Wortenia Senki (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Battle for the Capital

The sun shone brightly and clearly, and the azure sky made it hard to believe a storm had raged through the area two days ago. On such a day, a group of people donning black armor appeared on Pireas’s outskirts. They held a striking banner of a two-headed serpent with gold and silver scales coiled around a sword above them.

The serpent’s red eyes glared menacingly at the Rhoadserian capital, as this was the banner of the most feared man in the kingdom. People across the western continent would be hard-pressed to find someone unaware of the exploits of this banner’s master.

After beating the northern subjugation army in the previous battle, the Mikoshiba barony marched on. They occupied every settlement and town in their way, finally regrouping at the outskirts of Pireas.

The Mikoshiba barony army stood at forty-five thousand soldiers, slightly diminished by placing guards at the occupied settlements. Dark elves from the Wortenia Peninsula no longer hid their presence after showing off their power in the last battle. Most of those elves were strong hunters and experienced verbal thaumaturgists, and every one of them was an elite that matched an intermediate-class knight.

On the opposite side, Queen Lupis and the Rhoadserian nobles holed up in Pireas. Though they had lost many troops in the failed northern subjugation, Mikhail Vanash had forced the nobles of the domains surrounding the capital to send in more soldiers. Because of this, they could bolster their ranks back to nearly two hundred thousand.

This amount placed the difference in the armies’ sizes as roughly one to five. It appeared the Mikoshiba barony army was to surround and attack the wall, despite appearing at an overwhelming disadvantage. After all, the rule of thumb was that a force three times the size of a garrison was needed to win a siege.

But the soldiers defending the city seemed to feel otherwise.

“That’s the Mikoshiba barony’s banner!”

“He’s finally here... The Devil of Heraklion.”

Sentries on the lookout tower atop the wall knew this day would come and reported it. And this made the surrounding soldiers murmur and whisper—but not out of anticipation or thirst for victory.

“Don’t panic. Just remember your training.”

“We’ll be fine. All we have to do is shoot them from the walls. You’ll probably hit them with your eyes closed!”

“If you want to survive, hold your ground and fight!”

These words came across less as an attempt to embolden and encourage the soldiers and more like a parent or teacher reassuring a child. It was natural because this was many of these soldiers’ first battle. These inexperienced soldiers felt strain since they would fight against an army led by the infamous and ruthless Devil of Heraklion, Baron Mikoshiba.

He had crushed the northern subjugation and its two hundred thousand men with an army a fourth its size, which he likened to ravenous demons. The soldiers behind the wall couldn’t remain composed, knowing that if they lost this battle, their homeland of Rhoadseria would be wiped off the map.

But they couldn’t afford to flee since they had seen several fellow soldiers beheaded in the capital’s plaza for desertion. This action was a drastic measure to enforce discipline and eliminate dissent. The fact remained that the Rhoadserian army maintained control thanks to it. Even Meltina, who ordered the executions, couldn’t tell how long it would hold the army together. For the time being, it proved to be effective.

When the soldiers heard the Mikoshiba barony army was on the move, they instantly prepared to go on the defensive. As they informed the others of the enemy’s approach, they donned the cheap armor provided to them and reached for their weapons.

They obeyed their respective unit captains, knowing that refusing would only lead to an execution. But they didn’t give off the resolve of a garrison prepared to lay down their lives to intercept the enemy army. The only emotions they felt were of fear and confusion as they remained obedient in an abnormal situation.

Threatening and coercing them just isn’t enough, thought a battalion commander.

One couldn’t expect every single soldier to be high on morale since the capital’s garrison comprised an assortment of conscripts from the surrounding domains. After the northern subjugation loss, few capable commanders remained, and the training period following the units’ formation had shortened.

Nevertheless, this was the last resort Mikhail and Meltina had conceived to ensure superiority over the Mikoshiba barony, but it resulted in flaws. Many units had their numbers bolstered by peasant conscripts, which meant those soldiers didn’t amount to much in quality.

Very few nobles had professional soldiers under their employ. Unless they had domains with incredible financial strength, these nobles couldn’t assemble a standing army. Most of their troops were conscripts, with such professional soldiers serving only as commanders.

The difference in skill and morale between conscripts and professional soldiers was like night and day. Both also had different commitments and desires to battle. Professional soldiers trained for combat daily, and the conscripts couldn’t match that because of their civilian lives. With that in mind, the Rhoadserian army’s morale was at rock bottom.

As long as we remain here and hold the walls, we can find a way to fight them off.

Of course, the defending side could not get away with having low morale due to its importance in a siege. Even so, a decrease in morale during an open battle could lead soldiers to scatter and flee. That was a luxury the soldiers in the capital didn’t have, making it easier to hold them together as an army.

