My Villains Episode 391
62. Tactics of Deception (18)
The cathedral in Andal-Biren is quite large.
Even in the chapel alone, the ceiling height was over 10 meters, and you had to bend your neck to see the ceiling painting, and the width was also large enough for 500 believers to hold Mass at once.
Of course, it would be inferior compared to the few cathedrals in the whole kingdom, but it was quite surprising that such a decent cathedral was standing in a border city like High Castle.
No, maybe it’s obvious. Because High Castle is a border between countries and also a border between religions.
Just as the kingdom built magnificent castles and majestic fortresses in preparation for the invasion of the empire, the Church of El Ganore may also have painstakingly built a cathedral to prevent the invasion of Calandari.
well anyway
Only eight clergy remained in Andal-Biren’s cathedral, where it was natural (and actually was) for a bishop-level or equivalent priest to manage a parish.
Five of them were military chaplains brought by Ulkar and the other high lords, one was a monk priest brought by me, and the other was a paladin from the Order of Calandari. Originally, the only priest who belonged to Andal-Biren was a young priest who had just passed the terms and conditions.
These priests were terribly trampled by the procession of the wounded that started from the west and south gates. Medical assistants and young servants were in charge of medical assistance, such as moving the wounded or applying bandages, but it was ultimately up to the priests to save those whose lives were at stake.
After endlessly reciting healing prayers, six of the eight priests collapsed from exhaustion. The only ones standing on their own two feet were Father Gospatrick, the confessor of the two silver princes, and Theodora, the ‘Anointed One’, the Paladin of Calandari.
And at this moment, Father Gospatrick and Princess Theodora were looking at a person in the inner room. One was, of course, Prince Ulkar.
A heavy silence fell behind them while the old priest and the beautiful princess whispered something as they watched the prince lying on the bed.
The narrow inner room behind the cathedral was packed with lords and knight commanders, but no one opened their mouths. There was no one sitting, so even the tension flowed.
Standing in the front row with the ‘giant’ Sir Ankir and the ‘Birdhawk’ Sir Gisela on either side of me, I looked back for a moment and then unconsciously narrowed my brows.
…That’s it. There’s no one dust pit.
Because everyone ran as soon as the battle was over, they were covered in dust, blood stains and soot all over their bodies. There didn’t seem to be any serious injuries, but there were several who were bleeding because they couldn’t even bandage their wounds.
“Why but?”
“…No, no.” After a moment of hesitation at Lord Ankir’s question, he shook his head.
In my heart, I wanted to kick out all those who were blowing dust in front of the patient, but right away, Sir Ankir and other fellow knights were similar, so it was ambiguous to bring them up.
Well, we are in the middle of healing by
borrowing the power of God, but dust won’t be a problem .
“He just fainted for a while due to accumulated fatigue, everyone, don’t worry too much.”
“Whoa, damn it. I thought the liver was falling…
Sir Ankir grunted on behalf of the relieved knights, and Sir Filter, the ‘painter’ standing next to him, whispered in a low voice.
“Be careful with your words and actions. It’s safe, princess.”
“Oh no… I was rude. Please forgive me.” “It’s okay sir.” Theodora smiled softly, then turned to the audience and added:
“It doesn’t require any special treatment, so if you take a break for a while, you’ll wake up.”
“When will you regain consciousness?”
The one who hurriedly asked the question was Sir Ariad, the viper.
He had a very shabby appearance, and part of his white gray hair was even scorched by fire, so he could not find the dignity of a knight. Even seeing that appearance, the princess shrugged her shoulders with a calm expression.
“Well… Now, it’s like asking for sleep that you’ve been putting off, so you can wake up in three or four hours or you can wake up tomorrow morning.”
“Mmm.”
“Why is that? Is there something wrong?”
When I asked a question, the old knight, who was frowning, nodded slowly.
“There is an operation that Your Highness has been planning for a long time.”
“Operation?”
“yes. Since it was an operation to be carried out immediately after a successful sit-in, time was running out, and he muttered nervously, but the lord and knights all seemed indifferent.
“Lord Ankir. Gather your knights and cavalry and prepare for a sortie.”
“Prepare for a sortie?”
“yes. It doesn’t matter if there is a slight delay in other preparations, but your heavy cavalry must move as soon as Your Highness’s life runs out.”
“However, Your Highness never said anything about me.”
“It’s because you were worried about whether or not to implement the plan until the end.”
“You said you were worried?”
Lord Ankir narrowed his brows and scratched his beard.
“So you’re saying you haven’t made a decision?”
“The current situation of the war is hardly different from what Your Highness assumed. He must have wanted to carry out the operation.”
“So what exactly is that operation?”
“That’s it,”
said Sir Ariad with a puzzled expression as he looked back into the boudoir.
“I cannot tell you. Since His Highness has given strict orders to keep it a secret.”
“Are you just telling me to prepare without telling you the details of the plan?”
“I’m embarrassed to tell you, but it is.”
“hmm.”
Sir Ariad is the third knight of the Silver Prince. However, unlike his peers who were high-ranking nobles or boasted outstanding martial arts, he had a low status and was a bit lacking in skills compared to a knight.
He was appointed a knight by Ulkar, who praised his resourcefulness, but in the eyes of other lords and knights, he seems to be just a serf who has risen to fame.
After thinking about whether this was not too different from Ankir, he made an unwilling expression.
