Chapter 188
Chapter 188: It’s Time to Show Our Strength (2)
Unlike others, Ghislaine had no intention of simply dragging out the time.
It would have been nice if it could be prolonged for an easy victory, but that wasn’t possible now.
Ghislaine had aimed to strike during the drought, but that was just to secure what was necessary easily and to set the stage so that the Duke Faction and Crown Prince Faction couldn’t act openly.
Right now, it was crucial to seize that castle as quickly as possible.
‘Marquis Branford will block any moves from the Duke Faction.’
She had chosen him as her guardian for exactly this kind of situation. The influential Marquis Branford, who was pondering his power in the North, would do anything to protect Penris.
The only remaining element was the Duke Faction’s moves. It was obvious they were burdened by civil war at the moment, so they would likely try to maneuver Count Desmond.
‘Before that, I need to seize this place first.’
She was catching all the messengers trying to escape from Cabaldy Castle, but there was no way Count Desmond wouldn’t hear about it.
Count Desmond was cautious, but he wasn’t stupid enough to keep his head down in this situation.
‘Regardless of the Duke Faction’s orders, Count Desmond will definitely move.’
Losing this place would be a significant loss for Desmond, who needed to reorganize his forces.
That’s why, no matter how tough the situation was due to the drought, he would have to take action.
‘Count Cabaldy must know that, which is why he’s remaining quiet.’
The enemies were running low on supplies. If they were going to starve to death anyway, it was better to take swift action.
Nevertheless, their lack of movement indicated they were confident of receiving support.
Clearly, the current situation favored Ghislaine, but that advantage wouldn’t last forever.
‘I must always stay one step ahead of the enemy.’
The time she wanted had arrived, and she had prepared enough. It was now time to quickly conquer the castle.
Of course, Ghislaine didn’t plan on mindlessly launching a siege. They had no siege equipment, and most of the soldiers were infantry. There were quite a few knights, but they were only half-competent.
Attempting to take the castle walls in this state would only result in significant losses.
It was foolish to engage in a siege without overwhelming weapons and forces. That’s why she hadn’t brought any siege equipment from the start.
Minimizing damage was essential. That way, they could quickly strengthen their power.
“I received intelligence that another lord is preparing to assist Count Cabaldy. We have to seize the castle before that.”
Upon Ghislaine’s words, the people began to dig tunnels, visibly disappointed.
They understood the reason for the tunnel work. With no siege equipment, there was no other method available.
She didn’t know who the person sending reinforcements was, but that guy was making them go through unnecessary hardships.
The dwarves also realized why Ghislaine had brought them along. Dwarves were indeed specialists in digging tunnels.
For them, digging down to build an underground city in solid rock was an easy task.
“Ugh! I thought we could relax, but now it’s more work! More work! This damned territory never ends!”
Galbarik complained incessantly as he began designing tunnels with the dwarves.
There were two methods for attacking the castle through tunnels.
One was digging under the enemy’s walls to collapse them, and the other was to infiltrate through the tunnels into the castle.
Both methods were risky, but the latter had a far higher success rate.
If the walls were brought down, it would inevitably lead to a frontal battle with the enemy, but sneaking into the castle would allow for a surprise attack from behind.
“I’ll dig carefully to ensure our infiltration goes unnoticed.”
Galbarik’s words were met with a shake of Ghislaine’s head.
“No, it’s okay if it gets a little noisy; speed is the priority.”
“If we get caught, it’ll be a failure, though. Are you sure it’s fine?”
“It’s fine; if we dig toward the enemy’s rear, we will be okay. Right now, the most important thing is to create a path before reinforcements arrive.”
“Okay, understood. I’ll dig as fast as possible.”
Even if the target was far back toward the back of the castle, it wasn’t a significant issue.
The ground was hard? They could take care of that with their mages and knights. Digging the earth and setting up supports? With thousands of soldiers, they just needed to push through with sheer numbers.
As the dwarves took charge of the operation, the tunnels began to take shape at an astonishing speed.
Everyone realized they were short on time, so they threw themselves into the work, despite the hardships.
However, there’s always someone who complains.
“Ugh! Why am I dragged here to do this filthy and menial work? If I breathe in all this dust, my nose will collapse!”
Cain, a forcibly conscripted nobleman, swore nonstop as he swung his pickaxe.
Having been raised as a noble, he was forced to do hard labor he had never experienced, and his temper was boiling over.
Yet, he didn’t have the courage to flee. After being subjected to a lot of “training,” his fear of Ghislaine had grown.
