Academy’s Barbarian

The enemy was successfully repelled, but the Empire suffered massive losses.

The deaths of William and Karim. Two swords of Landenburg were broken, and the 2nd Legion proved their inexperience by losing a third of their troops.

It was impossible to even estimate how much time and resources would be needed to repair the collapsed barrier.

Of course, the gains were as immense as the losses. Nearly ten thousand Ka`har, including several Paladins, lay rotting on top of the barrier.

Especially, eliminating War Chief Glar was a truly encouraging achievement.

Glar was already a notorious warrior as Or-han’s closest confidant before reaching the Realm of Heroes, and after ascending to that realm, he became a formidable foe that no one in Landenburg, except me, could defeat.

Considering the danger of his Heroic Tale—Reversal Body, it was almost a stroke of luck that we could burn him to death here.

The Heroic Tale, Reversal Body, which reflects the damage of a spear or sword back onto the attacker.

Using the Rune of Fire, we managed to bring him down, but if we had let him escape, it’s highly likely that even that wouldn’t have worked the next time we met.

Now that we know Reversal Body is powerless against area magic, there’s no way he would have left that weakness unaddressed. He would have tried to improve it somehow.

Heroic Tales grow stronger with experience.

No, perhaps it’s better to say they evolve.

Just like my Heroic Tale, Reversed Heaven, the stronger the owner becomes and the more battles they experience, the more advanced the techniques become.

If by any chance his Reversal Body evolved to the point where it could even reflect area magic, he would have become an invincible warrior rivaling Or-han.

So, I couldn’t help but rejoice that we managed to eliminate him this time. It was like uprooting a seed that would have grown into a terrible future problem.

At least, that’s what I thought.

“…This battle was a failure.”

But Ludwig didn’t seem to think so.

—

After a brief rest, while the soldiers were cleaning up the corpses, I returned to the command room and had a conversation with Ludwig.

With my legs propped up on the armrest of the sofa, leaning to the side, puffing on a cigarette.

“A failure… Well, we didn’t take Or-han’s head, but isn’t this still a decent defense? With his arm severed, Or-han won’t be able to show the same majesty as before.”

“I’m not blaming you. Breaking the Indestructible Body was certainly an encouraging achievement.”

Ludwig sighed deeply with a gloomy face and placed a thick Magical Cigarette on the ashtray. With his head bowed, he pressed his wrinkled brow with two fingers.

“However, even after resorting to extreme measures to bring down the barrier, letting Or-han escape… is a truly fatal failure. Even if it meant losing a legion, we should have captured Or-han at all costs.”

“If you’re that regretful, you should have sent a pursuit force. I couldn’t chase after him with my leg like this.”

I shrugged, lightly tapping my bandaged leg with a splint. Ludwig shook his head.

“It would be meaningless if he’s already distanced himself. They’d just be ambushed and annihilated. The cavalry that was attacking the entire barrier has disappeared. Where do you think they’ve gathered?”

Well, they must have gathered to counterattack the pursuit force. Probably.

“This is serious…”

Ludwig’s complexion didn’t improve.

While the Empire’s people outside were drunk on the victory atmosphere, Ludwig had become even more gloomy than before the battle started.

“Why are you so serious? If you’re worried about Or-han, just trust me. I won’t fall for the same trap twice, and next time, I’ll be able to break the Indestructible Body head-on without any tricks.”

Though I’d need to prepare a weapon comparable to the Red Scale Saber or repair the broken Red Scale Saber for that.

The stacking of Thunderous Rend. To succeed in delivering a slash that can break the Indestructible Body head-on again, I’d need a weapon with strength surpassing even black iron.

“That’s not what I’m worried about… Didn’t I tell you? The reason why we absolutely had to eliminate Or-han in this battle.”

“You never told me.”

He only said we had to kill him, but he never explained why it was necessary.

Killing Or-han was such an obvious thing to do that I never even asked for a reason.

“…My mistake.”

Ludwig took a deep drag from his Magical Cigarette and continued.

“Or-han had to die in this battle. If that had happened, the Ka`har, having lost their leader, would have started a civil war over the empty throne. That was the first plan.”

Well, that would have happened. Targien and Sahallyeon didn’t seem like the most harmonious brothers. They seemed to have a worse relationship than Leopold and Ernst.

