Chapter 153: The Thousand-Year Grand Plan (2)
Chapter 153: The Thousand-Year Grand Plan (2)
Kitania was a port city on the southeastern coast of the island of Sicily.
The massive volcano seated to the west was the largest on the continent and served as the city's symbol.
"Far more impressive than the rumors made it sound. Its mouth looks fit to pierce the sky."
Rex's head tilted all the way back. The ruthless expression he wore on the battlefield had vanished, and his eyes sparkled like a boy's.
"Seems it's your first time seeing a volcano."
"Yes. I'd heard that lava bubbles and boils inside that great pit."
"It's an active volcano, so that would be the case."
"Then isn't it dangerous?"
Contrary to his fussing, he actually looked even more excited.
"You're reacting as if you want it to erupt."
"Of course I'm excited! That enormous mouth can spew fire and rock."
Rex's gaze alternated between the city and the volcano. He practically exuded a fervent wish to witness a siege waged by nature itself.
"I'd appreciate it if you remembered that city is about to become mine."
"Ah, right. That was the case."
"It isn't the sort of volcano that goes boom! to begin with. It's the type that oozes out slowly like sap from a tree and hardens. The city is in no danger."
For the dark elves who had lived a nomadic life in Roman, mountains were both distant and familiar.
Their identity as children of the forest meant their souls were drawn to the great natural world. Yet their martial ferocity and pioneering spirit, which exceeded even that pull, had driven them out onto the plains.
-Prodigal sons who spurned their mother's love.
This was one of the reasons the nature-abiding elves held the dark elves in contempt.
But for his part, Rex was utterly content with his current life, journeying across the world following Eugene. He also appreciated the fact that victory and spoils rolled in wherever they went.
"Though I've heard that once, in ages long past, it did properly erupt. If it were me, I'd be too anxious to build a city right next to a volcano."
"After a hundred years, after a thousand years, all things grow dim. And the land is far too ideally situated to abandon over a disaster that might strike at any unknown time."
The buckets carried by the miners traversing the volcano's surface brimmed with all manner of minerals.
"Kitania is called the holy land of miners. The quantity and quality of its minerals are excellent, but the mining conditions are nothing like the harsh environment of a coal mine."
Rampage chimed in with a word of his own.
"Among miners, wasn't it said that Kitania miners enjoyed the healthiest and longest lives?"
"Yes, Castle Lord. Because they dig pits from the surface, the air is clean and the work is safe. Not a single person has died in a cave-in here in nearly a hundred years."
And it was more than that. The surrounding plains, nourished by volcanic ash, were fertile and always gifted farmers with abundant harvests.
The city's inhabitants worshipped the volcano, calling it the Mother of Kitania, and held a harvest festival each year to honor it.
"In a sense, it's a place that truly deserves to be called a city-state. It's self-sufficient in everything needed for a decent life."
"We'll make sure it becomes yours, Castle Lord."
Rampage spoke, tapping his palm with his hammer. Now that they had brought along ample siege materials, there was nothing to fear. The corners of his mouth even lifted in anticipation.
For the Hammer Brotherhood loved the feel of building siege engines just as much as they loved crushing enemy skulls.
Eugene, who had been gazing at the dwarves with an expression of trust, placed a hand over his chest.
"My heart's pounding."
"It can't be nerves over the coming battle... I take it you're looking forward to the viscountcy after all, Sir Knight?"
This was the same knight who had charged without blinking an eye at a Gnoll Chieftain, a Lamia Queen, and a Forest Spirit. Could even he feel excited about the step toward becoming a great noble?
"Because once I get my hands on that city, my finances will finally be in the black."
"That was the reason?!"
"There is nothing more terrifying in this world than fixed expenses. You can't flee them even astride Might, and you can't cut them down even with an Etherje sword."
An army sucked money away just by existing.
He had won every battle and seized immense spoils, but no one knew how long that luck would last.
Eugene, who intended to keep the Hammer Brotherhood and the Black Hand Tribe fully under his command, was desperate for fixed income. The tax revenue from North Fork village, the first domain he acquired, didn't even make a dent.
