North x Northwest

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Side Story 4 – Liloa’s Chapter 2: Mortu’s Castle

“How dare you…”

With Arthur exposed, several horses quickly blocked his rear. As their speed increased, so did the distance between them and her. Still, the range was close enough.

Liloa soon came to her senses and fired one final shot.

– Bang! –

Her bullet hit the back of one of the enemies who blocked the Count. The rider bent his upper body, lost control of the reins, and fell off the horse.

At the same time, the sound of the imperial troops’ horns could be heard from somewhere beyond the lines.

“…Stop!..”

“…Retreat!..”

The cavalry unit pursuing the raiding army gradually slowed down and the federal cavalry quickly disappeared into the forest dimlitted by the moon. The surrounding Karabinae officers then looked sideways, as if they had belatedly noticed Liloa. Nonetheless, she continued to steer Koud Bhan towards the last fallen enemy. This man’s war horse had already run off somewhere, so there was only a body lying on the dark forest floor between the sparse trees.

Glancing back, Liloa saw the rest of the officers dismounting from their horses and starting capturing prisoners. Still on Koud Bhan, Liloa looked down at the face of the man lying in a foetal position, grabbing his sides. His dishevelled hood exposed his eye and nose. It was an officer named Yousef who was often seen next to Count Arthur.

‘I remember him taunting me at the negotiating table… He’ll probably be a useful prisoner.’

“Get up.”

However, the man remained motionless, even going as far as holding his breath. Liloa, who had no choice but to dismount and crouch down to his level, grabbed his shoulder and rolled him over, revealing the gun held closely to Yousef’s chest. The muzzle of the obviously loaded gun was pointing directly at her. Liloa, however, was unsurprised and quickly slashed his wrist with her dagger.

“Aaaaagh!”

She then picked up Yousef’s gun and fired it into the ground till it was empty.

“It is suspicious if you are curled up like that when you were actually hit on the back.”

“..!”

Liloa took out a rope and moved behind him.

Not wearing her gloves anymore, her bare hands chafed as she tied the man’s wrists. Yousef seemed pissed and made remarks about her being a prostitute, but Liloa only wanted to laugh at him.

When her knot was tightly completed, she took off his hood and lifted him up by his hair. Lifting his heavy upper body was a challenge, but Liloa gave it as much strength as she could.

“Go tell the Count…”

“…”

Yousef, whose upper body was raised at an angle, was shaking in humiliation, but Liloa twisted his head even more to show him the corpses strewn across the forest path his comrades had run down.

“Look at what a woman can do.”

“…”

Liloa lowered her body further so that her voice could penetrate Youssef’s ears clearly.

“You will be defeated by the woman whom you called a prostitute.”

***

Pontenbach was a fertile strategic point located between the Risch Mountains and the Risch River. And due to that sole reason, the White Federation, located in the northern part of the central continent, coveted Pontenbach because the area was located along the waist of that long river.

The Risch River has several tributaries, but its main stream extends from the east of the Risch Mountains, through Sesbron, all the way to the lower regions of the Mondovi Peninsula into the Anatole Sea. Naturally, the river became the main sea route to reach Sesbron if the wind was right. If the land route connecting the Anatole Sea to the heart of the empire was seen as a major trade route, in terms of waterways the same could be said about the Risch River. The number of ships using that river crossing the continent was countless.

The White Federation’s purpose wasn’t to occupy Pontenbach per se. Through negotiations, it became clear they wanted to guarantee the rights to the Risch River near Pontenbach. Since the upper reaches of the river were located in the Risch Mountains, which was already federal territory, the Federation spent several years building a dam in the valley of the Risch Mountains to force the agreement. It was even said that the dam was built using a surprisingly strong material made by mixing lime and sand.

But the empire’s misfortunes didn’t end there. During the recent spring and summer, extremely rare rainfall had occurred in the Midwest, causing the mid-lower reaches of the Risch River to dry out rapidly. As a result, a great famine broke out, and the vast midwestern plains of the empire turned barren.

People starved to death. In addition, the waterways used to transport grain were also dried by the dam, so relief ships couldn’t travel.

Since the number of people dying from starvation had increased to an unbearable level, the imperial army was ordered to capture the dam. It was a temporary occupation that would only be proven effective if the dam was sufficiently destroyed.

