The Kingdom of Dominion’s flagship was a massive 6000-meter-long battleship, which made it look like a moving fortress.
Onboard the ship was Aluna, the up-and-coming Overlord, and the people around her were cheering as they sensed the movement of the Banfield Family.
Inside the bridge, Aluna had stood up from her commander’s seat.
Her body was shaking, not from fear, but from anticipation, and she looked like a maiden in love, her cheeks blushed as she watched the Banfield Family advancing in their direction.
“I thought the Empire lacked warriors, but it seems the Banfield Family is different. Good, you really are the best, Liam!”
To make sure that they got to battle Liam, she had spread her troops over a wide area around the Banfield Family’s fleet.
It turned out to be a wasted effort, but Aluna and her subordinates were delighted by the result.
The military officers and knights on the bridge all sang Liam’s praise.
“As expected of the Empire’s hero!”
“What a pity that he serves the Empire.”
“He’s a true man!”
The kingdom’s warriors were looking forward to the upcoming battle.
Pointing at the enemy fleet displayed on the monitor, Aluna clasped her outstretched hands.
“Come—I’ll crush you.”
However, that was when they detected an unusual movement from the Banfield Family’s fleet.
Feeling offended, Aluna twitched her eyebrows.
“—The heck?”
Her voice sounded dangerously low.
A portion of the Banfield Family’s fleet was deserting.
If this had been a part of their plan, she wouldn’t have said anything, but no matter how she looked at it, those troops were simply fleeing the battle.
It felt as if someone had dumped cold water on her just as she was thinking of ways to fight the Banfield Family.
“I guess Klaus and Liam aren’t that impressive after all. They don’t even have a grasp over their own army.”
Because of this, Aluna’s evaluation of Liam dropped ever so slightly.
◇
Marie, who was on the bridge of her ship, was dumbstruck.
“You mean they fled?”
After the fleets were reorganized, tens of thousands of additional ships were placed under her command.
Her brain froze for a moment when a good chunk of them suddenly up and left.
However, as a first-class commander, she quickly got herself back together and laid down orders to deal with the deserters from her fleet.
“Mow down the traitors!”
She ordered her troops to attack, destroying the ships that belonged to the deserters one after another.
But not all troops followed her order.
In fact, only around 10,000 troops were carrying it out, alongside the troops directly affiliated with the Banfield Family.
Marie’s adjutant frowned, immediately checking the identities of the troops under their command.
Most of them were troops that they had absorbed from other families.
Soon, the number of deserters began to climb.
“Useless vermin.”
Those words from her adjutant told Marie everything she needed to know about the situation, but there was nothing she could do to change the tide.
By now, around 30% of the troops under her command had deserted.
Looking over to the other fleets, she noticed that the Tia was also missing 20% of her troops.
Those led by Liam and Klaus were barely holding on as their fleets were composed of elites or direct affiliates of the Banfield Family. Otherwise, their situation wouldn’t have been much different.
Marie felt the blood drain from her face. After everything had been said and done, it didn’t change the fact that deserters had appeared from her fleet.
Unity and discipline were what allowed the Banfield Family to produce such stellar results until now.
However, their army had grown too quickly in the past few years, and they were losing control over the troops.
Given enough time, Liam would’ve built a strong army, but he didn’t have the luxury to do so at the moment.
“—Kill them.”
“Pardon?”
Marie’s voice was so strained that her adjutant failed to catch it.
Marie repeated her order, grabbing the adjutant by the collar.
“Kill them all. If we allow any more deserters, we’ll lose the battle before we even engage the enemy.”
The Banfield Family’s fleet was falling apart before it could face the Kingdom of Dominion.
Her adjutant was about to relay the order when a message arrived from Liam.
‘Marie, ignore the deserters.’
Liam who appeared on the screen seemed calm and not the least bit flustered. He was sitting in his chair, behaving like nothing had happened.
“B-but as things stand, our fleet will crumble before the fight begins!”
‘And what of it? For now, concentrate on the enemies before us. You just have to follow my orders.’
The call was cut soon after.
“—We’ll follow Lord Liam’s orders. Hold your fire and don’t attack the deserters,” Marie said with clenched fists.
◇
The Banfield Family’s army numbered around 500,000, but a fifth of them had deserted.
Inside the bridge of flagship Argos, Eulisia broke out in a cold sweat as she watched the ships go.
(Now we’re outnumbered even more than before.)
Against regular enemies, the Banfield Family would have no trouble defeating them, even if they were outnumbered.
