Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Count Yaiks
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"Look! My armor is way cooler!"
"What are you talking about? The stitching on the armor I'm wearing is much tighter!"
"What did you say? You're just spouting nonsense!"
"Yeah? You wanna go? Let's settle this!"
Even after morning had passed, there was no word of Viscount Lukens moving his soldiers or wyverns.
While killing time like that, he distributed standard armor and weapons to the mercenaries whom Raiker deemed usable.
'Sigh, those freeloaders.'
Mercenaries ready to throw punches over pointless pride.
Trying to pull off an operation with those guys would be like carrying gunpowder into a pit of fire.
'I need properly trained regular soldiers.'
From the wyverns to supplies and soldiers, everything was full of holes.
And thinking of regular soldiers naturally brought to mind the Neruman regular troops gripped tightly by Commander-in-Chief Yaiks.
'No money, no backing, and not even a proper title... How am I supposed to get soldiers?'
Not even a full noble, just an awkward sub-baron title.
On top of that, I was mortal enemies with the nobles in the capital.
No matter how I thought about it, everything was stacked against me.
Pwang!
"Grab it!"
"Block it! We can't lose like this!"
While sitting in the courtyard of the commander's building with Bebeto, always on standby for deployment, watching the disorderly mercenaries, some kids were running around the runway kicking a crude ball made by stuffing dry grass into leather.
Unlike the adults, the kids had quickly regained their energy now that food and shelter were stable.
Dozens of them were excitedly chasing a single weird leather ball across the runway.
"This takes me back."
P.E. teachers who hated class would always have us play ball games.
Back in middle school, just tossing out a few balls would have the kids forming teams and playing happily.
Seeing the children's pure joy warmed my heart.
"Um... Lord."
'Eh? Lord?'
While watching the kids play, a hesitant voice called me "Lord."
I turned my head.
'Isn't that Lucia's mom?'
The first family to join the Sky Corps: Lucia's family.
With no cook assigned to my meals, Lucia's mom had naturally become my personal chef.
And now, Lucia's mom was holding a steaming, mouthwatering strawberry pie.
"Lord, please have some. Strawberries are in season right now, and they're delicious."
"Haha, thank you. I'll enjoy it. But Lucia's mom, I'm not a lord."
"Please speak comfortably. And if you're not the lord, then who in this Neruman could be called that? It's not just me—everyone here is calling you Lord."
"Huh?"
'Lord? Hmm, not a bad ring to it.'
"You saved us, who had nowhere to go and were about to become serfs or sold as slaves... Sob sob. We'll never forget this grace for the rest of our lives."
Lucia's mom suddenly expressed her heartfelt gratitude with tears.
"No, no... I didn't do much."
"Please don't say that, Lord. If it weren't for you, we couldn't have lived this comfortably even for a few days. Scrambling for protection money every day, drowning in interest... Monsters everywhere, nowhere to go. If not for Lucia, my husband and I would have killed ourselves long ago."
How could I, who hadn't experienced it, fully understand their feelings?
But these people, innocent yet treated like beasts just for lacking power.
Even hearing about it, I could imagine to some extent.
"I'll dig in. Haha. And don't worry. I'll look after all of you as best I can."
"Thank you. We'll follow you to the death, Lord."
Lucia's mom reverently offered the strawberry pie plate with both hands, bowing deeply in utmost respect.
'The strawberry pie comes at a high price.'
Along with the strawberry pie, I received the title of Lord.
The plate I accepted felt quite heavy.
From now on, I had no choice but to bear the name of Lord, come hell or high water.
Dudududu.
"What the hell! That bastard!"
"Block it! Seal the main gate!"
"Out of the way! This is a message from the Commander-in-Chief!"
Just as I picked up the warm strawberry pie for a bite, commotion erupted at the main gate.
A man in regular soldier armor, waving the imperial flag, was riding in through the gate, while idle mercenaries rushed over, howling and blocking his path.
"Isn't there a commander here? I'm a messenger from the Commander-in-Chief!"
Startled by the swarming dark mercenaries, the soldier shouted loudly.
'Oh man, my head.'
There were specific people to block, but these mercenaries were boldly standing in front of an imperial flag-bearing regular soldier, as if telling him to shove it.
My head throbbed with pain.
"Hey! You blockheads! He said he's the Commander-in-Chief's messenger!"
Raiker, who had rushed over without even putting on armor, treated the mercenaries like stones and cleared a path.
