Chapter 195 : The Battle for Saint
Chapter 195: The Battle for Saint
I had absolutely no intention of getting involved in this campaign to capture Saint.
This would be the first battle since Ulrison had become the Lord of Haken.
It would only have meaning if Haken achieved victory through its own strength.
If I'd brought the Johnson Knights, we could at least have disguised ourselves.
But the only ones I'd brought were Beastmen.
Whether they were members of the Rabbit Tribe or the Dog Tribe, there was no way they could blend in among humans unnoticed.
'And more importantly, this isn't our battle.'
Since the enemy was the Imperial Army, the Beastmen probably wouldn't refuse to fight.
Even so, I didn't want to interfere in someone else's war and suffer unnecessary casualties.
So I thought the safest course was simply to stay behind.
“Wh-What?! Does that make any sense, Bear!”
There was one person here whose opinion was completely different from mine.
More precisely, one lion.
Our brave lion friend was desperate to take part in this battle.
“So you're telling me, Bear, that you got to enjoy fighting that fly-like bastard, while I'm supposed to stand here twiddling my thumbs with that shield-wielder right in front of me?”
“Well...”
“If that was the plan, you should've put me on the Saint infiltration team. I'd have taken care of everything and slipped right back out.”
“That would've been even more troublesome.”
The Imperial Army and New Level were already fighting each other in Saint.
If Leisha had joined that mess, what kind of disaster would that have become?
The moment Leisha showed herself, everyone would know we'd been involved.
More importantly, Leisha had been absolutely necessary for the operation to rescue Deron Level.
We were simply lucky that no Master had moved, but sending at least one Master to assassinate Deron Level would've been perfectly reasonable.
Since Irene and I had no choice but to remain with the Lord of Haken, Leisha had been the only one capable of handling that mission.
'Wasn't rescuing Deron Level enough?'
–That's Master's way of thinking. The lion female probably sees it differently.
“Well, I understand how you feel……”
“If you understand, then give me a chance to fight. I don't want to simply withdraw like this.”
“You didn't get to fight, but you still secured some excellent spoils of war. Shouldn't that be enough?”
“Of course I like Kitty, but……”
As soon as she mentioned it, the giant kitty purred and snuggled up against Leisha.
Was my only hope really that little guy?
If it kept acting cute and softened Leisha's heart...
“This is one thing, and that's another. I still have a score to settle with that shield-wielder.”
'So that won't work.'
–As expected of the lion female. If it had been the human female, she'd have already gone all lovey-dovey.
'Well, Irene has always been especially weak against things like that.'
Sure enough, the moment Lady Irene saw the giant kitty, she let out a scream.
She'd gone wild over how adorable it was.
Personally, I found it incredible that she could look at something that was practically the spitting image of a Yupitelio and call it cute.
I guess our sensibilities were just different.
Judging by how the first thing she asked was whether it was big enough to ride, she seemed rather tempted.
Meanwhile, whenever Irene approached, Kitty immediately panicked and fled.
Maybe it instinctively knew.
After all, the one who had contributed the most to slaying the Yupitelio had been Irene herself.
If you really thought about it, Irene was practically Kitty's mortal enemy.
'Though it doesn't actually seem to care about things like that. The more I watch that cat, the more I think it's a sly little creature.'
If it had been Yuria, she'd have melted instantly under Kitty's affection.
Leisha, however, was built differently.
She looked determined to join this battle and send Octosia flying.
“I think it'll be fine.”
“It'll be fine?”
The one who solved my dilemma was Irene.
Standing alongside the newly appointed Lord of Haken as one of the commanders of this campaign, Irene suggested that Leisha should participate as well.
“Haken isn't the only one that needs to display its strength.”
“Haken isn't the only one?”
“Shouldn't Haken also understand just how incredible its ally really is? It may not matter right now, but thinking about the future, I believe this is the right choice.”
“The future...”
Come to think of it, Yuria had said something similar before.
That our relationship with Haken wouldn't remain like this forever.
Judging by the way Ulrison behaved, he was practically the spitting image of the Lord of Haken, so I didn't think any major problems would arise immediately.
Still, when leading a force as large as Haken, not everything would always go according to one's wishes.
Of course, with the Lord of Haken moving near our territory, he'd serve as a considerable buffer.
But he wouldn't live forever.
Even if we were allies, they still needed to understand that we weren't a force to be taken lightly.
'Come to think of it, neither Haken nor anyone else in the south has any idea how strong we really are.'
The only ones who truly knew our strength were our enemies—the Imperial Army.
We'd never really operated in the south before, so very few people knew how powerful the Beastmen actually were.
The Dog Tribe had fought in the south, but they'd been stationed around Vines the entire time.
And purely in terms of combat ability, Dog Tribe warriors weren't particularly extraordinary.
Our real strength lay in our disciplined organization.
'Maybe the reason they underestimate Beastmen is simply because they don't know any better.'
I'd often heard that Beastmen weren't viewed very favorably.
The Rabbit Tribe.
The Dog Tribe.
It couldn't really be helped that Beastmen faced discrimination in human society.
Sure, it would be nice if everyone got along happily.
But worlds like that only existed in dreams.
Discrimination against Beastmen would probably never truly disappear.
Just like racial discrimination never completely disappeared.
'I can tolerate discrimination. But I won't tolerate being looked down upon.'
There weren't many people who could look down on a savage beast.
'In that case... perhaps the Black Lions.'
Leisha and her royal guard just happened to be here.
It wouldn't be a bad opportunity to show these southern country bumpkins what true warriors looked like.
