Drifted Into a Reversed World ~ The One Method for Me, a Japanese Guy, to Survive in a World Where Men and Fertility Are Scarce ~ - 2

Chapter 2: Firis and Ronia

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Finally, the war began.

The female general of the Kingdom of Vedna, Firis Aigur, clad herself in silver armor and glared at the battlefield with sharp eyes. Every time the harsh winds of war blew, her beautiful golden hair flowed to the side; yet, her dignified bearing was majestic, reminiscent of a veteran warrior.

“The Aidia Empire… they’ve finally made their move.”

Firis muttered in a voice that was slightly low for a woman, yet possessed a certain allure. Her brow furrowed, making her expression even more grim.

“The Empire has basically been using up and discarding their men ever since the new Empress took the throne, after all. It is a self-evident truth that they cannot procure ‘seed’ without launching a Man-Snatching War… What a foolish nation indeed.”

The brilliant woman attending to Firis answered as if exasperated. The light in her eyes behind her glasses showed clear signs of contempt. In this world, the birth rate of males compared to females was one in a thousand. Wars fought over men—for the sake of plundering them—were by no means rare.

Without seed, a nation grows old. Without men, women cannot be satisfied.

Unlike the highly libidinous women, men, who only need to ejaculate once a month, were inferior in sexual desire. The vast majority of them loathed women who possessed physical strength and were greedy for sex.  Each nation held a different stance regarding how women treated such men.

For example, the Kingdom of Vedna, to which Firis belonged, treated men as sacred beings. Women were in the position of being blessed with seed, and men were revered as apostles of God who bestowed those blessings.

On the other hand, the Aidia Empire, which was launching this Man-Snatching War, did the exact opposite. To them, a man’s worth lay in how much seed could be wrung out of him. They believed without a doubt that men should be managed for the pleasure and prosperity of women. It was precisely because of this stance that they used up their men and ended up in a situation where they had to plunder them from other countries…

Firis glared at the retreating Imperial Army with eyes one might use to look at insects. Even she possessed more than enough desire to straddle a man and consume his seed to the last drop. However, there was a vast difference between simply having that desire and acting upon it in such a way. In order to carry out a further pursuit, Firis spoke to the brilliant woman at her side.

“We are pursuing.”

“…Are you sure? They are fleeing toward the Great Forest of the West. It may be a bit dangerous to follow…”

“…It doesn’t matter. If we let them escape here, they will just come back again after they’ve been resupplied. Besides, I am going out as well.”

Saying this, Firis put on her silver helm. The gallant design, reminiscent of a hero, well reflected her inner character.

“Firis-sama, yourself?”

“…Are you anxious?”

“No. However… that tyrant Ronia Ilfitte is among them. If anything should happen to Firis-sama…”

“That brat? …No, this is a good opportunity for me to personally discipline her. Elraine, let’s go.”

“Understood.”

The brilliant woman, Elraine, bowed briskly and sent out the order for pursuit to the battalion.

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To put it plainly, the pursuit ended in failure. Forest warfare was the tactic that the Imperial Army—and specifically that tyrant Ronia—excelled at most. They were split up, caught in traps that seemed to have been prepared in advance, and exhausted by numerous small-scale skirmishes. The retreat on the plains had been nothing more than bait to lure them into the forest. Realizing they had been neatly led into a trap, Firis looked as if she had chewed a bitter bug.

“Elraine, retreat!”

Firis shouted the instruction, looking pained. This outcome was a clear blunder brought about by her own arrogance and carelessness. They had lost many supplies. However, if they retreated now, the casualties among her subordinates could still be kept to a minimum. It was a bitter decision, but if they were exhausted any further, they would suffer an even more painful counterattack. Elraine nodded at Firis’s judgment without a second thought.

But, it was at that moment….

“What…!?”

As if to separate Firis from the battalion, a serpent of light crawled across the ground. A barrier was erected behind the trail left by the serpent, literally isolating Firis from her troops.

“This is high-level barrier magic.”

Firis clicked her tongue. Beyond the barrier, her subordinates, led by Elraine, were shouting something frantically, but their voices did not reach her. And then, the presence of a powerful foe arrived.

