Episode 91
“They’ve finally gone crazy.”
When Roger Wipros first heard Ferretta’s communication, he couldn’t help but laugh.
The humiliation suffered at the party in the territory and the subsequent humiliation in the capital.
Even the proposal he made while holding back his anger as the representative of the faction was deceived.
I don’t know how many days I’ve been thinking about stamping them out since then.
If it weren’t for Geomgong’s warning, Macline would have been devastated before this winter even began.
I was looking for an excuse to hide my claws for a while, but they came up with a justification.
“Your Excellency. What do you want to do?”
The smile did not leave his face even when his subordinate worriedly asked about his intentions.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
No matter how you analyzed it, Bipros’s power was more than twice that of McLane.
Although the new crossbow weapon took some time, there were more than twice as many knights.
What good is it even if ordinary soldiers have excellent weapons?
“Aslan. Planz. Are you sure you’re ready?”
“Of course, Your Excellency.”
Two top-class knights who can be considered their right and left arms.
In addition, he is now a mature 5th circle wind wizard.
My heart was filled with overwhelming confidence that I could block any unknown variables that might arise.
“Let’s start slowly. When Ferretta is trampled and they are intoxicated with victory, I will send them from heaven to hell.”
A slow advance order for one’s own psychological satisfaction.
But before he could even set off, Roger Bipros received strange news.
* * *
“Why aren’t you coming?”
Ferretta Castle, Daejeon.
In front of a large crowd of retainers, Max Ferretta expressed his anxiety by biting his fingernails.
And at that time, the knights who had sent scouting half a day ago rushed into Daejeon.
“My lord! The McLane army….”
“Where have they been?!”
Eyes filled with tension are focused on the driver.
“McLane’s army is gone.”
“…what?”
There was no one who could answer that question, and a heavy silence engulfed Ferretta’s speech.
A day ago.
Doo doo doo doo.
“Prince! If we continue like this, we will arrive at Ferretta Castle in half a day!”
“What is the point?”
“We’ll be arriving soon.”
“good.”
Eilen, who was following closely behind Logan at the head of the knights, tilted his head.
‘point?’
She thought she must have heard wrong, but only ten minutes later.
“Change direction! Follow the northwest leader at full speed!”
“yes!”
Among the senior knights of the McLane Knights, only the oldest ones answer without hesitation.
Seeing that most of the knights had puzzled expressions, it seemed that Eilen was not the only one who found this situation strange.
However, there was no way for the knights at the front to change direction all at once and not follow them.
McLane’s army, which confused even the majority of McLane’s troops and turned to the northwest, chose a deserted place with minimal sleep and rest and did not stop its advance for three days.
The third day of running at full speed.
As soon as dawn broke, we rode on horseback and by the time the day was bright, we arrived at a towering castle in the middle of a wide plain.
At the center of the castle’s spire is a flag of a rose in flames.
* * *
“Your Excellency! This is Tomodo Castle! The McRains have appeared in our Tomodo Castle!”
Roger Bipros’ complexion changed dramatically.
“How dare these bastards!!”
The second castle of the County of Bypros, which collects and manages the harvest of the Bypros Plain.
When the news of Tomodo’s attack suddenly flew in and the entire Bipros army was put on alert.
McLane’s army was preparing its lines in front of an unexpected target.
“That way.”
“yes.”
Purr.
The horse Logan was riding was tossing and even showing light foam.
Three days of hard marching.
As a result, all the extra war horses were mobilized and even infantrymen who were still awkward at riding horses were forced to ride.
Tomodo Castle, which we had targeted from the beginning, was just coming into view.
‘Estimated troop strength: 50 knights and 500 soldiers.’
In the winter, when all farming was over, the troops guarding the second castle in Bypros were reduced to a minimum.
At that level, even the current Macline forces can easily destroy it.
But the problem was that Bipros would not stay still.
“The flag is moving crazy. I’m sure Bipros has also been contacted by now.”
“I guess so.”
Even considering the infantry’s slow movement speed, this is their stronghold. Even if we estimate it, the elite army will arrive in two days.
‘It might arrive before noon tomorrow at the earliest…’
The moment to start the fight against time has arrived.
And that wasn’t the only obstacle.
‘They won’t come down from the top of the castle wall.’
Crossbows were less useful than regular longbows for attacking from below.
