Chapter 66
Chapter 66
While all the retainers were busy preparing for war, Randolf was pondering tactics.
“Indeed, the answer lies in the charge. We’ll push our strength right into the heart of the enemy. Once the chaos begins, the enemy’s formation will crumble.”
In fact, the Perdium army had seen quite a bit of success through charges while fighting in the north.
“What’s the big deal? My brother and I can just beat them all to death! Right, that should work!”
Given that Zvalter and Randolf were highly esteemed knights, they could say such things.
Of course, the enemy had strong knights too, but Randolf made a conscious effort to dismiss that fact from his mind.
After all, the tactics available to the outnumbered Perdium were few. Charge, just charge—that was the truth.
Zvalter had primarily taken on battlefield command, but this time Randolf firmly believed his strategy would be chosen.
“What would be the most suitable battlefield? I need to discuss this with my brother. As for the formation…”
As Randolf mulled over the battle formations and troop placements, he suddenly thought of the mercenaries led by Ghislaine.
“Well, it’s a relief the Grand Duke is leading the mercenaries.”
Even one soldier was precious, and the mercenaries under the Grand Duke’s command were a formidable force.
The conscripted soldiers were scarce and weak.
In contrast, having hundreds of mercenaries with strong individual capabilities was like rain in a drought.
“No, wait, we can’t waste such good troops as a separate force. I need to take command and throw them all into the charge.”
There was no way a novice Grand Duke could command high-level troops on his own.
Knights should be sent to join the battle, and all mercenaries needed to be placed under the Chief Officer’s command.
“Hopefully he’ll listen this time. If he doesn’t, I might have to threaten him with insubordination.”
Randolf hurriedly set off to find Ghislaine.
Even if he was a stubborn brat, he couldn’t be unreasonable when the territory was on the verge of calamity.
With a determination to seize the mercenaries, he rushed around looking for Ghislaine, but he couldn’t find him anywhere.
“Huh? Where could he be? Is he at the fortress?”
Randolf mounted his horse and set off north toward the castle gate.
Upon arriving at the mercenaries’ camp and glancing around, unease washed over him.
Laborers occasionally passed by, but not a single mercenary was in sight.
The only troops remaining at the camp were Guard Commander Skoban, his deputy Ricardo, and a few soldiers.
“Hey, where are the mercenaries? Where’s the Grand Duke?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“They… suddenly came and took everyone away.”
Skoban, the commander overseeing the Forest of Monsters, responded with a perplexed expression.
He didn’t even know where the Grand Duke had taken the mercenaries.
“Ugh, that brat, don’t tell me?”
Randolf urgently returned to the castle and sought out Belinda.
“Belinda! Where’s Belinda?”
Belinda was always with Ghislaine. She should know where he was.
But nobody was in the castle. There was no sign of Belinda, Ghislaine’s hulking companion, or even that pesky fellow who was always hanging around.
It was then that Randolf realized the situation and sank to the ground.
“That brat… ran away to save his own neck! Uaaah! Ghislaine! You bastard!”
Ever since he had been acting unusually docile while suggesting a defensive strategy, something felt off.
No matter how you look at it, how could the Grand Duke of a territory slink away like that?!
While his father and retainers prepared for a desperate fight, what kind of farce was this?
“You scoundrel! I’ll definitely capture you and throw you in jail!”
Fuming, Randolf ordered the remaining soldiers to find anyone who could help and rushed to find Zvalter.
As soon as Randolf gathered the retainers, he vented his frustrations about the Grand Duke’s escape.
The already gloomy mood grew even heavier.
“Ghislaine… has run away?”
Zvalter asked, looking incredulous.
“Yes! He led all his followers and took off!”
Randolf was livid, his temper rising as he stomped around.
Homern wiped the sweat forming on his forehead, trying to calm Randolf down.
“Uh, maybe he just went out for reconnaissance or something?”
“What? You think he’d take everyone with him for a quick look around?”
Then Albert suddenly shouted with a thought.
“R-Runestone! Wasn’t it recently that we dug up more runestones? Let’s check if they’re still here! If they are, he couldn’t have run away!”
Homern nodded in agreement.
“Right, he wouldn’t leave without taking his cash. Hurry and check!”
A moment later, soldiers returned after checking Ghislaine’s personal storage in the territory.
“The storeroom… is empty.”
Everyone’s faces turned serious.
It was an unbelievable situation, but given Ghislaine’s track record, it was entirely plausible.
One retainer hesitantly said, “Now that I think about it, the mercenaries have been going in and out of the Grand Duke’s storeroom for a while. There’s no way they could have moved all those runestones in one go. It seems… they might have snuck some away in advance.”
More testimonies came in.
