Chapter 401
Chapter 401: War is Such a Mess. (1)
As Claude appeared, everyone around slightly bowed their heads.
This included Gillian and Belinda, who were the closest associates of Ghislaine. It was a stark contrast to how they usually disregarded Claude.
No matter what, the discipline of Penris was strict. Ghislaine was the war lord, and that was just how it had to be.
Claude was quite pleased with this atmosphere.
“Hmm, I wish they’d valued me like this all the time. I think I’ve finally found my place.”
“…….”
He was the Commander with the military authority during wartime. Everyone wanted to throw him a few words, but they kept their mouths shut.
When Ghislaine first appointed Claude as the Commander, everyone was taken aback. They all expected Gillian, the seasoned military officer, to take the position.
As someone who always prioritized Ghislaine’s commands, Gillian accepted it without objection. He simply didn’t have that kind of ambition.
Instead, others voiced their dissent.
“Young Master! The Commander is the first to surrender!”
“Exactly! Handing over the entire army to someone who’s never even seen war! He’ll surely take a bribe and surrender!”
“He might even start a rebellion! He’s always complained so much!”
As the retainers caused a commotion, it was Claude who felt offended.
“What’s this! Did I ask for it? Why are you cursing those who are just standing still? How do you see people?”
Claude began to rage, pointing fingers and bickering with the retainers. Somehow, whenever Claude got involved, the atmosphere turned to chaos.
Ghislaine did not just stand by.
Boom!
With a stomp that silenced everyone, Ghislaine spoke with a deadpan expression.
“Claude is the Commander of the Defense Forces. Remember that.”
What could be opposed once could be contested twice, but saying it twice meant it was decided. The retainers merely sighed and glared at Claude.
Claude was also in disbelief. He immediately confronted Ghislaine.
“Wait, I didn’t even say I’d take it, so why hand it over and make me the target of ire? Lord, you don’t like me, do you?”
“Officially, you’re the second-in-command of this territory. Isn’t that natural?”
“Well, that’s true…”
It might have been due to a lack of authority, but it was indeed a fact that Claude held the position right after Ghislaine in this territory.
Ghislaine grinned as he said, “Just do as you please. You only need to hold out until I return.”
Telling Claude, who was inexperienced in real battle, to do as he wished against the strongest from the West was absurd. People were befuddled, but Claude’s reaction was even more entertaining.
“Really, I can do whatever I want?”
“Yes, go ahead and do so.”
“Hehe, this should be fun.”
When Penris was weak before, Claude was always just thinking about how to escape. But now, with the strongest forces from the North and top-notch skills at his disposal, he felt eager to try various things.
Thus, during Ghislaine’s absence, Claude became the Commander of the Penris Army.
At the fortress ‘Silverlight,’ where Claude and his retainers were stationed, there were 10,000 soldiers. The rest were dispersed among other castles and fortresses.
Ten thousand isn’t a small number, but it was remarkably inadequate against an army of 60,000. Moreover, since the Commander was Claude, the people couldn’t shake off their anxiety.
Looking at these people, Claude inquired, “Ahem, is everything ready?”
In the awkward atmosphere, Gillian responded flatly.
“The preparations… have been completed as per your orders.”
“Ugh, hearing our military officer’s response makes me feel so itchy. Anyway, let’s just wait. The enemies will react on their own.”
Following Claude’s command, the Penris Army simply waited. After all, their goal was to protect this place while buying time. Minimizing damage was always best.
Aside from the difference in numbers, the other conditions were not lacking either. Thanks to Claude’s emphasis on fortification, the fortress had been significantly expanded, as if it were built anew, and there were ample strategic supplies.
Observing the quietly massive fortress, Marquis Roderick laughed heartily.
“The North country bumpkins said they made a bit of money, and they really built quite the fortress.”
The name Silverlight was simply because it was made of white stone, gleaming like silver.
The Dwarves had outdone themselves in aesthetics, creating an exceptionally beautiful fortress.
“It’s a shame to see a splendid fortress crumble, but it can be rebuilt later.”
Marquis Roderick never doubted his victory. No matter how well Penris had prepared, they couldn’t stop a vast army of 60,000.
It took Roderick’s army a full three days to set up camp. The size of the forces required time to assemble numerous siege engines.
