Chapter 248: Till the Very End (2)

“Hup!”

Without caring about his own life, he charged towards Marquis Catel, heavily exuding Aura.

“Die, you monarchy scum!”

Seeing the Ghost Group leader 6 racing towards him, Marquis Catel spoke quietly. 

“I am…”

And in the next moment…

Swish!

His body disappeared, leaving only an afterimage. At the same time, a flash of light stabbed the leader of Ghost 6 precisely in the neck.

“Keu…”

The leader of Ghost Group 6 slowly crumpled.

Marquis Catel continued to speak to him.

“Ryan Catel of the Lester Kingdom.”

“Keughh…”

“At least, starting from today, I am.”

Cheers rang out as the Ghost Group 6’s leader collapsed.

“Waaaahh!!”

“Hooray for Marquis Ryan Catel!!”

“Hooray for the Lester Kingdom!!”

After Marquis Ryan Catel had completely driven off the Republicans the walls, the Lester Kingdom’s army’s morale rose tremendously.

***

“Sir, General McCarthy was killed in action, along with Ghost Groups 6 and 7.”

Siegfried’s face contorted when he heard the messenger’s report.

“Who killed General McCarthy?”

“Um… They said it’s Ryan Catel, sir. From the Strabus Kingdom…”

“I already knew that.”

As if there was no need for him to hear anymore, Siegfried cut off the messenger. Then, he fell into deep thought. 

‘I had a rough guess as to who the Iron Helmeted knight from the Lester Kingdom would be, but he really was Ryan Catel. But, did he really have the kind of ability to easily kill off McCarthy? No, nine out of ten times, they’d have most likely killed each other…’

If he was lucky, Marquis Ryan Catel could kill McCarthy. But there was no way he could keep up his momentum and pressure the two Ghost groups afterwards.

‘How did this happen?’

No matter how intelligent Siegfried was, it wasn’t possible for him to know that Queen Leila had used Claudia to stick a knife into General McCarthy.[1] If Antras was still alive and knew the entire story, he would have been shocked to hear that Queen Leila had used someone else’s hand to murder someone[2] during a war.

However, Siegfried didn’t know the inner workings and came to a different conclusion.

‘Maybe there are other talented people hidden in the Lester Kingdom’s capital?’

Perhaps it was because he had suffered defeat multiple times at the hands of the Lester Kingdom, but Siegfried’s thought became more cautious. 

“Are you monitoring Milton Forrest’s movements?”

“Yes, sir. We are.”

“Where is he right now? How much longer until he arrives?”

“Even if he is hurrying over, it’s expected to take about fifteen days to arrive since he’s bringing a large army with him, sir.”

“Then, we’d better assume he’ll be here in ten days.”

“...Sir?”

“Don’t underestimate Milton Forrest. He’s someone who often does things that go beyond common sense.”

“Ah. Yes, sir…”

Having convinced his officers, Siegfried quickly calculated in his head. Even if Milton Forrest arrived, as long as Siegfried took the capital and captured Milton’s family, then he would have the upper hand. If he rushed into it and lost Milton’s family or they committed suicide, then it would become a big problem for him.

‘I don’t have the kind of person who could easily deal with a man who’s lost his rationality due to his anger.’

The continental landscape was already heavily tilted towards the Lester Kingdom. Having exhausted his strength and power in the war against the Empire, this was Siegfried’s last chance. And so, in order to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him, he repeatedly calculated and calculated again so that he wouldn’t miss it.

“One week.”

“Sir?”

“In that time, we will bring down the capital and achieve our purpose.”

Instead of continuing with his difficult plan to knock down the capital walls today, Siegfried modified his plans to make sure he succeeded by utilizing his limited time as much as possible. As long as McCarthy’s death was suspicious, Siegfried couldn’t help but think the enemy had a hidden strength that he didn’t know about.

Queen Leila’s trick had unexpectedly dealt Siegfried a psychological blow. Thanks to that, Siegfried delayed his offensive tactics just a bit. But that also meant Siegfried had chosen a strategy that would give him just a bit of a higher chance of winning.

***

“Stop them! Don’t let them cross it!”

“Focus your arrows at the base of the wall! Even if you shoot your arrows with your eyes closed, you’ll hit them!”

