Friedrich had the soldiers who knew how to ride mount the horses from the freight wagons and scatter sausages and smoked ham over a day’s distance from the entrance leading into the basin. Meanwhile, he was breaking up the ground with a pickaxe alongside the remaining soldiers.
“They will arrive around lunchtime the day after tomorrow?”
“Yes. According to the reports from the battle mages waiting on the cliffs above the canyon, they have been delayed because they are picking up and eating the bait we scattered in advance.”
At the answer of the Thousand-Man Commander, who was digging up the ground beside him with an aura-clad shovel, Friedrich smiled faintly.
“At this pace, we should be able to finish the work and rest for a day. The work above the canyon is going well too, I assume?”
“Officers ranked Ten-Man Commander and above have joined them there as well, so they should be finished before sunset today.”
The effect of Friedrich’s threatening proposal to report the course of this battle had been unmistakable.
The knights, who saw it as an opportunity to raise their achievements without earning disfavor, devoted themselves to the work without sparing their aura, and thanks to that, the efficiency of the labor had risen brilliantly.
‘They certainly perform as advertised.’
Thanks to that, Friedrich had secured at least one day to recharge. He grinned and continued giving orders.
“Use everything freely until tomorrow evening, except for what we need to eat on the way back. Pass around a drink for everyone as well.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
In the end, everything in life was done so people could eat and live. There was no better medicine before a battle than a generous meal.
“But since we cannot be the only ones eating, scatter a suitable amount of food for ‘them’ near the entrance as well.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
“We will prepare it so their eyes turn inside out.”
At Friedrich’s continued orders, the Thousand-Man Commander and the Magic Squad Leader answered with cold smiles.
***
Two days later, in the afternoon.
They were not terribly different from humans.
Yet goblins, incomparably cruel and quick, were squealing as they raced toward the canyon exit.
“SCREEE! Kill them!”
“SCREEEE! Eat them!”
When the hobgoblin chief raised a massive bone club and shouted, the goblin horde cried out and rushed toward the canyon entrance.
The horde of two thousand goblins, more than twice the number of the caravan—no, the Etilant Army—was itself a spectacle and an act of violence.
The goblins, who had been forcing their way forward with a great commotion, widened their eyes near the boundary of the canyon exit.
A smell that made their noses flare and stirred their stomachs was drifting through the air.
“Food!”
Even though goblins were cunning monsters, it was only natural for them to be captivated by the smell of food after chasing them without rest for more than three days.
When the goblins saw food spread all across the road, such as smoked ham and sausages giving off a savory aroma, they lost their reason and ran even faster. All to get more food than their companions.
The pot-bellied hobgoblin who led the goblin swarm sensed that something was strange, but he did not care.
‘Those human bastards…. They abandoned their cargo to escape, heh heh. Next comes tender human meat, does it?’
It looked as though they were trying something, but he could simply pretend to fall into their trap, go in deliberately, smash through it with force, and leave.
The hobgoblin, seated on a palanquin carried by his goblin subordinates, muttered as he tore into a pig’s leg.
‘Human meat is still better than this. I wonder how tender that young brat’s flesh will be. Kee hee hee hee!’
The hobgoblin smacked his lips and scanned his surroundings, but unfortunately, he did not know one important fact.
Friedrich was not the same Friedrich he had been then.
***
Friedrich looked down from the cliff above the canyon at the goblins as they hurriedly picked up food and stuffed it into their mouths, then twisted the corner of his lips.
“They are simple, as expected.”
Friedrich, wearing a smile that could be called cold, base, underhanded, cruel··· or perhaps all of those things at once, turned to the Thousand-Man Commander and the Magic Squad Leader behind him.
“It seems they have taken the bait. How is it near the entrance?”
The entry on goblins in the “Monster Compendium” that the original Friedrich had read had been exactly right when it said their eyes would turn at the sight of food.
It had also said that hobgoblin chiefs were highly intelligent, but to the current Friedrich, the creature looked like nothing more than prey.
“Every last one has entered.”
“All that backbreaking work with tools was worth it. Since we have eaten well and rested well until now, let us stretch our limbs.”
“Yes!”
The knight who ran to the canyon entrance gave hand signals to the soldiers lying flat on the opposite side. When the soldiers saw the gesture, they struck the ropes supporting the tightly bound logs with their swords.
RUMBLE!
With a thunderous sound, the crudely bound logs and the rocks those logs had been supporting poured down and blocked the canyon entrance.
“!?”
The goblins who had been picking up and eating the food panicked when they saw the canyon entrance blocked by a pile of rocks.
Only one among them, the hobgoblin, calmly raised his gaze.
‘That young brat has one stubborn life. He was lucky. The whelp used to wet himself just from looking at me. How should I cook him? Just imagining his vacant face is enough to... huh?’
