This location was on the road from the Imperial Capital to the Obrisin county, the base of the rebel army. A few months ago, this place would have been covered in lush green grass, but now that autumn had arrived, all that remained were the remnants of that. In this place, the punitive force and the rebel army faced each other.

The punitive force’s three thousand soldiers vs the rebels’ two thousand soldiers.

In terms of military strength, the punitive force had a thousand more soldiers, so most people believed the punitive force would win.

In fact, the punitive force seemed to have reached the conclusion that they had an overwhelming advantage in terms of military strength. There was no tension at all and a feeling of war weariness was even starting to spread.

In contrast, the rebel army seemed a little surprised by the number of enemies but there was no sign of anyone deserting.

「We’ve won.」

Those were the words of a noble from the punitive force as well as Theorem’s from the rebel army’s side.

Both sides spoke as if they were confident of victory, but if they had known each other’s thoughts, they would have sneered at the other.

From the punitive force’s perspective, it was because they had a thousand more soldiers, while the rebels knew that they force they were fighting was made up of a collection of incompetent nobles.

Several men from each army stepped forward.

Their goal was to encourage the other side to surrender, but if they had planned to surrender after something like this, there wouldn’t have been a battle in the first place.

The exchange was nothing more than a mere formality.

However……this time, it was a little different. The person who came forward from the punitive force was someone who had won the role in a exchange between nobles on their side.

From the rebel army’s side, it was Vihera who had come forward.

As a noble, he naturally knew what kind of person Vihera was.

On the other hand, the knight who accompanied the noble as a guard didn’t seem to know who Vihera was and inadvertently widened his eyes at her appearance, clothed in thin clothes like a dancer or prostitute, a strange sight for the battlefield.

The only things she wore that seemed suited for the battlefield were her gauntlets and greaves. It was a very strange sight considering the rest of her getup.

Still, as the knight was tasked with guarding the noble, he was wary of Vihera doing anything suspicious and his eyes widened under his helmet when he heard his master’s words.

「It’s been a long time, Your Highness Vihera. I’m very sorry to meet you in a place such as this.」

It was clear that the noble knew her, but unfortunately, Vihera did not know the name of the noble in front of her.

Even though she was a member of the royal family, Vihera had very little interest in nobles to begin with. If the noble had been famous or prominent for some reason, she might have remembered their name, but the noble was not such a person.

This punitive force was made up of people who were said to be incompetent after all. Naturally, most of the nobles were similar, so even when they spoke face to face, Vihera had no recollection of them.

That was why she replied without any particular thoughts after hearing the noble’s words.

「Yes. I’m sure it’s very unfortunate for you.」

「……Unfortuante for us? Excuse me, but do you, Princess Vihera, fully understand the situation? You have 2000 soldiers, we have 3000. No matter how you look at it, you have no chance of winning.」

For a moment, the noble looked confused. But, finally seeming to understand what Vihera was trying to say, he replied without thinking.

However, all he got back in response was a seductive smile.

「Is that so? Well, if that’s what you think, then perhaps our perceptions are different. The results will show who was wrong.」

「……Do you really think you can defeat us wit this difference in military strength? I don’t know, but if you surrender quietly, I won’t do anything bad to you. But, if you become a prisoner of war of the defeated army, you will be treated badly. Also, I hate to say it, but Your Highness Vihera is a very attractive person. What would happen if such a person were to become a prisoner of war? ……You should understand that much, right?」

Normally, this man wasn’t the type to say such things to someone like Vihera. However, now that their forces where a thousand soldiers stronger, and because he had determined that they would win if they fought, he was able to approach Vihera in such an overbearing manner.

If he had truly spoke out of the kindness of his heart, even Vihera would have had some respect for him.

However, when he had spoke, his gaze had been clouded by an animalistic lust……and above all, his eyes had seemed to lick over all her body. Vihera wasn’t the type to meekly submit to someone like that.

There was no longer any warmth in her eyes and she looked at the nobles as if she were looking at a stone or weed on the ground.

「Unfortunately, there is only one person I will give myself to. And that person isn’t a weakling like you, who would lose to a commoner. If you want to have me, you will need to work on your weak mind, character, and body before trying again.」

With that, she turned around to leave without waiting for the other side to respond.

The man, who was struck by those words, shouted back at Vihera, his face red with anger.

「Very well. I will show you exactly who is the weaker one!」

It was the best he could say as a noble. However, from the outside, the man, shouting with his face red at a leisurely leaving Vihera, looked like the howling of a defeated dog.

As for the verbal battle before the start of the actual battle, it was safe to say that the rebels had won a complete victory.

Count Scola, who was watching the scene from a distance, though that the battle was already over at this point.

Looking around, the other nobles didn’t seem desperate.

They were not thinking about how to win, but how they could get a bigger share of the spoils after they had won.

Some of them were captivated by Vihera’s attractive body and beauty and were even thinking about how they could capture her and make her their own.

(What should I do in this situation……?)

Count Scola sighed and once again resolved that his first priority in the battle shouldn’t be to win, but to survive.

He had already reached the concludion that they would lose this battle. If possible, he wanted to run away without fighting, but with the supervisory knights present, he couldn’t do that.

He would somehow managed to get through this battle, and then, on the pretext of illness, he would retreat to his territory and hand over the position of head of the Scola family to his younger brother. Just as he was thinking that he would spend his days in leisure and comfort, half escaping from reality, the noble who had just finished the verbal battle returned to camp and bothe the punitive force and rebel army began to move.

