Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

–Aegir POV–

I dismount from Schwartz when the city of Kalinin got closer.

This guy’s too big and stands out too much.

「It’s nice that you’re black and blend in with the dark night but couldn’t you be a little smaller? Gosh, you’re not helping.」

When I slap his ass, he bites my head. What are you doing?

「Stop playing around and hurry it up. The sun will be coming up soon.」

Brynhildr is angry at me now. This is all your fault, perverted horse.

I inspect the city to recompose myself.

The city’s walls are not castle walls, though they are tall enough that they can’t be climbed over so easily.

I don’t know if it’s because our army came close, but the city has a solid defense.

There are fires lit on top of watchtowers placed at evenly spaced intervals and soldiers patrolling with torches.

「Uumu, doesn’t look like we can just push through.」

「Of course not. We have to look for this Sofia girl. If you fight them, it will become chaotic and you won’t have time to do that anymore. ……don’t tell me, you came here without a plan?」

「I used my head to slip away from the others and made sure I wouldn’t be found out, and it turns out I forgot the most important part.」

Brynhildr thumps my head. It was supposed to be soft, still it hurt quite a bit.

「Stupid…… our only option is to sneak in. Fortunately, the lookouts don’t look too vigilant.」

According to Brynhildr who has excellent vision in the dark, the patrolling enemy soldiers are yawning or chatting idly with each other, plus some of the soldiers on top of the watchtowers are sleeping. The time before dawn is a period they feel more exhausted than late at night.

「They should know of our retreat. They wouldn’t think two people who sneak in, so we can get in as long as we’re stealthy.」

「The main entrance is naturally closed, although there is a back door. The patrolling soldiers come out from there.」

I see, it won’t cause any alarm if we enter through there.

「In any case, we don’t have time. If we don’t hurry, we’ll run out of time.」

「Yeah, we can’t infiltrate when the sun is completely out.」

「No, it’s because I lose motivation when I’m in the sun.」

「……」

When I silently poke Brynhildr’s nipple over her clothes, she bites my arm.

Alright, let’s go.

Schwartz can wait around here. When we escape, find a good timing to pick us up.

Regardless of the degree of difficulty, what we have to do is clear.

We have to distract the patrolling soldiers while approaching the wall, then ensure the lookouts don’t find us before we infiltrate the city of Kalinin through the back entrance. It’ll be a covert operation where we need to hold our breaths.

Pipi and Celia are more suited for these kinds of things, although I’ll show them I won’t lose either.

「Be quiet as a cat.」

「Are there cats this big?」

I lower my hips and run in a half-bent over position towards the walls.

Brynhildr follows quietly after me.

「Ooh, damn it’s cold…… for the daytime and nighttime patrols to work the same time period before changing shifts is so unfair.」

「You said it. The only reward we get is a soup with almost no ingredients in it.」

The two soldiers approach while complaining to each other.

They are not directing any attention to their surroundings and simply walking around without thinking. We should be able to get past as long as we don’t move in front of them.

I lay on the ground waiting for the soldiers to pass by before advancing once again.

I keep my body low and my breathing quiet――

「Who’s there!?」

「Crap!」

For some reason, they found me out easily.

I instinctively jump at him, closing his mouth before breaking his neck.

「W-who is……gugh!」

Brynhildr twists the neck of the other one.

I stay quiet for a while after, but don’t see any increase in torches or hear any soldiers making a fuss.

Looks like nobody else noticed us yet.

「That was close. How did they find out?」

「It’s because some musclehead was glaring at them on all fours…… you were leaking out a strange murderous aura.」

This is hard. I’ll do better next time.

We resume moving forward.

「――you see, that girl was crying out pretty nicely again.」

「I wish I could be there tooー」

The next two are stationary and leaning on their spears.

It looks like they’re slacking off, though they’re actually more problematic for us.

If they’re not going to move, then we have to move.

I hold my breath and crawl on the ground, making a detour――

「Who’s there!!?」

「A ruffian!?」

「Crap!」

They noticed me again.

