Book 11: Chapter 7: The Most Fearsome Knight of the Empire
The Second Army led by Klaus is a fleet of 60,000 ships.
The fact that he was entrusted with a force equal to that of his master, Liam, is proof of his trust.
Klaus, who had borne Liam's expectations, was commanding the fleet while enduring the pain in his stomach.
It was the Second Army, and they were just after capturing one of the planets now controlled by the High Kingdom.
Klaus lets out a big sigh inwardly.
(Oh, it's over. Now I can rest a little.)
Unable to predict when they would be surrounded by enemies, the Banfield family's fleet was raiding the High Kingdom's territory.
However, if they made a mistake, they could be hit in the sack and literally wiped out.
Klaus, who has no time to relax, is constantly fighting the pain in his stomach.
Then Klaus received a message from the general staff.
"Sir! Three thousand ships led by Chengshi are attacking the High Kingdom's fortress on their own initiative!"
"What?"
Under the command of Klaus, there is the strongest knight apart from One-Flash swordsmen, Chengshi.
Christiana and Marie dislike her, and if she were under their command, she would surely be shot from behind on the battlefield.
However, she is an excellent knight.
She is an ace of aces when placed on a mobile knight, and the unit she leads is one of the best or second best in the Banfield family when evaluated on strength alone.
If only her personality is taken into consideration, that is.
Klaus is in charge of a group of such problem children, but he is also troubled in the High Kingdoms.
"We haven't received any reports of enemy fortresses being discovered."
Telling himself to "calm down," Klaus was curious as to why Chengshi and her men were attacking an enemy fortress that had not been reported.
The chief of staff reports the details.
"They left the fleet just before the planetary attack because it was not their turn. The reason for their departure was to search for the planet, but they started to attack an enemy fortress they discovered during the search."
Self-discretion.
Severe punishment awaits her in the military, and it is the same in the Banfield family.
But Chengshi's position becomes problematic.
The chiefs of staff look at him bitterly.
"Sir, wasn't it a mistake, after all, to give her authority over the Separate Unit?"
She had been given the authority as an independent unit because of her problematic behaviors.
They are problem children who could attack even their own allies if ordered to do so poorly.
With Liam, they are quiet with the logic of obeying the strong, but once unleashed, they do as they please.
Klaus was also worried about the treatment of such knights and gave them authority as an independent unit.
Thanks to this, conflicts with his allies have decreased, but he is still being pushed around by Chengshi and the others.
"What is the size of the enemy fortress?"
"Roughly 5,000 ships are reported to be in operation.
"Five thousand--send reinforcements immediately."
It is difficult for 3,000 ships to capture a fortress operating 5,000 ships.
Even if they could, the damage would be great.
If he wanted to use them up, he could just leave them there, but Klaus, who is serious at heart, dispatches reinforcements and begins a steady attack on the enemy fortress.
(Since the problem children attacked as soon as they found the enemy, only the second army was well ahead of the rest, wasn't it? )
The problem children were running ahead, and Klaus was following up on them, so they were making rapid progress.
Inside the fortress of the High Kingdom.
Chengshi, who rode into the fortress in a mobile knight, was leading her men on a rampage.
The Banfield family had prepared a state-of-the-art aircraft, and the mobile knights, driven by problem children of proven ability, were laying waste to the enemy.
"The knights of the High Kingdom are good. I like the way they challenge us without fear."
Inside the cockpit, Chengshi arched her eyes and smiled.
She maneuvered the aircraft and cut off both enemy aircraft that came in front of her, and the next one jumped in from behind it.
When Chenshi's maneuvering knight unleashes a kick, the opponent blows up and hits the wall.
Quickly approaching, Chengshi thrust her blade into the enemy's cockpit.
When the enemy's mobile knight stopped, she shifted her gaze to look for her next prey.
"Aw, is that it?"
Around them, allies repeatedly thrust their blades into fallen enemy aircraft.
Rough and brutal acts.
This was the daily routine of Chengshi and her team.
Chengshi is in the cockpit, in plain clothes, without a pilot's suit.
The reason why she looks a little young is because she was defeated by Liam after she became a cyborg and was provided with a new body.
She lets go of the control stick, crosses her legs, and relaxes her body.
It doesn't matter if it is a battlefield. She would rather feel at ease on the battlefield.
"I wonder if Klaus will be here soon?"
One of the allied aircraft is approaching Chengshi.
"Anego*, Klaus has sent reinforcements." [TL/N: Translation shows it as Sister/Big sister, so I had a rough guess and wrote it in the delinquent like calling sister.]
"Your timing is as good as ever."
Even though she may look like a little girl, Chengshi is still called "Big Sister" and adored by everyone around her. [TL/N: Yep, I think Im pretty much right on that one. The way they call her is very respecting and admiration towards someone whos strong.]
The reason is simply because she is strong.
Strength is the absolute rule in this unit.
When she heard that Klaus' reinforcements were on their way, Chengshi decided to leave the troublesome post-measures to him.
"Let's just hand them over and move on."
When Chengshi gives the order, the surrounding area stops moving and begins to withdraw from the fortress.
They like to fight, and they don't care about capturing the fortress.
As Chengshi also takes control of the aircraft and heads out from inside the fortress, the subordinate who spoke to her earlier comes up next to her and makes a suggestion.
"I've just received a message from that bastard Klaus telling me to contact you before we invade."
The subordinate was a stern man with a large scar on his face.
Hearing Klaus' message, Chenngshi replies curtly.
"You can tell him I'll take care of it from now on."
But her subordinates were not convinced.
