The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 35

 

Episode 35: Retreat Battle 2

"Young master!"

 It's been a while since I was in combat with the Imperial Army as they are chasing the fleeing Kingdom soldiers.

 The melee was still going on, with friend and foe blending together, skipping over the arrangement, such as arrows and spears from being thrown at each other.

 Responding to Armes's cry, I repel the tip of the enemy soldier's sword coming at me from the left, and with my sword, then I slashed the enemy in the neck and cut him down.

 A gush of warm blood spurts from the open wound, splattering and adhering to every part of my body. It is now hard to find a place that is not covered in blood.

 ......How many people did I kill? I stopped counting at the 8th person.

"Young master. Please pull back."

 Elfie said as she came to my side, easily fending off the multiple enemies swarming around her. She, too, was moving without reflecting her age, and was already showing her medal-worthy performance. She was not even a little out of breath, which was a marvelous thing to see. She is still active, after all.

"Where am I supposed to go? I mean, it's the same everywhere."

 To Elfie's suggestion, I reply, swinging my blood-soaked sword.

 In fact, after the melee had broken out, the battlefield we had prepared had collapsed, and even if we were to regroup, the first step would be to push back the enemy.

 But Elfie shook her head from side to side, and with an even more serious face than usual, she leaned in close to me with an admonishing tone.

"Before we regroup, the young master's life is our first priority."

"You……"

 Elfie's voice was serious, and there was a definite pressure. I followed her earnest gaze with a straight face.

"Alright. I'll step back."

"Then, I'll make a way. Armes!"

 With my approval, Elfie called for Armes, who is nearby cutting off an enemy, and created a path to the backline with a few men.

 While we fall back, the same scene as before is unfolding on the bonfire-lit road.

 While the allied soldiers are trying to stop the enemies, some knight is swarmed by several enemies, and his head is cut off from his torso and he is killed.

 The exchange of life was a bit different from that of a normal war, and the heavy and painful exchange of life was taking place all over.

"So what do we do now?"

 While watching such a scene, I ask Elfie as I fall back. As I said earlier, the situation is probably the same in the backline.

"First of all, please change your thinking that if you fall back, it will not change. The commander of this jumble of different units is the young master. Please don't stand on the frontline, where it is the most dangerous."

"Y-yeah."

 No, I am fighting while watching my back. Or rather, that's the way it was supposed to work, but it was ruined by Viscount Bilz who was killed by self-destructing.

"And there is something to be gained from the rear. As a commander, your most important role is to find opportunities."

"What's there to gain?"

"That is for the young master to find out for yourself."

"Ah, yes……"

 I almost apologized for the harsh tone. I thought for a moment that she could have at least given me a hint, but I shook my face from side to side and chased the thought away. I don't have time to think about anything else right now. I got rid of the enemy soldier who had jumped out of the bushes right next to me and thrust the tip of my sword into the side of the soldier who was behind.

 After that, as I ran into the main camp that was set up in the backline while cutting down a few men, I saw two to three armed nobles and the knights and soldiers protecting them confronting the enemies who were attacking in a circle.

 When we had cleared them out.

"……What's the situation?"

 As the smell of iron pungent in my nose, I ask Elfie, who is standing beside me, dealing the finishing blow on the last man. I frown at the unpleasant smell, which I hadn't detected before as I was concentrating on fighting.

"Our allies seem to be at a slight disadvantage. The Empire is counterattacking with their elites, and we have been struggling from the beginning."

"Elite?"

"Please look at this."

 With that, Elfie rolled one of the enemy soldiers, who had died nearby, close to the bonfire.

 His mouth is bleeding and his eyes are wide open, and one knew he is already dead, but I can't help but feel the tension in my body.

"Do you notice something?"

"Something..."

 Looking at the corpse again, there is nothing special about it, it is just like any other dead body lying around.

 The man's head is bleeding, his skin, which was probably white to begin with, is dirty, and there are no badges that would confirm that he was a general or something.

"......"

 Aside from me, I found out that Armes, who was next to Elfie, noticed, closed her mouth tightly, and endured to say something.

"Armes, answer."

 When Elfie urged Armes, whose expression turned grimmer, she gave her answer in a tone filled with disgust.

"Young master, it is the color of this man's skin."

"Skin color? It's stained with blood, but it's normal...... I see. That's what you mean."

"W-wait a minute!"

 As I was sitting there, one of the nobles who had been next to me shouted out.

"I don't care about the enemy right now! We have to get the hell out of here!"

"No, it doesn't really matter, though."

 Apparently, they lost their cool after seeing fresh blood, which they don't usually see. Well, to the extent that I can't say much about other people, I didn't realize it either until they told me.

