Engagement - Lena's Confession
Lena and Leo were deployed to the battlefield once more.
Lena was a squire and a centurion.
While squires were primarily tasked with guarding commanders and generals, Lena, being a centurion, desired to be on the front lines.
“I need to be on the battlefield to earn merits. What good is guarding someone?”
“...Right. Good for you.”
Leo felt frustrated at times like this. There was no way to control Lena.
Yearning to become a knight, she gravitated towards the battlefield, distancing herself further from the prince.
Fortunately, Leo managed to secure a position alongside Lena by appealing to the general.
[Achievement Unlocked: Met Arnolf de Klaus - Gained slight favor with all nobles serving the Klaus Dynasty. Gained slight favor with Arnolf de Klaus.]
This achievement proved useful. Most generals were nobles, and they at least considered Leo's requests. As long as the request was reasonable, a positive response usually followed.
He was assigned to protect Centurion Lena as her squire.
It wasn't common for a squire to be assigned to a centurion, but pairing them up to bolster the frontline squad's strength against enemy knights was a strategic move.
“Lena, you received the signal flares, right?”
“Yep. I’ve even used one before. But they gave me something new since I became a squire.”
Lena held a blue orb in her hand.
Signal flares were supplied to centurions and knights.
Centurions received two green flares and one yellow flare. The green flares were used when multiple enemy squads assembled, posing a significant threat, while the yellow flare was used upon encountering an enemy knight.
Their purpose was to call for reinforcements when facing formidable enemy forces.
“Huh? It’s blue? I didn’t get one of those.”
“Looks like they’re treating us as one knight.”
Knights were additionally supplied with blue signal flares.
The blue flare was to be used when a mage was spotted, which is why centurions weren't typically issued them.
This was because mages were the bane of soldiers. Neither escape nor hiding was possible, so it was easier to assume death upon encountering one.
Since there was no way to hold off a mage, requesting reinforcements was pointless, hence no signal flares were provided.
It was the knights' responsibility to locate mages. A knight who spotted one had to halt all other activities, call for backup using the flare, and then prevent the mage from escaping.
Leo fiddled with the signal flare curiously.
It was a walnut-sized glass orb with a vibrant color swirling inside. It was a magical artifact. It was said that crushing it would transmit their current location to the mages at headquarters.
This had to be handled with care.
There were cases where soldiers, fearing for their lives in critical situations, would needlessly crush the flare. Doing so resulted in execution under military law.
As someone receiving a signal flare for the first time, Leo underwent extensive training.
Never use the signal flare recklessly.
Even in the face of death, prioritize disabling the signal flare.
Those two points were all there was to it, but he heard them enough to make his ears ring.
If a signal flare fell into enemy hands, it could be easily exploited.
They could call for reinforcements to an empty location or set a trap, so even in dire situations, disabling the flare was crucial.
That's why the signal flares were designed to become inert upon hitting the ground. He hadn’t seen one deactivated yet, but they said all he had to do was drop it.
“When did you use yours?”
“I used a green one once when you weren’t around. You have to be careful crushing these. I squeezed it with my hand and it hurt. I’ll use my sword next time.”
Lena said as she placed the signal flare in a small wooden box. If she accidentally crushed it, it would be difficult to avoid punishment. Leo carefully put his signal flare away as well.
Execution for improper use, and disabling it before he died. He felt a newfound sense of responsibility.
* * *
The reinforcements led by the prince significantly pushed back the frontline.
The enemy army, which had been barely holding the line with sheer numbers, couldn’t withstand the assault and retreated. Now, the Kingdom of Bellita began to have its villages devoured by the advancing army.
The commander had surrounded a nearby village and, after confirming the absence of enemy presence, ordered Lena’s century to occupy it.
Lena’s ten squads stopped a distance from the village and awaited the arrival of the mage. A puzzled squad leader approached Lena.
“Centurion, do we really need a mage to occupy such a small village?”
