Episode 188 It’s time to show our strength. (2)
Unlike other people, Giselle had no intention of just wasting time.
It would have been nice if we could have dragged the fight out and won easily, but that wasn’t possible right now.
It is true that Jiselle was waiting for a time of drought, but she was only waiting to get what she needed easily and to set up a situation that would make it difficult for the Duke and the Prince faction to move openly.
Now it was important to capture that castle as quickly as possible.
‘The Marquis of Branford will block the Duke’s movements.’
He was appointed as a guardian in preparation for such a situation. The Marquis of Branford, who is concerned about his influence in the North, will try to protect Fenris in any way possible.
What remained was the Duke’s movements. They would also be burdened by the civil war right now, so it was obvious that they would try to move Earl Desmond.
‘Before that, I have to occupy this place first.’
They are arresting all the messengers who try to escape Cavaldi Castle by blocking the way, but there is no way that Count Desmond will not hear the news.
Count Desmond is cautious, but he is not stupid enough to spare himself in such a situation.
‘Despite the Duke’s orders, Earl Desmond will definitely move.’
Losing this place would be a huge loss for Desmond as he regroups.
That is why, no matter how difficult the drought situation is, we have no choice but to move.
‘Count Cavaldi must be keeping quiet because he knows that too.’
The enemies are running low on food. Rather than starve to death anyway, it is better to try to strike quickly.
And yet, the fact that there is no movement is because we are confident that support will come.
Although the current situation is clearly advantageous for Jiselle, that advantage will not last forever.
‘You must always be one step ahead of your enemy.’
The time had come and preparations had been made. Now it was time to quickly take over the castle.
Of course, Giselle had no intention of sieging the castle. Not only were there no siege weapons, but most of the soldiers were infantry. There were quite a few knights, but they were half-baked.
If you try to capture the wall in this state, you will inevitably suffer great damage.
It was foolish to wage a siege before acquiring overwhelming weapons and troops. Isn’t that why they didn’t bring siege weapons in the first place?
Damage should always be minimized so that you can quickly become stronger.
“I have received intelligence that another lord is preparing to aid Count Cavaldi. We must capture the castle before that happens.”
The people were very disappointed by Jiselle’s words and started digging a tunnel.
I understood why they were tunneling. They didn’t have any siege weapons, so there was no other way.
I don’t know who sent reinforcements, but they’re causing us unnecessary trouble.
The dwarves also realized why Giselle had brought them here. Dwarves were experts at digging tunnels.
For them, who could dig through solid rock and even create underground cities, digging tunnels was a very easy task.
“Ah! I was just getting some rest, but here comes work! More work! There’s no end to the work in this damn territory!”
Galvarik grumbled and began designing the tunnel with the dwarves.
There are two ways to attack a castle through tunnels.
One way is to dig under the enemy’s castle walls and collapse them, and the other is to infiltrate the castle through a tunnel.
Both are equally risky, but the latter has a much higher chance of success.
If you break down the walls, you will eventually have to fight an all-out battle with the enemy, but if you infiltrate the castle, you can launch a surprise attack from behind.
“I will dig as carefully as possible so that my infiltration is not detected.”
Giselle shook her head at Galvarik’s words.
“No, it’s okay if it’s a little noisy, but speed is the top priority.”
“If I get caught like that, I’ll fail. Are you okay with that?”
“It’s okay, just dig as far behind the enemy as possible. Right now, the most important thing is to quickly make a path before reinforcements arrive.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll try to get through it as quickly as possible.”
If you aim for the back of the castle, it’s quite a distance away, but it’s not a big problem.
Solid ground? The wizards and knights can just dig it out. Digging up the earth and setting up supports? With thousands of soldiers, it wouldn’t be difficult if we pushed forward with numbers.
As the dwarves took command of the work, the tunnels began to be created at an incredible rate.
Since everyone knew that they didn’t have much time, they devoted themselves to their work even though it was difficult.
But there are always people who complain.
“Ah! Why was I dragged here! To do such dirty and vulgar work! Ugh! It’s dirty! Why is there so much dust! My nose is blocked!”
Kane, who was forcibly conscripted, cursed incessantly and dug with a pickaxe.
Growing up as a child of a noble family, I was forced to do difficult work that I had never done before, and I naturally became angry.
But I didn’t have the courage to run away. This time, I was dragged here and had been educated(?) for a long time, so my fear of Jiselle grew even more.
