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Sword Saint—though I had only fought him once, I had not even been able to grasp the depth of his strength, so I had thought he was quite powerful.

From the battle with Lieutenant Colonel Kavasa, I had assumed that spirit sword users were equal to or stronger than me, but now that one of those capable fighters had been lost, I was forced to revise the plan.

(I thought that if I teamed up with that old man, our front line would function…)

At the very least, he had the air of a strong man who would somehow manage things through the wisdom of age.

It was late now, but I praised the spirit sword user.

However, that would not bring the man back.

Alberto-kun, please remain seated. No one called for you.

(Actually, I can’t believe the major was that badly wounded against that old man.)

If asked whether I could do the same, I would of course answer, “Impossible.”

Lieutenant Colonel Kavasa also seemed to have had something like a trump card, so perhaps spirit weapons possessed those kinds of abilities.

It was only natural that Alberto, who had not even shown any sign of using one, would be rated lower than the other two.

I had even considered fighting alongside Lieutenant Colonel Kavasa, but… in the Council-State, where all sorts of motives were tangled together, there was no way to know how they would treat the major, a soldier of the old Empire.

If anything, because there was the case of “me,” there was a high chance they would try to bring him in.

However, I had prioritized my own circumstances and rejected that.

As for “Then what about the major?” my prediction was that the major had sworn loyalty to the Empire, not to the Council-State that followed from it.

There had probably been friction with the upper command, but his career showed that he had tried to serve the nation as a soldier.

The fact that the lieutenant colonel was still fighting as an Imperial soldier even now meant that this prediction was probably correct.

He had become a genetically enhanced soldier, thought, “Now we’ll turn the war around,” and then, before he knew it, he was in a world two hundred years later where his homeland no longer existed.

It was not hard to understand why, from the major’s perspective, the war was still ongoing.

That would be even more true if he had not been a trainee like me, but had actually continued fighting on the battlefield.

Regardless of the circumstances, the fact that I had to do something about the major had not changed. Now that the spirit sword user, who could be called a pillar of the plan for doing that, was gone, what should I do to fill that hole?

Or should I rethink the plan itself? I was being forced to choose between those two options.

It would be fine if I could win by attacking the major while he slept to heal his injuries, but unless I killed him instantly, I could only see a future where I was counterattacked.

Even for the conditions needed to aim for that instant death, I would need a supernatural weapon like the spirit sword.

It was no longer in my hands, and even if I had it, I could not wield the spirit sword.

(Should I just spill everything and tell him, “Please die”?)

That desperate idea crossed my mind, but my opponent was the major, a rigid military man through and through.

He would probably say, “You call yourself an Imperial soldier after that?!” and make me his first target.

Since those were words my instructors had said to me countless times during my days as a trainee, I could easily imagine it.

As expected, there seemed to be no path other than proceeding in secret and eliminating him.

The problem was where to find the strength needed to take down the major.

Now that the old man was gone, it would be difficult for me to serve as the front line even if I staked my life on it.

Would this problem be solved if I gathered the elite elves?

(…On top of that, the elf village is not monolithic. The major has created the material needed to bring them together.)

But that did not guarantee they would unite.

Furthermore, there was no guarantee that the gathered forces could oppose him.

To begin with, the one who had killed the spirit sword user was the major, who had the same appearance as me.

There was a good chance they would not even listen to me… or rather, that possibility was more likely.

Then did I have no choice but to do it alone?

That was asking far too much.

Because I could not do that, I had made a plan to cooperate with the elves.

The difference in strength was far too great, and after being one-sidedly beaten down by the major right after he woke up, I understood painfully well that I could do nothing by myself.

In the underground facility, I groaned and searched for a method.

There was not much time left.

The major regarded the elves as the greatest threat, and intended to finish this before all of their information was gathered.

If the first place he attacked had been different, there would have been time to prepare.

However, that was not how things had turned out, so the major’s decision was correct, and his history as an excellent soldier was no mere decoration.

Considering the regenerative ability of the Type Goliath I knew, the major’s wounds would probably heal in about five hours.

I had to make a decision before then.

Should I proceed with the plan, or should I reveal everything to the major? No matter which I chose, the hopeless situation did not seem like it would change, so what was I supposed to do?

“We will attack the long-ears’ settlement.”

The major woke up in about four hours, earlier than expected, and said that as soon as he found me.

I had thought that this was how things would turn out, so I was not surprised, but I had not wasted the time while the major was sleeping either.

“Major. May I say one thing?”

Saying that, I modestly raised my hand and requested permission to speak.

After confirming that the major silently nodded, I opened my mouth.

