novelraw Chapter 79 : Chapter 79
Chapter 79 : Chapter 79
Chapter : 79
"Interesting."
I said after reading the letter that had come before me.
The contents of the letter were simple.
Insults calling me a purveyor of false miracles, mixed with all sorts of mockery.
The heretic commander on the other side seemed to be a man with a fox-like disposition, as Magician Agpiel had said.
It was all too obvious that he was trying to make me lose my reason by insulting me.
Of course, I was not one to fall for such a trick.
"Meeeh! This heretic scum. We must punish him, Lord-nimu."
"That's right. Don't hold back, human lord."
"This... I simply cannot tolerate this, my lord."
From Biden to the goat beastman, and even Konrad. All my vassals were angry. In [Pangea Universalise], if the person they served was insulted, it was the same as being insulted themselves.
"Calm down."
I calmed my vassals and looked at Magician Agpiel.
"Have the experiment results come in?"
"Yes. You were right. The river water really did get purified."
Just in case, I had asked Magician Agpiel to conduct an experiment. To see if the river water could be purified with yellow clay after pouring it into a cup. And thankfully, the experiment was a success.
"That's a relief."
I was worried about what to do if it didn't work due to some other factor I was unaware of, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"Then, with enough yellow clay, we can purify that river too, right?"
"Yes. But it will be far from enough to purify the entire river."
"True... the contaminated area is too wide."
The entire river mouth was stained red with the red tide. The hastily made yellow clay was far from enough to purify it all.
"Still, isn't there enough to purify some areas?"
"That's right. If we make a little more, we can purify a fairly large area."
"Hmm, that's enough, Magician Agpiel."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes."
I wasn't trying to purify the entire river in the first place.
What was important now was that this was not a curse or divine punishment. No, even if it were a curse, all I needed was the belief that I could destroy it.
"It's enough if people can clearly recognize that it's being purified, Magician Agpiel."
"Oh! Right. If they see with their own two eyes that you can purify it, they won't be afraid of any curse."
The title 'Performer of Miracles' was usually very uncomfortable, but there had never been a time when this title was as good as now.
If I just gave them the belief that I could destroy this curse, people would surely overcome their fear and rise up.
"So please prepare for it."
"Ehehehe. Alright. Show them a miracle. They will be so surprised."
And the next day.
Once the preparations were complete, I prepared a large number of rowboats, raised my army, and gathered at the riverbank.
The Performer of Miracles.
It was time to show its power.
* * *
Early in the morning.
When it was still dark before the sun had fully risen, the area around the Ariège River became noisy.
'Hmm, what's going on?'
Viscount Avignon, leading the heretic army, frowned and got up from his seat. Such a commotion so early in the morning.
He was about to catch the culprit of this commotion and have him whipped.
However.
"Huh?"
As soon as he went outside, Viscount Avignon, like the soldiers around him, couldn't help but let out a surprised sound.
On the other side of the river, soldiers were lined up, and three or four rowboats were slowly coming up along the riverbank.
And on those boats stood the noble they hated so much, the Bellua Margrave, bathed in the now risen sunlight.
'Could it be...?'
He rubbed his eyes to see if he was seeing things, but it was real. Viscount Avignon, grasping the situation, let out a hollow laugh.
"Hahaha. Since he can't do anything else now, I guess he's trying to put on a show like that."
"That's what I was thinking."
It seemed the Bellua Margrave was trying to negate that divine punishment by any means necessary.
Of course, it would only be a futile act.
And at that moment, Viscount Avignon thought this was the time. If that purveyor of false miracles was disgraced, the army's morale would soar.
Therefore, he immediately woke up his soldiers and had them watch the Bellua Margrave's actions on the other side of the river.
With the intention of letting out a good deal of mockery.
But then...
-Pushushushushu.
The rowboats that had gone down for a moment slowly came up the river and began to sprinkle something on the river water.
And at the same time.
"Now-! Behold! This is the will of God."
The Bellua Margrave gestured and shouted loudly.
"Huh?"
Then, surprisingly, the crimson water of the Ariège River seemed to churn and boil, and starting from where the rowboats passed, it gradually regained its clear light.
"A-A miracle-!"
The soldiers who were watching it screamed as if in a shriek. The purification of the blood-red river water into transparency was that shocking.
And this was...
"N-No way!"
The commander-in-chief of the heretic army.
It was the same for Viscount Avignon.
* * *
"It's a miracle-!"
"Oh... God!"
"My goodness! To think I'd see this with my own two eyes-!"
Cheers and testimonials erupted from the camp in an instant. It was that visually effective.
I felt that the time was ripe. It was time to end this show.
"Behold! The disappearance of this curse!"
Therefore, I shouted with all my might.
It was important to heighten this atmosphere and enter the battle.
"So do not worry. I am here! The curse is now gone, so trust and follow me-!"
"Waaaaah-!"
Then, a roaring cheer erupted from my soldiers, and...
"Charge! Advance! Connect the boat bridge at once!"
"Let's show them our strength! Kiyoooooot!"
