Ch.235Now This Is Where the Problem Begins…

“Advance! We’ll capture the castle before sunset!”

While the border count’s forces were marching to meet the crusaders, Leopold’s main force was engaged in fierce combat.

It was a siege against Count Vald, who preserved his troops behind castle walls without engaging in open battle, waiting for an opportunity.

They couldn’t simply ignore him.

If Count Vald were to emerge from the castle after Leopold’s forces departed, their supply lines would be immediately cut off.

Yet recklessly committing troops to capture the enemy fortress would cause unnecessary casualties before facing Ernst’s main force.

Fortunately, among Lord Wien’s forces were many skilled engineers who could build excellent trebuchets in just five days.

The trebuchets, arranged in a line, simultaneously hurled massive stones.

The heavy projectiles, weighing dozens of kilograms, flew in arcs before crashing into the castle walls with thunderous impacts.

– CRASH!

Sections of the wall crumbled with agonizing groans.

Count Vald’s soldiers, who had been shooting arrows and shouting, disappeared as if sucked into the collapse.

The ground trembled as if struck by an earthquake.

Broken fragments fell into the moat, splashing black water everywhere.

“Serves you right, rebels!”

“Come out if you dare, you cowards!”

Leopold’s soldiers cheered and taunted the enemy.

After enduring a tedious standoff for five days, they felt exhilarated watching the trebuchets demolish the castle walls.

“Fire arrows! Shoot fire arrows and burn those trebuchets! What are our trebuchets doing?!”

Count Vald shouted furiously as he watched the castle walls crumbling slowly but surely.

His sweat-soaked scalp reflected the sunlight like a glass bead.

“Count Vald! The tide has already turned! We must retreat!”

A knight offered sincere advice to the count.

Though the count wouldn’t admit it, the castle would fall soon without inflicting any meaningful damage on the enemy.

The First Prince’s army surrounded the castle beyond arrow range, remaining stationary.

They simply continued battering the walls with trebuchets.

Fire arrows were useless.

Even if they managed to hit a trebuchet, soldiers on standby would immediately douse the flames.

Count Vald’s trebuchets were already shattered and buried under piles of rubble.

The difference in skill between Lord Wien’s elite troops and a mere count’s soldiers was immense, even when using the same weapons.

“Retreat where? The enemy surrounds us on all sides!”

“Head for the west gate, my lord! We’ll buy time by charging from the east gate!”

The knight bowed his head.

Most of the forces heading to the east gate would perish, but it might give Count Vald a chance to escape.

“No. That won’t work.”

With a rough laugh, a knight interrupted their conversation as he approached.

The longsword in his right hand emanated a sharp killing intent.

“Albert…?!”

Count Vald stepped back, his face turning pale.

The knight who had been advising the count drew his sword protectively.

“Sir Albert…! What are you doing?!”

“What am I doing? Upholding the knight’s code. You might be willing to die for the count, Sir Belz, but not everyone feels the same. What could be more foolish than dying for loyalty to an idiot who supports a witch?”

Dozens of men followed behind Albert, all with drawn swords.

Fifteen of them were knights—most of the knights in the count’s domain had joined the betrayal.

“You call your treacherous betrayal chivalry! And you call yourself a knight?!”

“Few things are as useless as blind loyalty. Look at reality, Sir Belz. What honor is there in protecting someone like Vald now? And what crime have the soldiers committed to die for him? One person. Just one sacrifice and everything can end peacefully. If you understand, step aside. This won’t take long.”

Belz silently pointed his sword at the rebels.

His expression made it clear he would die before stepping aside.

“I thought as much. Who could break that stubbornness? …As you wish, I’ll let you die loyally.”

“My lord! Run!”

Belz gripped his longsword and charged at Albert.

His diagonal slash, delivered with full force, was blocked by Albert’s counterattack. Their swords met with sparks flying.

Albert grinned, baring his teeth.

“Behead Count Vald! Before the castle completely collapses!”

“Albert-!”

Belz fought desperately, but he alone couldn’t stop dozens of rebels.

In less than five minutes, a white flag was raised on the castle wall.

Count Vald’s head, attached to the flagpole, gleamed brilliantly in the sun.

—-

The siege that had dragged on for five days ended surprisingly easily thanks to the internal rebellion.

Upon entering the partially destroyed castle, Leopold commended the knights who had beheaded the count and surrendered, rewarding them generously.

Their claim of eliminating the witch’s minions and reducing casualties was merely a pretext—in reality, they had quickly betrayed their lord when defeat seemed inevitable to save themselves.

Though not the type of people Leopold admired… he judged that such precedents would encourage more surrenders.

Meanwhile, Count Vald’s entire family was executed.

The count’s head was thrown into the filthy moat, while his wife, siblings, and even young children were hanged on the castle walls without exception.

Their naked corpses—men, women, old and young—left to rot.

