The Second Son of The Marquis Runs Away from Home ~ Lacking Talent, He Abandons Everything and Becomes an Adventurer ~ - 76

Chapter 76: The Reason He is Called the “Corpse General”

After running with Garma and Souga for half a day, we returned and were greeted by Aria and the others. Although Rakul and I were fine, Serena and the others were exhausted from the forced march, so we let them rest.

Soon, Raigou, Fudou, Hiruko, and others gathered, and the military council began.

“Where is Ozuma’s army?”

“There hasn’t been any change in their speed, so they should reach East Valley Castle in about a day and a half. However…”

Aria made a face, as if she had bitten into something bitter. Then Raigou answered, taking over from Aria.

“Dougen has been attacking and destroying nearby villages along the way.”

“Wh…what?”

Rakul was stunned by Raigou’s words. I was also momentarily speechless, but quickly thought of the reason.

“…Scorched Earth tactics? Or is he trying to reduce our food supplies?”

“No, that’s part of it, but it’s likely that he’s using them as shields.”

“Shields?”

“It’s a tactic Dougen often uses. By advancing with captured hostages as shields, he forces the enemy to stop attacking, and then his main force crushes them along with the hostages… that man is unusually good at breaking the enemy’s will to fight and lowering their morale.”

“…The Corpse General, huh.”

Listening to Raigou, I once again realized what kind of person Dougen was. Shion would never attack villages without reason, but Dougen would use any means necessary.

Looking ahead, we must avoid leaving behind grudges and damage, but Dougen doesn’t care and continues to pile up corpses… calling him the “Corpse General” is spot on.

“He’s troublesome.”

Someone like him would literally use any method to win. If you give him overwhelming numbers, it wouldn’t be surprising if he used unexpected methods to catch us off guard.

I felt that this man had to be defeated in this war, no matter what.

“First, we need to prepare for when they start using hostages.”

With that, we continued the military council based on the information from Fudou and Hiruko. By the time we had settled on a specific strategy, the date had already changed.

(Aria’s Side)

Under the moonlight, I gripped my sword tightly in the forest near the castle. After exhaling and relaxing my body, I regulated my breathing and assumed my stance.

“Fuu…huh!”

With my breath, I drew the sword from its sheath. The blade cut through a tree of the same thickness as my body and was sheathed again immediately.

I repeated this over and over, with the sound of the blade slicing through the wind and the sound of it being sheathed echoing in the area. Normally, repeating this would calm my heart, but I could still feel my anger rising.

“Is this what Kuno’s teaching is about?”

…I understand. I know exactly how Father would feel if he saw me now, and what words he would say to me.

But still…

“Dogen, you are the one I can never forgive…!”

I couldn’t calm this raging heart of mine…