CHAPTER 30: AT THE BATTLEFIELD

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“Attack! Run these lizards down!”

Together with Alencia’s command—

The curtain to the battle in Glicia Marsh rose.

Cladded in shining armor, the kingdom’s most elite order of chivalry invaded the lizardman colony.

The lizardmen responded in kind. 

Weapons of steel and flesh like steel crashed together head-on.

In the blink of an eye—

Alencia’s army routed the lizardmen.

Soldiers on messenger duty ran into Alencia’s standby camp one by one. 

“Reporting! Baldes Squad has broken through enemy lines! Their gallant efforts on the battlefield permitted the lizardmen no counterattack of their own!”

“Utilizing an elaborate battle formation, Griffin Squad has encircled the lizardmen and thoroughly exterminated them without exception!”

“Govilbalfesse Squad has likewise triumphed, courageously breaking through enemy lines and plunging the enemies into chaos, inciting their hasty retreat!”

Each and every report brought news of conquest.

The high officials in the standby camp raised ovations.

“Magnificent! The war is progressing sublimely, Lord Alencia!”

After giving a deep nod, Alencia smiled at the high officials.

“It’s all because of everyone’s hard work.
Let’s keep this momentum up!”

Although, what he said out loud didn’t match what he thought in his heart.

No shit.
This is the work of the great Alencia, after all!

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The enemy consisted of lizardmen strengthened by the Crest Master.
The deployment from earlier treated them as regular lizardmen and were annihilated.

Naturally, Alencia wouldn’t repeat the same foolish mistake as them.

Alencia organized a disposable squad detached from the main army.
Alencia made them attack before anyone else, which caused a disturbance within the lizardmen’s ranks. 

If he sent the main army, which had the greatest military strength—

Victory would be served on a silver platter.

Although… the lot from the detached squad probably won’t come out unscathed…

However, Alencia didn’t care what happened to them.

Alencia’s only goal was victory—no, overwhelming victory.

That entailed more than just exterminating the lizardmen and taking the Crest Master’s head.

Making sure that the prestigious army gifted by the king suffered minimal losses was also important. 

To achieve that goal, disposing of the soldiers whose lives mattered naught to the king needed to be considered in his calculations as well. 

They can offer their worthless lives to the kingdom and die.
That isn’t a half-bad deal, no?

Messengers reported news of their triumph one by one.
Basking in the good news, Alencia forgot all about the soldiers marching to their demise in the blink of an eye.

In order to participate in the lizardman hunt, we tottered down the path leading to the headquarters.

“We” consisted of me, Laura, and—

“Well, we should probably arrive by this evening, I guess?”

Firvus, who was walking in front of us, spoke.

The academy couldn’t allow only students to go to the battlefield, so Instructor Firvus came along to act as our coordinator. 

In addition, two kingdom soldiers acting as guards accompanied us.

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“But… didn’t it already start?”

Laura spoke anxiously.

Glicia Marsh was covered by trees.
Sounds of metal clashing and angry voices resounded from the other end of the damp wetland.

“The formal procedures took some time… Plus, it took Carlyle a while to inform the kingdom about your addition.
I guess that makes you tardy for the first battle.
Well, aren’t you glad you get to slack off?”

Firvus laughed dryly after speaking.

The soldier next to us cleared his throat.

“Excuse me, Mr.
Firvus.
I’m still a soldier of the kingdom.”

“Whoops.
Forget what I said, alright?”

Firvus repeatedly patted the soldier’s shoulder and spoke. 

It was at that moment.

I suddenly heard the sound of multiple soldiers running.
I could feel a sense of urgency and impatience clinging to the sound of their footsteps.

“HEEEEY! IT’S DANGEROOUS! GET OUT OF HERE, YOU GUUYS!”

I heard the frantic voice of a man.

We stopped walking.

Soldiers riddled with injuries and blood ran at us with a desperate look.
Five lizardmen chased behind them.

“O-Oh no! Everyone from the academy, do not leave our side!”

I heard the shrill voice of the guard.

However, Firvus was already on the move.
Calculating the positions of the fleeing soldiers and the lizardmen, Firvus moved to an optimal location where his magic wouldn’t engulf his allies. 

“Sorry, but I’ll be ending this with a single shot.”

Firvus aimed his hand at the lizardmen and yelled.

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“Fireball!”

A ball of flame the size of a human head materialized.
It flew in a direct line towards the group of lizardmen and detonated with a thunderous roar.

“GUGEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!?”

The lizardmen were incinerated by the destructive heat generated by mana, shrieking the hymn of death from their very being. 

I’d expect no less from Firvus, an academy instructor.

To think he could even handle Fireball.

Fireball is a popular spell that above-intermediate magicians aim to acquire.
Even among magicians of the rank One Hundred, there are many who can’t use it due to a lack of proficiency in attack magic. 

By the way, shooting Fireball in the middle of this forest was completely fine. 

A magician is able to narrow down Fireball’s effects to just heat and the blast from an explosion; The Fireball that Firvus just used was exactly that.
Naturally, it’s possible to make Fireball scatter fire to its surroundings as well.

“Looks like it’s over… Wait… What?”

The lizardmen sent tumbling to the ground stood up shakily.

The scales throughout their body were hideously burned, and the weapons they were holding were blown away somewhere, but—

Their fighting spirit hadn’t faltered in the slightest.

They had their steel-tempered muscles, as well as their sharp claws and fangs, after all.

The five of them directed their gaze at Firvus.

The dangerous man that could injure them needed to be—

“Hey, hey, hey!? Is this for real!? They took my Fireball and still didn’t die!? What kind of lizardman can do that!?”

Firvus yelled.

The lizardmen propelled themselves from the ground, heading straight toward Firvus.

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Learning from their previous experience, the lizardmen didn’t crowd together like before.
Catching them all at once with a Fireball would be difficult.

Did Firvus really have a card to play here?

I didn’t know.

I didn’t need to know.

I only had one thing I was capable of doing.

“Magic Arrow.”

“Guhi!?”

The five lizardmen took my Magic Arrow and were blown away.
They rolled across the ground and didn’t move a muscle.

I guess that ends it.

Firvus let out an exasperated voice.

“Hey, hey… Are you for real…? Taking down those lizardmen with a single Magic Arrow…”

“It’s because Mr.
Firvus’ Fireball was effective.”

That was what I really believed.

I spoke without much modesty nor humility; Firvus’ Fireball was simply that magnificent.

And yet, Firvus wore a complex facial expression.

It seems like Firvus wanted to give the credit to me.

Promote growth through praise—That was probably Firvus’ method of teaching.

While Firvus and I were talking—

“Thank you very much for saving us!”

A man who seemed to be the captain of the fleeing soldiers spoke to me.