Chapter 80: The Prelude to the Great War
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 80: The Prelude to the Great War
I encountered the rebel army as I approached Polton. A force of what looked to be at least two hundred soldiers had encamped on the only road leading to the city, putting it under pressure.
In the center of their camp, the flag of the Rasino family fluttered as if to assert its legitimacy.
“Eilgar and Joang are serious.”
I focused on the fact that the majority of the two-hundred-strong force was properly armed.
For a son who wasn't even the heir to have gathered this many troops was proof that he and his vassals had scraped together every last bit of their wealth.
It was also a manifestation of their will to win the civil war at all costs.
“The situation is not good.”
Just as Muel said, Segerik was in a tight spot. His own forces had been shattered in the last war, leaving him with only a few dozen guards to defend Polton.
It was a good thing I had gathered mercenaries from Quaran in Segerik’s name; otherwise, he would have lost everything to Eilgar without putting up any real resistance.
Of course, even with those troops, we were still outnumbered two to one. Leaving Piole behind in Quaran due to the Count’s threat was also a problem.
We were at a disadvantage in many ways.
“Are the advisors refusing to get involved until the very end?”
The baron’s key vassals had not sided with either of the two sons. Their own power was strong enough that they could wait until a victor was decided without any issue; they had nothing to lose.
I had thought they might step in after Segerik was confirmed as the heir, but seeing him trapped in Polton, it was clear that wasn't the case.
If they had helped Segerik, the rightful heir, the situation would have been the complete opposite.
“They say they will focus on tracking the baron’s assassin and uncovering the truth of the incident.”
“They’re just testing the waters. They know their own value increases as both sides wear each other down in a civil war.”
This worked out well for me. With no one else to turn to, Segerik would rely on me even more, and after the war, I could use this as a pretext to purge all the baron’s old vassals.
The problem was that all of this was only possible after winning the civil war with an overwhelming victory.
“Sir Allen. Over there…!”
Muel pointed toward the enemy camp. A small group carrying a white flag had left the encampment and was slowly approaching us.
The man at the head of the group was Joang Conrad. Seeing his face, I gave Muel an order.
“Sir Muel, while I deal with them, could you go to Polton? Persuade Lord Segerik to support us from within the city when the battle begins.”
“Will you be alright alone? What if they try something foul…”
“They’re just a small group.”
Muel bowed his head and turned his horse toward the city. “Please be careful. Sir Allen, you are our only remaining hope.”
Muel gradually grew distant until he was just a dot. Would he still follow me if he knew my true purpose? As an opportunist, I doubted he would resist. Still, I needed to be careful.
He wouldn't hesitate to betray me if he thought a better opportunity presented itself. I would only tell him the truth right before everything was settled.
“Coming alone… can I take that to mean you intend to keep your promise to Josephine?”
The men Joang Conrad brought with him showed no change in expression, as if they already knew. They must have been his most trusted men.
“What are you talking about?”
Joang Conrad let out a smirk at my feigned ignorance.
“You can relax. Everyone here knows you’re the one who planned the baron’s assassination using Eusebia.”
Joang Conrad had misinterpreted my glance at his men.
“You keep saying strange things. Wasn’t the justification for Sir Eilgar raising an army to stop Sir Segerik, the baron’s assassin, from inheriting the title? But now you say there’s another culprit? Then why did you raise an army in the first place?”
It was for the justification, of course. With the baron dead, if Eilgar didn't frame Segerik as the assassin, he would have no choice but to stand by and watch his brother take the title.
That was why they couldn't reveal that Eusebia was the true culprit.
The same was true for Segerik. Having already been accused, who would believe him if he claimed his younger sister was the real killer?
‘On the contrary, it would be seen as a clumsy excuse, only deepening their suspicion.’
Sometimes, the truth didn't matter much.
In any case, I knew that if the baron died, both sides would shift the blame to each other. Thanks to that, I also knew that the real culprit, Eusebia, would not face any blame.
Of course, unpleasant rumors would follow her. Anyone who needed to know would know the truth. Even Muel seemed to have a rough idea.
It was exactly as I wanted.
‘A daughter who assassinated her own father.’
Among all the useful pawns I had, would any man be willing to take a woman with such a rumor as his wife? I could guarantee that I was the only one.
