Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Black Mountains (2)
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Marquis Sand Crayer, the lord of the North, was a fiercely aggressive and valiant man who personally led his knights into battle.
Whenever monsters from the Black Mountains or large scouting parties from the Free Isirian Kingdom pushed south, he always drew his sword alongside his knights to meet them.
But during one such patrol in the Black Mountains, he vanished without a trace, only for his mutilated corpse to be delivered to the lord's castle later.
That's why the Crayer Marquis who appears in volume 2 of the novel isn't Sand Crayer, but his son, Kron Crayer.
Sand Crayer was a character who existed only in the setting materials.
'I know who kidnapped Marquis Crayer and killed him, and I even know how to stop it.'
He knew how to prevent the kidnapping, but he had no intention of doing so.
Creating a debt with Marquis Crayer would surely prove useful later on.
To create that debt, the marquis first had to be kidnapped. Everything else could be dealt with afterward.
"I think I'll call it a night."
Night had fallen deep. It was far too late to head to the border region.
"I'll summon someone to guide you to your chambers."
He had started to warm up to him a bit, but not enough to personally show him the way.
Soon, a servant summoned by Marquis Crayer entered the drawing room, bowed politely, and escorted Raymond to his bedroom.
The assigned bedroom was spacious. Gestain and the Imperial Guard's quarters were a short distance away—not too far—and most importantly, the temporary rooms for the Crimson Tower Lord and Azure Tower Lord were right next door, so safety wasn't a concern.
Gestain, responsible for Raymond's safety, seemed dissatisfied with the Imperial Guard's lodging placement, but voicing it openly would mean distrusting the tower lords, so he held back.
Instead, he selected a few guards to patrol the corridor in shifts.
That night passed without incident, and morning came. After breakfast, Raymond sought out Marquis Crayer.
"Thanks to you, Marquis, I've rested well for the day. Now, we'll head to the border."
"Please stay safely in the lord's castle. Your Highness the 5th Prince's mere presence in the North will boost the border troops' morale. There's no need to venture to the dangerous front lines."
If a member of the imperial family fell in a border skirmish, the backlash would be enormous. Marquis Crayer had no desire to shoulder that.
With the Northern Central Army advancing toward the border, it wouldn't be surprising if the Free Isirian Kingdom escalated its provocations. In that case, he couldn't guarantee the 5th Prince's safety.
"Marquis Crayer. I came under imperial decree to rally the border troops."
"I received the decree as well, but it didn't say anything about having Your Highness the 5th Prince join the border conflict."
Though Raymond invoked the imperial decree, the marquis shook his head firmly.
Raymond bit his lip slightly.
It seemed the decree delivered to Marquis Crayer differed from the ones given to the 1st Prince and the Mountain Duke.
"His Majesty the Emperor assigned me to serve as Your Highness the 5th Prince's advisor. And I believe right here is far enough."
The emperor was old and frail, but still wise.
He had no wish to send him to the Black Mountains, a place no different from a battlefield.
But he couldn't explicitly state that in the decree because of the nobles. So, he left the decision to Marquis Crayer.
The emperor had calculated that the marquis, burdened by responsibility, wouldn't push the 5th Prince—Raymond—into the border fray.
'The decree clearly states that a member of the imperial family is to be sent to the border region.'
Strictly speaking, the lord's castle was also part of the border region. The marquis was playing word games with that.
But the undeniable truth was that if the 5th Prince invoked the imperial decree to head for the Black Mountains, Marquis Crayer had no means to stop him.
"I understand."
He had no appetite for bickering. Raymond nodded in the marquis's presence and withdrew, but he had no intention of backing down.
To claim the Soul Sword for himself, he had to go to the Black Mountains.
"Sir Gestain."
"Yes, Your Highness the 5th Prince."
"Go to the Imperial Army commander and tell him I wish to see him."
"Understood."
Late that night, the summoned Imperial Army commander came to Raymond.
"Your Highness the 5th Prince, you called for me?"
