45: The End of the War
“Everyone, let me say it again, yesterday was great. Thanks to your efforts, we were able to drive the enemy’s main force into retreat. Be proud.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Indeed, your words are most gracious.”
“Hmm.”
Count Mataneet spoke on behalf of the others. They have become quite docile. At first, they were rebellious, then they were scared, and now that the war is over, they are respectful.
I guess they recognized me a little bit from the sound and action of that battle.
Well, none of that matters.
“I’ll say this first. Croitz, who was in command of this operation, was resting to take a break from the long battle, but he is fine now. However, His Majesty the King has granted the authority to transfer the command to Duke Zarud. Therefore, I will be in command until Duke Zarud returns. Does anyone object?”
I looked around, but no one said anything. I nodded at that.
This is something my brother and I decided on this morning after breakfast. Strictly speaking, the decision to transfer the command was from my brother to me, and nothing was said about what would happen after that. So I should be able to give it back to my brother if I decide to.
However, I decided to keep it for a while longer. He wanted it, and I didn’t want to tire him out too much on this battlefield, so I agreed. I want to prioritize my brother’s health right now. When Grandfather returns, I will protect my brother with him, and then I will really give it back to him.
“If so, good. We are now waiting for instructions from His Majesty the King. Yesterday, thanks to everyone’s efforts, we were able to bury our allies, but there are still enemy soldiers’ bodies left. You must be tired, so I will leave it to you to bury them. If we leave them alone, we may incur the wrath of the Earth God.”
『Hah』
Normally, in this world, it is the norm to leave the corpses of all living things alone. If left alone, they will naturally decompose and return to the earth, or they will be absorbed and decomposed by aquatic decomposing organisms (slimes), which are said to be the world’s purification devices.
This is called returning to the world.
However, if a large number of corpses are left behind in a battle, they may remain as they are without decomposing. When this happens, the corpses become poisonous and contaminate the earth and wind, turning it into a land where people cannot live.
People call this the wrath of the earth god. Therefore, unless there is a very good reason, the large number of corpses in a battle must be burned or buried.
By the way, the loser is considered to have a “very good reason”, so there is no problem. Also, if this is intentionally left alone even though the enemy country has won, it is said that the corpses will return to the world , but a calamity will occur somewhere in the territory of the country that left them alone.
The only things that have been confirmed to be similar to this are the unnatural occurrence of consecutive stampedes and abnormal droughts or heavy rains. It is said that one territory was destroyed by that.
“Needless to say, the rest is a matter of merit. Especially this time, there are almost no personal spoils of war, so be specific.”
What soldiers and mercenaries are most happy about in battle is the spoils of war from their opponents. This is an especially important source of income for leaders and mercenaries.
In this battle, there was no time or room to capture such things, and the soldiers were more focused on killing the enemy than on money, so most of the corpses had weapons, armor, and decorations left on them.
Since it was impossible to leave them alone, they were basically collected, but if some kind of reward was not given, there was a possibility that dissatisfaction would build up, so they could not be ignored.
However, knights and nobles aside, ordinary soldiers had almost no money. In that sense, their income would have been small either way.
After that, the basic future actions and reports from each noble and knight were received, and the meeting was adjourned for the time being.
Now, to the main topic. It is very difficult for us to withdraw from this battle.
This is because this is a full-scale war that started with a declaration of war. In other words, it is not something that will end with one or two battles. In the extreme, it will continue until one of the countries is destroyed or surrenders.
My father will make such a large-scale judgment, but I think it will be difficult. The war is still going on at this very moment. The moment when it is okay to withdraw is almost nonexistent.
However, we are currently in our own territory. And the ones in command are the crown prince and the second in line to the throne. There is no reason to keep us here forever. Without a doubt, my brother, myself, and a few nobles will be ordered to return.
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Having said that, if we were to say, “I’m tired, so I’m going home,” it would be a terrible thing, so we are obediently waiting for instructions from our father.
To be honest, I would like him to do something about the fact that the number of soldiers has decreased and the soldiers are exhausted.
And then, the next day. My grandfather came back with his army. I’m glad, but isn’t it too soon…? I had a very bad feeling.
*
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness Kreuz, I am glad that you are safe.”
“Yes. It was a great honor.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“This is nothing.”