But there’s a limit to how long that can last. The top brass have to come up with something.

Currently, the threat of brute force held the army in place. Soldiers would eventually start doubting their commanders’ ability to lead them. When that suspicion overcame the threat of violence, the soldiers would turn on their country. But it would be a while before that happened.

For now, we have to fend off the enemy!

The enemy army grew as it came over the horizon, and the battalion commander noticed the armor and weapons of the black-clad soldiers approaching them. They likely were about three hundred meters away from the walls.

“Prepare the bows and stones!”

“Start heating the oil! Be careful not to burn yourselves!”

Shouts and orders traveled across the wall. Bows and ranged weapons seemed like a useless, cowardly method. And that perception wasn’t entirely unfounded, since stones and arrows fired from ordinary bows barely hurt a knight-class soldier capable of martial thaumaturgy.

Knights that could use verbal thaumaturgy came off as superhuman, and most wore heavy armor that had its weight reduced by endowed thaumaturgy. This lighter load allowed them to charge across the battlefield unrestrained. They could even block and sweep aside arrows that rained on them.

An archer had to fire many arrows to kill an opponent using martial thaumaturgy from afar. The sole exception to expending a lot of effort was the use of wide-area verbal thaumaturgy spells. Still, few people on this continent were capable of wielding spells powerful enough to kill a warrior who had reinforced their body with thaumaturgy. Only a few countries, like the O’ltormean Empire, welcomed verbal thaumaturgists.

Because of that, weapons usable by the defending side in a siege were quite limited. Ordinary weapons like swords and spears only came into play after the enemy breached the walls or broke through the gates. Thus, despite the many reservations and disadvantages, soldiers still used bows and stones in siege battles.

Using the defensive installations wisely and killing enemy soldiers from afar had the rare effect of boosting morale. Sadly, it seemed this common knowledge didn’t apply to the soldiers on Pireas’s walls.

“Hey! You lot, line up!” barked the battalion commander, and the soldiers under him formed a line.

Most followed orders obediently, nocking their bows and getting into position. No matter how much their commanders tried to rouse them, the soldiers’ morale remained low. Their hearts fluttered in different directions, with fear pulling them one way and their sense of duty in the other.

Damn it all! We can’t fight like this! thought the battalion commander as he continued barking orders.

He was a skilled warrior who participated in the northern subjugation, fought in the Battle of Fort Tilt, and later survived the battle on the Runoc Plains. Raising his troops’ spirit should have been easy for him.

But no matter how much he scolded or encouraged them, their morale remained low. There was not a shred of the passion he usually felt from soldiers about to put their lives at risk on the battlefield.

They were like puppets in human form. No, the fear the Mikoshiba barony army incited made them worse than puppets. Still, he had to lead these men into battle.

God of Light Meneos, grant us your protection.

Although the commander wasn’t a man of faith, he had no choice but to pray just like others did in desperate times. The ones said to be the God of Light’s representatives, the Church of Meneos, had abandoned the capital. So, the commander’s prayer would have been comical if it wasn’t such a pitiful sight. Yet, he heard others muttering prayers around him.

Part of the Mikoshiba barony army broke off from the main force and slowly approached the capital, so it wasn’t long until that detachment was within firing range. The lookouts kept a keen watch over the enemy, the archers stood at the ready, and a bell rang out. It was the signal to open fire, accompanied by the commanders shouting the order.

“Shoot!”

Countless bows nocked like the crescent moon aimed upward and loosed their arrows, which fell in a round curve, shrouding the sky in black. It was like looking at a cloud of locusts.

The black armored soldiers didn’t stop walking, using their armor and shields to block the arrows.

“Dammit, it isn’t working,” cursed the battalion commander under his breath.

But he kept his voice low enough to avoid discouraging soldiers. Even so, he felt despair and realized they lacked the means to deal with this threat.

The rumors were true. Not only are the Mikoshiba barony soldiers capable of martial thaumaturgy, they also don armor with endowed thaumaturgy. How much money does Baron Mikoshiba have?!

Unfortunately, the rumor had spread among the soldiers before the northern subjugation began. Defeated soldiers who previously served Salzberg County told stories of what they saw in the war, and these reached ears at the capital. But few people—including this battalion commander—took the rumors seriously at first.

Who’d believe a story like that? Rhoadseria is one of the leading countries on the continent, and endowed thaumaturgy gear is expensive. It would have been easier to believe if it was just part of the armor. Outfitting the Monarch’s Guard and Royal Guard with this kind of equipment is a tall order.

