A Temporary Victory

The mage's battered figure vanished into the distance, and the silence on the hilltop shattered.

"We drove him off!"

No one knew who shouted first. A moment later, deafening cheers swept across the hillside.

The soldiers who had survived the ordeal—Saxons and International Brigades volunteers alike—leaped out from behind cover.

They waved their rifles. Some even tossed their spiked helmets into the air—an act the officers promptly put a stop to with swift kicks to their backsides.

But every soldier was venting excitement and joy in the most instinctive way he knew.

The thrill of this victory was far greater than when they had routed an infantry battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Morin was swept up in it too, but beneath his excitement lay a deeper confusion.

Had a volley of rifle fire really forced a high-ranking mage to retreat?

Perhaps mages in this world weren't quite as formidable as he had imagined.

At first, he had worried that every Highland Mage was like Liu Xiu, with his "Meteorite Spell proficiency MAX." Now, though, they didn't seem entirely unbeatable.

With sound tactics, perhaps... maybe... they actually could be fought?

I hope I'm not fooling myself...

Morin watched the soldiers celebrating around him, and the tension inside him slowly eased.

"My God, Second Lieutenant Morin... we really drove off a high-ranking mage!"

The bearded International Brigades commander who had been lying beside him was flushed with excitement.

He clapped Morin hard on the shoulder, disbelief filling his voice.

"I've fought in so many battles, but this is a first! The first time I've seen ordinary men with guns make those high-and-mighty mages back down!"

Only then did Morin realize just how extraordinary what they had done must seem to people of this world.

On the battlefield, mages had apparently always stood near the top of the food chain.

So many ordinary soldiers had come to believe they were impossible to fight.

Today, the ordinary soldiers on Hill 127 had used their rifles to break that belief, if only for now.

Just then, the sound of a metal cockpit hatch opening came from the ground below the hill, where the spell had turned the earth to mud.

The cockpit of the Teutonic Order Armored Knight that had sunk deepest slowly opened, and Ludwig rose from within.

He removed his helmet, revealing a handsome face smudged with oil.

He looked up at the cheering soldiers on the hill, searching the crowd for a moment as though trying to find whoever had fired first.

Then he gave up, raised his right hand high, and gave everyone on the hill a thumbs-up.

That simple, forceful gesture sent the soldiers into another frenzy.

The cheers grew louder. Some even began chanting, "Long live the Teutonic Order!"

Well, look at him showing off...

Watching the noble pilot soak up the cheers, Morin realized that the Teutonic Order's Armored Knights were something like battlefield celebrities in the Saxon army.

"Don't just stand there! Get down there and help!"

Major Thomas, commander of the 1st Battalion, called out at just the right moment. He directed the soldiers down the hill to free the Armored Knights still trapped in the mud.

Morin was about to lead his men down as well.

Just then, the messenger he had sent to the artillery command post came running back, gasping for breath.

"Platoon leader! I couldn't find the artillery command post, but I ran into a unit of our cavalry on the way!"

The messenger still looked excited.

"I told them where you'd marked the Magic Crystal Cannon Position. Their officer said they'd take care of it!"

Understanding dawned on Morin.

That must have been the Saxon Cavalry Regiment that had charged earlier.

No wonder they had left the battlefield in that direction. They had gone to carry out a new mission.

Whether their attack would succeed, though, was another matter...

Below the hill, the rescue was in full swing.

The Teutonic Order's supply trucks and a large number of draft horses soon arrived.

Using shovels and spades brought over from the Supply Train, the soldiers dug furiously at the mud, which had hardened again.

They looped thick cables around the Armored Knights and had the trucks and horses pull together.

The two Armored Knights trapped in shallower ground were freed first. After the Order's technicians gave them a quick inspection, their engines roared back to life and they joined the rescue.

Morin stood to one side, watching a scene that looked like people digging giant potatoes out of a field. He still couldn't shake his unease.

If the enemy's Magic Crystal Cannons fired a few more shots now...

Fortunately, what he feared most did not happen.

Perhaps the cavalry really had destroyed the enemy's Magic Crystal Cannon Position. Whatever the reason, the Royal Army's Magic Crystal Cannons fell silent for the rest of the operation.

When the last Armored Knight—Ludwig's—was finally dragged from the mud, everyone cheered again.

Ludwig jumped down from the cockpit and was immediately surrounded by jubilant soldiers.

Even Major Thomas solemnly removed his spiked helmet and saluted the noble commander of the Armored Knights.

Amid the noisy crowd, Morin stayed at a distance, wearing a polite smile and applauding along with everyone else.

Ordinarily, Morin would have blended into the crowd unnoticed. But his composure, so at odds with the mood around him, soon caught Ludwig's attention.

Ludwig studied him for a few seconds, his brow furrowing slightly as though trying to remember something.

"Lieutenant Colonel, Second Lieutenant Morin was the first to order us to fire on the mage in the sky!"

Seeing that Ludwig had noticed them, Captain Hauser threw an arm around Morin's shoulders and introduced him with unmistakable pride.

Ludwig's puzzlement turned instantly to surprise. He looked Morin over again as though something he had taken for granted had just been overturned.

He remembered him.

He had seen this young man at several noble gatherings before the war.

The fellow had relied on a paltry ancestral title and sheer thick skin to mingle at banquet after banquet.

With a reasonably handsome face and a glib tongue, he had gone around pursuing sheltered young noblewomen.

In the Junker Aristocracy, he had even earned a little notoriety as a "down-on-his-luck playboy."

What was he doing here?

And how had he just shown such courage and good judgment?

Despite all his questions, Ludwig set aside his aristocratic arrogance.

He strode up to Morin and gave him a solemn military salute.

"Second Lieutenant Morin, on behalf of the Teutonic Order and every comrade you saved, you have my deepest respect."

His voice was strong and sincere.

"The courage you showed in the face of a powerful enemy was admirable."

"You're too kind, Lieutenant Colonel. I can't take the credit alone."

Morin noted his rank, returned the salute, then continued:

"Without everyone in the 1st Battalion and the International Brigades working together, we never could have driven that mage back..."

Once the Teutonic Order's Armored Knights were free, the units began collecting the dead and treating the wounded.

Meanwhile, a messenger galloped up and stopped before Major Thomas.

"Major! Orders from Regimental Headquarters! The enemy is retreating across the entire line. We're to pursue immediately!"