As soon as the siege engines were completed and the camp was fully arranged, Marquis Roderick gave the order.
“Check if there are runestone traps!”
The Marquis had once again gathered information about Penris to deal with Ghislaine, the master. And he had learned of the tricks Penris had used in warfare.
The most infamous tactics were the runestone traps and hot air balloons. The Marquis’s staff had firmly established countermeasures against them.
“Protect the mages!”
At Tenant’s shout, the knights surrounded the mages and stepped a little forward.
Roderick’s army included three 6th Circle Mages and six 5th Circle Mages, along with over a hundred low-level mages.
They outnumbered any mage tower you might find. The skill levels of the wizards in the West were that high.
They cast extensive detection magic and shouted,
“We found them! Mana detected in several locations!”
“Definitely runestone traps!”
“They’re nearby!”
Upon hearing the report from the mages, Marquis Roderick clapped his knee and exclaimed,
“Just as I thought, there were runestone traps! Pull the army back a bit and deactivate them!”
Marquis Roderick laughed boisterously. The traps prepared by the enemies were painfully obvious. Well, they had no other means.
“You fools, did you think the same trick would work again? How much runestones did you bury? Can we collect them back for use?”
“Identified at five locations. We need to check the engraved incantations first to see if we can reuse them.”
“Five? Usually, runestone traps use at least hundreds of runestones, right?”
“U-uh… currently, mana has only been detected in those five locations. They are also quite faint.”
“Hmm… Just to be safe, check them out.”
Roderick’s army busily moved and pulled back slightly, unsure when the runestone magic would activate.
A short time later, a few soldiers stepped forward with tense expressions.
Penris has a 6th Circle Mage. While digging, they couldn’t send knights or mages first because they didn’t know what kind of magic might trigger.
Instead, they cast various enhancement spells on the soldiers and sent them to dig. Soldiers were expendable.
Plop! Plop! Plop!
The soldiers cautiously began digging.
Since they were close to Roderick’s camp and a fair distance from the fortress, there was no reaction from the Penris side.
The nervous soldiers, seeing no issues, quickly dug deeper. If magic activated, it would be fatal, but luckily that didn’t happen.
“We found it!”
“Definitely a runestone!”
“Huh? What’s this?”
The soldiers picked up a small runestone and tilted their heads in confusion.
There was a piece of paper tied to the runestone.
They couldn’t bring back anything suspicious. So the soldiers first unwrapped the paper and spread it out.
When they saw the contents written inside, the expressions of the soldiers stiffened.
Seeing this, Tenant shouted loudly.
“What is that? If there’s nothing wrong with it, bring it over and tell the Marquis immediately!”
The soldiers hesitated as they brought the runestone and paper. Upon finding nothing unusual, Marquis Roderick immediately took the paper and unfolded it.
[Gotcha, you moron!]
“…….”
The paper had blatant insults written on it. Marquis Roderick could feel his breath quickening.
When he opened another paper, different words were written.
[Did the 60,000-strong army get obstructed by five runestones? Scary, right?]
[What a wasted effort, huh? Your body’s struggling, isn’t it?]
[Angry? What are you gonna do about it? What can you even do?]
[I’m the man who defeated a god……]
One of the papers had signs of someone hastily scribbling and erasing something. It was hard to discern what it meant.
“…….”
Marquis Roderick trembled as he clutched the paper.
It was a clear mockery. They had foreseen that they’d check the land and withdraw the runestones and had prepared such childish tricks.
Yet it worked. They had pulled back their army just to be safe. Even if they were insulted, they had nothing to say.
“How dare they!”
For Marquis Roderick, who had always been treated nobly, it was a humiliation he had never experienced before.
He never imagined his opponent would stoop so low. This was the kind of behavior only slobs would engage in, with no regard for honor.
Being a noble like himself, experiencing such a thing made him feel enraged.
How could the kingdom’s highest noble end up bringing home such childish insults and even make him pull back his troops!
“I won’t let these insolent wretches go unpunished!”
Marquis Roderick jumped up from his seat, shouting loudly.
“Immediately move the entire army! Bring me their heads now!”
But Tenant interrupted from the side.
“Marquis! It’s a petty provocation! You mustn’t fall for it! We don’t know what traps they may have set. We will win anyway, so calm your anger for now!”
