The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 44

 

Episode 44: Easy to just Fight? It's a Simple Job

 The day began with a light milky mist in the morning.

 One night after leaving the city of Kraha, we, the Kingdom Army, were on schedule, in the small mountain range that runs from the Gelhorn Mountains.

 The fact that we only had to focus on one thing, escape, seemed to have given not only the soldiers but also the knights and nobles some leeway in their minds.

 Even though we were about to fight nearly twice as many enemies as we had, there were few people who seemed to be feeling a sense of doom and gloom, and there was a feeling that we would not be able to manage from tomorrow onward.

 In a mountain range a little to the left of the road leading to Brumud Castle, we, the Kingdom Army, set up our main camp and divided the army into two groups, each taking up a position, as I had decided with Elfie beforehand.

 One group is deployed on a narrow road between the Gelhorn Mountains and a relatively large river. If this road is breached, the entire operation will be lost, so it was fortified with 6,000 men, almost double the number that can be deployed.

 The other is the remaining 4,000 or so who are packed into the main camp where the prince and the master are located.

 Elfie said that it would probably be the main battleground, so they would build a fence on the slope that originally led to the meandering mountaintop, sparing no time to rest their feet, and fortifying their defense.

 Not only that, but many landowning nobles and their knights, who are usually accustomed to fighting to some extent, are gathered there.

"It is no exaggeration to say that whoever holds this mountain will win this battle. Therefore, the most important thing to focus on is the selection of the troops to be deployed."

 Elfie said.

 The troops who take the mountain are not only in a position to have a clear view of the battle going on below, but also, depending on the situation, they can charge into the enemy line and surround and destroy the enemy.

"We're in a very important place, aren't we?"

"......It is not the commander's thing to trust his own fate to strangers."

 Apparently, Elfie doesn't trust them other than the soldiers and knights she brought with her from my parents' home. She seems to think that she would rather defend the area by herself than go to the trouble of entrusting it to an ally with an element of uncertainty.

 Well, that doesn't mean I have to put myself in the position of directly commanding several thousand soldiers deployed in front of me in the middle of a mountain where such a fierce battle is expected.

 The mountainside of the Gelhorn Range is a small mountain range.

 That is where I am right now, and below me, the Imperial Army, which arrived here around dawn, is forming a line and spreading out as if to fill the foot of the mountain.

 As I stare through the gaps of the trees at the imperial troops hidden by the fog, I see a single horseman rushing up from the foot of the mountain. Moreover, his whole body was dressed in blazing red armor, and I immediately understood that he was one of the soldiers she had brought with her from my parents' home.

　He dismounted at a short distance from where I was standing, then galloped up the remaining slope in a single bound, dropped to one knee in front of me, hung his head, and shouted.

"Report. The enemy is deploying troops in various locations! They are expected to attack as soon as they are deployed!"

"Alright, withdraw."

"Ha!"

 He bowed once again, and as soon as he got back on the horse he had just dismounted from, he started riding down the hill at a rapid pace.

"The number of the enemy is about 45,000 or so, young master."

 Elfie, who had been standing behind me, took a step forward and said.

"Those are the people we fought in Gruve City, right?"

"Probably."

They were just under 30,000 at that time, right? Why are there 15,000 more?"

"According to reports, they are volunteers from Kraha City."

"......I expected it, but it's more than I expected."

 Originally, Elfie and I had anticipated the possibility that citizens of Kraha who had clear hostility towards the Kingdom would volunteer to join the Imperial Army. We never expected that more than one-third of all the citizens would volunteer to join the enemy, though.

"But what we have to do remains the same. We will strike the enemy here and buy time for them to escape. That is what we should do."

 Even when she saw the number of enemies spread out before her, Elfie remained completely unfazed and dignified, staring at the imperial troops peeking through the gaps in the trees. She is indeed the pride of my family, an old knight who has fought many battles.

"More than that, young master. Didn't you meet the main family's daughter last night?"

"Eh? Why?"

"You were concerned about the mountaintop since earlier, so......"

 She seemed to have spotted me gazing at the enemy and the main camp on the mountaintop. A reproachful look behind me.

"I'm not saying I care, I'm just concerned that I wouldn't be able to let Ojousama get away alive......?"