However, their opponent this time was the Kingdom of Dominion.
A fleet of 600,000 highly trained troops equipped with weapons made of cutting-edge technology.
Eulisia couldn’t picture them winning at all, but for some reason, the people onboard were calm.
There was tension in the air, but they had not given up the fight yet.
(How could they remain calm in this situation?)
It was difficult to believe that they could stay calm in a situation where defeat seemed certain.
Liam yawned as he looked at the status of his army on the monitor.
Eulisia approached one of the staff officers on the bridge and called out to him.
The other commanders and staff officers were busy discussing among themselves, but the role of this particular staff was to stand near Liam and await orders.
“Hey.”
“Yes, Major General?”
Eulisia asked the staff, who was a colonel, about the situation on the bridge.
“How come everyone’s so composed? Do we have a secret weapon or strategy?”
“A secret weapon? Lord Liam might have something up his sleeve, but we weren’t told anything.”
“Then how are you not panicking!?”
The colonel, who was reprimanded by Eulisia in a hushed voice, shifted his gaze towards Liam.
“Major General, you may not know this, but the people here have fought alongside Lord Liam since his first battle.”
The colonel appeared to reminisce about Liam’s first battle.
“Lord Liam has always fought in battles where the odds were stacked against him.”
“But it was never to this extent, right?”
“Actually, in his first battle, Lord Liam fought against a fleet five times his own and won.”
Eulisia realized that Liam had obtained the absolute trust of his military.
However, things were still not looking good for them.
“There’s no end to the deserters. Will we be alright?”
“It’s deplorable, isn’t it? My superiors have a lot on their plate right now, all because of them.”
This was why the commanders and staff officers on the flagship were so busy.
Eulisia glared at the colonel.
“We might lose before the fight begins at this rate.”
“—Is that how it looks?”
The colonel turned his gaze to the staff officers that were busy at work.
When Eulisia also directed her gaze there, she noticed one of them speaking to a fleet commander. Their conversation was different from what she was expecting.
“Are there any deserters from your fleet?”
‘Course not! Don’t lump us together with those ungrateful bastards.’
“Ungrateful?”
‘Lord Liam saved our hometown. If we run away here, we’ll be branded as traitors.’
“—I see, it’s good that none of your troops have deserted. Your fleet will join the Third Division and fight under Lady Christina’s command.”
After cutting off the communication, the staff went on to call another commander.
Though many ships had deserted, many more had remained.
Eulisia couldn’t contain her surprise when she saw this.
(How is this possible? Normally, more and more deserters appear over time, leading to a domino effect.)
Despite the many desertions, the Banfield Family’s fleet was someone managing to remain afloat, which came as a great surprise to her.
“It seems Lord Liam is as popular as ever with his citizens. He’s even obtained the support of the people living on the newly acquired planets,” the colonel muttered.
◇
Tia had witnessed something unbelievable.
“—So the fleet didn’t crumble.”
With deserters appearing left and right, she thought the fleet would crumble before they clashed with the Kingdom of Dominion.
However, it managed to remain intact, though it was reduced to a mere 400,000 troops.
20% of them were gone, but they were still in fighting condition.
Tia burst out into laughter inside the bridge.
“As expected of Lord Liam!”
At one point, she was prepared to have Liam escape alone, even if it meant going against orders.
But that was no longer necessary.
Tia’s adjutant asked her for instructions.
“Lady Tia, the fleet is ready.”
“—Focus. Our target is the Kingdom of Dominion’s army which lies before us.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Tia took a quick glance at the deserters that were still being projected on the monitor.
(I would’ve liked to butcher them myself if we survived the battle, but it seems that won’t be possible.)
◇
The ships that had deserted had gathered to form an improvised fleet.
Their leader was a man who once served as a different family’s commander.
From the bridge of his battleship, he watched as the Banfield Family’s fleet clashed head-to-head against the Kingdom of Dominion.
“What a bunch of idiots. You’ll never win by attacking straight on.”
“Will we be able to escape? We’re surrounded by the Kingdom of Dominion’s army on all sides,” his adjutant asked worriedly.
“We’ll target a small fleet and charge past them. It’s common sense to attack the weakest link. Liam’s a fool to go after the commander’s head.”
“You’re absolutely right, sir! Liam will never be a match for your intellect!”
The adjutant flattered the commander to make him feel better.
There wasn’t a semblance of loyalty in them.
One of the reasons was that they were originally from a different family, but more importantly, they had not undergone military re-education, which was usually required of new troops.