It was as if the McLane soldiers’ main weapon had been blocked.
Still, the difference in power was clear.
Even if the knights make an all-out attack in the simplest way, sacrifices may be made, but in the end, Tomodo Castle will not be able to withstand it.
But if that happens…
“The sacrifice will be great.”
“I guess so.”
Logan nodded at Heinkel’s assertion.
After the Great Migration a thousand years ago, the majority of the different races that had persecuted humans disappeared beyond the southern mountain ranges, marking the beginning of the heyday of humanity.
And about 300 years ago, humanity’s power grew stronger to the point where being a force user became a basic requirement for a knight.
As a result, the walls were no longer as great a tactical shield as before.
Knights, who could jump over castle walls over 10 meters high with just a few leaps, became the main force of the war, so the effectiveness of mercury was no longer as high as before.
But even so, if the goal is to endure rather than a clear victory.
If it’s to kill time until reinforcements arrive.
Although it was not as good as before, the wall was still a valid option.
It is an option to narrow the scope of the battlefield on the side with fewer numbers, but more than anything, if the skill is the same, it is advantageous to meet the enemy jumping from a low place from a high place.
“But that’s why you prepared.”
“…Will it work?”
“You have to do everything you can to the best of your ability.”
Heinkel nodded silently in response to Logan’s stern expression.
But soon, another thought occurred to me, and I opened my mouth again with difficulty.
“What will you do, Princess Eilen?”
“…Wasn’t that conversation over already?”
“Are you really going to have the princess join the knights and send them on a rampage?”
Heinkel asked seriously, but Logan remained unmoved.
“It’s what you want.”
“No matter what, I am your fiancée. If anything goes wrong, you will have problems with the count… or before that, are you sure you are okay with it?”
Logan sighed and nodded.
“…To make her dreams come true. That’s what I promised her. Don’t even think about giving me special treatment.”
“…All right.”
Heinkel still had an expression of disapproval, but he did not question it further.
Logan kept a stern expression as he watched him retreat.
He also had no intention of leaving Eilen in danger.
Of course, it wasn’t just because she was his fiancee.
‘Ronian Victor Eilen. We have to somehow save talented people who have the potential to become superhumans in the future.’
For him, it was the second most important task after winning or losing the battle, so he secretly asked his father to do it.
Ronian, his blood relative, is his father, and Eileen is himself. Victor is the more relaxed one of the two.
Of course, it was something the parties did not know about and it could not be said officially because it could lower the morale of other knights.
‘Of course, this is only possible under the premise that we win this battle.’
Logan bit his lip.
A battle in which they feel anxious even though they have a firm superiority in troops.
The battle to conquer Tomodo Castle seen from Macline’s perspective was like that.
however.
Even so, they were not as anxious as the defense forces of Tomodo Castle, who faced a much larger army than them in an unexpected situation.
“Damn it! Where on earth did it come out of nowhere!”
Jerome, a senior knight of Bipros who was also the guard captain of Tomodo Castle, fell into a state of panic the moment he saw the thousands of troops that suddenly appeared outside the western castle walls.
He couldn’t stay still even for a moment and started reacting nervously to everything.
In contrast, his lieutenant and younger brother, Xerix, was quite calm.
“Calm down, bro. Anyway, the message was sent to the main castle. We just have to hold on for one day!”
Even though they are brothers, they are at the level of high-ranking knights with clear differences in temperament.
This was the reason why the two were attached to most missions.
The role of the calm Xerix was to assist Jerome, who was excellent in military skills but was somewhat impatient. Jerome also knew his own temperament well and tended to listen to his younger brother’s words.
But things were a little different now.
“A rough estimate of the nearly 3,000 knights would be close to 200. How do we survive?”
Jerome knew very well that he was not very smart.
But can brainpower make up for this gap in military history?
Looking at the lineup, it was a well-trained army.
Although it may not be compared to the main force in Bipros, the quality of the soldiers seemed to be significantly higher than the soldiers of Tomodo Castle.
“Let’s just protect the walls and hold out. If we join forces, we won’t be able to hold out for about a day, right? Huh? Gale Therese Typhoon. Those guys are also high-ranking knights, so they’ll pay for the food.”
“Yeah. I guess so?”
He didn’t completely agree with his younger brother’s words, but it was the only way he could think of it.
