CH 93

“Quite a few sirs are missing.”

“But we still have pretty much all of the mercenaries, right? We should be more than enough to deal with those groups of beggars. They won’t even serve as a warm-up.”

“Haha! I hope those hillbillies don’t piss their pants and run away after they see us.”

“I’m afraid that everyone but Sir Jan Eugene will run away with their tails behind their legs.”

Hahahaha…!

The knights of the blue team were still overflowing with leisure, even though four groups of knights and aides, about sixty people in total, had already retired from the battle. Jousting competitions and swordsmanship competitions were heavily dependent on individual skills, but mock battles were different. In a battle between large groups, the most important factors were the number of troops, quality of equipment, and morale. Compared to the army of the free knights, they still held a significant advantage in all three fields.

Even with about half of their knights gone, this wasn’t a fight that could be lost.

“Sirs! The scouts have returned!” One person shouted as the aides returned from their reconnaissance mission. The aides quickly dismounted their horses and rushed to the knights before giving their report.

“We have discovered a group of troops believed to be the enemy’s vanguard. It was being led by Sir Jan Eugene, and there were about twenty of them in total,” said one of the aides.

“Really? Are you certain?” a noble knight asked.

“Yes, sir! It was definitely the flag of the black dragon. I’m certain it was Sir Jan Eugene!” the aide responded.

“And what about the rest of the red army?” the noble knight asked.

“I could not see them. I assume that the others who went on ahead are dealing with the enemy’s main army,” the aide said.

Ohh…!

The expressions of the knights brightened at once. In a stroke of luck, they were presented with the opportunity to make the greatest contribution in the mock battle.

The noble knights chattered excitedly.

“Let’s go and get it done!”

“Isn’t that obvious? Let’s hurry. The others might discover it as well.”

“You’re right. They could well be on their way back from taking care of the enemy’s main army. Where is that place? Hurry and lead us there!”

“Yes, sir!”

The noble knights hurried their steeds after the aides.

“Sirs! Sirs! What about us?”

“Sirs! Please wait for us!”

The mercenaries shouted urgently while chasing after the knights.

“Hmph! That’s not my problem! Do we really have to take care of you like children?”

“You punks! Act your worth!” The knights responded coldly as they moved further and further away.

“Dammit… Why did they hire us if they were only going to make us clean up?”

“Don’t you know that they only hired us to suit their tastes? If there’s no battle, I’m fine with that.”

“That’s right. If we fight properly, we’ll have to risk breaking a few bones even if this is a mock battle. The knights will take care of everything anyway, so let’s take our time.”

“All right, let’s do that.”

There were a few mercenaries who ran diligently after the knights, but a great majority of them only pretended to chase while taking their time. But even the few responsible mercenaries stopped running after the knights as the distance between them grew. Eventually, the two noble knights and the mercenaries became completely separated.

***

“Master! The enemy’s main army is heading our way!” Luke reported back after hurrying back on his horse.

“Good work.” Eugene nodded. After taking care of more than sixty knights and aides in a total of four battles, Eugene finally opted to send a group of scouts. It was because he had finally deemed it possible to face the enemy’s main army in a direct battle.

“Was there anything unusual?” Eugene asked.

“In fact, there was something strange. I couldn’t see the mercenaries,” Luke said.

“Hooh?” Eugene narrowed his eyes. 

At this time, Lanslo’s scouts also returned from their mission.

“Sir Eugene. They are telling me that the blue army has been completely separated from the mercenaries,” Lanslo said.

“Hmm. Is it a trap?” Eugene asked.

“I don’t think so. Judging by the pace of the knights, it appears that the mercenaries weren’t able to keep up with the speed of their steeds,” Lanslo responded.

“It’s an opportunity,” Eugene said.

“Yes. It’s an opportunity,” Lanslo replied. The two men once again shared a glance after coming to an understanding. Eugene turned and shouted to the free knights, who were brimming with energy once more after consuming mana stones.

“Sirs! This will be our last battle! But it seems that the rest of the enemy’s army is still looking down on us! Apparently, they are coming our way without any of the mercenaries!”

“Those arrogant men truly dare!?”

“Have they not come to their senses yet!?”

“Hmph…!”

The free knights jeered fiercely. After having won four consecutive battles, their morale pierced the skies. The best method to stimulate someone was truly to rub at their pride.

“There are about forty of them, excluding the mercenaries. Sir Lanslo and I will take the lead as planned. This is our opportunity to turn the momentum and truly show those men what we are made of! Show me your courage and spirit, sirs!” Eugene shouted.

“Leave it to us!”

“I swear on my honor to bring you victory, Sir Eugene!”

“For our comrades!”

Uwaaaaahhh!!!

