The Subjugation Battle (2)
The sun had just risen, and the air was still crisp with lingering darkness.
Yet the plaza in front of the castle walls was already packed with territory residents. The anxious atmosphere once filled with fear of the monsters that would soon surge over the walls was nowhere to be found. Instead, the people moved with lively energy that seemed out of place in the chilly weather, their faces bright with hope and anticipation.
They had all gathered to see off the subjugation force. And they had come of their own free will.
Mothers clutched their young sons’ wrists tightly. Elders leaned on their canes and stood on tiptoe. Even the prostitutes who usually rose late, trailing behind the slave traders camped beyond the barrier under Ophelia’s command, had woken early for once and filled the square.
The first to appear, riding at the head of the subjugation force, was Eric, the acting family head. Originally the position had belonged to Isabella, but she had vanished for over a week, so he had temporarily taken over her duties.
Because of that, dark rumors had begun to spread among the residents—that Isabella Krause had abandoned her responsibilities, deserted her people, and fled alone.
Of course, those who remembered what she had done for them refused to believe such slander, but there was nothing they could do about Eric assuming the role of acting head.
Eric waved his hand grandly at the gathered crowd, but since he was an administrator rather than a warrior by nature, his plump body and stubby limbs made the gesture look rather ridiculous.
Still, when someone in the crowd let out an oddly fervent cheer, the rest of the residents quickly joined in, swept up in the momentum.
Eric waved back with practiced ease, acknowledging their applause.
Walking beside him was Kent, the knight commander. Though he had a bit of a belly, he still cut a more imposing figure than Eric.
As the two men crossed the plaza, a thunderous roar erupted from the crowd. Once again, someone had started it.
“Long live Lord Eric!”
“Commander, return safely!”
Flower petals fluttered through the air. Applause rained down. Cheers filled the square.
But all those welcoming cheers came to an abrupt halt the moment the next person appeared.
Behind Eric and Kent.
Technically, by status, he should have been riding at the very front, but no one dared point that out.
Because the man following them—Werner Krause—was so strikingly handsome that Eric and Kent looked plain by comparison. Yet among the long-time residents of the castle, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know his infamous reputation.
Born a son of the swordsmanship house of Krause, yet wearing armor that looked borrowed and ill-fitting, holding his sword in an awkward grip—Werner Krause.
He was notorious as a complete degenerate, a man even the territory’s people openly mocked.
“…It’s that guy again.”
“Is he really going on the subjugation expedition? I was sure he’d run away.”
“He’ll probably bolt later.”
A few residents whispered in a corner of the plaza, covering their mouths. They lacked the courage to insult him openly, but the venomous mockery was clearly aimed at Werner.
The square was filled with strangely overheated praise for Eric and Kent, and cold sneers directed at Werner.
And somewhere in that crowd stood Celine, the girl who had been saved by the Unicorn Knight.
Celine, shorter than the adults around her by a full handspan, stood on her tiptoes, pressing her face between their sides as she quietly gazed up at the face she had dreamed of so often.
By age she was an adult, but having starved so often as a child, she had never grown very tall.
Just then, two middle-aged women beside her began whispering again.
“To think someone like that carries Krause blood. It’s a disgrace to the family.”
“Lady Isabella really needs to come back soon.”
Hearing their words, Celine’s hands clenched the hem of her skirt so tightly she could feel her nails digging into her palms.
She was furious. So furious she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.
What kind of person was he? Who had he saved? What kind of monsters had he slain?
She wanted to grab the women by their collars and shout.
‘Shut your mouths. You have no idea who he really is.’
But Celine pressed her lips tightly together and swallowed her words.
She couldn’t shout. There was a reason he hid his identity.
He had concealed his true face from everyone in order to cut down the filthiest parts of the territory.
If she revealed that secret with her own mouth, she would no longer be his faithful follower.
Once her anger subsided, a different emotion rose to take its place.
‘Out of all these people, I’m the only one who knows his true self.’
Out of the hundreds, thousands of residents gathered here, only one person.
The touch of the fingers that had saved her. The gentle voice that had wiped the blood from her neck. The blue eyes behind the mask and the light they held—she alone knew all of it.
The moment she recalled those things, the deafening cheers for Eric and Kent suddenly sounded like the foolish chorus of idiots.
The two men strutting on their horses no longer looked like noble lords. They were nothing but overdressed fools.
But he was different.
Among the entire subjugation force, only Lord Werner, who slouched in his saddle as if bored and tired, stood apart.
Her chest burned with heat. Celine clasped her hands together neatly and shrank back into the crowd once more.
Then, facing Werner’s back, she began to pray silently.
Unicorn Knight. Please return safely once again today.
And show these foolish people gathered here the truth they do not yet know.
The castle gates opened slowly.
The subjugation force began its march beyond the barrier.
*
The march continued well past noon.
By the time they had entered the depths of the dark forest on the outskirts of the territory, a scout’s urgent cry rang out from the front of the column.
“M-monsters! A-a horde is comingggg!”
Dozens, hundreds of shadows burst out from within the forest all at once.
Beasts shaped like deer. Fiends that mimicked human forms yet were horribly twisted and distorted. Creatures of every shape and size poured toward the subjugation force at once.
“What are you doing?! Don’t break formation! Maintain the line! Maintain the line!”
Kent’s shout rang out.
But the formation had already collapsed.
It was because of the troop deployment Eric had deliberately scattered the previous day, as if trying to sabotage them.
