CSWH Chapter 135

CSWH Chapter 135: Do-or-Die

The morning of the day after the scout returned, the atmosphere was quiet, a complete change from the excitement of the previous night.

Everyone was calm, but a strong light dwelled within their eyes.

Like the refreshing, cool wind that suited the morning, a quiet tension dominated the surroundings.

“Good morning, Mellice-sama.”

Just around the time I had finished dressing up, I called out the Mellice-sama.

“Good morning, Shurei-san.”

Mellice-sama, who had been oozing a stabbing air of tension since leaving the Capital, was instead clad in an awfully gentle atmosphere today.

“Let’s work hard today too.”

Hearing my words, Mellice-sama made a small giggle.

“[Today too], huh…….yes, let’s do that. Let’s work hard.”

Turning back, Mellice-sama began greeting those of the Guard Corps.

It was as though she was to savour the conversation with everyone.

And, it was as though she were carving the memory of it into herself.

After finishing the preparations, everyone lined up in front of Mellice-sama.

“……I feel pride in being able to fight together with you all.”

Seeing everyone gathered together, Mellice-sama momentarily revealed a bitter smile as she muttered.

But in the next instant, that smile had vanished.

“Everyone, follow me.”

As if to say that rousing the troops was unnecessary, she simply said that.

However, strangely, those words alone quietly caused the morale of the Guard Corps to burst into flames.

I had my horse gallop after Mellice-sama.

And then, we arrived at the prairie where we had to stop the enemy’s advance.

Mellice-sama and I concealed ourselves in a thicket next to it.

Then, we held our breath, erasing our presence while silently waiting for that time to arrive.

Fwshh……together with the wind came the sound of the blades of grass rubbing up against each other.

The scent of fresh verdure tickled my nose, calming my heart.

Eventually, the faint sound of hooves reached my ears.

The sound of numerous horses steadily approaching could be heard from afar.

Tension rushed through the concealed members of the Guard Corps.

Suddenly, Mellice-sama, whose eyes had been closed until then, opened her eyes.

She did not say a word.

Simply mounting her horse, she silently dashed off.

Following after her was myself, and then the other members of the Guard Corps.

In the face of such a mighty enemy, nobody’s eyes showed a single glint of fear.

Reflected instead in their eyes was the reassuring back of Mellice-sama as she advanced forward.

Before the enemy could react to our sudden appearance at their flank, Mellice-sama used her sword to wrench open a path.

Her silent and light sword tracks.

There was a certain might within them, as she harvested the enemies’ lives.

Swoosh, swoosh – every time a wind was produced by her sword, the world was dyed crimson together with the fishy scent of blood.

She simply indifferently aimed for the centre……for the enemy’s commanding officer.

She fought majestically like a Goddess of War, and while her back appeared incredibly reliable, the way her sword harvested human lives like Death itself was frightening, even as an ally.

However, all of the members of the Guard Corps were entranced by her form, and no matter how serious their wounds got, they did not stop galloping forth.

As we advanced, the number of wounded amongst the Guard Corps increased.

Among them, there were some who fell.

Even so, everyone continued on.

We simply believed that Mellice-sama would break through the enemy and defeat their commander.

And then, after no small number of sacrifices amongst the Guard Corps had been made, we finally arrived at someone who appeared to be the commanding officer, who was surrounded by guards.

“A….woman?”

The slender man standing in the middle of them murmured in surprise after seeing Mellice-sama taking the lead.

“……I suppose that you are the commander of this troop. Obediently become rust on this sword.”

No sooner than saying that, she had already dashed forward.

“Cordis-sama! Please run away!”

The guards forced themselves between her and the man who appeared to be the commanding officer.

“You’re in the way.”

She cut them down with a single stroke of her blade.

And then, she advanced forward without a hint of hesitation, coming before the man.

“Ah……ahh……”

She seemed to embody Death itself, and perhaps from the fear of her approaching, the man’s legs froze and he was rendered unable to run away.

She mercilessly slayed that man.

And then, the man slowly fell from his horse.

The sound of him hitting the ground seemed awfully loud as it resounded in the surroundings.

“Wh……why!”

Even as blood flowed from his body and coloured the earth crimson, he shouted.

Though his voice was by no means loud compared to the battlefield, everyone’s movements stopped at the grief contained within his hollers. 

