Ossan Saikyō Chapter 14 Part 18
Starting the next day, we began our march toward the Royal Capital.
I remember hearing in history class that in wars like this, the march itself was more difficult than the fighting.
Fortunately, it seemed the distance was only about 3 days even for such a large army.
As an adventurer, I had no physical problems with it, but General Durack’s army had spent 3 days getting here, only to immediately turn around and launch an assault on the Royal Capital. It was shaping up to be a brutally demanding expedition.
I was walking along feeling a little sympathetic toward them when the General himself rode over to me on horseback.
“Soushi-dono, I would like to speak with you for a moment. Is that all right?”
“Of course, General Durack.”
“Please, just call me Durack. Still, seeing you walking around like this, you really do look like an ordinary adventurer.”
The General dismounted and came alongside me while holding the reins.
“I consider myself an ordinary adventurer. Even if I happen to be a little stronger than most, underneath it all I’m just a failed merchant.”
“Would an ordinary person, no matter how confident in his skills, really charge alone into the middle of an army and capture its commander? And that declaration of victory you made was quite convincing as well.”
“No, that was… I was only imitating something I had read in a book. It was rather embarrassing.”
At that, the General narrowed his eyes and laughed.
“Fu… hahaha! There was nothing embarrassing about it. If you call that embarrassing, then what does that make the rest of us who surrendered?”
“Ah, true. My apologies.”
“As I said yesterday, I have nothing but gratitude toward you. It was a battle that nobody wanted, and one in which nobody could truly believe in their own cause. For there to have been almost no casualties in such a battle can only be called a stroke of luck.”
“I’m no expert when it comes to war, but the soldiers seemed to have very low morale. Was that why they surrendered so quickly?”
“Regrettably, I myself was unable to raise the soldiers’ morale. The fact that it worked out in our favor this time is ironic. Although, seeing your God-like figure on the battlefield, I doubt the outcome would have been any different no matter how high their morale was.”
“I’m embarrassed to be called something like a ‘God of War’. At the time, I was simply moving forward without thinking about anything, and afterward I realized that, as a soldier, I had completely failed. I’m really just an adventurer who fights monsters.”
“I doubt the Marquis expects that level of coordination from adventurers. Rather, what a General expects from adventurer soldiers is precisely what you did, taking down the enemy commander single-handedly.”
“If that’s the case, then that’s a relief. More importantly, aren’t your soldiers having a hard time? You spent 3 days getting here, fought a battle, and now you’re heading back to attack the very Royal Capital. That sounds like quite a burden.”
“Normally, yes. But their morale is far higher now than when we left the royal capital. Unfortunately, everyone is dissatisfied with the King’s current policies.
…
Quite a few people have even had their own family members enslaved. The soldiers’ treatment has also deteriorated. At this point, everyone wants a change of King.”
“It really is that bad…”
“Indeed. Between you and me, King Giselpha was known, even when he was a Duke, as a fiercely ambitious man. There were all sorts of things happening behind the scenes when he ascended the throne as well. Many people were simply erased from the record.”
The General said that, his eyes becoming stern.
But the more I heard about King Giselpha, the worse he seemed to be. Imposing such oppressive policies that he was practically shortening his own reign could only be called foolish.
Normally, I would think his advisers would stop him, but perhaps he had eliminated anyone willing to offer him honest counsel as well.
“In any case, once we break through the walls and enter, I expect the defending soldiers will surrender quickly as well. The people of the Royal Capital should welcome the Marquis with open arms. The real problem comes afterward.”
“You mean after the King barricades himself inside the royal castle. I heard that if we take too long, nobles loyal to Giselpha will send reinforcements.”
“Indeed. Although, once we have control of the city itself, I expect those inside the castle will respond and surrender as well. If they refuse, I would like you to strike the castle gates with one of your blows. That should bring them to their senses.”
“Understood. By the way, General, don’t you have a family as well?”
“I do. The soldiers have families too. Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering whether they might be taken hostage.”
The General shook his head at that.
“Do not worry about it. If one is the wife or child of a General, such things cannot be avoided. We exist for the sake of the country and its people. Our own lives must not come first.”
(E/N: Damn, that's awful! Duty or family? 😭)
“General…”
At that moment, General Durack’s face looked as immovable as a crag (E/N: A rocky cliff).
Seeing that expression, I could say nothing more. He seemed to possess a resolve that someone from modern Japan like me could never fully comprehend.
Still, if King Giselpha really was the kind of person I had heard about, I could easily imagine him taking the General’s wife and children hostage.
It was not something pleasant to watch, and if there was anything I could do about it, I wanted to.
◇◆◇
On the afternoon of the 3rd day of our march, long walls came into view in the distance along the road.
They were the same tall, extremely sturdy-looking walls I had seen before. There was also a moat in front of them, and even to an amateur like me, attacking them head-on seemed difficult.
Naturally, they had noticed our approach. The gates were firmly closed, and the drawbridge had been raised, making it clear that they intended to keep us out.
There were also large numbers of soldiers visible atop the walls, along with large mechanical bows, ballistae, and what appeared to be catapults.
(E/N: A ballista is a huge cross-bow while catapults loft and hurl massive stones.)
This was a world with magic, but only adventurers could use powerful offensive magic. Naturally, such weapons were also stationed at defensive strongholds.
The Marquis’ army had also brought catapults and large battering rams.
However, depending on what I did, we might not have any opportunity to use them.
The Marquis’ army stopped about a kilometer from the Royal Capital and began setting up camp.
The decisive battle would begin tomorrow morning.
That night, the final council of war was held at headquarters.
