Ch.38Chapter 38. Battle in the North (2)

Kalintz’s forces had been gone for several days to attack the castle.

The news that came back was, quite predictably, not good.

“You say our army is facing defeat?”

“Yes. Currently, we have about 18,000 casualties, and we’re preparing to retreat with the 5,000 troops positioned to secure our withdrawal route. Though Lord Kalintz hasn’t made a final decision yet… I believe he will likely retreat.”

“Hmm… I see. So it has come to this after all.”

Fark, who was in charge of the fortress, let out a short sigh.

The price of recklessly engaging in a battle that even an ordinary commander like Fark knew was doomed to fail had been devastating.

‘About 10,000 troops remain.’

It seemed that Irene had somehow managed to convince them to position 5,000 soldiers in the rear to secure a retreat path.

A small blessing amid misfortune.

They should abandon the fight and retreat as quickly as possible, but the fact that they were hesitating to make that decision meant—

‘Though defeat seems likely, they must be hanging on by a thread.’

Kalintz was an S-rank commander in his own right, and Irene had a “siege” specialty.

So they were somehow managing to hold their ground.

Perhaps they were thinking that if they pushed just a little more, they could breach the gate. And if they breached the gate, they could turn the tide… That must be why they kept pressing forward.

It would be better if they retreated right away, but considering they sent a messenger instead of retreating, that didn’t seem likely.

“…I understand. We’ll prepare to receive the wounded here. I wish we could send reinforcements, but we only have about 3,000 troops left… I’m sorry. I’ll send word to Kelstein Castle as well.”

“Understood.”

After sending off the messenger who had delivered the news, Fark sighed deeply and then turned to look at us gathered in the meeting room.

“I don’t know what we should do now.”

“…”

Fark sighed heavily.

The six commanders present, including myself, Jack, and Silin, remained silent.

All the capable commanders with decent stats who had originally guarded this fortress had departed with Kalintz, leaving only mediocre C-rank commanders behind.

There wasn’t much we could do even if we wanted to come up with a brilliant plan.

Just then.

Jack, who was standing next to me, cautiously raised his hand.

“Excuse me, Fortress Commander.”

“Speak.”

“I’ve been concerned from the beginning… We have too few troops in the fortress. If we were to face an invasion, we’d lose quickly. Shouldn’t we send a request for reinforcements to Kelstein Castle, even now?”

I had been thinking about that as well.

There was no way Serpina’s forces would simply ignore our army after we had essentially stabbed them in the back.

If we had succeeded in taking the castle, they might have ignored a small fortress like this and focused on reclaiming Cherry-en Castle, but that wasn’t the case now.

“Hmm… I’m not sure if Lord Rashion will send help, but I’ll ask anyway.”

After that, predictably, no further opinions were offered.

We dispersed and hurriedly organized commanders to provide support.

It seemed they had decided to send three commanders, including Jack, with the forces that would meet our retreating soldiers.

My only concern was one thing:

Irene’s survival.

Irene was an exceptionally strong commander, and since I had warned her in advance that this was a battle they would lose, she wouldn’t push herself too hard.

However, if she were to be captured as a prisoner while repeating these meaningless battles, it would be extremely troublesome.

‘When she returns safely, I should suggest to Kalintz that we withdraw to Kelstein.’

Continuing to engage in these precarious battles here was extremely dangerous.

After such a crushing defeat, Kalintz wouldn’t be stubborn anymore.

Though arrogant, he was fundamentally a rational person, so he should make a cool and calm decision this time.

His pride might be severely damaged, but compared to the lives lost and what those soldiers could have accomplished, it was a small price to pay.

After waiting for several days for our retreating army to return…

A soldier keeping watch on the wall shouted loudly.

“I see flags in the distance!”

Soldiers were rushing toward the fortress, carrying sky-blue flags emblazoned with the symbol of the Brans army.

Seeing quite a large number of troops, it seemed they had managed to retreat safely, which was fortunate.

We followed Fark to greet them.

“We’ve heard the news, General Miguel. Did you retreat in defeat?”

In response to Fark’s question, the man at the front—Miguel—answered.

It was a face I’d seen a few times before.

He was a B-rank commander, suitable as an aide.

“…Yes. Fortunately, they didn’t organize a pursuit force, so we were able to arrive safely. But… the fact that we were defeated remains unchanged.”

“That’s alright. I’m just glad you’ve returned alive.”

At Fark’s words, Miguel could only bow his head in silence.

At that moment.

We, including Fark, noticed a subtle change.

Kalintz, who should have been at the vanguard, was nowhere to be seen.

“Um, what about General Kalintz…?”

“…”

Miguel couldn’t say anything at first, then finally spoke in a devastated tone.

“General Kalintz… has become Ian’s prisoner.”

“What…?”

He must have been captured while leading from the front, commanding deep in enemy territory.

And then.

‘…?’