Messana and Phileremo together only barely brought him to break-even. He needed Kitania as well before his finances would move decisively into the black.
"I absolutely cannot let wages fall behind. I'd hate to get stabbed in the back by you lot while out on a walk."
"Ah, really! Even if the back pay mounted, we would never stab you, Sir Knight!"
As it was a joke Eugene had trotted out several times already, Rex threw a fit.
"Incredible!"
"You mean it?!"
"..."
But Eugene and Rampage both feigned shock and turned Rex's insides upside down anyway.
The march on Kitania proceeded smoothly. The first pitched battle had shattered the count and the high nobles all at once, so there was now neither any force that could threaten them nor any figure around whom resistance could rally.
The Hammer Brotherhood and the Black Hand Mercenary Company advanced. It was a strange army, a combination of the world's sturdiest people and its swiftest.
They differed in appearance, culture, and armament, yet they began to sing in one voice.
It was an army song Eugene had taught them — though the dark elves had altered the lyrics to suit their own taste.
"Hey, rookie. The rule is that when we sing this, the youngest one stands beside the Castle Lord."
One dark elf youth, freshly enlisted, was pushed along by the veterans' grip until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Eugene.
"Hello? Nice to meet you. Handsome as ever, every last one of you."
"...Hrrk."
To the lord who smiled warmly and kneaded his shoulder, the dark elf recruit could only—
Grrrr-.
Pff, pffft.
His warhorse froze entirely, stricken with terror before Might.
Watching that sight, the warriors whooped with rough laughter and began to sing the army song.
A farmer who had been driving an ox on the far side of the road hastily withdrew to the wayside and fell to his knees. Only a child ignorant of the world's ways giggled at the merry tune.
"When boy rookie comes marching home again,~
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then,~
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout,
The ladies they will all turn out.
And we'll all feel gay,
When boy rookie comes marching home."
The army song once sung in the civil war of a faraway world now resounded once more in the civil war of Sicily.
"We thank His Majesty, the Roman Emperor.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Thanks to you our Castle Lord ended the prophecy.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
One day you might get pissed and chase us down,
But make sure you pack plenty of rations.
And we'll all feel gay,
Watching the emperor coated in dust storms."
And here too, the northern army was destined to win.
* * *
The city of Kitania, greeted by Eugene's army, was thrown into chaos.
"Mayor Nolt! We must surrender at once!"
"I am not mayor — I am acting count!"
"Does that matter right now when an army is bearing down on us?!"
Nolt was the younger brother of Count Sicily, who had been sent under guard to the Apostolic Council. Claiming to be the interim successor, Nolt declared the city under wartime rule.
For Nolt himself, the moment he surrendered, his own head would fly, so he had no choice in the matter — but the city's ruling class felt entirely differently.
For them, it was simply a question of whether Count Sicily or Eugene sat above their heads. As long as the newly ruling noble wasn't a tyrant, that would suffice.
-They say he's the knight who sided with the weak against Gord in the Hall War of Bonyard.
-When others in Samur kept their heads down, he pressed into uncharted territory, subjugated the Raksha, and rescued the captives.
-He is the one chosen by the legendary Wandering Castle. There are even rumors in Roman that he is a revelation sent by the gods to rebuke the emperor's tyranny.
Having gathered information from the west, north, and east alike, the stories they heard were predominantly praise.
And above all, wasn't he a noble backed by the Apostolic Council? That meant he had been rigorously vetted from every angle by the exacting ascetics.
"If things go on like this, we're all going to die! Once the attack begins, it will be too late even to surrender!"
"We only have to hold for a few months until winter arrives. We've got solid walls and stockpiled food — what is there to worry about?"
"What is there to worry about? Do you not see that great host out there?"
"It's hardly a great host. Two thousand is not a small number, but..."
"I'm saying what I'm saying precisely because those two thousand are made up entirely of dark elves and dwarves! Do you see even one man among them wearing a gambeson?"
"..."
The dwarf warriors had their bodies wrapped round and round with iron plates, and the dark elf archers had their bodies sealed without a gap in leather armor.
