When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 38

Episode 38

Going back a bit in time, just before Fatima successfully joined Serena and the others, about two days had passed since Jez and René departed from Graysian.

Leading the charge was Jamil and the 1000 riders of the 78th War-Time Composite Legion, relentlessly galloping towards the Bastiona to Kohane highway, their objective in mind.

Based on reports from messengers from Bastiona, Jamil predicted the approximate rendezvous point considering the positions of the remaining soldiers of the 9th Legion, the marching speed of the 2nd Regiment of the 7th Legion, and the 10th Legion.

Furthermore, Jamil divided the members of the Al-Faz’s unit into ten squads of ten and sent them ahead like scouts to gather information while maintaining the fastest possible march.

Even during the night, they prioritized resting for shorter periods than usual to prioritize the rendezvous with the 9th Legion.

Along the way, they encountered groups that seemed to be messengers or scouts from the Demon Army several times but swiftly dealt with them. They pushed forward like a raging dragon, clearing their path.

During the day, when they had covered about three-quarters of the distance to their target point from Graysian, the terrain visibility worsened. Sensing intentional actions from the occasional movements of the demon forces, Jamil issued instructions without slowing down.

“Watch out for enemy ambushes! We’re about a day away from the target point!”

René, Lilly, Jez, Erin, Sofia, Clara, and others, who were under the command of the cavalry, also went on high alert.

“There they are!”

As expected, they spotted the demon army in a position seemingly suitable for ambushing them as they rode down the open road. Although there was still some time before the encounter, it seemed the demon side had also realized that their ambush had been compromised and started swarming out to block their path.

Among them,

“Hey, seriously? Is that an Orc King standing there?”

Standing before Jamil’s group was an Orc King. Although the number of demons itself was small, they seemed to have stationed a small elite force led by the Orc King.

In this simultaneous attack on Bastiona and Graysian, the Orc Emperor had dispatched Orc Kings to each city, but he had also stationed another Orc King at the point connecting them. When the tunnel operation failed in Graysian, the Orc Emperor decided to focus on capturing Bastiona and, as a precaution, had the Orc King block the route from Graysian to Bastiona.

Not knowing these circumstances, Jamil’s group pondered how to deal with the Orc King before them.

They had 1000 cavalry against thousands led by the Orc King. While the numbers themselves wouldn’t be an issue given time, dealing with the Orc King would be troublesome.

Moreover, even if they were to defeat the enemy, it would consume time and energy. Considering their plans after meeting with the 9th Legion, they wanted to conserve Princess René’s strategic magic.

While Jamil was pondering, the enemy was steadily approaching. Although René, who had left the command of the cavalry to Jamil, thought it was about time to make a decision, someone spoke up next to Jamil, who was troubled.

“Jamil, let me handle it.”

Beside the troubled Jamil, a civil official (vice commander) who began stretching his upper body skillfully while riding at lightning speed on a horse spoke earnestly.

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

No one blamed Jamil’s reaction to Jez’s words. In fact, almost everyone around had a similar reaction.

However, Princess René observed Jez with sparkling eyes, Lilly cheered her on silently, thinking, “Hang in there, René-chan,” and Erin looked into the distance, thinking, “Jez is somewhat strange.”

Ignoring all the reactions around him, Jez continued.

“We need to hurry, right? I’ll use my trump card.”

“Trump card? Can you kill the Orc King?”

“Yeah, leave it to me. In return, keep the others in check for me. I’ll handle it mano a mano.”

(Note:”Mano a mano” is a Spanish expression that translates to “hand to hand” in English. It is often used to describe a direct confrontation or competition between two individuals or groups, typically without the involvement of anyone else.)

It was a trump card they had kept because in previous battles, they had expected reinforcements from allies or were not in situations where Jez alone had to overextend himself. Jez decided to use it now.

“I’ll use Conceptual Armament.”

“What?! You have something like that too!?”

“It’s a replica, though.”

