As the autumn morning sun poured down, the Frizion Army had already completed its preparations for departure. They stood in formation, waiting for the signal to move.
The morale of the soldiers was so high it was difficult to believe they had fought a battle against the Allied Forces of Cabajid and Schuls nearby just the day before. They looked ready to respond immediately even if an engagement were to break out this very moment.
While a night's rest had certainly helped, the high spirits were largely due to the Frizion Army being a small elite unit to begin with.
Furthermore, this force was led by First Princess Frizion—the army’s symbolic figurehead—and her direct subordinates in the White Rose Knight Order. Most importantly, it included Rei, an adventurer famous throughout the Bestia Empire for a myriad of reasons.
In terms of raw military strength, they were incredibly formidable. Their prowess had been proven in the previous day's battle; even when attacked from the front, back, and sides by an enemy force more than twice their size, they had suffered almost no damage while utterly crushing their opponents.
...Of course, the ambush unit that was supposed to strike the Frizion Army from the flank had been annihilated by Rei and Seto before they could even make a move.
While there had been a fair number of injuries in those clashes, there were almost no fatalities. As for the wounded, many had already been healed by the potions Frizion had provided or by those capable of using recovery magic.
"We’re heading out! Based on our marching speed, I expect we’ll rendezvous with His Highness Mercurio’s army tomorrow. However, there’s a possibility that the armies of His Highness Cabajid or His Highness Schuls are waiting for us just like yesterday, so do not let your guard down!"
The voice of Angela, the Commander of the White Rose Knight Order, echoed through the ranks as the Frizion Army began its march.
Consisting of about 500 people including the supply unit, the force was relatively small, making its marching speed incomparably faster than that of a legion numbering in the thousands.
"Rei, could you handle the scouting?"
Angela called out to Rei, who was riding on Seto’s back near the carriage carrying Frizion at the head of the line.
Normally, since Rei’s role was to guard the Frizion Army, scouting would have been assigned to others. In fact, the Frizion Army had specialized units organized specifically for that task.
However, since they had a gryphon like Seto capable of high-speed aerial maneuvers, the ability to scout a vast area quickly was an extremely attractive asset for the Frizion Army.
Consequently, Angela had approached Rei that morning with a plan: the regular scouting units would patrol the army's immediate perimeter, while Rei and Seto would use their mobility for long-range reconnaissance. Rei had readily accepted the request.
"Got it. I'll leave the defense here to you, then. ...Well, I gave them quite a thrashing yesterday. I doubt they’d be foolish enough to try anything two days in a row."
"True. But by the same token, you should be careful too, Rei. It’s obvious that with you here, our combat strength is doubled... actually, it's significantly more than that. I think there’s a possibility they’ll target you specifically to take you off the board, so please, be careful."
Angela spoke with a look of genuine concern.
However, to Frizion, who was watching the exchange from nearby, it seemed as though there was something more than professional worry in Angela's expression.
(Is it just my imagination, I wonder?)
Muttering to herself inside the carriage, the First Princess gave a light wave to Rei and Seto.
"Guruuuu!"
When Seto responded to Frizion with a rumble in its throat, the female knights of the White Rose Knight Order guarding the carriage began squealing in delight.
No matter how skilled and elite they were, they were still helpless against cute things.
"Seto-chan, I’ll give you something delicious later, so let's play together when you're back."
At the words of the female knight who had brought dried river fish the day before, Seto gave a happy rumble.
With Rei on its back, Seto took a short head start before flapping its wings, kicking the air as it soared into the sky.
The stir that rose not just from the White Rose Knight Order but from the entire Frizion Army as they ascended was a testament to the attention Rei and Seto commanded.
"Well, Seto. If nothing goes wrong, we’ll reach the Rebel Army's position tomorrow. I hope we don't end up in a fight like yesterday."
"Guruuu?"
That's why we're scouting, right? Seto seemed to ask, glancing back with a rumble. Rei gently stroked the back of its neck as they flew through the clouds.
There were those who watched Rei and Seto intently as they climbed into the air.
They were positioned away from the Frizion Army, at the exact spot where Mura and Shistoi had paused the previous day in anticipation of the battle.
The observers looked up, and once they confirmed Seto was flying overhead, they threw something from their hands into a prepared campfire. Then, they immediately fled the scene.
Others nearby watched the men depart in a hurry with a hint of suspicion, but they assumed the men were simply in a rush and didn't intervene.
The people remaining at this site were travelers and locals whose journey to the Imperial Capital had been delayed by the Frizion Army setting up its camp.
Frizion hadn't actually blockaded the road, so reaching the Imperial Capital was possible. However, since the other party was a military force, many people harbored anxieties about their goods being requisitioned or being subjected to interrogations under baseless suspicion. The current crowd was the result of that collective caution.
Since the army was led by Frizion and comprised of disciplined elites, the worries of those staying behind were largely groundless, but taking every possible precaution was common sense in such times.
In this instance, however, that caution would end up involving them in unnecessary trouble.
The object thrown into the campfire caused a red signal fire to billow into the sky.
A normal campfire would only produce black or grey smoke at most. But the smoke currently rising was a vivid red; to anyone watching, it was unmistakably a signal fire.
Noticing the smoke, the merchants and adventurers in the vicinity began hurriedly packing their belongings.
If they stayed, they would surely be caught up in whatever was coming. Being cautious by nature, they moved to leave... but they were a moment too late.
"What is the meaning of this signal fire!?"
Female knights clad in white armor—members of the White Rose Knight Order—galloped onto the scene.
Being on horseback gave them high mobility. Furthermore, since the Frizion Army was already on the move, Angela had promptly dispatched her subordinates the moment she saw the red signal fire rise in their path.
