Page 356

Dorgon’s sky-cutting incident wrapped up smoothly. Some people were terrified that the enemy could tear the sky, but the fear turned into cheers since we immediately countered it successfully.

So the enemy has a warrior strong enough to cut the sky? Well, it’s not a problem if we have a similar strong fighter on our side, right?

Even the Invincible Duke smiled, seemingly satisfied with boosting the morale that almost plummeted. He was usually extremely strict when leading the army unlike in private settings, but here he was, actually smiling in the middle of the camp. That alone spoke volumes about his mood.

It is worth being happy about.

Honestly, considering the pain the Invincible Duke went through in the last war, it wouldn’t be strange if he gave a standing ovation instead of just smiling.

Now that I could cut the sky myself, countering that move had been simple. But in the early stages of the Great Northern War, only Kagan could cut the sky. In other words, there was no way to prevent our troops’ morale from dropping back then.

The Invincible Duke must still remember what it was like to command troops in that extremely harsh situation. So for him, this counterattack must have been deeply satisfying.

“There was a small clash in the Hitra tribe’s territory.”

With the immediate chaos under control, the Invincible Duke started occupying nearby areas as soon as the base was set up. The 4th Manager, who was acting as my escort, relayed information to me whenever it came in.

“Oh? Was there a tribe living there?”

“It was closer to a clan in size than a tribe. Moreover, it’s almost embarrassing to call it a clash, as it was just the fleeing nomads shooting a few arrows.”

So it was just an operation to drive out the natives and not even a nomad raid. That barely even counted as a conflict. The imperial army probably didn’t focus on pursuit, concentrating on occupying the territory.

Thanks to this, there hasn’t been anything that could be called a battle yet, but there will be clashes in the future that will make us miss this current peace.

“If we’ve reached the lands of a fallen tribe, that means other tribes must be packed in nearby.”

The 4th Manager nodded at my words. If they’d settled all the way down to a fallen tribe’s territory and one right next to the empire at that in the vast North, then it meant that there was no space left elsewhere. They’d likely been pushed here because stronger tribes had already claimed all the better lands.

Which meant conflict was inevitable. Either the empire would push forward, expanding its territory, or one of the surrounding tribes would make the first move.

Either way, blood would flow.

“Starting tomorrow, stay with me at the headquarters. It’s better to hear the reports directly than secondhand.”

“Yes, Master.”

At her firm answer, I opened and closed my mouth a few times before shutting it again. It was fine to call me master when we were alone, but it was problematic if she did it when others were around.

First of all, it was a problem that someone from the Special Service Agency force considered someone other than the Emperor as their master, but having a romantic partner call me ‘Master’ was just as bad. If people found out, the whispers would probably be asking if I was the head of the Pervert Department rather than the Inspection Department.

...She’s not the type to make mistakes.

Still, I kept quiet because I trusted the 4th Manager. She wasn’t the type to put me in a difficult position, so she wouldn’t call me master in front of the others.

That was what I chose to believe.

***Simultaneous battles began once we occupied all the areas designated by the Invincible Duke.

We hadn’t yet reached the point of tens of thousands of troops clashing yet—but in the morning, we were woken by alarms of nomad raids. The imperial army marched towards nearby tribal territories at lunch, and it was ‘we had fun, goodbye’ in the evening as both sides withdrew after some scuffling. With these kinds of battles happening all over, the leadership was busy moving about.

“About 800 nomads have appeared on the Bakira front. Hutus Bagia, who went missing with Dorgon in the past, is commanding.”

“We’ve occupied the southern part of the Larkin tribe’s territory, but we’re in a standoff due to fierce resistance. The field is requesting mage unit deployment.”

“Reports have come in of Keshik flags seen on the Sutio front. Given the lack of a large-scale offensive, it seems they’ve sent a few Keshik as field commanders.”

They were really moving busily.

So this is the headquarters.

This was the headquarters I could only visit when summoned by the Invincible Duke when I was just a team manager. Now I was staying here like a resident ghost, witnessing every piece of information as it came in.

It was a strange experience. Reports flooded in at any given moment like hundreds, sometimes thousands of soldiers were on the move. Counterstrategies were formed just as quickly, as if it were second nature. It was a place where the fate of hundreds or thousands was decided with just a word.

Come to think of it, many of the high-ranking officers in the military weren’t actually warmongers. Most of them were rigid, calculating, and cold. I just accepted it before, but now I think I understand why.

Being sentimental would make it unbearable.

When a simple command can send countless men to their deaths, they couldn’t afford to let emotions get in the way. Otherwise, they’d break under the weight of it. Especially field commanders—the ones who dealt with the soldiers up close.

...Then again, maybe field commanders were included in the sacrificial side rather than the commanding side.

“Your Excellency, the Kaitana tribe is moving south towards the Hitra front! Their estimated force is 3,000!”

As I was absentmindedly listening to the officer’s reports, the Invincible Duke’s gaze shifted to one officer’s urgent cry.

3,000?

My gaze also turned to that officer.

3,000 was not a number that could be taken lightly. It might be understandable for an allied force, but it was quite a large number for a single tribe to lead. This was a number that only notable tribes could mobilize even in the last war.

