I Was Reincarnated as the Villainous Knight Commander Who Betrays Everyone at the End, So I Plan to Leave the Fake Hero’s Party with the Exiled Girl Who’s Actually the True Hero! ~While Watching Over the Protagonist Up Close, I Somehow Ended Up Destroying the Whole Scenario~ - 22

Chapter 22: The Villainous Knight Commander Is Running Awayyy!!

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We were in a forest near Cottolk Village. According to the scouts’ information, it seemed the orcs had built a settlement deep in this forest. By the time the sun had already set and darkness fell, Sakuna and I were making our way toward the orc settlement under the cover of night.

“Fufun~♪ See? Lars-dono, you are the same as me after all!!”

“Don’t lump me together with you… But, well, I can’t deny it. My proposal was definitely one of a battle maniac.”

“I am not a battle maniac. Don’t equate me with you. I simply love getting stronger.”

Th-This woman…

“Still, I never imagined you’d be the only one to go along with my plan, Sakuna-dono.”

“Launching a night raid on the orc den with a small team to exhaust or in the best possible scenario, eliminating them, when they let their guard down, and then launching an all-out attack after we’ve reduced their numbers… Strategically speaking, it’s an excellent plan.”

Sakuna restated the strategy I had proposed to defeat the orcs.

“I thought it was a perfectly reasonable plan myself.”

“I agree. Being stuck in a situation where they can’t let their guard down is threatening in itself. If they never know when we’ll strike, the orcs will only waste their stamina and mental fortitude for nothing.”

“Then why didn’t the private soldiers of Tiana agree? They were all completely against it.”

When I proposed my plan, the soldiers’ responses were unanimous. In short: “Absolutely not.”

“I misjudged them. They may have received some training, but they haven’t done any night marching exercises. They’re private soldiers, not the royal army.”

“…Hmm, I see. In the Azure Kingdom, night marches are standard practice, so I forgot that’s not the case here.”

“Azure Kingdom!! Lars-dono, you know about the knights of that land?”

“Ah, well, yes.”

Sakuna’s eyes began to sparkle.

“Oh!! I’ve always wanted to visit there. I’ve heard that every knight of that kingdom is a warrior worth a thousand men! I’d love to fight them!!”

“…Uh, y-yeah, is that so.”

Even though they were called worth a thousand, all of them quickly wore themselves out sparring with me. Occasionally there were some with real backbone, but for some reason they always ended up quitting the order.

That was especially true after I became the Knight Commander. Before regaining my memories of my past life, I thought they all hated me. To be honest, I had found my heart crushed more than once. However, after regaining my memories, I understood.

“Well, you know. The Azure Kingdom’s knight order has a harsh training regimens.”

The problem was me. All of the training regimens I—or rather, Lars—came up with were ridiculously harsh. Of course the knights would quit under that.

“By the way, what about Ciel-sama?”

“She’s providing rear support. That girl can make potions, after all.”

Ciel sneaking along wasn’t all bad. Originally, in this defense battle, half of the private soldiers were supposed to die. That was because they would run out of the healing potions they needed to treat their wounds. But if someone who could make potions was present, how would that change things?

The outcome would be vastly different. Still, I was worried, so I planned to end things quickly so the defensive battle wouldn’t even be necessary. That way, the chances of Ciel getting hurt would drop significantly—and Tiana’s soldiers wouldn’t die needlessly either.

“And so…”

I lay prone on a small hill and observed the orc settlement from there. It looked like the orcs were gathered around a fire, having a feast. What they were eating at that feast was…

“Hmm. Even if it’s for their survival, seeing humans being roasted whole and eaten isn’t exactly pleasant.”

“Agreed. Still, depending on the country or culture, humans also eat orcs. We can’t exactly condemn them for it.”

“That’s true.”

Orcs ate humans. But humans also ate orcs. It was mutual. To them, humans were probably just harmful beasts who ate their own kind. So I really couldn’t blame them for eating humans.

Besides, orc meat was practically identical to pork. I was shocked when I learned that the “pork” I’d eaten as a child was actually orc meat. Because orcs—depending on the individual—could speak the same language as humans.

Eating someone you could communicate with? That was impossible. Even before I regained my past-life memories, I avoided eating orc meat for that reason. Now that I had those memories back, it was absolutely unthinkable for me to eat orc meat.

“Alright, their numbers…”

“From what I counted, about 150 or so.”

“Amazing. I could only see the orcs gathered around the fire.”

“I have good night vision, you see.”

That was really something to envy about.

“You can’t see them?”

“With the moonlight, I can make out vague outlines, but only if I get close. So I usually rely on sensing their presence.”

“…From my perspective, that’s even more impressive.”

Well, they say the grass is always greener on the other side.

“But 150, huh? That’s more than the scouts reported. Some must have returned from hunting or something.”

“What do you want to do? I think it’d be best if I went ahead and cut them down myself.”

“That’s just because you want to enjoy yourself, Sakuna-dono.”

I couldn’t let Sakuna go alone. She’d lose an arm and become a non-factor in the battle. That would be a huge problem at this stage.

“I’ll take the front and draw their attention. Sakuna-dono, find openings and eliminate them. But don’t push yourself. Just take them down one at a time, reliably.”

“That sounds boring… But very well.”

“…I’m worried.”

Even so, I dashed down from the hill and charged straight into the orc settlement.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

“E-enemy!! Human!! Enemy attack!!”

My roar alerted the orcs, and they swarmed toward me with stone spears in hand. There were about ten of them. No, more than that—and they were increasing in number. Hearing the commotion, more orcs were streaming in from every part of the settlement.

“Human!! Die!!”

One of the orcs lunged at me with a stone spear, full of murderous intent. Orcs boasted many times the strength of an adult human male. A thrust from that immense power could easily pierce a human body.

Unfortunately for them, I was clad in armor. Unless they had an appropriate weapon, they wouldn’t be able to pierce my armor. The stone spears the orcs carried certainly weren’t up to the task.

“Nuuh!!”

“G-Giih!? He’s strong!!”

I swung my spear with brute force and sent the leading orc flying. Then I drove my spear into the fallen orc’s skull, making sure to finish him off. My job was to create a diversion.

Normally, Sakuna would be the one finishing off the enemies, but I’d kill them when I could. As I took out another one—

“The General! The General is here!”

Suddenly, the orcs let out a loud cheer. Following their gazes, I saw an especially large orc.

“…An upper-class Orc General, huh.”

“Guhahaha!! Coming here alone?! How foolish of you!!”

“You speak surprisingly fluently.”

He was taller than I was. His weapon looked like a tree ripped straight from the ground—a massive club. That thing would smash right through my armor.

My prized tower shield could probably deflect it, but… My role was to distract them, to be bait. So the choice I had to make here wasn’t to defeat the Orc General.

I turned my back on the Orc General.

“Huh?”

“RUN AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!”

I sprinted full speed through the dark forest. The Orc General glared at my fleeing figure, face reddening with rage, and bellowed.

“You bastard!! Don’t run, you coward!! Don’t ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!”

The Orc General desperately chased after me, but his massive frame made the forest’s trees a hindrance. I skillfully lost him in the woods and reunited with Sakuna.

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