Chapter 278 - Episode 271: Guerrilla Warfare ②
A female baron—a baroness—who held territory in the northeastern part of the Lordberg Kingdom lay in wait with her subordinates in a forest near a certain highway.
Currently infiltrating the southeastern region as a guerrilla unit, she glared from within the forest at a fifty-man squad of the Betumia Republic Army advancing along the highway, waiting for the right moment to strike.
『Master, hurry, let me attack them. I'm hungry.』
"Not yet, Dagul. We strike from the rear after they have passed."
The baroness answered the voice of the subordinate waiting crouched behind her. These words from the subordinate could be understood only by the baroness, and the subordinate could understand only the baroness's words. This was because he was an orc.
The baroness was born with a rare magical talent called "Servant Magic." As the name implied, it was magic that allowed one to communicate accurately with and subjugate non-human creatures.
Normally, this servant magic could only control birds, beasts, or at most, lower-class monsters. There were stories that in the era of great nations, even further back than the period of warring small states before the founding of the Lordberg Kingdom, there were mages who subjugated wyverns, but such tales were close to legend.
And this baroness, while inferior to those legends, was a person of considerable skill who would likely leave her name in the kingdom's history. Through her innate, vast magical power and fierce effort, she had managed to subjugate an orc—a monster that would normally result in the formation of a subjugation force if discovered.
As a result, behind her was a sight that would normally be impossible: one orc and about ten human soldiers standing side by side in friendly silence, holding their breath.
Eventually, the soldiers of the Betumia Republic Army passed by, none of them noticing the baroness and her group.
"...Go."
At the baroness's command, the orc leaped out as if sprung, charging into the rear of the Betumia Republic Army with a roar. The human soldiers and the baroness herself followed behind.
"Uwaaaah! An orc!"
"W-why is one here!?"
Orcs naturally inhabit the deep parts of forests. Furthermore, because a considerable amount of prey is required to sustain an orc's stomach, they only use forests of a certain size or larger as their living sphere.
Facing an unexpected attack from a small-scale forest where an orc should not possibly be, the Betumia soldiers fell into a panic.
Furthermore, from their front, another detachment—a remnant unit of southeastern nobles that the baroness's group had merged with after infiltrating this land—launched an attack, pinning the Betumia soldiers in a pincer movement.
"You piece of shit!"
A Betumia soldier wearing a robe leveled his right hand toward the orc. The hand of the soldier, who appeared to be a mage, glowed, and an arrow of flame shot forth.
However, the orc, who had been bracing himself from the moment the right hand was pointed at him, crouched in timing with the glow of the opponent's hand, dodging the flame arrow. This was a feat possible only because this orc had been educated by human hands and had learned the concept of magic and how to respond to it.
"Hey, you've gotta be kidding!? ...Gah!"
Shocked that the magic had been dodged, the soldier forgot to stay alert to his surroundings; an arrow pierced the back of his head, and the arrowhead flew straight out of his mouth.
Having lost the only combat power capable of properly opposing the orc, the Betumia Republic Army collapsed, and one by one, they were neutralized. They were sent flying by the orc's brute force, had their legs pierced by arrows, or had their arms sliced off by swords.
"I surrender! I surrender!"
An officer who seemed to be the captain shouted this, and the other Betumia soldiers followed suit, dropping their weapons and raising their hands one after another. Confirming this, the baroness commanded the orc, who was still excited and trying to rampage.
"That's enough, Dagul. Stop attacking."
『Eh? But I still haven't eaten human...』
"I'll let you eat properly later, so you must be well-behaved for now."
『...One whole live one?』
"Yes, one whole live one."
『...Understood. Master's orders are absolute.』
"That's right, you're such a good, clever boy."
After smiling at the orc, who had lowered the club in his hand and become docile, the baroness shifted her gaze to the Betumia soldiers.
Of the fifty-man squad, about forty, including the captain, had survived and surrendered. Many of them had wounds on their limbs. Their weapons had already been collected by the baroness's subordinates, and they sat there with anxious expressions.
"...I'm sorry, but we aren't taking prisoners from the Betumia Republic Army. It seems you've been killing Lordberg Kingdom soldiers who surrendered, so we're even, aren't we?"
As the baroness spoke in a cold voice while looking down at the Betumia soldiers, their faces turned pale.
"Therefore, after we take your weapons and supplies... I'll return you to the Betumia Republic Army. You're just in the way if you stay."
The Betumia soldiers' expressions suddenly shifted to relief.
"However, this orc I subjugate loves eating prey while they're still alive. To avoid spoiling this child's mood, one of you will have to be a sacrifice... Let's see, I suppose this is the captain's role, after all?"
When the baroness turned her gaze, the captain of the fifty-man squad turned pale and shook his head.
"N-no! I refuse! I don't want to die!"
"Oh, is that so? Then I'll pick someone else. Let's see... I've decided on you."
The baroness casually removed the captain from the candidate list for the sacrifice and pointed at the soldier who appeared to be the youngest among them.
"Eh!? No! I don't want to die either!"
"Look, Dagul, you may eat that one."
『Yay! A live human!』
Naturally, the soldier refused to be the sacrifice, but the baroness ignored him and gave the order to the orc.
"Uwaaa! Don't come here! Stop it! Please stop!"
The young soldier, who appeared to be barely of adult age, tried to stand up and flee while clutching his wounded leg. However, one of the baroness's subordinates poked him with the shaft of a spear, knocking him over and preventing his escape.
The orc walked up and snatched up the young soldier.
