Chapter 169. Mission (4)
On the second floor of the splendid hotel, which was reminiscent of a luxurious mansion, there was a large balcony decorated in elegant white and black.
In front of Enoch, who was sitting in a comfortable armchair installed there, the hotel manager came up in person and bowed respectfully.
“I will bring tea shortly.”
As soon as he retreated, Sirocco, who was standing next to me, glanced at me, twitched the wolf ears on her head, and grumbled.
“What. There's no chair for me to sit on here.”
“It seems so.”
“Then there's no choice, right?”
Sirocco came over to Enoch’s lap and sat down. Then she swung her bare legs, which were dangling in the air.
Enoch looked down at her blankly for a moment.
In front of his eyes, her pointed wolf ears tilted back gently on her head, and her shiny red hair rustled. From her thighs, where her buttocks were pressed, he felt a soft and squishy sensation.
When there was no word for a while, Sirocco glanced at me with coy eyes, narrowed them slightly, and wagged her tail.
“Hmph, what, are you dissatisfied or something?”
“No.”
As expected of Sirocco's free-spirited personality. Enoch turned his gaze to the table in front of him with indifferent eyes.
Perhaps it was a concept designed when the hotel was built, but on the huge stone table, a chessboard was spread out in a luxurious black and white checkered pattern.
On it, black and white chess pieces carved from transparent crystal were lined up in an orderly fashion by camp.
At the black camp table was Enoch. Beyond that, at the white camp, sat Colonel Shepherd.
“It is a game of the past that has no magic in it at all, but there is a myth that the ability of a commander can still be judged by chess.”
The colonel was the first to speak.
“Shall we play a game of chess until the tea comes? I don't know if you know the rules, but.”
“……To some extent.”
Enoch answered without realizing it, and his eyes widened. The moment a strange sense of déjà vu pierced his mind, his eyes widened.
He knew how to play chess.
He was an expert on the original work, <The Magic Empire of Atlas>, but did he also have a deep knowledge of this kind of board game?
But the more he looked at the black and white game board, the more he was sure. Without a doubt, Enoch Elsyde knew chess quite well. Was this also the influence of his original memories?
For some reason, it felt as if his memories as Enoch Elsyde were becoming clearer as time went on, but for now, it didn't matter.
It might be a good thing, as it was advantageous for following the flow of the conversation that Shepherd was leading.
The colonel didn't wait for an answer and slowly looked over the chess pieces of his camp and opened his mouth.
“Sir, I will call you Sir.”
“……”
“As a ‘leader of a group’ who leads a squad of Follower Families, you are my junior, so it wouldn't be a very wrong expression. From the looks of it, you don't seem to be the type to like pretense.”
“As you wish.”
Colonel Shepherd tilted his head slightly forward and asked, looking straight at Enoch.
“Do you know about knights?”
“Knights? What do you mean?”
“According to the history books, there were once those called knights in our Victoria Kazimieśi Domain.”
For a moment, Enoch paused. He had heard the story of the soldiers of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain who had formed a joint front with Rhodes, but was this story related to that?
Shepherd continued.
“According to the historians of the Imperial Academia, they were righteous warriors who sought to protect the weak in the past. In the end, they were people of an era without magic, but……”
Shepherd fiddled with the collar of the black and red uniform he was wearing and shook his head.
“The black and red uniforms that we, the soldiers of Victoria, wear seem to also have the meaning of being a succession of that distant tradition.”
He sat and leaned on his cane, looking at Enoch.
“However, unfortunately, I, who have inherited this uniform, think that I am very far from the righteousness of a knight (騎士), but on the other hand, I am quite confident in my tactics as a chess player (棋士).”
The colonel stared at Enoch and said.
“Enoch Elsyde. What about you?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I am very interested in your command ability as a squad leader.”
Shepherd stared straight at Enoch, and while sitting in his chair, he lightly tapped the floor with his cane.
In an instant, a translucent light spiraled around his cane, and a white pawn on the chessboard slid forward.
E4. King's Pawn Opening.
The most traditional and basic move in chess. At the same time, the style of a knight who leads the game with a standard tactic of occupying the center of the battlefield.
At that move, which seemed to be introducing himself as a commander, Enoch stared at the chessboard for a moment and said.
“…Are you talking about my ability as a commander?”
“That's right. You succeeded in both of the absurd Exemption Missions with a 0 percent survival rate. On top of that, you defeated a 10th Rank of the Underworld called Persona, and also succeeded in joint missions, rescue missions, and designated missions.”
