Siege Warfare

The operation to invade Cordova began.

As originally planned, they would first attack the fort at the southern end of the border.

Their numbers totaled an impressive 150,000.

However, rather than relying on brute force through sheer numbers, the battle began with mundane matters like long-range attacks using magic and catapults, as well as combat engineers securing water sources.

On a nearby hill, Ria was watching the attack without paying much attention to it. The documents she was currently wrestling with concerned matters of law.

The Ogress Archduchy was essentially a federation of nations. Laws that would serve as its model were needed—a constitution, so to speak.

Though Guinevere had demonstrated her considerable skill in technical and commercial matters, even she lacked expertise when it came to creating legislation.

Thus, while observing their one-sided attack on this front line, Ria was discussing postwar legal frameworks with her staff.

And the fact that their model for this would be the very Cordova they were about to destroy struck her as rather ironic.

"Fio, pass me the next one. Serge, take a look at this."

In situations like this, Serge's knowledge from his previous life in Japan was useful.

Though he hadn't come from a law school background, he had received ordinary history lessons, so he had a reasonable understanding of legal transitions.

"Nee-chan, isn't this way too lenient no matter how you look at it?"

By this point, even within the army, Serge's way of addressing Ria as "Nee-chan" had become fixed.

"Ah, the people of Cordova have suffered under tyranny for years. Once they experience kindness, they'll never think to revolt."

"Hmm, but I read somewhere that laws are better off being strict rather than poorly lenient…"

"That's the story of Zi Chan from China. Under a virtuous ruler, governance should be as familiar and gentle as water, but under a ruler lacking virtue, the people become too accustomed to leniency, so it's better to deal with them as strictly as fire."

Since Ria enjoyed historical novels, she had read her fair share.

Don't look at her with such strange eyes.

"… Nee-chan, do you have virtue?"

"Nope."

But she did have dignity. Overwhelming military achievements and fame.

Serge, who took such a nonchalant attitude toward that hegemonic ruler, had actually earned some respect without realizing it, though he himself was unaware.

There probably weren't any vassals among their opposing generals who could flatly tell their king to his face that he lacked virtue.

"By the way, Your Majesty."

"Hm?"

"The castle walls are nearly destroyed, so perhaps we should launch a charge…"

At her general's suggestion, Ria merely glanced forward briefly before returning her attention to the documents.

"Not yet."

"However, if we destroy them any further, we won't be able to use them ourselves."

"That's fine. I planned to destroy them completely from the start and build new ones."

The general's jaw dropped.

"I mean, such a small fort would just get taken back immediately, right? That's why I brought 150,000 soldiers—for the construction work."

The general said nothing more.

Shortly after that, the garrison soldiers raised the white flag, unable to endure the relentless barrage of boulders.

"Aah, I'm exhausted."

Inside her tent, on cloth spread over the ground, Ria lay down still holding documents.

Though her body had only been on horseback all day, it was her mind that was tired.

To begin with, this sort of thing should probably be left to scholars, but what was needed now wasn't universally applicable law.

Ria's dictatorship was necessary until the Millennium.

"Fio, Fiiiooo～"

"What is it?"

"Give me a lap pillow～"

"A-a lap pillow…"

Fio obediently sat down on the floor, and Ria placed her head on her knees.

"Maal～, be my hug pillow～"

"Okay～"

Accustomed to this, Maal snugly settled into Ria's arms.

"Ah, that's not fair～"

Irina hugged Maal from the opposite direction.

"What are you even doing…"

With an exasperated, yet slightly envious voice, Shizuna entered the tent and glared at Ria.

"Being healed… Come on, Shizuna, over here."

"Eeh～?"

Though wearing a displeased expression, Shizuna sat down next to Fio. It was cute how obviously she wanted attention.

Ria wrapped her arm around Shizuna's waist and pulled her close, then began caressing Shizuna's bottom with her left hand.

"Wait… not here…"

"So nice and soft～"

Since Ria said it so honestly, Shizuna's cheeks reddened even as she focused on those fingertips. Ria wasn't just caressing her—she was definitely gauging Shizuna's reactions.

It was frustrating. But it felt good.

"What are you doing?"

A cold voice echoed through the tent.

Carla-sama was watching.

She wasn't particularly jealous, nor was she angry—she gazed at Ria and the others with a mysterious expression.

Those innocent eyes rather made Ria feel uneasy.

"Ria, I don't mind if you indulge yourself, but there are outside observers. You should have someone standing guard at the entrance."

Rather, her voice was gentle.

"Yes."

"Also, these are documents that arrived from Manesh. I know you're tired, but please review them by tomorrow."

Having said that and set down the documents, Carla briskly departed.

"As expected, the legal wife is something else…"

"She didn't seem jealous at all."