A stark warning of what would happen to those who resisted to the end.

Though it was a more merciful death than being burned at the stake.

Upon arriving at Count Vald’s castle, Leopold immediately summoned Lord Wien to discuss the current situation and future plans instead of taking a brief rest.

He didn’t summon the Duke of Faelrun, who was inspecting the condition of the troops.

…That was the pretext, at least.

In truth, he simply felt uncomfortable summoning the duke.

Leopold honestly found it burdensome to face the Duke of Faelrun.

Ever since he had prevented the duke from returning to defend against the Great Invasion and instead assigned only his commanders to the northern defense, the duke had subtly displayed his discomfort toward Leopold.

—-

“So we’ve dealt with most of the scattered rebel forces… the real challenge lies ahead.”

Until now, the battles hadn’t been particularly difficult.

They had defeated scattered lords one by one with overwhelming quality and quantity of forces.

However, according to scouts, the lords ahead had abandoned individual resistance and were consolidating their forces.

From now on, truly large-scale battles would occur.

Though defeat seemed unlikely, it was hard to believe Isabella would collapse so easily.

“The Border Count of Landenburg and the crusaders will soon join us, so barring any unexpected developments, victory is assured.”

Lord Wien smiled reassuringly.

“The crusaders…”

While Lord Wien seemed entirely positive about them, Leopold considered them a concern as well.

The army of the “Archbishop General” Elmaine, who had created the Imperial Archdiocese organization and declared a crusade while Leopold and the great nobles were away.

Though they were helpful forces now, they would likely cause headaches after the civil war ended.

Not only would there be friction with the Holy State, but her extremist ideology of exterminating non-humans would gain momentum.

Moreover, the Imperial Archdiocese, having transformed into a massive power, might not remain merely a religious force but could begin to actively involve itself in imperial politics.

‘Yet I can’t forcibly disband them…’

Backed by Elpinel’s authority and having provided significant help to Leopold himself, persecuting them would trigger tremendous backlash.

Leopold sighed as he tidied his disheveled hair.

Then he sighed again.

‘Elpinel…?!’

Brilliant golden hair came out in clumps between his fingers.

As the image of his father’s vast forehead flashed in his mind, a cold sweat trickled down his temple.

======[Haschal]======

Though Margrave Ludwig was moving as quickly as possible, there were clear limits to how fast an army of three thousand could advance.

Even marching all morning, they had to halt at night to let the troops rest.

Today was no exception.

As the sun that had blazed all day disappeared beyond the horizon and stars began to adorn the sky, Lacy and I gathered in Margrave Ludwig’s command tent after a light dinner to discuss the war situation.

“…Thus, His Highness the Prince currently maintains a force of about ten thousand troops and is advancing smoothly. With our forces joining, that will become thirteen thousand. Isabella can gather at most ten thousand with her remaining forces, so the numbers are roughly equal.”

“Ten thousand? That’s not many on either side.”

Less than a single imperial legion.

Well, since this was ultimately a war fought with nobles’ private armies, perhaps they couldn’t gather larger forces.

“If we had mobilized all available forces, twice that number would have been possible, but then there would be no troops left to defend our territories. Twenty-one masters, seven hundred fifty knights, and thirteen thousand troops are our limit.”

Ludwig himself had left behind two thousand soldiers, including the wounded, and four masters at the Wall.

If they all left their posts, even a small detachment could potentially capture the Wall.

“I’ve heard the enemy has at most four hundred knights, so we have the advantage there… but what worries me is that Isabella might gather ordinary peasants to resist, potentially multiplying her forces several times over.”

“Conscripts… can people without proper training really be a meaningful force on the battlefield?”

Lacy tilted her head. Perhaps because neither the Empire nor the Holy State had ever utilized conscripts, the very concept of ordinary farmers being considered military assets seemed foreign to her.

“If their numbers reach tens of thousands, they can certainly be threatening. Even without military training, thrusting a spear isn’t particularly difficult. Moreover, when soldiers see enemy numbers several times their own, their morale will be severely damaged.”

Though they might scatter like sand once defeat becomes apparent, they would thrust their spears without hesitation if they believed they had the advantage.

Killing would be preferable to being killed.

“Furthermore, even if we manage to annihilate these conscripts, that itself represents a massive loss. Tens of thousands of innocent able-bodied men who would have been responsible for the Empire’s productivity, dead at once… If Baron Median’s conjecture is correct and Isabella’s goal is to damage the Empire’s national power itself, there could be no better method.”

Isabella would certainly do this.

She might even drag everyone from the elderly to children onto the battlefield.

Whether they die or kill our forces, it only benefits Isabella.

Once battle begins, it would be impossible to distinguish between conscripts and lords’ forces, making the sacrifice of vast numbers of civilians inevitable.

“This is troubling…”

Lacy bowed her head as if in prayer.