Episode 66: I have no choice but to change the board myself. (2)
While all his men were busy preparing for war, Randolph was thinking about how to devise tactics.
“The only answer is to charge. Use as much force as possible to penetrate deep into the center. Then, if you cause chaos, the enemy’s ranks will collapse.”
In fact, the Ferdium army often gained considerable advantage by charging while fighting in the north.
“What could be difficult? It’s something that can be done by beating up my brother and I! Yes, that’ll work.”
It was something that Zwalter and Randolph could say, since they were high-level knights who were considered superior.
Of course, there must have been strong knights on the other side, but Randolph tried hard to erase that fact from his mind.
There weren’t many tactics that Ferdium could take since his forces were inferior anyway. The only way was to charge, and charge at once.
Although Zwalter had usually been in charge of commanding the battlefield, Randolph was confident that this time his plan would be adopted.
“Where would be the most appropriate battlefield? I’ll have to discuss this with my brother. As for the formation… … .”
Randolph was pondering over the formation and organization of his troops when he suddenly thought of the mercenaries led by Giselle.
“Still, it’s fortunate that the Archduke is leading the mercenaries.”
In a situation where even a single soldier was precious, the mercenaries led by the Archduke were quite a powerful force.
Even if we scrape together the conscripts, their numbers are small and their fighting power is minimal.
In the midst of all this, there were hundreds of mercenaries with strong personal powers, so it was like rain in a drought.
“No, we shouldn’t waste those good troops. We should take command and put them all in the assault unit.”
It was impossible to have a young prince with no combat experience commanding high-level troops.
The Archduke must go to war as a knight, and all mercenaries must be placed under the command of the Commander-in-Chief.
“This time, he really needs to listen. If he doesn’t, I’ll have to tell him to punish him for disobeying orders.”
Randolph walked quickly to find Giselle.
No matter how much of a self-willed scoundrel he is, he cannot be stubborn when his territory is in jeopardy.
I searched around in a hurry to somehow steal the mercenaries back, but Giselle was nowhere to be seen.
“Huh? Where are you? Are you at the garrison?”
Randolph immediately rode out the north gate.
When I arrived at the mercenary camp and looked around, I suddenly felt uneasy.
Only the occasional porter passed by, and not a single mercenary hair was visible.
The only troops left in the garrison were the captain of the guard, Skoban, his adjutant Ricardo, and a few soldiers.
“Hey, mercenaries? Where is the Archduke?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know!”
“Oh, you came all of a sudden and took everyone away.”
Skoban, the captain of the forest guard of the Demonic Forest, answered with a troubled expression.
Because he himself doesn’t know where the Archduke led his mercenaries.
“Ugh, this kid, really?”
Randolph returned to the castle in a hurry and looked for Belinda.
“Belinda! Where is Belinda!”
Belinda was always by Giselle’s side. She must have known where Giselle was.
But there was no one in sight in the castle. Neither Belinda, nor the big guy who always accompanied Giselle, nor the guy who always made trouble.
Only then did Randolph realize the situation and collapsed.
“This is a dog!
Somehow, I felt uneasy when I started behaving quietly, which didn’t suit my personality.
No matter what, it’s still like that, how could someone like the Grand Duke of Yeongji run away so easily!
My father and his men are preparing for a desperate fight, risking their lives. What kind of disgrace is this!
“Inom! I will catch you and put you in jail!”
An enraged Randolph ordered his soldiers to find the remaining men and then went to find Zwalter.
As soon as his vassals gathered, Randolph became furious that the Archduke had fled.
The already gloomy atmosphere became even more depressed.
“Giselle… … ran away?”
Zwalter asked back in disbelief.
“Yes! He ran away with his entire gang!”
Randolph was jumping around and screaming with a fever.
Homer stopped Randolph and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Maybe he just went out for a reconnaissance?”
“If you go out on a reconnaissance mission, are you going to take all those people and disappear?”
Then Albert shouted urgently as if something had occurred to him.
“Lu, Runestone! Didn’t you dig up another Runestone a while ago? Let’s check to see if it’s still there! If it’s still there, it probably didn’t escape.”
Homer also nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, that’s right. There’s no way he’d run away without taking the money. Hurry up and check!”
After a while, the soldiers came back and checked Jiselle’s personal storage facility in the territory and said.
“The warehouse… is empty.”
Everyone’s faces hardened with seriousness.
It’s an unbelievable situation, but considering how Jiselle has been so far, it’s entirely possible.
One of the men said hesitantly.
“Come to think of it, mercenaries have been coming and going from the Archduke’s warehouse for some time now. They probably couldn’t have moved that many runestones all of a sudden. It seems like they… … stole them in advance.”
Other testimonies also came out one after another.
