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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“General! Urgent report!”
The messenger’s arrival cast a pall over those gathered in the tower’s command room. Even before the contents of the report were revealed, everyone knew what it contained.
“It’s likely another report of reinforcements annihilated by that devil.” Baron Debussy’s reinforcements were consistently ambushed and decimated by Allen.
“Haa… It’s like we’re feeding him our troops.”
“We specifically warned them to be wary of ambushes, but nothing seems to be working.”
“He’s not just anyone. He even gave Sir Powell a hard time. It must have been child’s play for him to defeat reinforcements led by someone less capable.” The knight who made this comment immediately received glares from his comrades. He had inadvertently spoken ill of Powell in his presence.
“Ahem. My apologies.”
Powell simply shook his head at the knight’s embarrassed apology.
“No. You’re right. I shouldn’t have simply warned them. I should have sent a larger force, one that would deter any attempts at ambush. If we had sent all those troops at once instead of piecemeal, he wouldn’t have dared to ambush them.”
Powell’s admission of his mistake emboldened Ailgar, who had been treated with disdain throughout the meetings.
“I told you we should have attacked Segeric immediately! We’ve only boosted the enemy’s morale by waiting for reinforcements!”
“Ahem! That’s easy to say in hindsight!” Powell and his knights scowled at Ailgar’s rebuke. The core of the tower’s forces were still Debussy’s men, led by Powell.
“Now, now, there’s no point regretting the past. We must focus on the future.”
Joang’s intervention prevented further dissent. The situation in the tower was dire.
Powell, nodding his thanks to Joang, spoke.
“We have only two choices left. We either admit defeat and surrender, or we make one last stand.”
Their supplies were dwindling, a consequence of their hasty departure. The realization that they could no longer hold out cast a gloom over the room.
Ailgar, however, who had been advocating for an attack all along, was secretly pleased.
“A man must swing his sword when he draws it! No matter the cost, if we capture Segeric, we can redeem all our mistakes. It’s not too late. Let’s attack with everything we have!”
Having accused each other of their fathers’ murders, there was no turning back for Ailgar and Segeric.
Surrender meant certain death for Ailgar. Wouldn’t he choose to fight, even if there was only a sliver of hope for survival?
“Indeed… If we capture Segeric, even if we lose the battle, we’ll win the war…”
Powell, who had been advocating for caution, finally agreed with Ailgar.
Surrendering meant being humiliated by Allen for the third time. He couldn’t bear that shame.
Of course, if there was no chance of victory, the pragmatic knight would have chosen to surrender.
“So…?” Ailgar asked eagerly.
“Let’s do it. Sink or swim.”
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The battle, decided upon so haphazardly, took an unexpected turn.
Perhaps it was due to the unfavorable terrain? Segeric’s forces, seeing Powell’s army advancing from atop a low hill, began a slow retreat.
“They’re running! They know it! They know that capturing Segeric means the end of the war!” Ailgar urged Powell to increase their pursuit.
“Don’t get excited. If they intended to flee, they would have done so already.” Powell, despite having ordered the attack, remained cautious.
“Then why are they retreating?!”
“They’re trying to lure us in.” Powell felt as if they were being played, like fish on a hook. Imagining what he would do if he were Allen, he shouted with conviction,
“That devilish bastard is definitely planning to ambush us from the rear!”
Despite his words, Allen didn’t appear, even after Powell’s forces caught up with Segeric’s and the battle began.
Not even when Powell’s vaunted crossbowmen began to make their mark…!
“Ambush us from the rear? Ha! The foremost knight of Baron Debussy is such a coward…!” Ailgar, still harboring resentment from Powell’s continued condescension, mocked him.
“This can’t be…?” Powell couldn’t understand. Would that devilish bastard really miss such a perfect opportunity? But he couldn’t deny what he was seeing. The battle was clearly turning in their favor.
“There must be some discord between Segeric and Allen. My brother is a petty man who can’t stand being outshone by his subordinates.”
