Vol 3 Chapter 59 – Battle with Ganarkin【Empire War Arc】

A pledge requires both parties to wager something. Eiden wagered full ownership of the mine, while Ganalkin wagered the cession of approximately 100 kilometers of territory extending from the mine on Ganalkin’s side.

At first glance, it might seem like Ganalkin’s risk was far too great, but the land to be handed over was barren territory—it meant nothing to him.

The two lords separated.

The enemy was a mixed force of mercenaries and knights numbering around 30; Roy’s side had about 20. It seemed disadvantageous, but they had three relic wielders—the holy sword, the magic staff, and the holy spear. Strategically, the advantage was theirs.

Then Eiden gave Dart his orders.

“Dart, I need you to fall back and take the detour route to enter the mine from the rear.”

“But I can’t! I should go with you—”

“No. When we arrived, Ganalkin may have been doing something inside. I need you to investigate that.”

“…Is it because I’m inferior to Roy-dono?”

Dart asked Roy and the others, but Eiden shook his head.

“In direct combat, you’re certainly inferior to him, but you know this land better than Roy-kun, and you’re more familiar with the mine’s interior, aren’t you? It’s about putting the right person in the right place.”

Eiden was right. If they told Roy and the others to take the detour, Roy—who had just arrived in this region—would take far too long, and there was no way he could tell what was different inside the mine from usual.

But even so, Dart persisted.

“Still, it doesn’t have to be me… Wouldn’t one of my subordinates work?”

“I’m asking you specifically. I believe you can handle this.”

“Dart, please… I’ll take command.”

At Eiden and Sophia’s entreaties, Dart made a bitter expression and saluted.

“—Yes sir! I humbly accept your orders!”

And then Dart ran off.

☆☆☆

As both sides glared at each other, Ganalkin’s side was the first to move.

Knights fired arrows in an arc.

“Leave it to me! Bless Shield: Large Umbrella!”

The Bless Shield that Yukino produced moved horizontally above Roy and the others’ heads and instantly expanded. As a result of her growth during the Battle of Grentze Fort, Yukino had become able to enlarge her shield and throw it like a boomerang.

Her role was that of a healer who scattered Feo Regenerate while striking with her shield. However, the downside was that if she expanded the shield too much, it could shatter.

Clang! Clang!

The arrows fired in an arc had no chance of penetrating, and they succeeded in closing the distance.

“Well done, Yukino! Now we can engage in close combat!”

Yukino nodded and then used area healing magic.

“Ul Regenerate—Everyone, do your best!”

The Ul-series Regenerate that Yukino used was area-specialized; the amount was less compared to the Feo series, but its great strength was that it could be quickly distributed to everyone around her as a buff.

The knights switched to swords and spears and engaged Roy’s group in close combat.

Roy tried to quickly attack Ganalkin directly, but three heavy knights blocked him.

The silver decoration similar to Sophia’s spear had probably caught their eye. It was clearly a formation that took into account that it was a holy weapon.

“—Damn! Having a conspicuous sword is a real problem!”

He dodged a heavy knight’s great hammer and immediately slashed, but when Roy saw a greatsword in his peripheral vision, he crouched to avoid it.

Whoosh!

“Whoa! They’re more coordinated than the Kingdom’s elite… This is going to take some time.”

While avoiding the following greataxe, he glanced at his companions and saw Sophia facing off against heavy knights just like him.

Like Roy, she would plant her spear in the ground after dodging and deliver a spinning kick, or strike helmets hard with the butt of her spear after deflecting—she was performing evasion and attacks almost simultaneously.

Because of that, the great spear user whose stamina had drastically decreased was run through the side and fell to the ground while Roy was watching.

(Hmm, that’s instructive. But you can’t fight the same way with a spear and a sword—so then!)

After avoiding a downward sword slash by turning his body, he stepped onto the greatsword and delivered a fatal blow to the knight. Naturally, the obstructing great hammer came at him, so he shot out the holy sword to force a defensive action.

(If I resummon it to my hand, the greatsword knight will have recovered.) Thinking this, Roy shoved Fragarach’s dagger into a gap in the armor near the ribs and kicked upward with all his might.

“—Goff!“

The heavy knight collapsed, bleeding from his helmet.

With the advancement of magic circle embroidery techniques, clothing now possessed defense comparable to armor. Because of this, recent trends had accelerated toward lighter equipment, and the only ones who still wore full heavy armor were heavy knights and guys like Kairo.

If Roy’s dagger attack had been against lightly armored opponents, they might have been able to dodge it by arching their backs. No, even in heavy armor, if they’d let go of their weapons, they could have dodged… The reason they didn’t was because the pride unique to heavy knights got in the way.

The two remaining heavy knights retreated while readying their respective weapons.

“Just two left, huh… Having a big weapon that reduces the number of strikes was a real disadvantage for them.”

Roy picked up his dagger and stood up languidly, pointing the holy sword at the heavy knights to intimidate them.

“All right, round two. Prepare yourselves.”

As Roy kicked off the ground and charged, the heavy knights swallowed hard and faced him.