The Monarch’s Guard and Royal Guard were significant enough that no expense was too much, and so they used equipment strengthened by endowed thaumaturgy. Both groups stood by whenever the queen attended diplomatic meetings or rituals. These knight orders represented Rhoadseria’s honor and acted as ceremonial guards.

So they’d have more expensive equipment than most.

That said, a knight order in the Rhoadserian military had twenty-five hundred men, meaning the Royal and Monarch’s Guards together had five thousand men. But there was no concept of uniform standard in this world. Although craftsmen could make similar-looking armor, they couldn’t create it to all perform exactly the same because they crafted it by hand.

On top of that, one could not find craftsmen capable of endowed thaumaturgy because people viewed endowed and verbal thaumaturgists negatively. The Rhoadserian court had a court thaumaturgist unit, but they served more as civil officers. Thus, the northern subjugation didn’t recruit them, as they placed martial thaumaturgy in higher regard.

Warriors on the front lines saw verbal thaumaturgists as cowards who focused on support spells or long-distance attacks. This was prejudice and a misunderstanding, and some people were aware of the truth. The battalion commander, for instance, knew the importance of endowed and verbal thaumaturgy.

But it’s hard to shake off a long-lasting tradition. 

And so, the Kingdom of Rhoadseria did little to train verbal and endowed thaumaturgists, which encouraged them to leave for other countries. No one appreciated working in an environment that scorned and made light of them. The only ones that would remain were those not talented enough to be desirable by other countries or extreme patriots who loved Rhoadseria.

The gear given to the Monarch’s Guard and Royal Guard was of average quality.

And it’s because it was average that they got them in bulk.

If a knight felt displeased with the quality of their gear, they were free to acquire better equipment out of their pocket. Procuring even those mediocre sets of equipment took a great deal of funds.

All this meant was that even a country on the scale of Rhoadseria couldn’t equip its soldiers with endowed thaumaturgy gear. It stood to reason that a mere provincial governor shouldn’t be able to get his hands on such expensive, precious equipment.

But the enemy soldiers don’t stagger or flinch when our arrows hit them. The rumors must be true, then. I was beginning to suspect...

The battalion commander had come to believe the rumor was true during the previous battle. Despite thrusting his spear as hard as he could, he couldn’t so much as scratch the enemy. The only ones who could hope to beat these soldiers in battle were knights or warriors on the same level.

This situation was quite unnatural and strange. If nothing else, the battalion commander never saw an army like this in his long tenure. Others had felt this contradiction, but they ignored it. Admitting this fact would have broken their spirits, and now that reality raced toward them.

And it’s the same now. You can’t just march through a rain of arrows unscathed. The marching enemies displayed no fear and stood as proof they were fully confident their armor would protect them. But if that many arrows don’t even faze them, this is the worst possible thing that could happen to us.

Even without endowed thaumaturgy, regular plate armor protected against arrows but wasn’t secure. The joints and certain spots in the armor were less defended out of necessity, as otherwise one wouldn’t be able to move in the armor. Being hit in those spots could get one wounded.

In addition, knights capable of martial thaumaturgy could draw strong bows that an ordinary man couldn’t pull. There were archers on the western continent who could penetrate even a dragon’s scales.

Knowing these weaknesses was useless since improving armor to overcome them was difficult. Steel plate armor seemed like the strongest type in terms of nonendowed equipment. Improving it was a tall task, however. The simplest solution would be to cover the joints with metal, but doing so would impede the joints’ ability to move. More than anything, armor with that much defense would be incredibly thick and heavy.

Even a knight capable of martial thaumaturgy would find armor that heavy a significant burden. So, a soldier who didn’t even learn to use thaumaturgy couldn’t possibly move in such armor.

Increasing the defensive capabilities of armor was an important factor in battle, for sure, but that alone didn’t guarantee one’s survival. That was why craftsmen spent their days meticulously at work, picking the proper materials and maintaining just the right weight to balance defense and mobility.

However, the armor of the Mikoshiba barony ignored such restrictions. They wore armor with the mobility of leather armor and a defense that exceeded even plate armor. And there was only one way they could have possibly achieved that.

The realization that the rumor he heard was true weighed on the battalion commander’s heart, and he bit his lip hard in bitter frustration until the ironlike taste of blood filled his mouth. He couldn’t afford to have his soldiers stop shooting arrows, so he ordered them to keep firing despite knowing their damage was paltry.

Stopping the soldiers clad in black was futile. About ten soldiers at the back of the group approached the gate while carrying a large log, likely a battering ram, with its tip reinforced with metal. Following close behind them was another group with long ladders.