Especially the latter, which was the true problem. Archers themselves were high-value specialists, difficult to train. Most ordinary lords often conscripted hunters and patrolmen to fill the role.
Because these men were gathered from all over in disarray, their bows, arrows, and other equipment were all mismatched. To draw out effective shooting efficiency, you could not simply throw just any armor on them.
That was why, even in large armies, the proportion of archers was low, and in most cases they wore nothing but scraps of cloth.
In contrast, the dark elf archer corps outside the walls now was uniformly arrayed in standardized armor and longbows, standing in regulation ranks.
It was a sight that defied all common sense of war. They would have been less startled if they had seen a cavalry force several times this size.
"Lord Nolt, please, surrender—"
"Now is your last chance!"
In truth, Nolt was only persisting because he wanted to live. He was desperate, forcing his trembling legs to hold steady.
'How in the world does he command that many of those fierce, foul-tempered bastards?'
Setting aside the dwarves, there was no historical precedent for a human commander leading dark elves by the thousand.
"Just a few months... we only have to hold out a few months. Winter will come soon enough. We have two years' worth of food here, and they don't even have siege engines..."
The two factors that had given Nolt hope collapsed at once.
Transport ships flying the banners of the Apen Peninsula trading companies or the Republic's flags were delivering supplies.
More than that, the dwarves were hammering away and had begun constructing a siege ladder wagon.
They hadn't failed to bring siege engines; they had simply disassembled them into parts for easier transport. They had mounts aplenty to haul the load, after all.
"It's nothing more than a ladder wagon."
Nolt desperately tried to rally the city's people.
Bang, bang! Thwack, thwack!
"The soldiers here are well trained; we can handle this adequately."
Clack, clack! Thump, thump!
"As soon as one hooks on, we'll push the ladders off and shoot crossbows..."
Thud, thud! Crash, crash!
"You sons of bitches! What in the hell are you even hammering together?!"
Nolt was struck speechless as the mobile siege-ladder wagon rose larger than an ordinary siege tower.
* * *
"No need to even go as far as a trebuchet. The walls aren't that high, so this will be enough."
Rampage looked upon the completed, enormous siege ladder wagon with pride.
Staring at it, Eugene recalled the turtle ships in his memories. The differences, he supposed, were that this one moved across land on wheels, and its shell flipped 180 degrees to extend a bridge to the walls.
"Still, we'll take casualties. Wouldn't a trebuchet be the better choice?"
"Using trebuchets is also ultimately about breaking the walls and opening a path."
"That is true."
"The walls of Kitania are low in height but broad and solid. Breaking them with trebuchets will not be easy. Even if you manage to break through, the breach created will be narrow."
"Indeed, an external assault would hardly make a dent."
"The gates might be weak, but they are an S-shaped double structure with very elaborate murder-holes."
Rampage pointed to a ladder wagon wide enough for ten heavy infantrymen to walk abreast.
"Even with a slope, it is better to just pour over the walls in a rush."
Normally, climbing ladders in a siege was halfway to a suicide charge. But the mobile ladder wagon built by the Hammer Brotherhood was special.
It was fitted with protective panels that blocked every type of attack hurled from the walls.
At the same time, its iron-studded folding ramp was designed to deploy and lock into place mechanically. Even dozens of defenders working together could not tear it away.
If fully armed dwarf infantry charged through that, there would be no way for human defenders to stop them.
"And more than anything, this time we have reliable backing, don't we? No one on the walls will dare raise their heads."
Rampage jerked a thumb toward the archer corps made up of handsome men and beautiful women.
It was no mere boast that the Black Hand Mercenary Company had taken down more than ten fortresses to date.
Yet their secret was not, like the dwarves, due to superior siege engine craftsmanship and defensive capability.
"We don't scrabble up walls in such a shabby fashion. That's work for lowborn wretches."
Rex held a longbow instead of his usual composite bow. It was a greatbow whose larger size, impossible to use on horseback, delivered commensurately greater destructive power.
