Chapter 140: The War of Flowers (01)
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!
The sudden sound of the bell ringing in the early morning startled me awake. Instinctively, I sat up and grabbed my mana saber.
Vwoooom!
Levin and Jake, who were off-duty along with me (while Dane was out on duty), also grabbed their pistols and knives from their bedsides, scanning their surroundings. Judging by the noisy commotion from the adjacent quarters, it seemed the other squads had also jumped out of bed in panic.
'What's going on...? They don't normally ring the wake-up bell this loudly...'
"All members of the Magic Knights are hereby under a full mobilization order. The current situation is classified as an active combat scenario, and deployment to the East will commence within two hours."
The abrupt announcement left us scrambling, still groggy, to pack our gear.
Boing-boing!
"Myaaow!"
In the chaos, I quickly grabbed Mollang and Shuru, rolling them up in some fabric before stuffing them into my bag. I repacked the bag to make it as compact as possible, while Jake brought over the armor pieces for us to distribute. In our half-asleep state, things were a mess—Dane's armor got mixed up with mine, Jake's mana shotel (a shorter version of the mana saber) ended up with me, and my saber ended up with him.
"An actual combat scenario? And in the East?"
As far as I knew, there were no hostile nations in the East.
The East was a wasteland. While the Western Plains were home to the centaurs, the East was so barren that not even grass could grow there. It was just rocks and bundles of dry straw rolling in the wind.
There were no proper inhabitants there, save for the occasional marauding monster or barbarian tribe that raided the border areas...
'Ugh... I'm too sleepy to think straight.'
"Everyone has been assigned a horse. We'll be moving on horseback. We'll maintain a slower pace, so those unfamiliar with riding should use this opportunity to practice!"
I had learned horseback riding to some extent, but for my fellow knights who were new to it, this was going to be tough—having to learn in the middle of an actual deployment.
"We've already arranged for fodder to be provided at supply points along the way. Stay fully armed! This is not a drill but a real combat operation!"
Even the senior knight, fully armored and mounted on his steed, was leading us with an air of seriousness. Those of us who were more alert quickly mounted our horses and gathered at the training grounds.
Whinny!
"Good girl. That's right."
Perhaps it was because Eileen and Angelica had recently visited, but my horse seemed unusually affectionate, licking my hair as if greeting me. Since my hair was a mess from just waking up, I let it lick away while I adjusted the saddle and stirrups.
"Okay, time to move Mollang and Shuru into the side pocket..."
Both Mollang and Shuru were still fast asleep. I carefully picked up the napping Shuru, placed her in the pocket, and then put Mollang next to her, securing them both. I split the armor into separate pieces and hung them on the saddle to evenly distribute the weight.
If you hang heavy armor in one place, it throws off the horse's balance and tires it out quickly. Proper packing was essential.
Of course, those who hadn't trained properly in horsemanship were clueless about how to secure their armor. Levin, for instance, was struggling so much that I had to step in and help him attach his gear.
After all the commotion, we finally led the horses out. Looking toward the royal palace, I noticed it was eerily quiet.
Given that the Royal Guard outnumbered us, it should have been even more chaotic if they were being deployed as well.
"Looks like the fat pigs in the Royal Guard are sitting this one out again. What's the point of conserving them like this? Are they saving them all to be buried with the king when he dies?"
"Think positively."
Jake approached, riding his expensive white horse, and clapped me on the shoulder with a smile.
"They probably don't trust those guys, so they're sending trustworthy knights like us instead."
I suppose he had a point. With 200 of them unable to handle even a squad of 10 like us, crying and begging for their senior officers, it wasn't like anyone could trust them to be deployed.
No matter what the king thought of us, from our perspective, it was better to see it as a compliment.
"What's all this commotion in the morning?"
Dane, who had just returned from his shift, found his armor already loaded onto his horse by Jake. He simply threw off his duty uniform, climbed onto his sturdy horse, and was ready to go.
'Dane's horse is pretty big, but it still looks pitiful under his weight...'
"What about food supplies?"
"Bring only the minimum—just personal rations. It's optional, but it's better to carry what you might need."
I didn't want to bring along the moldy emergency rations, but knowing how things go, I could imagine being told to hunt for my own food later. So, reluctantly, I packed some dried jerky.
'Honestly, this jerky feels older than Lien's body...'
How many generations of knights had chewed on this jerky by now?
If only someone would just eat it already, we could get fresh supplies. But nobody wanted to touch the moldy stuff, so it kept getting left behind, gathering more mold, repeating this hellish cycle.
