Chapter 225: Infiltration
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 225: Infiltration
The dawn mist was just beginning to fade, unable to withstand the warm sunlight.
Heads appeared over the hill, and soon a group of people came into view.
At the head of the group, a single horse pulled a wagon. The deep ruts it left in the road indicated a heavy load.
“You beast! Don't even think about slacking off!”
Though the horse's owner couldn't have been unaware, he continuously urged the animal on, hastening its pace.
Then he spotted us and stopped, his hand immediately going to the sword at his waist. The rest of his party also prepared for battle.
“No need to be on guard. We were just heading east, having heard a rumor that Duke Philippe is recruiting mercenaries.”
We held up our open palms to show we had no hostile intent, then moved to the side of the road to let the wagon pass.
“Move further from the road.”
The man grew even more wary. On a deserted road like this, mercenaries often turned into bandits. And we were fully armed, no less.
“Whoa, whoa. Alright. Just calm down. Is something happening in the east?”
We backed away a little more. Only then did the man seem to relax. Though his hand remained on his sword, his voice had lost some of its edge.
“It seems you haven't heard the rumor that King Arisfo and his cousin, Duke Philippe, have formed an alliance.”
“Then the reason you’re in such a hurry is…”
“Two of the Three Powers have allied, so how many troops do you think they’ve gathered? In a village, if even three young men get together, they cause trouble. Now imagine more than ten thousand soldiers gathered in one place. It’s bound to be worse, isn’t it?”
He was saying they were fleeing, worried about the soldiers' atrocities. He had a point. This was an age with no unwritten rule against attacking civilians, unlike in modern times.
On the contrary, looting was rampant under the pretext of procuring insufficient supplies locally, so areas around military camps were often left scorched.
It was only a matter of degree; there was no difference between mercenary bands and regular armies.
“Thank you for the information.”
The man didn't let his guard down until he had passed us completely. Through the window of the wagon as it brushed past, I could even see a crossbow aimed at us.
The arrowhead glinted menacingly in the sunlight. The crossbow aimed at us only disappeared back inside the wagon after they were a good distance away.
“Well then, be on your way.”
After parting with the refugees we had met by chance, we returned to the road and resumed our journey.
“King Arisfo and Duke Philippe must have joined forces to eliminate Duke Babel, intending to decide the master of the continent afterward.”
Van der Belt spoke once we were far enough away that our voices couldn't be heard. Having finally admitted he'd been deceived, he had arrived a week later than Piole.
He still only knew me as the Emperor's henchman, so other than his attitude becoming more polite, nothing had changed.
“I thought you said the two of them were rivals competing for a single throne…”
“It’s the witch—Vivian’s power.”
“Vivian’s power, you say.”
“Everything happened just as she said it would. It was just like the passage from the bible, ‘The Lord spoke, and it was done.’”
Van der Belt confessed. That was why he had believed so firmly that Vivian was an apostle of God.
“And the result of her claiming to be an apostle of God is nothing more than an unstable alliance. It’s laughable.”
She had the weakness of not being able to step into the spotlight because she was a witch, but to think she knew the future and still couldn't manage the traffic between two factions?
It was pearls before swine.
In any case, Vivian was moving just as I had predicted. Deceived by Louise into thinking I had taken refuge with Duke Babel, she had decided to take direct action.
She must have thought that in her unfavorable situation, the only way to turn the tables was to capture me.
Meanwhile, I had set up a double as bait and was heading straight into Duke Philippe's territory.
“We should hurry.”
We encountered Duke Philippe's scouts not long after crossing the border.
“Why, isn't it Lord Van of House Belt?”
The renown and reputation of House Belt were great enough that even a common scout recognized him. On the strength of his name alone, I was able to reach the depths of the allied army's camp.
The camp near the border was so crowded there was hardly room to stand. Counting the banners, there seemed to be about 20,000 troops. But there was a large number of horses.
‘So many cavalry.’
Even considering that a knight typically had three horses, including spares, the cavalry seemed to make up half the total force.
