Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

e, Leopolt states plainly with his emotionless expression.

「It doesn’t look like there has been any development with the siege though.」

Taking a look at the situation, I can see that the cannons did their damage to the castle gates and walls, causing huge chunks to crumble to the ground.
However, the Atoroan soldiers easily fill in the gaps by constructing encampments, preventing our ally soldiers from setting one foot into the ramparts.

Despite the sporadic cannon fire and volleys from the catapults, the encampments concentrated around the city near the walls is still unharmed.
Enemy morale doesn’t seem low either, in fact it seems they’re rather confident.

「That is also part of the plan.」

Leopolt points to the flag.
The pure black battle standard which represents my army and should have been raised in the center of our camp is actually lowered so that it can’t be seen by the enemy.

「When the flag in the center of the camp is not raised, it means either the commander is absent or is unable to take command at the moment.」

「That might be so during peace times, but……there probably won’t be any idiots who would purposely tell the enemy of their situation during war times.」

Apparently, it is done ceremoniously but deceptions are commonplace during war.

「The battle standard wasn’t raised during a siege.
How do you think the enemy will interpret this?」

Celia tilts her head.

「Don’t tell me they know that the general left to do negotiations…… Leopolt, you-!」

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「Right, the commander in Lord Hardlett got injured.
They didn’t see you – who likes to stand at the front – during the attack just now either.」

The enemy probably thinks I’m injured or sick and can’t move.
Which in turn brings up the morale of the defenders.

「But will they fall for a simple trick like that?」

「Normally, they wouldn’t.
But when they see a tiny ray of hope in the middle of a desperate situation like this siege battle, they can’t help but believe it.」

Leopolt glances briefly at Tristan, who answers while drinking his tea on the battlefield.

「Even in a bad situation, the brave will try their best to pull through.
If you push through by force, they’ll struggle to the death.
A person is the weakest…… when they believe they can succeed at first and then get let down immediately after.」

What an ill-natured method, the one who came up with this is…… probably Leopolt.

「Raise the flag.
Bring all the siege weapons to the front, and perform an all-out assault.」

He must have planned to do this as soon as I came back.

Instead of the earlier sporadic shooting, the siege weapons fired a collective barrage.
The already damaged city walls started to fall apart in certain places.
The burning rocks and pots of oil launched by the catapults caused the unharmed parts of the wall to catch on fire.
In addition, a volley of several thousand arrows rained down from above, turning the enemy camp into a pincushion.

「Attack now! Charge!」

The infantry and the cavalry aimed for the gaps in the wall, rushing into the city one after the other.

Even at a distance, we could tell that the enemy is in disarray.
They were saying things like “It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way” and “The enemy general should be unable to move”.

Their expressions instantly turned to despair-filled faces when they saw the risen flag and my appearance on the frontlines.
The Atoroan army might not be as strong as the Aless soldiers, but they are definitely not weak and should have been fighting to protect their own city, yet they’re falling apart like melted butter.

「Stop firing! Infantry, invade through the gaps of their camps and open up a path for the cavalry!」

「Archers, continue loosing your arrows! Don’t worry about precision, just focus on getting as many arrows up as possible!」

Most of the encampments crumbled after one hit.
A few places managed to put up a decent resistance, although they were no match for my army who – probably because of the frustration they felt after the small group of Aless soldiers walked all over them – pushed into the camps with a bloodcurdling appearance and cut down the enemy soldiers.
The areas around the walls were quickly controlled by ally forces.

「The way has been cleared too.
Cavalry begin charging, break though the enemy’s defense lines and advance into the center.」

The sound of countless hooves running on the ground which accompanied the herd of cavalry, might not have much effect on the soldiers, but it instills terror into the hearts of the citizens.
The enemies who were still resisting were quickly trampled as the cavalry completely broke past them, and then loud horns can be heard in various locations in the city where they invaded.

When that happened the Atoroan soldiers stopped fighting back altogether and took a seat on the spot.

「It’s over.」

Looking inside the city and at the most elevated mansion, a white flag was raised on the tallest tower.

–Third Person POV–

Side Story: Leave Her Alone.
In the City of Rafen.

「Hey Leticia, do you know about it? The rumor of that lake.」

The two girls who came into Leticia’s restaurant spoke excitedly.
These ladies lived around the area, one of them has a husband who is an affluent merchant, while the other one – although single – has parents who were former bosses of peddlers and was well-off.
They would come into the restaurant everyday to enjoy food and talk about random topics.