"Sir Knight. Isn't the reason sieges are difficult ultimately because of the attacks raining down from the walls? Whether it's bolts, stones, or boiling oil."
"And knocking away the ladders you've painstakingly hooked into place, to boot."
"Then the solution is simple. You simply have to make the defenders on the walls unable to lift their heads."
The sight of a thousand-strong longbow corps of dark elves deployed in ranks was a spectacle. It was a force composition made possible because the enemy's main body had been annihilated, rendering cavalry unnecessary.
Eugene approached the city to issue a final call for surrender.
Gulp.
Even though he came alone, without a single guard, the defenders swallowed hard.
A giant warhorse and the knight mounted upon it. Before the sheer presence they radiated, hiding behind a wall didn't feel safe at all.
"I am Commander Eugene Meyer. I wish to speak with the city's representative."
Eugene's voice was not simply loud. His power as a mage had grown stronger through confronting countless mysteries.
His voice carried spiritual force and echoed inside the hearts of the defenders. Even at a distance, it was as if he whispered right beside them.
"Count Sicily's deputy, Nolt! I demand you withdraw your army at once and turn back!"
"I cannot do that. As an ally of the Apostolic Council, I took part in a righteous war and won. I have come as the city's new master by right granted by God. Open the gates."
"Will you then guarantee the safety of everyone within the city?"
"The rank-and-file soldiers, junior officers, citizens, and others not directly responsible will be spared. If trials are held, they will face my judgment as lord, not the religious tribunals of the Apostolic Council. I swear on my honor that I will judge fairly and justly."
While most of the defenders relaxed at Eugene's words, Nolt's expression curdled.
'Fuck! So that means I'm dead anyway, doesn't it?'
Realizing compromise was impossible, Nolt ground his teeth and raised his right hand.
"Archer corps!"
The crossbowmen who had finished loading aimed at Eugene. They were the elite troops Nolt had painstakingly fostered.
Thanks to them, even at a disadvantage, he had been able to browbeat and suppress the city, continuing his resistance.
"If you do not withdraw at once, I will order them to shoot!"
Swish.
Instead of answering, Eugene raised his hand. At once, he felt a responding movement in unison behind his back.
A thousand longbows that had been resting on top of feet rose in the ready stance. A thousand arrows were nocked upon bows fixed in the air at the same height, the same angle.
Creeeeak.
With the sound of bowstrings drawn, the black arrowheads crawled up the wall all at once.
To the defenders watching, it looked as though thorns of death were sprouting thick and fast from the very earth.
"Uh, uhh..."
"We're all dead!"
The defenders sensed instinctively that each and every arrow was aimed precisely at them.
It was fundamentally different from when an ordinary archer corps shot to suppress a zone without targeting specific individuals.
The Black Hand archers had each defender on the wall clearly in their sights, radiating murderous intent.
"This is your final warning. Disarm and open the gates."
Everyone on the battlefield, Eugene included, thought Nolt would either surrender or give the order to fire. But he chose a third path.
"Hieeek!"
He simply crumpled to the ground, clutching his head.
* * *
There was no further dialogue, nor any sign the gates would open.
"Advance! Take the city!"
At Eugene's command, the mobile ladder wagons began to move in unison. Countless dwarves threw themselves into the effort, and the enormous wheels rolled onward, making the very earth tremble.
Gears five times larger than those fitted to the battering ram at Codon Castle howled like beasts.
Splash!
Splash!
A specially treated solution was poured over the waiting dwarves.
"It's a fireproof potion made by the Tribe's witches. Even if a flaming oil flask hits you, you'll come away with little more than a burn."
The dwarf assault leaders, likewise soaked through, bellowed vigorously from the front.
"Pour some on me too."
"???"
The assault leaders who had been urging on their men were startled by the giant warhorse that drew up beside them.
"Y-you too, Castle Lord?"
"If it were an ordinary horse, it couldn't climb a ladder wagon, but this one's different."
"It's dangerous. The counterattacks from the wall will be fierce."
"All the more reason I should be at the fore, wouldn't you say?"
The assault leaders tried to dissuade him only once.
