22. Chapter 22
After the battle in one of the tiger dens, Walm left the frontline and spent three weeks in the requisitioned church at the foot of the mountain until the wound on his shoulder healed. Even the radical Highserk Empire army wouldn’t harm the humans of the church.
The wound on the shoulder was deep in the bone and the clavicle was broken. Walm the surface and the bones reconnected with healing magic, but he needed to rest, and because of that he was able to live a life without war for a while.
The Ferrius soldiers standing in the mine were cut off at the outer edge and slowly self-destructing. Just looking at the number of troops, they should be able to withstand, but in addition to the endless struggle when the gate got shaken, they eventually fell to Highserk’s army.
A messenger was sent and informed the Ferrius soldiers that the Highserk army would kill all the soldiers and civilians inside if they didn’t surrender immediately. The Ferrius soldiers, having given in to the ultimatum, left the mine one by one.
Everyone wasn’t thin, but all had dark circles under their eyes and poor complexion. Some had their whole bodies shaking and others talked endlessly to themselves like mentally ill people.
There was no entertainment in the city, and Walm continued to watch prisoners of war, soldiers, and other passers-by until his wounds healed, but that was the end of the day.
“You look well”
It was Jose who greeted Walm who had finally returned to the squad.
“Recovery magic is amazing. The wounds that would take several months to heal could be healed in a week.”
Walm shrugged his shoulders to show off his connected collarbones.
“Oh, welcome back. You’re finally back.”
The owner of the voice was Noor. Her armor was scratched and she looked more confident than before.
“It was hard since you were brought to treatment. Some of the layers were brought to our control, and the squads were going in deeper, but Barito…”
Noor interrupted her words and fixed her gaze on one of the tree’s shadows. Walm caught it and turned his gaze and there was Barito, but the height of the magnificent cockscomb hair was halved.
“Hahaha, what happened to the cockscomb? Did you change your hairstyle!!?”
Barito protested so.
“I didn’t change it. It was because of the enemy magic-user!!”
“The guy aimed at the Barito when he was running up the slope, but his swaying cockscomb probably was so distracting that the fire lance missed his body. So, yeah, the body is safe as you can see. But the hair got roasted…. hahaha.”
Perhaps the scene replayed in Jose’s mind, he laughed at the end.
“Well, at least the cockscomb wasn’t just a burden. Anyway, everyone seems safe, but what happened to Commander Duwei?”
Walm could see Willart who sat a little further away, but not Squad Commander Duwei.
“He was urgently called by Commander Kozul.”
“We’ve cleaned up here too, and are we finally invading the inner area?”
At first, the Highserk army was intent on reducing Ferrius’ national power, but the enemy might have been more exhausted than expected. Perhaps the war would end prematurely. Walm couldn’t help but expect so.
There was an optimistic air in the Liguria Battalion as they managed to take over the mine.
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“Really, they ain’t fun at all.”
In the stalemate, a soldier from the Highserk Army’s Sarria Battalion mumbled like this. It was on the outskirts of the village that Ferrius soldiers and villagers resisted the occupation of the village.
On the other hand, the corpses of Highserk soldiers were extremely small.
The POWs (Prisoners of War), who were beaten to the point where they couldn’t keep their faces, were occasionally stabbed in the flanks and forced to continue working without rest.
“Well, decent soldiers died in the battle with Myard. The remaining good soldiers must be in the major cities and on the border with the other country.”
Since soldiers entered the Ferrius Kingdom, the Sarria battalion experienced five battles, large and small, but it was a series of victories, and it was said that the death toll in the entire battalion didn’t even reach 100.
Now the Battalion was split into Company units, systematically plundering the surrounding villages and shaving off Ferrius’ national power. Naturally, the order was accepted by the Sarria soldiers.
“Not bad, we can take as many as we want here. I couldn’t get anything or even a woman in Myard. Now, in Ferrius, it’s a free loot and woman to taste.”
Said the man, stroking the surface of the looted ring. Since the soldiers flocked to Ferrius, the food diet of Sarria soldiers had improved, and many soldiers now wore luxuries unfit for them.
“By the way, the guys who couldn’t hold their urges in Myard were whipped up. What a bunch of really stupid guys.”
The soldier said so with a nasty smile.
“True, but more than that, I wonder if the women in here always eat good food, I mean, they are all comfortable to hold.”
In Myard and Highserk, there were many thin women, and their skin and hair were rough. The women that the soldiers got at Ferrius were way better than them.
“Right. It makes you want to do more. Too bad, if you do too much, it’ll only hurt you instead.”
The man rubbed his pubic area as he proclaimed. Instead of aggreging, his friend mocked him.
“Yours is too weak. Look at mine.”
