“…We need to talk.”
“Seek only the head of the enemy king, Souma Kazuya!” Gaius VIII shouted from up on horseback.
Gaius had gathered the five hundred knights who were his most elite retainers around him. He was about to carry out a suicide charge towards Elfrieden’s main camp. The area around him was crowded with tens of thousands of enemies. It would be a road to death filled with enemy soldiers, one from which he would never return.
Even if they were successful in striking Souma down, it would only mean that the king fell at the hands of common soldiers. However, their grudge against Elfrieden, which had been passed from father to son for the past fifty years, had seeped into the very marrow of his retainers’ bones. They would not falter.
“Let us show Elfrieden the spirit and valor of the Amidonian people!” Gaius shouted.
“““Yeahhhhhhh!”””
Hearing that war cry from his retainers, Gaius pointed his sword towards the center of the kingdom’s army and swung it down. “Chaaaaarge!”
The nearly five hundred knights of his elite cavalry raced towards the center of the kingdom’s army.
They put any soldier in their path to the sword, crushing both enemy and still-resisting ally alike under their hooves as they advanced with the force of a windstorm. They were like a flame shining one last time before it was extinguished. That was why they shone all the more powerfully.
“Gaius VIII?! Has he gone mad?!” Ludwin, who was defending the center, looked at that rampaging group from up on his white horse with a look of obvious distaste. This sort of reckless charge was nothing less than suicide.
Well, it probably is suicide, he realized. Now that they’ve accepted their overall loss, they’re looking for a place to die. Honestly, I’d rather not have to play along with that…
Ludwin put on the helmet which he had taken off, hoisting his cavalry lance skywards. He shouted to the knights of the Royal Guard behind him, “His Majesty is behind us! We are this kingdom’s shield! In the name of the Royal Guard, we will stop that group even if it costs us our lives!”
“”“Yeahhhhh!”””
“Let’s go!” Ludwin called.
The nearly two thousand knights of the Royal Guard under Ludwin rushed forward. It didn’t take long for them to slam into the front of Gaius’ five hundred retainers.
When they collided, roughly half of Gaius’ retainers were blown away in an instant. Nearly as many of the Royal Guard were knocked flying as well, but considering that they had had the numerical advantage to begin with, it could be said that they had taken less serious losses. From there, it devolved into a melee with the sound of hooves echoing.
In that jumble of friend and foe, Ludwin searched for Gaius. “I’ve found you, Gaius!”
The man who appeared to be Gaius was in a group of knights charging intently towards the main camp, and he wore a magnificent cloak. When the man in the cloak saw Ludwin, he pointed his drawn sword towards him.
“You! Who are you?!” the man shouted.
“I am Captain of the Royal Guard, Ludwin Arcs.”
“Hmph, an ornamental unit from the capital, is it?”
“Say what you will! Once we strike you down, this war will be over!” Ludwin spurred his favorite horse forward. When he did, the retainers surrounding the man in the cloak split off in different directions, as if they had signaled one another to do so.
Gaius’s retainers have abandoned him?!
Ludwin thought their behavior was strange for a moment, but right now he needed to focus on the man in front of him. It seemed to be all the man in the cloak could do just to parry Ludwin’s lance thrusts with his sword.
“Guh… You fight well, considering your unit only exists to look pretty,” grunted the man.
“No matter where he puts me on display, my lance exists to pierce His Majesty’s enemies!” Ludwin declared.
Ludwin knocked the sword that was swung at him aside with his lance, thrusting with all his might at the man’s now-undefended torso. His lance struck true, impaling the man and piercing through his cloak.
The man spat blood and hung his head, but he was smiling. “Well done… However, it means nothing…”
“What?”
Then, the man raised his face and shouted, “Your Highness! Make our greatest wish come true…!”
Looking at the expiring man, Ludwin was shocked.
When he thought about it, he’d had no idea what the face of the ruler of a country they had no diplomatic contact with looked like. For instance, if Gaius had just had one of his retainers wear his cloak, Ludwin would mistake that person for him.
What if Gaius was one of those knights who had scattered in different directions before…?!
Ludwin inhaled sharply, then shouted, “His Majesty!”
When Ludwin turned around, he saw a lone knight charging towards the main camp.
“I have a report! There is an enemy knight bearing down on this main camp at incredible speed!” a soldier shouted, rushing into the main camp.
It was just as I was finishing making my request to Carla.
…Thank goodness, I thought. It looks like I made it in time.
Carla’s eyes were wide in surprise, and she gnashed her teeth and glared at me. “Is that… an order?”
“No, I don’t think it needs to be,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll accomplish it whether I make it an order or not.”
I went to touch Carla’s slave collar, but she batted my hand away.
Immediately, Carla groaned in pain. She had struck her master while wearing a slave collar, so of course she did.
“Urgh… Don’t be ridiculous…” Carla said, glaring at me even as she was in agony.
“Carla?! What are you doing?” I asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I could never listen to that request!” Carla flew into a rage, as if the constricting collar meant nothing to her.
“No, I’m just saying that if the worst should happen…” I said.
“Agh! Enough! Don’t talk back to me! Just give me the order to ‘kill him’!” Carla shouted, pointing in the direction the enemy knight was coming from. “Because of this slave collar, I can’t leave your side without permission! Just give me permission already! I’ll deal with him!”
“…You’re willing to fight for me?” I asked.
I couldn’t believe it, but Carla gave an indignant “Hmph!”
“I’m not doing it for you,” she said. “I’m only doing it because I don’t want Liscia to see you with that face.”
What face? What sort of face was I making right now?
Was it a scary face? Was it full of grief? Was it pitiful?
As I touched my own face, trying to figure it out, Carla stomped her feet indignantly and demanded it again.
“I told you, give me the order! For Liscia’s sake, tell me to ‘kill him’!”
“…I’ll allow it,” I said at last. If she said it was for Liscia, I could probably trust her. “Please, Carla. Kill that knight and end this war.”
“Understood!”
With those words, Carla bowed her head and then took one long sword from each of the two nearby guards. Then she spread her wings and took flight.
She floated in midair for a little while as she searched for her target, then she dove like a falcon that had found its prey and flew to the south.
“Carla… I’ll transfer my ownership of you as a slave to Liscia.”
That was what Souma had suddenly said to Carla.
Certainly, it was possible for a slave collar to transfer its ownership to another if its master willed it. However, if he did that, Carla would be able to harm Souma. So why was it that he had suddenly said that?