Episode 69 I have no choice but to change the board myself. (5)
“Profit! Annihilation! What happened to the supply unit!”
Inside the magnificent barracks, Count Thamos Digald was raging with rage.
Already Perdium had given up on spinning and was locked in the castle.
Eventually, they had to launch a siege, but without a supply unit, they couldn’t afford to delay for long.
“You stupid Fabro bastard! I shouldn’t have entrusted the unit to that bastard! Are you saying we’re going to be ambushed by a mere Ferdium!”
Fabreaux led the largest faction among Digald’s vassals.
So, even though he was a really bad guy, I had no choice but to entrust him with the supply unit, but I didn’t know he would make such a big mistake.
No, I never imagined a surprise attack by Ferdium in the first place.
“How on earth did those guys have the ability to launch a surprise attack!”
It is common sense that the lower the power, the more difficult it is to implement such a bold strategy.
Because the risk of failure is too great.
Any commander with common sense would not have tried it.
‘Ugh, damn it! If we keep going like this, even if we win, we won’t have enough troops to manage the occupied territory?’
The supply unit was made up entirely of Digald’s troops, so the blow was severe.
Trying to save as much as possible by moving it to the rear ended up being the worst possible solution.
“Calm down, Count.”
Next to Thamos sat a large, cold-looking man with his arms crossed.
His name is Victor.
He was a talented person who had been raised with great care by Count Desmond.
“How can you be so sure? Most of the rocks for the catapults were moved by the supply unit. There aren’t many here.”
“That’s a bit unfortunate, but we only need to destroy one or two parts of the wall anyway. The siege towers and the main force are still intact, so there’s no problem.”
“Well, wouldn’t it be difficult if it takes a long time? We only have enough food for a few days.”
Thamos had a vague fear of the siege.
Since I had no experience in war, things like tactics and strategy did not even enter my head.
“I originally planned to end it all at once. Ferdium wasn’t ready to take over.”
“Hmm, how do you know that?”
Thamos looked puzzled. Victor answered with a sneer on his face.
“It’s a product of experience. Just know that it will be over quickly, so you don’t have to worry at all.”
“Ahem, well then I’m fine with it. Hehehe.”
Anyway, our forces are overwhelmingly superior. Whether we engage them and wipe them out or lay siege, it will be easy.
Thamos laughed, but cursed inwardly.
‘You cheeky bastard. How can you speak to me, a count, like that? You’re just a knight and a swindler.’
As my conversation with Victor continued, my dissatisfaction grew, but I couldn’t show it.
In reality, it was Victor, not Thamos, who commanded the main force.
“Ahem, then can you finish it before Count Rogers arrives with support?”
“They won’t come.”
On the way from Ferdium to the Loges estate, Amelia was already setting up camp.
“Haha, Count Desmond prepared carefully. Stupid Ferdium, you should have gone to another lord as soon as you got the runestone.”
Thamos continued with a grin.
“Still, since I was able to step on it like this before Ferdium grew any bigger, Gilmore’s death wasn’t in vain. He was a troublemaker, but he was still a filial son in the end. Wow, what a tough guy.”
It was a good thing Gilmore was dead. We could have another child.
The important thing was that once this war was over, he could become a great lord.
‘It’s a shame to have to divide the Demon Forest in half… …but there’s nothing we can do about it now.’
In exchange for lending his troops, Desmond demanded half of the rights to clear the forest of the Demons.
Since the power of Digald Territory alone was not enough to attack Ferdium, Thamos reluctantly accepted.
Of course, after obtaining the runestone and becoming wealthy, he planned to somehow drive out Desmond.
Tamos, who was smiling while imagining the future, said quietly.
“Ahem, but if it’s like this… … . I don’t know if we’ll be able to properly stabilize Ferdium since our troops are insufficient. Even if we conscript right away, it’ll take time… … .”
“After the occupation, I will lend you some troops.”
“Haha, thank you. I will definitely repay the favor to Count Desmond.”
Only then did Thamos seem relieved and smiled happily again.
Victor smiled back at him, hiding his murderous eyes.
‘You pathetic bastard. As soon as we take over Ferdium, you too will die.’
Thamos was to be treated as having tragically died during the war.
In that case, the only one left is Tamos’ second son, who became the successor to the Digald estate.
It will be up to Count Desmond to decide what to do with him.
‘It’s a good thing the supply unit was annihilated.’
They were troops that were going to be wiped out anyway, but since Perdium had already eliminated them, it was like blowing their nose without doing anything.
‘Still, it’s unexpected. Could it be Randolph? Or maybe Zwalter? Well, it doesn’t matter which one. They’re all going to die anyway.’
Victor stopped his thoughts and stood up.
“I’ll be going now. We’ll be arriving at Perdium soon, so get ready.”
“Ahem, I see.”
Victor came out of the barracks and slowly scanned the camp.
Each and every one of the 6,000 strong troops were elite soldiers who were not left out anywhere.
There were also incredibly expensive siege towers that were difficult to even see in small fiefdoms.
“At this rate, we could wipe out Leipold in one fell swoop.”
It was a great force that even Leipold, one of the great lords of the North, could look up to.
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In fact, Ferdium and the like were not even on his radar.
It was something that could be dealt with lightly, like having a cup of tea after a meal, and then returned home.
No matter how hard Ferdium struggles, he will not be able to escape his already predetermined fate.
“And so another family is destroyed.”
Victor muttered without much emotion.
The fact that Count Desmond had sent him meant that he was to definitely and completely kill the enemy.
He was more than capable of doing so.
Because he was the greatest knight in the North.