"Commander of the Imperial Army, sorry to summon you so late."
"It's no trouble at all, Your Highness the 5th Prince."
As the Imperial Army commander bowed politely, a faint smile played on Raymond's lips.
"May I ask what you need from me?"
"I need your help."
"The Imperial Army serves the imperial family to its very last breath. Your Highness the 5th Prince currently has the authority to command me and all the Imperial Army troops accompanying us! Whatever it is, just say the word!"
The commander didn't yet know the full details. Raymond calmly relayed his conversation with Marquis Crayer.
"The Imperial Army can march out at once."
He had already resolved to follow Raymond.
"Your Highness the 5th Prince, give the order."
"Commander of the Imperial Army, go and issue the arming order to the troops!"
"Yes! Your Highness the 5th Prince!"
"We're heading to the Black Mountains!"
The 5th Prince raised the banner. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The armed Imperial Army raised their banner. Swept up in the 5th Prince's momentum, they marched toward the north gate of the central city, banner leading the way.
"Captain! Big trouble!"
"Deputy? What's going on at this hour?"
"The Imperial Army is leaving their barracks and passing through the second district!"
"What?"
The Imperial Army was moving on Raymond's sole authority, so the central city defense captain naturally hadn't been informed.
His face grave, he sprang from his chair, donned his leather armor, and grabbed his sword.
"Assemble the guard! This is an emergency!"
Though it was the Imperial Army, the defense captain couldn't help but consider the worst-case scenario.
Shortly after the deputy dashed from the office, three hundred troops assembled. The captain led them to block the Imperial Army's path.
"Commander of the Imperial Army, a military movement through the central city without permission—what is the meaning of this?"
The defense captain was as courteous as possible.
There had been an unauthorized movement, but the other side was the Imperial Army. He couldn't treat them lightly.
"Who dares block the Imperial Army's path!"
The Imperial Army commander raised his voice. Though devoid of even a trace of mana, it was so thunderous that the defense captain's horse startled for a moment.
"Unauthorized military movements within the central city are prohibited. Even for the Imperial Army..."
"Insolence! This is before His Highness the 5th Prince!"
"His Highness the 5th Prince?"
As the stunned defense captain echoed the words, Raymond slowly urged his horse forward.
Imperial Guard Captain Gestain and senior mage Desia Heli flanked him. He removed his deeply hooded cowl, revealing his composed face.
"I bear the imperial decree to rally the border troops. Do you dare defy His Majesty the Emperor's command?"
At the mention of the decree, the defense captain's face hardened. In the Philius Empire, an imperial decree carried immense weight.
"If you have no intention of defying the decree, open the gates at once."
Raymond spat coldly. With the decree invoked, it was immense pressure for a mere defense captain.
Sure enough, after brief hesitation, he ordered his troops aside and opened the gates.
"Thank you. I won't forget your cooperation."
"Your Highness the 5th Prince, if I may ask—where are you headed?"
"To fulfill the imperial decree, naturally."
To the border line. Understanding the implication, the defense captain bit his lip, his face rigid.
Now, if the 5th Prince died at the border, the captain couldn't escape responsibility either.
But with the decree invoked, he couldn't refuse.
It was a total mess.
"Don't worry too much. I have no intention of dying."
With that, Raymond spurred his horse north, followed by a hundred Imperial Army troops and the temporarily bolstered fifty Imperial Guards. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Non-Aggression Pact.
It was the treaty between the Haipel Empire, the Three Kingdoms Alliance, and the Philius Empire prohibiting military garrisons in the monster-infested Black Mountains and Monster Forest.
The Haipel Empire had proposed the treaty but was also the first to violate it.
They stationed troops and rangers in the Monster Forest right on the Philius Empire's border.
Hearing this, the Free Isirian Kingdom deployed seasoned mountain mercenaries and ghost units to the Black Mountains to exert influence.
With things escalating, the Philius Empire couldn't sit idle either.
