In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 244

Chapter 244: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Attack

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The ones who launched the attack were more than a dozen elf soldiers dressed as komusō. On our side, including myself, there were six knights. Attendants and auxiliary soldiers were excluded, since they could not be counted as combat power.

If the enemy had been nothing more than ordinary foot soldiers, the numerical disadvantage would not have mattered much. But judging from their attire, they were elves. Considering their high combat ability, a one-to-two disparity in strength was harsh. Using a large tree as a shield against the arrows fired by the komusō elf soldiers, I issued orders to my subordinates.

“Squires, fall back to the rear! Knight unit, you are authorized to fire. Hurry with the loading!”

Our Liseben Army was equipped with breech-loading rifles as well, but those were still only prototypes. The actual mainstay remained the conventional muzzle-loading rifles. The rifles carried by the escorting knights were no exception, and with practiced motions they began loading powder and bullets through the muzzle.

Even for experienced soldiers, loading a muzzle-loader took a fair amount of time. Waiting around until it was finished was dull, so I drew my pistol. However, Gilberto tapped my shoulder to stop me. She shook her head from side to side, then drew her own pistol, stuck only the revolver out from behind the tree’s cover, and fired repeatedly toward the elf group.

Naturally, firing like that offered little hope of scoring a hit. Still, it was more than effective enough as suppression. Perhaps startled by the loud gunshots and the white smoke, the enemy’s firing briefly faltered.

“Loading complete!”

All of my knights were highly skilled marksmen. Given that much time, the initial loading was finished. Without hesitation, I shouted, “Prepare to fire!” The knights stepped out from behind cover and raised their rifles. At the command “Fire!”, they pulled their triggers all at once.

If these had been smoothbore guns—firearms without rifling in the barrel—accurate hits would have been unlikely without a large volley. But what we carried were rifles. Even with this number, they demonstrated sufficient effectiveness. Almost simultaneously with the multiple gunshots and plumes of white smoke, several komusō elf soldiers screamed and collapsed to the ground.

“Reload!”

The knights retreated back into the tree’s shadow and smoothly began reloading again. The sharp kat-kat sound of ramrods pushing bullets down the barrels echoed through the area.

“My lord.”

Once again, Gilberto tapped my shoulder. This time, however, it was not to stop me. She pointed at the many elf arrows scattered around the base of the large tree.

“It looks like their arrows don’t have arrowheads.”

“…Hm.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was true. There were no arrowheads attached. They were nothing more than shafts with fletching. Of course, the bows used by elves were quite powerful, so even such things would still have some killing power, but if killing had been the goal, they would not have gone out of their way to do this.

“…I see. A warning.”

Most likely, this attack had not been intended to take my life. It was probably a warning meant to discourage my will to mediate peace, a form of intimidation. Otherwise, there was no reason for them to attack using weapons with reduced lethality.

If that was the case, merely demonstrating a threat would mean the enemy had achieved their objective. Perhaps they would withdraw even without further resistance. Thinking that, I observed the komusō elf soldiers more closely… And indeed, their attacks were easing up. Using that shabby horse-drawn cart as cover, they appeared to be preparing to retreat.

“I’d like to take one or two prisoners to confirm their true intentions, but…”

In terms of overall strength, the enemy still held the advantage. I could not afford to lose the lives of my valuable subordinates in a place like this nor my own, for that matter. If they were willing to withdraw, wouldn’t it be better to simply let them go?

“After pulling something like this, they think they can just leave safely…! That’s unacceptable.”

Gilberto, however, looked displeased. Even with her full-face helmet on, it was obvious that anger was radiating from her. Why was she this furious? Was it because her confession had been interrupted? …Yeah, that really was a confession, wasn’t it? Probably…

No, no. Thinking about unnecessary things in the middle of real combat would only cost me a battle I could otherwise win. I slapped my own cheek sharply. I understood how Gilberto felt about wanting to counterattack, but safety came first right now. I should calm her down for now. Just as I opened my mouth to speak…

“Al-sama, reinforcements!”

One of the knights who had finished reloading shouted that. In the direction she pointed, a group was charging at tremendous speed between the ridges of the fields. Unlike the komusō elf soldiers with their bizarre poncho-and-deep-hat look, these newcomers wore dark green outfits. They were too far away to see clearly, but their faces also seemed to be concealed with cloth.

“Enemy reinforcements? No… This is…”

The masked soldiers were not heading toward us, but toward the komusō elf soldiers instead. Without slowing, they raised their bows and loosed arrows. The komusō elf soldiers hurriedly took cover behind the supply cart. 

…Aren’t these guys kind of slow and clumsy for elf soldiers?

“Did we have troops dressed that strangely?”

“No… I don’t recall any.”

Gilberto shook her head as well. The komusō were enemies, so it was not strange that we did not know who they were. But those masked figures were different. They did not seem to be allies but at least, they did not appear to be enemies either. Still, not knowing who they were meant we could not let our guard down.

“Hold your fire.”

After giving that order, I pulled a spyglass from the pouch at my waist and observed the mysterious masked group. They wore dark green outfits clearly designed for forest camouflage, along with matching masks. Perhaps because the komusō hats pulled my mental image in a period-drama direction, they somehow gave off a strong ninja vibe. And their ears… those were the familiar long, bamboo-leaf-shaped ones I had already grown accustomed to seeing.

“Elf… ninjas?”

Almost at the same time as I muttered that, the one running at the front of the elf ninja group threw something resembling a shuriken at the supply cart where the komusō elves were hiding. The black-gleaming object stabbed into the cart’s cargo bed and suddenly exploded. It seemed to have been a magical shuriken.

“Gwaaaah!”

The explosion itself was not particularly large, but the clearly old cart collapsed in a single blow. As the komusō elf soldiers fled in panic, the elf ninjas launched a simultaneous assault.

The difference in skill between the two sides was brutally clear. The komusō elves drew their characteristic mountain knives—yes, mountain knives, not those wooden swords—to try to fight back, but the ninja elves skillfully wielded bows and wooden swords, suppressing them in no time at all. It was less a battle than a massacre, an overwhelmingly one-sided display of power.

“First we get attacked by a bunch of people we don’t recognize, and now we’re saved by another bunch of people we don’t recognize…”

Seriously, what the hell are these ridiculous people up to?

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