Chapter 46: Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle In the forest is Krische and five people surrounding her. Each of them held a wooden sword and are readying themself, while Krische stood without even taking a stance as usual. She isn't even looking at anywhere in particular. Her narrowed eyes are just staring vaguely at the scenery in front of her.

Facing against her is Mia's squad A five-on-one situation----but there was no longer any restraint about it. There was no way they could let their guard down after seeing seven squads being helplessly defeated by her.

The grueling training continued for a week, repeating training for ambush and surprise attack and how to deal with them, creating a situation just like a real battle, while causing just minor injury. The black soldiers had begun to demonstrate abilities unmatched by ordinary soldiers due to their high physical capabilities, and the rigorous training they had undergone up to this point had removed any naivete they have.

Their surprise attacks were no longer simply attacking the flank, but three-dimensional attacks using trees. A mere marching formation would be finished in less than half a minute. The joint training with the red, the light infantry on the fourth day fully demonstrated their capabilities.

The Red group had been informed of the surprise attack in advance that would occur during their march training. Against the black century, the red team mobilized two of their best centuries, although it was a highly difficult task the black soldiers annihilated the red march column with just 7 casualties. The Red group, who had been informed that they were the elite, were astonished at the result. It stimulated their desire to improve, which was originally high, and led to an improvement in their motivation, but for the blacks, on the contrary, the result got into their head, making them grow conceited.

Against Red, who has been trained as an elite, even if it was a surprise attack, it was still an overwhelming victory. It's no wonder that the black soldiers, who for the first time realized their high ability, became like that. However, of course, this was not what Dagra wanted, and it was yesterday that he contacted Krische to ask for her cooperation in knocking them down. As a result, a mock battle of five against one was held for each squad.

At first, they were hesitant about attacking the general's daughter with five people, but when they saw that three teams were easily defeated because they let their guard down, the rest of them became serious. However, the following four teams were also easily defeated, it poured buckets of cold water on their growing conceitedness.

The squad led by Mia was the one attached to the commander----the most elite of the squads. On the battlefield, they operated as a guard for the centurion Dagra, and except for Mia is composed only of excellent soldiers with outstanding swordsmanship. The blacks----those who possess magical powers but also have the skills to be selected for the reds, are placed here, and they always take the first place in the competitions between squads. Mia thought that this team was the only one who could turn back the tide in the midst of the cold atmosphere caused by the continuous defeats.

Five person charges against one. The advantage was clear, and everyone here had near first-class swordsmanship. And their physical ability is incomparable to that of a mere soldier.

However, Krische showed her composure and even gave up the first move, saying that they could strike from anywhere. Mia hides in the treetops, aiming for the opportunity, while the other four surround her on all sides. Facing her is Kalua, a woman whose swordsmanship rivals Dagra's.

At the very least we can corner her. Thinking so, Mia sends a signal by striking a branch with the wooden sword in her hand.

It was Kalua who stepped in first to stop Krische. With her long black hair tied back, flowing in the wind, her step easily closed the gap between the two of them. ----With the speed of a gale she slashed at her. It was a blow without a shred of hesitation. If it was Krische who isn't wearing any armor at all right now, she might break her bones even if she stopped the slashes. That's too much!----thinking so Mia panicked, but Krische ducked and dodged it.

It was as if her petite body was slipping through Kalua's. With a light twist of her body, Krische moved behind Kalua and strongly kicked her back with the soles of her feet. "Ugh!" Kalua's body blows and rolls over as if she had been hit by a horse. Kalua's body naturally rolled in front of the three men behind her who were about to cut at Krische. The three of them were thrown off by an obstacle that suddenly appeared----and in the next moment, the wooden swords of the nearest person was blown away. Kahlua who was rolled over immediately swings her sword as it is, but was dodged, and her arm was held by Krische's leg, and her helmet was struck lightly with a wooden sword. In her actual combat, it would be a fatal blow, and at that point she would be judged dead.

In the midst of the chaos, the two remaining men looked at each other and circled around, splitting to the left and right. The elites of black----even in the midst of chaos, they knew what they had to do. Seizing the opportunity, Mia kicked the branch she's on and slashed at Krische from above.

But in the next moment, Krische disappeared, "Mia, above!" ----Mia collapsed due to the impact that hit her head. "Attacking from the top of the tree is not a bad idea. But that's for ambush. What's the point if you hide while Krische is aware of you?"

"Yes, I'm sorry......" *Thud, thud,* Mia lowered her head as her helmet was struck with a wooden sword. Krische's height is quite short, and when Mia, who can be said to be of average height, lowers her head like that, the position pf her head is just right.

