“I’ve returned.” (Do)


    Do, who appeared before me, looked as always and said so. He carried his favorite naginata-shaped spear on his shoulder.


    Naginata


    “Why are you here?” (Yuri)


    I was sitting on a chair a bit away from the hustle and bustle. It was quiet, but this spot was the soldier’s HQ.


    ‘Even so, why is this guy here?’


    From the look on his face, he must havepleted the job of promptly delivering Telor to the other side.


    “That’s probably because the work you told me to do is done.” (Do)


    Do said involuntarily.‘Since there’s really no use for Telor to be here, I told Do to go ahead. I thought that he was heading to the royal capital.’


    “What happened to Telor’s escort? Did you throw him over the bridge?” (Yuri)


    “When I went over there, somehow, the royal family appeared, and asked my permission to get her, so I entrusted her to him.” (Do)


    “After reporting so…


    “Is it bad?” (Do)


    Do said while somewhat looking uneasy.


    ‘No… If it’s the people of the royal capital, or… the royal messenger, you can entrust her to him. It would be the Queen’s Sword toe this far, but even if it isn’t, it seems that the person will take good care of her better than Do.’


    ‘The problem is if the person is a fake. If they appear in this situation, could they be from the Witch household who have a strong informationwork?’


    ‘However, whether they are from the Witch household or General Household, if they deceive the royal family, and kidnap the princess, they won’t be free. I don’t think Telor is worth the risk. As expected, from the timing and standpoint, there is no doubt that it’s a Queen’s Sword.’


    “It’s not bad, but how did you get back?” (Yuri)


    ‘It’s a problem if you push aside the refugees.’


    “I ran along the balustrade.” (Do)


    Balustrade


    “Eh… What is this guy… Well, if it’s this guy, there should be no problem even if he get caught in the river’s torrent since he could get up to the shore.’


    “Did youe alone? What happened to the soldiers?” (Yuri)


    “There’s this guy who handles the arrangement. Since he’s not having enough manpower, I entrust them to him.” (Do)


    “Hmm…” (Yuri)


    ‘It should be alright. It’s a job that requires a smart personality, such as arranging the organization. Honestly, it’s not a suitable job for Do, so it’s good for him to leave it to that person.’


    “Anyhow, you should exin a bit more.” (Do)


    Do said with a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows.


    “What is it?” (Yuri)


    “That child was very scared.” (Do)


    ‘That child… It must be Telor. Well, she had a pale look on her face. I left her alone because it’s not a situation where I really care about her naive side.’


    “She… she thought you were going to hand her over to the enemy.” (Do)


    ‘What’s that? Did she think about it?’


    “No way. What was she thinking about?” (Yuri)


    ‘I thought something was wrong about her from the start. Is it paranoia? Well, given her age and personality, it’s not strange that her view is narrow.’


    ‘Even so, if I do such a thing, I will end up as a Knight who sells a princess to save myself. No one will ept such a Knight. If Carol was caught and exchanged for that personality, the story would be different, so unless there is such an abnormal situation, this thought can’t be overlooked.’


    ‘By the way, Carol was quite reluctant, but now, she’s riding an eagle to the opposite bank.’


    “Don’t have a hard time understanding a woman’s idea.” (Yuri)


    “Is that so? The members of the unit are also having a simr thought. There are many people who look at you with distrustful eyes from a while ago.” (Do)


    “Well, that’s because I burned the bridge.” (Yuri)


    ‘I haven’t exined at all what it means to burn the bridge. The bridge was temporarily closed to traffic for a while, and raw trees were brought in, stabbed into various parts of the bridge and burned… They don’t understand the meaning of that act. It’s natural to have a feeling of distrust.’


    ‘However, I don’t have time to exin it. Rather, it’s more troublesome if it’s exined, but they can’t understand and oppose the n.’


