6-year-old Wise Man Wants to Walk in the Shade

Chapter 23 - The Pattern of Suggestive Magic

As I finished explaining my plan to the chief, I heard footsteps and voices coming from the forest.

Just the right timing.

I gave the chief a look that told him to leave the rest to him.

The chief slowly got up, using his great sword as support.

From his anguished expression, I could tell his whole body was in pain.

I looked back at the chief, who had mustered all his strength to stand up.

So this is what a chief's pride is.

"You're incredible, chief. I don't think there are many people who can move in that condition."

"Hmph."

Princess Clarice was the first to appear.

Seeing the chief covered in wounds, the princess seemed to realize something.

The dragon people who arrived next were speechless as they noticed the injured chief.

"...! Chief?! What on earth happened?!"

"Who gave you this injury?"

"Oh come on, shut up. Stop yelling. It's nothing serious."

There's no way I could just take his word for it.

When they realized they couldn't get any details out of the chief, the dragons turned to me in a panic.

"Hey kid, what happened to the chief?!"

"Who attacked us?!"

"Hmm, I don't know either."

In situations like these, it's useful to be a child.

Even if you make completely illogical statements and pretend not to care, things will still work out.

"Anyway, you guys, let's go back to the camp now."

"Eh? To the camp...?"

"I'll take these guys too. Get the injured humans on horses too."

"Whaaat!?"

The dragon people made noises of obvious dissatisfaction, but when the chief glared at them, they calmed down and followed his instructions.

◇◇◇

One hour later.

We arrived at the garrison where the dragon people's vanguard troops were waiting.

We were ushered into the camp, attracting attention.

"They're humans."

"Why are humans in our camp?"

"What on earth is the chief thinking?"

"Some humans are unconscious. The only ones walking on their own are women and kids."

"Aren't they prisoners?"

This garrison, built in the forest, had several tents set up.

We were guided to the largest one, set up in the center.

Inside the tent, there was a large desk, and a map of the surrounding area was spread out on it.

Looking at the pieces lined up, it's easy to guess the well-thought-out strategy.

Actually, he let us through this camp, didn't he?

I guess I should take this as proof of the chief's trust.

If I was so surprised, naturally the dragon people were quite shaken.

However, before they could ask any questions, the chief gave his order, leaving no room for argument.

"Gather everyone together now!"

Everyone looked as if they had a mountain of questions they wanted to ask, but this was not the time to ask them again.

The dragon soldiers immediately began moving without a word.

It took less than a minute for the troops to line up.

They were perfectly coordinated.

I could tell without fighting.

This army was strong.

"Eddie-sama... You're all so big, it's impressive..."

"Yeah. As expected of someone who wants to go to war. -- That's right, Princess. Thank you to the guards."

The Princess was standing close to me, on guard.

I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to properly explain the situation to her.

But even so, I was surprised that she followed me all the way to the Dragon-Man garrison after I told her, "It's okay."

I couldn't betray the trust of the Princess, who smiled and said, "I believe in you, Eddie-sama." I realized once again.

I'll protect the Princess and the guards.

I had no intention of getting involved in something as troublesome as responsibility, but I couldn't say that just now.

The guards were awake, and although they looked confused, they were standing by the Princess to protect her.

The Princess was against it, saying, "It was Eddie-sama's achievement," but I asked her to leave it as it was, just like when she was the chief, and she somehow agreed.

"The princess talked to the chief and they made up! Princesses are amazing!"

The guards seemed convinced when I said that together with them.

Even so, it was impressive.

The ones lined up in the front row were what you'd call an elite force.

Including the dragon people we'd encountered first, there were about twenty of them in total.

The difference in the color of their armor and the size of the weapons they were holding showed that they were of a different rank to the regular soldiers.

Once all the soldiers had gathered, the chief spoke up.

"The battle with the werewolves is called off."

The moment he said that, the entire unit erupted in excitement.

This was the first thing I asked the chief to do.

To call the battle to a halt in front of the soldiers.

Of course, I didn't ask him to do this just because I wanted the battle to unfold the way we humans wanted it to.

"Thank you for your kind words, Chief."

The first to speak was a tall dragon man whom the chief had said was his aide.

"You made such a decision without consulting me, your aide..."

"There's no need to consult anyone. If I say it's cancelled, it's cancelled. There's no reason to fight in the first place."

"What...!?"

The elite soldiers' eyes widen.

"Weren't you the one who encouraged the people to rise up and destroy the werewolves, their longtime enemies? You don't think you've gotten scared now?"

"Chief, that's not like you!"

"This is a great opportunity to get some gunpowder and wipe out the werewolves!"

The members of what appeared to be the elite troops raised their voices of dissatisfaction one after the other.

The ordinary soldiers watched the exchange with bated breath.

After listening to all the objections that had arisen, the chief spoke again.

"Regarding the gunpowder, I have something to let you know. A suggestion spell was cast on me to make me want the gunpowder at all costs."

"What did you say...!?"

"As a result, I lost my senses and was desperate to start a war to get the gunpowder. It seems that the person who cast the suggestion spell wanted to start a war between the dragon people and werewolves so badly."

