Published at 17th of August 2019 8:10 am

Volume 8.5 The Blue Knight and The Silver Princess side story 2, Chapter 1: The Reborn Forthorthe Army

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Part 1

In the northern parts of Mastir territory, close to Pardomshiha territory, lies a great plain called Raustor.

The name Raustor stood for “the goddess's resting place”. With most of Mastir consisting of mountains, there was a myth that Goddess of Dawn rested her legs here.

Since it was a plain within a mountainous region, it naturally became a transport hub. As a result, a large amount of towns that focused on trade were established, and an army to defend them was stationed there.

Because of that, the reborn Forthorthe army ended up clashing with the coup d'état army in Raustor. It was an unavoidable battle if they were to march on to the capital, Fornorn.

The reborn Forthorthe army was an army created by Alaia after she had escaped to Pardomshiha territory. The Pardomshiha family had deep ties with the royal family, and with their band of knights at the core, they amassed to a mere 500 men. There was a massive difference in the forces compared to the coup d'état army with the old imperial army at its core. The Wenranka family, who were known for their loyalty, had decided to join the newborn Forthorthe army, but the army was expected to be crushed before they could join up.

However, the Forthorthe army had overturned that situation. Although it was a siege battle with the defenders at an advantage, their first battle against the coup d'état subjugation force had ended in a victory, and that was when the Wenranka family reinforced them. The siege ended after the Forthorthe army's second win.

After their second victory, the reborn Forthorthe army's reputation began spreading like wildfire across the country. As a result, they gained a large amount of recruits and supplies.

As their force grew past 3,000 men strong, Alaia finally made up her mind. They would recapture the capital, Fornorn, and defeat Maxfern. Several months after escaping from the capital, Alaia had finally begun marching back to retake it.

And like so, the Forthorthe regular army and the coup d'état army headed towards Raustor. The regular army had 3,000 men and the coup d'état army had 4,000. The coup d'état hadn't brought all their forces here as they had left soldiers behind to guard the borders and in case of riots.

With management in disorder because of the coup d'état, an invasion from neighboring countries was likely. And having suffered under several months of tyranny, the citizens were about to explode.

Although they weren't able to bring their full force to bear, the coup d'état army was still superior in both numbers and quality. Although the regular army consisted of 3,000 men, a majority of them were untrained recruits. So in reality, their actual force would correspond to roughly 2,500.

As a result, this would be a clash of 2,500 vs. 4,000 men.

In the current state, the regular army was going to lose if their armies clashed. However, that is just in the current state.

Clan could be found in one of the tents in the regular army's encampment.

She was operating her bracelet and 3D images changed out, one after another, in front of her. They were all images of armies in formation.

Since this was Koutarou and Clan's personal tent, there was no fear of the soldiers seeing what they were doing. Clan was operating her observation device and scouting the enemy.

“How does it look?”

Koutarou who was right next to her was also looking at the feed, and Clan began explaining to Koutarou.

“It looks like they are gearing up for a field battle. They've left the fort and are taking formation in the plains.”

“Since they have the advantage in numbers, they don't need to rely on petty tricks, huh.”

“Well, it is true that we are more like an unorganized mob.”

The coup d'état army had left the fort in the town and deployed almost all of their troops onto the plains. If they had stayed holed up in the fort, their defenses would rise considerably, but they wouldn't be able to make full use of their numbers. So the coup d'état army decided to leave the fort and crush the regular army in one fell swoop. They were more likely to have less injured men by attacking with their full force, rather than awkwardly defending the fort.

“Which means if things keep going like this, it would be bad.”

“It would, indeed.”

While looking at the footage sent by the observation device, Koutarou and Clan got closer and continued their discussion. Though they were supposed to be a knight and his servant, they looked more like a general and his strategist.

“At this rate, we are almost certainly going to be destroyed.”

“No matter how strong this armor is, it's not enough to defeat several thousand men.”

Koutarou knocked on his armor.

His armor had been created with all of Forthorthe's scientific advancements, so in this age it held unparalleled strength. He would never lose to normal soldiers. However, no matter how strong he was, if all of his allies were to be defeated before he could take down all the enemies, it would be meaningless. He couldn't fight and just rely on the armor's powers.