    “They are very angry.” (Do)


    “Well, that’s because they think they will have to fight and die from now on. They are following themander’smand to do something iprehensible, and protect the people who they don’t care much about.” (Yuri)


    “Are you going to exin to them?” (Do)


    “If I exin it, not everyone can understand it. If there’s no rebellion, I don’t care.” (Yuri)


    ‘No matter how distrustful they may be in the process, if the result is good, there’s no problem. In the first ce, military actions don’t require the consent from down below.’


    ‘Carol’s opinion on Liao is nothing special, and there will be quite a few people in the unit who have the same mentality. That is either to protect the people or not. There may also be vitions of order. In that case, it would be easier to let them obey the order without notifying them from the beginning.’


    “Goodness, you are…” (Do)


    “You came anyway. Would you like to be the rear guard? There may be an opportunity to cross des.” (Yuri)


    “Maybe. But I think we will fight the enemies that areing now.” (Do)


    “No.” (Yuri)


    I took out my pocket watch and opened it.


    “There’s 15 minutes left. If there’s no report after that time, the soldiers will pull up.” (Yuri)


    “…? What do you mean?” (Do)


    “If there’s no report after 15 minutes, I will lead the unit to the other side. It doesn’t make sense to hit them from the front.” (Yuri)


    “There are refugees, you know.” (Do)


    “There’s no choice but to cut through them.” (Yuri)


    ‘It’s just self-satisfaction to stick on protecting refugees on the assumption if there’s a collision. I think it’s purely noble, and I respect it if someone else does it, but I can’t do that. It may be annoying enough to the point that you may want to vomitter.’


    “Hmm…” (Do)


    Do made aplicated face and kept silent.


    ‘It seems that he doesn’t have any opinion. It would be awkward to bring up a sense of justice in this situation, so it would be helpful. He isn’t a man without a sense of justice, but he isn’t the kind of man to dye the world into his own justice.’


    “Hmm?” (Do)


    Do suddenly raised his face, and looked in the other direction. When I turned in that direction, there was a shadow of a person running here.


    It was Guiume. He ran to the spot where I was sitting.


    ‘It seemed that he wasn’t good at exercising. If it were me at the school of Knight, I would exhale once, but he was already out of breath.’


    “What’s wrong?” (Yuri)


    “I was told to ask for you at the order of Liao-dono. That’s about your n.” (Guiume)


    Guiume was a bit quick, and looked impatient.


    ‘The front line barrier, where the enemy scouts could see the bridge, is still exist there. It will be troublesome if the scoutes again and sees the stone bridge.’


    ‘Even if the scoutes again, the barrier will be moved forward to the spot where the bridge wouldn’t be visible, and if theye back, we will drive them back. That’s where Liao is leading.’


    “Is the front line nervous?” (Yuri)


    “They’re not nervous. They’re just sick of having them fight only.” (Do)


    ‘Is that so? When I think about it, many of them are from the Rube Household. On the other hand, I’m not trying to skip things since I’m leading the refugees away, but it’s true that I’m in a safe ce. They probably think either I’m abandoning them or I’m being responsible for their injuries.’


    ‘In other words, the feeling of being frightened by the war went to the extreme level, and they might even get killed. If Liao is someone I can trust his judgment simr to how I trust Myaro, it will be a different story, but that is because he was very opposed to the n.’


    ‘I also often think about it, but I haven’t caught up with them yet.’


    “Well, take a break.” (Yuri)


    “…What are you going to do?” (Guiume)


    ‘It seems this guy can’t afford to take a break. Is he confused due to the situation? He looks scared.’


    “I’m waiting for the report. If… I don’t receive the report in fifteen minutes, the front line will be withdrawn. That contact will be returning soon.” (Yuri)


    ‘The scout that I intentionally let him return should have already reported the situation and theirmander should have made the decision. If the main army ‘doesn’t stop, they will soone into contact with us.’


    The enemy doesn’t always stop, so there is a possibility that they will rush in as it is. So, I have to wait for my contact to return.’


    “…If that’s the case, I’ll wait.” (Guiume)


    Guiume put his ass down on a crate that was there.


