Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Finally, the Descent (3)
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Flash.
August opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw were the professors, their eyes gently closed as they recovered.
They certainly looked better than before, but it was clear they hadn't fully shaken off their injuries.
After all, fighting those relentless bastards for days on end without their blessings, it would have been stranger if they were in good condition.
They still needed more time to recover the vitality lost from the grueling battles.
The same was true for him.
In fact, he was the one who had been most severely injured, and his vitality had suffered the most damage.
The years had given him the weapon of experience, but in return, they had stolen his energy and vigor.
He hadn't felt it much usually, but once his blessing was sealed, the reality hit him hard.
It was no different now.
His recovery was slow.
To regain his strength, he would need to rest for at least another fortnight.
Nevertheless, instead of returning to his restorative meditation, he left the room.
“Professor August?”
A cadet who saw him open the door and step out widened his eyes.
“I need to see the legion commander.”
Stopping the cadet from following, he headed straight outside.
“Hmm.”
Carts and supplies lay abandoned in disarray.
Soldiers sat slumped in the open, not even bothering to avoid the rain, staring blankly into space.
The injured, seemingly in despair, buried their heads between their knees.
A few of them noticed him and sent their gazes his way.
The air was thick with moisture, yet their eyes were bone-dry.
“Ah.”
August let out a small sigh.
He had expected it, but the situation was worse than he had thought.
The fortress was in a sorry state.
A sense of defeat was rampant everywhere he looked.
Still, it seemed there were people left to fight atop the walls.
Amidst the pervasive sense of defeat, the military discipline on the walls remained firm.
“Thank goodness it's not too late.”
Muttering to himself, he was about to head toward where the fortress's leaders were gathered when he heard the sound of an argument.
-Time is of the essence! Guide me to the Cradle's professors at once!
-Unfortunately, the professors are not in a condition to receive visitors at the moment.
One voice belonged to a familiar cadet, the other was one he'd never heard before.
Who on earth was yelling at a Cradle cadet like that?
-Who are you?
-I am Bern, leader of Squad 1 of the Silver Eagles, from the Cradle of Stars.
-Alright. Cadet Bern. Do you know that I risked my life to come here?
-We are deeply grateful for the knight's goodwill...
-Hmph! Empty words! Just empty words! You say you're grateful, but leaving me standing here proves otherwise!
As time passed, the unknown voice grew increasingly harsh.
-As I said, the professors are currently...
-How arrogant and insolent!
-Knight!
-You must think a mere knight from the frontier is unworthy of meeting the noble professors of the Cradle!
-I never said such a thing...!
-Pathetic. Truly pathetic. How great must the Cradle be to insult someone who has risked his life for goodwill and friendship alone!
No wonder he was so consistently overbearing with the Cradle cadet; it seemed a frontier knight had come to the fortress.
He didn't know who the man was, but his spirit was commendable for managing to break through the siege and enter the fortress.
However, he couldn't let the man continue to berate a Cradle cadet indefinitely.
He quickened his pace.
-I, Rocarno Matiasi! At Centurion Yan's plea, I, as a knight, volunteered as a messenger and came all this way! I did not expect a reward, but I have no reason to endure such a dishonorable reception!
The knight's voice was so incensed it sounded as if he might leave the fortress at any moment.
“Where would he go, with all four directions under siege?”
It's twice as hard to get out as it is to get in.
-Ahem! I would love to storm out of this place right now, but for the sake of Centurion Yan's earnest request, I will endure it this time!
As expected, his voice was considerably softer.
I don't know who he is, but he's quite the honest fellow.
August couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.
“Hmph! The favor I was asked was simply to deliver a message to the Cradle's professors. It doesn't much matter whose mouth it comes from.”
His curiosity was piqued by the now clearer voice.
He wondered who on earth could have asked a knight of such standing to act as a mere messenger.
But it turned out that person was someone he knew.
“Centurion Yan said...!”
“Who?”
He had interjected without thinking.
“Professor!”
The cadets who finally noticed him rushed over.
Seeing them all covered in wounds, large and small, he could imagine how hard they had fought without even needing to be told.
They all looked like they had much to say.
But he dismissed the cadets with a small gesture.
This was not the time for reunions.
“I am the Cradle professor you were looking for....”
“I am Rocarno Matiasi! Unable to refuse Centurion Yan's earnest request, I risked my life to break through the siege...”
“Yes, yes. You entered this deathtrap out of unconditional goodwill. Admirable. Truly admirable.”
“Th-Thank you!”
“So, I'm curious about what you were going to say.”
Urged on by the old knight, the frontier knight didn't dare delay any longer and poured out the message on the spot.
After stripping away the fluff about the frontier knight's resolve and determination to rise up in the Empire's time of crisis, and how devotedly and bravely he himself fought, the core of the message was a single sentence.
