[The Five-Day War]

This war that in later years would come to be called thus unexpectedly birthed a large number of classic idioms idioms like [as a fish to water] that originate in an ancient event. They come in various kinds, like strategies or maxims, but if the person they originate from were to hear of them, they would likely be able to do nothing but make a sour face. For to them, these five days were a frantic battle of life and death.

~ Day 1 Noon A certain place ~

In the slightly gloomy room, I was receiving a report of the [Principality of Amidonia Army Invasion] from Hakuya. On top of the large center table lay a still larger map of the Kingdom of Elfrieden and its environs. It was exactly what youd call a war HQ. Hakuya placed a chess piece representing the Amidonian Army on the southern part of that map.

TN: BEHOLD my shitty mapdrawing skills

The Amidonian Army invaded after crossing the Ursula Mountains. I was informed that they had left Gordoa Valley and are now besieging Altomura. They numbered approximately thirty thousand

Their total military strength is about forty thousand, right? They sure brought out a lot

They seem to have thrown all the troops they can move. Theyre staking their whole bet on this

Well, its good that they didnt pass by Carmine Duchy. It would be a lot of trouble if they meddled in our fight with the army

That would be a needless fear. We properly arranged things so that doesnt happen

Hakuya said so in a composed manner. He was full of confidence but Thinking of the trouble the villages on the Amidonian Armys path went through, I cant really be happy.

I thought it was an old and worn tactic, but it unexpectedly went well

Well, humans basically believe what they want to believe. Your highness must pay attention as well

Ill take it to heart. All right then, how are the Amidonians going to move

After capitulating Altomura, they would sweep out the surrounding areas, They would probably want to secure the breadbasket region. Once they gained control of the region they would likely declare the land theirs

To be staking everything on looting someone in a crisis.

It might be expected of them, but . How miserly

Thats because of the difference in national power. This is the limit for the military Amidonia possesses

I suppose so. How about the Altomura garrison?

Including the reinforcements we can send in, about five thousand

Thirty thousand vs five thousand. Thats six times the difference.

. How long will they hold out?

Its a fortress town sitting on plain ground, not suitable for defense. Added with the difference in manpower, they probably wont stand two days of continuous siege

They will fall in one day at worst, huh?

Which means if you consider information delays, it wont be strange for them to have fallen already. However, this is only counting from when open hostilities began. I said to Hakuya with a smile.

We anticipated this and sent that person in, didnt we?

It is as you say. Its only a matter of whether they can hold out

Then we wont change our strategy. We wont send reinforcements to Altomura

Its a daring move, I think

Hakuya bowed to Somas decision.

~ At the same time Altomura Environs ~

At the time the decision was made by Soma and Hakuya, one man was grovelling in the headquarters of the Amidonian Army encircling Altomura. The name of this thin and obviously timid man was Wyst Garrotte, the Lord governing this area. As a resident of Altomura, he should be the man leading the defense of Altomura, but because of the circumstances, he was now kowtowing in front of Gaius VIII who was leading the Amidonian Army. Standing next to Gaius VIII who was sitting on a stool, was the Crown Prince Julius. Gaius, glaring at Wyst, said.

Hoo you mean Altomura will capitulate without resisting?

H, hyesh! We do not intend to oppose the Amidonian Army!

Wyst replied with a slight stutter. Gaius narrowed his eyes.

. Lets hear your reason

Nothing else but because its impossible for us to defend against you! Altomura is a town built on a grain producing plains region which is not an easy terrain to defend. We also only have the walls for defense, and only several thousand guards, too. Under attack by these tens of thousands of troops, it will only be a matter of time until we fell!

Gaius looked toward Julius, to which Julius silently nodded, signalling that there wasnt anything strange with what he was saying. Gaius nodded, humm.

Then will you fall under us?

Yes. Without a way to defend ourselves we can only beg for Your Princely Highnesss pity

Hearing Wyst, Gaius grinned.

Very well. Now open the gates

I, I would ask you to wait a little for that

Gaius eyebrows twitched in displeasure.

Why?

R, right now opinion is divided between the anti-war faction and the resistance faction. There are some from the resistance faction who claims that they will [kill all Amidonians even if we capitulated], and even some from the anti-war faction are suspected of it as well

Hoo Would that be you?

T, thats unthinkable! Im begging for my life here. Please dont be suspicious of me

.

But it is a fact that there are people with that opinion. Which is why I went into this camp first to listen to what your Princely Highness has to say

Gaius gave Wysts words some thought. What he said wasnt strange but then, should he believe this mans words or not. While Gaius was deep in thought, Julius interjected.

