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The Miraldia Alliance army had completely lost its nerve.
Neither arrows nor trebuchets had worked at all. If they attempted close combat, a rain of arrows and werewolves awaited them.
The knight who challenged me to a one-on-one duel had died in one blow.
That was likely how they saw it.
In reality, if all two thousand of them pressed in at once, crushing me would be easy.
However, the first several who fought me would certainly die.
And at this point, it seemed no one wished to be among those several.

Obviously I feared facing those two thousand soldiers myself, but this was a matter of nerve. Letting villainy seep into my expression, I gave a fearless smile.

“I asked—who is next?”

Ignoring the existence of the enemy soldiers, I began to advance slowly.
At the same time, the werewolves let out a unified howl.

*“Hey, Veit, what are you doing!?”*
*“Stop! Veit, stop it!”*
*“The captain’s about to charge again—someone stop him!”*
*“Can’t be helped, we’re going too!”*
*“Yeah!”*

…This was the sort of complaint I was receiving from behind, but human ears cannot understand werewolf howls.
Before long, the werewolves came streaming after me, cloaks billowing.

*“Captain, are you seriously charging ahead!?”*
*“No way this is safe. Come on, Veit. fall back!”*
*“But look—the enemy’s starting to run.”*
*“What’s happening?”*

Man, they’re noisy

*“Don’t follow me, you lot! It’s dangerous!”*

The moment I shouted that, a storm of retorts came back.

*“You know it’s dangerous and you want us to let you go alone?!”*
*“Hey, Veit, you promised you wouldn’t charge ahead again, right? You did, right?”*
*“Try understanding your position for once!”*
*“How many times do we have to tell you not to be reckless? Big sister’s about to get seriously mad at you.”*

I had only made things worse.

However, “werewolves advancing while howling” seemed to be considerable terror to the already demoralized Miraldia Alliance army.

“M-Monsters!”

Someone in the enemy ranks screamed.
That became the trigger for collapse.

“The Devil of Lüenheit is coming! Run!”
“To hell with this war!”
“As long as that Guardian of the Labyrinth is here, we’re finished!”

The archers on both flanks slung their bows over their shoulders and began to flee.
As for the trebuchet corps, they had already abandoned their machines and run.
At that point, even the spearmen holding the front line no longer knew why they were staying. Their ranged support was gone.

“Archers, wait! Don’t run! Damn it! Drummer, retreat! Order all spearmen to retreat!”

A commander among the spearmen shouted, and the drums sounded.

With official permission granted, the soldiers no longer had any reason to fight.
The spearmen threw down shields and spears alike and ran, lighter for it.
The farther one fled, the safer one became. No one wanted to carry heavy gear.

“Run! Hurry!”
“Retreat! Fall back!”
“Gaaah!”

The heavily armored spearmen were slow and in full panic. It was almost pitiful to watch.

Hammarn came up beside me and asked quietly,

“What shall we do, Vice-Commander? Pursue?”

I gave a wry smile.

“No need to chase after them. Let them return safely and spread word of our terror.”
“Understood.”

As I strode forward, the Miraldia soldiers scattered, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
They were far too frightened.
At roughly twice the speed of their approach, they vanished beyond the hills.

Left alone on the empty battlefield, I scratched my head.

“Well, that was rather anticlimactic.”

The werewolves burst into laughter.
Easy for them to say. Had we fought properly, who knows how many among them would have died?
But thanks to the enemy’s retreat, our casualties were zero.
Such fortune will not last forever, but for now, this suffices.

In case the enemy returned, I issued cleanup orders.

“Collect every weapon they dropped. Dismantle the trebuchets and bring them into Zaria. If that’s impossible, destroy them.”
“Leave it to my squad, boss.”

That was Jerich the blacksmith.
His squad includes smiths, carpenters, and stonemasons. They should manage.
As for me… I would at least see to that knight’s burial.
Hm? His greatsword carries a faint trace of magic. Not especially powerful, but apparently enchanted.
I should examine it later.

As I reached Zaria, I returned the armor to Shatina.

“Your father’s armor protected me. It was this armor that drove off the Miraldia Alliance army.”

I exaggerated slightly as I said it. Shatina nodded repeatedly, eyes moist.

“Thank you, Lord Veit. I…”

She seemed unable to find words.
Seeing her struggle to maintain a governor’s dignity was painful, so I ruffled her hair.

“You don’t have to force yourself to sound like a governor.”

Lowering her head, she clutched the armor and burst into loud sobs.

Afterward, we cooperated with the Zaria guard to search for Miraldia’s moles.
The high official I had punched was certainly leaking information, but there might be others.
As expected, several suspicious guards were found and temporarily imprisoned. The interrogation would be left to Zaria.
As for that official—at some point he had been poisoned. The enemy must have silenced him.
A fitting end, perhaps, but I would have preferred to question him.

“That man! To forget the favor Father showed him and betray us! I meant to cut him down myself!”

Shatina burned with vengeance, but I reasoned with her.

“Rather than a traitor, he was probably a Senate pawn from the start. The future governor need not dirty her hands on such a minor underling. Our true enemy is the Senate.”
“But…”
“Too much hot blood will cost you.”

When I admonished her, the werewolves muttered.

“Coming from the captain…”
“Isn’t he the hottest-blooded one in the Demon Lord’s army?”
“He charges ahead with a straight face—that’s the problem.”

I turned back to Shatina and smiled wryly.

“See? Hot blood comes at a cost. Look how they see me after all the effort Iput”

Shatina, who had still looked dissatisfied, suddenly laughed despite herself.

Then she looked up at me and glared faintly.

“Lord Veit, you are…unfair.”
“Hot-blooded, unfair—my evaluation grows worse by the minute. In any case, let’s finalize Zaria’s defense plan.”

Just then, a Zaria guard rushed in.

“A force is approaching from the east! Cavalry only—just under a thousand riders!”
“A thousand!?”

Shatina panicked.

“Wh-what affiliation!?”
“The Miraldia Alliance army!”

This is troubling—another battle?

So I thought, but Aylia, who had gone to observe, returned.

“The banners are indeed Miraldia Alliance, but I also see the standards of Veiria and Schardil. Part of the force is Schardil troops.”
“Then perhaps Aram’s negotiations with Veiria succeeded.”

As I considered observing further, another messenger burst in.

“Governor of Veiria and Governor of Schardil have personally come with reinforcements! Six hundred Veiria cavalry and two hundred Schardil mounted archers!”

It seemed there never was any need to play volleyball against trebuchets after all.