Episode 11. Rebellion (5)

Baron Enicson’s small territory was a two-day horse ride from Eulstein Castle. After marching for three days on my beloved horse, who I rode with during the jousting match, I could see Enicson’s territory, a small castle with a manor attached. If I had come alone, I would have arrived a day earlier.

The total force consisted of five centurions. They were usually conscripted soldiers who farmed, but with a number of five hundred, they were quite reliable. They were soldiers made up purely of serfs from the County, without having to get them from subordinate vassals. Originally, Baron Enicson would have been quietly captured and his head would have fallen on the execution stand, but this time, would his head fall to my sword first?

As the saying goes, “go around if you’re in a hurry,” so even if I wanted to finish quickly, I couldn’t push the exhausted soldiers straight into war. They are not just simple soldiers, but all the labor force of our territory. If we recklessly ram into the castle, the exchange ratio would be the worst.

In a farmhouse next to an unharvested wheat field, I could see tenant farmers closing their doors and trembling. Had they not been able to enter the lord’s castle? If I recover the land from that Enicson bastard, it will all be the property of the territory, so I have no intention of touching it, but why are they so worried? Just in case, I warned them that looting was strictly prohibited and returned to my barracks.

As I was setting up camp and resting, a group on guard duty came to find me.

“Sir Knight, a letter has been shot here, stuck to an arrow.”

Kkwang-

As the battering ram collided with the castle gate, fragments of wood scattered with a deafening roar. I didn’t think I would actually use this when I brought it.

The iron grating that wrapped around the gate in a crisscross pattern twisted strangely. The lumps of metal that had been covering the gate were twisting their heads and moving out of place due to the exertion of enormous physical force, and the trees, which were not as flexible, jumped out as they were, revealing the shabby interior of the castle as it was.

However, it cannot be penetrated with just one battering ram. A castle gate is something that can only be penetrated by continuing to ram it as if you were shaking your hips.

“Everyone, ram it!”

At my shout, the soldiers who had pulled the battering ram back began to run again. I also joined forces and pushed the battering ram with all my might. Since the acceleration distance is much shorter, we have to ram it much faster and harder.

Kkwajik-

The door, which had been weakened by one collision, shattered into pieces and moved out of the way on the second collision. Was the gate weak, or was my strength stronger?

It doesn’t matter now. Just clear the interior as quickly as possible.

Holding an ax, I cleared away the pieces of the gate and entered as the vanguard. All the archers are on the ramparts, and only the soldiers with spears are at a loss.

“I, Edward, have come to capture the traitor Enicson! Anyone who has not participated in the rebellion is a resident of the County, so I will not hold them responsible!”

I said it outside the castle, but it seems to be more effective when I say it directly in front of their eyes. I can feel the conscripted soldiers looking at their superiors behind them.

“Don’t talk nonsense! There are only a few of them! Crush them with numbers!”

A guy with feathers on his helmet screams.

“Ugh, ughaa!”

A few soldiers standing in the front run towards me with spears. It seems like they were forced out because they kept pushing from behind. I feel sorry for them, but they have to be made an example. They’re just serfs anyway, so someone will fill the empty space.

Hwik, hwik- Each time I swing my spear, one of them collapses. After clearing about half of them, the guys who were running towards me turn around and run away. What a bunch of pushovers. Looking at the collapsing enemy lines, I shouted again.

“I will consider anyone who blocks my path a traitor!”

After cutting down a few guys, they all turn their backs and run away. What a bunch of wimps.

“We’ll take you on!”

Suddenly, two guys with completely different equipment jumped out. Guys armed with swords and spears run towards me at the same time.

“Traitors! Reveal your identities!”

“You son of a bitch, why do you need to know that when you’re about to die!”

The skill of handling the spear is quite skilled. They don’t seem like guys who came from farming, are they the mercenaries that Baron Enicson’s brother is said to command? They are enduring my powerful attacks by deflecting the force well.

Sswaeaeek-

“Ugh.”

An arrow suddenly flew and grazed my earlobe. The mercenary who had been holding a sword was now aiming a small bow. What a cowardly bastard.

I fought close to the other guy so that he couldn’t shoot the arrow comfortably, but they seemed used to this situation and accurately aimed arrows only at me from within. Perhaps because there is a basic distance in the spear-to-spear fight, they shoot skillfully. If this drags on, the loss of troops will increase…

I parry the spear while dodging the arrows. After acting defensively while they shot a few arrows, the guys became complacent as if they had already won. They are full of momentum as if they have seized the victory. I dodge the arrow that is flying straight at me. I was aiming for this moment.