And with them on the move, archers on the rear of the Mikoshiba barony forces fired arrows, aiming at the soldiers on the walls.

“The enemy’s approaching the walls! Prepare the rocks!” ordered the battalion commanders.

Just then, the soldiers put down their bows and picked up stones. Stone throwing was the simplest but most effective method of ranged combat.

“Good! Throw them down!”

The soldiers threw rocks at the approaching enemies. Perhaps the greatest benefit of stone throwing was that it was easier than using a bow and arrow. While the method gave off a childish impression, even endemic of the weak and powerless, it was a powerful method at heart.

During Japan’s Warring States period, Shingen Takeda organized a unit of dedicated slingers. In the Old Testament, David slew the hulking Goliath by pelting him with stones. Throughout history, the rock proved its usefulness as the most basic and accessible weapon to man.

You may need to pick the right size and shape of a stone before you throw it, but you can find them lying around just about everywhere.

It took devoted fletchers to make bows and arrows, tightening the bowstrings and preparing the arrowheads and feathers. On the other hand, anyone could pick up a stone and throw it. That made it a more convenient and accessible weapon. Accurately hitting a target with an arrow took more practice than using a stone. Rocks’ ease of use made for a great boon.

Practicing throwing stones made one more accurate, but that didn’t change the fact that anyone could throw a stone. For that reason, slinging stones at the enemy was the ideal method of combat for a hastily gathered defensive army.

And when you’re on the defending side of the siege, you should throw rocks too large to be thrown by hand.

The stones used in field combat differed from those in sieges. Soldiers generally employed pebbles and stones big enough to fit in one’s hand.

Be it as simple as simply throwing them by hand or using a sling—like the Waraka weapon used in Peru—stones were only so large. They couldn’t be too heavy or they wouldn’t travel far since one had to use their physical strength to throw them.

But this didn’t apply to the defending side in a siege because they could throw rocks down from the wall at the approaching enemy. Though it wasn’t rock throwing, they rolled them down and let gravity handle the rest. The impact of such a falling rock was more than sufficient to kill a man. It was questionable if this would hurt the Mikoshiba barony army, but it was better than nothing.

Plus, the oil is almost ready. 

As the battalion commander glanced at the pots full of steaming, sizzling liquid, he gave his next order.

“Now listen! Don’t falter, don’t fall back! Fight while prepared to die for our homeland!”

With that said, the battalion commander swung his hand like he was slashing at some invisible enemy. And then, numerous rocks and potfuls of sizzling oil poured down the walls.

♱

The Mikoshiba barony had an encampment on foothills not far away from Pireas. Asuka Kiryuu sat in the center of the camp behind layers of defenses, looking at the sky.

“What a beautiful moon... This glowing, vivid light,” she said, reaching for a batch of cookies on a plate inside a basket. It’s good... Well, a professional cook made them.

Asuka smiled as she munched on the cookies made by Kikuna Samejima, the chef Ryoma recruited. The basket resting beside her also had a container of tea. Still, there were too many cookies for her to eat alone. Despite sweets being hard to come by, a cook on Kikuna’s level made these worth their weight in gold.

These could sell for ten thousand yen in Japan, I suppose? And it’s only possible because of Ryoma.

She didn’t know the exact price of these cookies, but she could guess. In Japan she would have shared these with friends. Sadly, sharing cookies of this quality in this world would only bring unwanted trouble.

But if I eat all of these, I’ll get fat.

With that in mind, she reached for the plate and uncorked a wooden canteen to drink some cold tea. It was the very image of someone feasting while gazing at the moon. She was sitting in front of a map a short distance from Ryoma’s tent to spare Asuka from the sight of soldiers moving about.

Yet, no one doubted that Asuka was a person of great importance to the Mikoshiba barony. Their leader had participated in her rescue, so they provided Asuka security similar to that of a prime minister in Ryoma’s home world. Skilled Igasaki ninjas followed her, whether she liked it or not. Such preferential treatment could burden the person receiving it. Asuka was a simple student from the middle class before being summoned to this world. All this attention put a hefty amount of stress on her.

But Asuka understood her position, which made her spread a blanket outside her tent and gaze at the beautiful moonlit sky alone. Though she did this to relieve some stress, her thoughts kept returning to Ryoma. She was overjoyed when he rescued her from the Church of Meneos camp. They were like a hero and heroine from a story. That joy had evaporated by this time.

“A war...” The words spilled from her shapely lips, laced with doubt, regret, and sorrow.

Being alone filled her with more doubts, and it felt like it defeated the purpose of this moment of respite. Looking at the moon among the heavens conjured such thoughts.

Why do people have to fight?

