In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 321

Chapter 321: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Urgent Report

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“…Sorry, can you say that one more time?”

“Her Majesty the Queen-mom… Her Majesty the Queen-mom set up Big Sis!”

I had happily welcomed the envoy from the ant army, but the words that came out of her mouth were completely different from what I had hoped for. Sweating coldly, I asked again, and the envoy, her body trembling with anger, slammed her fist onto the command table. The writing tools and maps on top of it jumped into the air for a moment.

Sonia, seated beside me, shot a sharp glare at the envoy. Sonia already had a naturally intimidating gaze, but when she got serious, even battle-hardened soldiers would break into a cold sweat. The envoy turned pale, though it was hard to tell with her dark skin, and lowered her head.

“S-sorry. I got a bit too heated.”

“Our Queen-mom is a rather cunning person. Every time Big Sis brought up peace talks, she kept dodging and weaving… but it seems she was secretly cooking up some strange scheme with that old hag Vanka behind the scenes.”

The envoy’s face was drenched in cold sweat. It did not look like she was acting. When I handed her a cup of hot water, she bowed and then gulped it down in one go. Each time she tilted the cup, her fully exposed large chest swayed dramatically, but the situation was so dire that not a single impure thought crossed my mind.

“…It seems Queen-mom plans to show off her own strength first before joining hands with you. She is worried that if things stay like this, she will be looked down on and stripped of everything…”

“I see…”

Dalaiya muttered with a troubled expression, arms crossed.

“There is an old elven proverb. ‘If you want negotiations to go smoothly, strike your opponent once first.’ If you are looked down upon, negotiations cannot even begin. Therefore, it is crucial to demonstrate strength first… that is what it means.”

I get what it is trying to say, but that proverb sounds like it has no trace of intelligence or reason…

“Her Majesty is probably thinking along the same lines. To sit at the negotiating table after taking nothing but losses is the same as admitting defeat… would she not think that?”

“Hmm…”

That way of thinking was certainly not wrong. The ants had been forced to retreat in the previous battle after their signature dense formation was broken. It was only natural for their leadership to interpret that as a defeat.

If they entered negotiations while on a losing streak, they would be presented with one-sided unfavorable terms. Then at the very least, they should land one blow before beginning peace talks. That kind of thinking delaying the end of a war was something that happened often in wars in my previous life as well.

“You say they are planning something… but what exactly are they intending to do? It should not be so easy to break through this trench line.”

Sonia asked in an extremely displeased tone, tapping the command table lightly with her index finger. She was probably simulating the enemy’s next move in her head.

“It seems they are planning to attack from underground. We army ant-type insectoids are not good at digging, but another group among us… the leafcutter types are being mobilized.”

“From underground? So they are aiming for tunnel warfare…”

The tactic of digging tunnels to attack fortified positions or strongholds from below was a very classic one. It had been commonly used in siege warfare both in my previous world and in this one. Of course, I had considered the possibility that the enemy might use such a method. However…

“But this is a riverbank, you know? The soil is mostly sand and collapses easily, and more importantly, water springs up with just a bit of digging. If you try to make tunnels in a place like this, you will end up eternally resting in a brand-new burial method combining burial and drowning.”

I nudged the large amount of water pooled at my feet with my toe. Even digging the trench slightly deeper had caused this much water. If they tried to dig tunnels large enough for people to pass through, they would surely be swept away and drown in the water that gushed out. This plan was far too unrealistic.

“That is what I thought too.”

However, the envoy averted her gaze and pouted.

“It seems the elves are brute-forcing drainage and tunnel reinforcement with magic. A joint effort between elves and ants, you could say.”

“Huh?”

Huh?

“According to Queen-mom, they should be able to launch a full-scale attack today.”

“You have got to be kidding…”

What the hell! Why are these barbaric people of Liseben so absurdly good at pulling off insane stunts like this! Give me a break! Use that ability and motivation for something constructive, like building farms or something!

I felt like drinking myself into a stupor, but unfortunately I was on duty, and we were out of alcohol anyway. I had no choice but to stay sober and push through. I finished the hot water and somehow calmed myself.

“You said a full-scale attack today? …If they intended to continue negotiations, I would have appreciated being informed a bit earlier.”

“Queen-mom was hiding the tunnel digging from Big Sis! She knew Big Sis and you folks in Liseben were connected…”

Is that true? …Well, whether it is true or not does not matter much. 

Since they sent this information before the attack began, it seemed the ants still had some intention to negotiate. For now, the top priority was to crush their scheme. Settling accounts could come later.

“…Fine. For now, you are planning to dig tunnels and break through our position… that much is certain, right?”

“Yes.”

The envoy nodded, her shoulders slumping. Then she took something out from her pocket and handed it to me.

“This is Big Sis’s way of apologizing for the delayed report. Please accept it.”

…What she forced into my hand was a human finger. Judging by its shape, it was definitely a thumb. 

Whoa, she just casually chopped it off as an apology. And a thumb, no less. That is some serious commitment… Well, ants have four arms, so they naturally have twenty fingers in total. Maybe each finger is only worth about half as much as ours…

“And later, we will also send you as many of the narcotic mushrooms cultivated by our leafcutter group as we can. So please, at least forgive Big Sis. This whole incident was Queen-mom acting on her own. Big Sis tried to stop her. This situation does not reflect Big Sis’s true intentions…”

“I do not need narcotic mushrooms…”

Leafcutters… so that meant leafcutter ant-type insectoids, right? The kind of ants that cultivate mushrooms using leaves… a special species.

Well, if there are army ant-type insectoids, it is not strange for there to be leafcutter types too, but… they are making narcotic mushrooms? What is wrong with Liseben? Is it filled only with lunatics?

“A-anyway, we need to hurry and prepare to intercept them. The enemy will emerge from underground. First, we need to detect sounds and vibrations to figure out where they will come out from…”

The moment I said that, a heavy collapsing sound echoed around us, as if the ground had sunk. A split second later, the cries of battle and the blare of a signal horn announcing an enemy attack struck my ears. It seemed the entrance to the enemy’s tunnel had appeared right in the middle of our position… we were already too late!

“…Well, that saves us the trouble of searching! Begin interception, hurry!”

Ah, what a complete mess!!

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