The Fall of Enixon
The small fiefdom of Baron Enixon was a two-day ride from Yulstein Castle. After marching for three days on the same warhorse I’d ridden during the jousting tournament, the Enixon estate—a modest castle complete with a manor—finally came into view. If I had come alone, I would have arrived a day earlier, but I was leading five centurions. They were conscripts who usually spent their days farming, but with five hundred of them, they were a reassuring force. These were soldiers drawn purely from the countess’s serfs, not levies pulled from my own vassals. Under normal circumstances, Baron Enixon would have been captured and had his head lopped off on the executioner’s block, but perhaps this time, his neck would meet my blade first.
They say the more haste, the less speed. Even if I wanted to finish this quickly, I couldn't just throw exhausted soldiers straight into battle. They weren't just soldiers; they were the labor force of our territory. Charging blindly into the castle would result in a disastrous exchange ratio, too.
In the farmhouse next to an unharvested wheat field, I could see tenant farmers huddled behind closed doors, trembling. Had they failed to get inside the castle walls? If I reclaimed the land from that bastard Enixon, all of it would become property of the countess’s estate anyway, so I had no intention of touching them. I didn't know why they were so worried. Just in case, I strictly forbade any looting and returned to my tent.
As I was resting after setting up the camp, the scouting party found me.
"Sir Knight, a letter has been delivered, pinned to an arrow."
CRASH! As the battering ram collided with the gate, wood splinters flew into the air with a deafening roar. I hadn't truly expected to use this thing when I brought it along. The iron lattice reinforcing the gate twisted in a grotesque fashion. Under the force of such immense physical pressure, the iron bands wrapping the gate buckled and tore away, and the less flexible wood behind them shattered, exposing the pathetic interior of the castle. But a single strike wasn't enough to breach it. A gate is something you have to pound repeatedly, like thrusting your hips.
"Keep pushing!" At my shout, the soldiers who had pulled the ram back began to charge again. I joined in, pushing the ram with all my might. Since the acceleration distance was much shorter, we had to strike faster and harder.
CRACK! The gate, already weakened by the first impact, shattered into pieces and gave way on the second. Was the gate weak, or had my strength increased? It didn't matter now. I just needed to clear the interior as quickly as possible. I gripped my axe, cleared away the debris of the gate, and charged in at the vanguard.
The archers must have all been on the walls; I only saw soldiers holding spears, looking around in confusion. "I, Edward, have come to capture the traitor Enixon! Anyone who did not participate in the rebellion is a subject of the countess, and I will not hold you responsible!" I had said this outside the walls, but it seemed more effective saying it directly to their faces. I could feel the conscripts glancing nervously at the superiors standing behind them.
"Don't listen to his bullshit! There aren't many of them! Overwhelm them with numbers!" A man with a feathered helmet screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Ugh, arghhh!" A few soldiers at the front rushed at me with spears. It looked like they were being forced forward by the shoving from behind. It was pitiful, but I had to make an example of them. They were just serfs anyway; someone would fill their spots soon enough.
Whoosh, whoosh. Every time I swung my spear, one of them went down. Once I’d cleared about half of them, the ones still charging turned around and fled. Watching the enemy lines crumble, I shouted again, "Anyone who blocks my path will be treated as a traitor!"
After I cut down a few more, they all turned their backs and ran. How boring.
"We'll take you on!" Suddenly, two men with completely different equipment jumped out. They were armed with a sword and a spear, and they rushed at me simultaneously.
"Traitors! Reveal your identities!"
"Fuck, why do you care, you dead man walking!"
Their spearwork was quite skilled. They didn't look like farmers. Were they the mercenaries commanded by Baron Enixon's brother? They were handling my powerful attacks well by deflecting the force.
Swoosh— "Ugh." An arrow fired out of nowhere grazed my earlobe. The mercenary who had been holding the sword was now aiming a small bow. Cowardly bastard. I had fought by sticking close to the other guy to prevent him from firing easily, but they seemed used to this, firing arrows that targeted only me with precision. Perhaps because it was a spear-on-spear fight with a set distance, they were annoyingly good shots. If this dragged on, our casualties would mount...
