Royal Road of the Extra Scribe

12

At dawn.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The base went on high alert with loud bells ringing.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Form up quickly!”

“W-What’s happening?!”

Morgan, who had been in a night-long meeting in the barracks, rushed out, looking around frantically.

Following him, Ironheart also emerged, scanning the surroundings before freezing as he looked at the rear of the camp.

“It can’t be happening.”

The Caliphe troops stationed here were clearly aiming for something. They had fortified themselves by taking the high ground and controlling the heights.

Although they couldn’t prepare more troops, they had seized higher and more fortified positions.

Hence, the Albad troops facing them couldn’t muster the courage to attack.

The tactical conditions were unfavorable due to the need to climb the hill for an assault.

However, even though this position was advantageous, it wasn’t the highest point.

Technically, the mountainous terrain at the rear of the camp was even higher.

Despite that, there was no need to worry too much as there were reconnaissance lines laid out on potential flanking routes, which could be secured first. If they could strike the enemy’s flank, they could achieve a decisive victory.

That’s why they weren’t overly concerned.

The terrain was like that.

“This is… unbelievable…”

Morgan stammered, his lips trembling.

In the mountainous terrain, thousands of soldiers had set up camp and were surveying themselves.

“General! The front-line unit of Yussis Goldray is about to enter the firing range! It’s a coordinated attack!”

Caught off guard from both sides, Caliper’s army began to fall into disarray.

Ironheart’s Vice Commander hurried to organize the troops, but the enemy’s assault was swifter.

Pipipang! Arrows started pouring down from the high ground in the rear.

The man commanding the skirmish unit sneered at Caliper’s flustered army.

“Easy. It’s so easy it makes me yawn.”

He was Gilius Melben, the Second Division Commander of the Albad Kingdom and one of the core generals.

“After Altior Salion retired, Caliper turned into a toothless tiger, as the old master predicted.”

His actions of launching a surprise total attack on the northwest front line.

It was nothing but a deception.

By diverting attention with that move and organizing a skirmish unit to the south.

The unit that had emerged covertly from the Second Division, which had ambushed the northwest front line.

Exploiting Yussis’ army disrupting Caliper’s rear line, they silently moved south to cut them off.

“Even if the old master’s schemes were hard to decipher, one should always be vigilant for the tactics of the successful. Well, what can we do? The old tiger should just die quietly. …William!”

“Sir!”

“Over there is the commander. Concentrate fire and bring it down.”

“Understood!”

Chetchetchet!

Archers aiming at where Morgun was.

Morgun had to face the sky darkened with arrows.

It was the final sight he would ever see in his life.

* * *

Emergency at Caliper’s military camp.

I was quickly trying to calm the chaos.

“Don’t panic! Hold your shields calmly and block the arrows! Soldiers without shields, take cover behind terrain features! The enemy’s arrows are not infinite! If we endure a little, the arrows will cease!”

The enemy was a force that had covertly advanced with a forced march. So, they probably couldn’t bring heavy supplies along.

‘In the end, each soldier can only shoot about one arrow’s worth.’

If they had distributed it properly, they might have shot arrows for quite a while, but currently, the enemy was concentrating their fire where the commander’s tent was.

I coordinated the timing of arrow showers and gave orders to the officers.

“Joshua, quickly restore the unit’s communication network! Felix, attend to the confused vanguard! Yussis Goldray’s unit will soon launch an attack. The vanguard must not collapse easily!”

“Ah, understood!”

“Geez, now you’re being informal. Men! Proceed to the vanguard, watching out for arrows!”

They no longer hesitated. Everything was unfolding as I had predicted.

“Furzi, take care of the medical and administrative personnel.”

“Got it.”

Furzi swiftly departed.

And at that moment.

‘The remaining arrows are starting to run out!’

The amount of arrows visibly decreased.

Due to the concentrated shooting, the area around Captain Magsa was devastated, but the consumption of arrows was equally intense.

“They’ve left an opening.”

If I were the enemy’s commanding general, I would have extended the time for the arrow attacks. That way, the main force of Yusis climbing the mountain would have gained more time.

But now, we consumed the arrows too quickly to wipe out not only the general but also the officers.

It was a mistake that provided me with an opportunity to penetrate deep.

“Master, follow me. I will pierce the enemy’s flank.”

“Alright. Ilya’s mercenary unit, advance!”

With the master’s unit, I swiftly began moving towards our destination.

During our movement, the master asked, “Alss, I’m curious.”

“What is it?”

“How were you so certain the enemy would attack at dawn?”

“Ah, that. Well, the enemy had no other choice.”

They had organized guerrilla troops from the army that had raided the northwest front to move south.

This was a force that became more likely to be exposed as time passed.

“So they likely launched a forced march under cover of darkness. On the other hand, the problem was that it was still dark upon arrival, making it challenging to launch an attack immediately.”

“A problem?”

“When engaging in night operations, it creates a troublesome situation for the enemy as well.”

The difficulty lies in synchronizing the attack timing.

To synchronize the attack timing, one must send a signal, and the most effective means of signaling in the dead of night is using fire.

Naturally, this significantly increases the risk of being discovered, and even if one manages to do it, there’s a chance the timing may not be precise.

That’s how many variables are at play in night operations.

“On the other hand, predicting the moment of dawn is easier. Yusis Goldray’s army could move first.”

“I see…! When daylight breaks, we can observe Yusis’ movements from the rear terrain.”

