The morning of the finals.
At the Razgrim army's staging area, three hundred soldiers were carrying out their final equipment checks. The shields and breastplates Elsa and the Master Blacksmith had repaired up until yesterday were back in hand. As the soldiers tightened leather straps and inspected the condition of their practice swords, they awaited their turn. At the edge of the line, a single soldier—slightly more slender than the rest—blended in with an innocent expression, wearing a helmet pulled down low over their face.
One soldier had been injured in the semifinals and simply could not be fielded for the finals. The replacement paperwork was complete, and the headcount stood at three hundred. On paper, nothing was amiss. Yet as Raisa and Lydia surveyed the formation, their gazes stopped on that single soldier almost simultaneously.
"Hey... Lady Lydia. Did we have someone that slender in our ranks?"
"I was just wondering the same thing... Could they be the substitute...?"
Noticing their stares, Serena lowered her helmet just a fraction more. However, with the finals moments away, the two commanders had no time to interrogate a single soldier. Their opponent was the defending champion, House Eldran, and there were countless details regarding formations and messengers that needed last-minute confirmation.
"If the paperwork went through, it's fine for now... More importantly, let's double-check the center."
As the two walked away and Serena let out a quiet breath, a voice called out to her from the side.
"Hey, you! You're the substitute starting today, right? Our opponents are House Eldran! Don't get reckless and charge ahead just because it's the finals, got it? The Duke told us to take first place, but if things get dicey, fall back behind us."
It was Gash. It seemed he had not realized her true identity.
"...Understood."
"Hm? That voice... Where have I...?"
Serena looked straight ahead without answering. Gash tilted his head for a moment, but then brushed it off. "Oh well. Just stay on your toes!" he said before returning to his position. The Master wished for victory. She had come here for that purpose, so she could not afford to be discovered before the match even started. Serena quietly rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.
◇
In a corner of the spectator stands, Elsa was peering down the corridor with a restless expression. When the Razgrim army appeared in their dark blue gear to a roar of cheers, she leaned forward instinctively. Among the armor and shields worn by the three hundred soldiers were numerous pieces that she and the Master Blacksmith had spent up until yesterday hammering out dents and replacing fittings for.
"...It's finally starting."
"Yeah... Everything we've been hammering away at is lined up right down there."
Elsa recognized the shield held by one of the soldiers and leaned out a bit further. It was the one that had been heavily dented in the semifinals.
"Hold together until the very end, okay...? After all the trouble we went through to fix you."
"We fixed 'em so they'd hold, didn't we?... If they come back broken, we'll just fix 'em again. For now, let 'em use 'em however they like."
"Easy for you to say. But... I hope they win."
"They've made it this far! Of course I want 'em to win."
Under the watchful eyes of the two smiths, the Razgrim army advanced onto the stage of the finals.
◇
Upon arriving at the noble box, I glanced behind me once before taking my seat. Serena, who would usually be standing slightly behind my shoulder, was nowhere to be seen.
"Hm?... Clarice. Where's Serena?"
"She was here this morning, but... she mentioned something about 'cleaning up the surrounding area a bit.'"
"Cleaning? What is she cleaning on a day like this?"
I didn't quite get it, but I doubted Serena would abandon her post without a reason. She was probably doing something she deemed necessary. Reassured by that thought, I took my seat, though the absence of someone who was usually right beside me left me feeling strangely unsettled.
"...Are you nervous?"
Spoken to from beside me, I looked over at Alecia. The speaker herself had her fingers clasped tightly in her lap.
"Of course I am! Second place is two hundred gold coins, first place is five hundred. That's a three-hundred-coin difference! If we let it slip away after coming this far, I know for a fact I'll be brooding over it for quite a while."
"You're focused on that right to the very end, aren't you...? But I'm nervous too. I've known Duke Eldran's army for a long time, and the Duke has always supported the kingdom. Even so, I don't want Razgrim to lose after making it this far, either."
Alecia returned her gaze to the drill grounds as she spoke. Only when the Silver Wolf banner appeared did she lean forward ever so slightly. Clarice, standing a tier behind us, watched this in silence, while my attention was stolen by the Eldran army entering from the opposite side.
