Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 271

271

Two Things You Shouldn’t Touch

Eastern Hispaña, early dawn.

A large army was preparing to cross a river, not very wide but still an obstacle.

Normally, they would have traveled north or south for about four days to find a bridge. But this time, the Hispañan army seemed willing to take risks for the sake of speed.

“The vanguard will cross swiftly. We will complete the crossing today and encircle them before the enemy accurately estimates our location,” Marquis Volkov instructed the intermediate commanders firmly.

The goal was to begin the crossing at dawn with this large army, complete it within the day, and encircle the 1st Army of Nudia, which had dared to enter Hispaña.

It wasn’t impossible. They were cutting down travel time by crossing where the enemy wouldn’t expect it, shortening the distance to the enemy by a day and a half.

Marquis Volkov, inspecting the army’s crossing preparations, turned to Zion, who stood quietly beside him. “Young Master Zion Claussen,” he began, “any news from the warriors you summoned?”

“If things go as expected, they should be reorganizing by now. They will contact us, but they are being cautious, as our location could be exposed.”

“Well, they wouldn’t expect us to cross like this, abandoning the bridge.”

Stroking his chin, Marquis Volkov carefully examined the kingdom’s map.

They had decided to cross the river instead of using the bridge to move directly to the enemy’s location, saving four days. However, after crossing, the troops would need to rest, effectively gaining them two to three days.

‘Of course, that alone is enough!’

By catching them off guard, they would encounter Nudia’s 1st Army in less than two days.

He anticipated that the enemy would be exhausted from the harassment of the northern warriors, struggle against the main force of Hispaña, and eventually retreat or be annihilated.

Marquis Volkov entrusted the unit leading the crossing to Zion.

He was the most trusted person in the army, and having Claussen’s successor—the shield that defeated Nudia—at the forefront of this regular army heading east was excellent for morale.

“What about the scouts’ reports?”

“They say there’s nothing particularly suspicious around.”

“Send out the scouts once more before the vanguard completes the crossing. The army is most vulnerable when divided like this.”

“Yes, Marquis!”

After receiving the scouts’ report that there were no issues, Zion’s vanguard began crossing.

Afterward, they drove wedges to allow the main force to cross, connected countless ropes to create a path for rafts carrying luggage, and prepared to rescue anyone swept away by the currents.

Watching the soldiers drying their river-soaked bodies in the rising sunlight, Zion considered what would happen next.

‘According to the information Helen sent, the fairies seem to be in turmoil internally, divided between those who can’t trust anyone and those who can’t suspect the celestials [divine beings].’

Although all fairies liked the celestials, not all were willing to throw away their lives for them like the radical fairies.

For many, the celestials were merely a means to prove their nobility, not their reason for existence.

In that situation, Zion subtly dropped tactical nukes in each of the fairies’ villages, and they were now in chaos.

Some blamed the demons; others argued that it couldn’t be the demons because of the celestial devices present.

Some wondered if it was the work of humans or other races, while others dismissed that idea, arguing that humans or other races couldn’t penetrate their defenses so easily.

Then, some wondered if it was the fairies themselves, and some, unwilling to suspect their own kind, finally arrived at the answer Zion wanted.

‘Could the celestials be the ones who attacked them?’

It wasn’t entirely impossible.

Except for the radical fairies, most lived quietly, so the celestials might be punishing them for not carrying out the will of light.

Of course, another fight broke out among the fairies, with some calling it blasphemy.

Somehow, they were a ‘great’ race that couldn’t get along with other races, let alone themselves, and fought constantly.

‘They’re the race that fought over whether to eat jam or not, so this is expected.

Easy, very easy.

I hope the activities of those radical guys will be restricted by being mindful of other fairies like this.’

He would convince the demons to deliberately strike the Holy Prussen [a religious state] and appear defeated, letting the celestials know that the demons were no longer a threat.

That way, he would make them leave the holy ground and pursue the hope, ambition, or senility of building a new world on the ashes of this one—that was Zion’s current goal.

If the beastmen and even the fairies friendly to the celestials heard the celestials’ plan to burn this world, they would immediately object and turn their backs.

‘Of course, even then, the fanatics and radical guys would like it and say, “Let’s do it!” They say they can be resurrected in that heaven and live forever or something. Moron bastards.

What future do those who can’t be faithful to the present have?

They’re talking nonsense that would freeze my ass off.’

Zion’s first target was Nudia, a place overflowing with more extreme fanatics than the Holy Prussen.

This was natural, as the radical fairies were using Nudia as their base.

They were manipulating the king of Nudia’s “little buddy,” making him use semen instead of brains.

He would filter out the fairies hiding in Nudia and throw the fanatics into the fire as they wished.

And he would make the celestials, confident from their fight with the demons, finally move.

In the novel, the Holy Prussen and Nudia, completely taken over by the celestials, were easily turned to ashes, and then Hispaña was attacked. But Zion planned to change things this time.

‘The battlefield afterward is Nudia, not Hispaña.

Hispaña, especially the Claussen March, is my land.

If a fight breaks out there, public sentiment will plummet, and house prices will drop!

So, let’s have the Nudia friends suffer a little instead.

Since you guys struck first anyway, you should acknowledge this much as self-defense.’

To be honest, it was a little, no, a lot too much to call it self-defense.

But Zion wasn’t the kind of person to worry about such things, so it was better to let it go.

Zion, thinking that news from Zann should have arrived by now as the main force began to cross, noticed the intermediate commander next to him looking uneasy.

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, Young Master Zion Claussen. Well, some of the scouts haven’t returned yet. It’s been well over their return time, but they’re not even in sight.”

“…The scouts still haven’t returned?”

It wasn’t a delusion that he suddenly felt uneasy.