I parried the spear while dodging arrows. As I took a defensive stance for a few shots, they grew overconfident, thinking they had already won. They were full of themselves, sensing victory. Another arrow flew toward me. I waited for this moment. I put all my strength into a thrust and shoved the spearman away. Caught off guard by the unexpected force, he stumbled back, and the archer, thinking it a perfect opportunity, hurriedly drew his bowstring. It was the exact situation I had been hoping for. I threw the spear I was holding at the archer with all my might. My posture wasn't perfect, but perhaps due to my immense grip strength, the spear flew straight.
The arrow, fired a split second late, crossed paths with my spear. Thwack! The arrow embedded itself in my left arm. It hurt like hell. I couldn't dodge while throwing the spear, so I had blocked it with the armor on my left forearm, but it had pierced through and stuck in my flesh. Still, the trade was worth it. I could see the archer ahead, impaled by my spear. Considering we both traded one hit, I felt I had come out on top.
"He's unarmed! Charge!"
Unarmed? I pulled out the axe I had used to break the gate. It was already chipped from splitting wood, which didn't suit my tastes. Now, it was time to split heads, not wood. With my arm length and the two-handed axe in my grip, I had the reach of a short spear. I split the mercenary who rushed at me—looking to avenge his comrade—spear and all. I dove into the flinching enemy ranks and swung my axe like a madman.
"I will not cut down those who show me their backs!" At my shout, the soldiers who had been slaughtered like sheep turned and fled. "Dammit, don't run! Fight back! Don't run!" The commander who had been encouraging them just moments ago tried to stop them, but he himself was hesitating and backing away. There was no way he could control the soldiers in that state. As I pushed forward and created space, my allies poured through the now-wide-open gate like a tidal wave. The well-trained elite troops began to quickly occupy the walls and the interior of the castle.
To end it as quickly as possible, I searched for the man with the feathered helmet. The conquest of the Enixon barony was simpler than I had thought. Bring an army, break the gate, and capture the Baron himself. Under normal circumstances, a siege wouldn't have been this easy, but because it was a Baron's castle, it wasn't very large, and thanks to my performance—which was practically that of a siege weapon—it was as easy as eating cake. I had split apart more barbarians than this; compared to them, this was like twisting a baby's wrist.
'Still, the losses are heavy.' It was only low compared to a conventional siege, but the losses were real. Moreover, since I hadn't borrowed the strength of my vassals, these were all soldiers of the countess’s own army, making every loss painful.
As I was forgetting the throbbing pain in my arm by smoking a cigar, the person I was supposed to meet appeared.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Edward."
"...Right, a pleasure for me too. What should I call you?"
"You may call me Lady Enixon. I am an old maid who hasn't married even at this age."
Lady Enixon, the Baron's younger sister. Perhaps because she didn't look much like the Baron and lacked exceptional beauty, she hadn't been able to marry even in her mid-twenties. Perhaps he had kept her around to create ties with a count's family after he seized the title.
"First of all, I appreciate Lady Enixon's cooperation, but as a mere knight, there is nothing I can promise you. At best, I can keep your heads attached to your necks until the Countess arrives."
"I expected as much."
A short answer, followed by silence. She was a woman whose true intentions were impossible to read. What appeared before my eyes after I broke through the gate wasn't the Baron's suicide squad or the mercenary group led by his brother, but Lady Enixon, waiting while offering up the Baron, who had been restrained.
While I was breaking down the gate, she had taken a knight who hadn't been very keen on the rebellion in the first place and captured the Baron herself. "Everything was done by my foolish brother. Please show mercy to the innocent subjects and vassals." It was impossible to cut down a woman kneeling and saying such things. I thought I could just occupy the place and move on, but now that a problem requiring complex judgment had arisen, my head started to ache.
In the end, I passed the decision-making authority up the chain. I called for Monica, who was acting as the proxy for the Countess, who held the right to judge within the territory. It would be troublesome if I tried to handle this myself and ended up taking the blame.
"Of course, I will report the merits you have earned to the Countess without omission, so you don't need to worry too much. I'm not the type of person to play games with things like this."
"That is not the issue; I sought you out because I wished to build a personal relationship with you, Sir Knight."
Lady Enixon—no, Baron Enixon's sister—approached, loosening her sleeve. They looked so similar I almost got confused. Her face was overflowing with confidence, as if she had succeeded in this before. Could it be that the knight who captured Baron Enixon was...?
"Don't try any foolish tricks and stay quiet until the Countess arrives."
Even though I’d been pent up for days because of the expedition, I didn't feel the slightest desire to do anything, no matter how much she tried to seduce me with that face. Ah. I miss Vera.