Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 1 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 3===

"...The battle is unfolding as you predicted, Sir Black Knight."

The doll possessed by the genie Morrigan spoke to the one in her company.

She was riding a flying wyvern, looking at Suruga Bay below. There was another rider on the wyvern, the aristocratic Sir Black Knight who was holding the reins. Morrigan was sitting in front of him.

Flying further would take them to the zone of reclaimed land on the coast.

The British and Japanese Legions were locked in a deadly battle there and the victor was gradually emerging.

"Yet I did not want to be right. Predicting the defeat of a Knight of Her Majesty would be too inauspicious."

Sir Black Knight sighed, because he had shared an ominous prediction. When the Legions under Sir Steven first started engaging the Japanese troops in melee, the handsome aristocrat had said, "Stevie is going to lose now."

He had quietly shared this opinion despite the British army's advantageous position at the time.

Soon after, the Suruga army had made a spectacular comeback. Leading her Kamuys on the battlefield, Suruga's lady Chevalier had invoked her treasured sword's Feat of Arms to personally cut down the Crusades.

The lady Chevalier had charged straight into the enemy ranks to slay them.

Serving as her mount, the Mibu wolf retainer beast carried her as she carved her way into the Crusades' square formation&mdash;

Weaving between the densely packed British Legions, she swung her treasured sword, slicing through a Crusade's armor and vitals on every strike, inflicting heavy casualties.

This performance of an unstoppable lone rider actually persisted for merely two or three minutes.

However, once she had disrupted the British army's formation, the Kamuys launched a counterattack in one fell swoop.

Using herself as bait to divert the British army's attention for a few short minutes, the Japanese Chevalier had ordered her troops to discreetly circle around Steven's army, thus launching an assault on the back of the square formation.

After the Kamuy army started a one-sided massacre.

Crusades fell one after another while Sir Steven desperately controlled his wyvern to dodge the enemy's sniping attacks and tried to reorganize his army's formation.

"Did that treasured sword's Feat of Arms decide the battle?"

A so-called "Feat of Arms" was a supernatural technique used by Chevaliers and Resurrectees. To slay gigantic Legions by a human's hand&mdash;This was quite an incredible Feat of Arms.

Sir Black Knight shook his head and said, "If Stevie really thinks that, it means his abilities only go so far. Their fates had been sealed the moment the female knight succeeded in luring him into melee combat. Pretending to be overwhelmed by the Crusades, the enemy was actually preparing for a pincer attack."

"I, see."

Morrigan thought back to how the battle situation had developed.

The Tōkaidō army's Chevalier had lined up the Kamuys in a row to fire.

The Crusades chose to charge in a dense square formation, leading to a melee battle. Pressed by the British army, the Tōkaidō army's formation changed from a straight line to a V-shape, but then the two sides of the V circled to the back of the British army, turning into guerrilla units.

"Ultimately, it was a spectacular battle demonstrating destruction through encirclement and pincer movement. Props to the enemy commander who used this. This is enough for today, Stevie will be held accountable for his failure another time."

"May I, ask another, question?"

Sir Black Knight had expressed his admiration for the opponent in a strange manner, hence Morrigan asked him, "How did you know... the enemy commander wanted to lure our forces into melee combat?"

"Huh?"

Sir Black Knight was taken aback in surprise. This sort of expression looked very out of place on his noble and handsome face.

At a loss for words, after some contemplation, he looked up, straightened his posture and said, "It might be difficult for you to comprehend as a spirit, but matters of this sort can be understood instinctively. Like looking at the enemy army afar and sensing changes in the air, something along those lines."

"I, see."

Even among fellow humans, few would be able to agree with Sir Black Knight's explanation.

Morrigan was deeply certain of this, but her response of "I see" carried a different meaning. She was convinced that this man was a natural counter to the likes of "strategists" or "staff officers."

Sir Black Knight possessed profound mastery of strategy, tactics and the art of war, yet he did not bind himself rigidly to such knowledge.

The instincts, sensitivity, sudden inspiration, perceptiveness, judgment, and experience honed on the battlefield would turn out to be the crucial keys to victory instead during extreme circumstances&mdash;

Rather than learned through the mind, people like him were born with innate understanding of this harsh fact of reality.

