Chapter 140
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 140
"You're free to delude yourselves, but since you're being so foolish, I'll spell it out for you. We have no intention of handling everything for you from start to finish, no matter what you might be expecting. You people can't even leave this castle; if you tried, you'd be shot dead. But our squad is different. The sole mission of our Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad is to hold out for as long as possible until the main army's reinforcements arrive."
And that was the truth.
"We are the only ones who can run. We are the only squad that will be completely forgiven for retreating and simply saying, 'There was nothing we could do!' Those of you who claim all lives are equal had better change your way of thinking. In a state of war, the life of a single one of my squad members is worth more than a hundred of yours."
"Ugh… Uaaah… General, please, please save me! Please!"
Riiip!
Unable to support the weight, the collar of the man Kart was holding tore. The archer screamed as he plummeted dozens of meters.
However, no sickening thud followed. Instead, the unconscious archer slowly floated back up over the castle wall. Saved by a mage's assistance, his body dropped with a dull thud inside the castle.
The voices of several soldiers trembled as they muttered their relief over and over.
"Get a grip," Kart said. "You are the ones defending this castle. We are only here to handle the things you can't, no matter how hard you try."
Silence settled over the castle as his speech ended. Of course, the atmosphere wouldn't change from just a few words. But there were certainly those who understood. If they had even the slightest desire to live, they would be the ones to spark a change in mindset.
Kart leaned against the castle wall and looked down at the horde of orcs below.
Kurak was nowhere to be seen.
He was probably resting inside his tent or plotting his next move.
"Hmph."
Instead of Kurak, a creature that looked like a gatekeeper was staring up at Kart.
*
It took five hours for Felstein to fall.
Although he had no time to hear others' opinions on the cause, Kart turned the question over and over in his mind.
Five hours.
Kart knew Count Carlyle, the lord of Felstein, personally. He was absolutely not the type of man to surrender to orcs.
'Five hours, even without surrendering…'
Therefore, there had to be something else. A few suspicious scenarios came to mind, but he couldn't be certain of any of them.
When he climbed the ramparts and looked at the orcs, they seemed to be preparing for a siege in a perfectly normal manner. If so, was Felstein really wiped out in just five hours of siege warfare? Was the castle gate destroyed?
That was possible, but Felstein's gates were not so easily breached. Even if they were, there was an inner gate, and the path leading to it was extremely narrow, giving humans a massive terrain advantage. Assuming they had put up a proper fight, five hours to total annihilation was far too fast.
'A weapon that could demolish the walls in one blow…?'
If they had something like that, they wouldn't have bothered setting up camp in front of Rubhem. Anything beyond that wasn't speculation; it was delusion. Kart quietly stroked his beard.
What on earth had happened?
There was no way to know. But he had to prepare.
After getting a rough grasp of the situation inside the castle, Kart gathered all the officers of the subjugation squad.
"We will form a detachment and strike first."
If he wasn't sure how to defend, the best course of action was to attack first and disrupt the enemy's plans.
'If it were Ar, he would have devised some brilliant strategy from within the castle.'
Unfortunately, Kart was no such strategist. He couldn't comprehend the mind of a dreamer obsessed with Swallow. He had to make his own choices and act in his own way.
"I will follow your will, Captain," replied Rainmay, the vice-captain of the Nixir Red Dragon Subjugation Squad, also known as the 'Explosive Light of the Sendelbright Family'.
Knowing that Kart's tactics were always aggressive, his subordinates had learned to agree first and ask questions later, which often led to an unusual conversational flow.
Kart answered confidently.
"Burning their food supplies would be a great long-term benefit, but it would likely make the orcs besiege us even more desperately to replenish their stores. Therefore, we will target and burn only the orc soldiers' barracks."
"The timing?"
"In the dead of night, of course. We'll move as a squad of about seven, including myself."
"The enemy's security will be tight."
"Then we'll just have to kill them all. Our goal isn't to return undetected. If we get caught, we can just run away."
It was simple.
"After all, there's no way our squad's mages will lose to mere orc shamans."
What was terrifying was the tens of thousands of orcs, not the individual orcs themselves.
*
"Did I not tell you? I will delegate all military authority to you."
Magino, the lord of Rubhem, blindly trusted Kart. Perhaps his desire to survive had taken precedence over his authority as lord, because he didn't even hesitate to bow his head.
"Please, take good care of our soldiers. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask."
Magino had heard Kart's speech. He had seen with his own eyes the archer falling from the distant wall. This was the behavior of a cowardly lord, marveling at a capable general and doing whatever he could to avoid getting on his bad side.
Since Kart was upright to the point of being blunt, he had no liking for flattery, but he tolerated it and responded moderately. At least Magino wasn't an enemy. He was hundreds, thousands of times better than those lords who couldn't read the room and just got in the way.
'First, we burn all the western barracks.'
After the meeting, several mages sent familiars made of mana into the enemy camp. Although most were detected and destroyed by phantom beasts, they managed to map out the general layout.
The orc infantry barracks were concentrated in the west.
Fortunately, the weather was dry. Although they had camped on barren land, the sheer size of the main orc force meant that tents were pitched even in areas with dry grass.
If Rainmay could successfully cast a single high-tier fire magic spell, the entire area would turn to ash.
"Come to think of it, there are reinforcements I would like to introduce to you."
Just as Kart was about to leave after finishing his report, Magino spoke up. The people he introduced were a small A-rank subjugation squad.
The symbols engraved on their silver-white armor seemed to indicate a religious faction, but Kart, lacking knowledge in that area, couldn't be sure.
Perhaps they recognized Kart as well, for they did not mention religion at all.
"Among the squads stationed in the castle, there is an A-rank subjugation squad. They wished to be of help to you, so I am introducing them."
