The oni that attacked the advance party were driven back, and the preliminary battle ended in victory.
He turned his gaze toward the fort, where the winged men and lizardmen that had been attacking it were also pulling back. From what he could see, the fort had taken no significant damage.
"Well, it seems we won, but... should we give chase?"
"That won't be necessary, Count Clover."
"Captain Vareiya?"
Vareiya Cattleya, who was commanding the unit, called out.
"If we pursue recklessly, we'll be surrounded by hidden ambushers and beaten to a pulp... it's a common trick they like to use."
"Ambush...?"
Rest cast [Presence Detection].
Normally, he would spread his senses evenly in all directions, but he limited it to one direction and probed the forest where the foreign tribes had fled.
"!"
Then, he noticed that there were indeed several presences lurking.
Extremely faint presences... they were probably intentionally hiding their mana.
Countless humanoid forms were lying in wait, holding their breath in the shadows of trees and underground.
(What faint presences... an ordinary [Presence Detection] probably wouldn't have been able to sense them.)
Just like his master Diebl... the more skilled a magician, the more they routinely cast [Presence Detection] to investigate their surroundings.
One would judge it safe because there were no enemy presences, but these presences were so faint that even using magic, they were hard to detect.
If they let their guard down due to the lack of enemy presences and were attacked, they would likely be killed without any means of resistance.
(By synchronizing their own mana with the presences of the forest trees, they were hiding like protective coloring... if not for me, I would have missed it.)
"You noticed. They're the 'Insect Human Tribe.'"
Vareiya continued his explanation, glaring into the forest.
"The Insect Humans are masters of hiding among trees and underground. If we recklessly invade the forest, their assassination techniques will cut our lives short in an instant."
"...So that's why fighting back is so difficult?"
"Yes. During the invasion a hundred years ago, they supposedly dug tunnels and invaded the fortress from below. They were forced to abandon the stronghold for a time."
"...What if we set fire to the forest? Wouldn't that take away their home advantage?"
(He felt sorry for the unrelated plants and animals, but if they didn't have to worry about the environment, wasn't that a viable option?)
However, Vareiya slowly shook his head, furrowing his brow into a troubled look.
"That's been tried before. They've planted trees that release poison gas near the forest's entrance. If we light a fire, our army will be swallowed up by the vaporized poison in no time."
"Poison..."
"Besides... not all the foreign tribes are hostile to the Kingdom of Aiwood. If we take ruthless measures like burning down the forest, even the tribes who aren't participating in the war will fight back. We'd just be making more enemies."
"...It's a dead end. Is there no path to peace?"
"That's like telling a wolf to eat vegetables instead of sheep. In other words, a foolish question."
Vareiya spun on his heel, presenting his back to Rest.
"We're entering the fort!"
The conversation was over.
As the commander, Vareiya began issuing orders to the soldiers.
"Evacuate the wounded! Use healing magic to provide first aid to the severely injured! Burn the enemy corpses! Bring the supplies into the fortress!"
"..."
Watching Vareiya's back as he briskly fired off orders, Rest felt an indescribably conflicted feeling well up inside him.
He knew it felt rather out of place to say this after having struck down so many ogres with lightning... but it was truly sad that just because someone was of a different race, they couldn't understand each other.
Perhaps this was a thought born from his past life, where he had lived in a world that rejected racial discrimination, but was it really alright to abandon the option of dialogue from the very beginning?
(No... it wasn't 'from the very beginning'. This was probably the result of dialogue and persuasion having long since been exhausted. First, he should worry about his own life and the lives of his allies over the enemy's.)
War was a tragedy, but their own side had to come first.
If he didn't make it back alive, he couldn't even reunite with the people who mattered to him.
He couldn't very well make widows of Viola and Primula before he'd even married them.
"I'll help with the treatment."
In order to tend to the wounded soldiers, Rest shook off his sentimentality for the time being.
------------------ April 1st, Volume 1 of the book goes on sale!
Purchases at Melonbooks, Gamers, and Animate each come with a bonus short story.
This is all thanks to you, my supporters. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
I humbly ask for your continued support of this work.