"Noooo! Help me! Mother! Motheeeeer—"
No matter how much he wailed, the orc would show no mercy. The orc's jaw clamped down on the young soldier's head, and a dull sound echoed as the skull crushed and the brain was squashed. The screaming stopped.
"Now, Captain. Just as you wished, your subordinate has become the sacrifice in your stead. It's a good thing you're in a position to give orders."
The smiling baroness spoke while the sound of a human body being chewed with a crunching noise echoed around them. Receiving those words, the captain timidly looked back toward his subordinates—
"...Hic."
He let out a short scream as his eyes met theirs, as they glared at him with blatant disgust.
"No, it's not that I ordered it..."
"Oh, but because you said you didn't want to, that young man died instead, didn't he? It's practically the same as a captain's order."
Where the baroness pointed while laughing, there was a corpse that had lost everything from the neck up, and whose soft belly was now being torn open and eaten by the orc.
It was obvious to anyone that no matter what words the captain piled up in this situation, the trust of his subordinates would not be restored.
"Now, for the next topic. I said I'd return you to the Betumia Republic Army, but there's something we have to do before that."
Saying so, the baroness took a bottle from her bosom and opened the lid. She inserted several thick needles into it.
"I'll have you put this medicine into your bodies. So that you don't riot or resist."
"...We have heard rumors of that medicine. I have a responsibility to protect my subordinates. I cannot allow an unknown poison to be administered."
Behind the captain, who showed a sincere expression, the clicking of tongues from the Betumia soldiers rang out.
"Oh, don't misunderstand. This medicine is a paralytic. Your bodies will be numb and unable to move for several hours, but you won't die, and there's no pain... Or rather, you only have two choices: resist and be killed on the spot, or quietly be injected with this medicine. There's no room for choice, is there?"
The captain agonized over the baroness's words for a while, and eventually nodded.
"...Understood. Everyone, do not resist. Your safety is the priority."
The moment the captain spoke, about ten Betumia soldiers ignored the order and attempted to flee.
However, in a situation where they were surrounded by dozens of kingdom soldiers, that was not possible, and eventually, everyone except the captain had their bodies numbed and rolled onto the ground.
"Oh, there was one thing I forgot to mention."
Facing the captain, whose expression was now hardened in resignation that it was finally his turn, the baroness spoke in a slightly affected voice, as if she had just remembered.
"This medicine, you see, even after the numbness in the whole body fades, a part of the body remains unable to move. Whether it's an arm, a leg, or perhaps the face... it's up to luck where the paralysis remains, but you should expect it to last for decades."
"Ha!?"
The gazes of the Betumia soldiers, who couldn't even move their facial expressions, turned toward the baroness all at once, and the captain raised his voice as if speaking for their emotions.
"But rest assured, Captain. I won't inject you with this medicine. You alone will be able to return to your country with all your limbs intact."
"Huh? No... why only me?"
"Oh, do you dislike it?"
"O-of course I'm happy, but... ah, no, that's not it. Just, well,"
Feeling the gazes of the Betumia soldiers now directed at him, the captain became incoherent.
"Firstly, to transport those who will now suffer from aftereffects, we need a person to call for help... in other words, you as the commander need to remain with a body that can move. And secondly... it's because we are thinking about the aftermath of the war."
The baroness spoke in a voice audible to all the Betumia soldiers, a bewitching smile on her lips.
"If we are to make Betumia withdraw and conclude a ceasefire or a peace treaty, I want to maintain a peaceful relationship with the people in the upper echelons of that society. Therefore, I want to let officers and generals with status return as unscathed as possible. Since you're an officer in charge of fifty subordinates, you might be a relative or friend of a Betumia politician, right?"
"T-that's not the case! Even if I am an officer, I—"
"Your circumstances don't matter. I'm just doing as I was told to do... Now, the chatting is over. Hurry and go call other Betumia Republic Army forces. Otherwise, your subordinates will be left on the road forever, you know?"
The baroness cut off the captain's words. She had no way of knowing whether this fifty-man squad captain had connections to Betumia's leadership class, but the important thing was to make the Betumia soldiers listening to this conversation harbor the suspicion that "that might be the case."
"Kuh... everyone, don't worry! I will definitely bring help! As quickly as possible! I will not abandon you! Let's all return alive!"
"..."
The Betumia soldiers remained expressionless, directing only their gazes at the captain, but a clear color of dissatisfaction seeped into their faces.
It was only natural. Even if they could return alive, the soldiers would henceforth possess disabled bodies, while the captain was unscathed because he was regarded as "being in the upper echelons of Betumia society."
"Well then, we'll disappear now because we don't want to be found by other Betumia Republic Army forces. Thank you for your cooperation, Captain."
"I have no intention of having cooperated!!"
Waving with a smile to the shouting fifty-man captain, the baroness left the scene, taking with her the subordinates and the southeastern soldiers they had merged with, as well as the orc who had a Betumia soldier's leg dangling from its mouth.
Increasing the number of enemies with aftereffects, and further planting distrust toward officers and generals among the common soldiers, to invite the division of Betumia's society itself. It was an utterly despicable scheme, but the baroness had decided to carry it out faithfully, casting aside all hesitation.
Servant magic is not omnipotent. It merely makes the beasts or monsters recognize that the servant-user is superior; if one shows a weak attitude, there is a possibility of being rebelled against and killed by the subjugated party.
That is precisely why a servant magic user must not hesitate or waver in front of their subordinates. If one does something, do it thoroughly. That was her creed.