“There was a time when they forced soldiers to leave the city gates to guard them at night. I think they did it to hide the fact that they were stealing runestones.”
“I never would have thought the Archduke would harbor such thoughts. It suits him, but… … .”
As the testimonies of the vassals continued, Zwalter closed his eyes and placed his hand on his temple.
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‘So you were really that kind of a person in the end? You idiot. If you throw away your honor, then you’re not really alive… … Are you saying you have no pride at all?’
Why else would a noble be a noble?
The more honor and benefits you gain, the heavier the responsibility you bear.
A nobleman who does not take responsibility is worse than a slave.
‘It’s over before we even start fighting.’
If it were known that the Archduke had fled before the war, the morale of the soldiers would hit rock bottom.
Because it is the same as testifying that you cannot win.
How can we win a war by leading such soldiers when we are already at a disadvantage? No one will be willing to risk their lives to fight.
‘You must have survived dirty and kept the family line alive. If that’s the case, why didn’t you take your younger sibling with you?’
If you were going to survive by throwing away your honor anyway, it would have been better to run away with your younger sibling.
He was a selfish man who only cared about himself until the end.
As Zwalter was gnashing his teeth, there was a commotion in front of the battlefield and someone was dragged in.
“Let go! Do you know who I am and dare to!”
Those who were brought in were Alfoy, the wizards, and Vanessa.
Randolph saw them and approached them, gritting his teeth.
“That’s right, there were some people who were left behind because they ran away in a hurry.”
“Wait, wait a minute.”
Homer urgently stopped Randolph.
It was obvious that if we started with our fists as we were used to, we wouldn’t be able to have a proper conversation.
Homer approached Alfoy and asked.
“You guys! Do you know where the Archduke went?”
Alpoy also became irritated and shouted when he was suddenly questioned.
“Ah! Why is this damn territory like this! Do you know who I am and treat me like this?”
“Who are you? Aren’t you just a mercenary?”
Alfoy shouted loudly, glaring at Homer, who was looking down at him as if he was being unreasonable.
“I am the best in the North… … .”
Alpoy shut his mouth tightly after saying that much and feeling sorry.
“I… … I… … .”
I was so frustrated with having to keep a secret.
Alfoy stuttered a few times and then shouted again in annoyance.
“You don’t need to know who I am!”
All the vassals, including Zwalter, looked at each other with contempt.
‘Tsk tsk, there really isn’t a single decent person around that guy.’
Homer shook his head and asked Alfoy again.
“We don’t care who you are. Do you know where the Archduke ran off to?”
“What, what? He ran away?”
“Yes, when the war broke out, he got scared and ran away. Did he give you a warning?”
Homer asked without much expectation.
If he was an important friend to me enough to tell me where to go, I wouldn’t have left him like this.
Alpoy looked around in bewilderment.
Judging from the expressions on the lord’s and vassals’ faces, it seemed as though Jiselle had really disappeared.
‘He ran away? He tore down the magic tower and brought us here, and then ran away?’
Alpoy gnashed his teeth and tilted his head in anger.
‘Did you really run away?’
Alpoy may not know much about the world, but he is not stupid.
Judging from Jiselle’s actions so far, he was not the type of person to run away in fear of war.
If you went out to install it without knowing that your life was at stake, then you wouldn’t know.
“Ha! You are from the same territory, yet you still don’t know him? He’s not the type to run away. He’s crazy and lives only for today!”
The servants frowned as Alpoy laughed loudly.
Ferdium’s vassals have been watching Giselle’s pitiful appearance for a long time.
That’s why I couldn’t help but look at Giselle with prejudice.
But Alpoy wasn’t like that. Maybe it was a different kind of prejudice.
Homer thought it would be useless to ask the taste-deprived man, so he approached Vanessa.
“Are you a mercenary too? I heard that the Grand Duke took you to the training ground every day. He said he took good care of you.”
Vanessa swallowed nervously and bowed deeply.
“I greet you, my lord and the general.”
Homer was slightly surprised by her polite attitude.
Because it was the first time I had seen such a normal person among the people around the Grand Duke.
“Ahem, you are somewhat human. So, what do you do next to Giselle?”
“I, I am Confucius’s… … maid.”
Vanessa couldn’t bring herself to say that she was Giselle’s exclusive magician.
How can you make people think you’re a full-time magician when you can’t even use 1st circle magic properly?
But Homer frowned and clicked his tongue at the answer that came from his conscience.
“How many maids work in the castle? And… … Well, there are quite a few who want to serve the Archduke.”
“… … .”
When Vanessa didn’t say anything, Homer asked urgently.
“Yes, did the Archduke give you anything in return? If you know anything, tell me.”
“I, I… … .”
There’s something Giselle always says to herself.