“At night, the mercenaries forced the soldiers to switch positions at the castle gate. It seemed they were trying to hide the fact that they were moving the runestones.”
“I didn’t think the Grand Duke had such intentions. It makes sense, but…”
As the testimonies from the retainers piled up, Zvalter pressed his temples, closing his eyes.
“Is this really all you are worth? You foolish boy, to abandon your honor is no life at all… did you have no pride whatsoever?”
Why is a noble a noble?
If one gains honor and benefits, one must also bear the heavier responsibilities that come with it.
A noble who shirks responsibility is worse than a slave.
“Before the battle even starts, everything is falling apart.”
If it became known that the Grand Duke had fled before a war, the soldiers’ morale would plummet.
It would be as if he confirmed they could not win.
How could they possibly win a war with such troops, especially when they were already at a disadvantage? No one would be willing to risk their life to fight.
“He’ll survive dirty and keep the family line going. If only he had taken his younger brother with him.”
Given that he was prepared to ditch honor to survive, he could have at least taken his brother with him.
He was nothing but a selfish brat only concerned with his own skin.
As Zvalter ground his teeth in frustration, a commotion erupted at the front of the great hall as someone was dragged in.
“Let go! Do you know who I am?!”
The individuals brought in included Alfoy, the wizards, and Vanessa.
Seeing them, Randolf approached, gritting his teeth.
“Ah, so there were some fools left behind while trying to escape in a hurry.”
“Wait, wait a moment.”
Homern quickly intervened, knowing that Randolf’s temper would not facilitate a proper conversation.
Homern approached Alfoy and asked, “You lot! Do you know where the Grand Duke went?”
Alfoy, being confronted out of the blue, shouted irritably.
“Ugh! What the hell’s wrong with your territory? Do you even know who I am, treating me like this?”
“Who cares? Aren’t you just some lowly mercenary?”
Alfoy glared at Homern, who was looking down on him with disdain.
“I am the greatest in the north…”
Then suddenly realizing he’d said too much, Alfoy shut his mouth tight.
“I am… I am…”
It was maddeningly frustrating to keep secrets.
After stuttering a few times, Alfoy huffed in irritation, “You don’t need to know who I am!”
All the retainers, including Zvalter, looked on with disdain.
“Tsk tsk, not a single decent person around that guy.”
Homern shook his head and asked Alfoy, “We don’t care who you are. Do you know where the Grand Duke has run off to?”
“W-What? He ran away?”
“Yeah, he got scared and bolted when the war broke out. Did he give you any kind of hint?”
Homern asked without expecting much.
He surely wouldn’t have left a friend behind who could spill his plans.
Alfoy looked around in disbelief.
Seeing the expressions of the lord and retainers, it seemed Ghislaine really had disappeared.
“That brat ran away? After eating up the mage tower and dragging us along?”
Alfoy, filled with fury, cocked his head.
“Did he really run away?”
Alfoy was no fool; he might not know the ways of the world, but he wasn’t stupid.
Given Ghislaine’s past actions, he wasn’t the type to cower and flee when a war broke out.
Unless he had been too reckless and tossed caution aside.
“Hah! You lot, despite being from the same territory, still can’t see who he really is? He’s not the type to run away! He’s a maniac who lives only for today!”
Alfoy’s words drew a laugh from the retainers, but they frowned.
The retainers of Perdium had seen Ghislaine’s silly antics for far too long.
Thus, they could only look at him through a lens of prejudice.
But Alfoy didn’t share that view. Perhaps his bias was a bit different.
Homern, realizing asking someone of Alfoy’s state was pointless, moved on to Vanessa.
“Are you also a mercenary? I heard the Grand Duke took you with him to the training ground every day. He seems quite fond of you.”
Vanessa, tensing up, swallowed hard and bowed deeply.
“Greetings, Lord and Chief Officer.”
Homern was slightly surprised by her polite demeanor.
It was the first time he had seen someone so normal among those around the Grand Duke.
“Cough, you’re the most sensible one here. What do you do next to Ghislaine?”
“I… I’m the Grand Duke’s… maid.”
Vanessa couldn’t bring herself to say she was the Grand Duke’s exclusive mage.
How could she explain being the Grand Duke’s mage when she couldn’t even cast a first-circle spell properly?
However, Homern frowned and clicked his tongue at her answer coming from her conscience.
“There are too many maids in the castle, and there’s no way… right, there aren’t many girls who want to serve the Grand Duke.”
“……”
When Vanessa didn’t respond, Homern pressed on, “So, did the Grand Duke give you any special hints? If you know anything, speak up.”
“I… I…”
Ghislaine always said something to her.
