Chapter 99: Suspicion and Evil
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: Suspicion and Evil
How would a person react if a horse charged at them at full speed? Especially if a fully armored knight was on top, aiming a gleaming spear?
Barring a few exceptions—like having a loved one behind them, or being too shocked to move—everyone would run.
Antonius's army was no different. When the heavy cavalry, riding knee-to-knee in a single line, charged, they didn't dare to stand and fight.
“R-Run away—!”
The enemy soldiers, who had been backing away, turned and began to flee.
The problem was that the heavy cavalry had already reached top speed.
The cavalrymen gripped their lances tightly, pressing their arms against their torsos to secure the shafts under their armpits.
“Aaargh—!”
“Gah!”
The lances, backed by the speed and weight of horse and rider, pierced through the enemy soldiers. It was overwhelming violence, a scene of trampling and crushing.
“Save me—!”
“I-I don't want to die!”
In that moment, their superior numbers meant nothing.
A flock of sheep cannot defeat a wolf. All that remained were merciless predators and their fragile prey.
Objectively, the number of casualties was only a fraction of their total force, but the overwhelming violence of the heavy cavalry crushed any thought of resistance.
“Do not run! The enemy is few! Those who flee will die by my hand first! Form up! Form a dense line and hold!”
While Antonius raised his sword and tried to calm his troops, his knights moved forward.
“Follow me—!”
They couldn't maintain top speed forever. Horses weren't machines.
As our momentum waned after the charge, the enemy knights spurred their horses toward us. They had sacrificed the mercenaries, waiting for our breakthrough power to diminish.
They wouldn't have hesitated. If the mercenaries died, they wouldn't have to pay them.
Knights may be synonymous with ignorance, but they weren't lacking in intelligence.
“Turning!”
I rode out to meet the enemy knights who were trying to hit our flank.
There were about twenty of them. Seven were knights, and the rest were squires assisting them.
The knight in the lead aimed a war hammer at my face. The hammer, backed by the force of his charge, held immense destructive power. A direct hit would mean certain death.
‘Only if it hits, that is.’
Before the enemy's hammer could strike me, I swung my one-handed cavalry sword.
The sword, imbued with superhuman strength, snapped the handle of the enemy's hammer. The blade was badly notched in return, but its tip remained sharp.
I immediately recovered my sword and thrust again.
“Gak—”
The rings of his chainmail snapped as the sword plunged into the knight's body.
I let go of the hilt at once. A normal sword that had just cut through chainmail, muscle, and bone would be too damaged to be of any use.
Instead, I drew the war hammer I had fastened to my saddle. Trollsverd was too long to be suitable for mounted combat.
“Die!”
Another enemy knight took advantage of the brief moment I was switching weapons.
The voice came from my right, muffled by my helmet. I immediately pulled the reins with my left hand and twisted my body. My horse turned its head, changing direction.
Sparks flew just below the eye slit of my helmet. The enemy's sword had grazed my face guard. A little higher, and I would have been blinded.
An attack from a blind spot like that didn't give me the time to enter the slowed world. A chill ran down my spine.
‘I'm not invincible.’
The excitement from the fierce battle cooled instantly. War was a place where even the strongest knight could be killed by a stray arrow.
Still, I had blocked it, so it was my turn. I swung my war hammer. My hammer struck the man's head before he could recover his sword.
With a harsh clang of metal, the man's neck bent at an unnatural angle. The knight took a few more steps before falling from his horse.
Another knight charging from behind pulled on his reins at the sudden obstacle. His horse reared, braking sharply.
I didn't miss the opening and spurred my horse forward. My hammer flew before the enemy's horse could regain its footing.
The enemy knight tried to block with his shield, but his stance was unsteady as his horse wavered.
My hammer, filled with my superhuman strength, not only shattered his shield but also slammed into the knight's chest.
“Keoheok—”
It was a fatal blow, caving in his armor. The knight coughed up blood and fell from his horse.
After I killed three in quick succession, the enemy cavalrymen behind them faltered. With their lead faltering, the formation wavered.
When I beat another knight to a pulp, the enemy's unrest grew even greater.
“A-A demon! He's a demon!”
Horses are sensitive animals. They slowed at their riders' agitation.
“Follow me! We're breaking through!”
Meanwhile, our heavy cavalry had reformed their ranks. I led them, my war hammer held high.
The enemy knights resisted longer than the scarecrow-like infantry, but the result was the same.
Seeing that even the knights met the same end, the enemy's collapse accelerated.
The mercenaries who were farther away slipped away, while those who couldn't, laid down their weapons and surrendered.
As I rode through them, the enemy soldiers hastily parted to the left and right, like Moses parting the sea. At the end of the path stood Antonius.
“Lord Antonius! It's him!”
“Do not run! Do not… Huk!”
An adjutant informed Antonius, who was busy encouraging his soldiers, of my presence.
Startled, he turned his back without a moment's hesitation. But I was already too close.
I caught up before he could accelerate and struck his horse's rump with my hammer.
Hee-hee-hing—
The horse screamed and collapsed. Antonius was thrown from his saddle.
