Katahane no Riku

Chapter 36.Where the responsibility goes?to…?

It was like a wave of fire.

The pigs that were covered in fire were releasing a savory smell as they ran down the hill. In that instant, the words “what a waste” came to Riku′s mind, but shaking her head, she shook off those wicked thoughts.

Looking down at the tragedy from the castle walls, as if to jeer at it, Vrusto let out a whistle.

“Uwaa, scary… This is not something someone can survive from.”

Vrusto′s face was a bit pale.

The scene happening bellow his eyes were fitting of being called hell. On contrary to the good smell it did, that method of attack was filled with cruelty. There were some spiritualists that realized what was happening and desperately pulled back, but there were others that kept on with the attack, being dazzled by the victory that used to be in front of their eyes, and were assailed by the fire. Being ran over by the pigs, they were being scorched by the fire with their voices of anguish resounding.

But it wasn′t really something tragic.

This was a war, and these kind of things were possible to happen. Besides, the ones burning in agony were the spiritualists from the Barusak. It was obvious Riku would get happy; there was no reason for being upset.

“But was this really the only option?”

“If you don′t go to this extent, you won′t win battles.”

It happened at the moment when Riku was casually muttering that. Kraut and his subordinates approached. Their face was far paler than Vrusto′s.

“Second lieutenant Vrusto Asuteroid!! Was it you!? The one that let the pigs run away!!”

While pointing at Vrusto, Kraut was shouting. It was possible to see his mouth was trembling all over. Riku stopped Vrusto, who was about to say something, signing with her hand. And then, she gave one step forward.

“Yes, I was the one that ordered him to.”

“What? You say you ordered him to do that?”

Kraut′s bloodshot eyes were now turned to Riku.

“You… You lost your mind!! You let the pigs we took great pains to gather! And you even put them on fire!!”

“It was for the sake of winning.”

Riku flatly declared.

Apparently, Kraut was getting mad, although for appropriate reasons. But she didn′t care about something as trivial as that.

“Before we departed, I left five hundred men to second lieutenant, and ordered him to put fire onto the pigs and send them to the spiritualists once they confirmed everybody had pulled back. In order to make up for their overwhelming difference in numbers, I decided it was necessary to use the pigs.”

“Wha-wh-wha!!”

From Riku′s flatly explaining, Kraut started staggering as if he became dizzy from standing up too fast.

“You, you… Didn′t you think about how it would affect the siege with that?”

“Yes.”

This time, nearly five hundred of the pigs that were at Karkata were used. In the animal pen, the number of pigs remaining were enough to be countable; it was in an empty and desolated state.

From the start, Riku was against the siege war. Perhaps that was why it was difficult for her to hesitate from doing that.

“I judged that there was no need to have that great amount of pigs. Even in the worst possibilities, it is going to be a war that having one or two groups of pigs is enough.”

Saying that, Kraut′s face became red with embarrassment. Right now, it felt like if someone was to drop water onto him, it would become vapor. Clenching his first, Kraut was glaring at Riku.

“However, lieutenant commander Barusak! For you to have planned this strategy, doesn′t it mean you already knew the enemy was going to set a trap at Karkata plains? In other words, not only you had the resolve to risk having the soldiers that didn′t know about the plan to die meaninglessly, doesn′t it mean you have even challenged my command!?”

While spitting, he said in an angry voice.

As expected, even Riku couldn′t hide her irritation from these statements. Being taken by the anger, it was a miracle she didn′t draw her halberd.

“I had warned about the possibility of it being a trap before. But the one that dispatched all the troops… Was you, Kraut Zawar.”

Even so, Riku had her hand on her silver sword.

Of course, because they retreated early, the casualties were small. But they weren′t zero, and even some of her subordinates died. Among them, there were some that died a death that could be considered meaningless.

But, of all people, she didn′t want to hear these things from the man that was in front of her eyes.

“To choose to go to battle, you must have the resolve to die. Pointing our swords at the enemy, the enemy will also be aiming for our necks. Someone will die; somebody dying is something obvious. I′m not planning to complain about these things…”

The reasons for someone to be willing to fight was individual to each one. In the battlefield, there were many reasons for people to die. The person didn′t have enough strength, had bad luck, and many others. She didn′t have the intent of accepting beautiful ideals to the point of trying to make it so nobody dies. But she really needed to say that out loud.

“But who was the one that threw the soldiers in there? By being completely oblivious to the trap, who was the one that wasted their life with meaningless deaths? …If you don′t know, I will tell you. It is the person who leads the army.”

Each of the soldiers were assets of the Demon Lord army. The one that handled those was the person who takes care of his own army, the commander. Riku′s subordinates too were nothing more than soldiers she had borrowed. Whether money is wasted or troops are misused, all the control is entrusted to the commander. In this case, the one that decided on that bad battle plan was Kraut, the commander. Riku also had some responsibility for not being able to stop him, but ultimately, Kraut, who decided their departure to the battle, was the one to shoulder the responsibility.

