Chapter 9:
The Situation
“I SWEAR, SOMETIMES IT’S FRUSTRATING HOW OFTEN you surprise me,” His Majesty said, his face betraying not an iota of actual frustration. In fact, he seemed to be in a great mood, peppering me with all sorts of questions. Propelled by his enthusiasm, I explained at length what made them such a threat and how they might evolve going forward.
Of course, I wasn’t talking about the far future. I told him about how they could become bigger, smaller, or made for rapid firing. He seemed to latch onto the idea of a small cannon, which could basically be wielded like the firearms of my old world. Something of the sort would give even a humble farmer the power to take down an enemy, so it made sense that His Majesty had focused on this.
It wasn’t all roses, though. The moment that kind of weapon became widely available, the nature of war would utterly transform.
Historically, if you equipped farmers with spears and had them cluster together, they could be reasonably effective on the battlefield. One tactic often used against mages was to have soldiers form V-shaped formations, like a bird with spread wings; another was to split up squads of one hundred men to form an open triangle of sorts, often referred to as a “fish scale formation,” although that one wasn’t super common.
If guns and cannons were introduced to the mix, these would all be things of the past. Tiny squads would prove extremely effective, making it possible to extend the warfront across a wider area. Guerilla tactics, surprise attacks, and sieges would emerge as powerful strategies. But even more alarming was the prospect of using all the above to set traps for the enemy.
Quailing under the weight of this gloomy future, I turned to face His Majesty. “As it stands, I do not believe Yelenetta possesses such weapons—but another country is supplying them with the black balls. We’ve taken the first linchpin of Yelenetta’s national defenses, so I think it is safe to assume that whatever power is backing them will make a move. We should begin our invasion before Yelenetta can acquire a new type of weapon.”
“I understand,” His Majesty said quietly, his hand at his chin and his gaze cast downward. After a long moment’s thought, he frowned and looked back up. “All right. We leave tomorrow. I intended to take a week to prepare, but as you say, we have only just occupied one of their key strongholds. Rather than wait for the rest of our forces to assemble, we should leave Seatoh Village now, in the order we arrived.”
Decision made, he turned to the nobles and commanders behind him. “I am moving up the schedule! More Chivalric Orders than anticipated are assembled here, so we will move swiftly on to our new stronghold! We will strengthen the foundation we have erected in Yelenetta’s territory so that it cannot be removed! Whatever resources we have, we will bring with us, and further supplies will be transported to us by the Chivalric Orders to come! We leave tomorrow morning—is that understood?!”
“Yessir!” his subjects responded, their mood changing in an instant. There was nothing like a command from their absolute sovereign to make people feel every inch the soldier. They sprang into action.
Someone asked, “Your Majesty, what should we do about our formation? I would like to have my order at the vanguard, if it’s possible.”
The commander of the order in question nodded. “We will stand as your shield and protect you.”
“I intend to hire adventurers as extra security,” His Majesty replied. “I will decide on our formation tomorrow and let you all know. For now, make preparing whatever supplies we will need your top priority.”
This was a country well used to war. It was evident in everyone’s high spirits. Panamera in particular was probably psyched. I glanced around in search of her, only to spot her staring at me with her arms folded.
“Don’t you have to get ready, too?” I asked, earning myself a sly grin.
“I am ready. We will have no trouble leaving tomorrow,” she replied confidently.
I should have expected as much from a true warrior. Man, that one movie about three hundred warriors taking on an empire… If Panamera ever saw it, she’d be moved to tears.
Orders delivered, His Majesty approached me. “Things will be busy starting tomorrow. Lord Van, I have a request. It pertains to your ballistae.”
I nodded immediately. “Oh, you can borrow all the ballistae you need. That includes the mobile ballistae and the war wagons we use to move them. I’ll put in a request for the adventurers to help with their transport, and I’ll also have my wonderful machine bow squad accompany you.”
“Ooh, excellent! Now we won’t have to worry about supplies! You have my gratitude, Lord Van.”
He didn’t stick around long, having expressed a desire to check on the dwarves and apkallu. The fact that he took so few soldiers with him spoke to his trust in the safety of Seatoh Village, which thrilled me. I watched him trot away merrily, then turned my gaze back to Panamera.
