The shout traveled a long way, but all I could hear beside my ears was the howling wind.13
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Chapter 52: Palette Squad
A battle report was transmitted through the communications line to the transport ship of the Kazimierz expeditionary force. But this time, even Lord Toke could not hold back. The mustache at the corners of his mouth trembled uncontrollably.
"What the hell happened?! How could all 5,000 Beastmaster Knights have been wiped out without a single survivor? Where's Roman?! Bring him to me!"
"Lord Toke, Roman... We haven't found his body yet."
The atmosphere in the conference room was unbearably tense. A Knight Errant stepped forward with a stiff expression. "We analyzed Roman's situation at the time..."
"Why are you mumbling? Speak!"
"Yes!" The Knight Errant jumped in fright.
"We reviewed all of Roman's recorded orders from yesterday. He said that a Sarkaz force of roughly two thousand had blocked the area ahead of his assigned zone, so he rallied the surrounding troops and planned to swallow them in one go."
"The Sarkaz retreat was extremely hurried. After we cleared the battlefield, we carefully counted the arrows the Sarkaz had fired and discovered that the number of enemies Roman described didn't seem right."
"How far off was it?"
The reporting knight swallowed. "The Sarkaz force that faced us last night numbered roughly fifty thousand."
"Fifty thousand? Fifty thousand troops moved around our forces, and Roman didn't notice a thing?"
Lord Toke's face was filled with suspicion, and the reporting Knight Errant hurriedly explained.
"This was the result of a comprehensive calculation based on the time of death of the corpses, the number of arrows at the scene, the time required for bows and crossbows to fire a single arrow, and the proportion of archers. The enemy force could only have been larger!"
After hearing this, Lord Toke no longer doubted them. These men had fought Ursus for many years and possessed extensive experience.
"Fifty thousand... Fifty thousand..."
Toke muttered the number as he paced back and forth in the conference room. Suddenly, he stopped and asked, "How many troops can the Sarkaz mobilize at most?"
"That... That figure may not be entirely accurate. We have no way to infiltrate Kazdel, but judging from the accounts of some former Sarkaz mercenary groups..."
He pondered briefly. "Their maximum mobilized strength should be around seventy thousand."
"Seventy thousand... In other words, there are only a little over twenty thousand Sarkaz troops around Kazdel now, correct?"
Toke stood before the porthole, gazing into the distance at the edge of the desert.
"If there are fifty thousand Sarkaz here, then the two thousand scattered knights won't be able to handle them. Order all the Beastmaster Knights to withdraw! Withdraw immediately! I'm changing the plan!"
Two high-speed transport ships stopped at Kazdel's anchorage. Large numbers of soldiers were filing out, their attire somewhat strange. Every one of them wore an additional cloak.
They were all soldiers sent out the previous night.
"Your Majesty, it is my honor to present this battle report to you."
The Confessor respectfully approached Theresica with a report in hand. He began, "Your thinking was absolutely correct. The results completely exceeded the expectations of the Military Committee and myself."
The previous night, worried that the guerrilla forces might be targeted for extermination, Theresica had immediately dispatched a new force. This was precisely the force he had envisioned from the beginning.
They all used cloaks provided by the Confessor. The cloaks contained Originium Arts capable of obscuring their figures. Their weapons were all semi-automatic individual crossbows—and improved second-generation models at that.
Not only had the cocking mechanism been replaced with a mechanical structure driven by Originium batteries, but a quick-change magazine function had also been added. Sarkaz craftsmen had imitated the magazines of Sankta firearms and created a long, flat arrow magazine. It was used in a similar way to a firearm magazine, inserted from beneath the crossbow arms. Springs inside continuously pushed the arrows into firing position. During battle, the user only needed to pull the trigger and change magazines to maintain continuous fire.
After acquiring Ursus's equipment, the force also added a strike team that used drones to guide formation casters in conducting long-range magical attacks.
Finally, to prepare for this battle, they supplemented their ranks with close-combat personnel wielding weapons such as warhammers, forming the Palette Squad that would ambush the Kazimierz knights.
The entire force consisted of the finest Sarkaz soldiers. They ate the best food, received the strictest and most comprehensive training, and used the best weapons.