They were the type of soldiers that cut corners and thought of ways to deceive their masters for profit.
But this wasn’t entirely their fault.
The way their masters treated them played a role in it as well.
From many years of servitude, they had learned that their loyalty meant nothing to the nobles.
The commander came up with a plan for their future.
“We’re lucky to have these state-of-the-art equipment. Considering the size of this fleet, we’re bound to do well even as pirates. From now on, we’ll live comfortably by extorting from the nobles.”
After suffering years of abuse under the nobles, a man who once held great ambitions had fallen into depravity.
“Commander, we’ve spotted a fleet with roughly 10,000 ships. We can break through the encirclement if we defeat them,” his adjutant reported.
“Turns out the kingdom’s commander is a fool as well. She spread her forces too thin. Eating through them would be a walk in the park.”
However, just as they were about to attack the Kingdom of Dominion’s 10,000-strong army, the tables were flipped.
The moment they entered firing distance, more ships appeared on either side of the kingdom’s fleet through short-distance warping.
They numbered in the tens of thousands.
“!?”
The commander of the deserters was shell-shocked.
They received a message from the Kingdom of Dominion’s fleet commander.
‘Your cowardice has put a stain on Her Highness Aluna’s glorious battle, and for that, you shall be exterminated!’
There was an endless stream of reinforcements on the kingdom’s side, and they all seemed angry at the deserters for some reason.
The small-sized fleets were a decoy. The plan was to have allies rush in if they were attacked.
Liam didn’t attack them as he knew they were traps. However, the deserters’ commander had failed to take this into consideration.
With defeat imminent, the commander offered to surrender.
“Wait, we surrender!”
But the enemy commander’s response was cold.
‘—We’ll turn you into space trash.’
The fleet that deserted the Banfield Family was thus destroyed by the Kingdom of Dominion.
————————————————————————————————————–
Brian (´；ω；｀): “It’s painful. An invasive plant is spreading its root everywhere, taking over the postscripts.”
Brian (｀・ω・´): “This month Volume 9 of ‘The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs’ will be released. It’ll be on sale starting November 30th, so please consider pre-ordering it!”
Brian (´・ω・｀): “Pre-order…good…everyone….happy…not painful.”
The Kingdom of Dominion’s flagship was a massive 6000-meter-long battleship, which made it look like a moving fortress.
Onboard the ship was Aluna, the up-and-coming Overlord, and the people around her were cheering as they sensed the movement of the Banfield Family.
Inside the bridge, Aluna had stood up from her commander’s seat.
Her body was shaking, not from fear, but from anticipation, and she looked like a maiden in love, her cheeks blushed as she watched the Banfield Family advancing in their direction.
“I thought the Empire lacked warriors, but it seems the Banfield Family is different. Good, you really are the best, Liam!”
To make sure that they got to battle Liam, she had spread her troops over a wide area around the Banfield Family’s fleet.
It turned out to be a wasted effort, but Aluna and her subordinates were delighted by the result.
The military officers and knights on the bridge all sang Liam’s praise.
“As expected of the Empire’s hero!”
“What a pity that he serves the Empire.”
“He’s a true man!”
The kingdom’s warriors were looking forward to the upcoming battle.
Pointing at the enemy fleet displayed on the monitor, Aluna clasped her outstretched hands.
“Come—I’ll crush you.”
However, that was when they detected an unusual movement from the Banfield Family’s fleet.
Feeling offended, Aluna twitched her eyebrows.
“—The heck?”
Her voice sounded dangerously low.
A portion of the Banfield Family’s fleet was deserting.
If this had been a part of their plan, she wouldn’t have said anything, but no matter how she looked at it, those troops were simply fleeing the battle.
It felt as if someone had dumped cold water on her just as she was thinking of ways to fight the Banfield Family.
“I guess Klaus and Liam aren’t that impressive after all. They don’t even have a grasp over their own army.”
Because of this, Aluna’s evaluation of Liam dropped ever so slightly.
◇
Marie, who was on the bridge of her ship, was dumbstruck.
“You mean they fled?”
After the fleets were reorganized, tens of thousands of additional ships were placed under her command.
Her brain froze for a moment when a good chunk of them suddenly up and left.
However, as a first-class commander, she quickly got herself back together and laid down orders to deal with the deserters from her fleet.
“Mow down the traitors!”
She ordered her troops to attack, destroying the ships that belonged to the deserters one after another.
But not all troops followed her order.