My grandfather knelt down as soon as he entered the tent and greeted him with my brother. For the time being, most of the nobles and knights have gathered here because my grandfather has returned.
For the time being, I want to ask this. Grandfather, isn’t it too soon?
“Now, Duke Zarud. How was it over there? What is the current situation?”
“Hah. By the time our army joined forces, Earl Jaynal and Earl Rone’s armies were facing about four thousand enemy troops. Four towns had been attacked by the time I arrived, and I repelled them the day after I arrived. I learned from the captured enemy commander that a thousand troops had separated and occupied the castle town, so I moved the next day and recaptured the town the day after that. After that, I spent several days confirming that there were no enemy troops in the vicinity before returning here .”
“…Yes, it was a great honor.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
I was too scared to hear any more, so I ended the report.
*
Here, I would like to talk about the combat methods used in warfare on this continent.
Battles are basically fought using close-range combat with offensive skills or long-range combat with bows and arrows, but one of them is, of course, magical combat.
And the battles in war are fundamentally “armies”. Many-to-many is the basic principle.
However, there are almost no large-scale magical battles or magical battles against close-range combat.
Magic is something that reduces mental power if it is used too much. If you continue to use it when your mental power is exhausted, your life force will decrease, and if you continue to use it, you will die.
And the more powerful the magic, the more mental power it uses.
For example, there are not many magicians who can blow up a mansion with a single spell. Blowing up a mansion means that you can blow up dozens of soldiers, but this is quite difficult.
To create (activate) magic, three things are required: intelligence, magical power, and magical attributes. However, it is well known that the one that controls the power is magical power.
If you just want to use a simple fire magic that has an explosive nature, you only need 2 or 3 magical attributes, but to make it powerful enough to blow away dozens of soldiers, you need 4 or 5 magical power.
And to make sure that such a powerful magic is directed to the place you say “here” and activated, you need 4 or 5 intelligence. The higher the power, the more difficult it is to operate.
In other words, a magician who is useful in war is one who has high mental power and can activate high-power magic in a certain place.
Such people are rare. Even if there are, they are only a few chosen ones called court magicians or top adventurers. Or an exceptional high-ranking magician who is employed by a high-ranking aristocrat.
It is often used for surprise attacks or night attacks in places with excellent location conditions, but it is rarely seen otherwise.
Therefore, the magic used in the midst of battle is usually strengthening, defensive, or restorative, and small-scale offensive magic that is used flexibly.
Even in the decisive battle I fought the other day, such offensive magic was flying around between the gaps of the battle, led by Romero and Eldred. I was safe because I was surrounded by the barrier magic of the guards.
In the end, what I want to say is this. In a large-scale battle like a war between countries, it is basically impossible to blow away enemy soldiers all at once.
Now, from what I heard and later investigated, Grandfather. When he joined the Earl’s mixed army, he checked the battle situation and information, and the next day, he led his own seven hundred troops and fought head-on against four thousand enemy troops. with the entire army.
Grandfather is a magician who excels in fire and water attributes, and a magic spearman who uses a spear. But to the enemy, Grandfather, who was approaching, must have looked like the king of beasts.
Grandfather abandoned his horse at the beginning of the battle and charged alone. When he reached the enemy’s front line, he fired a vortex of flames that he had created on the tip of his spear. In front of him, there were only enemies, so it was a very thick fire spear that emphasized power. I wonder if he didn’t control it on purpose, but the flames roared and attacked the enemy soldiers as a vortex that scattered fire, killing dozens of them lightly.
And Grandfather, who had charged into the enemy lines, swung his beloved spear like a stick, blowing away the approaching enemies and dashing straight at the commander. There may have been strong knights along the way, but no one could stop him, and the enemy commander was captured by Grandfather, and the enemy army surrendered to the announcement that “the commander has been captured”. The battle was over in no time.
Grandfather’s achievements are said to be four hundred or five hundred alone. I want to believe it’s a joke.
And the next day, I heard from the commander who “for some reason” gave up the information easily, and headed to the occupied castle town the next morning. There, he urged the enemy army to surrender, but they refused, taking the city’s residents hostage.
So Grandfather dragged out the captured enemy commander and inspired at the city.
“I heard from Count Dadario! The people of the city have already been destroyed! Then everything you say is a lie! I’ll give you a moment, disarm yourself and surrender!”