「Let’s go, bastards!」

『UOOOOOOH!』

The first to shout out was Gurgast, who was probably the most warlike out of the group.

He led his subordinates and charged towards the punitive force, determined not to let them take the lead.

To support Gurgast, the archers, led by Tilleyle, shot arrows, some even casted magic.

「W-What?! How dare you!? You’re charging in on your own despite being outnumbered!? Those rebels don’t even understand military common sense! Normally this would be a moment to strengthen your defenses first!」

A noble from the punitive force shouted out without thinking.

Their unit was on the forefront of the punitive force. Normally, they would have been the ones to take the initiative and launch an attack after the enemy had strengthed their defenses. That was their intention, but they hadn’t expected the other side to attack first.

If the noble in charge of the vanguard had been able to respond flexibly, he would have been able to give the order to intercept them quickly. If that had happened, they might have been pushed back at first, but the situation would gradually have turned in the punitive force’s favour.

However, the noble was taken by surprise at Gurgast’s actions and, after his shock, he immediately began to curse and abuse his enemy for not acting as he wanted.

This turned out to be a fatal mistake.

「AHHHHHHHHHHH-!」

Without any orders, the soldiers began attacking of their own accord, causing confusion in the surroundings.

「UOOOOOOH-!」

With that shout, Gurgast charged in, swinging battle axes in both hands.

Normally, nobles would command from behind. But, this common sense didn’t apply to Gurgast and his soldiers, who could be called battle crazy.

Each of them attacked the enemy in front of them on their own accord.

If the soldiers were less trained, it would have been a different story, but unfortunately for the punitive force, all of the troops led by Gurgast were skilled enough to be called elites.

Due to the weapons wielded by Gurgast and his soldiers, the nobles’ troops who were put at the front suffered increasing damage.

Furthermore, there were still arrows being fired by Tilleyle’s troops as support, making the situation unbearable.

「Oh no, how pathetic. Let’s go, follow me!」

That was what a noble shouted out, waiting diagonally behind the vanguard.

Originally, the role of this unit was to land a fatal blow from the flank when the vanguard had pinned down the enemy force, forcing them to defend themselves.

They had been given the role because it placed importance on highly mobile cavalry. But, since they had stumbled from the very first step, they couldn no longer proceed according to the original plan.

Having made this decision, theo noble tried to move in to strike Gurgast’s troops from the flank as they assaulted the vanguard. But, seeing this, Tilleyle sent a rain of arrows in their direction, preempting their move.

As the cavalry saw that and stopped for a moment……

「HAAaaah-!」

It was unclear when they had approached, but as soon as he heard that voice, a shadow appeared in the eyes of the noble leading the cavalry and the next moment, his consciousness faded into darkness.

「……Well, I guess that’s how it is.」

She muttered as she swung the claws that protruded from her gauntlets, causing the blood of the man she had just cut down to splatter onto the ground.

At the same time, a large amount of blood spurted from the man’s neck, splashing onto the surrounding cavalry.

They were all stunned by the sight of their leader having their neck suddenly cut open, but Vihera’s muttering brought them back to their senses as they readied their spears and swords……

『UOOOOOOH-!』

They froze up again when they heard those shouts.

Some of the cavalry turned to look towards the source of the shouts and saw about twenty cavalry charging towards them with weapons at the ready.

Vihera’s actions had attracted the enemy’s attention and so they had taken the opportunity to charge in with their own cavalry.

Normally, they would have noticed when they heard the horses’ hoofs, but the sounds of combat between Gurgast’s forces and the punitive force’s vanguard had likely delayed their attention.

When did that happen? As the punitive force’s cavalry thought that, they decided that they had to respond quickly.

They weren’t wrong up to that point, but what happened next was the problem.

Some tried to intercept the enemy while others tried to keep their distance.

Since their commander had been the first to die, the cavalry’s actions lost their unity.

As a result, each soldier had to decide their own action individually and in that moment, they transformed from a cavalry unit to individual cavalrymen.

On the other hand, the calvary led by Vihera continued to charge towards their enemy, hoping to join up with their commander.

If they had been able to work together, they might have been able to respond somehow. However, they were inferior in skill to begin with and the noble who led them was also dead, so they had to rely on their own judgement……and what’s more, the rebel cavalry carried their momentum as they attacked with great ferocity.

However, it was also true that the rebel cavalry was also desperate, as their leader, Vihera, was isolated among the enemy.

They wanted to join back up at all costs.

Everyone held that feeling in their hearts.

There were also other factors that were unfavourable to the cavalry of the punitive force.

「Damn it, at this rate, we’ll just be beaten one-sidedly! Let’s make some distance and reorganise our formation and let the other nobles take command……hey?」

One cavalryman called out to a fellow soldier, but despite the fierce fighting……or more accurately, in this situation where they were being one-sidely beaten, his fellow soldier didn’t move an inch.

At that moment, as if there was some sort of signal, the man lost his seating and collapsed to the ground without a word.

The cavalryman had no idea what had happned, so he looked around……and spotted a person.

Yes, it was Vihera, who had been the first to charge into the cavalry.

Normally, she would have been someone he should never have taken his eyes off, but his eyes had been drawn to the cavalry charging towards them and he had forgotten about Vihera.

The moment he saw her, the cavalryman gripped the spear in his hand……but it was too late as he was struck by a Magic Palm through his leather armour, shattering his internal organs as he collapsed to the ground as well.

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