The Second Subjugation Force
It was all well and good to heroically declare the assembly of a subjugation force, but as with any human endeavor, things didn't happen overnight. It was unfortunate for Baron Virgo, but it took a considerable amount of time to organize the force into something that could actually function. And there were countless obstacles that kept the Baron waiting indefinitely.
For instance, it took time to recall the guards scattered throughout the Virgo Barony back to Spica Castle. The couriers sent out from the castle had ordered the guards stationed at various borders to return, but it took time for them to arrive and be reorganized. The fact that the defensive forces had been dispersed across the entire territory was the Baron's first obstacle.
Then, the second.
"How can I sit still when the Lord himself is taking the field!"
"I will avenge my brother who died in Jabi-Yaba!"
"Let those Demon King Army bastards come! I'll shove my blade right into their guts!!"
Young men who stepped forward upon hearing that their Lord was going to war, those who took up arms to avenge family members lost in Jabi-Yaba, and warriors who couldn't contain their boiling blood for the war against the Demon King's army—it took time to organize all of them into a single, cohesive unit. Executing the Chief Steward, a parasite who had been eating away at the territory for years, had earned the cheers of many, but ironically, executing the very person who handled the administration had created a power vacuum, which was the second obstacle.
And the third obstacle.
"Did you hear? They say the Baron killing the Chief Steward was actually a scam. The previous Baron was poisoned, too, you know. Who knows? Maybe he's blinded by power, whether it's his father or whoever..."
"Shh. If you say things like that in public, you'll get dragged away, man."
"I heard it from someone, don't go repeating it, but the truth is, he framed the Chief Steward as a traitor just to swallow up his property. The embezzled wealth? Do you really believe that?"
All sorts of conspiracy theories about Baron Virgo were rampant. Rumors had already been dark during the succession process, and now the Baron had suddenly become a piece of trash who had committed patricide and abandoned all human decency for the sake of money.
"They say he knew about the dungeon and just left it alone."
"Actually, isn't he a witch who was commissioned by the dungeon monster?"
"A thousand people died. You think they all died without a single person coming back alive? The Baron offered them as sacrifices to the Demon King's army."
The conspiracy theories surrounding Baron Virgo grew uncontrollably. The territory was turned upside down by the tide of rumors, and the Baron, running wild, actively tried to shake off the shackles of misunderstanding that had been placed upon him.
"I will definitely conquer that dungeon!"
Knight Phise had discovered a massive amount of gold coins and magic stones at the Chief Steward's residence. It was certainly an amount that one wouldn't expect a steward of a single barony to have collected; it was enough to buy a house for a middle-class family in the capital. "I will use every single one of these gold coins for the dungeon subjugation, not leaving a single one behind!"
The Baron's resolve was immense. He paid fair prices to the merchants in the castle to purchase weapons and armor, which were then distributed to the subjugation force. And he didn't stop there; he used the gold to hire adventurers on a massive scale.
"A dungeon where the Blue Lion Guild was wiped out? You said it's Rank 56? Should be pretty lucrative, right?"
"Even if I just take the commission, it's a break-even if I don't get hurt."
"A group of orcs occupying a city... This is going to be a good way to stretch my muscles after a while."
From riffraff to mercenaries who had made a name for themselves, they all joined. It took a full two days for all those forces to be organized into a single subjugation army. It had already been four days since Jabi-Yaba was occupied. After the first subjugation force led by Knight Ramatio was annihilated, the Baron had scraped together all the troops in his territory and hired mercenaries to hastily form a large-scale subjugation force.
There were 500 existing territorial soldiers, 600 hot-blooded recruits, and about 100 adventurers hired as mercenaries. Including the five knights serving as vassals in the territory, the second subjugation force was organized with a large headcount of about 1,200. While the number was slightly higher than Ramatio's first force, as the Baron had boasted, the quality of the troops far exceeded the first.