I might as well secretly throw it away myself to finally get rid of this damn jerky once and for all.
Anyway, after finishing our preparations, we gathered again at the training grounds. The other squads in neighboring quarters seemed to have finished their preparations around the same time as well.
"Is everyone assembled?"
"Yes, sir!!"
The loud responses of 150 knights echoed through the air, and the senior knight struck his chest with his gauntlet.
"Good. This marks the first deployment of the 87th Class of the Magic Knights!"
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
Some of the newer recruits, still unaccustomed to horseback riding, seemed like they might fall off their mounts. To prevent this, they were deliberately placed in the center of the formation, where more experienced knights could offer them advice or physically support them as needed.
Since creating a commotion near the capital was out of the question, we proceeded at a walking pace until we cleared the outskirts. For those of us who were used to physical activity, it wasn't too hard to adapt to the situation.
Still... the East, huh...?
By lunchtime, after leaving the capital, the senior knight ordered us to halt and take a break while he began organizing materials for a briefing about the enemy we were facing.
"Our enemy is an orc tribe from the East."
Now that he mentioned it, the East was originally the homeland of the orcs.
While some orcs had been assimilated into the kingdom as citizens, many still lived primitively in tribes, surviving through raids and subsistence farming.
"We must exercise extreme caution when dealing with these Eastern orcs."
"Why's that? Will they eat us if we're caught?"
At Dane's joking remark, the senior knight nodded gravely.
"They're cannibals...?"
"That's not a problem for us, but it might be an issue for the soldiers."
"No, they don't eat humans. Compared to the cows they raise, human flesh is tasteless, stringy, and worthless."
"Then what is it?"
"They'll consume you in... another way."
While most of the recruits didn't understand what he meant, Jake and I instantly realized the truth.
"Under no circumstances should female knights be sent there!"
"I don't know what you're thinking, but the Eastern front used to rely on female knights to hold the line."
"Damn! The kingdom really is full of bastards!"
Hearing this, Dane and Levin seemed to catch on, and soon the rest of the recruits reached the same grim conclusion.
"Listen carefully. The orc tribes of the East have an extreme matriarchal ideology."
"Matriarchal... ideology?"
"Yes. They believe only females are true orcs, while males are unnecessary."
Which meant...
"So, the roles are reversed from what we'd expect?"
"Exactly. That's why female knights were deployed to defend against them."
In other words, it wasn't lust-crazed male orcs attacking female knights, but rather female orcs targeting human males.
"These tribes accept any female offspring into their ranks, even if they're hybrids, but completely abandon males, even if they look fully orc. The situation has gotten so bad that orphanages in the East are overflowing every decade, forcing the kingdom to develop plans to redistribute the children across the realm."
"Hah... now I understand why we're being sent."
Levin smirked bitterly as he spoke.
"They closed down the female knights' training facility, so they probably don't have any more to send."
He was absolutely right.
The number of female knights had to be maintained to keep deploying them to the Eastern front. But with the female knights' training facility disbanded for an entire generation, a gap had formed in their ranks, and now it was causing issues.
Still, the situation didn't entirely make sense.
"But even so, aren't there still veteran female knights from the previous generations? Or is it such a brutal battlefield that they've all been wiped out?"
At this, the senior knight lowered his head.
"…They're gone."
"What? Are you saying they were annihilated?"
"In a manner of speaking... yes."
He seemed reluctant to elaborate, but under the curious gazes of the recruits, he eventually cleared his throat and spilled the truth.
"The kingdom's female knights had been hoping to retire once new recruits were deployed to replace them. However, when they learned that the female knight training facility had been shut down and their retirements postponed... they all defected."
"As expected of our seniors."
I couldn't help but clap, and the other recruits joined in, applauding with a mix of admiration and disbelief.
While desertion was undoubtedly unbecoming of knights, I couldn't entirely blame them. After all, nothing enrages a soldier more than being denied their well-earned leave or retirement.
"So, our enemies are...?"
"Yes. The former generation of female knights and the Eastern orcs."
Levin, hearing this, let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest.
"Well, at least we won't die even if we lose."
Hearing his complacent remark, I shot back to snap him out of it.
"Levin, you might not know this, but there's something called death by exhaustion."
And that was a danger I was all too familiar with. I'd already had close calls several times, even ending up hospitalized under Professor Pandel's care.
"Still, wouldn't that be a good way to go?"
"Depends on who the opponent is."
As I spoke, I pointed at Dane.
"What if it's someone like her?"
"...Then I absolutely can't afford to lose."
Hearing this, the recruits immediately burned with newfound determination for the fight ahead.