"Oh, that? Nothing too grand."
Tullius said and took out a map of this battlefield. On the map, the locations of the earthen walls they had set up were meticulously marked.
"All of these earthen walls were constructed normally but with simple magic carved into them. After all, the material is earth, so we can't use advanced magic."
"That sounds impossible......."
It was Alfred who muttered in dismay.
"Earthen walls large enough to protect 10,000 soldiers? Do you mean to tell me that you have engraved protective markings on each one of them? Not just that. You claim that it’s easy, but that doesn't explain how they were able to withstand St. Gallen's attack unscathed!"
The magic that the enemy army unleashed was the mid-tier flame magic "Flame Lance". It's not ridiculously powerful that it could destroy a fortress in a single hit, but it was known for its high penetrating power and firepower. Walls protected with simple magic should have been easily pierced by such magic."
Tullius seemed to be taken by surprise.
"Huh? Didn't you hear the transmission earlier, Al-san?"
"Huh?"
Alfred tried to recall if he had missed any detail. The huge amount of communication that Uni had just received. It was more than the level of ‘a lot of information’ so he couldn't grasp all of it. It would be more abnormal for him to be able to understand all the information like Uni did.
Nevertheless, after reexamining what he heard in bits and pieces, he eventually stopped at a sentence that seemed to be what Tullius was suggesting.
—Damage to the barrier wall, restoration works to be started immediately.
"Is it being restored after being damaged?"
"Yes. Very simple, isn't it? After all, the walls are just made of soil. Plenty to be found everywhere. With a little bit of alchemy, most of the holes can be plugged."
The alchemist directing the battlefield said so without a sweat.
But the words also contained something else that was truly frightening.
"With a little bit of alchemy? Could it be that all of the people on the other end of the communications are people capable of alchemy?"
"Yes. They are all my slaves. I'm very good at training my slaves, even though I look like this."
Alfred was truly astonished this time.
Spread everywhere behind the earthen walls were slaves skilled in alchemy? How is that possible? How could there be so many people under a mere count of the frontier - or rather, a man who had only been a viscount until a while ago?
At the same time, his previous doubts were answered.
Indeed. With many alchemists, it would be easy to apply protective arts to all the earthen walls.
The beautiful leader of the Second order softly breathed a sigh of relief while her second-in-command was stunned.
"Creating a ten thousand strong army from powerless refugees and building walls equivalent to a fortress from nothing? ......Truly alchemy."
She could only describe Tullius' skill as just that.
It was as if he could create things out of nothing, create gold from lead and scrap iron. If this is not alchemy, she didn’t know what else it could be.
But Tullius slowly shook his head at her words.
"Spare me the jokes. Such acts should only be comparable to something like gilding."
Then he looked at the swarm of communication devices blaring behind him.
"M-14 to command, enemy forces have begun assaulting α-02 bunker, soldiers are panicking. Requesting for further instructions and support. Over."
"This is B-09, α-01 cannot hold, evacuating to β-01 trench. Over."
"This is M-20. Command, your response. Command, your response."
The contents of the communication were all an abrupt change to the battlefield and that they were in a critical situation.
Uni, the communications operator, looked at Due intently while delivering instructions in rapid succession.
"The walls at α-01 to α-03 cannot hold out any longer. Slow the enemy while supporting our allies' evacuation. Can you do that, Due?"
"Heh, finally some work to do. Then I shall be back in a moment."
The swordsman carrying a two-handed sword on his back left the camp, breaking into a smile at the prospects of a fierce battle. Tullius looked away silently and then shifted his gaze to Elisha and the others from the Second Order.
"......Well, that’s why. If the other side rushes in desperately, this would happen."
"Hmm? I see. Indeed, gilding is a very apt term."
The glow of gold would burn into the eyes for those watching the plated metal, but the slightest flaw would expose the true metal underneath. In the end, the soldiers were mostly peasants with guns, and the walls were only up to chest height. If the St. Gallen soldiers forced themselves forward bravely, it would be difficult to stop them.
"Yes. To turn this plated metal into a dazzling victory, I need all of your help."
An attack would reveal the faults beneath their exterior, that their walls were made in a haste. In order to defend themselves, a small group of elite soldiers with high mobility and superior striking force needs to be deployed to put out the fire. And here, there are elites that had fended off 3,000 enemy soldiers with only 100 of them.
Tullius was implicitly saying, let me use you.
"Sir Tullius is a surprisingly well-spoken man. In fact, you must have made a few ladies cry already, haven't you?"
"Lady Balbastre is the one that is excellent with jokes. So, what do you say?"
"Sure."
Her reply was immediate.
"Letting the militia fight while hiding above is not a good look for the Imperial Guards. Originally, we accepted your invitation to fight here. It doesn't matter if it's the front line or the enemy's main camp, you can throw us anywhere you like. We will fight as we please, survive as we please, and if our fortunes are not good, we will die as we please."
Alfred stared at Elisha.
Are you sure? His eyes were saying.
Lavallee sent them here because he had foreseen the war and wanted to make it look like he had taken corrective measures, as well as to conduct reconnaissance to determine the strength of Tullius' forces. This Count could be their enemy. Elisha must have been aware of the danger of this man's existence.
However, not fighting when they should be fighting was, as Elisha declared earlier, a disservice to their name. How could they avert their eyes from their unreliable allies because they were too busy scheming and plotting? It would be a shame to their pride as knights.
She was sorry to the political schemers who had been helpful to her and the Second Order, but their first priority was to defeat the enemy. After that, the politicians can slowly work out the details after the war. None of her business. Elisha Rosmond Balbastre is one that fights.
The Count bowed his head to her.
"Reassuring words from the Second Order’s Commander. I think that’s why all your friends support you. ……Well then."
He presented to her a communication device and a map of the battle area.
"Whenever we see a change in the battle situation, we will communicate the point which needs your support. It would be best if you moved accordingly."
"Wow....... This is a very well demarcated map. The cover areas are lined up vertically as α, β, and γ, and the horizontal rows are numbers. So it's like this? If I'm told γ-05, I should be going for the third row and fifth from the left?"
"Yes. That's correct. As you can see, Uni is the one directing everybody…… is that alright?"
"Don't worry about it. As I said some time ago, the Second Order also has personnel who were once slaves. I don't care about status....... Let's go, Al."
"Yes, Commander."
After saying this, she left the camp with her right hand man in tow.
Tullius and Uni were the only ones seeing them off.
Eventually, when the Second Order was far enough away from the main camp, Tullius spoke.
"Then again, the muskets aren't as effective as I thought they would be either. I was expecting to get a higher kill ratio, despite the lack of training."
"With all due respect, Master. I suspect that a front-loaded musket would be difficult to manoeuvre in a tight space."
Uni pointed out.
Every time a person fires, he would have to bring the muzzle of the gun to the front, sweep the ramrod in and measure the amount of gunpowder. It was a painstaking task to do behind their cramped quarters behind the earthen walls.
"Also, there is a problem with the matchlock system. When firing, smoke and sparks scatter everywhere and soldiers are afraid of being burned or dislike the smoke, so they need more space."
"You mean reduce the density of the barrage? Hmm, I hadn't noticed that....... I hadn't experimented with simultaneous firing on such a large scale."