"...Aren't they a full size bigger than us?"
Our soldiers' physiques had improved beyond comparison, but the other side still had plenty of men whose shoulders and arms were a full size thicker.
"Hey, old man... It's the finals, so couldn't you go a little easy on us? I've got five hundred gold coins riding on this, you know."
"Fool! The very fact that I am not taking the field is already going easy on you!"
"You call that going easy on us?!"
Galvas looked down at his army with an amused expression and puffed out his chest.
"Even so, do not underestimate them. Those lads will not be easily bested. After all, they are men I have personally drilled. There was nothing gentle about their training!"
"Don't sound so proud of it!"
"As long as they become soldiers who can win, it matters not!"
When even Alecia chimed in with, "I think Razgrim is already quite fortunate that Duke Eldran isn't participating," my tension only mounted further.
Before long, all three hundred soldiers of both armies lined up at their starting positions, and flags marking the three bases were raised on the left, center, and right. The referees went down the line, verifying headcounts and equipment one by one. Just like the previous rounds, the side holding two or more bases when the match-ending bell rang would claim victory.
From the noble box, individual soldiers' faces were impossible to make out. Even so, the sight of three hundred sets of dark blue gear lined up, with the azure Silver Wolf banner swaying in the wind at their center, was crystal clear. On the opposing side, the Eldran army stood in orderly ranks, filled with soldiers of notably larger build.
I had been thinking exclusively about gold coins until just moments ago, but now that both armies were facing off, my throat felt parched.
"...Damn, I'm getting even more nervous now...!"
Looking beside me, Alecia's eyes were likewise glued to the drill grounds. Her clasped hands gripped tightly.
"Me too...! Even though I'm only watching, I can't sit still."
"In your position, wouldn't either side winning put you in a tough spot?"
"That may be true... but both Duke Eldran's army and the Razgrim army have fought hard to reach this stage. And yet..."
Alecia trailed off and stared fixedly at the azure Silver Wolf banner.
I turned my eyes in the same direction. They had made it this far because they had earned their victories. Shattering my expectations time and again, before I knew it, they were standing opposite the defending champions.
"...I'm counting on you guys. Seriously."
My voice couldn't carry that far, but the words slipped out anyway. In the center, having finished the final checks, the referee slowly raised an arm. The noise that had filled the spectator stands gradually faded, and the entire Grand Drill Grounds fell dead silent, as if holding its breath for the bell.
And then—the bell signaling the start of the finals rang out.
◇
Shortly before the bell rang, down on the battlefield, Raisa looked back at her three hundred soldiers. Facing the Eldran army lined up across from them, an undeniable tension showed on the men's faces.
"We've made it this far! Don't go cowering before their name now! Don't try to win this alone—look at the guy next to you! If you want to bring five hundred gold coins home to the Master, all three hundred of us are going to take it together!"
"OOOOOOHHH!!"
The soldiers' voices roared as one.
A little ways back, Lydia stared straight at the army she had belonged to until just two months ago. She knew their strength better than anyone. Even so, the side she stood on right now was not Eldran.
—Then, the opening bell that would decide their fate rang out.
"Move out!"
At Raisa's command, all three hundred soldiers of the Razgrim army surged forward in unison.
The Razgrim army headed left as planned, while the Eldran army moved toward the center. Once each side secured a base, soldiers poured into the remaining right base, where both armies collided head-on.
From the very first clash, the disparity was glaringly obvious. The instant shields struck shields, the Razgrim soldiers were driven back half a step. The opponents were not merely larger; their swords were faster. Even when blocked, they transitioned into their next strike without hesitation. In build, swordcraft, and spear technique alike, the other side held the upper hand across the board.
"Don't take them on alone! Push back in pairs! If you match them in raw strength, you'll be overwhelmed!"
Heeding Raisa's voice, Razgrim soldiers teamed up in pairs to push back single opponents. However, the instant an enemy soldier fell back, another stepped forward, immediately plugging the gap. When the front line grew exhausted, they rotated with the rear, and even if someone went down, the formation itself never stalled.