Friedrich drawing his sword entered his sight.
The boy who had trembled and floundered before him was no longer there.
There was no wavering in the cold eyes looking down at him.
‘S-something is wrong···?’
Friedrich gave a small snort of laughter and shouted with all his might,
“Commence battle!”
It was a spirited cry that shook the air on all sides and sent a thrill through everyone present.
The owner of that voice was Friedrich Medichin.
Now, he was no longer the boy who had loved art and peace.
He was a merchant, a warrior, a soldier, a statesman, an inventor, and···.
In any case, as befitted the heir of House Medichin, he would make history.
***
“Thorn Barrier!”
As soon as Friedrich’s ringing command echoed out, shieldmen and pikemen rose from the ground in front of the goblins.
Before the creatures arrived, they had dug pits in advance, camouflaged themselves with branches, leaves, and dirt, and waited for this moment.
“RAAAH!”
CLANK! CLANK! CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!
Shieldmen clad from head to toe in plate armor formed a shield wall with enormous tower shields as tall as a person and twice as wide as each man’s shoulders.
Through the gaps in the wall of shields, hundreds of pikes rose densely like a hedgehog’s quills.
“Haaah-!”
As the soldiers shouted to drive away their fear, Friedrich, looking down at them from atop the cliff, gave his next order.
“Archers, aim!”
With soft rustling sounds, the archers threw off their camouflage and revealed themselves far behind the pike wall, nocking arrows to composite bows made of water buffalo horn and ashwood imported from Araman.
“Loose!”
TWANG!
Along with Friedrich’s ringing command, shouted once more, the arrows left the archers’ hands and flew toward the goblins with sounds that tore through the air.
WHOOSH! WHOOOOSH!
THUNK-THUNK-THUNK!
SCREECH!
SKREEK!
The goblins, receiving the hail of arrows with their whole bodies, began collapsing while letting out ugly screams.
“Y-you···! Throw stones!”
The hobgoblin, enraged at seeing the center of the battle line collapse, thrust his bone club forward and shouted.
“Move! I said move!”
But the goblin slingers, trapped in the canyon that was far too narrow, were too busy shoving each other aside as they tried to secure enough space to swing their slings.
“What fools. Were we really chased by creatures like that?”
“Thanks to that, we drew them all the way here, so victory should come easily, Young Master.”
“We must not let our guard down. They are still disoriented, so let us push them while we can. Thorn Barrier, advance!”
At Friedrich’s order, the shieldmen and pikemen advanced while maintaining their formation without a single gap.
CLANK! THUD! CLANK! THUD!
With every step forward, shields and pikes clashed and rang out.
The oppressive metallic clangor and vibration made by the shields striking the ground, forming the line, and then loosening again and again stained the goblins’ faces with fear.
‘Perfect.’
From above the canyon, Friedrich watched the goblins being compressed, blocked by the shieldmen and pikemen in front and the pile of rocks behind.
“Thorn Barrier, halt! Archers, advance fire to 150 metere (meters) before the canyon entrance!”
SNAP!
The moment the order fell, the archers in leather armor formed several horizontal ranks like eighteenth-century European line infantry, fired one rank at a time, and advanced in rotation.
SCREECH! WHOOSH! THUNK-THUNK-THUNK!
SCREECH! WHOOSH! THUNK-THUNK-THUNK!
SCREECH! WHOOSH! THUNK-THUNK-THUNK!
The sound of bowstrings being drawn allowed not even an instant of silence, and under the relentless hail of arrows that flew in with ripping sounds, the goblins were riddled full of holes and collapsed without pause.
“Do not be afraid! We live only if we break through!”
“SCREEEE!”
At the hobgoblin’s command, the goblins shrieked and rushed in with their weapons raised, but the result was disastrous.
“Hold!”
As ordered by the officers and veteran soldiers shouting from various points along the shield wall, the shieldmen and pikemen braced as one body, and their pike-and-shield wall was not something mere goblins could break through.
THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD-THUD!
The goblins ended up offering themselves as skewers, impaling themselves one after another on the pikes protruding not only through the gaps in the shield wall, but also through holes opened on the right and left sides of the shields. In addition···.
“Thrust!”
“Cut!”
The goblins that tried to force their way through the gaps were stabbed in the body or had their limbs cut off by the shortswords swung by the shieldmen.
SCREECH!
The goblins screamed as they sprayed dark green blood from their stab wounds and slashes.
Even at the sight, which was so gruesome it was almost pitiful, the soldiers showed not a trace of mercy. They pulled their spears from the creatures’ bodies, thrust them forward again, and repeated the stabbing.
“SCREEE……!”
At the sight of his kin dying in perfect encirclement, the hobgoblin saw the gates of hell opening before his eyes.
