CHAPTER 20

“Don’t chase them, the walls and the gate will prove to be a hindrance,” Steven said as he and the magic corps cast the last of their magic and the battle that day was over.

“Good job sir Parker, even though you were outnumbered, you managed to kill some of those gladiator teams,” Steven replied while smiling as the soldiers cheered.

“Let’s go to the headquarters, I want to hear how the battle progress.”

“Yes. Today, we managed to win. We managed to incur a heavy loss to the enemy, I think we managed to kill about 3 thousand today while only suffering about 500 casualties” Steven said followed by cheers from the soldiers

“Hart, are you okay?”

“No problem! Just some scratch. “

“How did they wound you?” Nana asked. Good question, I want to know too.

“Well, I was caught off guard. I thought their sword would bounce off my body but that one spear managed to stab me in the shoulder.”

“Well, it might be a magic spear specialized with weapon edge or Hart might have a lapse in his body strengthening. It was a common occurrence. We are glad that it was a shallow wound.” Steven replied while smiling.

“Thank goodness. You are really okay right?” Nana said while looking very worried toward Hart’s bandaged shoulder. “There was a lot of blood there.”

“Well, I am fine now. There is no permanent damage.” Hart said while flexing his arm. I sighed in relief.

“Stella said I should immediately back Hart while she gave a command to my units,” Nana said

“Good thinking Stella.” I praise her. If Nana were to leave her units alone, they might become sitting ducks if gladiators came upon it. The real war is so different than a mock battle

“Why the battle plan?” I turned to Steven.

“What do you mean?”

“I was surrounded in that battle, and so is Hart. How come that is possible?”

“Well, usually the gladiator formed a party, but I chose the second formation, the part where powerful gladiators each guard their own units. I think the enemy chooses the first seeing as their rear guard and a part of their core formation is defenseless. Well, their rear is guarded by the caste walls so we can’t do anything about it but we managed to take a good chunk of their army, all thanks to you.” Steven was still smiling despite the accusation

“We only kill more than them, it’s not like we won or anything. Why are you smiling so happily?” Nana asked.

“Well, less enemy, the better right?” Steven said.

“Well, it turned out okay now. But, if somehow Hart was killed there, we are going to lose this war. Please manage the risk more cautiously.” I warned Steven. His plan might be sound, but he relied on us too much. Or, is this the cross all gladiators must bear?

“Of course, but with due respect, I trust that you all can do this much. Even though I planned the operation, the captain of each unit including you have some control to order the unit as you see fit on the battlefield to achieve the greatest victory. Thanks to snap judgment from Miss Stella, we manage to win a great victory today. I trust that together with you heroes, we will take back the land from the demons in no time.”

“Are you a noble?” Stella asked. That came out of nowhere. Why are you asking that?

“Yes, I am. What about it?”

“Nothing. Just don’t let your ambition to take back your ancestor’s lands clouded your judgment. I must oppose any reckless strategy. If we pull out from the battlefield, you have no chance of victory.”

“I must ask…Are you implying… betrayal?” Steven erased his smile and put out a guarded face.

“No. I oppose a suicide mission. But, if a suicide mission is a must… then yes. It means betrayal.”

“Is that so? I appreciate your honesty. Although it is a pity that your morale is just like that of a sellsword, I must accept since this isn’t your homeland and thus our ancestry mean nothing to you. Hopefully, we can change your mind after a few more battles. Now, let us rest and prepare for tomorrow.” Steven replied while standing up and leaving the tent. His face no longer smiled and he retired to his own tent with a face full of hatred,.

“Stella, you didn’t need to go that far. It was only a scratch.” Hart replied. His bandaged arm tells that he suffered quite an injury.

“No, Stella is right. On earth, this kind of injury will put you in a hospital for 2 weeks. We have a healing magician, but it really hit the bone, didn’t it?” Nana said while examining his wound with worry on her face.

