the flank! I knew Ryoma Mikoshiba was a sly man, so I was wondering why he was trying to clash with us head-on. But he even accounted for that?!

Since they had used a horizontal formation yesterday too, it had lulled Robert and Signus into thinking they were using the same one again today. Successfully reorganizing a formation in the middle of battle required a great deal of practice and skill, so they had dismissed how odd it was for them to employ the same one twice. But this was what the enemy was trying to pull.

The enemy lines split, as if to usher Signus in—to hold him in the embrace of death. Even though he’d already seen through their intentions, he couldn’t do much to stop it now. His focus on mobility had become his downfall. He and his cavaliers had already gained too much speed in their charge.

Even if he tried to stop, his horse wouldn’t be able to. If he tugged on the reins, his horse’s legs wouldn’t be able to stand the strain and could be injured. His horse would probably fling him off. And even if he did so despite all the risks, he’d be either pushed ahead or trampled by the horses behind him.

What was worse, the moment he ordered his horse to stop, he wouldn’t be able to escape the battlefield anymore. While Signus’s strength could get him out of this, the knights behind him would be galloping into hell’s mouth. Whether he wanted to accelerate or stop, he’d need a bit of distance to do it.

If that’s the case, I may as well just...

Given the impact he’d felt earlier, Signus wasn’t all that willing to choose either option. But if he had to gamble either way, he needed to pick the one that would result in him returning alive with as many soldiers as possible. Robert seemed to have resolved to do the same because Signus saw him nodding in the distance.

Breaking through the enemy lines wasn’t realistic, but at the same time, turning back when they’d already accelerated so much wasn’t feasible either. They did have one way out, though. They would have to stop their horses as much as possible as they plunged into the very throat of the dragon maw formation. They’d then skim along the deepest part of the enemy line to turn around and escape. Of course, the spot where their flanks connected was the most highly guarded part of the formation. Even if they were to break out from there, it would take them a long time to do so.

But the area directly behind them wasn’t completely sealed off yet, and they could escape from there. Breaking through soldiers trying to box them in was much more likely to succeed than trying to defeat the ones standing primed and ready right in front of them. This way, the cavalry would be able to escape from the back without having to slow down their charge.

This’ll be a huge gamble. My timing with Robert will be the most important thing.

If Signus were to charge in mindlessly, he’d run the risk of colliding with Robert’s unit. To prevent that, either Robert or Signus would need to delay in order to shift their trajectory. In that case, it was clear which one of them drew the short straw, as unfair as it was. Both of them were equally matched, but only in individual strength.

Guess I’ll have to be the one to do it.

Signus braced himself for the worst, but what he saw next defied his expectations.

They’re...opening a way out?

As Signus charged at the wall of shields, they left a gap large enough for two or three horses to pass through. The moment Signus saw it, he decided to go through it.

Could it be a trap? Yes, certainly.

But at this rate, it’s better than turning back.

The enemy force behind them was moving to close on them. Signus had a better chance at breaking through the enemies moving in from behind compared to the ones standing primed to intercept him. But if the enemies right in front of him left an opening, things were different. He could keep going and break through their lines, and some of his cavaliers would make it out. However, if they were to turn around, they’d have to slow down. This was still preferable to turning around right in front of the enemy soldiers, though.

Signus glanced at Robert, who immediately sped up. He’d probably sensed Signus’s gaze and knew he would interpret his actions correctly.

So he’s thinking the same thing. That settles it, then.

Signus raised his hand, ordering the cavaliers behind him to speed up. He then used the spike on his stirrup to spur his horse on. They rode with the speed of the wind, the scenery sailing past them. He used his metal rod to sweep away the occasional spear as he charged ahead.

The faster they went, the denser the enemy formation became. It seemed like they were funneling them toward the gap. Signus and Robert closed the distance between them little by little.

“They pulled a fast one on us!” Robert barked at him.

He seemed quite livid he’d fallen for their scheme so easily. Robert wasn’t the only one who had been fooled, though. Signus felt the same way. But for now, they needed to use this anger and humiliation as a source of strength. That was their only way to break out of this predicament.

But Signus’s expectations were once again betrayed.

“We got out?”