 I can't put it into words, but it seems that Elfie, who has been by my side since birth, understood what I was trying to say.

 Her gaze softened, and I felt she was looking at me calmly, so I turned around and said.

"And I can't meet her right now. If I do, I'll..."

 If I saw the young lady now, I would be tempted to run away, taking only her and those close to her with me. But if I do that, we will all die for sure. That is the situation right now.

"Well, I've assigned Armes as her guard, and unless something really bad happens, me and Ojousama won't see each other again."

"Young master......"

 At the moment Elfie opened her mouth to say something in response to my words.

 A heavy drumming sound came from the depths of the imperial army spread out below us, and the tension in the surrounding area shot up with an earth-shaking yell.

"The enemy army is moving!"

"I know! Each team must get ready! If we do as planned, we won't lose!"

 I raise my voice to accompany the shouts of my allies.

 I had decided in advance that the strategy would be based on the one I had originally devised for escaping through the mountains from the city of Kraha to the castle of Brumud.

 The 2,500 people entrusted to me were divided into nine units, and we would stay inside the fence to buy as much time as possible. This time, we would also take advantage of any opening in the enemy's position to launch an offensive.

 At my command, the musketeers holed up inside the fence opened fire at once, lit their muskets, and set their sights on the enemy.

 On the other hand, the spearheads of the Imperial Army, with spears at the ready and aligned side by side, are slowly advancing toward us, numbering about 4,000 men. As far as the eye can see, most of them are volunteers from the city of Kraha, dressed in hastily prepared armaments.

"ーー!"

 Because of the distance, I could not hear exactly what they were saying. But the sound of the bullets landing in the woods echoed through the mountains.

 The kingdom's soldiers were in an uproar at the sound. However, Elfie and the commanders of the various units control the shaken soldiers.

 At first glance, the battle seems to be a rehash of the battle in Gruve City, but the level of tension in this battle is far greater.

 Even though we are camped in the mountains, this is not a siege battle. It is a field battle in which the enemy will immediately close in on you if you make even the slightest mistake.

"Not yet, don't shoot yet."

 In the silence, I was about to wipe my sweaty forehead as I suddenly looked away from the enemy.

"Uooooooooohh!!"

"!?"

 The battle cry went up, and the 4,000 volunteers from the city of Kraha, who were heading this way with their spears thrust at us, began to run at once.

"Young master!"

"Shoot! Shoot now!"

 A little late, I ordered the musketeers to fire. As the roar cut through the fog and disappeared on the other side, I heard the decimated screams of enemy soldiers who had been hit by bullets instead.

 However, although there was some disruption in the formation, it was not enough to stop the momentum, and the distance that had opened up between us and the enemy was being eaten away.

 After that, we were supposed to be using arrows, but due to the slightly delayed order to fire, we were already about to move into melee combat.

"Damn, I messed up!"

 As if to further affirm the words that came out of my mouth, the enemy troops are rushing to the foot of the mountain.

 However, the entrance to the mountain is as narrow as the city road, and the enemy once there breaks in and stops in their tracks.

"Engage!"

 Perhaps seeing an opportunity, the landowning nobleman in charge of the entrance shouted out, and himself, spear in hand, led his troop to the fence and dashed out.

"Report, the enemy's 4000 vanguard units are approaching the foot of the mountain......"

"I can see that! Better yet, push the second unit! There's more momentum than we thought!"

 I shouted at the messenger who came running up and pushed him back to the foot of the mountain.

 The volunteers from Kraha City were shouting and attacking the kingdom soldiers they saw in front of them at random. They look like bloodthirsty beasts.

 However, the landowning nobleman who commands the first unit in charge of the entrance to the mountain is also doing quite well.

 They only went out in front of the fence to take advantage of the moment when the enemy stopped, and as soon as they felt a sign that they were getting back on their feet, they danced back inside the fence to fight back.

"The Croche family, huh."

"No, I don't know who they are."

"A neighbor noble family..."

"............The son of the neighbor's family?"

"Croche Rask-dono. 27 years old, seven years older than the young master."

 Not having immediately thought of who it was, Elfie stares silently at me.

 But even I, who don't know the names of most of the nobles, at least know the name of the neighbor noble family. I just didn't have the time to remember it right now. Yes. I haven't forgotten them at all. Really.

