I Shall Survive Using Potions! Volume 2

by Funa

  Kaoru had stored the bottle of poison inside her Item Box along with Belle, so they still had to toss that into the well. By the time they all left the shack, the battle outside was just wrapping up.

  The remaining enemy soldiers were busy fleeing for dear life. Since there wasn’t anything they needed to hide anymore, there was no reason to finish them all off. In fact, having the soldiers that got away let everyone else know there weren’t any more safe wells could completely crush their already low morale.

  Kaoru’s group had taken some casualties as well. One of the imperial soldiers had a shallow cut on their arm, while two others bore deep gashes. Luckily for them, none of the enemy knights on horseback were able to land any killing blows after being knocked off their horses. This meant that Roland and the others could focus on other targets once they were incapacitated.

  Kaoru made sure they had made a complete recovery after making a few more potions. The other imperial soldiers were shocked after seeing their first miracle with their own eyes. While they may have seen what the potions on the market were able to do, the potions Kaoru had used now were on a completely different level.

  Some of the Aligot troops had met their end in the fight earlier, but there were still plenty of survivors. Roland was going back and forth whether to finish them off since he didn’t want any extra baggage to carry, but eventually decided on tying them up and healing enough so they weren’t on the brink of death. They’d made some space in their wagon after using up some of their supplies, so now they had enough room for the ten prisoners of war they found themselves with.

  After taking a quick look around the village, they happened upon three corpses. According to Tapani, those were the same villagers who were trying to sell out to the empire. There was no reason for the Aligot troops to pay them a single coin if they already knew where the well was, and they were an invading army, after all, so it was a fitting end for a trio so shallow-minded. It looked like they’d met their maker before stealing any of the villagers’ possessions, too, so everything worked out.

  All of the Aligot advance party had rode in on horseback, so Kaoru’s group went ahead and took possession of the horses they used. No horses had been killed in battle, luckily enough, so Kaoru was able to patch all of them up with potions.

  The horses had all but recognized Kaoru as their new owner. Horses fetched a high price at market, and that went doubly so for horses trained for military use. To Kaoru, these horses were so, so much more valuable than the prisoners they’d captured.

  Horses and prisoners in tow, Kaoru and the others went on their way back to the next village. Along the way, they met up with the other two imperial soldiers they’d left behind to finish poisoning the wells. They’d finished what needed to be done, and had been on their way to regroup with everyone.

  After double-checking to make sure everything had been properly sabotaged, the group made their way back to the royal capital.

  It had been six days since the Aligot forces to the north had suffered heavy losses to their supplies. All six of the villages they passed along the way had been contaminated by poison, and there wasn’t even a crumb of food to be found anywhere. They were overjoyed to hear that the scouting party they sent ahead to the fourth village had located an untainted well, but those hopes were quickly dashed when they clashed with Balmore’s forces and were almost completely wiped out. The soldiers were hoping that the group didn’t have anything to do with whoever was poisoning the water supplies, or that they didn’t know about the well since it was hidden... But by the time they reached the village, the well was already contaminated.

  Judging by the corpses around the well, it looked like this group had known about the well from the beginning. They must have realized they missed a well and had come back to take care of it. Normally, it would be a disgrace that twenty of the mighty Aligot empire’s soldiers were defeated by a mere seven soldiers, but one of the people who survived the encounter said he heard one of the group from Balmore use the name “Roland.”

  If that were true, then they could take that to mean “Fearsome Fran” was with him as well, a mysterious and frighteningly powerful girl who’d been assigned as Roland’s personal guard. If that were the case, it was easy to see how the battle turned out the way it did. That said, it was also easy to tell what fate awaited those who ran away once they returned to Aligot, ifthey managed to make it back home at all.

  At the very least, they’d keep putting their soldiers to work as they continued their invasion. There was no need to hinder their troop’s fighting potential any more than it already had. They’d already run out of food, and their water supplies would run dry today as well. They’d dismounted from their horses to try and reduce the amount of stress put on them, but the horses were still collapsing all the same.

  Tears in their eyes, the riders cut the horses’ arteries and offered the blood and meat to the famished and dehydrated soldiers. For them, it was the same thing as cutting up and eating their comrades. The only thing they could do was fight back the urge to cry, because every tear they shed meant wasting the precious fluids they’d worked so hard to drink.

  Just eating meat took fluids as well, which only made their thirst that much worse. The saliva that came from it was nothing more than temporary relief, since they barely had enough fluids in their bodies for that in the first place.

  They left those who drank the tainted water on the side of the road. They’d tried bringing them along at first, but the afflicted soldiers needed large amounts of water to survive after expelling so much liquid. There wasn’t much they could do for those who drank the water at the first village without knowing it was tainted, but the guilt they felt over leaving the ones they had try the water elsewhere was tearing them apart.