The Rabbit Tribe had distinguished themselves in numerous operations.
But the territory's ultimate weapon was still the Black Lions.
Leisha and her royal guard alone were enough to serve as a considerable deterrent to war.
“And besides, Haken's situation is rather precarious, isn't it? Their overall forces are one thing, but when it comes to their Masters……”
“Ah, that's true.”
“So I think I should participate as well.”
“Right... you should. We never really had another choice.”
With loyal Durek dying while protecting the Lord of Haken, Haken's strength had been greatly diminished.
Roman would eventually fill that position.
But he still had a long way to go.
Sir Willis, who had distinguished himself during the campaign against the Yupitelio, hadn't fully recovered yet and couldn't participate either.
And regardless of the war, at least one Master needed to remain behind to protect Haken.
There were monsters to deal with.
They also had to prepare for possible provocations from neighboring territories.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Army still had two Masters defending Saint.
Their ordinary troops weren't particularly impressive.
But their Master-level combat power remained formidable.
The fact that one of them had already died unexpectedly was the only reason they looked manageable at all.
Otherwise, they would've been an incredibly difficult force.
Without us, this war wouldn't even be feasible.
Whether I wanted it or not, stabilizing Haken required Irene and Leisha to join the battlefield.
“All right. Leisha. Go show them.”
In the end, I gave Leisha permission to join the battle.
Part of me wondered whether it was really wise to unleash her onto the battlefield.
But given the circumstances, there wasn't much choice.
All I could do was hope they drove out the Imperial Army without any major incidents.
Of course, now that things had turned out this way, I intended to help Haken on the battlefield as well.
Rather than fighting on the front lines, however, I'd simply remain beside Ulrison as his bodyguard.
They'd already attempted assassination once.
There was no telling what they might try next.
Those bastards were far too cunning.
“Master, you can take care of Octosia. I'll keep the remaining Master occupied.”
“Very well. I've already mastered the technique to break through that bastard's shield. I should finish him quickly.”
“Sir Roman also needs battlefield experience, so I'll support him from the side.”
“Ah, that brat from before? I don't imagine he'll be much help.”
“We can't stay here forever. Besides, he's a knight with decent talent. After everything that's happened, his temperament seems to have changed as well.”
“That's good to hear.”
The moment I gave permission, the two of them immediately began planning on their own.
It was impressive how well they worked together.
I always felt this way, but Irene really got along well with both Yuria and Leisha.
'Still... do we really have to go this far?'
It seemed Irene planned to keep the remaining Master occupied while Leisha dealt with Octosia.
It wasn't a bad idea.
But was this really the right approach?
It almost felt like we were doing everything ourselves.
Granted, Haken's circumstances were what they were.
Still...
Irene was even planning to help Roman gain practical combat experience.
At this point, she might as well have been spoon-feeding him.
'After helping them this much, they should be able to handle things on their own from now on.'
I had every confidence that Haken would continue serving as the vanguard against New Level.
Around the time Haken was preparing to march toward Saint...
Saint itself was also bustling with activity.
The Imperial bastards were expelling every single resident from the city.
Large numbers of refugees were flooding into Hashium—a small territory directly south of Saint and closest to it—as well as Rubina to the east.
The situation in both territories rapidly deteriorated.
Coincidentally...
Both belonged to Haken's domain.
“Wow... what in the world is this?”
The reason the Imperial bastards were expelling the residents was simple.
Now that they had failed to secure the High Priest, someone was bound to bring an army against Saint.
This was simply the best defensive measure they could come up with.
If they'd secured the High Priest, they could've used Saint's residents as additional manpower.
But without the High Priest, the civilians were nothing more than troublesome baggage.
After all, with foreign enemies invading, there was no way they could make use of residents who had absolutely no intention of cooperating.
If the High Priest were to encourage an uprising from outside, they'd also have to waste soldiers suppressing the civilians.
Threats only worked under the right circumstances.
In a situation like this, even intimidation was difficult.
'These people really don't know, do they?'
–Given the situation, wouldn't anyone naturally assume the southern humans took the High Priest?
'Exactly. That's what they seem to believe.'
Expelling the residents into Haken's territory was probably intended to prevent Haken from joining the war.
If the population suddenly swelled in the middle of winter, Haken would naturally have many more problems demanding its attention.
And the fact that they'd specifically chosen Haken's territory suggested they believed New Level had taken the High Priest.
Given the circumstances, that assumption was only natural.
Since New Level had also been targeting Saint, and the High Priest had disappeared, it was obvious where suspicion would fall.
Dump the civilians into Haken's territory to tie Haken down.
Then fight New Level one-on-one when they arrived with the High Priest.
That seemed to be the Imperial bastards' plan.
“We'll have to hurry.”
“Indeed. We have to move quickly.”
Now that the Imperial bastards had expelled every resident...
Even New Level couldn't fail to notice such an obvious move.
They might not know exactly who had taken the High Priest.
But they would at least realize the High Priest was no longer in Saint.
They'd been watching Saint closely as well.
They would undoubtedly begin moving immediately.
'It's turned into a complete race against time.'
We now needed to conquer Saint as quickly as possible.
The incoming refugees were troublesome to deal with.
But as long as we had the High Priest, that problem could be solved.
After capturing Saint, we could simply have the High Priest send them back.
If New Level reached Saint first, drove out the Imperial Army, and captured the city before us...
That would be an incredibly unpleasant outcome for Haken.
If the enemies who murdered the loyal Sir Durek and attempted to assassinate the former Lord of Haken were defeated by someone else's hands...
Haken would lose a tremendous amount of face.