I couldn’t even try because I thought that if I ran away and got caught this time, I might really die.
“You damn punk! But he’s still my cousin! At least give him a commanding position! To make him do this kind of work!”
Kane constantly cursed at Giselle while he was working, because he had no other way to vent his frustration.
Even though he was raised that way, he still curses, so it seems he really has a lot of tenacity.
“You son of a bitch! Just wait and see! When I get stronger! I’ll definitely separate your flesh and bones! I’m not the type to do such lowly work! Aaaah! But why are you so good at digging!”
Perhaps because he was born with great strength and size and had mastered his family’s mana cultivation method, Cain was very good at digging the ground.
Galvarik, who was looking at the sight with a satisfied look, clapped his hands and said.
“Hey, Ke over there… What was his name? Anyway, Ke, stop talking nonsense and move this.”
In the place where Galbarak pointed, there were wagons piled high with earthen bags.
When Kane heard that, his eyes rolled back and he shouted.
“What? You want me to move that? Do you know who I am? Do you want to die right here and now?”
Kane couldn’t stand it when even the slave dwarves blatantly ignored him.
But Galvarik asked with an indifferent expression, regardless of whether Kane was angry or not.
“Who are you? The lord said you were a new slave? A strong and sturdy slave.”
The dwarves really didn’t know Kane’s identity, because Giselle had ordered those who knew Kane’s true identity to keep quiet.
Because they need to be treated as slaves so that others can manipulate them as they wish.
But Cain didn’t know the details, so he could only act like a madman.
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“I am a nobleman! I am not someone who does such lowly work like you guys!”
“Oh my, if you’re a noble, then I’m the Elf Queen. Move this quickly, before I bury you here.”
“Eww! I’ll kill you.”
Galvarik snorted as Kane raised his pickaxe and glared at him.
“Huh? Seriously? Tell the lord? Should I ask him to put shackles on my ankles?”
“Ugh, ugh!”
Kane, his face flushed, put down his pickaxe and cried. He was so angry that he couldn’t help but cry.
I felt so sad that I couldn’t even hit and had to suppress my temper.
It was only a thousand gold coins, I should have paid it back even if it meant raiding my parents’ warehouse.
Galvarik approached the crying Kane and tapped his waist. He wanted to put his arm around his shoulder, but he was too tall to reach him.
“Oh, stop! Don’t cry! After work, I’ll share some of the alcohol I’ve hidden away with you at night. A slave knows his own heart.”
“Ugh, ugh… … .”
It really sucks. Still, Kane nodded while crying at the offer of alcohol.
“Okay, so move that quickly. You know the lord’s personality, right? We don’t have time.”
Kane wiped away his tears and worked hard to move the cart. His pride was hurt, but Galvarik was right. If things were delayed for no reason, that ill-tempered Giselle might get in trouble.
While the Fenris Army was busy digging tunnels, Count Cavaldi was troubled by one piece of news.
“Fenris’ army divided into two.”
“what?”
The original location of the Fenris Army was the north of the castle. However, about half of them moved to the east gate.
“Why did he split his forces in two?”
The thought of dividing the enemy’s forces and attacking them individually occurred to Count Cavaldi, but he soon dismissed that idea.
Even if they were split in half, they would still be a whopping 1,500 people. It would be impossible to annihilate such a large army right away, so they could have been attacked in the process.
‘I don’t think they’ll be able to attack both sides without siege weapons… … .’
After thinking for a moment, Count Cavaldi called the estate’s personal magician.
“Can you see what they’re doing? The troops moving east.”
“Isn’t it clearly visible from the wall?”
The wizard tilted his head as if in doubt.
To avoid the catapult attacks from within the castle, the Fenris army set up camp a short distance away.
However, it was a distance from which a knight with good eyesight could easily see the deployment of troops and the number of tents.
Count Cavaldi shook his head and continued speaking.
“No, of course I can see the whole picture. What I want to know is what they are doing. Are they just watching, or what are they doing behind the scenes?”
“Okay, it’s a bit far away so you won’t be able to see it for long, but you should be able to see it in detail for a little while.”
“That’s enough.”
The wizard climbed up the wall and cast a searching spell.
For him, a 3rd circle user, exploration magic was a difficult magic that consumed a lot of magic power. On top of that, he read a lot of books, so his eyesight wasn’t all that good.
Still, it was better than seeing with the naked eye, so the wizard quickly scanned the Fenris army’s formation.
