The Ashbaton frontier counts territory specialized in the defense of the land itself.
Geographically, its location was originally challenging to defend. The history of the Ashburton frontier is several hundred years longer than the kingdom’s history, and the current domain exists as a result of the gradual development by successive generations of frontier counts and their blood relatives who reside in the area.
The main roads are designed for quick movement of large armies and are equipped with devices in various places to thwart the enemy in an invasion. The magnificent stone bridges can collapse at the slightest change in a specific spot. Landslides can occur artificially in valleys that usually are safe to pass through at any time.
These defensive structures existed not only on the west side, where the Remrest Kingdom is located, but also on the east side, where the Balshine Kingdom is located. Although the prominent fortifications and other structures have been abandoned outwardly, they are ready for operation anytime.
Nobody is allowed to invade. Because they understand the Ashburton family’s principle of action, the royal family cannot treat them carelessly.
Despite having such power, the family does not give the impression of being a great noble household. This is due to their disposition to stay indoors in their territories and not get involved in central politics.
The Ashburton territory is located on the western end of the Barshain Kingdom, on the further western border of the territory. This is one of several military bases in the territory. Gathering the best and the brightest, the fort is the front line against Remrest.
Open grasslands spread out and scattered in plain areas on the enemy’s side, which appear easy to attack at first glance.
Not only does it look easy to attack, but it is easy to attack. There are no topographical obstacles, making it easy to encircle it, bypass it, and enter its territory.
However, the problem lies in later stages.
While the fort could be besieged quickly, capturing it would take time. During that time, the cavalry from Ashbaton’s main army would rush in and devour the front line.
If the fort is ignored, the cavalry must be alert for surprise attacks from the fort behind while dealing with the main army in front.
Sometimes, both sieges and detours were executed simultaneously. Talion’s Empire, Remrest’s predecessor, had a separate force besiege the fort and advance its main army into Ashbaton territory.
Even with a separate force to encircle the fort, the Talion Empire still had the upper hand in strength.
Hours before the two armies engaged in a clash, there was movement at the fort. From the Talion Empire’s direction, Ashburton’s cavalry appeared. The Imperial detachment commander, sensing that they had been bypassed in the same way, immediately moved his men, who had been deployed in the direction of Ashburton, out of the encirclement to the opposite side to avoid a pincer attack between the cavalry and the fort.
The cavalry, however, reversed just before contact. While wondering why, soldiers marched out from the fort toward Ashbaton, where the defenses had been thinned out.
These high-level elite troops easily broke through the thinning siege net and headed for the main imperial army’s rear.
Back to the battlefield where the two main armies were in a decisive battle. The Ashburton forces were in a bad position. Both flanks were fighting hard, but in the eyes of the imperial commanders, the center was being forced to retreat slowly.
Then suddenly, the elite soldiers from the fort and the cavalrymen who had joined them appeared, and they raided Talion’s army in the rear. At the same time, the Ashburton main force covers the left and right with its two flanks.
The main force, deployed in a semicircle in front and to the side, laid down a semi-encirclement. At the rear were the elite and cavalrymen who had attacked by surprise. With all means of retreat cut off, Talion’s Empire forces fell into panic.
What has happened since then is hardly surprising. The collapse and disintegration of the Talion Empire to the present day is mainly attributable to this war.
This perfect siege and annihilation battle, which should be written in all military instruction books, is only recorded by the Ashbaton family, and few people know about it today. Perhaps the documents on the Talion side were lost in the chaos of the empire’s collapse; maybe no one was left who could keep records in the first place.
Despite this spectacular victory, the past frontier counts still said, “We have not experienced a complete victory because we specialize in civil war strategies. We are limiting ourselves to just maintaining our current territory.” Is this modesty, or is it a sign of confidence that they are capable of that level of siege-and-destruction strategy?
◆ ◆ ◆
Frontier Count’s territory, the westernmost fort. Patrick Ashbaton recalled his ancestors’ feats, which he had been taught before entering the academy.
