Chapter 499 – Before the Battle

As dusk fell, we finished monitoring the sea area and returned to Aianos. After dinner, we headed to Aianos’ plaza and immediately began training with Grantios’ military officers.

They were the officers who were scheduled to receive spears, along with the Water Guardians. There was no doubt these officers were skilled warriors.

“Then—here I go.”

Condensed magical power expanded from Ouroboros, changing its form.

“This is…”

Queen Eldorene widened her eyes at the sight.

What appeared was a pale blue glowing magical Doll connected to Ouroboros by a cord from the nape of its neck. Though it was merely a puppet directly controlled only during operation, it could likely perform even more delicate movements than a Golem as a result.

“I’d like you to conduct mock battles with this. I believe I can somewhat reproduce the movements of the Sea King’s Familiar we captured, based on what I observed.”

As I made the magical Doll swim, mimicking that shark man’s movements, the officers and Water Guardians showed expressions of astonishment. But soon, smiles appeared on the officers’ lips.

They’re looking forward to the training ahead, I see. Apparently, the officers’ fighting spirit is quite high.

They might not have been able to imagine how effective a magical Doll would be as a training partner, but seeing it move like this, they’re pleased that the training content seems substantial.

I’ve heard the Fishfolk are valiant warriors, and judging by this reaction, that information appears accurate.

“First… let’s proceed in a practical combat format rather than sticking to one-on-one. Training weapons should suffice.”

“To estimate the capability gap between us and them, I presume?”

“Yes. First, as decided in our strategy meeting.”

I nodded at Weltes’ words.

First, we’ll gauge the combat power ratio between the Fishfolk officers and the Sea King’s Familiar through this. After that, each group can conduct mock battles and consider countermeasures.

Now that our weapons are effective, even with the physical ability difference, I wouldn’t say there’s no chance of victory in one-on-one combat.

If we can surpass them in skill, strategy, and quick thinking, and penetrate their defenses, there should always be a chance to win. But it’s better to minimize human losses. And through training, we’ll reduce the likelihood of defeat as much as possible.

Now then. Let’s also conduct water magic countermeasure training simultaneously.

I created Aqua Golems, coloring some with Earth Magic and leaving others transparent. The colored Golems would be the Vanguard. The transparent Golems would be the Rearguard, firing Water Bullets from behind during training with the colored Golems.

For shooting, I had the Vanguard make preparatory movements, making the long-range attacks somewhat predictable. Though there are various Techniques for manipulating water, with this training, they should be able to detect unnaturalness even in close combat and respond to tricky tactics, such as disengaging.

“Who wants to start with this training?”

“Then, I will.”

Sheila stepped forward. Good. Then let’s proceed with the training.

“Then, let’s begin. First… with three people, perhaps?”

“Then we shall.”

I manipulated the magical Doll, making it Charge against the opposing officers. Weltes faced its swift movements head-on. The other two deployed to the left and right to intercept. They blocked the thrusting Spear tips with a Magic Shield and immediately launched counterattacks. The officer who received the attack with Fighting Spirit concentrated on his Spear was knocked backward.

The officer showed a slightly surprised expression at the weight of that attack—but brimming with fighting spirit, he immediately rushed forward again.

“The Magic Shield serves as a substitute for Fighting Spirit Defense.”

“Meaning—we must slip past this and land a single blow, correct?”

“Yes. Mix feints and genuine attacks, scatter their attention allocation, and break through their Defense.”

“Understood!”

The mock battle became a high-speed swimming engagement.

Watching the officers’ movements, I could see their underwater combat style, which was quite interesting. The officers tried to leverage their numerical advantage to secure favorable positions. The magical Doll disrupted them with speed and physical strength to prevent that.

The Fishfolk officers must be accustomed to three-dimensional combat.

Somehow, the development resembled the positioning battles in aircraft dogfights, but being flesh and blood, they were more maneuverable. Plus, close combat was mixed in.

Even with Form Shift, having a favorable position wasn’t guaranteed. They swapped bodies. Swapped positions. Crossing paths, they clashed Spears and spine-like Weapons. With fists. Kicks. Headbutts. Body slams. The magical Doll used its entire body as a Weapon, engaging the officers.