***
Even after seizing the advantage, Friedrich hunted the goblins by slowly tightening the noose rather than driving his soldiers too hard.
“HURRAH!”
“We won!”
Only after he heard the soldiers’ cheers strike the canyon walls and spread upward did Friedrich wipe the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and let out a sigh.
“Whew! It seems to be over.”
“You worked hard, Young Master! That was magnificent command!”
“You are worthy of succeeding the Mayor!”
Their praise was somewhat exaggerated.
Still, considering that Friedrich was only fourteen years old, it was a battle worthy of praise.
To those who did not hold back their compliments, Friedrich spoke calmly.
“I merely used my head. The ones who actually suffered were the soldiers.”
“That may be true, but it is not easy to think of such a plan at your age, Young Master.”
“That is right, Young Master. Moreover, your skill with a shovel and pickaxe was no ordinary thing.”
‘Of course, gentlemen. Do you have any idea how much shovel and pickaxe work I did in the military?’
In any case, praise was always pleasant to hear.
Friedrich was no exception, so he answered with an awkward smile.
“I do know how to handle a shovel, heh heh. Then shall we begin the cleanup?”
They descended beneath the canyon and checked the soldiers’ condition.
“The bruises are not serious, and the cuts or torn wounds are light. There are no fatalities at all. The fact that the Central Army was dispatched certainly contributed, but I believe today’s result came from adding your strategy to that, Young Master.”
The mage praised both the capabilities of the Etilant Army and Friedrich’s tactical ability, and the knight continued after him.
“Especially since, once this year passes, all of the Central Army’s troops will be fully equipped with steel weapons and defensive equipment on the same level. There will be no problem. This battle was the critical hurdle, ha ha.”
“There are no fatalities. All the wounded soldiers only suffered light injuries. To think you would present such an excellent tactic, Young Master….”
The mage was so moved that tears brimmed in his eyes.
“Once this year passes, all of our Central Army will be issued steel weapons, so we can breathe easier. And since you have grown so splendidly, Young Master, we have nothing more to wish for.”
The knight and the mage spoke proudly.
Unlike the two of them, Friedrich wore an awkward smile.
“Ha ha ha···. I see.”
Friedrich was grumbling inwardly about the reality that even the well-armed Etilant Central Army had difficulty obtaining steel, when he recalled the most important point.
‘They are still in the middle of issuing steel weapons? What a foul taste of the Middle Ages, damn it.’
There was a long road ahead.
Grumbling inwardly once again, Friedrich clapped his hands for the final task.
“Then let us begin the cleanup.”
“Yes, Young Master. Everyone, begin!”
“Yes, Commander!”
The soldiers answered in perfect order, as if with one voice, and either ran to the freight wagons to bring empty tubs and crates or drew their daggers.
The cleanup began. They harvested and gathered goblin eyeballs and teeth to be used as potion ingredients, as well as palate glue to be used as bow material, from the goblin corpses.
***
That evening, after several days of cleanup work had been completed.
The soldiers sat gathered in small groups, warming themselves by campfires as they shouted hearty toasts.
“Etilant, forever!”
“Forever!”
Beer sloshed each time the soldiers raised their cups high in response to the Thousand-Man Commander’s lead.
“Without your brilliant stratagem, Young Master, we could not even have dreamed of such a great victory! Congratulations, Young Master!”
“I merely used my head. Without the knights and mages of each rank, and without the 1st Thousand-Man Unit, I could not even have dreamed of it.”
The Thousand-Man Commander, who had offered praise brimming with sincerity, marveled once more at the sight of Friedrich drinking juice with a simple smile.
‘He is only fourteen···.’
As the leading figure behind a great victory where not a single person had died and only light injuries had occurred, it would have been easy for him to become arrogant. Yet he was so dignified.
‘His frail appearance until now has vanished completely. The Mayor will no longer have anything to worry about.’
While raising his evaluation of Friedrich and imagining how pleased the man who was both Friedrich’s father and his own employer would be, the Thousand-Man Commander looked at the Magic Squad Leader.
Perhaps their hearts were of one mind, for the Magic Squad Leader also smiled faintly and nodded.
Now, there would not be a single person in the Etilant Autonomous Territory who could unconditionally deny Friedrich’s qualifications as heir.
‘There will be many people interfering over when I should step into the forefront, but···.’
Even they could simply be silenced by showing his ability.
‘It is not impossible.’
Friedrich, who had been drinking juice with his confidence and vision as his accompaniment, suddenly removed the cup from his lips.
‘I want beer.’
To think he had to make do with juice because imperial law forbade minors under sixteen from drinking.
Friedrich Medichin soothed his disappointment with the remaining juice, dismayed by the useless laws of a fantasy world.