Border Guardian Hal Akircius

Southern Continent, Southern Nations Area, Mosla Forest

Large rain falling.

Stand up.

Tropical woodland with dark green coloured trees.

In those woods, imperial soldiers in armored helmets were in a dense line.

But the armor helmets, which inherently glow dull, are rusty and prominent everywhere, and the faces of the Imperial soldiers are dark in the colour of fatigue.

Soldiers of pale complexion, obviously enough to know they were suffering from the disease, were also mixed in the battlefield, but they were all staring at the forest in front of them in desperate shape, without even trying to wipe the water flowing down from their helmets to their faces.

After a while, some of the woods shake violently.

"Stand up! The enemy will be here soon!

Flawius Catulus, Interim Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Dispatching Army, raised his voice in the sticky rain characteristic of the descending tropics, drawing attention to the regimental soldiers under his command.

Wearing simple crawls and braided armor on shallow black skin along with bird-like tall shouts, the Gora warriors with stone spears popped up one after the other.

"Intercept!"

An imperial soldier throws throwing spears one after the other at the decree of Catullus.

The leading Gora warrior received the spear thrown by the Imperial soldier with a shield knitted with a braid, just like his armor.

The throwing spear, which should be heavy and sharp, is rusty and lacks sharpness, just like the armor helmet of an imperial soldier, unable to pierce a simple shield, and falls to the ground.

Some of them successfully hit the body, causing major injuries, but most of the spears fell to the ground uselessly and were taken by shields.

"Damn it, sword out!

The throwing spear failed to stop the enemy from entering, and it happened to be in a mixed war, and the total force battle between the Imperial Soldier and the Gora Warrior began.

An Imperial soldier is knocked down with a spear that is stone but has no sharpness whatsoever to do with iron objects.

Gora warrior with his sword plunged into his belly and screaming.

An imperial soldier who tried to stab him in the stomach by a Gora warrior who beat him up with a shield collapses with a spear in his neck by another Gora warrior.

Bloody battles were fought for a few moments, but the Imperial soldiers were pushed gradually.

Because of the climate, the drain of health was terrible, and the constant defeat of the Imperial soldiers in the long battles on the Southern continent began to crush them.

At this time, however, Catullus was in command.

"Now! Ambush!!

From both sides of the Gora warrior who was pushing the Imperial Soldier, suddenly the Imperial Soldier appeared.

When he raised his voice and threw a throwing spear simultaneously from left to right, the Imperial soldier was pounded by the Gora warrior with a short imperial-style spear faster than to ascertain whether he was hit or not.

Above the silver helmet, the surrounding growing grass was wrapped around it to conceal the dull reflected light, and the armor was painted with plenty of mud.

The Gora warriors fall one after the other with throwing spears on their flanks and sides of their heads, not long after rushing to unexpected ambushes.

Surviving warriors were also taken over by exposure to attacks by imperial soldiers who regained momentum from the front and attacks from the sides.

Another throwing spear attack is carried out against the back of the escaping Gora warrior, and the wind cuts sound sharply shoots through his body.

The last Gora warrior was cut off in the head with the sword of an Imperial soldier, and the battle was over.

"All right, collect your weapons! Begin retreating!"

By order of Catullus, the Imperial Soldier picked up the throwing spear and pulled it up north as the tide pulled.

The Imperial Army suffered a great defeat on the Southern continent.

That is also because Scipius, the commander-in-chief, was driven by self-proclaimed greed, and he cut the numbness and started a war without waiting for the army to align.

It was not only in the battle in the north that border guardian Hal Akircius defeated the Halemians, 400,000 unknown barbarians, but it was a few months ago that a winning report that he wiped them out reached the underdeveloped southern continent of transmission stone communications.

The Empire sprang up to another great victory, and the fame of the Border Guardian Officer swung again throughout the Empire.

Did Scipius learn to rush for this, and even though he had quickly conducted an ops meeting and had only gathered about half his planned troop strength, he ignored Catullus and others claiming to be unprepared and forcefully stepped into the war?

Ouch, the Imperial Army hit the nearby sub-tribal coalition from the front, winning big.

But the second battle after that January.

After passing the drylands and entering the tropical forest zone, the Imperial Army suffered a devastating defeat when it collided with the mainstay of the Allied Coalition of Southern Nations, which is dominated by the Gora.