Upon hearing those words, Jamil understood that Jez’s trump card alone could defeat the Orc King. However…

“Wouldn’t it be better to save it for defeating the Orc Emperor?”

“I thought about that too, but wouldn’t it be pointless if we didn’t make it in time? Besides, Commander Serena of the 10th Legion should be here. With her and Princess René, we should be fine.”

Amidst the approaching demon army, Jamil and his group charged into the enemy without losing momentum. However, while coordinating the flow of the cavalry charge, they also worked on isolating the Orc King by whittling down the demon army.

Jamil, along with Sofia and Clara providing support, René, Lilly, and Erin cleared the path to the Orc King. Taking advantage of the momentum of the cavalry charge, Jamil’s group trampled the demons. And then…

As the Orc King became isolated, Jez shouted.

Without slowing down, he charged while still mounted. Wait, wasn’t he planning to dismount this time? The members of the Al-Faz’s unit wondered in confusion.

Jez rummaged through his official attire while on horseback and pulled out a pen.

A pen here? Why a pen? The members of the 78th War-Time Composite Legion, who had occasionally checked on Jez, were momentarily bewildered.

“Power that springs forth from the depths of knowledge, crystallization of words, gather in my hand.”

With the pen in hand, Jez infused it with magic without slowing down the horse’s pace. The pen began to shine brightly. …A shining pen?

“Inhabit the wisdom left by the ancient storytellers, manifest it here and now.”

Conceptual Armament. It was an artifact created by ancient alchemists to realize specific concepts. What Jez used was a replica of that.

“Holding the pen surpasses the sword, let the quiet ink summon a storm to change the world.”

It was a custom-made item from a crazy alchemist, a friend of Jez since his student days. However, it would break after a single use.

“To transform my thoughts into form, become a mirror that reflects ideals into reality.”

Creating it required a large amount of precious materials and a long time. Even for a moderately wealthy person like Jez, it wasn’t something he could easily obtain multiple times. Moreover, even if one had the money, it wasn’t something that could be made with just materials.

“Based on the unchanging truth that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword,’ unleash the power of words according to this immutable truth, and manifest its form in this world! Conceptual Armament, activate! Pen is Mightier than Sword – Jabberwock!”

As an especially strong light emitted from the pen,

“Now, let your thoughts reach, and show the answer at the end of your contemplation to this world! Conceptual Armament activated! Pen is Mightier than Sword – Jabberwock!”

In the hand of the civil official who was supposed to be holding the pen, a halberd (pen) far taller than him was gripped. It was a halberd (pen) with simple decorations that reminded one of its former identity as a pen.

Confirming the sensation, Jez increased the horse’s speed even further, swinging the halberd in all directions while charging at the Orc King.

Conceptual Armament, Pen is Mightier than Sword – Jabberwock. The concept it symbolized was quite literally “reversal of strength.”

“Woooaahhh!!!”
“Grrraaaahhhh!!!”

The Orc King’s greatsword and the halberd swung by Jez collided fiercely with a high-pitched metallic sound.

After several clashes, cracks began to appear in the halberd with each swing by Jez, and the Orc King launched a counterattack with a fierce momentum.

The Orc King was no pushover either. As the members of the 78th War-Time Composite Legion watched with bated breath, the two blades finally reached a momentary stalemate.

“Haaaaaahhh!!!”

When an intense concentration of magic power emitted from Jez’s body became visible, the halberd (pen) easily sliced through the Orc King’s greatsword.

“Raaaaahhh!!!”

Taking advantage of the return stroke, Jez used the momentum to decapitate the Orc King.

Additionally, as he swung the halberd several times to cut up the enemy’s body, fatal cracks appeared in the halberd held by Jez, and it collapsed.

Amidst the shock of both demons and humans freezing in their tracks, Jamil, who had been observing from a distance, muttered in disbelief.

“…That’s just too much.”

Did you, dear readers, notice? This pen has appeared several times since Episode 1.