Everything was the best, so naturally the results would not be poor.
Theresica could already tell the outcome from the Confessor's expression, but after reading the report himself, even he was somewhat astonished.
This force consisted of only 500 people, yet it had joined forces with over two thousand Sarkaz troops to attack 5,000 Kazimierz Beastmaster Knights—and wiped out the entire enemy force!
The Sarkaz losses amounted to nearly two hundred people. Only a little over a dozen had been soldiers from this force, killed by accidental friendly fire or struck by Siege Rams in unexpected collisions.
"Your Majesty, even Lord Theresis has rarely achieved such results."
The shapeshifter entered at that moment. After giving Theresica a formal bow, he said, "Your Majesty, the Kazimierz forces have made a move."
"What did they do?"
"The Kazimierz commander, Toke, ordered his forces to split up."
The shapeshifter drew a line on the map directly toward Kazdel.
"He ordered the Beastmaster Knights to escort a large quantity of supplies from Leithanien into the army, then establish a camp in the desert. My people reported that he ordered all the transport beasts and Siege Rams to be gathered and organized into a temporary force composed of Beastmaster Knights and Beastmaster Foot Knights. They should be setting out today."
"How many are there? How long until they reach us?"
"Approximately thirty thousand Beastmaster Knights and twenty thousand Foot Knights, personally led by Toke. They've probably already set out. It should take them about two days to charge all the way here."
The shapeshifter's words made Theresica's eyes widen. Fifty thousand mounted troops were charging straight toward them?!
He immediately wanted to intercept them, but after thinking it over, he realized it was impossible. Intercepting pure cavalry with pure infantry while lacking a numerical advantage would simply mean sending them to die in batches.
Then they could only fight here?
"What are the Kazimierz forces in the desert doing?"
"They're preparing to hold their position and tie down our forces."
At this, the shapeshifter laughed. "They estimate that we deployed fifty thousand troops last night."
"Order all the guerrilla forces to put on a show together. Frighten those more than ninety thousand people and make absolutely certain they don't come here as well. As for that Toke—if he wants to come here, let him."
Theresica took a deep breath and made his decision. "Forty-five thousand against one hundred and fifty thousand has become thirty thousand against fifty thousand... Heh... We'll win! We have to!"
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Chapter 53: The Balance of Offense and Defense Shifts
Across the desert, the dust raised by the massive herd of pack beasts swept forward like a tidal wave. Though Lord Toke was advanced in years, he still rode his pack beast at the front.
"Lord Toke, isn't advancing so far into enemy territory alone too dangerous?"
"Dangerous? No, child. I think we're actually becoming safer and safer!"
Seeing the confusion in the younger man's eyes, Toke explained, "The Sarkaz main force is in the desert now, leaving Kazdel's defenses weak. It would be best if we could launch a surprise attack. Even if we can't, we still hold the advantage in numbers."
"But the Sarkaz are difficult to deal with. Can we handle them?"
He sounded somewhat worried. "We only brought five days' worth of food."
"We can. We have the ability."
Toke spoke with complete confidence. "What makes the Sarkaz difficult to deal with is their initiative. Out here in the desert, we are their only clear target, so we can only passively wait for them to attack."
"The same principle applies to Kazdel. When we attack the demons' only settlement, they will possess neither a speed advantage nor a numerical advantage, and they won't have time to send reinforcements. That means they can only wait for us to attack. We are the ones with the initiative now."
At this moment, the balance of offense and defense had shifted.
Theresica could not evade the enemy's attack like the guerrilla forces. He could only fight a decisive battle here. He summoned the Confessor alone and had him conduct a series of experiments on the Siege Rams captured at the front according to his ideas, then obtained a report.
Afterward, an emergency military conference was held. Following some discussion, attendance was expanded to include every officer above squad leader in the entire Sarkaz army, and the venue was moved to the military camp.
After doing everything he could, Theresica went out for a stroll. It was already deep into the night.
The workers in Kazdel's civilian production trades and other industries had begun leaving work or changing shifts. Quite a few pedestrians appeared on the streets, but they were simply heading somewhere. They were not wandering around as people did on a commercial street.