“This is… quite substantial, hardly seeming like a mock battle.”

Queen Eldorene, watching this, nodded with admiration.

Meanwhile, Sheila’s movements were quite smooth.

She quickly discerned that Water Bullets would fly in coordination with the Aqua Golem Vanguard’s movements. Detecting the initial motion, she deployed a Charge Shield, skillfully incorporating disengagements and advances into her own combat style.

At this rate, we could raise the training Level further. Let’s gradually introduce Techniques like water whips in close combat and omnidirectional attacks centered on the caster.

In this manner, we finished the mock battles—and took time for another discussion with Queen Eldorene.

“The combat power ratio seems to be about three to five people against one Sea King’s Familiar.”

This was based on observing the officers’ capabilities. Against that shark man, Weltes and his two companions could sufficiently defeat it. Since the Familiar’s strength isn’t uniform, we’re saying five for greater certainty, but in any case, we can’t have too many people fighting at once.

Switching Vanguards could help maintain concentration and reduce Vitality consumption while denying the enemy rest. The estimated suitable number for that is around five.

“I see. I can’t say for certain, but the number of Familiar stone statues reported isn’t that large. However, our own skilled warriors capable of fighting them are limited.”

Queen Eldorene crossed her arms, showing a thoughtful expression.

“So, we won’t have that much of a numerical advantage after all.”

“Unfortunately not. Being able to use Fighting Spirit is probably the minimum requirement.”

Though Spear tips won’t be distributed to all soldiers, as the queen says, being able to use Fighting Spirit is the minimum requirement to fight the Familiars.

While we indeed have superior military strength, the actual number capable of combat is quite limited.

“We can’t rely on numbers… and if the enemy’s numbers aren’t large, we have no choice but to face them with a small elite force.”

“Indeed. Sending out soldiers who know they can’t win, merely aiming to exhaust the enemy, would lower morale and tie up resources for treatment. Above all, it wouldn’t be the conduct of virtuous individuals.”

As the Duke and Grand Duke spoke, Queen Eldorene also nodded.

“Indeed. I wouldn’t want to employ such a strategy either.”

So… the elite will stand at the forefront in the battle against the Sea King’s Familiars. One could say it’s possible because we have the Sirius.

“But… if we make them understand that we have weapons effective against the Sea King’s Familiars, the fact of our numerical superiority could function sufficiently as a bluff.”

“A bluff. Interesting.”

Queen Eldorene shook her shoulders at my words.

“Indeed. We’d want to gather them in one place and prevent their escape. In that case, they’d likely attempt to capture Grantios’ Castle.”

“Theodore-dono, do you possess any Techniques usable in a siege battle?”

Asked by an officer, I thought briefly before answering.

“Destroying the castle gate or walls shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You say that so matter-of-factly. It seems you could do even more.”

“Since our objective is recapture. I don’t think the Sea King would be defeated just by being buried under the castle.”

“I see.”

Queen Eldorene laughed cheerfully. The Duke was nodding with some understanding expression… but I’ll try not to mind it.

Our objective remains solely the Subjugation of the Sea King’s faction and the recapture of the City of the Sea. Crushing or blowing up the entire castle would only make reconstruction difficult without any benefit. Therefore, if we destroy anything, it should be targeting effective locations after assessment.

It would be troublesome to make various judgments while hearing about the battlefield situation there, so it’s better to ask Queen Eldorene about the castle’s structure now and identify potential attack points.

Monitoring and training, weapon supply, various assumptions. I feel we’ve done all we can. Now… all that’s left is to wait for movement.

Thank you always for reading my work.

Before I knew it, thanks to you all, we’ve reached 500 chapters.

That I’ve been able to continue this long is thanks to everyone’s support. I express my gratitude once again.

Marking every 50 chapters as usual, I’ve compiled the newly introduced characters from chapters 401 to 450 in the activity report.

Also, since the character introduction articles in the activity reports have increased considerably, I’ve prepared an article summarizing the introduction contents from (1) to (9).

Since the character introduction summary might reveal some future characters to some extent, it’s intended for those who have read up to near the latest chapters.

I’d be happy if you could utilize it for text searches etc.