My Villains Episode 414
64. Fog (1)
It’s a dream again.
I seem to be dreaming often lately. I wasn’t like this when I first fell into this world. Every day was dangerous, like walking on thin ice, so it was common for nights to be dreamless and dark.
These days, I’ve become accustomed to it, so I often have useless dreams. The daily life of going back and forth and washing the whole body with blood has not changed, but it seems that only the mind has become more comfortable. Maybe this is also the help of the artist.
The last time I dreamed, I watched it for a while with the thought of watching it, but today I’m not in the mood for that. Could it be because the musty smell unique to a single student living alone stung his nose?
“……Ac.”
Even though it’s been a long time since I’ve been in a cramped studio, I’m sick of feeling better than longing. So I quickly skimmed everything in sight.
Hurureung.
The vivid yet hazy scenery spreads like paint on a palette. If you’re going to listen to me like this, it would be nice if you found what I want to see in the first place and show it to you. Why does this guy’s dream arbitrarily select scenes and make dog-like memories come to mind?
While the scenery was scattered, I worked harder to erase the messy entrance and the fire door with the umbrella attached. For some reason, I thought I would open the door and Ji Won would appear. I definitely miss that child in my heart, but I don’t want to see it. I can’t help but look. I’m worried that my head will be heavy because of useless dreams.
“-uh”
It was then. Just before my eyes fell into complete darkness, a face popped out of nowhere.
Ellen opened her mouth in silence. He was dressed quite differently from the one he had seen in a dream about two months earlier. At that time, it was obviously a bit sloppy with a breastplate that didn’t suit her, but now she was wearing a fancy robe with intricate black patterns on a white background and a small tiara. In addition, the birch wand he had used before was gone and he was holding a black quarter stick.
Ellen looked up at me with a sleepy face, then opened her eyes wide. He said something, but didn’t hear anything. The dream was already on the verge of being erased, and my consciousness had risen to the border of reality.
“Ellen.”
Beyond my struggling hands, Ellen opened her mouth wide. I struggled with the sensation of floating on top of the water, but I didn’t take my eyes off the guy. And finally, I read the light pink lips.
wait a minute i’m on my way
“…ah.”
The sound that came out of my mouth as soon as I woke up was rather close to a sigh. I sat blankly on the blanket for some time with only my upper body erect.
The cold wind seeps in, perhaps because the tent was roughly pitched. It is already mid-March, but the morning weather is still cold. Suddenly, I miss the tent of Atalanta. Aside from being flashy, it was very cozy.
That heavy and bulky burden was left behind in Oduenne beyond the blade. It was a situation where one soldier and one weapon were not enough, so it was impossible to load a tent or something on a ship. Of course, if I had known in advance that Obdorf’s spring would be this cold, I would have brought it by force.
The inside of his mouth is rough, whether it’s because of a dream or because he stabbed himself until late at night. I carefully got up and drank the water bag so as not to wake the women who were sleeping soundly next to me. The tip of the tongue was still dry.
“Ugh… Chuu. I dance.”
The bundle lying on the blanket was talking in its sleep. He fumbled for the seat I had vacated. Then, as soon as his hand touched the Atalanta beyond, it clung to it. Atalanta, who had been flirting, slowly raised her arms and hugged Mungchi’s small head tightly.
Watching the two naked beauties get tangled up makes the fuss go away. I was standing in the middle of nowhere, struggling to dig in between them, then quickly left the tent wearing a sword belt with two knives.
“Ha, today is also a joke.”
The weather in this town is pretty damn good. Around noon, the sun is soft, but in the late afternoon, a damp wind blows, and from midnight to dawn, a cold north wind blows as if it were still winter.
The most fucked up thing is the fog. The mist that rises before dawn and barely subsides when the sun rises in mid-heaven. It was so thick that in severe cases it was impossible to see several tens of meters ahead. Even today, the sky is full of clouds, so it seems that the fog won’t go away all day long unless it rains.
“lily.”
I was looking with astringent eyes toward the east, where the misty dawn rises, but Uncle Wen approached and bowed. I glanced at him for a moment before opening my mouth.
“Gart?”
“It’s a go-trop.”
“Oh right. Go-throp.”
Of the prisoners I took at Proshafen, I had about a hundred of them with good limbs, and Gotthrop was one of them. Since he was a sergeant in the port garrison, he assigned the soldiers he had with him and made him a sergeant.
Similarly, prisoners belonging to the guards were attached to a guy called the unit commander of the guards. The gate guard with the most pages was split in half and entrusted to the two senior officers given by Sir Langboldt.
