Chapter 31: Turning the Tide of the Territory War

The territory war that began because of my actions had taken a decisive turn.

Surprisingly, the enemy suffered far greater damage than our forces.

The primary reason was our overwhelming number of shield soldiers.

Thanks to their countless shields, they rendered the enemy archers’ arrows useless, like water flowing off a rock. The damage caused by arrows was virtually nonexistent.

The shields’ contributions didn’t end there.

They blocked every attack from enemy swordsmen and spearmen, perfectly protecting our spearmen so they could perform effectively.

Though most of the casualties on the enemy’s side were caused by the shield soldiers, their efforts kept our losses to a minimum.

The second reason was none other than my own performance.

Because of me, the enemy mages could do nothing and quickly exhausted all their mana, so they never once attempted to cast offensive spells toward our side.

Occasionally, one or two spells flew their way, but our prepared mages easily intercepted and nullified them.

I had effectively made the enemy mages fools, yet I was still able to use magic.

Because of these two differences, the momentum had clearly swung to our side, and the battle’s tide was overwhelmingly in our favor.

Rather than focusing on victory or defeat in the territory war, I fought relentlessly, clinging to the enemy knights to level up.

Even now, I roamed the battlefield tirelessly, attacking only enemy knights.

“Darkness, Dig!”

Swinging my sword imbued with aura, I blocked the knight who had cleaved a shield soldier’s shield and body in half, then fell into the hole I had dug.

The fall must have been quite a shock since it happened along with his horse.

“Fireball!”

I launched a Fireball into the hole.

Bang!

Instead of hitting the knight directly, I targeted the horse beside him, and the heat from the Fireball alone was enough to melt the knight.

“Die, mercenary!”

At that moment, a knight charged at me, thrusting his sword.

Instead of hurriedly using a Shield Skill, I prepared an offensive spell.

There was no need for defense.

“Haaa!”

Jenny, standing next to me, raised her sword and blocked the knight’s attack.

Kah-kang, kang! Kah!

Jenny, wielding a sword imbued with aura, continuously blocked the strikes without faltering.

She didn’t lose at all.

In fact, she had no trouble holding the knight at bay.

When she first met me, she wasn’t an aura user and merely displayed basic swordsmanship, but now she had entered the ranks of aura users.

Of course, she was still a beginner.

She hadn’t mastered any proper aura combat techniques, but through my guidance and studying various swordsmanship books, she naturally learned to wield aura.

Thanks to that, Jenny didn’t lose at all even against this rookie knight.

“Get lost, woman!”

“Not a chance. If you want to get to Solo, you’ll have to get through me first.”

The knight sounded quite frustrated, probably because of Jenny’s interference.

His sword was a bastard sword.

He gripped it with both hands and swung with powerful, destructive strikes.

Gwang! Gwang! Gwang!

His swordsmanship was reckless to the extreme.

Jenny didn’t confront his swordplay head-on but actively dodged by using swift body movements.

She didn’t just evade.

She countered with quick strikes, attacking the knight’s entire body.

Though her aura was still weak and couldn’t penetrate the armor with a single blow, there was no difficulty in making the knight flinch.

Meanwhile, I used the time Jenny bought to complete a Four Circles magic spell.

“Inferno!”

The scarlet flames bursting from my hands engulfed not only the knight but also the enemy soldiers attacking our troops behind him.

The smell of burning flesh spread across the battlefield in an instant.

But since the battlefield was already soaked in the stench of blood, the scent lingered only briefly.

“Good job, Jenny.”

I praised Jenny for buying me time, then immediately turned my head and activated another Four Circles spell I had prepared in my other hand.

“Frozen Orb!”

The icy sphere flew from my hand, scattering shards of ice in all directions as it spun.

“Ugh!”

“Huh!”

“Ahh!!”

The Frozen Orb headed straight for the three enemy knights clustered together.

The shards of ice pierced their armor, and the knights collapsed, bleeding profusely onto the ground.

Seeing the holes punctured through their armor, I approached and shouted my skills.

“Fire Spear, Wind Spear!”

Two magical spears formed in my hands.

I plunged them directly into the fallen knights’ bodies.

-Level Up.

-You have acquired 5 additional skill points.

These were some formidable knights.

Five knights had already fallen at my hands.

Yet, many knights still remained, which pleased me.

But that feeling was short-lived.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

Perhaps annoyed by my presence, five horses charged toward me.

They all relentlessly radiated aura as they charged, and they were clearly knights at a glance.

Hostility radiated fiercely from them.

“Wow!”

I sneered slightly.

But again, it was only momentary.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

I heard horses galloping behind me, and our knights immediately charged toward them.

Kwang!

Ten knights slammed head-on.

“Hiii-ing!”

An expensive warhorse crashed straight to the ground.

Usually, when knights charge at each other, they glance past and attack their opponents while passing by.

But these knights had no intention of doing that—they collided fully, hitting the ground and attacking each other.

Out of the ten horses, seven fell to the ground, instantly costing over two thousand gold.

“Ugh… How much is that worth?”

Even in this chaotic situation, my mind went straight to the cost.

“Solo-nim.”

Jenny must have sensed my blank thoughts and tugged my arm.

“Oh, right.”

