As expected, there were still those among the plains folk who didn’t think siding with Todd was good.
Todd’s methods were too conciliatory, so some must have seen it as spineless.
Totila was keeping his clan together through coercion and intimidation.
Considering the disposition of the mountain folk, it could be said his clan looked more favorable.
“Also…”
“There’s more?”
“Yes sir! – Oi, bring that over!”
Following his order, a warrior hurried into the tent, and brought something out.
At first I thought it might be a black cloth symbolizing mourning, but it was clearly something else.
Totila touched the cloth that was deferentially offered to him.
The smooth, slippery texture was an unfamiliar sensation he had never felt before.
“This is…just what is it?”
“It seems to be a weapon used by the warriors under Todd. Supposedly if someone with magical power wields it, it exerts unmatched might.”
“This is…a weapon?”
This thing that looked only like comfortable clothing was apparently a weapon.
If that were true, then could this be the reason Todd was able to expand his territory so rapidly…?
While ordinary mountain folk might have laughed it off and discarded such a claim, Totila had very progressive thinking, not bound by common sense.
He decided to at least try wearing this so-called weapon used by the plains folk.
The moment he put it on, he sensed a slight drain of power from his body.
It seemed this weapon exerted its effects through the expenditure of magical power.
Totila had some knowledge of magic.
Having previously taken instruction from a sorcerer who came from the plains, he had become quite adept at fire magic.
That magical intuition warned him.
Despite not seeming to have used much magical power, just what was going on here?
While finding it strange, Totila felt energy welling up and overflowing throughout his entire body via the clothes.
Since nothing came to mind regarding how to use this overflowing energy, he simply started running for now.
“Wha-!?”
In an instant, an instant, during the brief time comparable to the blink of an eye, he had sprinted the distance of several warriors.
If he kept running, his body felt as light as a feather.
His physical abilities had clearly improved. Jumping now allowed him to easily clear the height of an adult warrior’s shoulder.
After movement speed, attack power was the next thing he wondered about.
Totila sparred with the elite warriors who followed him.
The result was continuous victory. Furthermore, no matter how many consecutive battles, he did not run out of breath.
(With a weapon like this, it would explain their abnormal conquest speed… It seems the herbivores have created an outrageous weapon)
Totila decided to move forward the plan he had constructed in his mind – to settle the battle as early as possible.
Not all the warriors under Todd possessed this weapon. In other words, they still hadn’t established the infrastructure to mass produce these weapons.
In that case, if he first united all the mountain folk under him then immediately marched on the Riis Gaya Kingdom, the goddess of victory would surely smile upon them.
However, to do that he would need to defeat Todd, so Totila listed the various factors of both sides in his mind, pondering what would allow him to gain the advantage.
The mountain folk delighted in conflict and loved battle.
With defectors and newcomers balancing the numbers, they held the advantage in military power.
But it was not enough to determine the greater situation.
Having taken too much time to capture Narup, it was greatly regrettable now.
Totila grit his teeth as he gazed at the visible Mount Shira.
The movements of that mountain had already begun holding more significance than ever before.
It seemed the other side was marching at considerable speed to prepare their forces.
If so, clashes and accidental battles with them would also have to be considered.
Capturing Shira was important.
Their current position in the natural fortress of Narup was easy to defend but had the demerit of hampering mounted battle.
After weighing various factors, Totila came to an answer.
“We will capture Shira, then immediately charge into Todd’s clan. Notify all personnel. Regardless of old or young, male or female, mobilize every last one – this is an all-out attack.”
“Oohhh!!”
They still had superior numbers for the time being.
And the mountain folk were adept at offense rather than defense, as they were a race of mounted archers.
Therefore, what was most powerful for them in this situation would surely be an overwhelming show of force relying on their numbers and momentum.
The enemy were plains folk who made nonsense claims about respecting the culture of the mountain folk.
In that case, the battle would probably become one that decided supremacy between them in a single clash.
Totila trembled at the prospect of a battle on a scale never seen before, as he watched with a satisfied expression the warriors leaving to relay orders….
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“A battle on the plains, just as expected huh,”
The day before Totila led his army and arrived at Mount Shira, Todd had heard about it via his scouts.
For the mountain folk, information leaks were virtually non-existent.
While the numbers of troops might be unknown, simple information like when and from where groups departed and where they were headed could easily be discovered.
