Chapter 140

Chapter 140: The Day of the Decisive Battle. (1)

The frontline fortifications encircling the Mudside trading port.

It was a time when the world should have gone to sleep, yet this place was noisier and more bustling than ever.

“When I raise this flag, you clear out this area.”

“Huh? Clear it? But this is the center… Why are we doing that?”

“There’s no time to explain in detail. This is our strategy and our plan, so make sure you understand it thoroughly to execute it without a hitch!”

“Ah, yes!”

Mulgybson had gathered all the squad leaders within the defense line and relayed the tasks they were to carry out in tomorrow’s battle.

“Wait, isn’t this completely different from the original plan?”

“Well, it’s the Lord’s order. What choice do we have? Just do as told.”

“Phew…”

The squad leaders then passed the message on to the soldiers under their command and checked to make sure there would be no issues executing it.

Meanwhile…

“Knights! Here are your armors and weapons! Come take them!”

“Phew, what a relief.”

Gadolph and the servants brought new sets of armor, clothing, and swords for the knights.

Everyone discarded their saltwater-soaked gear and replaced it with fresh supplies.

Though…

“Nnnngh! Nghhh! Don’t you have something a bit bigger than this?”

“T-That’s the biggest one we have…”

“Beryl, please lose some weight.”

“Hey! This has nothing to do with weight!”

It seemed that thanks to his… generously sized body, one individual was having some trouble.

“Alright, everyone start eating! If you need more rations, come get them!”

“P-Please, just give me one!”

“Thank you!”

Engelmann, along with the retainers and Mudside’s territory residents, rushed in to serve what could be the final supper for everyone.

It felt like the entire house was doing everything it could for tomorrow’s decisive battle.

And at that moment…

“……”

Hardin stood atop the watchtower with his arms crossed, quietly looking down below.

“Move faster! Make sure you’ve memorized the operation properly!”

“Yes, sir!”

Among the constant movement, the Daphne Knights came into view.

“Whew, I’m getting nervous.”

“Oh come on, what are you nervous about? You got the easiest job, Beryl.”

“What? Easy? You wanna try it, you brat?!”

“Nope.”

“You little…!”

“Aaagh! Aaaaagh! Let go!”

As Beryl wrapped his arms around Mikkelsen’s neck and shouted, the nearby knights shook their heads in disbelief.

Perhaps because of that…

A memory from the past overlapped with the present scene in Hardin’s mind.

---

 Captain Varlach, are we really going with this strategy?

 Yep, this way we’re guaranteed to win.

 Don’t you remember how badly things turned out last time when you said the same thing?

 So what, you’re saying you’re not doing it?

 I’m not saying that… Hey, lower your fist while we’re talking. H-Hey? What’s with that face?

Before heading to the battlefield, Hardin recalled the silly banter he shared with the youngest, Martin, to ease the tension.

A bitter smile crept onto Hardin’s face.

‘Damn it, it always hits me at times like this…’

Was it the scent of the sea carried by the night breeze?

Or was it the thought of tomorrow’s battle?

His chest felt damp, as though part of it was soaked with water.

Just as Hardin closed his eyes tightly and let out a deep sigh to shake off the phantom voices—

“Young Master.”

At the voice behind him, Hardin slowly opened his eyes and turned his head.

“Hm? Manton?”

Atop the watchtower.

Manton, the Daphne unit commander and a native of Mudside, stood there staring straight at him.

Hardin forced a small smirk as he opened his mouth.

“Is everything ready? Or is there something to report?”

“No, not really. Everything you instructed has been carried out.”

“Then what? Got something to say?”

“Well…”

Manton tightly shut his eyes, hesitating for a long moment.

Anyone could tell he had something on his mind—his face was filled with conflict.

“Go ahead and say it. It’s fine.”

Pushed by Hardin, Manton finally let out a breath and spoke.

“…Was this operation your plan from the very beginning?”

“Huh?”

Hardin looked at him as if to ask what he meant, but Manton continued, clenching his fist tightly.

