Chapter 61 : A Brief Lull (1)

Chapter 61: A Brief Lull (1)

“Huff… huff….”

His ragged breath tore up from deep in his lungs. Even with the pattern of fighting and resting on repeat, there was no sign that the number of enemies would decrease.

Corpses of several Knights and more Imperial soldiers than he could count lay all around them.

There were so many that they were practically using Imperial bodies as a makeshift bulwark.

On top of that, the enemy Knights were finally starting to match their rhythm.

“Haha! This bastard is finally tired.”

“A little more pressure and we can finish him.”

The Knights on the other side sounded delighted.

The thought that he might lose at this rate slowly hardened into certainty.

‘Are they really trying to settle everything today?’

Shatien lifted his head and looked up at the sky. The pitch black heavens were starting to glow with a faint blue tint. Dawn was almost here.

Even so, the enemy showed no sign of withdrawing. They looked ready to fight until every last man on either side had killed or been killed.

It was getting old at this point.

“Ugh… those lunatics.”

“What do we do about this?”

The same went for the other Centurions who had been fighting at his side. No, if anything, they were even more worn down.

They had never seen the Imperial Army attack with such tenacity, as if they were avenging some mortal grudge.

At first, when Shatien kept cutting the enemy down in succession, their morale surged. As the battle dragged on and the Imperial soldiers continued to pour in, their earlier fighting spirit faded. Moreover, mentally they were reaching their limit, and physically they were already there.

On the palisade as well, mercenaries were being pushed back one by one and Imperial soldiers were taking the wall.

At this rate everything would collapse and it would all be over. That was the feeling in the air.

-Bwoooooooo!!!

Just then, a horn blast cut through the curtain of darkness and shook the battlefield.

“?!”

“!!!”

Tension flashed across every face. Whose reinforcements were these?

The Imperial Army, or the forces of Count Bellua?

Depending on the answer, this hellish stalemate would tip one way or the other.

Soon, the answer revealed itself.

“Uoooooh!”

“Kill the Imperial dogs!”

“Full assault, all forces forward!”

The identity of the reinforcements was finally clear. They were the troops of Count Bellua.

The earth rumbled so heavily that the supply depot felt like it would collapse. Shields shook and clattered with the vibration.

“They are our allies!”

“We are saved! Reinforcements! We are saved!!”

“Hahahaha! Now we’ll win. This damned battle is finally over!”

Color returned to the pale faces of the mercenaries. In contrast, the faces of the Imperial soldiers turned dead white.

The Knights in particular looked even worse.

They had cast honor aside and obsessed over victory at any cost, only for the situation to turn out like this!

Baron Friedrand belatedly gave the order to retreat.

“Retreat! Fall back!”

“If you don't want to die, run!”

The Imperial Army that had swarmed in like ants scattered like grains of sand. However, they had already pushed too deep into the supply depot. Coming in was easy, but leaving was a different story.

The Imperial soldiers who threw down their weapons and ran soon had their backs exposed to Count Bellua’s reinforcements and were slaughtered one sidedly.

Shatien watched the battle draw to a close, then dropped to the ground with a thud.

“…We won.”

Another grueling victory had finally come to an end.

* * *

The win at the supply depot effectively became a win in the forward engagement. Thanks to that, Count Bellua’s forces were able to advance deep into the Emperor’s vast directly ruled territory that stretched toward Carcassonne, and did so with almost no further losses.

The battle also had another consequence. One of the Emperor’s vassal lords defected and surrendered to Count Bellua.

The domain that lord ruled was an important gateway that led toward the next imperial demesne, so the war tilted even further in Bellua’s favor.

As a side note, Baron Friedrand and Baron Lichten, who had both been captured, were only released after paying an enormous ransom.

To raise the funds, both men had to sell off portions of their family lands.

On top of that, once their dishonorable actions during the battle became known to all, the two barons lost any real place among the nobility.

In stark contrast, Shatien received a truly staggering reward.

-Clatter.

The envoys spilled gold coins across the table.

They were twenty gold coins from the ancient Empire, renowned for their absolute reliability and extremely high purity.

“Hmm.”

Shatien smiled faintly with satisfaction as he watched the rippling wave of gold.

‘Nothing pays like Knights huh.’

For nameless Knights, it was a generous ransom. On top of that, instead of splitting it with others, he was taking all of it for himself, so the profit was immense.

“We have brought the ransom as agreed. Please release Sir Alto. If there are no further issues, we would like to escort him back at once.”

“Take him. He is in the warehouse.”

“…The warehouse?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“You imprisoned a noble of such lofty blood in a place like that? You should at least respect custom.”

“You think this is a royal court? He should consider it a blessing that he is alive. Begone!”

“How dare you!”

The envoys snapped at Shatien’s growl, but there was nothing they could do. They were in enemy territory, and Sir Alto, the Knight of their house, had been captured after acting in disgraceful fashion.

This was no situation where they could hide behind talk of noble custom and save face.

‘I won’t have to worry about money for a while.’

Shatien felt a sense of security as he looked at his suddenly heavy purse. He intended to use these coins wisely later, in order to pursue his grand ambitions.

