Chapter 86: Turbulent Whirlwind
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 86: Turbulent Whirlwind
“General! Urgent news!”
At the messenger’s arrival, the faces of those gathered in the tower’s command room darkened. Though the messenger hadn’t yet revealed the contents of the report, there was no one present who didn’t already know what it would say.
“It must be news that the reinforcements were wiped out by that devil again.”
Every reinforcement unit Baron Debussy sent had been caught in Allen’s ambushes, failing to avoid annihilation.
“Hah… Isn’t this just like feeding that devil?”
“I warned them time and again to watch for ambushes, yet nothing has improved.”
“But consider who they’re up against. He’s the one who gave even Sir Powell trouble. Dealing with reinforcements led by lesser men must have been easy for him.”
The knight who had sighed received a sharp glance from his colleague. He had unwittingly raised his voice, practically bad-mouthing Powell to his face.
“Ahem. My apologies.”
Powell shook his head at the knight, who was apologizing with an embarrassed look.
“No. You’re right. Instead of just warning them to be careful, I should have organized a force so large he wouldn’t have dared to attempt an ambush. If we had sent all these depleted troops at once, he wouldn’t have had the nerve to lie in wait.”
As Powell readily admitted his mistake, Ailgar, who had been treated poorly in every meeting, regained his confidence.
“Didn’t I say we should have attacked Segerik from the start! We just waited for reinforcements in vain, and now all we’ve done is boost the enemy’s morale!”
“Hmph! That’s just hindsight!”
Powell and his knights’ expressions soured at the direct rebuke. The central power within the tower was still the Debussy army, led by Powell.
“Now, now, there’s no use regretting what’s already passed. This is the time to think about the future.”
If Joang hadn’t mediated, internal strife might have erupted. Such was the desperation of their situation in the tower.
Powell gave Joang a slight nod of thanks before speaking.
“We have only two options left. Admit defeat and surrender, or make one last desperate stand.”
Their supply situation was dire. Unlike the last time, they had marched in a hurry. At the words that they could hold out no longer, the entire group’s expression turned grim.
In contrast, Ailgar, who had consistently argued for an attack, was inwardly pleased.
“When a man draws his sword, he must cut something with it! Whatever the sacrifice, if we can just capture Segerik, we can make up for all our mistakes. It’s not too late. Let’s attack with all our strength!”
Having accused each other of assassinating their father, Ailgar had crossed a river of no return with Segerik.
In other words, only the gallows awaited him if he surrendered. In that case, wasn’t it natural to choose a desperate struggle that offered even a sliver of a chance of survival?
“Indeed… If we capture Segerik, even if we lose the battle, it will be a victory in the war…”
Powell, who had always advocated for caution, for the first time lent his support to Ailgar’s argument.
Surrendering now would mean being played for a fool by Allen for a third time. He could no longer bear such humiliation.
Of course, if there had been no chance of winning, this pragmatic knight would have simply chosen to surrender.
“Then…?”
Ailgar’s face lit up.
“Whatever happens, let’s just do it.”
The battle, which began as if they had been pushed into it, unfolded strangely.
Was it due to the disadvantageous terrain? After spotting Powell’s army advancing over a low hill, Segerik’s forces began to slowly retreat.
“They’re running! They know it too! They know this war is over once Segerik is captured!” Ailgar urged them to immediately increase their pursuit speed.
“Don’t get excited. If they intended to flee, they would have done so long ago.”
Powell, who had launched the attack in accordance with Ailgar’s wishes, remained cautious.
“Then why are they retreating!”
“It must be a ploy to draw us in.”
Powell felt that the enemy’s actions were like bait. Imagining what he would have done if he were Allen, he shouted with conviction.
“That devilish man is surely aiming for our rear.”
Contrary to his words, even after Powell’s army caught up to Segerik’s and the battle began, Allen did not appear.
Not even when Powell’s famed crossbowmen began to wreak havoc…!
“What? Aiming for our rear? My goodness, for Baron Debussy’s foremost knight to be such a coward…!”
Ailgar, who held a grudge from the constant disrespect, sneered at Powell.
“This can’t be…”
Powell couldn’t understand it. That devilish man was letting such a golden opportunity slip by? But he had no choice but to believe it. He could see with his own eyes that the tide of battle was turning in their favor.
