Chapter 163 : Enter the War (1)
He wasn’t even enraged.
Instead, the blood within his entire body cooled coldly.
‘Just what great thing would I accomplish with idiots like these……’
Kali Owells sharply glared at the man who was kneeling on one knee in front of the tent.
The surrounding air was frigid.
The Owells Forces’ commanders, including Tairon Bess, merely watched Kali’s mood while stifling their breaths.
“What did you say your name was?”
Kali asked to the man who was kneeling on one knee.
The man answered while only slightly raising his head.
“I’m Simmons, leader of the Simmons Troop of the Count Chase Forces.”
The man was Simmons, who was monitoring the Tale Barony Northern Road Troop’s 1st Castle.
He was the very troop commander who easily opened up the road after being crushed by Roan’s pressure.
“You say that Roan Tale has marched to protect his assets in the Montea Mountain?”
At Kali’s question, Simmons slowly nodded his head.
“Yes. I have already reported to Sir Count Chase as well, but Baron Tale has merely marched to protect his assets and did not show any desire to enter the fief war.”
“What has Sir Count Chase say?”
His voice deeply sank low.
But Simmons, who hadn’t realized this, answered in a calm expression and voice.
“He said to give the same report to Sir Viscount Owells.”
“Was that all?”
Kali asked again.
Simmons nodded his head.
“Yes. He said that I will be able to receive the next order if I do so.”
“The next order, is it……”
Kali blurred the end of his sentence.
He moved his steps towards Simmons.
Looking at Kali who was approaching him, Simmons added on.
“Yes. He said to carry out the order Sir Viscount Owells gives with utmost sincerity regardless of what it is.”
At those words, Kali made a faint yet somehow ghastly smile.
“Truly, he said quite thankful words. No……”
The end of his words momentarily blurred.
He looked straight into Simmons’ eyes.
“He said annoying words.”
“What do you……”
Simmons did not understood and asked back.
Kali did not readily answered and slowly opened his mouth after calming his breath.
“I will give an order.”
At the abrupt words, Simmons made a slightly blank look.
“Ah, yes. P, please grant the order.”
But he soon took a hold of himself and lowered his head.
Kali glared at the back of Simmons’ head and spoke in a cold voice.
“Die.”
“Eh?”
Simmons, with a shocked expression, raised his head.
On his face, the look of asking just what does that mean was clear.
Kali shook his head as he looked at that sight.
“No. I’ll simply……”
His voice was cold.
“Kill you myself.”
Chang!
The instant his words finished, the sword on his waist cut through the space.
“Uh?!”
Simmons, still with a surprised expression, merely blinked his eyes.
Tack!
Kali’s sword returned to its original place.
Sss.
A red line extended following Simmons’ neck.
“Wh, why……’
He looked at Kali with eyes full of disbelief.
Kali said no words.
With the tip of his forefinger, he lightly tapped Simmons’ forehead.
Paat!
Suddenly, hot blood spouted out from the red line drawn through the neck.
At the same time, Simmons’ head that was attached straight fell apart from the body and rolled on the ground.
“Idiotic bastard.”
With a curse, Kali kicked away the large head.
With a dull sound, Simmons’ head bounced and tumbled on the ground.
“There was absolutely no desire to enter the fief war? So you just let him go? You think that…… tch!”
Annoyance erupted.
Kali kicked Simmons’ body, whose head had fallen off, and knocked it down.
‘Anyhow, Sir Count Chase too is truly sly. To think he would borrow another’s hand and make it cut off a stupid subordinate’s head.’
He instantly saw through the reason Count Jonathan Chase had sent Simmons to him.
‘Anyway, he really is a similar man to me.’
Between him and Jonathan, there were many similar points.
‘Because of that, it’s more awkward instead.’
Kali shook his head while making a bitter smile.
Then he soon glared at the nearby commanders and roared.
“All of you keep your heads straight.”
A storm like pressure spewed out of his entire body.
“We have started a revolt right now with our lives on the line! All our necks will be sliced if the work goes wrong!”
The thunderous voice hit the ears.
