The Magic Academy's Physicist
Chapter 300: [Boss Fight] The Subjugation Of Gilach (1)

Chapter 300: [Boss Fight] The Subjugation Of Gilach (1)

0% The area where forest and plains alternated: Woodlanton

After a month and a half of training hell, this was where Vermel was assigned.

At first he thought he was seriously going to die. How could a person enter the army twice?

Even worse, this time wasn’t an enlistment under normal circumstances, either. At the height of war against the Demon Army, he had been assigned to the frontlines. In Korean terms, he had been drafted as a student soldier during the Korean War.

Yet if there was one thing that was different...

It was that he wasn’t acting as a meat shield.

“Forward! Forward!”

Under the command of General Pecton who had been demoted(?) from Minister of Defense to four-star general, Vermel and his comrades literally flew around the Woodlanton area.

Sometimes they’d bomb, sometimes they’d launch maneuver warfare to confuse the enemy.

Even while the other fronts were collapsing, this one stood firm. A place that wasn’t safe, but strangely comfortable.

“Charge─!!”

Actually, the very fact that one could feel comfortable in a war situation was nonsense.

Still, Vermel’s unit feared retreating more than advancing.

“What’s this, you bastard. Get back in there!”

Because their ally was scarier than the enemy.

General Georg Pecton. The field commander with four stars was at the front himself whipping the retreating soldiers.

His actions made him the perfect target for the Demon Army, but he hadn’t been ambushed as of yet.

Understandably, because Pecton was a fierce commander obsessed with maneuvering and raiding. How would they ambush him if he did it before they could?

Anyway, his eccentric personality was a flaw but his contribution was a sure thing.

“Anyone who falls behind will get beaten!!”

“Gasp, gasp.”

Vermel ran and ran.

When he ran out of stamina, he used mana. He pushed himself to the limit. Unlike his comrades, he fought bravely without a single Elemental.

And perhaps the commander had seen that as well.

“Uhahaha! Excellent! You were great out there today!”

After the raid ended in a success–

Mr. Four Star barged all of a sudden into the tent where the soldiers were resting and patted his shoulder.

“You, what is your name again?”

“Vermel Horde, sir.”

“I can’t hear you!!”

“Vermel Horde, sir!!”

“Alright, Corporal Horde! You should get a special two... no three-rank promotion.”

Right, this guy used to be the Minister of Defense.

“I’ve seen many heroes until now, but none like you. How did you manage to charge into the hills where shells came flying straight at you?”

A solo assault into raining fire. On Earth, it would’ve been suicide.

But it was a different story on Ahrens continent where magic was used. As long as one had the wisdom and courage, they could single-handedly turn things around.

In fact, Pecton was also aware of this. In the first place, this person was different from the Japanese army during the Pacific War. He knew how to read the situation more closely than he looked.

“It’s because I trust you, sir.”

A person who only charged where they could win. In other words, someone with outstanding ability if nothing else.

And because he knew that, he was able to go forth despite being scared.

“Ha, what a smooth talker.”

Pecton snorted and took a seat somewhere.

“Isn’t there another reason?”

“...What, do you mean?”

“The Minister of Magic.”

For a moment, it felt like his heart dropped.

“Why are you suddenly bringing up the minister.......”

“Everyone and their mother knows that you and that girl are close.”

The other soldiers whistled at Pecton’s chatter.

No, it’s not like that.

They can think however they want.

He no longer had the reason or mind to explain. What did it matter when he was soon going to disappear from this world, anyway?

Vermel recalled the contract he made with the Goddess at the Elemental Spring.

The Goddess being taken aback had been obvious even through the messages.

He huffed a laugh without realizing.

“Sir! The enemy is showing ominous movement in the east!”

“Is that right? Then let’s go. Ready the vehicles!”

He broke out of his thoughts and raised his head.

It looked like the night battle was about to begin.

This was something that occurred every three days. Vermel didn’t panic and immediately lit up a cigarette.

**And there was an entity who was watching Vermel from the sky.

A girl with green-tinged white hair and eyes fresh like leaves in the morning dew.

The white-haired, green-eyed Elemental, Aerial.

She was hovering above Vermel looking like she hadn’t a single piece of clothing on.

Like air that lingered there. Like a whirlwind that remained in place.

[.......]

Aerial was a curious being to begin with.

So she enjoyed wandering rather than staying in one place.

This was a common trait of Wind Elementals, and as such, there weren’t many cases of Elementals of the Air Realm forming contracts with humans or elves.

If they did form contracts, however, it was surely due to finding the person virtuous or attractive.

[Huhum, hm.]

At some point, the breeze became a whirlwind that spun in place.

Why, despite being an elf, had he not been blessed by any Elemental?