I push the spearman away with great force. The spearman was flustered and pushed back by the unexpected force, and the archer hurriedly drew his bow as if it was a good opportunity.

It’s exactly the situation I’ve been waiting for.

I threw the spear I was holding at the guy holding the bow with all my might. The posture wasn’t right, but perhaps because of my inherently strong grip, the spear flew straight. The arrow, which was fired a little late, and the spear intersect.

Peok-

The arrow hit my left arm. It hurts like hell. I couldn’t avoid it because I threw the spear, so I blocked it with the armor on my left forearm, but it pierced through it and hit my skin.

Still, there is a gain. I can see the archer guy pierced by the spear in front of me. It seems like I gained a lot by exchanging one hit each.

“He doesn’t have a weapon! Charge!”

He doesn’t have a weapon? I took out the ax I used to break through the gate earlier. I can already see that the edge is chipped from splitting the wood that doesn’t suit my personality. Now it’s time to split heads instead of wood. When my arm length and the two-handed ax in my hand are combined, it seems to have the range of a short spear.

I split the mercenary guy who was charging as if to avenge his comrade in half with the spear. I jump into the trembling enemy and swing the ax like crazy.

“I will not cut down those who show their backs!”

At my shout, the soldiers who were being slaughtered like sheep turn their backs and run away.

“Damn it, don’t run away! Fight back! Don’t run away!”

The commander who had been encouraging the soldiers until just now tries to stop them, but the commander himself is hesitating and retreating. There’s no way he can control the soldiers in that state.

As I charge forward and create space, my allies pour in like a flood over the now wide-open gate. Well-trained elite soldiers quickly begin to occupy the ramparts and the castle.

In order to finish as quickly as possible, I looked for the guy with the feathered helmet from earlier.

The capture of Baron Enicson’s territory was simpler than expected. Bringing troops, breaking down the castle gate, and capturing Baron Enicson himself. Originally, a siege would not have been this easy, but thanks to the fact that the castle was not that big because he was a baron, and that I played an almost weapon-like role, it was easy to eat like a cake. How many barbarian bastards did I split in half? Compared to those guys, it felt like twisting a baby’s wrist.

‘Still, the losses are great.’

The damage was less than in a typical siege, but the damage was clear. Moreover, since I did not borrow the power of my vassals and they were all pure soldiers of the County, they were all painful losses.

As I was forgetting the throbbing pain in my arm by smoking a cigarette, the person I was supposed to meet came to find me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir Edward.”

“…Uh, it’s nice to meet you too. What should I call you?”

“You can call me Enicson Young Lady. I’m an old maid who hasn’t gotten married even at this age.”

Enicson Young Lady, the younger sister of Baron Enicson. She resembles Baron Enicson, but perhaps because she is not particularly beautiful, she has not been able to marry even in her mid-twenties. Perhaps she was left behind to make connections with a Count Family after taking the barony.

“First of all, I am grateful for Enicson Young Lady’s cooperation, but there is nothing I, a mere knight, can promise you. At best, I can keep your heads attached until the Lord-nim comes.”

“I expected that much.”

A short answer followed by silence. She is an unfathomable woman.

What appeared before my eyes after breaking through the gate was not the baron’s personal guard who were prepared to die, or the mercenary group led by the baron’s brother, but Enicson Young Lady, who was waiting while offering Baron Enicson, who was being restrained. While I was breaking through the gate, she took a knight who had not really approved of the rebellion in the first place and captured Baron Enicson.

“Everything is the fault of my foolish brother. Please have mercy on the innocent residents and vassals of the territory.”

I can’t chop off the head of a woman who kneels down saying this. I thought I could easily occupy and move on, but a problem that requires complicated judgment has come up, so my head hurts. In the end, I passed the decision-making power to my superior. I called Monica, the lord who has the right to judge within the territory, who is delegating that authority. It would be troublesome if I tried to handle it on my own and ended up taking responsibility.

“Of course, I will report all of your achievements to the Lord-nim without exception, so you don’t have to worry too much. I’m not the kind of person who messes around with things like this.”

“It’s not that kind of problem, I came to build a personal relationship with Sir Knight.”

Enicson Baron… no, Enicson Young Lady, approaching while loosening her sleeves. They look so similar that I almost got confused. Her face is full of confidence, it seems like she has succeeded before. Could it be that the knight who captured Baron Enicson…?

“It would be better to stay quiet until the Lord-nim comes, instead of doing useless tricks.”

Even though I’ve been pent up for a few days because of the expedition, I don’t feel like doing anything when I’m being seduced by a face like that.

Ah. I miss Vera.