by Hyougetsu
“If Prince Ashley ends up engaging Prince Ivan on the field, do you think he can win?”
Eleora smiled ruefully.
“If nothing else, I know the quality of Ivan’s twenty thousand reinforcements isn’t on par with the 30,000 strong regular army Woroy’s commanding.”
Commanders wanted to lower casualties on their side as much as possible, so they almost always chose to mobilize their elites first. Besides, if you had to pay to feed and equip every soldier regardless of whether they had training or not, it made sense that you’d prioritize sending out the trained ones first. However, that meant any reinforcements drafted later on in a war tended to be peasant conscripts who lacked military training.
“Still, what should we do if he somehow loses? Or if he wins, but lets most of Prince Ivan’s army escape to regroup and strike again?”
Eleora shook her head and gave me a wicked grin.
“In that case, we’ll let Ivan’s army destroy Ashley’s. Meanwhile, we’ll retreat and set up a new defensive line using the castles near the capital. As long as Ashley remains in the capital and the capital hasn’t fallen, Ashley’s ‘army’ won’t have lost. Any losses they suffered during their offensive won’t matter.”
Eleora’s plan was tactically sound, but damn she really didn’t show mercy to her enemies. There were a number of fortresses and castles that lay between Creech Castle and the capital. If Prince Woroy sent his army to attack, we’d be able to keep him at bay using those castles. And if he tried to skip past them and strike the capital directly we could hit him in the rear. Even if he struck out before we could retreat, those castles’ current garrisons would slow him down enough that we could catch up and strike at him from behind. Still, we’d be at a disadvantage if he moved before we did, so I’d come up with a plan to seal his movements. I’d already relayed our battle plans to Prince Ashley’s men, so he’d likely take his army and march north soon.
“Even if all of our plans fail, I have one last backup in mind. I didn’t mention it at the council since I still haven’t figured out all the details.”
“Oho.” Eleora’s smile grew mischievous. “Surely you don’t mind telling at least me? We’re friends, right?”
“It’s a pretty stupid plan. I’m not even sure you could really call it a plan, actually.”
“Stop being so evasive and spit it out already. Personally, I’m a fan of the unorthodox strategies you come up with.”
Eleora had brightened up a lot since making up with Lord Kastoniev. As a result, she’d gotten a lot more comfortable talking to me too. After thinking about it for a few seconds I said, “Alright, I’ll tell you. Lean closer.”
“Sure.”
I brought my face close to Eleora’s ear and whispered, “I’ll infiltrate the castle and assassinate Prince Woroy.”
Eleora blinked in surprise and looked up at me. After a few seconds, she burst out laughing.
“Hahahahahaha!”
“Don’t laugh! See, I told you it was a bad plan.”
I suddenly regretted telling her. But Eleora waved her hand dismissively and said, “Oh, I’m not laughing because I think it’s bad. Hahaha, it’s just, I never considered that was an option too.”
Wiping tears from her eyes Eleora struggled to contain her laughter.
“You’re probably the only person that can pull something like that off. If you’re willing to do it, why not just try it now?”
“I’d rather not risk my life if I don’t have to...”
Creech Castle was huge, its walls were tall, and its garrison was massive. If I tried to take it on with just my werewolves, there’d definitely be casualties even if we succeeded. I wanted to keep my squad intact, especially since I’d need them for future battles. And obviously, I didn’t want to die either.
“I’m not as strong as you think. I’m nowhere close to omnipotent. I’m just an average werewolf who happens to know how to use a little magic.”
“If you’re too humble it’ll come off as insincerity, Black Werewolf King.”
I’m not being humble, this is just an objective assessment. I’m really not that strong. If I had to fight a hundred armored men, I’d lose for sure. I rubbed my neck and sighed.
“I really don’t want to fight a battle as close as the one against you at Ryunheit ever again.”
Eleora smiled faintly and nodded at me.
“Well, I suppose this is my war after all. I can’t push all the hard work onto you.”
“I’m glad you’re willing to help out too. I’ll do my best to support you like the simple vice-commander that I am.”
I’d already gotten in too deep, but at some point, I’d have to leave the entirety of this country in Eleora’s hands. This was probably a good time for her to prove she was capable of handling it. As I thought that Eleora tilted her head and asked, “You use the phrase ‘simple vice-commander’ pretty often. Are you attached to that title or something?”
“It’s just an objective assessment of my abilities.”
I wasn’t cut out to lead, and I wasn’t skilled enough to really stand out as a commander. So the most I could do was help other people reach their goals.
In my head, I’d already christened the new castle we were building “The Flame Empress’ Snow Fortress.” In truth, Eleora’s army had already built most of the facilities a castle needed. We had fencing around the encampment, and naturally we had barracks. If we didn’t, the soldiers would have frozen to death ages ago. So surrounding all of that with walls of ice and snow was enough to make a makeshift castle. But even raising those walls was proving difficult. As I was reading over supply reports from the past few days, I heard a commotion outside. It sounded like someone was fighting. Fights happened pretty often in armies. Soldiers were all trained to fight, and this was a battlefield, so tensions were naturally high. It was an officer’s job to break up fights between the men so I decided to go check out what was happening. The commotion was coming from one of the wall worksites. Hang on, I recognize those voices. Isn’t that the Garney brothers?