And in the morning, the Baron put on leather armor specially prepared for him to stand in front of the subjugation force. It was difficult to put on by himself without the help of his attendants, but he managed to get it on with great effort.
Knock, knock.
There was a knock at the door. The Baron straightened his clothes and cleared his throat. "Who is it?"
"It is Gei, my Lord."
"Enter."
The door opened, and a heavily armored knight, having removed only his helmet, entered the room. The Baron pointed to his armor with a solemn face. "With this, there shouldn't be any problem standing at the vanguard, should there, Sir?"
"...When you are with me, you may relax your shoulders. There is no one else around."
Creak.
Gei closed the door, and Baron Virgo hesitated for a moment before letting out a long, deep sigh. "...Could you feel that I was nervous?"
"Yes. Very much so."
"I can't help but be nervous. If this subjugation force is defeated, my territory is finished. It's not just any dungeon, it's a Rank 56 dungeon. It must have a massive force. Ugh, if I had known this would happen, I should have organized a subjugation force before Jabi-Yaba was occupied...!"
The Baron beat his chest and blamed himself. Gei turned his gaze away, feeling a faint sense of guilt. To be blunt, if he hadn't turned his horse around at the fire-field village that day, they might have discovered the dungeon on the very first day. Fortunately, the Baron was also keenly aware of his own mistakes and misjudgments, so he didn't say anything else. At the very least, the two were accomplices who shared the same thoughts and agreed on the situation.
"...Sir Gei, no, Gei." Baron Virgo addressed Gei with an honorific. Gei waved his hand and knelt on one knee. "My Lord! I am but a mere knight!"
"But you are the second son of a prestigious family based in the capital. You will attain a much higher rank than me when you inherit your title. So, I ask this of you in advance."
Baron Virgo knelt before Gei and held his hands tightly. "If anything happens, please take me to the capital."
"...Nothing will happen. My Lord. Baron. Please steel your heart. You must never grow weak. You have 1,100 soldiers, 100 mercenaries, and five knights. And I am among them."
Gei defended the Baron and instilled courage in him. The more the Baron fell into anxiety, the more Gei offered hopeful words to mentally support him. "So, please have hope. You are the commander-in-chief now, are you not? You must boost morale."
"...Yes. I understand. Phew, phew. If it weren't for you, Sir Gei, I would have collapsed long ago."
The Baron reached out his hand to Gei. Gei took the Baron's hand with a polite posture and helped him stand up. The Baron did not let go of the hand he held with Gei.
"Could you hold my hand until we leave the castle?"
"I shall escort you. My Lord."
"...Wouldn't it be more appropriate to say 'my lady' at times like this?"
"A Lord is a Lord."
Gei did not answer the Baron's request to take him to the capital until the very end.
The second subjugation force, formed in what could be considered a fast time, exited Spica Castle. The Baron himself mounted his horse and stood at the head, followed by the knights and infantry. At the very rear, the adventurers hired in a hurry took their positions. Since it was difficult to convey systematic orders and maintain strict hierarchy with the free-spirited adventurers, the Baron organized them into a kind of guerrilla unit. And naturally, that guerrilla unit needed a leader.
In that sense, the Baron was truly grateful to the young-looking boy priest who rode his horse beside him. "Thank you once again. Thanks to you, Priest Francis, I have been relieved of my worries regarding the adventurers."
"Haha, it is nothing. It is only natural to step forward to strike the Demon King's puppets with the hammer of God."
The priest, Francis, scratched his cheek with an awkward face. Although he had the youngest appearance among them, including the knights at the front, he was by no means a boy when considering his actual age, background, or status.
"'Divine Punishment' Francis. I don't know if it's alright for me to call you Priest."
"Haha, I am just a plain priest."
"How can you say you are a plain priest? Such modesty."
If the Baron's memory served him correctly, Francis was a renowned priest who had not only single-handedly conquered the 68th dungeon of Belial as a Gold-Rank adventurer, but had also participated in the conquest of the 50th dungeon, Furcas, and the 43rd, Sabnock. If he hadn't insisted on the status of a traveling priest, the Goddess Church would have long ago recruited him as a member of the Holy Knights.