I bounce up from the ground and run at one of them, taking him down and punching his face in to keep him quiet.

Brynhildr does the same with the other, breaking his body in half.

When I lower my voice again, I don’t seem to sense anything strange.

「They found out again. What was wrong this time?」

「You make this scraping noise when you crawl. You’re just not good at silent maneuvers in the first place. Always assume they’ll notice you and be ready to pounce on them!」

Umumu, being quiet is difficult.

Let’s reset and move on. The wall is close.

「……whatever, do as you want.」

We start making our way forward again until the back entrance becomes within reach.

There was nobody in front of the back door, though there is a single soldier overlooking from a nearby watchtower.

「Tch, it would have been nice if he was asleep.」

The tower is relatively tall so there is a chance we may not get noticed if the guard zones out, except this guy seems serious and is diligently monitoring the surroundings.

Even though it’s dim outside, having a bird’s eye view means that we can’t move forward just by laying low to the ground.

「You weren’t really hiding up until now.」

「I know it’s a little reckless, but we’re going to make a dash to the door the moment he turns his head the other way.」

Worrying about the possibility of enemies waiting on the other side of the door will come after we get through this sentry.

Brynhildr doesn’t reply with anything, instead sighs and seems ready to follow me.

I stare up at the lookout and watch his head movements.

I’m the reason this operation may be sabotaged.

Brynhildr is faster than Schwartz so she shouldn’t have any problems running to the door.

I’m not the slowest person, though running like the wind―― is something I can’t do. I’ll just pump myself up.

It was then that the man’s head faced in the opposite direction of us.

Now’s our chance.

「Uooooooh!!」

I let out a cry of my fighting spirit and sprint.

That was a wonderful start if I do say so myself. I’ll run through before he can see me.

「Uwah! Who’s that!?」

「Crap!」

For some reason, I was spotted again.

I instantly grab a rock at my feet and throw it at the lookout.

「Gugeh!」

The rock accurately hits him in the head and the sound of exploding flesh could be heard.

That lookout falls down from the watchtower and perishes.

「Are you even trying to be sneaky!? It’s not like you’re carrying me!」

Brynhildr yells at me while she runs.

We were right in front of the door.

Somebody may have heard that.

We need to get into the city before the enemy responds to us.

「Hmpf!」

I continue running straight and deliver a kick with both feet to the door.

The wooden door is blown open and the path to the city is clear.

「Infiltration successful.」

「――it’s been many centuries since I’ve last gotten involved with humans. Being an intruder in that sense feels quite peculiar.」

When times change, so do words. To Brynhildr, it may be deeply moving.

As the city of Kalinin welcomed the daybreak, the streets were deserted as expected.

That didn’t mean nobody was around as old ladies drawing water from a well and men carrying firewood back for cooking purposes can be seen scattered here and there.

「I was troubled thinking what to do if the city was filled with nothing but Imperial soldiers, now it seems likely the citizens will get dragged into the mix.」

I wrap up my body with my cloak and keep the Dual Crater hidden.

Despite it being spring, the dawns in the Federation are still numbingly cold.

The citizens are wearing thick coats and mantles so I shouldn’t stand out.

It’s a good thing I didn’t bring the longsword or the heavy armor. I wouldn’t be able to hide those things.

「In fact it looks like Brynhildr is the one who stands out.」

Her dress is one made for walking outside, however it’s very unnatural for anyone to be walking around wearing something like that considering the city is still under military occupation.

「I don’t need your unnecessary concern. Worry about yourself, stupid.」

I get hit by Brynhildr.

Looks like she didn’t think the earlier infiltration was a success.

「You’ll expose yourself if you move. Just pretend to be a starving, cold beggar. I will search for the girl.」

With that said, Brynhildr lightly kicks off the ground, flies into the air and lands on top of a roof.

「Wait, you won’t recognize her face without me.」

「You have no idea what she looks like either.」

Oh, she’s right.

