The Beauty’s Secret: 14

Julius and Maxián were observing the Kingdom of Lakshurusu’s army at a distant on the fortress near the northern border of Aullène Kingdom.

“The Kingdom of Lakshurusu aren’t attacking us today either.”

“They’re probably being careful because of our reinforcements.”

“Yeah, at any rate it’s favourable for us.”

According to the two, there hadn’t been any big movements on the battlefield for a few days now since the detached force, that Julius was in, entered the fortress that was defended by the border guards.

The Kingdom of Lakshurusu’s army, which were lined up a short distance away from the fortress, stopped their offensive attack and was observing the fortress.

The reason for this was as Maxián had said: they were taking the reinforcements into consideration.

“I told you that it would take several days for the main troops to arrive.”

“According to the report they’ve already joined up with the northern army and finished reorganising the troops. So it’ll probably take them that long to get here. If the main force gets here then our numbers would exceed the Kingdom of Lakshurusu’s army. We’ll probably start our attack when they arrive.”

“As originally planned? Marquis Evryac is really reliable.”

As previously planned, the troops at the fortress won’t attack and concentrate on defending the fortress until the main troops arrived.

Therefore, it was favourable for Aullène Kingdom that the Kingdom of Lakshurusu wasn’t attacking and just observing them. Marquis Evryac told them to not provoke the opposing army and just waited for the main troops.

Marquis Evryac had a higher rank than the commander of the border guards so he was now the supreme commander. When the main troops arrived then the command would be handed over to a Duke.

“Is their commander Prince Hedwig? He’s a Prince and he’s well known for his sword skills.”

“He’s brave and daring just like the rumours said he would be. When we arrived, I saw him at the front lines when they were attacking the fortress.”

“I see…… He went out onto the front line even though he’s the Prince and their supreme commander? That probably means that he’s really confident in his skills.”

It was normal for the supreme commander to command the army from the rear. This way, they could have a wide view of the battlefield and also if the supreme commander was killed or suffered a serious injury by chance then the troops would rout and they may also become uneasy. Especially if someone like a prince, who had high social status, was acting as the supreme commander.

However, the supreme commander of the Kingdom of Lakshurusu, Prince Hedwig was commanding his troops from the frontline. He wouldn’t have been able to do something like that if he didn’t have confidence.

“If I can win against Prince Hedwig……” He said as he lowered his eyes to the sword hanging on his waist and then he stared at both his hands.

“Julius?”

“…… No, it’s nothing.”

Maxián asked because he thought that Julius was acting weird, but Julius shook his head and didn’t say anything else.

Maxián was doubtful but he didn’t ask any further.

He had no idea that Julius had secretly made a decision……

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

Half a month had already passed since the special army departed from the Royal Capital. The two armies near the border of the northern territory had finally collided in a full-blown battle.

Aullène Kingdom’s army had secluded themselves inside of the fortress and focused on defending but the main troops were here now so they started their counter-attack.

The total number of the army after the main troops and northern troops had joined was 7000. 3000 of the main troops were in the centre, 2000 were led by Marquis Evryac on the right and 2000 of the border guards on the left.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Lakshurusu didn’t divide their army of 6000 into divisions but instead they all assembled together.

Both army consists of platoons of 30 ~ 100 soldiers. Each of the platoons was commanded by a noble.

Julius and Maxián were also Captains and commanded a platoon of 50 members.

There were commanders who rode horses and those who were on the ground, but those two were from prominent noble families so they rode horses.

The soldiers they led were farmers and territorial armies so their equipment were all mismatched.

The most orthodox equipment was a simple spear made from iron attached to a wooden handle. The soldiers equipped with this were gathered in the platoons on the outside. Those carrying swords surrounded themselves around the commander.

Most of the battles consisted of platoons colliding with each other and the commander was in charge of giving out directions instead of fighting themselves.

Sometimes, however, the commander themselves would also fight. That was when a commander challenged the other to a one-on-one fight.

Once the challenge had been made, the soldiers would stop fighting and form a circle around the commanders, this became the battle stage. The battle would start straight after this happened.

It was cowardly to attack from the side while the fight was going on, if someone did that they would miss the chance to gain prestige and also be deprived of a noble rank.

It was a great honour to win on a one-on-one fight and there was nothing better than this achievement. Especially if the opponent was an important person or a renowned knight.

Therefore, the commanders were the key to controlling the movements of the troops but they were also easy targets if spotted.

Furthermore, there was no rule stating that you had to accept a one-on-one battle.

If the opponent had the same status as you and you escaped from battle then you would be slandered as a coward, but if there was a gap in the contenders’ status, then the more superior person can keep their face even if they didn’t accept the challenge from the lower status person. This was because there would be no end to it if Duke and Marquis Houses accepted challenges from Baron’s second or third sons.

If those of high statuses wanted to challenge someone to a one-on-one battle then it was common for their opponent to be the same status as them.

“…… But, if the Prince’s personalities are like the rumours then it’s highly possible that he would accept a one-on-one battle.”

Of course, the battle wouldn’t be official until they accepted since a higher status person didn’t need to accept one-on-one battles from people lower rank than them. Betting on the possibility that it would be accepted, Julius moved his platoon towards the main force.

Julius was originally in the detached force led by Marquis Evryac on the right, but he requested for a change of position.

His objective was to challenge Prince Hedwig, who was leading the Kingdom of Lakshurusu’s army. If one won against the enemy’s supreme commander then they would gain the most honour. Julius, who wanted to challenge the commander, thought that this was worth the risk.

Of course, his opponent was a prince and was higher rank than him since he was an Earl. However, it was rumoured that Prince Hedwig had excellent sword skills and he might accept a challenge from someone if they were skilled too, even if they were lower rank.

This kind of request would normally be brushed aside, but it was accepted by the Duke who was acting as supreme commander. The commander didn’t have confidence in his skills and he could probably rely on Julius because the Prince Dudrick often challenged Julius to matches so his skills were well known throughout the kingdom.

Indeed, in the unlikely event that Prince Hedwig challenged him to a battle, he would definitely lose and if he declined then he would be labelled a coward so his sense of danger was correct.

The Kingdom of Lakshurusu’s army were all concentrated at the centre and they aimed to attack the main force of Aullène Kingdom. On the other hand Aullène Kingdom’s army was spread from the left to right and aimed to attack the Kingdom of Lakshurusu from those three sides.

The surrounding troops could encircle the opposing army and gain the advantage if the opposing army stopped the main troops, but if the formation broke then everything would be lost.

In terms of soldiers, the Aullène Kingdom had 1000 more troops than their opponent but it wasn’t big enough to conclude the battle. Both armies had different tactics but either could win.

“──────!”

“──────!”

The tension between the two armies increased as they glared at each other.

And the moment it peaked…… Trumpets were blown from both sides and the battle flag shook with a loud noise.

“Advance!”

Each platoon advanced in response to the battle signal. Julius held his sword in front of him while giving commands.

The two armies advanced forward and eventually collided.