Chapter 454 - Episode 437: Yucie and Koko
"Ah, honestly, Koko fell for it hook, line, and sinker..."
Yucie Lamb, a puppet mage, muttered as she watched from a distance the enemy cavalry who, likely with a deathly resolve, surrounded the earth dragon, ran around, and attempted to buy time for their comrades to retreat.
The female earth dragon she controlled, Koko, boasted perhaps the greatest strength in the world for a monster used by humans, but unfortunately, she was dim-witted.
This time as well, it had been fine up until Koko went to scatter hundreds of enemy cavalry under Yucie's instructions, but by the time Yucie and the others finally caught up, Koko was preoccupied with chasing the cavalry surrounding her, circling the spot and crushing them one by one like insects.
Normally, the correct answer would be to ignore such an obvious decoy, advance, and continue heading east while killing as many enemy cavalry as possible, but Koko was, after all, a giant lizard. She lacked the intelligence to make such a judgment.
That said, Yucie's voice could not be heard at this distance, so there was no way to give instructions.
"Yucie. Can't something be done about that? While we're standing here, the majority of the enemy cavalry are escaping."
"It's impossible. There's nothing I can do either."
Yucie replied bluntly to the man who was the captain of her guard unit and the commander who decided how Koko was to be utilized.
After remaining in that spot for about ten minutes chasing the decoy cavalry, Koko finally crushed the last rider with her tail and looked around curiously. However, having given the cavalry ten minutes to escape, it was already too late. All the surviving enemy cavalry had fled far into the distance. Since they had scattered widely, pursuing them now would not yield significant results.
Furthermore, it would soon be night. As an earth dragon, Koko was fine during the day with warm sunlight, but she lost her energy during the chilling nights. It was no longer possible to pursue the enemy cavalry and launch a surprise attack on the enemy's main force.
"...It can't be helped. Call her back."
Giving a sloppy response to the captain who gave the order while scowling, Yucie took a whistle from her bosom.
Koko had been taught to return regardless of what she was doing upon hearing the sound of this whistle. Koko, who had been looking around for her next prey, noticed the sound of the whistle Yucie blew and came running toward them at full speed.
Ignoring the members of the guard unit who were slightly intimidated by the earth dragon approaching at full speed despite being an ally, Yucie welcomed her cute partner. As Koko gradually slowed down and stopped in front of Yucie and the others, she lowered her head, and Yucie stroked the tip of her nose.
"There, there, good job. You really are a klutz."
As if responding to Yucie's words, Koko let out a low growl. It seemed she had not only crushed the cavalry but had eaten a few of them as well, as the fishy smell of blood and viscera spread from Koko's giant mouth.
The members of the guard unit grimaced, but Yucie's expression did not change at all. Having been with Koko for over five years, she was used to this much.
For Yucie, who was now completely alone in the world, Koko was not merely a familiar, but her only family.
Her mother died giving birth to Yucie, and her father, in order to escape the impoverished class, had joined the army as a volunteer during the invasion of the Kingdom of Lordberg seven years ago. Dreaming of becoming a wealthy farmer with land in a new territory. Believing the talk that the enemy was weak and it was a war they were certain to win.
And then, her father died. According to a friend of her father's who had served with him, her father had been assigned to the western invasion force and died after being attacked by a swarm of golems led by a noble named Arqvist. It was said he died in a way that didn't even leave the original shape of a corpse.
With her father's death, Yucie's life fell into the abyss. Unable to pay the poll tax, she fell into slavery and was scheduled to become a sex slave as soon as her age reached double digits.
However, when she underwent the ritual to hear the voice of God at age nine, her life changed again. She learned that she possessed a talent for puppet magic—and a talent so immense it could leave a name in history.
With that fact, she was welcomed into the Betumia Republic Army with terrifyingly high treatment, and when a rampaging earth dragon occurred in the domestic frontier, she went there and subdued the earth dragon—Koko—with her magical power to make her a puppet.
Then, the re-invasion of the Kingdom of Lordberg was decided, and she obtained the opportunity to avenge her beloved father.
She was dissatisfied with being assigned to the eastern unit rather than the west, where the noble named Arqvist would likely be, but as a military affiliate, she had no choice when ordered. Since she had obtained a direct promise from the commander that if the noble named Arqvist were captured alive, she would be allowed to kill him with her own hands, she considered that sufficient for now.
"...Yucie, I'm going to rejoin the main force for a while to discuss the march from tomorrow onwards. Until the main force advances, you stay put quietly with Koko."
"I'll do that even if you don't tell me. Have a safe trip."
"...Yeah."
Turning his back on Yucie, who didn't even look back, the guard captain began to head west, leading a few riders.
Then, once he had put sufficient distance between himself and Yucie, he clicked his tongue.
"Tch, that ex-slave brat."
Taking advantage of the talent given to her by God, Yucie acted arrogantly toward her own guard unit. She said whatever she wanted, whether it was wanting to eat sweets, wanting to drink something cold, or wanting to take a hot bath because she had sweated.
Since the guard unit was composed entirely of cavalry, everyone was from a military family with a certain amount of tradition. The current situation of being at the beck and call of a little girl who was a former slave was infuriating.