“Yes, so we stayed hidden and launched the attack in coordination with Yusis’ army that moved first. That way, we could precisely time a joint attack. The rear army was in a position to launch an attack with arrows at any time. Moreover, if we attacked after dawn, we could precisely target Captain Magsa and turn it into a beehive.”

Numerous intentions hidden within a single move.

By reading them accurately, one can reach an equal position to strategize.

“But the enemy made a small mistake there.”

“A small mistake?”

“They used up the arrows too quickly. And because of that… the enemy ends up receiving an unintended blow like this.”

Turning left to flank the battlefield, my mercenary unit with the master was aiming at the side of Yusis’ army climbing the hill to break their formation.

“We’ll break through and cut off the enemy’s waist. This will greatly weaken their morale.”

“Good, fall back, Alss.”

“No, I can’t leave everything to you, master.”

In this battlefield, there was even Yulia, who had no combat ability.

Although we had moved to a safe place for now, retreating would be futile. At the very least, we had to avoid defeat.

Swish! I steadied my heart as I twirled the spear.

“Let’s go then!”

“Ilya’s mercenary unit! Charge!”

Whoosh! The elite mercenary unit charged forward.

“What, what!?”

“Enemy attack! They’re coming from the side! Argh!”

To the army facing us head-on, who must have thought that the entire Caliper encampment was immobilized by arrow attacks, our presence felt like a nightmare.

“Ah!”

Thud thud thud thud!!

Enemy soldiers pierced through the neck in lightning-fast four-shot sequences.

Unlike when dealing with previous bandits, there was a sense of guilt, but I knew it wasn’t the time.

“If I don’t kill, I will be killed!”

With determination, I continued to push forward.

Crack! It was the sound of the advanced Ulysses army’s flank being hit, a sound that clashed with the logic Gallias Melburn had envisioned.

“…What in the world is that unit.”

Gallias stared at the scene with eyes that seemed to see something from another world.

Units of the advancing Ulysses army piercing through the side.

Though their numbers were only around 500, their impact was significant.

As the enemy forces were advancing up the hill, the rapid collapse of our forces due to the slope caused great confusion in our formation when the enemy bypassed our side.

Gallias, who hadn’t expected such cunning from the Caliper army that was taken by surprise, felt like he had been blindsided.

“Could it be they anticipated the teacher’s stratagem and were preparing to turn the tables?”

Allowing a surprise attack intentionally to counter-attack afterward.

If that were the case, everything made sense.

“No, that can’t be.”

It was evident in the opponent’s genuine confusion.

With high-ranking officers all killed in the recent arrow attack, the command structure had fallen into disarray.

Even if they were desperate, sacrificing all high-ranking officers for such a tactic seemed unlikely.

“Then, is this the independent movement of a few units… Darn, did we exhaust arrows too quickly?”

It was hard to believe that someone would exploit such a minor mistake.

Gallias quickly acknowledged his failure and began devising a new strategy.

“This situation is highly dangerous. Extremely.”

In the end, the main force of Albad was the 10,000-strong Ulysses Goldray army advancing up the hill.

If their main force didn’t make it up, they couldn’t control this place.

“We must act before the enemy reforms their formation.”

It was now a race against time.

Gallias led all 2,000 soldiers down the mountain to launch a sudden attack on the rear of the Caliper camp.

***

“Ah!”

Thud thud thud thud!

Albad’s soldiers falling like scarecrows with their throats pierced.

Covering my disgust caused by the opponent’s blood, I looked around.

“All right, the waist is perfectly cut off!”

If the enemy advancing up the hill has their waist cut off like this, it will take them a long time to resume their march.

During that time, if we can readjust the advanced defensive posture, the situation will quickly turn in our favor.

Our forces may be outnumbered, but we still hold the terrain advantage.

“Teacher! The enemy is attempting to turn their backs! We must retreat now! If we stay like this, we could end up isolated!”

Dancing with sword and spear as if in a martial arts performance, the teacher, who had been striking down the enemy, nodded in response to my signal.

“I will clear the way!”

Putting the sword back into the sheath on his back, the teacher firmly grasped the spear with both hands.

Matching our steps, I led the way to the other side, clearing a path out of the battlefield.

“Heave! Heave!”

“You’re worn out now, Commander Ilya!”

As we left the front lines, the mercenaries following behind us all collapsed in exhaustion and sat down.

I addressed them, “Just a little more effort. Soon, the army that was in the rear will attack our main camp. We must fend them off to end this situation.”

“….”

The mercenaries gazed at me with a strange look.

Unable to hold back, one of them asked, “But who are you, sir? You seem unfamiliar. Though I’ve seen you refer to Commander Ilya as ‘teacher.'”

“I am…”

I was wearing the reddish-brown helmet my mother had given me. The sleek helmet, modeled after a falcon, perfectly concealed my face.

I had no intention of revealing my true identity to the world. If I disclosed my name here, the entire story I knew could vanish into thin air.

A traitor might have been observing me with suspicion long ago.

Therefore, until I met the protagonist, I didn’t want to reveal my name.

That’s why I sealed even my Chester-style spear technique and only wielded a single spear.

“I am a mercenary like you. Please call me Wade. Commander Ilya has received instruction in spear techniques from me in the past.”

“Wade? Did we have such a guy in our mercenary group?”

“He’s a newcomer who joined recently. He’s had enough rest by now. Let’s move out.”

“He hasn’t rested much at all! Damn, pushing us around.”

The grumbling mercenaries continued to follow diligently.

Compared to regular soldiers, they were definitely tougher in this regard.

With a strong backbone for battle, they had the advantage of not losing morale easily even in tough situations.