218 Twenty-seven words: "Would you like to take the gu...




 A thud, thud, thud, the distinctive sound of footsteps when a group of people called an army starts moving, shakes the air of the Sarnio Plain. The sound, which could almost be considered an earth tremor, was coming from the Archbishop's camp on the western side of the plain.

"Are those the guys with the white hats, the Philos urban soldiers?

 "Those white-hatted people, the City Soldiers of Philos," he said, squinting and looking into the distance. I could see a group of soldiers in the distance across the Sarnio Plain. Slowly but steadily, step by step, I could see that they were coming towards me.

 The way the Philosophers formed up with their shields and spears was different from the lightly armored armor of the Archbishop's army. They are probably heavily armed infantry. Perhaps that is the form they have chosen in order to defend the city against the repeated assault of soldiers.

 The number of the city's soldiers in the autonomous city of Philos is estimated to be less than a thousand. It is now being thrust towards us as the spear of the Great Patriarchal Army. And behind them, the Daishyo Church's army of 20,000 men, like a haze of clouds.

 For someone like me, who has only experienced battles where at best a few hundred people clash, just looking at this figure is enough to make me dizzy. It makes me think that there is a continuation of soldiers even beyond the horizon.

 As I let out a whispered lament, Caria is standing beside me, pulling on the reins of her horse, and says.

It would have been obvious which side the weathercocks would be on, ours or theirs. It's nothing to be disappointed about.

 How this guy can let his words slip out in such a matter-of-fact manner is beyond me. I stiffened my lips and looked back at Kalia.

 Her silver eyes were shining brightly on her horse. It's as if she's waiting for what's about to happen.

 It's as if he's waiting for what will happen next. The knight-dono is different from the others in that aspect. I'll be relying on you a lot in this war.

 What Kalia says is right on the money. The autonomous city of Philos is a city that has been clinging to the strong and winning autonomy until now, to the extent that it has been ridiculed as a weather vane. How can it suddenly change its direction now? If there's a dragon and a lizard, they'll naturally side with the dragon.

 Of course, I'm sure Mattia had a certain amount of control over the situation. But still, pure power is hard to beat. Probably most of the people in Monstrance also had a vision of Philos soldiers joining the Great Sacred Church in the future.

 The prediction just came true, the nightmare just fell to the ground.

 --But still, we have to do it. But still, I had to do it. I had to reach out with all my might.

 I tightened the reins with my fingers and turned the horse's head, thinking. How to oppose that army is a question I've asked myself many times over the past few days, and even more so in the days leading up to this battlefield. And yet, it is a question for which I have no clear answer.

 I've thought of many paths, I've even come up with a few ideas. But I can't seem to come to a conclusion if it will really work or if it is just a plot that will be swallowed up by the huge avalanche of difference in numbers.

 In this massive war, everything is new to me, to Mattia, and to heraldry.

 I'm not sure what the point of a surprise attack would be if it were just a little poke in the gut of that huge army. Isn't it just a matter of being blown away and wasting soldiers?

 If you increase the number of surprise troops to avoid that, the possibility of being noticed will increase, which in turn will reduce the number of troops in the main army.

 It is as if you are holding out your hand in the dark. You're reaching out, but you don't know what's going to be good, what's going to make sense. I don't understand it at all. I don't think even the rules of thumb are useful.

 In another half a day, that great army would be overlooking the heraldic camp below. There's no time to worry.

"Caria. Do you think we can win?

 He neighed his horse as if to turn away from the combined forces of the Philosopher's City soldiers and the Archdiocese, and galloped his horse toward the heraldic camp. The question made no sense whatsoever. It was an inappropriate question, as if he was asking it just to be at ease.

 Kalia lifted her lips in a funny way, and said, as if she could see right through me.

If you want me to win, I'll do everything in my power. That's all I can say.

 That's great, he said, letting out a breath and smiling. By now, Mattia and his generals must have finished setting up their troops in the camp.

 Finally, he looks back.

 You'll be able to see that the footsteps of the battlefield are slowly approaching you.


 ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


 In the event that you've got a lot more than one, you'll be able to take a look at the following.

I'm not sure what to make of that.

 Mattia's eyes, deep dark circles appear underneath them. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

 Mattia doesn't like to be seen like that. If the one who leads everyone, the one who stands at the top of the organization, shows his or her exhaustion, it will show the bottom of the organization.

 There is no way I want to see that. And yet, this was the only time I had to do so. So now, in order not to lower the morale of the soldiers, Mattia is speaking only to the generals and captains.

 The self-governing city of Philos sat down in the stirrups of the Great Patriarchal Army. There is no way Mattia can say that he did not foresee that scene. In fact, it was the most probable future. And at the same time, it was the worst possible future.

 Therefore, Mattia had taken all possible measures to avoid it. She sent her informants to the city of Philos, and made sure that they would not cooperate with the High Holy Church. She made them hold shiny objects to reduce the number of soldiers she could send.

 Of course, it would be even better if the heraldry could embrace the city of Philos itself. But that's not going to happen. Even the gods would not allow such a convenient thing to happen. So you've done your best to do otherwise.



 Mattia closed his eyelids for a moment to rest his eyes, which were almost painful from exhaustion. She took a deep breath and let it out once.

"I'm sure you've all heard. The autonomous city of Philos has taken the hand of the Great Patriarch and bounced it off our hands. Now we have no choice but to take the spear in our own hands and drive it through the enemy.

 It was harsh, hard, and low for Mattia. As if biting into every word, the officers and captains listened carefully to the voice of the saint in their ears.

 At any rate, this might be the last time. The only way to hear the saint's voice is with your own ears. The heraldic generals, as well as the Gazarian generals, listened to Mattia's voice without uttering a single word.

 A formless hand of tension stroked the spines of everyone present.

Tell the soldiers. Not a word, not a word.

 Mattia said, as if he were making a pronouncement.

"This is not a holy war. Our God has anguished his own skull, and he wants us to decide for ourselves. So this war must be our will. Then why did we choose to carry spears and paint the earth red?

 Mattia could hear her voice trembling. That cannot be. As a heraldic saint, that's unbecoming.

 One by one, at the top of her voice, Mattia said.

"It is for the brethren behind us. For our parents, our brothers and sisters, our descendants. For the days when they could only live, we took up our spears--remember, brethren. Remember why we are here.

 In the eyes of those who are called saints, there is a color of faith. It's a kind of madness. It rides in Mattia's voice, it rides in her figure, it rides in the eyes of the general, the captain.

 This is the last thing I can do. This is the last thing I can do, and if I'm not careful, it will be the last thing I can do. Mattia laughed at himself thinly in the back of his mind.