Chapter 28: Revolution Era - Everyone Has a Plan
In the plains to the southeast of Lumière.
The warm sunlight of spring shone down from the sky, illuminating the lush barley fields, yet the scene unfolding on that land was starkly desolate.
The revolutionary army, hastily conscripted through a national draft, numbered 10,000, and they were approaching the 8,000-strong royal army led by the Duke of Orléans and the Duke of Lorraine, covering the plains.
The cannons of both armies fired in succession, and steel cannonballs flew towards each other's camps.
However, the damage inflicted on each side was markedly different.
"Argh!"
"The cannons!"
The artillery of the revolutionary army struck the front lines with an intimidating accuracy, and amidst this, one of their cannons was completely destroyed by a cannonball, mercilessly showering shrapnel on the surrounding artillerymen.
But the cannonballs fired by the royal army either fell too close or too far, failing to properly hit the revolutionary forces.
Duke Lorraine, witnessing this scene, gritted his teeth.
"Damn it, we're firing the same cannons, why are they so pathetic! Do I need to personally discipline you lot to get you in line!"
"My apologies, Your Grace. The issue still lies in the soldiers' lack of training..."
"Such pathetic bastards!"
While Duke Lorraine was venting his frustration, Ballian, who was in the revolutionary camp observing the enemy getting bombarded through his telescope, whistled.
"Whew~ It looks like they heard about the exploits of Duke Lafayette and came out with the cannons, but I wonder if those gentlemen ever learned ballistics. The artillerymen on this side? They're friends I personally trained while traveling from city to city."
"The nobles who only treated cannons as siege weapons, what do they know. They might hit the massive castle walls without much precision, but it's impossible to instantly train artillerymen for long-range artillery battles. They would have used magicians, easily and comfortably hired with money."
"Right? That's what's fascinating. This Duke Lafayette, I'd like to meet him at least once..."
Ballian lowered his telescope slowly and added,
"After all, this country's doctrines are overly outdated because of the so-called noble knights."
“Right now, to the east, there's a man who shattered the Germanian Emperor's army with modern doctrines and came to be called a great king. But instead of learning from him..."
"General, please don't let personal desires show during battle."
"Hahaha, that great king is a man worthy of respect. Ah, but could you say it again?"
Though the aide grimaced at Ballian's words, he soon repeated the rank as desired.
"Ah, yes. General, please focus."
"General, general, sounds good. Hahaha..."
Ballian licked his lips while eyeing the royal army advancing from the opposite side.
"It would be better to devour much and rise to a higher position."
Muttering to himself, Ballian observed the movements of the cavalry on the enemy's flanks and whistled.
"Whew~ Seems like the patience of those noble knights is running thin. Seeing that the flags of Duke Orléans and Duke Lorraine are not moving, they must be loath to end up like the Duke of Brittany."
"Shall I relay the order to the Morel troops, General?"
"Quick thinking, I like it. What's your name, Lieutenant?"
"Werther. Alexandre Werther."
"Good, Werther. Once I rise up, I'll make good use of you as my staff."
"Let's win first and then talk about it, General."
"Hahaha! I like your spirit!"
***
Amidst the military's advance, Duke Orléans swallowed dryly as he watched his knights heading to the left flank.
Due to the king borrowing many of his knights and then surrendering them to the Blue Knight, knights and heavily armored cavalry were now a scarce and precious force.
On the other hand, the knights and cavalry moving to the right flank under Duke Lorraine appeared far more numerous at a glance.
Duke Orléans clicked his tongue and looked down at the enemy lines.
Although the enemy's forces were numerically superior, his side overwhelmingly outclassed them in terms of elite strength.
During the civil war, the cities had established their own militias to defend against noble pillaging. These militias, somewhat regularly trained and properly equipped, made up a decent part of his forces. But even these accounted for less than half of the enemy's strength.
The rest were at best hastily conscripted soldiers, recruited in a hurry after the traitorous government came into power, given minimal training, and armed with outdated muskets or spears.
At least, that's what Duke Orléans believed. After some contemplation, he gave his instructions.
"Tell the knights and cavalry to stand by for now."
"But, Your Grace, wasn't the plan for both flanks to attack simultaneously?"
"Do you trust Duke Lorraine's loyalty? If we rashly expend our knights and cavalry here and Lorraine harbors other intentions, who will protect His Majesty the King?"
"Ah, I understand."
Recently united with those they had fought against, this alliance, formed merely by a convergence of interests, was now showing its fragility even during a critical battle.
Finally, when the bugles sounded, only Duke Lorraine's knights and cavalry began to maneuver to the flanks.
As they charged across the plains next to the barley fields sown in winter and now in full growth, gunfire rang out.
"Argh!"
"It's an ambush! Protect yourselves!"
Although the command was given, the knights could only protect the front with their magic.
Scattered throughout the barley field and lying in ambush, the light infantry suddenly rose and opened fire from all directions. Soldiers were hit by the gunfire and fell from their horses in quick succession.
"Those damn rats!"
