"Baron de Blanche."
"Y-Yes!"
Perhaps it was because her name had been called so suddenly by Laura that she was startled. Juliana de Blanche, captain of the mercenary band, had been staring blankly in this direction before she jolted with a start.
There was something new in her gaze—a wariness toward Laura that hadn't been there before. It wasn't a healthy emotion like respect. It was something more unsettling. Fear, perhaps.
"I will entrust you with two hundred and fifty soldiers."
"Um… should I just round up the scouts?"
"No. You are to lead your troops and hurry toward Pavia. There should be a forest near Pavia. Set it ablaze magnificently."
Listening to their conversation, I couldn't help but smile bitterly. I had actually been to that forest near Pavia before. It was, of all places, the spot where the slave merchant Jack Orland had bashed his own head against a rock and committed suicide…
"Fire?"
Baron de Blanche wore an expression of incomprehension.
"Smoke will rise in the direction of Pavia. The Count of Pavia will be alarmed."
When Laura quickly cleared up the Baron's confusion, the Baron's expression shifted to one of dawning realization.
"From the Count's perspective, two possibilities will come to mind. First, we've already breached his territory and are pillaging indiscriminately. Second, we're in the midst of an intense siege. Either way, the Count will judge that a surprise attack on our rear gives him more than enough chance of victory. He'll be spurred to move even faster."
"I see…"
The Baron was slightly shaken. As if sensing that, Laura delivered her next order sternly.
"Baron! The troops you will lead in this battle may be few, but the burden on your shoulders is immense. If you fail, I will fail to launch the surprise attack on the Count, and our entire expedition will have been for nothing!"
"…Understood, Your Highness!"
Realizing the weight of the orders placed upon her, the Baron answered with full seriousness. Laura, too, nodded with gravity.
"I will assign eleven mages to you. Have them cast anti-communication magic across the entirety of Pavia. You may also use them to help set the forest ablaze."
"I humbly obey!"
The Baron roared the words with full vigor.
Our forces split apart like a river forking into two streams. The Baron led two cavalry squadrons down a side path, vanishing from sight. With that, Laura's command now held no magical firepower whatsoever.
The army pushed its pace even harder.
By the time the sky blushed red with the setting sun and gradually sank into dusk—
Only then did Laura issue the halt command to the entire force. We had arrived at a passage that anyone traveling quickly from Milano to Pavia was bound to pass through, where a stretch of forest stood well off the main road.
"We ambush here."
Laura then had scouts quietly deployed ahead.
The cavalrymen threw themselves flat on the ground. They had been riding hard for half a day already. Rest was desperately needed.
Soldiers propped themselves against the forest trees to rest, or pulled out snacks to eat in preparation for battle. The warhorses, their bodies heated from running under the summer sun, cooled off in the night air.
When I raised my head and looked upward, moonlight faintly outlined the shapes of the branches. But there were sounds coming from the trees.
— Elves, elves...
— And dwarves by the dozens. What's going on?
— What's going on? They're frightening people. It must be something terrible...
The forest spirits were whispering to each other from behind the branches.
They had to be terrified by the sudden appearance of intruders. Between gusts of wind, the spirits chattered with anxious unease, and the leaves rustled against one another with a hissing, sibilant murmur.
I waved my hand toward them.
"My apologies. We'll be borrowing your home for a while."
Tiny spirits poked their heads out from behind the branches, peering at us.
— Unbelievable! The great master has come!
─ He doesn't exactly feel like a great master with such a tiny breeze…
─ You fool, you idiot, since when couldn't you tell the difference between a typhoon and a breeze?
As they bickered, clusters of light began to multiply one by one within the dark forest.
Hundreds of light clusters — all spirits. They glowed faintly and hazily, as though sharing in the moonlight from above. The light was closer to sky-blue than pure white.
"Oh my god…"
"Artemis, be with us…"
The soldiers craned their necks, staring upward with mouths agape.
