“6th Division Commander, Rapal-sama…… we couldn’t find any more survivors. We believe they may have already been……”
My subordinate, Paige, kneels down and reports to me so.

“That so? Well, I should’ve expected as much. Good work, Paige. Then as planned, we will commence the final attack on the Lithuvar Tribe.”

“Right away!”

Currently, the “Hungry Hunters” is in a state of ruin.
A subordinate of mine has already informed me that Lord Tallmann is withdrawing along with the 4th Division.
I’ve also received word that Azalea has gathered a small group to subjugate that dragon.

We are left with a choice of either supporting Azalea in his subjugation, or regrouping with Lord Tallmann in withdrawal.
However, an army of our class should never yield to the likes of forest bumpkins.

Azalea seems to be fully intent on taking down that dragon, but I highly doubt it.
I only glimpsed it once, but I knew immediately. That is not an opponent we can win against.
Lord Tallmann will become stubborn, and the usually rational Azalea will end up attempting to fulfill his wishes until the very end.
In this murder-crazed “Hungry Hunters” army, Azalea is the only one on par with me as a strategist, but they seem to give him too much credit.

What he’s doing is too reckless.
He’s probably gambling it all on the small chance of success, but he’ll only lead his joke of a party to their inevitable deaths instead.
If that happens, then Lord Tallmann will lose all his fame and he will be laughed at, which obviously means that he’ll be removed as a candidate in the royal selection.
Even if the outcome ends with his name being tarnished, there was no need to get overly emotional over such a thing.

When I heard that Azalea went to subdue that dragon, I thought it would make for a perfect chance to attack the Lithuvar Tribe while the dragon is distracted elsewhere.
Even if we failed to take back the Carbuncle or the dragon, at least the achievement of exterminating the forest bumpkins will not sully Lord Tallmann’s name too much.
We can also retrieve information regarding the dragon as well.
It should still be enough to give Lord Tallmann a straight path to become king.
I will also be deemed as the knight who helped serve the new king.
And, if Azalea dies, then I will be given an exemplary boost to my position in the “Hungry Hunters” as a General Commander.
It might turn into a complicated predicament for Lord Tallmann, but it will be a good opportunity for me.

When I first saw that dragon, I was in shock.
It has a large-built body and two long necks.
And, from its widely spread wings are lethally dangerous wind blades that turn live men to corpses in an instant.
The next time it flew, it landed somewhere far but its tremendous impact was enough to still reach here.
Observing the whole scene from a distance, I judged that “an unexpected guest has arrived” and had to swiftly leave the battlefield.

The other squads thought we were fools for retreating.
But, make no mistake, for it was the best choice to be made.

Moments later, it is mostly because of that dragon that the majority of the “Hungry Hunters” have been annihilated.
I just took advantage of the ruckus and made a thorough escape, all the while making sure not to engage in any unnecessary combat against the Lithuvar Tribe.
I didn’t dare go after an opponent I had no chance of winning against.
That is why I devised this plan.
I only pretended to escape, when I was actually leading my troops around the village and waited for a chance to attack.

And, that chance is now.
This is certainly the best timing.
The only question is how long Azalea can keep the dragon occupied.

Out of my squad of fifty, only seven of them followed me as I pretended to escape and they now serve as my scouts who inform me of the current circumstances in the battlefield.
This small squad will be renowned as the true elite squad. With the dragon’s absence, killing those barbarians will be a walk in the park.

“Begin the attack. If you spot anyone with a strange whistle, kill them immediately”

“Yessir!”

The sound of that whistle they use travels quite far.
It’ll be troublesome if they use it to warn the others or to notify the dragon.

“Once we enter the village, kill everyone on sight. Even if everything turns chaotic, wait for my signal. Stay focused or you’ll miss my mark”

“So, you’ll be using that, then”

“Exactly. I wasn’t going to use it since it’s too valuable and dangerous, but we have a time limit before that dragon comes. Now, hurry. It took us a while to organize all the information we had. If we come in too late, we’re dead”

When I raised my sword high, everyone let out a warcry and raised their swords as well.
I lightly smirked as we made our way towards the Lithuvar village advancing at the route with the thinnest guards.
With Paige using magic to weaken our presence, we begin our assault.

Right off the bat, we were greeted by Lithuvar watchmen.
There were only five of them.
Because our presence was weakened, they were startled when we suddenly appeared so close to them unnoticed.
One of them frantically attempts to blow a whistle, while the other four charge at us with their spears.

“Aim, fire!”

I point my sword forward.
All the archers behind me release their arrows.
The arrows hit the man with the whistle and he falls on his knees.
As for the whistle, it was destroyed by an arrow.

“Ugu~uh!”

“Tatarc!”

They must be very laid back to still worry for their fallen comrade, or they just have the intelligence level of a flea to not even grasp their despairing situation.
I laugh with a snort at their dull minds and prepare to instruct the archers to aim at the spearmen next.
The man with the broken flute is still breathing, but he won’t be able to walk properly. We’ll finish him off later.

The aim of the archers swiftly switch from the man at the back to the spearmen at the front.
Though, I must say I’m impressed with the way they’re dodging the arrows as they approach closer. I should expect no less from barbarians who live in a forest full of monsters.

However, with each wave of my sword, all the archers instantaneously change their positioning, shooting pace, and firing intervals.
Smoothly controlling the dodge patterns of the spearmen at the signal of my sword, we only fire lethal shots to those who made a miss in their evasion.
One by one, they fall. Several volleys of arrows pierce the fallen spearmen’s back.
This feels like I’m conducting an orchestra.
Instructing my subordinates where and when to shoot their arrows and making the Lithuvars dance at my command.
Before I realized it, I was humming.

