The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 40

 

Episode 40: Knights of the White Rose

 For Jeshilka, a member of the Knights of the White Rose, this battle in Gruve City was the first battle she participated.

"Can't sleep? Jeshilka."

"Captain..."

 The time is about to pass 2 o'clock in the middle of the night.

 In the pitch darkness, Jeshilka was sitting near a bonfire looking at the stars when the captain of the Knights of the White Rose, who had urged Gruve City to surrender during the day, appeared beside her.

 As usual, she was completely covered except for her eyes with a white cloth or mask, and she was wearing pure white armor, just like the name of the order suggested. And it was the same with Jeshilka.

 In her hands were two wooden cups with steam rising from them, which she silently offered to Jeshilka, who was sitting near the bonfire. The contents of the cups seemed to be hot cocoa.

"It still gets cold at night, doesn't it?"

"Thanks."

 She took the offered hot cocoa and sip it.

 As the warm cocoa reaches her stomach, a sigh naturally flows from her mouth. Looking at her white-tinted breath, Jeshilka realizes that her body is unexpectedly cold.

"......I had heard about it, but I'm still afraid of war."

"I see."

 The captain replied to Jeshilka's mutterings with a single word, then sipped from a cup in her own hand.

 The beginning of the battle was clear for all to see. The Imperial Army struggled against the outnumbered remnants of the Kingdom holed up in the city, and lost.

 The Imperial Army was literally outmatched, not only in preparations, but also in the use of troops and strategy, and had to flee back to their camps.

 Moreover.

"What about Ruful-san?"

"She just died a few minutes ago. I heard her wound was quite deep."

"……I see."

 One of her fellow knights, Ruful, the captain of the third squad, bravely took on the enemy and died. The captain of the Knights of the White Rose told us that almost all of the men in her squad who had followed her had followed the same path.

 For Jeshilka, the deceased knight was a good friend who had once lived next house to her's and had been a good neighbor. The captain standing by her side also knew her as a good neighbor and a dependable older knight.

"......I was worried about you. Especially since your first battle was to attack a city."

"…………Is that so."

 The night is still cold. It was the same even when they were near the bonfire.

"What will happen tomorrow?"

 Jeshilka muttered, her gaze a mixture of frustration and anger, as she stares at the surface of the liquid in her cup.

 At present, the Imperial Army has the city semi-surrounded, except for the northern gate of Gruve City.

 On the imperial side, the resistance of the Kingdom Army was more fierce than expected, so they gave up on forcefully attacking and switched to a siege. The real aim of the attack was to appeal to the Kingdom Army holed up in the city, but the real aim is something else.

 The strategy was to pretend that they had given up on attacking by force, and after inducing an escape route for the enemy to the north gate, which was made to look as if no soldiers were deployed, they would surprise and exterminate the enemy with a number of troops.

 Even if the enemy should resist with all their might, they would be able to attack with force after the approximately 5,000 imperial troops that would come as reinforcements joined them.

 Although the city of Gruve's urban capacity would certainly be sacrificed, the conclusion reached at the end of the military discussions was that if they were shown an overwhelming difference in military strength, they would naturally put down their swords.

 However, Jeshilka, who is distracted, would probably want to take out the enemy with her own hands before that happens. Implicitly, she offers to place herself at the north gate instead of the middle gate, where she is now, for the operation starting tomorrow.

 However, she can understand the feeling of devotion to revenge...... but still, as the leader of the unit, she has to say it.

"Jeshilka. You will continue to guard Lieutenant General Rojisko here."

"ーー!"

 The moment she said so. The expression on Jeshilka's face, which was raised vigorously, clearly showed her question.

 Seeing that, the captain was convinced that she had made the right decision.

"A man driven by revenge and motivated by anger is useless on the battlefield. Narrow-mindedness. You are useless now that you can't look around calmly."

"But!"

 The captain placed her hand on Jeshilka's shoulder and said in a voice like a parent telling off a child.

"If you couldn't tell, your excuses are no longer valid."

"That's……"

"Besides, escorting the Lieutenant General is also an admirable duty. The front line is important, but we must not neglect the rear line."

"Ah……"

 Those words were uttered by the captain. It was something Jeshilka recalled that the deceased Ruful used to say on the battlefield. She was the one who had received that lesson more than anyone else.

"I know it's not an easy thing to do. But get used to it while you can. This is just a common, very small part of everyday life on the battlefield."

"……Yes."

 The words of the deceased, whom she adored, seemed to calm the distracted Jeshilka a little.

 The captain smiled a little and was about to sip her cocoa again when she looked up quickly to see the surface of the liquid shimmering slightly.

"Captain?"

 Jeshilka questioned the captain but soon sensed the anomaly as well.

"Is it an earthquake?"

"No, that's wrong. This is......"

 She starts to say something and stops. The anomaly they sensed was something unexpected, and yet the worst thing they had ever felt.

 Throwing down their cups, which were still slightly warm, the Captain and Jeshilka immediately stood up on the spot.

 At that moment.

 A battle cry was raised from the main camp a short distance away, and as if guided by the sound of several explosions, they looked in the direction of Gruve City and saw several large pillars of fire.

"ーーShit."

 She immediately understood what it meant, but it was already too late.

 From the main camp, there was a raucous shout and angry roar. And the clamor was gradually spreading.

 In the midst of all this, they caught a glimpse of cavalries and soldiers running in front of their eyes.

 It was unmistakably their enemies, the Kingdom soldiers, and when the captain saw them, she immediately knew that the operation had been disrupted.

 From the beginning, the enemy had planned to take advantage of the darkness to escape. Moreover, they went to the trouble of breaking through directly in front of the main camp, probably in order to confuse us and that would give them time to escape.

(Following the daytime, even into the night!)

 The captain of the Knights of the White Rose bit her teeth in frustration at being outwitted. However, leaving them behind, the kingdom army rushed past them, gradually disappearing one after another into the forest where the darkness of the night deepens.

"Captain, shall we go after them!?"

"No……"

 She knew that even if they prepare horses now and lead the knights in pursuit, they will already be too late. Even if they could catch up with them, they would only be able to take out a small number of their heads, and our swords would not be able to reach that man they saw during the day, who they thought was the commander.

 And she was sure they will be facing them again...... or even that unit holed up in Gruve City.

"The first thing to do is to clean up the mess in the army. People will be surprised to hear that the main camp has been attacked."

 With that said, the captain and Jeshilka ran to the main camp where the bustle continued.

...

"Shall I take your head?"

"Wait, wait, wait! We don't have time for this now! If they don't come after us, that's fine! We've got to get out of here."

 And as they turned their backs and ran off, there was no way that the two of them, watching from the tail end of the retreating army, could reach their call, and they fled into the darkness, leaving the troop to follow them.