"As soon as word spread that you would be taking command, 30 people volunteered as mercenaries. Thanks to that, our strength has improved significantly."
"Everyone has steeled their resolve against the wickedness of the Demon King's army. Even without me, they would have gladly defeated the Demon King's army as servants of the Goddess."
The adventurers quickly accepted Francis as the leader of the adventurer unit. Most of the adventurers were Wood-Rank or Copper-Rank, and even the occasional Silver-Rank had to bow their heads before an active Gold-Rank.
"You... you said you also participated in the conquest of the 30th dungeon, Forneus, right?"
The Baron recalled the most recent dungeon subjugation Francis had undertaken. A 30th-rank dungeon that could never be defeated by the power of the Barony alone. The dungeon located in the Aries County had eventually been perfectly subjugated, but there had been many casualties.
"Yes. At that time, too, the first subjugation force was annihilated just like now. The second subjugation force I participated in was also on the verge of being wiped out. The Margrave was also severely inju... ahem."
Francis cleared his throat and chose his words carefully.
"...The Margrave swung his holy sword, and the wicked orc hordes were wiped out in an instant. Perhaps if the territory had been a little closer, the Margrave would have rushed over. Because the orcs were the enemy who killed the Margrave's daughter."
"......."
A familiar name popped up. Eila Aries. She had been nothing special other than being born as the daughter of the Margrave as a haughty and arrogant knight, but she had become the captain of a knight order through the power of that status. 'If only I weren't in a barony, but the daughter of a count...'
"You don't look well?"
"...Well, orcs are dangerous beings, after all. Belligerent and barbaric. Still, it's a relief there are only 100 of them."
"Baron."
Priest Francis's voice contained a slight hint of fear.
"...You must not underestimate them just because they are an advance force from a relatively low-rank dungeon. They have the power to occupy a city and mercilessly kill a thousand people. Moreover."
Francis lowered his voice.
"Especially if it's orcs."
"...Is there anything I should be careful about?"
"Yes. Baron, please just let this go in one ear and out the other."
Francis gritted his teeth and continued.
"The rank of a dungeon does not necessarily correlate directly with its combat power. Just like the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Holy Knights, there are cases where subordinates are far stronger than the leader. This is just a question."
Francis turned his head with a terrifying expression. The Baron laughed inwardly, thinking it looked like a young child making a threat in jest.
"A dungeon that ranks within the top 10 is on par with an entire kingdom. The masters of such dungeons are each individuals who can fight a thousand, no, tens of thousands alone. What if such a being suddenly popped out as a minion in a 30th or 56th-rank dungeon?"
"......That would be a catastrophe for the human alliance. By any chance—"
"The Margrave's holy sword was not broken. ...I will say only this much. It seems we have arrived."
The subjugation force, which had marched along the road from Spica Castle to Jabi-Yaba, arrived at the river flowing into Jabi-Yaba. The stone bridge still stood firmly, but the appearance of Jabi-Yaba, visible from afar beyond the bridge, was quite different from the Baron's memory.
"......What is that?"
The Baron hurriedly spurred his horse forward. It wasn't clearly visible from a distance, and it was a sight so unbelievable that he wanted to see and confirm it for himself.
"It's dangerous!!"
The knights who had been following quietly rushed forward, and Francis also raised the flail tied to his back. The Baron, who had stopped his horse at a reasonable distance, could only gape in shock.
"Oh, Goddess..."
The wooden fence of Jabi-Yaba was 1.5 times higher than before, and its thickness had become even more solid. There were even sharp thorn vines embedded at the ends of the fence. In just those few days, the orcs had turned Jabi-Yaba into a perfect 'fortress'.
And, while the Baron was unable to recover from the shock.
BOOM!!
With a massive explosion, a huge shadow began to fall over the Baron.