The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 58

 

Episode 58: Footsteps of the End

 As it turned out, our unit began to slow down after a few minutes.

"First and fourth squads move forward! Fifth and Sixth, move to the enemy's right flank!"

 I knew they would not be so naive as to miss it, but the enemy soldiers were pouring in through the gaps that were beginning to break slightly.

 The difference in strength between us, many of whom were wounded, and the Imperials, who had a good number of men who could fight, albeit on a platoon scale, was obvious.

"Don't fall apart! Always attack the enemy in groups of three."

"H-ha!"

 The enemy, however, seemed unconcerned as if they were slowly strangling us.

"Haha, for all your big talk, I didn't even need to come out~."

"...!"

 There was no time for words. One by one, the soldiers on my side fell.

 It may have been fortuitous that I was able to direct the enemy's objective to my capture. If this had been an attack with annihilation in mind, we might have already been annihilated.

"How is it? If you rub your head against the ground and apologize now, I'll let you off with just one right arm~."

"If you pull in your big, useless breasts and flirt prettily, I'll think about it!"

 I tried my best to be sarcastic with the woman in the glasses, who was giving me a look of amusement, but she leaned forward to emphasize her cleavage.

"Look, it's just the way you want it~."

 Then she smiled, rather flaunting it. Perhaps it was because the battlefield had been filled with women, but here and there, some of the soldiers on our side were distracted.

"You're missing the cute part, you titty woman!"

 I would also like to add that the lack of a little bit of shyness is also a point breaker. What on earth is the value of something that can be shown when asked to show it?

 At least the young lady I know would turn red in the face and say, "Look, this is what you want!". That's the essence of what's missing with these boobs.

"If you weren't a POW, I'd shoot you right now~."

"...Young master."

 Apparently, I said it out loud, the woman in glasses suppressed her anger with a twitch at the edge of her mouth, and the soldier next to me was slightly taken aback.

"I'd really appreciate it if you'd just give up~."

 I kept it in mind this time as she muttered that. 

 It was open land and a squad of wounded men couldn't even match their numbers.

 There is no geographical advantage, just struggling in a simple contest of strength in exchange for the life of a single person.

 Indeed, if I put myself in the position of the woman with the glasses, I would not have such a trouble.

 We resist in vain, and on top of that, she would not kill me easily. And the soldiers are not as plentiful.

 And as the woman with the glasses must have realized, this situation can be changed at any time with just one thought on her mind.

"Hmm, what should I do?"

 That's if she's willing to give up on making me a prisoner of war.

 So, while agitating more than necessary, she kept the balance of whether or not to kill me at a constant level. For that reason, we would engage in useless exchanges of conversation. When we run out of things to talk about, that means we have no more energy left in the true sense of the word, and we will be captured by them.

 For a moment, I meet the gaze of a woman in glasses who I was thinking.

 From the depths of her orange eyes, I could sense her thoughts.

 Are you already giving up? 

 That is what she is asking me.

"I know, damn it."

"Did you say something, young master!?"

"No, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

 She scoffs again at the sight of me answering that it's nothing while cutting down the oncoming enemies.

 She certainly has a peculiar and mysterious atmosphere and is a somewhat difficult person to get a hold of. However, if you put her in the framework of a military commander, she becomes a little less threatening.

 In any case, her attitude of using up her allies as mere pawns can be easily broken by changing the way we attack. There are many possible ways to do this, such as by trying to sway the enemy soldiers.

 But the reason I had my hands full just getting on the defensive like this was because of their distorted but awkward configuration.

"Fu!"

"Kuh!!"

 The sword, half stained with blood from the tip and having lost its luster, is swung down in front of me. The sword is struck with such force that I had to hold the sword with both hands to catch it, and I just barely manages to block it.

"……Naive."

"ーー!?"

 But a kick from the enemy expelled all the air in my lungs.

 The white-robed group...... this woman is probably the commander of the group.

 She is the one who is in charge of the operation of this unit, and her attacks are sure and perverse, as though a snake is slowly tightening around your neck. She was called Mole.

 Her attack is somewhat reminiscent of a snake.

 To tell the truth, I was helpless against such a persistent attack while the other side had the upper hand in a head-on collision.

"I remember now."

"Cough*, cough*... huh, what?"

 While suffering from the pain, she throws such words.

"Gruve City."

 As she said, I fished a drawer in a corner of my memory. Gruve City, the name of the city I vaguely remember, and the white-clad troops.

"......The Knights of the White Rose, right?"

"Yes, that's right. We are the guards under the direct control of Her Majesty the Queen...... You gave us a good deal of trouble in that battle."