"Answer me! Who set that signal fire!"
As one female knight questioned the crowd in a sharp, authoritative tone, another began shoveling dirt onto the fire to extinguish the red smoke.
"Well, two men who were here just a moment ago threw something into the campfire, and then this happened..."
A merchant near the fire reported the truth, but naturally, the knights were not inclined to believe him immediately.
"Then where are those two men?"
"No, they left in a hurry just after throwing it..."
"What did their faces look like? Did they have any defining characteristics?"
The female knights fired questions one after another, but the merchant was not an acquaintance of the men who had vanished. He had simply happened to be nearby.
As such, there was almost no useful information he could provide.
The red signal fire rising from the ground was, of course, visible to Rei and Seto as they performed their long-range scouting from the air.
Since they hadn't heard anything from Frizion or the others about using such signals, Rei guessed that the enemy had likely made a move.
"Well, this was quite unexpected."
"Guruu."
Rei muttered as he laid eyes on the figures ahead, and Seto rumbled in agreement.
However, he didn't mean "unexpected" in a good way; rather, the sight was quite disappointing.
For what lay before Rei’s eyes were five wyverns. And on the backs of those wyverns were armored riders... in other words, a unit of five dragon knights.
Certainly, a dragon knight was an extremely powerful existence. They could attack with fireballs from the wyvern's mouth, or with the spears, bows, and magic of the rider. Above all, as their name implied, their greatest advantage was their absolute dominion over the sky.
For ordinary soldiers, it would be difficult for even a hundred or two hundred men to match a single dragon knight.
They were formidable opponents... but to Rei and Seto, they were enemies they had slaughtered in droves during the Spring War. At this stage, encountering only five dragon knights was hardly a threat.
"I don't know if they belong to Cabajid or Schuls, but are they underestimating me? ...No, there's no way they think they can handle us with just this much. That means there must be some kind of trick... Now then, what are they planning?"
While Rei was pondering their strategy, the dragon knights weren't about to miss such a golden opportunity. The five wyverns opened their maws wide and spat out fireballs.
"Seto!"
"Guruuu!"
With that short command, Seto sensed Rei's intention and flapped its wings powerfully to climb higher into the sky.
Simultaneously, a Flying Slash released by Rei cut through several fireballs, causing them to explode instantly. The other fireballs were caught in the blast and detonated as well.
(Is their coordination also this lacking?)
Rei tilted his head as he watched the chain reaction.
The dragon knights he had fought during the Spring War certainly favored long-range fireball attacks, but they almost never allowed their attacks to cause friendly fire or premature detonations like this. They had been trained until the concept of maintaining proper spacing was ingrained in their very souls.
But the dragon knights before Rei and Seto now seemed to be moving however they pleased. It was as if riders from completely different units had been hastily shoved together into a makeshift squad.
"...I don't know what they're planning, but if they're basically saying 'please reduce our military strength as you like,' I'll gratefully accept the offer. Let's go, Seto!"
"Guruuuuu!"
Seto reacted instantly to Rei’s voice, flapping its wings vigorously as it dived toward the dragon knights below.
Its descent, gaining even more speed by flapping its wings rather than folding them, delivered a devastating blow before the riders could even react.
As they tore through the formation, a strike from Seto’s front leg crushed the skull of one wyvern, while a diagonal slash from Rei’s Death Scythe cut the dragon knight riding another wyvern in two.
Seeing two dragon knights rendered useless in a single pass, the remaining three riders reflexively gasped in horror.
"U-Uwaaaaaaaa! Someone, help me!"
The dragon knight riding the wyvern whose head had been pulverized by Seto screamed. Since it had lost its head, the wyvern was stone dead and plummeted like a rock. The knight, dropped from a height of over a hundred meters, fell toward the earth, shrieking in sheer terror.
Compared to him, the dragon knight killed by Rei's strike was somewhat better off; the wyvern itself was uninjured.
However, wyverns and dragon knights are raised together from the moment of the beast's birth. Having its partner, friend, and brother-in-arms killed, there was no way the wyvern would remain passive.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaa!"
It spat a fireball at Seto, who was below it.
However, Seto continued its straight descent toward the ground without slowing down. The three remaining dragon knights reflexively hoped that it intended to self-destruct...
"Guruu!"
But there was no way Seto wasn't wary of such a basic move. Just before reaching the ground, it flapped its wings powerfully to shed its momentum, then kicked off the earth as if bouncing, soaring back into the sky.
The riders likely hadn't expected Seto, which had just charged down seconds ago, to return so quickly.
Taking them completely by surprise, Rei sliced off the neck of the wyvern that had just lost its rider, while Seto crushed the skull of the wyvern ridden by another nearby dragon knight.
The two wyverns plummeted toward the ground.
Now there were only two dragon knights left in the air... and seeing their comrades finished off in an instant, the survivors realized they had no chance of winning. After having their wyverns spit a final volley of fireballs, they rapidly retreated from the area.
"Seto, don't let them get away!"
"Guruuu!"
At Rei’s command, Seto flapped its wings and gave chase.
As someone who could fly freely himself, Rei understood better than anyone how troublesome dragon knights could be as scouts or harassers. That was precisely why he couldn't afford to let them escape.
If he left them to roam free, there was a high possibility they would cause significant damage to the Frizion Army or ambush the Rebel Army’s reinforcements.
(I don't know what they were thinking by throwing away dragon knights like this... but I have no intention of letting this perfect opportunity slip by!)
Rei muttered inwardly as he firmly gripped the Death Scythe's shaft, closing the distance between him and the retreating silhouettes of the dragon knights.