“Building the ironclad ships, creating a giant tidal wave… even escaping through the tidal flats. I’m asking whether it was all part of your plan from the start.”

His voice and gaze were serious—there was no room to brush it off as a joke.

Losing the playful tone, Hardin rested his hand on his chin and replied.

“…Why are you curious?”

“Please answer me. As a unit commander of Daphne, and as your subordinate… I must know.”

Hardin let out a deep sigh and answered coldly.

“It was.”

At that, Manton clenched his fist even tighter and added another question.

“You knew the reinforcements wouldn’t come, too, didn’t you?”

“……”

Hardin paused for a moment before answering with a silent nod.

Manton steadied his breath with a heavy expression and asked again.

“Why?”

If you had told me earlier… I could have supported you with everything I had.

There were many things he wanted to say, but Manton couldn’t bring himself to voice them all.

Hardin let out another breath as he answered.

“Because we’re facing the Count of Tread.”

A piercing, serious gaze.

He didn’t elaborate further, but everything was conveyed in those few words.

What Hardin must have felt, and why he had made such a decision.

Fwwwoooosh!

At that moment, a strong gust of wind blew, sending both their hair flying wildly.

The moonlight that had lit the watchtower slipped behind a cloud, briefly veiling their expressions in shadow.

Moments later, the veil of darkness lifted, revealing Manton’s face once again.

He wore a look of resolute determination.

“Young Master, Mudside is my hometown. And… I am a unit commander of this knight order.”

A brief silence fell.

Then Hardin slowly closed his eyes and responded calmly.

“Yeah, I understand what you're trying to say.”

“…Thank you.”

Manton bowed his head deeply.

Seeing him, Hardin let a faint smile cross his lips.

“Go get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a living hell.”

“Hell… I’ll be ready.”

Manton’s expression hardened as he steeled his resolve.

---

The next day, just as the morning sun began to rise above the water’s surface—

Behind the residential district at the rear of Mudside.

“Come on, move faster! Head to the back!”

Women and elderly folks led children as they trudged toward the highlands.

Even as they moved, they frequently glanced back over their shoulders.

In the distance… the coastline was packed with the forces of the Count of Tread.

A banner bearing a hammer emblem fluttered in the air, and whether it was just their imagination or not, the stench of blood and iron hung heavy in the air.

‘The Count of Tread…’

If they advanced, Mudside would become a battlefield before the day was over.

—

– All children, women, and elderly not participating in the battle must evacuate to the back mountain!

– …Yes!

—

That’s why, under Cobalt’s orders, everyone was now evacuating to the mountain behind Mudside.

Given the circumstances, everyone was not only exhausted but also weighed down by fear and anxiety.

As they hurried along in scattered steps—

“Mommyyyy… where are we going?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, just hurry up.”

“Nooooo! We were supposed to play by the sea today! I’m tired! I can’t walk anymore!”

At the front of the group.

A little child, maybe five or six years old, plopped down on the ground and started bawling.

“This isn’t the time for this, sweetheart!”

“I don’t wannaaaaa!”

The mother, flustered, tried to forcefully lift the child, but the kid only screamed louder and threw a bigger tantrum.

Just as the mother stopped in her tracks, unsure what to do—

“Hehehe, be good. Take this and stop crying, okay?”

“Huh?”

Flamd, the former Village Chief of Mudside and current leader of the evacuation, stooped over and offered a cookie.

“Wooooow…”

The child’s eyes sparkled as they reached out, but Village Chief Flamd gently lifted the cookie just out of reach and said—

“You’ll stop crying if I give this to you, right?”

“Yup yup! Gimme!”

“You’ll listen to your mom too, and no more tantrums?”

“B-But we were supposed to go to the sea and play today…”

As the child squirmed in place, Flamd pointed behind them with his finger and continued.

“There are bad ghosts at the sea today, so you can't go there.”

“Ghosts?”

“Yes, if you go there now, they’ll grab you—WAK!—and drag you into the water.”

The child’s face turned pale. With a trembling voice, they asked again.

“Then… are the ghosts going to chase us all the way here?”