Shizuna and Fio whispered admiringly. Indeed, jealousy seemed like an emotion utterly foreign to Carla.

That, in its own way, made Ria feel a bit lonely.

Repairing the fort and turning it into a proper fortress didn't take long at all.

Materials had been prepared, manpower was plentiful, and supervising the work were engineers from Cordova who had been enemies until just recently.

Though they were first-rate combat engineers, it wasn't as if the country had forced them—they took the initiative to work themselves. The large-scale walls were completed quickly.

Cordova did send an army corps several days later, but their numbers were overwhelmingly inferior. It would have been better if they'd actually attacked, but they merely stared forlornly at the walls and went home.

Leaving the fortress to nearby nobles, Ria's main army moved on to its next target.

With nearly identical developments, two more forts fell. And again in the same manner, they were fortified.

On the second attempt, Cordova prepared a considerable force to recapture them, but the catapults used in the siege were turned to defense, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing their retreat.

By the third time, they had stationed substantial troops from the start, but even so, they were powerless before the mechanical might of the massive number of catapults that had been prepared in advance.

Furthermore, in this battle, Guinevere's prized golem soldiers finally strode across the battlefield.

The golem soldiers, advancing with infantry support, displayed offensive and charging power exceeding even ogres.

On flat ground, nothing could stop their charge. Even the encampment that had been built to be sturdy had its palisades smashed by single punches as they surged into the camp's interior.

Infantry charged through the gaps the golem soldiers opened, widening the breach.

This devastating power was something neither infantry nor even cavalry could possibly match.

"But we also found quite a few flaws, didn't we."

Serge said to Ria while storing away the broken golems.

"Well, of course. It's not like new weapons ever perform flawlessly right from the start."

Ria remained calm throughout. Guinevere should have been prepared for this as well.

The first problem with the golem soldiers was their impact resistance. And not from the expected enemy charges from the sides, but from vertical impacts.

Stumbling over small differences in elevation and falling, with the person inside hitting their head numerous times. If someone died from that, it wouldn't even be a funny story.

"It's just like Spe*unker, isn't it."

"You know some obscure references…"

Also, when faced with extraordinary warriors who exceeded the norm, the golems could only respond with golem-level movements.

There were a few strong soldiers among the enemy who could easily slice through magically reinforced armor.

And the biggest flaw was probably their maintainability.

Destroyed for the aforementioned reasons, there were no facilities or arsenals to maintain and repair the disabled golems. There weren't even people available to perform maintenance.

The technology created by the genius Guinevere had not yet been standardized among the battlefield engineers.

"Still, they're definitely useful in pitched battles. Please take them back for repairs."

"Roger."

At the very least, seatbelts and helmets should be mandatory for the riders inside. Why hadn't they thought of that sooner?

Golems were something you fought against, not something you rode inside—that preconception had seeped into their thinking since reincarnating into this world.

There was also the fact that in their previous lives, despite all those robot anime, combat robots that humans could pilot were never actually developed.

"When I get back to Manesh, I'm going to seriously tackle golem development."

When it came to practical combat, Serge couldn't really claim to be well-versed in magical theory.

Once this war reached a lull, perhaps he should seriously consider studying abroad at the Magic City.

With three forts captured, the Ogress army turned toward its final objective—a single fortress.

Unlike the previous three forts, this one had deep moats and high, thick walls. Its garrison now numbered over 30,000, making it a strategic stronghold that completely blocked the route into Cordova.

Maladus Fortress. Previously, Ria had given up capturing this fortress and withdrawn. It had been a rational decision at the time, but seeing how much it had been reinforced now, she couldn't help feeling conflicted.

Though Reyas said nothing in particular, there were probably those who had doubts about Ria's decision back then.

"Now then, a frontal assault would be foolish, but taking a detour would interfere with supply lines. We haven't prepared enough to incite defection, and we have no bait to lure them out…"

As it happened, Ria did have a way to easily capture this fortress. Though it could hardly even be called a plan.

If Ria and a few of her companions infiltrated and opened the main gate, the capture would be complete. It would be even better if they assassinated the commander on the way.

But politically, was that something she should do?

For one thing, if she did that, her allied generals would be absolutely furious.

Ria believed it was perfectly natural for warriors to die in battle.

But having warriors die needlessly in battle was a commander's negligence.

Most likely, no one realized how much Ria was trying to minimize soldier casualties. But Ria wanted to value her soldiers.

The conquest of Cordova was essentially a preliminary bout. The main event would be the war against the demon tribe, whose true nature remained completely unknown.

(So I'll end up having to kill Rei and Asuka too, huh…)

Even as her mood grew melancholy, Ria couldn't afford to stop thinking.