Chapter 21 : Ambush and Promotion (1)

Chapter 21: Ambush and Promotion (1)

Emptiness.

And anger.

Those thoughts slammed through the minds of everyone staring at the burned-out encampment.

“T-The… Imperial Army. What the hell did those lunatics do?”

“After all that, they just set fires and run? Do those bastards have no honor?”

“Damn it! We went through all that bullshit and there’s nothing here. Tch!”

They hadn’t slept at dawn and had fought a sudden surprise attack. They had only just driven the enemy off and dragged their weary bodies up the hill for revenge.

And it was all for nothing.

The Emperor’s camp was a wreck.

-Fwoooosh.

-Crackle.

For such a short time, it was shocking how viciously they had smashed everything.

Every barracks they had occupied was burning, and they had even collapsed the well so it couldn’t be used.

Forget pursuit, they first had to find a place to station.

“Calm down! Everyone!”

The knights read the mood and shouted, but it did no good.

“Those cowardly Emperor dogs! We need to smash them to pieces!”

“What is there to say! Damn punks! They sneak in with a cheap ambush and now they torch the place and bolt.”

“What are the noble lords doing? Not chasing those bastards!”

It only poured oil on the flames.

“Yes! Yes!! We must take revenge!”

“A bloody revenge—!”

“Y-You lot, won’t you quiet down? Hey, you. Stay put. Put the blade down! That’s an order!”

The mercenaries wanted blood.

They gripped their weapons and snarled for blood revenge, and there was no sign of them settling.

It wasn’t only the mercenaries.

Count Bellua’s troops showed the same mood.

And the command knew the temper at the front.

“My lord! The Emperor’s dogs are running away! Even now, it’s not too late to form a pursuit and strike them!”

“He’s right. They set fires and ran, so they couldn't have gone far.”

The commanders all urged pursuit and wanted to attack.

It wasn’t just the rank and file who wanted revenge.

They had been nobles humiliated in the last fight, ambushed and helpless. If the mercenary companies hadn’t saved them, the ones in rout would have been their own, not the Imperial troops.

They carried shame.

They wanted their trampled honor back.

A fleeing army was the easiest target to repay it upon.

‘Hmm…’

Thanks to this mess, Count Bellua frowned at the sight.

With battle after battle, the army’s stamina had dropped. If they blundered into an ambush, the damage could be great.

But Count Bellua was a blue-blooded noble who pursued honor.

He would rather risk rout than choose to be a coward.

“Very well!”

Decision made, Count Bellua drew his sword in the saddle and shouted.

“We chase them! We will teach the craven Emperor what the value of noble honor is—!”

“Uoooohhhh!”

“Ready the horses—!”

“It’s pursuit time!”

“Let’s smash the Emperor’s dogs!”

* * *

‘Great.’

Life was a chain of uncertainty, and now it was truly hard to predict the future.

‘I didn’t expect a pursuit like this…’

He hadn’t expected them to climb the Hill of Bar straightaway either. Small changes that kept piling up had altered even the flow of the battle he knew.

‘At this rate, will the future go completely off the rails?’

A sense of ill omen washed over Shatien. Heavy anxiety pressed on his chest that the information he had about the future might be useless now.

“What’s with the face? Why so grim?”

“Ah, Miles?”

“Look at you. You’re like a new recruit spooked before a fight. Oh wait, you are a new recruit. Hahaha.”

Miles mistook Shatien’s unease for something else, laughed big, and clapped him on the shoulder.

“What are you worried about! You’ve done as well as me so far. Just keep doing well like that, within what you can do. You’re already doing plenty well, so don’t worry and stay in your lane. Right, boys?”

“Let’s not lie here. ‘As well as Miles,’ my ass. He did much better.”

“Yeah. He’s instead closer to our Captain in his younger days! Trying to ride the coattails, are you?”

Miles and the others joked, and despite himself, Shatien let out a small laugh.

‘Good grief.’

You’ve done well so far, so don’t worry and do what you can.

He was right.

When had he become so great that he worried about a future being rewritten.

He only had to handle what was in front of him with the extra seasoning he now had. Just like this.

‘And besides… I have this mysterious power.’

This mysterious power that sharpened his intuition as if he foresaw the future.

Even when he had nothing, he had led a mercenary company as a third-rate captain of sorts.

With this unbelievable power alongside him, he could surely build a finer life than before.

With that thought settled, Shatien was able to relax.

“Hoo… Miles.”

“H-Hmm?”

“Thanks, as always. There’s no one like you.”

‘Same then as now.’

Swallowing the rest of his words, Shatien smiled gently.

Seeing that look, Miles thought to himself.

‘T-This bastard… is he… really into…?’

He got the strangest idea in his head.

“Why are you… looking at me with those weird eyes?”