“Whoa, whoa.”
When I turned my horse and came back, I saw him crawling on the ground. It seemed he had broken his leg when he fell.
The man spotted my feet and slowly raised his head. It was Antonius, smiling awkwardly with his battered face.
“I-I am Count Broua…!”
Those were his last words. My hammer split his skull. I pried off the dented helmet and held it up.
“Antonius is dead! Everyone, surrender!”
The knights and soldiers who had shown the will to fight to the end laid down their weapons. Their numbers were still more than double our own.
“We head for Roxwood immediately.”
I left the post-battle cleanup to Dreng and Sir Zant, who had regrouped the scattered army, and headed for Roxwood with the heavy cavalry.
If the remnants in Roxwood learned of the defeat and prepared for us, it wouldn't be easy to capture.
Roxwood was a fortress city, and I had no proper siege weapons.
But when I arrived, Roxwood was in a state of chaos. The castle gates were wide open, and fires and sword fights raged throughout the city.
The inner castle was no different. A soldier interrogated a man who was looting the castle and found out the truth.
“The count's mistress and her family have fled with all the treasure!”
It seemed that when Andrill's mother fled with the count's family fortune, other influential figures had started looting to cover their own losses.
Their plan was to pin the blame on the count's runaway mistress.
Unlike the count's mistress, they had apparently never doubted that the allied forces of the three successors would be victorious.
“This morning at dawn?”
The timing was crucial.
The man, who claimed to be a castle servant, testified that he had last seen the count's mistress last night.
In other words, she had fled in the middle of the night, sometime between last night and this dawn.
But I suspected the plan had been in motion for much longer. The count's fortune wasn't small enough to be moved in a single night.
“Then isn't this a huge problem?”
Otto, the cavalry captain, was right. I was already close to bankruptcy. If I couldn't secure the count's family fortune, I might really go bankrupt.
“They couldn't have gone far.”
“The problem is we don't know where they fled, do we?”
“They must have gone east.”
To the north were the Giant's Shoulder Mountains, and to the south was where we had just fought our decisive battle.
Duke Baeneng to the west would never let Andrill and his mother escape with the fortune.
With the Broua family ruined, he wouldn't have to worry about repercussions.
I pulled on my reins. With the city in chaos, there was no need to leave any troops behind. Otto followed with the cavalry.
“East? Isn't that a dead end?”
“There's the sea, isn't there?”
“Even so, it's just a fishing village. There are no proper berthing facilities.”
So said a knight from the Dresden family, which controlled the eastern sea. There was no reason to doubt his credibility.
But there was something he hadn't considered.
“A fishing boat is still a boat, isn't it?”
“You think they used something that's barely a boat? Ah, if they prepared in advance as you say, it might be possible. They would only need the fishing boats to get to where a sailing ship is anchored.”
Otto, nodding, continued in a deliberately serious tone.
“But if they started preparing early as you say, wouldn't they have already loaded everything and left?”
“Well, the fact that they weren't caught smuggling the fortune out until today means the key figures never left their posts. In other words, minions moved the treasure. Would they have entrusted a fortune of such immense value to mere underlings all at once?”
They must have gathered the smuggled assets at a base outside the city, with a trusted person assigned to watch over it. And they would have only set out at dawn today.
“Then there's still a chance. They can't be moving fast with all that treasure.”
“And I've made some preparations of my own.”
“Preparations?”
Andrill is the weakest of the successors. So weak that he has no way of obtaining the count's title without outside help.
The problem was that no one could help him, as they were all wary of the king and the Dresdens.
In other words, obtaining the title was impossible. Therefore, he had only one option left.
To flee and bide his time. He must have seen the family fortune as a stepping stone for his future.
“That's right. I've already made my move.”
That's why I sent Muel and a small number of troops on a detour. Their mission was to reach the fishing village before Andrill and destroy all the boats.
They had carried out my orders perfectly. When we arrived, the sea in front of the fishing village was a mess of wrecked and burnt boats.
But that wasn't all. The shore was littered with corpses, and the sand was stained with blood.
Carts were smashed, and treasures that seemed to have been loaded inside were scattered everywhere.
I had only told them to destroy the boats and wait. Did Muel overreach, greedy for glory?
‘Muel is an opportunist. He wouldn't take unnecessary risks.’
Just as I thought, Muel appeared shortly after, without a single scratch on him. The same went for the five soldiers I had sent with him.
“What happened?”
“There was infighting among the enemy!”
He said Andrill arrived with about thirty men.
He must have dismissed the mercenaries, who would have surely gone crazy at the sight of the treasure.
But it seemed that even among the thirty carefully selected, trustworthy men, traitors had emerged. Quite a few of them, at that.
Muel continued.
“When they saw all the boats were destroyed, they must have sensed that something had gone wrong. Andrill insisted they could just build new boats, but the others had different ideas. Since Andrill was the one being chased, they decided to split the treasure and scatter.”
“Andrill must not have accepted that.”
“They were confident in their superior numbers and demanded the most valuable treasures.”
Muel testified that it was a scene of madness. They couldn't even carry everything, yet they didn't hesitate to draw their swords for a larger share of the wealth.
