Chapter 6.5
「—Two!?」
Being screamed at from nearby, Dimitar instinctively pulled back his head .
「Is that true?」
「…You’ll know if you listen to the sound carefully」
「Even if you tell me that, the noise of the wheels is so loud that I can’t hear well!」
「…Your voice is louder now though」
「Kyaa!?」
The cart shook greatly with a “gakon” and Valeria fell down .
「…I’m sorry, you’ll fall down if you stand up, you know?」
「I, I’ve already fallen down!」
Snapping at the calm Karin, Valeria got up .
「Are you all always noisy like this?」
Clotilde spoke with a half-amazed and half-wry smile . Dimitar snorted lightly and looked back over his shoulder at the Dominas who was dressed entirely in white even at a time like this .
「Why didn’t you fight together with His Excellency? There’s no need to accompany us, who might be doing the dirty work」
「I can’t do that . The destruction of the trebuchets is an absolute mission for Delbrück’s defence . I can’t leave it to others . …Of course, this doesn’t mean that I don’t trust you all」
「W, we know that」
Arranging her dishevelled hair and looking somewhat perturbed, Valeria asked Clotilde .
「—Y, you said “two”, right!? Is it true that there are two?」
「I’m afraid so」
「The sound is slightly different from the one we heard during the test firing at dawn, after all」
「…I’m sorry, I didn’t realise too」
「The trebuchet’s stone bullet will draw a large parabola and come flying . Rather than being fired, it felt more like it was being fired upwards」
Dimitar sat down on the cargo box, which continued to shake with a clatter, and explained so that even the girl who was ignorant of the ways of the world would understand .
「—Especially Yururogu’s trebuchets, they might be of uncommon size judging from the flying distance . Naturally, the stone bullet will fall after ascending temporarily to a considerable height . At that time, you can hear a sound, similar to moving fast against the wind, that precedes it slightly」
「Are you saying that it’s different from the sound at dawn?」
「Strictly speaking, it isn’t different . It overlapped」
「Overlapped?」
「While the sound of the first shot moving fast against the wind hasn’t disappear, you can hear the next sound overlapping it . That’s probably the two trebuchets firing at staggered timings」
「I, isn’t that bad…?」
「That’s bad for sure」
To have focused on nothing but the fact that the enemy had brought out the trebuchet and be arbitrarily convinced that there was only one—as a lot of parts and a tremendously heavy weight must be prepared for even one—they could do nothing but say that they all had been careless . It wasn’t completely unimaginable if they considered the fact that it was impossible that the old general, Euchemard, would leave the trebuchet’s flaw, which was its long firing interval, as it was .
Dimitar frowned while stroking the nape of his neck .
「…There being two trebuchets doesn’t only mean that the number of stone bullets that will come flying merely doubled . It has become a more troublesome matter」
「Certainly… if there’s only one, the rampart can be repaired in the ten minutes until the next throw, but since we know that there are two, we can’t repair calmly . We don’t know when the next stone will come flying—」
「But if they come flying in succession, we’ve an interval of close to ten minutes to spare afterwards—」
「The enemy has two trebuchets… that being the case, I believe that thinking they might also have a third one is a very natural thought . Especially because of this fog, we can’t directly ascertain the number of trebuchets from the top of the rampart, after all」
Clotilde murmured while playing around with her cap, which was on her lap, for some reason or another .
「—However, Puyol-geika will probably manage it aptly even if casualties appear . She was originally a child who was discovered by the predecessor when she was working as a subordinate at a charity hospital of Aurillac and then aimed for the path of a Dominas, after all」
「Though I said that, it’s pointless if we don’t stop the throw itself . …If His Excellency’s army is annihilated, I’m afraid that we can’t hold the castle even if the rampart is safe」
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「Um~… can I ask a question?」
Bettina, who kept running with a “gassha gassha”, interjected timidly .
「Do I still have to go forward like this?」
「Yes . If you didn’t advance in the wrong direction」
「I ran correctly as you said! Even though I’m covered with mud like this and doing my best…」
Shaken by the cart that Bettina was pulling, Dimitar’s party was trying to circumvent the east side of the battlefield greatly . As the outskirts of Delbrück slanted gently from the west to the east, the further east one went, the wetter and muddier the land became . That Yururogu would take up its position there was probably because they, taking into account the firm soil that could withstand the trebuchets’ weight and the stone bullet’s flying distance, concluded that the trebuchets couldn’t be installed at places other than there .
Especially this east side, one could say that it was practically a wetland zone . If one went further east, water would gradually percolate through the ground and one would soon reach a lakes and marshes region . Anyway, as the ground that abounded in mud was too much for even the horsepower of a warhorse, if one carelessly stepped into such a place, one’s feet would stop, and one might become a suitable prey for archers .
