After taking rest in the town and refuelling the vehicles, the beastmen and I headed out again. Since we left the cannon we were dragging around in town, we could move at high speeds now.
We advanced to the north at the speed of 80 km/h, and finally reached the third village from south. We burned it down like in the previous day before moving tens of kilometers north, and razed the fourth village without hesitation as well.
With this, there will be no villages up to a distance of 200 km north of the town. There was still a village up north, but this will do for now. If the residents from the burned villages decided to go to other villages, they were allowed to leave without any obstructions from us.
From this point, when the soldiers got to their supply points and see that they were all razed to the ground, it will further crush their spirit. We went back south with that intention.
“We still haven’t found them.” I muttered while sitting in the driver’s seat of the armored car.
When we went back to the second village, we still didn’t see any figures, or even the shadows of the enemies. We only met the residents of the villages we’ve razed during that journey.
Wondering if they would arrive soon, we decided to hide the vehicles at the hills west of the village, and wait for the enemy soldiers. We would attack the moment they experienced despair when they saw that the village had been razed.
However, the enemy never appeared, and when night finally fell, we returned back to the town reluctantly.
After another night, we headed out early in the morning, and waited at the same place as yesterday. And then, around noon...
“Did they come?” One of the beastmen asked.
Humans appeared from the southeast. It was a group of more or less 1000 people. They weren’t wearing any armor, but all of them had weapons of some sort. They were undoubtedly the people from the Kingdom of Sandra.
“All of them are staggering.” I commented while crouching down on the hill, looking at the state of the enemy through the binoculars.
After the enemy was sighted, the beastmen finally felt at ease.
They look exhausted. Looking at the enemy’s situation, I unconsciously smiled.
I don’t mean that the misfortune of others is a good thing. While I was still humane enough to not laugh at the misfortune of those who tried to harm us, but if I had to say something to them, it’d be something like “Serves you right. you reap what you sow.”.
I got inside the armored car with a satisfied smile, and told the other vehicles to depart through the transceiver.
“We will depart now. The trucks should be flanked behind the armored car.”
“Roger that.”
“Understood.”
The beastmen replied seriously.
To give off an intimidating impression to the enemy, we advanced forward in an inverse V shape formation with the armored car in the middle.
The gigantic iron vehicles move faster than horses while raising a large cloud of dust. For the those from this world, this must be a rather dreadful display.
As for me, I had the sudden urge to tell them this.
“Now, run.”
But, the enemy soldiers did not run away despite noticing us. Upon looking at them closely, they don’t have even a single wagon with them.
“I see. It seems like they’ve become weak because there’s not enough food.” I muttered to myself.
With no food, they won’t have the energy to escape. They’ve probably reached their limits already.
Well, I destroyed those villages with this intention though.
As we approached the enemy, we saw that all of them were barely standing. I found the term half-dead to be suitable in this situation.
If it’s like this, there’s no need to urge them to run anymore. I stopped the car a certain distance from the enemy, and used the [Loudspeaker] to address them.
“Drop your weapons!”
The enemy soldiers showed agitation at the alarming volume of my voice. Probably because of that surprise, they did not disarm right away. Because there was no other choice, I decided to say it once again.
“Drop your weapons or I will kill all of you!”
This time, all of them had a startled expression. When some of them threw their weapons onto the ground, the rest follow suit and disarmed too.
“Why did you attack our town?!” I continued speaking.
This was something I had to ask.
The reason would most likely be that they wanted to make [Spices] theirs while intending to enslave the beastmen and me.
We had decided to embarrass the enemy ― the point was to harass them using the position of the winner, for my entertainment.
In fact, there were no replies from the people in front of us.
That’s right. Maybe, there was some some kind of justified cause from their side. But, that’s something that only applied to their side. If they looked it at from our viewpoint, they did invade us no matter what their reasons were. Now that their lives were in my hands, they might be killed if they explained it poorly,.
“We have not done any damage to your country! Rather, you should have profited! Even so, because of your own greed, you attacked our town to make it your own! Know that your arrogance was the reason for your ruin!” I declared.
Hmm, this should be a sound argument. This sound a little like preaching, but I feel comfortable about it to be honest.
I mean, this is the second time they came to attack. So, they should really cut it out.
Then, one person stood up amongst the enemy soldiers and came forward.
It was a woman.
I have heard from the captured soldiers that the head of the Red Dragon Order was the daughter of the king. Her name should be Mireille San Sandora, right?