After the Federation’s raid, no one else told Liloa to go around the military camp to give words of encouragement again, except for Robero. He was stubborn until the end. He even attempted the tedious process of persuasion, but Liloa’s platoon joined the regiment and headed to Jussin Canyon anyway. At that time, her prime responsibility was to snipe from the rear, but she was confident she could handle that as well.

A month later, the dam in the Jussin Canyon collapsed. The river that had accumulated upstream burst out explosively, such that the stream of water flowed to the middle and lower reaches and seeped gracefully into the plains cracked by drought…

***

Rumours about Liloa circulated in Sesbron. But they were completely different from before her battle in Pontenbach.

Liloa felt humanised as though she could change the world if she continued like this.

Moreover, since Liloa was at Pontenbach, Obernyu faithfully supplied war horses at half the normal cost. Because of this, the Emperor had no intention of letting Liloa go. All the circumstances were in her favour.

There, where she had to move roughly to survive, some people speculated that she would eventually be commissioned because of her credits from the Jussin Canyon. However, the opinion that her impact was merely a small part of a larger battle was still stronger. Nonetheless, Liloa felt life vividly in a place where she could shout in triumph as if she wasn’t different from the rest.

Liloa eventually came to Sesbron on leave, but she felt rather stuffy in the capital. She was more energised on the battlefield and thought of returning to Pontenbach ahead of schedule.

Before heading off again, Annette, who was seeing off Liloa, touched Liloa’s face and asked.

“Are you not hurt anywhere?”

“Yes. I’m healthy.”

Annette clasped Liloa’s hands near her own mouth.

“You are trying to take a very difficult path…”

“But I like it.”

“The world will be harsh on you.”

Liloa spoke out the words she had been pondering for a long time.

“To begin with… it was never that kind. So, I have no reason to be afraid.”

Annette’s expression changed in an instant. After briefly peering at Liloa, she stepped back as if to face a traitor and spoke firmly in a tone that almost sounded reproachful.

“You talk as if you are fed up.”contemporary romance

“…”

“No matter how much you feel… have I not been truly kind to you?”

“No, you have been really good to me.”

“But?”

“But…”

“..?”

Liloa lowered her head and swallowed dry saliva. She didn’t have the confidence to express her long-winded truth. After all, she knew very well that the woman in front of her would never accept it.

“I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue.”

Annette’s face, full of disappointment, flashed before her eyes. At the same time, she also heard people talking about themselves, but Liloa didn’t doubt that her glory would come at the end of this momentary loneliness. This was because the honour given to victorious soldiers was an extremely common and traditional reward. She would be recognized for doing her part, and no one would dare to deny it.

‘When I can focus, I can forget those thoughts…’

As a result, Liloa participated in as many battles as she could. Her position started from the rear and gradually moved forward.

***

Whenever the enemy’s cavalry rushed out, the imperial army’s frontline split sideways, allowing the Karabinae to race forward.

Unfortunately, there were so many horses in the North that there seemed to be a constant stream of new enemy cavalrymen on horseback. And considering the fact that the imperial cavalry had less than half of the enemy’s soldiers, holding out was an astonishing figure. However, federal cavalrymen used spears or swords. So no matter how powerful their cavalry was in terms of number, it would be useless if hit by a bullet outside the range of their weapons.

The colonel in front of Liloa shouted.

“Not the breastplate! Aim for the head!”

Liloa glanced at the uniforms of the charging cavalry. The federal cavalrymen were wearing breastplates now, possibly to counter the Karabinae. So instead of their torsos, Liloa redirected her gun’s muzzle beneath her opponents’ red fur-trimmed helmets.

Someone around her shouted.

“Fire!”

But Liloa had already pulled the trigger before that.

Once more…

– Bang! –

After she finished firing, she grabbed another gun. Steering the reins to the right, Liloa turned and fired, resulting in another bullet lodged under the enemy’s helmet. The carabiners split behind both wings and the infantry regiment advanced.

“…Kill them!…”

“…Aaaah!…”

A battle broke out, consisting of a mixture of cavalry and infantry*.

– – – – –

Footnote:

Cavalry: Are soldiers who fight mounted on horseback. They mainly fight with swords, but do carry guns which can only be fired while standing still.

Infantry: Are soldiers who fight in ground combat on foot.

Karabinea: Are soldiers who fight while mounted on horseback and master the art of shooting guns while riding.

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