The Hero Menace Read online

  Kurtz’s eyes narrowed in surprise.

  “That’s rare. For you to bring up something other than work.”

  “To be honest, the thought came to me as I was thinking about work.”

  Kurtz nodded in response, then fell silent as he pondered my question.

  “First and foremost would be our honorable Demon Lord. Lord Tiverit and Lady Gomoviroa are also quite powerful. So to answer your question, those three are likely our greatest Champions.”

  That made sense. His Highness was of course our lord, and both Lord Tiverit and Lady Gomoviroa were indispensable to our army. Kurtz folded his arms.

  “The vampire necromancer Lady Melaine and the kentauros warrior Firnir also come to mind. Both of them have been able to successfully rule their assigned cities, which is no mean feat. However...”

  I filled in the rest of my brother’s sentence, “Neither of them are as impressive as Sir Veight?”

  “As you say, Baltze.” Kurtz put down his fork and held my gaze. “When it comes purely to mastery of magic, Lady Melaine is more skilled than Sir Veight. And when it comes to earning the respect and loyalty of one’s men, Lady Firnir has the kind of natural talent commanders envy. However, Sir Veight possesses something more, something no one else does.”

  “The ability to understand and negotiate with humans, right?”

  Kurtz smiled knowingly at me.

  “Correct... Baltze. You originally asked who I thought were the demons’ greatest champions because you wanted to confirm that, didn’t you?”

  “Something like that.” I coughed in an attempt to hide my embarrassment. “You were there at the battle of Thuvan, so you must have seen Sir Veight’s fighting style up close. How was it?”

  “Horrible,” Kurtz sighed, and looked down with a frown. It’d been seven years since I last saw him look this forlorn. “You read the report, didn’t you? He doesn’t understand how much trouble his reckless actions cause us poor technical officers. However...”

  “However?”

  “Though it pains me to admit it, his solution was the only viable option in that situation. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s the bane of technical officers everywhere, though.”

  “Hahaha.”

  Kurtz gave me a teasing smile and asked, “Do you want to be a Champion like him, Baltze?”

  “I do, but I know I’m nowhere near his level yet.”

  “In that case, watch what he does, and learn. You won’t become like him relying on martial might alone.”

  Kurtz sure knew how to hit me where it hurt. And once he got started, he was merciless.

  “And if you wish to win Lady Shure’s heart, you’re going to need to start finding hobbies outside of work.”

  “I’ll try my best.” Lady Shure’s striking figure popped into my mind as I said that. “Brother, how can you be so calm when talking about Lady Shure? Doesn’t the mere thought of her lustrous scales, glowing pupils, and tapered fangs set your heart ablaze?”

  “Well, I’m more of a scholar than anything, so...”

  “Though she appears so stern and aloof on the battlefield, there’s also a gentle side to her. Truly, she is the most beautiful dragonkin in existence. One look at her graceful tale is enough to give me the courage to fight ten thousand men.”

  “Alright, calm down, Baltze. You’re beginning to sound like a madman.” Kurtz sighed and added, “You should learn from Sir Veight’s example. I have never once seen him lose himself to lust.”

  “You have a point...”

  That was one more thing I was going to need to work on.

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  Shortly after returning to Ryunheit, I realized I needed a way to feed my new dragonkin knights. As I was pondering that question in my office, Airia came running in.

  “It’s terrible, Sir Veight! The Meraldian Federation has dispatched an army to Shardier! They’re marching from the north!”

  “What!? Who brought you that report!?”

  “A runner from one of Ryunheit’s merchant groups! According to him, they’re composed entirely of regular army veterans. A combination of cavalry and infantry that numbers nearly two thousand!”

  “How many siege weapons did they have with them?”

  “None of the merchants spotted any.”

  If they’re not bringing siege weapons, I can’t imagine they’re planning a full-scale assault. This seemed more like a political power play. However, I still had a bad feeling about this. I rose to my feet and declared, “Gather the werewolves, kentauros, and Azure Knights. Lord Aram’s life may be in danger.”