“So, the plan is to launch a pincer attack on the enemy from inside and outside the siege in two days.”
“Y-Yes, that's right!”
August was lost in thought.
“Two days from now....”
He wasn't sure if the other professors could recover from their injuries and be in perfect condition for battle by then.
But they couldn't just wait until they were all in perfect condition.
If they didn't coordinate from their side, the forces outside would be annihilated.
And without the help of reinforcements, the fortress would likely meet the same fate.
In other words, this was their last chance.
“It's tricky.”
The problem was the timing.
“No matter how I think about it, I doubt the enemy will wait that long.”
“What do you mean...?”
The old knight reached out his hand.
Into the empty air.
And yet, he could clearly feel something trickling through his fingers.
Like hot grains of sand slipping away.
It felt as if the very air was flowing downward.
The old knight had felt this same sensation a very long time ago.
That day, countless knights had fallen in battle.
And just as many stars fell from the sky.
It was a bad omen.
A sign that foretold the fall of a brilliantly shining star from the heavens.
It was an event from the distant past, but he had never once forgotten this feeling.
That day, he lost his master and inherited a great will.
“Go and inform the legion commander.”
The old knight instructed.
Tell him the enemy's all-out assault is about to begin, and to make full preparations.
As one of the cadets ran toward the command center,
“Now then. Tell me again, in detail, what happened outside the fortress.”
August asked the frontier knight about the events that had transpired on the plains.
And from the frontier knight's lips, the story of the 2nd Chiliarchy's battle began to flow.
* * *
“And so, while I and my mercenary company held the enemy with do-or-die resolve, the remaining forces slowly advanced, finally managing to encircle and annihilate the enemy. Less than ten percent of them made it back alive...”
The moment they heard the frontier knight's story, the cadets realized it.
They knew whose mind had conceived such a bold and audacious strategy.
“It's Yan.”
“It's obviously him.”
“Who else would pull off something that crazy?”
It was impossible not to know.
The mock battles and squad competitions.
The memories of being thoroughly beaten by those unconventional tactics were still vivid in their minds.
“He does that stuff in a real battle, too?”
“And the Imperial commanders actually went along with it.”
“Doesn't seem like they're all that normal either.”
They spoke as if joking, but the astonishment on their faces was genuine.
“I was planning to tell him all our war stories from here and tease him when we met again.”
“While we were fighting like common soldiers, he was commanding an entire chiliarchy.”
“Suddenly, our accomplishments seem so trivial.”
There was no room for envy or jealousy.
The gap was just too wide.
When the difference was this great, it was normal not to even feel envious.
Perhaps that was why they all listened to the frontier knight's tale with excited faces, as if hearing an epic poem about a hero, not a peer.
“We avoided engagement as much as possible to conserve our strength for retaking the fortress, moving deep into enemy territory...”
As the cadets listened intently to his story, the frontier knight seemed to get carried away, chattering on even more excitedly about what had happened outside.
As a result, the ratio of unnecessary embellishments and lengthy tales of his own valor increased, but the cadets simply filtered them out.
“Rather than direct engagement, we focused on burning their home, the forest...”
“And thus, we prevented further enemy reinforcements...”
The frontier knight didn't mention whose mind had devised the Imperial army's assault on the enemy's home base, but none of the cadets questioned it.
“This was him, too.”
“No one can beat him when it comes to backstabbing. No one.”
“Wow. Raiding an empty house.”
There was no need to ask.
“And not just raiding it, he burned the whole thing down.”
“Is it weird that I'm starting to feel sorry for the demi-humans at this point?”
An unexpected wave of pity spread among the cadets.
“If what he says is true, then the enemy's all-out assault is just a final, desperate struggle.”
“Then don't we just need to stall for time to win, without even needing a pincer attack?”
“They're probably just taking one last stab at it before they have to retreat anyway.”
The cadets' expressions brightened.
They all seemed encouraged by the fact that this dreadful battle was finally nearing its end.
But as the old knight watched the cadets, excited by the rekindled embers of hope, his heart was not so light.
A brief look around was enough to tell him that the fortress had reached its limit.
If the enemy launched a desperate, all-out assault, the fortress would never last more than a day.
“Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue without realizing it.
If only it were one day later, the chances would have been slightly better.
It was a shame, but it couldn't be helped.
He couldn't expect those outside to grasp the intricate situation inside the fortress.
If they could have contacted them, they would have moved up the date of the operation, but escaping the now even tighter enemy siege to deliver news from the fortress was a distant prospect.
For now, there was no choice but to hold out for as long as they possibly could.
Unless there was someone out there who, like him, could read the air of the battlefield and predict the timing of the enemy's all-out assault.
But even for the young strategist who had achieved so many surprising victories, this was too much to ask.
Such insight is gained not through talent, but through experience.
It was something utterly impossible for someone who had only dabbled on the battlefield.