"What, so now you're trying to get back at me or something?"

 I stood up, regulating my breathing. I mean, if you think about it, if these guys are the Queen's direct troops, isn't that woman's attitude very harsh?

 She did not answer my question, and she began to spin her words as she thought best.

"I will not do such a thing as retaliation. A battle sometimes depends on a little bit of luck. As long as Her Majesty the Queen is here, even if we lose, there is always the next time."

"I see."

 She replied in a nonchalant manner, but without reacting in any way, she continued speaking indifferently.

"If you die, there is nothing to be done. There is no shame in losing now. As long as you live, the day when you still see victory will eventually come."

 So, saying so, the leader of the Knight of the White Rose extended her hand to me and said.

"Surrender, and I promise I won't be rough with you."

 I wonder if she took pity on me, seeing me fight in a situation where there was no way to win, or perhaps seeing the pitiful future that lay ahead of me.

"I refuse."

 But I cut her off, telling her that it's none of her business...... or a needless favor.

"Why? If you die here, next..."

"I don't think I have a chance. But I am a nobleman of the kingdom. To abandon the pride of nobility and surrender to the enemy is equivalent to death as a nobleman."

 Even if you are born into a noble family that is a branch of the Fregrance family, or a branch of a noble family that is a branch of the Fregrance family, a noble is still a noble, even if from the outside it looks like a small noble family in a frontier territory.

 I remember. I remember my mother who gave her life to protect her house and her family, who endured acts to help the nobles around her, even though she had to put aside her illness.

 I know. I know that there was a strong girl who, even though she was embraced by a man she did not like, maintained her dignity and tried to swallow her tears even though even her one and only maid were taken away for the convenience of the family, in order to keep that great and famous family alive.

 Of course, I don't want to die, I don't like it.

 But because I know the significance of standing up against it without breaking, even a small-born nobleman like me would never do anything to damage the family name. It would be an indirect blasphemy against them.

"We will not surrender. We will grab our victory and return home alive. So we don't need your mercy."

 I held up my sword. Pointed it at the female soldier who was the Knight Commander and showed my determination.

"I see."

 With that said, her eyes looked sad, and the murderous intent that had been emanating from her seemed to fade just a little bit.

 So if I'm going to say this, the timing is right here.

"......You and the people of Vu-alheit also have unbreakable hearts, that's why you can put up with being treated so badly, right?"

"......!?"

 A moment. Both eyes peeking out of her white robe were wide open, and I felt her emotions swinging deep within her eyes.

"When did you notice..."

 The question was posed in a voice that trembled slightly, and I quickly pointed to a place.

"It was when I saw the skin of that girl who was knocked unconscious by that horrible glasses girl. There are no brown-skinned people in this world except those from Vu-alheit."

 When I told her that, she, who was called the Knight Commander, only looked behind her. There was a brown-skinned girl lying face down amongst the bodies of friend and foe alike.

 Perhaps this is a daily occurrence in the imperial army and just one act in a long history of persecution of people from the village of Vu-alheit......

 The rest can be guessed without words.

 The name "Knights of the White Rose" is aptly named because of their strong determination to resist the negative history of the knighthood.

"I guess you understand what I'm thinking a little bit now."

"......Yes, that was tactless."

 When she said that, she bowed her head deeply on the spot toward me, her enemy, on the battlefield, even if she was fighting in a life and death situation.

 Just as a nobleman has the pride of being a nobleman, a knight has the pride of being a knight.

"Knight Commander, right? Raise your head. You're the leader of the knights? Then you can't bow down to your enemiesーー!!"

"The trashy dignity is gone, isn't it~?"

 However, the words of condemnation were lost with a sharp stab from the woman with glasses who came at me, causing severe pain in my right arm.

"Gah..."

"Well, it's all calculated, and you finally showed me a gap."

 Guided by the voice, I looked at the right arm where I had been stabbed and saw a dagger with both hands firmly gripping the hilt, as more than half of its blade sunk in.

"Shit!"

 I turn my body around and try to flick the woman in glasses away, but before I can do so, I am kicked in the face with her foot as if I were being whipped, and the impact of falling down on my back took the air from my lungs.

"Fufu, Iーcaughtーyou♪."

"...Kuh."

 With flickering vision. I saw a woman in glasses looking down at me as she sat on me while intense pain ran through my body.

"You were caught quickly, even though I was still in good shape."

"Guh!?"

 Before I could reply, she punched me in the temple with her small fist.

"Young master!?"

 I heard a soldier on my side who was fighting a short distance away from me yell out, but he was far away.