He was staggering, clutching his head, when suddenly he was overwhelmed with information. As soon as he came to his senses, he ran straight to Count Cavaldi.
“It looks like they’re doing some kind of construction.”
“construction?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I can see soldiers moving busily behind me. They had pitched several large tents so I couldn’t see them clearly, but I could see them moving several carts full of dirt and heavy bags.”
Hearing those words, Count Cavaldi unconsciously put his hand on his forehead and laughed.
“I’ve seen this guy somewhere, so it looks like he’s trying to dig a tunnel.”
There aren’t many ways to take a castle without siege weapons.
The most representative method among them is tunneling.
Castles in the north, in particular, were easier to sell because they had no moats, except for a few great estates.
“Hehe, he seems to be worried that the royalist faction might intervene. But you’re being too childish. Who would dig a tunnel so openly? Hahahaha!”
To be effective, tunnels must be dug secretly. If discovered, great damage can be inflicted.
That’s why most of them used it as a diversionary tactic to divert the enemy’s attention to the other side.
However, since Fenris’s army had no siege weapons, their options for strategy were limited. It was an obvious trick.
“As expected, he’s such a worthless guy. He’s acting so clumsily when he tries to fight a war with the food he got by luck. He won the last war with traps, so his father’s skills are clear.”
Count Cavaldi couldn’t stop laughing.
Now, when I look at Jiselle, instead of feeling angry, I find her cute. How can she be so sloppy when she tries to do something clumsily?
“If the military capabilities of this guy are so poor, wouldn’t it be okay to just go out and fight him?”
Count Cavaldi hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. If only the location of the tunnel was known, it would be easy to trap them and kill them.
There was a clear way to reduce the damage, so there was no need to go out and fight.
He quickly gave orders.
“Set up vibration detectors around all the walls and check which direction the enemy is coming from! We will dig traps there and put our troops on standby!”
Bowls and jars filled with water were placed throughout the walls or buried in the ground.
This is because the direction can be determined by detecting the waves of water from the vibrations that occur while digging the ground.
After about three days, the knight came running in a hurry and said.
“I’ve got the direction! It looks like they’re digging a tunnel towards the south gate.”
“What? You already caught him? And not the East Gate, but the South Gate? He came back like that? But why is he digging the tunnel so quickly?”
Considering how ignorant he is, his approach speed is quite fast.
Count Cavaldi clicked his tongue, thinking he knew what Giselle was thinking. It would certainly be most effective if it succeeded.
“It looks like the idiot didn’t try to break down the wall, but sneaked in to attack us. Are you sure he’s coming from the south?”
“That’s for sure. There’s nothing else around that could be influencing it.”
If the vibrations are confirmed, the tunnel will be completed within two or three days. Count Cavaldi quickly stood up and shouted.
“Gather your main force at the target point and wait. The moment the enemy sticks their heads out from under the ground, kill them all. After that, open the gate and attack the confused enemy right away!”
“What should we do about the walls?”
“Well, they don’t have any siege weapons anyway, and most of them are infantry. Even if they approach, it’s obvious they’re just trying to attract attention, but just in case, deploy some defensive troops. They should be able to block it easily with just arrows.”
“All right!”
Count Cavaldi smiled, confident of victory.
No matter how many troops you have, if your commander is poor, they can all be destroyed in a single battle.
The stupid Baron Fenris will lose all his soldiers the moment he enters the tunnel.
“Hehehe, thanks to that kid, my reputation will rise even higher. That’s a really good thing.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I imagined a future where we would turn the odds around and win before any help arrived.
All the nobles would have highly regarded his military prowess, and even the duke would have been unable to hide his admiration.
As the confident Count Cavaldi had predicted, two nights later, the Fenris army began to move.
Count Cavaldi laughed heartily as he watched the Fenris Army approach.
“Hahahaha! Have you seen such an idiot! What are you going to do with him moving so obviously at this time of night!”
Even though the enemy army was approaching, I wasn’t afraid at all. There were no ramps, no ladders, nothing. Even if I came, I would be hit by a hail of arrows and fall down.
Approaching him in the middle of the night without any preparation was clearly intended to attract attention.
“What are the troops at the target point?”
“All deployments are complete.”
“Okay, I’ll go and command it myself. It’s finally time to kill that brat.”
Count Cavaldi laughed loudly and moved towards the target. The knights around him also followed him with leisurely smiles.
When they were laughing and chatting so confidently.
Across the dark night sky, dozens of huge, unidentifiable shadows rose.