“……”
“No one in the Empire can deny that your achievements are unprecedented. That must be why the mighty Nemesis is showing interest.”
Colonel Shepherd shrugged.
“However, even the good fortune with which you achieved such great feats was in the end, by yourself.”
“Alone.”
Enoch couldn't help but smile faintly. Shepherd’s premise had one major flaw in the first place.
According to the official announcement of the Exemption Mission, it was natural to think that Enoch had carried out the mission alone, but even then, he was never alone.
Remembering the silver-haired maid with cold eyes who had been with him from the beginning, Enoch stared at the colonel with a blank expression.
“So what are you trying to say?”
“There is one stroke of luck, but not two. It is said that even a mage called a 1st Rank receives the help of countless people to reach that stage. In the end, it means that there are not many things that can be accomplished alone in the Empire, that is─.”
Shepherd aimed his cane at Enoch.
“Now is the time for you to show your ability as a commander leading a squad of Follower Families.”
Just then, the hotel manager, with a grateful expression, brought in tea on a tea cart with his staff and respectfully placed it on each table.
Lifting the teacup that the manager had brought himself, Colonel Shepherd slowly opened his mouth.
“Please have some if you'd like. I hear that this is the best hotel in the 19th outsourcing district.”
Shepherd added, glancing at the hotel's interior filled with stylish decorations and sculptures.
“It seems there are occasionally businessmen from the Main House domains who visit the outsourcing district on business, so such luxurious places are not so rare in the outsourcing district……”
He looked down at the teacup with contempt and added.
“But, in the end, it's an outsourcing district. The aroma of the tea is terrible.”
The faces of the hotel manager and staff who were setting down tea and cookies next to them stiffened, but they quickly bowed their heads and retreated.
Shepherd looked straight at Enoch and added.
“Please understand. I hope we can have a proper tea time in the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain later.”
He poured the tea on the floor with a blank expression.
Enoch nonchalantly replied, bringing the teacup to his lips.
“You hate the outsourcing districts.”
“You don't seem to?”
Shepherd glanced at Enoch, who was drinking tea nonchalantly, and said with a faint smile.
“For us Victorians, tea time is a very important culture. But to be honest, the tea I drink here in the outsourcing district feels absolutely disgusting.”
“Why?”
“Because the air of this place, which is nothing but a garbage dump, has gotten into the aroma of the tea.”
Shepherd tilted his head to the side, watching Enoch. It was a probing tone, and at the same time, a confident one.
“I don't know about that.”
Enoch drank the tea to the last drop, unconcerned. The warm liquid went down his throat and invigorated his body.
Just then, seeing Sirocco reaching her slender arm to the side to take a cookie from the plate, Enoch picked one up and handed it to her.
Seeing Sirocco, who immediately took a bite of the cookie and twitched her ears with a happy expression, the colonel opened his mouth with interest.
“To get to the main point, you said you had a question for me earlier.”
He nonchalantly adjusted his uniform while facing Enoch and added.
“Speak. If it is something I can answer, I will gladly answer. This is also a request from Nemesis.”
“What on earth is the commander of the Victoria regular army, the Dragoons, doing here meeting me?”
“Hmm, I'm not sure what you mean?”
He feigned ignorance skillfully and asked back.
“Wasn't it you, Sir, who requested a direct meeting with the Dragoons?”
“I wanted to meet a specific member of the Dragoons, not the commander.”
“We are in the middle of a mission. It is not a situation where individual meetings with members are possible. Please understand that it was inevitable for me, the commander, to greet you in person.”
“It doesn't seem that way.”
Enoch glanced at the Dragoons who were on guard duty in the hotel's first-floor lobby, with their bombardment lances leaning against their shoulders, and added.
“At least the person I'm looking for is not here.”
The colonel looked at Enoch with a surprised expression for a moment, then turned his gaze away as if he remembered something.
“Ah. If the member the direct lineage is looking for is among the members of the 1st Dragoon Regiment, it is likely one of the Dragoons assigned to reconnaissance missions in this area.”
“Reconnaissance missions, you say. Then will they be back soon?”
The colonel glanced at his wristwatch as if to check the schedule and then nodded his head lightly.
“That's right. As you said, they will return to the unit within a day, so you will probably be able to meet them then. I will tell Aslin, who is serving as my aide, to give you the news.”