“I’ll fucking kill you!”
The elder Garney brother’s shout echoed through the camp. His younger brother looked just as angry, and both of them seemed about ready to transform. Please cut it out you two. The two brothers were yelling at the other soldiers working at the site. Wait, aren’t those guys the soldiers that got exiled from Prince Ashley’s army? They’d been under the command of the traitor Earl Ryaag, and had originally served as Sveniki Castle’s garrison.
“N-No! Please, listen!”
The soldiers were desperately trying to explain themselves but the Garney brothers were too angry to listen. The last thing I wanted was for this to turn into an incident so I quickly intervened.
“Hold it right there, everyone. What’s going on here?”
The elder Garney brother pointed to the wall and shouted, “Veight, these bastards were trying to break the wall!”
Really? I looked over and saw a large chunk of snow had been taken out of the wall. This would definitely set work back by a few hours at least. The younger Garney brother added, “Veight, these guys are Dobienks Family spies!”
Who the heck is the Dobienks Family? Are they related to Dobby or something? You two are really good at making unintentional puns, you know that? I needed to get a better grasp of the overall situation before I made any conclusions, so I decided to first calm the Garney brothers down.
“Alright, hang on now. Let’s hear what they have to say. We can decide whether or not to punish them once we have the full story.”
I turned to the former Sveniki soldiers and they immediately launched into an explanation.
“This snow’ll melt at the very start of spring.”
“You can’t use dark snow. It’s not a stable building material.”
“It’s soft, and it melts too fast.”
Ah, I see now. Upon closer inspection, I realized the chunk of snow that had been taken out of the wall was co
mprised entirely of dirt-brown snow. It seemed some of the snow meant for disposal had ended up in the building snow pile. This definitely wouldn’t work. The Garney brothers naturally didn’t understand the implications of what the soldiers said, and they started shouting again.
“What does the color have to do with anything!? We’re not trying to make these walls pretty!”
“You can’t fool us with shitty lies like that! Isn’t that right, Veight!?”
I grinned at the Garney brothers.
“Nah, those guys are right.”
“See, even...wait, what?”
The younger Garney brother turned to me in confusion.
“What did you say, Veight?”
Remembering that these two were complete dolts, I kept my explanation as simple as possible, “Dark-colored things absorb light better. That means they get warmer faster. That’s why in cold countries people spread black salt over snow when they want it to melt faster.”
“Oh...”
“You really know everything...”
We never got much snow back in the werewolf village, but my grandma back on Earth had lived in the mountains. She’s the one who’d taught me about the black salt trick. I could have stopped my explanation there, but for some reason I felt compelled to keep going.
“On the other hand, white-colored things warm slower. Remember how everyone in Beluza and Lotz wore white clothing? They wear white clothes to keep themselves cool because it’s so hot down there.”
The Garney brothers exchanged glances.
“Bro, do you remember what clothes they wore there?”
“No way, man.”
Why do I even bother? However, the older Garney brother added, “Everything Veight says is true. So just shut up and nod.”
“Gotcha, bro.”
You know I can hear you, right?
“O-Oh...yeah! I totally remember that!”
“They were all wearing white clothes! The viceroy even had white hair!”
You know he didn’t choose that hair color, right? Whatever. At least I managed to de-escalate the situation. I needed to remember not to expect much from the Garney brothers. I smiled at them and said, “Don’t underestimate soldiers born in cold countries. Anyway, you better apologize for misunderstanding then.”
“Yeah...I guess we should.”
The two of them nodded, then bowed their heads to the former Sveniki soldiers.
“Sorry, we were wrong.”
“We’re sorry we doubted you. Please forgive us.”
In the past, the two of them would never have bowed their heads to humans, but even they’d grown after spending so much time around them. The soldiers seemed taken aback by how easily the two men apologized to them. I turned to the soldiers with a smile and said, “Meraldian soldiers aren’t used to seeing snow. So we’re grateful to have experienced men like you around. You did the right thing in removing this snow. I’ll make sure you’re rewarded for your diligence.”
The soldiers’ expressions brightened, and they sighed in relief. If they continued to pile up achievements, it was possible their sentence would be lifted and they could return to their old posts. I sent someone off to make sure every construction team knew not to use dark snow, then turned back to the soldiers.
“Still, why are you working so hard for Eleora’s army? Aren’t you guys members of the Doneiks faction?”
Moreover, I was responsible for the death of their lord. If anything, it would have made more sense if they hated me. To my surprise though, the soldiers smiled and shook their heads.
“It’s true that we were indebted to Earl Ryaag, but now that he’s dead we have no lord to serve.”
“Even if we tried to flee to the Doneiks army, it’s not like we’re actually their men...”