Still, if Yucie and Koko were to happen to start a rebellion on a foreign battlefield, it would be a disaster, so he continued to keep her in a good mood.
"..."
While resenting her, the captain also thought she was pitiful.
To the military, Yucie and the others were tools. Tools with destructive power, but whose usage was extremely limited.
Since an earth dragon cannot distinguish between human allies and enemies, they could not be integrated into the central main force intended for pitched battles. Also, since the golem unit of Grand Duke Arqvist, who was likely in the enemy's western army, could fight on equal terms with an earth dragon, Yucie and the others were consequently assigned to this eastern defense unit.
Even there, they could only be used in a way where they kept their distance from friendly forces and sent Koko in alone to scatter as many enemies as possible.
With such usage, it was unknown how long any earth dragon could last. If Yucie were to make other monsters her puppets, she would remain a useful tool, but in the worst case, it was assumed Koko would be used and discarded.
Yucie, unaware of such things, continued to be selfishly innocent. That was pitiful.
.....
Of the five hundred cavalry on reconnaissance, just over seventy percent managed to rejoin the eastern army's main force alive by nightfall. Considering they encountered an earth dragon, the survival rate was high.
However, in exchange, they lost Viscount Ringholm, one of the major nobles. His brave end was relayed by his subordinates.
"...To ensure Lord Ringholm's death is not in vain, we will slay the earth dragon and crush the enemy army facing us. That is certain."
Late at night, at an emergency military council, Marquis Bittenfeld spoke in a heavy voice.
"Viscount Queul. I ask for a detailed report for everyone."
"Yes, sir."
The one who saluted and stepped forward was Viscount Queul, who had a deep-seated grudge with Noein. Because he excelled in guerrilla warfare, he was accustomed to nighttime movement; he had led a small force and headed west, alternating with the surviving reconnaissance unit. After observing the state of the enemy unit possessing the earth dragon, he had returned here safely.
"First, the earth dragon's position is about fifteen kilometers west of here. The main force of the Betumia Republic Army in the east seemed to be camping further behind it. As expected, it appeared to be operated separately from the main force."
"I see... just as predicted."
"Yes. It is convenient for us."
Noein answered Marquis Bittenfeld's mutter.
An earth dragon is an extremely powerful monster, but a monster cannot perform a clever feat such as distinguishing between allied and enemy soldiers on a battlefield. Most likely, the only possible operation is to send it alone into the enemy army, separate from the main force, and let it rampage with its strength.
In other words, for now, they only had to think about fighting a single earth dragon that had advanced ahead.
"In this situation, it seems His Excellency Grand Duke Arqvist's boasted golem unit will be able to demonstrate its power."
"...Indeed. Please leave it to me."
Though it wasn't quite a jab, when Viscount Queul said it, Noein felt as if some irony was embedded in it. Thinking this, Noein formed a smile.
Due to their nature, Claymores were more suited for fighting powerful single monsters than human soldiers. The enemy likely placed the earth dragon in the east to avoid a confrontation with the Grand Duchy of Arqvist's army, but it turned out they had outmaneuvered them. It was convenient.
"The earth dragon's total length... since it was dark and hard to see, I don't know exactly, but it probably doesn't reach twenty meters. The testimonies of the surviving knights were indeed exaggerated due to fear."
"Well, I suppose so. There's no way an earth dragon exceeding fifty meters could be transported by ship, no matter how you look at it."
The one who spoke while sighing was Baroness Bianca Lamprecht.
Initially, the reports of the earth dragon from the surviving knights were a mess. Thirty meters, fifty meters, and some even claimed it was larger than that. According to the testimonies of the relatively calm ones, it was in the early twenty-meter range.
It is known that witnesses of dangerous monsters tend to describe the monster as larger than it actually was due to fear. Noein had experienced this firsthand when subjugating a wyvern. One purpose of Viscount Queul's reconnaissance was to confirm the actual size of the earth dragon.
"Now, my lords. Thanks to Viscount Queul, we know the position and size of the earth dragon. As for the method of subjugation... I believe the tactic proposed by His Excellency Grand Duke Arqvist earlier would be best. What do you all think?"
Due to its difficulty to handle, the earth dragon would likely be operated alone. Its size was probably within a range that golems could handle. The enemy did not yet know that the Grand Duchy of Arqvist's army was deployed in the east.
Having made these predictions, Noein had proposed a plan to everyone: make it look like an accidental encounter, have a small number of decoys flee from the earth dragon and lead it toward a suitable farming village, and then intercept it there with ballistas and Claymores...
Thanks to Viscount Queul's reconnaissance, it was proven that Noein's plan was executable. In response to Marquis Bittenfeld's inquiry, the nobles replied that they had no objections.
"Very well, then, His Excellency Grand Duke Arqvist. To the southwest from here, there is a small farming village where all residents have already evacuated. I apologize for this late hour when you are tired, but I ask that you move your unit during this midnight so as not to be discovered by the enemy."
"Yes, please leave it to me. I am prepared for a night or two of sleeplessness on the battlefield."
While feeling some fatigue in his heart, Noein nodded with a smile. Tonight would likely be an all-nighter.