Even if you dont persuade the people inside the fort, we can always attack Altomura, you know?

Yes. I understand that all too well

Wyst replied to Julius while still in the prostrating position.

However, there are fools who still doesnt understand that. I would not want Your Highness Gaius or your soldiers to be hurt on account of those fools. If you would allow me my life I will direct the opinion of the people inside

Looking at Wyst bowing up and down like a locust, Julius wanted to spit on him in his mind.

(Damn opportunist. Have the Royal Nobles fallen this far. hmph, well its obvious since even the Three Dukes Georg Carmine became like that)

After Julius had calmed himself thusly, Gaius slapped his lap with a loud pop.

Very well. If you capitulate then I guarantee the safety of those inside the fort. Get back inside the fort at once and get your act together

Hearing Gaius, Wyst became so happy he almost flew.

T, thank you very much! Then please, excuse me!

No sooner than he said that, he left the HQ in a quick trot. While looking at his receding back, Julius inquired Gaius.

Is this all right?

Hmph, if they capitulate then weve already won

Gaius made an evil smile.

I dont need a mouse that cowers before the enemy. Once were done with him well put his head on the gates as an example

Fufufu I see

Julius also made an evil smile.

Gaius stood up from his stool and sent orders to all his generals to [Enter Altomura as soon as it capitulates and gain total control].

However, until the sun has set the Altomura castle gates showed no signs of opening.

Ey! What is Wyst doing!

Gaius became irritated. On the other hand, Julius calmly analysed the situation.

Did he fail to direct opinion inside the fort or he might be plotting something against us

Goddammit! Lets send in all troops immediately!

Please wait. If the enemy has a plan then it would be dangerous to attack at night. Also, if you consider the possibility of a surprise night attack, its better to harden defenses and wait the night. Once dawn broke and we attack with full force, that town will fall within half a day.

Being rightly pointed out by Julius, Gaius lowered his raised fist.

Uggh Cant be helped

Gaius accepted Julius plan and ordered his generals to wait until dawn to attack, but even while being relieved with Gaius judgement, Julius felt a bad premonition coming from the direction of Altomura.

(I have a bad feeling about this. Its like were being dragged, dragged down somewhere deep something like that. It doesnt feel like something Wyst Garrote would do, though )

The direction he was looking, Altomura, was eerily quiet.

~ Day 2 ~

The dawn has broken. The night raid Julius feared didnt come.

Gaius VIII went to his whole army to attack, As planned. Just then

[[[ UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!! ]]]

From within the silent walls of Altomura, an eerie war cry rose. It was so spirited that Gaius hesitated to give the attack orders. What in the world happened to Altomura that was so quiet yesterday? Did reinforcements arrive? Gaius head was so filled with all sorts of questions he was unable to make a decision.

Meanwhile, a horseman rushed in from the direction of Altomura towards the Amidonian camp.

The one riding the horse was that Wyst Garrotte. Wyst dehorsed so fast he looked like he almost rolled over, and kowtowed before Gaius with a face full of fear.

Wyst! Wheres your promise to open the gates for us!

Gaius yelled at him and Wyst made himself even smaller.

I, Im very sorry! The people inside the fort had fallen into desperation, and it took a lot of time to persuade them

Ei, Ill have none of your excuses!

Gaius unsheathed the sword he was wearing and thrusted the tip at Wysts neck.

Hiiii!

Ill have your head and make an example of it for the people inside!

W, with all due respect Your Highness. I know this is not for me to say but they have lost proper judgement being surrounded by these tens of thousands of troops

While being terribly flustered, Wyst started making excuses.

T, that war cry coming from Altomura just now was because of voices saying [Amidonia isnt going to keep their promises anyway so were going to take them down with us]

..

Gaius, who was actually planning to go back on his word could not say a word. The soldiers inside the fort were death soldiers, warriors with the resolve to die, which means forcing an attack would be risky. Death soldiers are like machines thatll keep on fighting for as long as they draw breath, so naturally, they inflict more damage than normal soldiers. They wont change the fact of Amidonias victory, but that is exactly why he doesnt want to waste manpower here.

Unable to silently watch, Julius interjected.

Father, there will be large casualties fighting death soldiers, we must avoid it. Lets show magnanimity here and let Sir Wyst go back and persuade them one more time, how about it?

Wyst jumped at Julius proposal, almost as if to say I will stake my life on it!

T, this time, I will make sure to persuade the people inside the fort!

Gaius pondered, but in the end he decided to leave it to Wyst.