“Hmm…” Powell’s continued hesitation frustrated Ailgar.
“If you’re going to keep hesitating, let’s divide our forces. You can stay here and wait for Allen, and I’ll go after Segeric!”
Without waiting for a reply, Ailgar, taking Joang and a portion of their troops, charged towards the enemy lines.
“Sir Powell, if you let Ailgar capture Segeric, it will weaken our bargaining position in future negotiations.”
“We’ve suffered greater losses than anticipated because of that devil. We might end up losing more than we gain.” Powell’s knights offered their urgent advice.
With some of the enemy forces beginning to flee under the onslaught of the crossbowmen, Powell could no longer hesitate.
They had an overwhelming advantage. Even if Allen appeared now, he wouldn’t be able to save Segeric. Having reached this conclusion, Powell gave the order.
“All forces! charge!”
Meanwhile, Segeric was panicking. He had sent a messenger, but Allen was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Sir Allen?! Send another messenger! Quickly!” He repeatedly urged his advisors, but there was nothing they could do. They didn’t have the time to investigate.
“Segeric!” Ailgar’s gamble had paid off. He was now within striking distance of Segeric.
“A-Ailgar!”
“Die!” There was no hesitation in Ailgar’s swing as he aimed for his brother.
“N-No!” Segeric tried to flee, but his exposed back only made it easier for the sword to find its mark.
He collapsed without a scream, his death anticlimactic for someone who had been so close to becoming the next Baron.
“I, Ailgar, have slain Segeric! I am now the Baron of Rasino! Lay down your arms! The war is over! I have won!”
As Ailgar, having slain his brother, shouted in triumph, a momentary silence in the fighting revealed the distant rumble of the earth and the pounding of hooves.
A group of cavalry had appeared, closing in on Powell’s forces. They numbered barely more than ten, but their momentum was as fierce as a million strong army.
“The devil! The devil has returned!” Ailgar’s face paled as he recognized Allen at the head of the cavalry. He hastily lifted Segeric’s helmet.
“The war is over! Segeric, the one who murdered our father, is dead by my hand! I, Ailgar, am the Baron of Rasino!” He shouted until his voice was hoarse, but Allen and his cavalry didn’t slow down.
Even Powell’s vaunted crossbowmen couldn’t stop Allen.
In their eagerness to compete with Ailgar’s forces for the capture of Segeric, they had advanced too deep into the enemy lines, leaving behind the barricades that would have been effective against a cavalry charge.
The sight of soldiers falling like leaves reminded them of their previous, crushing defeat at Allen’s hands.
“Agh!”
“R-Run!!”
“The devil has returned!!” This time, however, Allen’s forces had the numerical advantage.
Outnumbered and demoralized by Allen’s reputation, Ailgar and Powell’s allied forces began to crumble like snow before the sun.
Allen, having cut through the enemy lines, stood before Ailgar.
“It’s not over until I say it’s over.”
As Allen and his cavalry were followed by the infantry, who surrounded and annihilated the scattered enemy forces, the war came to an end.
“How dare you treat me like this! I am the Baron of Rasino! The Baron!” Ailgar, captured alive, shouted, further complicating the already chaotic situation caused by Segeric’s unexpected death.
“Shouldn’t we treat him with respect?” Borden, the only surviving advisor, suggested, constantly glancing at Ailgar.
Ailgar’s words weren’t entirely wrong. With Segeric dead, Ailgar was the only remaining son of the Baron, creating an ambiguous situation.
Of course, that was just a pretext. His true intention was likely to maintain his power by switching his allegiance to Ailgar.
“Now is the time to show respect. Lord Segeric’s body, the man you served as your lord, hasn’t even grown cold yet.” Borden’s face flushed crimson at the public rebuke.
“Lord Segeric is dead because you arrived too late!”
“The messenger was delayed. He said he got lost along the way.” Just as the Baron had blamed my father for his death and shifted the responsibility to his vassals, I feigned innocence.
