Omen of Ruin (2)
“I’m sorry, brother. If only I hadn’t been injured…”
“It’s all right, my brother. Haven’t many of our knights died or been wounded as well? This rest was inevitable. Do not burden yourself over it.”
Having said that, the 1st Prince left the room.
The 3rd Prince listened to those words and thought: What utter nonsense.
If he himself had not been injured, he could have easily entrusted himself to one of the great nobles near the capital and fled. Since every major noble family around the capital belonged to the 1st Prince’s hardcore Royalist faction, such a scenario would have been entirely possible.
Had that happened, he wouldn’t have been forced to huddle inside this cramped castle, worrying over dwindling supplies. He could have smashed through the 2nd Prince’s clumsy little conspiracy and held him accountable in no time.
Damn it. But my injury ruined everything.
The 3rd Prince barely suppressed the nausea rising in his throat at a situation that would never have occurred if he had simply been a little more careful.
He had suffered a savage slash to his side—so deep that his intestines were visible. Had he not been discovered in time, he would have died screaming on the spot, but one of the 1st Prince’s knights had found him before it was too late and saved his life.
Unfortunately it was no light wound. Even potions could not heal it quickly, so despite escaping the capital they had been unable to travel far. They had no choice but to remain at this nearby castle until the injury closed, and that was why they had ended up surrounded by the 2nd Prince’s army.
If only my brother were cold enough to abandon me… Ha. But then this situation would never have arisen in the first place.
The 1st Prince was excessively compassionate. That same kindness, paired with his strong sense of justice, earned him the love of many. Yet at times his excessive mercy became an unexpected snare that bound his own feet.
Just like right now. If my brother had been even slightly more cunning, none of this would have happened.
That was the problem.
In truth, the 3rd Prince had been secretly supporting the 1st Prince as the next king. The 1st Prince possessed overflowing charisma as a ruler, yet he lacked the ruthlessness a true monarch required—a half-finished kingly talent.
That was why I had hoped for a future where my brother took the throne and I stood at his side as prime minister…
But in the face of the current crisis, such a vision was meaningless.
They lacked the food for a prolonged defense. Yet marching out to fight was equally impossible; the enemy outnumbered them more than two to one.
The 3rd Prince desperately racked his brain for any way to break this deadlock, but no sharp solution came to mind. He was slowly sinking into the swamp of despair when—
“3rd Prince! A letter has arrived from Weistenfel!”
“Bring it here at once!”
The 3rd Prince snatched the letter from the messenger’s hand. He tore open the seal with trembling fingers and began devouring its contents with bloodshot eyes.
“Current forces consist of twelve knights, five mages, and roughly five hundred peasant soldiers. They are expected to arrive within three days at the earliest…”
He read on, but there seemed to be no dramatic twist.
Yes, given the wretched state of my territory, I should be grateful even for this much. However…
He knew five hundred was by no means a small number. He also knew it had been scraped together by dragging every able-bodied man in the fiefdom here in a very short time.
But… against five thousand enemies, he knew all too well that this force could not produce any meaningful result. The 3rd Prince could only fall deeper into despair.
Just as he was about to hurl the letter away in dejection, a sentence at the very end caught his eye. It had been deliberately emphasized in unusually thick strokes, as though the quill had scratched over it several times. Holding back his irritation, he forced himself to finish reading.
“Your Highness the 3rd Prince, please empty the castle to coincide with the time of our arrival.”
“Damn it all! What the hell is this! Didn’t you swear to me that you could wipe out those vermin? Answer me, Count Wint-Hafen!”
He already referred to himself with the royal “we,” acting as though he were king. The person who had caused the greatest disruption to the operation in the capital was none other than the 2nd Prince himself.
Driven by arrogance, he had stubbornly insisted on entering the audience chamber to seize the crown. A large number of knights had been diverted to guard him, causing the original plan to capture the princes in the capital to evaporate completely.
While pretending not to know this truth, he shoved all the blame onto others. The behavior was downright revolting.
Before the raging 2nd Prince stood Wieland Wint-Hafenal Fuchsheim, commonly known as Count Wint-Hafen. For some reason the count looked perfectly composed.
“Please calm yourself, 2nd Prince.”
“Do I look like I can calm down right now?!”
“Even so, have we not successfully surrounded the 1st Prince and his remnants? The situation is well in hand. Before we launched the operation, did we not thoroughly investigate the logistics of every castle near the capital? The enemy cannot possibly endure a long siege. In effect, we have driven them into a trap.”
Count Wint-Hafen continued speaking as if the 2nd Prince’s fury held no terror for him, a theatrical smile like that of a clown playing across his lips.
“Are they not like rats trapped in a jar of poison, or rabbits caught in a burrow? If we simply wait patiently, victory will come to us on its own.”
“But this is the enemy’s home ground!”
