Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Siege of Dalisi (7)
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Lian’s group had infiltrated the Dalisi fortress four days prior, and the new day dawned.
Ding-dong-ding-
The bell tower’s alarm bell rang out noisily.
The citizens inside the fortress, as if they had trained for this beforehand, swiftly packed up their belongings and headed straight for the keep.
“Guests! You must hurry to the lord’s castle for evacuation! Make haste!”
Bang-bang-bang!
The innkeeper urgently knocked on doors, informing Lian’s group as well.
“Looks like it’s begun. Let’s go.”
Lian’s group grabbed their pre-packed luggage and promptly left their rooms.
A long line stretched along the main road all the way to the lord’s residence in the keep.
It was surprising to think so many people lived in this city.
Bwooo-
From afar came the sound of war trumpets from the battlefield, followed by echoing cheers.
With that, people’s footsteps grew increasingly hurried.
“Hey! Don’t push!”
“Don’t tell me off! I’m being pushed from behind too!”
“Come on, no fighting! Calm down! The gates won’t be breached that quickly!”
The citizens were on edge, but it didn’t devolve into chaos.
They queued up orderly and entered one by one without issue.
Soon, it was the turn of Lian’s group, who had been at the back of the line.
However, even with the lord’s promise of protection, they were still outsiders.
At the keep’s entrance, guards halted Lian’s group.
“Hold on, merchants. Leave any weapons you have here before entering.”
“Of course, sir! Here you go!”
Pablo was the first to cheerfully hand over the sword at his waist.
Lian hesitated a bit, as his sword was an expensive gift from Isabel, wondering if he should just hand it over.
But once the fortress fell, he could retrieve it anytime.
There was no need to take risks.
“……”
“Whoa…! This looks pretty pricey.”
“Ho ho. What a beautiful sword, perfect for a lovely lady!”
But the last one remaining.
Martin’s expression wasn’t great.
As a knight of Castel, he was reluctant to hand his sword over to just anyone.
“Hey, you beanpole. Didn’t you hear me? Hand over your weapon now.”
Seeing Martin hesitate and not surrender his sword, the guard’s tone grew rougher.
Nearby soldiers gripped their weapons warily, glaring at Lian’s group.
Thwack!
Finally, unable to stand it, Lian kicked Martin squarely in the rear.
“What the—?!”
Martin whirled around in bewilderment.
But Lian’s silent, piercing glare.
He had endured humiliation to avoid arousing suspicion.
Was Martin about to ruin it all over some petty stubbornness?!
Reading that in Lian’s eyes, Martin finally handed over his sword.
“It’s a memento from my late father. Please take good care not to lose it.”
“Er, uh…. Don’t worry. You’ll get it back when it’s over.”
The heirloom story was probably a blatant lie.
But the guard, unaware, received the sword with a solemn demeanor.
“Follow that line straight ahead. Don’t even think about wandering off.”
Lian’s group moved forward as directed by the soldier.
The evacuation shelter was a cathedral distinguished by its massive dome roof.
It could accommodate many people at once while providing spiritual comfort.
There was truly no better place for a shelter.
“Mom…. We can’t go home anymore?”
“Let’s pray to the goddess together. She’ll protect our home.”
People gathered toward the goddess statue enshrined deepest in the cathedral.
Just then, sunlight streamed through the ceiling skylight, shining down on the statue and adding a mystical aura.
Martin gazed at the goddess statue and unwittingly frowned.
‘Martin. Don’t stare at the goddess statue like that. It’s too obvious.’
Lian’s voice came faintly through magic.
“My apologies. I did it without thinking…”
Lian covered his mouth with his hand and glared at Martin.
Did General Tulio truly believe this man was suited for infiltration?
Martin’s irreverent look toward the goddess statue was, of course, due to religion.
The widespread faith on this continent stemmed from the Pallas mythology—a polytheistic religion.
Excluding the desert kingdom Aslan, human nations primarily worshiped the sun god.
The issue was that this sun god split into two depending on the region.
The goddess Linu, sun of abundance.
And the god Luos, sun of glory.
Representatively, Bordia worshiped Linu, while Castel worshiped Luos in opposition.
But two suns could not coexist under the same sky.
This religious divide was the overt justification for the two nations’ endless conflicts.
“Alright! Now we just wait here until it’s all over, right?”
Firka flopped down on a cathedral pew.
As she said, Lian’s group had finished everything they needed to do here.
The fortress’s defenses had been sabotaged by the dwarf craftsman Mandor and wouldn’t function properly.
Weapons had been subtly tampered with as well.
Moreover, thanks to the intel Lian provided, General Tulio’s side could devise their strategy far more easily.
Even if some unforeseen variable arose, it was fine.
In that case, Lian could simply hold a blade to the lord’s throat as a last resort and force a surrender.
Lian plopped down beside Firka’s head and sighed softly.
“Ha…. I want to ditch this damn disguise as soon as possible.”
“Why? You look pretty. Maybe wear it more ofte— Ow! My nose!”
With no gaps in their preparations.
