16

One day had passed since the fierce fighting.

The two armies, glaring at each other along the riverbank, were completely stuck.

I was watching them from near the planned site of the fortress.

"Think it’s too hopeful to expect the Empire to pull back?"

"Hard to say. The buffer zone’s always been an absolute no-man’s-land—untouched by either side. If they lose it, it’s like losing territory. Given the current emperor’s thinking, he’ll definitely try to drive us out."

Denis, standing beside me, scanning the riverbank like me, neatly dismantled my quiet hope with a logical forecast.

"Guess it’ll come down to that, then. We should prioritize setting up anti-air guns."

"Yeah. I’ll bring it up with command."

If they’re trying to kick us out of this place again, the signal for war’ll definitely be an Avila bomb. We’re building a fort here, after all. Smash that to bits, and all we’ve done so far goes straight to dust.

The fort’s designed to handle something like an Avila bomb once it’s finished—but right now, construction hasn’t even started. Just a pile of supplies sitting there, gathering dust.

Kinda makes this the moment of truth.

“Looks like it’ll be a long haul. I’m not sure what to do with the units. Should Dennis’s squad stay put here?”

That’s always been the standard—pilots up front, the rest of us camped back a little, out of the line of fire.

But ever since Abnomyle was developed, we’ve been putting our ground crew to work on the front lines—helping with supply runs and repairs, since there aren’t enough of us to go around.

I suppose we could just stay here and keep having them help with repairs. But there’s one thing that’s been bugging me—support maids, really.

Their job’s supposed to be supporting us from the safety zone, taking care of our daily needs. But if our unit’s stationed out here, they’ll have to come all the way out too.

Ange, our support maid, is currently staying back at Laita Base with the princess. But depending on how things go, she might have to come out here.

Honestly? I’d rather not have her out here, not in a place where an Avilabomb could drop at any moment—

Just to be clear—when I asked about Dennis’s squad, there was a pause before the reply came.

“…We’re planning to keep our unit stationed here for now. But some of us’ll pull back to rest.”

“Ah. So rotation’s an option, huh.”

Dennis’s squad, being made up of former Royal Guard veterans, had enough manpower to keep up rotations without breaking a sweat.

But that’s not much help to us.

“We’re short on numbers, see.”

Even with the reinforcements after I joined the Guard, we’re still just eight—including me. And Orell and Karine aren’t even here yet. Still stuck in the capital.

“Going back’s not a bad idea, I suppose. With the new model coming, the others’ll need to get a proper feel for the machines.”

“True. But I’m not sure about moving just yet…”

As for the Pespilarge, there was a manual-like thingy in the cockpit, sure—but without Orell and the others who designed it from the ground up, it’s a proper mess trying to fix the little bits and pieces.

Yesterday, when I showed the thing to Ritz and the rest, they just froze up, all confused. Though to be honest, the one who was most heartbroken was the physics calculator—Senseboard—writer, the temporary recruit from base.

For one thing, the Pespilarge’s physics calculator is mostly written in Karine’s own private language. And on top of that, it’s got three Senseboards linked together—so it’s a whole knot of confusion.

The poor kid couldn’t even extract the controls or adjust them, and burst into tears right there.

So I should’ve been heading back to the Raita Ki to meet up with the others—but right now, it’s me and Captain Dennis holding the line here. Can’t just pull back recklessly. The morale of the other units depends on it.

Well, we’ve knocked out the two Eight Generals Knights, and we’ve wrecked Layra’s machine pretty bad.

The generator’s been taken, but she won’t be back on the front anytime soon.

Even if the next fight comes, it’ll probably be a little easier…

“Huh. Eld hasn’t heard yet, has he?”

“What about?”

“The reinforcements. After a night passed, we got word from south and north.”

Guess while I was handing the machine over to Ritz and catching a breather, new intel came in.

Funny thing—those southern and northern reinforcements we were counting on to flank the enemy? They didn’t show up like they should’ve. Northern troops arrived late, but the southern ones haven’t shown up at all yet.

“The northern squad… well, they were already there, like they’d been expecting us. Mercs blocked the way—something about a machine, a battle-hungry one, probably Force’s. Captain Jean took charge there, pulled the others away from that front… but…”

Force came back to the battlefield, nearly untouched. That means—

“Captain Jean…”

“They found the wreckage and Jean’s body this morning.”

“Is that so…”

I didn’t know him well, not really. Still, hearing one of my old comrades was killed… not exactly a pleasant thought. And worse—our revenge slipped through our fingers.

