On the morning of the tenth day since the siege began, the ground shook as a sound like the world was ending rang through the air. I had been asleep in the Chou manor in the northern district of Keiyou when it happened. Leaping out of bed, I grabbed my sword from next to my pillow just as the sound thundered once again. In both my past life and my current one, I’d never heard anything quite like this before. The ground shook again and I could hear screams and yells accompanying it. A bell tolled through the city, warning people of the emergency. As it did I had an incredibly bad feeling, as if I’d lost a part of my body.
“Don’t tell me...” I started to murmur when Teiha, his face drenched with sweat, ran into the room.
“L-Lord Sekiei, the west gate...the west gate has been breached! We’re doing our best to engage with the enemy, but they’re armed with giant shields and are wearing armor made of metal. We can’t stop them!”
The breath caught in my throat for a moment before I let it out in a sharp sigh. “Now I get it.”
It had been a hopeless battle from the start. The Crimson Knights weren’t the best when it came to besiegement and we had been able to hold out for this long thanks to all my soldiers’ hard work, but we were at our limit. Three more times, the sound of destruction shook the room and from the window I could see what looked like a bright red ball fly through the air before disappearing.
I racked my brain, thinking back on the foggy memories of my past life, the various books I’d read in the capital, and the conversations I’d had with Meirin. If I had to guess based on the unusually loud sound and that round ball, the enemy was probably using something like an immense catapult.
It must be a new weapon that Seitou was developing in secret! I attached my sword to my belt and started to take off the armor I’d been sleeping in. I had to make sure I could move as fast as possible, with absolutely nothing weighing me down.
I looked over at Teiha, who was covered in blood and dirt, and barked, “Gather as many soldiers as you can and evacuate with the remaining citizens from the southern gate. I’ll have the troops stationed at the west gate follow you in a bit.”
“Wha—?! Lord Sekiei, what do you plan to do?!”
I grabbed a bow and shouldered a quiver. Out of the corner of my eye, the ribbon around the hilt of my sword flashed crimson and the memory of Hakurei’s teary face flashed through my mind. She’ll probably get mad at me. I closed my eyes for a moment. “The Chou family has always been at the very front of the charge and at the very rear of a retreat. Now go! Stop wasting time!”
“Y-Yessir!” Sensing my determination, Teiha slammed his fist against his chest.
I placed my hand on his shoulder and then started to make my way down the hall. The sound of the enemy’s attacks and the shaking of the ground didn’t let up.
“Lord Sekiei, I pray for your success!”
My only response to Teiha’s pained cry from behind me was to raise my hand in acknowledgment.
I managed to find the black horse from the first day of the invasion and rode it through the city. Every time I found a shaken soldier, I ordered them to go to the southern gate before speeding on. There was a crimson shadow sticking out from a nearby building. Fire spread through the city and the sound of destruction continued to roar through the air.
Using one hand to block the dust falling down on me, I muttered, “This is insane.”
The buildings I’d grown up with were crumbled to the ground and the trees were smashed into splinters—every time one of the burning metal balls landed in Keiyou, it spread fire through the city. I managed to make my way to the west gate, however, avoiding the obstacles and flames. The massive and sturdy barrier that had protected us from so many enemy onslaughts had a giant hole and enemy foot soldiers were pouring in from it. All of them were clad in heavy red armor. It looked like they’d given up on any pretenses.
My allies, covered in blood, noticed me and called out:
“Young master!”
“Lord Sekiei!”
“The gate! The enemies!”
I took the bow from where it had been slung over my back, nocked an arrow, and released it. It landed true—right in the forehead of an enemy cavalryman giving orders at the front of the invasion. All of the soldiers, friend and foe alike, murmured in shock and I raised my voice to be heard above them.
“Everyone who can move, retreat to the south gate and listen to Teiha’s commands! I’ll hold up the rear!” The Keiyou soldiers looked surprised and stared up at me. I shot arrows as fast as I could, aiming at the gaps between the shields where the commanders were hiding. “Save your protests. You’ve all fought well, and I’ve written down everyone’s exploits in my records. Don’t worry about that. Now go!”
