"Hyaaaaaaaah!"
A longsword whistled through the air, accompanied by a desperate roar.
The man facing the soldier parried the blade with his spear, then swept the shaft back in a counterattack, as if to strike down any hope of recovery.
"Got you!"
"Not a chance!"
The soldier forced his body to spin, using the momentum from his parried sword to dodge the horizontal spear strike aimed at his midsection. But in the next heartbeat, the spear—which should have swept through empty air—snapped to a halt in mid-motion. Before the soldier could even blink, the spearhead was leveled directly between his eyes.
"..."
The two men remained frozen for several seconds, exchanging a silent look.
"Gah, fine! I get it, I get it. It’s my loss!"
"Heh heh. Excellent. That means you're buying the drinks tonight."
The one holding the spear—a man dressed as an adventurer rather than a soldier—pulled his weapon back with a triumphant smirk. The soldier lowered his longsword, his shoulders slumping.
Both were using mock weapons with dulled edges, but in the hands of an expert, such tools could still easily kill. Despite the lethal potential of their gear, the adventurer and the soldier spoke with the easy camaraderie of two men who had grown used to each other's presence.
"Dammit... I thought I was actually doing pretty well that time."
"Well, I won't deny that. That last strike was quite sharp. But you put too much weight behind it. If an all-out strike like that gets parried, it leaves you wide open."
The soldier nodded at the adventurer's critique, though he still looked frustrated. "I see. I’ll make sure to watch that opening next time."
"You do that. The guys in the last subjugation army were basically bottom-tier trash, so we didn't take much damage, but the next wave will probably be the real deal. You’d better polish your skills while you have the chance."
"Yeah, I hear you. Still, it’s amazing how many skilled people there are among you adventurers. I've sparred with a few others, and I think I've lost every single time."
The soldier muttered with a heavy sigh. He was part of a noble’s unit that had joined the rebel army at Vihera's request. However, his unit had primarily trained for the sake of appearances; fearing they would be slaughtered in a real fight, their lord had asked the man coordinating the rebel adventurers to organize joint training sessions between adventurers and soldiers.
Notably, the man leading the adventurers was not Rei. Instead, it was a perfectly ordinary B-Rank adventurer—skilled enough for the rank, but without a title or an alias to his name. Though, the mere fact that he was a B-rank meant he was far from "ordinary" by any sane standard.
"Ah... looks like things are wrapping up all over the place."
The adventurer man scanned the surrounding area, leaning on his spear. Across the camp, pairs of adventurers and soldiers were finishing their drills.
Five days had passed since the battle. The rebel army had spent that time cleaning up the battlefield to ensure no plagues broke out among the corpses, only returning to this camp—their de facto headquarters—yesterday.
Since it was already autumn, some had argued that the corpses could be left as they were, but the rebel army leadership, starting with Mercurio, had rejected the idea. Erring on the side of caution, they had insisted on a thorough disposal of the dead.
The clash had taken place not far from Count Obrisin's territory. If a plague were to break out, the damage could easily reach the rebel forces. Even more concerning was the threat of the corpses rising as Undead. Given the season, a plague might be avoided, but considering the sheer volume of resentment and bitterness left behind by the fallen soldiers, knights, and nobles, the risk of an Undead outbreak was high.
Furthermore, with Gurgast siding with the rebellion, the flow of merchants had already slowed to a trickle. If Undead were to haunt the roads and attack the few caravans and travelers heading toward Count Obrisin's territory, it would be a logistical disaster. For the rebels, leaving the corpses was simply not an option.
"Seeing actual combat... it really made us realize how powerless we are. Just like me," the soldier said with a bitter smile, recalling the clash with the subjugation army.
Gurgast's unit had charged in as the lead unit, tearing through the enemy's vanguard unit with devastating force. Tilleul's unit had provided perfect cover, using bows and arrows and magic to paralyze the enemy. And above all...
"Her Highness Vihera... she was terrifying."
The soldier's voice was filled with awe. The image of Vihera charging into the enemy cavalry alone and being the first to decapitate the commander had left a searing impression on his mind.
Of course, the fact that she had been dressed in a thin raiment that seemed designed solely to seduce, revealing a body that could drive any man to distraction, was likely part of why the memory was so vivid to a healthy twenty-something soldier.
Sensing exactly where the soldier’s mind had wandered, the adventurer gave him a wicked grin. "Right, right. Tell me again what was so 'incredible' about her."
"Ugh!"
The soldier choked on his words, and the adventurer laughed. Even so, the adventurer himself had the alluring image of Vihera burned into his own mind.
Spending a night with a woman like that would be paradise... though I know it’ll never happen, he thought.
It was an open secret within the rebel army who Vihera had set her heart on. If her interest had been directed at some random noble, there might have been a few brawls over her hand. But since the man in question was Rei, the one known by the alias Crimson, no one was foolish enough to try anything.