Krische had been observing the training instructors closely. Then she imitates it as a "remarkable training instructor", but the sight of Krische puffing up her chest with her small body and acting big doesn't match her adorable appearance at all, her figure is one of a child who pretends to be an adult. It was more comical than frightening and strangely endearing, but no one ever talks about it openly. "If you want to do it, you need to always move between the trees and don't let the opponent know where you are. A surprise attack from the air is not bad as a surprise attack but note that you will be defenseless and wasting time until you get down to the ground." At the same time Mia jumped down, Krische leapt upward as if replacing her, kicked a branch, and slammed her sword into Mia's head from overhead. The other two were defeated individually. It was a complete defeat. "You're also not putting Kalua to good use either. At least in this squad, Kalua is relatively better, so it's foolish to make her attack head-on. What's the basics of a tactics?"

"Use the weak as decoys and use the strong to defeat the enemy." *Thud*, Mia's head was hit again. "If you know then why didn't you do it?"

"Yes, I'm sorry......"

"Sorry, is not an excuse"

"A-adjutant corps commander" Kalua's long black hair swayed and she raised her voice. "I made a proposal that I could charge from the front and buy time! Adjutant Mia accepted the suggestion----"

"Then, that's even more stupid" *Thus, thud, thud*, Mia's head was hit three times in a row Mia endured a dull ache that was slowly transmitted through her helmet, and she could do nothing but curse and wonder why she had to go through this. "Ascertaining the strength of both side is one of the basics for a commander. Never mind, if this was the first battle, this one is already the eighth battle. Can't you at least understand the difference in strength between your squad and Krische?"

"No, I-I understood......"

"If you understood, why didn't you do it?"

"Um, that is......"

"Adjutant corps commander, I'll do the rest." Dagra nervously raises his voice to stop what seems like an eternity of questions and answers. Krische glanced at Dagra and threw him a look that said, 'I'll leave it to you then.'. "Mia is a brilliant woman, but she should not be swayed by other people's opinions and be indecisive. Krische's hope is to make Mia like Dagra. Can you please do that?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll train her well."

"The number of casualties was seven, even though they were facing just only hundred. If it is a surprise attack, Krische hope is seven casualties against 1,000. It doesn't meet Krische wish at all." Krische shook her silver hair and put her hands on her hips. "Rather than individual skills, it seems it would be better to further strengthen the coordination through training. Krische feel like all of you don't really understand why any army makes teams of five people. Kalua, what are the advantages of a squad?"

"A-always work together with five people, and even against one person attack with five people, in order to secure superiority in military strength."

"That's right. The reason is that even if you can't play five-on-one, if you can create a two-on-one situation, even if only temporarily, you will have the upper hand. You should have better basic abilities than the red soldiers, and you should be able to win most of the one-on-one battles. However, the fact that there's seven casualties was the result of the red soldiers creating a military superiority. It's very embarrassing." Krische's cheeks puffed out slightly in dissatisfaction as she continued. The girlish appearance was very adorable no matter how you look at it. "Krische promised Selene that you will be a unit that will defeat the enemy with a loss ratio of 1 to 10. If it's just this much, Krische will be to embarrassed to report it to Selene. According to the report from Dagra, 7 out of 200 men it seems that you are satisfied with that. Krische is disappointed. If there are 100 Dagras here, then you should be able to meet Krische's demands, it's natural to be able to do that much." The black's face looked at Dagra. Dagra accepts the gaze though her expectations make him a bit uncomfortable. Whatever the case may be, it is not a bad feeling to be expected so much from this genius. "A soldier's job is to kill the enemy. Your job is to kill without being killed. If you don't get killed, you can kill again. If you help your comrades, they can kill more enemies. Coordination is all about how to kill the enemy without getting your comrades killed and without getting yourself killed. That's what Krische wants you to understand." Krische words were too direct. Dagra spoke to supplement her. "......look next to you. The faces of your comrades." Dagra takes a step forward. Selene had asked him privately to follow up on Krische's potentially misleading statement. "You guys are satisfied with your current selves and grow conceited. I understand that feeling. I also think you guys are excellent. But there are many tough situations on the battlefield. At that time, what will be lost due to your lack of power is the face next to you. One by one, one of them will disappear." The soldiers looked at each other then looked at Dagra. "I have lost many comrades. Some of them were my friends. Some of them were fooling around with me just the night before. Each time, I mourned in frustration. If only I had a little more strength." Dagra looks at the soldiers and speaks to them in a quiet tone. "I make you undergo rigorous training and demand high results. Why is that? It's because I don't want you to feel the same way. I don't want you to see the corpse of your comrades who ate out of the same pot. ......The adjutant corps commander word is also the same. The fact that there were seven casualities mean they would have died in an actual battle. I'm sure you can understand what that means. By all right those seven people have gone." Without raising his voice to shout, as expected Dagra is an excellent centurion. He is none other than the father of the soldiers. He knows how to draw their attention and bind them together. "Coordination is a technique to avoid being killed. And a technique to protect your friends. Protect your friends, not yourself, and for your friends yo protect yourself. Don't forget that." While looking at the satisfied faces of the soldiers, Krische raised Dagra's evaluation again. It is better to leave these things to Dagra, after all. Krische words were literal, buts he couldn't have been happier with Dagra fleshing out and embellishing them.