Theoretical correctness did not imply victory over the enemy. On the battlefield, ''correctness was determined by victory'', in other words, ''the victor is always right''.

Those who studied the art of war as a field of research could never reach this realm.

"As expected of, a ''legatus legionis''," Morrigan praised from the bottom of her heart.

"Despite compelling arguments regarding tactics, you still fail to conceal the innate savagery in your soul... Suppose you were to proceed with irrational courses of action, I, the genie Morrigan, shall still support you wholeheartedly."

"Why does that sound like a back-handed compliment...?" said Sir Black Knight, tilting his head.

"Never mind. Although Stevie has met defeat in the vanguard battle, he has accomplished the most basic job at least. He has succeeded in wearing down the enemy's battle strength and currently has yet to be defeated completely. It is time for Lamps to enter the stage."

Immediately, Crusades flew out of the sea in the outer waters of Suruga Bay.

Using as a reference the reclaimed land where the Anglo-Japanese battle had been taking place, this was to the east. Leading ninety Legions, Sir Lampard had lurked in the sea as a reserve force and was now taking action.

The Crusades broke out of the sea surface and flew towards the Suruga tutelary fort.

Instead of reinforcing their allies, this army intended to assault and subdue the Suruga tutelary fort while the castellan was occupied with Sir Steven.

The Crusades were roughly ten kilometers away from the tutelary fort on high ground.

They could reach their destination presently without wasting ectoplasmic fluid on high-speed flight. Conversely, on the Suruga tutelary fort side&mdash;

"I remember that is Seiryuu, isn't it?" Sir Black Knight muttered to himself.

An ifrit appeared in the air over the Suruga tutelary fort.

A giant oriental dragon, reaching seventy meters in length, with a huge magic circle at its back. The translucence of its body, the color of sapphire, was an indication of its spiritual nature. The only beings capable of materializing a gigantic body of that size would be the godlike sacred beasts.

Around the tutelary fort's star-shaped walls, the surrounding space became distorted.

It was almost like a mirage phenomenon. The space around the tutelary fort was warped, causing the scenery to become blurred and twisted as though seen through desert air under the blazing sun.

Morrigan could sense powerful noetic waves inside the distorted space.

"Enemy ifrit, has deployed noesis barrier."

"According to reports, this was beyond the enemy ifrit's ability yesterday. I wonder if it has recovered? Furthermore, they even detected the noesis released by the Legions hidden in the water and immediately prepared countermeasures."

After analyzing, Sir Black Knight commented loudly, "Lamps might very well face a tough battle ahead of him."

"...It is Morrigan's opinion that, you should not be stating this, with a grin on your face."

"Uh, do not get me wrong. What I mean is this&mdash;Perhaps Britain might be willing to let me fight seeing as we are up against a castle that two Knights of Her Majesty failed to conquer."

"Please be, patient. Your knights... Please save them for, the attack on Hakone."

In fact, Morrigan had received orders to prevent the Black Knight from going out on the battlefield.

This command had come from Sir Grayson, the captain of the ''Tintagel''. As soon as the prince "participated in battle," his true name would be known to the world. This would raise Lord Caesar's curiosity and wariness.

"At the current stage, disclosure of the names, Edward the Black Prince and Knights of the Garter... will have grave effects on future strategy. Please be prudent."

Born in the medieval English royal family, a supreme military genius.

The former Plantagenet crown prince shrugged wryly and accepted Morrigan's counsel.


"I can't believe they deployed two armies, Knights of Her Majesty in level. Now that's way too generous!"

Seeing the new enemies flying towards the tutelary fort, Rikka cursed from the back of her Mibu wolf mount.

The Kamuys were still fighting the vanguard Crusades at the reclaimed land on the coast.

Rikka herself had withdrawn from the front line. The Mibu wolf remained stationary at the moment. Currently, she was back in her role as the commander, controlling the Kamuys' battle situation from the back.

While the enemy resisted valiantly, the Kamuys had them surrounded in one spot. Holding a round formation with their protective barriers deployed, the Crusades fired desperately to fight back against Rikka's army.

"Living up to the name of the Knights of Her Majesty, how resilient."

If this battle continued, wiping out the Crusades would not be a problem.