「What about it?」

Leticia tilts her head curiously.
She was busy enough just managing the shop so she was unfamiliar with the happenings around her.
She accumulated a fair amount of money already but she felt happy just from letting other people taste her cooking so she never thought of taking a break.

「Outside Rafen…… there’s this really pretty lake.」
「Aah…… you mean how people said that they saw a mermaid appear there?」

“Right, that.” – the girls continue the story happily.

「Apparently, they said she appeared a long time ago, but there have been a lot more cases recently.
Stories keep coming in saying they encountered one.」

「Heeh~, but if it’s only a mermaid, it won’t be dangerous unless you get too close to the lake.
It’s much better than something like an orc, isn’t it?」

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「That’s how it always starts.
You see, my friend’s boyfriend had a lot of time on his hands and went to that lake to go fishing.」

Leticia nods and prompts the girl to continue, while another inches closer to listen in as well.

「And then, this tiny mermaid…… which looked like a little girl, was reeled in.
She was crying almost like a human child.」

「Eeeh! He fished her out!?」
「Something like a little girl? Poor thing……」

One of them was surprised while Leticia looked slightly sad.

「And then he wanted to bring that crying child back and show everyone.」

「Fumu, fumu.」

「And then…… she came out.」

The girl paused for a second before suddenly raising her voice, which startled Leticia and caused her to scream.
The other girl must have been used to scary stories because she didn’t seem too affected.

「She came out…… so the parent of the mermaid appeared and ate him? Isn’t that a normal chain of events?」

Fufufu – the girl laughs.

「Well, it was called a mermaid…… but apparently, it had legs.」

「What the heck, it’s not a mermaid if it has legs!」

「It had legs…… but apparently the top half was that of a fish! It was super fast and chased after the man when he started running away!」

「Hiiiiiiiiih!」
「Ahahahahahaha! What the heck, that’s super gross.」

Leticia shrieked but the other one burst out in laughter.

「And then, the man tripped on a stump.
That mermaid caught up to him and stared at him with its big fish eyes……and then it said “Leave her alone~, leave her alone~.
He was drawn in by those eyes and lost consciousness…… when he woke up, his rod and bucket…… and of course, the tiny mermaid girl was gone too.」

After the story was over, Leticia let out a relieved sigh, while the other girl seemed a little disappointed.

「That’s obviously a lie he spouted because he wouldn’t look cool if he came back after not being able to catch any fish.
I won’t say mermaids don’t exist…… but they aren’t as common as goblins and won’t just pop up frequently like an everyday occurrence.」

「Well, you’re probably right~ It’s not like they give birth to hundreds of kids at one time like a regular fish.」

The person who told the story didn’t appear to fully believe the rumor either, as she folded her arms and requested a second helping of food from Leticia.

「By the way, what happened to Sharon? It’s pretty quiet right now, so maybe taking an afternoon nap?」

「Sharon is, well……」

Sharon became even more enamored with the feudal lord ever since he got embraced by the feudal lord.
He would take the clothes with that man’s scent…… left behind after his first time…… and sniff them while frantically consoling himself.

「He should know that if he goes at it too much, his own tool might get bigger though……」

「What are you talking about? But Sharon is kinda cute with how ambiguous he looks.
If you keep it a secret from my husband, I wouldn’t mind helping him graduate from being a virgin, you know?」

「Yeah~, I was aiming for Sharon’s virginity too.
I think some cute moans will come out from those lips of his.」

「Well, that’s…… I don’t think it’s possible……」

After Leticia declined the two girls, they didn’t particularly get hung up over it and went back to enjoying their meals.

「He looks the type to be okay with his sister.
But it’s not like we could suggest that, right?」
「Isn’t it fine if Leticia helps him lose his virginity? There won’t be a problem as long as she uses contraception.」

There was no way Leticia could tell them Sharon had absolutely no interest in girls anymore.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett.
23 years old.
Summer.
Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave.
Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area.
King of the Mountains.
Friend of the Dwarves.
Friend of the King of Aless.
Citizens: 159,000.
Major Cities – Rafen: 23,000.
Lintbloom: 4000.

Private Army: 10,900 men (Lost infantry: 100)
Infantry: 5400, Cavalry: 800, Archers: 750, Bow Cavalry: 3950
Cannons: 12 (3 damaged)

Assets: 300 gold

Sexual Partners: 205, children who have been born: 46