“And the south—same deal, really. Got overrun by mercenaries, then somehow ended up fighting each other, blew up the generator, and made a run for it. The blast took out a bunch of the aberrants, so the march ground to a halt. Now they’re turning back this way. Heard they’ll be here any moment. No need to keep pressing close, then.”

“Is that right?”

That’s good news.

“Then I’ll head back to Reiterki the instant reinforcements arrive.”

“Best thing to do. Eld’s still a Guard Knight. Can’t be too far from his charge, not without trouble.”

“Yes. I’ll let command know I’ll be returning later.”

Here I am, fighting like a mad thing alongside the princess—though a proper Guard Knight’s supposed to stay close to their charge, right?

The sun’s climbing high now, so I figure I’ll head back to the outpost and let the rest of the squad know what’s up. I turn my back on the grassland, and there—just ahead—some soldiers come into view.

All of them facing this way, clearly up to something. Maybe they’re waiting for me? Though with Captain Dennis around, I guess it’s hard to tell if they’re nervous or just unsure. Still, unless it’s an emergency, a regular soldier wouldn’t dare interrupt a conversation like this.

“Hey, you—got something on your mind?”

They all practically leap toward me, relieved, like I just saved them from drowning.

“Ah—um. We’re the Abnomyle crew, the pilots… um, thank you so much for yesterday!”

“Thank you so much!”

I blink. The sudden thanks, out of nowhere—what in the world’s going on?

“We were taken hostage back then—Eld, the captain, rescued us.”

“Ah, that time…”

Seems everyone here was one of those taken hostage by Lise of Hedonism back then.

We kept a close watch on the riverbank, made sure they were released safely—though we didn’t know who exactly was involved.

“At first, we’d given up. Soldiers are trained not to show mercy to hostages. But Eld, the captain—he saved us. So we just… wanted to say thank you again.”

“Ah, then I’ll take that thanks gladly. But next time, try not to get caught.”

“Yes!”

“Then, excuse me!”

They scurried off, quick as a rabbit. Watching them go, I let my mind drift back to that day.

They thanked me, but back then, I should’ve just gone ahead and killed the hostages’ captors without a second thought, like they said.

But I couldn’t move.

The relief of having saved them—just that one spark—has left a smoldering regret in my chest ever since.

“Captain Eld, about what you just said…”

“Yeah. It’s true.”

Captain Dennis stepped forward, his face tight with confusion.

“Why would you say something like that? Didn’t they teach you, at the Academy, how to act when taken hostage?”

“Huh?”

“…Huh?”

I tilted my head at Dennis’s words, and he tilted his head back at me, puzzled.

I don’t remember ever being taught what to do if taken hostage at the Academy.

If I’d been in my past life, I probably would’ve skipped classes and napped through most of it—so I might’ve missed something. But back at the Academy, I’d clawed at every lesson like my life depended on it. I paid attention to everything. Did my prep. Did my review.

I’d memorized the textbooks down to the last word. There’s no way I could’ve missed it.

“Um… about being taken hostage—nothing was ever taught about that.”

“Is that so? In my day, they told us upfront to prepare ourselves to kill. To make peace with it. Even trained us not to hesitate…”

Then Captain Dennis snapped his fingers, like he’d just remembered something.

“Ah. Right. The curriculum was revised ten years ago.”

“So it was cut out then?”

The odds are high. The battles of Armunale are mostly about chivalry. Truth be told, in recent decades, we haven’t heard of hostages taken—except when soldiers fought bandits or such.

Right. In fights between Armunale units, it’s basically one-on-one. The end’s always either one dies, or both withdraw. The other members stay out of harm’s way, so there’s no chance to take hostages.

That’s probably why the part about hostages got cut from the curriculum.

But—

“Now, though, we might face battles between Abnomunale units. So the chance of being taken hostage could come up.”

“We’ll need to revise the course material sooner rather than later. And we’ve got to make sure the ones who graduate after the change get the word, too.”

Otherwise, the Empire or mercenaries might start thinking hostage tactics actually work.

"Then I'll pass the word on to the princess myself. If it's an order from the royal family, every department'll scramble to act."

"Yeah. Leave it to me."

"Then I'll hand the front lines over to Captain Dennis."

"Aye. Count on it."

We clapped fists lightly, and I turned toward the rest of the squad.

◇

"Yess! Yesss! Yesss!"

"Whoa! Lady Ines! Calm down, please!"