“Yessir!” All of them—veterans, greenhorns, volunteers—had tears pouring from their eyes as they, slowly but steadily, started to retreat. With every step they took, they fought back against the Gen invaders.
One of the Gen cavalrymen, his body clad in metal armor, heard my yell and pointed the tip of his spear at me. “Chou Sekiei!”
Fear and anxiety ran through the enemies at my name. It looked like I’d become quite famous over the past few days. That reminds me. My first battle in my past life was a siege too.
A middle-aged man wearing an elaborate red helmet—seemed like he was a commander—pointed his sword at me and bellowed, “Kill him! Whoever can manage that shall be awarded the highest honor from this battle!”
“Sorry but—” I drew back the bowstring as far as it could go and then released it. The moment I did so, the string snapped. As for that final arrow...
“Gah!”
Ignoring the commander’s armor, it pierced right through his heart and he fell from his horse, dead. I threw both bow and quiver to the ground and spared a cold look down at his corpse.
“I don’t have time to deal with you. Now then.” I drew my sword and glared at the enemy soldiers, who were staring, mouths agape, at the cooling body of their commander. “Whoever wants to die first, bring it!”
The enemy soldiers, shaken, backed off. There was no formation for them to uphold anymore. This is my chance. I kicked my horse into a gallop and chased the enemies out of the gate. One of the commanders, recognizable from his circular helmet, stood nearby swinging his swagger stick in a desperate attempt at maintaining some form of order over his soldiers. My horse, sensing what I wanted to do, picked up speed, getting closer and closer to the commander.
“What are you maggots doing?!” he was bellowing. “Go back inside! Go back and fight! We’ve already destroyed the gate! All that’s left is to besiege it and—!”
As I raced past I beheaded him before he could even react, just a flash of my sword. “That’s the second commander down!” I said as I swung my weapon, flicking the blood from the blade. “Now Nguyen should be—”
But before I could begin to look around for their leader, a bald general wielding a poleax charged at me, roaring the entire way. I barely managed to block his heavy strike and back away.
“Chou Sekiei!” he yelled. “I shall have your head!”
They’re quick to recover morale. I was alone. If the enemies surrounded me, I’d be dead. I needed to last long enough for my allies at the southern gate to make their escape, but the only way I’d be able to do that was if I reached and killed Nguyen.
I didn’t have any more time to think. The enemy commander galloped towards me, his poleax slicing through the air with a swoosh. I managed to avoid it, but only barely.
“What’s wrong?!” he taunted. “Is this all you’ve got?!”
I ignored him and narrowed my eyes at the enemy formation. There he is. I could see atop a small hill a war flag, bigger than the other ones, with the image of a red wolf upon it. Surely, that must be where Nguyen was!
“Die!” the commander screamed.
“Shut up! You’re in my way!” Before he could bring his large poleax down at me, I swung my sword several times, aiming at the minute openings in his armor.
“I-Impossible!” he choked, his eyes wide open as blood dribbled from his mouth. “You monster...” With those final words, he fell from his horse. The enemy soldiers who were in the middle of joining the fray froze upon seeing his death, fear in their eyes and the spears in their hands trembling.
“That makes three,” I murmured. Taking advantage of the confusion, I rode my mount through the battlefield until I saw a massive wooden structure. It looked like some sort of beast with four ivory tusks protruding from it. “I knew it. It’s a catapult from Seitou. They’re already providing Gen with their weapons?!”
The enemy soldiers who invaded the city earlier were all wearing metal armor, which wasn’t something Gen was known for. Adai Dada, the emperor of Gen and the White Wraith, was certainly a fearsome foe. Even if his weapons were of foreign make, he’d gladly use them in war if it would give him an advantage.
“Shoot him! Take him down! Don’t let him get anywhere near General Nguyen!” a young commander cried, waving his swagger stick as he asserted command over the terrified soldiers. As if to make up for the string of good fortune I’d experienced thus far, a countless barrage of arrows rained down on me.