As a non-human race, they were familiar with spirits. But spirits were fundamentally shy, bashful creatures. With so many of them lighting up the dark forest, the mercenaries were overwhelmed by the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.
I smiled and spoke.
"I'm happy you've come to greet me, but could you dim the light? We're in the middle of a game of tag right now, you see. It would be terrible if the seeker spotted us. I'd appreciate it if you kept things quiet."
Thinking of the spirits that must be frolicking in my dungeon, my voice softened of its own accord. The spirits glanced at one another, whispering back and forth in hushed voices.
─ Tag! Everyone has to be quiet! You'll get scolded if you disturb the Master.
─ Idiot, you're the loudest one here.
─ Shh.
─ Shhh.
Gradually, the light clusters dimmed. Not completely dark, but their brightness was reduced to roughly that of fireflies. Mm. That was fine. At this level, they wouldn't catch the attention of the enemy.
The spirits wriggled and crowded in around me. Were they trying their best to be quiet, in their own way? They asked me in voices barely above a whisper.
─ Master, Master. Who are you playing tag with?
─ Is it an ugly orc? A randy centaur? A fearsome basilisk?
─ They all died a long time ago. A very long time ago. There's nobody here but us…
─ The humans killed them. They burned a lot of the forest too……
The spirits drooped their heads miserably. Oh my, how cute.
I picked up the nearest one. The spirit tilted its head to the side, and I brought out a secret technique I'd had sealed away for ages. I tickled them under the arms.
─ Kyah!
The spirit burst out laughing but quickly clapped both hands over its mouth. They must have remembered my request to stay quiet. Even while writhing as though they were about to die from laughter, they never once removed their hands from their mouth. What a well-behaved little thing!
I put on a warm fatherly smile and spoke.
"We're playing hide-and-seek with the humans."
─ Kyahat, humans?
─ Humans can't be trusted when it comes to playing.
─ They burn the forest down every time. Master, you must never trust humans.
Using the word "trust" — they're such articulate little ones.
I chuckled softly. Ever since my level as the Demon Lord had risen, I'd gone from hearing only "kyah, kyah" sounds from the spirits to understanding their speech as actual language.
"I see. Humans really are terrible creatures, aren't they?"
─ That's right! Humans are really awful!
─ You could hang their guts from tree branches and it still wouldn't be enough!
The spirits poured out their complaints in a chorus. The human race, who had no choice but to burn forests for farmland, and the fae race, born and raised in those very woods, were natural-born enemies.
"Then would you do me a little favor? Humans will be passing by up ahead in a little while. If it looks like they're coming, could you quietly let me know? I'll deal with those nasty humans for you."
The spirits all answered in unison, promising to entrust everything to me.
Just then, Laura returned from deploying scouts ahead.
"You weren't startled by the forest suddenly lighting up, were you?"
Laura was frowning.
"My lord... no, Court Count. What have you done?"
She had almost called me "my lord" out of habit but quickly corrected herself, and I smiled at her.
"I've hired the most covert scouts in the world."
"...?"
Laura looked completely bewildered. Well, she'd figure it out soon enough.
About an hour had passed since we arrived in the forest.
"Look over there."
Laura pointed toward the distant horizon with her finger.
"The baron has succeeded in starting the fire."
It was true. That area alone was blazing with light.
Laura nodded, looking satisfied.
"They set the fire at just the right time. It'll take the royal army half a day to figure out our route and decide how to respond, and another half a day to organize reinforcements and march here. At minimum, a full day."
"Isn't that cutting it awfully close?"
"It was close. That's precisely why this girl advanced the main force toward Milano..."
"This girl." That was hardly an appropriate way for the supreme commander of an army to refer to herself. I thought about pointing it out, but there were no soldiers nearby. I shrugged and let it go.