Now, they just had to wait for everything to fall like dominoes.
Hearing the current situation, the lord of Dalisi asked back with a puzzled expression.
“Strange. Charging like this without even preparing a single trebuchet?”
“They must be aiming to settle it while our main force is away from the fortress. However, they lacked the time to prepare such things in their haste.”
“Ha ha! No need to worry! We just hold out until reinforcements arrive, and we win big!”
The knights of Dalisi territory brimmed with confidence.
An impregnable fortress that hadn’t allowed a single enemy incursion in over a century.
When even thorough preparations would fall short, an attack thrown together under time pressure?
As if that would work.
“Any word from Bringyen and Rendal?”
“Pigeons were sent to both, but only Rendal replied. They’re desperately holding out, but the situation is dire.”
“So Bringyen fell too easily? Tsk! Those idiots…”
However, they couldn’t forget that one of their territory’s key defensive strongholds had fallen helplessly.
In war, complacency invited self-destruction.
They mustn’t underestimate the enemy and maximize their hand.
“Did you order Carlson’s unit at the amber quarry to raid the enemy camp?”
“Yes, my lord. The moment we spotted Castel movement at dawn, we dispatched a pigeon.”
“Good. Even Castel’s war maniacs need to eat to fight properly.”
The amber quarry was the territory’s main revenue source.
They had specially assigned elite troops there.
In a word, a secret unit even the king didn’t know about.
Unlike commoners conscripted for corvée, wielding only sickles and hammers.
“I was shocked when Castel forces showed up right under our noses. But this’ll end easily.”
The lord let out a sinister chuckle.
No matter how creatively he imagined, he couldn’t picture his territory falling.
Of course, it wouldn’t take long to realize that was mere delusion.
A soldier came rushing into the command post, face ashen as if on the verge of collapse.
“M-my lord…! Big trouble! Huge trouble!”
“What is it? What’s all the fuss?”
“The defense is hitting snags…! Totally unexpected…. Hic…. Issues keep cropping up…. So we…! Huff huff!”
“What? Catch your breath first and speak clearly!”
The soldier clutched his pounding heart, mumbling about some damned hill before slowly deep-breathing.
His ragged gasps gradually steadied.
“W-well, you see. Bows are snapping from broken strings or unable to hold tension. Arrowheads aren’t securing properly—full of defects! And furthermore…”
As the soldier’s report dragged on, the lord’s face turned ashen.
From the sound of it, not a single weapon was in working order.
“How have you managed armory maintenance all this time?! Who’s responsible?!”
Crash!
Furious at this absurd situation, the lord flipped the command post table.
No matter how complacent from peace, was this even sane?
This was a border region abutting enemy territory.
He suddenly resented the court mage.
That damned old fool’s magic had eased invasion fears, loosening soldier discipline.
“My lord! Even so, this is suspicious! It must be enemy sabotage!”
“Those guys! The merchants! I knew their timing was fishy!”
The lord flinched at the knights’ words.
Indeed, the most suspicious were those outsiders.
Logically speaking, yes, but…
“No. They’ve only been in our fortress three days. You think they could pull off that much sabotage in such time?”
“Mm. True…”
“There must’ve been a mole attached to us before then.”
“I-is that it?”
“Don’t waste time on rash suspicions and arrests. Focus on solutions for the current crisis!”
“Yes! Truly wise, my lord!”
How could a true man harbor such petty, cruel thoughts toward a poor, innocent beauty?
The lord shook off the suspicion that had briefly perched on his shoulder.
“My loooord! My lord!”
“What now? What again?”
“The gates…! The gates have been breached!”
“Ha. Already…”
They’d probably only resisted by hurling stones from the walls at best.
The Castel forces, exhilarated, must’ve smashed the gates carefree.
It was only natural for them to fall so soon.
“No worry, though. Even with the gates down, the real defense starts now.”
The lord still believed in victory.
His ancestors’ fortress hid horrors enemies couldn’t dream of.
Dwarf-engineered traps and defensive weapons.
A extravagance unimaginable in other territories.
They’d supplied ten cartloads of processed—not raw—amber for it, or so the tales went.
“M-my lord…! My loooord!”
“Ha…. What now? All this yelling is turning my stomach…”
The lord felt dizzy staring at the three soldiers sprawled before him.
“Fine. What this time?”
“The traps and defenses are all dead! They’re not activating at all!”
“What…? Mandor! Tell that dwarf to fix them quick!”
“Th-that is… The dwarf’s been missing since dawn…!”
Clang-
His legs buckled, and his crown slipped off his staggering head.
“…That dwarf.”
“M-my lord! Your crown…!”
A knight hastily picked it up and placed it back on the lord’s head.
But the lord cared nothing for that now.
“That filthy dwarf! He dared betray me! He must’ve tampered with everything—weapons included!”
Clang!
The lord hurled the crookedly perched crown to the floor.
In the process, the large central amber shattered to pieces.
Meanwhile,
Though somewhat relieved that the pitiful, beautiful woman wasn’t a spy,
His heart was complicated, unable to voice it aloud.