But, the remaining spearman was unlike the rest, expertly jumping to the left and right and dodging the arrows with ease, while gradually getting closer to me, the leader.
He seems to be young, but he’s physically bigger than the others.
His wild movements are unpredictable. It’s as if we’re facing a beast.

“Hmm”

“You are within my reach, villain! I, Baron, will take you with me even if it costs me my life……!”

The large man swings his spear.
This may be his character in nature, but right now, he appears to be clouded with anger.

“You’re full of openings, wild boy”

I parry the base of the spear with my sword, twist my wrist and deflect it back.
The spear was forced off his hand and it flew in the air.

The difference in skill between a mere barbaric warrior and me, who was trained under the strict instructions of the Rampard household passed down by generations, is far too wide.
Every possible action this large man will try to make, I can formulate the best and most efficient counters in my brain.
All that’s left is to put those formulations into effect.

“Guh, w-why you~u!”

The large man paused for a second before he jumped at me, despite knowing that I’m fully armed and riding a horse.
Did he think I would fall to such an obvious trick? No, this might just be a last-ditch attempt for him.
Such poor thinking capacity. Truly befitting a barbaric tribe.

“Let me show you why they call me Thunder Sword Rapal”

I point my sword up.

“〖Thunder Strike〗!”

I swing my lightning-imbued sword at the large man and a bright light flashes upon impact.

But suddenly, the whole surroundings was covered in a dense fog.

“Mm?”

The silhouette of a human struck by my lightning sword lies before me.
It’s true that my sword did hit something.
But, it wasn’t human. It was earth.

Looking closer, it was indeed just a pile of dirt.

“Tsk! Just〖Clay〗. It appears that someone with magic has arrived. But, this cheap little trick will only work once!”

I breathe in and out, focusing my senses to search for any new presences detected.
I then felt a sinister presence not far from here. It was in the shape of a person.
That sinister presence is somewhere in the direction where the man with the flute was lying down.

“Over there! Fire!”

The archers release their arrows on my command.

“〖Gale〗!”

Then, a powerful wind suddenly blows away all the arrows.
The strong wind also blew away the surrounding fog.
And there, a red-eyed Lithuvar girl stands in front of the injured man who had his whistle broken.

That wind was packed with powerful magic.
It easily deflected all the arrows in an instant.
I didn’t expect the Lithuvar Tribe to have such a powerful mage in their arsenal before I came here.

“………… W-Who are you? A-Alo? Is that you, Alo?”
[T.N: Almost forgot that Tatarc is Alo’s dad =w=]

The injured man was unsure at first, but after seeing her face, he was wide-eyed and his mouth was aghast.
The girl approaches the injured man, kneels down, and grabs hold of the arrow stuck on his abdomen.
As if preparing himself, the man bites his lips as the girl pulls the arrow out of him.

“Uu, uu~uargh!”

The man groans in pain.
Then, the girl turns towards the tree behind her.
When the tree lightly shaked, the man’s feet glowed and the injury on his abdomen slowly started to close.
…… Is the girl using〖Rest〗or is it that tree?
I was scratching the back of my head trying to figure out the scene happening before me.

“A-Alo…… is it really you, Alo?”

The man sobs while walking groggily towards the girl.
He was making such a happy face that it’s hard to believe he’s the same person who was near death a while ago.
After the girl expressed a face of slight embarrassment, she glances towards the Lithuvar village.

“…… Go warn the village”

“…………!”

The man’s expression turned back to normal as if suddenly becoming aware.
His face shows that he’s finally remembered his role.

“B-But, I can’t just leave you here……! I’ll stay behind, and you go warn them instead……!”

One of my archers shoots an arrow towards the girl.
The girl responds by chanting “〖Clay〗” and holding her arm up.
A lump of earth shields her from the arrow.

“……”

The man seems to have finally realized that he won’t even be able to buy time, so he grits his teeth, clenches his fist, and runs back to the village.

“I promise… I promise that we’ll come back for you! Until then, don’t you die on me!”

Hearing his words, the girl showed a sad expression, then she softly whispers to herself, and with a determined face, she looks at me.

Her sudden appearance surprised me at first, but now that I’ve composed myself, I point my sword at her.

“So you can use magic, but little girl, let’s see how long you can last against me, Thunder Sword Rapal……”

“Rapal-sama!”

I then suddenly heard someone jump from the ground and I quickly turned around.

“Unfortunately for you, I am here too!”

It’s that large man, Baron.
It was probably created with magic, seeing as the spear he’s about to thrust at me is made of earth.

“Gu~uh!”

As I parry his spear again with my sword, the spear crumbles and reverts back into dirt.
The large man then greatly jumps sideways, out of my line of sight.
I couldn’t track him with my eyes and I fell off my mount.

“You measly peasant…… take this,〖Lighting Dispersion〗!”

Four lightning bolts shoot out of my sword.
The large man comes back into my line of sight and he distances himself from me.
Seizing that chance, I stand back up.

The large man is now unarmed, but then the girl from the back raises her arm and another earthen spear appears before him.
He wipes the blood from his face and gladly wields his new weapon.

“…… I do not know who you are, but I owe you one. I leave the support to you”

“Lowly barbarians! Very well, if you want to die so bad, I’ll turn you all into ashes!”