In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 324

Chapter 324: The Stepsister Knight and the Ways of the Elf

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The enemy ant-beastman soldiers had formed a tightly packed formation with their shoulders pressed together, beating drums as they advanced toward us. Naturally, in that state, they could not run, or even move at a quick pace, so their advance was surprisingly slow.

They were tightly packed and slow, basically perfect targets for shooting. If we had even a single cannon, it looked like we could blow them away with ease. But sadly, the only ranged weapons we had on hand were rifles with very limited ammunition.

“Guh… damn it all!”

Cursing in a way I could never say in front of Onii-sama, I stuck just my rifle out of the trench and fired. The recoil slammed into my shoulder, followed by a sharp crack. The white smoke that spread out made it hard to see the target, but I thought the shot probably hit. But…

“Aren’t they way too tough for how they’re dressed!? Are you kidding me!?”

Not a single one of the enemies had fallen. The bullets must have been deflected by their shields or armor. Even though they were dressed in such embarrassingly exposed outfits with their chests and stomachs wide open, why were guns not working on them!? It made no sense!

It was frustrating, but complaining would not improve the situation. I pulled a paper cartridge from my ammo pouch, bit it open, and poured the powder into the barrel. Then I inserted an acorn-shaped lead ball halfway into the muzzle and tore the wrapping paper. After that, I rammed the bullet down with a rod and attached a brass cap to the nipple at the base of the barrel. Reloading complete.

…This loading process was seriously such a hassle. If only I had one of those breech-loading rifles that Onii-sama and Josette-san used, I could fire repeatedly without all this trouble… But unfortunately, those were rare prototype weapons. There was no way one would be issued to a low-ranking trainee knight like me.

“…!”

Once again, I raised just my rifle and head above the trench and fired at the enemy. It took forever to load, but firing took only an instant. It felt so unfair. And as usual, it did not seem to work. …Or maybe I just missed? Either way, the white smoke from firing was so thick that I could not tell at all.

“Nhii! I can’t take this anymore!”

Next to me, Lotte was firing her rifle over and over with tears in her eyes. She was seriously panicking. Well, I was getting pretty close to wanting to run away too. No matter how many bullets we fired, the ant-beastmen would not go down, like they were invincible monsters. And the constant pounding of their war drums was terrifying. I felt like I was about one second away from losing it. But there was no way I was running from the enemy ever again. Imagining Onii-sama’s body being messed with in my head, I somehow endured the fear. 

…Ah, geez, I’m working this hard, so after the battle, could I at least get one chance with him!?

“They showed up out of nowhere, and they’re seriously troublesome…”

While attaching a bayonet to her rifle, Josette-san muttered. Said to be the best shot in the knight corps, she had already taken down three enemy soldiers, but it seemed she had finally run out of ammo. I tried to give her all the ammunition I had left, but she refused. Since her rifle was breech-loading, it seemed she could not use the bullets we carried. What a pain…

“If only we had mortars, those guys…”

As I rammed another round into the barrel, I grumbled. Against such a dense formation, we should have been able to win one-sidedly with artillery… It was so frustrating.

“…Everyone, how much ammo do you have left?”

Smiling faintly at me, Josette-san asked. The replies that came back were things like “One shot left!” and “I’m out of ammo,” completely hopeless reports. It seemed we were finally running out entirely.

“Cease fire. Shooting these pea shooters won’t get us anywhere. We’ll have to handle this in close combat.”

“Uraaa!”

The knights shouted half-desperately as they raised their rifles with bayonets attached. Ah, geez. So it came to this after all. I really did not want to fight those big, strong things in close quarters…

“Lotte, you stay behind me.”

I smacked the head of my underling, who was fumbling with her ammo pouch, and said that. Her shooting was not bad, but when it came to close combat, she was a bit… Well, no, she was very concerning.

She had received some sword training from Desiree-san(Okaa-sama) when we went to the royal capital, but still, the world of swordsmanship was not so easy that a crash course would be enough. With her skills, facing those monstrously strong ant-beastmen would be way too reckless.

“N-no, I mean, I can’t just do something that pathetic…”

Lotte tried to protest, but before she could finish, something dropped down from above. It was a sparrow bird-person.

“A message from headquarters! That’s all, goodbye!”

The bird-person handed a sheet of paper to Josette-san and immediately flew off. Josette-san silently read the document, and her eyebrows shot up.

“…There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“…Then the good news.”

One of the knights answered with a complicated expression, and Josette-san grinned.