Kaitana...

It was a name I’d never heard before. It seemed like information recently gathered through reconnaissance since the officer knew it, which meant they must have been one of the neutral, independent tribes that sat out the last war.

It was astounding. Back when Kagan united the anti-imperial forces, I had already been stunned that he had somehow scraped together an army of 100,000, but there were still tribes left that could mobilize thousands? If these had joined Kagan, the war would have been even crazier.

But now this tribe was moving south?

Damn it.

If Dorgon had several of these kinds of tribes under his command, then his forces weren’t just the estimated 60,000—we could be looking at 70,000 or more.

“Tell the mage units stationed in Hitra to attack all at once when the Kaitana tribe enters firing range.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

At the order to stab the enemy in the chest with a bamboo spear first given their large scale, the officer hurriedly picked up the communication crystal.

A force of 3,000 was already dangerous enough. If they joined up with the nomads already in the Hitra region, their numbers would swell into something far more threatening. And if other tribes were moving as well, their numbers could easily surpass 10,000.

10,000 cavalry nomads on the plains.

It was chilling. The Hitra territory wasn’t particularly large, so the stationed troops there were relatively few, and the fortifications weren’t fully developed yet.

Of course, 10,000 of them gathering was the worst-case scenario. The leadership wasn’t stupid—they wouldn’t just watch the enemy gather. The command had been actively disrupting enemy coordination, preventing Dorgon from amassing his troops into a single overwhelming force.

Unless he was launching an all-out offensive, the nomads wouldn’t be able to gather that many in one place.

Still, 3,000 nomads weren’t weak. Let’s hope we could repel them with minimal casualties.

***For now, there were no casualties.

“There was no clash?”

And there were no results, either.

“Yes. They roamed around as if showing off, but that was it. They never made a move, not even a probing attack.”

The officer kept nodding at the Invincible Duke’s questions.

The rest of the officers in the tent murmured among themselves, finding the report strange, too.

“Were they trying to pin down our forces at Hitra? If there are thousands of nomads nearby, it would be risky for our troops to move out.”

“That makes sense, but why Hitra specifically? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to push further and tie down the Bakira frontlines?”

Despite leading their maximum force and moving south so grandly, they maintained a standoff without any clashes. No one could provide a clear answer to this peculiar phenomenon.

A standoff itself wasn’t strange. War wasn’t some Pokémon battle; you didn’t just start fighting as soon as you made eye contact—that’d be crazy. Waiting for the right moment was naturally part of military tactics.

Nomads were infamous for their relentless hit-and-run tactics. They’d poke and prod at enemy lines, never giving them a moment’s rest. If they weren’t raiding, they’d be loosing arrows into the camps—like some lovesick schoolkid stuffing love letters into a shoe locker. These bastards usually engaged in forceful provocations as naturally as breathing, regardless of the standoff.

“I can’t understand this.”

The Invincible Duke muttered, as if voicing everyone’s feelings. It was strange enough that they didn’t touch the expeditionary force waiting at the border, but now anomalies were happening even in the midst of war.

Actually, the enemy being quiet should be good for our side, but the command had fallen into confusion due to the unshakeable fact that the yapping-dog nomads could never be quiet.

Were they aiming for this? If so, it was quite impressive.

“...For now, as long as the Kaitana tribe is holding out, our forces stationed at Hitra are effectively pinned down. They can’t launch an offensive, but they also can’t afford to leave their post, either.”

At these words from an uneasy officer, the Invincible Duke nodded.

As another officer said, it was hard to understand why they were specifically checking Hitra. But regardless of intention, the result of Hitra being tied down remained unchanged. Well, I guess other tribes were assigned to handle other fronts.

So, it was decided to maintain a defensive posture against Hitra, where the Kaitana tribe was casting their ‘I have arrived’ spell. There wasn’t much else we could do, anyway.

***The next day.

“There was no clash this time, either.”

The day after that.

“It’s the same as yesterday.”

The next day again.

“A handful of nomads wandered near the camp, fired a few arrows, and left.”

“Any casualties?”

“None. It wasn’t even within range to begin with.”

Yet another day after.

“The Kaitana tribe’s shamans used wide-area spells, but—they cast it out of range again, so there were no casualties on our side.”

“...”

By the fifth day of absolutely nothing, the Invincible Duke was left speechless.

If this were happening across the entire front, we could assume the nomads were waiting for something. However, other fronts were fighting bloodily.

What’s with these bastards?

Seriously, what was going on? Did nomads have some kind of daily quest to participate in the war so they were just marking attendance?

It was confusing. Unlike their grand entrance, their actions lacked substance. Just full of showing off—

...

Showing off?

I went over everything I knew about the Kaitana tribe again. A tribe from the third faction that maintained neutrality, unlike the anti-empire tribes that were head over heels for Kagan. A hikikomori tribe that only showed up after Dorgon declared himself Khan.

And now, after years of hiding, they had dragged their entire army to the frontlines—

But they were standing there instead of fighting in a standoff with the imperial army who was watching them, showing off their size.

These bastards.

Were they looking for a sponsor?