“…This is already the battle field; it′s not some old tale. Realize the real world and properly lead your troops.”

Saying only that, Riku turned away from him.

The subordinates of Kraut that were next to him also became speechless. Moving away from the walls, she went straight to the place her army was stationed along with Vrusto.

“Hey… Didn′t you say too much?”

Roppu, who suddenly appeared next to her, said in a low voice. Riku kept looking to the front.

“If I didn′t say that much, he wouldn′t be careful of other traps.”

And said only that.

Without doubt, Kraut, who was the lord of the place, was her superior. She couldn′t deny she had spoken too much and without using any honorifics. There was how a part of what she had said was spoken full of ardor, but if it was that much, it should still be polite to some point.

With that, she expected his decisions to become a little bit better.

“Well, with all that, we shaved off ten or twenty thousand? Their morale also probably decreased, so this is a victory!”

Putting his hands behind his head, Vrusto happily started to hum.

Saying that they got twenty thousand of them maybe was exaggerating, but there is no mistake their morale was reduced. When they were carried away with their victory, suddenly, hell descended. Facing that terror, their morale not decreasing was what would be strange.

“Well, without doubt we won the first battle. Because we pulled back early, we didn′t suffer much damage.”

“Aren′t the pigs not being included in the losses?”

“They were tools required for the win.”

To Roppu′s question, Riku gave that answer as if it was nothing.

Before noticing, the sun was setting and the moon was showing its face. Very soon, it would be night. While thinking about that, Vrusto put his arms around Riku and Roppu′s shoulders

“Hey, since we had a big victory, why don′t we fill ourselves with drinks?*1

The muscular arm was entangling with their necks. Because Vrusto was pressing Roppu with strength, his eyes were becoming white. Letting out a sigh, Riku shook of Vrusto′s arm.

“That′s no good. Even though we won, we can′t lower our guard.”

“Ha? Isn′t it fine!! To drink only a bit!!”

“This is a war. The enemy might attack back at any moment.”

Riku remembered at the time she was at the Rein fort.

After recapturing the fort, because she loosened up, she came late to help. At that time, if she were to notice the battle at Myuuz castle and decided to depart even a bit sooner… Perhaps the war would have reached its conclusion faster. Perhaps she would have the opportunity to make Toudo suffer even more than he did.

Even if one were to say it was a victory, that was just a single victory. It was different from winning the war itself.

“Brace yourselves; it will be night patrolling.”

Taking along Vrusto, who was mumbling complaints and Roppu, who gave a sigh, Riku started the patrolling around Karkata.

——-

The surviving soldiers of the Barusak made their base at the Karkata plains.

Their numbers were approximately ninety thousand. Whether one should look at it as losing ten thousand soldiers or only losing ten thousand soldiers; by simply looking at the number of soldiers, the answer would be the former, but in Rook′s case, it was the latter.

“I wasn′t able to end the war, and also many capable soldiers were killed.”

It was different from the game.

There wasn′t any development like that in the game.

In the game, the war was supposed to be concluded with an overwhelming victory to the spiritualists, just like the battle of Mikatagahara.*2 Even though he expected that by this time he would be dealing with the event to add Asty to the harem after taking prisoner of her, who although wanted revenge, was a very kind person… But why had he lost many of his subordinates, lost the battle, and was now crying inside his tent?

“It′s my responsibility. I, I…”

It hadn′t been going easily like it was in the game. But even so, he didn′t think he was going to lose the battle; because it was the world of a game, it was stranger if that didn′t work out. For what reason was all this happening like that? Why wasn′t anything going as Rook planned?

Putting his hands on his head, he started to groan. With Rook in this state, Mary gently approached him.

“Young master, you should take this as a lesson. Young master is still young and is liable to be careless.”

“…Mary.”

“You won′t be losing your life at this time. Young master is the person succeeding the Barusak household and will eventually stand at the top of all spiritualists. Right now you should calm your heart and treat your life with value.”

Like a mother, Mary gently hugged him.

Because of that gentleness, Rook started to cry. In the game, among all heroines, Mary was the one most devoted to Rook. From now on, as the next Barusak head, and as the hero that will fight against the Demon Lord, he needed to start behaving himself. After this lost battle, many other battles were waiting. But only for now… He wanted to act like a spoiled child in Mary′s embrace.

“Alright, Mary… Thank you.”

“This isn′t much for you to be thanking me. …Now, young master. Mary has one wish she would like to ask.”

Rook didn′t notice, but Mary′s eyes were burning with anger.

The Barusak prided army had taken losses from the attack of the demons… More so, by the inferior creatures the pigs were.

And then, they made Rook, who she took good care just as if he was her little brother, sink in sadness.

Because of these reasons, she was quietly burning with anger from the demons at Karkata.

“Please, lend me some soldiers. I received a plan Raku-sama had secretly sent.”