“Wahhh!! Die! Die you Republican dogs!”

The Lester Kingdom’s army’s morale was quite high.

Previously, the information that Marquis Ryan Catel had defected to the Lester Kingdom was only known to a handful of the higher-ups. But once it became known, it only helped the morale of the troops instead of negatively impacting them. 

Marquis Ryan Catel didn’t have to hide his presence any longer and was walking around the walls in an uninhabited manner. Thanks to that, they had completely succeeded in stopping the Republican’s attack on the first day.

As the sun went down and the Republic’s attacks slowed down, the soldiers on the walls shouted loudly.

“The Republicans are retreating!”

“Wahhhh!! We won!”

“Hooray for the Lester Kingdom!”

Technically, the Republicans weren’t retreating. They were just temporarily moving back a bit, but no one was foolish enough to point that out. 

The civilian militias who had never experienced combat before were intoxicated by their victory.

***

Queen Leila turned to speak with Duke Palan after the first day’s battle ended. 

“From checking the walls to everything dealing with military matters, I’ll leave it all in your hands, Duke Palan. Your command will hold the same authority as my command, so if anyone resists, you may deal with them according to our country’s laws.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Truthfully, no one had the guts to go against Duke Palan, but Leila was giving him authority just in case.

After handing over the command of the frontline, she walked elsewhere with her escorts. The place she was heading towards was none other than the rear where the wounded soldiers were being treated.

“Your… Your Majesty!”

“Why have you come to such a filthy place as this, Your Majesty…”

“Greetings Your Maj… Keugh.”

The injured soldiers were greatly shocked and all tried to stand up, but Leila raised her hand and stopped them.

“Please, don’t stand. Stay as you were.”

Then, she spoke to every single one of them there, asking after their health and injuries. 

“Because you all risked your lives fighting, we are able to live to fight another day. As the representative of the House of Lester, and as a ruler of this country, I thank you.”

Leila bowed her head.

“Your… Your Majesty.”

“How could you…”

“You’re too gracious, Your Majesty. Please stop.”

The soldiers felt truly appreciated, yet at the same time, indebted.[3] Perhaps the phrase, ‘didn’t know what to do with themselves,’ was meant for a time like this. A monarch of a country was bowing her head to them in gratitude. If they went around saying this, would anyone believe them? As a result of Queen Leila’s charisma and her way of succeeding in life, the soldiers were completely overcome by her.

She continued to look at the soldiers as she spoke. 

“The enemy will continue to attack for a few more days. It will be difficult and your lives will be in danger.”

“......”

This was something they already knew. Even though they were prepared, now that they’ve tasted death, it seemed much closer.

Queen Leila continued to speak to them. 

“However, if we endure and continue to hold on, victory will be ours. At this moment in time, my husband, Grand Duke Forrest, is leading a great army northward.”

“Ooooh…”

“His Highness, the Grand Duke…”

The people of the Lester Kingdom had a great deal of trust in Milton. The mere fact he was one his way caused the soldiers’ faces to brighten.

“There’s no need to defeat a lot of the enemies. There’s no need for you to go outside the walls and fight recklessly. We have enough supplies and there’s no need to push ourselves too hard. All we have to do is protect the capital. As long as we do, then the Republican traitors will pay dearly. Until then, I want everyone to protect this country together, one heart, one mind.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! I will definitely protect it!”

A young male soldier responded vigorously from next to her. Then, he blushed when he realized he had been the only one to do so, however…

“What is your name?”

Queen Leila smiled brightly as she asked for his name.

“Ah… It’s Kevin, Your Majesty.”

“Then, Kevin, I’ll believe in you.”

She lightly patted him on the shoulder as she spoke. That little action caused the young soldier to look as if he was about to faint.

“Your Majesty, my name is Jackson.”

“I’m Daniel, Your Majesty.”

“I’m…”

With Queen Leila’s visit, the infirmary turned into the liveliest place.

***

After visiting the wounding, Queen Leila wandered from place to place, comforting the citizens. While she left Duke Palan in charge of commanding the soldiers, she knew that the morale of the ordinary citizens was just as important as the soldiers in order to protect the capital in the middle of a siege and personally took care of that aspect.

