The soldier calling himself Horos left his bird and quickly got to work removing his leather armor—it would only weigh him down. I made a mental note to remember his name so I could compensate him later.
I jumped up onto the plainrunner and inserted my spear into a holder in the saddle. Next, I rode over to Caph.
“Hey,” I called to him casually.
“I can’t believe the mess we’re in,” Caph said. “I don’t know how we’ll recover from this...”
“I figured you’d be happy,” I said.
Caph looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
“You’ve always hated witch families. Now, we’re going to destroy each and every one of them. We’ll eradicate them all without a trace. If you’re thinking about the future, consider that.”
“Ah, I see what you mean...”
“Give me some bottles. I’ll need them in a moment.”
Caph passed two Molotov cocktails up to me. Each one consisted of a cluster of three bottles.
Lately, we’d been using cork stoppers to seal our Molotovs, but these were already unsealed and stuffed with cloth. The pieces of fabric were damp with the liquid they’d absorbed.
“Want this too? It should be useful.” Caph held out a gun with a short barrel. It would be ideal for a mounted soldier. “I’ve another one of my own. You can take it.”
There was a long flintlock rifle lying on the ground beside him. It would be harder to maneuver with it, but the bullets would fly farther and faster because they’d take longer to escape the force of the pressurized gas within the barrel. It looked as though Caph planned to help us fight.
“Thanks. I’ll make good use of it.” I took the small gun from him, checked the safety, then put it through my belt. “Now, board a carriage. They’re about to leave.”
“Lord Yuri.” I heard Beaule’s voice. “Please be safe. I pray that victory awaits you in battle.”
That didn’t sound like quite the right thing for her to say, since she was going to be right there in the battle with me, but it didn’t matter. I simply told her “Thanks” before turning my plainrunner around.
Once Caph had boarded a carriage, the garden looked clear of the noncombatants.
I turned my plainrunner’s beak toward the front gate. Beyond it, a dense cluster of soldiers from the second order of the royal guard were occupying the road. I’d seen from above that about five hundred soldiers were blocking our escape route, yet there were even more surrounding the residence from all sides.
I had roughly one hundred and forty infantry with me, plus an additional sixty mounted soldiers. I figured it’d be enough.
As it grew obvious that we were gearing up for combat, the soldiers outside were growing tense. They kept their spears pointed at us in preparation for the upcoming fight, but so far, none of them had fired a single bullet or arrow. It was as though they had no idea how to react when faced with a real battle.
“Lend me that for a moment.” I took a flaming torch from a soldier and used it to light the Molotovs’ fuses.
After handing back the torch, I spurred my plainrunner forward with a gentle kick to its abdomen and threw the first cluster of three bottles. I stopped right before the enemy, then threw the second bundle of bottles toward the soldiers at the front. Without pausing to see the result, I turned around and retreated some distance away. Then, I reached for my spear, which was upright in its holder, and lifted it toward the sky.
“Infantry, clear the area in front of the gate! Then the cavalry will clear the path beyond! Lastly, the infantry will wait until the carriages are clear, then follow after them!” I lowered the spear and pointed it toward the enemy. I saw five or six men screaming as the flames engulfed them. “Show them our might! The forces of witches will learn the power of the Ho family on the battlefield!”
With their tasks assigned, the soldiers lifted their spears and all cried out at once. “Uooooooooh!” they roared as they charged forward.
The frontmost members of the royal guard had already been eager to flee at the sight of their burning comrades. They were weaklings who’d never taken part in a war. One hundred and fifty years ago, during a chieftain family’s rebellion, they’d served a purpose, but ever since they’d been little more than stooges supporting criminal enterprises. Even during that rebellion, it had been the royal guard’s first order that had done most of the fighting.
Our infantry rushed forward and thrust their spears into the burning enemies with enough momentum to push the whole force back. As the royal guard was forced away from the gate, space began to open up. More of the royal guard’s soldiers, with their superior numbers, spilled into that space from both sides. If our infantry kept pushing, they’d soon find themselves surrounded.
Since we planned to charge right after exiting the gate, I wanted our plainrunners positioned slightly to the left to make our turn less sharp. When I exchanged glances with the cavalry captain, he knew exactly what I wanted and gave instructions to his unit. A charge was at its most powerful when moving straight forward.
I lifted my spear high once more and made another appeal to the soldiers. “Fearless knights of the Ho family! Raise your spears to my father, who watches over us from above! Live up to your reputation! Our power will be spoken of throughout the royal capital! Charge!”
I lowered my spear, then kicked my plainrunner in its side. By striking my feet rhythmically, I quickly made the bird switch from a walk to a trot, then to a gallop.
From my position at the front, I thrust my spear into the neck of a soldier who’d turned to run at the sight of the approaching plainrunners, then trampled the men in front of me. Given my elevated height, I checked my surroundings. I spotted someone giving out orders from atop a plainrunner to the rear left.
I disengaged the gun’s safety, then took aim. The metal piece holding the flint dropped with a click, igniting the gunpowder inside the pan. A moment later, the main gunpowder charge exploded with a loud bang. The bullet hit the man I’d been aiming for in the chest, knocking him off his plainrunner.
Since I lacked the tools needed to reload the gun, I threw it to a nearby foot soldier.
While this was going on, my mounted soldiers were flooding in from behind me, one after another, and beginning to scatter the royal guard. Our cavalry was like a spear that forced the enemy apart, breaking the barrier they’d formed and clearing the road for us.
“The siege is broken! After me!”
I looked behind me and raised my weapon to beckon to the first driver waiting for a chance to get through the gate. He wasn’t driving a wagon but a passenger carriage with Carol on board.