「How do I find her then……should I do a thorough check on every woman with big boobs……」

「Like I said, don’t follow me.」

Brynhildr lets out a “hmph” and leaps from roof to roof.

It wouldn’t be funny if I wandered around aimlessly and got lost. I guess I’ll be good and sit on the ground.

I may not have been needed.

Oh well, time to eat that dried meat I put in my pocket.

After a while and the morning sun completely rises, Brynhildr returns with a listless expression.

「I found her…… this sun is annoying……」

Normal vampires would turn into ash if exposed to the sun.

Being alive for so long, she can walk under the sun, though it saps her strength and more importantly really displeases her.

As she pulls my hand, I cover her with a black mantle. I hope that makes things a little better for her.

「It looks like she’s in this house.」

「I see. It’s amazing how you found her in such a short time.」

Brynhildr silently points to a well.

When I peek inside, I see several male corpses resembling Imperial soldiers floating.

One of them has even become dry like a mummy.

「Ah, that young man was unexpectedly tasty and I couldn’t stop. The rest of them were pretty bad so I strangled them quickly.」

I won’t ask her the details.

That house is fairly large and appears to be a typical residential house from the outside, apart from the windows still being tightly shut even though it’s morning. Maybe they’re still sleeping?

When I was about to open the window and take a peek, Brynhildr puts a hand on my shoulder before warning me.

「It’s morning now. I won’t be able to display my true strength. In consideration of your safety, we should stop after confirming the location, wait until nightfall and then steal the girl. Understand?」

「Yeah, I know.」

I casually open the window and look inside.

As soon as I flip open the shutters, I hear a woman’s scream.

It was the cry a woman makes when she’s getting violated.

「It’s finally gotten around to my turn. C’mon, spread those legs.」

「S-spare me…… my crotch is worn out…… it hurts……」

The girl in tears looks to be in her mid twenties. Her semi-long black hair is disheveled as she pleads the man hanging over her.

She has an impressive body which leans towards the plump side and fairly large breasts that stir a man’s lust, having said that, all the bruises and small cuts on her body makes me feel pained.

The man holds her body regardless of its state while the girl sorrowfully covers her tear-stained face with both hands.

Her forcefully opened crotch is leaking out plenty…… probably several men’s worth of semen.

Judging by how red and swollen her genitals are, she must have been raped countless times.

「Shut up. The reason someone like you from the feudal lord’s family is left alive is because you’re a woman…… it’s so we can do this!」

「Aagh!! It hurts――!!」

The man grabs both her legs and pushes his hips forward. With a slap, the man’s hips bump against the girl’s fleshy ass.

The female’s body twists in pain and she lets out a cry of grief.

That can only be taken as a sad scream from being raped. She’s purely groaning in pain.

After the man penetrated the girl, I hear voices coming from the back of the room.

「How is it, it was the right choice to let her live, right? As expected, it’s better for girls to have a little meat to them.」

「Agreed! Especially so you can do this…… fucking them against their will is the best! Her insides feel great!」

「Stop…… it hurts…… I’ll die……」

The man doesn’t hesitate to ram his hips against the woman roughly while sucking on her breasts.

The girl doesn’t put up any resistance and could only let out small shrieks with every thrust.

I can feel my own eyes sinking in.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt such disgust from the bottom of my heart.

「I know I only just said it, but let’s pretend that I don’t understand.」

「I thought so.」

I step away from the window and walk towards the rear entrance. It looks like I’m still rational enough to not punch from the side facing the street.

The rear door appears locked, though it doesn’t stop me from pushing it open.

If I use my full strength to push open the door of a residential building, I can open it regardless of it being locked or not.

「W-who the hell are you!? This house was confiscated by the Empire! Entering it without permission leads to execution!」

A half-naked man jumps out with a bottle of alcohol in one hand.

Without saying a word, I place my hands on the man’s head and twist it around violently.

There was a dull cracking sound and then the man falls over with his head turned in the opposite direction his body is facing.

「That was almost the same as how I did it. You have strength no one would think a human could have.」

I don’t feel like answering Brynhildr.