  There were many soldiers who snuck off to drink the water from the wells, unable to bear it any longer. Their thirst was slaked in a moment of pure bliss...until about thirty minutes later, which was when the symptoms kicked in.

  Finally, the ones who hadn’t drank the water began collapsing from dehydration and heatstroke. They’d be fine if they rested in a cool spot and were given some salt and water to drink—but that was the problem. They didn’t have the supplies to recover, they didn’t have any place to rest, and they didn’t have any wagons to be put on either. They could only lay by the side of the road, the wails of dead men surrounding them from all sides as the soldiers marched on.

  Take me with you...

  Don’t leave me here...

  I don’t want to die here...

  I want to go home alive...

  My newborn daughter is waiting for me...

  The soldiers kept their gazes strictly ahead of them, grimacing as they did everything they could to meet the gazes of those around them. They couldn’t look at them; they couldn’t listen to them; most of all, they couldn’t cry for them. The lives of their comrade’s horses would all be for naught.

  It was a living hell. They could have at least died with honor if they fell in battle. But instead, here they were, dying on the side of the road in another country while covered in their own urine and feces.

  It was too horrible to bear. Would they have to trek back through here as well? Would they have to listen to the same pitiful cries then too? Would they even survive until then?

  The clergymen from Rueda didn’t look any better. Would they be able to preach about the mercy of the Goddess to those laid out on either side of the road? Right now, it seemed like it’d be easier for them to explain if it were the work of the devil.

  The person who brought them here was none other than the devil—and this was hell.

  Only one day left. They’d arrive at the town by tomorrow.

  They could fill up on all the food and water they could ever want, and the soldiers would finally have a chance to rest. They’d no longer be a group of shambling soldiers with broken spirits, and the mighty army of the Aligot Empire would come back to life once more. All they had to do wa
s march on the defenseless town and make it their own.

  The next day...

  The Aligot forces had finally arrived at the outskirts of Nicosia, a town that was only a day away from the capital of Balmore.

  After rounding the last hill, the soldiers leading the troops should have been able to see the town, but for some reason, they suddenly came to a halt. The formation of the troops behind them began falling apart since they were now blocking the way forward.

  The commanding officers were furious over the vanguard’s apparent ineptitude in keeping them from the one place that was giving their troops hope, and sent out a horse to the front of the army. They’d given it plenty of water so they could use it for sending messages.

  When the commanding officer finally made it to the front troops, he froze just like everyone else.

  Standing between them and Nicosia were 12,000 Balmore troops. Besides the 3,000 they left to guard the castle, it was the full brunt of the forces assigned to protect the capital.

  “No... It can’t be...” the commander lamented, crumpling down on the spot.

  “They weren’t all stationed inside the capital?” The same expression of despair clouded the general’s face when he reached the front lines.

  “Even with more than half our army with us, our troops had to walk all the way here while Balmore’s soldiers are in peak condition. They’ve even set up simple encampments outside the town. This won’t even be a fight...”

  In war, it wasn’t as if every single soldier on each side fought all at once. If that were how it worked, 10,000 soldiers would be going up against each other at once. Even with how weak they were, the Aligot troops would still have a chance at winning the battle then.

  In reality, it was only the vanguard of each side’s armies fighting while the soldiers behind them would replace them as the battle raged on. The number of soldiers actually fighting on each side would always stay roughly the same. That way, the weaker side would just keep on losing as the fighting continued.

  There was no hope of victory for them now. Even if they wanted to retreat, their soldiers didn’t have the strength to keep marching. All that awaited them on the way back were wells full of contaminated water, and at the rate they’d be staggering along, the enemy could catch up to them in no time and launch an assault from behind.

  The only thing that would happen from recklessly charging into a fight was 20,000 of the Aligot Empire’s precious soldiers dying in vain. If that were the case, knowing when to give up and choose the option that might let them go home after the war finished was the obvious choice here. It wasn’t like the empire’s defeat was certain either.

  The general would take all the responsibility that came with surrendering. It was a small price to pay in exchange for 20,000 of their soldiers’ lives.

  There was little chance Balmore was just going to execute every last one of them, and it’d definitely be a burden to try and feed 20,000 prisoners of war. No matter which side was victorious, it wouldn’t be long until the soldiers could see their home country once more.

  “We’re surrendering. Prepare to send out a messenger immediately!”

  The regret was obvious in the faces of the troops, but no one tried opposing him.

  “Get on it, now! We may still be able to save the people we left behind, so we don’t have time to waste!”

  Realizing the implication behind his words, the officers all scrambled to get it done.

  “Is it over?”

  “Looks like it...” came Roland’s response, standing together with Kaoru a fair distance behind the troops that had been deployed to Nicosia.

  It looked like the villagers would be able to get back home sooner than they first thought. The poison in the wells would lose their effectiveness after ten days had passed, since Kaoru didn’t want to make the wells completely unusable in the event something happened to her.