  “In accordance with our alliance, we’ll be riding to Shardier’s aid!” I addressed the army of werewolves, dragonkin, and kentauros splayed out before me. “However, remember that Shardier is still officially part of the Meraldian Federation. In order not to worsen international relations, I’ll need your units to carry out some abnormal orders. Be ready to do things that might not make sense to you.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Baltze snapped a crisp salute while Seishess nodded solemnly.

  “Understood, commander...”

  Since demons were an unruly bunch I’d been worried they would act on their own, but it appeared that had been a needless fear.

  “Werewolf squad, transform! We march, men!”

  I had all my werewolves transform so they could keep pace with the kentauros and the wyvern-mounted dragonkin. Naturally, I took the lead.

  “Hey Veight, you’re the commander so you should be in the back!”

  That’s the last thing I ever thought I’d hear from one of the Garney brothers. Fahn loped up to me and nodded in agreement.

  “He’s right. That reminds me, which squad is on Veight duty this week?”

  “That’d be us.”

  Jerrick and his squad raised their hands. What the heck is ‘Veight duty?’

  “Hey, wait a second. What’s this Veight duty you’re talking about? I’ve never heard of this.”

  “We’ve assigned you guards so you don’t charge into the enemy formation again and get yourself killed. And you’re not allowed to get rid of them.”

  Excuse me? I’m the commander here, you don’t get to decide these things without my permission.

  “Your job is to sit in the rear and command the rest of us, commander.”

  “The rest of us are expendable, but if you die we’re going to be stuck hiding in remote frontiers farming potatoes for the rest of our lives.”

  “Besides, how could we ever show our faces to the Demon Lord if we let you die? Think about what we have to put up with for once.”

  Am I really that unreliable? Jerrick ran over and patted me on the shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, boss. We’ll keep you safe.”

  “Though all four of us combined are probably still weaker than you.”

  “But hey, we can at least be your meat shields.”

  Jerrick grinned playfully. If I tried anything reckless during this campaign, these four would do something even more reckless to protect me. In other words, I’d be putting them in danger. I see now. So this is why the Demon Lord never goes out onto the front lines. Our enemy this time numbered 2,000, and was a mix of infantry and cavalry. I’d only brought 1,000, but they were all effectively cavalry. Still, a head-on fight would see us defeated. However, I had no intention of fighting head-on in the first place. There was more to war than slamming your troops against the enemy’s.

  “Vodd, take your squad and start scouting the area north of us. If you spot enemies, do not engage.”

  “You got it, boss. This looks like it’s gonna be a fun one.”

  The former mercenary smiled, his white fur bristling. His squad of four detached themselves from the main unit and vanished north in a cloud of dust. In a world without GPS or smartphones, keeping track of enemy positions was difficult. However, accurate intel was one of the greatest advantages in war. Since there were infantry in the Meraldian army, the whole force sh
ould have slowed down to match their pace. However, if Meraldia had sent their cavalry on ahead, then I’d need to adjust my own plans.

  Fortunately for us, our entire army was comprised of cavalry or people who could move at cavalry speeds. There was no need for me to split my forces. However, in the time it had taken the rider to deliver news of Meraldia’s advance to Ryunheit, their forces had likely covered a lot of ground. In this day and age, getting information in real time was impossible. I could only pray that we weren’t too late.

  “Sir Veight, pardon my presumption, but will this plan truly work?” Baltze asked with a worried expression. “If Viceroy Aram betrays us, we’ll be caught in a pincer attack.”

  That was definitely a possibility. However, I’d considered that scenario as well.

  “If that happens, we’ll have to use our superior speed to retreat. Regardless, our job will remain the same.”

  “You have a point there.”

  Personally though, I didn’t think Aram would betray us. If that speech he’d given me the last time I’d gone to Shardier had all been an act, then he was a far better actor than I gave him credit for. But if he’d been that skilled a swindler, then he would have patched things up with Meraldia ages ago. So I was pretty confident he wouldn’t turn on us. Though I’d taken precautions just in case still.