Grandfather continued, ignoring the surprised enemy soldiers.
“You can surrender! It’s okay to die in battle! But remember, this war was started by you! If you don’t surrender, I’ll capture each of you, skin you, gouge out your eyes, cut off your ears, cut off your limbs, and feed you to the beasts, making you regret being born!”
I wonder how he did it. Grandfather seems to have blown away a large part of the city wall while standing there.
“A moment! I won’t wait a moment longer! Get out here, you bastards!”
It’s not the language of the head of a prestigious ducal family anymore. Even a robber around here would be kinder.
Moreover, it is said that he blew up the city wall again later.
By the way, at this time, the people of the city were killed if they resisted, but they were really hostages. Grandfather must have known that and forced them to surrender.
Then what did he mean? Did he mean that he would not be intimidated by what you said? Or did he mean that he would kill everyone, regardless of the hostages? I never want to know.
And within a moment, the enemy surrendered. All thousand enemy soldiers who were holed up were taken prisoner obediently. I think one of the reasons why they surrendered obediently was because they understood that they were isolated and that no reinforcements would come. The fact that the commander that Grandfather dragged out was captured is proof that the four thousand allied troops were defeated.
By the way, the commander that Grandfather captured was killed by Grandfather’s soldiers after he escaped. I wonder how he managed to escape from Grandfather’s soldiers, even temporarily… This is what they mean by “dead men tell no tales”.
After that, he handed over the defense of the area to the Earls in the name of succession and rushed to us.
*
I felt sorry, but I was a little curious, so I peeked at only the vitality and mental power of Grandfather’s individual information (visual record) with [Soul-penetrating Eyes (Mana-Leisis)].
What was shown there was the value of mental power that had not yet recovered, even though many days had passed since the battle over there was over.
The higher the soul level (level) of vitality and mental power, the more the natural recovery amount increases. I haven’t seen it now, but there is no doubt that Grandfather is of a considerable soul level. And yet, the fact that he has not yet fully recovered means that he probably used up all his mental power at once.
If you overuse or use up your vitality or mental power–if you use up your vitality, you will die–the natural recovery amount will become extremely slow until you fully recover.
Originally, this phenomenon occurs only after a fierce battle or a deadly battle.
I glanced at Grandfather’s face and body so as not to be rude, but there was no trace of battle there. There wasn’t a single scratch on his armor. This means that Grandfather did not fight a fierce battle or a deadly battle. And yet, this is the state of his mental power.
In other words, Grandfather must have ignored the important ability to continue fighting for those who fight, ended the battle early, and returned to the battlefield where his two grandchildren were in danger without thinking about himself. I am truly grateful.
But it was a little painful for me now.
By the way. Some people might say that it would have been better if Grandfather had done the same thing on our battlefield from the beginning, but that’s not the case.
There were eight thousand enemy soldiers here. If Grandfather had charged with our army included, he would have been in serious trouble if he had run out of mental power in the middle of it.
I know it well from my experience in the mansion, but when my mental power drops rapidly, I get a terrible dizziness and fatigue. I would never be able to take such a risk in the middle of a battle.
Perhaps, it was also because I couldn’t take all the credit for the battle that my younger brother commanded. Even though the general is credited with the results of his command, if Grandfather had driven back the enemy as soon as he arrived, he would have been out of a job.
I feel sorry for him, but I’m also glad to think that Grandfather is probably exhausted at this very moment.
“So, what’s the situation here?”
“I may know a little bit about it, but the enemy’s main force has retreated. We are now handling the aftermath of the battle and waiting for His Majesty’s instructions.”
“Is that so? I sincerely congratulate you on your victory.”
“Yes. Now, sit down.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Grandfather sat down, I said.
“Duke Zarud, now that Croitz has finished resting, I think I’ll return the command to you. What do you think?”
I had discussed this with my brother, and we had come to the conclusion that either way was fine.
And I’ll say it again, my brother handed over the command in order to “rest”. No one is allowed to object to this.
“Hmm… What do you think, Crown Prince?”
“I think it’s okay to return it. As long as Croitz is sitting here without any problems, there’s no point in me having it.”
“In that case, let’s return the command from the Crown Prince to Prince Croitz here. Everyone, do you have any objections?”
When Grandfather asked for confirmation, they nodded slightly.