Ch.669The Third Choice

Ludwig continued to ask Knut various questions.

The size and defensive facilities of Dane cities along Ka’har’s expected march route, the number and composition of nobles gathered there, surrounding terrain and distances between cities, even the condition of the road surfaces.

Knut answered all these questions sincerely to the best of his knowledge, and Frigg, kneeling beside him, explained what he couldn’t answer.

Perhaps because she belonged to the intelligence department, she knew surprisingly detailed information about her own country’s affairs.

Not that it was particularly helpful information.

The cities along the expected march route were mostly just residential areas. Defensive facilities worthy of being called fortresses were rare, and the territory’s people were mostly those who had never held a sword.

Some cities were situated near mountains or forests, but not large enough to evacuate all residents.

“Hmm…”

Ludwig’s expression darkened further. Like a Black person in a cotton field.

Even he couldn’t find a suitable solution. No matter how much he racked his brain, there was nothing to rely on. Advancing toward Dane was literally a march toward death.

No, from the beginning—

‘Is it already too late to go now? Considering the time it took for Knut to get here, and the time it would take for the imperial army to march to Dane… by the time we arrive, Orhan would have already swept through the cities.’

Although I had advised Knut to try persuading Ludwig, I actually didn’t even expect that we could save the Dane people.

No matter how quickly we moved, tens of thousands would already be dead. The cities closer to the great plains would have been swept away by now.

I couldn’t outright tell Knut, who came bowing his head asking to save his kingdom’s people, “They’re probably all dead already,” so I didn’t say it out loud.

[Well… I’m not so sure about that. The Orhan I know wouldn’t rashly enter a city full of only women and children without any soldiers.]

However, Hersella seemed to think differently from me. Though she didn’t sound entirely convinced herself.

[It’s common sense that withdrawing only the military when an enemy is advancing doesn’t make sense. He would have no choice but to suspect an ambush. That Dane’s army might be using their own people as bait, setting a trap to annihilate warriors who enter the city.]

‘…That makes sense.’

Having nearly died in a trap sacrificing the wall just recently, he would naturally be more wary of traps than usual.

[Therefore, Orhan will inevitably spend considerable time on reconnaissance. For the time being, at least.]

She meant that he would begin plundering once he was convinced it wasn’t a trap. When that would be, no one could know.

—-

Perhaps convinced through questions about Dane cities that marching there offered no chance of victory, the questions that followed were on completely different topics.

The strength of the Crusader of Seals, the power of the rune of domination, the defense level of the Dane capital, the number of royal family members, and such.

Though Knut looked confused about why such questions were being asked, Frigg, seeming to understand Ludwig’s intentions, brightened up and eagerly began selling state secrets.

I had a feeling we would be repeating what we had done in Panam.

“Hmm… it might take some time, but perhaps…”

After long deliberation that consumed his thick Mana Herb, Ludwig finally made a decision.

If they agreed to the five conditions he proposed, he would consent to deploying the imperial army.

He didn’t give a definite answer about deployment because, since it involved marching into another country’s territory without the emperor’s approval, he needed to go through a military council and get the consent of the legion commanders.

Specifically, the consent of the 3rd Legion Commander Frederick.

“This is different from repelling the Ka’har. Marching the imperial army beyond Dane’s borders is tantamount to the Empire invading Dane.”

Even though Ludwig had been delegated full authority over the wall defense forces by Leopold, separate permission was needed to march that legion into Dane territory.

Strictly speaking, this could be considered privately appropriating the imperial army to invade another country.

Of course, getting Leopold’s permission now was impossible. It was unknown how long it would take to send this news to Leopold on the islands and receive a reply.

Therefore, as an alternative, he planned to first get Frederick’s consent and then request Leopold’s retroactive permission.

If they won, Leopold would somehow overlook the unauthorized invasion of Dane.

“What do you think? Can you agree to this?”

“……”

Knut hesitated, looking troubled. He had simply come here to request support, never expecting things to turn out this way.

Of the five conditions Ludwig proposed, two were not particularly difficult to accept.

To act as his subordinate for the time being.

To provide knowledge and techniques related to rune magic.

These were conditions Knut could readily accept.

Acting as his subordinate was natural since he had requested help, and Knut already understood that knowledge about rune magic was a fair exchange for mobilizing the imperial army.

Though he said he couldn’t teach methods of strengthening runes through human sacrifice, Ludwig insisted that part should be abolished. Saying the Empire wouldn’t want such evil knowledge that sacrifices people as living offerings.

Indeed, if people were sacrificed as living offerings to increase magical output, Lacy would come running with holy fire blazing from her eyes to burn all those involved.

The problem was the remaining three conditions. They were conditions that determined the fate of Dane itself, which Knut, as a mere crusader, couldn’t decide on his own.

“We’re not in a position to be picky about our methods, and there’s no other way anyway.”

After much deliberation, Knut finally nodded, persuaded by Frigg. Though it wasn’t the way he had hoped, he said it didn’t matter if they could save the kingdom’s people ‘this way.’

It was amusing to see him agonizing when I would be doing all the work.

—-

Four days later.

I was looking up at the walls of Edriksa, the capital of Dane. With me were Knut, who looked doubtful, and Frigg, who was stroking a unicorn’s horn with fascination. There were no other companions.

To reach Edriksa in three and a half days required moving at an extraordinary speed, and only Cascador and I were capable of that.

I flew straight across the sky holding Knut like a bundle, while Frigg had to sleep and eat on horseback, being carried by her horse rather than riding it.

“…An unbelievable speed.”

Knut collapsed onto the undergrowth with a hollow laugh.

When Ludwig explained this plan, he had reacted as if it were nonsense, but now that we had actually arrived in four days, he could only express amazement.

—-

Edriksa was more like a fortress built against a wide river than a national capital.

A deep moat connected to the river had been created in front of the outer stone walls, and on a hill high enough to be clearly visible beyond the outer walls stood a rugged, flat inner fortress.

It wasn’t comparable to Extrashafel, but it looked like a castle that wouldn’t be easy to conquer by direct assault.

Eight watchtowers stood on either side of the castle gate and around the outer walls, and the moat was so wide and deep that if the drawbridge were raised, attackers would need to either recruit swimmers or build boats to cross it.

If plunder were the only goal, one could simply sweep through the farmlands and villages outside the moat and leave, but conquering the capital itself was another matter.

To conquer rather than plunder, one would have to cross that moat, scale the stone walls, and capture the inner fortress… it was obvious that masses of soldiers would die in the attempt.

“I wonder who they built such a fortress to defend against.”

I muttered sarcastically as I surveyed Edriksa’s excessively thorough defenses.

It was clear that this fortress wasn’t designed to counter the Ka’har. Unless the Ka’har intended to completely annihilate Dane, they wouldn’t advance this deep into the territory.

So, who exactly was this fortress built to defend against?

The very existence of Fortress Edriksa revealed Dane’s hostility toward the Empire.