“Roan Tale going to the Montea Mountain itself is a problem! Actu and Labo lead troops and go to the Montea Mountain. Capture Roan alive. No……”
Kali thought that whether Roan’s words were true or not, he was no different than having already joined the fief war.
“Kill him. Cut off his head!”
The order had fallen.
Actu and Labo took a step forwards and saluted.
“Yes. We will carry out the order.”
They soon ran towards their own troops.
Kali stared at that sight for a moment, then clenched his fist.
“I will send a messenger to Sir Count Chase. The content of the message will be……”
For a while, a long story continued.
One of the commanders wrote down the story into a letter.
A moment later, a messenger riding on a horse started towards the North.
Within his chest pocket, the letter containing Kali’s message was held.
Ggiiiig!
A sharp and peculiar cry sounded.
Above the messenger’s head, an eagle with great wings glided brilliantly.
The direction the eagle flew was also towards north.
That truly was an amazing coincident.
*****
“I told you, it’s true.”
“Eeh, don’t lie.”
At a camp raised on an open plain.
On the inside of the fences, several men gathered and were chatting.
They were the squad commanders of a temporary troop that inspected the nearby villages and converted the Lancephil Fief’s citizens at Count Chase Forces’ rear.
“Really, I could have caught Count Lancephil.”
The man who was heating up with a small voice was no other than Ronball.
He, who ran as if wishing his butt to fall off after meeting with Roan, was laying out a heroic tale.
“It really was just right before catching him, but I ended up meeting Baron Tale at that moment. Tch.”
Ronball smacked his lips regrettably.
One of the men who were quietly listening to his words whispered in a small voice.
“If that’s really true……”
“I told you it’s true.”
Ronball cut in on his words with a frustrated look.
The man shook his hand and nodded his head.
“No, if that’s really true, I think it’ll be good to keep your mouth shut.”
“Un?”
Ronball widely opened his eyes as if saying what does that mean.
The man who just spoke up, with a cautious expression, added on.
“Whatever the situation was, you simply ran away from the moment when this fief war could have ended. If this needlessly goes into higher up’s ears, you might get reprimanded. And……”
His voice slowly became smaller.
“If the day Baron Tale comes to attack comes, a spark might pointlessly fly even towards you.”
At those words, Ronball snickered out a laugh and shook his head.
“No. There’s no way that’ll happen. I told you, Baron Tale had absolutely no desire to join the fief war.”
His voice was full of certainty.
“Then that’s good, but since there is something called just in case.”
The man’s expression was one still full of worry.
Ronball brightly smiled and shook his head.
“It’s true. I saw it, and Baron Tale had absolutely no……”
When his words reached about that point.
Deng! Deng! Deng! Deng! Deng!
From the direction of the camp’s fences, a panicked sound of a bell rang.
It was the sound signalling an enemy’s attack.
It was an unpleasant sound they absolutely hadn’t heard nor needed to hear until now.
“I, is it Count Lancephil Forces?”
“Even though those guys called Guardian Army are all gathered in the northeast region?”
“Perhaps the Lancephil Fief’s citizens?”
The temporary squad commanders including Ronball kicked and stood up their seats and prepared for battle.
Their faces were brightly flushed.
Because carrying out the conversion of fief’s citizens at the rear were all they had done, they in fact hadn’t experienced a proper battle even once.
The tips of their hands rapidly trembled.
Around them, many commanders and soldiers quickly moved.
Ronball equipped his armor the fastest and pulled out a soldier who was running towards them from the direction of the fences.
“Is it an enemy?”
At the urgently asking sound, the soldier saluted and answered.
“Yes! That is correct, sir!
The instant his words ended, the temporary squad commanders swarmed.
“Wh, who is it?”
“Lancephil Guardian Army?”
“The Count’s forces?”
“The fief’s citizens?”
Questions poured down.
The soldier gulped dry spit and shook his head.
There was no correct answer amongst them.
“Then who is it?”
Ronball asked with a completely tense expression.
The soldier, with a voice that trembled sharply, answered.
“It’s Baron Roan Tale.”
Boom.
For a moment, a heavy silence fell.
