352. Childhood Ep – Trench Warfare

New attempts always invite great resistance.

However, the desire for survival proved to be far more primal than the inclination to settle into the familiar.

Shovels were distributed to the soldiers,

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You want me to dig from here to over there? Hahaha!”

At that moment, as the soldiers’ laughter clashed with the commander’s bewilderment, twenty-two mounted mages left the camp. Led by Ristad Jegen Dorph, they unleashed an indiscriminate barrage of magic upon the unprepared enemy camp, and it was a sight to behold.

As the chilly early spring breeze intensified, five massive whirlwinds shot up into the sky.

On one side.

On the other side, clouds gathered, rumbling thunderously! Lightning burst forth ferociously, and far away, a phenomenon occurred as eternal snow flew into the sky from the snow-capped mountains.

“W-what…”

The soldiers didn’t know where to look.

Should they focus on the countless ice spears shooting toward them with tremendous acceleration? Or perhaps the whirlwind entwining everything and lifting it skyward? Or maybe the blue wildfire spreading wildly from the strikes of lightning?

Even for the onlookers, the crisis approached. The mages from Belita Kingdom began to respond, shouting, “Are you all insane?!”

The clear sky brightened.

The sky began to look as if it were shrouded in fog, dazzlingly bright, and the deep, rumbling sounds grew louder, increasing rapidly as if they were gaining momentum, echoing throughout the world.

The mana rods that covered the skies became entangled and began to rampage.

From this point on, it was a battle of who could throw more fuel onto the flames. Like lighting a counterfire, they could only hope that the flames spread as far as possible that way.

“Hey! Damn it, dig!! Dig the ground!”

“Ouch, that hurts…!”

An explosion occurred somewhere in the sky, where the blue and white streaks intertwined and flickered erratically. Highly compressed mana burst forth, digging into some soldiers’ skin, and the five whirlwinds had now increased to thirty-seven, randomly tearing apart the plain.

The mages looked ecstatic.

They could clearly see the tremendous flow of mana streaming by at incredible speeds.

The mana flows reached the acceleration points along their circuits, increasing faster, and when they hit the divergence points, they split into several branches, forming new streams. Even now, new points were being established, making the circuit more complex.

Beautiful…

And mysterious.

For magic to manifest, mana had to flow in a specific manner.

For instance, to gather clouds to create thunder, the mana road must form three rings and intertwine.

When a constant amount of mana flows, clouds begin to gather, but right now, there were countless forms in the sky that even they didn’t comprehend.

Some were amplifying other flows that created whirlwinds. Was that why the wildfire turned purple? That’s gathering mana. Interesting.

The mana-hungry mages added intriguing points onto the rampaging mana roads, and in the meantime, the ground had turned to hell.

“Duck down!!”

The tiny, sharp particles of eternal snow finally reached the ground after crossing the frantically tumbling skies. Initially aimed at the enemy camp, the shattered particles didn’t distinguish friend from foe.

Swoosh—ratatatatatatata!! It sounded akin to rice popping. A sound mothers often made when preparing winter side dishes. It seemed all the ladies of the Aisel Kingdom had gathered.

Those falling to the ground called out for their mothers. There was no doubt about that. The Aisel Kingdom troops hurriedly buried themselves into the earth.

*

Even amidst the roiling magic, the operation continued.

Orders were given to connect tunnels for the soldiers who barely managed to find cover (“Hey you bastards! Don’t just hide, dig!”), and by evening, a long trench was made, allowing them to see each other’s faces and life or death.

There were many injuries, but surprisingly few fatalities. This was the limit of large area magic aimed at a plain.

This also meant human life is quite resilient.

Though evening had come, the day was still bright.

As if thousands of flares had exploded, mana rods still buzzed and emitted light in the sky. By chance, the moon shining tonight was the Blue Lotus Moon. The blue hue of the Blue Lotus Moon restored the expended mana.