“And Andrill?”
But Andrill's body was nowhere to be seen. Muel glanced at me nervously and said,
“Well… when we arrived, he escaped using a piece of a broken boat. We couldn't give chase because we were worried the remnants would make off with the treasure.”
With only five soldiers, Muel had to choose between the count's family fortune and Andrill. He chose the fortune.
“You made the right call.”
Muel's face brightened instantly as I clapped him on the shoulder in praise.
“Haha. I didn't do much. I was just following Sir Allen's orders.”
“Secure the treasure.”
“Yes, sir!”
Muel, his five soldiers, and the heavy cavalry began to gather the scattered treasure.
In the meantime, I looked over the corpses. One body in particular stood out. It was the only woman.
“He even abandoned his own mother.”
The expensive fabric of her clothes suggested she was Andrill's mother, the count's mistress.
“That man will be trouble in the future.”
Otto warned, having quietly moved to my side. Andrill was now vengeful and cunning. As Otto said, there was a high chance he would become a future threat.
“We'll meet again soon enough anyway. There's only one place he can go.”
The inland nobles, wary of the king and the Dresdens, would not take him in.
The only place he could seek refuge was across the sea, beyond the influence of those two families.
I gazed at the distant sea. Perhaps because the day was clear, I thought I could faintly see the shadow of the Northern Continent.
Does Andrill know? There is no paradise at the end of an escape.
“This works out well for us. It means you'll help us in earnest.”
The original deal was that the Dresdens would concede the Broua County in exchange for my support on the Northern Continent expedition.
Andrill might be feeling relieved, but our encounters were not over yet.
#
Meanwhile, Erik was meeting with Adeleade in the Rasino Barony. He had left Otto behind when he'd dismissed his troops to deceive the enemy.
He revealed the purpose of his visit before a servant could even bring tea.
“Marry Sir Allen.”
“Ha… After nearly twenty years, you show up and say what?”
Adeleade's already sour expression hardened. Despite her sarcasm, Erik's expression didn't change in the slightest.
“It is the Count's order.”
“…He's the man my daughter loves!”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Erik looked genuinely baffled.
Adeleade felt her breath catch in her throat. She too had the cold blood of the Dresdens, but compared to the man before her, she was nothing.
“Haa… Even if Sir Allen marries my daughter, he will be on our side.”
Erik needed a guarantee that Allen wouldn't betray them. That's what Adeleade assumed, but Erik's thoughts were different.
“That's not enough.”
“What do you…”
Erik stood before the window. The entire view of Polton spread out below the sunset sky. Beyond it lay the Debussy Barony and the Broua County.
“Sir Allen's foundation is weak. It's no different from a castle built on sand. If he were to suffer an unfortunate accident, everything he has built would crumble like a mirage overnight.”
“Don't tell me you're planning to assassinate Sir Allen?”
If Allen were gone, Adeleade could reclaim everything. After all, Allen's achievements were all accomplished in the name of the Rasino family.
And with the Dresdens' help, there would be no unforeseen variables. The Dresdens would possess a domain that surpassed even the king's.
Adeleade had reason to be suspicious. But Erik shook his head.
“It was a method I once considered.”
“But not anymore?”
Adeleade wasn't relieved. If Allen died, Eusebia would surely follow him to the grave, and in the end, she would be left with nothing.
“The more I learn about him, the more remarkable he seems. His military prowess, of course, but also his deep schemes and leadership far surpass those of an ordinary man. He will surely be a great help in achieving our family's long-cherished ambition.”
Erik valued Allen as an individual more than the territory he would gain by killing him.
Of course, this was a judgment he could only make because their great undertaking was just around the corner.
In any case, that was why he had decided to change his original plan. Allen had unknowingly averted a crisis.
“Then what was that you said earlier…?”
Erik turned from the window to face Adeleade. The yellow sunset backlit him, hiding his face in shadow.
“Bear Sir Allen a daughter. I will marry that daughter to my son. If that happens, everything he has built will become ours, the Dresdens'.”
“That's absurd! What if I have a son?”
“Families with deep histories have secret arts passed down through generations. An art that can change the sex of a child in the womb.”
“…!”
Adeleade was horrified. It was shocking enough that such an art existed, but she was horrified for another reason.
Even if she used the art to have a daughter, if the second child was a son, wouldn't it all be for nothing?
For things to go as Erik planned, she would have to keep using the art to only have daughters, or eliminate any sons.
Erik left the room without waiting for an answer, as if Adeleade had no choice in the matter.
Adeleade belatedly followed him. In front of the main gate of the inner quarters, Erik, now mounted on his horse, looked down at her and urged,
“You're not young, so it would be best to have a daughter quickly.”
Adeleade expressed her displeasure with silence, but Erik paid her no mind and spurred his horse. He quickly grew distant, shrinking into a dot.
“Haa…”
He left Adeleade with an enormous burden to ponder. And before she could even begin to properly consider it,
“Mother. What did he mean? Have a daughter?”
At the voice from behind, Adeleade spun around urgently. Eusebia was staring at her, gripping the railing of the staircase.