「What’s going on…… Gruze!? Y-you bastard, what have you done!?」

Another half-naked man rushes out, pissing me off even more.

I grab his throat with one hand and lift him up.

「Ga…… gh……」

The man has a well-built body, though his weight proves no match for my right hand.

My goal wasn’t to choke him to death. I squeeze hard until I snap his cervical vertebrae.

With his neck broken, I toss the convulsing man aside, and then kick down the door to the room I saw from the window.

The man I saw earlier was still raping the woman.

「How’s this!? Does it hurt!? But it also feels good, right!?」

「Ow, it hurts! Stop already!」

The man swings his hips while grasping the woman’s breasts and pulling on them. I can see the bite marks around her nipples. Doing that will only cause her to feel pain. What a hopeless guy.

「Hey.」

I grab the man’s shoulder and throw him onto the table.

「Guwah! What the-!?」

「Agh!」

The man falls off the table and rolls onto the floor in agony.

I made the girl feel pain from the forceful removal of the man’s penis.

Sorry about that. I’ll make sure to treat it carefully after.

「Let’s confirm things.」

I want to kill that man right away, but verifying this is Wolnasky’s daughter Sofia comes first.

The man doesn’t want to listen and yells at me.

This guy’s the same as the previous men and is half-naked with his dick hanging out, so I don’t feel like listening to him either.

「Fucker, you from the city!? You won’t get away with doing this to me, your whole family will be――」

The man shouts while showing me a piece of cloth. What does that mean―― oh, I remember. That’s the Imperial army’s rank insignia.

I left the details to Celia so I don’t really remember the rest, though he’s probably someone of the commander class.

「Having everyone massacred would be terrible. You’ll have a hard time too though.」

I throw the man into the corridor.

「Shit, I won’t forgive you now―― Gruze……Gyorte……!?」

In the hall lay a corpse with only the head turned 180 degrees and another corpse whose throat was crushed.

「You’re also going to turn into a corpse like them soon. However, you might be spared if you answer my questions honestly.」

Of course I’m not really going to. He’s going to die in the end no matter how he answers.

As I finish my sentence, my foot lowers onto his exposed penis.

I hold back my strength enough that he will still be able to talk, though he should still be in extreme pain.

「What is the name of the girl you raped?」

「I-I don’t know!」

I add weight to my foot.

「Ow ow ow!! Stop please, I really don’t know! I wasn’t interested in that!」

Tch, looks like he really doesn’t know.

According to Brynhildr’s information, she’s a pretty girl who’s slightly plump and has big breasts…… I’m almost 100% sure this is the one, though on the off chance I go back and leave Sofia behind, I wouldn’t be able to face her father.

「Then tell me about her past. Everything you know.」

「T-this one was brought in by Gunze! He said something about her being the wife of a noble in this city……」

「And what is that noble’s name?」

I take back my foot a little.

「No way I know that much!」

I put my foot on top of his balls.

「I’ll talk! If I remember, it’s――」

The name he said matches with the name I heard from Wolnasky. There’s no doubt about it now.

With that, this man has lost his worth.

「Alright, enough.」

The man breathes a sigh of relief.

「By the way, this girl didn’t become like this from being fucked once or twice, right?」

「Ah, aah…… I heard rumors from my coworkers, subordinates, and superiors that she was good. So I also did it 10 or 20 times……」」

I see, it certainly did seem like she was raped too roughly for a woman who lived peacefully.

She didn’t react to the sudden forced entry and was staring blankly at the ceiling too.

「Don’t you feel sorry for her?」

「Who cares about some bitch from the Federation―― I- I mean, I feel sorry! That’s what I really think.」

You agree, right? That’s what all men with a decent heart would think.

「You’re someone who understands the feelings of women, right? I have a better opinion of you.」

「R-right? So could you just let me off……」

I try my best to hold back my feelings of disgust towards the man and give him a smile.

