Signs of Catastrophe (1)
The letter from the 3rd Prince was utterly shocking.
“…Hans, this is an urgent order. Head to the commoner villages and gather every able-bodied man who can be conscripted. Before you go, inform Bruno as well so that Lord Essenrot and the knights can assemble.”
At the sudden conscription order, Hans froze in shock. With a stiff face, he asked again.
“…What does the letter say?”
“It is an order from His Highness the 3rd Prince. For now, just follow it. I’ll explain everything once everyone has gathered.”
The contents were urgent, and right now, gathering troops as quickly as possible was the top priority.
After explaining that much, I began moving as well.
It looked like today was completely ruined for enjoying the joy of reaching the 5th Circle.
Thus, the 3rd Prince’s vassals began gathering troops without even knowing why.
‘But isn’t this force way too small?’
From the vast territory, only three hundred men were gathered near the lord’s manor, and another two hundred from the scattered villages—for a grand total of five hundred troops.
Even though it was after the busy farming season and the harvest, such a low number was clear proof of just how barren Weistenfel truly was.
‘Just how small is the population here?’
It could only be described as the most spectacularly worthless land, a cursed wasteland in every sense.
What good was a vast territory in the capital region if none of its advantages could be utilized in an agriculture-centered medieval society? The land was nothing but fourth- or fifth-tier soil, completely useless for farming.
If this weren’t a medieval fantasy world but at least had the technological level of the interwar period, things might have been different. There would have been solutions like nitrogen fertilizer or tractors. But reality was a gutter.
‘Now I understand why the 3rd Prince turned into such a schemer. When there’s no future to be found in the land, you look for a breakthrough in politics.’
Unless… he was rotten from birth. I hoped that wasn’t the case. He was still my lord, after all. Let’s hold onto some hope.
Anyway, several hours had passed since I gave Hans the order. It was already deep into the night, with the moon hanging high, before all the 3rd Prince’s vassals in the territory could finally assemble.
Among them, Hans was nodding off in his chair, clearly exhausted from running around until he was half-dead. Seeing so many others dozing as well, it seemed it had simply taken far too long for everyone to gather.
‘Can’t be helped. The regular subjugation campaign still isn’t over.’
Conversely, it was impressive that the knights had managed to show up at all.
“Thank you for waiting so long.”
“What in the world is going on that you’ve called all of us here, Lord Sternfeldt?”
The knight with the longest career in the territory, Grautal, asked the question.
Since he had been pulled away mid-subjugation, he looked extremely displeased. His tone was not polite at all, but rather highly irritable.
“Please calm yourself. I did not call you here. His Highness the 3rd Prince did.”
If that weren’t the case, he would have been glaring at me with utter contempt simply because I was a mage.
“Ahem! I didn’t ask because I didn’t know! I’m telling you to explain what this order is right now!”
So it was the latter after all.
What a foul-tempered bastard. Aren’t we all vassals of the same lord? We’re colleagues in the same workplace, same rank as knights, and he acts like this?
“Didn’t His Highness the 3rd Prince send the letter directly to me? It seems he found me more reliable than you, Sir Grautal, despite your long service as a vassal.”
“You bastard!!!”
“Everyone, please calm down. If we keep going like this, we’ll be here all night.”
Lord Essenrot stepped in and barely managed to quell the hostile atmosphere. Grautal was still huffing and puffing, though. Who told you to pick a fight? I almost bit his head off.
Well, the real reason the 3rd Prince sent the letter to me probably wasn’t that.
My guess was that sending it to Lord Essenrot would have been difficult because he was a typical bureaucratic type who struggled to move troops. And since he knew the knights were out on the regular subjugation campaign and wouldn’t be in the territory, I was the only option left.
Or… did he really trust me the most? …Did he?
I wasn’t even sure if I was that trustworthy myself.
“Lord Sternfeldt? Shouldn’t you start explaining now?”
Lord Essenrot was impatient too. There were still a hundred and eight ways left to drag this out.
Still, it was pretty pathetic for me to be the one who called the meeting only to start a fight. I figured it was time to stop.
“First, I must inform you that one of the kingdom’s brightest stars has fallen.”
“Lord Sternfeldt, you don’t mean…?”
Lord Essenrot seemed to have guessed, but the others looked utterly confused. I thought I had phrased it elegantly in a noble manner, but it must have sounded too vague.
There was no helping it. It was a bit heavy to say directly, but I had no choice but to be straightforward.