Marquis Roderick was someone who had a very explosive temperament. He had never tolerated even minor annoyances in his life.
Even so, during war, he managed to suppress his anger because he listened to Tenant’s words.
“Check if there are any remaining runestone traps.”
Gritting his teeth, he ordered, and the mages began scanning the surroundings for magical detection again.
Claude, who was comfortably seated on the fortress, watching Roderick’s movements, asked,
“Did you dig? Did you dig it all up? I can’t see that far.”
At his question, a nearby mage nodded.
“Yes, they have definitely dug it out. It seems they checked the note.”
“Good. Didn’t they say Roderick has a bad temper and is hasty?”
A member of the intelligence team, Lowell, answered that question.
“Yes. There was a time when he killed a maid just for not bringing food he craved in time.”
“Oh, that’s foul. Such a person can’t stand belittlement. He’s never been scolded, that’s for sure.”
Claude waved his hand a few times, summoning someone.
“Let’s aggravate him a bit more.”
The summoned individual was the foul-mouthed elf, Ascon. Stepping forward, he muttered with a solemn expression,
“Damn…… Today we’re all screwed.”
Upon Claude’s command, the mages cast amplification spells. Ascon then began hurling insults at Roderick’s army.
“Hey! Roderick Marquis, you XXX, XXXX XXX! What a piece of X! You’re such a loser, you know that? I could roast you whole, you XXXXXX!”
Abusive curses echoed across the battlefield. It was so severe that even the allies from Penris had uncertain expressions.
Claude clicked his tongue and said to Wendy, who was beside him,
“Wow, Ascon’s performance today is off the charts. How can such filthy words keep coming out of his mouth? Did he shove a trash can in there?”
“…….”
Wendy didn’t respond. She simply did not want to speak. There wasn’t even a semblance of warlike feelings anymore.
Even among the Penris army, there were such reactions. Naturally, Roderick’s army, too, couldn’t hide their shock, mouths agape in disbelief.
Marquis Roderick gripped the back of his neck, shaking. Blood rushed to his face.
“W-what, what, what, what is this madman saying right now?”
Curses not just against him, but against his parents and lineage were spewing from that mouth. It was so vulgar that simply hearing it was humiliating.
He had never heard such insults in his life. Who dared speak to him like that? Not even the Duke’s family would.
A noble like Marquis Roderick had virtually zero tolerance for such insults.
“Kill, kill him! Quickly catch and kill that guy!”
Marquis Roderick shouted again. He felt a fire rising inside him that he couldn’t contain.
This war was not just an ordinary conflict. It was a grand journey to conquer Penris, known as the strongest of the North, and unify the North and West.
Yet these people were turning this grand war into a childish quarrel.
“……Understood. We’ll verify the runestone traps and move immediately.”
Tenant decided not to oppose this time. Even to him, it sounded too severe.
How enraged must Marquis Roderick be feeling, hearing all this, even as a mere observer?
There have been cases in military history where insults were used to provoke the enemy. But due to the trend of valuing honor, no one dared to try it easily.
Tenant hurriedly inquired of Denesh, the 6th Circle Master and head of the mages.
“Are there no more runestone traps remaining?”
Denesh nodded and replied.
“There are no other places where mana is detected. It’s certain. We can begin our advance soon.”
Upon hearing this, Tenant shouted loudly.
“All troops! Assault the fortress!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The soldiers stepped forward with precise marching. And they prepared to load stones into the catapults.
Seeing this, Gillian cleared his throat and asked Claude.
“Ahem, it looks like the enemy is about to launch an attack. But was it really necessary to insult them that much? After all, it could affect the Lord’s honor…”
Their planned strategy could have been executed without provoking the enemy so much. Therefore, the reason behind such excessive provocation was questionable.
If this rumor spread, it could diminish Ghislaine’s honor.
At Gillian’s question, Claude nonchalantly crossed his legs.
“Our military officer may be good at fighting, but knows little else. War and gambling are fundamentally similar. Hence, before we get down to business, there’s something crucial we have to do.”
“What is it?”
Claude grinned widely and replied.
“That is to piss off the opponent.”
“…….”
Everyone fell silent. If that was the intent, then it certainly worked splendidly.
Finally, thoroughly infuriated, Roderick’s army began launching catapult attacks.
Boom!