Many moons had passed since Asuka arrived from peaceful Japan to encounter more death than she ever cared to see. It was a harsh reality that someone from that background would struggle to tolerate.

People could get used to anything, even hell, and Asuka found that seeing others die didn’t faze her as much as it used to. When she traveled from the Holy City of Menestia through the southern kingdoms and across Rhoadseria, she witnessed the cruelties of this world many times.

I saw wives who lost their husbands to war sell their children to slave merchants. Or they sold themselves to pay for their sick children’s treatment. 

She struggled desperately to change this cruelty but faced the harsh, unyielding reality. On one occasion, Asuka came across a weeping mother after she had sold her children into slavery. She gave the woman money to buy back her children, but when the woman reached the slums where the slave merchants were based, she was mugged and killed on the streets.

The one who mugged them was the man living next door to them. Debt collectors drove him to a situation where his only option was to sell his daughter off. That was when he spotted Asuka giving the woman money, which spurred him to commit the crime.

When Asuka pressed him for answers, the man hollered back at her, asking why she would help that woman but leave his daughter to her fate.

He lunged at them as he shouted at her with a desperate voice, and Asuka couldn’t shake him off. Rodney and Menea then hurried over, alerted to the situation by Tachibana. Had they not been there, the man could have killed her.

Asuka had learned her ignorant attempts at goodwill would bring sorrow to other people. As the man fell to Menea’s sword, Asuka realized how helpless she was. Although Asuka’s noble and praiseworthy intentions ended in tragedy, no one could criticize her for her actions. She then learned she couldn’t save everyone and feared the misfortunes she could unintentionally cause.

Since that incident, Asuka tried to improve her outlook on reality to understand her limits. She knew that irresponsible kindness and negligent decision-making could take lives.

Three days had passed since Ryoma began the siege of Pireas, but the deaths Asuka heard about still took her aback. The situation was uncertain, with neither side having the advantage. Every day, a few soldiers died on each side, and knowing her relative was an instigator of the conflict bothered her.

I know this war is greater than me...

Asuka couldn’t stop Ryoma as much as she wanted to end the war. If it prevented people from hurting and killing each other, she thought Ryoma would be better off surrendering to Queen Lupis. Perhaps that was a reasonable conclusion from the perspective of someone who grew up with modern values and held that a single life was precious.

Had she been thrust into this situation before, Asuka wouldn’t have thought twice about talking to Ryoma about this matter.

But all I’d be doing is just putting Ryoma on the spot. No, even if Ryoma listened to me and stopped the war at this point...

Those who reject conflict and advocate peace define war as an evil to be averted, believing that ending the fight will achieve stability. In their eyes, dialogue could solve any problem and dispute.

But dialogue can only solve a conflict if both sides want to see the conflict resolved peacefully. What’s more, they need to be willing to compromise and accept the other side’s demands even if it means accepting an immediate drawback for themselves.

That’s impossible even for modern society. So once a war starts in earnest, words alone aren’t enough to stop it. The only thing that can stop a war that’s already underway...

Sometimes, children reconciled or enemies became friends, like in comics. But cases like these were ideals at best and fiction at worst. A small argument could strengthen a relationship, assuming a power balance existed between both parties. This scenario included those involved taking the same losses.

What would happen if Ryoma ended the war with Queen Lupis? From what Asuka knew, Queen Lupis Rhoadserians didn’t give the impression of a wise woman. She feels like the type who’d let her emotions guide her decisions and drive her into ruin. On top of that, she takes pride in being in the highest class in the world.

Queen Lupis couldn’t stop the war, as doing so would enrage the nobles who participated in the northern subjugation. If Ryoma were to propose peace, she’d send a great force of soldiers to attack or pretend to accept while plotting to assassinate him.

As told in the Taiheiki, only one can reign at the top. That aptly described Ryoma and Queen Lupis’s relationship as irreconcilable enemies. One would live while the other would die.

Besides, my words alone won’t stop Ryoma.

Even if Asuka asked him to call for a ceasefire, he’d either shout at her to face reality or mock her for hypocrisy. A third party asking him to do this would get called untrustworthy. Actually, the most likely thing he’d do was to keep quiet and shrug her off with a smile.

“After all these preparations, he can’t just stop,” said Asuka with sorrow.

The battle had been evenly matched ever since the siege of Pireas began, even up to this moment. So far, the Mikoshiba barony army had failed to break through the gates and invade the capital. Thanks to the powerful equipment Ryoma’s soldiers had, they suffered fewer losses than the Rhoadserian army.

Of course, their armor and helmets wouldn’t reduce the casualties to zero, no matter how good they were. They wouldn’t get away unscathed if a large rock hit them on the head from atop the walls. And no armor could protect one from sizzling oil slipping through the gaps.