Thanks to Jude Horn’s confession, I knew that Borden had been involved in that incident as an advisor.
Unfortunately, Borden didn’t seem to notice the similarities between the two situations.
“It’s unfortunate how things turned out, but Lord Ailgar is now the Baron’s only heir…!”
“Isn’t there the Lady?”
Borden looked surprised, as if he hadn’t considered that possibility.
“She’s a woman.”
“As I understand it, according to inheritance law, if there are no sons, the title passes to the daughter.”
“Lord Ailgar is still alive!”
“He assassinated the Baron, and now he’s killed Lord Segeric. He’s not fit to inherit the title.”
Borden should be more concerned about his own predicament. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to weaken his influence.
Turning my back on him, as if he was no longer worth speaking to, I began dealing with the aftermath of the battle.
I could leave most of it to Dreng and Muel, but I had to decide what to do with the key prisoners.
Joang, bound and brought before me, prostrated himself, practically banging his head on the ground.
“Sir Allen! We agreed to join forces! Please spare my life. If you spare me, I’ll serve you faithfully. You’ll be losing a valuable asset if you let me die!”
Joang, who had been so hostile towards me from our first meeting, was now desperately pleading for his life.
“A valuable asset…” I pondered his worth. Could a man who had only offered shallow schemes, despite his reputation as the Baron’s strategist, be considered a valuable asset? And what about his involvement in my father’s death?
The biggest problem was that he wouldn’t truly serve me. If I spared him, he would inevitably plot against me.
“Aren’t you overestimating yourself? You, who have been dancing in the palm of my hand from the very beginning, dare to call yourself a valuable asset?”
I chuckled, as if at a bad joke. I signaled to Muel. The perceptive knight understood my silent command and dragged Joang away.
“N-No! I can’t die like this! I can’t! Spare me!” The middle-aged man’s desperate pleas faded away, ending abruptly. The end was anticlimactic for someone who had once wielded absolute power as the Baron’s second-in-command.
“I’ll pay my ransom.” Powell, despite having witnessed the execution of the prisoner next to him, remained calm, awaiting his turn. He was confident in the substantial ransom that would be paid for him.
I chuckled.
“Baron Debussy won’t be able to afford your ransom.”
“What…!” Powell didn’t believe me. Baron Debussy controlled the river trade, collecting hefty tolls, and owned lucrative vineyards.
However, my words were true. The dungeons I had orchestrated were about to begin generating significant income.
Moreover, to seize Baron Debussy’s territory, Powell, an obstacle, had to be eliminated.
“It’s unfortunate. If you weren’t Baron Debussy’s son-in-law, I might have spared you. As a consolation, I’ll take good care of your son.”
“You intend to use my son?” Powell, with just a few pieces of information, understood my intentions.
I nodded. He sighed and looked up at the sky, then back at me, his eyes now resigned.
“If you intend to use my son, you’ll have to take good care of him.”
“You can rest assured of that.” I signaled to Muel, who had just returned. Muel, wiping the blood from his sword with a cloth, grumbled.
“I’ll do it.” Dreng stepped forward and led Powell away. The two, despite their vastly different backgrounds, seemed to have become quite friendly after fighting alongside each other in several battles.
Muel’s momentary cheer at Dreng’s consideration quickly faded.
“Muel, you’ll be responsible for eliminating the remaining rebel remnants in the various territories.” Muel’s face contorted comically at the unexpected burden. That, too, was short lived.
“Especially Joang’s territory. Make sure it’s secure. It will be yours soon.”
“Y-Yes, sir!” Muel’s face lit up again as he hastily departed with a group of soldiers.
Left alone, I continued the post-battle cleanup with Dreng, then turned my gaze towards Polton.
‘It’s finally time to take the Baron’s estate.’ The end of this long journey was in sight. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, this was just another step. I wasn’t going to be satisfied with this.
I wouldn’t stop until Rasino, Debussy, and even Dressten were all in my grasp.
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BARON ALLEN!!!