“We all have families back home. We just want to get this war over with so we’re free to go back to them.”
From what I’d heard, Earl Ryaag had been well-liked by his men. But even then, to them, he’d been nothing more than a relatively amicable boss. In other words, they’d just been employees of the Ryaag company, which was under the Doneiks conglomerate umbrella. But they had no interest in the actual power struggle up top.
Nodding in understanding, I replied, “I see. In that case, I’ll do my best to make sure your punishment is lifted and you’re allowed to return to Sveniki Castle as soon as possible.”
“Thank you very much.”
The soldiers all bowed to me, looking somewhat terrified. Had they instinctively noticed our true nature? A few of the guards who’d been at Sveniki Castle spotted my werewolves during the raid. The fact that soldiers had been spreading stories about werewolves had actually come up in past war councils, but no one, not even the other rank and file soldiers, believed the tales the former Sveniki troops were telling. Eleora’s nobles and the other soldiers all just believed the Sveniki troops were making up excuses for why they’d lost their castle so easily. Ironically enough, they’d had their lives ruined by werewolves, but it was those same werewolves that would be their salvation.
* * * *
—Prince Woroy’s Misgivings—
“They’re shoveling away all the snow?”
My scout’s report is so surprising I end up repeating his words. Apparently, a segment of the soldiers surrounding Creech Castle had started shoveling up vast quantities of snow for some reason. At first I thought Ashley’s men were so lacking in discipline that they’d started playing around, but it seems that’s not the case. Especially since the soldiers undertaking this building project are the ones to the north. In other words, Eleora’s troops.
Those guys have the Astral Fencer with them too. I have no idea what goes on in that guy’s head, but I know he’s always up to something. I walk up to the castle’s watchtower and peer through the telescope facing northward.
“The fuck are they doing?”
Whoops, I slipped back into slang. The scouts and nobles standing behind me smile ruefully.
“I was unable to discern what they were doing, so I figured it’d be best to ask you to look for yourself.”
“I have no clue either.”
Of course, I’m this army’s general. I need to be able to figure out what they’re up to, or I’m not fit to lead these men.
I mull the question over in my mind while also asking my advisors for their opinions. The shore where Eleora’s army is encamped is an open plain. They have no need to get rid of the snow around them. In fact, it’s better to let it sit. Shoveling away all the snow would just make it easier for Ivan’s armies to reach them when his reinforcements finally marched. Meaning their goal isn’t getting rid of the snow itself. They’re bringing it all back to their camp to do something with it. That much I’m sure of. The question is, what exactly are they planning on doing with that snow? I doubt they’re planning to melt it all to turn it into drinking water, since that’s inefficient. Besides they’re right next to the river that feeds into the lake. They have all the water they need. And there’s no way they’re just making huts to play around in. Actually, hang on... Are they planning on using the snow as a building material? It sounds implausible, but I can’t think of anything else that makes sense.
“The enemy’s planning on building with that snow.”
“Building...what exactly, sir?”
“Ramparts of some kind. If they just wanted to make a few buildings they could chop down trees in the nearby forest for lumber.”
It sounds stupid to me even as I say it. My advisors seem to be thinking the same.
“But sir, no matter how much snow they gather, they won’t have enough. It would take ages for them to cart over enough snow to build proper walls.”
“It may look like a lot, but once they pack it down it’ll end up amounting to practically nothing. Besides, once spring comes, whatever defenses they’ve built will melt.”
I don’t need you guys to tell me that, I’ve got eyes too. But I just can’t imagine any other reason th
ey’re stockpiling all that snow. I smile awkwardly at my advisors.
“If they’re not doing this as a diversion of some kind, then there’s no other explanation that makes sense. Send scouts out to see what’s happening. I want to know how much snow they’ve got. Also, snow alone isn’t enough to build proper walls. If they’re serious about this, they’ve probably been collecting wood and earth to create supports. Have a few scouts investigate the nearby forest as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
Once my men leave I look through the telescope again. I’m too far away to make out individual faces, but I have no doubt that Astral Fencer from Meraldia is in that crowd somewhere. Uh oh. I’m getting excited. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what kind of trick he’s going to pull now that he’s got Eleora’s army to work with. But of course, whatever he’s planning is likely dangerous to me and the Doneiks family. I need to stop him no matter what. However, how am I going to stop him when I have no idea what he’s planning?
* * * *
Though there were occasional blips, the construction progressed mostly without incident. It looked like Prince Woroy had finally caught on to what we were doing. But he couldn’t commit to mounting an attack on us because if he showed an opening, Prince Ashley’s army would march on the castle from the south.
Our biggest concern right now was that we didn’t have enough snow. I wanted to make our walls a good deal higher than they were, enough that an attacking army would need siege ladders to scale them. Of course, that required way more snow than we could realistically gather. We were making ice using lakewater to help pad out the height, but even that wasn’t enough. We’d already gathered up all the pure snow in the area, and we couldn’t use any of the muddy snow packed closer to the ground since it’d melt too soon.