In fact, only around 10,000 troops were carrying it out, alongside the troops directly affiliated with the Banfield Family.
Marie’s adjutant frowned, immediately checking the identities of the troops under their command.
Most of them were troops that they had absorbed from other families.
Soon, the number of deserters began to climb.
“Useless vermin.”
Those words from her adjutant told Marie everything she needed to know about the situation, but there was nothing she could do to change the tide.
By now, around 30% of the troops under her command had deserted.
Looking over to the other fleets, she noticed that the Tia was also missing 20% of her troops.
Those led by Liam and Klaus were barely holding on as their fleets were composed of elites or direct affiliates of the Banfield Family. Otherwise, their situation wouldn’t have been much different.
Marie felt the blood drain from her face. After everything had been said and done, it didn’t change the fact that deserters had appeared from her fleet.
Unity and discipline were what allowed the Banfield Family to produce such stellar results until now.
However, their army had grown too quickly in the past few years, and they were losing control over the troops.
Given enough time, Liam would’ve built a strong army, but he didn’t have the luxury to do so at the moment.
“—Kill them.”
“Pardon?”
Marie’s voice was so strained that her adjutant failed to catch it.
Marie repeated her order, grabbing the adjutant by the collar.
“Kill them all. If we allow any more deserters, we’ll lose the battle before we even engage the enemy.”
The Banfield Family’s fleet was falling apart before it could face the Kingdom of Dominion.
Her adjutant was about to relay the order when a message arrived from Liam.
‘Marie, ignore the deserters.’
Liam who appeared on the screen seemed calm and not the least bit flustered. He was sitting in his chair, behaving like nothing had happened.
“B-but as things stand, our fleet will crumble before the fight begins!”
‘And what of it? For now, concentrate on the enemies before us. You just have to follow my orders.’
The call was cut soon after.
“—We’ll follow Lord Liam’s orders. Hold your fire and don’t attack the deserters,” Marie said with clenched fists.
◇
The Banfield Family’s army numbered around 500,000, but a fifth of them had deserted.
Inside the bridge of flagship Argos, Eulisia broke out in a cold sweat as she watched the ships go.
(Now we’re outnumbered even more than before.)
Against regular enemies, the Banfield Family would have no trouble defeating them, even if they were outnumbered.
However, their opponent this time was the Kingdom of Dominion.
A fleet of 600,000 highly trained troops equipped with weapons made of cutting-edge technology.
Eulisia couldn’t picture them winning at all, but for some reason, the people onboard were calm.
There was tension in the air, but they had not given up the fight yet.
(How could they remain calm in this situation?)
It was difficult to believe that they could stay calm in a situation where defeat seemed certain.
Liam yawned as he looked at the status of his army on the monitor.
Eulisia approached one of the staff officers on the bridge and called out to him.
The other commanders and staff officers were busy discussing among themselves, but the role of this particular staff was to stand near Liam and await orders.
“Hey.”
“Yes, Major General?”
Eulisia asked the staff, who was a colonel, about the situation on the bridge.
“How come everyone’s so composed? Do we have a secret weapon or strategy?”
“A secret weapon? Lord Liam might have something up his sleeve, but we weren’t told anything.”
“Then how are you not panicking!?”
The colonel, who was reprimanded by Eulisia in a hushed voice, shifted his gaze towards Liam.
“Major General, you may not know this, but the people here have fought alongside Lord Liam since his first battle.”
The colonel appeared to reminisce about Liam’s first battle.
“Lord Liam has always fought in battles where the odds were stacked against him.”
“But it was never to this extent, right?”
“Actually, in his first battle, Lord Liam fought against a fleet five times his own and won.”
Eulisia realized that Liam had obtained the absolute trust of his military.
However, things were still not looking good for them.
“There’s no end to the deserters. Will we be alright?”
“It’s deplorable, isn’t it? My superiors have a lot on their plate right now, all because of them.”
This was why the commanders and staff officers on the flagship were so busy.
Eulisia glared at the colonel.
“We might lose before the fight begins at this rate.”
“—Is that how it looks?”
The colonel turned his gaze to the staff officers that were busy at work.
When Eulisia also directed her gaze there, she noticed one of them speaking to a fleet commander. Their conversation was different from what she was expecting.
“Are there any deserters from your fleet?”
‘Course not! Don’t lump us together with those ungrateful bastards.’
“Ungrateful?”
‘Lord Liam saved our hometown. If we run away here, we’ll be branded as traitors.’
