Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: The War, and Its Aftermath
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“There they are!”
“Kill them all!”
Once they became a defeated army, even the famed forces of Ailun were helpless.
“W-we surrender!”
“P-please, spare us.”
Scattering and fleeing like rats, they hastily threw down their weapons and armor to surrender the moment they were caught.
We marched.
And marched again.
We marched without end.
We pursued and hunted them down, giving Harun's forces no time to regroup.
Kalserik trotted along beside me, grinning from ear to ear.
“Boss. I think you didn't just double our investment, you tripled it, no, quadrupled it. I never imagined we'd actually beat Harun.”
Kalserik's entire body radiated joy.
It wasn't just his expression; it was in his gestures, the way his thighs gripped his horse—joy dripped from his every move.
“Why? What are your brothers saying?”
The Kalserik Brotherhood had participated in this battle in full.
Having joined right after the border subjugation, they quickly absorbed my tactics and strategies despite their short training time, and they all fulfilled their roles.
Thanks to them, we were able to supplement our lack of Expert-level forces, but from their perspective, this war must have come as a complete shock.
They'd signed on for a stable, high-paying job, only to suddenly be told to fight one of the Five Kings? How absurd must that have sounded? It must have taken some powerful convincing from Kalserik, and even then, a lingering anxiety surely remained.
That's why I felt good, too.
Because I was able to deliver them a victory.
“I bet they're all thanking you, aren't they?”
In the end, the Kalserik Brotherhood had joined at the perfect time.
Warriors who fought alongside me in the first battle against one of the Five Kings. They were founding contributors. They would also receive the hefty rewards I had promised.
I thought that was why Kalserik was in such a particularly good mood. He was happy because he could bring victory to his anxious brothers and prove that his decision had been the right one.
But Kalserik's hearty laugh was followed by an answer that was slightly different from what I expected.
“Hahaha! That's part of it, but more than that... I'm just glad no one died!”
Kalserik's face looked relieved.
“A few guys lost an arm or a leg, but they're saying they'll retire and settle down in Kushan City. Isn't that the retirement they've always dreamed of? With the reward money, they've hit the jackpot. Hahaha!”
What.
*It's great that we won. I'm excited to see how successful we'll be from now on.* That wasn't it.
*'No one died.'* And *'settle down and live.'* Those two points were the focus of Kalserik's words. It was an attitude that prioritized his people over personal gain.
That resonated with me in a strange way.
As his lord. And as the ruler of the city.
It was a faint but deeply moving feeling.
I was momentarily speechless, but I hid it and said.
“Tell them to live well in my city, for generations to come. I'll rule it well enough to make that possible.”
“Hahaha! We trust you, my lord Count!”
Grinning, Kalserik said, "Well then, I'll go help mop up the remnants! Yah!" and rode off.
It wasn't just Kalserik. My men split into groups of ten to a hundred and chased after Harun's defeated soldiers, who had scattered in all directions.
It was a grueling forced march.
But no one complained.
Everyone knew that the harder we pushed now, the more decisive an advantage we would gain over Harun.
We pursued the stragglers until nightfall, rested, and then resumed the chase at the crack of dawn.
And at last, we marched all the way to Kinalo.
“It's Kinalo! We've made it to Kinalo!”
“Huh? It's the cavalry!”
“Isn't Harun with them?”
“They're just running away, right?!”
The walls of Kinalo were visible in the distance.
And the moment we came into view, cavalry began pouring out of the rear gate.
Harun was almost certainly among them. He must have realized he couldn't stop me by holing up in the city, so he was fleeing.
*'I won't be able to catch them.'*
We had killed or captured all of Harun's infantry, but we couldn't match the speed of the Ailun white horses.
If I were to go alone, maybe...
*'Even so, Harun and his commanders would escape first.'*
It would just be taking out my frustration on the common soldiers.
The Ailun white horses ridden by the commanders were the finest of their breed. They were just too fast.
So, rather than waste my energy in vain, I decided to take the prize right in front of me.
Kinalo.
*Creeaak!*
We had only just approached, yet the gates of Kinalo opened on their own.
Most of the original garrison had already fled, and those who remained opened the gates, begging for their lives.
“W-welcome, my lord Count!”
The soldiers rushed out, having set aside not only their weapons but even their armor, and bowed low.