Yet how could he be so desperately committed to Kaurelia?

Just what was his relationship with that girl?

She had been lingering around him to find those answers, but then found herself staying like a boat anchored to the dock before she knew it.

“...Here they come.”

–was what Vermel murmured, and waited for his superior’s orders.

The battle that followed was as fierce as ever.

There were no nuclear bombs or anything, but equally devastating white phosphorus and APHE shells flew about and lit up the night sky.

At the sound of flying firecrackers, a concoction of shouts and screams was being made.

[.......]

Aerial, who had been watching the situation, flicked the tip of hand like a brush.

Then a gust of wind blew towards the Demon Army’s camp.

**“Do you see that, Your Majesty?”

A hill in Woodlanton.

Having climbed up with Pasmo, the Demon King munched on hazelnuts and looked at what was happening past the camp.

“The Wind Elemental King.”

“Ifrit is dead yet they still haven’t come to their senses.”

“It isn’t that. They know that we cannot kill them easily right now.”

He had used all their existing atomic bombs just to kill Ifrit.

As a result, the offense of the Demon Army was currently weakened.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Pecton’s troop was stirring through the battlefield like a ladle.

“What a headache, a headache, I tell you.”

“Can you not use Ifrit’s ability?”

Pasmo subtly suggested, then the Demon King’s head turned towards him.

“Wind can change the direction of fire. Common sense that even a child would know.”

“I see.”

The corners of Pasmo’s mouth twitched up like it was regretful. The Demon King sucked up the rest of the hazelnuts with his tentacles and continued on.

“Ifrit may be dead, but the other Elemental Kings are still alive and well. That one especially has only become a King recently.”

“Then is she not a child?”

“A child? There will be big consequences if you underestimate young blood like that.”

The King pointed to the front with his thin, branch-like fingers.

LIke he said, the fire breathed by the Beasts was heading toward the Demon Army’s camp. It was due to the tornado caused by Aerial.

“What a nuisance.”

If they didn’t do something, it was surely going to become an annoyance.

They somehow had to kill her or send her to the rear.

“The Elementals aren’t idiots. The previous method will not work.”

“Then what will you do?”

“We retreat.”

“Sire?”

“Pull back the troops to the garrison where my main army is. Hand over the high ground to them. We will draw the main forces to the rear and strike back with a solid anvil.”

He realized at the mention of ‘solid anvil’.

It seemed he was going to use the traditional hammer and anvil tactic.

Anvil would be the King’s main forces.

Then the one acting as the hammer was.......

“Contact Summer, tell him to raid the capital of Kaurelia, now.”

**

“W-we won.”

They won again.

What number victory was this?

The troops under Pecton’s command were on a winning streak. Thanks to that, their morale was piercing the skies.

There were even those thinking optimistically that the war might come to an end soon.

They weren’t wrong.

Because at this rate, Aether would make Dark Day.

Although if the Demon King moved Gilach’s navy and destroyed the Märcherm the capital first, everything would be for naught.

“Sir, the enemy is withdrawing tens of kilometers out!”

“Should we go after them?”

The officers seemed to be itching to move.

Pecton shook his head.

“Do not chase them.”

“Why is that?”

“They could execute another trap like last time, yet you want to follow them into the deep?”

“But wasn’t it you who wanted nothing but to advance until this afternoon?”

“You idiot─!!”

My eardrums.

“Raiding and pursuing are a matter of time and place. Do you know who our opponent is? It’s the Demon King. A monster who killed two Elemental Kings! He was the one who devastated that powerful Empire in less than half a month, and now he’s backing out like that? Don’t you think it’s unnatural?”

His subordinates who heard this stammered.

Vermel didn’t miss his opportunity to raise his hand.

“If I may, sir?”

“Permission granted.”

“The Empire was destroyed from the capital, not from an external front. So it is highly likely that Kaurelia will fall in the same way.”

The back of Kaurelia, that is, where the ocean was located.

They had strong forces including Cecil Renay assigned over there, but they didn’t know when and how it could collapse.

In particular, Renay had the worst compatibility with Summer Heaven.

If the two of them fight, Renay will definitely lose.

Ironically, the one who could take down Gilach was Leninya. But she would be researching with Aether right now.

Vermel pleaded with Pecton at the risk of being slapped.

“Please allow me to go to the capital for a moment. There is something I need to check.”

As expected, the corners of Pecton’s eyes twitched subtly.

“Are you saying you’re going to desert the army now?”

“It’ll just be a few days.”

“The great principle of the army is absolute obedience.”

Guess it wasn’t going to work, as expected.

As he was thinking if he really had to desert in the dead of night–

“Sir, the Minister of Magic asks for the soldier Vermel Horde to be sent to the capital immediately!”

The signalman approached them and said this.