If he were caught trying to escape this time, he might really die, so he couldn’t bring himself to attempt it.
“You bastard! We’re cousins, at least give me a position of command! Making me do this kind of work!”
Throughout his labor, Cain constantly cursed Ghislaine. That was the only way he could vent his frustration.
Despite all that training, his penchant for cursing showed he had quite a bit of grit.
“You little brat! Just you wait! When I get stronger, I’ll definitely separate your bones from your flesh! I’m not someone who does this kind of menial work! Aaaaah! But why am I so good at digging?!”
Thanks to his natural strength and size, and having learned the family’s Mana Circulation Method, Cain was quite proficient at digging.
Galbarik, looking on in satisfaction, clapped his hands and called out.
“Hey, you there, Cain… what was his name again? Anyway, Cain, stop the nonsense and move this!”
He pointed to several carts loaded with sacks of dirt.
Hearing that, Cain’s eyes nearly rolled back, and he yelled.
“What? You want me to move those? Do you know who I am! Do you want to die here!”
Even a dwarf, who was technically a slave, openly disregarded him, and Cain could barely contain himself.
But Galbarik seemed indifferent to Cain’s anger.
“Who are you, anyway? The lord said you were a newly acquired slave? A strong and sturdy slave.”
The dwarves genuinely didn’t know about Cain’s status. Ghislaine had ordered those who knew about Cain to keep their mouths shut.
They needed to treat him as a slave so that everyone could feel free to exploit him.
But Cain didn’t know about the background and could only act like a lunatic.
“I’m a noble! I’m not someone to do this kind of menial labor like you!”
“Oh yeah? If you’re a noble, then I must be the elf queen. Hurry and move that before I bury you right here.”
“Uaaaaah! I will kill you!”
As Cain brandished his pickaxe, Galbarik simply snorted.
“Are you serious? Shall I tell the lord? Should I ask them to put shackles on your ankles?”
“Ugh, ughhh!”
Cain’s face turned bright red as he dropped the pickaxe and cried. He was so mad that only tears came out.
The wretchedness of having to suppress his rage and endure his situation was crushing him.
He could have paid back that piddling amount of a thousand gold, even if it meant robbing his parents’ storeroom.
Galbarik approached the sobbing Cain and patted his back. He wished he could throw an arm around him, but he couldn’t reach.
“Hey now, stop! Don’t cry! After we finish, I’ll share a little bit of the alcohol I’ve hidden away with you. A slave’s heart knows best.”
“Guh, hyaah….”
This really sucked. That said, the promise of alcohol made Cain nod while still crying.
“Right, so move that quickly. You know how the lord is? We don’t have time.”
Wiping his tears, Cain diligently moved the carts. Though it stung his pride, Galbarik was right. If things got delayed, he could face the wrath of the notoriously short-tempered Ghislaine.
While the Penris Army was frantically digging the tunnels, Count Cabaldy was plunged into deep thought after hearing some news.
“The Penris Army has divided its forces.”
“What?”
The original position of the Penris Army was north of the castle. But half of them had moved toward the east gate.
“Why would they divide their troops?”
He had thought about attacking while the enemy split their forces, but Count Cabaldy quickly dismissed that idea.
Even split in half, that still amounted to about 1,500 soldiers. It wasn’t possible to wipe out such a large force easily, and they could end up being caught in an encirclement during a fight.
‘It doesn’t seem they’re planning to attack both sides without siege equipment…’
After some contemplation, Count Cabaldy summoned the territory’s exclusive mage.
“Is there any way to see what those guys are doing? The troops that moved to the east, that is.”
“Can’t you see well enough from the walls?”
The mage tilted his head as if puzzled.
The Penris Army had camped a little distance away to avoid catapult strikes from within the castle.
However, with good eyesight, a knight could easily confirm the troop placements and the number of tents.
Count Cabaldy shook his head and continued speaking.
“No, of course, you can see the overall layout. What I want to know is what they’re doing. Are they just standing around watching, or are they up to something behind the scenes?”
“Understood. It might be tough to see for long due to the distance, but I can take a quick look.”
“That’ll be enough.”
The mage quickly climbed the wall and cast a reconnaissance spell.
For a level three mage, reconnaissance spells consumed a fair amount of magic power and were quite difficult. Additionally, he didn’t have the best eyesight from reading so many books.
Still, it was better than just relying on his naked eye, so the mage swiftly scanned the Penris Army’s camp.
Suddenly overwhelmed by the flood of information, he stumbled and held his head, but as soon as he regained his wits, he rushed back to Count Cabaldy.