"The first thing to do is to break his eardrums. This is the basic foundation of taking prisoners of war, you know? Oh, don't worry. We'll keep you alive long enough for the trade~."

"You mean...... as long as there's no direct connection, haa, haa......, you can do whatever you want, right?"

"You're very perceptive."

"Guh!"

 This time, I was struck on the opposite temple, and the sounds around me faded away with a ringing in my ears.

 The pain, as if I had been hit with a hot iron, spread from the left and right sides of my face to my entire body, as tears blurred my vision.

"Fufu, I guess you will feel refreshed if you deal with the person you're pissed off with by yourself♪."

"A bad, taste... right?"

"You're saying whatever you want huh..."

"Gaah!"

"Wait, Frau-san! The man has a leg wound to begin with! Any more torture and he will die!"

 While being mercilessly beaten by the woman with glasses, I hear the voice of the Knight Commander, with whom I had exchanged words just a moment ago.

"It's time you shut up~."

 However, what bounced off it was, contrary to the creepy tone of words, the unpleasantly heavy voice of the woman with glasses that I can clearly hear.

"I'm not sure if my ambiguous attitude is giving rise to misunderstandings~, but if Mole-san had any opinion about me, you would have no complaints even if I had to cut off your head without a court-martial."

"...!"

"But what more blunders does Mole-san want to make when I am letting her off the hook due to my foolish mercy?"

 There was a definite class there.

 A wall as a living creature that can never be crossed.

 The racism of the empire, created using only one history, may be far deeper and darker than I had imagined, even though we are the same human being.

"Besides~."

"Aaaahhhh!?"

 The woman with the glasses' fingers poked into the wound where I had been shot just a few days ago, and I couldn't bear the pain, so I just screamed out.

"This guy, even in this situation, he's still resisting......Hora, hora. If you don't let go of the sword in your hand, you'll be disabled for the rest of your life."

 I thought about stabbing her in the side while they were arguing, but I guess that's impossible.

 With a sound, I let go of the sword and the woman with glasses also pulled her finger out of the wound.

 A figure approached. Looking closely, she is also a soldier dressed in white.

"......Commander. We have completed annihilating the enemy."

"W-what?"

 At that report, I looked around the area.

 The only ones already standing were enemy soldiers, and most of the bodies lying on the ground were my allies.

 In other words, the only survivor was me and the rest were ......

"Fumu, then the mission is complete~."

"U-um, what about those Kingdom soldiers on the other side?"

 One of the soldiers asks, pointing to the other side of the bridge.

 Beyond that, there are soldiers, mostly seriously injured, waiting across the bridge, and the medic who is there to examine them. Above all, my step-sister, Armes, is on the other side.

"It would be too much for me to miss them, so I might as well just go hunting for the remnants and wait for the main force."

 Not good. If they cross over to the other side, Armes and the others will be killed for sure.

 There would be no resistance. It's not even a battle, it's just a process of trampling and crushing them.

"Hmm? You can still move?"

 The woman with glasses who reacted to my spur-of-the-moment move muttered. But that doesn't matter anymore.

 She didn't care if it was a last-ditch effort or not.

"It's indeed a defiant move~."

 Her fingertip is inserted into the wound again.

"Ahhhhh!"

 A sharp pain shot through my entire body in an instant. Even if I wanted to wriggle around on the spot, it would be half torture because the woman with glasses who was looking down was sitting on me.

 But if I don't stop them here, Armes and the others will be killed. That's the only thing I can do.

"You are so persistent, aren't you~? After the punishment of the finger, the next one is the dagger, right?"

 The woman with the glasses looked a little puzzled as she said that, and then she poked me with the dagger that was still stuck in my right arm.

 I struggled and struggled, but still, time passes slowly. The time for the future in which I will be tortured and killed unilaterally is approaching with the sound of death.

"Then, the Knight Commander and the others go to the other side to clean up. I will take this man and send him to the rear, so we will split up."

 And it was exactly when the order came down.

"Stop right there."

 The voice was low and commanding.

"The mission I have given you is to capture the enemy's nobleman. I did not order you to kill them."

 A man with gray hair and one eye emerged slowly from the sloping mountain path, clutching a stick.

"Don't talk nonsense. I can tell the difference between life and death."

"That said, you killed one person two months ago, you."

 I saw a warrior without one leg. At first glance, I can tell that he is the general of the enemy. But more than that...

"Is that so?"

"You..."

 The sight of an old knight being carried by a soldier walking one step behind the man with one eye.

 I muttered to myself as I looked at the old knight, whose body was covered in blood and no longer seemed to be alive.

"......Elfie?"