‘That aside… are we resting for a while?’

The overwhelming victory in the forward battle had once again stripped the Imperial Army of the ability to carry on the war. At the same time, Count Bellua’s ankles were caught again as he busied himself placating the lords who had abandoned the Emperor to join him.

Thanks to that, a short truce was established between both sides.

Their true intentions and goals differed, yet there was one thing both sides wanted.

Time.

That gave the mercenaries a chance to rest without worry. They had fought hard, perhaps too hard, in the battles leading up to this. This time felt like pure honey.

Rumors spread that a trade caravan from the upper guild would personally bring its wagons to the supply depot, and the mercenaries grew even more excited.

A caravan’s arrival meant good drink, good food and women.

Shatien also released his Centurions to relax for once. No one could stay wound up all the time after all.

There was a time to rest, and a time to fight.

Of course, Shatien himself spent his time training alone, preparing for the next phase of the war.

‘The real war starts now.’

The war he knew, the Imperial civil war, had only just opened its curtain. In the main campaign, the armies on both sides would often clash in engagements of tens of thousands, the kind of numbers you usually only saw in history books.

That was how large the war would become, and how terrible the danger would grow.

‘Baron Ludwig… I will see him again.’

Baron Ludwig, the man he had fought in that last duel, still weighed on Shatien’s mind. Last time, he had won by exploiting a moment of carelessness. There was no way he could count on that same good fortune twice.

If anything, because Ludwig had taken such a beating, he would probably fight with full power from the very beginning. Which meant Shatien could not afford to slack off in his training.

“Hup!”

-Flash!

-Swish, swish!

Thinking that, Shatien swung his sword without pause.

He kept swinging as he analyzed the shortcomings he had felt in the last duel and the things he needed to improve.

Sometimes in his imagination he faced his old master.

Sometimes he faced Baron Ludwig, comparing the two in his mind as he fought each of them.

While Shatien trained like a man possessed,

-Clip clop. Clip clop.

He saw a group of riders approaching from a distance. Judging from their attire, they were not ordinary soldiers.

‘Haah… huff… are they envoys?’

He felt a twinge of concern. Has something happened again? Wiping away his sweat, Shatien watched the group of envoys.

Then, after exchanging a few words with a mercenary, one of them raised a finger and pointed straight at Shatien.

‘Hmm?’

Had the family of some Knight he had ransomed come to complain that he had overcharged them?

-Clip.

The envoys dismounted in front of him and walked toward him. Shatien looked at them with a puzzled expression.

“Are you Shatien?”

The speaker’s tone carried the refined accent of an old noble.

And Shatien quickly understood why such a person had come looking for him.

“Yes. How can I help you?”

“Good. Saddle a horse and follow me. Count Bellua has invited you and Captain Mordo to a banquet.”

Huh… Another banquet?

As always, Count Bella wasn’t someone who could be stopped.

* * *

-Clip clop. Clip clop.

Escorted by Count Bellua’s troop, Shatien rode toward the banquet hall. Captain Mordo, riding alongside him, glanced over and spoke.

“That outfit suits you well. You look like a scion of my old house. That is a compliment, not sarcasm.”

“Haha. I know. Of course it is. Thank you for the compliment.”

Shatien was wearing formal clothing. After being stuck in uncomfortable armor all the time, changing into a dress uniform felt light and easy.

“Where did you get such a fine outfit? From the look of the cut it is no cheap thing. It has a traditional feel too. Hardly something you would pick up in a camp.”

“I received it as a gift from the old Knight who used to train me.”

“Ah… from that merchant guild?”

So the rumors had spread that far already.

“That old Knight is a very hard man to read. But everyone knows the truth. He is an incredible swordsman.”

“I think so too. The guild treats him with extreme respect.”

“So you are the one who inherited his sword then. No wonder my offer did not sound very tempting. Haha.”

Jeez, what a sharp man. Shatien could only laugh it off.

But fortunately, Mordo did not seem offended at all.

‘This guy will go far.’

He was still young, no, he was practically a boy, but his skill was unquestionable. He knew how to handle his men. If he had also inherited that old Knight’s true style, then he surely had more hidden cards as well. It explained why his tone and bearing had started to change lately.

Mordo found himself looking forward to seeing how this young mercenary would grow. Regardless of what others might say, Shatien was his subordinate.

In noble terms, he was effectively a retainer.

Some petty mercenary captains grew jealous and spiteful when they had such a talented man under them, but Mordo was not like that.

He would simply grow the mercenary company larger and hold Shatien close within it.

Mordo had no intention of ending his life as some insignificant mercenary leader.

A bigger dream.

A greater future.

For that, he needed excellent retainers. And alongside Jacri, Shatien was one of the most promising candidates for that role.

“Hm… Is there something on my face?”

“Ahhh, no. You are just a fine looking lad. If I had married earlier and had a daughter, I would have introduced her to you. Hahaha.”

“I appreciate your compliment.”

As the two of them kept trading lighthearted banter and chatting about this and that,

“We have arrived.”

After a full day’s ride, they had finally reached their destination.