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“We now march to Schaldir’s aid!”

I shouted that to the centaur soldiers, the dragon cavalry, and the werewolf squad standing before me.

“However, Schaldir is officially aligned with Miraldia. Because of that, each squad will be moving in unconventional ways this time. Keep that firmly in mind.”
“Understood!”

Baltze, the vice-commander leading the Azure Scale Knights, saluted, and Seisches, commanding the centaur troops, gave a nod.

“Got it…”

Demons tend to act on their own whims, which worried me, but with these two, it should be fine.

“Werewolf squad, transform, all of you! Move out!”

I had the werewolves transform and depart alongside the cavalry. Of course, I was at the head of the column.

“Hey, Veit, you’re the captain. You should be running at the very back.”

I didn’t expect my musclehead older brother Garne to be the one saying that.
Even Big Sis Fern nodded.

“He’s right. By the way, whose squad is on Veit-duty this week?”
“Oh, that’d be mine.”

Jerich and his squad members raised their hands.
What’s this about?

“Hold up. What’s this ‘Veit-duty’? Nobody told me about this.”
“It’s the role of guarding and keeping an eye on you so you don’t charge ahead recklessly on the battlefield. No objections allowed.”

I’m the captain of the werewolf squad! Don’t just decide things on your own like that!

“Just stay somewhere safe and give orders, captain.”
“If you die, we’ll be back to digging up and eating potatoes in hiding again.”
“Besides, how would we even explain it to the Demon Lord? Think about it a little.”

Since when did I become the one everyone worries about…?

Jerich ran up beside me and patted me on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, boss. We’ll keep you safe.”
“Even if the four of us together are weaker than you, Captain.”
“Still, we can at least be shields.”

Jerich’s squad of werewolves grinned lightheartedly.
If I do something reckless, they’ll just try to protect me with something even more reckless. But that would only put them in danger.
Oh I see.
Right, that’s why the Demon Lord never fights at the front.

The enemy this time has two thousand troops of infantry and cavalry combined. We have a thousand cavalry.
We’ll lose If we fight them head-on. But of course, we won’t fight them head-on. This is war.

“Wott squad, head north and set up a net. Whatever you do, do not engage.”
“Alright, I’m rarin’ to go.”

The old white-furred ex-mercenary wolf chuckled happily.
The four of them broke away from the formation and disappeared into the swirling sand.

This world has no GPS or smartphones, so pinpointing enemy positions is tough. But once we know where they are, we’ll have a major advantage.
The allied forces are infantry and cavalry, so they’ll be marching at infantry speed. If only the cavalry is ahead, we’ll adjust our plans.
Meanwhile, our entire force can move at cavalry speed, a thousand soldiers all keeping pace together.

However, when the report of enemy forces approaching Schaldir reached us in Lüenheit, they must have already marched a significant distance. This isn’t real-time information.
All we can do is pray that they haven’t reached Schaldir yet.

“But Sir Veit, will this plan really succeed?”

Vice-Commander Baltze asked, sounding slightly concerned.

“If the Governor Aram has betrayed us, we’ll be caught in a pincer attack.”

That is certainly possible. But I replied:

“In that case, we’ll use our speed and retreat immediately. Either way, our plan doesn’t change.”
“Indeed.”

I don’t think Aram would betray us.
If that passionate speech back then was just an act to deceive me, he’s one hell of an actor. He could’ve easily managed his relations with Miraldia from the start.
So I’d say it’s probably fine. Still, I’ve made preparations just in case.

“I see it!”

A voice rang out from the vanguard centaur troops. Soon, others echoed the same.
In the distance, through the sandy haze, the walls of Schaldir came into view.
There’s no sign of Miraldia’s army yet.
Looks like we made it in time.

On a hill some distance away, I issued orders to the werewolf squad.

“Werewolf squad, revert to human form and stand by here! Hammarn team, enter Schaldir!”

The werewolves returned to human form and crouched down on the spot.
Hammarn had been to Schaldir several times and knew Aram personally.
We’d better contact him first. He’s probably shocked at seeing the Demon Lord’s Army show up.

“Centaur troops, move to the east gate of Schaldir! Azure Scale Knights, take position at the west gate!”

Despite being a trade city, Schaldir only has gates to the east and west.
The north side faces a lake, so that makes sense. But there’s no south gate for a reason.
The upper limit for their city guards was set too low. If they built more gates, they wouldn’t be able to guard or defend them.
That’s why, by surrounding just two gates, we can effectively isolate Schaldir from the outside.

“Seisches, unless they betray us, do not engage Schaldir’s guards.”

At my words, the stoic centaur warrior nodded.

“Understood. Knowing not only when to fight but also when not to fight is a true warrior’s skill. I shall lead without error.”
“You sure talk a lot when it comes to battles.”
“Ah… I guess…”

Blushing slightly, Seisches galloped off with his troops.

“I shall depart as well.”

Vice-Commander Baltze skillfully maneuvered his drake mount and rode off with his knights.
I’d get to witness the famed Azure Knight’s valor firsthand.
I stayed back with the werewolf squad to watch over things from here.
The gates of Schaldir were shut tight, with the Azure Scale Knights surrounding the west gate, their formation poised as if ready to assault but not moving an inch.
No arrows or attacks came from the walls. So far, so good.
Now, we just had to wait for the standing army.

After a while, Hammarn’s team returned.

“As expected, Lord Aram seems unaware of this. He was quite surprised.”

As I thought.
Hammarn continued:

“When I asked about Miraldia’s intentions, he guessed that they might be planning to forcibly station troops here.”

So they don’t care about the governor’s wishes, huh.
But if two thousand troops suddenly barged in, would there even be enough food and lodging for them?
Well, not my problem…

Meanwhile, a report came in from one of Wott’s squad members.

“Miraldia’s allied forces sighted. Three hundred cavalry, five hundred infantry. They’re marching in a column formation with the cavalry leading. Old Wott says they’re heavy cavalry and light infantry.”
“Wait, doesn’t that number seem off?”

The werewolves exchanged glances.
Two main possibilities come to mind.

First, the remaining twelve hundred troops are elsewhere. They could simply be marching slower, or they might be an ambush or a separate force.
Second, the numbers were just miscounted.
After all, the one who reported them wasn’t a soldier but a civilian merchant. He may not have been able to accurately gauge a marching army’s size.

The worst-case scenario is that twelve hundred soldiers are heading toward Lüenheit.
If that’s the case, we can’t afford to dawdle here. Rasie can command the skeleton soldiers if necessary, but she’s no trained officer.
Should I return?

I mulled it over and organized the situation.
Right now, the enemy has fewer troops than us. And they’re in a marching column. Even if we fought now, we wouldn’t lose.
The only way we could lose is if Aram betrays us.
If that happens, about three hundred of Schaldir’s guards would flank us.
Then the outcome of the battle would be unpredictable.

Still, if Aram betrays us, we just have to retreat. That’s why I selected only fast cavalry.
What’s more concerning is if Miraldia’s army is plotting something underhanded. We need to protect Aram. If we fail here, he could scrap the secret agreement.
This is the moment to take a gamble.
If it comes to it, I’ll let the werewolves rampage.

I made up my mind and gave the order.

“Centaur troops and Azure Scale Knights will remain on standby until further orders. Werewolf squad, disguise yourselves as refugees and head to Schaldir. I’ll go with Jerich’s squad to join Wott’s team.”
“Understood!”

All voices responded in unison.

I raised my voice to keep from being crushed by the weight of a thousand lives.

“Let’s go!”