Nigoru Hitomi de Nani wo Negau

26. Chapter 26

“Destroy it!! Stack it up!! You can’t bring it anyway.”

Walm smashed the bag of stone he was carrying on his back to the ground.

The squad leader was dismantling a wheelbarrow carrying out the ores. In addition, repair materials for tunnels and buildings for miners would be demolished and piled up on the road.

Other squad members dug up the ground with a pickaxe and poured water into it from the waterway for the ores, making the ground become like mud.

Due to repeated battles and sabotage, the soldiers, including Walm, were dirty, as bodily waste, sweat, and dust were all over their bodies.

“Don’t let the pillars lie down, bury half and stand them up. That alone will be an obstacle.”

Until two days ago, Duwei’s squad continued to maintain a temporary defensive position with scrap material and equipment, but the onslaught from a larger force than them continued, and finally reached their limit.

The battalion was trying to earn time for the last time by artificially breaking the road along the mountain road while retreating. They kept doing that again and again in a hurry.

The Liberitoa Trade Federation army, which would still have a magic-user with earth magic, for sure would repair the route in a short period of time and try to re-advance.

Injured and supplies were preferentially collected at the rear meeting point. The former Myard border area, which was covered on one side with a powerful demon territory, functioned as a bottleneck and served as a defensive area.

Walm didn’t stop working even if he wanted to swear and curse. He knew that even a pile of obstacles, a lump of soil, could slow thousands of enemy soldiers and save their lives.

“Stop, stop the work! Liberitoa soldiers are coming!! It’s time to withdraw.”

Platoon Commander Kozuru, along with several subordinates, announces the withdrawal to the surroundings. As soon as the order was given, the soldiers cut off the work, carried the luggage on their back, and withdrew.

Walm also identified among the retreating people from other platoons.

“Oi, what happened to the other guys?”

When Walm called out to one of them, the man responded as if screaming.

“They’ve been blown away! Those bastards have been throwing in a lot of magic attacks. The road hasn’t been fixed yet, but in half an hour they’ll be flooding here. We need to run away quickly.”

And so, the soldier was half run going down from the mine.

“Hey, hurry up. If you’re slow, you’re going to get stabbed in the ass.”

Jose called while wearing armor. When engaging in civil engineering work, armor would restrict movement and waste physical strength. So, today’s Walm looked just like how he did when he was a peasant.

Walm wore the knee pads that were lying on the ground and wore the others in order from the lower body. With the Cervelliere on and a bag on his back, all but two newcomers were ready.

Squad Commander Duwei, who saw Noor and Barito gathered in the squad about 10 seconds later, looked at them and said,

“There’re no idiots who get lost? A’right, it’s a goodbye with a damn mine. Let’s go.”

No one answered in objection. In response to the Squad Commander’s shout, the squad left the mine area all at once.

◆

As the spearhead of the Highserk Empire, the Jaff Cavalry Battalion, who continued to support the dangerous edge, made full use of its mobility and impact.

They hit the enemy’s salient points while kept hitting the sides, earning valuable time, but the damage wasn’t negligible.

Jaff, who commanded the cavalry, dispersed the battalion in platoon units, devoted himself to delays while doing harassment attacks, and overturned the inferiority with a company-sized force that reassembled when the enemies got caught in the trap.

But, today, their plan was about to fail. In terms of numbers, more troops had been lost by the soldiers of Craist and Ferrius Kingdoms.

The problem was that even in the Highserk Empire army, where the cavalry commanded by Jaff was said to be a strong force, two platoons of precious elites who were proud of their unparalleled skill were lost.

“… Are they visitors from another world of the present generation?”

The Craist Kingdom was known for its visitors and many drifting objects from another world. Jaff was also informed of the rumors about the visitors, but to be clear, it was more than a rumor.

At a distance of several hundred meters, a torrent of bright light occurred, blowing off the human and horse along with the ground. The brilliant sight might be beautiful from a distance, but in the near vicinity, a hell was formed.

Fire, ice, wind, earth, and all sorts of magic chased after the leaving cavalry. No magic-users in his cavalry battalion who only had one or two attributes were able to withstand the four attributes.

“It’s enough to threaten from a long distance. The magic users and the archer shall support the cavalry who leave. Don’t get closer than necessary.”

Following Jaff’s orders, the soldiers launched an attack all at once. It was magic and arrow that landed in a long-distance, but it was enough to create a space to prevent pursuit.

It should be more than enough, but when the attack almost reached there, an earth wall was built instantly, and the incoming attack was intercepted by the light attribute magic.

In the end, they only earned about 10 seconds, but it was enough time for the Jaff Cavalry Battalion to escape. A poorly resigned Ferrius soldier shot an arrow, but no cavalry fell.

“The remaining platoon has already been pulled to the meeting point. Commander, you don’t need to take a risk…”

One of the staff officers who accompanied Jaff complained from horseback. Jaff was one of the top three frontline commanders in the Highserk army, but every staff officer knew that he had a habit of going too far on the frontline.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to take it. It’s a waste of soldiers.”

Jaff barely saw a boy with a powerful light attribute and a girl with a wide variety of magic. Both would be barely old enough to join the Highserk Empire army as young soldiers.

“If I don’t see that kind of threat first hand, I can’t give command correctly.”

Jaff began to evaluate the enemy’s strength. In terms of firepower, each would be worth about two magic platoons. That was just how powerful their mana was. Physical ability and magic barrier must also be quite strong.

“I don’t think their hand-to-hand combat is first-class, but the worst should be considered.”

According to Jaff’s calculation, the only way to kill them was to rush a few cavalry platoons as sacrifices. The problem was the surroundings.

“So, the Order of Reharzen is babysitting those children huh?”

It wouldn’t be that easy to break through the Order of Reharzen while being exposed to a fierce fire. As a result of the decentralized operation of his troops, Jaff’s troops were less than the company’s size.

It was a regrettable opponent to miss, but its existence itself was also a fishing bait. As Jaff, who had been fishing hard until now, he would like to avoid being fished instead.

“The battlefield isn’t here. Our Commander, Commander Berger has set up a stage suitable for it in Myard. He would be disappointed if I couldn’t present there.”

It wasn’t just the Jaff Cavalry Battalion who would join the party. The elite Liguria infantry battalion would also participate.

Jaff didn’t have to go ahead and dance with them alone now.

“Let’s have them come a long way. And, we have to tell them that they don’t have to worry about returning.”

The staff officer, who seemed to be worried, after he heard Jaff’s words, opened his mouth as if he was relieved.

“Haha, it’s like what you said, Commander… Well, it’s about time we hit the limit. Let’s withdraw”

After confirming that all of his subordinates had successfully withdrawn, Jaff turned his horse to the meeting point.

The magic from a long-distance began to land in the near vicinity of Jaff, but none was an effective blow.