“Could you give me some time?”

“Do you have some sort of plan?”

I nodded and began explaining to the major as he urged me to continue.

“The enemy may still be hiding magical technology unknown to us. Although we have eliminated the holy sword user, the bow still remains. Therefore, I propose that I infiltrate the elf village and launch a simultaneous attack from outside and inside.”

“…It will be dangerous.”

“I understand that. If the connection with the Natural Harmony Committee I mentioned before can still be used, then I judge that there is a sufficient chance of victory. As far as we know, once we cross the river, our movements will immediately be detected by the warning network they have set up, and an interception unit will likely come out. We probably will not lose, but we will certainly be delayed.”

I paused there once.

There were no questions, and the major nodded as if to say, “Continue.”

If he had said something like, “Petty tricks are unnecessary,” or, “They no longer have enough forces to delay us,” it would have ended there.

“If I rampage inside, I can pin their eyes on me. They know my combat ability. Therefore, they will judge that I can be dealt with and will gather forces to surround me in order to kill me for certain. If that happens, Major, you will be able to enter without encountering organized enemies. Whether we are taking down their base or securing important people, it should be worth doing.”

Even if it fails, I will simply escape back here, I added, then waited for the major’s judgment.

The major closed his eyes and sank into thought for a while.

Then he opened his eyes and glared at me.

“What basis do they have for determining that they can deal with you?”

“My battles with the spirit sword user have been witnessed several times. Even though the sword has been lost, the bow still remains, and I have also confirmed the existence of a weapon called the magic bow, which appears to be a degraded copy of the spirit bow. They will choose to fight.”

I did not know how much the elves knew about the battle in Canaan, but I should not have been lying.

The problem was that the spirit bow user had changed generations, and I did not know whether its attack power could break through the major’s defense.

I sincerely prayed that the elves had other weapons I did not know about.

Incidentally, it seemed the major had discarded the spirit sword the old Sword Saint had possessed somewhere, and he had not told me where.

“…The timing will be important.”

If we were actually going to do this, the major would have to move at the same time I started moving.

If he were late, there was a chance I would be hunted down, and in an army of only two people, a decrease in fighting strength was an unacceptable risk.

If he judged that the return was not worth the risk, it would end here.

That was why I gave the final push.

“Major. I became a soldier to protect my family. But the family I should protect no longer exists.”

I chose words that would mislead him into thinking I was implicitly saying, “Please allow me to take revenge.”

What I wanted to protect was what my family had connected.

(For that purpose, I will become your enemy.)

At my words, the major looked up at the ceiling.

“I see. So that is why you chose infiltration. Even if I had not awakened, you would have put it into action…”

He pressed the corners of his eyes and seemed deeply moved, but I did not think there was probably any deep meaning like what he was imagining.

“I approve. I cannot take away the battlefield of a man who has endured this much.”

After that, the major and I worked out the details of a fictional operation.

There was no turning back now.

I would eliminate the major from this world.

With that resolve in my heart, I left the research facility.

My destination was west, the elf village.

When I arrived at the river, a fully armed group of elves greeted me.

Among them, there was one man I recognized, and I felt relieved.

With that, one of the conditions had been cleared.

We faced each other with the river between us, and after coming to a stop, I opened my mouth.

“It has been a while, Azure.”

Azure made a displeased face at my words.

The gazes of the elves around him were also harsh.

But I could not say anything carelessly.

If I failed, I would end up assaulting the village together with the major.

He was based on Type Goliath, but I did not know just how sharp the major’s hearing was.

Therefore, I had to send them a message without being noticed by the major, who was hiding far enough behind me that they could not see him.

“I wish to meet Rusheru-dono.”

The group had probably intended to reject my demand immediately, but those words did not come from their mouths.

“I believe I understand some of your circumstances as well.”

There was one reason they remained silent and confronted me without doing anything.

It was because the small flame that had appeared in front of my chest was repeating the same movement over and over.

Since then, I had never neglected my training.

The control of magic I had continued whenever I had free time was now moving as if to boast of its results.

It was a tiny flame, so small it seemed unreliable—however, what that flame drew were three words.

“Sword,” “location,” and “tell.”

Surely they would understand.

The major and I were enemies.

Silence continued.

The elves looked at one another, then turned suspicious gazes toward me.

I could only pray that they would accurately read the one message I was able to send.

“…Follow me.”

The one who said that and turned on his heel was Azure.

He had probably been the one among them most wary of me, but at the same time, he was also the one who could most believe the possibility that I was hostile to the major.

I nodded and stepped into the river.