Ch.281Why can’t I be happy!

After a fierce battle that reduced the entire city to ashes, the swarm of insects created by the witch Isabella was completely eradicated.

It wasn’t an easy fight. The initial fire attack worked well to greatly reduce the enemy numbers, but… as time went on, more and more insects emerged. As if they had somehow adapted to the flames consuming their bodies. Truly, they possessed the vitality worthy of magical beasts.

There were several breathtaking moments when the encirclement nearly collapsed.

This wasn’t a matter of the soldiers’ bravery. If blame were to be assigned, it would fall on the electors.

From the moment they became confident of victory, their highest priority shifted from eliminating the enemy to preserving their elite forces.

It wasn’t something to condemn as purely selfish.

Even if they completely annihilated these insects here, the external threats to their territories wouldn’t simply disappear on their own.

Neither the threat of the Ka’har nor the invasion of the Werebeasts had been resolved, so they needed to maintain their strength as much as possible.

If they fought with all their might here and suffered heavy losses, their own futures would become uncertain.

Of course, since foreign invasions were an issue for the entire Empire rather than just a border problem, the Empire’s central army would provide support.

However, they could only remain as ‘supporting forces,’ not the main combatants.

If the elector’s armies were to collapse helplessly while the central army appeared to save them, it would reveal to the world that the border electors lacked the strength to govern their own territories.

Their authority was built on power. If they lost that power, their authority wouldn’t last long.

They would either be pushed aside by emerging competitors… or be absorbed by the central power. Neither outcome was desirable.

Whether it was Ludwig who dreamed of revenge, Lord Wien who desired authority, or even the Duke of Faelrun who only wished for peace in the north.

Before being Leopold’s vassals, they were great lords ruling vast territories.

Therefore, the electors strictly controlled their core forces to prevent needless sacrifices by regulating the flow of battle, and others had to fill that gap.

Specifically, the minor lords loyal to Leopold.

Although they ultimately achieved victory… the casualties were not insignificant.

The problems of a group brought together through mutual interests rather than shared convictions had clearly manifested at the end.

—-

Immediately after the battle, soldiers who were too exhausted to move collapsed where they stood to rest.

The knights who should have been controlling them lacked the energy to do so and offered no resistance. The knights were just as exhausted.

Most knights had thrown off their sweat-soaked helmets and were either pouring water over their heads or gulping it down, while some of the more sensitive ones were vomiting at the battlefield that had become a mountain of insects.

Fighting enemies so grotesque they’d be terrifying even in nightmares wasn’t easy for them either.

Not just their appearance, but their attack methods were also difficult to counter.

The waves of cockroaches that swarmed toward them couldn’t be stopped by mere swords, and if one was caught up in them, that would be the end.

The insects would crawl through the gaps in armor, burrow into flesh, and devour the person alive from within.

The intensely heated air was also the worst battlefield condition for knights fighting in metal armor.

Many collapsed from suffocation and dizziness.

Though considering how many casualties there would have been without using fire attacks, these losses were acceptable.

Leopold, looking down at the seated soldiers, turned his gaze toward the Benes territory that was still smoldering.

Though exhausted himself, he wasn’t so tired as to forget there was still work to be done.

‘…Isabella never appeared until the end. Neither did Ernst.’

It was hard to believe that such a formidable woman had simply perished helplessly in the inferno, unable to escape.

Moreover, the movements of the magical beasts had been completely disorganized.

If the witch had been commanding these insects, they would have attacked more tactically.

Concentrating forces at one point of the encirclement to break through, or using fire-resistant magical beasts to protect the others.

In reality, Isabella had left behind a few nobles with parasitic insects for such purposes, but they had all perished in the flames that consumed the entire city, floundering in confusion.

It was a futile end. From the First Prince’s army’s perspective, they didn’t even realize the enemy had commanders.

‘Perhaps she wasn’t here from the beginning…? Her words might have been true.’

Whether she had truly headed to the capital as Haschal had said, or simply hidden herself and fled elsewhere, he couldn’t know yet. He would probably find out only after returning to the capital.