And the moment you ask that question.
– Entire army advances!
The enemy began to charge without a word.
“Stop it! Stop it!”
With Jerome’s shout, all the soldiers on the castle wall took out their bows.
Soldiers with tense expressions aim their bows at the approaching enemy forces.
“Shoot!”
With shouts echoing from the enemy camp, small, sharp arrows that were half as many arrows as they had were fired towards the castle walls.
‘Faster, faster!’
An arrow that is much faster and stronger than the arrow fired by a regular longbow.
A moment when those with a certain level of insight are all surprised.
Ride it!
The rain of bolts hit the castle wall in front of us and bounced off all at once.
A very meaningless exit compared to a surprising appearance.
Jerome shouted from behind the confused-looking Tomodo soldiers.
“counterattack! Counterattack!”
The soldiers reflexively pulled their longbows
and fired a volley of arrows diagonally into the sky.
Although they were not as fast and strong as the small arrows that had flown a moment ago, the rain of arrows falling parabolically from the castle wall more than made up for the lack of power.
Of course.
Pabababak.
Their rain of arrows also did not reach the enemy.
The enemy, who was running excitedly, was well over 400 meters away and did not get any closer.
“As expected, the longbow is coming out.”
“Without magical help, That’s all.”
“The problem is that we have no choice.”
Logan grinned and raised his repeating crossbow.
Peeing .
Right!
The bolt he fired hit the castle wall with strong sparks and bounced off.
The elasticity of the demonstration with force. Even if it was strengthened, this was the limit.
A crossbow that couldn’t be fired at this angle had no answer. That
meant that it was a waste of arrows if you were lucky enough to not get caught by someone who showed his face outside the castle wall.
However,
even so, Logan He raised his hand and gave the command to shoot.
“Shoot!”
Paba-b-bak.
Ta-da-dang.
“Ahh!”
This time, a few were lucky enough to get caught.
Then, the soldiers on the wall were seen shrinking even more.
‘Good. ‘
Crossbow cavalry and infantry took turns firing crossbows over the castle wall.
The soldiers had plenty of magazines, and just firing their arrows intermittently was enough to make the enemy cower.
Meanwhile,
the secret weapons they had prepared were in motion. He started.
“Please, Mr. Clayton.”
At the rear of McLane’s camp, Logan looked back at the ‘wizards’ who didn’t have a very good complexion.
“Huh… Indeed. I thought he was someone who cared for the people. You’re starting a real war.”
“This will ultimately be for the good of the people.” ”
…I hope these aren’t empty words spoken to someone who has been hired anyway.”
“Of course.”
“Hmm. “Guys, let’s go.”
The wizards of the Golem Tower will be talked about again and again in the Kingdom’s war history.
Their first battlefield debut was at Tomodo Castle in Bipros.
In fact, from the time they were planning the attack on Tomodo Castle, Logan was going to the Golem Tower, or more accurately, Clayton’s participation in the battle. However ,
what he first thought was that Clayton’s giant golem would march towards the castle wall, block the rain of arrows and barrage, and then the knights would rush in and climb over the castle wall on the golem. When
Clayton heard that idea , he In a word, that imagination was completely blown away.
“Are you planning to kill me?”
“Yes?”
“Arrows aside, if wizards or knights attack the golem, there is no way to stop it. A golem is just a lump of dirt. Dirt!”
“It’s valuable just by blocking attacks from the front and luring knights and wizards…”
Logan couldn’t give up and tried to persuade him again, but golem magic had another effect he didn’t know about. There was a downside.
“And even if I use a magic stone, some of the shock received by the golem that exceeds a certain level will be transferred to me. I won’t be able to bear it.”
“….”
“Hmm. Of course, I’m constantly looking for improvements, so one day…” It
was a moment when Logan’s fantasy of a battle golem sweeping the battlefield that he had expected in the past was shattered.
That’s why he looked at Clayton, who had contributed greatly to the construction of McLane Town and the dam. For a moment, a rude thought occurred to me:
‘Oh, it’s useless.’
“…I feel something unpleasant right now.”
“Hmm. Oh, I’m sorry. I told a useless story while someone was busy.”
Naturally, I tried to turn my thoughts to finding another way.
“If you really want to use our magic for war, it would be better to use another method.”
“Yes?”
Clayton said. A reverse suggestion was made.