Besides methods like attacking with stones and arrows, one could pierce a relatively poorly protected spot in a stroke of bad luck. Most soldiers hurt this way only got scratches and bruises that could heal given a day of rest, but the more unlucky ones had serious wounds or lost an arm or leg.

Thankfully, Ryoma’s army had nostrums provided by the dark elves, which could heal almost any injury that didn’t result in instant death after a month of treatment. With the help of these nostrums, soldiers could return to the line of battle quickly.

And this is because of his meticulous planning.

In the Achaemenid Empire in Ancient Persia, there was a unit of soldiers called the Immortal Guard. It consisted of ten thousand men, and each soldier that fell ill, went missing, or died had a new soldier immediately replace them. Regardless of how many died, the Immortal Guard’s numbers remained consistent. To an enemy, it must have been a terrifying unit to fight, like a swarm of zombies in a horror movie.

While the Mikoshiba barony’s brand of immortality was different, their strength was essentially the same as the Immortal Guard.

An immortal army that never dies no matter how much you attack it...

The fighting had raged for three days as the Mikoshiba barony army launched multiple offensives while the capital’s defensive army repelled them thus far. On the surface, the armies appeared comparable but quickly differentiated themselves by how they fought.

If nothing else, Asuka couldn’t imagine how anyone might protect themselves from an enemy that never got tired or died. She would never want to pick a fight with an opponent like that.

Why isn’t he just finishing off the queen? The less drawn out this war is, the fewer people on his side have to die. Elite soldiers like them were still flesh and blood. Having fewer casualties didn’t change the fact that lives were lost. Knowing Ryoma, he wouldn’t stand for such needless losses.

Seeing that Asuka had known Ryoma for more than a decade and a half, this doubt crossed her mind. The most efficient way of minimizing losses in war was having a foolproof plan. Otherwise, the next best thing would be hatching a plan that ended the conflict as soon as possible. Either way, these methods would lessen the damage.

Despite the Mikoshiba barony having the upper hand, the fighting was sluggish after only a few days. And Asuka didn’t understand Ryoma’s intentions in prolonging this war.

She knew Ryoma was a man who could be cold and ruthless, but he had a merciful side. The man took no twisted pleasure in killing people or making others suffer.

“Is he trying to be cautious? What is he thinking?” whispered Asuka, sighing. Who’s to say...? Maybe coming to this world changed him.

Asuka wanted to believe he was still the same person, but she had to discard any preconceptions when summoned to this world. She knew the reality of this world was severe enough to change her, for better and worse. Who was to say Ryoma didn’t go through the same thing? Everything made her face the possibility she didn’t know her cousin as well as she thought; she wanted to believe him but couldn’t and felt tormented.

I know he’s busy right now. He has a war to lead, after all.

As the head of the Mikoshiba barony, Ryoma led an army of tens of thousands. Even with skilled lieutenants working under him, he remained extremely busy. A self-indulgent part of her wished he could make the time to speak with her some more.

It was then that she heard a man’s voice from behind her.

“Well, Ryoma has a lot on his plate. Why don’t you ask him if it bothers you that much?”

When she jolted and turned around to find the source of the voice, she encountered an old man standing there with a teasing smile.

“Oh... Don’t startle me like that, grandpa!” exclaimed Asuka, pouting and averting her gaze from him peevishly.

Noticing this, Tachibana, who stood beside Koichiro, laughed out loud.

“And if you’re here too, say something, Mr. Tachibana!” she added, hugging her knees and puffing up her cheeks angrily.

This response only prompted Tachibana to laugh again.

“Ah, pardon, Asuka,” said Koichiro. “I was just walking through the camp with Mr. Tachibana here when we noticed you lost in thought. I wasn’t sure if we should say something, but Mr. Tachibana insisted we should.”

“Come on, Koichiro. That’s not fair. All I said was that she looked brooding and maybe we should talk to her,” replied Tachibana.

“Oh... Was that what you said? I swear, my memory’s been failing me recently. I’m sorry, then. I guess I’m going senile?”

Tachibana could only smile uncomfortably and shrug. While the pair hadn’t spent much time together, he could tell with a glance that this flippant old man was not senile. In all his rich experience as a police officer, Tachibana had never met a man as wise and brave as Koichiro. And he could tell why Koichiro was speaking nonsense.

“What’s more... That’s quite the fancy snack you’re having. Did Miss Samejima make them?” said Tachibana, starting with an innocuous topic to break the ice.

“Yes. Would you like to try them?” asked Asuka. “She made them especially for me, but I can’t eat this many.”

