Chapter 138

“P-please, stop! That’s our family’s food to survive the winter!”

The middle-aged man Balt pleaded desperately.

Trembling all over, he stood his ground gripping a pitchfork, trying his best to uphold his duty as the head of the household.

To protect his family hiding behind him, gripped by fear.

But then—

– Bang!

“Ahhh!!!”

“F-father!!”

A bullet pierced through Balt’s body, rendering his bravery meaningless.

Blood gushed from the gaping hole in his abdomen as he collapsed to the ground.

“Shut up. If you had just kept quiet, we wouldn’t have to waste a precious bullet like this.”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and gather everything useful!”

“Yes, understood!”

At the command, soldiers began to sweep away food and items.

“Ah… no! That’s… my father’s heirloom…”

“Get lost! Get away, you filthy scum!”

Balt’s wife and young daughter struggled to fend off the soldiers.

Yet their frail resistance had no effect on the armed soldiers.

No…

It did have an effect.

In a very undesirable way…

“What’s this? Even with a bit of aging, he’s not bad-looking.”

“Perfect! I’ve been a bit hungry lately anyway!”

“W-wait, what are you—”

“Ahhh! M-mom!”

“Y-you bastards, stop it! I said stop!”

Soldiers, driven by their ugly desires, began to strip the clothes off the mother and daughter.

Balt, witnessing his wife and daughter assaulted right before his eyes, forced himself to rise.

Yet the more he tried to move, the more the bleeding from his wound intensified, and his strength drained away.

In that deepening despair, Balt could only tremble and shed tears.

He lamented his powerlessness to protect his own family.

“Now, now, just stay still. If you cooperate, I won’t kill you.”

“Don’t dislike it too much; I’ll make it more enjoyable than that old man… Cough!!!”

“!?”

“Huh?”

A sudden scream rang out.

With the sound coming from the soldier trying to assault his wife, Balt’s face filled with astonishment.

“C-cough… Akk…”

The soldier began to writhe on the ground, groaning in pain.

Something with pure white fur had attached itself to his nape, viciously tearing him apart with sharp teeth.

The soldier bled profusely, dying like a fountain.

The other soldiers of the Holy Empire Army turned in shock.

“What… what is that?”

“Is it… a rat?”

It was too large to be called a rat, yet it had suddenly appeared, attacking its comrade.

Immediate chaos broke out as the Empire Army drew weapons to attack the creature.

However…

– “Shaaaaa!!!”

“Gwahhhh!!!”

That white beast dashed at a speed too fast to perceive, biting the nape of another soldier.

– Bang!

In a panic, a soldier fired his weapon, but it only hit the ally already on the verge of death.

– “Shaaaa…”

The white creature hung from the ceiling, dripping blood from its mouth while glaring at the soldiers.

Faced with this, the soldier was too paralyzed with fear to reload, frantically pulling out a dagger instead.

But then…

– Pow!!!

“Ghk!”

A rapier traversed through the air, piercing the soldier’s skull.

With a strike so sharp, he couldn’t even let out a scream, and his head was killed in an instant.

The once insurmountable disaster that the Holy Empire soldiers had seen became mere corpses in an instant.

Once again, Balt felt astonishment as he beheld the sight.

– “Kyu~”

“Good job, Zebby.”

Before him stood a little girl, smaller than the bloody rapier she held.

And upon her shoulder perched a white creature… no, a weasel.

They casually shook off the blood as if nothing had happened.

“Hey there, mister.”

“Uh… huh? Me?”

“Yes, you look injured. There’s a place for treatment at the town square, so you should head that way.”

“Ah… y-yes. Th-thank you. I… I really appreciate it…”

Balt expressed his gratitude not just for the directions but for saving his family.

Yet, before his thanks could finish, the girl waved her hand lightly and hurried off.

“Ah… daddy…”

“Dear…”

His family approached Balt, relieved.

Ignoring the corpses of the Empire soldiers strewn about, they took a moment to thank their saviors.

In despair, they were saved by the hands of a child… the little girl and her small beast…

*

There exists a concept known as the Lanchester’s Law.

Simply put, it’s the so-called “skimming.”

When you’re outnumbered, and the enemy splits up, or if you can make them split, you can handle them sequentially while having numerical superiority.

However, knowing this in theory does not easily translate to real-world usage.

Anyone trained in tactics knows that strength comes in numbers, and weakness is found in division.

Thus, when marching an army, they typically move as many troops together as possible, barring any special circumstances.

However…

The world doesn’t always operate so conveniently.

Even if it’s theoretically known, there are countless instances where reality renders it impossible.

Take the current situation, for example.

Soldiers who had come to this village with around three hundred comrades for pillaging now stood frozen in shock.

Azell’s face hardened.

He had heard rumors as of late.

That scattered units for looting were being systematically annihilated by the Frantz Kingdom Army.

Yet, having completely severed supply lines with their home country, they had no choice but to scatter about as they struggled to survive, executing “local supply” tactics.

Even Azell and his comrades were busy filling their bellies with treasures and women, yet fundamentally, they were here to fill their hunger.

But now, they were forced to worry about bullets entering their mouths, rather than filling their stomachs.

“Damn! How did the Frantz Kingdom Army get here!”

“Retreat! We need to escape this village immediately… Guah!!!”

“G-General Schwarz!”

Right beside him, an officer’s head was blown off.

Simultaneously, the Frantz Kingdom Army appeared from all directions.

Azell attempted to escape with his comrades by any means possible.

But then…

“Hey, hey, where do you think you’re going? It’d be a problem if you tried to run away after coming all this way!”

“Gah!”

“W-when did…?”

A figure with a black ponytail appeared right before them in an instant.

With such a frail body, it was hard to discern whether they were male or female, yet they dashed right through the gaps between Azell and his comrades.

And then.

“Gaaah!!”

With a single scream, comrades began to fall dead horrifically one after another.

Azell was also not spared.

“Wha—”

“Goodbye.”

“G-guhhh!!!”

The dagger swung, splitting open Azell’s skull.

In his last moment, he saw thousands of Frantz Kingdom soldiers surrounding them, all falling one by one.

*

“…Another defeat?”

“Yes… General Schwarz has perished, and almost none of the troops under him have survived.”

As Wallenstein was forced to plunder in order to sustain his army, the side effects increasingly escalated.

Due to constant raiding, the sentiment of the surrounding populace had hit rock bottom, and the soldiers’ discipline was collapsing.

Furthermore, the Frantz Kingdom Army was taking every opportunity to launch continuous raids by taking advantage of their scattered forces.

So far, the number of troops lost had already reached ten thousand.

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Army of the Frantz Kingdom was reaping benefits without incurring significant damage.

“What should we do? At this rate, our forces will be pushed into a corner.”

“The morale of our soldiers has greatly diminished. Even if we march to Pare, there’s no way…”

“…”

The generals spoke with palpable anxiety.

As they said, heading to Pare in the current situation would face significant resistance.


Most importantly, by that time, the troop advantage would inevitably diminish.

To overcome this issue, Commander Wallenstein spoke in a cold voice.

“We’ll set a trap. Contact Chancellor Senel. We’ll decimate them and then invade Pare.”

“Yes, Commander. But where shall we set the location…”

At the question from a general, Wallenstein pointed to a map.

A small village was marked.

“Balmi.”