Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: The Fall of Ceres Pass
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In preparation for the walls potentially crumbling, Carlos had filled most of the ramparts with scarecrows dressed in armor and helmets instead of real soldiers.
This was taking into account the Red Dragon Legion's siege strategy of bombarding from long range before advancing. He figured the soldiers wouldn't be too late even if they climbed up after confirming the enemy's approach.
As he expected, the Red Dragon Legion halted their advance at a distance beyond arrow range.
Carlos stood atop the walls, watching the Red Dragon Legion prepare their siege cannons.
He couldn't clearly see how they were moving, and even if he could, it wouldn't reveal any great secrets.
Still, he glared at the Red Dragon Legion with fierce intensity, as if determined to glean even the smallest detail.
"Your Excellency Lopez, the walls are dangerous."
His adjutant approached out of concern,
"...Well. These walls have held for centuries, and we've reinforced them to the best of our ability over the past week."
"That's true, but..."
"I was the one who insisted we trust these walls, so after putting the soldiers through all that hardship, I can't just run off because I'm scared of the enemy."
Carlos had no intention of leaving the walls.
"..."
The adjutant bowed his head silently.
Seeing the adjutant's dejected expression tinged with faint fear, Carlos said,
"...I'll give you a mission."
He pulled several envelopes bearing his signature from his breast pocket.
"I've written the recipients' names on the outside. If I lose control over the officers, deliver these orders in my stead."
"...Thank you."
"You're the first person I've seen thank me while receiving a mission. Go."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
The adjutant descended with the envelopes—each labeled with the name of a kingdom army officer or mercenary captain—tucked into his bosom. Carlos remained alone in the watchpost, observing the imperial forces.
"..."
Having never experienced siege cannons firsthand, Carlos could only gauge their power from terrifying reports and unreliable letters.
In the chilling silence, he endlessly agonized over whether his judgment was correct.
Even though he'd steeled himself before climbing the walls, standing beside the scarecrows and awaiting the incoming attack was slowly eroding his mental fortitude.
"Haa..."
The few minutes standing in the watchpost felt like hours.
After watching the enemy's preparations for so long, the mounting dread began to shake even his conviction that this was the best choice.
As his thoughts dragged on, he started questioning whether his death would truly mean anything, feeling a strong urge to descend from the walls right now.
"Someone had to do it... Yeah, better than everyone dying..."
But he diligently reaffirmed his original resolve and refused to budge until the end.
In the end,
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!
Before Carlos's will could fully break, the Red Dragon Legion's bombardment began.
"Ngh...!"
Shells rained down on the walls, and Carlos instinctively covered his ears and crouched low.
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM! RUMBLE...
After the first volley passed and several minutes of silence confirmed it was over, he forced his trembling legs to stand.
His body was still intact.
"..."
Instinct urged him to peer over the walls and check their condition, but he doubted he could stay composed if he saw them collapsed.
He merely leaned back toward the rear, intending to order the few soldiers guarding the watchpost to evacuate. But driven by curiosity and desperation, his body moved forward to survey the outer walls.
The sight of the walls struck by the siege cannons entered his view,
"...Ah."
He nearly despaired at the fences and earthen mounds shattered and scattered everywhere,
"..."
But as the dust cleared, the walls stood firm.
A few battlements and fake watchposts had been destroyed, but that was the sort of damage even catapults would cause—no real issue.
"...Can it hold?"
A faint hope wormed into his heart.
Carlos had deemed field battle the answer because he believed the walls could never endure.
Conversely,
if the walls could hold, there was no need to abandon the fortress and sally out.
Buoyed by anticipation, he pulled out his notebook and recorded the reinforcement details, never once thinking his conclusion had been hasty.
And as if pointing that out,
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!
-Clatter.
The bombardment resumed, and Carlos dropped the pencil he was holding.
This time, he more naturally huddled on the ground, waiting for it to end.
"..."
Several minutes later.
When it seemed the bombardment had ceased, Carlos confidently stepped forward to check the walls' condition.
Dust rose again from the previously struck spot, stirring his anxiety,
"...It held."
The walls hadn't collapsed this time either.
"Your Excellency! You must come down now! It's dangerous!"
"No! I won't descend!"