But he couldn’t immediately withdraw his forces.

The Benes territory had originally been the witch’s lair. There might be hideouts untouched by the flames.

Given the significant possibility that she might be hiding in such a place, waiting for Leopold’s army to withdraw, it was necessary to thoroughly search the entire territory once the fires died down.

‘The return will be delayed. Since we seem to have eliminated all of the witch’s minions… I should at least send Faelrun and Landenburg back first.’

There would be no particular problem in sending them back first.

Unlike Lord Wien, those two weren’t the type to reveal inappropriate ambitions in Leopold’s absence.

On the contrary, they would likely want to return to their territories as soon as possible.

Having made his decision, Leopold turned his horse toward the command post.

It wouldn’t be bad to deliver a magnificent victory speech to encourage the soldiers… but it wouldn’t resonate with the exhausted troops.

Better to postpone commending the soldiers’ efforts and instead let them rest sufficiently while waiting for the fires to die down.

—-

It took a full day for Leopold’s army to recover their strength.

Even this was an extremely brief rest considering the forced march they had endured until now.

The next day, as previously arranged, the private soldiers of Faelrun and Landenburg departed from the main force to return home.

Under Leopold’s direction, Lord Wien’s forces, the surviving troops of minor lords, priests, and paladins began investigating the Benes territory as the flames subsided.

There was some success. They discovered an underground cavern believed to be Isabella’s base.

All that remained there were countless insect molts and tens of thousands of human skeletons stripped to the bone.

Though partly anticipated… there wasn’t a single survivor.

Knights and soldiers alike felt intense anger.

After discovering a statue of Lilith engaging in sexual acts with magical beasts, deliberately made to resemble Elpinel, even the priests were nearly driven to frenzy.

The paladins reduced the statue of Lilith to dust with their blunt weapons, while soldiers diligently gathered the remains.

Though the bone fragments were too mixed to identify individuals, proper funerals were still necessary.

The witch’s research materials discovered during this process were handed over to the priests who had been burning the insect molts under Leopold’s orders.

Some mages coveted these materials, but once in the priests’ hands, they were out of reach.

In the current atmosphere, showing interest in the wicked and blasphemous knowledge of a witch could get one beaten to death as a suspected heretic.

Two days later, Leopold finally decided to withdraw.

The aftermath had been largely dealt with, and he was fairly certain that Isabella was not here.

With numerous problems awaiting, he couldn’t waste any more time.

The journey back to the capital was long and complicated.

They had to return the mages who had been forcibly conscripted from various territories, and offer condolences and compensation to the masters of those who had died in battle.

Therefore, Leopold heard about Isabella’s death while still en route to the capital, during his return journey.

The battle between the Insect Witch and the Crimson Empress, they called it.

News came that the witch, who had hidden in the underground waterways, had been captured by Baron Median who had been waiting for her, and met a miserable end.

There were also stories about part of the waterway collapsing during the battle, and Leonore, who had renounced her royal status, frying Isabella’s remains… but from Leopold’s perspective, such details were merely footnotes.

‘So it’s thanks to her again… How troublesome.’

Leopold secretly heaved a deep sigh.

Following the Battle of Zeren Plains, now the elimination of Isabella.

She had taken all the notable achievements and essential merits in this civil war.

Though he knew she had no particular ambition, with merits of this magnitude, even without ambition, others wouldn’t leave her alone.

Especially for Lord Wien, she must be like a thorn in his eye.

What rewards should be given, how to handle the friction that would arise afterward.

He was already feeling dizzy at the thought.

—-

Leopold’s troubles didn’t end there.

A few days later, just before arriving at the capital, he heard even more shocking news:

The collapse of the northern wall.

It was an event so momentous that even Leopold was stunned for a moment.

The Duke of Faelrun, who had heard this news before him, was unable to contain his fury and nearly destroyed an entire mansion before heading north.

Between the strands of Leopold’s hair, as he barely suppressed his feelings of despair, a copper coin-sized hole was briefly visible.