“It is fine, 2nd Prince. The central nobles have no idea what is happening. Moreover, when exactly did we execute this plan? It occurred on the date of the regular monster subjugation. The central government has no choice but to remain a spectator.”
Count Wint-Hafen spread both arms wide as though performing on stage. The gesture was clearly mocking the 2nd Prince before him, yet no one around them seemed to care.
“Why fear men who, even if they rush to gather troops, can only stand there stunned once everything is already over?”
“F-fear?! How could I possibly—!”
Anyone could see that the count’s words had struck the mark; the 2nd Prince was clearly bluffing. But the nobles in the room had already lost interest in him.
Their attention was focused solely on how they would divide the spoils once the matter was settled and victory secured.
“Everyone! Let us offer our blessings to the new kingdom to come!”
“““““Blessings!”””””
Count Wint-Hafen led the chant, and the gathered nobles echoed him as if he were the true host of the gathering.
“And let us pay homage to the new king who stands before us!”
“““““Homage!”””””
Boisterous laughter erupted.
The 2nd Prince found that laughter extremely unpleasant. It sounded far too much like mockery directed at him.
“Abandoning the castle to set up an ambush? Isn’t that plan far too reckless?”
Grautal still seemed deeply unhappy with my strategy.
Good grief. Even if we combined the forces of Weistenfel with the 1st Prince’s troops, the enemy still outnumbered us two to one. If we could hold the castle, that would be one thing, but that option had been impossible from the start due to our lack of supplies. The only remaining choice was to fight.
In that case, it was only natural to use some kind of stratagem to overcome our numerical disadvantage, wasn’t it?
Yet this old man had been grumbling and complaining the entire march. The constant noise was going to give me a nervous breakdown.
“Ha… Didn’t I already explain? Our objective isn’t victory. It’s to repel the enemy temporarily and then retreat. The key is to land one solid blow and withdraw immediately. If we’re stuck inside the castle, do you think that’ll be easy? We’d already be surrounded.”
“There’s no guarantee we won’t be spotted the moment we leave the castle!”
“That’s exactly why we’re using the Empty Fort Strategy! We raise the enemy’s suspicions and then use those suspicions against them in an ambush. That’s how we create a chance of success!”
“That’s what I’m saying is dangerous!”
Agh, seriously. Talking to a brick wall would be more productive.
He really was as stubborn as they came. Not that the “wall” in his nickname had anything to do with actual walls, but still.
In the end I decided to ignore him.
The moment I started openly disregarding his complaints, he began bellowing at the top of his lungs. So I responded with magic.
"Silent Field."
⟨ 4-Circle Magic ⟩
A four-circle spell that creates a zone of absolute silence. Instead of spreading it widely, I kept the effect to a roughly twenty-five-centimeter radius centered on my head. Since it only blocked sound and not air, there was no risk of suffocation.
Thanks to that, no matter how much the old man ranted beside me, I heard nothing. My mind felt wonderfully at peace.
I should have done this from the beginning.
Now that it was quiet, I finally had the mental space to organize my thoughts.
Let’s review the plan once more.
I still didn’t know whether my strategy would actually be adopted. Grautal might reject it as too dangerous, or there could be other reasons I wasn’t aware of.
Even so, I was confident it would be accepted.
Because there was simply no other answer. When you’re forced to gamble, you gamble. If staying still guarantees ruin, you might as well step forward and aim for the jackpot.
Of course, creating a situation where gambling isn’t necessary would be ideal, but life is rarely that accommodating.
With that premise set, I reviewed the operation again. The conditions required for success and the biggest obstacles began to surface.
First, to succeed, we must amplify the enemy’s suspicion.
The Empty Fort Strategy is literally about leaving the castle empty—or making it appear empty. The most critical element is guiding the opponent to act exactly as we intend.
In other words, this plan was pure psychological warfare.
The moment our prediction of the opponent’s personality and likely actions proved wrong, the entire scheme would collapse like a house of cards. It was an inherently precarious operation.
Therefore, the most important factor for success was creating an environment that left the enemy no choice but to suspect something.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about that part.
It would be best to leave it to the 3rd Prince, who already understood the personalities of the 2nd Prince and his faction. Besides, it would be physically difficult for me to manipulate events from here.
Next, the greatest obstacle to the plan’s success depends on how the enemy knights choose to act.
The biggest problem with this operation was how easily the enemy’s formations could be broken apart and defeated in detail.
The 1st Prince’s forces would exit through the rear gate, split left and right to envelop the enemy’s flanks, while we would appear from behind and strike their rear. Once the encirclement collapsed, we would link up with the 1st Prince’s troops and flee with all our strength.
…It really was complicated and difficult to execute. Many parts relied on luck, and there would be countless moments that demanded improvisation.
Still, we must make it succeed no matter what.
Because that was the only path to survival.