第３０３堀：な、なんだってー！？ (Part1)
Chapter 303: W-What Did You Say!?
Side: Yuki
"I truly thank you for this rescue. As expected of the legendary Dragon Knight!!"
August VIII said this, heaping praise upon Amanda.
In response to his voice, the surrounding soldiers joined in...
"Long live His Majesty the King!! Long live the Dragon Knight!!"
Such cries of joy rang out through the fortress.
Mixed in with those joyful cheers were those who had been covered in cloth, now silent remains, lined up alongside the living.
Beside them, surviving soldiers sat, whispering the news of the victory to the fallen.
"Everyone, you held your ground until the very end!! You are my pride!! You are the treasures of August!! But for now, let us suppress our joy and pray for the repose of the friends who fought alongside us and have passed on."
At those words, everyone fell silent and prayed.
A short while later, under the King's orders, the cleanup of the battlefield began.
Yes, we had successfully repelled the invasion from the Hifi Holy Kingdom.
Strangely enough, the August army's casualties were limited to about 400.
This was despite the fact that the enemy possessed guns and cannons.
Well, even so, considering 2,000 remained to defend and 400 lost their lives, that meant one-fifth of their force was gone.
That could certainly be called a significant loss.
It seems the enemy force wasn't even 1,000 strong—more like 500.
Of the 400 friendly casualties, 300 were reportedly from a unit that assumed the enemy numbers were low and launched an attack, only to be countered.
The number of attackers at that time was 1,000.
They challenged them with about double the force, yet were forced to retreat before they could even get close.
In other words, the accuracy and range of the guns were superior to bows.
And since they could scatter so many enemies with such a small force, it meant they were capable of a fair amount of rapid fire.
Much like a certain Demon Lord, they might even be capable of volley fire.
And the biggest problem was that we confirmed multiple mages on the enemy side capable of flight.
Moreover, some were confirmed to be at a level that could overwhelm a Magic Sword User single-handedly.
Even though they escaped via teleportation, the fact that John failed to capture them speaks volumes about their capability.
On top of that, there is a very high possibility they are using electric communication.
...The Wyvern squad has already returned to base, so I need to analyze the information and records they brought back.
But with this much combat power, why didn't they capture the fortress?
They seemed to have cannons, so taking a fortress built with August's technology should have been simple.
Were they waiting for the enemy to come out because their numbers were low?
No, in that case, August's reinforcements would arrive, creating an even greater disparity in force, potentially leading to them being crushed in the end.
But could the enemy have been expecting reinforcements of their own?
Above all, why threaten the border of a major power with such a small force?
...Let's calm down for a moment.
Instead of narrowing it down to one possibility, I should consider all possibilities, as usual.
"Yuki-san. Are you alright?"
As I was thinking, Ria called out to me.
She had a worried look on her face. Was I looking that serious?
"I'm fine. I was just thinking because I couldn't grasp the enemy's intentions at all."
"Is that so?"
"Oh? Jessica, you understand?"
"No. I just understood why you were troubled, Yuki."
"Ah, I see."
"Well, Amanda is busy talking to the King. Even if we take her home, there's the matter of handing over the fortress, so it won't be immediate. Let's think about it with the members who are available."
"That's true. I'll go call everyone."
"Mm. I'll go call them too."
With that, Samantha and Cleena left my side to gather everyone.
Rurua and Ratz were treating the wounded.
Eris was accompanying Amanda and Eoid, so it would be impossible to call her back.
Aslin, Firia, Labyris, and Shera were with Wai-chan, acting as a deterrent for safety.
Besides, being near Wai-chan meant no one would try to pull any strange stunts just because they were children.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Yes, yes, we flew over as soon as we were called."
Samantha and Cleena returned with Rurua and Ratz.
That was faster than I expected.
"Thanks to Rurua-sama and Ratz-san, the number of wounded soldiers has decreased significantly."
"Indeed. The rest will have to recover on their own. Oh, Eris-sensei couldn't be brought back because she's talking to the King with Amanda."
As I thought, Eris was a no-go.
Well, it would be problematic if she left Amanda and Eoid behind to come here anyway.
"Normally, it would be possible to heal them completely, but..."
"Well, I understand the sentiment, but we can't do that. It's strange enough that we're intervening in another country's conflict in the first place. If we individuals get targeted, your big brother will worry, Rurua."
Ratz was right, but for someone who handles medical care in Weed, it must be painful.
"I understand. Let's end this futile conflict as soon as possible. Especially if the cause is related to us. That should surely save many lives."
"That's right. Even if we spend time treating them here, it will only keep increasing unless we cut off the source of the conflict. So, let's go back to Wai-chan. As you've heard, we're organizing the information we have so far."
"Yes!"
With that, I stopped looking at the battlefield scars from the edge of the fortress and returned to Wai-chan.
Along the way, soldiers were energetically cleaning up.
The fortunate thing was that there were only soldiers here.
There was no sign that they had forcibly conscripted people from nearby villages as human shields.
"Ah, Big Brother!"
"It's Big Brother!"
When we returned to the courtyard where Wai-chan was, Aslin and Firia immediately spotted us and ran over.
I thought it might be a bit much to bring them to a battlefield like this, but leaving them behind would likely just get them caught up in some other trouble.