Asuka pulled two canteens from the basket and handed them to Koichiro and Tachibana. She invited them to take a seat, to which the men nodded, took the canteens, and sat down with Asuka between them.

After a bit of silence, Tachibana finally asked, “You look like you have a lot on your mind?”

Asuka nodded slowly, feeling no need to hide her emotions.

“I can’t blame you... Sometimes, I can’t wrap my head around everything that boy does. So it only makes sense it’d bother you, Asuka.”

Tachibana had a lot of mixed feelings about Ryoma. The information he’d gathered when investigating the boy’s disappearance led him to determine Ryoma was extremely dangerous. But criminals were those judged guilty by the justice system. When taken to the extreme, one could say that even a killer or a rapist didn’t count as a criminal so long as the court of law found them innocent.

And it’s not like Ryoma’s some perverted murderer who relishes killing, thought Tachibana. He’s just a high schooler who probably wouldn’t do anything crime adjacent if he could help it.

The problem was that this same former high schooler was now invading an entire country.

If necessary, he could go through with anything. Decisiveness like that is usually a good thing, but not so much when considering and committing murder.

Based on the cutthroat nature of this world, hesitation would come off as mad. Even Tachibana admitted it was a harsh reality after spending time in this world and staining his hands in blood to protect Asuka. While one could say murder was wrong, he couldn’t remain self-righteous due to his experiences.

But I can’t justify him either. If nothing else, he couldn’t endorse Ryoma’s actions. And that meant he had to decide how to process the aversion and discontent he felt for him.

“You can’t understand him either, Mr. Tachibana?” Asuka asked, looking surprised.

His words had most likely shocked Asuka, but her reaction made him scratch his left cheek with a bashful smile.

“I’ve been a police officer for years. And in this world, values and ethics like mine probably come across as hypocrisy despite living by them for years. But I can’t just...cast them away. You realize that those who stick to their values in this situation won’t end well, right?”

Even a lawless place that endorsed murder was just subject to the circumstances of its environment. This difference confused those who weren’t native to it, like a Japanese person visiting a country abroad for the first time. They’d become lost if they stuck to their notion of common sense in a foreign nation.

He continued, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In the end, you don’t need to overthink it...”

Asuka nodded briefly as Tachibana and Koichiro kept her company during this moonlit break. Their presence lifted her spirits, as her initial forlorn expression cleared up.

“I think I’ll go to sleep, then. Good night,” said Asuka, stifling a yawn and standing up. She didn’t know the exact time, but the moon’s position looked like it was past midnight, an appropriate moment to retire.

“Yes, good night,” said Koichiro as he nodded.

“And you too, Mr. Tachibana... Pardon me.”

“I’m sure the change in environment is hard on you, Asuka. Take your time and rest,” said Tachibana.

“I will. Thank you.”

Again, Asuka bowed and walked to her tent with the basket. Once Koichiro confirmed she had left their sight, he called out to Tachibana. His face no longer had the wisecracking expression of a witty old man, instead appearing as a worried grandfather as he spoke up.

“We caused you some trouble, didn’t we?”

“No, I was worried about her too,” said Tachibana, shaking his head. “Don’t let it bother you.”

These were his genuine thoughts, since he saw Asuka like a little sister. They’d been together since they got summoned to this world and had faced many dangers. Their age gap was too large for anything romantic to develop, showing they were just friends. The closest word would be comrade, leading him to accompany Koichiro when he became concerned for Asuka and go along with his jokes.

“I’m relieved that you would say that,” responded Koichiro, bowing his head.

It was hard to tell from his dignified and confident attitude that Koichiro Mikoshiba usually emphasized politeness and was forthcoming in showing gratitude.

Hence, Koichiro treated Asuka like his granddaughter and showed gratitude to the man who helped save her. Tachibana then bowed his head to Koichiro.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. I can’t simply be here without earning my keep,” said Tachibana.

“Yes, my grandson will be happy to have you helping us.”

Tachibana nodded earnestly, with no choice but to collaborate with the Mikoshiba barony. Besides, Ryoma wouldn’t keep him around for free, even if he had protected Asuka for so long.

As a man, this entire situation riles me up, thought Tachibana.

While he couldn’t approve of war or murder, a warlord poised on the brink of bringing a country to its knees excited the heart. Indeed, situations like this would give one a reason to live after being cast into this world.

Besides, there’s a few questions I need answered.

First, there was the question of how Koichiro Mikoshiba had returned to his home world after being summoned many years ago. Perhaps discovering that could allow Tachibana to do the same.

Even if I found out how to get home, I’d probably need to consider my options carefully. 