  Even if they didn’t wait out the ten days, they could purify the well right away if they threw in one of the potions Kaoru had given them. She’d still have to make sure to continue reminding them not to eat or drink any of the other food and water in their homes until after the ten days had passed or used one of the antidotes. But even then, they’d be fine as long as they got plenty of water—though they’d still have to put up with suffering with severe diarrhea for a few days.

  “This was all so underhanded...”

  “Would you have rather we took them head on in a fair fight and had thousands die because of it?”

  “N-No, I didn’t mean it like that...”

  Having put so much effort into becoming the ideal knight, Francette was having trouble accepting the methods they used. But she could never say she wanted other soldiers to die just so she would be satisfied.

  “I want you all to go back to the capital,” Kaoru said as she turned to the eight children, Tapani included. He’d made himself right at home with the other orphans, but why he wasn’t going back to his parents yet was a mystery to her.

  “Are you saying you’re not coming as well?” Emile fired back.

  “That’s right. I can’t have you coming with me this time.”

  “But why?! We can still be a shield for you!”

  “That’s exactly why I’m telling you no! Someone could have their head sliced off next time, or get stabbed through the heart. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if that happened. If I’m on my own, though, I should be able to handle anything that comes my way.”

  That was all a big fat lie though. Even Kaoru wouldn’t be able to do anything with potions if she was decapitated or stabbed through the heart. Regardless, she had no intention on getting herself in a situation like that in the first place.

  “So does that mean you think we’d just get in your way?”

  Kaoru hesitated a moment before giving it to them straight. “...You are. You’re all still too weak.”

  Emile fell silent as he hung his head.

  “But don’t get the wrong idea. You’re only weak for the time being. You’re still kids, so there’s no helping that. And I’m not saying you have to get as strong as Francette either.”

  Francette was taken by surprise over suddenly being used as an example like that.

  “I’m also not saying that you’re completely useless. While I’m out there doing what I’m best at, I want you to help me out by doing the sort of work you’re all best at.”

  The seven members of the Eyes of the Goddess (plus one) reluctantly gave in to her reasoning.

  ...I guess I can just say there’s eight of them now. He pretty much fits right in.

  With that, the children all clambered onto a wagon and headed back to the royal capital. They’d go and keep an eye on the other nobles and people in power to see what they were saying, taking the chance to scour out those with connections to other countries who seemed most likely to be plotting something.

  It’d be great if they did dig up any conspiracies or the like, but actually catching wind of that would be pretty hard. If it were enough to get the kids on their way back to the capital, though, then that was more than good enough for her.

  “...So, what are you planning on doing this time?” Roland asked Kaoru after the wagon carrying the kids had departed.

  “Me? I think I’ll head over to the battlefield in the west.”

  “There’s no way I’d let you do that!” Roland roared.

  But Kaoru wasn’t having it.

  “I don’t need your permission, Sir Roland. I’m just a girl from another country who wandered into the capital. Now I’ll be wandering over to the west is all.”

  “Wh... What are you...” Roland’s face had turned an entirely different shade of white by this point.

  Suddenly, he regained his composure, and a grin stretched across his face.

  “So, how exactly are you planning on heading west? There aren’t any merchants traveling in that direction right now, nor are there any wagons you can chart. The only way to get there would be for yo
u to walk on your own two feet. How many days do you think that will take? I’m not letting you borrow any carriages or riders from the royal palace either, of course.”

  Roland wore a triumphant look on his face, confident that was enough to reach a stalemate since Kaoru shouldn’t know how to ride a horse.

  “Oh? Then I guess I’ll go see if I can’t pull some strings.”

  “Huh?”

  Roland stared back at Kaoru blankly as she casually strolled toward the horses they’d “acquired” from the Aligot forces back from the skirmish in the village.

  “Hey there, would anyone mind letting me ride them on a little journey to the west together?”

  The eighteen horses were all taken aback.

  “A-Are you some sort of new horse, missy?” a chestnut-colored horse asked back in shock.

  “Nope, I’m just a human who happens to know the goddess of this world, that’s all.”

  “““Like hell that makes you a normal human!!!”””

  Who would’ve thought I’d get back talk from horses?

  “Anyway, putting that aside for now... I’ll completely heal any wounds or diseases for whoever comes with me on the trip, and I’ll get you tons of delicious food as well. When the journey’s all said and done, I’ll buy whatever mare you had your eye on and leave her with you.”

  “““Are you foaling us?!”””

  “Me! Me!” “No, take me!” “Can it, whippersnapper! Respect your elders and let me do it, dammit!”

  All hell had broken loose among the horses...

  “U-Um, Kaoru? They’re all whinnying something fierce... What’s going on?”

  “Oh, that? They’re fighting over who gets to let me ride on them.”