“Armor, huh... oh right, Bertorion.”

As Clan said that, she looked at Koutarou's left arm.

“How's your left arm? Can you move it properly?”

“Hm? Yeah, no problem, I can move it just fine.”

Koutarou brought his left arm in front of him and repeatedly opened and closed his left hand.

During his battle with Clan, the armor around his left arm had been destroyed and he had replaced it with Kiriha's gauntlet. Clan had just recently repaired the armor and incorporated the gauntlet in it.

“Can you use your fire and electricity even with the gauntlet like that?”

“No problem, it works just fine.”

“Then that's good.”

Clan smiled satisfied and readjusted her glasses. She had a relieved expression on her face because she had been worried about Koutarou.

His defensive and offensive strength would be greatly reduced if the armor remained broken like that. And if it lost its airtightness, he would be at risk when underwater or in space.

“Your repairs are perfect, thank you, Clan.”

“...I feel like an idiot repairing something I broke myself.”

“That goes both ways. Anyways, you're a big help.”

“Ugh...”

Hearing that, Clan blushed and coughed a couple of times to hide her embarrassment before returning to the topic.

“M-More importantly, about what to do next. We can't just face them straight up. What should we do?”

“Fufu, that's where you come in, right, Clan-san?”

While Clan's face was still red, another girl in the tent called out to her.

She was Lidith Maxfern. She was Maxfern's niece, but she had parted ways with him and allied with Alaia instead.

Since she was a scholar who studied alchemy, she had outstanding understanding and as she had been serving as Clan's assistant, she understood that Koutarou and Clan were using extremely advanced technology.

“Ahem, that would be the case.”

“...We could use a decoy to lure them away from the fort, raid the defenseless fort and use it against them. By doing that, we will gain access to the weapons stored in the fort and we can reverse the difference in strength thanks to the sturdy walls.”

“Which means they will lose the supplies stored in the fort, and without any siege weaponry, they'll be forced to retreat, perhaps?”

Lidith understood what Clan was after. Clan had gotten her answer from a war support AI, and Lidith had understood what that meant before Koutarou had. On the outside, Koutarou devised the strategies, but in reality, Clan and Lidith were behind them.

“I see, that's a good idea. So how would you do it, more concretely?”

“Bertorion, tonight you will lead the soldiers and hide in the forest.”

“What about you?”

“I'll lead a decoy force and lead their main force away from the town. If I succeed, I will contact you and you will raid the fort.”

“Then, I'll be in charge of communication.”

“Alright, let's go with that. I'll report our plan to her highness, Alaia, you guys work on the details.”

“I understand.”

Koutarou left the tent alone. Reporting to Alaia was his job.

That's because right now, Koutarou was the commander of the reborn Forthorthe army.

Part 2

“Contact all forces; tell them that if we are found now, everything will be for naught. Proceed with caution.”

“Understood, your excellency.”

One of the recruits saluted Koutarou. He then left Koutarou and disappeared into the dark woods. After seeing that, Koutarou began walking again. His pace was much slower than normal.

Koutarou and the others were currently marching in the night of the forest.

Koutarou was leading the march as he could see in the dark thanks to his armor. Behind him were 2,500 men. Thanks to his night vision, an accurate map and the observation device covering for them, Koutarou and the others were able to navigate through the forest at night without using any illumination.

However, people of this age had a tendency to use more light than necessary in the dark. There were a lot of anxious soldiers who wanted to light a fire, so in order to keep them calm and to keep the army together, their marching speed was slower than normal. They couldn't be too rash, as Clan would start her diversion at dawn.

Speaking of Clan; she, Flair and Caris were on the opposite side of the fort, deploying 500 men in a position where they stood out. And through Clan's technology and Caris's magic, they made the force look several times larger. Their plan would start once the coup d'état army took the bait and deployed from the fort.

“Your excellency, may I ask a question?”

A young man who served as an adjutant whispered to Koutarou. Hearing his words, Koutarou smiled wryly.

“I don't mind, but... I keep telling you that you don't have to be so formal.”

“Ha... but your excellency is our hope.”

The young man was a few years older than Koutarou, but he would always speak in a very respectful tone. The same was true for the entire reborn Forthorthe army.

