The Eerie Advance

View of Sarnare-Rubaras-Harekukku, head of House Rubaras, Count Harekukku

Just as the enemy army creeping toward us was about to enter the range of our magic, a messenger in a panic came running to the base of the lookout platform.

“…My lord, a report from the scouts you sent into the forest earlier… We have been unable to contact the scouts who were already investigating the forest at all.”

It seemed I had to assume the forest was already under the enemy’s control.

I had intended to turn a blind eye if a surprise attack caused some losses… but now the outlook had grown suspicious.

Sensing that, I gave the order to heighten vigilance against the ambush I had originally planned to ignore.

“…Send word to the left wing at once. There is a possibility the enemy will launch a surprise attack from the forest. Maintain strict vigilance not only to the front, but also toward the forest.”

“Yes, sir!”

If we knew an ambush was coming, it became a chance for us to reap the enemy instead… yet I could not overlook the fact that the enemy’s plan was proceeding smoothly.

I had looked down on them as mere bandits… but since the battle began, the presence of someone behind them had been growing more and more apparent.

Even so… the fact remained that most of the enemy were still just commoners.

War was not something you won simply by trusting in numbers and charging.

Tactics, terrain, gathered intelligence, our army’s strengths, the enemy’s weaknesses… and the enemy’s thinking—by skillfully manipulating all of these, one could draw the path to victory.

I would admit the enemy was more capable than we initially expected. But even so, it was still we who held the initiative in this battle.

The enemy had already played their defensive-magic card. That had blunted our arrows, but it did not mean we had been put at a disadvantage.

If the enemy could fire arrows while our arrows did nothing, then yes, I would have felt threatened… yet not a single arrow had been loosed from their side.

Cavalry and archers—neither was something untrained commoners could become overnight.

The fact that neither of those two crucial troop types could be seen in the enemy army could only be because it was an army composed of commoners.

Even if their defense could be made solid by a portion of mage-soldiers, without the ability to attack, they could not become a true threat to us.

And then, likely their second card—the forest ambush. Passing a large army through the forest for a surprise attack was unrealistic. Therefore, the ambush force would be, at most, two or three hundred. Since we already knew the ambush was coming, this, too, could not become a real threat…

The only other direction to watch was the west… but we had stationed a defensive unit there. If the enemy came in force, sending a messenger would be easy.

At the very least, since I had received no report of any large army beyond the fifteen thousand before us, there would be no mass enemy push from the west. If anything came from there, it would be a small ambush… but with clear sightlines, it would be impossible to approach unnoticed.

As I organized the information in my mind, I felt the eerie unease I had sensed earlier begin to subside.

I had heard the battlefield could drive a man from sanity… Had I been affected by it as well?

As I suppressed a bitter smile inwardly, almost at the same moment the enemy entered our magic’s effective range. After we drew them in a bit more, the magic attacks would be unleashed… and their true nature should be exposed.

“My lord! A report from the scout sent west! The defensive unit we had waiting at the western bridge is nowhere to be found!”

“What did you say!?”

The moment I reacted to the report, an explosion sounded from the front line, and cheers rose from our formation.

It seemed magic had been fired—but that was not the issue now!

“What is the meaning of this!? Was the unit guarding the bridge wiped out!?”

“No, sir. The scout reported there were not even traces of battle. There were no troops of ours or theirs at the bridge… but based on the footprints, there is no doubt our unit crossed the bridge.”

“The defensive unit crossed the bridge…? Are they so eager for merit that they intend to launch a surprise attack on the enemy? Who is responsible for that unit?”

“The head of House Yuro—the Baron.”

“So, he has no territory… In that case, his eagerness for merit is understandable. Fine. The defensive unit is small; even if it is destroyed, it will have no impact on the battle. Tell the scout to keep watch near the bridge.”

“Yes, sir!”

The western matter did not seem to be a serious problem… I turned my gaze back to the battlefield, where explosions still had not ceased.

The smoke produced by the magical blasts concealed the enemy, and I could not see what was happening… yet the magic from our side continued to rain down without pause, and the smoke spread even thicker.