I shifted my gaze away from the wasted horses and looked back toward the battlefield.

The fight among the mounted knights was progressing favorably for our side.

There was no need for me to interfere.

Scanning the area, I spotted a group of enemy swordsmen clustered around our shield soldiers and ran toward them.

“Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt.”

Two streaks of lightning pierced through the swordsmen.

The spell targeted enemies right in front of our shield soldiers.

Amidst the confusion, the shield soldiers stood firm, blocking with their shields before swinging them sideways at the enemies and spearmen who thrust their spears, skewering their opponents.

My skills didn’t stop there.

Feeling the mana within me rapidly decreasing after a long time, I continued unleashing spells relentlessly.

-Level Up.

-You have acquired 5 additional skill points.

-Level Up.

-You have acquired 5 additional skill points.

-Level Up.

-You have acquired 5 additional skill points.

Only after leveling up three more times did I hear a horn blast.

Puuuuu!

The Retreat Horn sounded from the enemy’s formation, signaling their order to withdraw.

Waaaah!

Cheers erupted from our side.

Victory cheers.

But then a voice amplified by magic echoed from behind, turning the soldiers’ cheers back into the battlefield’s roaring cries.

“Don’t let them escape! Capture or kill every last one! Avenge the fallen comrades!”

Waaaah!

Our soldiers charged like mad toward the enemy.

Determined to release their anger from those who had died, they hacked and slashed through enemy troops.

Knights and soldiers pursued them past the plain and into the forest.

“Let’s call it quits here.”

“All right.”

I glanced at Jenny beside me.

She was looking back at me.

We smiled faintly.

At this moment, there was only one thing for us to do.

“Shall we gather some loot?”

We planned to take a few inconspicuous items.

Hastily, we moved.

We stealthily and carefully filled our pockets so as not to attract attention.

***

After the day’s battle ended, our soldiers hurriedly gathered the battlefield’s spoils.

Our casualties were minimal.

Out of five thousand troops, only one hundred had died, and three hundred were seriously wounded.

In contrast, half of the enemy’s eight thousand soldiers lay cold on the battlefield, and over five hundred had been captured.

It was an overwhelming victory.

Our side did not become complacent after the first fight.

Instead, we strengthened our defenses in all directions.

Meanwhile, the corpses lying on the battlefield were organized.

The soldiers collected armor and weapons from the fallen.

Bodies were piled up in one place.

Of course, those were enemy corpses.

Our own dead were all carried away on stretchers for transport.

They were to be shown to families for identification before funerals.

“Oh my… Oh my…”

“Ah! Honey, sob sob.”

“Open your eyes! Don’t leave me like this!”

Far away in the territory, the families of the fallen arrived, mourning the departed.

Their cries reached this place as well.

Because of that, the mood had somewhat calmed.

After a while, the Count’s carriage returned from the territory.

The Count personally thanked the soldiers for their hard work, then circled around before gathering the knights for a meeting.

I had expected to be called but wasn’t, so I rested early.

“Phew, what a difference from yesterday.”

“Seriously…”

Until yesterday, the Count’s side had only provided a tiny tent.

Barely enough space for Jenny and me to lie down, no room to spare.

But now it was different.

There was enough space for ten people to lie down comfortably.

Moreover, the entrance was completely sealed off, shielding us from prying eyes.

The ceiling had even been drilled with holes to allow smoke from fires inside to escape.

It was a space far too large and comfortable for just two people.

Thanks to that, Jenny and I were happy to finally have somewhere we could use.

But just as we were about to settle in, an unexpected visitor arrived.

“Baron Solo, its me.”

It was the voice of Count Lakajet.

I had no choice but to abandon rest and welcome him.

“Ahem, I came to have a little talk.”

“Yes, Count.”

I couldn’t refuse his request to talk.

The Count entered, followed by his female attendants.

They set up a table in the center of the tent with some simple food and drinks, then left.

When the Count glanced at Jenny, I ordered her to go outside.

With just the two of us left, the Count poured a drink and handed it to me.

“I came to express my gratitude. Thanks to you, our soldiers suffered very little damage, and we secured a clear victory.”

“No, I only did what I was supposed to.”

“That’s precisely the hard part.”

The Count gave a wry smile, emptied his cup, and continued.

“Please take care of my affairs as well. After I leave, Berrki will come in to explain the next operation. And I’ll make sure you receive a special reward.”

“Thank you.”

The Count then took his cup and left.

He had come only to express his thanks. He had even prepared food and drink as gifts.

After he left, Berrki came in.

The operation was straightforward.

Since I was the obvious target, they would do their best to protect me.

But I said I was fine and that I would move as I had yesterday.

I told them to focus more on protecting the soldiers than me.

After sending Berrki off, I closed the tent’s door and set up Alarm Magic and Traps.

“Phew…”

I took out my Bathtub from the Subspace Bag, filled it with water using Aqua Magic, then heated it with Fireball before stepping inside.

“Ugh… chilly.”

The day’s fatigue melted away.

I soon dozed off.

Having fallen asleep early, I opened my eyes at dawn.

Then, instinctively, I shouted outside.

“Enemy cavalry attack! Light!”

My magic illuminated the surroundings brightly, waking the soldiers from sleep.