In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 305

Chapter 305: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Counterattack Preparations

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The confirmed enemy force numbered in the several hundreds. Considering the scale of the Vanka faction, the way they had gathered their troops could only be interpreted as an attempt at a decisive battle. However, given their inferior strength, it would be difficult for them to defeat us head-on. I had assumed they would avoid a decisive engagement and instead stick to guerrilla tactics… This was an unexpected move.

“What do you think the enemy is planning?”

After issuing orders to prepare for battle, I asked Sonia that question. The unit that appeared to be the enemy’s main force was approaching us from the southern forest, and at present, Lady Dalaiya’s unit was intercepting them.

The enemy was a fairly large force, and I wanted to avoid clashing with them inside the forest. Even though we had taken measures against friendly fire, I still wanted to avoid the kind of chaotic melee we experienced the other day. If possible, I wanted to lure them out onto the riverbank, surround them, and finish them off with gunfire. That plan had already been conveyed to Lady Dalaiya via bird messengers.

“It looks like desperation to me. The Vanka faction is already at a disadvantage in terms of strength, and if we return to Carrera City, they will be forced into a siege. Before their chances get any slimmer, they decided to gamble everything on a decisive battle… that’s the impression I get.”

With her arms crossed, Sonia said that. Then she lightly tapped the armor of her gauntlet with her finger and shook her head.

“…However, the opponent is an elder who has lived for over a thousand years, a strategist of unfathomable cunning. I don’t think they would so easily abandon reason and start gambling. In other words, this appearance of desperation is likely a bluff.”

“I agree.”

I nodded as I recalled my impression of Lady Vanka. She gave the impression of someone who had gone mad while still retaining her reason. Of course, she would be the kind of commander who would choose even a dangerous plan if necessary, but precisely because of that, I didn’t think she would so easily throw the game away.

If she had changed her policy and gathered her forces like this, then she must have seen some kind of path to victory. Most likely, she intended to draw our attention to the decisive battle force while setting something else in motion.

“In that case, there’s a possibility that their real objective lies elsewhere. For example, they could secretly infiltrate a strategic-class mage from another direction and hit our flank with a full-force strike…”

Strategic-class magic referred to spells used in sieges to destroy castle walls, fortifications, and gates. In our world, it would be equivalent to siege artillery in terms of destructive power, making it extremely dangerous.

Of course, the greater the power, the more difficult it is to use. Generally, this kind of magic requires multiple mages working together to construct the spell formula (though in rare cases, there are cheat-like mages who can cast it alone), and it takes a considerable amount of time to activate. For that reason, it is rarely used in field battles… but there’s always the possibility. We couldn’t afford to be careless.

“That’s possible.”

Pressing her hand to her brow, Sonia agreed. She was probably remembering the Liseben War. Even in that battle half a year ago, we had been forced to swallow a bitter defeat from a single strike of strategic-class magic. Elves were a race that excelled in magic. It wouldn’t be strange if they could do something similar.

“…In that case, leaving our troops out on the open plain as they are would be bad.”

I didn’t want to fight elves in the forest. That was what I thought, but this line of thinking itself might have been guided by Lady Vanka. If they intended to wipe us out with a large-scale spell, it would be more convenient for them if we stayed on open ground.

“There are two options. Either we disperse our troops, or we dig trenches. Sonia, which do you think is better?”

“The latter. If we choose the former, we won’t be able to avoid being defeated in detail. This riverbank isn’t wide enough to disperse troops in such numbers…”

Looking around, Sonia said that. She was right. Even after Lady Dalaiya had taken his forces and advanced, nearly seven hundred soldiers still remained in the main force. In addition, there were over a hundred non-combatants, including civilians and servants. If we divided a group this large into smaller units, we would lose control.

“True. And we also have people we need to protect. We can’t afford to weaken our defenses too much… so trenches it is.”

I felt like sighing internally. This was a riverbank. The ground was sandy, far from ideal for digging. Still, we had no other choice. We would have to make do somehow.

“Orphan-dono, do you have anyone among your people who can use earthworks magic?”

Earthworks magic was, as the name suggested, a general term for magic used in construction and similar tasks. If we were to prepare for strategic-class magic, we had to dig trenches, but there was no way we could finish in time if we started digging by hand now. We needed to use magic to complete the work all at once.

“I’m already your subordinate, so you can just call me Fezaria. …Earthworks, you mean digging magic? It doesn’t suit elves very well, so there aren’t many users. In my unit, there are only about twenty.”

It seemed that Orphan-shi, now Fezaria, had liked that I had casually called her by name earlier. Well, if the “Legitimate” faction was now under our command, it might be fine to be that informal.

…Putting that aside, we were talking about field fortifications. She modestly said about twenty, but that was more than enough. There were very few users of this kind of magic, and even the entire Liseben army only had a handful of them. For a race that was supposedly not suited to it, elves were still absurdly overpowered.

“Alright, sorry, but lend me all of them. I’ll call over an engineer, so have them dig according to her instructions. Okay?”

“Understood.”

Fezaria nodded, then called out to several subordinates and ordered them to gather all the earthworks magic users. After that, she turned back to me.

“But, Albert-dono. If the enemy has a hidden trick, I don’t think it’s necessarily magic.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we think in conventional terms, they might be planning to use a separate unit to encircle us from two directions.”

“Hmm.”

Taking out a map of the surrounding area from my waist pouch, I let out a small grunt. The river curved in this area, forming a bowl-like shape, making it ideal terrain for an encirclement.

“Certainly, that’s a more reliable and practical tactic than using strategic-class magic. But do they even have the manpower to split their forces? The Vanka faction already has limited numbers. Since we’ve already confirmed several hundred enemies, I doubt they have the spare strength to form a capable detachment.”

If they attempted an encirclement with insufficient forces, that would actually work in our favor. We could defeat them in detail with ease. Fezaria nodded at my argument, but her expression remained serious.

“That’s why they might have reinforcements. Besides elves and birdfolk, there are other inhabitants in this land. Of course, they’re probably in a dire situation due to the famine… but it wouldn’t be strange if some of them had joined hands with Vanka.”

At Fezaria’s words, Sonia openly frowned.

“So there are still more barbarians…”

She muttered in genuine exasperation. I completely agreed, but complaining now wouldn’t change anything. After all, we had already spent quite some time dealing with elves, who were among the worst of the barbarians. I had built up some resistance. A few new ones appearing wouldn’t faze me.

“I see… If there’s a possibility of an ambush where they retreat, we can’t recklessly move the civilians. Let’s commit to a defensive battle here. We have the Michael Collins, so even if the enemy gains reinforcements, we can still repel them.”

At present, we were moving north along the riverbank of a great river. It was essentially a situation with our backs to the water, but because the river was so large, crossing it would be extremely difficult. The river itself functioned as a natural wall. It was relatively suitable terrain for defense.

“Which means, first, we dig. At the very least, individual foxholes. Ideally, even a small trench line. We need to protect the men and the kids from enemy arrows and bullets…”

At my words, Sonia and Fezaria both nodded firmly.

…We had no time to spare. There was no way manual digging would be fast enough, so the earthworks mages would have to do their best.

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