An infuriated knight drew his sword and charged into the barley field, only for the diligently shooting light infantry to turn and start running.
"I'll kill you!"
The knight, increasing his momentum, pursued but suddenly felt a powerful impact and fell from his horse, his neck bone snapping.
"Stop chasing them! They've set traps in the barley field!"
Stakes were driven into the ground under the barley, and tightly stretched ropes between them were set to trip the horses, even if the knights didn't notice them.
"Those damn bastards must have deliberately arranged their formation to lure us into the barley field!"
As the knights were disoriented by traps everywhere and sporadic gunfire, the enemy's cavalry began to charge.
"Don't run into the barley field! Engage the enemy cavalry!"
Despite this, the knights and medium cavalry of Francia bravely began their charge. However, the charging enemy cavalry suddenly turned their horses around, retreating while firing their short-barreled guns.
"Those despicable bastards...argh!"
As the knights and cavalry tried to pursue the fleeing enemy cavalry, light infantry emerged from the barley field, firing into their backs, creating utter chaos.
"What the hell is Duke Orléans doing!"
"We are surrounded by enemies! What should we do!"
"Damn it, chase them, chase the—argh!"
The commanders of the kingdom's army were also frantically ordering the magicians to attack and the archers to provide support fire, but it was largely ineffective against the dispersed enemies hidden within the barley field.
Upon witnessing the tragic fate of Duke Lorraine's knights, Duke Orléans, instead of dispatching his knights and cavalry to their aid, issued an order to preserve their forces intact.
"Haha, hahaha! Facing these fools, who seem to have their brains replaced with muscles and know nothing but to charge, is so easy it's almost yawn-inducing!"
Jerome Morel, leading the revolutionary army's cavalry, burst into laughter as he watched the kingdom's valiant knights, unable to exert their formidable strength, perish miserably in a form of combat they had never seen before.
"Attack, attack!"
The last hope for the kingdom's army lay with the properly armed central infantry.
"Aim- Fire!"
However, as the long lines of revolutionary infantrymen with their new muskets fired in unison, the chainmail armor of the advancing medium infantry was effortlessly penetrated.
Had the magicians been deployed in the central struggle, they might have provided some resistance. But the nobles, prioritizing knights over infantry, wasted the magicians elsewhere, allowing the devastating firepower of the volley fire to hit the royal army hard.
As the sound of synchronized gunfire shook the battlefield and hundreds of their comrades fell while charging the enemy lines, the royal army soldiers, contrary to the nobles' expectations and exhausted from a prolonged civil war, began to falter.
"Charge! They're nothing but a militia!"
"Don't retreat! Those who retreat will face death by my hand!"
As the sergeants and noble commanders shouted, reluctantly preparing to charge again, a shout came from the revolutionary side.
"Comrades! To defeat the enemy, courage is needed once, and courage is needed twice!"
Quoting President Revere's words from before the campaign, a young commander with a sword raised inspired the entire revolutionary army.
"Embrace courage! If we retreat here, they will enslave us and our families again! For freedom!"
"For freedom!"
"All swords drawn! Now is the time to attack! Long live the revolution!"
"Long live the revolution! Charge!"
Though they were conscripted, those who had tasted freedom after long oppression turned the call for liberty and courage into a forceful charge.
The trusted knights crumbled without achieving anything, and the kingdom's army was already destabilized by the volley fire.
The kingdom's soldiers, who had considered the enemy mere rabble despite their numerical superiority, began to retreat in disarray as these very opponents surged forward with escalating momentum.
"What's the name of that guy?"
Ballian, watching the scene through his telescope, inquired. Werther, flipping through the strategy deployment chart, replied.
"His name is Nicolas Nera."
Ballian nodded, then looked at Jerome's cavalry, who had been toying with the knights. They now drew their swords and pursued the fleeing enemy soldiers.
"It's over. How trivial. Isn't there a more worthy opponent?"
***
In the County of Aquitaine, under the dark night sky.
Once a man who stayed beside Bishop Richelieu in Lumière, Sieyes now stood in his inn room, extending his hand out of the window.
A pigeon, with feathers as black as the night and eyes as red as blood, flew to his arm and -
Merged into him.
Sieyes, who had retrieved his 'messenger pigeon', Harphas, chewed thoughtfully on his fingernails.
A proud member of the Abyss Corporation, 'Pride', he had been facing a streak of bad luck lately.
He had heard that the CEO of 'Sloth' opposed the proposal to provoke King Louis with an additional loan, aiming to eliminate the unpredictable factor, Lafayette.
In the board meetings of Abyss Corporation, where the seven CEOs determine the policies, dissenting opinions weren't that rare.
However, it's rare for a minority opinion to turn out to be the right decision.
Once a policy is decided, the seven corporations of Abyss Corporation are bound by a rule to achieve the best results through thorough mutual cooperation.
Any encroachment or interference in each company's business operations is strictly prohibited, and such actions are monitored by 'Pride', which handles external strategies and internal management.
Therefore, it's quite unusual for a proposal supported by most companies to fail.