“There must have been a falling out between Segerik and Allen. That man I call my brother is a petty person who can’t stand a vassal being more capable than him.”
“Hmm…”
As Powell’s hesitation seemed endless, Ailgar could no longer hold back.
“If you’re going to keep this up, let’s just split the army in two. You can block Allen, who may or may not come, and I will capture Segerik!”
Without waiting for a reply, Ailgar took Joang and a portion of his troops and charged toward the enemy camp.
“Sir Powell. If we let Ailgar capture Segerik, we’ll have less to gain in future negotiations.”
“Our losses have been greater than expected because of that devil. We might end up with a losing bargain at this rate.”
Seeing this, Powell’s knights offered their urgent advice.
On top of that, as some of the enemy began to flee under the assault of the crossbowmen, Powell could no longer dither.
The situation was overwhelmingly in their favor. Even if Allen appeared late, he wouldn’t be able to save Segerik. With that judgment, Powell commanded.
“All forces—charge!”
Meanwhile, Segerik was at a loss, panicking. He had sent a messenger long ago, but there was still no word from Allen.
“Where is Sir Allen!? Send another messenger! Quickly!”
He repeatedly pressed his advisors, but there was little they could do. The situation was too chaotic to investigate the matter.
“Segerik—!”
His life-or-death gamble having paid off, Ailgar had reached striking distance of Segerik.
“A-Ailgar—!”
“Die—!”
The sword aimed at his brother held not a shred of hesitation.
“N-No—”
Segerik tried to flee at the last moment, but by turning his back, he made it even easier for the sword to pierce a vital spot.
He collapsed without even a scream—a futile end for a man who had been so close to becoming the next baron.
“I, Ailgar, have captured Segerik! I am now Baron Rasino! Everyone, lay down your weapons! The war is over! It is my victory!”
Just as Ailgar, having killed his brother, shouted in ecstasy, the momentary lull in the chaos allowed the hidden sounds of rumbling earth and hoofbeats to be heard.
A unit of cavalry had suddenly reached the vicinity of Powell’s army. They numbered just over ten, but their momentum was as fierce as an army of a million.
“I-It’s the devil! The devil has returned!”
It was because of Allen, who rode at their head. Ailgar’s face turned deathly pale as he hastily lifted Segerik’s helmet.
“The war is over! Segerik, who assassinated our father, is dead by my hand! I, Ailgar, am now Baron Rasino!”
He shouted until his throat was raw, but the speed of Allen and his cavalry did not decrease.
Even Powell’s famed crossbowmen couldn’t stop Allen.
In their rush to capture Segerik, as if competing with Ailgar’s forces, they had penetrated deep into the enemy camp, leaving behind the barricades that were effective against cavalry charges.
The sight of soldiers falling like autumn leaves brought back memories of their crushing defeat at Allen’s hands.
“Argh—!”
“R-Run!!”
“The devil has returned!!”
This time, the situation was reversed; Allen’s forces were the more numerous.
Combined with their numerical inferiority and Allen’s fearsome reputation, the allied forces of Ailgar and Powell began to melt away in an instant, like snow before the sun.
In a flash, Allen cut through the enemy lines and stood before Ailgar.
“It’s not over until I say it is.”
The infantry that followed Allen and his cavalry surrounded and annihilated the broken ranks of the enemy’s allied forces, and the war ended.
#
“How dare you! Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this to me! I am Baron Rasino now! A baron!”
The anticlimactic death of Segerik, their focal point, had already complicated the situation, and the captured Ailgar was making things even more complex by screaming at the top of his lungs.
“Shouldn’t we treat him with proper respect?”
Bodin, the only one of the advisors to survive, kept glancing at Ailgar and cautiously made the suggestion.
Ailgar’s words weren’t entirely wrong. With Segerik dead, Ailgar was now the baron’s only remaining son, creating an ambiguous situation.
Of course, that was merely a pretext. His real goal was surely to maintain his power by switching to Ailgar’s side, a man who would have much to ask of him.
“This is a time for respect. The body of Lord Segerik, whom you served as your master, has not yet grown cold.”
Bodin’s face flushed crimson at the public rebuke.
“Lord Segerik died because you were late!”