In this way, a unit of a little more than a hundred men led by four noncommissioned officers was completed, but in less than a week it had shrunk to a few eighty men. After subtracting the number of dead or injured and those left behind on the way back, it was like that.
The soldiers he had with him, who were his subordinates, died, but there was no special inspiration. It’s amazing in itself.
The soldiers who were left behind after being injured or recruited to secure a base were considered lucky to be left out of the advance, so it didn’t matter. On the other hand, the men who fell to their deaths while attacking the two castles guarding the Dayval Highway – ‘Untrier’ and ‘Zirna’ – were poor people who were sacrificed without any fault. but it’s okay Is it pickled in blood and dulled my nerves? Or is it because he tried hard not to attach affection unconsciously?
“Do you have anything to report?”
“Yes, the unit is now-”
“Wait before that… Hey you. Get some water here.”
A young soldier who might have been 20 years old said ‘yes yep!’ He replied, and then he ran to the other side.
“The unit is resting after clearing the battlefield overnight.”
Gotthrop wasn’t very happy to be my subordinate. However, I handled everything I was told to do, so I didn’t have any complaints. Even if he distributed the loot and gave him a combat allowance, he was not so bad, judging from the fact that his eyes twinkled when it came to dealing with his subordinates.
In any case, the battlefield organization he mentioned meant cleaning up the battle that had taken place the night before. A group of enemy soldiers who were approaching Eisbowald, aiming for the night, took twenty cavalry, smashed them, and chased them to the west.
The young soldier dipped his hand into the pitcher of water. It is lukewarm whether it was mixed with boiling water. After washing his face and rinsing his mouth once, he asked Gottrop.
“so? Did you get anything?”
“I got some old grain, some cows, and some bottles.”
“How many prisoners did you take? Where are the kids from?”
“If you walk northwest for half a day, there are three or four villages. They came down from there as a group to respond to the mayor’s summons.”
“They were conscripts, too.”
I remembered the soldiers of last night.
There were about one hundred and fifty… No, I think there were over two hundred. When the bicorn ate the face of a country aristocrat who didn’t know if it was a knight or a sergeant, they screamed and scattered.
They were clumsy people who didn’t even have the motivation to cut, let alone pose a threat, but even those guys climbed the wall and, holding a crossbow or polearm and properly commanded, became quite annoying enemies. Because he had sufficiently learned this fact through his experiences, he tenaciously pursued those who ran away, cutting their throats and stabbing them in the back.
It was not a very pleasant experience. Because I couldn’t see their eyes.
“I heard from merchants passing by that the enemy was right in front of me, so I waited for the night and moved secretly.”
“Yeah… I had a hard time.”
Congratulating me casually, I was lost in thought.
When we left Proshafen five days ago, our army was quite large, numbering over 1,200. However, the number decreased after attacking two forts and five villages surrounded by wooden fences during the northward movement.
Less than a hundred people died or were seriously injured. On the way back, they came across a small fort and a village surrounded by wooden fences, but there was no damage at all during the battle. At least, Atalante and several battle mages broke down the gates and walls, and Sir Langboldt fought in the vanguard and reduced casualties to this extent.
In addition to that, there were about 400 pieces left at each base to protect the supply route.
Thanks to that, only about seven hundred troops arrived in front of the distant fog-covered city of ‘Eisbovald’. And Eisbowald was too big a city to be completely surrounded by just these numbers.
Of course, since the city is located on the main trade route, the surroundings are all flat and quite far from the border, so the fortress walls are low and there are not many standing troops, so the difficulty of attacking will not be high.
The problem was that the city’s weight class itself was considerable. The population is quite large, so you can recruit more than 2,000 conscripts, and although it is not famous throughout the continent, it is also the headquarters of a fairly famous magic school, and there are several martial arts schools that operate for mercenaries, adventurers, and soldiers. It is said that
So, as they had done in the past few days, they couldn’t use the method of rushing in and blowing up the gates and pushing their troops back. I don’t know how to win in the same way, but it was obvious that the troops would be cut in half.
In the first place, it is doubtful whether Atalanta will be able to blow the castle gate.
Time is needed to cast ‘Void Orb’, which is powerful enough to break down a castle gate or castle wall. But wouldn’t Eisbovald know our siege method? It is unlikely that the wizards who are said to be lurking in the city will just watch over Atalante, who gathers arcane power. Before, soldiers with shields were attached and battle mages covered them to buy time. However, it would not be easy to handle if several wizards poured attack spells at once. In magic, defense is twice as difficult as attack.
To make matters worse, even the fog sucks.
Fog, of course, gives an advantage to attack over defense in sieges. However, the problem is that we are not an army belonging to a single command system. Sufficient meetings and preparations were required to carry out operations in such thick fog.
