Chapter 229: A Knight’s Honor (1)

This was meddling. This was different from before when they had been fighting three-on-three. They had tacitly agreed to a one-on-one fight, and the people around them had agreed to it when they had all moved over to the sidelines to watch. Even Jerome, who was utterly loyal to Milton, hadn’t intervened even when he knew that Milton was at a disadvantage. It was all for the honor of his lord.

But no one thought the Empire would intervene, not to mention, this was Duke Hector Sebastian. He was THE knight that every knight in the continent, and not just those in the Empire, who held a sword in their hand, respected and looked up to. But he had dirted his honor and intervened in the duel. Perhaps he still had some conscience left since he didn’t try to kill Milton.

Without a word, Jerome approached to examine Milton’s condition and to help him up. Then he stared fiercely at both Duke Sebastian and Duke Schweiker.

“......”

“......”

Neither of them could say a single word of apology. A teacher who had taught to treat honor with importance and a disciple who respected that lesson. What could the two of them dare say?

They could do nothing until Jerome had assisted Milton back to their side of the battlefield. Their shame was too great to even consider attacking Jerome to prioritize their own benefits from this battle.

Once Milton had been taken back, Duke Schweiker spoke heavily.

“We should return as well, sir. It seems like this is it for today.”

And so, the two Masters of the Empire stepped back quietly.

***

“So you’re saying that’s why you returned?”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“Whooo….”

Antras sighed after hearing the rough explanation from Duke Sebastian, who had returned to the camp.

‘Whether it’s here or the Southern continent, military men are all the same.’

Antras had often experienced this in the Southern continent. Of course, it wasn’t always the case, but warriors sometimes put their pride first and went against military command. Then, they’d return and apologize, saying they were willing to accept whatever punishment deemed necessary.

The annoying thing was that each time it happened, he could do nothing but forgive them. It might have been different if it was for personal gain, but there was nothing he could do if it were for their honor. 

In such cases, if he ordered severe punishment, he might be able to instill strict military discipline at that moment in time, but he would lose all support with the warriors. Ideally, it was important to prioritize military discipline and command, but in reality, it wasn't an easy decision to lose the trust of the men. 

No matter how well a strategist plans out an operation, it was the men who carried it out on the battlefield. To a strategist, losing their trust was like dulling a blade he held in his hand. Although troublesome, most of the men who put honor before their orders were necessary and competent men.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Whether it was back then or now, there was only one thing he could do.

Suppressing his anger, Anthra spoke magnanimously.

“On the bright side, the Lester Kingdom’s forces have been halved. The archer, Trike, was tremendously troublesome, but from what you said, he should be out of commission for a while.”

Sebastian looked a bit better when he heard Antras’s words.

“From what I see, he reached his Aura usage. I don’t know whether he’ll survive, but even if he does survive, he’ll have to take it easy for a couple of years.”

“Then what about Grand Duke Forrest? What’s his condition? Didn’t your… last blow injure him?”

Since it had to do with his friend’s honor, Antras was very cautious as he asked the question.

“...I don’t know. I was in a hurry.’

‘And I couldn’t bear to try and kill him.’

Sebastian couldn’t say the last part of his sentence, but Antras was convinced that Milton probably hadn’t died.

“But he still took the brute of your strength when he got hit. So at the very least, he’ll have to rest up for a few days, right?”

“Most likely.”

“Good. Then we’ll be able to see the end of this war tomorrow.”

“......”

Duke Sebastian looked uneasy at Antras’s words. He was reluctant to have the upper hand in the battle when it was caused by him dishonorably injuring his opponent.

At least that was the thought of a man who was a knight to his bones. Antras knew how his close friend felt, but he pretended not to know. No matter how dear of a friend Sebastian was, as long as Antras was the strategist for this war, he had a duty to do his best to win. While his friend’s honor was important, it was more important to minimize the loss of soldiers.

“Tomorrow at dawn, the Empire will attack first. I want you and Marquis Baker Gotham on the left and right flanks.”

“What is your plan?”

“I want to show them how dangerous it is to set up their camp with the river at their backs. We will besiege and annihilate them.”

By positioning his army with the river behind them, a commander was blocking all paths to retreating which prevented soldiers from running away and intensified their will to fight. However, just because there wasn’t a path to retreat didn’t always lead to a will to fight.

Dealing with enemies in front of you vs. surrounded by enemies in all directions while the path to retreat is cut off. Although the two scenarios were similar, the soldiers would feel completely different about it. Just the fact that they are surrounded often greatly agitates the men.

‘I don’t know who the strategist is for the Lester Kingdom, but they’ve made a big mistake. I’ll show them why cutting off their own retreat is a double-edged sword.’

***

“How is Trike doing?”

The first thing Milon asked as soon as he regained his consciousness was about his subordinate’s condition.

Bianca, who had been observing Milton’s own condition, was the one who answered.

“He’s aight. Thankfully, he didn’t use up his entire life force. As long as he rests for a while, he’ll be fine.”

“Ha…”

Milton let out a sigh of relief as he collapsed back into his bed. He finally had the chance to think back to the last thing he remembered.

‘I was sure I could’ve caught Duke Schweiker. What was the problem?’

The last thing Milton remembered was Duke Schweiker’s sword being broken by his own blow. That was all.

‘That was a great shot that’ll never happen again in my life…’

That had only been possible because he had poured in all his energy and spirit into it and even luck had been on his side. If he was being honest, he wasn’t confident he could do it again if asked to.

“From what Jerome said, yah just about won but then someone butted in.”

“Someone intervened? Who?”

“Hm… He told me but ah forgot.”

Milton sighed.

“I’m guessing it was most likely Duke Florian.”

“Now that ah think about it, think that was the name.”

