Chapter 170. Mission (5)

Silence fell for a while on the wide balcony where Enoch's declaration had echoed.

The wind blew, fluttering the top of Enoch's black uniform and Shepherd's dark red uniform.

“Hmm, as expected.”

It was Shepherd who broke the silence and spoke first.

“I had somewhat anticipated that you would say that.”

Enoch's mission was to support the outsourcing district of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain, not to fight under their command.

Then there was no reason to fight under the Victoria army.

At the very least, if they were misjudging the enemy's strength, Enoch had no reason to follow them. And it didn't seem like they would listen even if he tried to persuade them.

“It’s not just me or my squad in the first place.”

Enoch stared at Shepherd and added coldly.

“The same goes for the freelancers from other outsourcing districts who have accepted the request and come here. They won't move according to your orders either.”

“There is no reason to even discuss that in the first place.”

Shepherd also nodded.

“Your squad is at most a concept of support troops, and the stray dogs of the outsourcing district are not even a regular army. I have no authority to command them in the first place. However.”

Shepherd struck the floor with his splendid cane and smiled confidently.

“I assure you, our Victoria army will be sufficient.”

“I sincerely hope so.”

Saying so, Enoch tilted his head slightly forward. The words he had just spoken were entirely sincere.

Thinking about it calmly, Shepherd's words were not entirely wrong in the first place. The guarantee that everything would flow according to the original Official History had already disappeared.

In the first place, since Enoch had defeated Tantalus, there could be parts that had changed from the Official History regarding the experimental magical beasts, which were related to him in some way.

At the very least, it meant that Shepherd's judgment, who was also described as a competent commander in the original work, could not be completely ruled out as being correct at present.

What if, as Shepherd had guaranteed, the Victoria army really succeeded in the operation and blocked the magical beasts' attack?

There would be nothing better for Enoch. It would be like blowing his nose without even using his hands.

Enoch walked away without looking back. In any case, he had obtained all the information he needed here.

“Sir, if I may make one last confession……”

Just then, Shepherd opened his mouth.

“I have never recruited a Follower Family, nor have I ever been under another squad. It means I have no squad that I belong to.”

When Enoch stopped for a moment, Shepherd shrugged and continued.

“It wasn't necessary after I joined the army. I didn't want to create the label of a political soldier rather than a commander, so I didn't want to create an explicit backer. However……”

The colonel glanced at the Dragoons who were on guard duty in shifts in various parts of the hotel's first floor.

“Instead, my subordinate Dragoons and the soldiers of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain faithfully perform a similar role. In some ways, it could be said to be a superior version. Especially in a large-scale operation like this.”

Shepherd aimed his cane at the pieces deployed in front of him, glanced at them, and then looked at Enoch.

“My pieces are new recruits, but they are 300 trained soldiers. In contrast, you, the other commander, have only one squad.”

“……”

“Even if you temporarily recruit freelancers, there are only a few who can actually work together as a squad in the field. With just that, will your life be alright in this large-scale battle?”

However, before Enoch could open his mouth, a coy girl's voice cleanly blew away his doubts.

“Hmph, you say some interesting things, you.”

“……?”

Sirocco looked down at him coldly and added.

“Don't worry about his life. I'm incredibly strong, you know! And while we're at it, you'd better remember one more thing.”

She pulled Enoch’s sleeve and proudly pointed at me with her finger.

“He's much stronger than you think! And he always wins. I know that better than anyone, you know?”

She nonchalantly lifted her head and added.

“And whether it's an operation or whatever, he's much stronger than someone like you. Did you get that?”

As expected of Sirocco. She says what she wants to say without any filtering in her brain.

Unable to contain his curiosity about Shepherd's reaction, he glanced to the side, and just as he thought, Shepherd's expression was strangely distorted, in inverse proportion to Sirocco's clear and clean declaration. He gave a bitter smile.

“Ho, ho. That's quite an encouraging declaration.”

Enoch feigned a small sigh to hide his laughter, and glanced at the wolf-eared girl who was wagging her tail proudly and looking up at me.

“Let's not waste any more time, let's go.”

“Yeah, alright!”

He felt Sirocco smile and wave her hand at Shepherd, and then follow closely behind him.

Enoch walked away, mulling over the conversation.

In the end, he would soon be able to meet the Dragoon member he was waiting for. But before that, there were people he had to meet first.

As Shepherd had put it.

It was time to join up in the field with the powerful chess pieces that Enoch had prepared for this operation.

***

As Enoch came down to the first floor of the hotel and was walking down the sunlit corridor, he suddenly sensed a presence and looked ahead.

In front of the statue of a knight on the corridor wall. Someone was standing still, holding one slender forearm.

A red flag-spear with the flag wrapped around it like a lance. The color-bearer of the Victoria honor guard, with a distinctive short H-line skirt that brightly exposed her thighs.

