CH 120

Chapter 120

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : Flames Of War In The Central Plains, Part 8 — Two Beast Generals

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

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「I guess we didn’t make it in time…」

Then a few moments later, Geddhard. A leopard beastman, with his men in tow, walks through the castle town of Geddhard, where houses have collapsed, fires are still raging everywhere, and smoke is obscuring his vision. He is Rohha, one of the Twelve Beast Generals, the pride of Gruzald, and is known as『Godspeed.』

When he arrived in Geddhard, he realized that the Krummus forces were already gone, and his first priority was to rescue the survivors. They’re also here waiting for the rear line to catch up with them, while at the same time releasing scouts to follow the whereabouts of Krummus’ army. It’s hard to say without the return of the scouts, but Rohha isn’t a reckless man to pursue with only 5,000 soldiers against Krummus, who has driven Zamwed so thoroughly. No matter what their inner feelings are.

Besides, the Krummus forces totally ignored the fact that their marching speed is usually quite slow as the troops advance while tending to the wounded and injured. This is a normal military response. However, as the rescue efforts progressed and reports of abnormally low numbers of survivors began to come in, Rohha’s face grew darker and darker.

「If only we had been at least one more day earlier…」

「I’m sorry to inform you!」

「What is it?」

While Rohha was sinking in regret, a young beastman soldier came to report.

「We have checked the castle and as of now there are no survivors, and the bodies of the King, Queen, and 1st to 5th Princes have been confirmed.」

「So then, Zamwed’s male lineage is wiped out? My goodness… what about the princesses?」

「The princesses has not yet been confirmed… After all, all women have messed up faces. I thought it would take some time to check.」

「I guess they did it on purpose. What a dastardly thing to do.」

Both Rohha and his subordinates were speechless. The messenger, seeing the situation, continues his report with trepidation.

「Some civilians were found alive, but… what would you like to do?」

「First, we need generous protection. I’ll talk to them in person, one by one, starting with those who seem ready to talk.」

「Yes, sir!」

The beastman, having finished his report, turns and runs away. Then one walks up behind him, his footsteps echoing behind him.

「Rohha! Is it total annihilation!?」

「Vargo, it’s you. Looks like it.」

The tiger beastman approached Rohha, grabbed him by the chest, and roared in a terrible manner.

「Looks like it, you’re joking me! If only you had been faster, someone might have been saved! What’s the point of your『Godspeed!』」

「That is my personal alias, not as an army. And even if I were the only one to go ahead of them, I could only take on a thousand at most. I can’t do anything against an army of over 10,000.」

「What a bunch of wimpy assholes! You could have at least bought us some time!」

「That’s a fair point, but who can imagine Rambaur and Geddhard falling in two days? Before we went into battle, you said,『Krummus will be a piece of cake,』right?」

「That’s true, but!」

「It’s all about results. Krummus was better this time. That’s all there is to it.」

The beastman called Vargo let go of his hand without effort. The『Hard-breaking』Vargo. He is a super-combatant general who leads the most break-through troops of the Twelve Gruzald generals. He’s prone to fits of rage, but he’s also compassionate and has personally interacted with the royal family of Zamwed. For this reason, he is probably the one who cannot forgive this situation more than anyone else. Because he understood this sentiment, Rohha didn’t object in any way, even though he too was grabbed by the chest.

「But that doesn’t mean… this is not the way it’s supposed to be.」

「The third prince and you knew each other, didn’t you?」

「Yes. He was my apprentice. He was a very timid little boy… He trained harder than anyone else and said,『I want to be as strong as you someday.』He was an adorable kid. At first I didn’t think he had a chance, but he turned out to be a tough little guy in the end. I mean, he did put one in me, after all.」

「That’s quite a feat.」

「Yeah, I ain’t got no kids, so I took care of them like they were my own. And yet… those humans!」

「…」

「…I’ll never forgive you, Krummus. I will never forgive you while my eyes are black! I swear it. I swear I’ll do the same to the people of that country, and I’ll make them bleed like the rest of them!!」

「Calm down, it’s Dryan-sama who decides that.」

「I don’t give a shit! If that bastard Dryan doesn’t want to do it, I’ll do it alone!」

「Huu, that’s why…」

Rohha is troubled by the barking Vargo. Rohha isn’t a long-tempered man. In fact, when he was younger, he was sometimes considered more dangerous than Vargo, as the Beast General with the most temper. Once he took on the responsibility of leading an army, his personality changed drastically.

