After Major Willy reached the battlefield, he immediately rode toward the military standard to report back to the Count of Blackport. The Count was very pleased by the orderly appearance of the hundred-man company of cadet cavalry.
While they waited, Leo gathered as much information about the battlefield as he could. The night sky was cloudless. More than half a moon hung over the sea, and the West Empire ships churned up the waves. Sea, armor, and weapons all flashed with a cold gleam beneath the moonlight and torches.
Three West Empire infantry squares blocked the Unicorn Legion ahead, each with roughly one hundred men. Another portion of their troops was inside the naval-harbor area, trying to destroy the Blackport County galleys moored along the shore.
In response, the Unicorn Legion had also divided into two forces. The one-thousand-man infantry brigade was attacking the West Empire formations, trying to open a path for the vulnerable galley slaves. The three hundred cavalrymen of the cavalry company were using their mobility to circle around from the inland side, away from the coast, and hurry toward the naval harbor in an attempt to protect the galleys.
The Count of Blackport had not gone with the cavalry company. Instead, he remained behind the infantry brigade and directed its attack.
The three hundred infantrymen of the 3rd Infantry Company—the unit that had just assaulted the West infantry formation—had left nearly fifty bodies behind without achieving any significant result. The West Empire commander was experienced and had chosen narrow terrain. On one side of the West formation was the bay, on the other a rock wall, and their squares filled the entire space between them. Only three hundred soldiers in three formations had left the Unicorn Legion with no good way to deal with them.
The combination of pikemen and matchlock infantry had inflicted severe losses on the 3rd Infantry Company. It had now withdrawn from the front of the battlefield, while the three hundred infantrymen of the 2nd Infantry Company prepared to attack.
The warhorse beneath Leo snorted irritably. The soldiers of Blackport County were hearing matchlocks for the first time, and so were the horses. The bright muzzle flashes at night made the animals even more uneasy.
Leo watched the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Company charge forward, only to be beaten back again. He had not expected terrain outside Blackport City itself to favor the invaders. The enemy was clearly extremely familiar with the ground around the city.
The West Empire's surprise attack had worked very well. Leo guessed that Koliver Enwey's group could not possibly be the only traitors inside Blackport County.
Perhaps the three infantry companies could be rotated one after another, crashing against the West Empire formations like successive waves until they wore down the enemy in front of them. But if they did that, Blackport County's infantry brigade would pay a terrible price.
Leo had originally assumed that the galleys were the West Empire's real objective. Blackport County's already weak navy was simply too valuable, which meant heavy forces had to be committed in that direction.
Sending the cavalry company away first had cost them a move as soon as the battle began. Three hundred mage cavalry were now too far away to return in time. But judging from the infantry losses, the attack on the galleys might have been a feint. Grinding down Blackport County's infantry here could also be one of the West Empire's main objectives.
As if confirming Leo's thought, the West Empire's three formations began to move. Slowly, the forest of pikes formed by the pikemen pointed straight toward the Unicorn Legion standard where the Count of Blackport stood.
Major Willy immediately rode back from the standard. Tightening his grip on his war hammer and long shield, Leo knew that their cadet cavalry battalion was about to become the key to the battlefield.
Major Willy galloped up in front of the cadet cavalry battalion and shouted, “Cavalry charge formation! 1st through 6th Squads, five paces forward!”
The 1st through 6th Squads were the cavalry force formed from sixty Cadet Officers of Blackport County. They would take the front rank and be the first to charge the West Empire formations.
As the only Cipher Mage in his Squad, Leo urged his horse forward at a walk until he reached Catherine's right side. Back at the West Gate, when they were choosing their equipment, Instructor Willy had given Leo a separate assignment: on the battlefield, he was not to leave Miss Catherine Cavendish by even a step. He was to protect the second-in-line heir of the Count of Blackport.
Catherine's visor restricted her field of view. She turned her helmet toward Leo. His long shield gave her a small measure of security; the man carrying it would serve as her temporary guard on the battlefield.
Miss Catherine held out a fist toward Leo. He froze for a moment, then raised his own and bumped fists with her. Their armored gauntlets struck together, and considerable force came through the impact.
After spending so long at the Military Academy, Miss Catherine's behavior no longer resembled that of a noble young lady at all.
At such a tense moment, Caleb Winifred temporarily left his Squad and came forward from the second rank. Through the armor, even his voice sounded muffled and metallic.
“Miss Catherine, my eyes will not leave your back for a single second.”
Catherine replied, “Thank you very much, Mr. Winifred. After we win this war, on behalf of the Count's estate, I welcome your visit.”
It was the tedious etiquette of nobles. Catherine's answer was perfectly proper, but it was clearly not what Caleb wanted to hear. In Caleb's imagination, Catherine should have been terrified by the war and confessing her feelings for him at a moment like this.
Caleb turned toward Leo, who was holding the long shield. “State your name, shield cavalryman. You will earn the friendship of Farpass County.”
Leo did not even turn his helmet. A voice came from inside it. “If neither of us dies, you'll learn my name.”
Catherine said nothing about the contest between the two men. She had seen far too much of this kind of thing growing up. Leo, in truth, had meant nothing else by it. He simply disliked the tone of a phrase like “the friendship of Farpass County.”
As far as Leo was concerned, Miss Catherine was merely a quest item worth one Third-Class Merit. His attitude, however, seemed to have created a slight misunderstanding.
Caleb Winifred turned his horse around and said with perfect composure, “I hope you see tomorrow's sun without a scratch. That way, Miss Catherine will also remain safe.”
Leo had no interest in the feelings between young men and women. He simply moved his warhorse one step forward and firmly took position at Catherine's right front. Any attack coming from Catherine's left would be stopped by her own round shield. Any attack coming from her right would be blocked by Leo. The long shield on Leo's left arm had been prepared for Catherine.
If Catherine came through tonight completely unharmed, Leo might receive the Third-Class Merit Major Willy had promised him. If Catherine unfortunately died, then as long as the fatal wound was not on her right side, Leo could at least say that he had neither earned merit nor committed a fault.
A short while later, the cavalry battalion had finished forming up. Major Willy stood at the exact center of the battalion's line. At his order, the warhorses began to trot. The clashing of plate armor was so harsh that it drowned out every other sound.
After fifty meters, the horses broke into a gallop. Their hoofbeats were like drums, pounding into the night.
The West Empire formations stopped moving. They halted and prepared to receive the Unicorn Legion cavalry charge. The sudden appearance of this additional cavalry force put pressure on the West Empire as well.
The cavalry was the pride of the Unicorn Legion. Even cadet cavalry was enough to stop the enemy's advance.
Leo heard shouting. The people around him had already begun yelling almost beyond their own control. The West Empire soldiers planted the butts of their pikes into the ground and angled the points upward. Under the firelight, the spearheads gleamed with an unnerving red light.
The first rank of matchlock infantry had already thrust the dark muzzles of their guns through the gaps between the pikemen.
Impact was only an instant away!
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