“A good half of the cavalrymen were wounded in the fierce battle, and the rest lost their horses or were greatly exhausted and needed maintenance. If you forcefully move in a situation like this, you won’t be able to use your strength.”
“It is not necessary that the entire heavy cavalry move. Four hundred, no three hundred.”
“Three hundred…-
the gigantic knight sighed and folded his arms.
“No, I can’t. It’s not something Your Highness ordered directly, so we can’t force the force.”
“Lord Ankir but-”
“Enough. Do not be rash.”
As the old knight’s voice showed signs of rising, Lord Ankir stopped him with a slightly angry expression.
“Did you not hear what the princess was saying? Your Highness will wake up tomorrow morning at the latest, so you just need to gather your troops and wait. There is no need to be impatient.”
When the people gathered in the inner room silently nodded in agreement, Lord Ariad sighed and withdrew.
I watched the series of conversations in silence and opened my mouth belatedly.
“Well then, we can gather troops and prepare for a sortie.”
“…Sir Phoenix, the story has already ended.”
“Then let’s start over.”
As Lord Ankir’s face contorted, I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
“There’s nothing you can’t do, right? The basic mission of the heavy cavalry is power reconnaissance, and it is only natural that they reorganize and prepare for a sortie again.”
“I don’t know how great the damage to heavy cavalry is. What they need right now is treatment and rest.”
“Anyway, the knights and cavalrymen had a high priority for treatment, so they should have received all sorts of treatment. And rest. Just tell him to rest until the prince wakes up.”
“O”
“What is so difficult? Wouldn’t it be fine to just gather around with your horse and armament and tell them to rest?”
Of course, it’s not as easy as it sounds. The quality of rest would be different between waiting with preparations for a sortie and resting believing that there would be no operation for a while.
but what can i do If you want to win, you have to work hard.
“If the prince’s plan is really something to fight for, it would be better to prepare in advance. It could be the difference between winning and losing.”
“Turn off” O.
Lord Ankir scratched his forehead with the hand with two torn fingers. And nodded.
“Okay, do that. Lord Daylaced, gather your forces. The assembly point must be ordered immediately after Your Highness wakes up, so go here-”
“Let’s make it an inner high castle.”
“…why?” I nodded at Lord Ankir’s puzzled expression.
“Are you going to push even the heavy cavalry into the cathedral, which is already teeming with wounded?”
“hmm. That’s right.”
“Tolerance will improve. There is some space, and the command center of the castle tower is right in front of you, so the prince’s orders won’t be delayed too much.”
“…what do you do?”
In the end, Lord Ankir let go of Sir Daylesid, the chief of the heavy cavalry, with a dismayed expression.
After confirming Prince Ulkar’s condition, the lord and commanders withdrew and only his aides remained,’ Sir Gisela opened her mouth with a dark expression.
“Are you really okay, princess?”
“What do you mean sir?”
At the Gongnyeo’s question, the new knight’s worried gaze reached the prince lying on the bed.
“Look at Your Highness. You seem to be in pain…
Just as she said, Ulkar was sweating with a pale face. Intermittently, he furrowed his brow or clenched his molars.
“Probably because of nightmares.”
The princess, who saw the prince, reassured the knight.
“Doesn’t your maternal uncle know that lately you’ve been having more nightmares?”
“Yes, Princess. But it’s the first time I’ve seen him suffer like that. Is there any other prescription?”
“Unfortunately, none.”
Theodora shook her head with a very determined expression.
“Nightmares are not wounds or illnesses. It is not possible to heal by borrowing the power of light. And if you try to mess with other people’s dreams, unexpected things may happen.”
“Are you saying to just watch?”
“You can’t run. If you take enough rest and relaxation, you will get better, so don’t worry too much.”
While Sir Gisela bit her lower lip and lowered her head, I fidgeted with my left wrist, to be precise, the dimensional seal.
After gaining a quasi-dimension in Modos’ citadel, ‘Raven’s Cliff’, my dreams came completely under my control.
I have fewer useless nightmares, and if I do, I can twist or smash them at will.
Perhaps this is my prediction, but it can interfere with other people’s dreams to some extent. It was something I realized instinctively as I recalled the feeling I felt when I entered the dreams of the saints Abel and Ellen.
So you will be able to enter Ulkar’s dream as well. I’m not sure if I can interfere with his dream, but I can definitely figure out what kind of nightmare he’s having…
I want to reach out and check Ulkar’s dream right away.
why not In the original scenario, he is stained with the power of the Dark World and becomes the ‘King of Slaughter’. It would be foolish to go over the negative events that happened to Ulkar without thinking, ‘Oh, that’s right’.
But will it work? Is it okay to intrude into someone else’s dream? It is said that dreams are a reflection of the unconscious, but wouldn’t it have a bad influence?
And what if that terrible monster, an artist nestled in the depths of my unconsciousness, pops up out of nowhere?
“…Sir Phoenix?”
“Yes yes?”
When I blinked and looked up, Princess Theodora smiled warmly.
“You look tired. Well, considering the stories I’ve heard, it’s almost a miracle that Kyung is still standing.”
“…Uh”
“Leave the work to me and go home now. Now that the lord is bedridden, if even his most powerful knight falls, the spirit of the army may be at stake.”
As she patted me on the shoulder and urged me to take a break, I suddenly gave up my thoughts and stepped back.