"We volunteered, albeit late, in the hopes of being of assistance," said the young man who appeared to be the leader of the Onbit Subjugation Squad, bowing his head to Kart. "We have heard much of Sir Kart's reputation. Please do not hesitate to command us. We will gladly follow."
"...Understood," Kart said to Magino.
'Soft features and an androgynous voice… To think someone with that build leads an A-rank subjugation squad.'
Then again, in a world where a monster like Uin existed, there was nothing to be surprised about.
Frowning, Kart organized his thoughts and quickly took his leave.
*
Soon, the sun set, and the time drew near.
Two hours before the night raid.
Having finished a light meal, Kart closed his eyes in his tent. The other squad members were resting as well. Leading the subjugation squad, Kart always forced everyone to rest right before a major operation. It was to clear their minds of stray thoughts.
And Kart was no exception.
'Even though I've spent all day assessing the situation of both allies and enemies…'
There were too many suspicious things. It felt as if a strange undercurrent were flowing beneath the surface.
'…Is it just my imagination?'
Kart shook his head.
He couldn't afford to waver. Everyone's lives were on the line.
Earlier, he had spoken of the value of life to boost the soldiers' morale, but in truth, every single one of them was precious. To return everyone to the arms of their families…
"May I come in for a moment?"
While he was organizing his thoughts, someone spoke from outside the tent.
"Come in."
The person who pulled back the tent flap was a man who had been standing at the rear of the A-rank subjugation squad Magino introduced earlier.
Kart furrowed his brow without realizing it. Smiling was a personal choice, but why wear such an easygoing grin on a battlefield?
It was irritating. After that brief thought, Kart asked, "What brings you here in the dead of night?"
"First, my apologies for unintentionally overhearing while I was with the Lord. I heard there would be a night raid."
Kart narrowed his eyes. "What is it you want to say? Get to the point."
"About that operation."
The man smirked. It was then that Kart sensed something was deeply wrong.
"It would be troublesome for us if it were carried out."
"What are you talking about—"
Thwack.
Suddenly, the cold shock of metal pierced his back.
"...Ha."
At the sudden wave of pain, Kart let out a hollow laugh. While the man in front of him had drawn his attention, someone had stabbed him from behind. He didn't even need to look back to know who it was—an accomplice.
"Ahaha."
So that was it. Of course.
"The reason it took only five hours for Felstein to be wiped out… was because of a traitor inside."
Amid the searing pain, Kart laughed as if boiling with ecstasy.
"Yes… it was damn suspicious. Kuhahaha, it was damn suspicious!"
Screeech. Screeech.
"...!"
The blade had definitely dug into his flesh. It had pierced precisely through a gap in his armor, and the pain was so intense he had to clench his teeth to bear it.
Yes, it hurt.
But this level of pain was something he had endured hundreds of times on the battlefield.
Intermediate Magic, Will of Fire.
The magic imbued in Kart's red armor manifested.
At the heat that seemed to warp the very air, the man who had stabbed him from behind screamed and let go of the dagger.
Clang.
The masterless dagger fell to the ground. Not missing the opportunity, Kart spun around.
"Who do you think I am?"
Kart’s heavy fist slammed the man's head straight down into the ground.
Crack!
The impact was so great that his body actually bounced back up.
Kart didn't miss that split second.
He drove his other fist up in a brutal uppercut that connected with the man's airborne face.
Crunch!
The sickening sound of a nasal bone shattering and a face collapsing echoed through the tent. Blood splattered from the man's features, which were now ruined beyond recognition.
As if there was nothing more to see, Kart turned his gaze back to the front. Behind him, he heard a body thud to the ground and a dagger roll across the floor.
"You must have killed Carlyle like this too," he said, his voice low.
Stabbing him in the back, replacing trust with betrayal.
Since they had been cozying up to Magino, they must have approached Carlyle in the same way. The badge of an A-rank subjugation squad was real, so the Count would have fallen for it completely.
"..."
The man in front of him did not answer. Suppressing the emotions that felt ready to explode, Kart asked, "Who are you… and why did you join hands with the orcs?"
He could guess at a few scenarios, but the more concrete the information, the better.
"No, actually."
Come to think of it, there was no reason to ask nicely. He could just beat him half to death and interrogate him then. As long as he didn't kill him.
'In fact, I don't even need to do that.'
Keeping his eyes fixed on the young man, Kart listened closely. He heard a tapping against the ground. It was the sound of the man he'd just hit twitching—he was still alive.
Since that one was alive, there was no need to hold back on the man in front of him.
"You guys are really unlucky."
Even in this situation, the man was grinning. If Ar was a psychopath you could talk to, this guy was just a psychopath. Kart smirked at the sight.
'There's no way a bastard who teamed up with orcs is sane.'
The microscopic shred of guilt he might have felt had vanished completely. For that, he was actually grateful.
"I'll have to ask you to die," the man, who had only been grinning, finally said. From his waist, he drew a rapier.
Although it was clearly a sword made for thrusting, the blade was wide, suggesting it was also designed for cutting. Judging by the air buzzing around the blade, it seemed to be imbued with vibration magic—a classic sword for projecting sword energy.
'Where is my sword?'
Kart's sword was at the far end of the tent, on top of a stack of wooden crates.
As Kart’s gaze shifted toward his weapon, the man noticed the subtle movement and rushed forward, intent on preventing him from arming himself.
Whoosh!
A sharp blade of wind shot from the tip of the sword toward Kart.
Kart lightly dodged the attack, and just as he was about to strike back—
Swish!
—the man spun, slashing forward.
'As expected, it was made to cut, too.'
The sound of sword energy tearing through the tent fabric was loud. While the man backed away after his strike, Kart had no choice but to stoop and pick up the assassin's fallen dagger from the ground.