It seemed like a sleepless night was ahead.

The soldiers moved supplies that had been brought to the trenches and had to eat something, so they transferred the military supplies they hadn’t managed to bring. In the isolation of the various units, the commanders recalled Prince Vivian’s words and sought out tasks they could decide for themselves to resolve.

Gilbert sighed as if he felt relieved.

“Wow. I almost died. Sir Reb, you did well. You really know how to wield a shovel.”

“…”

“Even moved the horses into the trench… very impressive.”

– Heehee!

– Heehee!

“But you should take a break, don’t you think? It’s been hours already…”

“Shut your mouth.”

Reb was in a foul mood. It was because Leah hadn’t been nearby when the trouble started, and he couldn’t protect her.

As he tried to run to find her, he saw the Bante guys standing defenseless nearby, and honestly, Leah didn’t need his protection.

The high priest, brimming with divine power, wouldn’t get hurt anyway… what a foolish choice to make.

Reb kept digging steadily in the direction indicated by his Tracking Skill. Occasionally peeking out to check Leah’s location, once he felt it was enough, he set down his shovel and jumped over the trench.

When he arrived, it was already a place covered with tents…

“Leah!”

“Reb! Thank goodness. You’re not hurt!”

It was a barracks swarming with injured soldiers. When he wondered where Leah had gone, it seemed she was working in the barracks.

Thank goodness she was safe. Reb pulled her into a hug.

“I’m really glad.”

It seemed Leah also echoed the same sentiment as Reb repeatedly expressed his relief.

However, her concerns ran much deeper than Reb’s; she had been thinking about whether she would need to heal him if he came back injured.

I really shouldn’t be here.

If Reb was hurt, not doing anything and watching him would only lead to hurting the next Reb.

At that moment, whether Reb was aware of her feelings or not, he scolded her.

“But can you really work like this?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not exactly bestowing blessings… just doing menial work.”

“Lady Leah! I heard you were bringing bandages, where did you go?”

“Ah. Reb, just a moment.”

Leah dashed off, carrying bandages.

In fact, she could cure everyone here in one go… but with Leah’s personality, it must be tough to hold back.

Reb glanced at the moaning injured soldiers and the medical officers and priests tirelessly working. Whenever a medical officer stitched up torn flesh, a priest would come along and cast a healing blessing, causing the injured to quickly recover and rise from their beds.

Compared to Leah, it seemed like nothing special, but it was incredibly efficient. It didn’t seem to consume much divine power either.

It was the first time he saw a priest included in the regular army.

Before the history changed, during the war between the Austin Kingdom and the Belita Kingdom, the Cross Church had opposed this, disallowing priests to be mobilized… but in this war, even Reb, who had gone through twenty cycles, couldn’t gauge the outcome.

However, one thing was certain.

Count Hermann Forte would come here. He would want to crush the barracks that could transform injured soldiers back into fighters in an instant.

Under normal circumstances, he would want to capture the prince and quickly end the war, but now, we couldn’t even ascertain Prince Vivian’s position, so for Count Forte to attack the barracks was the most realistic approach.

In any case, having confirmed Leah’s safety, Reb turned on his {Tracking Skill} once more.

Then he began to dig in the direction where the prince was located.

*

“What… is going on?”

The continent’s only Swordmaster, Count Hermann Forte, had arrived. He was left speechless as he surveyed the allies who had established an unrecognizable camp.

How was it that all the tents were dug into the ground, and there were no fences in sight? The soldiers had discarded swords and shields, only carrying shovels, bows, and quivers.

And even the knights sitting in dejection… Count Hermann Forte sought out the Commander-in-Chief to understand the situation.

But even before finding the Commander-in-Chief, he could see how things were progressing. A gigantic storm was gathering in the sky.

A normal storm wouldn’t be that red, nor would it spew flames instead of thunder, so it was clear the mages were out of control, abusing their magic. The Count immediately changed direction and dashed out of the trench. He grabbed the collar of a mage standing on the hillside.