"The one becoming a Sky Knight has urgent orders. Who is the Sky Knight here?"
The messenger, who had ridden into the Sky Corps on horseback, urgently sought the Sky Knight, as if it were critical.
And at his words, everyone's gaze turned to me.
"The lucky guy over there eating pie is the Sky Knight."
Raiker pointed right at me from afar.
"Hya!"
Even from about 100 meters away, the messenger spurred his horse toward me.
Hiiing. Thud thud.
He dismounted hastily and handed over the orders.
"Urgent report: The Temir bastards are advancing south in great numbers. Sky Knights are to proceed immediately to the Orak Fortress Plains where His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief is stationed. Depart at once!"
It seemed the orders had been relayed via a communication orb usable only by imperial regular forces.
'The Temir bastards?'
The barbaric Temir tribe, whose southward advance I'd only heard about.
But the problem was that I was also facing Viscount Lukens's attack.
I needed a quick decision in that brief moment.
'If they wanted a fight, they would've attacked already.'
I made up my mind.
Even Viscount Lukens couldn't attack all of Denfos.
If the Sky Knights were mobilized, he could just order them to scatter for now.
"Raiker!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Raiker, eyeing the wyverns greedily, responded well as "my lord."
"If Viscount Lukens's army comes, scatter everyone and wait. I'll be right back!"
"Leave this place to me and go without a worry!"
Raiker grinned broadly from the main gate, shouting loudly.
His voice was strong, but it didn't instill any confidence in me.
"Bebeto, scramble!"
Bebeto was always prepped for takeoff.
Kuooo!
At the word "scramble," the guy jolted awake from dozing.
Whoosh.
I climbed onto Bebeto's back.
Click click.
Safety belt secured.
"Let's go!"
Kuaaaaa!
Bebeto let out a mighty roar.
Shiiiiiik.
Wings flapping, he rapidly lifted off the ground.
'Heh. Every scramble means money.'
In this place where everything ran on cash.
What good was slacking?
You had to earn every penny while young to avoid suffering in old age.
And I was a solid son of Korea who knew how to invest for the future.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
"Your Excellency! Evacuate!"
The sky was filled with about 30 wyverns.
Clutched in those wyverns' talons were small rocks and massive logs.
"Evac, evade!"
"Uwaaaaa!"
From high altitude beyond arrow range, the wyverns dropped their payloads over the soldiers below.
Kugung! Kugung!
"Kraaaak!"
"Aaaaaack!"
Even with eyes wide open, they couldn't dodge the falling rocks.
Not mana-trained knights, but ordinary soldiers.
Crushed by fear, they tried blocking with shields, only to be smashed flat along with them, sprawled on the ground.
"Your Excellency!"
A man protected by knights and mages.
Yaiks, Neruman's Governor-General, who had joined the fray with soldiers upon hearing monsters were advancing south toward Hayton, the largest northern village.
Towering over 190 cm with broad shoulders.
A rugged square jaw and bull-like massive eyes.
Count Yaiks, who exuded an aura of formidable warrior even at a glance, had his clenched fists trembling.
While chasing monsters, the Temir bastards' wyverns had appeared suddenly.
True to barbarians, their wyverns wore no protective gear.
And the Sky Knights' weapons were just cobbled-together junk Blessed Spears.
Yet there was no way to counter them.
Wyverns could only be fought by other wyverns—that was reality.
Neither magic nor archers' arrows could pierce wyvern hide.
"Has the messenger been sent?"
"We urgently relayed via communication orb. But Your Excellency, the foreign Sky Corps can't be trusted!"
The 5,000 soldiers scattered wildly across the plains, desperately seeking cover.
Clumped together, they were prime targets for falling rocks and logs.
Military discipline had long shattered.
'If only we had a squadron... Ugh.'
Boiling rage he couldn't contain.
Yaiks, a warrior who rose from knight to Commander-in-Chief governing a region, even earning a countship.
Once, he'd gnashed his teeth at worthless barbarian wyverns not worth fighting.
With a regular wyvern squadron, they would've been no threat.
But over years of bloody battles, all of Yaiks's Sky Knights had lost their wyverns.
He'd owned over ten, but couldn't withstand the Temir hordes swarming by dozens.
One by one they vanished, leaving only the count's personal wyvern.
Even that one had suffered torn wings and muscles ten days ago, resting in the fortress hangar.