Zion looked around, thinking, ‘No way,’ and checked behind him.

There were the vanguard, just finished reorganizing, and the main force, just starting to cross.

He looked ahead again.

He remembered that the army was most vulnerable when divided, but he had been too simplistic in thinking that the enemies were held back by the northern warriors and couldn’t do anything.

‘…Shit.’

As Zion was about to give urgent orders, cursing, he heard the sound of something sharply cutting through the air and screams from all directions.

“Aaaagh!”

“Guh!”

“Ugh!”

Arrows targeted only the soldiers with great precision, as if they had been watching from the beginning.

In a situation that was already infuriating, Zion gritted his teeth as he saw a group of knights suddenly appear and charge.

‘I underestimated them too much!

Damn it, I’ve been had!’

―

The fairies’ guidance was accurate, and their archery skills were even more so.

It was difficult to hit a spot that could inflict a fatal wound even with aimed shots, but the fairies seemed to be shooting roughly, yet their arrows struck the necks or chests of the Hispañan soldiers.

“As expected of the fairies. Their archery skills are the best.”

“It seems we have received the will of light. I’ve never heard of fairies helping humans.”

“…Focus. They are only support; we must drive the wedge in the end,” Ibe cautioned the knights, waiting for the fairies’ attack to subside.

The will of light or whatever was nonsense that Ibe couldn’t believe.

Everything alive thinks and acts in pursuit of its own benefit.

Even this war, on the surface, was about the will of light, but inside, it was Nudia’s desire to gain an advantage over Hispaña.

“…Now!”

At Ibe’s signal, the Nudian knights charged.

Although their numbers were small, the enemies were not the main force but only a part of the troops that had just crossed.

Moreover, they had come prepared, while the enemy hadn’t even formed a formation.

It was difficult for the humans to find composure in the face of the knights’ charge.

Doo-doo-doo!

Hee-hee-heeing!―

“Waaaaaah!”

“Charge! Charge!”

“Quickly pierce through and retreat! Don’t stop!”

Doo-doo-doo-doo!―

Kwaang!

Kwang!

The Hispañan side was visibly flustered by the sudden charge, and before they could prepare, the front was swept away by the Nudian knights, creating utter chaos.

“Aaaagh!”

“Break through like this!”

“Keugh!”

“Completely destroy them! Don’t risk your lives swinging your swords! Just break the formation!”

The Nudian knights, running without stopping, completely disrupted the Hispañan army.

Ibe, riding her horse, directly assessed the war situation, feeling the atmosphere and preparing for any accidents.

She spotted a young man diligently commanding at the front and was startled but soon smiled with satisfaction.

As she expected, Zion Claussen was at the front of the main force!

“Send the signal!”

“Yes!”

One of the knights, focused on protecting Ibe, quickly hung his energy on the tip of his spear and waved it high.

Then, the fairies’ arrows stopped.

‘I admit it’s cowardly. I also admit that I can’t call this my victory!’

But.

‘But!

I believe that Zion Claussen, you will understand that it can’t be helped to win!

I will apologize for this later if I have the chance!’

At the same time, the arrows that had been inflicting fatal wounds on the Hispañan soldiers began to concentrate on Zion Claussen and his surroundings.

These weren’t ordinary arrows but attacks like a rain of death shot with mana [magical energy], which ordinary people couldn’t avoid or block.

“Shield! Shield!”

The Hispañan soldiers hurriedly raised their shields.

The Nudian knights and Ibe sent the signal and sped up to leave the battlefield.

If they continued, they could be surrounded by the reinforced Hispañan army and suffer great damage.

‘What about Zion Claussen?’

The top priority was to curb the momentum of the Hispañan main force and warn them not to do anything foolish because the Nudian side already knew their location.

Ibe added an additional goal: to break and scratch the shield and spear of the Hispañan army, Zion Claussen.

It would be even better if he was completely broken.

Swoosh!―

Thud!

Ibe confirmed that all her goals had been achieved.

One of the pouring arrows penetrated the soldiers’ shields and pierced Zion Claussen’s forearm and chest.

‘Got it!’

Having achieved everything she wanted, Ibe ordered a retreat.

The fairies would shoot arrows after Ibe’s signal and immediately leave the battlefield, so there was no reason to worry about them.

Now, it was important to leave this area safely and return to the allied side.

If they exhausted more stamina on the road they had been running since late yesterday afternoon and all night, both people and horses could collapse from exhaustion.

“Retreat! Retreat!

Don’t be blinded by achievements!

You must conserve the stamina of both horses and people!

If you stay on the battlefield any longer, you will collapse before returning to the main force!

Hurry!”

At Ibe’s urgent cry, the knights regained their senses and turned their horses around.

There were plenty of holes to escape through because their backs and sides were already disrupted by the charge, so the Nudian forces left the Hispañan army without significant damage.

“…”

Ibe glanced back.

Originally, an order to pursue or a cry to reorganize the formation should have come, but Hispaña was in chaos, spreading from where Zion Claussen had been.

Seeing that, Ibe thought he might be seriously injured or dead.

‘…He was hit in the chest by a fairy’s arrow, so he might really be dead.’

Ibe bit her lip tightly at the sudden surge of anger.

She hadn’t intended to compete with him this way, and this was the same as inflicting an indelible disgrace on herself.

Any means are allowed in war, but competing this way was no different from avoiding the competition.

Therefore, Ibe retreated to where the main force was, angry at herself, cursing the nobles and the king who had driven her and Nudia’s army into this dirty battlefield.

Some time later, news began to spread that Zion Claussen had died in battle.

―――――――Author’s Afterword―――――――

Thanks to everyone’s support, I will use the ultimate skill soon…!