Volume 6 Chapter 41 Fate Of The Battlefield (Part I)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The ongoing ritual at Gorigan’s camp could be reset if interrupted. It took three days and nights to complete—and if anything disrupted the performance, they had to start over from the beginning. It was said to be a long-standing rule in this region, passed down like tradition.
At first glance, this rule seemed to put Gorigan at a disadvantage. After all, interrupting a three-day ritual was no easy feat. But that wasn’t the full picture.
The longer the supply line, the higher the daily cost of logistics. If the siege dragged on, it was Gorigan who might go bankrupt first. But with this rule in place, they could force the enemy into battle within three days. That kind of certainty was a strategic advantage.
For the defenders, the situation was even worse. If they couldn’t stop the ritual after three whole days, surrender might be the wisest option. Anyone could lay siege—but winning one required solid preparation and reliable commanders. If victory seemed impossible, fighting back recklessly would only lead to more loss.
Even if a lord wanted to surrender, his men might not agree. But if there was a clear reason—a failed defense, an unbroken ritual—it would be easier to convince both vassals and townsfolk.
From my point of view, knowing the bitter history of war back on Earth, this seemed more like a sport than real warfare. Kind of lukewarm. I’d read that even in medieval Europe and Japan, deaths in battle were fewer than people thought.
In this world, where resources were drained by the war against the Demon King, it made sense that large-scale destruction between humans was rare.
Still, even in a conflict like this, low-ranking soldiers could die. Local history said many deaths came not from fighting, but from illness or accidents during the march. Roads in this region often ran along cliffs, making travel dangerous. The journey itself posed the greatest risk.
To the nobles, war seemed more like a celebration. Occasionally, they held one-on-one duels between noble warriors—more like exhibitions than real fights. A few scratches, a nod of respect, and it was over. A kind of mock battle.
Ordinary soldiers probably didn’t enjoy it, but they accepted it as custom. This was nothing like the desperate war against the Demon King.
Because of how wars were fought, nobles were never supposed to kill commoners. Nobles descended from heroes, after all—and heroes weren’t meant to lose to “scum.”
That might be why Tizzy’s father silenced the vigilantes who took down Gorigan’s nobles in secret. I could understand the logic. But accepting it? That was harder.
Do soldiers naturally hesitate to strike someone of higher rank? Nobles had better gear, sure. That was already a huge difference. But in this world, levels existed—and even a commoner could surpass a noble if strong enough.
Back on Earth, the smart play was to form an elite strike team and take out the enemy general. But here, that kind of strategy wasn’t allowed.
Still… If someone changed the game, couldn’t that lead to a battlefield revolution?
What if people fought like we did against the Demon King—ruthlessly, with no hesitation? Wipe out the enemy completely. Target supply units. Even civilians.
I knew that even with such brutal tactics, people would still call you a hero if you won. They’d call it justice. And in the end… maybe that’s how the final war would begin.
Then again, in this world of gods, maybe things wouldn’t go that far. But still—this world had once fallen to ruin after a great war. That was a fact.
Ms. Shirakaba, the summoned hero and Tizzy’s fiancée, had reportedly attacked the ritual twice and stopped it both times. Even against nobles, she held back just enough not to kill.
By now, Baron Gorigan must be boiling with frustration.
I might get scolded by Duke Mineley later, but oh well. I’ll just laugh it off.
* * *
”The first time was easy,” Ms. Shirakaba said, stretching. “But the second time had traps and stuff. Got real dangerous. Once they start preparing for real, it gets a lot harder. Unlike monsters, humans think. That makes them more annoying.”
I nodded. “Well… Monsters and animals think too, just not as often in plans.”
Human warfare wasn’t just about power. A commander’s skill mattered. In light novels, genius strategists often flipped battles despite being outnumbered ten to one.
That’s military strategy. With clever plans, you could achieve victory. But rely too much on fancy tricks, or go in with half-baked ideas, and it could backfire.
There were plenty of sayings about how dangerous over-planning could be. But when it worked, the payoff was huge.
I did come up with plans. But since I had to carry them out alone, calling them full strategies felt like a stretch.
Using my “arms” was probably the safest option when things went sideways. If I extended them from a hidden place, I could take or destroy enemy equipment. That usually solved the issue.
The magic bag had a rule: it couldn’t store items owned by others. But that wasn’t absolute. I’d already taken several things from the Castor estate. Under certain conditions, there were loopholes.