“Targien, Sahallyeon, and the Khans of other forcibly united tribes. They would have been too busy pointing swords at each other to even glance at the Empire.”

“That’s a bit regrettable…”

If that had happened, I could have returned to the capital.

If the Ka`har had split and started a civil war, the barrier’s defense would have been sufficient with the existing forces.

“Losing an arm and suffering a defeat will cause some internal chaos… but compared to if he had died, it’s just a minor disturbance.”

So, a rebellion might occur, but it wouldn’t escalate to a civil war.

Well, even if Or-han lost an arm, it’s unlikely he’d be defeated by anyone other than me. Only the really stupid ones would rebel, and such idiots wouldn’t last long before being suppressed.

“It’s regrettable, but… since we missed him, what can we do? Let’s aim for the next opportunity. We might not be able to bury him under the barrier like this time, but as long as we kill him somehow, that’s enough, right?”

As long as Or-han doesn’t retreat all the way to Ordos, there will be plenty of chances to kill him. Even if we failed this time, we can just kill him in the next battle.

However, Ludwig shook his head and chewed on the Magical Cigarette in his mouth.

“Don’t you get it? From now on, we won’t even have the chance to fight near the barrier, let alone bury Or-han. He must have realized it by now.”

“Realized what?”

“That the current Imperial Army doesn’t have the same strength as before.”

Ludwig sighed as he looked out the window at the soldiers. Thick smoke flowed out like a lament.

—

Later, Ludwig explained to me. About the Great War between the Empire and the Ka`har nine years ago.

Why the army of Ai-shan, which had attacked the Empire’s territory via the Dane border, had no choice but to retreat.

“At that time, Or-han was blocked by Valenstein. However, the Ghost Sword couldn’t defeat Or-han and only barely managed to hold him back.”

The Ghost Sword, huh? Has that guy ever actually won against anyone?

“It wasn’t Valenstein who forced Or-han to retreat, but four legions of the Imperial Army. At that time, the Empire was at peace, so we could mobilize all our legions.”

Four legions. Including the regular army of Landenburg, the total force would have been over seventy thousand. Even Or-han’s grandfather would have had no choice but to flee from such numbers.

“Even in a plains battle, the difference in numbers would have meant certain annihilation. Even the great Or-han had no choice but to retreat. Since then, there hasn’t been a Great War… Or-han must have assumed that the current Empire still possesses that level of strength.”

After finishing his words, Ludwig half-closed his eyes and caught his breath.

“And now he knows.”

I realized what Ludwig was getting at and shivered, my fingertips trembling. The cigarette smoke that had escaped my mouth scattered faintly.

“That the current Empire has no reserves, to the point of having to mobilize green recruits for barrier defense. That a large-scale encirclement like before is impossible. What do you think Or-han will do now that he knows this?”

I swallowed dryly and answered.

“He’ll cross the Dane border and invade the Empire’s mainland?”

“If I were him, I would. Attacking the barrier again is the worst option. Retreating to Ordos to consolidate and plan for the future is the middle option, and deploying all forces to the Dane border is the best option.”

Ludwig brushed off the ash from his Magical Cigarette and declared in a grave voice.

“Do you understand now? By letting Or-han escape, we’ve been forced into a situation where we have to face their strength… a field battle on the plains. And with a force weaker than even the old 1st Legion.”

“……”

“That’s why I was willing to bring down the barrier to kill Or-han.”

I couldn’t find any words to respond.

======[ Or-han ]======

While Ha-shal-leur was talking with Ludwig, Or-han, having finished emergency treatment on his left arm, gathered the Paladins and held a military meeting.

More precisely, he was listening to the damage report.

“…Eight thousand. The losses are less than expected for a defeat.”

“The Empire’s forces were weaker than expected. Many of them were more like farmers given spears than soldiers.”

“That weak…? Strange. Whether they thought such forces were sufficient or they simply couldn’t mobilize better troops…”

Or-han’s concern deepened. If it was the former, it was just Ludwig’s misjudgment, but if it was the latter…

‘…There have been frequent wars recently. Civil wars, monsters, wars with the Beastmen. Did they exhaust their main forces in those battles?’

If so, he still had a chance.

If the Empire’s legions had to conscript farmers for war, their total available forces must be incomparably smaller than before.

Or-han stroked his beard with his remaining arm, deep in thought. Should he retreat now, or gamble on the new information he had obtained?

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