However, the British had sent another army, flying in Suruga's airspace. The enemy was clearly targeting the tutelary fort, but Rikka's army was occupied with the ground battle and could not do anything more than watch them fly by.

If Rikka were to rush over to intercept the other army at the tutelary fort now&mdash;

Then the cornered enemy vanguard would be able to catch its breath and muster its remaining forces to strike at Rikka's Kamuy army from behind. Unlike human soldiers, Legions were capable of executing extremely unreasonable battle commands.

Hence, it was imperiative to kill off enemy numbers before rushing over to aid the tutelary fort's defense.

Having made her decision, Rikka suppressed the anxiety in her heart. Riding her Mibu wolf, she watched the battle situation with arms crossed before her chest.

The genie Sakuya&mdash;the avatar of the ifrit Seiryuu&mdash;was more stable than yesterday and succeeded in having her principal image activate the noesis barrier, completing preparations for the defensive battle. Rikka had arranged for several noetic officers to assist Sakuya. Furthermore, there was ''additional insurance''.

"Upon my Appellation of Onikiri Yasutsuna... Assemble, my Legions."

Rikka recited the sacred words to summon Legions.

However, the location pictured in her mind was the northern plateau several kilometers away&mdash;in other words, the location of the Suruga tutelary fort. With that, her insurance was delivered to the tutelary fort at least.

"I actually wanted to use them to take care of the enemy forces here."

However, Rikka had no choice. Defense of the fort required "paper tigers" to intimidate the enemy.

She could only hope that this method would hold until she rushed back to the rescue. However, the problem was that the enemy's ambush force was led by a battle-hardened Knight of Her Majesty.


"Masatsugu-sama... Another army of Crusades!"

Shiori pointed at a certain direction in the sky.

The ifrit Seiryuu and a magic circle was occupying the sky over the Suruga tutelary fort at the plateau. A spherical formation of Crusades, almost a hundred strong, was approaching&mdash;

Masatsugu and the princess had gone outdoors together.

There was a bamboo grove nearby. They were at the courtyard of Ryouzan Manor, a secluded residence belonging to House Fujinomiya.

Slightly earlier, a pipe fox returning from the Suruga tutelary fort had informed them of the attacking Crusades as well as Chevalier Akigase Rikka's advantageous position.

"Princess, this is an excellent chance."

"Eh...?"

For a moment, Shiori did not know how to react to Masatsugu's suggestion.

She had changed out of the undershirt and back into her one-piece dress, black leggings and knee-high boots, except omitting the glasses used for camouflage.

Too rushed to dry her hair thoroughly, her platinum blonde hair still had a layer of moisture on it.

"Please tell me immediately what I should do."

"Masatsugu-sama?"

"Your wish is for me to help you take over the nation. In that case, you should be telling me what to do ''at times like these''. I want to hear you say it personally. Of course, you can feel free to say 'I am unable to make decision right now.'"

"If I really were to say that..."

Shiori smiled mischievously.

Masatsugu was satisfied with her response. Her wit and intelligence had met his expectations. Instantly discerning the intent behind Masatsugu's question, Shiori answered seriously, "Masatsugu-sama, would you stand aside and watch me die?"

"Since the Tachibana clan took care of me in the past, I'll continue to serve as your bodyguard to repay that debt."

"Then I shall pass on that option. Allow me to think for a moment first."

Although Shiori was called an imperial princess, this did not mean she was the "emperor's daughter" in modern Japan.

Imperial princess was a title referring to all princesses carrying Lord Tenryuu's bloodline. There were other imperial princesses in Japan, all with higher ranked seats at the imperial palace than Shiori's.

The self-styled ostracized "forsaken princess" said, "To begin with, the Japanese government and the Empress are under Lord Caesar's control while the regional rulers, Twelve Fiefdoms, each have their own agendas. And now, there is the Kinai Fiefdom's coup d'etat declaration and the British Empire's armed invasion and excessive interference in domestic affairs. There is no easy way out of the current upheaval no matter how much I think about it..."

Shiori shrugged while speaking in a sardonic tone.

"Without a doubt, the current Japan is literally in a state of disunity. Although I am not Liu Bei of the Three Kingdoms, it is rather easy for unassuming youngsters to make a name for themselves during times of turmoil&mdash;"

For example, young men from the impoverished countryside joining rebel armies, rising in position from soldier to general to head of state...