  “I can see the city!” One of the kentauros in the front yelled. Other voices called out in agreement.

  Shardier’s walls swam into view, a veil of heat and dust making it difficult to discern any details. However, I didn’t see Meraldia’s army anywhere. It appeared we’d made it in time. I set up a command center on a hill some distance from the city and started giving out orders.

  “Werewolves, return to human form and remain on standby! Hamaam, take your squad and see what’s happening in the city!”

  The werewolves shrunk back to human-size and squatted down in the sand. Hamaam had been to Shardier a few times already, and he was acquainted with Aram. He was the best person to send to establish contact. And I wanted to let Aram know the situation so he wouldn’t be surprised about a demon army showing up at his gates.

  “Kentauros, circle around to the eastern gate! Azure Knights, you take the western gate!”

  Though it was a trading city, Shardier only had two gates. There was no need for a northern gate since the lake bordered its entire northern side. As for why there was no southern gate, it was because Meraldia hadn’t given Shardier enough garrisoned troops to man three gates effectively. That meant potential attackers only needed to surround the city on two sides to cut it off.

  “Seishess, unless they attack us, do not engage Shardier’s troops.”

  The taciturn warrior nodded, “I understand. A true warrior knows not only when to fight, but when not to fight. I will keep my men in line. You can count on that.”

  “As always, you get a lot more talkative when it comes to fighting.”

  “Ah... I suppose...”

  Seishess blushed a little. He then went back to his troops and led them off to the east.

  “I suppose it’s time I sortied as well.”

  Baltze turned his wyvern around and led his knights to the west. Time to see what the famous Azure Knights can do. I remained here with the rest of my werewolves in order to keep an eye on the overall situation.

  Shardier’s western gates closed as Baltze’s men lined up outside it. Though they were in formation to attack, they didn’t move at all. Nor did any arrows fly from the castle walls. So far things were going well. All that was left was to wait for Meraldia’s army to arrive. After a short time, Hamaam returned.

  “As you predicted, Aram is unaware of the situation. He was quite surprised to see me.”

  I knew it. Hamaam added, “When I asked him what Meraldia’s troops might have come for, he guessed that they’d come to station themselves in the city by force.”

  I see, so they’re just going to ignore the viceroy’s authority. But if they just show up unannounced, would a city of this scale even have the food or lodging facilities ready to house 2,000 troops? Well, no point in worrying about that now... As I put the thought out of my mind, one of Vodd’s squad members returned with an odd report.

  “We spotted Meraldia’s forces. They have three hundred cavalry and five hundred infantry. Their forces are marching southward in a column, with the cavalry in the lead. Old Vodd said that going by their armor, they’re heavy cavalry and light infantry.”

  “Those numbers don’t add up.”

  My men exchanged uneasy glances. There were two possible explanations. First, that the remaining 1,200 troops were somewhere else. Either they were waiting in ambush somewhere, or for some reason they were marching slower than the rest. The other possibility was that Mao’s merchant had simply misjudged the numbers. Seeing as he was a merchant and not a soldier, there was no guarantee he accurately knew how to estimate an army’s size just by looking at it.

  The worst-case scenario would be if those 1,200 soldiers had changed direction and headed toward Ryunheit. If that was the case, I couldn’t afford to waste any time. Lacy was a skilled enough mage to control the bone spears I’d left behind in Ryunheit, but she was an amateur when it came to military strategy.

  Should I turn back right now? No, wait, let’s think about this calmly. We outnumber the enemy right now. And they’re marching in file. If we strike first, we could turn this into a quick, decisive battle.

  The only thing that could turn the tides here would be Aram betraying us. If he did, we’d be trapped between 800 Meraldian troops and 300 of Shardier’s soldiers. That would tip the scales enough to make the outcome uncertain. But in that case, I could just order a retreat. I’d purposely organized this force to be fast enough to outrun human cavalry.

