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“Oh, it’s started.”

I was leisurely watching the battle unfold from a forest near Worngang.
The view from the branches of a large tree was quite something.

“It’s hard to spot us here, so you should feel safe, right?”
“I’m not feeling safe at all! What the hell is this?!”

Clinging to me was Kait, my rookie adjutant.
Seeing this, the werewolf bodyguards were cackling with laughter.

“I’ll catch you if you fall, so don’t worry, okay?”

Monsa peered over with amusement, but Kait let out a scream.

“Don’t shake the branch! I’ll fall!”
“I told you, it’s fine even if you fall.”
“I don’t want to fall! So stop it!”

That’s counterproductive when dealing with Monsa, my dear adjutant.
She’s got a bit of a kitten-tormenting-a-mouse vibe about her.

Even as he screamed while the branch was being shaken back and forth, Kait summoned his inner adjutant soul and said to me.

“I don’t think adjutants usually come out on reconnaissance missions on the battlefield, but—stop shaking it, aaaah!”
“Yup, normally.”

But it would be a huge mistake to take the Demon Lord’s Army as normal.

Kait’s safe with Monsa looking after him, so I check the battlefield through my binoculars.
The infantry in formation are, as reported, militiamen. They’re all wearing only simple militia breastplates over their everyday clothes and carrying pikes.

“It feels like they’re just there to make up the numbers,”

Old Wott, who has long experience on the battlefield, muttered as he peered through the binoculars.

“Don’t look like they’re about to charge, do they? If that’s all their soldiers are, they might as well hire me.”
“So, does that mean they’re planning to use the militia as cannon fodder and storm the city by force?”

Old Wott laughed cheerfully.

“Not a chance. Just look at those spineless faces. They’ll surely scream and run away at the mere sight of a cavalry charge.”
“So, that means another force will be handling the city assault, then.”

I turned around and gave orders to Hammarn’s squad.

“Get as close to the battlefield as you can and gather intelligence on the assaulting forces. If possible, try to talk to the soldiers as well.”
“Leave it to us, Lieutenant.”

Hammarn nodded briefly and checked the supplies on his back. Inside were first-aid kits and amulets from the Sonnenlicht Church.

“I’m just as good at pretending to be a merchant as you are, Lieutenant.”

Huh, it’s rare for Hammarn to crack a joke.

But he quickly continued:

“See, I often snuck into caravans…”
“I won’t pry into what happened before you came to the Hidden Village, so just focus on the mission for now.”
“Understood, Lieutenant.”

It seems he used to do some pretty shady work, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Right now, he’s my earnest and polite subordinate.

Just then, Kait, who had been using wide-area detection magic, let out a tense cry.

“Mr. Veit, there are multiple waves of mana in front of the Worngang Castle gates! What the hell is this? It’s not magic!?”

I had a hunch about what this might be, so I immediately checked the direction he was pointing at through my binoculars.
The next moment, several bursts of white light, like explosions, flashed one after another.

“W-what is that!?”

The members of the Werewolf Squad all stared intently in that direction.
Through my binoculars, I could see soldiers lined up in formation, holding long staffs.
The staffs were curved, looking just like medieval matchlock guns or muskets. Their stances were identical to those of gunmen as well.
It seemed those were large-scale versions of the “Magiarms Book.”

“Kait, did you analyze that wave of mana just now?”
“Y-yes. It’s close to a destructive spell. The closest match I think would be the ‘Light Bolt’ spell.”

In short, it’s a beam of magical energy. The reason it emits light is that part of the energy is leaking out as visible light.
If used as a destructive spell, it requires an absurd amount of effort to aim and guide, and its penetration power is low, so it can’t pierce armor. On top of that, it’s a completely useless spell that can backfire from the slightest mistake while in the preparation phase.

“Um, that was… about twenty shots. To think they could cast them all so neatly in a row…”

I shook my head at Kait’s mutter.

“There’s no way this would happen with a normal incantation. It’s probably a weapon of the Rolmund Army. Look, the destructive power is extraordinary, too.”

Worngang’s famed iron gate was glowing red-hot, and the wood beneath the metal plates was catching fire. The heat was terrifying. Twenty shots could do that, that’s Master Gomoviroa’s level of destructive power.