Bettina was running swiftly on that muddy level ground, which was empty because of that, with her non-standard leg strength . Taking a roundabout path greatly like this and cutting through the north side of the battlefield, and then making a surprise attack on the trebuchets from behind was the mission assigned to Dimitar’s party . In short, both Sigibert’s army at the front and Isaac’s Seal Chivalric Order, which had moved to the hill on the west side, were decoys .
「We’re reaching soon」
Clotilde took out a detailed map of the outskirts of Delbrück and nodded slightly .
Before long, when the greenery started to stand out more than the area of mud covering the earth, they encountered a river . In reality, it was a stream of shallow water, which was doubtful whether it could be called a “river” and could be crossed over in one stride; however, it was virtually the only landmark while their fields of vision had been obstructed by the fog .
「Gacha Pink, turn left . Run along the river」
「Understood!」
Turning abruptly in front of the river, the cart drove at full speed again, churning up not mud but spray this time . Dimitar stained his eyes and stared fixedly forward .
「…Ma, whether there are two or three trebuchets, what we’re going to do doesn’t change . At any rate, we’ve to destroy all of them」
「You say “destroy”, but how will we do that specifically? Are we really going to destroy them with all our strength?」
「The easiest way would be cutting the rope for raising the weight」
「Eh? Such a simple thing?」
「The trebuchet’s structure itself is simple」
The trebuchet, which made its arm swing using the force of the weight coming down and then launched the stone bullet with that momentum, must raise that weight using a rope and a pulley first for its throw . If that rope was cut, though a matter of course, let alone the throw, even the preparation couldn’t be done .
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「—However, the rope can also be replaced immediately, and since the trebuchets are non-standard in the first place, there’s a possibility that they’re using not ropes but chains too . …Therefore, if we destroy the pulley itself or the shaft connecting the weight and the arm, I don’t think they can be repaired so easily」
「The other party also won’t let us do that so easily, but as one would expect, it might work out if we take them by surprise from right behind . …Oi, stop for a while, Gacha Pink」
「Yes yes」
Bettina put on the brakes, stumbling a step or two forward . A large number of deep grooves were carved on the ground several steps in front of her . The grooves, which ran from north to south, crossing the stream of water, indicated that the transport corps loaded with a considerable amount of cargo had passed through here .
「Run along these wheel tracks now」
「Understood!」
Bettina began to run towards the south this time . They’d naturally arrive at the installation location of the trebuchets if they followed these wheel tracks .
Bending herself forward from the cart and looking down at the wheel tracks, Valeria murmured as if she was struck with admiration .
「The fact that such a deep wheel track could be made means that the weight is very heavy」
「Yes . It’s probably about ten times the weight you’re imagining」
「Ten times!?」
「How heavy do you think it is? Incidentally, according to what I heard from the chief engineerMaestour, the weight of a trebuchet lying idle in the storehouse of the Roma’s army weighs nearly two hundred talents」
「T, two hundred talents…!」
「It’s about two hundred times your body weight」
「I, I’m not so heavy!」
「I’m always carrying you on my back and running around; judging by my sense, you’re that heavy though . I see . Then, it’s your clothes and treasured sword that are heavy, huh」
「Gunu…!」
Valeria’s face became bright red, and she kept silent .
「…I’m sorry to disturb you when you’re chatting happily」
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As soon as Valeria kept silent, Karin opened her mouth this time .
「Did you not hear something just now?」
「I heard it all right—but I feel that it was a little different from the sound of a stone bullet flying」
「It’s probably the sound of the arm swinging when throwing . …They’re close by」
The air temperature was rising even more than when they left Delbrück . The fog might also clear away very soon . Under the cover of the night fog and darkness, Yururogu had successfully installed the trebuchets without being noticed by the Haiderota’s army, but it was Dimitar’s party’s turn to take a roundabout path to their rear under the cover of the morning fog and make a surprise attack on them this time .
「……」
Dimitar stopped his hand that was stroking the nape of his neck and suddenly removed the steel umbrella from the back of Bettina’s waist .
「Dimitar? What do you intend to do?」
「Be careful . …I hear the sound of hooves」
「—」
Clotilde, who had bared her shoulders silently, wore her cap low over her eyes . Her expression was already that of the woman who was extolled as a goddess of war by the people of her motherland .
「—That’s as far as you go!」
A great number of deep crimson flames descended from the sky, blowing the fog away .
「Tsk—」
Dimitar held Choruruka up with his left hand and opened it towards the sky .
「Akyaa!?」
Immediately after Dimitar had used “Iron wall”Rampart to knock down the rain of flame arrows, Bettina who was pulling the cart was blown off together with a scream .
「Hey—wa!?」
Bettina, who was blown off, crashed into the cart and flew into the air together with all the passengers .