She wore a serious expression. “Let us lay everything out on the table.”
“There’s no table here,” I joked.
“You dummy.”
“Is this about the new weapon?” I asked, switching gears. “Or is it about how Yelenetta will react to us going forward?”
Panamera looked surprised for a moment. Then her face formed a powerful smile. “I should have anticipated you would know what I wanted to talk about. You sure do spend an awful lot of time thinking of me. Are you certain you’re not falling for me?” she teased.
“I like you a lot, Panamera,” I said, grinning, but Panamera groaned and stepped back.
“Boy, you are going to be a terrifying man when you’re older. I suspect your name will go down in history. Just be sure you don’t make Arte cry, understand?”
I frowned at her. “I would never make Arte cry,” I said earnestly. “I want to take good care of her.”
My response seemed to throw Panamera off. She furrowed her eyebrows and groaned yet again. “You’re becoming more of a smooth talker every time you open your mouth. Though I suppose that is a skill a nobleman should possess.” She sighed and locked me in her sights. “There’s no point thinking about this. So, boy, what do you think? In our enemy’s shoes, I would not stand for these constant defeats. I would strive to reverse our fortunes at all costs.”
I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, absolutely. After all, in the past, whenever Scuderia invaded Yelenetta, we avoided the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range and traveled along the coast instead. The enemy’s defenses are largely focused on protecting that region. This time, though, we’ve struck at a key point. We can continue north if we want to or head in any other direction, and no matter what we do, we’ll be causing trouble for them. It’s obvious that Yelenetta will be disadvantaged if we split up the battlefield, because they’ll have to split their troops in at least three different directions.”
Panamera’s eyes narrowed. “Which is to say that they will not rest on their laurels.”
I nodded. “Right. Even if we strike first, we’ll have to rush back if the fortress comes under attack. Losing it will mean losing our supply line and eventually being caught in a pincer attack.”
Panamera groaned, folding her arms. I watched her from the corner of my eye as I looked over at the smoke rising over the dwarf forge.
Eventually, I said, “I’m certain that His Majesty has already considered this. That’s why he wants to use the new stronghold as the foundation for this invasion.”
She shrugged and nodded. “Of course His Majesty has considered all possible outcomes. I simply thought that, with your knowledge of the enemy’s weapons, you might be able to predict Yelenetta’s next move more accurately. Okay, let me ask you this, boy: if you commanded Yelenetta’s army, what would you do?”
I grimaced and shook my head. “Well, you already know that I have a pretty unique fighting style. I would come up with all sorts of tactics, traps being the most effective. Black ball traps would prevent enemy forces from invading too easily, and once they were slowed down, I would use the cannon I spoke of earlier to make them into mincemeat.”
She winced, though I’d only answered her question. Her expression was even more grave than before. “Traps, you say? I had not thought of that. I will inform His Majesty immediately.”
Panamera then turned on her heel and led her bodyguards away.
Fear struck my heart. “Should I have said that?” I whispered. “Please tell me I’m not going to get summoned to the front lines again…”
Fortunately, I managed to avoid that fate. His Majesty had this whole “it sure would be lovely if you came with us” aura going on, but I did everything in my power to pretend I didn’t notice. In the end, he and the others finished their preparations much earlier than expected and set off immediately.
I saw the king and Panamera off, but the line of soldiers went on for ages and I eventually got bored. They were marching through the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range double file; with a force of more than ten thousand troops, it would take hours before everyone was gone. Quietly, I attempted to retreat so I could return to the manor.
“Where do you think you’re going, Van?”
Caught red-handed. My timing was terrible: I bumped into Jard and Sesto just as they were leaving the village, and they noticed me on my way out.
My brothers both approached me, trailed by a group of mercenary types whose vibes were different from the members of the other Chivalric Orders. “Why are you trying to leave without seeing your older brothers off?” Jard asked, sounding kind of angry. “Or perhaps I should be asking, why aren’t you coming with us?”
Not “kind of” angry, then. He was actually furious. But if he was going to be all snappy at me, I’d snap right back at him. Is he seriously asking why? Because it’s terrifying, duh! I’m nine, why would you even ask me that? And no, I’m not counting my mental age.