The temporary squad commanders turned their heads and looked at Ronball.
Ronball, while feeling the sharp gazes, shook his head.
“No. Tha, that can’t be……”
He murmured as if he was a man who lost his mind.
But the sound heard from the back of his ears were much too clear.
Kwakang!
The sound of the camp’s fences being destroyed along with an explosive sound rang out.
Following that, a flag that rose straight up between the leading cavalry was seen.
< Roan Tale. >
*****
‘Is this the view of a general……’
Roan clenched his horse’s rein.
The battlefield spread out in front of his eyes.
The Taemusas, who wore crimson armors, were tearing apart the enemy’s camp.
Roan stood in the center of the camp and personally commanded every troop.
The energy and the heat of the battlefield wrapped his entire body.
[Roan. An enemy troop is coming from the left.]
Kinis, who was flying above Roan’s head and observing the battlefield’s state, fussed about.
Roan lightly extended his left hand and sent a hand signal.
“Thousand-man commander Tane. Lead the Panther Troop and towards the left!”
“Yes sir!”
Tane, who was pushing and driving the enemies, lead the troop with an answer and moved.
The left side that had been thin instantly became thick.
Boom!
With an explosive sound, the enemy troop that was aiming for a surprise attack violently collided with the Panther Troop.
[There’s an archer unit at the back!]
Kinis shouted once again with a sharp voice.
‘Un. I saw it too.’
Roan answered shortly and then quickly raised his right hand.
“Be ready for an arrow attack! Raise the Parma!” 1
Parma meant the small shield that the Tale Engineering Department had made by improving and improving again the small-scale shield they developed.
Instantly, the Tale Legion’s soldiers, including the Taemusas, pulled the parmae they wore on their backs and equipped them on their left arm.
Ssweaaaak!
As if they had been waiting, arrows flew up from the enemy’s rear.
Pubububuk!
Dull sounds hit the ears.
The arrows tightly embedded themselves on the strongly raised and supported parmae.
Roan spun the Travias Spear around and struck away all the arrows that flew towards him.
“Charge! Charge the enemies!”
He bent his upper body and kicked his horse.
Before the enemy archer unit’s arrow attack continued, he planned to completely destroy the enemy position.
“Protect the lord!”
“Follow the lord’s back!”
The thousand-man and higher ranked commanders shouted at the top of their lungs.
Ttdududuk!
The Tale Legion’s soldiers stroke away the arrows planted on the parmae with the weapons on their hands and kicked off the ground.
A charge like a flash of lightning.
They did not fear close quarter combat or scuffle.
Chang! Chajang! Chang!
With metallic sounds, sparks flew.
Sssguk! Ssskuk!
Soon, horrifying sounds followed.
The enemies’ necks were cut and the hearts were pierced.
“Damn it! Stop them!
“Stop them! Capture the enemy commander!”
The Count Chase Force reorganized their lines and aimed for a counterattack.
They aimed for Roan, who stood at the front and was personally waging a scuffle.
But.
“Kuuk!”
“Kuk!”
The soldiers fell with throes of death.
The Count Chase Force’ ordinary soldiers weren’t a match for Roan.
Each time Roan swung the spear once, three or four soldiers lost their lives and fell.
“Damn it! Move aside!”
Rogers, who had the highest rank amongst the Count Chase Force’s commanders, stepped forwards.
He raised up his spear high and lunged at Roan.
“Roan Tale! For you to dare go against the capital’s order and enter the fief war! I Rogers will cut off your……”
When his words had reached about that point.
“Sorry but there is no time to chat right now.”
Roan swung the Travias Spear he held in a long line.
The solid handle of the spear softly bent and even its length abruptly extended out.
Ssskuk!
The blade of the spear instantly cut Rogers’ neck.
It was an absurd death.
“Hii!
“Uaaaah!”
At the commander’s death, the morale of the Count Chase Force’ soldiers was snapped apart.
Even the formation that were getting reorganized perfectly collapsed.
After that, the battle flowed in a very one-sided direction.
No, from the start, the battle was one-sided.
The troop that was left at the rear and merely did inspections were no match for the Tale Legion.