It was a strange sight. It was a troop ratio you'd only expect to see in the army of a nomadic, horse-riding people.
“Well, if it isn’t Lord Van! I cannot tell you how heartbroken I was, thinking you had died. I even cursed my past self for giving you such a reckless mission. It is truly, truly good to have you back.”
Duke Philippe, having heard of Van der Belt's return, came out of the command tent and embraced him fiercely.
“I was lucky. If Balak hadn't noticed Duke Babel's scheme and caused a commotion just in time, I would have died in that dungeon, never mind finding a chance to escape.”
Van der Belt held up his hands. They were a mess of wounds, and all his fingernails were missing. The marks of torture.
“Hmm…”
Duke Philippe swallowed his words, a look of apology on his face. Although the mission had failed, if he were to blame Van der Belt after seeing his condition, people would surely condemn him.
Instead, he turned his gaze to me.
“It must have been difficult enough just to save yourself. How did you manage to rescue a complete stranger?”
A wandering champion returning with Van der Belt, a man with whom he had no connection? It was a story that made no sense unless there was some ulterior motive.
“Duke Babel will surely try to kill me to prevent word from spreading that he tortured and killed an innocent man. I believed the only way to survive him was to temporarily entrust myself to a stronger power.”
I didn't hide the fact that I had an ulterior motive. Of course, it was a plausibly fabricated one.
In the process, I naturally flattered Duke Philippe, implying he was a stronger power than Duke Babel, who was known to the world as his equal.
Did he not know that incompetent rulers are surrounded by sycophants with sweet words, while loyal subjects offer bitter truths? As long as he was human, it was only natural that he preferred to hear pleasant things.
As expected, the corners of Duke Philippe's mouth turned up slightly. His posture relaxed a bit.
“You want my protection? Why should I risk souring my relationship with a man like Duke Babel for your sake? What's in it for me?”
Wasn't their relationship already as sour as it could get? He couldn't have been asking because he didn't know.
The last sentence was the one to focus on. He was asking what I would give him in return for his protection. I gave him the answer he wanted.
“You will find I am worth the trouble.”
I was offering myself as the price. If Duke Philippe accepted, I would naturally get the chance to work under his command.
Van der Belt quickly added, “Balak is a master of Western swordsmanship. While it would be a waste to use him in a war, in an unexpected situation, he is a swordsman more reliable than any other.”
“An unexpected situation?”
Instead of answering, Van der Belt glanced at the command tent where King Arisfo's banner was planted.
Although they had joined forces because of Vivian, King Arisfo was not a man to be trusted. He might betray them at a critical moment.
That was the meaning behind his gaze. It seemed Duke Philippe had the same concern. He quickly understood the meaning and his expression hardened.
“I'll think about it. For now, get some rest and recover. You've been through a lot.”
However, he avoided giving a definite answer and dismissed us.
We bowed and withdrew. We hadn't expected to achieve our goal in one go anyway.
“Brother!”
In the House Belt tent, Van der Belt's younger brother, Jon, was waiting.
“Where is Father?”
“His chronic illness flared up, so I came in his place.”
It seemed both men had much to say, but just then, the sound of a horn calling for an assembly was heard.
“Brother.”
Jon seemed to think that since his older brother, the heir, had returned, it was right for him to represent the family at the meeting.
Standing in Jon's blind spot, I secretly shook my head at Van der Belt. After a moment's hesitation, he spoke to his brother with a nonchalant expression.
“You go on ahead.”
Jon had no choice but to leave the tent. Once we were alone again, Van der Belt spoke.
“Why did you stop me? Vivian will be at that meeting.”
“There's a saying: the more you rush, the more you should take a detour. With Duke Philippe suspicious of us, attending the meeting would only arouse greater suspicion.”
Trying to approach Vivian before gaining Duke Philippe's trust would do more harm than good.
Moreover, ever since we had entered the House Belt tent, I had sensed a presence loitering nearby. It was likely a spy sent by Duke Philippe.
My explanation made his face harden. He glanced warily outside and lowered his voice as much as possible.
“Are we going to wait until his suspicion fades?”