Imperial soldiers were unable to adapt to the heat and humidity characteristic of the tropics, draining their health and suffering from disease.

Equipment also seemed unsuitable for the climate, with swords and spears made of iron and other metals rusting immediately and heavy weapons failing.

The food happened to rot, the water boiled and was bad enough to finally drink, and even more sharpened the strength and morale of an imperial soldier who was depleting.

Wearing climate-appropriate gear, soldiers are shredded by the gently attacking southern tribes, and the Imperial Army is becoming less and less.

At the end of the day Scipius, angry at the provocation using the butts of tribal warriors, swung through the stopping of Hiltius and Catullus into the depths of the forest.

And Scipius, who had protruded, was completely besieged and mercilessly annihilated by warriors of more than twice as many southern nations as his own, without even being able to form a decent line in the pursuit posture.

As a result, Skipius, commander-in-chief, and Hiltius, deputy commander, and Marrow, commander of the Southern Precinct of the Border Guard, to Urso, commander of the 19th Regiment, were killed in battle, and Maximus, commander of the 2nd Regiment Regiment Regiment Regiment, and Cartho, commander of the 16th Regiment Regiment Regiment Regiment, were also lost in the midst of the conflagration, and indeed 30,000 Imperial soldiers were discussed.

The remaining officers tried desperately to prevent the battle and managed to regain their posture, but in this battle the seventeenth Legion Commander, Labelius, and the new 102nd Legion Commander, Titius, were heavily injured and evacuated.

The last remaining high-ranking officer

Siaglius, Commander of the Eighteenth Legion.

Catulus, Commander of the new 101st Regiment

New 103rd Legion Legion Commander Sura

military strength is just under 20,000 with only three of them.

Siaglius is an officer with good defensive skills, and Sla is therefore an officer with excellent offense.

And Catullus is an attack-balanced general.

Siaglius was the first to head the Corps, but Siaglius took into account their abilities and specialties, pushed Catulus to be the extraordinary Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Dispatch, and Sla approved this, so Catulus was to lead the Imperial Soldier who became a crippled soldier.

Catulus decided to abandon the occupied territories, and when he restructured the remaining soldiers into four extraordinary regiments, he began a desperate retreat to the north.

"Damn it, that idiot commander-in-chief!

Crushing like throwing up in a large grain of rain with no sign of stopping, Catullus abominably remembered when it all started falling into this situation.

A few months ago, in the southern realm of Empire, Utica City

"What!? What the hell! A border guard has destroyed 400,000 barbarians!!

It is the fury of Scipius that tree spirits in the city council hall.

When they heard that voice, which echoed many times with woe, the Legion Leaders felt the pain in their ears and shouted at their faces.

"Learn more... talk!!

To Scipius' renewed anger, his deputy, Hiltius, explained the upside of the battle in such a tone as to read out the report.

"... they say that some 400,000 or so of the Far North barbarians, the Halemians, depressed the surrounding tribes to the south. Working with the Allied Tribal Army of the Cilentium Alliance, formed by Hal Akircius, the border guardian who perceived this, intercepted it for about 50,000 soldiers, beating this barbarian to death before he was completely skinless in the Battle of the Ineon River. He said he flushed the body down to the Ereil River. The corpse took two weeks to reach the sea, but the line of corpses was so close to the battlefield, from the Ineon River to the Oranian Sea."

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!!

Skipius, who dyed his face bright red with anger and jealousy, rose out of his chair.

"Why!! Why would he be a hero!! And twice!! Not twice!! I'm the hero!! It should be mine!!!

Can't you even see that the commanders of the regiment are shuddering? Scipius gripped his fists of both hands with a bright red face until he bled, and raised blood vessels in his temples, while he looked up to heaven and roared.

Even then, the gathering of the legions was delayed, and this is the news in the midst of frustration.

Skipius was beginning to be jealous that the border guards, who should not otherwise have so much force in the north, had successive military successes with the oligarchs and that their fame would explode.

Where did the favor go in the beginning, finally exploding its discontent and jealousy.

"Get ready for battle. Whoa!! The war is on!!!!

Overwhelmed by Scipius, who opens his blood-running eyes and shouts in an unusual phase, Hiltius ceases, and the Legion leaders turn away unexpectedly.

It is life-threatening if we turn against Scipius's intentions here.

Everyone hesitated to speak to Scipius, who showed so much anomaly as to make him think so.

But still, there are times I have to say.