She even went to the place where women were gathered to make food for soldiers to eat. She rolled up her sleeves and helped them knead the dough for bread.

“Your Majesty, how could you…”

“It’s alright. Right now, I’m just a woman who’s sent her husband out to the battlefield, the same as you.”

“Your Majesty…”

All the women looked deeply moved. Later on, even Elizabeth came over and with her small and slender hands, did whatever small errands she could do to help out.

“Mom… Mother, here you go.”

“Good, thank you.”

The moving story about the mother and daughter soon spread quickly throughout the capital and the Lester Kingdom truly became like one heart, one mind, as the people grouped together to stop the Republicans. Righteously ruling both officials and citizens. With these, it would be difficult to topple their capital with lackluster tactics.

But, that only applied to lackluster tactics. 

***

The next day.

“Army! Advance!”

At Siegfried’s command, the Republican Army advanced without hesitation.

“Waaaaahh!!!”

“Long live the Republic!”

“Long live Fuhrer Siegfried!”

Even though the Republic had suffered a defeat the previous day, the Republican soldiers ran spiritedly towards the Lester Kingdom. Queen Leila frowned as she watched them coming towards her. 

“That… is it that?”

“Do you have an idea what that is, Your Majesty?”

“I’ve heard about it from my husband before. He said that Siegfried uses a special drug to turn ordinary soldiers into berserkers.”

“How could he do…”

“According to what my husband said, the soldiers were just a bit more violent, but as they reach their ends, they don’t care whether they have spears sticking out of their bodies, they’ll just keep charging forward.”

“Thank you for telling me that, Your Majesty.”

Duke Palan reanalyzed the enemy based on the information he had gotten from Queen Leila.

‘If that drug’s effects get stronger over time, then we’ll have to do as much as we can now.’

“Fire!”

In the end, there wasn't much change in the actions themselves. Obeying Duke Palan’s command, the soldiers released their arrows.

The Republican soldiers all raised their shields to block the arrows, but they couldn’t block all of them when the arrows continued to pour down upon them. Some of the soldiers fell under the onslaught.

However…

“Attack! Attack them!”

“Let’s sacrifice our lives for the future’s paradise!”

“Waaaaah!!!”

The Republicans’ soldiers literally stepped over the bodies of their comrades, again and again. Soon, they reached the foot of the wall and began climbing it with hooks and ladders.

“Don’t let them come up!”

“Pikemen, keep the enemies in check! Soldiers carrying halberds, cut off the hooks!”

Both the Northern Knights and the Central Knights gave it their all to command the soldiers while fighting. Desperate… It was a desperate siege that was consuming countless lives.

***

“What’s the situation on the battlefield?”

“Sir, the soldiers are doing their best, but the enemy’s response is also formidable so we’re floundering a bit.”

“I see.”

Siegfried kept his eyes firmly on the walls as he was briefed by his staff. His eyes were fixed on Queen Leila’s flag flying from the ramparts.

“Attack the wall from all directions, but don’t break the siege. If we lose Milton Forrest’s family, then everything will be in vain.”

“Yes, sir!”

Jake spoke up.

“Your Excellency, please allow me and the Ghosts to attack. There are still a couple escalades left, sir.”

Jake thought there would be less casualty if he took the lead and attacked the walls himself. But...

“Looking at how they responded yesterday, escalades won’t work in our current situation.”

“Then…”

“We’re making a hole in the enemy’s defense right now. You and the Ghosts will wait.”

“Yes, sir. Understood.”

At those words, Jake obediently stepped down. Because he had been following Siegfried for a long time, he knew that Siegfried definitely would produce results.

Siegfried’s methodology was to create a plan in his head while collecting information coming from the scene and adjusting the plan, bit by bit, to increase the success rate of the operation. 

1. The raw said Marquis McCarthy, but I believe that’s a mistake since it’s switched to Siegfried’s pov and he’s a Republican.

2. 차도살인(借刀殺人) means to borrow a knife to kill. I’m not sure, but I think the author is saying that Leila used McCarthy to kill Claudia

3. The word used was 황송 which is a formal word containing the meanings: obliged, grateful, etc. Think historical Korean dramas where the officials are all bowing to the King in the throne room.