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“Nana, we aren’t on earth anymore. It is common here to lose an arm or a leg. In the barrack earlier, I see some soldiers moaning in pain after their legs are reattached. Even the elite soldier that defended us when we were going to the academy lost an arm.” Hart replied. But I can’t ignore even minor injuries. We can indeed reattach an arm or a leg better than even on earth with magic, but if the arm is completely gone or destroyed, then, in most cases it is a lost cause and the person will be disabled forever barring a very talented healed.

Of course, there is no resurrection spell either. If that spear somehow hit the heart, Hart could die. It is not like a game. We needed to be cautious. Even if it was a minor injury. Phantom pain and blood loss took a lot of time to be cured, so it can affect future skirmishes too.

“Let’s go to sleep. It is useless to rant here. As Steven said, we have some say on the battlefield. So, it’s not like we have to obey idiotic orders. Most military commanders will say that battleplans will not survive an engagement with an enemy, so it is up to our personal judgment to see that we are victorious. Let’s hope that luck is on our side until we return to earth.” I said

“Okay.” Nana smiled and walked to our tent.

“Well, the leader is in a league of his own. Thank you let’s return.” Hart also followed and we were all back in the tent. It was a bit surprising but our tent is joined with the girls sleeping on the left side while we sleep on the right side.

“It is a little difficult sleeping with phantom pain in your shoulder,” Hart said in the morning while yawning.

“Only Stella seemed to sleep well last night.“ Nana also yawned while the rest of the troops were preparing breakfast. Truth be told, I am in the same boat too.

“All of us have some dose of close combat against the enemy. And we also witness that the enemy can harm us in some way.”

“Where is our prodigious amnesiac girl going? She doesn’t eat breakfast?” Hart asked.

“She grabbed a few sandwiches with a canteen of water and went somewhere. Maybe checking on the troops or roasting that Steven again.” I answered.

“Hahaha. Well, that guy isn’t very likable after all. He smiles like a professional butt kisser and seems like a corrupt official.” Nana commented while laughing.

“Well, shall we follow her?” Hart said as he stood up.

“Finish your breakfast first,” Nana answered like a mother.

After breakfast, we went outside and we found Stella sitting on some random rock while dazing at the morning sky. Some soldiers were greeting her out of respect since she contributed the most in the war and unlike other gladiators from this world, we never trash-talk or bully anyone here so our reputation was quite stellar.

“Stella! How are you!” Nana came and greet her

“Hmm… ?” Stella just stared at Nana blankly. “I am fine. Just looking at the enemy fort.”

“Hmm? Any new tactics?” I asked. Truthfully if she is going to show her brilliance, then now is the time. If we go on like this, there is a chance we could not retake the city. Well, the chance of that is quite low since we have several S-ranked gladiators. I, Hart, and Stella could storm the city by ourselves in the worst-case scenario.

“Hart, I will meet the engineering team. We need that siege weapons for tomorrow. “

As I walked toward the engineering team, I also saw Steven organizing some soldiers and made some detailed instructions about the siege weapons. “Hello, Steven. Good evening.”

“Good Evening Mr. Parker. How may I help you?” Steven replied while smiling.

“I was just going to ask about this siege weapon. How are we going to use them?”

“Well, we have catapults loaded with bombs either with chemical or magical ammunition. Then we have rams which will give us an opening to enemy formations or destroy the gate.”

“oh, so battering rams here is also used against infantry? Not only for the gates?”

“Yes. They are especially effective if the enemy is jumbled down together. With someone with a strong body ability, they can push the ram at the speed of 50 m/hour and this will crash into them.” Steven said proudly

“ I personally recommend using this ram first before the bombardments with catapults. Since the bombardment can be mitigated using a magical barrier. we can destroy the barrier with rams and use the bombardment for maximum damage.” Steven said proudly. So he was planning on using this ram to break the barrier first, then launching the catapult for maximum damage.

“I see. Good! I expect a lot from you.“ I replied while shrugging my shoulder. I couldn’t come up with a better plan, so I just praised his ability and went on with his plan. I have some doubts about the efficiency of these rams. They are certainly good at breaking what’s in front of them. The metal at the tip can conduct the weapon edge talent really well and someone else with body talent can push the cart. but what if the rams were destroyed before even reaching the enemy?