Catulus opened his mouth as he slowly advanced the Legion Chiefs, who were surprised and eye-opening when he stood up.

"Yet, our army is still not well prepared. War is premature."

"Ki, Ki, Ki, Ki, You Ahhhhhhhh!!

Catulus continued his words, looking straight from the front, without Scipius looming with a sword in his hand.

"The final operational objective cannot be achieved in the current situation where the planned army is not reached! The accumulation of supplies is far from sufficient, and we will only destroy ourselves if we wage war here. Please reconsider!

"Shut up. Ahhh! I've already made up my mind! It's a war!

Scipius, who punched Catullus in the face with his sword pattern by surprise, doesn't mind Catulus falling to the floor, turning his heel and leaving the floor roughly.

Hiltius gave the order as he rushed after him.

"Each Legion Prepares for Combat, Starts Southern Continental Strategy Today"

"... are you insane, Deputy Commander?

When Catulus, bleeding from the corner of his mouth, asked in a curly voice as he woke up his body, Hiltius looked at Catulus with eyes that seemed painful.

Commander-in-Chief's orders.

"What subordinate are you without correct orders and superiors that are obviously wrong? You mustn't hurry up. It's not a defeat like this. We will be wiped out."

He turns away from Catulus, who speaks, and opens his mouth as Hiltius seems to have difficulty in saying.

"... the situation in the Imperial capital is disturbing, there is also a risk that the Southern Continent operation itself will be suspended in the name of restoring security as it stands… in fact, the aristocratic nobility put forward its proposal. The Commander-in-Chief will bear that in mind."

"Isn't that okay? It's supposed to be our role to protect the Empire. And we should bear in mind how we should win, not in the personal hands of the Commander-in-Chief, who is wrong."

To Catullus's theory, Hiltius, once stuck for a long time, said it briefly at the end.

"Orders are orders... obey"

Distracted from Catulus, who stares with a willing eye, Hiltius leaves after Scipius.

Following that, the other Legion leaders left the council hall one after the other with no expression.

"Damn... you know what's going on!?

Catulus finally expresses his frustration with the less responsive Legion Chiefs.

"Hey, you okay?

"Don't you dare stand up"

While awakened by his colleagues, Sura and Titius, Catullus stared at the entrance to and exit from the council hall and held his fist.

A few months after the war began, the southern continent, the fortified site of Altrius

"Have you finally come this far..."

Catulus even came to the site of the fort that Altrius once built when he defeated the Great Warriors of the Gora.

It is the land where Altrius received his writ of recall to his home country, as well as the fortress he built for the demarcation of the border.

Unfortunately, Altrius' successor abandoned this fort at an early stage without being able to maintain the land to this point, so few even know it in the empire.

Catulus had heard from Adamantius about the location of this fort.

In the unlikely event that Catullus was planning to use it, he decided to relay the fort, even though it had become a stopover when he retreated.

Now it's completely decayed and the wooden building part is gone, but the stone foundations, walls, walls, castle gates, and towers remain firm, although they are covered by violins and tropical endemic and fertile plants.

Catulus accommodated the entire army on a site that could be used more than enough as a defensive position, not just to snooze the storm.

The Imperial soldiers also seem to have finally become comfortable with the familiar Imperial Style building, cutting off the twigs everywhere and mowing trees and grass to build roofs on stone walls.

Because the walls and towers were still solid, Catullus set the fort's gates in its main business, and bound nearby decaying trees to the gates without doors, and built and installed convenient doors.

I don't have to worry about getting fired because I smoke plenty of water.

There is a possibility of siege, but there is also water inside the fort, and Catullus decided to rest in the fort for a while.

But the soldiers are even less, about 15,000.

It was about a quarter of what it was at the start of the war.

"The earliest operational performance and other dream stories, things must now be sorted out as soon as possible. It's even hard to maintain the imperial south as it is."

Two people, Siaglius and Sura, nod silently at Catullus's words.

Everyone, including Catullus, on the unbroken face of a mustache, a body full of dirt.

It is a terrible appearance that all you can stretch your hair and barbarians.

The soldiers look more or less the same, but now some have calmed down a little and are washing their hair or doing laundry.

Siaglius opened his mouth as he looked at the look with envy.

"It is best to report this incident here, and reinforcements are not expected. Well, let's just say we take two or three days off and then we retreat."

"I just want to slap the barbarian nose once..."