“You bastard…! If you weren’t planning to switch sides, why did you kill the baron!?”
Joang Conrad might not have known my purpose, but he surely knew he had been used. That was why his face was flushed with anger.
“If you’re going to keep framing me, I’ll be leaving. But, does Sir Eilgar also think I’m the culprit?”
My role in the promise with Josephine was to keep Eilgar in check. If he found out about this, his relationship with Joang would become quite uncomfortable. Yes, this was a threat.
“Segerik doesn’t know you’re the mastermind behind all this either…!”
“Even if you told him, he’d think you were just trying to sow discord. And even if he believed you, he’s not in a position to cast me aside. It’s all thanks to you, Sir Joang.”
Grind—
Joang Conrad, who had seemed to be calming down, ground his teeth and glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“The same goes for our side.”
“Then we can just promise not to create an uncomfortable situation.”
I said as I rose from my seat. Joang Conrad, who reflexively stood up as well, warned me.
“There’s no need for that. Once this battle is over, your head will be hanging on the castle walls.”
Considering his forces were twice the size of ours and his cavalry, which included knights, was superior, Joang Conrad had every reason to be confident.
But hadn't Powell Osborne, who had given him such a hard time in the last war, also lost to me under similar conditions?
“We’ll have to wait and see about that.”
Thanks to stalling for a reasonable amount of time, Muel was already back when I returned to our camp. But his expression was not good.
“Sir Allen. Lord Segerik says his forces are insufficient and that it would be difficult to provide support…”
“Is that so?”
I wasn't disappointed. I hadn't expected the cornered Segerik to cooperate.
The only reason I had sent Muel away was so he wouldn't hear the truth about the real assassin, which was bound to come up during the meeting.
There’s a big difference between suspecting something and knowing the truth, isn't there?
I lightly patted Muel’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We have experience winning a great victory even when overwhelmingly outnumbered, don't we?”
The difference between having experienced something once and not at all was huge. Reminded of the great victory in the last war, Muel’s expression brightened in an instant.
The mercenaries were no different. Because I had appointed veterans from the last war as commanders of the smaller units, their discipline was intact even as they faced an enemy twice their size.
“Preparations are perfect.”
Dreng, who had finished forming up the mercenaries, also had a confident look on his face as he reported.
Bwoooo—
Just then, the sound of a horn echoed. Joang Conrad, having returned, had immediately given the order to advance. As I drew my sword, Dreng and Muel took their positions in the center and right flank, respectively.
I spurred my horse and rode across our army’s formation, clashing my weapon with the mercenaries’.
“Does a battle destined for victory need a speech full of flowery words?!”
“Wooo-! No!”
“Then let’s go win—!”
“Let’s go—!”
At my words, our army, divided into left, right, and center flanks, began to move. The main force was the left flank, where I was.
The road before Polton was flat terrain. It wasn't an environment where variables could easily come into play, so the enemy advanced boldly, trusting in their superior numbers.
Our army was different. The three divided units showed a difference in their movement speed.
The speed increased from the right flank to the left, and when the enemy reached a certain distance, our right flank stopped completely. The center advanced a little further before also coming to a halt.
If viewed from the sky, our army would form a `\` shape. It was Powell Osborne’s oblique formation, the very one that had nearly brought me defeat.
‘I wasn't just playing around for the past week.’
Even while training with Andrei, I had been drilling the mercenaries in tactics for this very moment, and the results were now showing.
“Keep in step! Don’t get excited, you bastards! If you rush out first, you’ll die! Got it!?”
A week was by no means enough time to perfect a tactic.
But by placing veterans who knew the effectiveness of this formation from their harsh experience in the last war in each unit, we had managed to get the shape right.
“Sir Knight—!”
The enemy’s right flank, which would be the first to engage, finally seemed to sense that something was wrong, and the soldiers looked for their commander.
But in an era without any real means of communication, suddenly changing formation was impossible.
‘That’s just an illusion possible only in games.’
There was only one thing the enemy’s right flank could do. The knight who appeared to be the commander raised his sword high and pointed at us.
“Nothing changes! Break through the enemy!”
The enemy soldiers, who had hesitated for a moment, once again tensed their thighs and kicked off the ground.