"Your Excellency, we must retreat. Staying here means the soldiers die like dogs."
The words "die like dogs" slipped from his adjutant knight's mouth.
Inappropriate for a knight.
But the carnage before them made even that seem insufficient.
"If we retreat, who saves the citizens and soldiers in Hayton?!"
Thousands of citizens and hundreds of soldiers battling monsters, awaiting reinforcements.
Unlike elsewhere, northern monsters lived in packs and formed united fronts against humans.
"They're important, but our soldiers' lives are precious too! If Your Excellency falls into danger, who will protect Neruman?!"
The knight's blood-spitting advice.
Even as chief adjutant, he couldn't speak so boldly to his sky-like count and Commander-in-Chief.
But the situation demanded it.
Soldiers torn apart like shredded paper.
"They're coming!"
"Mages, stand ready!"
"Kraaaaa!"
Temir wyverns snatched scattered soldiers like eagles hunting sheep.
One stabbed through armor with talons, hoisting the soldier skyward before dropping from on high.
The agonized scream that followed pierced the air.
Everyone with ears wanted to cover them.
But this was a real curse.
They had to leave comrades' screams behind, huddling behind rocks, trees, or flat on the ground, gasping.
And the Temir wyverns now swarmed toward the count, guarded by a dozen knights and three mages.
They'd known from the start—no wyverns to oppose them—so they approached slowly, like cats toying with mice.
'These bastards!'
Yaiks ground his teeth inwardly.
Despite countless pleas, the foreign Sky Corps Sky Knights hadn't helped once in nearly a year.
Viscount Lukens, who frequented them, cut ties upon hearing of imperial retreat; Baron Jenis couldn't help, busy checking Lukens.
Yet in desperation, he'd sent word anyway.
Even a newly arrived Sky Knight—he'd grasp at any hand.
'Fools... to abandon this land of opportunity.'
The Neruman Plains he'd defended with all he had for years.
Distinct seasons, scant natural disasters like storms or floods; oceans and rivers teeming with fish; fertile soil; undeveloped mines hiding untold riches.
Yet the Empire would abandon it.
The Emperor couldn't defy nobles threatening the throne.
When dispatching him here, the Emperor had promised: Hold for a few years, and Neruman would be the Empire's springboard to the future.
Believing that, he'd poured his house's fortune into wyverns and led soldiers to defend it.
But now, the limit.
For months, no supplies or pay from the Empire.
The Empire burdened by 30,000 soldiers' blood.
And recently, the order came: Within two months, withdraw all but imperial homeland elites, stamped with the Emperor's seal.
Heartless and cruel.
"Heh..."
Amid the dire reality, Yaiks let out a dry laugh.
Shwaaaaa.
Blessed Spears sliced through the air toward the count.
"Block them!"
Clang clang clang.
Knights drew swords, shielding the count.
"Shield!"
"Wind Shield!"
"Mana Shield!"
Whiiing! Rumble rumble.
Waiting mages erected defensive barriers.
Pew pew pew pew pew.
Crack crack crack crack.
".....!!!!"
Knights' eyes bulged wide.
Shields cracked like fractured glass.
Zzzzing.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Urk..."
The airborne shields shattered in an instant, the last milky Mana Shield pierced by Blessed Spears.
"....."
Fortunately, half a dozen Blessed Spears lodged in the 5th Circle mage's Mana Shield, tips quivering.
A moment of silence descended.
The knights' armor was at best lightweight enchanted plate.
Only solid mithril plate could block aerial Blessed Spears.
"Huff!"
But relief was fleeting.
Shiiik, shiiik.
Wyverns that had finished herding soldiers now circled above the count and knights.
No chance to flee now.
Even on horseback, they'd be mere moving rabbits to wyverns.
Kuaaaaaaaa!
Thus, the count and knights faced absolute peril.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar shook the heavens.
"Th-that's!"
"What... what is it!"
Knights whipped heads toward the roar.
Far south, a tiny dot appeared, setting them on edge.
A wyvern.
A regular one, clad in magical armor.
But no one rejoiced.
Clearly reinforcements, yet utterly unfelt as such.
One lone wyvern flying toward thirty.
"....."
Knights and mages stared skyward with hollow eyes, dumbfounded.
The thirty wyverns turned toward the new foe.
It was obvious without looking.
That dumb lone wyvern would soon savor the heat of Blessed Spears across its body, kissing the dirt....