Very well. Consider this your last chance

Y, yes! Please leave it to me!

Hmph but how can we show our generosity?

In that case, how about lifting the siege once Im back inside the fort?

This proposal of Wysts raised Gaius ire.

Raise the siege you say!? Are you making fun of me!?

P, perish the thought! Of course, it would be just for a little while! At least until noon, if you would lift the siege I can use Your Princely Highness magnanimity to persuade the citizens!

Hmph, snorted Gaius.

.. very well. I will lift the siege until noon. If you still havent opened the gates by then we will force ourselves in. Is that clear?

Y, yes! I will surely persuade the people inside!

As Wyst returned as vigorously as the way he came, Gaius promptly moved and lifted the siege on Altomura. Of course, in order to be able to immediately capture any forces inside the fort that might try and use this chance to slip out, he gave Julius the reins of a highly mobile corps and stationed them in front.

(Hmph, Altomura only has half a day left to live .)

Gaius sent Altomura a gaze filled with hatred.

~ At the same time, inside Castle Altomura ~

A woman was making herself at home in Wyst Garottes mansion within Altomura. Despite being inside a city that was besieged by fifty thousand men, the woman was elegantly enjoying her tea. Seeing the womans out of place boldness, Wyst who just came back from the Amidonia camp made a wry smile while explaining the details of the negotiation. There was not an ounce of his earlier disgraceful appearance at the Amidonia camp in his face right now.

Is this all right, mam no, Duchess Ecksel

Yes. You did well. So Wyst can put up an act now, theres a good boy

The woman sipping tea was the Admiral of the Navy Ecksel Walter. She looked to be in her mid-twenties but since she was actually a mizuchi who was over five hundred years in age, even Wyst who was in his fifties was a child to her

Duchess Ecksel would you please stop treating me like a child?

Every marine are children from my point of view, though?

But Im not a marine any more

Fufu, no matter how much you go up in life, you will always be my underling and a child

Ah, so am I going to be stuck with the child treatment for life?

Even when the human Wyst became a graying old man, the youthful-looking Ecksel will probably keep treating him like a child.

But . That new King is something too, isnt he? To even make Duchess Ecksel do errands for him

His highness handles his people roughly. Even though I did swear fealty to him from the start, but to suddenly tell me to [take the Royal Broadcast orb and go to Altomura]

Ecksel received the Kings Final Counsel three days ago, not in the Walter Duchy, but here in Altomura, in Wysts mansion. Because what was shown in the broadcast is limited, as long as one is in a properly prepared indoor space, ones whereabouts would not be known. Even if an Amidonian spy were to see the broadcast, they will surely think that she was in Walter Duchy. Soma made use of that and secretly sent Ecksel to Altomura.

Her job was to stall the Amidonian Army. He expected the Amidonians to first take control of the city in the center of the breadbasket region, Altomura, and do sweeping attacks from there to gain effective control over the surrounding areas. Because he cant afford to send reinforcements and had to keep casualties in check, he had no other way but to hold them out at Altomura, and even then he had to avoid a fight as much as possible. Which is why the job fell on the sly old fox Lady Ecksel.

The Amidonians would never have guessed that Duchess Ecksel would be in a place like this

It would take three days to get here from Lagoon City after all. Well, I have been here since five days ago though goodness gracious, His Highness sure handles his old workers roughly

Please dont use your age only when its convenient

Self-derision is a good thing you know, though I absolutely wont allow anyone else to say so about me

Youre just as reckless as Duke Vargas! Wyst wanted to yell, but he kept it all in his chest. Even though hes already past fifty years old he still values his life.

By the way Duchess Ecksel. I could only buy time until noon, will that be alright? Do you still need a little more time for the plan?

Its all right. If they would lift the siege until noon, theyll need some more time to get it going again. If they wanted to do a full-scale assault then that would happen at dusk at the earliest

I see. So theres nothing else for me to do?

Yes. Good work Wyst. Leave the rest to me and take a break

Ecksel said so while smiling at Wyst like a gentle mother. Just by seeing that smile, Wyst felt like he could forget all the fear from when he was standing before Gaius VIII.

Elfrieden Classical Idioms Course

[Lord of Altomura] figure of speech. Denotes a person who makes promises they cannot keep. The origin of the term was when the Lord of Altomura, Wyst Garrotte, fell under attack by the Principality of Amidonias Gaius VIII at the brink of the Five Day War, he repeatedly made empty promise to Gaius that he would capitulate in order to buy time. Usage example: Hes a L so youd be better off not believing him