“His Majesty the King has passed away.”
“Then… the reason we’re gathering troops right now is…?”
Lord Essenrot’s face turned deathly pale. He seemed to think the 3rd Prince had done something and was now trying to clean up the mess, so I quickly cleared up the misunderstanding.
“Please don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t His Highness the 3rd Prince.”
“Phew… I see… Wait, if it wasn’t the 3rd Prince, does that mean it was an assassination?”
He caught on that quickly. As expected from Lord Essenrot. The conversation would move fast now.
“That’s correct. It’s not certain yet, but the letter suggests that, given the circumstances, it was likely the work of the 2nd Prince. It said that the 2nd Prince’s loyal forces have already seized control of the royal castle. His Highness the 3rd Prince appears to have fled with the 1st Prince’s forces to a nearby castle.”
“How could this be… Even if His Majesty supported the 1st Prince, how could he commit such a cruel and immoral act in his greed for the throne….”
Lord Essenrot looked deeply shocked by the 2nd Prince’s treason and immorality.
Hmm… He really does have a gentle heart. I suspect the 3rd Prince sent the letter to me partly because he took that aspect of Lord Essenrot into account.
Because the other vassals—especially the knights—looked excited rather than alarmed by the impending threat. They were already craving military merits in the coming battlefield.
…Even so, the monarch they had formally served was dead. How could they be so blinded by ambition that they didn’t even show a shadow of mourning?
I understood in my head that the loyalty of medieval feudal knights was directed solely toward their own lord, but seeing it so nakedly laid bare left a terribly bitter taste in my mouth.
Perhaps it felt even more bitter because I wasn’t all that different from them.
‘My condolences. Though I never had the honor of meeting you in life, I hope you rest in a better place in the next world.’
Even if it was self-deception or hypocrisy, one should at least show basic courtesy toward a person’s death. I offered a short silent prayer in my heart and bowed my head.
“His Highness the 3rd Prince is currently here.”
“Hmm, Hartzfeld Castle, is it.”
Grautal looked at the map and tilted his head.
“Isn’t that quite close to the east? That’s also where the 2nd Prince’s main forces are based.”
“That just shows how urgently they had to flee. It was the closest castle to the capital, so they had no other choice.”
I continued speaking while pointing at the map.
“The silver lining is that the capital belongs to the central nobles. So both our forces and the 1st Prince’s are closer to it than the 2nd Prince’s base. Knowing this, the enemy will likely attempt a short, decisive battle.”
“Then there’s no reason to rush, is there?”
I shook my head, denying his words.
“You seem to be overlooking how suddenly this all happened. Not to mention that the 2nd Prince’s forces prepared this in advance with clear intent.”
“Ahem! Isn’t that because your explanation was too slow?!”
I already explained that, you thick-headed fool. Didn’t the letter clearly say they fled in great haste?
It was incredibly irritating how he kept forgetting and interrupting, but… the situation explanation came first. I held myself back.
“The 1st Prince’s forces number roughly two thousand, while the 2nd Prince’s side has about five thousand, according to the letter. We don’t know how many knights each side has or their level of training, but the difference in troop numbers is quite significant.”
“This is serious.”
Lord Essenrot’s expression darkened. No matter how well-defended the castle was, the overwhelming numerical disadvantage must have made him worry for the 3rd Prince.
I felt bad having to deliver even darker news to that face, but what could I do?
“Also, because they fled so suddenly, the castle is short on food. Even if they ration it, the letter says it won’t last two full weeks.”
“Oh no…”
Lord Essenrot’s face was now filled with despair. It must have looked hopeless to him.
Assuming it took about three days for the letter to reach us and another four days for us to march, that left roughly one week. Even that was calculated optimistically, so the actual time remaining was far tighter.
“Then we must depart immediately!”
Grautal shouted, but I shook my head.
“We can’t. Are you suggesting we move only with the knights and mage unit? Do you really think that would be meaningful against five thousand enemies?”
Most of our territory’s available forces were conscripted commoners. We had to prepare rations for five hundred men and issue them at least basic weapons.
A rapid march like that was impossible from the start.
“Then are you just complaining without any solution of your own?!”
“I do have one.”
If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have said anything.
Just wait a little, damn it. And stop interrupting me every two seconds.
“We should send a letter to His Highness the 3rd Prince and have him abandon the castle.”
“…? What do you mean by that?”
What else could it mean? It’s the Empty Fort Strategy.