“Reinforcements from Carrera City are almost here.”

“Whoa!”

“Yes! With the artillery’s firepower, those barbarians who can only huddle together like that…!”

The surrounding knights clenched their fists in relief. I nearly collapsed from the sense of relief myself. After all, the reinforcements should include an artillery unit. If we had cannons, ants would not be scary anymore.

…Not scary, but… Josette-san’s expression bothered me. That wry, bitter smile. And she did say there was bad news too, right? Maybe something was wrong…

“…So, what’s the bad news?”

When I asked nervously, Josette-san smiled brightly.

“It’ll take at least another hour for the reinforcements to arrive. We’re supposed to hold the line until then.”

“An hour!?”

I instinctively looked toward the enemy. The ant-beastmen had started throwing spears from the rear ranks. Long spears pierced into the earthen walls and overhead covers with threatening thuds. At this distance, close combat was unavoidable. Hold out for an hour from here? No, impossible. With no ammo, what were we supposed to do!?

“They’re not going to make it in time at all… those reinforcements…!”

One of the knights slammed his fist into the dirt wall in frustration. Honestly, I felt the same. A heavy atmosphere settled over the trench.

“Hey, is Josette-don here?”

At that moment, several elves arrived. One of the “Legitimate” elders, accompanied by a few elf soldiers, looking oddly cheerful.

“What is it, Elder-dono?”

Josette-san asked, clearly irritated, her tone sharp.

“Did you read the orders? Sounds like reinforcements’ll be here in an hour.”

“We read them. …The problem is how we’re supposed to buy that hour, Elder-dono. Cannons aren’t as flexible as magic. Once melee starts, we can’t expect any supporting fire.”

With a weary shrug, Josette-san replied. She was right. Once close combat began, the artillery would become completely useless. No one wanted to be hit from behind by our own cannons. Everyone understood that, which was why morale was so low.

Of course, the reinforcements were not just artillery, but even if more riflemen arrived now… Honestly, I doubted they would help much. Rifles barely worked on those things at all.

“All we gotta do is hold for an hour, right? We’ll handle it, so don’t worry.”

“Handle it… how exactly?”

“With swords. That’s the only way. We’re out of arrows too, so we’ll deal with ’em in close combat.”

Holding up a terrifying wooden sword lined with obsidian blades like a saw, the elder said that. The surrounding elf soldiers nodded eagerly.

“Close combat is unavoidable, yes… but once it turns into a melee, the cannons won’t be usable. Sure, we outnumber them, so maybe we won’t lose head-on, but…”

Josette-san trailed off. It was true we had the numbers, but on open ground, the ant-beastmen were said to be stronger than elf soldiers. It would not be an easy win, and the battle would surely turn into a brutal war of attrition. That was why we were trying to resolve things with gunfire as much as possible.

“Don’t worry. Only us elves’ll go forward. You lot protect the rear.”

The elder spoke decisively.

“We’ll buy the time, and then you can blast those damn bastards away with cannons or that heavenly fire or whatever. Simple and reliable plan, right?”

“You can’t just use cannons to target only the enemy like that!”

Josette-san shouted in exasperation. But the elder just shrugged.

“We know. Just fire on us too. Simple as that.”

“…Huh? What?”

Caught off guard, Josette-san stood there in shock. The elder, however, stepped forward confidently, her face clear and bright. Even though she was talking about such a reckless plan, her expression showed no hesitation. I could not understand it at all.

“There are still plenty of men and children behind us. We can’t let even a single one of those bugs through. We need to wipe them out here for sure. …If some elves fall to friendly fire for that, then so be it. That’s a necessary sacrifice.”

“But… still…”

“Don’t worry. From your perspective, we’re just a bunch of old crones anyway. It’s only natural for the old to die first. There ain’t a single elf woman who’d resent you for it, right!?”

When the elder called out to the surrounding elf soldiers, they all responded with a spirited “Yeah!” There was not even a hint of despair on their faces.

“It’s an elf’s honor to die protecting the young and the men. Never thought we’d get such a fine stage in these rotten times.”

“I’ve lived five hundred years already. It’s about time I have a proper death to bloom.”

Hearing her subordinates’ words, the elder nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Josette-san with a bright smile.

“Then we’ll leave the rest to you. Please pass along our regards to Blondin-dono. Farewell!”

With that, the elder leapt out of the trench. As if that were the signal, elf soldiers all along the trench line raised war cries and charged toward the enemy.

…Huh? Huh? What is this!? What is happening!?

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