“The messenger arrived late. I heard he got lost on the way.”
I feigned ignorance, just as the baron had done to his vassals after driving my father to his death.
Thanks to my interrogation of Jude Horn, I knew that Bodin, as an advisor at the time, had been involved in that affair.
Unfortunately, Bodin didn't seem to notice the similarity between the two incidents.
“It is regrettable that things turned out this way, but Lord Ailgar is now the baron’s sole heir…!”
“Isn’t there the young lady?”
Bodin looked surprised, as if he had heard something completely unexpected.
“…But she is a woman, is she not?”
“According to inheritance law, if there are no sons to inherit, the turn falls to the daughter.”
“Lord Ailgar is alive!”
“He is the one who assassinated the baron and has now killed Lord Segerik as well. He is not qualified to inherit the title of baron.”
Bodin should be more worried about himself. I had no intention of letting this opportunity, with his power diminished, slip by.
Turning my back as if there was nothing more to say, I began to handle the post-war affairs.
Most of it could be left to Dreng and Muel, but I had to decide what to do with the key prisoners.
The moment the bound Joang saw me, he prostrated himself with such force it seemed he would smash his head on the ground.
“Sir Allen! Did we not promise to join forces! Please, spare my life. If you let me live, I will serve you with all my heart. It would be a great loss to discard a talent like me!”
Joang, who had been hostile to me from our first meeting, now desperately begged for his life as if that had never happened.
“A talent…”
I briefly considered his worth. Could a man who, despite his moniker as the baron’s strategist, had only produced shallow schemes be called a talent? And what of his responsibility for my father’s death?
The biggest problem was that he would never follow me sincerely. If I let him live, he would surely harbor other thoughts.
“Aren’t you a bit too full of yourself? To call yourself a talent when you haven’t escaped the palm of my hand from the very beginning.”
I smiled as if I had just heard a bad joke. Then, I gestured to Muel with my eyes. The quick-witted knight understood the unspoken command and dragged Joang away.
“N-No! I can’t die like this! I can’t! Save me—!”
The wretched screams of a man nearly fifty years old grew distant and then abruptly ceased. The end for the man who had wielded absolute power as the baron’s second-in-command was all too simple.
“I will pay the ransom.”
Despite the prisoner right next to him being killed, Powell waited for his turn with a detached air. He was confident in the enormous ransom that had been set for him.
I let out a smirk.
“Baron Debussy won’t be able to afford your ransom.”
“What…!”
Powell didn’t believe it. Wasn’t Baron Debussy the one who collected immense tolls from the waterway and reaped huge profits from his vineyards?
But what I said was the truth. It was about time for the dungeon I had arranged to roar to life.
Furthermore, to swallow the Debussy barony, an obstacle like Powell needed to disappear at this point.
“A pity. If you weren’t Baron Debussy’s son-in-law, I would have taken you in. It’s a poor replacement, but I will take good care of your son.”
“…You intend to use my son?”
Even with just that fragmented information, Powell understood what I was after.
When I nodded, he sighed and looked up at the sky. When his head came down again, his eyes were detached.
“If you intend to use my son, you’ll have no choice but to take care of him with all your heart.”
“So you can rest assured.”
I gestured to Muel, who had just returned. Muel, who was wiping the blood from his sword with a cloth, let out a groan.
“I’ll do it.”
Dreng stepped forward in his place and led Powell away. The two, who had fought several battles together, seemed to have grown quite close despite their completely different backgrounds.
Muel’s brightened face at Dreng’s consideration didn’t last long.
“Muel. I need you to mop up the remnants of the rebel forces in each territory.”
Muel’s expression, having feigned weakness only to be saddled with a greater burden, was a sight to behold. But only for a moment.
“You must be especially thorough in securing Joang’s territory. It will be yours from now on.”
“…! Y-Yes, sir!”
His face bright again, Muel hastily led a contingent of troops and departed.
Left alone, I continued to manage the aftermath with Dreng, then turned my gaze in the direction of Polton.
‘It’s finally time to take over the baron’s family.’
The end of a long, long journey was in sight. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, this too was merely part of the process. I had no intention of being satisfied with just this.
I will not stop until I have Rasino, Debussy, and Dresden all in my hands.