Suddenly, the elf knights, completely caught up in the atmosphere, began to charge out on their own.
They urged their squires, mounted their horses, and began to connect the boat bridge among themselves.
'Oops.'
I didn't think those battle-crazed elves would listen to me. And wasn't he an elf 'knight' at that?
It wasn't just a day or two that knights acted on their own.
But to think they would charge out before the means to cross were even fully created...
"My lord. If they cross the river individually, it will be a disaster. We must quickly support them from behind."
"I was thinking the same thing."
It would have been easier to cross if we had prepared all at once and struck in one go, but this was... perhaps the knights thought of this more difficult battle as more honorable.
I sighed inwardly and ordered the army to advance.
"Don't fall behind! We must follow them quickly!"
-Thump, thump, thump.
At my command, the soldiers began to advance in ranks. It was a flimsy boat bridge and rowboats, but they were still crossing safely.
The elf knights had already crossed the river on the other side and were reforming their ranks.
"These elf knights are really troublesome friends."
"Why? They're consistent, so it's good to see, isn't it? And don't worry too much."
"What do you mean?"
"Hehe. It seems you haven't seen elf knights yet. Before they've reformed their ranks might be one thing, but after that, you can trust and leave it to them. They will fight well until we get there."
"Hmm..."
Even so, I didn't think about fifty elf knights could face an army of thousands...
But Magician Agpiel's words were true.
"Charge-!"
"Kiyooooooot! For honor!"
"Let's kill all the weak human bastards-! Hiyah, hiyah."
The elf knights, who had regrouped on the riverbank, immediately mounted their horses and charged towards the heretic army with their squires.
-Dugudugudugu.
Even in a state of general discipline, facing cavalry head-on was an incredibly burdensome task. Even more so if the opponents were elf knights.
But this was not a normal situation.
"Ahhh. Oh God."
"Could it be that we were following the wrong path?"
"Were we actually the sinners?"
"It truly is a miracle."
It was because the soldiers and nobles of the heretic camp were all in shock at the unbelievable miracle (?) that had unfolded before their eyes.
"Ughhh."
"It's the elf knights. They're charging!!"
"Prepare for battle. Reform the ranks!"
They belatedly grasped the situation and shouted at the top of their lungs, but it was too late.
-Kwaddeudeudeuk
-Kwang!
-Heeeeeeing!
-Kuaaak. Help me.
The elf knights had crushed the soldiers who had not yet managed to gather.
In an instant, a hole was blown through one part of the army. Thanks to that, they had come in too deep, but the elf knights didn't care.
"Uhahaha! Die!"
"Die. Die! Die all of you, you heretics-!"
No, the surrounding heretic soldiers could not stop them.
It was because the elf knights, having witnessed a miracle (?), had their morale soaring to the sky.
"Heh..."
"What do you think? Was I not right? Hehehe. I knew you'd be so surprised."
And I, watching this, let out a dumbfounded laugh.
I knew that knights, especially elf knights, were strong in [Pangea Universalise], but to think they would be that brutishly strong.
I could see why they couldn't defeat heavily armed knights before the advent of pikemen.
Of course, that didn't mean I could just stand by and watch.
"The infantry that has formed its ranks, advance-!"
No matter how powerful the cavalry was, they couldn't catch all those soldiers. We had to surround them before they collapsed.
That way, there would be no looting by bands of defeated soldiers in the surrounding area later.
"Waaaaah-!"
"Crossbowmen, advance to the front and fire a volley-!"
-Pushushushuk
The large-scale crossbowmen, who had now become the mascot of my army, fired their bolts. In an instant, the sky darkened, and the bolts fired from the crossbows covered the heretic army.
-Kuaaaak!
-My arm! My leg!
But that was just the beginning!
Pikemen phalanxes, paired in hundreds, stabbed at them with their sharp and long pikes.
-Keok
-St-stop them!
-No, run away! Let's run! Huh? Ugh, there are pikemen here too!
The heretic army began to collapse due to the overwhelming difference in weapon length.
At the same time, the pikemen surrounded them from all sides.
There was no way out.
All that was left was the annihilation of the heretic army. Then, realizing that they had no chance of winning, the enemy army began to surrender one by one.
Once the situation was more or less settled, I rode forward on my horse.
"Good. Then let's take a look at that bastard's face."
The commander of the heretic army who had insulted me.
I was going to meet that guy.
* * *
"Hmm."
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency."
It was a familiar taste.
An experience I had surely had before. The commander of the heretic army, Viscount Avignon, was found as a wretched corpse . Ah, but there was a slight difference from before.
"We didn't mean to kill him, Your Excellency!"
"That's right. He fell off his horse while trying to escape and was trampled to death."
The point was that it wasn't a homicide, but closer to a suicide. The elf knights all cried out that they were wronged.
Well, hearing the circumstances, it was understandable...
[The commander you were fighting was trampled to death by a horse. Although you claim you did not do it, people of the world will become suspicious seeing the commanders who oppose you die one after another.]
[Infamy rises.]
'Why is my infamy rising?'
No, why?
The one who was wronged was me.
Really