“Don’t you think the enemy can destroy this cart with a single spell?”

“Well, these rams won’t be out in the open like sitting ducks, so don’t worry about that. Unless someone like Miss Stella especially targeting these rams. There won’t be any issue.” Steven replied while his smile lessened

“Relax. She won’t turn traitor. We were just worried about the safety of our comrades.”

“Oh! I am glad. I expect a lot from both of you. You guys are the heroes after all. While you guys might be getting some scratches from battle here and now, I can guarantee your lives on the battlefield. I will not make plans that cost the lives of the heroes.” He said confidently. How could he say it so arrogantly? guaranteeing someone’s life in war is practically impossible.

“The human kingdom will suffer a lot if any hero died, so please trust us a bit more. Even if there are any lasting injuries such as limb loss, we can ask the Angel Theocracy for a special medicine to restore those limbs! And a lot of soldiers were willing to throw their lives to protect a gladiator. So rest assured!“ Steven smiled ever broadly now that his worries are now gone.

“Please make sure that it doesn’t come to that okay?” I gave a wry smile to him as I walked back to the tent satisfied with the results of the engineering team.

“Don’t worry, I will make sure to kill or recover as much territory as possible when it comes to that,” Steven replied with a whisper. I can hear him very clearly with my senses. We just can’t catch a break. I think he is not the worst commander, but I thought Alan and Richard were a lot better at strategy.

“Let us sleep early everyone! We have a big day tomorrow. There are some chances that we can breach the wall tomorrow and recapture the Randell!”

The day finally arrived. The siege weapons were ready and we were going to march toward the city. There were over 30 rams and 10 catapults. The strategy Steven devised was to use half of the rams to break through the forward lines of the enemy and then after that, we use the remaining rams to breach the gates or walls. It was quite a simple tactic. With this, preparations to take Randell, one of the major cities of the human kingdom are ready.

“Stella. Anything to add?” I asked her. I was very curious about the information she received. She said it was a dream. If this were on Earth, I would probably laugh. We were in another otherworld where magic could happen, so I sincerely believed that prophetic dreams exist.

“Yes. I feel bad. Like something bad is going to happen. Want to retreat?”

“Well, are you sure something bad is definitely going to happen? If we return empty-handed without at least trying, we will get chewed by everyone.”

“No. There is no dream or anything this time. But I just feel that the enemy number is a lot lower than expected. At most, it was 20 or 30 thousand, right?”

“Well, yeah! That means the enemy was regrouping at Elysion. Richard and the others will handle that. That means we are lucky! We just need to capture this city fast and return to Alpas!”

“Well, this is no luck. Everyone predicted this would happen, dear gladiators. Randell might be an option even if it were to house 1 million troops. But still, Elysion is a bigger city with more facilities, so unless the enemy is crazy or using some weird tactics, it was unthinkable for them to regroup here.” Steven said while smiling. “ Okay, dear heroes. Please help us capture the cities.”

“If we did capture them, will Parker be given the authority just like in Alpas?”

“Well, that certainly can be arranged. It is within military laws that in emergency times, the commander of troops can mobilize a town or city. But you certainly won’t manage Randell and Alpas together right? I think that would be difficult even for a bright gladiator such as yourself.”

“Yes. We will relinquish Alpas to its former owner. “ Stella surprisingly agreed easily. Now, what was her aim? Wasn’t she going to make me a noble with a big territory? If she said no, then that would make an enemy of the kingdom and nobles, but in exchange, we could govern two territories. If she agreed like just now, we will be politically safe but we might not have a ground to step on if things go sour with the relationship of the nobles.

“Wonderful! Not only you are strong but also wise and smart. Truly you guys are perfect heroes. There aren’t many gladiators that also excelled in administration and planning.” Steven butt kissing skills were in full force as he smiled broadly. I guess as long as he got what he wanted, he could give praises like that too huh?

“Okay, we are done with lazing around! Let's march!” I give the command to the troops and the battle to take Randell finally began.