  Most importantly, though, I couldn’t afford to let the Meraldian army arrest Aram here. If I didn’t protect him, our alliance would be shattered. This was a battle I needed to fight. If things started looking dicey, I could always unleash my werewolves. After making my decision, I turned to my werewolves and ordered, “I want you to disguise yourselves as refugees and sneak into Shardier. The kentauros and Azure Knights will remain on standby until I have further orders. Meanwhile, I’ll take Jerrick’s squad and rendezvous with Vodd.”

  “Yes, sir!” My men said simultaneously.

  I raised my voice, trying not to buckle under the pressure that accompanied being responsible for 1,000 lives, “Move out!”

  Guarded by Jerrick’s squad, I moved to another hill, this one a short distance from the main road. The 300 cavalry leading Meraldia’s forces were definitely armored enough to be heavy cavalry. Even their horses were covered in mail. On the other hand, the 500 infantry were lightly equipped. They all had sets of expensive chainmail, but they were armed with only bows, short spears, and swords.

  “There’s something strange about all this.”

  Jerrick cocked his head and said, “You’re right, boss. It’s like they’re all shouting, ‘Look at how much money we’ve got.’”

  “You think so too, huh?”

  800 was still enough men to take Shardier, but there was no need to bring extremely expensive heavy cavalry to a city siege. The fact that all of the infantry were wearing brand new suits of chainmail was odd as well. Chainmail was good for stopping slashes and thrusts, but not as helpful against arrows. Old Vodd the veteran sauntered over and muttered, “Looks more to me like they came to threaten Shardier than capture it. You get plenty of those types, who try to use military force as a negotiating chip.”

  “I see now. But aren’t they putting a little too much money into... Oi, boss, look at that!”

  Jerrick grabbed my shoulder and wheeled me around. I looked where he was pointing and saw a carriage surrounded by infantry. Going by how thick it was, and the fact that it was plated in steel, it was probably a prisoner carriage.

  “So they came here ready to arrest Aram, huh?”

  I wasn’t sure if they were actu
ally planning on arresting him or not, but now all this unnecessary display of power made sense. I prepared one of the dragon’s jewels to send a signal flare.

  “Once they reach the lakeside, we’re going to hit them all at once.”

  “You got it, boss.”

  Meraldia’s column of troops reached the northern edge of the lake, and turned onto the road that detoured around it to the west. Had they taken the eastern lakeside route, they would have had their right sides exposed to Shardier’s archers. By going from the west, only their left sides, which is where their shields hung, were visible from Shardier’s walls. The fact that they were being cautious meant they expected an attack. After skirting half of the lakeside, the Meraldian army’s advance faltered. They’d spotted the Azure Knights.

  “Fire the signal!”

  “On it!”

  Jerrick launched the signal flare, informing our allies to charge.

  The Azure Knights, which had until now been facing the western gate, did a perfect about-face. Like a single living organism, they reformed their ranks and readied their weapons. It was amazing how well-trained they were.

  The Meraldian forces were no slouches either. They quickly reorganized into battle formation like the professionals they were. However, their formation was stymied by the fact that there was a lake to their left. They couldn’t spread out as well as they’d like to. Left without any other choice, they deployed their right wing further than usual. The cavalry uncouched their lances, readying themselves for a charge.

  However, Baltze’s Azure Knights had no intention of letting them complete their preparations. Using the superior agility of their wyverns, they cut into Meraldia’s formation before it was completed. While wyverns lacked the explosive charging power of a horse, they were much better at close-quarters combat. Especially since the particular odor they gave off sent horses into a panic. Not even armor could protect horses from that.

  “Wow...”

  “They’re amazing...”

  I couldn’t agree more. The battle was completely one-sided. The lances the cavalry had taken out for their charge were completely useless in a melee. They dropped their lances and tried to draw their swords, but the horses’ panic was making it difficult.