“I would like to stir up wind and blow the smoke away… but it would be wasteful to spend magic for that.”

For now, we should not ease up and should continue the assault.

…It was fine. Beyond that smoke, the enemy should have been piling up heaps of corpses, and the conscripted commoners should have been fleeing in a panic by now. When the smoke cleared, the sight that spread before us would reassure me.

It had to be so…

“Even if we send a messenger to the front line now, it may not reach them in time. They appear to be repeatedly firing magic with considerable power… Most likely, by the time the messenger arrives, they will no longer be able to cast.”

“It is troublesome if they expend everything at the start… but it means the front line is that fired up.”

“That is only natural, I believe…”

Seeing the officer’s expression, I understood the reason… I see. With His Majesty slain, they were rushing to avenge him.

If it had been me before the enemy began advancing, I would have sent a messenger telling them not to overdo it… but now, I did not feel like stopping it.

If anything, I was even thinking I wanted them to crush the enemy vanguard here.

Even as I wished for the smoke to clear quickly, the thought flashed—what if the enemy emerged continuing their advance as if this rain of magic meant nothing… No… an impossible fantasy.

And then, within my line of sight, the enemy army emerged from the smoke.

With the same posture and the same speed as before the rain of magic ever fell…

“…I-impossible!?”

Was the voice that shook my ears mine, or the officer’s beside me…? No, that did not matter.

Why could they advance without changing their pace under a storm of arrows?

Why could they keep walking forward without fear beneath lethal magic raining down?

Why could they continue marching without a single disturbance?

Why did they make me feel this uneasy?

“What is happening!? Why is the enemy advancing as if nothing is wrong!? Why do neither arrows nor magic work!?”

Unable to bear it, I pressed the officer beside me for answers.

“M-My lord… that, even I…”

“Is this not absurd!? The enemy is nothing but bandits and the commoners forced to obey them! No—forget appearances! There is likely some noble behind that army! Even so, this is far too strange! What power could possibly make such a thing happen!?”

“M-My lord, please calm yourself…”

“I am calm! But what is that!? The way they move… It does not look like they are blocking arrows and magic! It is as though they do not even register them—does it not!?”

“Indeed, as you say… but, my lord, are you certain there is a noble behind them…?”

“It is not confirmed information. But… that is my assessment.”

At my words, the officer touched his chin as if thinking, then spoke while glaring at the enemy.

“…If, as you suspect, there is a noble behind them… I have heard of an extremely expensive magical device that can produce illusions.”

“…Such devices do exist, but as you said, they are extremely expensive, and it should be impossible to produce illusions in numbers as great as that.”

“I see…”

“However… as you say, if those are illusions, then the current situation makes sense. But I cannot believe an entire army could be composed of illusions…”

Magical devices—yes, nobles could purchase them, but I had never heard of any device that could function on a scale usable in war.

If I assumed it was an illusion, it explained things… it did explain things, but… was this line of thinking dangerous?

No… unless I assumed illusions, I could not explain what I was seeing.

And if they were illusions, then I could understand the enemy’s aim: to make us waste our magic.

With the king killed, we were desperate to annihilate them… resulting in reckless repeated casting… If they could weather it all without injury…

“Damn it! Whether those are illusions or not, it is certain we have been made to fire our magic! There is no doubt the flow of events so far has proceeded exactly as the enemy intended!”

“…Indeed. Even though we have unleashed magic at a pace that would exhaust it early in the battle, the enemy has suffered no damage—by their standards, that is sufficient achievement…”

At my words, the officer’s expression hardened.

“If they attack now, we will be forced to repel them without magic…”

Repelling them with no magic… If they executed a plan like this, should I assume the enemy had a considerable number of mages as well?

But… most of the enemy were just commoners… No—perhaps the enemy’s main force… What if they had many mages here…?

Damn it! We had far too little information on the enemy! Why had the scouts not investigated the enemy army in detail!?

As I fumed, the enemy vanguard, continuing its slow march, finally reached the riverbank.