He doesn’t think he can carry out that brilliant maneuver. However, he shook his head, almost thinking that if a large army that was difficult to deal with had come, it would be relatively easy if he made a high earthen wall appear along the border and went to take out the enemy commander single-handedly.
“I’m getting influenced by Yumiela.”
“How can I help you?”
The front-line commander in charge of the fort responded to Patrick’s monologue. His meticulous mannerisms were uncommon for a soldier in Ashbaton, who was just over forty years old.
Still often treated as a child, Patrick was only slightly uncomfortable with his response.
“When I was little, I was taught that no matter how many heroes there were, it wouldn’t make much difference in the war situation.”
“That’s usually how they go.”
When viewed as a war between kingdoms, no matter how many strong, powerful individuals excel in their skills, they can’t significantly overturn the war situation. History has proven that those who have more experienced soldiers and use solid military tactics will win the war.
“One man can slay a hundred, but it will have little effect on a battle with an army of over ten thousand.”
“Can’t Patrick-sama deal with a thousand people?”
“Even if I could, I’d get beat up by a thousand and one. There will be fatigue, and more small wounds.”
The legendary hero of a certain kingdom who slays a hundred men is also said to have been killed while his men were wiped out, stranding the enemy army alone and defeating a hundred of them.
The fort’s commander says. He is deeply moved by Patrick, whom he thought was a child but has grown up to be a strong man.
“Well, the discourse is not quite wrong. But I think we can reverse the gap in strength a little more by repeating surprise attacks and retreats. Only targeting the enemy’s upper echelons would also be effective.”
“Never mind the little tricks I might be able to pull off. If there was someone, who could make a thousand people disappear in an instant, who could recover immediately from any number of injuries, and who had an inexhaustible supply of mana…”
“What if there was, and there is? There has been some discussion among us about what we would do if we had to deal with the Count.”
“…What are you going to do?”
Patrick was honestly curious. What kind of strategy would the respected Ashbaton veteran use against Yumiela?
When he was asked, he turned to Patrick with a good-natured smile.
“We decided that the best thing to do was to take Patrick-sama hostage.”
“By the way, where did you have this discussion?”
“What better place to talk about “what ifs” than at a bar?”
Patrick frowns when he imagines a group of well-aged grownups gathered together, chattering about how to defeat the lord’s second son’s fiancée.
“Don’t look at me like that. We are so drunk that even we can come up with the idea, anyone would think of taking hostages. Please be careful, even if little lord is all right, it’s just an old habit.”
Calling him “little lord” was so natural that Patrick understood too late what he was being apologized for.
It wasn’t until he was eighteen and an adult that the man began treating Patrick the same way he treated the count and his brother. He proceeds with the conversation, assuming he has his ideas on drawing the line.
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll be careful, she can be a bit of a handful and unable to give up on people.”
“…Ah, if only young master was as straightforward as the little lord.”
The man laments, stuck in the past. The young master he refers to is Gilbert Ashbaton, the frontier count’s family heir.
“Your brother… well, he’s always been like that. I hear he’s active in negotiations with the center…”
“His skills are suited to politics, aren’t they? He is now in charge of most of the negotiations with the central government officials.”
“It’s about your brother.”
“When I thought he had disappeared, I didn’t realize he was up to something like this. I guess it’s typical of him.”
They were staring at a letter. It is addressed to Yumiela and Patrick and sent by Gilbert.
Gilbert’s subordinate, who delivered the letter, is sitting in the corner of the room, still in shock after flying on a dragon.
“I was against it because… ugh… I’m nauseous again.”
No one stopped him as he walked out with dizzy steps.
Patrick starts rereading the letter from the beginning, thinking he was like that when he was not used to it.
On the occasion of Remrest’s march, Yumiela must act defeated.
He will alleviate his country’s fear of Yumiela. To stabilize Remrest’s politics by giving the First Prince’s faction the upper hand. However, the real reason for the plan is summed up in the last sentence.
“If the plan can be successfully executed, I would consider attending your wedding…?”