“What the hell are you doing, mage? I asked for mages to assist the war, not a lunatic treating the battlefield as an experimental ground.”

“B-Count! It’s not that… cough cough.”

“Stop the magic, right now. Before I rip your neck off.”

“I… can’t stop it. That’s the magic the enemy is unleashing.”

“The enemy?!”

“Yes! A-are you going to let this go… ugh!”

“Explain thoroughly.”

“Huff… you’ll see.”

The mage rubbed his neck, speaking. He briefly lifted his staff and chanted a spell toward the storm, but then slumped down, exhausted.

The Count frowned, watching the storm that had grown even larger.

“What do you want me to know?”

“… This one isn’t going to blow up. It’s the only thing I can do. I didn’t summon that storm.”

“I heard you didn’t summon it.”

“Yes. Since last month, enemy mages have begun casting magic randomly. I don’t know if you know this, but unless defensive barriers are set, there’s no way to stop the enemy’s magic. All we can do is hinder their magic like now.”

“… Is that hindering? It looks bigger now?”

“At least it doesn’t just hit us. It’ll affect the enemy too. We should take cover soon.”

After that, fire rained down from the storm for about an hour.

Well, well…

Sitting on the trench, Count Forte observed the scene and began to understand why both sides were digging into the earth like moles.

He asked the mage sitting next to him, who was digging out a potato.

“What’s the damage report? And how is the Commander-in-Chief responding to this situation?”

The mage shrugged.

“We didn’t suffer as much as expected. There was a bit of damage on the first day… around five thousand died. Ah, that’s very few dead. We could have been wiped out. The Commander-in-Chief did well to retreat. His subsequent countermeasures were good too.”

“How did he respond?”

“He retreated twenty miles to assess the situation and dug trenches like the enemy. It was a bit difficult to get shovels at first, so we were pushed back a lot, but once we managed to fortify our trenches like the enemy, they found breaking through us quite difficult. This war is going to drag on.”

“… Understood. Thanks for the information. Any other reports?”

“Yes. We only have eight mages. They have more than twenty, for sure. We’re managing to cover for each other, but honestly, it’s tough. It would be difficult, but please reinforce the mages.”

“I’ll look into it. Well then, carry on.”

The Count dusted himself off and stood up, moving to find the Commander-in-Chief again. As he wandered, not knowing where the Commander was, he saw a part of the enemy troops charging over the trench.

Ultimately, we lost one line of trenches, but it didn’t feel like a huge loss, just somewhat trivial.

Is this all it takes to charge and call in a storm? He had a premonition that this war would drag on tremendously, as the mage had said.

Yet, this wasn’t the scenario he wanted, so… the Count fell into thought. I need to return quickly…

In fact, he didn’t even want to come. His late arrival was due to his procrastination.

He simply didn’t want to leave the royal castle; even though the war broke out in winter, he sent soldiers from the Third Knight Order first and then the Second Knight Order, and only after he could no longer delay did he lead the First Knight Order himself.

Originally, he planned to leave even later, but he couldn’t do so because the cause of the war was triggered by his son, Gilbert, kissing Princess Chloe, which further restricted his position, as Iina Isadora had taken Gilbert to the Aisel Kingdom.

Royalist nobles raised their voices, demanding to know why he wasn’t deploying troops.

It’s a headache.

And why do I keep wanting to holed up in the royal castle? Why can’t I endure the anxieties just by stepping outside the castle for even a second… I couldn’t even understand myself.

Because of this, he neglected his family and ended up getting divorced. He hadn’t even had a moment to spend leisurely with his son, Gilbert.

Count Forte clenched his sword, glancing back at the rows of dug trenches in the distance. He cast the blame for his headache onto the enemy.

For the infinite glory of the Belita Kingdom and the House of Tatalia. I will sweep them away soon.

To do that…

The Count turned around and walked away.