And behind them, the ruling class of Kinalo, the mages, also bowed their heads.
Kushan. Kashu. Kinalo.
This was the moment all three cities fell into my hands.
However, one thing...
The fact that I had let Harun escape weighed on my mind.
*'Can he even survive?'*
I wasn't too worried.
He would probably die anyway.
The amount of blood Harun coughed up at the end was immense. His internal organs were likely shredded.
Without an elixir, he would die.
Almost certainly.
***
Kushan City.
The warriors had placed bets on who would win: Harun or Lansen.
Among them was a warrior named "One Shot."
He firmly believed that life was all about one big score. He never turned down a bet, and if someone mentioned a good money-making opportunity, he would throw his entire fortune at it.
His beastly, animal-like nickname perfectly captured his unstoppable momentum.
Black Cow!
A man like a wild buffalo.
However, he wasn't exactly lucky...
Those around him said that if he hadn't become an Expert warrior, he would have gone bankrupt at least ten times over.
Today, a guy named Tengle, who always pretended to be his friend while leeching off him, was mocking One Shot.
“Hey. You think Lansen's gonna win? You're always chasing one big score... That's why you're still not married.”
“Shut up. My chance will come.”
“How much did you bet this time?”
“400 Dalron!”
“You're crazy...! You bet your entire fortune?”
“Let's gooo!”
An stubborn mule who wouldn't listen to reason.
“The odds are 1 to 9 right now! Are you nuts? That means there's a 90 percent chance Lansen will lose!”
“Tengle, are you an idiot?”
“What?”
“That means if I win, I get ten times the money, right? All the true warriors bet on Lansen!”
“What the...”
“Let's gooo!”
“Crazy bastard... If you had that much stashed away, you should've put it into that investment I told you about...”
Even now, Tengle was disappointed he couldn't squeeze more money out of him.
And finally,
a messenger arrived in Kushan City.
Bearing news of victory.
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
That day, the ecstatic roar of a man like a black buffalo echoed through Kushan City.
For the first time in his life.
The man who had finally hit the jackpot he'd always dreamed of.
“4,000 Dalron!! I'm retiring!!”
One Shot kicked his chair back, jumped onto the table, and started leaping for joy.
“Lansen! Lansen!”
“He's a god!!”
The warriors who had bet on the same side were all the same.
Warriors climbed onto tables everywhere, bumping shoulders.
Some hugged, others shoved with their elbows, getting hit in the face or kicked in the shin in the process, but...
Pain?
They couldn't feel a thing like that.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
There was only pure, overflowing elation.
***
Just before the news of victory arrived,
Knight Balseon and Lansen's younger siblings had gathered together, waiting for news from the battlefield.
“Damn it... Why isn't there any news...! Argh...!”
Daisy bit her nails, pacing back and forth.
Her red hair was a disheveled mess, a testament to her anxiety.
Balseon tried to soothe her.
“Struggling only makes you sink deeper. When you're in the water, you must stay still. Relax.”
He meant for her not to be anxious.
But Daisy just scoffed at Balseon's solemn words of wisdom.
“Mister! That's not helpful at all!”
But Balseon remained unshaken.
“Though we remain in the rear, we are still Lansen's subordinates. We must be like the horn of a rhinoceros. As quiet as a crouching tiger...”
“Ah! I don't know, I don't know! We were left behind because we don't have horns and we aren't tigers!”
“Uh...”
Balseon's eyes wavered. Moisture welled up at their corners.
For Balseon, whose Aura Core had shattered and who had lost his strength, the realization that 'I'm too weak to do anything' was a deep wound.
But Balseon quickly hid his expression.
He didn't want the children to know of his pain.
It was neither the duty of a guardian nor that of a vassal.
He could only endure.
As he always had.
“Mister... what if we sent out a scout instead?”
Daisy, for her part, was a nervous wreck.
She was worried sick about her older brother and sisters on the battlefield.
Daisy clung to Balseon's hand, her eyes welling with tears.
Balseon, feeling helpless that he could do nothing for her.
Into that space,
the resounding shout of a messenger who had just burst through the door cut through the air.
“Victory! Victory! We've won! A great victory!”
Daisy's and Balseon's eyes simultaneously snapped toward the messenger.