That said, it's still better to have multiple Dagra. Krische looks at Mia "For the time being, Mia. let's start with Mia. First, Mia needs to understand how the Dagra thinks and be able to think on the same level. Then you will make other Dagras. Do you understand?"

"Uh......yes......"

"Krische's goal is to make everyone here a Dagra. For that to happen, you must first become the second Dagra."

Krische called one of the groups again and said, 'Let's start again.' On that day, the training was repeated until the group sets. "Whoa.. I didn't think that usa-chan was that much of a monster."

"Don't call her Usa-chan. If commander Dagra hears it he will get angry." While conducting training of two squad against one squad, ten to five, one squad is five against one with Krische. By the time they finished, they were exhausted, but they had to get ready for encampment. Today, they were ordered to rest afterwards, and the black centurions, who are usually divided into two groups, were to camp together for today only.

While talking with Mia, Kalua picked up a branche. Although she is a woman, she is one of the best swordsmen in the group, and since she and Mia are in the same group, they get along well. She's easy to get along with and is the type to do everything flawlessly, is like a big sister who listens to Mia's complaints with a caring attitude. "No, well, I've heard rumors that Usa-chan looks like she's skill is like a real pro, but I didn't expect her to be so strong with that appearance." Usa-chan is Krische nickname. Silver hair, pure white skin, and small stature. When Selene and Berry came to visit, she would rub up against them and show spoiled face, so she was likened to the cute white rabbit in winter, and was called Usa-chan, Usagi-chan,and the like within the unit. The term is also a derogatory one that includes a bit of rebellion against her harsh, cold-heartedness and the way she looks at soldiers as if they were pebbles, and when Dagra or the others hear it get angry like a raging wave. Because of it Mia never speaks of it, even in private, but Kalua, perhaps because of her personality, does not seem to be bothered by it. "I've even won a swordsmanship tournament in a fairly large town, you know? And after I learned how to use magic here, I even thought there's no more enemies for me..."

"I mean even Commander officer Dagra said with a serious face that we should never anger her. See, there were also those rumors, right? That she tortured an enemy by cutting off everything from his fingertips to both hands and feet without changing her expression."

"Uwah,......I wonder if it's true after all."

"Don't know. But she looks like the type that will do it......"

"You're right. I can just imagine Usa-chan doing that with a blank expression on her face..."

"Are you talking about Krische?" ----The two of them stiffened. Without any sign of it, they heard a young and sweet voice behind them.

Kalua quickly turns around and salutes Krische with her hand on her chest, and Mia follows suit. Krische returned the salute and asked. "Mia, Krische is looking for Dagra, do you know where he is?"

"C-commander Dagra is checking the sentry guard..."

"I see." Krische tells her, with a pout on her lips. "Well, Mia is fine. Training will continue as before, tomorrow. Krische will be going back, so please tell him to report back to Krische if he needs anything. "

"Yes, ma'am."

"And also Krische is curious, but when you say "Usa-chan," do you mean Krische?" Krische asked, while tilting her head. The eyes are inorganic, and you can't tell what she's thinking. Her expressionless, doll-like face was deeply shadowed in the dusk, giving her an eerie feeling. Swoosh, the wind caresses the branches and leaves as if to tickle the silence. Mia glared at Kalua, who shook her head. A silent conversation unfolded for a while, and Krische again tilted his head to the other side and asked. "... Mia?"

"Y-yes... um, uh... that is, I'm sorry!"

"...? Why are you apologizing?" Mia thinks about the meaning of Krische words, 'Why are you apologizing?' Does it mean she literally does not understand the meaning? Or is she asking if Mia understands the meaning and wants Krische to kill her? Mia was unable to guess the meaning from the expressionless Krische, and broke out in a cold sweat. "And there's also a slight misunderstanding. Krische only cut off eight fingers during the torture, not both arms and legs. Rumors are really a terrible thing," Remembering what Garen had said to her, 'Rumors will grow before you know it', Krische said with a face as if she understands it. In fact, she doesn't understand at all. Even if it was only a finger instead of two limbs, it would still be frightening. Krische did not understand the fundamental part of it. Rather, their fear increased as they were convinced that it was true. "Well, that's fine. Is 'Usa-chan' a way of calling someone that you have to apologize for?"