Problem was, I hadn’t figured out the exact rules yet. So it was all trial and error.
How did magic define ownership, anyway?
”Using arrows is pointless,” Ms. Shirakaba said flatly. “The enemy’s arrowhead barrier is already up.”
That barrier needed mana to maintain, so it wasn’t always active. But it could block a first shot if timed right.
Which meant… my bow was useless right now.
The arrowhead barrier worked like wide-area nullification. Physical and projectile attacks just bounced off. Total cheat-level stuff. It consumed a lot of MP though, so it couldn’t stay up forever.
Tizzy said it was only good for surprise attacks. Maybe a legendary sniper could break through… but that wasn’t me.
”Oh, and depending on wind direction, the swamp’s miasma sometimes blows back toward us,” Ms. Shirakaba added. “If I don’t cast a purification barrier, it’s dangerous. But it messes with the arrowhead barrier, so I can’t use both at the same time. That’s when I can use the bow.”
”There’s really a purification barrier?” I asked. “You can cancel out sulfur dioxide gas with magic? Total cheat.”
”Is the gas hydrogen sulfide from the hot springs?”
Was Ms. Shirakaba good at chemistry too? Then again, this world might have weird magical poison gas we didn’t even know.
Multiple barriers couldn’t be active at once—that was a known downside of wide-area spells. You could avoid interference by using separate channels, but those techniques were lost long ago.
If the poison gas came with the wind, I’d have to cast purification. And while that barrier was up, I couldn’t use the arrowhead one.
If I timed it right and fired a volley of arrows during that moment, they wouldn’t be able to block it.
”Attacking when the enemy’s weakened feels cowardly,” Ms. Shirakaba muttered. “Duke Mineley probably wouldn’t like it.”
Was that really so dishonorable? Duke Mineley could be a bit rigid.
No matter how many battles he won, he might still lose the war. He’d even offer compensation for enemy casualties. Honestly, he seemed like a genuinely good man. Someone who wanted to be seen that way.
And that was the problem—his kindness often hurt his own people.
Wait. Did I even have to obey Duke Mineley’s orders?
Nope. I wasn’t his retainer or a citizen of his territory.
That’s right. I could act independently—as a volunteer army.
After all, I was a king.
If I was part of a foreign knight order, I could move at my own discretion. As long as the field commander—Tizzy—approved the movement.
Maybe I should call it the “Knights Without Borders.”
”I’ve heard that name somewhere before,” Ms. Shirakaba said. “But it’s not bad. Still, if your knight order acts dishonorably, your reputation’s gonna take a hit.”
”Then maybe a mercenary band. Gorigan hired bandits to raid villages, so cowardly tactics are fair game.”
Mercenaries weren’t bound by noble honor. They did the dirty work.
A mercenary group might be handy—for punishing villains the law couldn’t touch. This wouldn’t be a lawful state anymore, but laws here were mostly tools of the powerful anyway.
”If Gorigan’s forces get criticized, we can just say it was some random volunteer army. That works,” I said. “Maybe I’ll disguise myself and join the Borderless Mercenaries. Always wanted to go wild without worrying about rules.”
I didn’t mind being labeled a mercenary. I’d be free to hit armies hard. Ms. Shirakaba’s methods might be more extreme than they looked. Maybe she was just too nice for her own good—and bottling it all up.
”Attacking alongside miasma sounds clever,” she said. “But the wind might not cooperate~desuwa.”
”It’s fine,” I replied. “Looking at the stars, the Tatsumi wind will blow tonight.”
”Pfft! Sounds like a trap straight outta Zhuge Liang’s playbook,” she laughed. “Besides, it’s daytime. You can’t see the stars.”
”Well, I’m a Stargazer. Even during the day, I can sense the stars’ movements… or at least, I say that. I don’t actually check. It’s just for show.”
”Even if the wind doesn’t blow, I can just use ‘arms’ to push the gas myself. Same effect.”
”Presentation matters,” she said. “By the way, the maids in the next room are watching.”
I set up a makeshift altar. Scribbled a sloppy magic circle. Placed some failed biscuits and wrinkled banknotes as offerings. It all looked just mysterious enough.
”Wind, blow, blow! Bring forth the storm! Abracadabra, Rimbyo Tosha… haah!”
Ms. Shirakaba burst out laughing, holding her stomach. Tizzy’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Even the maids peeked from behind the curtain, watching in suspense.
