Extra Story: The Story of a Certain Group of Adventurers 2 (part 1)

It happened a few days before the ultimatum to the three dukes.

I was in a dark room with Hakuya, poring over a big map of this country that was

spread out across the table. There were pawns of various sizes, all shaped like

upside-down "T"s, at various points on the map.

At the point representing the royal capital, Parnam, there was a large pawn and a

medium-sized pawn. In the central city of the Carmine Duchy, Randel, there were

four large pawns. In the central city of the Vargas Duchy, Red Dragon City, there was

a single pawn that was smaller than the others. These T-shaped pawns represented

the forces positioned in each location.

Hakuya was using a long stick to explain each of the pawns.

"The large pawns represent a force of 10,000, the medium ones a force of 5,000,

and the small ones a force of 100. In other words, the number of troops you can

mobilize is 15,000, while Duke Carmine has gathered around 40,000. There were

many deserters from the Army, such as Glaive Magna, but they seem to have made

up their losses from that with the personal troops of the nobles who were engaged

in corruption."

"So, no change to the numerical values, there, huh," I said.

"Correct. Furthermore, according to the information we received from Duchess

Walter, Duke Vargas has done as he declared he would. He has not called up the Air

Force. It seems he intends to go into battle with only 100 of his own troops."

"Hm... Still, if they're Castor's troops, they're all wyvern cavalry, right?" I picked

up one of the medium-sized pawns from beside the map and replaced the small

pawn at Red Dragon City with it. "I've heard a single wyvern knight can do the work

of 500 soldiers from the Army. If we're looking at comparative power, we should

think of them as being equivalent to 5,000 of our troops. Even if there are only 100

of them, we can't afford to underestimate their power."

"I am awed by your astute powers of observation." Hakuya bowed reverently. He

made a big deal of it, but I knew he was probably just flattering me.

"Please, stop. I take no joy in being able to point out how bad the situation is for

us."

"I suppose not," he said. "It appears as though the situation is still worsening,

too..."

With those words, Hakuya placed three large pawns on the southwest border

with the Principality of Amidonia. These three large pawns represented the forces of

Amidonia which were about to invade this country.

"The armies of the Principality of Amidonia are prepared to advance through the

valleys of the Ursula Mountains to invade," he said.

"Their total manpower was 50,000 or so, right?" I asked.

The Principality of Amidonia was only half as powerful a nation as the Elfrieden

Kingdom. Because of that, they could only maintain half the standing army. On top of

that, the Principality of Amidonia shared borders with three other countries in

addition to us, so they had to leave troops to defend against them.

"Given their circumstances, 30,000 is a lot to be sending," I said.

"You can see how serious Gaius is just from that, I suppose," he replied. "He is

ready to win or die trying."

"That's just going to mean problems for us," I sighed. "...What will the principality

do from here?"

"They likely mean to occupy the southwestern city of Altomura," he replied.

"Once Altomura falls, they will sweep all opposition from the surrounding area and

move to secure the grain-producing region. Once they have de facto control of this

area, I expect they will declare it part of their domain."

Gaius was mobilizing his army with the resolve to win or die trying, but then he

was just going to do the equivalent of burglarizing a building while it was on fire.

"For all his resolve, he's not doing much," I said.

"With the manpower Amidonia has, I believe this is the most they could

accomplish," Hakuya responded. "If they get too out of hand, the nobles who have

been taking a wait-and-see approach to your conflict with Duke Carmine would

likely gather to your side, after all."

"I see... What's the strength of our border defense force?" I asked.

Hakuya moved the medium-sized pawn that was in Parnam to the southwest

border. "I have already dispatched 5,000 from the Forbidden Army to the area near

the border."

"We're sending a land force of 5,000 to face a force of 30,000 which will have air

forces as well, huh..." I murmured.

We were outnumbered by more than six-to-one. I had known this would be the

case, but... I didn't feel good about those numbers.