 I mean, I knew the face of the neighbor noble, Oichan, who is the current head of the family, and we haven't seen each other recently, so it's no wonder. Oichan is a nice person, you know? He went out of his way to teach me, a stranger, the basics of nobility, such as falconry and martial arts, with great enthusiasm. He also gives me an apple once in a while.

 The Croche family, who are friends with my parents, have been fighting hard, but the situation has not changed for the better.

 The flag with a white circle on a black background, which is the family crest of the Croche family, was pushed by the waves of enemy soldiers who kept coming toward them, and their inferiority was gradually deepening.

"Don't pull back, push! If you back down here, you will ruin your name as a nobleman of the kingdom!"

 Croche Rask's loud voice echoes well. The soldiers were roused to keep their troops on the edge of the line, just in case they were about to collapse, and to somehow drive back the enemy, knocking down the approaching volunteer soldiers from the city of Kraha.

 In the meantime, the second group that had been waiting just behind them joined forces, adding to their strength.

 The thickness of the increased troops will become a wall to stop the enemy's momentum, and also a shield...... If the enemy is just a normal soldier, that is.

"Isn't it enough......"

 As if in response to the words that spontaneously spilled out of my mouth, the momentum of the enemy was not reduced, but rather the madness that enveloped them seemed to increase.

 If these were ordinary soldiers, no matter how excited they were in the middle of a battle, they would not be stupid enough to charge forward without being willing to die. If there were, there would be very few of them, and it is because this is common knowledge among both sides that, oddly enough, wars are fought.

 The troops who have abandoned that recognition and are enveloped in madness kept on beating their enemy until they annihilate each other, which is no longer war but a survival competition that was known to animals.

"Uoooooooooohhh!!"

 This is embodied right now by the army composed of volunteers recruited from the citizens of Kraha, who are right in front of us.

 Carrying their hatred with them, their madness is already out of bounds in the face of the Kingdom Army, which fled without bringing the culprits to justice.

 Live or die.

 For that reason alone, they continue to generate incredible madness, feeding on the fuel of hatred. Gradually, these volunteer soldiers began to push the coalition of the Croche family and the second unit.

"Push out the Third unit, too! Hold the front and don't let the enemy into the mountains!"

 Three of the nine units were deployed ahead of the plan to consolidate the troops at the entrance to the mountain.

"And Elfie! You lead the fourth and fifth units out to both sides. We will crush them from three directions at once."

"Ha!"

"Musketeers, take position! We'll shoot them from here."

"But we're going to hit our allies......"

"Not in the position of the front line. It's those guys back there."

 A slight hole in the formation opened up by repeated assaults by the volunteer army that did not take into account if they are going to die. In an attempt to further widen the hole, the 6000 Imperial Army, made up of regular soldiers, came running in from behind.

 If the enemy is not stopped until Elfie and her men are on both sides, the large difference in the number of troops may be too great to be overcome, even if we use the terrain to our advantage.

"Still, depending on the angle......"

"We're being pushed back, so it won't hit."

 I told one of the junior officers, who were still hesitant.

"Shoot!"

 Then, after the order was given again, a volley of shots was fired with a roar that shook the air. Bullets rain over the heads of the soldiers fighting at the entrance to the mountain, raining down on the imperial troops approaching from behind.

 The smell of gunpowder smoke is prickly in the nose, but even worse is the smell of blood that arrives on the wind coming up from the foot of the mountain.

 As I frowned, a shout went up, and the fourth and fifth units led by Elfie, which had finished deploying at both sides, attacked the enemy from the flanks at once.

 The volunteer army, which had only concentrated on the front, seemed to be confused by the sudden appearance of enemy soldiers from both sides, and the atmosphere of madness that had been drifting around the place and covering it up was disturbed.

 Elfie would not have missed that slight lapse, and repeatedly pummeled the soldiers with fierceness and intensity, finally completing the plan with the 4th and 5th units cutting off the enemy forces at the front.

"Now! Forward!"

 So exclaimed a nobleman of the Croche family. He, too, is a landowning noble who lived on the border and is accustomed to fighting.

 Surrounded by the enemy on all sides, he did not miss the wave of unrest that was generated and charged forward with the first to third units.