“Huh? Uh-haha. Nah. It’s nothing. I understand no matter what tastes you have.”

“...?”

Shatien stared, baffled at the nonsense.

What tastes, and what part of this talk involved tastes?

“Ahem. I misspoke. Forget it.”

“???”

“Bah. Now, now! Let’s all move quickly! Before those Imperial stragglers all get away, we need to catch them!”

At Shatien’s half-lidded stare, Miles only flapped more.

It left a sour taste.

Shatien felt a peculiar misunderstanding stacking up.

But that was as far as the thoughts went.

It wasn’t what mattered. As Miles said, chasing the Imperial Army came first.

“We found their trail—!”

“The horse droppings are still moist!”

“They can’t have gone far. Move quickly. We can catch them soon—!”

In fact, before long the pursuit found signs of the fleeing Imperials, a trail leading into a nearby woodland.

The pursuers who had chased them were delighted they could finally crush them, but Shatien was not.

‘Hm… the trees are too thick.’

The woodland they entered was a dense forest packed with trees.

Sunlight barely made it in, and trunks and brush blocked their view.

‘There isn’t even a proper path.’

You could say the Imperials were rushing in their flight, but the trail they followed was raw to the point of absurdity.

Uneven and bumpy.

The ground was rough with rocks and roots, and the brush and saplings ahead made it hard to walk straight.

It was doubtful they could form a proper line, let alone plant their feet and put power behind a swing.

If they were ambushed here, it would be a catastrophe.

‘Considering Count Heinrich’s temperament, I can’t rule it out.’

With that thought, Shatien raised his head. He needed to tell Centurion Jacri quickly so they could prepare for a possible strike.

But as he thought that…

“There they are!”

“Ready for battle! Drive off every last Imperial straggler—!”

To make his worries look foolish, they soon spotted Imperial remnants.

They were broken rabble in miserable gear at that.

* * *

“Uwaaaah!”

“Kill them all!”

-Crack!

“Aaaargh-!”

Thick brush, ground made rough by rocks and roots.

If conditions were the same, victory in a fight went to the side with solid equipment and morale.

By that measure, you didn’t have to see the end to know who would win between the Imperials and Count Bellua’s troops.

“Grrrk.”

“S-Spare me…!”

As if they had flung off their armor while fleeing, the Imperials’ gear was pitiful.

In rags, clutching a single spear or sword.

Every clash, blood fountained, and they toppled.

“G-Gurk… grrk…”

‘Was I worrying for nothing?’

Shatien tilted his head after dropping the Imperial in front of him.

Far from an ambush, the Imperials were collapsing in disgrace.

“Ahhhhhh! R-Run!”

“We can’t match them.”

In a single engagement, what little morale remained crumbled like a sandcastle by the sea.

Hundreds of Imperial soldiers turned and fled deep into the woods in all directions.

“Chase those bastards!”

“Don’t let them go. Show those vile Emperor dogs what death means!”

The officers, delighted, shouted themselves hoarse.

Once the enemy scattered, this wasn’t a battle, it was a hunt. They wouldn’t let walking merit slip away.

“Wahaha! Yeah! Let’s goooo—!”

“Slaughter them all!”

“Alright! Follow this great leader Miles! Brats!”

The mercenaries were the same. How often did easy money like this come?

If they grabbed a fallen spear or sword, or with luck armor as spoils, they could turn a tidy profit.

Before long, each unit split off on its own and began chasing the fleeing Imperials.

‘Damn!’

Even as he ran, Shatien grimaced.

It didn’t feel right.

Something was off. He felt victorious, yet the unease kept pricking him.

Soon Shatien realized what it was.

“Miles! Miles!”

“Wahaha! Die— huh? What?”

“Where is Centurion Jacri! I must see him now.”

“Huh? Centurion Jacri? He went on ahead over there. What’s with that serious expression of yours?”

Wiping blood from his cheek, Miles looked blankly at Shatien.

The man still hadn’t grasped the situation. Frustrated, Shatien kept his voice as steady as he could and shouted.

“We have to brace for it. It’s an ambush! It’s late, but we have to start preparing for it now.”

“An ambush?”

“Yes! Look around. It’s only soldiers here. This is bait. To make us spread out.”

“?!”

That was right.

There wasn’t a single knight on this field.

However routed a force was, a body this large should have had commanders.

But there wasn’t a knight, not even a squire.

This meant…

“N-No way!”

“Yes! They’re setting up to smash us. We have to get to Centurion Jacri. Even now we need to—”

Shatien’s words cut off.

-Bwooooo-!

At the end of the pursuit, where the Imperials had led them, a somewhat open field appeared.

-Neighhh!

-Chaaaarge!

“Show the wrath of His Imperial Majesty to the traitors—!”

The Holy Empire’s heavy cavalry began its charge.

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