―You are the key to victory. With you, I will definitely win the war.
“I, I am the one promised victory… … .”
“what?”
Vanessa couldn’t bring herself to continue speaking and closed her mouth.
How could I possibly say such embarrassing lines with my own mouth!
So I cut everything out and only said the parts that I could talk about.
“Confucius said that he would definitely win this war.”
“What do you mean by victory… ? That guy just ran away so quickly? And he even took all the runestones with him?”
“Confucius is not that kind of person!”
“Oh my! How dare you speak so loudly in front of your lord! Aww, they are all the same.”
Homer frowned and turned away as if to say, ‘Well then, that’s right.’
Since they were the ones that Jiselle had abandoned anyway, there was nothing to gain by beating them up.
At that moment, an absurd thought crossed Alfoy’s mind.
He said, raising his hand slightly.
“By any chance that guy… … .”
But Zwalter cut him off.
“Alright. They don’t seem to know anything, so send them back.”
Alfoy clicked his tongue and retreated with the wizards.
I had no reason to tell you since you didn’t want to hear it.
Vanessa didn’t know what to do, so she kept nodding and saying hello before turning around.
Zwalter exhaled deeply as he looked at them.
‘Giselle, since you’ve already run away, somehow survive.’
* * *
On a low hill, between the dense trees, Giselle and the mercenaries stood in line.
Everyone was ready to ride out on horseback at any moment.
Unlike the nervous mercenaries, Jiselle had a rather relaxed expression.
Belinda asked Giselle worriedly.
“Your Majesty, wouldn’t it be better to fight together in the castle to avoid even the slightest casualty? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
“It’s okay. It’s just a supply unit. We have to cut that off first. Then we can hold out in the castle.”
“But the number is more than double ours… … If we prepare, we’ll be in trouble.”
“That may be true. But those guys, their power is so overwhelming that they wouldn’t even think of attacking us, right?”
The most important thing in preventing a surprise attack is to recognize that there is a possibility of being surprised.
But Giselle was confident that her enemies would not do so.
“They probably think we’re holed up in the castle. They’ll think we’re shivering and laughing.”
“Um, that’s true, but… … .”
“I’m sure they won’t try it rashly because if the surprise attack fails, their already small force will be further reduced.”
“Isn’t that right? What if I fail?”
“Don’t fail. This is when surprise attacks work. When they make fun of us.”
Belinda actually didn’t care if the raid failed.
She was just worried that Giselle, who was experiencing war for the first time, might get hurt for no reason.
Jiselle continued with a cool smile.
“The main force probably doesn’t care about the supply unit at all. Whether it disappears or not.”
“Yes? Why?”
“They’re probably just thinking about getting rid of us quickly. They brought siege weapons. The supply force is probably just a ragtag bunch of Digald’s men. They can’t possibly prepare for a surprise attack.”
In the first place, 6,000 men was not the number of troops Digald could assemble.
They must have received reinforcements, and those troops must have gathered around the main force.
So, the supply unit will have to be operated by Digald’s troops.
“Anyway, you came right on time.”
In the distance, Digald’s follow-up supply unit could be seen setting up camp.
Jisel led the mercenaries on a long detour around the outskirts of Ferdium, running nonstop for a day.
Then, after discovering Digald’s supply unit, they slowly reduced the distance.
The distance was somewhat wide because they were prioritizing an ambush, but it was still a distance they could quickly catch up to if they were on horseback.
As the night deepened, only torches flickered in the enemy camp.
As the number of soldiers exceeded a thousand, the number of barracks and torches was also considerable.
Jiselle, convinced that the time had come, looked up at the sky.
Even the moon was covered by clouds, and not a single ray of light could be seen in the sky.
“Oh, this is the perfect weather for killing people.”
At Jiselle’s words, the mercenaries began to laugh silently.
Sometimes, Jiselle would show this kind of composure and strange confidence.
Seeing that sight, the mercenaries also relaxed somewhat.
“Let’s start slowly.”
Belinda wrapped the bandage tightly around Giselle’s hand and urged her.
“You really have to be careful. If it’s dangerous, fall back.”
“Okay, don’t worry.”
Jiselle opened and closed her bandaged hands several times and then extended her right hand to the side.
Gillian handed me a large, double-edged battle axe.
“It’s nice because it’s heavy.”
Giselle, holding a double-edged axe in one hand, raised her other hand.
“Get ready.”
As soon as the order was given, heavily armored mercenaries mounted their horses and raised their spears.
Purruk!
The horses also felt that the battle was drawing near and began to stomp their feet little by little.
Jiselle opened her mouth.
“No prisoners needed.”
He slowly stretched his hand forward. A cruel smile appeared on his handsome face.
“Kill them all.”