“If we approach proactively, his suspicion will only deepen. We have to make Duke Philippe extend his hand to us first.”
“The problem is how to do that, isn't it?”
This was a situation where two of the three equally matched powers had allied to strike the third.
They would think it was a war they couldn't lose, so they wouldn't take the risk of employing us, who might be spies.
“Besides, the other families won't be willing to share the glory.”
“Then we just have to create a situation where he's desperate for any help he can get, won't we?”
“…Are you talking about them?”
Van der Belt hadn't come alone.
Thanks to turning the entire Eastern expeditionary fleet into fish food, the ground forces no longer needed to wait, and I had brought them to the Southern Continent with him.
Of course, due to the limited number of ships, I couldn't bring all of them, but I was confident we had enough to change the tide of battle.
A short while later, the order to advance was given, and the allied army moved toward the border. Duke Babel's army was encamped just beyond it.
We separately climbed a nearby mountain that overlooked the entire battlefield and continued our conversation.
“The allied army has 20,000 troops in total. Of those, 10,000 are cavalry. Duke Babel has just over 8,000, with only 2,000 cavalry. Even with the addition of 3,000 Western cavalry, the allied army has twice as many.”
“You have to look at the quality. As I passed through, I saw that the allied cavalry is mostly mercenaries. Aren't they just fakes pretending to be cavalrymen because the pay is several times higher than an infantryman's if you just know how to ride a horse? I bet they can't even swing a sword from horseback.”
What meaning was there in having twice as many men like that? Fakes were destined to crumble when they met the real thing.
“Besides, didn't you say the relationship between King Arisfo and Duke Philippe was just two pieces forced together with the glue named Vivian? Given an excuse, it's obvious they'll try to stab each other in the back.”
The skewer to drive a wedge between the two was already prepared. It was when horns blew from both sides and the two armies slowly began to close the distance.
A contingent of cavalry burst out from the forest on the flank. They were heavy cavalry, their horses clad in barding. At their head was Piole.
The heavy cavalry rode so close together that their thighs touched their comrades'. They rested their lances on the lance rests of their armor, clamping them tightly under their armpits.
It was a charge in perfect formation, without a hint of disarray. Having become one with their horses, their true weapon was not the lance, but mass.
“Stop them! Quickly!”
The allied right flank cavalry, being the closest, responded to the surprise attack. They were full of courage, as they outnumbered the attackers nearly two to one.
But the moment the two cavalry forces collided, the outcome was decided.
“Argh!”
“Help me!”
How could mercenaries who hadn't even received proper cavalry training be a match for Piole's heavy cavalry, who were experienced in war and equipped on a completely different level?
The allied right flank cavalry collapsed like scarecrows. They were ground down by Piole's heavy cavalry, and the number of casualties rose sharply.
The difference in skill was so vast it was like watching adults fight children.
The interesting thing was, at this point, one would expect the left flank cavalry to move to help their comrades, but they just watched from a distance.
Still, as if they couldn't ignore the situation completely, they soon began to charge. The problem was, their direction wasn't toward their crumbling allies, but toward Duke Babel's infantry.
“The right flank cavalry belongs to King Arisfo, and the left flank cavalry belongs to Duke Philippe.”
Duke Philippe's cavalry achieved some success, but it was tarnished by the price paid: the annihilation of King Arisfo's 5,000 cavalry.
The first battle was a victory for Duke Babel's side.
Heh.
A laugh escaped me. I took in the sight of the allied command post in the rear. I wanted to ask Vivian, who would be there. Was this really all she had?
No answer came. Instead, a commotion erupted in the allied command.
How could King Arisfo remain calm after losing 5,000 cavalry in an instant? Especially when Duke Philippe's cavalry had acted so blatantly…
“The wound that was barely stitched up will burst open and fester.”
The discord between the two powerful men was a greater achievement in this battle than the annihilation of five thousand cavalry.
“Naturally, both King Arisfo and Duke Philippe will try to strengthen their own security,” Van der Belt added.
I looked back at him and smiled.
“Don't you think you chose the right side?”