“I have no idea. We wait for the mage’s orders.”
Lena had swiftly risen through the ranks to become a centurion, but her knowledge of tactics and warfare was limited.
This was a common occurrence when war broke out. With abundant opportunities for earning merit and a severe shortage of manpower, promotions came quickly during wartime, often placing individuals with little experience in high-ranking positions.
To Leo, Lena, with her whimsical nature, was far from being a general. Leading a century was likely her limit; she seemed better suited to becoming a knight, just as she desired.
Soon, a mage arrived on horseback.
Two knights escorted her, and it was only after she dismounted and removed her hood that they realized she was a woman.
While men occupied almost all high-ranking positions in this world, mages were an exception.
Mages possessed an exceptionally rare ability called mana sensitivity, a talent found in perhaps one in several hundred thousand individuals, if that.
This talent manifested regardless of gender, resulting in a balanced ratio of male to female mages.
The female mage nodded curtly at Lena and proceeded to her task. She drew something on the ground with her staff and began muttering incantations into the air.
The soldiers watched with awe. Like Leo, most of them were seeing a mage for the first time.
However, Leo felt a twinge of disappointment. He had expected some dazzling display of magic, but there was none.
“...Hmm. This won’t do.”
The mage frowned and tapped her staff, which was taller than her, on the ground.
“You there, prepare to start a fire.”
“Excuse me? A fire, you say?”
“The village will be set ablaze. I tried to dispel the magic, but it seems to be physically bound to something.”
“Y-yes... Understood.”
“Let me know when you’re ready.”
It was an unexpected order.
Troubled by the fact that they were soldiers, not firefighters, Lena gathered the squad leaders.
“Do we know how big this fire will be?”
“She didn’t say.”
“There’s a stream nearby. We could draw water from there…”
“But we don’t have any buckets.”
“We can’t do this alone. Just in case…”
In the end, we decided to fill body bags with dirt and carry them. Concerned about the lack of manpower, Lena reported to the commander and requested support from another century.
“Mage, we’re ready.”
Lena called out to the mage, who was leisurely reading a book. She picked up her staff without getting up and pointed it towards the village.
“Alright. All you have to do is extinguish it. I’ve already taken care of the other traps, and there’s no one inside.”
“Understood.”
Two hundred soldiers rushed into the village. Flames erupted from various points within the village, which was much larger than Demos Village.
Some fires proved difficult to extinguish, but they pressed on with their numbers.
A few houses, too dangerous to approach, were left to burn. As long as they prevented the fire from spreading, it was fine.
Lena, who had been leading the charge, was covered in soot.
“Looks like the villagers all evacuated.”
“The lord must have taken them away earlier.”
“That’s a relief. They didn’t have to witness this horrific sight…”
She seemed relieved that they didn’t have to harm any civilians, but such a thing would be inevitable in the future.
There were several large villages and cities along their army’s line of advance, and they might have to loot them when ordered.
An empty village, scarred by scattered burn marks.
As negative thoughts filled his mind at the desolate sight, Leo shook his head to clear them away.
Think positive.
This village would serve as a supply depot going forward.
And if they advanced for a few more months, the fortress called 'Toridom' would be within their reach. Capturing it would greatly stabilize the frontlines, which was the Astin Kingdom army's objective.
If they could take Toridom, the war might even end.
The impoverished Astin Kingdom would not desire a protracted war. They would likely be content with capturing two cities and the strategically important Toridom.
His mood lifted by the hopeful thought, Leo handed Lena a water bag and told her to wipe her face.
They were busy for a while, organizing the occupied village and managing the incoming supplies.
Carts continuously arrived at the village, now a supply depot, laden with weapons, food, hay, tents, daily necessities, and more, leaving them with little time to rest.
Moreover, siege weapons, with their imposing presence, began to arrive one by one, transforming the once-empty village into a bustling marketplace.