Monsa whistled and turned to look at me.

“Captain, is that a weapon, not magic? You think I could use it?”
“Can’t say for sure. Even if you could, it’s not very reliable since it loses out to bows and arrows in terms of range.”

The unit that just fired those weapons had to be protected by the shields of their allies. Arrows were slipping through the gaps, and there were already scattered casualties.

Old Wott muttered.

“That’s still some darned firepower all the same. Look, the city gates are about to be blown wide open.”
“And yet, the militia doesn’t seem to be making a move.”

The soldiers of the Miraldia Liberation Army were just shouting and screaming from a safe distance, out of range of the arrows.
Then, from the rear ranks, a group that appeared to be cavalry charged forward.
But the animals they’re riding don’t look like horses at all. They resemble birds—specifically, ostriches.

“Hey, Commander, what’s that?”

Jerik is tilting his head in puzzlement, but I’ve never seen anything like it either.

“I don’t know. There’s no mention of such an animal in Master’s library. It looks a bit like the dragonsteeds of the Dragonfolk.”

Just as dinosaurs and birds are surprisingly closely related, dragons and birds are also surprisingly similar.

Perhaps they’ve successfully tamed these bird-like monsters.

As we watched, the bird-mounted cavalry charged forward, holding their staffs like guns. There were about forty to fifty of them. With support from our allies, they disappeared into the castle gates.

“So that’s Princess Eleora’s ‘Magiarms Battalion’? They’ve got some interesting gear.”
“This isn’t the time to be impressed, Mr. Veit. I’m detecting an enormous amount of mana emanating from the city.”

They seem to be firing away wildly. Though blocked by the city walls, the smell of blood wafting from the battlefield has grown thick.

Now that the city gates have been breached, the Liberation Army can’t lose. If push comes to shove, they can just send all the citizen militiamen in.
A short while later, Hammarn’s squad returned.

“Lieutenant, the units that charged in are reportedly ‘Princess Eleora’s Imperial Guards’ and the ‘Magiarms Battalion.’ The soldiers were talking about it.”

Just as I thought.

“Did you find out anything about their size or equipment?”
“It seems there are about one hundred to two hundred of them in total. No other details were revealed.”

That number is a bit concerning.
For humans, a group of about one hundred people holds special significance.

Although this is strictly based on my past life, it is believed that humans spent their long hunting and gathering periods in groups of around 100 people.
Since human psychology was shaped during this period, it’s said that a hundred people is a rough benchmark for a close-knit group that can share a common ideology. I was taught that humans are optimized to function that way…

I don’t know if that applies in this world, but since they’ve built a similar society, it’s probably much the same.
That’s why the number “one hundred to two hundred” carries significant psychological weight. Those people to Princess Eleora might be akin to us werewolves and our pack.

Of course, from a military standpoint, the subordinates she brought all the way from her distant homeland are crucial. Replenishing their numbers would be difficult, after all.
Is Princess Eleora playing this crucial trump card here—one that holds such dual significance—because she’s bold, or because she’s running out of options?
I’ll need to look into this further later.
If things go well, I might be able to use this in my negotiations with her.

“Were there any other signs of Rolmund’s forces?”
“Apparently, no one has seen any Rolmund soldiers other than the ‘Magiarms Battalion.’”

The fighting in the city is still ongoing, but once it settles down, the chances of us being discovered will increase. It’s a shame to leave, but we’d better start pulling out.

“Hamaam Squad, good work. Let’s get back before they find us.”

At my command, every member of the Werewolf Squad nodded and leaped down from the trees.

“Uwawawa”

I hoisted Kait, who was clinging to a swaying branch, onto my back with a heave.

“Kait, did you get the intel on their ‘Staff’?”
“O-of course—whaahhh!?”

Still carrying Kait, I leaped from the top of the giant tree.

Landing with a cloud of soft leaf mold and dead leaves swirling up, I broke into a run with my pack, cutting through the wind.

“Wai—Mr. Veit! Too fast—wha! UWAAAAAAA!!”
“It’s okay, you’ll get used to it.”

Let’s hurry back while we can.

***

TL Note:

Everyone addresses Veit differently. Hope I remember who calls him what…