Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Preparing for Intercept

Rocha Kingdom began its invasion of Nonette Kingdom.

Upon receiving that news, I arrived at the mountain that served as the border ahead of Alekthem and the rest of the soldiers.

"Following the actions of the Family, I tried moving quickly while using divine magic. It's fast, easy on the body, and has its merits."

Unfortunately, the only drawback is that there's no way to teach this convenient divine magic to others.

Now then, a field encampment of Nonette Kingdom has been established on top of the mountain.

Since they were informed of the impending battle with Rocha Kingdom from Futtero, they hastily put it together in a short amount of time, so it's a crude construction of fences and sandbags.

As I entered the encampment, the soldiers welcomed me. Many of them were comrades from the fortress in the valley, in other words, my fellow soldiers from the war with Mendasium Kingdom.

"Prince Milimos, you've arrived early. Did you leave the other soldiers behind?"

"I heard that enemy troops numbering in the tens of thousands were climbing the mountain. I thought we would need the Empire-made staff as soon as possible, so I came ahead. Well, to save firewood and provisions, I've ordered most of the soldiers to deploy on the mountainside on this side. It's warmer than on top of the mountain, you see."

I said jokingly and took out the staff that I had fastened to my back. It consisted of one received from Mendasium Kingdom and one I had picked up for research purposes, a total of two.

The soldiers' faces brightened at the sight of the dependable weapon.

"So we'll be conducting a counterattack right here using these two staffs?"

"We also need to consider the defense strategy for this."

Perhaps due to their confidence gained from years spent on the defensive line with Mendasium Kingdom, despite the overwhelmingly disadvantageous difference in forces, the atmosphere among the soldiers was bright.

While thinking highly of them, I had something I needed to ask before devising a strategy.

"What's the situation with the soybean oil reserves?"

"If you plan on using them for Molotov cocktails, it's a waste."

"Why?"

"Molotov cocktails can only be used until autumn. When it's cold enough for snow to flutter, the oil becomes slushy and won't ignite with just a small flame."

Hmm... The tactical manual stated that heating or burning oil would be effective against heavily armored opponents, as the heated oil would seep inside the armor. But if it can't be used, there's no helping it. Just as I was about to give up, I remembered the scene of arson I had carried out within the Mendasium Kingdom's encampment.

"In that case, is it possible to douse them in oil and set a strong fire to turn them into human torches?"

"Well, that's possible, but where would we get such a strong fire... Ah, you can do it with a magic staff."

"If you use this staff, even with a simple ignition spell, when you apply it to a Molotov cocktail, the oil burns fiercely in an instant, blowing up the bottle from the inside."

"...I hope you won't do anything dangerous. Well, it's already over, so I won't nag about it."

The soldier chuckled and then looked pensive.

"But you know, we don't have much oil left. What we have here is just what remained in the fortress after the battle with the Mendashium Kingdom."

"We're also running low on supplies for the reinforcements. I never dreamed we would be fighting the Roccia Kingdom this winter, so we didn't stock up on soybean oil."

We didn't have enough time to replenish the amount consumed during the battle with the Mendashium Kingdom. Soybeans are the staple food of Nonette, and we couldn't afford to divert excessive amounts of them for oil production.

"In that case, using oil for a night raid seems impossible."

"Even if we wanted to harass them, we don't have enough to burn ten thousand of them. A thousand would be hard enough."

"If we only have that amount, it would be better to leave some for defense. If we pour oil in front of the trenches and set it on fire, we can buy some time for a retreat towards the rear."

However, if things continued like this, a massive army of ten thousand would flood into this position. With our small numbers, it would be an all-out clash.

As I pondered if there was any other option, a gust of mountain wind hit my cheek, instantly numbing the sensation of my skin.

"Brr, it's cold!"

"Hahaha. Well, you see, it's windy up here on the mountain."

"Unless you wear warm clothing all the way up to your head, your ears might get frostbite and fall off."

When I complained about the extreme cold while rubbing my cheek with my hand, the soldiers burst into laughter.

Following their advice, I covered my head with the hood of the warm clothing—a fur coat designed to be worn over the armor, so it was made larger.

"It's so cold that it's difficult to wash your body with water."

"You better give up on that. Water is precious on the winter mountain. You can't get it without using firewood, even if there's snow."

"That firewood is essential for making warm drinks in the main tent. If you don't drink something warm, you'll die from the cold. And when setting up a sentry, you have to change positions quickly."

While listening to the soldiers' opinions, I, being unfamiliar with the workings of the winter mountain, decided to leave it to them and let them do as they pleased.

"If you need anything, let me know in advance. Transporting things takes time."

"The wooden bird that Prince Milimos uses, do you have it?"

"We can't use that during winter. If it flies in the sky, its parts will freeze and break."

"If only we could gather reconnaissance, things would be easier—but apart from that, there's nothing else we need. The battle in this stronghold won't last long anyway. Once we fight, if we don't retreat to the rear, we'll be crushed by sheer force in numbers."

"In the forest below the mountain, it's appropriate to divide the entire army into small units and reduce the enemy's numbers through surprise attacks. Prince Millimos, that's a reasonable strategy."

A guerrilla warfare utilizing the terrain. There's no other effective way to face a large army with a small number of soldiers.

Now, as I began contemplating the tactics to inflict damage on the enemy, a good idea suddenly came to mind.

"In this cold, if we were to take a bath in water, we might die, right?"

"Well, yeah. Even if it's hot water instead of just water, if you're wet and exposed to the cold sky, you'll have no choice but to die."

"To warm a wet body, we'll need firewood. The number of firewood required is proportional to the number of wet individuals."

"That's right. That's why we need to be careful not to wet our armor or clothes, even if our outer garments get wet."

Upon hearing the soldiers' responses, I came up with a mischievous plan.

At that moment, I must have had a particularly wicked look on my face because the soldiers' expressions turned completely astounded.

"Prince Millimos, have you come up with another outrageous plan?"

"Well, yeah. Anyway, I'm going to carry out some harassment now. I'll go alone for now and check it out myself."

"Prince Millimos, please have an escort with you, or else we'll be scolded by Lord Alectem later."

"Just say that the escort couldn't keep up with my running speed. They probably won't be able to catch up anyway."

After handing a staff made by the empire to one of the soldiers, I unleashed my divine magic and left the stronghold.

Of course, my destination was where the forces of the Rocha Kingdom were.