“Yo, General Firis. I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

Firis turned around with a composed air at the sound of that voice. The person’s navy-blue hair was cut evenly at shoulder length. In contrast to Firis’s snow-like skin, her skin was tanned a wheat color. Her appearance, which still retained a slight girlishness, nevertheless radiated a fighting spirit that could not be underestimated. Her equipment consisted only of light armor protecting her shoulders and shins, and her tight-fitting costume emphasized her modestly swelling breasts.

“So you’ve shown yourself, Tyrant Ronia Ilfitte.”

That figure was none other than the Empire’s proud berserker, Ronia. Ronia grinned ferociously and swung the massive axe she carried on her shoulder.

“If I take your head, the Empress promised me I can have one man all to myself. Sorry, but I’m gonna need you to die.”

“I have no intention of letting a selfish woman like you use up a precious male until there’s nothing left.”

Perhaps because she wanted the credit all to herself, there were other women around, but they showed no signs of attacking. Ronia desired a duel to the end.

“This is why I hate virgin old ladies from the Kingdom who’ve got a complex… Men should just be injected with drugs and straddled until they break. You only say such carefree things because you don’t know the taste of a man.”

“You…! What do you think men are!?”

“We’ve talked too much. Let’s just get to the killing.”

With those words as a starting signal, Ronia kicked off the ground toward Firis. Despite the uneven footing with tree roots crawling everywhere, she was terrifyingly fast. Ronia, holding her axe in a middle guard, dashed through as if gliding across the earth.

(What a wild child…!)

Firis clicked her tongue unreservedly at Ronia, who had turned into a literal gust of wind. Pulling the longsword at her waist in one motion, she too lowered her center of gravity to meet the attack.

“Haaaaaaaaah!!!”

“Tzaaaaaaaaah!!!”

The axe Ronia wielded was like a storm. Firis lowered her posture even further, slipping underneath it. A roar that sent chills down her spine passed just above her helm. The return strike was also beyond description. Firis swung her longsword, gripped firmly with both hands, aiming directly for Ronia’s throat. The silver trajectory flashed sharply and hissed at a high pitch.

“Too slow!”

However, Firis’s magnificent counterattack was merely an object of ridicule to Ronia. Ronia escaped the longsword with a forced postural adjustment that could only be called wild instinct; then, using the momentum of the axe’s swing, she drove the sole of her foot deep into Firis’s stomach.

“…Gah…!!!”

Even through the armor, the power was immense. Beneath her helm, Firis’s expression twisted in agony. She was blown away as she was, rolling across the ground in excruciating pain.

“I’m not done yet!”

“Guh…!”

The pursuit did not slacken. Like an arrow shot from a bow, Ronia charged until she was right on top of Firis. In that brief exchange just now, the power dynamic between the two had become clear. In a simple contest of strength, Firis was inferior to Ronia. Precisely because she understood this, Firis clicked her tongue irritably.

However, she did not let go of her longsword. Springing up as if bouncing back, she blocked Ronia’s fierce axe with all her might.

“It’s over, Firis! Die a hollow death while you’re still a virgin!”

“Guuuuuuuuuuuu…!!!”

In the intense clash of blades, however, the victory went to Ronia. It was immediately after that Firis’s longsword was violently knocked aside….

“What…!”

A split-second void opened in her thoughts. But Ronia did not miss it.

“Deaaaaaaaaah!!!”

The vicious axe traced a semicircle. Following a precise, sweeping orbit, it slammed directly into Firis’s skull. The hard sound and the shock transmitted through the axe’s handle told Ronia vividly of the direct hit.

“Ka…!”

The sturdy helm shattered into pieces, exposing her beautiful face. The force that hadn’t quite killed her gouged the flesh of Firis’s head wide open, bringing a crimson hue to her golden hair. Her weapon was also sent flying by the recoil. The conclusion was right before her eyes.

“That head, I’ll be taking it—Eh!?”

But, it was at that moment…. Firis vanished from Ronia’s sight in an instant. Or rather…

“A river!?”

The mud slipped out from under Firis’s feet, and she was lured into the flooded river at the bottom of the cliff. To think that while they were fighting, the battlefield had moved this far…

Looking down at the bottom of the cliff, Ronia’s expression twisted with regret.

“Wait, wait, wait!? What about my credit? My reward… What about my man!?”

Ronia, with actual tears welling in the corners of her eyes, looked exactly like a child who had just had her sweets taken away.

Firis’s consciousness was cut off at this point. The next time she opened her eyes, she would see a rare, black-haired handsome man who called himself “Sota.”

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