 However, the volunteer soldiers who were isolated in the enemy army still fought off the blades that were coming at them from all sides with madness on their faces, wielding their spears, swords, and shields to take as many Kingdom soldiers as possible with them, even if they themselves would die.

 However, they were completely surrounded, and they were helpless against not only the Kingdom soldiers coming at them from all sides, but also against the archers aiming at them from here, where I was.

 They continued to wield their weapons until they were down to their last man, and many corpses piled up like mountains on top of the pool of blood. The number of corpses was about one-third of those who had volunteered to serve in the vanguard. The damage was such that they had to fall back and regroup.

 Seeing that, I drew my sword, raised it high in the air, and shouted.

"Raise the battle cry! We have destroyed the enemy's vanguard!"

"Oooohh!!"

 The shouts of the Kingdom's soldiers, which resembled a rumbling of the earth were so loud that it felt as if the entire mountain was shaking, blowing away even the painful situation that had been overwhelming them until a moment ago.

"Report! The enemy's vanguard appears to be temporarily retreating. Instead, the 6000 Imperial Forces are closing in from behind!"

"The first, second and third can back off now. The fourth and fifth should take their places under Elfie's command and defend them in place of the Croche family!"

"Ha!"

 I told the messenger to reorganize the formation. If the enemy is going to swap places with their vanguard, we need to use that time to get back into formation.

 In that little time, each soldier began to prepare for the next battle.

 The musketeers scrape the soot from the barrels of their guns and clean them, and the archers replaced the string in their bows.

 In the meantime, the first one to switch places and return to us was Croche Rask, the heir of a nobleman of the Croche family, the leader of the first squad, who had fought so valiantly.

 He had short black hair and sharp eyes like an eagle, and a fearless face for a 27-year-old, but he had a small wound on the right side of his cheek, which emphasized how hard they fought.

"Good work."

 The son of the Croche family smiled at me and said in a hushed voice.

"The timing of the first volley was too late. If that had been properly timed, it would have made things a little easier."

"......Sorry about that."

 Although I apologize for the fact that we are the same landowning nobles, with our parents living next to each other, and the head of the Fregrance family had given me the command of the company. Incidentally, since I am not allowed to take a backhanded approach to him in the chain of command, I respond to him in a straightforward tone.

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's not nothing. Next time, I'll be careful, it was bad."

"......Do you really think there will be a next time on the battlefield?"

"I won't make the same mistake, that's all I'm saying."

 I reiterate and stare into his eagle-sharp eyes that are still glaring at me.

"So what do we do next?"

 Apparently, he had forgiven me for the time being. Rask turned around and looked at the Imperial Army spreading out below.

"Rest in the back for now, we'll have another fight later."

"...Ok. We'll take a break for a moment."

 He told the soldiers and knights who were following him that they need to go somewhere to rest, but for some reason, he came to my side.

"What are you going to do now?"

 Rudely, Rask-dono asks in a low, gravelly voice that reminds me of the distance between two nobles living next to each other.

"At first we were able to bounce back. But things won't get better if we stay here forever. In fact, it's only going to get worse."

 Pointing the tip of the spear that he had in his hand at the Kingdom Army that spreads along the road.

"Most of the allies deployed there are jumbled soldiers borrowed from other nobles and brought in by the rootless nobles. Their morale and skill levels are too low to be of much use."

"I understand what you're saying, but this is still the most important point. In fact, if we had left this to the rootless nobles, it could have ended with the enemy's attack just now."

 What he is trying to say is, "are you okay with leaving that road to a bunch of rootless nobles?" The point is that he wants me to send him there while we still can.

 But I can't do that.

 The current lineup is a formation that has been established before we arrived here, with roles clearly defined in advance and arranged according to each person's capabilities.

 However, the sharp look in his eyes was still disapproving, and I almost shuddered when I sensed that he was about to bite me at any moment.

 As expected, he is different. I was beginning to wonder if he was really the same nobleman as that cat-eyed nobleman who leaves his post to attend a meeting or something like that during the war.

"Speaking of which, I heard about Viscount Fabian."

"...You know?"

 Suddenly, Rask-dono mentioned the name, and when I asked him back, he silently nodded his head.