"But..."
"Are you scared? If you're afraid of the enemy, go ahead and leave!"
"...!"
The two volleys had mostly obliterated the earthen mounds and fences at the impact sites, but Carlos consciously focused on the fact that the walls themselves remained intact.
"Come on! Fire that fancy cannon of yours again!"
He shoved away even the soldiers who had rushed desperately to the watchpost, gripping the wall as he bellowed and awaited the next barrage.
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!
Three times,
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!
Four times,
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!
Five times...
As the bombardment continued, Carlos's bravado faded.
The Red Dragon Legion relentlessly targeted the base of the walls.
The walls, which had seemed to withstand the shells well at first, began developing cracks under the concentrated fire.
"Fire! Fire away! Hahaha!"
Carlos ordered all the soldiers to descend the walls and withdraw, but he himself remained in the watchpost, shouting voicelessly where no one could hear.
The hope that the walls might hold had long been abandoned, and he was convinced the next barrage would be too much.
"Heh, hahaha, hahahaha!"
Now able to predict when the next volley would come, he laughed as he leaned back toward the rear,
"Withdraw from the walls and prepare defenses! Adjutant! Deliver the orders!"
After shouting his final command loudly.
-Thud.
"...Your Excellency Gonzalez."
He collapsed in the watchpost, awaiting the next bombardment.
"I leave it to you."
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!
With Carlos's faint murmur, the shells fired and struck the cracking walls. The walls of Ceres Pass, boasting a long history, began to crumble.
The hours of ongoing cannon fire frayed the soldiers' nerves, -RUMBLE...
"It's collapsing!"
"The walls..."
The walls' collapse shocked both the officers who had anticipated it and the soldiers who hadn't.
"What happened to Excellency Lopez?!"
"Hard to confirm, but he never came down from the walls..."
"...Damn."
Word spread that Carlos hadn't descended until the end, plunging the kingdom army into chaos. But since no one else was around the walls except Carlos, the collapse itself caused minimal fallout. Grimacing, Carlos's adjutant darted through the soldiers, delivering the orders.
"...Retreat, huh."
"What the hell was he thinking..."
The kingdom officers' orders instructed them to retreat when the chance arose and preserve their forces, "Use the collapsed walls to lure the enemy in and counterattack. Hm..."
"Sounds fine to me."
"What if they abandon it and run again?"
"..." while some mercenary captains received orders to counterattack, "Retreat? Suits me fine."
"Get ready quick!" and others to withdraw alongside the regular army. As Carlos intended, the conflicting orders sowed greater confusion among the mercenaries. In the end, the regular army smoothly withdrew by exploiting the disorganized mercenaries, and the smarter mercenaries escaped by using the fools as cover. They returned to Ordoba, "Count Lopez failed. The walls fell, and he resisted to the last, dying heroically."
"...Understood."
As a final act of loyalty and repayment, they embellished the report of Carlos's defeat slightly.
"Didn't you say the walls were well-reinforced?"
"...The enemy kept shelling until they collapsed."
"That's... ha..."
The fact that a noble officer who had faithfully followed the nobles' orders—using the king's name—had fallen carried far more weight than a few dead soldiers. The nobles who had loudly insisted Ceres Pass could never fall fell silent, "Duke Casas."
"We must reinstate Count Sancho Gonzalez and appoint him as commander."
Francisco, who had been waiting for such an opportunity, loudly advocated for Sancho's return.
"Paris and San Bastian have promised mercenaries too, so we have enough troops. Count Gonzalez can pull it off."
"Hm..."
While wary of the empire, the kingdoms of Faris and San Bastian were reluctant to commit fully but supported recruiting volunteers to aid Esperia. Francisco argued for mobilizing all remaining kingdom forces alongside them for a decisive battle, "...Very well." As the nobles stayed silent, King Julio accepted Francisco's proposal. Of course, Ordoba's walls being less sturdy than Ceres Pass played a role too.
"I hereby revoke Count Sancho Gonzalez's pension suspension and appoint him as supreme commander."
The king declared Sancho's reinstatement.
"A letter from the palace."
"...Hm?"
The next day, a royal letter arrived at Sancho's home, where he had been listlessly passing the time.