Sula says painfully as she watches the soldiers.

Though Sura's suggestion is fascinating to retreat safely, soldiers need rest, as Siaglius put it.

It also requires the care and maintenance of weapons.

Even though it is a humid climate prone to rust, the soldiers' armor, swords, and throwing spears came with considerable rattling following lengthy manoeuvres.

The throwing spear has no replenishment, so the repeated use makes it bent, and some objects cannot be flown straight.

They needed to be repaired, sharpened and repaired.

Does Sura know the area, too, makes her look uncomfortable after she puts out the word to go on offense.

Catulus, a senior, grinned at the way he could see the depth of thought, which was not just a pig martial artist, even though he was good at offense.

"You don't have to leave the fort to attack. If you've attacked me, I'll frustrate you. More than that, it is now a prerequisite to take a break and restore the sharpness and strength of the soldiers."

"Okay."

Sla responds with a somewhat relieved look to Catullus's words.

Ciagrius stares at the state of it.

"General Catulus, I have water for you."

One of the soldiers drew water and brought it to three boneless bronze cups on a wooden plate.

Catullus takes it in a conceited manner and hands it to the two colleague generals in a streamlined manner and says with a grin to the two who are grinning.

"It's an elegant social world, not necessarily, but it's a powerful water that his hero Altrius also drank. Thank you."

Gora Warrior Commander's Faction

The momentum of the rain does not know to stay, but uniformly wets the warriors and soldiers who are cluttering.

The main faction of the Gora tribe set in the woods is relatively sparsely puddled because the surrounding trees are receiving rain.

Though rain shelter tents are provided everywhere, many Gora warriors are used to rain or let the heavy rain hit their bodies but leave them.

At its center, he opened his mouth looking depressingly at the rain falling by the commander-like men in a place with a single rain shelter tent.

"Completely strange country with the Western Empire, obviously stronger after taking over the Commander-in-Chief"

"… I agree with that opinion. Involving the Imperial Army today takes a painful counterattack. Already the warrior's death is beyond tolerance, huh?

A warrior chief of the Gora clan wearing armor knitted in a shallow black skin agrees, says a Shirukha-like general, who accumulated a splendid moustache and jawbeard in a leather armor helmet well coated with waterproof oil.

Information from Gora warriors returning from one reconnaissance after another revealed that the Imperial Army had been caged in an abandoned fort, but the fort was surprisingly robust due to the fact that it also had spring water inside and was made of imperial-style stone, which was likely to be troublesome if attacked.

It is also becoming increasingly apparent that the remaining Imperial soldiers are skillfully starting to build defensive formations, which are not easily torn.

"... at the tide, or could not be devastated, but certainly did enough damage to take a considerable amount of time to recover. How about this?

Hands on his chin, the warrior chief of Gora grinned satisfactorily, said the general of the Shirukha.

"No disagreement, I wish the Empire had left... thanks for Siluha's help"

We must be prepared for considerable sacrifice if we are to attack here, because the Gora are not equipped with siege weapons, nor have they brought in similar weapons from Siluha.

But more than half of the already invading imperial soldiers turned into mud on the southern continent.

Say no empire. None of you will be able to recover immediately.

"Well, let's pull it up too, because the next battlefield is waiting for us."

To the General of Siluha, who sounds amused, the warrior chief of the Gora tribe returned his words with a look that could take both giving up and giving up.

"... say Empire, say Sirukha, how can we be so bound to hegemony... we could have defeated Empire"

"If that's what people say..."

"... that's not the rule."

He was the warrior chief of Gora returning with the same bitter look against the seemingly entertaining general of Siluha, but he had to snort at the words of the General, who opened his mouth again.

"Hehe, that's a disagreement, well, but now this land is cheap for a while, huh? The hand of the Empire has stopped coming, my cunning. It helps here."

"... sure"

"I'll see you again, Warrior Chief of Gora."

"I don't want to see you again... Asfarif, the mercenary general of Siluha, glory be to the battlefield."

Asfarif, the general of Siluha, who was so voiced by Gora's warrior chief, ironically distorted his mouth and raised one hand, leading the soldiers under his command to leave the land behind.

Soldiers who have already led them aboard the ship that is keeping them waiting on the coast and are waiting.

"Glory be to the battlefield, or... deep... the next battlefield is north"

Asfarif looked up at the dim skies of the rainy southern continent when he snapped.