「If you’re a good man, then you wouldn’t mind trying to understand a pitiful woman’s feelings…… by getting one or two of your balls crushed, right?」

「Eh!? Wait! Stop――!!」

Brynhildr puts his hand against the man’s mouth so the man’s scream doesn’t leak out to the public.

At the same time, I stomp on the man’s crotch with enough force to smash through the floorboard.

「It’s alright now. You were scared, right?」

I go over to the dazed and naked girl, Sofia, and put a blanket over her shoulder.

Her body trembles when my hand touches her.

「Don’t worry. I came at your father’s request to rescue you. Sofia.」

I actually came on my own, but that’s a trivial detail.

Then, as if realizing something happened, the girl slowly reacts and hugs me.

I also gently wrapped my arms around her, softly rubbing her shoulders and back.

Brynhildr, take this time to clean up the corpses.

That guy died from the pain of his balls and rod being squished.

「Father……father’s…… fu…… fuuehh…… fuueeeeeeeh……」

After hearing her father’s name, Sofia stops moving for a while and eventually large droplets of tears form in her eyes.

I heard she has a chubby body, large breasts and is 24 years old, but she is a pretty girl who has a cute baby face that makes her appear younger than she is.

Her body feels soft and easily turned on. If you treat her nicely and persuade her without getting rough, you probably would have had a wonderful time with her, the men from the Empire sure are fools.

I put my hand to her lips when she starts to cry.

「We don’t know who might come around. Let’s get out of here first.」

Sofia wipes her tears and sniffles.

She tries to stand together with us only to fall back down.

Her vagina was abused until it was swollen so she can’t walk properly.

「Unless we let her rest, we can’t run.」

If I pick up a woman and run during the day, it would attract attention whether I like it or not.

Going into hiding somewhere would be the best since I don’t think the fact I killed three soldiers would not be found out until night.

They’ll also find out I killed the lookout.

If they find out there’s an intruder in the city, they’ll begin a thorough investigation.

「We should hurry to the basement or…… no, that would actually reduce the number of places we can run.」

When I think of a solution, Brynhildr sighs.

「That’s why I said not to be impertinent. Well, it looks like you don’t need to think anymore.」

She points to the window. There, I can see three men getting off their horses.

They’re heading for the main entrance.

Oh right, this house was taken over by the Imperial army or something? So that means they’re soldiers.

「It seems so. Now we’ve got no choice but to go through them.」

I have the blanket-wrapped Sofia stand back before I unsheathe my Dual Crater.

I can hear the men outside talking. We don’t have time to run.

「Fufufu, today is the celebration for my promotion. I’ll let you drink some nice booze.」

「Finally, Commander-in-chief Zaphnes has noticed His Excellency’s talents!」

「Not just the entire eastern headquarters and their dependents, let’s honor all the people.」

The men laugh cheerfully and enter the house.

One arrogant-looking guy and two knight retainers, huh? I can’t take too long, let’s finish them in an instant.

「But Your Excellency, what is a person like you doing in a private residence like this?」

「Hahaha, the woman here is to my liking as well. I was thinking to embrace her to pump me up before the operation.」

So he’s also one of the people who is raping Sofia.

His Excellency is in a good mood and arrogantly puffs out his chest.

「Being the replacement of someone who died bothers me, though this is the norm on a battlefield. The person can only blame himself for dying.」

「I completely agree. Nevertheless, having to prepare for a pursuit on the Federation’s landing army immediately after taking up the position…… that’s unbelievable.」

「The one who attacks first in a fight will always have the upper hand. You won’t win if you go into defense.」

The moment one of the knight retainers puts his hand on the door, I kick it down from the inside.

「Guwaaah!」

The knight was knocked back together with the door.

I don’t wait around and rush in, swinging my sword down on the other knight.

Given no chance to react, the knight is cut from his shoulder and lets out a shout, which at this point is meaningless to hide, so I let him.

「B-bastard!」

Before the first fallen knight could say anything, I pierce his chest with my sword.