    “Guiume, you probably know what I’m aiming for. So, why are you impatient?” (Yuri)


    “…You rely too much on the chance. If you miss it, it’s going to be terrible.” (Guiume)


    “Predicting what the enemy is thinking can’t be said as relying on chance, you know.” (Yuri)


    ‘To put it in the extreme, I’m predicting the enemy will divide their army into encirclement and I’m preparing the rear unit to fight their army in case of withdrawal.’


    ‘Due to this situation, they will prepare an army for our rear as they would like to pursue us. They will be aiming for an encirclement, and that’s why they put troops there to prevent it. The only difference from this time is whether this situation is the usual way that is taught in the school or is it something that has no precedent.’


    ‘It is equal to saying that it’s not possible to estimate the risk by oneself to evaluate it by asking by chance if it’s originally risky.’


    “However, the fact is they’re not stopping.” (Guiume)


    “If they stop, they would be close to contact. Even if they split up, they would want to use this road as much as possible.” (Yuri)


    ‘This area is considerably north of where they had a forced march before and the altitude is also high. The density of trees and undergrowth is low and it’s easy to walk, but for the time being, walking on a paved road is much faster. They would want to use it as much as possible.’


    ‘The further away they stop, the responsiveness will becking and it would be difficult to attack at once in synchronization. There’s no reason to stop far, but there are many reasons to stop near.’


    ‘From the enemy’s point of view, it’s fine to stop in front of the front line position. Even if they do that, there aren’t many problems. If they apply too much pressure, we may run away beforepleting the encirclement. So, they may not take that option, but it won’t be strange if they do.’


    “But if the enemy is those who have only bug-like brains, wouldn’t it be a n to make everything be a problem?” (Guiume)


    “If they are bugs, they won’t think of the strategy of using a ship.” (Yuri)


    “That’s a matter of an example.” (Guiume)


    “That’s a useless assumption. We’re not fighting bugs. The reason I don’t use that example is because the n won’t work.” (Yuri)


    When I said that, Guiume reluctantly shook his head.


    “I don’t understand at all. Do you see something different from me? Why can you be so calm? Is there any conviction?” (Guiume)


    “Conviction…?” (Yuri)


    ‘I have no idea why the discussion turns this way.’


    “I’m not sure whether the enemy will make a stop or not.” (Yuri)


    ‘If you knew in detail who the enemymander was, you couldn’t be confident in the judgment of amander you had never met or spoken to.’


    “Well then, why are you so calm? Aren’t you afraid of shing with them and getting trampled?” (Guiume)


    “You… you couldn’t think well because you think about living and dying, right?” (Yuri)


    “What?” (Guiume)


    “I told you that we’re going to run away from the beginning. As for that, we may get into a withdrawal battle in the process of escaping, but in the case of failure, it’s a good idea to devise a way to minimize the damage. But at the end of the day, we can run away with the refugees as fodder, so you don’t have to worry.” (Yuri)


    “Well… you’re right.” (Guime)


    “Even if the soldiers are sacrificed, the meaning of the loss in a meaningless battle that can’t be won from the beginning, and the loss as a result of a n that you won’t lose arepletely different. So, don’t use it as an excuse not to do anything from the beginning.” (Yuri)


    “…However, if the enemy doesn’t stop, we will lose soldiers regardless. Then, the people can’t be protected. If that’s the case, aren’t you showing a good outer appearance? Don’t you feel anxious doing that?” (Guiume)


    “If that situation turns reality, I’ll just be an ipetent person.” (Yuri)


    ‘To be honest, it doesn’t matter if I were scold and called ipetent. That’s because I’m wondering what it means to gain or lose some honor in a fallen country.’


    “You guys are talking very friendly, but who is this guy?” (Do)


    Do interjected. He was standing, folding his arms and looking at Guiume as if he was looking at a suspicious person.


    “You were there at the ce I introduced before.” (Guiume)


    “You should have remembered most of the faces of the unit.” (Yuri)


    “Uhmm…” (Do)


    ‘Well, it’s fine. Perhaps, Do is talking about from the side of Shaalta. This guy is also starting to make a move in order to protect the princess…’


    “I’m Guiume Zuzu. I joined from Reform and I am entrusted with one toon.” (Guiume)


    Guiume briefly introduced himself.


