CH 64

Next morning.

The young soldier finished breakfast then arranged his equipment, and moved to the front of the building. Perfectly armed combat homunculi were aligning themselves into formation, while Katamimi was in front of them, confirming whether everything was in order, and commanded,

＜Salute!＞

Following Katamimi’s order, the combat homunculi raised their arms in unison for a uniform crisp salute. He gave a response, and then the young soldier explained to them the day’s operational strategy.

「Well them, I will be in your care from hereon.」

He closed with that remark and shook hands with each homunculus.

The homunculi were confused by the young soldier’s outstretched hands at first, but when he reached further to grab their hands and moved them up and down, they answered in kind. And so the eleven-man squad, him included, marched out the garrison for their reconnaissance mission.

♦♦♦♦♦

For the first few hours after they left the garrison they were walking in the woods. With the young soldier in the center, the squad rushed through the forest in a formation led by Katamimi, who was already accustomed to the terrain.

A few more hours later, the squad reached the edges of the forest, and their field of view opened at once. There the front lines spread.

「So that’s the front line…」

The young soldier muttered to himself, while activating a clairvoyance spell.

Trenches meandered through the battlefield like a river, occasionally being blasted by small explosions. Thereupon a combat homunculus would aim their wand, counter-attacking with their own attack spells.

（As expected, it’s mostly homunculi which are manning the trenches. There are a couple of human soldiers, but it seems like they are only in charge of communications. They’re all staying in a thick defensive structure covered in barrier magic.

It seems that almost all the battles are fought by combat homunculi.）

The young soldier kept surveying the area with a bitter face.

Katamimi spoke to him,

＜Captain’s main mission seems to be logistical support.＞

Then she pointed to the back of the front lines and began to explain.

＜Logistical support missions require you to cast recovery magic on human soldiers at field hospitals built behind the trenches.

In addition, many combat homunculi are injured or killed daily on the front lines. For the bodies of such homunculi who can no longer fight, it is also an important task to collect them at the rear depot. When a certain number of homunculi have accumulated there, they will be incinerated with fire magic.＞