Vihera was undeniably attractive, but no one was willing to throw their life away for a reckless pass. It also helped that the rebel army was small, and nearly everyone had been forced to experience the suffocating pressure of standing before Rei while he was clad in his Overlord's Armor.
"Well, give it up. More importantly, how about we head out tonight? Word is some good prostitutes have arrived."
"Ah, right. I heard they’ve got a solid reputation. Count me in."
While there were female soldiers, knights, and adventurers in the ranks, the majority of the army were men. With so many men gathered in one place, managing their base desires was a necessity. If this was neglected, men might wander off to assault local women in nearby towns, or even turn their sights on the women within the camp. To prevent internal strife and bloody incidents, the presence of prostitutes was essential.
Gurgast, being a man who lived for battle, had been attentive to these logistical needs and had called in women from nearby cities. It was a lucrative deal for the members of the brothel as well; they never had to worry about a lack of customers. In fact, some were even struggling to recover their stamina because the demand was so high.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been a grueling cycle, but Gurgast and the brothel owners had worked out a rotation where the women only worked every other day or once every three days. This was only possible because they had brought in a sufficient number of women to begin with.
Beyond that, simple bars and shops had sprung up throughout the camp, and the rebel base had quietly evolved into the scale of a small village. Seeing this, Gurgast had even considered turning the site into a permanent settlement once the rebellion was over... but that was a matter for another time.
While the men trained outside, a strategy meeting was being held inside the magic tent at the center of the camp.
"Now then, regarding our next move... Theoreme."
"Sir!"
At Mercurio's prompt, Theoreme stood and addressed the room. The rebel army leadership was gathered: Mercurio, Theoreme, Vihera, and various cooperating nobles. Among them, for some reason, sat Rei.
As established, Rei was officially designated as the army’s mobile unit. Since the unit’s mobility was predicated on flight via Set, the mobile unit personnel consisted solely of Rei—and his one griffon. Because of this status, Rei was considered a unit leader and was permitted to attend the meeting. More accurately, he had been semi-forced to attend.
Thinking 'Why the hell am I here?' is probably just me being arrogant, Rei thought. He knew many others would kill to be in this inner circle.
Theoreme spread a map showing the area around the camp onto the table. The map had been provided by Gurgast, the lord of the surrounding land.
"We have achieved an overwhelming victory against the subjugation army. To be fair, this was the result His Highness Schuls expected, so he likely isn't bothered by the loss. But that sentiment only applies to him and those who knew his true goal."
"In other words, to everyone else, it looks like the subjugation army suffered a humiliating defeat in the opening skirmish," Tilleul added.
Theoreme nodded and continued. "Given that the enemy was unable to force us to reveal almost any of our trump cards, we can consider the previous battle a strategic victory for our side."
Several nobles smiled at that, while others looked grim. The two groups noticed each other's conflicting reactions.
"How can you look so pleased?" one noble asked.
"We won. That seems reason enough to be happy."
"...Yes, we won that battle. But when you look at our total forces, we remain at an overwhelming disadvantage. To the Empire, that loss was like a paper cut—painful, but shallow. In comparison, we, the 'overwhelming winners,' are suffering a pain like stubbing our pinky toe on the corner of a dresser with everything we’ve got."
The other men in the tent winced, likely imagining the sensation.
"...I'm sorry, I don't quite follow the metaphor. Could you be a bit more direct?"
"Simply put: it's a matter of total stamina. Even if we deal significant damage to them, the Empire's reserves are so vastly superior that our strikes have almost no long-term effect. Conversely, because we cannot emerge from combat unscathed, every loss we take—even in victory—is relatively much larger for us."
"That..."
The happy noble’s smile vanished as he finally understood. The explaining noble let out a melancholy sigh; having put it into words, the weight of their situation felt even heavier. Silence filled the tent for a few seconds before Gurgast broke it.
"Well, I think we all understand the predicament. The question is what we do next. Personally, I'd love to just keep marching straight for the imperial capital."
"Gurgast... that’s impossible. Our strength won't hold out that long. I mean, if we put Rei at the absolute front of the line, we might have a prayer, but..." Tilleul trailed off, glancing at Rei.
The other participants were in silent agreement: a direct march on the imperial capital was out of the question for now. Even Gurgast had only said it half-jokingly, knowing his suggestion wouldn't be taken seriously.
Though, being "half-joking" meant he was also half-serious. As a man who purely loved battle, the idea of fighting a sea of powerful enemies appealed to him. His unit had taken almost no damage in the last fight, despite being the lead unit. It was partly because the noble leading the enemy vanguard had been fatally slow to react, never imagining the outnumbered rebels would launch such an aggressive offensive, and partly because Gurgast's men were simply elite.
The result was a unit full of injuries, but zero deaths. Of course, one could argue that was only because the enemy had been so weak. Even Gurgast knew he couldn't replicate that success against the Empire’s more powerful lords.
"Indeed. There are several paths we could take from here... Theoreme, your thoughts?"
Mercurio turned his gaze toward Theoreme, prompting the strategist to speak.