Ch.209That’s Not How You Do It…

Viscount Dubien was said to be a man who had earned some merit by participating in the battle against the Ka’har ten years ago.

After obtaining his viscount title, he had lived quietly in semi-seclusion, but as soon as this civil war broke out, he began gathering soldiers and targeting surrounding territories as if he’d been waiting for this opportunity.

It seemed he had merely been silent because he lacked the opportunity to reveal his ambitions, but inwardly he had been waiting for just such a chance.

The villages we passed through… he had been sweeping through the territory of someone called Viscount Renea with unstoppable momentum, and was now poised for the siege of the lord’s castle…

The troops he had stationed along the route to prepare for possible reinforcements had ended up encountering us.

[So, what do you plan to do now?]

Hersella asked me, her voice full of interest and mockery.

“Sigh…”

A pale puff of smoke carrying my complicated feelings dispersed into the air.

[Such things are of no use now. From the moment you began conversing with me, the distance between us has grown closer.]

‘I know. I just wanted to smoke.’

I had suspected it might come to this.

Until now, I could dismiss it as an auditory hallucination and clear my mind, but once I spoke to her, it was as good as acknowledging her existence.

As Hersella had boasted, I no longer had any means to block her voice.

Not that I particularly wanted to block it. I just felt a bit suffocated and needed to speak.

‘…Nothing changes. I’m not Leopold’s subject. What matters most to me isn’t his benefit. It’s upholding the principles I’ve set for myself. Anyone who massacres innocent civilians for the sake of efficiency deserves to die.’

Yes. It was truly absurd, but Viscount Dubien was a nobleman who had declared his support for Leopold.

Judging by his actions, rather than being loyal to Leopold, he seemed to be using it merely as a pretext for war.

He’s a bastard, but he’s our bastard—that’s what it amounts to.

[So in the end, you’re helping your enemy… Well, not bad. A warrior should prioritize beliefs over profit, even if those beliefs are more suited to a priest than a warrior.]

I headed toward the carriage, leaving Hersella’s laughter behind.

…Beliefs.

Such grand words don’t really suit me.

After all, they weren’t ideals I prioritized above my own life.

—-

No one in our party opposed the idea that Viscount Dubien should be punished.

Leonore didn’t care what happened to Leopold’s nobles, and Lena was only concerned with religious ethics, not political conflicts.

Nigel looked a bit troubled at the idea of attacking allies, but after a moment’s consideration, he nodded.

Leaving such a person unpunished would bring dishonor to Landenburg, he said.

The question was how far to go with the punishment… but this part was resolved thanks to the soldiers we interrogated.

Viscount Dubien’s forces numbered about 450.

Three hundred were his personal troops that he had trained himself, plus about 150 men conscripted from various places.

And there were about 10 knights, or rather, 9 now.

They had carried out massacres four times. The soldiers who hesitated at first eventually came to enjoy it.

Even the men conscripted from plundered villages later participated without hesitation in the looting of other villages… so there were likely none who could be called innocent.

They hadn’t even executed anyone for refusing to participate in looting and rape on charges of insubordination.

We drove the carriage toward Castle Renea.

—-

Viscount Renea’s territory was half-conquered.

Only the lord’s castle remained intact, while the village below had already been transformed into Dubien’s garrison.

Viscount Dubien had surrounded Castle Renea but was waiting without attacking.

Rather than losing troops in a siege, he seemed to be waiting for Viscount Renea to surrender.

I stopped the carriage when the castle roof came into view.

“Nigel. We should leave the carriage here and only the two of us should go to the battlefield. Is that alright with you?”

We were about to head into a war zone… and it didn’t seem right to bring Lena into the middle of it.

“Indeed, that would be better. If they start shooting fire arrows, we might lose the carriage.”

Though his reason was different, Nigel seemed to agree with me as he nodded and stopped the carriage.

“Then, please take care of Lena.”

“Be careful, sisters!”

After entrusting Lena’s safety to Leonore, Nigel and I rode toward Viscount Dubien’s army.

Though we were on horseback, we weren’t moving particularly fast, as we might need to gallop at full speed soon.