However, Rohha, like Vargo, is also very angry inside. He too would have liked to immediately get into Krummus and take retaliatory action, but a few things that didn’t add up kept his reason in check.

Since becoming the leader of the army, Rohha emphasized the role of scout. It was his decision to send a scout to Zamwed this time. If he were alone, he could handle the battle, but when he lead an army, many young men die because of his decisions. It was more than his own death, which was unbearable for Rohha.

Therefore, even in peacetime, he would have his men pose as merchants and dispatch them to various countries. The purpose was to closely probe the inner workings of each city and each country. According to the information contained in the report, there was no indication that Krummus would be able to play nice with Zamwed until just a few months ago.

「（I don’t know why. The forces are the same, but also the reason for the war. It’s obvious that if they push Zamwed into a corner, we Gruzald will come out. The only countries that could go to war with us head-to-head would be the unification of all the countries in the west, or all the great powers in the east forming an alliance, or the northern Romansland. I don’t think Romansland is behind this? But with Krummus, they are too far away and there is no point in having an alliance. I can’t wrap my head around this… I’ll have to ask the vizier, Ron, or old man Gora.）」

Rohha ponders what comes after this.

「（In any case, even if we were to pursue them now, we would have to worry about supplies, and we would have too little information. The strength of an army is only when it has depth of action. This Krummus-like operation is nothing more than a suicide mission with no regard for the consequences. That said, I don’t deny that it worked, but it’s a tactic that an army led by a sane commander would never use. And from the looks of this, I’d say there was a civil war going on here. I’d like to see what kind of idiotic faces they have leading them, not caring about their own grievances or the damage they do to their own troops. Well, the moment I see them, I’ll cut off their fucking heads.）」

Vargo and Rohha are both roaring. The atmosphere is extraordinary just by the Two Beastmen generals who are one and the same. Where the soldiers attached to them were not at ease, the beastman’s messenger jumped in with even more haste.

「General, we have a problem!」

「What, did Krummus turn back?」

「No, that would be!」

The messenger gave an earful to Rohha, and this time Rohha shouted louder than Vargo.

「What did you say!?!」

「Ohhh!?」

It was unusual for Rohha to raise his voice that loudly, and Vargo couldn’t help but be startled. The same was true for the beastmen working nearby, who involuntarily stopped their feet and hands.

「What’s wrong, Rohha?」

「…The guys from Tragathlon are attacking us.」

「Hah!? At this time?」

This time, Vargo shouted loudly. The beastmen around him realized that something was wrong and came closer.

「For now, just a primary report, 20,000 for the first team and then 50,000 for the main body. The border has already been breached and they are coming in a straight line towards us. The Zamwed army along the way seems to be unable to mount any resistance, since the capital has fallen and they have been forced to devote their strength to holding off the Krummus.」

「Hey–hey, that’s just about as many as we can take on with our forces.」

「It’s more than that, the numbers are half the story. Until now, Tragathlon has always used more than 100,000 troops. But 70,000 this time… I can’t be sure, but I’m looking at this as the first wave.」

「That being the case,」

「Yeah, there will be a 2nd and 3rd group. We don’t have time to worry about Krummus, it’s going to be a big war with Tragathlon.」

「Oh, man, I’m so pissed. Let’s go all out, you guys!」

「「「Ohhhh!!」」」

The people around him howl at Vargo’s proclamation, but Rohha thinks that the situation may not be so simple.

「（There must have been a secret agreement between Krummus and Tragathlon to set this up at this time. You don’t think the commander of Krummus read all this? He wanted an all-out war between us and Tragathlon? Impossible, the timing of all this is too good… If everything is as planned, the hand of Krummus is not only in Tragathlon, but also in Zamwed and even in our country. Come to think of it, the gathering of food and other supplies on this expedition was strangely slow. Damn, what is going on?）」

However, despite Rohha’s misgivings, the situation was progressing. For now, all Gruzald had to do was to intercept Tragathlon. Originally, there was a way to retreat once Zamwed was destroyed, but Vargo would not be convinced, and still not all of the royal family has been confirmed dead. Then, the alliance could not be ignored, and Gruzald was forced to intercept the 70,000 Tragathlon with an expeditionary force of 20,000.

The curtain had only just been dropped on the war in the Central Plains.