Theresica, disguised, walked among them without sensing much of a wartime atmosphere. Most of the Sarkaz were calmly chatting with their companions.
"Does Your Majesty find it strange?" Shining asked.
"A little."
Theresica looked around. A Sarkaz like him, standing in place and staring blankly, actually seemed rather conspicuous.
"Has the news that Kazimierz's knights are advancing toward Kazdel not been conveyed to everyone?"
"Everyone knew on the day war was declared. But war has long since taken root in the heart of every Sarkaz. It is this nearly year-long peaceful life that has left everyone somewhat unaccustomed."
Shining continued, "Kazdel is the Sarkaz's only home. Even if an enemy comes, we have nowhere else to go."
Theresica said nothing and continued walking in silence.
Compared to a year ago, Kazdel's urban district had improved tremendously. The collapsed ruins had vanished, with new buildings erected over them. Dilapidated houses had been repaired, and they were no longer empty inside. From time to time, the sound of laughter could even be heard. The scent of food drifted through the air as well. Some family was probably replenishing its members' extra nutritional needs.
The entire urban district had gained much more of the feeling of ordinary life.
"Administrator account detected online. What commands do you have?"
The distinctive voice appeared beside his ear. Only then did Theresica notice that Ptilopsis had just walked out of a house. The bandages on her head had already been removed, revealing the characteristic feathers of a Liberi.
"How did today's work go?"
"Today's processes entered. Remaining: 0."
Uh... That probably meant she had finished, right?
"After bringing you here, I haven't come to see you even once. How is it? Are you used to it here?"
Theresica smiled awkwardly. Ptilopsis replied, "Operating system normal. No deficiencies."
Uh... Was that supposed to mean she was doing fine?
Theresica looked her over and said, "Kazdel will probably be going to war in the next few days. Do you know?"
"Affirmative."
"This place will probably become very dangerous then. You're not a Sarkaz, so there's no need for you to stay here."
"Would you like to terminate my account?"
"Uh... It's not that serious. Just treat it as paid leave and go back to Columbia for a visit. That is, if I can still settle the bill afterward."
After hearing Theresica's words, Ptilopsis fell silent. Then she took out a sheet of paper.
"I would like to find another job. Could you sign my internship report?"
"Of course."
Theresica froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded. If Kazdel could not retain people, he could only blame himself.
He took the paper from Ptilopsis's hand, but when he looked at it, it was completely blank.
"This is..."
"It was a joke. Please do not be concerned."
Ptilopsis spoke in normal sentences. "I am very satisfied with my life here."
"Really? That was actually a joke?"
Theresica looked at her with an exasperated smile. Ptilopsis had delivered the line in such a flat tone that it was genuinely difficult to associate it with a joke.
Then Ptilopsis suddenly collapsed. If Shining had not reacted quickly, she would probably have hit her head again.
"Hey! Don't joke around like that!"
Theresica was alarmed, but Ptilopsis did not respond. Only her steady breathing could be heard.
"She fell asleep," Shining said.
Uh... He had nearly forgotten. She had a habit of suddenly falling asleep.
"Take her to Warfarin's place. It's getting late."
Theresica returned to the royal residence alone. A peaceful night passed. The next morning, he ate breakfast while listening to his subordinates report on the various situations.
Scouts had already been deployed throughout the area around Kazdel. The moment they discovered traces of Kazimierz knights, they would report back through the communications system.
All army personnel were present, and their equipment had been fully issued and inspected once. Anything with a problem had been replaced.
The military factories continued production as usual. The temporary hospital had been set up, and all kinds of medical supplies had been fully stocked.
Every resident in the urban district was at their post. Not a single person was unaccounted for.
Everything that could be done had been done. Theresica felt unexpectedly calm at that moment, without the slightest sense of tension. There was nothing left for him to do, and he suddenly found himself free.
He opened his game console again and began playing as he had in the past. Then he ate, played a little more, took an afternoon nap, and continued after waking up.
That evening, he invited Big Sister Mudrock to dinner. They did not mention the war even once, merely chatting about embarrassing incidents from the past.
Before you continue