For them, strength is justice. They could not allow Klaus, who was weaker than them, to stand above them as commander.
"Klaus is also a small, fussy son of a bitch. Anego, why don't you take the lead? If you give him a little pain, he'll be more open-minded."
Chengshi smiled through the monitor at her subordinate, who gave her a sneer.
Then she thrust her knightly sword into the cockpit of her subordinate.
"You--I don't need you anymore."
As her subordinate was pierced by the blade and turned into a lump of meat, Chengshi turned a cold gaze on him.
"Who are you to tell me what to do? Besides, I like Klaus. He gave me a position where I can do whatever I want. He takes care of all the troublesome work. --So I need Klaus to stay on top, as he always has."
She killed her allies, but none of her subordinates around her blamed her.
Because it was the fault of the stupid man who had touched Chengshi's anger.
Once again, Chengshi tells her men the policy.
"It can't be that idiot Christiana. She only sees war as a form of politics. Marie is no better. It's tactless to bring such an intrusive emotion as loyalty into a pure battle."
Chenngshi knew that if Tia or Marie became the first knight, they would do everything in their power to crush her.
"Fighting those guys sounds like a lot of fun--but I want to fight a lot more. To do that, I need Klaus to make an absolute achievement."
None of her men objected.
The Second Army's success was reported to the First Army as a report.
Since communication is not possible in enemy territory, the Second Army sends a messenger to me.
The colonel of the Second Army proudly informs me of Klaus' success in front of me.
"We, the Second Army, continue to make rapid progress under the command of His Excellency Klaus!"
A three-dimensional image of the territory of the High Kingdom is projected on the screen, and Klaus's Second Army was ahead of the others in the Banfield family.
They were dropping enemy territory one after another, and I was convinced that they were making rapid progress.
I sat down in my chair and applauded the messenger.
"It's a great achievement. Klaus is still the best, even though I did my best."
The First Army, which I had led myself, was also dropping enemy strongholds one after another, but Klaus was even stronger than that.
The word "breakneck speed" is a perfect description for the rapid advance of Klaus and the second army.
He's great, isn't he?
While praising the Second Army, the Third Army's messenger reports with slight impatience.
"The Third Army has also dropped an important enemy stronghold. If only we had the numbers of the Second Army..."
It was the Third Army, led by Tia, that was taking a stand against the Second Army.
The number of the Third Army is 30,000 ships.
Certainly, it would be a terrible comparison to Klaus.
Still, the fact that they had acquired an important base shows how capable Tia was.
"I decided the number of the fleet. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Yes and no."
The Third Army's messenger choked on his words as I glared at him and intimidated him.
But I will praise them for their hard work."
"I appreciate your capture of this important base. I have also received details of the damage sustained. I will replenish you from my fleet. Take your supplies with you."
"H-HA!"
Beside the Third Army's commander who saluted, the Fourth Army's commander led by Marie had a bitter look on his face.
The number of the fleet is 10,000 ships, whether they are elite or not.
There is a limit to what we can do.
I can't make a report that will put me in a good mood because I'm in the position of not getting any tangible results from the base attack.
"What is the status of the Fourth Army?"
When I encourage him to speak up, he reports on the activities of Marie and the others.
"We are running around to help the other fleets, sir.
"You guys stay where you are. Tell Marie she did a good job. But I am convinced that after the Fifth Army, there have been no significant results."
The fleet led by Klaus, Tia, and Marie did remarkably well.
However, the other fleets were not doing so well.
There are more than a dozen fleets of 10,000 to 20,000 ships, but only a few have been able to take down enemy strongholds.
"Former imperial soldiers and knights are playing an active role, but I don't hear of any success from those I raised in my territory."
When I turned my gaze to the messengers from the Fifth Army onward, I saw that they were quite nervous.
Some of them have been defeated and have joined other fleets.
They have no problem in terms of ability, but they are overwhelmingly lacking in experience.
After all, it was the right decision to bring them to the battlefield against the High Kingdom.
"I will leave the reorganization to Tia of the Third Army. Tell her that if she doesn't satisfy me at the next report, I will replace all the commanders and general staff."
If you can't get results after the reorganization, I won't prepare another one.
I told them it was their last chance, and sent the messengers back.
When I returned to the bridge after dealing with the messengers, the chiefs of staff were waiting for me.
I could tell from their nervousness that something had happened.
"What is it?"
"Liam-sama, the High Kingdoms are massing their armies. The number is 300,000, but it is increasing and it will be dangerous if it continues."
I guess they are thinking of getting together in numbers and destroying each of us individually in order to hit us as we invade.
"We should rally here too and crush them as soon as possible."
As I said this, bad news from the general staff followed.
"We have also received reports that the enemy forces that had invaded Imperial territory are turning back. The second group of our allies has arrived at Augur, and they have sent a message to us."
"--Ahead of schedule."
I thought the second group would arrive a little later.
As I was thinking that, the chiefs of staff looked at each other and then reported to me.
"I received a message from Mister Brian at the mansion. If possible, he wants you to come back to the estate."
I was in a bad mood because of Brian's message.
"What is he going to say at this critical moment? Of course it's not possible."
If it wasn't him, I would have called him incompetent and fired him.
But the chiefs of staff looked troubled.
"The same contents have been received under the joint names of those in charge of the mansion. Amagi-sama, too, if it's possible."
All of them except Brian?
And if Amagi's name comes up, I'm in trouble too.
With the enemy gathering, it's out of the question for me to go back to my territory alone.
But if Amagi wants me to go back while the enemy is gathering, then--Dammit, what am I going to do!
"--I'll hit the enemy fleet first. Send a message to Klaus."
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