"Not only me, but most of the nobles and knights here, and even the end of the army, know about it. And who cleaned up the mess."

 The son of the Croche family stared at me with a distorted face and an expression of bitterness on his face.

 I guess he also has a bitter expression on his face because he knows the relationship between Viscount Fabian and my parents' family.

"Why didn't you abandon them?"

 Behind those words, my father and I, Elfie, Armes, and Mashiro. I was now confronted as to why I was cleaning up Viscount Fabian's blunder, while the servants living in my parents' house were still suffering and carrying in their hearts the grudge of the past that they were trying to overcome.

"I didn't clean up his mess. I'll make him take full responsibility later, and I haven't forgotten about it. Besides......."

"Besides?"

"At that time, they were on my side. My mother was going to scold me from the afterlife if I didn't put them before myself......"

 Hearing that, Rask-dono fell silent, then let out a long sigh and slapped me on the back.

"If the next head of the family says so, I have nothing more to say. And if you're prepared to do that, you've got a good idea of what you're doing in this battle, right?"

"Yeah."

 When I nodded, Rask-dono smiled wryly and slapped me on the back again. The skinship is so intense that it hurts.

"You looked like your father, but you inherited your mother's personality."

 Rask-dono was smiling at me, and I suddenly asked him a question.

"Why are you bringing it up all of a sudden?"

"Oh? See, that's what I'm talking about."

 I smiled wryly at the empty words that made me want to say, "Which one is it?", If I was like my mother, then his manner of saying it was just like Oichan's.

"We, the Croche family, are indebted to your mother. To tell you the truth, we would like to avenge your mother's death, but it would put too much trouble for your family."

 But when he begins to speak, his eyes, narrowed and piercing like a hawk's, turn to me, and I involuntarily straighten my spine.

"But when I heard that you took his place and cleaned up that cat-eyed bastard's mess, I wanted to make sure that we were still on the same page. That's all."

"……I see."

 The conversation that had been going on between us since then was cut short.

 It was not the kind of thing to talk about in detail here, but more than that, it was because of the next move by both sides.

"Report! Our forces deployed on the road have been engaged by 20,000 Imperial troops, and their forces are outnumbered, so they urgently need reinforcements!"

 The messenger who rushed to me and Rask-dono with great vigor, kneeled down on the spot and hung his head.

 Looking at the road next to the mountain, we could clearly see that the Imperial Army was pushing our allies and were struggling, just as he had reported.

"Deploy our musketeers to the enemy's flank. After aiming and firing all at once, the Sixth unit will go straight to......."

 I was about to tell them to flank the enemy, but my hand was stopped by Rask-dono.

"Don't so easily deploy the troops waiting in the rear."

"No, that's......"

 I understand what he is trying to say, but now is not the time to think of an alternative. The mountain and the road. There is no way to resist them if the enemy overtook both.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't deploy our troops. We, the first unit, will do our part here."

"But."

 I appreciate the offer, but it hasn't been that long since they rested. If we overworked these wounded and tired men here, they would be unusable in future emergencies.

 Rask-dono, in a gentle voice that is hard to imagine from his appearance, said to me.

"If you are the commander, fight with the determination to use up one or two units. Otherwise, it will be difficult for those below you to follow you."

 "And besides", Rask-dono continued, pointing the tip of his spear at the imperial troops spread out before him.

"It's about time for a new player to come. We can't neglect our preparations here, can we?"

"Well, that's..."

 To be honest, judging from the way he was fighting earlier, the first unit led by him is the most powerful among the pieces allocated to me.

 I really do not like the idea of using up such a force too soon, but it is not a good story if we lose, not willing to put up a good fight.

 Naturally, I sighed softly before giving the order. In fact, I had made a plan based on the assumption that there would be no nobles who would willingly go into battle on their own. No, well, I don't mind at all that they are willing to do it, you know? Rather, the only nobles I've met so far have been either too different in status to be in the same field or too unmotivated and self-centered in their thinking......

"...Alright. Can I count on you?"

 So I told Rask-dono as I patted him on the back and ordered the first unit to take on the role of going for reinforcements.

 Rask-dono snickered as the sun shone down on his face from above the thicket, and I thought I saw his sharp, eagle-like eyes glinting in the sunlight.