“It seems they’re doing some construction.”
“Construction?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but the soldiers seem to be bustling about in the back. They’ve set up several large tents, so it’s hard to see exactly, but I confirmed they were moving carts filled with dirt and heavy sacks.”
Upon hearing that, Count Cabaldy instinctively touched his forehead and chuckled.
“It seems that brat is trying to dig a tunnel.”
There weren’t many ways to take a castle without siege equipment.
Among those, tunnel digging was the most classic method.
Especially in the North, since most castles lacked moats, it was even easier to dig tunnels.
“Haha, he’s worried the Crown Prince Faction will intervene, huh? But he’s thinking so naively. Who would dig a tunnel so openly? Hahaha!”
Tunnels needed to be dug stealthily to be effective. If discovered, it would result in significant damage in return.
That’s why most people would draw the enemy’s attention elsewhere and use feints.
But since the Penris Army lacked siege equipment, their strategic options were limited. It was a blatant ploy.
“He truly is a worthless kid. Trying to wage a war with food obtained by luck and acting so clumsily. I heard he won the last war through a trap; it must run in the family.”
Count Cabaldy couldn’t stop laughing.
Now when he looked at Ghislaine, rather than feeling anger, he found her rather cute. She was trying to do something half-heartedly, and yet everything about it seemed so inept.
“If his military capabilities are this poor, shouldn’t I just go out and engage him directly?”
Count Cabaldy pondered for a moment but ultimately shook his head. Once the location of the tunnel was identified, he could easily trap them and kill them all.
Since there was certainly a way to minimize damage, there was no need to risk it by going into battle unnecessarily.
He quickly issued orders.
“Set up vibration detectors all around the castle walls and determine in which direction the enemy is coming from! We’ll dig traps there and prepare our forces!”
Bowls and jars filled with water were strategically placed or buried around the walls.
This way, they could discern the direction based on the waves of water triggered by the vibrations from the digging.
After about three days, a knight rushed in, panting.
“We’ve pinpointed the direction! It seems they’re digging toward the south gate.”
“What? Already? And not the east gate but the south gate? They’re making such a roundabout approach? But why is their tunneling moving so fast?”
Considering it was a rather foolish way to return, they were approaching at an unexpectedly quick pace.
Count Cabaldy clicked his tongue, thinking he understood what Ghislaine was planning. If successful, it would indeed be the most effective method.
“That fool isn’t trying to collapse the walls but secretly sneaking in to hit us. Is it certain they’re coming from the south?”
“Absolutely. There’s nothing around that could change the situation.”
If the vibrations were detected, the tunnel would likely be completed within a day or two. Count Cabaldy quickly rose from his seat and shouted.
“Concentrate our main forces at the target point and stand by. The moment the enemy sticks their heads up from underground, we will kill them all. Afterwards, we’ll open the castle gates and strike the disoriented enemy immediately!”
“What about the castle walls?”
“Well, since they don’t have any siege equipment and most of their troops are infantry, it’s clear they’re merely trying to divert attention. But just in case, deploy a defensive force. We can easily fend them off with just arrows.”
“Understood!”
Count Cabaldy smiled, confident of his victory.
No matter how large the army, if the commander is incompetent, they can be annihilated in a single battle.
The foolish Baron Penris would lose all his soldiers the moment they came in through the tunnel.
“Hehe, thanks to that brat, my reputation will rise even higher. What a wonderful thing.”
Imagining the future of reversing the unfavorable situation and winning before reinforcements arrived naturally brought a smile to his face.
All the nobles would undoubtedly hold his military capabilities in high regard, and even the Duke Faction would be unable to hide their admiration.
As confident as ever, Count Cabaldy’s predictions came true two nights later when the Penris Army began moving.
Seeing the Penris Army approach, Count Cabaldy laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Did you see that foolish brat? What’s he thinking moving so conspicuously at night like this?”
Even as the enemy army approached, he felt no fear. There were no battering rams, no ladders, nothing. It was clear they would be met with a hail of arrows and fall.
To approach at night without any preparation, it was obvious they were trying to draw attention.
“What’s the troop strength at the target point?”
“All deployment has been completed.”
“Good, I’ll lead directly and command. Finally, it’s time to kill that brat.”
Count Cabaldy laughed heartily as he moved toward the target point, followed by his surrounding knights who also bore relaxed smiles.
Yet, while they laughed and chatted confidently,
Dozens of enormous, unknown shadows rose into the night sky above them.