“We will let live those who surrender. Those who will fight under the Tale Legion’s flag, throw away your weapons and surrender!”
Roan’s voice rang the battlefield.
Few soldiers glanced at others, then soon threw away their weapons, ran towards the Tale Legion, and kneeled.
Amongst them, even Ronball’s figure was seen.
It was enough for even the squad commanders, although temporary, to surrender.
The Tale Legion’s power was just that incredible.
But surprisingly, the number of those who surrendered wasn’t many.
‘Even though it’s a fief war, would he really kill us all?’
‘He probably would only be able to let us go, right?’
‘It’s a prisoner treatment at most, tch.’
They were complacent thoughts.
It was a fief war between nobles of the same kingdom.
Furthermore in Roan’s case, the rumor of him being a good person was renowned.
He wouldn’t indiscreetly take the soldiers’ lives.
That was the thoughts of Count Chase Force’s soldiers.
‘Even if they don’t know, these bastards don’t know our lord too much.’
Looking at that sight, Austin inwardly shook his head.
It was definitely true that Roan was a good person.
Sometimes, there were times when he was excessively delicate and soft.
But that was talking of the usual Roan.
The Roan on the battlefield was a completely different person.
“Is this all?”
Roan quietly whispered while looking at the surrendered soldiers.
Simultaneously, he raised his left hand and gave a short hand signal.
“Execute all those who did not surrender.”
It was a cold judgment.
But even to Roan, this was an inevitable decision.
‘If we look at only the number of soldiers, we are inferior.’
The situation was same as fighting two counties.
‘There is no reserve to control enemy prisoners.’
It wasn’t a situation to be leisurely.
But even so, it wasn’t a condition that they couldn’t simply let them go.
‘War isn’t a joke.’
Abruptly, he remembered Clay’s request.
< We cannot take prisoners. Unconditionally execute them, my lord. >
Even without that particular request, Roan had no plans to leave a future trouble.
“Yes sir!”
The Tale Legion’s soldiers, without even a single bit of hesitation, answered.
“Hihii!”
“You, you will kill the same kingdom’s people?”
The Count Chase Force’s soldiers screamed with bleached white expressions.
“Same kingdom’s people?”
Roan, with a calm and quiet voice, answered.
“On the battlefield……”
He soon pulled his reins and turned the horse around.
“There are only allies and enemies.”
A cold-blooded and frigid voice fell onto the ground.
Simultaneously.
“Execute them!”
The three-thousand-man commander Austin’s order fell down.
Instantly, Taemusas as well as Tale Legion’s soldiers raised their weapons and lunged.
Sssguk! Ssskuk!
“Uak!”
“Sa, save me!”
“Ku uk!
With a frightening sound, sounds of scream echoed through the land.
At those sounds, the ones who surrendered trembled their body.
And at the same time, a sense of relief at having survived wrapped their body.
Roan, feeling the western wind that blew towards them, murmured in a small voice.
“This is war.”
He did not wish to put up a particularly kind looking pretense.
One would die if one did not kill.
A cold-hearted world.
That very place was the battlefield.
Roan forcefully ignored the sound of screams that were heard and closed his eyes.
‘Chris and Clay……’
The figures of the two people, who should be moving busily by now, appeared in his mind.
While marching towards the Pavor Castle, Roan simultaneously proceeded numerous works.
He did not wish to stop this fief war merely at the level of saving the Lancephil Fief and the fief’s citizens.
‘If everything we have prepared until now only connects into one……’
Roan was already looking at a place beyond that.
Somehow, the goal that was only like a dream now felt like something that was possible in reality.
‘Anyhow, Sir Count Lancephil, no, is he now godfather Lancephil…… godfather should have safely arrive, right?’
Io Lancephil took on a difficult mission on his own and had left for the capital, Miller.
‘Since he said to simply trust him, I will simply trust him and wait.’
Roan faintly smiled and exhaled a short sigh.
The western wind blew increasingly stronger.
< Enter the War (1) > End.
1. According to Google Translate, the latin word “Parma” translates to “targe”, a light shield used especially by Scots.