Chapter 114 Goddess Of The Battlefield
"Damn it... why am I in this situation..."
At a makeshift base of the imperial army located along the border of the Ortria Kingdom and the Bezelus Empire.
A man was muttering to himself.
His name was Kafis.
He was an ordinary young man running a shoe shop, not a soldier, and one of the conscripts gathered by imperial draft orders.
"I... wonder if I can make it back alive..."
Thinking of the battle that was about to begin, Kafis felt as if he would be crushed by anxiety.
What came to his mind was his beloved, whom he had left behind in the empire.
He had been at the peak of happiness, with plans for marriage just around the corner.
And now, he found himself in a strange place, wielding an unfamiliar weapon.
It was enough to make him lament the absurdities of this world.
Let alone....
"Hey, did you hear? The advance troops that invaded Ortria have already been wiped out both on land and sea. That's why we've been gathered here."
"Shh, keep your voice down! If the regular soldiers hear you, it'll be a problem!"
This rumor, which he had heard many times on his way here.
The imperial army, which had been excessively praised as invincible and the strongest in the country, had suffered a crushing defeat against the Ortria Kingdom, and conscription teams were being gathered to clean up the mess.
Hearing such stories, it was impossible to maintain any fighting spirit.
If it were true, he wanted to throw down his weapon and run away right now.
But... if he did that, he would likely be killed by the regular soldiers behind them.
"Why are we conscripts on the front line... Let the regulars go forward..."
Even though he said it himself, Kafis himself actually knew it.
The Empire plans to use the conscripted troops as a wall of flesh, and then use that gap to launch an attack by the regular soldiers.
In other words...if you go to the battlefield, you will most likely not survive.
"Damn it...!"
You die even if you run away.
You die even if you fight.
What keeps him going in his despair is a pendant with a portrait of his lover, who had given it to him with the hope that he would come back alive.
"Now that this has happened, I have no choice but to do it... I have to win and come back alive...!"
Massaging all his courage, he clutch the pendant tightly.
Finally, the order to go out was given to him.
He scolded his trembling body, and the air on the battlefield he was standing on for the first time was heavy and suffocating like mud.
Still, in order to fulfill their duty and return alive, they charged forward with a shout──that determination was immediately shattered.
"Huh...?"
The first thing he saw were several shadows sprinting ahead of the unfolding kingdom army.
Could it be the beastman warrior group of Euphemia that he has heard rumors about?
Among them, there were 2 small figures of still young girls.
One was a girl from Ortria with golden hair.
She was clad in armor and had a sword at her waist, yet for some reason, she raised her fist instead of drawing it.
"Haaah!!"
With a single strike of her fist.
The ground erupted from that blow charged with Magical Power.
Not even understanding what was happening, the soldiers near the epicenter were thrown high into the air, and even Kafis, who was a little farther away, lost balance and fell.
Taking advantage of that opening, the other girl──a wolf beastman girl with blue hair and brown skin──charged in, transforming her mechanical prosthetic arm.
"Hmm...!"
A metallic spear shot out from the prosthetic arm.
Connected by a rope, it slithered like a tail and tore through the battlefield, sweeping away the disorganized conscription squad that had been disrupted by the earlier girl.
In disbelief at the ridiculous scene, Kafis was left with his mouth agape.
"Thea, what on earth is that prosthetic? It's such a strange feature, it's interesting."
"Hmm... Gray packed it full of what he calls 'a man's romance' or something like that. But... about half of it is unnecessary. I mean... why do you even punch, Rifine? What about your sword...? "
"I am more suited to this. I carry a sword because it is the knight's job to carry a sword. It is merely a decoration."
"...uh"
The girls' cheerful and harmonious conversation seems out of place on the battlefield.
However, there was no one present who could point out that this was carelessness.
Every time the blonde girl swings her fist, people are blown away like balls and become immobile, and every time the blue-haired girl swings her prosthetic arm, the small rope spear that extends from it cuts soldiers one by one.
The conscription service was no longer holding them back.
"You bastard, I won't let you do as you please!!"
After extensive damage had been done, the regular soldiers finally stepped forward to deal with the girls.
But... as if they had been waiting for just that, the smiles on the girls' faces disappeared.
"...what?"
