His style of standing at the front, leading his subordinates forward in a charge, would remain unchanged even when he was given command of a full army. Souma would warn him time and again that it wasn’t how a leader should behave, but Halbert would say, “This way suits me better,” and never listen.
In fact, because he would always manage to survive, and to get results, Souma wouldn’t be able to say anything more than that. It would end up causing Kaede a great deal of worry, but that is a story for another time.
“Hahhhhhhhhh!”
Meanwhile, in the right wing of the kingdom’s army, Liscia let out a battle cry.
While acting as the commander of the right wing, she also rode around on horseback herself, moving up quite close to the front line.
Each time Liscia thrust her rapier out towards the enemy, blades of ice formed in the air and tore apart the Amidonian soldiers. Her form as she did so made her look like a valkyrie. It even had a certain beauty.
But on the other hand, Liscia seemed to be acting in haste, as if the blood had rushed to her head. She gave the impression of having lost her calm.
Of course, if she stood out so much, the enemy were going to target her.
“Don’t falter! Surround her and take her head!” an enemy unit commander ordered.
Enemy soldiers swarmed towards Liscia.
No matter how incredibly brave Liscia was, she was at a numerical disadvantage. If she let herself be surrounded by spearmen, she wouldn’t be able to break away using the horse’s superior mobility.
The enemy’s spears closed in on Liscia. Then, “Princess! Why, yoooou! Get away from her!”
Arriving just in the nick of time, Aisha knocked away the enemy soldiers swarming around her with a full swing of her great sword.
Aisha had been assigned to guard Liscia, but her great sword wasn’t meant to be swung around on horseback, and she had fallen behind because she was on foot.
Once Aisha had wiped out the nearby enemies with a slash of her great sword and a blast of wind, she ran up beside Liscia’s horse with tears in her eyes.
“Princess, please, don’t be so recklesssssss!”
“…Sorry,” Liscia said. “I lost my head there.”
Seeing Aisha’s pleading, tearful eyes brought Liscia to her senses. She put her hand on Aisha’s head, which was at thigh-level for her because she was on a horse.
“But I have to be a little reckless,” Liscia said. “Because… I want to end this war quickly.”
“Princess?” Aisha tilted her head to the side, confused by the worried look on Liscia’s face.
While the forces of the principality were showing some stubbornness, the battle was going in Elfrieden’s favor. Soldiers were already starting to flee from the Amidonian side, so if the kingdom’s forces slowly encircled them, it wouldn’t be long before they emerged victorious. There was no need to rush that victory.
However, Liscia turned to Aisha with a pained look on her face. “Hey, Aisha. What do you think of the way Souma’s been lately?”
“What do you mean?” Aisha asked.
“He seems… like he’s pushing himself too hard, don’t you think?”
“Well… yes, I think you’re right.”
Even to Aisha’s eyes, as one who offered her unwavering loyalty to Souma, his expression lately had been frightening. No… she wasn’t frightened of him, she was frightened for him.
There was something fragile about him.
Of course, considering they were in the middle of a war now, it would have been just as worrying to see a stupid grin on their ruler’s face. Still, she couldn’t help but feel Souma was straining himself to act like a king. Aisha wanted Souma to be smiling.
“Once this war ends… do you suppose His Majesty will smile again?” Aisha asked.
Liscia’s eyes widened for a moment, then she smiled broadly. “We’ll make it so he can smile.”
“Ah! Right you are!” Aisha raised her head, getting back into a fighting stance with her great sword, then stood in front of Liscia. “However, princess, please, stand back. If anything were to happen to you, His Majesty could never smile again.”
“…Right,” Liscia said. “I’ll try to show more prudence.”
“Leave the fighting to me!” Aisha cried.
“No, that I can’t do. Aisha, you do know that if anything were to happen to you, Souma would never smile again, right?”
“…Do you think so?” Aisha asked.
“I do.”
“You do?”
The two looked at one another and smiled. Then, a moment later, they wore the faces of warriors.
“Then, princess, let us both take care of our lives.”
“Yes,” Liscia agreed. “Let’s end this agonizing war together.”
The two of them rushed across the battlefield.
The battle between the armies of Elfrieden and Amidonia had reached a turning point.
In the center of the principality’s army, which was slowly being encircled, the Sovereign Prince of Amidonia, Gaius VIII, had a grim look on his face.
His initial plan to ambush the kingdom’s army as they encircled Van, then catch them in a pincer attack with the garrison troops, had gone up in flames. The forces of the kingdom hadn’t laid siege to Van. Instead they had waited on the plains for the main force of his army to arrive.
The principality’s army had been exhausted from marching and from the ambush at Goldoa Valley, and they then had had to go into battle against the well-rested army of the kingdom, which had had nearly twice as many soldiers.
The kingdom’s army hadn’t been aiming for the capital city Van, but for the main force of the principality’s army, or to be even more specific, for Gaius VIII’s head. That was a fact that made Gaius VIII gnash his teeth.
The forces of the principality had fought well at first, but they were exhausted, and their quality had been watered down with fresh conscripts, so they couldn’t have hoped to hold out for long. Soldiers had already started to flee, and there was no hope of regrouping.
At this point, Gaius made up his mind and called Julius back from commanding on the front line.
When he returned to the main camp, Julius stood before Gaius filled with anger. “Father! What have you suddenly called me back here for?! You know if I leave the front line, Elfrieden may push through it!”
“…Julius.” Gaius spoke to Julius with a thoroughly calm demeanor. “Withdraw from this battlefield.”
“Wh-What are you saying? The war has only just begun…” Julius stammered.
“We’ve lost this war,” Gaius said to his bewildered son in a self-mocking tone. “The soldiers of my army are strong. They’ll not be found lacking compared to the kingdom’s. However, in their exhausted state after our long march, it will be impossible for us to overturn the difference in power between our forces. I will buy time, so you cut a bloody swathe out of here while their encirclement is yet incomplete and escape by yourself.”
Gaius had accepted defeat.
When he realized that fact, Julius felt his legs begin to give out underneath him. However, if he considered what Gaius was saying, he couldn’t let himself collapse here.
“No… If anyone should do that, it’s you, Father!” Julius cried. “I will be the one to buy time!”
“That is not possible,” said Gaius.
“Why not?!”
“Because Elfrieden is aiming to take my head.”
Having chosen this as the place he would die, Gaius VIII’s mind was now more clear than it had ever been before. It let him see Souma and Hakuya’s aim.
“I am a constant irritant to Elfrieden,” said Gaius. “Many of the nobles in their country are beholden to us. By striking me down, they must hope to remove that threat.”