Such opportunities to rise above the rabble were impossible to come by during times of peace and stability. Conversely, the difficulty bar was instantly much lowered if one held military power and soldiers during times of turmoil.

The princess had swiftly grasped the key points of the question.

Masatsugu said to her, "Princess, your next decision is to choose a side to sell the favor to."

"I already have an idea regarding that. Favors can only be considered meaningful merchandise when sold to those in need. It would be pointless to sell favors to a faction that already possesses strong generals and vast armies."

"In other words, Princess?"

"The Tōkaidō Fiefdom has been forced to fight the Restoration Alliance... I wish to use this opportunity to establish closer ties to the men of influence in Tōkaidō. I will make proper use of my name and favor to turn them into my future backers or allies."

Masatsugu's cheeks twitched slightly. It was a smile.

He was aware that his expression tended to be stiff normally. Smiling was not his strong suit. Nevertheless, he did occasionally show this type of smile, except that no one around him noticed.

This time, he was smiling in celebration of Shiori making the right judgment call.

In truth, which side she had chosen to aid was unimportant. Of course, Masatsugu personally did not wish to harm Suruga's interests because his friends and acquaintances were there, but there were always ways around that.

The issue here was ''whether she had the guts to take action when confronted by an excellent opportunity right before her eyes''.

All the knowledge and strategy in the world would be meaningless if one remained indecisive in the face of opportunity.

Someone pledging to try their hardest in the future while failing to give it their best in the present would be worthy of zero credibility. Fortunately, there was no need to worry about Princess Shiori on this front.

"Masatsugu-sama, if I were to ask you to defend the Suruga tutelary fort... Would you be willing to grant my wish?"

"Consider it done."

Almost a hundred Crusades were currently advancing towards the tutelary fort on high ground.

Watching this scene from afar, Masatsugu shrugged lightly.

"I somehow feel like I can't possibly lose against enemies of that sort. There shouldn't be a problem."

"But would victory truly be possible without a single soldier under your command?"

It was Shiori's turn to test Masatsugu this time.

"A strategian once wrote, 'against any enemy, one must make thorough preparations so as to seize victory with absolute certainty, anything less would be imprudent'..."

"You need to burn that guy's books and forget what he wrote."

Masatsugu had heard these words before but he summarily dismissed the theory.

Incredibly, Masatsugu was able to argue military strategy extremely naturally in the same way as his body would automatically defeat opponents in brawls.

"Making preparations ahead of time to ensure victory is admittedly important, but in real warfare, the enemy will also be doing their best to calculate and prepare. And war is always accompanied by all kinds of bad luck and misfortune. It's impossible to be always fighting under conditions of assured victory."

"I see."

"I think that man's theory is pure delusion written on paper."

"So that is your opinion, Masatsugu-sama? I understand!"

Smiling, Shiori nodded.

"Had any ordinary person said the same thing, I would merely consider it an excuse for insufficient preparation&mdash;However, since you are a hero who has survived countless bloodbaths in the ancient world, I shall believe you for now."

"Much obliged."

"I never expected you to accept my request so readily."

Shiori's demure expression looked extremely lovely.

If she were nothing more than a crafty girl, Masatsugu probably would not have taken an interest in her.

However, the contradictory qualities of merciless intellect and refreshing sincerity coexisted inside her. This felt particularly interesting and also provided a feeling of reliability. She was a girl harboring the commingling of not only good and evil but also purity and murkiness. And the application of such duality was required in certain positions in the world, such as politicians and kings.

Perhaps Fujinomiya Shiori might become a great figure in recorded history one day.

Harboring such thoughts, Masatsugu took this opportunity to change the subject. A subject that was quite important too.

"By the way, Princess, about the earlier promise, I'll be counting on your support in the future. You said you were willing to pay any price&mdash;including your own body as a woman, right..."

"!? A-As you wish!"

"Relax. I'm not the type who enjoys coercing girls."

Masatsugu's cheek muscles twitched again to smile at the flustered princess.

"I promise I will never do anything against your will, Princess. All I'm asking from you is a small favor at most."

"A-Alright."

"Much obliged. Well then, let's get started."