However, to relay that information required moving faster than the marching army, necessitating riding at full speed.
The messenger who came to inform them was probably sleeping like mud right about now.
“There was also the option of holing up in Narup, good thing that didn’t happen. I don’t wanna spend too much time on this.”
Quite some time had already passed since the mountain folk subjugation began.
A very large event was also drawing close before long.
To make it through all that, the less time spent on the mountain folk the better.
“Our side has a little over 2,000 while they’ve got around 3,000. If they bring gramps and others it might go up a bit more, but Your Highness has no intention this time except fighters considered adults over 15 years old right?”
“Yeah, we’ll go with only adult warriors who can fight. It’d mess up my sleep if kids got killed after all.”
Today, Todd and Haruto’s gazes were fixed on three people fighting in front of them.
Raienbach, Garu, and Ho were engaged in a mock battle in a one versus two formation.
They had set up the difference in numbers so that the gap in war potential would not become too large, but it seems there was still quite a disparity.
There was also a difference in the weapons and armor they were using, but more than anything, their abilities were too far apart.
“Hmph!”
Raienbach’s greatsword swung out, blowing back the sword held by Garu.
Taking advantage of the opening, a kick stabbed into his unguarded abdomen.
With a heavy, dull sound as if a blunt weapon had plunged in, Garu was blown far away.
“Next is this guy.”
Ho, who had tried to time an attack with Garu, stopped his slashing motion and froze for a moment.
Then he took a big step back, taking his distance.
Since Raienbach could barely use any magic, his main means of attack were physical.
He rushed forward towards Ho who was panting and wiping sweat as he caught his breath.
“Fire Arrow Magic!”
But Garu, who had already read his movement, was taking evasive action and getting back on his feet.
Shaking, he drew his bow and shot an arrow of magical fire precisely at the space between Raienbach and Ho, right where Raienbach would likely advance.
The formed arrow of fire flew as if being sucked in, precisely as Garu had aimed.
But composure did not disappear from Raienbach’s face.
“Not enough power.”
He took the arrow of fire head-on in his chest.
The magical armor he wore was a type of armor that could enhance and strengthen the body and full-body armor with magical power.
However, it would still conduct heat as-is, so right now his chest was likely being assaulted by heat no different than being roasted by flames.
Yet Raienbach continued walking forward without changing his expression a bit.
As Ho came forward trying to throw off Raienbach’s timing of attack, he blew Ho away with a strike from the hilt of his hurled sword, making it look like he was slashing down.
As Ho flew back from the impact, Raienbach rushed forward as well, and pressed the tip of his greatsword to Ho’s throat as he tumbled and rolled on the ground.
“…I surrender.”
Ho said only that and stood up, brushing the dirt off him with his hands.
What he was wearing was the fortified armor he had been lent.
Since this battle could be said to settle everything once and for all, after much consternation Todd had decided to release the fortified armors to the mountain people.
Of course it was only after tribunals and review by Ho and others who were formerly tribal chiefs, but since they had not spent that long together, they could not say they completely trusted them.
Therefore, rather than distributing them to each tribe, the warriors wearing the fortified armors were organized into a single unit separate from the tribes.
The name of the unit was the Fortified Infantry Platoon, and they currently numbered twenty-nine people.
Despite there being thirty pieces of fortified armor, the number of people did not match because one of the mountain people selected by Haruto had disappeared into the night some time ago, stealing a fortified armor and running off with it.
Its whereabouts were completely unknown, but considering it had likely defected to Totila’s side, it was best to assume it had made its way over there.
Todd estimated with quite some probability that Totila would come wearing the fortified armor.
In his current state riding Shiranui, Todd could gain the advantage against Raienbach even if he wore fortified armor.
Since it had not been that long since they had obtained it, he thought it should still be fine, but…considering there was a possibility of one-on-one combat with Totila as well, to be completely honest he felt quite uneasy.
But gaining a unit outfitted with fortified armor was a major boon.
The Fortified Infantry Platoon that would not see the light of day in the game until quite a bit later had appeared ahead of schedule in this world.
Incidentally, the platoon leader of the Fortified Infantry Platoon was Garu.
There were two reasons for this.
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Did they seriously not put some trap or failsafe on the armor? An overload command or hidden weakness?