Yet contrary to Abyss Corporation's expectations, King Louis suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Lafayette.
To make matters worse, when they forced King Louis to repay the outstanding loans to avoid further losses, the revolution erupted much faster than they anticipated.
Harphas, who was supposed to travel to the Brittany port to return home, was dismayed to learn that the whole region had been captured by the revolutionaries.
Moreover, the Francia people, enraged by the king's dealings with Abyss Corporation, destroyed the corporation's assets in Brittany and even plundered their merchant ships.
It was a rare and painful blunder for Abyss Corporation.
For Harphas, who oversaw operations in Francia as an undercover agent of 'Pride', the situation was chillingly alarming.
"It's hard to comprehend the irrational thinking of these uncivilized humans..."
It's easy to burn irrational and uncivilized humans and make them pay.
However, after the fall of Pandemonium, the kingdom of the once central continent's public enemy, the Demon King, Abyss Corporation adopted a motto of coexistence with humans. It took them hundreds of years to dilute their hostility.
After diluting such hostility, Abyss Corporation, through exclusive trade linking the central, new, and old continents, accumulated immense wealth and made dazzling progress. Hence, there is no reason for them to jeopardize their business with unnecessary use of force.
While threatening uncivilized humans with the prospect of war is not off the table, it's clear that any actual war proposal would be unanimously rejected at the CEOs' meeting.
Left with no choice, Harphas came to Aquitaine to operate a trade guild traveling to and from Abyss Corporation. Unlike Brittany, where Abyss Corporation had a significant stake, Aquitaine's guild was under strict surveillance.
He could attempt to stow away, but if discovered, it would complicate matters, and more importantly, Harphas, a demon of high pride, detests the idea of miserably hiding in a cramped ship, away from human eyes.
Moreover, returning home empty-handed to meet the CEO of 'Pride' would do him no good.
Although Abyss Corporation's regulations prohibit hostility towards one another, Harphas, who already strained relations with other companies due to his role as an internal monitor at 'Pride', is likely to face an unfavorable situation.
"Hmph, just have to create another opportunity. After all, these humans are mere pawns in our chess game."
Ultimately, blending into Francia society and sowing seeds of influence is his expertise. Harphas decides to achieve something before returning.
The next day, Harphas visited the Count's residence in Aquitaine.
Rather than risking his pride and safety by smuggling himself on an Aquitaine merchant ship, becoming a member of the Aquitaine guild seemed a straightforward solution.
Especially since the recently emergent Lafayette, an ally of uncertainty, is involved, laying groundwork wouldn't hurt.
After a short wait, he was granted an audience with the young Countess of Aquitaine.
"I am honored to meet the noble Countess of Aquitaine. I am Emanuel Sieyes, a magician."
Christine leaned forward in her chair, placing the verification magical tool on the B-rank magician identification he had submitted. After a moment, she spoke.
"The identification seems genuine. You wish to work as a magician in the Aquitaine family?"
"Yes, My lord."
Her enigmatic, deep black eyes scrutinized him sharply, but all the same, she was just a young human woman.
But Harphas treated Christine with composure.
"Where did you work before?"
"I was in Lumière, My lord. However, as you may know, the current situation there has become precarious, so I fled to the south."
"I see, it must have been tough. But why Aquitaine? We are not a powerful military family, and even as a B-rank, there are better places for a magician. Is there not?"
In response to Christine's question, Harphas chuckled and replied, "Given the current state of the Francia Kingdom, I am a bit wary of engaging in fierce battles."
"Ah, I see. So you came here for a less risky, secure position as a magician, without worrying about delayed payments?"
"Yes, My Lord."
Christine gazed at Harphas intently for a moment but then nodded.
"Alright. The requested payment isn't overly generous, but it's reasonable, and I see no reason to decline. Welcome to Aquitaine, magician Sieyes. If you speak to the steward, he will arrange accommodations for you. It's a fortunate coincidence that I needed an escort for tomorrow."
"An escort, you say?"
"Yes, I'll be leading the expedition to Duke Lafayette's estate. There shouldn't be any major risks, but of course, we'll have to pay you."
"Of course, My Lord."
Harphas inclined his head to Christine, secretly pleased that his plan was falling into place. Plans never escaped him, after all.
With Duke Lafayette being such an uncertain factor, sowing the right seeds with him could yield something to report back to the CEO.
With that, Harphas made his exit, leaving Christine alone in the office. She narrowed her eyes, lost in thought as she watched the door he exited through.
A magician's identification was a reliable and convenient document issued by the kingdom. Being a B-rank magician, while not the highest, still granted one respect almost anywhere in the kingdom.
It wasn't something easily forged, unlike a lower-ranking identity, and it didn't come with the same level of scrutiny and constraints as an A-rank magician, who attracted excessive attention.
Christine slowly opened a drawer and retrieved a book she had stashed away.
The Doctrine of Estates.
Normally, nobles would skim through bookshelves of disinteresting or even distasteful books, but Christine, after a moment, penned a letter and tied it to a pigeon's leg before sending it off into the sky towards the Western Region.
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