"...How long can they hold out?" I asked.

"Even if they shut themselves up in the fortress near the border, they would be

doing well to last a day," he responded. "The intent is only to buy time, so the

commander has been ordered not to be reckless, and to carry out a staged retreat."

"That's easier said than done... She can pull it off, though, I guess. But even if we

assume the troops are fine with all this... what do you plan to do about the people

living in the area?" I turned a harsh eye towards Hakuya.

Unless they were expecting an ambush, armies would avoid the steep slopes and

advance along roads across flat land. Those roads saw the daily coming and going of

people, and people gathered at them to form towns and villages. There would be

towns and villages at points along the route the armies of the principality would be

advancing through to reach Altomura, as well.

"We don't have long before the armies of the principality strike," I added. "Should

we issue a royal order to encourage them to evacuate?"

When I asked that, Hakuya shook his head silently. "Please, refrain. If we show

we are aware of the principality's intentions, their armies will be on alert. It could

make all our preparations for naught."

"...You're telling me to abandon them?"

"I believe we have no other choice," Hakuya said firmly, his eyes never wavering

from my glare. "Now that you have made the decision to fight, sire, you must be

aware that that means the blood of your people will be shed. As king, sometimes you

must swallow your tears and be prepared to make sacrifices to save a greater

number of people."

Hakuya said this with a serious look on his face. It might have sounded cold, but

he was taking it upon himself to say the things he knew would hurt for me to hear.

So that I couldn't run away from making those choices.

"...Yeah," I said. "I get what you're saying. That's probably the more guaranteed,

safer way. But... is it really the only option?"

He said nothing.

"On this occasion, I don't mind if the method is a little bit rough, or dangerous," I

added.

With a war coming, there was going to be some number of people sacrificed no

matter what I did. Even so, if I didn't work to lower those numbers to the absolute

minimum, that wasn't being safe, it was being negligent.

"I'll take whatever you've got," I said in a strained voice. "Is there something,

anything we could do?"

Hakuya paused for a moment to think. Then... he let out a sigh, shrugging his

shoulders in exasperation. "And here I had thought you had been acting quite kingly

of late, sire."

"I've still got a long way to go if I let compassion get the better of me, is that it?" I

asked.

"If you are aware of that, then very well. Good grief... It seems I have no choice."

For all his complaining, this was the closest I had seen to a smile on Hakuya's face

in some time. It seemed that even Hakuya had some reservations about abandoning

the people along the highway to their fates.

"I do have one idea," he said. "However, this is a rather rough method..."

The plan he proposed was definitely very rough. For the people along the

highway, it was sure to be a real nuisance. Still... it was far better than abandoning

them.

"Let's go with that plan," I said. "There's little time. Contact the adventurers' guild

at once."

"By your will."

◇ ◇ ◇

Unidentified monsters had appeared in the southeast of the Elfrieden Kingdom.

The monsters were bipedal and humanoid, had patchwork, clown-like bodies,

and their heads were on fire. These were monsters that had never been discovered

before.

From their appearance, the monsters came to be known as flame pierrots.

Flame pierrots would appear in groups, attack a village, then use the flames on

their heads to set houses aflame. While it wasn't common for a new species of

monster to appear like this, in a world where there were dungeons everywhere, it

was far from unheard of. These flame pierrots had no doubt been born in some

dungeon or another.

Dealing with new monsters like these was mainly a job for adventurers. So, soon

after reports of the flame pierrots came in, a quest was issued by the adventurers'

guild. "Protect the refugees displaced by flame pierrot attacks," it said.

This quest had been issued by a kingdom under the king's own name. It seemed

that the king's first thought had been to evacuate people from the villages near

where the flame pierrots were appearing. However, the current king, King Souma,

and the General of the Army, Georg, were currently in a state of conflict, so he

couldn't afford to dispatch troops.