“—I see, it’s good that none of your troops have deserted. Your fleet will join the Third Division and fight under Lady Christina’s command.”
After cutting off the communication, the staff went on to call another commander.
Though many ships had deserted, many more had remained.
Eulisia couldn’t contain her surprise when she saw this.
(How is this possible? Normally, more and more deserters appear over time, leading to a domino effect.)
Despite the many desertions, the Banfield Family’s fleet was someone managing to remain afloat, which came as a great surprise to her.
“It seems Lord Liam is as popular as ever with his citizens. He’s even obtained the support of the people living on the newly acquired planets,” the colonel muttered.
◇
Tia had witnessed something unbelievable.
“—So the fleet didn’t crumble.”
With deserters appearing left and right, she thought the fleet would crumble before they clashed with the Kingdom of Dominion.
However, it managed to remain intact, though it was reduced to a mere 400,000 troops.
20% of them were gone, but they were still in fighting condition.
Tia burst out into laughter inside the bridge.
“As expected of Lord Liam!”
At one point, she was prepared to have Liam escape alone, even if it meant going against orders.
But that was no longer necessary.
Tia’s adjutant asked her for instructions.
“Lady Tia, the fleet is ready.”
“—Focus. Our target is the Kingdom of Dominion’s army which lies before us.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Tia took a quick glance at the deserters that were still being projected on the monitor.
(I would’ve liked to butcher them myself if we survived the battle, but it seems that won’t be possible.)
◇
The ships that had deserted had gathered to form an improvised fleet.
Their leader was a man who once served as a different family’s commander.
From the bridge of his battleship, he watched as the Banfield Family’s fleet clashed head-to-head against the Kingdom of Dominion.
“What a bunch of idiots. You’ll never win by attacking straight on.”
“Will we be able to escape? We’re surrounded by the Kingdom of Dominion’s army on all sides,” his adjutant asked worriedly.
“We’ll target a small fleet and charge past them. It’s common sense to attack the weakest link. Liam’s a fool to go after the commander’s head.”
“You’re absolutely right, sir! Liam will never be a match for your intellect!”
The adjutant flattered the commander to make him feel better.
There wasn’t a semblance of loyalty in them.
One of the reasons was that they were originally from a different family, but more importantly, they had not undergone military re-education, which was usually required of new troops.
They were the type of soldiers that cut corners and thought of ways to deceive their masters for profit.
But this wasn’t entirely their fault.
The way their masters treated them played a role in it as well.
From many years of servitude, they had learned that their loyalty meant nothing to the nobles.
The commander came up with a plan for their future.
“We’re lucky to have these state-of-the-art equipment. Considering the size of this fleet, we’re bound to do well even as pirates. From now on, we’ll live comfortably by extorting from the nobles.”
After suffering years of abuse under the nobles, a man who once held great ambitions had fallen into depravity.
“Commander, we’ve spotted a fleet with roughly 10,000 ships. We can break through the encirclement if we defeat them,” his adjutant reported.
“Turns out the kingdom’s commander is a fool as well. She spread her forces too thin. Eating through them would be a walk in the park.”
However, just as they were about to attack the Kingdom of Dominion’s 10,000-strong army, the tables were flipped.
The moment they entered firing distance, more ships appeared on either side of the kingdom’s fleet through short-distance warping.
They numbered in the tens of thousands.
“!?”
The commander of the deserters was shell-shocked.
They received a message from the Kingdom of Dominion’s fleet commander.
‘Your cowardice has put a stain on Her Highness Aluna’s glorious battle, and for that, you shall be exterminated!’
There was an endless stream of reinforcements on the kingdom’s side, and they all seemed angry at the deserters for some reason.
The small-sized fleets were a decoy. The plan was to have allies rush in if they were attacked.
Liam didn’t attack them as he knew they were traps. However, the deserters’ commander had failed to take this into consideration.
With defeat imminent, the commander offered to surrender.
“Wait, we surrender!”
But the enemy commander’s response was cold.
‘—We’ll turn you into space trash.’
The fleet that deserted the Banfield Family was thus destroyed by the Kingdom of Dominion.
————————————————————————————————————–
Brian (´；ω；｀): “It’s painful. An invasive plant is spreading its root everywhere, taking over the postscripts.”
Brian (｀・ω・´): “This month Volume 9 of ‘The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs’ will be released. It’ll be on sale starting November 30th, so please consider pre-ordering it!”
Brian (´・ω・｀): “Pre-order…good…everyone….happy…not painful.”