Due to various circumstances, we arrived at Eisbowald last night and were looking for an opportunity by setting up a garrison in the open field with a view of the gate. With the few cavalrymen released and a loose siege net spread.
I emptied the pitcher by splashing it on my head, brushed my hair, and looked back at Eisbobalt.
“…tsk.”
No matter how much I narrowed my eyes, all I could see was the flickering flames. It must be the torches held by the soldiers on the gatehouse and the walls.
Other than that, nothing can be seen because of the fog. From the fact that not even the slightest sound can be heard, it can be assumed that the guard is quite strict.
I have to cross the wall or even jab within today, but the fog is so thick that I can’t think of deploying my troops.
Well, it’s a practical command. The knights of Sir Langboldt, Atalanta, and Count Ines will do it. However, it is up to me to decisively shout ‘charge forward’.
Normally, that’s not usually a burden. Besides, now I’m exaggerating a little, I can’t even see my feet because of the fog. I don’t want to order you to run into the wall. To be precise, I didn’t want to bear the gaze that would return immediately after the order.
In my mind, I want to do everything alone, including siege warfare. If I secretly climbed over the wall and killed about three to four hundred people, wouldn’t they get scared and surrender?
Well, of course, before that, he would become a hedgehog with a dozen or so layers of iron nets on him. Or be surrounded by imperial knights and elite soldiers, hit with spells and reduced to ashes.
“If only there were a little more X-footed pages.” Had they advanced at a leisurely pace, they could have cut their casualties in half or less. If I had been determined and speeded up, I would have been able to get rid of the supply logo and bring more troops.
But our choice was neither one nor the other. It was because while continuing the forced march as much as possible, the supply route was kept tight – I don’t know if it’s actually that hard.
In fact, I didn’t even have a choice. Because that was the order of Prince Ulkar.
He gave orders to seize from Proshafen to Eisbowald within ten days, and at the same time behave as if you were going to sit down in this region. Only then will the Imperial Army, who should have occupied High Castle by this time and be drunk with victory, waste their time stranded.
The size of the troops was also appropriate. If you add all the allies spread out in the two provinces of Angst and Obdorf, it’s roughly 1,500. It’s not a huge army, but it’s a size that’s a little burdensome to deal with by moving the vassals left in the territory by the Duke of Abillambus. Even so, it would be ambiguous to return the main force.
In order to drive the Imperials into such an ambiguous situation, they had to hurry a little.
It had been a week since they crossed the blade and landed in Proshafen. In order to match the timing of the follow-up operation planned by Ulkar, that icebo balt must be occupied within three days at the latest.
“The outer boundary was decided to be taken over by the Nudein. I think we should be ready for battle by the time the fog shows signs of dissipating.”
“Oh then.”
Lost in thought, I roughly nodded, then suddenly tilted my head.
“But what is our unit’s mission?”
At first glance, it would seem pathetic for a superior to ask a subordinate about an assignment, but he had no choice. It was because I was busy cutting the spear every time, so I almost left the work of collecting and operating troops to the noncommissioned officers.
“Looks like you decided to follow Milgester through the castle gate.”
“Yes…
The privates of the Earl of Milgrester were elite soldiers beyond what Lord Langboldt and Atalanta expected. Like the men on the beach, he was unstoppable, absolutely obedient to orders, and had excellent weapon handling skills.
Their owner, Earl Ines, also did not act passively in managing his troops, as if he had no intention of just filling the numbers. Even when Daybal attacked Untrier Castle, the first gateway to the island, he stood at the forefront even when he crossed a fence defended by a famous mercenary.
Even more surprising was the fact that, despite fighting so recklessly, only six of Milgrester’s enlisted men died. Instead, the serfs who had been hastily conscripted died six or seven times that number, but no one cared.
“Soldiers will fight well… In the end, the gate is the problem.”
However, even those brave soldiers would not be able to exert their full strength as they were struggling under the walls.
It was around the time I sighed, wondering if there was a way. A Hareskith, who served as an officer among the nude warriors, came running and delivered the news.
“…Are people coming? In Eisbowald?”
“Kub hunapi. Our warrior got it. We are at the command post.”
‘Hunapi’ was the nickname the Nudin warriors called me. I was curious about the meaning, so I asked Atalanta several times, but she always just laughed without answering.
“Caught? What is that-” I
was about to ask the question, but I remembered that among the Hares kisses, the one who speaks Milanese fluently is counted on one hand.
“Wait a minute, wake up Atalanta and come with me.”
“Kub hunapi.”
“…but what does funapi mean?” The darkened warrior just laughed without saying anything.
“It’s okay, you bastard.”
I shook my head and turned around.