The reason for that was because Koutarou's achievements had widely spread amongst the people of Forthorthe. Starting with his defense of the farm village that had been poisoned and attacked by a giant during its harvest festival, Koutarou had repelled Alaia's and the others pursuers and safely brought them to Pardomshiha territory. Koutarou had played a large role during that time, and before long, rumors around the name, Reios, a knight in blue armor began spreading throughout the kingdom.

“Hah...”

However, Koutarou himself was perplexed by this situation.

Originally, he was only supposed to be acting as a replacement until the real Blue Knight was found. However, they ended up reaching Pardomshiha territory without ever finding him. And now they had taken to the offensive. Koutarou's achievements were supposed to be the Blue Knight's. And since he had practically stolen those, his feelings were quite complex.

What made it worse was that Koutarou himself didn't really have any power of his own to speak off. He had gotten his ability to see auras from Sanae, he had gotten his armor from Theia and his gauntlet that could create electricity and fire was from Kiriha. And while he was unaware of it, he was also being protected by Yurika's magic. They were all powers given to him by others. Because of that, Koutarou wasn't able to take pride in others showing him respect and only felt bad.

“...So, what did you want to ask me?”

However, nothing would come from worrying about that. He couldn't tell everyone the truth, nor could he rely on just his own power to fight. As he changed gears, Koutarou urged the young adjutant to continue.

“Then I will ask... Your excellency, why do you not kill your enemies?”

The young man's question was regarding his doubts about Koutarou's way of fighting.

Even on the battlefield, Koutarou didn't kill anyone. Instead, he used the powers of the armor and gauntlet to knock his enemies out or injure them enough to incapacitate them. In this age, that was only seen as making it harder for oneself.

“They're not the enemy.”

This wasn't the first time Koutarou had been asked this type of question. Clan and Flair had asked the same thing, so Koutarou answered without hesitation.

“Huh?”

Koutarou's answer was the same as the Blue Knight's line in the play. In the play, the Blue Knight didn't kill his enemies either, and there was even a scene regarding that in the manuscript.

“They are not the enemy. They are all citizens of Forthorthe. Her highness Alaia would mourn the loss of the life of any Forthorthe citizen, regardless of the reason.”

Koutarou had used the same line from the play, but in reality, he felt the same way. He didn't want to make Alaia, or Theia who was in a faraway place, sad.

“And just between us, there's a strategic meaning behind it too.”

“A strategic meaning, is it?”

“Yeah. If we injure or knock them out, it would take more than one soldier to carry them home. In other words, by not killing them we're reducing their force even more.”

This was a modern strategy Koutarou had learned from Clan.

By killing an enemy, their forces are reduced by the number of men slain. However, by merely incapacitating them, more men would be required to carry them in a retreat. So by hurting one, it's possible to reduce their numbers by more than two soldiers. Even in modern wars, weapons like landmines are often designed to injure rather than kill to increase the burden on the opposing force. It was a very clever strategy.

“That might be true... but, there's no point in that if your excellency puts himself in danger!”

What worried the young adjutant was that Koutarou would often end up in dangerous situations.

There were plenty of soldiers who faked being incapacitated, and Koutarou had been attacked by several soldiers doing just that. Fortunately, thanks to the power of the armor he had been safe, but the adjutant was always on edge. He didn't want to lose their symbol of hope over something like that. In order to avoid that, the adjutant would rather the enemies be killed.

“There's no need to worry. I made an oath to her highness, Alaia, that I would protect her without fail. And in order to fulfill that oath, I will never die.”

“...Excuse me, your excellency.”

“No, it's okay.”

An oath was the most important thing to a knight. Once Koutarou brought that up, the adjutant had no room left to argue. However, that was more like using the oath as a shield to ward of any rebuttal. It was hardly an answer.

I'm sorry, here you are all worried about me too...

So while smiling wryly, Koutarou apologized to the young man on the inside.

Part 3

The capital, Fornorn, was a large city, though obviously small compared to modern cities of today. However, it was one of the largest cities existing in this age. That served as proof that Forthorthe was a powerful country and that the royalty protecting the city through the generations were wise.

