Soon they reached their aim. But the reinforcement was late. A little farther from the fort, they meet with Lieutenant General Dario. Adolf remains on his horse opposite to Dario.
“Lieutenant General Dario, you’re safe…”
“It’s too late to come. The enemy is approaching soon, we need to immediately withdraw.”
“There should be a lot of soldiers, why are the few of them with you?”
“Are you idiot? I won’t be able to withdraw if no one stops them…”
‘Then why are you here?!’ Serum swallowed back her words. It was the duty of the commanding officers to remain until the end to give an instruction is it not?
It was Adolf who intercepts Serum who was about to say something excessive. No one knows what kind of emotions he had, but his voice sounded calm.
“I see, that is reasonable. So, what are the instructions for the remaining soldiers?”
“I only told them to stand and stop them until they die. The rear would be in danger if they failed to stop them after all…”
From the back, I could feel Adolf anger. I could not see his expressions, but I could sense he desperately keep his calm.
“Lieutenant General Adolf.”
It was Serum who opened her mouth and start talking.
“We should support the retreat of the remaining soldiers.”
“What, who the fuck are you?! This is not the place of woman furthermore a child!”
“She is the daughter of General Ergent. I brought her with me at my discretion. Serum-dono, continue…”
“Those soldiers are loyal men who remain to sacrifice themselves, they are precious soldiers who had large-scale war experience in our country. Those who knew defeat will certainly be necessary for future battles. You should absolutely help them.”
It might be selfish of me. Had this was the erroneous employment era of the modern world, I might end up being abandoned by my boss. However, I could not forgive him. I cannot let soldiers being sacrificed for such an arrogant man.
“…We will divide our force into three, instruct the withdrawal of the remaining soldiers and support them!”
“Adolf, you bastard! The commanding officer is me!”
“Lieutenant General Dario, you’re the commanding officer of the defense of Viguent, but I’m the commanding officer of the reinforcement unit.”
“… Cih, do whatever you want! I won’t help you.”
“Understood. Then, may the fortune of war be with us…”
Adolf deliberately said those words in condescending manners. Serum and Adolf were rushing toward the city, while the force was divided into three.
“Serum-dono, I’m sorry, but with this, you will be exposed to a dangerous place. ”
“No, Lieutenant General. This is what I wanted. Please do not mind it.”
Serum entered the city without enemy disturbance. The soldiers left in the north were literally desperate to prevent the enemy from invading.
The city was flooded with wounded soldiers. Apparently, Dario left everyone who might drag him down.
Overflowing with hustle bustle and words of resentment, a situation that could be called crazy in peacetime, surprisingly Serum remained calm. Anger prevailed far more than fear.
Serum raised her voice, mixed with Adolf command.
“Carry the seriously injured person, those whose legs are injured, place them inside the carriage! Those who are not bleeding but could not move put them inside the supply carriages.”
When help came, the wounded soldiers raise their lifeless faces. The carriages that they bought immediately became full.
“It’s hurt… Fuck, it’s hurt!”
“It is fine… You will be saved when you arrived at the Royal Capital. I will not abandon anyone. Let us go together…”
“There are those guys who’re still fighting. I have to continue fighting too, or the city would fall. I…”
“You have fought enough. Leave the rest to us. Come, stand…”
Serum also helps soldiers who cannot stand on their own. The place where severely injured person was collected was overflowing with the smell of blood. Serum who was not familiar with such a devastating situation tried to help the injured person while holding back the urge to puke.
“I never thought that the extra carriages we bought would be this useful.”
When Serum helped the injured person enter the empty carriage, corps commander Igli spoke to Serum.
“Vil, I leave Serum-dono with you. I’m going to see the north wall. Guard her no matter what happens.”
“Understood, commander Igli.”
After ordering that, Igli ran to the depths of the town. He might have recognized Serum.F