All except for one person – she who had cut him down – who was looking down at him with frigid eyes.

“Why……?”

“Why, why……! Finally……even though I was finally about to obtain it!”

*cough*, the moment he screamed, he vomited a red fluid from his mouth.

……he can no longer be saved.

That is what everyone seeing his appearance thought.

“Why must it fall from my grasp after coming this far? Why can I not obtain that which I truly desire?”

The direction in which he extended his trembling hand to while saying that was…….not towards Tasmeria Kingdom.

That way was north……where the Sligar Ducal House was.

“Father never praised me even once. I wanted to become Father’s pride……”

His mutterings had already become incoherent.

Nothing was reflected within his empty eyes as he did nothing but continue to extend his trembling hand.

He was like a lost child……-is what I thought after seeing his appearance.

Unrecognised by his Father, an unloved youth.

The love that he sought was not placed on himself, but upon his brother right in front of him……and he grew without knowing love, gave up, and became a man who had forgotten the existence of love itself.

Including Mellice-sama, all of us here were people of Tasmeria Kingdom. We did not know when or how we had ended up clashing against him.

That being said, he probably distanced himself from everything and hated everything.

To the point where he thought, if he could not obtain it himself, he might as well destroy everything.

Mellice-sama simply gazed at him as he died.

During that time, the guards that she had cut down at first staggeringly stood up.

And then, they attacked her.

Without twitching even a single eyebrow, she once again cut the men down.

However, during their exchange, another one of the guards stood up and attacked her from behind.

“Mellice-sama……! Watch out!”

The one who reacted to that enemy’s movements the quickest was Anna.

Anna just barely managed to slide her body in between Mellice-sama and the guard’s sword, and took the blade in Mellice-sama’s stead.

“Ah……Anna!”

Unlike her usual self, Mellice-sama screamed with sorrow, and everyone’s time paused for a single moment.

“Anna……? Anna……?!”

She called out to Anna while crying.

However, Anna, who had clearly received a fatal wound, simply gasped.

“Mellice-sama, let’s go!”

I swiftly picked up the collapsed Anna and sent my horse into a run.

And then another member of the Guard Corps similarly picked up Cordis and placed him on his own horse.

……while the enemy commander had died, it did not change the fact that Mellice-sama and the Guard Corps were surrounded by enemies.

And the longer we spent inside the enemy camp, the more danger we would be in.

Perhaps because Mellice-sama herself remembered the current situation she was in, she promptly mounted her horse and moved to withdraw.

Like how we came, she drove her horse to gallop in a straight line cutting through the enemy camp.

However, unlike when we came, Mellice-sama’s brilliance as a commander had dulled.

On top of that, everyone was covered in wounds.

…….don’t move, please don’t move.

I, and all the remaining members of the Guard Corps shouted in our hearts.

If we were to take on all of the enemies, then our immense disadvantage in numbers would make it incredibly difficult……it was because she had that in mind that Mellice-sama chose to make a surprise attack, and had attacked straight through their flank.

And that attack had succeeded, with Mellice-sama having safely slayed the enemy commander.

But even so, it was not like we had taken down all of the enemy forces.

In other words, while our surprise attack had succeeded…….we were in a situation where we had to go through the enemy forces again, and did not know when we might be attacked and lose our lives.

And the ones pulling that trigger that might end our lives was the enemy themselves.

One after the other, they attacked Mellice-sama and everyone on site without any clear orders at all.

Kuh……”

……the members of the Guard Corps would soon reach their limits.

Even when it seemed like she would be crushed by the wave of people……Mellice-sama, who took the lead, did not give up and continued to swing her sword in order to protect everyone.

……is it still, still not here yet?

Has notice of our ally reinforcements still not arrived yet?

Restraining my impatient feelings, I continued to follow after Mellice-sama while wielding my sword with feelings that were like a prayer.

One, and then another fell into a crimson wave.

That fact made the air feel heavy, as though it were tying me down.

And then, it was at that moment.

The enemy forces were suddenly blanketed in a strange air, and they all scrambled to escape.

Just what in the world is happening……such a question arose in a corner of my mind, as everyone focused on running through them so as to not let the opportunity for retreat go.

---

<–Previous Chapter | Next Chapter–>