However, right now, there was not a single royalty left in the capital. There was indeed a palace in the center of the city, but, the man sitting on the throne was not the emperor.

Biorbaram Maxfern.

He was a member of the Maxfern family, famous for its many scholars and politicians, and he himself once served the emperor as a minister. However, he had assassinated the emperor and started a coup d'état because of his own ambitions.

“So Raustor has fallen, huh...”

A man's voice echoed in the throne room.

Despite being middle aged, his voice was still powerful. He also had a muscular body to match his voice. That was Maxfern.

“That was faster than expected.”

Maxfern had his elbows planted on the throne, with his hands clasped together as he thought.

“Yes. I thought it would take a little more time, but it seems like they possess more power than expected.”

The man who answered him was an elderly tall man with grey hair. It was obvious that he was a slim man, even though he was wearing a robe. He had the opposite impression that of Maxfern.

The head of the court magicians, Grevanas.

He stood at the top of the magicians of Forthorthe and had served the royal family since the previous emperor. He was the strongest magician in the country, and was one of the seven arc-wizards. However, along with Maxfern, he had incited a coup d'état and betrayed the country.

“It seems that they fell for a feint in front of the fort, and when they deployed all of their forces the fort was attacked from behind.”

“That was quite a strategy from Alaia. She looked like she couldn't harm a fly, but she's come a long way...”

Just a moment ago, Grevanas had gotten a report from one of his subordinates. The contents of the report was that the town of Raustor and the fort had fallen to the reborn Forthorthe army.

Though despite hearing that, neither Maxfern or Grevanas seemed disappointed. If anything, it was seemingly the opposite; it was as if they were welcoming Alaia's success.

“And it seems like the rumor of a powerful knight joining Alaia is true.”

“That Blue Knight was it…?”

“Yes. It seems he played a big part in this as well. Apart from planning the feint, he also entered the castle on his own and opened the gates from the inside.”

“Oh... then our forces never stood a chance.”

“Yes. It seems the fort was conquered in mere moments. Our forces lost their base of operation and retreated.”

“Hahahaha, splendid, very well done Alaia, and that Blue Knight!”

Maxfern burst out laughing and praised Alaia and Koutarou. He didn't seem to care that he had lost a vital base without much of a fight and allowed the enemy to advance further south.

“There was no damage to the town, and almost no deaths. As a result, the reborn Forthorthe army's reputation is skyrocketing.”

“That would be the case. It's a story the people would love.”

Maxfern had nodded as he listened to Grevanas, but suddenly he narrowed his eyes and showed a more serious expression.

“...Grevanas, if they are able to produce such results, it must mean that Alaia has broken the seal on the royal family national treasure, right?”

“Well... it seems they have been winning repeatedly without the help of the holy sword.”

“What!?”

Maxfern was astonished and he slammed his elbows into the throne and stood up. All of his confidence from before had vanished.

“Is that true!? You are certain of this!?”

“Yes. The seal at the temple of the Goddess of Dawn is still intact. And there are no signs of the sword being removed. My subordinates at the location have confirmed it.”

While listening to Grevanas's report, Maxfern slowly sat back down on the throne.

“To think... to think that Alaia is winning this well without using the holy sword from the temple... it's hard to believe...”

“But it's the truth. They defeated the Diabolic Soldier and are repeatedly winning despite the difference in forces, all that without the help of the sword.”

“It seems things have gotten quite complicated...”

Maxfern sighed loudly and his expression turned bitter. Alaia's forces was putting up an unexpectedly good fight, and Maxfern was both surprised and depressed.

“It looks like that Blue Knight is better than I thought.”

Grevanas still looked the same, but his tone of voice sounded more bitter.

“Which means that we'll have to change our approach too.”

“I believe it is as you say. With this victory, I believe support for Alaia's cause will rise. Supporters are already appearing in our own ranks. I believe it is well within the realm of possibility that they will muster an army that can rival ours.”

“If that happens, our wish will never come true. I wonder how we can stimulate Alaia's sense of danger in our current situation...”

Grevanas and Maxfern began planning their next step. However, for some reason, it wasn't a plan for how to deal with the reborn Forthorthe army, but rather a plan to individually corner Alaia.

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