Reincarnated Aristocrat Chapter 118: Retreating from the Battle

The retreat has begun.

　A retreat is difficult, to begin with, and the fact that the enemy is a cavalry-centric army makes it even more difficult.

“Retreat!! Retreat!!” (Lemail)

　Lemail-sama sends instructions to the entire army.

　First of all, someone needs to act as the leader to stall the enemy so the army can retreat.

　After they are done stalling, they then retreat.

　When the order to retreat is sent, the commander who was previously assigned to serve as the leader will move his troops and hold off the cavalry progress with his spearmen.

　But it’s not that easy.

　Horses are fast and hard to stall.

　There is a possibility of them passing through.

　Only the enemies, especially those with high skill levels and good horse control, were able to avoid the spearmen quite well.

　So they are supported by mages.

　In addition to attacking them with magic, we used sound magic to frighten or create a wall of fire, knowing that humans won’t get burned with defensive magic, but horses are too scared to approach, so they use a lot of defensive magic to protect them from the attacks.

　While their feet were halted, the spearmen would rush in and prevent them from advancing, and so forth.

　The enemy’s cavalry is also well-trained and not easily frightened by magic, so some enemy soldiers will still be unable to halt them.

　If this happens, some of the retreating soldiers will have to be sent back to the leader to stop the enemy from catching up.

　If we send too many soldiers to retreat, the soldiers stalling the enemy will become too thin they won’t become a good blockade against the forest, and the enemy may breakthrough.

　That would be the worst-case scenario, so it was necessary to stop the enemy with the minimum number of troops.

　The first group of men who were in charge of stalling did a good job, and few men couldn’t be held back, so the number of men who would have to be sent back from the retreating army was small.

　Many soldiers are still retreating; this will prevent them from breaking through to the front.

“We’re almost to the forest…”

　It looks like the plan will succeed.

　If the stalling army fails and the enemy caught up and attacks us from behind, the army will collapse. I don’t even know if I’ll even be alive at that time.

　I’m on a horse now, but I’m not very good at handling it, so I don’t think I’ll be able to escape.

　And I was able to march into the forest without being overtaken by the enemy.

“It was good … looks like today is not the day of my death.”

“Even if they caught up, I won’t let Ars-sama die.” (Ritsu)

　Ritsu says voices out some encouragement.

“We’re in the woods, will the enemy soldiers come this way?” (Lemail)

　Lemail-sama asks the question.

“Objectively, it would seem that we’re just running away haphazardly. What should we do if they don’t chase us? The situation set up makes us seem like targets that won’t be able to fight back. However, unless the enemy captain is a very careful intellectual… but he didn’t seem like one.” (Ritsu)

　I couldn’t appraise him, but I think so too.

　In such a case, it may be okay to appraise the enemy captain even if it is quite difficult.

　It may be easier to understand how he would act if I did it.

“We’ve received information that the enemy soldiers have raided the forest. It doesn’t sound like you think it’s a trick. They seem to be quite carelessly entering the forest.” (Mireille)

　A report was passed through the catalyst engine of Mireille.

　Apparently, the operation seems to be successful.

　One thing I’m curious about is that I haven’t felt any sign of the Metro mercenary group since we’ve entered the forest.

　I’m worried if they are really there.

　Are they really good at hiding?

　I was looking for the signs of Metro Mercenary Group, turning my head as I scurried around until Mireille noticed this.

“There’s a report of them being on stand-by. And I can’t see them, but they’re here. I can feel a slight presence. I’m sure we’ll find a lot of people hiding in there, but they only give out such a faint hint of their presence, they truly are a famous mercenary group. It seems they are able to fight in a lot of ways.” (Mireille)

　She told me this.

　I decided to believe in what Mireille was saying for the time being.

　When we reached the center of the forest, Lemail-sama instructed the soldiers to stop the retreat.

　This seems to be a losing battle, and the soldiers who thought they would retreat and regroup with the reinforcements were once again discouraged.

　He explained to the soldiers that there were mercenaries who had deserted into the forest.

　The enemy is already close, so it’s safe to explain the plan.

　When the soldiers heard that it was part of a strategy, they regained their composure.

　Then quickly got into a formation.

　So mages and archers went into the woods and joined the Metro mercenary corps.

　The Metro Mercenaries have been told that the start of the flanking attack is around when the enemy arrives and after almost all the cavalry has entered the forest.

　There is no doubt that the enemy’s main force is cavalry.

　　If all the cavalrymen who attacked ahead of them were trapped and eradicated, the enemy would not stand a chance with the rest of the soldiers. They would have no choice but to retreat and return to the castle. Then our victory is assured.

　Enemy cavalry has reached our current location.

“What’s the matter, have you given up on running!?” (Huge Knight)

　A large man who was leading the troops in the advance.

　He looks quite pleased with himself as he talks. He doesn’t seem to have an inkling that this is a trap.

　According to the appraisal, the name seems to be Dan Aracet.

　He has 82 in command and 99 in bravery, but the others are quite low. The cavalry skill is his highest with S.

　We might not be able to win easily, but it’s going to be easier for us to win if we take him out immediately.

　I’m sure the morale of the enemy soldiers will be broken if we kill him.

“Or did you think you could regroup and win? Hahaha, idiots! This will be your graveyard!” (Huge Knight => Dan)

　Just as he rushed into the charge, the Metro mercenaries hiding in the forest began attacking the enemy using their bows and magic.