“Huh? Where? It’s too small.”
“Put that dirty thing back in, now.”
Said another soldier, trying to stop the conversation.
“It’s about time we move on to the next village. We’ve stolen all we can here.”
“I was wondering what would happen when Kanoa was destroyed, but a winning battle sure feels great. I’m glad I joined the Highserk Army.”
The soldier was captured by the Highserk Empire during the Kanoa Campaign, but was released after four months of manual labor without being killed and joined the Highserk Army. And the soldiers around him have similar circumstances.
The soldiers, who knew only the losing battle, were intoxicated with the victorious liquor for the first time. They continued to chat for a while, but were forcibly silenced.
They saw a dazzling flash, and at the same time, a big explosion occurred in a corner of the village.
“What is it? What is that light!?”
The dust rose around the collapsed lookout tower and storage, where many soldiers stayed.
“The turret and the Tarus’s squad have been blown away.”
No matter how relaxed they were, the soldiers fighting on the front line responded quickly. Immediately, they wore reasonably high-defense armor and explored the true nature of the explosion.
“It’s an attack!! There are magic users who use large-scale magic.”
A voice informing the situation echoed from a corner of the village.
“Tch, they’re already in the village――”
The soldiers who were chatting while doing their job also caught the enemy’s shadow.
“Did some decent soldiers remain?”
From the hazy shadows, the soldiers realized that the enemy’s equipment was of good quality. Wearing armor from the feet to head, they looked like a well-trained regular soldier, not a bunch of crude militias that were called by the country in an emergency.
“Watch out for friendly fire.”
“What are these guys? They look different from the soldiers up till now?”
The soldiers who had entered the battle earlier had already fallen to the ground. Although it was the first move, it was an unusual situation for the Highserk soldiers who had many experienced soldiers.
“Damn it, they got Tarkin’s squad.”
“These guys――ain’t Ferius soldiers, but Craist soldiers.”
“What’s going on? It’s too one-sided even if they’re from Craist.”
Craist was one of the mid-sized countries far from Highserk. Highserk soldiers never faced Craist soldiers in the border battle, so they were unknown opponents.
Highserk soldiers who had no combat experience with them continued to cast curses as they were buried one by one.
“Don’t joke with me. It’s the Order of Reharzen of Craist. They’ve joined hands.”
There were two armies in Craist. An army was made up of people who were half farmers and half soldiers. And the knights who have been in military service for generations. Even now there was still a so-called knight in Highserk, but the knights of Craist Kingdom were by far the most powerful and feared by neighboring countries.
“One knight down, but more than 10 people were killed in the process.”
One soldier, who tried to fight back, had his torso chopped off together with the shield on his hand, and another soldier was slashed open with a warhammer.
“The physical abilities and the amount of mana are too different. Besides, I’m afraid they have “skill”.”
When it came to the Craist knights, no matter how strong Highserk soldiers were, if they fought the same numbers head-on, the soldiers would likely be defeated. Moreover, in addition to the surprise attack, the formation and the chain of command were disrupted by a series of large-scale magic.
“Abandon the village. Give up except for the luggage you can carry.”
The veteran Platoon Commander decided to retreat at his own discretion. He wasn’t instructed by the Company Commander, but decided himself that they had been defeated after seeing the first strike.
“Damn it, even though I’ve collected it with trouble.”
“Better than dying. And it’s better to have Jaff Cavalry Battalion or Liguria Battalion to take on them.”
The two units mentioned were the ones with the best combat power in the Highserk army. In the battle against Myard, these two units defeated Winston Ferrius and Youth Myard, and decided on the victory.
The platoon, having decided the next move to take, flooded into a corner of the siege to break the siege. The number of knights wasn’t large, and except for the knights, they weren’t that different from the regular soldiers of Ferrius.
The Highserk soldier, who stabbed two Craist soldiers with a spear, was convinced that they could escape the siege.
There, a man blocked them.
“Resistance is useless. Surrender now.”
“Move from there, brat”
The opponent was a soldier with black hair and black eyes who still had his strength. He felt like someone who had never gone into battle, and the armor with its flashy detailing felt odd. With the threats, the soldier thrust his spear at the enemy soldier’s throat.
“Wait, that guy is―― “
Another Highserk soldier who saw the mana that increased to the point it could be seen by eyes, tried to stop his comrade.
Light shone from the sword that was swung down.
“Wha, is this light!!”
As the soldier’s field of vision was engulfed in light, he was swallowed up in the blast and his consciousness was momentarily disrupted, but it never returned.
Three companies of Sarria battalion that had been separated to secure provisions were annihilated, and 700 soldiers didn’t return to the meeting point. It was great damage to Highserk Army.
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