“Heh heh, don’t worry. The Lord and the knights will drive those ghosts away in no time! But in return, you have to listen to your mom until then, okay?”

“I won’t go. I don’t like scary things.”

“Good, that’s a smart kid.”

As the child shook their head, the village chief smiled and handed over the cookie.

Crunch, crunch.

The child cautiously took a bite and chewed…

“It’s delicious!”

As if nothing had happened, a sunflower-like smile bloomed across their face, and the mother watching nearby bowed repeatedly.

“Thank you, Sir Flamd.”

“Heh heh, don’t mention it. Off you go now.”

Once the fuss was settled, they continued onward for some time.

“We… we’ve arrived.”

“Phew…”

When they reached the top of the mountain behind the village, everyone plopped down on the ground to catch their breath.

“Ack, my back… Getting old sure makes this hard.”

Flamd sat down and tapped his lower back a few times.

At that moment, a voice called out from the side.

“Um, Sir Flamd.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Turning his head, he saw a group of boys, probably six or seven of them, staring at him.

Most looked to be in their early to mid-teens, with a few who seemed not even ten yet. They all wore serious expressions as if they had made up their minds about something.

Each one held a tree branch they must’ve picked up somewhere.

“Please let us fight.”

The tallest of the group, a freckled boy with curly orange hair, placed a hand firmly over his chest as he spoke. Flamd’s eyes widened.

“Huh? What did you just say, Gazel?”

Gazel—he had been notorious as a troublemaker in the village back when Flamd was still the village chief of Mudside.

He had also been the one who looked up to and followed Manton the most before Manton joined the knight order.

Gazel continued.

“If things go on like this, the port—the village—will all burn down! Do you know how hard we worked to build it all…? We can’t just sit back and watch!”

“H-He's right!”

The other boys behind him, riled up by Gazel’s outburst, also shouted in excitement.

Flamd met the children's eyes.

What he saw in them—burning determination, anger, and willpower—made his chest flutter. The corner of his mouth twitched.

‘So that’s what this is about.’

He fully understood what was driving them to say this.

They were scared to death. They knew they were up against the Count of Tread.

But still…

‘…They want to protect the port. Protect the village.’

Flamd turned his head to look down at Mudside.

A trade port, somewhere between a town and a city, now vastly larger than it had been in the past.

Flamd knew all too well how much blood and sweat had gone into building it up to what it had become today.

Truth be told, he himself wanted to pick up a sword and fight.

He wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mudside’s neighbors, the merchants, the fathers and brothers of these children—everyone who had built this place together—and protect it.

But…

“You can’t.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Please let us fight! I don’t want to just sit here like a coward!”

Gazel cried out, his teeth clenched, and the other children agreed with him.

Flamd slowly rose to his feet and placed a hand on Gazel’s shoulder.

“Gazel, don’t you trust the house… no, don’t you trust Manton?”

“I-It’s not that. It’s just… our enemy is…”

Had Flamd struck a nerve?

Gazel averted his gaze and muttered.

Flamd looked him in the eye with a firm expression and said:

“The order I received from the Lord was to safely evacuate everyone here to the back mountain. And the ones who must carry out that mission… aren’t just me. You’re included too.”

“But we’re up against the Count of Tread…”

“We’ll win. Our house has Young Master Hardin, Manton… and many other outstanding knights.”

Former Village Chief Flamd spoke like he was making a declaration.

He knew it would be a tough battle, but there wasn’t a hint of hesitation or doubt in his voice.

“And the people you need to protect… aren’t they all right here?”

“……”

For a moment, the light in Gazel and the other children’s eyes wavered.

Seeing that, Flamd posed the question once more.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“But… will Mudside really be okay?”

“Trust me. I may not look it, but…”

Flamd closed his eyes for a moment and pictured someone’s face.

A man who came off as arrogant, rough, even reckless—but had worked miracles time and again.

As Flamd slowly opened his eyes again, he spoke once more.

“I’m pretty good at reading people.”

“……”

On the faces of Gazel and the boys, a quiet but determined resolve had begun to take root.

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