By having the guild issue a quest, he had probably hoped to have adventurers

protect the refugees. As a quest issued by a country, it seemed like there would be a

good payout for it, so all of the adventurers accepted the quest and worked to

protect the refugees.

Here, too, there was another party that had accepted that quest.

There was their leader, the young and muscular swordsman, Dece, the babyfaced, female thief, Juno, the quiet, affable priest, Febral, and the shapely, quiet

beauty, Julia. This was the party that had once gone on a quest with Little

Musashibo.

This time, in addition to those four, there was the brawny, macho brawler, Augus.

The reason Little Musashibo had joined their party last time was that Augus had

been unavailable and they had been looking for someone to fill in for him.

They, too, had taken on the quest issued by the kingdom.

The closer a village was to the capital, the sooner a group of adventurers had

claimed it, and so, having gotten a late start, their group accepted a mountain village

near the southeastern border. They were now pushing on towards the east through

the dense forest, protecting thirty or so villagers.

So far... All clear. The party scout, Juno, was surveying the area from up in the

treetops.

In the process of protecting the villagers, they had to be on alert for more than

just flame pierrots. There were vicious wild animals, and, in areas where public

order was poor, they also had to watch out for brigands during an escort mission.

Because of that, Juno was jumping from tree to tree like a monkey, surveying the

area.

For pay this good, there haven't been many problems... I'm kind of disappointed,

Juno thought to herself while leaping through the air.

Most of the time, if a quest paid well, it was going to be highly difficult. Even for

quests that appeared to not be so difficult at first glance, if there was a good reward,

you could count on there being something more to it. "Beware anything that seems

too good to be true" was an iron rule among adventurers. Even if the quest came

from a trustworthy kingdom.

However, once they had accepted it, no flame pierrots had appeared, and it was

turning out to be a simple quest where they just went for a walk with some villagers.

When Juno finished her patrol mission and returned, Dece and Febral were

talking.

"I think this quest really is too easy," Febral said.

"Hey, what's wrong with easy?" Dece replied to the more pensive Febral,

swinging his arms in a circle as he did.

Febral was the party analyst and also served as advisor to Dece, the party leader.

"For starters, we haven't even seen the flame pierrots that were supposed to be

the reason for this quest," said Febral. "There's been a lot of talk about how

dangerous they are, but... I can't help but feel it's exaggerated."

"Ah, I've been thinking that, too." Juno said, joining their conversation.

Dece looked to Juno. "What's the situation?"

"All clear. The forest was quiet."

"I see... So, what is it you were thinking, too, Juno?"

"This is an escort quest where we protect people from the flame pierrots, yeah? I

was wondering why it wasn't a subjugation quest against the flame pierrots. From

what I've heard, there aren't many of them. Rather than make all these villagers

move, wouldn't it be faster to wipe out those flame pierrots?"

"I think that's a reasonable opinion," Febral said with a nod, but Dece still seemed

doubtful.

"Doesn't that just mean they're too dangerous to put out a subjugation quest for

them?" he asked.

"If they were, you'd expect reports of more extreme damage than what we're

seeing," Febral replied. "The only damages I've heard of are an empty village or two

burning to the ground after its residents were already evacuated..."

"...Well, I guess that does seem a bit odd," Dece said.

As would be expected of a party leader, Dece knew how to listen to others. When

he thought an opinion was worth listening to, he was open-minded enough to follow

the advice of others.

Dece spoke to Juno, who had her hands behind her head, her fingers interlocked.

"Juno. I'm counting on you to be thorough with your scouting. From here out,

keep an eye out for more than just monsters or animals."

"Roger that!"

With those words, Juno climbed up into the tree again, then jumped away.

After watching Juno go, Dece said, "Febral, go tell Augus and Julia up at the front

everything you told me. I'll stay here and guard the rear."

"Roger."

As he watched Febral run off towards the head of the party, Dece let out a sigh.

Here's hoping this quest stays this good until the end...