Since I was already regarded as both the key figure in this battle and a human siege weapon, I naturally participated.
Once Ryūsha, Arslin, General Durack, and the other staff officers had gathered, the Marquis began speaking with a simple map of the Royal Capital spread across the table.
“Thank you all for making it this far. Tomorrow morning, we shall begin the battle to reclaim the Royal Capital. I would like to confirm our battle plan.
…
First, this will be a short, decisive battle. As I mentioned before, the armies of nobles loyal to Giselpha are approaching. At the earliest, they should reach the vicinity of the Royal Capital in 3 days.
…
That means we must reclaim the Royal Capital by then at the latest and prepare for the defensive battle that follows. It will be an extremely difficult fight.”
The Marquis paused and looked around at her staff.
“The Royal Capital has 40,000 defending soldiers. We do not even know how many former adventurer soldiers they have, and they will likely use their undead Summoning Stones as well.
…
Against that, we have 60,000 soldiers and 200 adventurers. Although we have the advantage in numbers, it is not an overwhelming one. Under normal circumstances, taking the city quickly would be almost impossible.”
“The walls of the Royal Capital are extremely sturdy. If we wanted to take it in one assault, we would need at least 3 times as many soldiers.”
The Marquis nodded at General Durack’s words.
“Exactly. However, this time we have someone on our side who can overturn the common sense of warfare. Thanks to his efforts, it may be possible to bring this to a swift conclusion.”
The Marquis looked at me.
The other staff members also turned toward me, though it was understandable that those who had just joined us from other territories looked skeptical.
Only Ryūsha’s eyes were sparkling brightly.
“Soushi-dono, I would like to confirm once more how you intend to act tomorrow. Could you explain it?”
Prompted by the Marquis, I began explaining.
That said, this had already been decided during the councils of war held along the march.
“Once Marquis Raghantz’s formal declaration of battle is finished tomorrow, I shall head alone toward the area near the city gate.
…
I shall fill the moat with timber and other materials from my【Item Box】and cross it. Then destroy part of the city wall, enter the city, open the gates, and lower the drawbridge.
…
From there, I intend to advance directly toward the Royal Castle and break through the second set of walls surrounding it as well. If I have enough time, I will also suppress the Castle grounds, but whether you want me to go that far is up to you.”
After I finished explaining everything at once, the staff members folded their arms, tilted their heads, and groaned thoughtfully.
(E/N: They be like, “Are we deadass rn 💀”)
Honestly, I wanted to tilt my head too.
But even after calmly analyzing my own abilities, this operation was not merely possible. It was easily within my capabilities.
“Soushi-dono, what if undead or former adventurers appear in front of the gates? Would that be a problem?”
“If they are about the same level as last time, it won’t be a problem at all. What concerns me more is the possibility that they might release undead throughout the city to delay our army.”
“Hmm. In that case, we will have to leave it to the adventurers to deal with them.”
“Marquis Raghantz, if undead appear throughout the city, we should be able to request their extermination through the Adventurer Guild.”
Arslin pointed that out, and the Marquis nodded.
I see. That's another option.
Come to think of it, I was also curious about the Guildmaster of the Royal Capital, Dünken, and what sort of situation he was in. I hoped he would respond to our actions and move on our side.
After that, we went through the rest of the arrangements, and about an hour later the council of war came to an end.
The staff members returned to their respective tents.
I also stood up and headed for the exit to return to my own tent, but the Marquis stopped me.
“Soushi-dono, the outcome of tomorrow’s battle depends on your performance. I feel sorry that we have somehow ended up relying on you to this extent, but I ask that you do your best for the sake of this country.”
“I’m an adventurer, so I carry out the requests I accept to the best of my ability. Reuniting with my party is important to me, so in that sense as well, I’ll make sure the operation succeeds.”
“Indeed. I see. Still, I find myself somewhat envious of your party members, to have a man like you say that much for them.”
“They’re like family to me. Though I don’t know if they feel the same way.”
“Hmm. From the way you put it, you haven’t become romantically involved with them yet?”
The Marquis, who had been wearing a serious expression, suddenly smiled slightly.
“Become romantically involved” presumably meant becoming involved in a relationship between a man and a woman, but of course, I had no such experience with them.
“No. We’re also somewhat far apart in age. If anything, I suppose it’s more like a parent and child relationship.”
“Fufu. I hope they feel the same way. By the way, Soushi-dono, do you prefer women who are younger?”
“Eh…?”
The sudden, unexpected question left me at a loss for words.
Hearing something like that from a beautiful, female Marquis was enough to make a man wonder if there was some other meaning behind it, but our statuses were too different for that to be the case.
Besides, the Marquis was still quite young herself.
“…I don’t really have a preference based on age, but naturally, I think being closer in age would make things easier in various ways. However, I’ve only been an adventurer for a short time, so I think it will be a little while before I start thinking about such things.”
“I see. First, you want to establish yourself as an adventurer. I’m sorry for asking something strange. It was nice to hear your answer. I’ll be counting on you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Then, good night.”
As we parted, I felt like the Marquis was looking at me with a little more warmth in her eyes than usual, but I decided it was probably my imagination. It seemed the effect of that suggestive question was still lingering in my mind.
At my age, being led astray by a woman’s words was hardly befitting someone who had supposedly reached the age of 40 without being troubled by worldly concerns.
Still, it was frightening how much composure I had despite standing on the eve of battle.
Just where am I heading?
Once again, I felt that I really did need companions who could keep an eye on me from nearby.
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E/N:
The day of judgment is ahead, we must stay strong, comrades! Also, Mommy Marquis is gunning hard for Ossan!!!
Stay tuned!
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