「W-who, no you’re an enemy!? Someone come! Save me――」

His Excellency runs away in a panic. So that sword at his hip is for decoration.

I chase after him and step in for a sweeping horizontal slash that takes the head off His Excellency from behind.

Blood spurts out like a fountain and he takes two or three more steps before falling over.

「Run!」

I pick up the trembling Sofia further inside the house and start running towards the gates.

There are already citizens nearby shrieking and guards yelling.

Taking a quick peek, I see dozens of soldiers coming, which will surely become hundreds in no time.

I can’t just stand still and fight them all.

I carry Sofia in my left hand and hold onto the Dual Crater with my right.

「Ruffian!」

「That’s right.」

I take down the guard who jumps out from the alleyway while running.

Brynhildr is still following closely behind me.

Her expression is rather sullen……today is the only day with nice weather after all.

「We’re going to run all the way to the city walls. Brynhildr, can you throw me over the walls?」

「Eh?」

Sofia makes an expression of disbelief.

Thinking normally, it should be impossible for Brynhildr, who looks like a young girl, to throw someone muscular like me.

However I’m sure it’s possible with that brute strength of hers. Although I’ll look uncool, I have no luxury to be pick and choose how to escape at the moment.

「I can’t right now.」

She resolutely rejects me.

「I’ve been exposed to the sun for all this time, so my physical condition is not great…… I may not be able to control my strength and throw you against the wall or too high up.」

If I’m thrown too high and end up breaking bones on the landing, then I really wouldn’t be able to run.

Unfortunately, it looks like I can’t force my way out of this situation with her power.

「A Federation spy has snuck in! Close the doors!」

It looks like contact has already been made to the others and the main gates are slowly being closed.

There are also soldiers in front of the gate and if they catch up while I’m pushing through, I’ll be finished.

「Let’s get out using the same way we came in, through the rear entrance.」

My kick destroyed the door over there when we came in.

At the very least, it shouldn’t be closed.

「Watch out!」

I hear the sound of cutting wind coming from behind all of a sudden.

A crossbow bolt comes flying.

One bolt hits Sofia who is being held under my left arm before I shield her with my right hand.

Next thing I know, a bolt digs into my hand.

「……tch.」

I was about to unconsciously let the Dual Crater fall out of my hand.

I can’t be swinging it around anymore. Let’s focus solely on escaping.

In front of the gate I’m heading to are 10 enemies waiting for me.

Of course it’s not going to be unguarded.

「You’re hopeless.」

Seeing my right hand get stabbed with a bolt, Brynhildr scowls before accelerating.

After briefly being confused by the charging young girl, the soldiers hastily prop up their spears.

「Eeii, how irritating!」

Brynhildr takes a big swing with her arm.

The delicate fist of the young girl hits the men and crushes them, blowing them apart in many pieces.

「Nu, I left two alive.」

She would have killed them all in an instant under normal circumstances.

Not doing so now means Brynhildr is not at full strength due to the sun.

The remaining two thrust their spears at me.

「No problem.」

When I slice the enemy apart through his spear with my Dual Crater, my hand cries out in pain.

The muscles I use the most got stabbed.

I managed to take one down, but the other one seems impossible for me after I bring my sword back to its original position.

I dodge the enemy’s sword coming head-on by a hair’s breadth.

My left hand is carrying Sofia and my right hand is rendered immovable from the pain.

Do I have no other choice but to use my third leg…… no, that’s too precious.

I bite down on the enemy’s vulnerable face, tearing his nose off.

「Ugyaaaaaaah!!」

The man shouts and falls down, writhing on the ground in pain. The sensation of the blood and flesh spreading within my mouth is the worst feeling.

「You’re getting further away from being human.」

Whatever, let’s hurry and run. More and more arrows have been coming down lately.

When I run out the back entrance, a black shadow runs over.

「Oh Schwartz, good timing.」

Even though I’m curious where this large body was hiding, now is not the time.

I jump on Schwartz while still carrying Sofia.

Schwartz doesn’t say anything and runs north to where the landing army is.