If people from this world believed it was a real ritual, then that was enough. The con worked.
* * *
I’ve done everything I can for now. All that’s left is to wait for nightfall.
Moments like these always feel like time is crawling by, but at least there’s plenty I can do.
I summon Pii-Pii and begin meditating, using my skill to rapidly recover and transfer MP. In just a few minutes, I can store up as much magic power as an average mage. It’s not a game-changer, but like a cool breeze brushing against a hot stone, it helps a little.
Ms. Shirakaba and the others seem excited about Pii-Pii—probably because fairies like her are rare. I can’t help but feel a bit anxious that they might accidentally uncover Ms. Shirakaba’s true identity.
While meditating, I activate Radar Scan to keep an eye on our surroundings. At the same time, I manipulate my invisible arms to collect the dense, toxic gas drifting in the air.
Technically, multitasking like this during meditation should be impossible—but I’ve found that with enough practice, it’s not.
The two, now bored of playing with Pii-Pii, give me a brief summary of what happened after we parted ways.
Since the maids in the neighboring room are eavesdropping, they probably can’t say everything outright. Still, it’s enough for me to piece the situation together.
After our wild night at the fish farm, they headed straight to Kasgar.
Surviving the dragon’s nest turned them into local heroes, and Duke Mineley reluctantly approved their engagement. However, the duke’s heir remains Tizzy’s older brother—a man with a reputation for being a fool. The duke seems to have given up on him and now places his hopes in his grandson.
That said, the older brother—surrounded by a growing number of wives—has become something of a broken man. He’s trying to collect items said to boost vitality, but his condition only worsens by the day.
All the noble ladies of good families have already been sacrificed to dragons through Castor’s twisted schemes. The wives assigned to the older brother aren’t particularly attractive, and now he’s begging to be freed from them entirely.
As a man, I get it—appearance isn’t everything, but still. If a woman’s heart is kind, love could bloom… at least in theory. But apparently, Tizzy’s brother forces his wives to wear full-body robes, and only interacts with them through a small opening in the fabric.
There’s nothing romantic about that. Even medieval Europe had its dark eras, treating desire as sin and going to strange lengths for control—but this is no better.
Considering how many women hold power in this world, if such rumors got out, it could cause a political disaster.
Feeling out of place in Kasgar, the two decided to visit this region under the pretense of an inspection—though their real goal was to soak in the hot springs.
”And yet, we ran into Gorigan’s men in such a place~desuwa,” Tizzy said, sighing.
This invasion seems bigger than anything before. It started with a dispute over some alleged insult to Baron Gorigan’s relatives. They demanded all the mining engineers be handed over. When Duke Mineley tried to smooth things over with an apology, they shifted gears and demanded half of the mines—insinuating he was hiding something shameful.
The mines are the only industry the territory has. Giving up even a part of them would be disastrous. Even Duke Mineley, who’s always tried to avoid conflict, finally stood his ground.
”With the enemy right at our doorstep, it’s not exactly the best time to enjoy a hot bath,” Ms. Shirakaba murmured, peering through a gap in the wall at the red roof of the hot spring facility below. It looked luxurious—but it lay just outside the protective moat, out of reach in the current crisis.
”I heard that hot spring can make beautiful women even more beautiful,” someone chimed in.
”The kind that gives you silky-smooth skin?”
Apparently, it dissolves dead skin cells, leaving your skin soft and glowing. I remember staying at Nakano Hot Springs in Gunma with my family for two nights. After just a few dips, my skin felt brand new. Hot springs really are magical.
Just then, Pii-Pii dashed out unexpectedly. I assumed it was for reconnaissance, but it turned out she just went for a soak in the empty hot spring.
A little while later, she returned, looking refreshed and warm.
”Fairies really are so carefree~desuwa.”
”Being small and light has its perks. You can fly without worrying about the sky’s curse. The harpies we fought before had wings, but all they did was crawl around like broken birds.”
It seems the harpies are still out there. The smarter ones no longer fly. Maybe they’ll evolve into flightless creatures, like ostriches.
Thanks to a single magical development, most medium to large airborne monsters are now nearly extinct. Distributing new spells to the public needs to be handled with extreme caution.
When the Gorigan army first appeared, the tower only had two guards stationed. That seems dangerously low for such a key location—but maybe that’s considered normal during peacetime?
If Ms. Shirakaba and the others hadn’t been there, things could’ve gone very badly.