The monarch of the dwarves had always fought at the very front against the enemy. Charging together while watching their monarch's back was the highest honor and desire for dwarves.
"More thoroughly!"
Instead, they doused Eugene and Might with the solution until both were thoroughly soaked.
Bang! Bang!
As if to say 'that's enough,' Might kicked the ground in displeasure, but they didn't stop.
In the end, it only stopped when a dwarf who was carefully trying to pour it between his hindquarters nearly got kicked by his rear hooves.
Rrrrrumble.
As the sound of house-sized wheels rolling grew ever closer, the defenders on the wall screamed.
"Damned bastards!"
"Don't come! I said don't come!"
The moment a few crossbowmen who had lost their wits to fear raised their torsos to aim.
Wham!
Arrows pierced their faces and burst out the back of their skulls. The corpses toppled backward, heads snapped back as if on the verge of breaking.
The loaded crossbows, not even discharged, went clattering away. A nearby defender screamed and kicked the crossbow with his foot. As if merely touching it meant death.
The corpses had four to six arrows lodged in their faces, making them barely recognizable. Some defenders wept at the grisly sight.
Rrrrrumble—
In the meantime, the siege ladders kept drawing relentlessly closer.
On other sections of the wall, crossbowmen who poked their heads up briefly, driven by their officers' haranguing, met the same end.
Thud!
Wham!
The instant they appeared, they ended up rolling across the stones with multiple arrows stuck in their faces like candles on a birthday cake.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
"Eek!"
"Uh... get down!"
Even the soldiers who weren't hit felt like they might piss themselves at the deadly sound of arrows slicing across the top of the wall.
Rrrrrumble... thunk.
And at last, the thunderous roar of the wheels stopped. The mobile ladder had arrived right before them. The broad, sturdy bridge cleaved through the air and came down upon the ramparts.
"What are you all doing?! Get up and shoot, I said! Do you mean to let the enemy reach the top of the wall?!"
The captain of the guard, Nolt's trusted man, bellowed and screamed, but to no effect.
Since he himself was lying flat on the ground, no soldier made any move to follow his command.
'If I raise my head, I die!'
That single thought pierced through the minds of everyone on the wall.
The first to land atop the wall was not a dwarf soldier but a giant warhorse. Needless to say, it was Eugene and Might.
"All of you stay with your heads planted to the ground. I'll kill the first one who stands up."
"Damned Roman bastard! Get out of Sicily!"
Two well-dressed knights gritted their teeth and rushed at him, but they couldn't so much as graze a hair on Eugene.
Struck immediately by his flail, one went flying toward the inside of the city, the other flailing outward beyond the wall.
"Uwaaaaaah..."
Crunch!
At the end of the fading scream came the sound of something breaking, then silence.
"S-spare us, please!"
"We surrender!"
The nearby soldiers threw down their weapons or fled, trembling.
However, the section above the gate defended by the guard captain and officers still maintained their will to fight.
They were men deeply complicit in all manner of crimes alongside Nolt. They knew well that surrendering offered little hope of mercy.
"Shoot!"
The crossbowmen fired in unison, and Might leaped high. The bolts passed beneath the warhorse that had sprung up explosively, shattering the stone floor of the wall where it launched.
"Madness!"
Dumbstruck by the impossible spectacle, the guard captain watched the warhorse land and charge straight at him.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
A living calamity that hurtled forward, swatting aside every foe obstructing its path to the gatehouse above.
Visually, it lacked all reality, but the closing tremor and roar warned of an inescapable death bearing down.
While eyes were fixed on Eugene rampaging atop the wall, the dwarves seized the battlements in an instant.
The fight didn't last long. After the guard captain and his lieutenants fell one after another, the junior officer who assumed command cried out for unconditional surrender.
-That way! He fled that way!
The battle ended with every soldier united in pointing toward the direction Nolt had fled.
'Just go already, pleeease.'
Everyone looked as though they wished the Grim Reaper who had descended before them would hurry after Nolt and disappear.
Their intelligence was still too diminished by terror to comprehend that this was the new master they would have to serve from now on.
End
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