Enoch nodded.
So that was why he couldn't meet him. Just solving the biggest question he had here was a great achievement.
For a moment, his heart pounded.
To think he could meet him soon.
Certainly, the timing was a bit off from what he had expected, but it seemed their meeting was not far off.
“I have one more question.”
Enoch added, looking around.
“I heard that the Victoria regular army would participate in the incident in the 19th outsourcing district, but it would be difficult to intervene on a large scale.”
“……”
“Especially the elite unit, the Dragoons, even more so. But what are you doing here?”
At Enoch’s question, Shepherd nodded his head as if he understood, slowly closing his eyes.
“It's simple. I came here with my subordinate Dragoons simply to escort me, who came here for the field command of this place.”
“Escort?”
“That's right. In order to respond to the threat of the magical beasts in this outsourcing district, the Victoria Main House has decided to dispatch 300 new recruits from the Victoria army infantry, not the Dragoons.”
“Then why are you and the Dragoons here?”
“As you can guess, I was assigned the mission to directly command those new recruits from the rear of this outsourcing district.”
The words that a mere 300 new recruits would fight against 2,000 magical beasts. Enoch suppressed his absurd feelings and asked back.
“Do you think that number and fighting strength are sufficient?”
“I'd like to ask back if there's any reason why it shouldn't be.”
“Because they will all die.”
At those words, Shepherd lifted his head slightly. The gaze with which he was looking straight at Enoch was now colored with interest.
“I have fought magical beasts in the past. These magical beasts will not be so different, so I am confident in victory as a commander.”
“This time, they are completely different from natural magical beasts.”
“In the end, they are just magical beasts.”
Shepherd said with a smile.
“To be so sure. Could it be that you, Sir, know the future?”
“Who knows.”
Enoch tilted his head to the side, looking at Shepherd.
“Perhaps.”
「……The defensive battle in the 19th outsourcing district of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain ended in a crushing defeat for the Victoria army……」
「……The experimental magical beasts indiscriminately infected the surrounding living creatures and turned them into magical beasts……」
「……Even now, countless victims are turning into magical beasts. It has been a long time since they have been out of the control of the Victoria Kazimieśi Domain……」
「……This area may become a fuse that plunges the world into even greater chaos……」
Enoch stood up from his seat and added.
“It would be useless to talk further anyway, but I'll confirm one last thing.”
“Hmm?”
Enoch smiled faintly at Shepherd, who had a slightly puzzled expression. As expected, he was a cunning man.
“In the end, you came here as a pretense to show the citizens of the outsourcing district, didn't you, Dragoons?”
Judging from the story that there were political circumstances involved, he could also understand well why a person of the rank of colonel had come here as a commander.
They would dispatch a commander of the rank of colonel, but minimize the combatants who could be lost, and also not engage in military action and not provoke a fight between nobles, in other words, an empty shell.
“Interpret it as you wish. The decision I have made as a commander will not change. The magical beasts will be sufficiently subjugated by the Victoria army alone.”
Robert lifted his head.
“Let me be clear. The 1st Dragoon Regiment, which is currently under my direct command, has nothing to do with the battle with the magical beasts that may occur in the outsourcing district.”
He looked at Enoch nonchalantly and said.
“The subjugation of the magical beasts that will occur in this dirty outsourcing district is not a place where our proud Dragoons will suffer losses.”
“That is the choice you have made as a commander.”
“That's right.”
Enoch silently reached for the game board and picked up a piece. For a moment, Shepherd’s eyes twitched as he saw the chess piece in his hand.
“Knight?”
To Shepherd’s traditional opening move, Enoch’s black knight responded by freely crossing the game board.
Na6. Lemming Defense.
A highly rare and unconventional response, not a traditional one.
A move where the knight (Knights) that leaps across the battlefield always creates an exception, and dominates the game board at will, even breaking traditional principles.
Shepherd, who took pride in himself as a chess player (棋士), would be able to guess to some extent what this move, which countered the white opening, meant.
As expected, he looked at the black knight with a very interested gaze and fidgeted with his cane.
“……Very interesting. Then you, Sir……”
“Did you expect a commander's aspect from me?”
Enoch lightly lifted Sirocco, who was sitting on his lap, and set her down to the side. Then, he slowly stood up from his seat and looked down at Shepherd coldly.
“Let me be clear about one thing. My squad moves separately from the Victoria army and the Dragoons.”