    “Hmm, I see. I remember. I’m Do Godwin.” (Do)


    Do introduced himself as a follow up.


    “You don’t have to remember me specifically.” (Guime)


    “There aren’t many people who can interact with Yuri. So, I’ll remember you.” (Do)


    ‘He apparently didn’t notice Guiume’s sarcastic response. I wonder if he says that since it’s not pointless to remember. He gave his name and he forgot it probably because it’s hard to remember. There’s no need for me to mention that, so I supposed this is Do’s victory.’


    “I’ll talk to anyone, you know.” (Yuri)


    “When you talk to someone you don’t go to battle with, you wear a mask and talk empty. It’s boring, so I know it right away.” (Do)


    “…” (Yuri)


    ‘I tried to argue, but I couldn’t say it. It’s boring talk for sure since he couldn’t understand the story, but it’s true there’s a time I switch mode. Even so, it’s really shocking that Do could see it through.’


    “You could at least say that I’m not smart.” (Yuri)


    “It’s because you’re not smart that I can really understand you. Smart or not smart… hmm, is it wrong?” (Do)


    Do put his hand on his mouth and made a thinking gesture.


    “Aah… it’s fine.” (Yuri)


    ‘It seems he’s confused. Since it’s troublesome to exin, I just let it go.’


    At that time, a shadow fell and the warmth of the sunlight that my body received disappeared for a moment.


    “It’s here.” (Yuri)


    I said while looking up. The way the shadow pass was different from clouds and small birds.


    “Is it going to descend here? Won’t it be dangerous?” (Guiume)


    “It’s a matter of skill. There’s no problem.” (Yuri)


    It was the eagle of Mira, whom I entrusted with the reconnaissance. With a calmness reminiscent of ady, the aged female eagle slipped through the narrow tree canopy without being disturbed.


    As it slowed down andnded perfectly, Mira hurriedly removed her belt and descended on the ground. She immediately ran a short distance toward here.


    “I’m reporting! The enemy stopped moving and split up. Some of them began to cross the forest!” (Mira)


    “Alright!” (Yuri)


    I hit my knee reflexively.


    “Did you hide in the sun properly?” (Yuri)


    “I did as you told me.” (Mira)


    “How much did the enemy split up?” (Yuri)


    “About one-third… I think.” (Mira)


    ‘One-third, is it? When I think about it, there will be 300 to 400 people. It’s enough to hit us here. From the other side, this method is only for the outer appearance. They would think it would be reasonable to leave some soldiers in the forest in the case of us scattering or escaping.


    “Guiume, bring the information and tell Liao to stay there for a while. If you’re really worried, you can sneak in to see the enemy line.” (Yuri)


    “Understood.” (Guiume)


    “Then, tell him to prepare a ‘dummy’.” (Yuri)


    “Dummy?” (Guiume)


    ‘I should have talked to Liao directly, but he hasn’t prepared yet. As expected, this guy seems to be suspicious.’


    “Just tell it to Liao, and he will get it. Do, if you’re going to the rear, you’lle with me.” (Yuri)


    “Ouh.” (Do)


    Do said so while flipping the spear that was poking its tip into the ground, and carried it on his shoulder.


    It was a so-called naginata-shaped spear, but the tip wasn’t like a long sword, but a short thick sword like a broad-ded knife. It was a rugged spear that didn’t seem to have any artistic value.


    Naginata, Upper Range


    ‘Is it the work of a well-known craftsman that his parents gave it to him?’


    Do snatched the dried meat and bread that was near me. He was probably hungry. Then, he ran to chase after Guiume who ran earlier.


    <strong>TLN:</strong><ul><li>Special thanks for the picture owner.</li><li>The second picture is to show the different kind of naginata. FYI, this is the character model of Guan Yu from Dynasty Warrior 8.</li></ul>