Looking carefully, I realized it wasn’t just Kalintz who was missing.

Irene was… nowhere to be seen either.

‘No way…!’

Feeling my heart sink, I quietly slipped away to check the rear, wandering among the retreating soldiers looking for her.

This can’t be happening.

I didn’t care about Kalintz. He got himself captured because of his own stupidity—who could blame anyone else?

But Irene couldn’t be captured. I needed to raise her affection so she could defect to Lunarian’s forces, but if she was captured here…!

No.

That’s not it.

Only then did I realize.

If that were the only reason, my heart wouldn’t be pounding so anxiously like this.

There were plenty of other excellent commanders besides her.

After all, Tifa, who was already deeply loyal to Lunarian, would become an incomparable SS-rank commander once she awakened to magic.

I was—

Worried about her as a person.

Not as an S-rank commander who could serve in Lunarian’s army in the future, but simply as Irene Juliette, the woman, hoping she was safe.

‘Lady Irene…!’

I ran frantically from place to place, panting.

How long had I been searching through the crowds of soldiers?

Among the painful groans of the wounded soldiers, I heard a now-familiar woman’s voice.

“Just hold on a little longer. We’ve reached the fortress.”

“…!!!”

I looked toward the source of the voice.

There was Irene, wearing armor engraved with her pride, tending to a wounded soldier.

“…Haa, haa.”

Only then did I realize how frantically I had been running, and a deep sigh escaped me.

My already poor stamina was depleted from all the running, making me slightly dizzy.

Then she—noticing my gaze while tending to the wounded—turned her head toward me.

“…Swen?”

“Lady Irene.”

I slowly approached her.

When I reached her, my legs nearly gave out, but she caught me.

“S-Swen?! Are you alright?”

“Lady Irene… I’m so glad, so glad you’re safe.”

Damn it.

I felt like I might cry.

It was similar to how I felt when parting with Lunarian.

Was I always this emotional?

Irene, with a surprised expression, held me as I gasped for breath.

Then, with an incredibly gentle smile—

She quietly patted my back.

“Didn’t I promise you? That I would return alive.”

“…”

It was warm.

I could feel this woman’s body heat.

Stripping away all the titles—S-rank commander, siege specialist, a commander oppressed by her lord—

Only the fact that Irene the woman existed here, breathing, was fully conveyed to me.

And.

That fact was truly a great comfort to me.

“…Um, well.”

“…?”

“It’s… not that I mind, but how long do you plan to stay like this? It’s… a bit embarrassing.”

“Ah.”

Only then did I realize that my face was resting against her chest.

Since she was wearing armor protecting her chest, it felt hard and I couldn’t feel much… but from her perspective, it was apparently quite embarrassing.

After moving away from her somewhat, she cleared her throat a few times and said:

“Ahem. Anyway… though we managed to retreat safely without being pursued, in the end—”

“You mean Lord Kalintz has been taken prisoner?”

“So you’ve heard the news.”

“What exactly happened?”

Irene spoke with a grim expression.

“It’s exactly as it sounds. The soldiers at Cherry-en Castle were much stronger than we expected. There were no signs of their morale dropping or their formation breaking. Though we managed to inflict significant damage, our losses were naturally greater. It’s fortunate that I somehow convinced them to position 5,000 men in the rear; the soldiers at the vanguard were almost completely wiped out.”

“Then the casualties…?”

“…About 28,000 in total.”

So excluding the wounded, only about 2,000 troops had returned alive, apart from the 5,000 positioned in the rear for retreat.

“It was a close defeat. If we had just a few more soldiers, we might have captured the castle.”

Irene said this with a bitter smile.

She too had realized.

That this battle had ultimately only benefited Serpina’s forces.

Hearing her words, I looked around.

Everywhere were soldiers groaning in pain.

If one were to capture this scene alone, it would truly be a vision of hell.

‘A devastating defeat.’

I was relieved that I had suggested keeping Irene from the vanguard.

If she had been there, she might have been the one taken prisoner.

“Anyway, I’m glad you returned safely. Tending to the wounded is important, but let’s go report to Lord Fark first.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

As we were about to turn and leave.

“…Ah.”

As my strength gave out, I almost stumbled, but Irene caught me.

“Are you alright, Swen?”

“Thanks to you, I survived. Thank you.”

Having a body with low physical stats is truly inconvenient.

While I was thinking this, she blushed slightly and said:

“If… if you don’t mind, I could… hold your hand… as we walk.”

“My hand?”

“No, I mean, um… support you. Swen, you look like you’re having great difficulty even walking. I… I don’t mind. Holding your hand.”

The way she tried desperately to hide her embarrassment while clearing her throat seemed somehow cute.

Perhaps I should honestly accept her kindness here.

“Then I’ll be in your care.”

“Mm.”

I took the hand she offered.

It was warm.

I could feel the warmth I had wanted to save.