Bianca was giving him a completely wrong answer. Milton clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, he didn’t look like the good sort when he openly wanted merit from the very beginning, but I didn’t expect him to be that small-minded. What a contemptible and disgusting man.”

“There’s a lot of assholes in the world.”

All of a sudden, Duke Florian was unjustly blamed.

“Wait a minute, what’s the war situation right now?”

“It’s been quiet since ya collapsed. The two armies are just 

Milton clenched his fist at her reply.

‘Good.’

This was good. The most important thing for Milton had been to survive the first day.

“Call Sabian over for me.”

“Am ah ya servant? Get someone else ta do it!”

Bianca shouted at him as she left the barracks. Feeling sheepish, Milton had a servant bring Count Sabian over.

“How are you feeling, My Lord?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, how’s the operation going, Sabian?”

“You’ve earned us a day with your body, My Lord. All without sacrificing the soldiers.”

“......”

“It wouldn’t make sense for me not to show you results when you’ve given me the best conditions. The operation is already underway, My Lord.”

Milton smiled brightly at Count Sabian’s words.

“I’ll trust you and leave the rest of the battle fully in your hands.”

“I will do my best… no, I will definitely bring you victory, My Lord.”

Count Sabian wasn’t promising to do his best; he was promising to give Milton the best result.

And he wasn’t bluffing.

***

The next day.

Antras the troops’ arrangement in the middle of the night. He left behind Duke Dominic Florian and Duke Christian Schweiker in the main camp and sent out Duke Hector Sebastian and Marquis Baker Gotham to both flanks in order to spread their army wide.

By daybreak, the perfect siege had been formed and they could begin to pressure the Lester Kingdom. However…

Antras began to experience Count Sabian’s trickery.

“Silver Sage, there’s no response from the enemy.”

“What?”

“Even if we advance closer to their wooden barrier or we shoot an arrow to provoke them, there’s no response, sir.”

“...Could it be?”

Antras began to feel uneasy.

“Immediately check the enemy’s battle array.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Imperial soldiers who had gone to check the Lester Kingdom’s battle array were all shocked.

It was completely empty.

Their flags and torches that had been burning all night were still there, but there wasn’t a single person.

“Quickly! Hurry and report it! The enemy is gone!”

“Yes, sir!”

Panting, the Imperial soldier ran quickly.

***

“That’s impossible!”

Antras sprang out of his seat as he shouted.

“Repeat it to me! Is that true?!”

“Without a doubt, sir. The enemy has abandoned their positions and retreated during the night, sir.”

“But how? The enemy blocked off their retreat and we formed a siege last night. How did they retreat?”

Antras trembled. 

“I must check with my own eyes right now. Lead the way.”

“Yes, sir!”

Antras personally went to the enemy’s camp. Just as reported, the enemy’s camp was empty and Antras fell into confusion.

“But how could this happen? Magic? No. Even the witches of the forest who are known as masters of illusion can’t do this.”

Antras was troubled. He had completely missed the enemy’s movements. It was fatal for a strategist to have missed the enemy’s movements when the main role of a strategist was to always anticipate and prepare for the enemy’s move.

Antras thought and thought again. How could this have happened? It was impossible for an army with 250,000 men to retreat overnight.

It was absolutely impossible to cross the river when you took in the flow and width of the river at the back of the enemy’s camp. Even the narrowest part of the river was 300 meters wide and was very deep.

‘The river’s big enough to fight a battle on it. It’s impossible for an army of 250,000 men to cross this… Navy?’

A thought crossed his mind.

“Oh. I can’t believe it. No, but…”

Antras muttered for a bit before rushing back to their main camp.

“Bring me the map immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

When the servant brought him a strategic map, Antras shouted at him short-tempered.

“Bring me a map of the entire continent! Quickly!”

“Sir? Ah, yes, sir.”

He hastily changed the map. He replaced the detailed strategic map of the area where the battle was taking place with an overall map of the continent.

Antras gritted his teeth after checking the map.

“I thought so. Is this what he did?”

Antras’ expression quickly hardened as he checked the map.

“What’s going on, Antras?”

“I lost.”

“What do you mean?”

“...The enemy retreated last night. Using a ship.”

“A ship? Really, a ship? What do you mean, a ship?”

“Look over here. We’re here and this is the river in front of us… it’s the Terin River. If you go upstream, you’ll reach the Northern part of the Lester Kingdom. And if you go downstream, you’ll reach the sea.”

“You really think?”

“The Lester Kingdom had been aiming for this from the moment they set up camp here with the river at their backs. They made it seem like they couldn’t retreat but in reality, they’ve prepared ships in advance, either upstream or downstream. Ships that could easily carry 250,000 men.”

“That’s a bold move…”

“I didn’t even think of it. I didn’t know enough about the geography of this continent that…”

Antras clenched his jaw. When he thought about it, the Lester Kingdom was a country that accumulated wealth from maritime trade. Their nautical skills were so advanced that they had been able to bring peace to the continent’s western coastline and even trade far away with the Waterport Kingdom. As long as Milton commanded it, it wouldn’t have taken long for the Lester Kingdom to move a ship.

At that moment, Duke Florian interrupted.

“Wait, no matter how many people you can put on a ship, it’s still a quarter of a million. 250,000. Are you saying that they moved that many people? In a day?”

Even if the Terin River was wide, It was too unrealistic to say that it could transport that many people.

But Antras shook his head.

“It’s a different story if they just transported people across the river.”

“Across the river? Ah…”

That’s right. No matter how many ships had come, it was difficult to move 250,000 people overnight. But what if they were just carrying them over the river? Ten large ships could easily do it in one night.

In fact, the Lester Kingdom had mobilized the large ships that Robin led to transport the soldiers across the river last night. With ships that were painted black, both the hull and the sails, it only took a few hours to transport all the soldiers across the river.