In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 338

Chapter 338: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Preparation

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Taking off from the command trench atop Nael, Lady Dalaiya and I flew over the battlefield. The Aerial units, which had departed before us, had already reached the designated airspace and were waiting at a medium altitude, circling slowly. Looking closely, I could see a few Wyvern cavalrymen within the swarm as well.

“Quite a spectacle, isn’t it?”

Lady Dalaiya muttered while watching the scene. Her voice trembled slightly. Moreover, her body was shaking minutely as well. It appeared she wasn’t very fond of high places.

“Truth be told, I haven’t heard a single word about the details of the plan… What do you intend to do by launching this many Aerials at once?”

“It’s simple. My goal is to end this meaningless war even a second sooner. If that’s the case, there’s only one thing to do…”

“Right, the complete massacre of the Elves.”

Nael chimed in, her gaze fixed straight ahead.

“Incorrect. …You are as bloodthirsty as ever.”

“Aha, just a joke, a joke. Yes, this is a so-called—”

“Mantis joke.”

“That’s it! Ufu, ahahaha. That just now…We were really in sync, weren’t we? Like two souls acting as one?”

Nael laughed quite joyfully, and as an aftereffect, her body swayed unsteadily. Lady Dalaiya clung to me with a scream. While one could call it a perk of the job, truth be told, I was scared too. After all, we were merely clinging to the back of a flying creature without so much as a saddle. There was a constant fear that we might slip and fall at any moment.

“…Ahem. It’s persuasion, persuasion. I’m going to tell everyone: ‘Let’s just stop fighting already!'”

“Against those stubborn Elves and savage Ants? I don’t think they’ll stop for something so trivial…”

“Probably not. That’s why I’m using various tricks.”

After saying that, I looked around. The deployment of the aviation units seemed complete. However, the Aerials kept their distance from us and never drew near. Usually, the Sparrow-folk and others would fly over to talk to me for no reason… 

This wasn’t because of the plan’s requirements. It was simply because the Aerials were terrified of Nael. Even the Elf soldiers back at the main camp had looked at Nael with eyes clearly filled with intense fear. Since even the Elves, who were all but berserkers, reacted that way, it was only natural that the Aerials—many of whom were quite timid—would avoid her…

As Lady Dalaiya had said, it seemed the Mantis insectfolk were an object of terror for most Lisebenians. Having such a being cooperate at this timing was incredibly helpful. My “persuasion” performed with Nael at my back would certainly have quite a bit of weight to it.

“…Alright. Looks like we’re ready.”

I nodded as I pulled a drop-style signal flare from my pouch. It was a simple tool, consisting of a parachute combined with a flare. I pulled the string extending from the device, which was shaped much like a hand grenade, and tossed it out, being careful to ensure the parachute deployed correctly. A few seconds later, the signal flare—activated by a timed fuse (though it was just a length-adjusted wick)—emitted a green flash. It was the signal that preparations were complete.

“There’s going to be a loud noise, so be careful.”

Almost as soon as I warned Nael, a sound like distant thunder echoed from the direction of the main camp. Looking that way, I saw the artillery groups lined up on the riverbank emitting white smoke all at once. There were 86mm mountain guns and 60mm mortars. Almost every piece of artillery possessed by the field units of the Liseben Army was deployed there.

A moment later, massive explosion sounds resounded. The high-explosive shells fired by the artillery had landed. The impact point was, of course, right in the middle of the enemy… Of course not. If I did that, I wouldn’t know why I had killed Lady Vanka in the first place. I had no intention of playing into her hands when she desired nothing but death and destruction.

What exploded instead of the enemy camp was a bizarre rock formation located near the battlefield. It was about the size of a small office building and had a strange shape reminiscent of a monster. That rock was shaved away before our very eyes as it was showered with fierce shelling.

The concentrated bombardment didn’t end with a single volley. The mortars continued continuous fire, and the mountain gun crews reloaded and fired again as soon as they were ready. The barrage continued until the mountain gunners finished their third volley. By then, the bizarre rock had been reduced to powder, leaving no trace of its former self.

“Good, good. The effect is perfect.”

I smirked while looking down at the ground. Many of the soldiers on the battlefield were stunned by the sudden, incomprehensible demolition theater and had stopped fighting. Now was the time to strike with the next phase! I dropped a yellow signal flare. Seeing the yellow sphere of light falling slowly, the Aerial units and Wyvern cavalry dived all at once. They dropped something at an altitude just out of reach of javelins or arrows. They were large burlap sacks equipped with makeshift parachutes made from modified sheets.

“What are they throwing down?”

Lady Dalaiya raised her voice in question as she watched. The burlap sacks with parachutes didn’t explode or burst into flames when they hit the ground. It was obvious they weren’t weapons.

“Food.”

“Food!?”

“What a waste!”

Lady Dalaiya and Nael shouted at the same time.

“Why on earth would you do such a thing…?”

“About seventy percent of the reason Liseben is in such a mess is because of food shortages.”

(By the way, the other thirty percent is because of their damn nature as savage barbarians.)

“Anyway, you can’t even begin to negotiate unless the other party has a full stomach. Right?”

In fact, whether it was the Elves or the Ant-humans (and the Mantis-humans too), there was a sense that they were turning violent simply because they were starving. To solve this state of affairs, there was no choice but to supply a sufficient amount of food from the outside. That was the reason for the food drop.

Furthermore, this functioned as pressure against the enemy. After all, even we—who were at least receiving supplies by riverboats—had fallen into a situation where we had to strictly ration our food. The food situation for the Vanka faction and the Ants, who had neither a base nor supply lines, must have been far more disastrous. The enemy soldiers had to be in a state of severe starvation.

Indeed, looking at the ground, there were already places where fights had broken out over the fallen food sacks. It was like hellish ghouls swarming a spider’s silk lowered from paradise.

“This is a truly pathetic sight… It’s true they’re in no state to fight, but… sigh.”

Faced with that heart-wrenching scene, Lady Dalaiya let out a deep, deep sigh.

“It’s an inevitable story. Humans easily fall to the level of beasts when they starve. It’s the same for Mantises, Ants, and Elves.”

Nael spoke with a decisive tone. 

…This Mantis girl really is a good person at heart. 

She apparently suffered terrible things at the hands of the Elves, yet it was amazing that she could say something so kind. Becoming friends with someone like her was one of the few successes I had gained from this whole affair.

“That’s right. For people to live like people, they need today’s meal and tomorrow’s hope. But those guys are lacking both…”

I tapped Nael’s shoulder and then clung tightly to her back.

“With this, we’ve taken care of their ‘today’s meal.’ Next is tomorrow’s hope! Now, descend. We’re going to put an end to this stupid war!”

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