"I don't see a single one of your kind."

 Ignoring the noble, I look at Armes and muttered. Then she nodded with a grim expression on her face.

 Usually, when we are skirmishing with the Empire on the border, they assemble the brown-skinned people just like Armes on the frontlines.

 Perhaps the Imperials consider Armes's kin to be a wall of flesh. They assemble them as a shield. Elfie's assumption that they are elite troops is not far off the mark.

"Does this mean that the enemy is finally getting serious?"

"Perhaps. However, we can't be sure yet, so keep that in mind......"

"Don't leave things to presumptions, right? I know."

 Once again, I turn my attention to the battlefield. While the three of us were talking like this, the tide of the battle was changing.

 One unit that was being pushed back had recovered, while another had begun to crumble under the enemy's momentum.

 However, our disadvantage remained unchanged. We should move before things get really tough.

"Elfie, I'd like to move the entire force a little bit toward here, while keeping a little more space between the units. Can you do that?"

"Understood."

"And Armes... gue!?"

 As I was giving instructions to the two knights, I was yanked by the hem of my clothes, and my voice sounded like that of a squashed frog.

 I looked in that direction and saw that the right hand of the noble who had been shouting earlier was firmly gripping it.　

"Um, what is it?"

"It's not what! This is a losing battle! When we get back on our feet, it's already too late. We must flee quickly!"

 The gawking nobles have already lost their will to fight and have been insisting since a while ago that they should run away. It seems they have already forgotten my embarrassing speech before we left. Ah, no, it's coming back to me. If there is a hole, I want to get in it.

 But now is not the time. For now, I have to do something about this noisy noble.

 With a sigh, I said to him.

"If you want to run away, you are free to do so."

"What?"

"No, I said it at the beginning, right? This war depends on our success."

 I guess he had rather seriously forgotten about it, and his eyes were wide open.

"If you run away now, your share will be zero. If you want, I'll take it from you too."

 In the first place, whether this guy in front of me runs away or dies has nothing to do with the overall number of soldiers. Even if this guy runs away, there are no soldiers who would follow him.

"What a stupid thing to do......"

"Well, if you still want to run away, be my guest. Viscount Garbokir?"

 This guy...... Viscount Garbokir is a rootless nobleman placed in the rear, so all the soldiers he brought with him are mercenaries hired for money or borrowed from his own faction's landowning nobles.

 Replacing Viscount Garbokir with an appropriate noble is not a problem. I can put them under my command if I want.

"Kuh, you!"

 Finally, Viscount Garbokir stood up, grabbed me by the collar, and looked up at me with his bloodshot eyes.

"So, are you going to run away?"

 But I was not surprised by such an impromptu act. I mean, we had just exchanged more than a few deadly exchanges earlier, so there was no way I would back down like this.

"I'm sure you've got a plan to win, if you're going to say that much, right!?"

 Viscount Garbokir also understands that, and he removed his hand from my neck and muttered as he stares at me. But even if I told him that, he wouldn't understand.

"It's the fighting spirit, fighting spirit."

"What!?"

"If you've actually experienced this tragedy and think you can still win, you should stop right away, right?"

 The general on our side was killed. The enemy, seeking our heads, is not using their usual strategy, but an elite force from their own people. Furthermore, the battle plan that had been prepared has been destroyed by the betrayal of Viscount Bilz.

 It is indeed a bit optimistic or blind to the surroundings to still be thinking of winning under such circumstances.

"Then, was this based on the premise of total annihilation? You screwed us!"

"No, why would I......

 For the most part, I'm not thinking about giving my life for the kingdom, and I don't have the stomach for it.

"Anyway, if you want to run away, be my guest...... Elfie."

"Ha!"

 I'm not going to get anywhere talking to Viscount Garbokir and I don't want to waste any more time.

"Gather the people here. For the time being, make a unit that can properly move and hold the enemy until the formation is formed."

"Young master, that plan is......."

 When Elfie was about to express her reluctance, I stopped her with my hand and continued the conversation.

"I know that. I'll just hang in there and see what happens. After that, we'll go back to Gruve City. Is that clear?"

 I'm not fighting risking my life. We just need to buy the right amount of time and wait for our allies to calm down in the meantime.

 Elfie stepped back without saying anything more.

 I had established the objective and given instructions for its execution. If we hold our ground until dawn, the enemy will surely back down. They were human beings, and it was obvious that they would not be able to fight for that long.

 This is not a battle to win. This is a battle to lose while limiting our losses.

"Then, first, we need to gather our troops. Then we'll go back!"