—You are the key to victory. Because you’re here, I will surely win this war.
“I have… the promised victory…”
“What?”
Vanessa couldn’t continue and clamped her mouth shut.
How could she say such an embarrassing thing?!
So she cut it all out and only stated what she could.
“The Grand Duke said he would definitely win this war.”
“Winning, you say… Someone like that ran off in a hurry? With all the runestones?”
“He’s not that kind of person!”
“Hey! How dare you speak so insolently in front of the Lord! Ugh, they’re all the same type of folks.”
Homern scowled as though to say ‘of course.’
After all, they were all the ones Ghislaine had abandoned, so there wouldn’t be much to gain from them.
At that moment, an absurd thought flashed through Alfoy’s mind.
He raised his hand slightly and said, “Could it be that…?”
But Zvalter interrupted him.
“Enough. They seem clueless, so let’s have them leave for now.”
Alfoy clicked his tongue and left with the wizards.
He had no obligation to share information with those who didn’t want to hear it.
Vanessa fumbled in place, bowing repeatedly as she turned to go.
Watching them leave, Zvalter let out a heavy sigh.
“Ghislaine, now that you’ve run away, do whatever it takes to survive.”
*
On a low hill, among dense trees, Ghislaine and the mercenaries stood in formation.
Everyone was prepared to charge at a moment’s notice.
Unlike the tense mercenaries, Ghislaine wore a remarkably relaxed expression.
Belinda, concerned for Ghislaine, asked, “Young Master, wouldn’t it be better to fight together in the castle to minimize losses? Isn’t it too dangerous?”
“It’s fine. It’s just a supply unit. We need to neutralize them first. Only then can we hold out in the castle.”
“But they outnumber us by more than two to one… If we’re not careful, it could spell disaster.”
“That may be true. But those guys, given their overwhelming superiority, probably don’t think we’d dare attack.”
The key to preventing an ambush is recognizing that there’s a chance one could be ambushed.
But Ghislaine was confident the enemy wouldn’t see it that way.
“They probably think we’re holed up in the castle. They’ll underestimate us, thinking we’re just cowering in fear.”
“Hmm, that might be the case, but…”
“If the ambush fails, their already small numbers will dwindle even further, so they won’t be able to afford to make a reckless attempt.”
“That’s a fair point. But what if it fails?”
“It won’t fail. An ambush works best in situations like this—when they think we’re an easy target.”
In truth, even if the ambush failed, it wouldn’t matter to Belinda.
She was simply worried Ghislaine, experiencing war for the first time, might get hurt for no reason.
Ghislaine chuckled coldly and continued, “Initially, the main force won’t even be concerned about the supply unit. They won’t care if it disappears.”
“Why’s that?”
“They’ll just want to get rid of us quickly. They’ve brought siege equipment, after all. The supply unit is probably just some ragtag group put together by Digald. They won’t be prepared for an ambush.”
In the first place, 6,000 troops were not a level Digald could muster on his own.
He must have received reinforcements, and those troops would undoubtedly be concentrated with the main force.
So the supply unit would have had to operate with only Digald’s forces.
“Well, still, you’ve arrived just in time.”
In the distance, Digald’s follow-up supply unit was setting up camp.
Ghislaine had led the mercenaries on a wide detour around Perdium and had been galloping nonstop for a day.
Once he spotted Digald’s supply unit, he began to slowly close the distance.
While the distance had widened slightly to prioritize ambushing, they could easily catch up once they started galloping.
As night deepened, only torches flickered in the enemy encampment.
With over a thousand soldiers, the number of tents and torches was formidable.
Ghislaine felt confident that the time was right and looked up at the sky.
The moon was obscured by clouds, and no light could be seen in the sky.
“Ah, this weather is perfect for killing.”
At Ghislaine’s words, the mercenaries began to laugh silently.
Occasionally, Ghislaine displayed such nonchalance and uncanny confidence.
Seeing this made the mercenaries ease their tension a bit.
“It’s time to start.”
Belinda tightened the bandages around Ghislaine’s hands and earnestly cautioned him.
“You must be very careful. If it gets dangerous, fall back.”
“Right, don’t worry.”
Ghislaine flexed his hands a few times, then raised one to the side.
Gillian handed him a hefty two-bladed battle axe.
“It feels good and weighty.”
With the axe gripped in one hand, Ghislaine raised his other hand.
“Prepare yourselves.”
As the command fell, the armored mercenaries mounted their horses and raised their spears.
Whirrrrrr!
Even the horses seemed to sense that battle was near, stomping their feet.
Ghislaine opened his mouth.
“No prisoners.”
He slowly extended his hand forward, a cruel smile appearing on his graceful face.
“Kill them all.”