It was the Dragoon Aslin, who had guided him here.

“Ah, it's you, Lord Enoch!”

She seemed to have been lost in thought, and she quickly lifted her head when she noticed me. She approached with a clatter of her high-heeled shoes.

“I heard the conversation you had on the balcony from here. First, I'll give you my contact information.”

She took out a small notebook from her thin tactical pouch, wrote down her number with a pen, tore out a page, and handed it to Enoch.

“I'll contact you when the Dragoon members who have finished their reconnaissance mission return, so please register my number and send me a message.”

“I will do so. Thank you.”

Enoch expressed his thanks simply and took the note she handed him and put it in his pocket. But for some reason, Aslin's condition seemed a little strange.

“Ah, well……”

“……?”

She hesitated for a moment, then suddenly lifted her head and stared at me blankly for a moment.

In her blue eyes, which were reflected in the dazzling sunlight coming in from the mansion's window, there was a small but definite light of admiration.

“As expected, I had only heard rumors, but a direct lineage of Elsyde is certainly different. Lord Enoch, you are going to move separately from the army in this operation as well……”

“I don't know about the rumors, but you're not wrong.”

“It may be presumptuous of me, but are you really going to be alright?”

“At least I think so.”

Enoch replied simply, and then casually asked Aslin a question he had been curious about.

“Your reaction is a little strange.”

“Ugh.”

She turned her head to the side for a moment. Her long blond hair billowed and covered the side of Aslin's face.

“Is there something that conflicts with your orders?”

“No. Obeying orders is every soldier's…… mission.”

She shook her head for a moment and then lifted her gaze. But Enoch took another step closer and asked her quietly.

“I don't know about that. May I ask for your personal feelings?”

At Enoch's persistent question, Aslin let out a light sigh and nodded her head cautiously.

“This is just my own opinion. The entire Dragoon regiment is on standby for this operation─”

Beep, beep, beep!!

Just then, a short buzzer sound was heard from somewhere. It was from the direction of the large, multi-story parking garage installed on the side of the hotel.

He heard the sound of its hangar door opening, and Enoch, who inadvertently looked at the multi-story parking garage installed just a few meters away, held his breath for a moment.

─A familiar form of a ‘horse’ was there.

A mechanical horse with a sleek and mechanical design, its surface reflecting the lights and shining with a black luster.

“─Ah, it’s time for the regular inspection of the machines!”

“It’s already that time? Everyone, let's go!”

Just then, the Dragoon members and mechanics, holding tablets and tools, passed by Enoch and Aslin. It seemed they were going to inspect those huge mechanical horses.

Aslin, who glanced at them, quietly opened her mouth.

“As you can see, we, the Dragoon members, operate mechanical horses and are famous for the ‘lance charge’ tactic, where we simultaneously sweep away the enemy lines with a powerful firepower from our bombardment lances.”

“I know to some extent.”

It was a tactic where they formed a wedge-shaped formation called a ‘Spearhead,’ like the tip of a spear, and then charged all at once.

It was a tactic that showed its true value in group battles.

It was one of the reasons why the Dragoons were so powerful, as described in the original work.

The destructive power of the bombardment lance, a magic gear that poured out insane firepower, and the synergy it had with their ability to break through enemy lines and disrupt formations were said to be beyond imagination.

It seemed that in the original work's community, the die-hard fans of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain characters would praise it as ‘true romance’ all the time.

…Probably. If my memory is correct.

“I believe that if the Dragoons were to participate directly in this operation, their tactical characteristics, which are specialized in group battles, would be helpful in dealing with a large number of magical beasts and protecting the outsourcing district. I know the prowess of my comrades well.”

Aslin looked at Enoch for a moment, then dropped her head slightly to the side and added weakly.

“But apart from that, a soldier's duty is……”

Aslin, who had been speaking up to that point, then shook her head and smiled faintly.

“No, please forget it, Lord Enoch. I must have been nervous because this is my first time in the outsourcing district.”

“……”

“……Well then, excuse me.”

Aslin saluted with a resigned expression and then turned and disappeared.

Enoch, who had been watching her long, flowing hair for a moment, also turned and walked away.

First, to save Aslin's contact information, Enoch took out the terminal he had put in his pocket.

‘Come to think of it, I might need a separate contact information for Enoch Elsyde.’

In the first place, he might get caught if his identity and contact information were exactly the same as when he was posing as a freelancer in the outsourcing district.

As Enoch was seriously contemplating while looking at the terminal's screen,

Bzzzz.

Just then, with a pleasant vibration, a CodeTalk notification popped up and scrolled up.

[April: Arrived!!!]

[April: (Hooray emoticon)]

[April: Sir, where are you? Want to join up?]

[April: ah]

[April: waiiiit]

[April: Don’t tell me you’re not coming to this Elsyde direct lineage’s operation at all????]

Enoch tilted his head to the side.

……Hmm.

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