The princess and her guards, who had not been told anything, were speechless and watched the events unfold with nervous expressions.

"Who on earth would do something like that!"

"I can't forgive this, to our chief!"

The elite troops roared with such force that they were about to bite.

The chief continued.

"It was the vampires who hypnotized me, of course."

Without a moment's hesitation, a voice rose.

"I thought so! The vampires...!"

"It's true, they would benefit if we were to fight the werewolves!"

"You saw through that right away, you're truly the chief!"

"We were manipulated by their tactics! Even the chief laid hands on us..."

The chief snorted.

"We see that there's no need to fight. In that case, we should retreat."

"But chief! What about the gunpowder!? Besides, the werewolves are in camp too. Wouldn't it be a disgrace to the dragon people to retreat now!?"

The tall man spoke on behalf of the elite troops.

The people around him nodded as if they thought the same.

In contrast, the regular soldiers just stood there, stunned.

They were probably doing their best just to listen to the flying opinions and understand the situation.

The chief folded his arms and slowly looked around the entire unit.

"Is it a matter of reputation? So you guys still want to continue fighting like this?"

"Of course! As long as you're here, we won't lose!"

"Now that we've come this far, let's defeat the werewolves and use that momentum to annihilate the vampires as well! Right, guys!"

The elite troops turned around and called out to the regular soldiers.

The soldiers looked at each other in confusion, then began to speak up later, as if they had to.

"Kill the werewolves...! Crush the vampires!"

"Crush them! Crush them!"

The excitement for the fight spread like an epidemic.

The roar of the soldiers stomping their feet and howling shook the ground.

I wonder how many regular soldiers there were who thought for themselves and concluded that they should fight.

We were now witnessing the horror of group psychology and contagious malice.

At that moment, the chief shouted at the soldiers as if he could no longer bear it.

"Shut up, you idiots!"

The excited soldiers stopped moving.

Sudden silence descended.

"That's all. We'll start preparing to retreat in an hour, so prepare for that."

The murmuring, tinged with dissatisfaction, began again.

However, the chief seemed unwilling to listen and returned to the tent.

Under the chief's instructions, we humans were led to a waiting tent.

"Princess, it's dangerous to stay here any longer..."

"We can't go back until we see the dragon people retreat with our own eyes. It's not that I think it's safe, but if the dragon people are trying to kill us, it's impossible to escape no matter how hard we try."

"That's..."

Taking advantage of the opportunity the princesses were having while they were discussing, I sneaked out of the tent.

Naturally, I headed for the chief's tent.

Thanks to the chief's arrangements, I was able to enter without being scolded.

The guards looked suspicious, but they didn't seem to be wary of me because I was a child, even though I was human.

I feel like I've learned a lot about the convenience of being a child in just this one day.

As planned, the chief had properly cleared everyone away and was cleaning his weapon by himself.

"This is the best way to clear my mind," he said without looking back at me.

I stood next to the chief and peered at his polished greatsword.

The chief had told me that it would take less than an hour to get from here to where the main army was waiting.

Once we met up with the main force and the call to arms was made, it would be nearly impossible to reverse the situation.

Even if he was the chief, there was no way he could change his mind so quickly between "let's stop fighting" and "we're going to fight after all" in front of a force of nearly 3,000 men.

Surely they wouldn't have wanted the 200-man unit stationed at this garrison to be told to stop fighting.

That's probably why the man who had shouted this without any consultation had turned so pale.

If the culprit is going to make a move, now is the chance.

Thinking like that, I waited for a while, and as expected, the enemy fell into the trap.

"Chief. Are you sure?"

A voice called from outside the tent.

After making sure that I quickly hid behind the flag, the chief replied, "Come in."

"Excuse me."

The members of the elite force, including a tall aide, came over.

"Regarding the chief's decision earlier, we felt that it was a wise decision."

"Hmmm."

"It's time for us to cast aside our long-standing ties with the werewolves and join forces."

The aide approached the chief, conveying his opinion as the representative.

"We support the chief. I was surprised when I first heard about it, though."

"I see."

The chief continued to clean his weapon and didn't even look up.

Everything was as we had agreed upon.

"Our future is bright."

"Of course. I have reliable aides and elite troops by my side."

"Yes. As you say."

The aide reaches out his hand to the chief.

"By the way, what happened to this wound?"

"It's nothing. It's just a scratch."

"It's not even a scratch. I'll heal, so please wait."

Light begins to spread, covering the aide's hand.

The light takes on the shape of a bracelet around his wrist, then gathers around his fingertips.

Just as the light is about to be released...

"Guh?!"

The chief turns around forcefully and grabs the aide's hand with an unyielding force.

"I still can't accept that you betrayed me, even after seeing it with my own eyes..."

The chief's eyes were filled with quiet, deep anger, precisely because he wanted to believe in his comrades.

Now, chief.

I know this is hard, but I can't go any further unless you accept it.

Condemn the culprit.

"It wasn't a vampire that hypnotized me. It was you, your elite troops, who did it."

The hand of the aide that the chief grabbed had the same pattern as the hypnotism spell that had been cast on the chief.

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