Chapter 185: Ties of the Current Life (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: Ties of the Current Life (3)
Rodwell Dmitry’s childhood had never been a particularly happy one.
Although he was born a noble, his only older brother constantly drew the ire of the Dmitry family.
"I really don't get it. How are he and Rodwell even brothers?"
"Maybe they're half-brothers?"
"One thing is for sure: Rodwell is truly pitiful. He'll have to spend his entire life serving that vulgar Roman Dmitry as his elder brother. If I were in Rodwell's shoes, I would have demanded that Father kick him out of the family."
One day, Roman Dmitry visited the slums to meet the friends he had made during his days as a commoner. After staying out late into the night, he returned to the castle covered in filth and reeking terribly. To the noble children who associated with Rodwell, it was a scene ripe for mockery. Though they whispered so he wouldn't hear, their words still stabbed deeply into Rodwell's chest.
Back then, Rodwell wasn't mature either.
Having lived his entire life as a noble, he couldn't understand Roman, who constantly dragged the family's reputation through the mud.
'Why on earth does he live like that? I know he used to be a commoner, but we are nobles now. Striving for a life and dignity befitting our status should be the bare minimum, yet Roman goes out of his way to make himself a laughingstock. I cannot accept such a person as my brother.'
He was furious.
No matter what achievements he earned, the stigma of his commoner background followed him.
These rumors all stemmed from Roman Dmitry, and Rodwell couldn't bear the humiliation.
From that moment on, he grew ambitious for the position of successor.
Driven by rumors that the Dmitry family would fall into ruin if Roman inherited it, Rodwell worked relentlessly to prevent his brother from taking the seat. He swung his sword until dawn, and to prove himself as Dmitry's rightful heir, he visited the forge every single day—even though his heart wasn't in it.
Whenever his hammer struck steel, anger welled up inside him.
Roman Dmitry.
In a way, Rodwell understood him.
Since Roman had once been a commoner, he couldn't completely abandon that old life.
But what about his younger siblings?
They had been nobles from birth, yet they were dragged down by the stigma of a commoner's life solely because of Roman.
It was a world they had never even experienced, yet people still pointed fingers at them.
Knowing exactly how that felt, Rodwell wanted to spare his younger brother from ever enduring such humiliation.
Therefore, he had to become a brother they could be proud of.
He worked relentlessly to become an Aura Swordsman and entered the Royal Academy.
He built a life that people looked up to.
Every single thing was perfect.
That is, until the rumor spread that Roman Dmitry had defeated Homeros.
Screeech.
Thud.
The castle gates opened.
Rodwell Dmitry stepped inside.
Blood flowed continuously from a deep sword wound across his eye. His entire body was in a wretched state, without a single spot left uninjured. It was a miracle he was even walking. The cheers of the soldiers atop the walls sounded muffled to his ears as Rodwell suppressed the memories of the past that kept resurfacing.
Even now, he could not accept his brother's existence.
He felt that unless he saw Roman with his own eyes, he would never be able to shake off the complicated emotions that had piled up since childhood.
Just then, people came out to meet him.
Count Vandenberg, the leadership, and Flora.
Dripping blood, Rodwell walked right up to Flora.
"My role is finished. Will our plan succeed?"
It was a calm question. He didn't even seem to care that he had lost an eye.
Seeing that his gaze was just as resolute as yesterday, Flora nodded.
"Yes, absolutely."
Her voice was filled with conviction.
Now, it was time to lure the enemy into their trap.
* * *
Despite their defeat in the Great Warrior Battle, the Kronos Empire was not shaken in the slightest.
From the moment they sent out Osford, the Great Warrior Battle had been nothing more than a passing amusement.
Victory was assumed, but even in defeat, they never believed it would negatively impact the war.
Instead, it only fueled their anger.
At the command of Count Fabio, the commander of the Kronos forces, a line of troops stepped forward.
"Prepare the Flares."