Brynhildr keeps pace with Schwartz and runs like the wind.

「They’re making an appearance too.」

They found out we went outside.

The main gates open and the enemy light cavalry are rushing out one after the other.

「Go at full speed, Schwartz.」

I let Sofia ride in front of me and wrap her with the mantle.

I’m not worried. The light cavalry are fast, but I have not seen a horse capable of catching up with Schwartz yet.

As Schwartz runs off, the sight of the enemies becomes smaller―― or it should have.

「What’s wrong? They’re getting closer.」

The enemy figures are gradually enlarging.

It’s not because the enemy is fast, Schwartz just can’t maintain high speeds.

I look down and see his slightly awkward running, then realize the blood trickling out of a wound he suffered previously.

Schwartz looks at me shamefully.

I thought the injury was almost healed, well I guess it must have reopened when he got too excited and ran a full sprint.

「Sorry…… it’s hard for me too.」

Brynhildr starts falling behind the already slow Schwartz.

「I can’t handle being in the sun.」

「Alright. Come over here.」

I extend a hand and pull her up on the horse, holding her in front of me like I’m doing with Sofia.

The increase in weight was marginal, yet I could feel Schwartz’s speed drop more, shortening the distance between us and the enemies.

Our pursuers are extremely light weight, wearing no armor and wielding swords―― and the annoying crossbows.

To us, who can do nothing but run, that’s the worst set of equipment.

「If we let the person who murdered the army commander get away, it would be a terrible shame on all of us! I’ll finish you off for sure!」

「I’ll tear you apart limb from limb!」

They’re close enough that I can hear their angry bellows. This is getting pretty bad.

I hunch over and cover the two girls on the horse with my body.

In that moment, I feel a hot pain shoot into my back.

「Ugh.」

「Bullseye!」

I’m finally in range of the enemy’s crossbow and end up taking a shot to my back.

It takes a considerable amount of skill to use a bow and arrow on horseback, whereas it’s not so difficult to use crossbows.

I flex my back muscles so the bolt doesn’t reach my organs, but it still hurts.

「U-uhm……」

Sofia looks at me with a worried expression in my arms.

I respond with a smile as if telling her I’m fine. She’s had a horrible experience already. I can’t worry her anymore than this.

「I let out a groan because I felt your breasts against me. They’re nice and big.」

I joke around with her until two more arrows stab my back and practically force my face to distort in pain.

Taking these hits without any armor is hard.

For now, I’ll lower my head as much as possible to hide my medulla oblongata and the back of my head.

No amount of muscles would help if I get hit there.

More importantly, I have to be careful the girls don’t get hit.

They’re not holding back at all. I have to make sure to flex my muscles so my internal organs are protected.

「Au…… it hurts.」

The more bolts hit me, the tighter I end up squeezing Sofia.

Whoops. I need to be more careful.

「Sorry. It’s in a man’s nature to want to embrace a pretty woman tightly. Forgive me.」

「I-it’s fine. Actually I’ve been hearing these thudding noises for a while……」

That’s the sound of my back getting hit with the bolts.

I got hit in my waist, shoulder, thigh and back.

「Enough, just be quiet.」

As Sofia was about to say something else, Brynhildr, who is also in my arms, glares at her.

Come on now, don’t scare her. You’re going to worsen the wound in her heart.

This time, Schwartz gets a bolt into his ass, eliciting a small neigh from his mouth.

Still, he knows what to do, to continue running without slowing down.

No, it looks like he’s trying to force himself to go faster. He’s got some guts.

「W-we’re hitting him and he’s not falling off…… the horse isn’t making a sound either!」

「Taking so many hits and still nothing…… is he even human? Look, his face is normal!」

Don’t be ridiculous, it hurts like hell.

If I relax a little bit, the bolt will dig into my organs and everything will be over.

The enemies were unable to catch up because Schwartz accelerated, instead continuing to fire their crossbows at my back while maintaining a fixed distance behind.