Tizzy made a swift call—sending the knight assigned to protect her off to the capital as a messenger requesting reinforcements.
With Ms. Shirakaba around, the knight wasn’t needed anyway. He would’ve just gotten in the way. Still, he did complete his mission properly. That deserves some praise.
Unfortunately, the reinforcements from Orlan turned out to be useless. I wonder how many more days it’ll take before they actually arrive?
”Wouldn’t it have been better for Tizzy to escape back then?” I asked.
”I didn’t want to run away~desuwa,” she replied firmly.
Even with Ms. Shirakaba’s strength, retreating while protecting unarmed maids wouldn’t have been easy. Escort missions are tough, even in games.
The four enemies surrounding the tower have Stealth Search abilities. They may not be a match for Ms. Shirakaba directly, but they’ll target the weak ones first, coordinating their attacks. They’re the underhanded type—probably hired through a mercenary or assassin guild.
Baron Gorigan seems adept at balancing what’s public and what’s hidden. He’s clever. By contrast, the duke might just be too straightforward. Maybe it’s because he was born into privilege—his grasp of the gray areas is too naive.
Even after checking thoroughly with Radar Scan, none of the attackers carry anything that could identify them. Still, their leader wears multiple pieces of special-effect gear.
I need to deal with those four before we move. At the very least, I have to take out their captain.
Should I summon a salamander and burn them with high heat? It might be overkill, but if they use death-return spells to escape, I have to finish them without leaving behind clues or strength.
Or maybe I should feed them false intel before eliminating them. If I can find out which guild sent them, there’s room to negotiate.
Mercenaries can be bribed—but the price has to be high. They care about loyalty too. If I offer ten times what Gorigan did, they might switch sides. That means promising long-term benefits.
Would Duke pay the bill if I charged him later? Probably not. If he had that kind of power, this situation wouldn’t exist.
Still, we did smuggle some gold. It’s been confiscated… but maybe I could use it.
”What’s wrong? You look troubled,” Ms. Shirakaba asked, leaning in. Her face was close—almost too close. Not that I minded.
For a moment, I felt the urge to kiss those perfectly shaped lips. But the maids in the next room were still listening. Besides, Ms. Shirakaba is supposed to be a man. I can’t let things get weird.
”No, I was just thinking about how Gorigan and the Duke are managing the war expenses.”
”As expected of someone who’s managing a territory,” she replied with a soft smile. “I heard you became a king. Congratulations—though it’s a bit late.”
Ms. Shirakaba pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from her pocket. It was a Japanese pamphlet with the title *Otherworld News Issue 87*—a two-color print, half a page in size, like a supermarket flyer.
These Japanese-style mini-newspapers fetch a high price in the capital. The summoned Heroes, starved for content in their native language, are more than willing to pay. The publisher must be doing pretty well.
Maybe I should consider starting a newspaper myself. The market’s still wide open.
The top article talked about how I became king. It detailed my rise as a summoned Hero. Reading it made me a bit embarrassed.
Some summoned heroes have been granted noble titles before—but I’m the first to become a monarch.
There was also a snide comment suggesting I was made king because I’m so incompetent that the otherworlders could easily manipulate me. It’s… not entirely untrue.
People in this world likely prefer weak, manageable heroes. That way, they can dispose of them the moment they become inconvenient.
”My efforts to support you so much…” Tizzy whispered, her eyes starting to glisten with emotion.
Maybe she misunderstood. Even though she’s a minor noblewoman, marrying a king wouldn’t be that strange.
Stories of men rising to be with the woman they love are incredibly popular among the noblewomen here. It’s rarely possible in real life—but they’re not chasing fairy tales. They’re drawn to the strength behind the dream.
My ascension to king was mostly chance. But I can’t ruin Tizzy’s fantasy. I’ll read the room—and keep the truth to myself.
Notes:
• Tizzy – Claims to be Duke’s daughter, a noble with advanced magic skills. MC and Ms. Shirakaba lover.
• Shirakaba – A paladin who seems to be a skilled fighter. He’s introduced as someone with a strong defense and healing abilities.
• Baron Gorigan – A neighboring noble, managing a modest but wealthy mine; involved in recent conflicts and associated with a noble family with historical ties to the royal family.
• Kasgar – The capital of Duke Mineley Territory. Located in a mining region, it is known for its acetylene lamps and mica windows. The city is bustling, with taverns and merchants, but it lacks the exotic charm of the royal capital.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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