“I am the daughter of King Sandra, Mireille San Sandora. The sin of the kingdom is also my sin. That is why, kill me. In exchange, I hope you can spare the others.” Mireille knelt down and requested.
There was no light in her eyes, and her voice was extremely weak. Rather than sacrificing herself for them, it seemed more like she desired death.
“The militiamen do not have any sin. Those sins should be shouldered by your country. Therefore I will help the militiamen. I will also give them food as well.” I ignored Mireille’s request and said. “But, the knights are different. You belong to your country and make a living by fighting. The sin of the kingdom is thus, also the sin of the knights. Therefore I can’t forgive the knights.”
Even if the militiamen were captured, they weren’t worth even a silver coin, so it would be better to let them go. After they return to their homelands, they will serve as advertisement for my benevolence.
But, I will not forgive the knights. Even so, I will not kill them. After capturing them, I will demand a large amount of compensation for them. That’s all I’m going to do.
But, perhaps because the knights thought they would be killed, they started complaining, as if their lack of spirit till now was a lie.
Besides getting saved, the militiamen also obtained food. That “life-saving chance” was given out right in front of them while they were sentenced to what might be death. Therefore, the knights became desperate.
“Mireille san Sandora. You decide whether to obey or not. Let me tell you, I will not change my mind about everything I’ve said here.” I stated amidst their protests.
If they do not obey, then there was no other way but to fight. No, I don’t think that’s even necessary. Let’s just turn back at once and come again after they’ve starved and become completely immobilized. By that time, there will be internal discord between the militiamen and the knights, and only a miserable end would await them.
I gazed at Mireille’s face and patiently waited for her reply.
“...We will obey.” She replied quietly.
I think that that’s a wise answer. But, the knights didn’t agree, and Mireille became the target of criticism.
“You should go and die!”
“You are the one who should take responsibility and die!”
“Don’t involve us in this!”
In the end, a man appeared and tried to appeal to me by saying that Mireille was the one who started this war.
That might be true, but there is no way for me to judge now. So, I blasted the car’s horn. The noisy sound echoed in the vicinity, and as a result, everyone was so surprised that they just about collapsed on the spot.
Thus, I knew that they had a considerable fear of this sound.
“Let me tell you this - those who disobey will be killed without mercy! That is final!” I stated sternly.
In other words, those who don’t not disobey will not be killed. In this situation where the other side was driven into desperation, they would not be able to process my words calmly.
After hearing my words, the militiamen spoke among themselves and began to distance themselves from the knights. It was an action to avoid trouble reaching them.
Well, the fact that they tried to separate themselves from the knights could be easily understood.
Then, several knights tried to mix in with them. But, even if they don’t wear armor, it was clear from their clothes. The quality of the clothes of the militiamen and the knights, whether dirtied by blood or mud, was obviously different.
When a knight was kicked out by the militiamen and rolled forward, they started getting kicked by groups.
The knights were being trampled by the militiamen. It was like a small-scaled revolution (gekokujou).
[TL: Gekokujou is the act of junior dominating seniors or retainer supplanting their lords, Japanese has strict society class after all so this act is usually rare to happens.]
There was one militiaman with red hair stepping on the knights with a demon-like appearance.
I wonder if he has any strong resentment towards the knights?
But, since this mess would remain as it was if I don’t do anything, I thought that I should proceed with the talk.
“Don’t worry. The knights will just be hostages. I will not take their lives. If your country pays the compensation, we will release you.”
The knights were relieved when they heard my words.
“Beastmen get off. I will hand you the rope. Tie the necks and arms of all the knights together. Don’t be careless.” I ordered.
The beastmen alight from the truck. Surrounded by strong beastmen with weapons, the weakened knights became frightened.
Several beastmen were putting the ropes over the necks and arms of the knights, and thus, all of them were tied up before long.
During this series of actions, the beastmen had a proud expression on their faces.
As for the militiamen, we wrapped [Miso], [Rice Crackers], and [Dried Fish] in a cloth and handed it over to them. Although they might suspect that our preparation was too smooth, it’s too late to care about that at this point.
After they received the food and ate some of it, the militiamen thanked me and left.
We also distributed [Miso] and [Rice Crackers] to the knights, and allowed them eat on the spot.
While they ate that, we ate the [Deep-fried lunch box] with great relish.
[Deep-fried lunch box] 50,000 yen (list price 500 yen) x 63 = 3.15 million yen (list price 31,500 yen)
After the meal, the beastmen and I slowly returned back to the town while making the knights walk the long 80 km road to their new prison.
Thus, the battle against the Kingdom of Sandra finally ended.