“Victory? Then...!”
“The Count has ordered me to report that everyone is safe!”
“Woah...!”
Just as Daisy was about to leap and pour out her joy,
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
a great wail swept through the room first.
It was Balseon.
“Kkeo-eo-eo-eo! Uwaaaaaaaah!”
He had thrown himself to the floor and was crying his heart out.
Out of sheer joy.
Out of sheer relief.
More than the victory itself, he was overcome with relief that Lord Lansen, the young masters, and the young ladies were all safe.
Daisy stared down blankly at him.
“...A moment ago, you were going on about some rhinoceros horn... Weren't you actually the one who was trembling the most, Mister...?”
At that, Balseon, his breath ragged with sobs, gasped out a reply.
“Just because a tiger... *hic!* ...roars, *sob*... doesn't mean it's... crying...! *Hic!*”
“...Are you sure about that? A tiger?”
“Kkeo-eu-eo-eo-eo!”
Instead of an answer, another tremendous wail.
Daisy had originally planned to cry her eyes out too... but after seeing such a spectacle right in front of her, the tears that had been welling up vanished.
“Geez... Mister, look at me.”
Daisy simply,
bent down,
and decided to pat the roaring tiger on the back and comfort him.
***
The news that Lansen had achieved a great victory against Harun in the Billowy Hills spread rapidly throughout Roverland.
“The mighty soldiers of Ailun were utterly defeated?”
Everyone was shocked by the news, but they were even more shocked by what followed.
“Harun might be dead? Is Lansen really that strong?”
One could concede that the outcome of a battle could be attributed to tactics and strategy.
But the fact that Lansen's personal strength overwhelmed Harun's was another matter entirely.
And on top of that, the possibility that Harun might be dead...
“What happens if Harun dies now?”
“It must be a baseless rumor. No matter how strong Lansen is, he's only 27...”
“Right. Grand Master level at that age? That's impossible, isn't it?”
“But if Harun really is dead... a bloodbath will sweep through Norverge.”
“Not just Norverge. If Harun, who has no heir, dies in this situation... you think the Sea King, Jahir, will just stand by?”
“True. No matter how strong Lansen is, his faction is still too small...”
“It'll be a real bloodbath.”
Everyone was on edge, waiting for news of Harun's condition. Countless messengers and spies moved covertly, trying to ascertain his state.
But not a single piece of information leaked from Harun's palace.
The city of Ilunael.
Harun's palace.
Harun, who had barely managed to escape, was holed up in his bedchamber and refused to come out.
No, to be precise, he *couldn't* come out.
“Ugh... ugh...”
He still hadn't recovered.
In fact, it was a miracle he was even alive.
If his body hadn't undergone metamorphosis, he would have died long ago.
That's how terrible the internal injuries gnawing at him were.
“Kk... Bri... Brida! Where are you! Brida!! Kk...”
Harun, who had been groaning in a state of unconsciousness, began calling for his lover, Brida, the moment he regained his senses.
In his dazed state, unable to distinguish dream from reality, he simply yearned for Brida's comforting touch.
“What should I do...”
One of the maids, watching anxiously, approached with a wet cloth to wipe the sweat from Harun's brow.
“Get away!”
Harun slapped her hand away.
“Not you! Brida!!! Where is Brida!!”
The maid, rubbing her sore wrist, hesitated before finally speaking.
“Well... Lady Brida... is... no longer with us.”
“What? What do you mean... Ah... Aah...”
Only then did Harun realize.
The truth that Brida was dead.
He had never imagined.
That this truth would pierce his heart so deeply.
Brida is gone?
That touch that used to stroke my hair, that warm love... I can never feel it again?
“Get out! Get out now! I said get out!”
After shouting the maids out of the room, Harun clutched his chest and sobbed.
A corner of his heart felt so cold that no matter how tightly he clutched or shook it, the feeling wouldn't go away.
“...Aah, ...aaaaah...”
Belatedly, Harun clawed at his aching chest in despair.
Why didn't I know? The warmest person who was always by my side. The one who gave me the most comfort.
In his hazy pain, only a cold sorrow and regret filled his heart.
“Foolish... What am I supposed to do now? ...What can I do...”
Only his choked sobs and moans filled Harun's palace, chilling it to the bone.