"My knight, well done! Just as I knew you would! My knight, truly!"

Perched on the windowsill, shrieking with joy into the open air, was Ines—the princess’s younger sister.

Why was Ines so thrilled? Simple. Just moments ago, a messenger on horseback had arrived with word: the land needed for building a fortress in the buffer zone had been secured.

The fortress construction was a necessity in Ines’s plan, so I had to make this operation succeed at all costs.

I’d reached out across the whole country, scrambling to negotiate every possible angle. If it finally paid off, well—of course I’d be overjoyed.

And now, gripping Ines like a vice, trying not to lose my grip, is Ange—support maid of the First Armunale Battalion, Second Princess’s personal guard.

Ange had been just as thrilled at first, celebrating with Ines, but as Ines’s joy kept climbing higher and higher, she’d grown more and more serious—now practically wrestling her to the floor.

“Okay, okay! I get it, Eld’s amazing, I get it! Just please—put your feet down! Someone’ll see us!”

“Hmph. The Second Princess’s panties! Not something to be embarrassed about, is it?”

"Please—this is mortifying! I mean, truly, utterly mortifying as a woman!"

"Ugh. Well, I suppose there's nothing to be done about it."

After much pleading, Ines finally lowered her feet from the windowsill. Seeing that, the attendants beside her all let out sighs of relief.

"Anyway, now we can get the plan moving. I must write to my brother right away."

"Yes, yes, I’ve already got everything ready here."

With practiced ease, Ange laid out paper, pen, and ink on the desk. Over the past few months, having been left behind to act as Ines’s attendant, she’d grown quite accustomed to her habits. Still, Ines’s boldness still occasionally caught her off guard.

"So, what’s the plan from here?"

"We wait until the fortress is built. In the meantime, I’ll be doing some groundwork. Once it’s done, I’ll demand a truce from the Empire."

"So we’re aiming to stop the war for real, then."

That’s why we’ve pushed them back this far. The Empire’ll get the message once they’ve been turned back by a single nation and lost part of their buffer zone. Just hinting we’ll keep advancing should bring them to the table, no getting around it. Sure, there’s still a lot of groundwork to lay, but that’s the way it goes.

The king—my older brother—is slowly making progress on that front. At first, he’d grumble in letters about getting nowhere, but as the tide of battle turned, the replies from the other side started changing, little by little. I heard that from Ines.

I don’t want to make the people suffer anymore. We’ve got to end this as soon as possible. After that… marriage, maybe? Only the three of us left now—my brother, me, and Eld. Ah, but my fiancé—Ald—he’s said to be delicate. Wonder if he’ll even come to live with us?

"Wasn’t it the Duchy of Welria? If he’s frail, wouldn’t it be better to have him here—climate-wise, at least?"

"Maybe we should try that angle. Then there’s Folde, now. Any girl around here willing to marry our third prince?"

"Depends on the war’s momentum, really. If things settle, Fatal’s a decent-sized nation."

"True enough."

Fatal was one of the top nations in terms of Armunale holdings. Naturally, it had a fair stretch of land, enough strength to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Empire and other major powers.

If only the war could be settled, we’d be able to arrange a marriage alliance with other countries, no problem.

"Then we’d better do our best—for Folde’s sake."

"Yes, indeed."

"Speaking of children—Ange, how about you two? Shouldn’t you be thinking about starting a family soon? A little one, at least?"

Ange’s face turned bright red, out of nowhere.

The women around her were all sensitive to such talk. Even now, they were all listening closely.

“Um… we’re not having any just yet, according to Eld’s plan. Too many things unsettled—making a child would be too hard right now.”

A few of the women who’d given birth before nodded along with quiet agreement.

“Really? So you’ve been making Ange wait all this time?”

“N-no, not at all—”

“Then let’s set a goal: one year! I’ll end this war within a year and give you all a country where you can have children in peace. Just wait and see.”

“Yes, we’re waiting.”

Ange smiled gently at Ines’s declaration.

The Buffer Zone Arc has ended. Next time, we move on to the Diplomacy Arc (title TBA).

Next Time Preview

After countless clashes, the fortress slowly moves toward completion.

While everyone else was busy preparing for the next fight, Eld was doing his best to keep up with Ange, both of them scrambling to contain the rampaging Ines—no matter the occasion, even if it meant chasing her through the stalls—

Book Info

Just one week until the release of Armunale Volume Two.

This installment of the Academy Arc sees Layla’s heroine status rise dramatically.

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