The main force’s combat power was spread thin in every direction, and the front defensive line was completely empty.
As a result, the first to be torn apart were the knights who had personally sworn loyalty to Kent.
“Uwaaagh!”
“Commander! Commander, help—!”
The screams were cut off one after another. Since they were knights, they didn’t die immediately and held on, but the soldiers who should have acted as meat shields in front of them had already fled long ago. There simply weren’t enough knights to control them, and those who should have been in position were stationed elsewhere.
Kent’s veins bulged with rage. If they had faced the enemy in a proper formation, these knights wouldn’t have been pushed back so easily.
‘That bastard Eric…!’
But he didn’t even have time to direct his anger at Eric right now.
Only then did Kent realize that monsters were charging straight toward him—he who stood quite far from the knights who had formed up ahead.
The monsters that should have been dealing with Isabella’s faction knights and the lowly commoner soldiers at the front were ignoring them entirely and rushing only at him.
“W-what is this?! Why are they doing this?!”
Kent swung his sword and severed the neck of the lead beast.
But no matter how many he cut down, it never ended. As if some scent was coming from his body, monsters from every direction were aiming solely for him.
‘Don’t tell me… a monster lure?’
For a brief moment, the face of his timid and weak personal maid flashed through Kent’s mind. It was immediately replaced by the face of a monster that had leaped up to his eye level.
Slash!
The mana rising from Kent’s blade split the monster’s hideous face in two. The creature’s filthy blood splattered across his armor.
Kent poured out every ounce of the strength he had been saving to use against Leona, swinging his sword again at the monsters that were strangely targeting only him.
‘It can’t be! There’s no way that weak, timid bitch would betray me! …But if… if she really did… Anna, the moment I return to the castle, I’ll chop off your limbs and kill you. Of course, before that, I’ll have to savor your slender body thoroughly as an appetizer before the main course that is Leona.’
Boom! Boom!
Kent’s sword simultaneously severed the necks of three beasts.
Kent was a corrupt and lazy knight, but he was not weak. He was a man born to a prestigious noble house who had wielded a sword his entire life. Yet even he was gradually growing exhausted from the monsters that kept charging only at him.
In the middle of the chaotic melee where monsters, knights, and soldiers tangled together, Kent noticed one man who wasn’t fighting hard at all—instead, he seemed to be conserving his strength.
It was Werner, the shame of the Krause family and the territory’s infamous degenerate.
Instead of fighting the monsters, he clutched his head with both hands.
“H-hiiik! M-monsters! Monsters! Save me!”
A voice full of terror spilled from Werner’s lips. He dropped his horse’s reins and began staggering toward the edge of the forest, trying to flee.
Two regular soldiers who had been cutting down nearby monsters let out bitter laughs at the sight.
“…Look at that.”
“He’s running away again, that bastard.”
“Knew it.”
With his shoulders hunched, Werner slipped away between their mocking laughter.
Kent, surrounded by countless beasts, narrowed his eyes and glared at the back that disappeared into the forest’s darkness.
Before long, a thick sneer rose to Kent’s lips.
“Should we chase him?”
One of Kent’s subordinate knights approached and asked.
“No need. Leave him. Whether he runs off alone and dies or somehow survives and gets thrown in the dungeon for desertion, it’s none of our concern.”
Kent answered.
‘Whether that bastard gets ripped apart by monsters or luckily survives and rots in a corner of the underground prison for desertion, I can deal with him quietly with my own hands later. There’s no reason to waste stamina chasing that trash right now.’
After ordering his knights not to pursue Werner, Kent glanced toward where Leona should be.
There were still a few soldiers and knights fighting the monsters, but since they were loyal to Isabella rather than him, they weren’t worth saving. Kent decided to abandon them as bait and leave.
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
After roughly dealing with the monsters, Kent spurred his horse and vanished into the forest.
“W-wait—! K-Kent! Kent!! …Hey, Kent!”
Some of the abandoned knights desperately called out to the departing Kent, but it was useless.
A short while later, once he confirmed that Kent and his knights had completely disappeared, Werner quietly emerged from the forest.
Everyone was stunned to see the young master who had fled in terror suddenly return.
Werner drew his sword and took the lead, effortlessly slicing through the monsters.
The front line, which had been at a disadvantage after being abandoned by Kent, recovered in an instant. Those injured by the monsters fell back, while those who still had stamina naturally moved forward and formed a circular formation.
Meanwhile, Werner did not stay with the group. As if such protection was only for the weak, he charged ahead alone. Yet his steps were so confident that he didn’t look the least bit endangered.
Werner stepped alone into the space filled with a horde of monsters and slaughtered every creature that charged at him with refined swordsmanship.
Slash! Slash! Swish!
Just moments ago, everyone had been staring in blank amazement, wondering if the coward who had trembled in fear and fled alone while Kent was present could possibly be the same man now standing before them.
“What are you all doing? Get your heads in the game.”
Werner swung his blade through the air to flick off the monster blood clinging to it, then scolded the soldiers.
“Follow me. Let’s move.”
He left a small number of troops to tend to the wounded soldiers, ordered them to head to the rear, and took the lead once more.
These were the same people who, before departing on the subjugation expedition, had sworn they would never follow the commands of the degenerate Werner…
Yet after witnessing the swordsmanship he had just displayed, and seeing how unlike Kent—who had used them as bait and fled—he had taken the most dangerous position at the front, they began to follow him as if enchanted.