“Gilbert-sama wishes to congratulate your marriage, too. Young master is not so honest. Then, will Yumiella-sama be able to do it well? She is not the kind of person who would lose on purpose, is she?”
“I doubt she’ll be able to do it. Besides, she is missing right now.”
While pondering Yumiela’s whereabouts after she flew off to the moon, a young soldier bursts into the room. When the commander hears from the messenger, his expression turns serious.
“I understand. Switch to the second order and send a message to headquarters as well… Patrick-sama, it’s not looking good. The Remrest forces seem to be moving ahead of schedule.”
Then things get hectic inside the fort. Patrick quietly waited by the window, watching the commander, who was busy sending orders everywhere.
Looking toward Remrest, where the troops would soon arrive, the door to the room was opened violently. Thinking it might be another emergency message, he looked at the door and saw Gilbert’s subordinate. After recovering from the damage caused by the flight, he was accompanied by another guy.
He was someone who should not have been in this fort. His name was Linus, an intelligence agent from the Lemrest, a neighboring kingdom.
“Why are you—”
“I apologize for the confusion. This is an emergency and I must state my business straight away.”
Linus interrupted Patrick. He had only conversed with Linus when Yumiela drove the Remrest forces away, but Patrick understood he was someone with common sense.
How pressing was the situation that he would go so far as to say that?
“I was the liaison for Gilbert-sama, who was hiding in the Remrest’s capital. Regarding the plan to have Yumiela-sama pretend to be defeated—”
“I understand. Keep going.”
“Yes, sir. I have found out the reason why the troops of our country have accelerated their departure! Remrest First Magic Tool Arsenal has succeeded in reproducing a sealing magic tool. It has the same properties as the one that sealed the Demon King in the Balshine Kingdom!”
A magical tool that sealed the Demon King for hundreds of years. Since the first queen of Balshine, a master of light magic, had used it, its effectiveness against the dark attribute is easy to imagine.
This is truly a special weapon against Yumiela Dolknes. With the most effective weapon against the threat, it was understandable that their departure from the battlefield was earlier than planned.
“Are they really going to take on Yumiela?”
The skirmish between Ashbaton and Remrest, which had been repeated many times, was supposed to become even more of a farce with the entry of Yumiela.
But the premise was destroyed by the appearance of the sealing magic tool. Linus was understandably on edge.
Yumiela is in danger.
Although it was a pinch, the situation was not pressing. The person in question, Yumiela herself, wasn’t there.
While Patrick was growing alarmed by the situation, he was not panicked. To calm Linus down, he continued in a calm tone.
“It’s okay. Yumiela isn’t here. If Yumiela is not here, the sealing magic tools will be useless. There will be no problem if we use our normal forces against them as usual.”
“…Eh? Yumiela-sama was in Remrest, wasn’t she?”
Patrick’s mind went blank when he discovered the whereabouts of his runaway fiancée.
Why was Yumiela in Remrest?
Her hair color is conspicuous, and her behavior is eccentric. It is possible that the Remrest military will discover her before she arrives here. Both the army and Yumiela will probably head for Ashbaton. The possibility of them meeting each other is high.
Will Yumiela be safe if they use the sealing magical tools? She is much stronger than the Demon King, who was sealed for hundreds of years. But she remains vulnerable to the light attribute. The more dark magic in her body, the more strongly she may be affected.
His bad imagination tempered Patrick’s pessimistic outlook. The situation is not the worst.
There is no guarantee that Yumiela is on her way to Ashbaton. She is a carefree person, so there is a possibility that she is enjoying her sightseeing. In the meantime, disabling the magic tool would solve all problems.
“Let’s try to deal with the magic tools before she comes back to…”
‘They are already on their way here! I think she should be here by now with Gilbert-sama…”
“The situation could not have been worse.”
The chances of the Remrest army encountering Yumiela with its secret weapon, the sealing magic tool, were very high.
This was the worst situation imaginable, and Patrick rushed out to run.
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but wait, it gets worse xD