It was the same when Razgrim soldiers tackled the man leading an enemy squad to the ground. Normally, orders would fall into disarray for at least an instant, but another man right beside him immediately bellowed out commands.
"Front line, close ranks! Don't leave the right open! Route five men from the rear!"
When that man was pushed back as well, yet another soldier took over directing the squad. There were multiple individuals capable of leading, so even if one went down, the next immediately stepped up.
"What's with these guys... You take out one leader, and another pops right up!"
"My father despises armies that halt simply because a single commander falls... Within a single squad, he trains multiple individuals capable of taking command! What's more, their individual soldiers possess superior skill... If we fight them head-on in the same manner, we will be the ones worn down first!"
Even when probed in the center, the Eldran army shifted only the necessary number of men, and when we retreated, they did not pursue too aggressively. Gaps that would have opened up against any other opponent failed to appear anywhere.
◇
On the right flank, Gash shouted to the side while catching a sword on his shield.
"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to push yourself?! Two are heading your way!"
Two Eldran soldiers closed in on Serena. Serena dodged the first man's sword by shifting half a step, seized his arm, and swept his legs out from under him. The second charged in shield-first, but she parried that aside as well, broke his balance, and rolled him straight onto the ground.
"............Huh?"
Gash's eyes went wide. In the meantime, a third man lunged in, but Serena slipped under his descending blade, stepped into his guard, and drove the pommel of her sword straight into his stomach.
"Right. Incoming."
"I knew it... That voice..."
He recognized that dodge and that leg sweep. It was identical to how he had been thrown to the ground over and over again without being able to do a thing. Gash peered past the visor of the helmet, his face twitching at the sight of the eyes barely visible beneath.
"Y-You...?! Why are you here?!"
"Never mind that. Look forward."
"Wait—whoa?!"
Panicking, he raised his shield to catch an incoming sword. Why was Lady Serena dressed as a soldier?! He had countless questions, but there was no time for them.
What was more, even after Serena took down three, then five men, the front did not open up. Fresh troops emerged from behind the fallen soldiers, forming another wall of shields.
"...More coming."
If it were a matter of taking them down one by one, she was stronger. Even so, the battlefield as a whole barely budged.
◇
As time wore on, the gap gradually began to take shape. On the right, the Razgrim soldiers held their ground time and again, but under the relentless pressure of opponents who outmatched them in both physique and swordsmanship, they were finally pushed away from the flag.
The right base fell into the hands of the Eldran army.
With Eldran holding the center and the right, Razgrim possessed only the left. Even so, there was still time before the final bell. Lydia immediately shifted troops toward the center, but the opposing side responded by drawing in only the exact number of men needed to push back. Feinting toward the right yielded the same result; they never overcommitted to the point of thinning their defenses.
"...They're reading us."
Where she would move troops, and how many she would leave behind. Since the enemy commanders were drilled in the exact same Eldran military doctrine, the more textbook her maneuvers were, the more transparent her intentions became.
In the meantime, Razgrim soldiers were being pushed back in the center, and the right flank could not advance. The voices of the soldiers who were desperately holding on had grown noticeably sparser compared to the start of the match.
Furthermore, a detachment of the Eldran army wheeled around.
Their target was the left—the sole base Razgrim held.
"They're coming left!"
Raisa reacted instantly to the messenger's cry, sending reinforcements sprinting toward the left. But the enemy did not halt. Each individual was strong; even when their vanguard was stopped, the next stepped forward without hesitation, and when the one directing them was suppressed, another voice immediately took over.
Lydia surveyed the entire battlefield. This was the army her father had forged, the very environment in which she had studied military affairs. It was precisely because she knew them better than anyone that she understood just how dire the current situation was.
The right was taken. The center could not be reclaimed. And now, the enemy was closing in on the last remaining left base. The Razgrim soldiers were driven back yet another step, and the Silver Wolf banner swayed violently.
She was fighting an army she knew inside and out, using tactics she understood completely. And yet, that knowledge was failing to lead to victory.
Lydia clenched her fists tightly.
"...At this rate, we might..."