I avoid the bolts that fly toward my head during the times I turn around and then take the ones that come at my body.

Not only are they shooting on horseback, both parties are travelling at full speed so the accuracy rate is poor despite crossbows being easier to use than bow and arrows.

Still, I’ve already been shot with 13 bolts, Schwartz has three―― no, a fourth one hit his ass.

「Haha…… it’s your turn next, huh? You better now slow down.」

This guy’s a way bigger target and I’m the only one getting hit, I was just thinking it was getting unfair.

Schwartz has an open wound with blood leaking, but he just snorts at me, obviously keeping up his speed.

「I…… I…… can’t take it.」

Brynhildr squirms around within the mantle and sticks her head out.

Then she looks at my back and screams.

「I-I’m at my limit! I’ll ride at the back and take the arrows! At this rate, you’ll die!」

I adjust my hold on Brynhildr when she tries to push me away.

Don’t struggle or it’ll be hard for me to keep you on the horse.

「You may be fine if it’s nighttime, but if something goes wrong in your current state, you might actually get hurt.」

「I don’t care! Who do you think I am!? I won’t die simply from being turned into a porcupine!」

Don’t be ridiculous.

My heart will die if I let a crude piece of steel pierce that beautiful skin of yours.

「I’d rather become a pincushion than let an arrow stab you. I won’t yield.」

I wrap my arms around her tighter and tighter.

If she really wanted to break out, she could do so at anytime with her strength.

Brynhildr chooses not to resist anymore.

「……if, if you feel your life is about to end, say so. I cannot save your life, but I can prevent you from dying.」

I pray it doesn’t come to that.

The chase lasted for a long time, eventually the enemy’s horses slow down one by one.

Their stamina was drained after the extended pursuit.

Some horses even collapsed suddenly on their sides or stumbled forward due to exhaustion.

Schwartz isn’t able to go as fast as usual with his injury, though his endurance is top class.

He won’t get worn out so easily.

The last enemy horse stops moving and we’ve finally shaken them off successfully.

「Haa…… we somehow made it out.」

「「Fueeeeh, thank goodness…… I’m so glad.」」

Sofia clings to me inside the mantle.

I’m delighted that I can feel her breasts pressing against me, but unfortunately can’t concentrate on it due to the horrible pain throughout my body.

I still have a long way to go if I can’t focus on her breasts because of a few arrows in my back.

I also feel a somewhat flat surface.

I look down and see Brynhildr burying her face in my chest.

「That “fueeeh” was you too?」

If so, then that was incredibly cute. Just imagining it makes my dick hard.

Brynhildr kisses me without a sound.

Umu, kissing makes the pain go away.

Schwartz interjects with a neigh.

I stroke his mane, praising him for running well.

「Hm, wait. You’re the one who got into this situation by getting cocky and chasing after Brynhildr on our way here.」

Your mane deserves to be plucked.

For now, I want those bolts in my back to be taken out gently by the pretty ladies.

Schwartz concurs with a grimace and slows down to walking speed.

Federation VS. Empire – Comparison of Military Forces (Current + Losses = Max Mobilization. In the case where numbers don’t match, it means there are spare forces.)

Olga Federation 「South Coast Battle In Progress」

Military Strength – Current: 1 140 000, Max Mobilization: 2 550 000, Losses: 1 410 000, Civilian Victims: 980 000

Garland Empire

Military Strength – Current: 1 420 000 (460 000 of which are military slaves), Max Mobilization: 3 100 000, Losses: 2 140 000 (Military slaves not included)

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 24 years old. Early Spring.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.

Elf Mediator.

Army under command: 105th Division Provisional Army: 5000 men

Accompanying: Celia (battle), Marta (battle), Natia (unique archer), Leah (standby)

Brynhildr (worried), Pipi (battle)

Messerschmitt (worthless dog), Schwartz (seriously injured), Mirumi (submerged), Yakov (battle), Sofia (rescued)

Assets: 13,000 gold

Sexual Partners: 450, children who have been born: 55 + 555 fish