As the enemy drew closer, the difference in numbers became palpable. It began to affect my own troops, and unrest was spreading like a plague.
“Follow me!”
I spurred my horse without hesitation. As if it had been waiting, it shot forward like an arrow.
The enemy knight and commander saw me and instinctively took a step back. I had seen him once before, at the baron’s castle, when I had taken the heads of three knights in a row in duels.
He knew my skill well, so he was avoiding a direct confrontation. A wise decision.
“Sir Knight—!”
However, it was a mistake for a commander. As the commander faltered, the entire enemy right flank wavered. I did not miss that opening.
“If you have any honor, don't show me your back!”
I laid my sword diagonally and swung. A spear shaft aimed at me snapped in two. The enemy soldier who had thrust the spear with his eyes squeezed shut opened them when his hands felt light. But what he saw was his own collapsing body.
In that brief moment, my sword had cut his neck, forcing him to see his own body fall.
“Die!!”
Still, they were a well-paid mercenary force. Seeing an opening as I recovered my sword, two enemy soldiers swung their swords at me from either side.
One aimed for my unprotected horse’s head, the other for my hip. Their bloodshot eyes glinted with anticipation of the reward they would get for taking me down.
Of course, that anticipation would never be fulfilled. Having used minimal strength, I had plenty of energy left and recovered my posture faster than they had expected.
“Uh…?”
The one who had aimed for my hip looked down at the sword embedded in his neck before collapsing.
The one who had aimed for my horse retreated when it reared up threateningly, but the clever animal wasn't satisfied with that and guided me toward the man. I granted my horse’s request.
“Gack.”
With three mercenaries falling in an instant, the enemy’s unrest could only grow. At the same time, my allies poured through the opening I had created.
“Kill them—! Kill them all!!”
The enemy’s right flank began to collapse in an instant. At that point, the enemy commander could no longer avoid me.
“You—!”
The enemy commander swung his sword, aiming for the opening just as I cut down another mercenary. The corners of his mouth were turned up, as if he thought this was a golden opportunity.
But I had been watching his movements the entire time, and to me, who had entered a slowed world, his attack was so slow it made me want to yawn.
Clang—
I twisted my body, putting rotational force into my sword. I added more strength, as befitting a knight, and sparks flew as his sword was knocked high into the air.
The man’s face contorted as he desperately spurred his horse, but before the animal could even move, my sword dug into his face.
Even though he wore a helmet with a face guard, aiming for the gap in a slowed world was not particularly difficult for me.
“Gurgle.”
The man died without even a scream. His horse, moving belatedly, dragged his corpse with its foot caught in the stirrup, kicking up dust as it went.
“I’ve killed the enemy commander!”
With their commander dead, the enemy’s right flank collapsed in an instant. Their superior numbers were of no help. Looking back, I saw that our right flank was just now engaging the enemy’s left. If we could encircle them now, victory was a foregone conclusion.
“Sir Allen!”
Joang Conrad knew it too. The enemy cavalry reserve, a force of less than twenty, was charging to salvage the collapsing right flank.
They were in a line formation, packed so tightly their thighs were touching. Their lances were couched and fixed under their armpits.
‘A lance charge?’
It was clumsy, but it was a lance charge nonetheless. I pushed the back of the veteran mercenary who had warned me of their approach.
“Encircle the enemy as we trained!”
“But the enemy cavalry…”
“I’ll handle them!”
Making the veteran mercenary the acting commander, I immediately charged toward the enemy cavalry.
The enemy riders clearly scoffed at me for trying to face them single-handedly. But as the distance between us closed, and I didn't flinch from the threatening momentum of their charging warhorses and sharp lances, they couldn't help but waver.
‘The greatest fear comes from the unknown.’
I focused my senses on the tip of my sword. The enemy’s momentum was fierce, and their lance tips were sharp enough to pierce my neck at any moment, but I believed my eyes would surely show me an opening.
Moreover, there was no way a mere baron’s son and his vassals could have perfected a proper shock tactic.
If anything, it was the enemy who should be afraid of the impending clash. For them, who lacked my exceptional eyes, the coming situation would be the unknown itself.
The moment of collision with the lead cavalryman arrived. The enemy rider reflexively squeezed his eyes shut, and in that instant, the opening I had been waiting for appeared.
‘Now…!’