"From now on, we will bring down the enemy's walls with the Flares and the War Mages' attacks."
It was just as expected.
The War Mages.
They stepped forward.
Atop the wall, Flora watched them with an anxious expression.
'If the mages are more than 300 meters away from the magic traps, we won't be able to kill them in a single blow. Not only will the explosive power weaken over that distance, but they will surely cast shields to protect themselves in the split second after the blast. Just as planned, the margin of error must be within 100 meters. If the mages leave themselves vulnerable while casting within that range, we can wipe them all out in a single strike.'
Step, step.
The mages advanced.
Their positioning was ambiguous.
While it had been possible to estimate the enemy's formation based on the Great Warrior Battle, the miracle of them standing precisely on top of the magic traps did not occur. They stopped about 150 meters away. It wasn't a perfect situation, but it didn't mean Flora's plan had failed either.
Count Vandenberg asked, "Flora. When do you plan to detonate the magic traps?"
"A premature explosion will give the enemy time to prepare. Mages are most vulnerable at the peak of their casting, right before the magic manifests. If we trigger the explosion then, the mana backlash will leave them incapacitated at the very least."
"Understood. You give the signal."
"Yes, sir."
Her nerves were stretched taut.
First, she ordered the Cairo soldiers to move.
By having them launch ranged attacks, she made it look like the Cairo Kingdom was responding in a conventional manner.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Arrows painted the sky.
But they did not reach the mages.
Most fell far short, and even those that came close had already lost their lethal momentum.
Right then, mana surged around the mages.
As their spells built toward their peak, the mages were so surrounded by dense concentrations of mana that they completely failed to notice the presence of the traps.
Flash!
The mana glowed brilliantly.
At that exact moment, Flora shouted, "Now! Detonate them!"
The traps activated.
Just before their magic could manifest, a massive explosion erupted near the mages.
Boom!
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Rumble!
It was impossible to react to.
Flora had layered magic traps in specific locations, and the resulting chain explosions completely wiped out everyone in the vicinity. The immense shockwave forcibly canceled the mages' spells. Vomiting blood from the violent mana backlash, they were instantly consumed by the subsequent explosions and met their deaths.
Flora's plan was a resounding success.
The strategy that had begun with the Great Warrior Battle had ultimately eliminated Kronos's most powerful weapon.
However...
"Pathetic fools. Look at them desperately struggling. Soldiers of Kronos, listen! The Cairo Kingdom is currently in utter chaos due to their civil war. Show those who foolishly believe they can stand against us exactly what the Kronos Empire is capable of!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Attack!"
The command was given.
Cairo had only eliminated the War Mages.
As the Imperial army swarmed forward like a black tide, dark clouds of despair loomed over the Western Front.
* * *
It was a truly nerve-wracking battle.
Before long, the Imperial army reached the walls, propping up dozens of ladders and scaling them rapidly.
"Hold them back!"
"Push the ladders!"
The Cairo soldiers fought desperately.
They pushed away ladders swarming with enemies like ants, while others poured boiling water and rained arrows down upon them. The advantage of defending a fortress was clear. They managed to thin the enemy's ranks significantly before the Imperial army could gain a foothold, but that didn't guarantee a victory.
The Imperial soldiers did not stop.
They stubbornly climbed the ladders, and eventually, enemies began setting foot on the walls one by one.
Thwack!
An arrow pierced an enemy.
It was Flora.
Dressed in practical battlefield attire, she aimed her bow and took down the enemies climbing the walls with deadly precision.
"Do not lose focus! The enemy has lost their mages! This fight is in our favor!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Blood and death.
Screams echoed from all directions.
There was no way to tell whether the agonizing cries belonged to the enemy or her allies, but Flora did not waver in the slightest.
Immediately after arriving at the Capital, Flora had taken on two masters.
One was a professor who taught tactics at the Royal Academy, and the other was a commoner renowned as a master archer. She had already experienced war in Lawrence. The defensive plan she had once thought was flawless had been utterly crushed by a single Flare. Looking back now, it had been a truly naive judgment.