"The success of this operation hinges on how long we can delay the enemy's reinforcements. It didn't need to be delayed by a great deal. Just Count Pavia and Duke Milano arguing furiously for an hour, maybe two. That would have been enough..."
Laura fell silent. Just then, a spirit poked its face out of the underbrush.
— Master, a whole bunch of humans are coming!
I bent down and stroked the spirit's head. It let out a delighted "Kyaa!" and beamed.
An hour, perhaps two, of delay. The enemy's reinforcements were arriving right around the time we got here. Exactly as she had predicted.
"Laura."
"So those were the scouts you mentioned, my lord."
Laura already understood what I was going to say. She gave a faint smile and turned her back.
"My lord. Watch over this girl from afar. As long as you are with me, I can be as strong as I need to be."
"You flatter me, Duke de Farnese."
Laura quietly issued orders to her company commanders. Soldiers who had been resting freely now mounted their warhorses in silence. The occasional low rumble from the horses' throats was muffled by the undergrowth.
From far away came the sound of hooves. The enemy was approaching.
Through the information relayed by the spirits, I assessed the enemy's size and formation. Despite being in a hurry, they had still dispatched a vanguard. I didn't know how versed Count Pavia was in the art of war, but at the very least he seemed to have some caution.
"The enemy's main force is roughly five thousand."
"My, they really did drag every last cavalryman they had along, didn't they?"
Laura flashed a smile of quiet satisfaction.
"So Count Pavia's influence was higher than expected. Or perhaps Duke of Milan didn't want to hear that he'd abandoned his people. Either way, I'm grateful."
Normally, when facing a large enemy force, one would be frightened or at least nervous. Laura was the opposite. Like a warrior who encounters a bear in the mountains in the dead of winter and laughs, "I'll eat well this season," Laura was delighted by the enormous size of her prey.
Laura raised her right arm.
At that, the entire army took one step forward.
They began at a walk. The warhorses moved with the light feel of a leisurely stroll. By the time the first and second columns had fully emerged from the forest, the pace shifted up to a trot.
The first column set the charge speed, and the second, third, and fourth columns followed suit. There were no sergeant's shouts to increase speed, no battle-crazed cries before the fight. The quietest cavalry charge in the world was taking place.
Up ahead, Sardinia's cavalry was marching in a long column. The enemy had their flank completely exposed to us. However, no matter how quietly they moved, the sound of hooves could not be erased entirely, and they spotted us too.
"A-ambush!"
"Wheel about!"
The enemy fell into disarray. They were screaming about ambushes, about walking into a trap—all manner of panicked shouting.
The enemy had been racing at full speed to save their territory. Changing formation under a sudden ambush was virtually impossible. By the time they were scrambling to react, our cavalry was already at full gallop.
There was no longer any need to stay quiet.
I activated the amplification magic on my necklace and unleashed a thundering shout.
"Warriors of Helvetica! Charge!"
That was the turning point.
Until now, the mercenaries had been approaching in utter silence, but now they erupted with battle cries.
"Kill those Sardinian country bumpkins!"
"Charge! Chaaaaarge!"
"Sweep them all away!"
The warhorses surged forward in a charge.
The enemy, elite in their own right, somehow managed to form ranks and met our charge head-on with a charge of their own. The problem was distance.
The distance needed to build up speed was overwhelmingly insufficient. Compared to our forces, which had already broken past four hundred meters and built up full momentum, the enemy had barely a hundred meters to work with.
The result was clear.
Our first line and the enemy's first line collided with a deafening clash of steel. Some enemy riders were trampled and flung aside, horse and all. The enemy's first line shattered before they even had time to scream. They were quite literally evaporated.
The kingdom army's first line bought them no time at all. They were only just forming their second line, and that clearly incomplete formation was exposed to our charge.
In that case, this was no longer a battle.
Across the plain that had instantly become a battlefield, my amplified command rang out with thunderous force.
"All units — slaughter them!"
It was the beginning of a one-sided massacre.