* * *
“I caught you again.”
Bernap stood before Amelia, bowed his head, and reported.
Amelia sat under the tent with a dull expression on her face.
“How many people have there been so far?”
“There are five people.”
“Guard all the other places as well. Don’t miss a single one.”
“All right.”
“I’m so bored I could die.”
Amelia was blocking all the routes to the Loges territory and was beating down Ferdium’s soldiers.
I reluctantly moved at the request of Count Desmond, but it was quite humiliating to waste time coming all the way here just to catch a messenger.
Even if I just stayed still, I felt like I was starting to get annoyed.
“Meow.”
Bastet also yawned repeatedly in her arms, perhaps because she was bored.
Bernap lowered his head with a gloomy expression.
‘Ah, I want to play next to you too.’
Next to Amelia, maids were waving fans. Fruits of various kinds were placed within arm’s reach.
Even if you say you’re catching a messenger, he’s just giving orders and playing around like he’s on a picnic.
After a while, soldiers brought in the body of another messenger.
Amelia muttered in annoyance at the sight.
“Ha, why did you send so many? Count Ferdium is secretly persistent.”
I understand that the territory is in danger of collapse, but it is just a meaningless struggle.
“If you don’t like it, you should know how to give up like a man. Anyway, there’s no difference between a son and a father. Tsk tsk.”
Amelia also already knew that war had broken out.
It was a bit of a shame for her. She wanted to cut off Giselle’s head herself.
“It’s a waste to waste the rune stone. If Count Desmond sits on it, it won’t be easy to steal it back.”
The most regrettable thing was the rune stone.
But her forces were still unable to defeat Count Desmond.
“Well, I guess I can just steal it later when I get the chance.”
She is greedy and persistent, so there is no way she would just give up the rune stone.
As Amelia was enjoying her leisure time planning the future, one of her subordinates ran up to her and shouted.
“Miss! This is urgent news!”
“what?”
Su-ha lowered his head and handed over a letter to the irritated look.
“The Digald supply unit was annihilated?”
Amelia frowned as she read the letter.
“Hmm, you want to stage a sit-in?”
Since they had annihilated the supply force, they seemed to have holed up in the castle waiting for the besiegers to retreat. If they received reinforcements, there was a chance of victory.
But to the person who was trying to kill the messenger to prevent that support from coming, it was just a plan that seemed laughable.
By the time the news reached Count Rogers, everything would already be over.
“You’re risking your life for such a small hope when facing a great army? Are you saying you’ll hold out with your willpower or something?”
It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh.
If it were me, I would move completely differently.
Just abandon Youngjimin and Seong, and withdraw your troops and engage in guerrilla warfare.
If you continue to harass those around you while supplies are cut off, Desmond will have no choice but to back down since he has a lot to lose.
Count Ferdium’s pride in protecting the people of Yeongji until the end seemed extremely ineffective to Amelia.
If we win the war, we can immediately get the people back. The people just have to hold out for a little while.
“You are so weak-hearted. Don’t you know that this will lead more people to death?”
To her, this was no different from just asking everyone to die together.
Amelia hesitated for a moment as she tossed the letter aside.
“Something feels strange? It smells fishy.”
Things with Ferdium, or rather Giselle, never went as planned.
“What does it smell like?”
Amelia ignored the puzzled Bernap and continued speaking after a moment of thought.
“Send more of the kids towards Ferdium. Tell them to come running as soon as the war results come out. And make sure to check how it goes.”
“I don’t think you really need to worry about it. With that much of a difference in forces, it would be difficult to not win.”
Then she looked back at Bernap with an irritated look.
“Send it. Something seems strange.”
“……All right.”
A strange feeling kept tickling the back of her neck.
‘There’s no way that guy, Jisel, would stay still. He just follows the usual strategy and does whatever others tell him to do? No way.’
Amelia was robbed of 20,000 gold, and an assassination attempt was also made, but failed.
They tried to narrow down Giselle’s position by using the discontinuation of support for Ferdium as an excuse, but that also fell through.
Regardless of her dislike of Giselle, she wasn’t foolish enough to ignore the facts she had learned through experience.
‘If it were him, he’d probably do something unimaginable.’
An ominous feeling kept stabbing the back of my head.
Amelia shook her head, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling.
“Anyway, let’s proceed quickly. Just in case, send several people to watch.”
Bernap nodded.
“Still, it’s quite a bold move to make a surprise attack and cut off their supply line. Isn’t that usually bold?”
“I know.”
Amelia answered indifferently, but Bernap felt elated at her acceptance of his words and continued speaking.
“I guess it was Count Ferdium who did it? Or maybe it was Knight Commander Randolph? The two of them may have gone together.”
Then Amelia burst out laughing.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Do you really think those two did it?”
“No? Isn’t there no one else who can do it besides those two?”
Amelia snorted.
“Randolph is certainly brave and reckless, but he can only swing his sword on the battlefield. He doesn’t have the brains to even think about making a surprise attack and cutting off their supply lines. Even if he tried, it would be foolish. He might get caught and fail.”
“Then Count Ferdium?”
“Count Ferdium is a pretty good commander, but… … he’s not the type to gamble with the lives of his soldiers. That’s why he was able to defend the northern fortress for so long.”
“Then who did it? Surely not… … .”
It was fortunate that the surprise attack was successful, but objectively speaking, it was a ridiculous gamble.
And there happens to be a crazy guy in Perdium who doesn’t hesitate to do such things.
Amelia said coolly, one corner of her mouth turning up.
“Yeah. It’s definitely Giselle, that bastard.”