They passed through the opening at the base of the crane wing formation. Signus had suspected it might be a trap, but apparently it wasn’t. He looked around. He saw the cavaliers follow him, and spotted Robert through the gap in the infantry wall.

But why? Were their soldiers uncoordinated?

That was possible. An army had to be very coordinated to successfully flank and annihilate an enemy force. Signus did admit that individually the Mikoshiba barony’s soldiers were very skilled, but that didn’t necessarily mean they had the experience needed to perform advanced unit tactics.

However, it seemed it was too soon to rejoice.

“No! They’re trying to close it up!” Robert yelled, his shout filling the battlefield.

After a hundred or so knights had followed Signus and Robert to safety, the shield soldiers closed the gap. Their objective was to split Signus and Robert from most of their knights.

It was then that Signus realized what they were up to, why they had separated and spared the vanguards from the rest of their army.

Oh, no. That’s what they were doing!

But it was too late. Moving in to save them now would only deepen the wound.

“We’ve got no choice. We have to retreat,” Robert whispered bitterly, suppressing his anger.

Another enemy unit was approaching them rapidly. If they were caught between the heavy infantry and these reinforcements, even Signus and Robert might not survive. They had no choice but to fall back at once. But that would mean leaving four hundred cavaliers behind the wall of heavy infantry, where they would almost certainly meet their doom. And who would be seen as responsible for their loss?

Goddammit. I’ll get back at you for this! Signus thought angrily as he swung his metal rod down on a soldier in front of him. Even if all it did was relieve some of his rage, that was all he could do right now.

♱

They retreated because they were afraid Laura’s detachment would pursue them. I thought they might get pissed off and charge, but...

As Lione watched Robert’s army retreat, she finally realized that they’d won. She had expected that Signus, the more collected of the two, would make that call. But while Robert wasn’t known as being reckless, he did have a proclivity for sudden decisions that made him difficult to predict. Lione had thought that he might try to break through the blockade and storm their third formation, but thankfully he hadn’t.

Of course, even if Robert had, they were prepared to stop him. But if he was choosing to retreat, that was fine by her. After all, if Robert and Signus were to decide to unite and go on a suicidal charge, Lione couldn’t promise they wouldn’t find a way out. Even though her prized infantry had surrounded them, the enemy might have been able to break through.

Well, either way, the gamble worked in our favor.

All that remained was to dispose of the poor cavaliers left behind. They couldn’t break out, not now that Robert and Signus weren’t there to lead them. Without their commanders, the cavaliers couldn’t use their lauded mobility.

From the moment Robert, Signus, and their forces clashed with her heavy infantry’s horizontal formation, Lione had realized that the enemy’s storm-like charge and offensive force stemmed from the two commanders serving as vanguards. That was why, when they had the cavalry surrounded, she’d given them a chance to escape. By separating the commanders from their cavalry, she’d have the latter at her mercy.

And her plan had worked. It was a perfect victory.

They put too much stock in their own strength. I can’t blame ’em, though, with how powerful they are.

Robert and Signus were fearsome commanders, an overwhelming force on the battlefield. The cavaliers they led were also strong and powerful. Together, they were a maelstrom of destruction. In order to counter this, Boltz had brought over heavy infantry from Fort Tilt.

Lione hadn’t deluded herself into thinking she knew the full extent of the Twin Blades’ power, and she’d known it would be a gamble to block their initial charge. Somehow, though, they had emerged from that gamble victorious.

Still, I wouldn’t have thought our first battle was laying the groundwork for this one.

If Lione hadn’t heard Ryoma’s explanation, she’d have thought that all he did was employ his trained soldiers and their thaumaturgical gear, without resorting to any other tricks. But when she considered the enemy’s position, his explanation made sense.

Yeah, a horizontal formation is simple. And since we stopped any information from leaking out of Wortenia, the enemy doesn’t know how strong our army is. For all they’re concerned, we’re just upstarts who came out of nowhere.

A horizontal formation had its advantages. It minimized the surface area and number of soldiers exposed to the enemy, meaning fewer casualties. But it was one of many formations and the most basic. Soldiers just stood in a row, side by side. There were other factors, like how the soldiers thrust their shields or moved their legs, but it didn’t take long to arrange and required little training.