“Are you planning to engage in a frontal assault right away? Or do you intend to meet with Viscount Dubien first?”

“What do you think?”

“If the Viscount recognizes us, he’ll probably want to meet face to face first. If we capture him then, it would be like fighting while holding the enemy’s head, making things much easier. Though it’s not particularly honorable to deceive the Viscount who would consider us allies…”

Even while explaining what would be a highly effective strategy, Nigel’s expression was somewhat furrowed.

I wasn’t sure whether to call his struggle between honor and practicality knightly or just stubborn.

“You don’t seem to like that approach? Well, against opponents like them, we probably don’t need to resort to such petty tricks. Let’s do this instead.”

The plan I proposed was simple. In fact, it could hardly be called a plan at all.

It was just to charge straight through the enemy lines and capture the Viscount.

After that, I intended to slaughter those who resisted and call for surrender.

Though I had no intention of promising to spare those who surrendered.

Gradually, Dubien’s camp drew closer.

Close enough to clearly see what the soldiers occupying the territory were doing.

Men laughing and chattering as they emerged in groups from what looked like a storehouse.

Seeing them adjusting their half-loosened belts… it seemed they were keeping captured women gathered in one place for their use.

…Indeed, they weren’t worth sparing.

I nodded to Nigel, who was gripping his spear, then spurred my horse forward.

—-

“Enemy! Alert!”

“Enemy…? It’s just two of them. Aren’t they messengers or something?”

“Have you forgotten what the Viscount said? Anyone coming from that direction is an enemy! Report to the knights immediately!”

I could hear urgent shouting as they noticed us.

Archers on guard duty drew their bows, and soldiers gathered to form a line with raised spears, attempting to block our charge.

Their reaction is quite fast. These must be the lord’s personal troops, not conscripts.

“Nigel, I’ll provide support while you charge straight ahead.”

“Yes!”

Following behind Nigel as he increased his speed, I also drew my bow and pulled the string.

For a knight charging on horseback, a group of archers or a spear formation could be quite troublesome opponents.

While attacks aimed at the knight himself weren’t a problem, it was difficult to protect the horse from all attacks.

So I needed to deal with them in advance.

– Twang!

The taut bow released a heavy groan as I let go of the string.

The arrow flew like a beam of light, piercing through an archer who had been aiming at Nigel.

“Guh…!”

The archer whose torso had been pierced fell backward with a short cry.

“An arrow?! From that distance…?”

“It’s just one man! Shoot him down!”

Before they could aim at me and release their strings, I fired another shot.

A hole appeared in the head of a soldier who had been attempting to give orders.

Four more arrows I fired in succession cut the lifelines of all the archers.

Perhaps because of the sudden ambush, other archers hadn’t even arrived yet. Only spearmen remained.

If I just shoot those guys down, our charge should be fine.

[…That is not how one should use a bow.]

As I was drawing the bowstring again, Hersella, who had been quiet until now, suddenly interfered.

‘My shots are hitting just fine.’

[Be quiet and do as I say. Remember how I wrapped the Karma of Murder around my blade? Do the same with your arrowhead.]

As Hersella instructed, I wrapped thin, condensed strands of murder karma around the arrowhead.

I couldn’t create hundreds of strands simultaneously like she did, so I forcibly overlapped about five or six strands.

‘Like this?’

[It’s quite crude… but one cannot be perfect from the start, so I suppose this will have to do. Now shoot it into the middle of the enemy formation. You’ll see something interesting.]

I released the bowstring with some doubt.

– Shwaaaak!

The sound itself was different.

If my previous arrows had felt like they were sharply cutting through the air, this one seemed to be tearing and ripping through it.

And then,

As the flash that left a red trail behind it penetrated into the middle of the spearmen—

– Craaack!

Released light engulfed everything around.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Gyaaaah!”

Along with fountains of blood, terrible screams erupted one after another.

The uncontrolled strands of murder karma swept around like a storm.

Whenever the red light streams brushed past, soldiers’ bodies were sliced like cake.

[See? This is how you use a bow. Do you understand now?]

Hersella laughed boastfully.

I couldn’t find words to refute her.

After all, with just one arrow, I had cut nearly ten soldiers to pieces.