"N-no, that..." This girl younger than herself is a monster. Mia was once again convinced of that. Dagra and others who have seen her on the battlefield, even those who have fought many battles, are in awe of her, saying that she is 'not a human', 'demon', 'ruthless', and 'god of death'. The curved sword on her waist has slain more than a hundred men without a nick on the blade, and even on the battlefield she had the presence of mind to avoid bones and armor, aiming only at the soft flesh and tearing it. She was a being who should not be spoken of in the same breath as ordinary human beings, they said. And the words she just said indicate that such rumors are as close to true as possible.

Instead of Mia, who stiffened, it was Kalua who answered. "Ah... it's like a nickname! Adjutant corps commander!"

"Nickname?"

"Y-yes. The silver hair, white skin, and the beautiful, lovely figure of the adjutant corps commander was just like a white rabbit so within the unit we called Adjutant corps commander Usa-chan, as sign of affection"

"Affection..." Krische thought for a moment and nodded. "Krische have never been given a nickname before, so it's a little strange. Is that how it is."

"Y-yes! E-even though there is a difference in status, we call adjutant corps commander like that as sign of affection as a fellow comrade! If adjutant corps commander doesn't like it----"

"No, it's fine. It's fine if Krische understands it, and if it's an expression of familiarity, then Krische doesn't really mind." Krische nodded, liking the phrase, 'as sign of affection.' Although she is basically indifferent to others, it is better to be liked than to be disliked. Since It's not like she demands respect from others, she isn't particularly offended.

What she wants from them is obedience on the battlefield. It must be better to be obedient as a result of affection rather than to make them afraid and submissive, and if they say they are trying to be friendly, she will honestly accept it. Kindness for kindness Krische has at least come to possess such a dangerous goodness.

When she is convinced of this, she moves her gaze to look at the bushes. There is no one there. "Is something the matter...?"

"It's Dagra." Mia and Kalua furrowed their brows, and after a moment, there was a rustling sound in the bushes. It was Dagra, slowly approaching from the dark bushes. The two looked at Krische in surprise, and Dagra called out to them while looking suspiciously at them. "Adjutant corps commander, Is something the matter?" Krische stares at Dagra. Dagra was a man with a stern face and a conspicuous bald head and eagle nose. He had a well-trained body. His cheeks were deeply scarred with old scars, and he is nothing short of a valiant warrior.

Affection, nickname. Krische stares at that face and thinks for a moment. "Umm......?"

"Bald eagle." ----The three of them stiffened at those words. "From now on, I'm going to call Dagra, Bald Eagle. It seems that there is a culture of affectionate nicknames here."

"Huh? Umm...B-bald..."

"Bald Eagle, your head is bald, and you have eagle nose. Krische thinks it's a very good nickname." It was no longer a nickname, but a mere verbal abuse. But Krische smiled without worrying about the stiffened three. Krische recognized it as a very good idea. "Krische has white skin and silver hair, so it's Usa-chan. Isn't that right, Mia?"

"Eh, uh... that..." It was Kalua who said it, but Mia is the top person there. Krische, who follows rules faithfully, naturally asked Mia where the responsibility lies.

Dagra's bald head turned red, blue streaks appeared, and his face began to distort with anger and hatred. His gaze turned to Mia. She looked at Kalua for help, but Kalua averted her eyes. "Basically, Bald Eagle are subordinates, under Krische direct control, so Krische would like to build a good relationship with you, so giving you a nickname seems like a good idea. What do you think? If you don't like it Krische won't force it."

"N-no... To be personally given a nickname by the adjutant corps commander is t-the greatest honor."

"I see. Then it's bald eagle from now on" There is no taking it back. Krische, who was even told it was an honor, said with satisfaction, and she nodded with a look as if she had done a good deed. "Krische is going home now. The instructions are as Krische told Mia. If anything happens, please send a messenger from bald eagle to Krische again. Don't forget to report once a day."

"......Yes, Mia and I are going to have a long, long talk about what to do tomorrow."

"Yes, please. Mia, listen to bald eagle."

"Y-yes..." *Trot, trot*, Krische trotted off into the forest. Krische was not very fond of horses, and she even come to the forest on foot. She will also probably walk home. "Okay, Mia. Let's talk about what's going on."

"I-it's not me! K-Kalua...huh!?" Kalua had disappeared. As soon as the Krische started running, she sneaked away. "Kalua?......Even if it is Kalua, you are the adjutant, the one who sets the discipline of the squad. You're the one who was by her side, and you're the one who's supposed to stop her, you idiot!" Mia was hit on the head for the second time today.