Why on earth hadn't she accounted for the Flare?
No matter how financially strained the opponent might have been, she should have absolutely anticipated its existence.
That was why she studied tactics—to make wise decisions when faced with similar situations. And she learned archery because she realized that war was ultimately a world ruled by the logic of power. No matter how brilliant a tactic was on paper, one needed the actual martial power to execute it and kill the enemy. Flora didn't want to be an armchair commander who was all talk; she wanted to be someone who fought alongside the soldiers and struck down her foes.
Her once-beautiful hands had become a mess.
Her fingers were torn and thickly calloused, making them look unsightly, but she wasn't ashamed of them in the least.
They were the hard-earned fruit of her labor.
The arrows leaving her fingertips pierced the enemies' heads with absolute precision.
Thwack!
"Never yield! The moment the Western Front collapses, our families back in Cairo will be in danger!"
The battle was fierce.
The Kronos Empire, which looked as if it would capture the castle at any moment, began to be pushed back as time went on. This, too, was a strategic success. Count Vandenberg had abandoned the second line of defense to concentrate his forces here. By gathering all the Western forces in one place, they were able to stand firm against the Empire's assault.
In the end, the Kronos Empire withdrew.
Cairo had not won the war.
They had merely fended off the first attack; the true war was only just beginning.
The next day, Kronos's attack resumed.
Pushing their forces onto the walls, they came dangerously close to capturing the fortress before ordering another retreat.
They were on the edge of a cliff.
It was a final, desperate breather.
The original plan was to hold out for five days.
Yet, even after successfully eliminating the mages, the Western Front found itself in a dire crisis after just three days.
However, the Kronos Empire's third attack never came.
The reason was clear.
Roman Dmitry's Kingdom Army had arrived at the Western Front.
* * *
Just three days.
A miracle had become reality.
In a timeframe thought barely sufficient to suppress the rebellion, Roman Dmitry had appeared on the Western Front.
The leadership gathered.
Count Vandenberg could not hide his profound admiration as he looked at Roman Dmitry.
"...You are truly remarkable. To suppress Marquis Benedict's rebel forces in just a single day... Thanks to you, we can finally breathe. If you had been even slightly later, the fate of the Western Front would have been in grave jeopardy."
Everyone agreed.
The Western Front had done its best.
They had certainly steered the situation into an ideal state, but the problem was that Kronos's military strength was simply too overwhelming.
In the meeting room, there were faces familiar to Roman.
Flora Lawrence, looking haggard, had her hair tied up, while Rodwell Dmitry had bandages wrapped tightly around his eye. From the moment they faced Roman, they showed clear signs of agitation. Though their eyes trembled violently whenever they made eye contact, Roman didn't speak a single word to them.
He averted his gaze.
Looking at Count Vandenberg, Roman spoke.
"Assemble the troops immediately."
"...May I ask why? The Kronos Empire will likely not attack again. Marquis Benedict's Noble Faction, which was colluding with them from within, has collapsed. Since they failed in the siege, they have no reason to push themselves any further. If things go as expected, the enemy will likely pack up and withdraw within a day or two."
The war was over.
It was Cairo's victory.
No, it couldn't exactly be called a victory.
The Kronos Empire was merely withdrawing after deciding there was no practical benefit left to gain.
However, Roman Dmitry's thoughts were entirely different.
"The enemy has invaded Cairo's territory. In the past, we may have been used to Kronos pillaging and leaving as they pleased, but from now on, the Cairo Kingdom will take a firm stance against their actions. His Majesty the King has granted me full authority over this matter. Therefore, assemble the troops and prepare to open the castle gates."
Count Vandenberg's eyes widened.
He knew exactly what Roman's words meant.
"We will pursue the retreating enemies back to the Empire and crush them."
It was an unprecedented declaration.
Shock swept through everyone present in the meeting room.