They too garrisoned troops in the Monster Forest and Black Mountains. An invisible land grab had begun.
From that point on, blood flowed daily in the two monster-dominated regions, even without full-scale national wars.
And today, as usual, screams and blood echoed through the Black Mountains.
"Kraaaagh!"
"S-Save me!"
A torrent of arrows like a downpour shredded the Philius Empire's banner to rags from the sky.
"Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live the Philius Empire!"
The standard-bearer, riddled with arrows across his body, screamed his cheers like a death rattle. As if in desperate defiance of the pain, he burned his fading life to clutch the banner to the end.
Not quite on the level of the heavy cavalry charge's vanguard banner, but the Philius Empire's flag held great significance for the soldiers.
Knowing this, the standard-bearer gripped it tightly even in death.
"Infantry, advance! We hold this position!"
Soldiers in red uniforms charged forward, but the terrain was too rugged to reach the enemy swiftly.
The foes, who had seized the high ground, kept loosing arrows, and Philius troops fell helplessly.
"Damn those mountain mercenaries!"
Kron Crayer, son of Marquis Crayer, spat curses.
Following his family's tradition of learning at the vanguard, he had recently taken command of the border army's 5th Infantry Division.
The border troops rotated combat units up into the Black Mountains for periodic patrols. Even as the marquis's eldest son, Kron was no exception, and his father wished it so.
As a result, the 5th Infantry he led received a grand welcoming upon entering the Black Mountains.
En route to a temporary outpost, they were ambushed on a massive scale by Free Isirian Kingdom mountain mercenaries.
The 5th Infantry were elite border troops, but they lacked the strength to face mercenaries specialized in the monster-filled Black Mountains.
"Fire the signal flare! Request reinforcements!"
Thick arrows rained like a deluge, with intermittent magic assaults shaking the 5th Infantry's formation.
Already, many infantrymen were combat-incapable. Kron had no choice but to call for aid.
A red flare pierced the pitch-black night sky. But no reinforcements came.
"Captain! At this rate, we'll be wiped out!"
"We must retreat!"
The officers clamored. Proud as Kron was, he couldn't watch his men die needlessly.
"Retreat!"
Another took the standard-bearer's place, waving the flag to signal withdrawal.
The soldiers echoed the order, slowly widening the gap from the enemy. Hope of survival flickered.
"Our retreat is blocked!"
Futile hope. Free Isirian mercenaries were behind them too.
Heavy shield-and-sword infantry led their slow advance.
Arrows poured from the front like rain, while heavies methodically slaughtered from behind—trapped with no way out.
"Damn it all!"
Kron spat another curse and stepped forward. Enough time had passed to assume no retreat path and no reinforcements.
Just as he steeled himself to fight to the death in the Black Mountains, a massive fireball plummeted from the sky.
Boooom!
"Kraaaagh!"
"Gaaaah!"
Screams erupted from the mercenaries' ranks. A frigid wind laced with razor-sharp ice blades followed, engulfing them.
This unknown assault was unmistakably magic.
"M-Mage!"
Bodies burned by flames and shredded by ice. Dozens of mountain mercenaries collapsed helplessly.
The mercenary mage among them thought a counterattack would follow the storm's passage.
But the disaster continued. Scattered flame shards coalesced into a dragon, and the icy winds and shards formed a wind golem.
Fading magic reinforcement and advanced application. The mercenary mage paled. He reconsidered.
"Wh-Why is a high mage here..."
A battlefield terror capable of annihilating a hundred-man unit in one spell had appeared. Worse, there were two—dual-element magic cast simultaneously meant at least that.
If one mage had done it, that would be even more horrifying.
That level transcended high mage into grand mage territory.
Bwoooo—
Horn blasts.
"Captain! R-Reinforcements are here!"
An officer reported, stammering with emotion.
Beyond the ridge where the horns echoed, banners crested.
Golden banners. Kron knew what they symbolized.
"I-Imperial Army?"