If the way home were easy, Koichiro would have told Asuka and Tachibana about it long ago. That he hadn’t done so implied it was either impossible or carried considerable risks.

It’s probably risky. At worst, the trouble it would bring might affect others.

Why had two of Koichiro Mikoshiba’s blood relatives been summoned to this world? Tachibana couldn’t answer that question since the old man gave no clear answers when questioned. Something wrong had happened and it couldn’t be referred to as bad luck. As far as Tachibana knew, the summoning spell chose people randomly from their world’s entire population.

Though this is speculation, I would guess Ryoma Mikoshiba’s deceased parents were also...

During his investigation, Tachibana examined Ryoma’s family heritage and noticed that both of Ryoma’s parents appeared deceased in reports. As far as Japanese law was concerned, they were dead. For all his attempts to investigate it, Tachibana found no record of their cause of death or their burial location.

They filed them legally dead after disappearing. And this is the proper way of handling it, given the question of Ryoma’s parental authority. Families don’t declare a missing family member dead because they want to believe their relative is still alive.

Different families have unique circumstances, but Tachibana’s intuition told him something was off. With those issues unresolved, Tachibana couldn’t conclude that returning to his world would be easy. He needed a way to live in this world, as hellish as it might be.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be of much help, but I’ll do whatever I can,” said Tachibana.

“Shall we retire, then?” asked Koichiro.

“Yes... It’s gotten quite late.”

The two got up from the blanket on the ground and walked to their tents.

“Not to change the subject, but can I ask you something?” said Tachibana.

“Oh... If I can answer it, go ahead,” responded Koichiro with a smile.

Seeing this, Tachibana raised his misgivings and said, “It’s just... It’s the same thing Asuka was asking. Why isn’t Ryoma taking down the capital right away?”

Koichiro’s smile deepened into a mischievous smirk.

“I see, I see. So that’s on your mind.” Koichiro rubbed his chin as he looked up to the sky, speaking with his usual teasing tone. “He could use brute force and take down the capital. It would take little time and wouldn’t cost him many losses.”

“I think so too,” said Tachibana. “How he’s been fighting for the last three days has felt off. He doesn’t need to make the same mistake as Queen Lupis.”

Koichiro nodded, since assaulting a fortress with an entire army to take it down was usually a bad idea. It was only advisable when one had a larger army or no other choice.

Queen Lupis didn’t take advantage of this tactic during the northern subjugation due to lack of information regarding Fort Tilt’s terrain and insufficient siege weapons. As such, Ryoma couldn’t think about doing the same at Pireas.

“If he’s trying to avoid casualties, he could poison their water or catapult decaying corpses into their walls to spread the plague. There’s no shortage of ways he could attack the capital,” added Koichiro.

“Poison and plague?” asked Tachibana, his eyes widening. “That’s all very...extreme.”

All these were effective tactics and possible with a catapult. But there were two hundred thousand soldiers and over a million civilians in the capital. Unleashing poison and plague would turn the city to hell, which appeared as a cruel, heartless tactic.

It’d be one thing if he had no choice, but it isn’t necessary in this situation.

Said idea was one Tachibana couldn’t endorse but wouldn’t be too vocal about in the face of his new employer’s relatives. His feelings were apparent in his words, and Koichiro smiled in response.

“Don’t worry. A time might come when he must resort to that, but not today. Choosing those tactics would topple the capital quickly, though it would require more cleanup.” Koichiro paused and looked around briefly before continuing, “Ryoma is waiting.”

“Waiting... Do you mean for the army marching in from the south to arrive? Or are there reinforcements coming in from another country?”

One would only draw out this war because they were waiting for reinforcements. Koichiro disagreed, saying, “That’s not it. Ryoma is waiting for patriotic knights that love Rhoadseria, for those who could reshape it into a better country.”

Patriotic knights...? thought Tachibana, baffled. Is he plotting to use the famous Helena Steiner?

Tachibana didn’t know the details, but he’d heard of Rhoadseria’s fabled general. Having her on their side would indeed be an advantage.

I’ve heard Ryoma and Helena Steiner were close friends, but I wonder...

Koichiro’s tone implied something else was at hand. Still, the old man had no intention of giving a clear answer.

“But don’t worry. It won’t be long before this war is over,” said Koichiro, then laughed aloud.

At this stage, Koichiro saw the end of the war. Although Tachibana still had doubts, he didn’t feel dissatisfied with the answers he got.

He’s right. I’ll see how this turns out soon enough.

The look Tachibana received from Koichiro made him confident that the Mikoshiba barony had secured victory. He kept this impression firmly in his heart as he thought about the face of the boy who was to be his new master.