"It is you who are doing as you please. Do not tread upon the land of Ortria any more with your filthy feet."
The golden-haired girl's fist shattered the armor worn by the regular soldiers like fragile glass, sending debris flying.
As they coughed up blood, the sight of them rendered motionless by a single blow instilled fear in every one of the imperial soldiers.
"I won't let anyone lay a hand on Yumie...!"
A brown whirlwind rushed through the midst of the paralyzed regular soldiers.
As the girl transformed her prosthetic arm into a large claw, a storm of blood surged across the battlefield.
Harpoons flew through the air in pursuit, piercing through the regular soldiers one after another, rendering them unable to fight.
Looking around, similar scenes of devastation were unfolding elsewhere, and the imperial army was being mercilessly mowed down, regardless of whether they were conscripts or regular soldiers.
(W-what is this...)
Kafis thought.
What on earth has the empire picked a fight with?
There's no way they can win against these monsters.
At this rate, it's just a pointless death.
Realizing that his homeland had stepped on the tail of a tiger they should not have provoked, Kafis stood there in a daze──when a regular soldier screamed behind him.
"Ugh, uwaaa!!"
In terror and confusion, perhaps he couldn't even see what was happening around him.
Waving his sword wildly, he staggered toward Kafis, his blade now pointed directly at him.
"Ah..."
Caught off guard by how sudden it was, Kafis couldn't even evade.
Kafis, cut off by the blades of his frenzied comrades, sank into a pool of blood, and the shattered pendant flew into the air.
"Uh... uh...?"
When Kafis regained consciousness, he wondered why he was still alive.
The unit he was a part of must have been completely crushed.
So why are they being treated and made to sleep in a tent?
He doesn't think his comrades could hasn't taken him and retreated in that situation.
He doesn't think that the people of Ortria and Euphemia, who is spoken of as evil spirits within the Empire, would hasn't helped him, an invader.
Or maybe he's already dead and is just having a convenient dream.
In a state of daze so dim that he could not even sense the pain of his wound, he was thinking about such things...and then, before his eyes, a girl was projected.
"Did you notice? Good..."
A young girl with glittering silver hair, like the moon shining in the darkness.
Captivated by the gaze that seemed to feel a deep sense of relief, Kafis unconsciously squeezed out a trembling voice.
"You... are...?"
"I'm Yumie Granbell. I'm serving as a medic in the Ortria Knights."
Hearing that name, Kafis remembered.
If he recalled correctly, wasn't Yumie the princess who had been illegally abducted to Ortria?
The girl, with a calm and gentle expression that didn't resemble someone who had been forcibly taken, tightly grasped Kafis's hand and held it to her chest.
"Just a little longer, hang in there. We'll definitely make it, so please do your best."
"...Why are you... saying such things to me?"
Regardless of pretense or affiliation, Kafis was also one of the Empire's soldiers who participated in the invasion of Ortria.
Why would she say such words to someone like him?
Yumie, who was being asked, smiled as if to say, "What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from. After all... you must have a family waiting for you to return, right?"
When he looked down at the hard sensation he felt in his palm, there was his pendant.
It was the charm that had shattered in battle and must have flown somewhere.
A treasure imbued with his lover's wishes.
Yumie, who had placed in Kafis's hand that clearly clumsy and unskilled repair job, continued to speak.
"I'm the same. I have a family in Ortria waiting for me to come back. So there's no difference between you and me. Let's put an end to this fighting and let's all go back alive."
Ah, now Kafis understands.
What on earth was the Empire trying to get its hands on?
They were trying to take away forever the smile of the goddess-like girl who shone brightly even on this bloody battlefield.
"Ugh...!! I'm sorry...!! I really didn't want to fight...!!"
"Yes, I know. Peace is the most important thing for everyone. So let's work hard together. To bring back peaceful days, to protect the smiles of those you care about. You too... please live."
"... yes...!!"
Despite being like this, does this person still show him mercy as an imperial citizen?
If that's the case, then he must live.
For the sake of the lover he left behind, to reclaim their happy days.
And... to repay the feelings of this lovely goddess.
A small determination from an ordinary soldier who will leave no name in posterity.
With this as the end, the imperial military forces remaining in Ortria would completely disappear.
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