Its simplicity had lulled Count Salzberg’s army into thinking Ryoma’s forces were made up of new recruits with minimal training. In truth, they had just interpreted the facts in the most optimistic and convenient way they could and patched the rest together with their own expectations and wishful thinking.

While Robert and Signus are as powerful as rumors say, the Igasaki clan’s ninjas were right when they said there’s plenty of ways to take advantage of them.

Lione knew about Robert and Signus’s family issues. Signus in particular was backed against a wall and greatly anxious for his future. The battlefield was the only place they could exhibit their strength, the only place they were truly in their element. Because of this, they were overconfident in their strength. Their power was overwhelming, so they craved to use it and emerge victorious. And at the core of that was the desire to get back at their own families, who had insulted and humiliated them.

Well, there’s another reason we won, Lione thought as she looked at the rows of heavy infantry surrounding the cavaliers. They had won because of that.

Weight-increasing thaumaturgy... I didn’t think it’d be this useful.

When Lione first heard of it, she had been quite skeptical. It wasn’t hard to understand how reducing weight could be useful. Lighter armor wouldn’t weigh a soldier down. If a hardening seal was then applied, it was as effective as plate mail but felt like light leather armor. By contrast, a thaumaturgical seal that increased weight seemed like a disadvantage. Heavier armor would strain the wearer and slow them down.

However, there were indeed advantages to increasing weight. For example, it could help maintain equilibrium. If one were to bump or crash into another object, it was less likely to budge the heavier it was. If two targets punched at each other with the same speed and momentum, the heavier one would have more impact. This was why weight was an advantage in sumo and other martial arts. In addition, when the weight was applied with endowed thaumaturgy, one had the freedom to activate and deactivate the seal at will. The armor’s thick metal plates didn’t change, but the endowed thaumaturgy could add extra weight.

If they need to use it, they can just circulate prana into the seal. And if they don’t, they can cut off its supply. But applying it to everyone?

Thaumaturgy could make one as light as a feather, increasing mobility. But it could also make a shield even bulkier to block the enemy’s charge. It wasn’t without its problems, however. Fundamentally speaking, a piece of equipment could have only one endowed thaumaturgy seal. One could try to add another, but it made the seals themselves, otherwise known as thaumaturgical circuits, much more complex. It required a great deal of resources, and the one applying it had to be skilled. The price jumped as well. The heavy infantry’s equipment cost three times as much as a normal soldier’s. They’d bartered with Nelcius for them, so the cost might fluctuate when converted to coin, but it came up to about three times.

In addition, the weight-increasing seal was significantly less useful compared to the more generic weight-reducing seal. The weight-reducing seal made heavy equipment lighter and could be undone easily. After all, things had weight on their own. Soldiers usually wore chain mail under their leather armor, which resulted in a combined weight of forty kilograms. Considering this, there were hardly any situations where a weight-increasing seal would be helpful.

That wasn’t to say weight-increasing seals had no usefulness at all, but they weren’t very cost-effective. At most, they were a nice feature. A mercenary would almost always pick gear that lightened their load. However, such seals could heighten a defensive army’s power. Robert and Signus’s attacks might have knocked them back, but they were still able to block their direct blows.

In the end, it all depended on how one used it. Ryoma’s forces would probably use these formations in the future, alongside their cavalry and ordinary soldiers, but those were all options they’d consider after this war.

“Well, this probably marks the end of today’s battle.”

Lione knew Count Salzberg couldn’t get enough horses to reorganize this many cavaliers. The reason for that was simple: the more effort they put in, the greater the backlash when they failed. Not only would Robert and Signus be unable to deploy again quickly, the ten houses of the north would probably chew them out for their failure. That would cast a greater shadow on their hearts.

The ten houses view Count Salzberg as their alliance leader, but they’re not his vassals. The boy really is good at reading the enemy. It’s almost scary.

The sounds of battle from the heavy infantry’s formation were dying down. They were taking out the enemy cavaliers.

“Well, that’s a job well done. Time to regroup with Laura and return to camp,” Lione whispered.

She looked up at the blue sky spanning above her, thinking of her young lord. He was currently leading a force of cavaliers from Fort Tilt to Viscount Bahenna’s territory, one of the ten houses of the north.