The powerful shouts of the free knights resounded. But it wasn’t one derived from a pure expression of honor and camaraderie. Rather, the eyes and expressions of the free knights were filled with one of the most fundamental emotions known to man—desire. This would be their last battle, which meant that there would be a distribution of rewards based on their individual performance and merit. Eugene had made a promise to the free knights. He would only take 10% of the ransom provided by the prisoners, and 90% of the ransom would be shared fairly among the rest of the army.  

Eugene was the leader of the red army, and even if he were to take half of all the ransom, no one would dare to raise an objection. After all, he played such an overwhelming role in the battle. Still, the poor free knights were naturally filled with greed after hearing about the unexpected compensation. 

Soon, the two armies came to face off at a certain location in the vast hunting ground, and the free knights began to freely express their desires.

“The silver coins have come!”

“Let’s beat them up!”

“Let’s gooooo!”

***

“W-what?!”

“Why are they all here?!”

“You said that this was only the vanguard!”

“What about the others! Where are the other sirs?!”

The noble knights could not hide their shock when they came to face the free knights. The fact that they were about to face the entirety of the red army came as a shock to them, but they were even more dumbfounded when they couldn’t see any of the other noble knights.

“Where are the mercenaries?!”

“Those lazy donkeys!”

The noble knights belatedly looked for the mercenaries, but it was useless. They had pushed their horses with excitement after hearing the news, and it was essentially impossible for the mercenaries to keep up with their pace.

“Sirs! How are your horses?”

“They are good to last for a charge or two!”

“Keugh! What a mess! Sirs! Let’s charge… Hmm?!”

The leading knight faltered when he started to shout his orders. The other noble knights shouted simultaneously.

“Jan Eugene!”

“It’s the twin crown!”

Eugene was charging like the wind with the flag of the black dragon fluttering from his saddle. All of the noble knights shared similar thoughts when they spotted him.

‘If I can just get him!’

‘Then the greatest achievement will be mine!’

Although the noble knights were rather arrogant, they weren’t fools. As soon as they noticed the absence of their colleagues, they immediately realized that the battle could sway either way. But a mock battle was a simulation of actual warfare. Even if they were put at a severe disadvantage, they could turn the tides of the battle by capturing the enemy’s general.

“Get him!”

“You’re mine!”

“Jan Eugene!”

Each of the noble knights began to race toward Eugene while shouting vigorously. All they could think about was netting themselves the greatest achievement by catching Eugene. Like the free knights, the noble knights had also expressed their desires in this final battle.

Tududududududududu!

Uwaaaaaaah!

A strange sight unfolded. The noble knights were chasing after Eugene and the free knights were chasing after the noble knights. As time went by, the distance between the noble knights and the free knights quickly narrowed. But this was expected since the free knights had leisurely ridden their horses while the noble knights pushed their horses to the limit.

“You stupid lads!”

“Take this!”

The noble knights were greatly taken aback as their steeds foamed at the mouth with exhaustion and the wooden spears of the free knights rained down on them. In the end, the noble knights and their aides at the rear became surrounded by the free knights.

Thuck! Thuck!

The free knights outnumbered the noble knights severalfold, and they started pummeling the noble knights with their wooden swords. Several of the noble knights could not bear the shame of receiving a beating from the ‘wandering beggars’ and started to unsheathe their weapons.

“Now they’ve done it!”

“Let’s get them!” The free knights were enraged when they saw the sight. Three or four of them rushed at each one of the noble knights.

***

As the free knights overtook the noble knights at the rear, Eugene and Lanslo turned their horses.

Tududududu!

There were only about ten opponents left, and their horses were clearly on the verge of exhaustion. The two of them charged straight at the middle of the enemies. Knights often talked about the beauty and honor that existed in their battles. But it was all nonsense. Not a speck of honor or beauty could be found in the ensuing battle. The sounds of horses whining, blades clashing, and humans screaming filled every inch of the field.

‘Now!’

Eugene took the chaos as an opportunity and directed his fear toward the horses of the noble knights. He was certain that no one would notice anything strange amidst the chaos.

Neiiiiigh!

“Ugh?!”

The horses started to run wild with fear, and some of the noble knights fell off their horses. Mirian’s salivary baptism awaited those who managed to hold on with their excellent riding skills.

“Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooooey!”

“Argh! M-my eyes!”

“Keugh!”

Eugene and Lanslo dug into the formation of the noble knights in the middle of the chaos. The two focused on the knights who were on horseback. Their steeds weren’t equipped with armor due to the nature of the battle, and they ran amok when they were beaten with wooden swords.

“Uaggggh!”

“Dammit!”

The noble knights and the aides were left with no choice but to dismount their horses. Sadly, this was the worst decision possible.

Chaeng!

Their swords and spears glinted coldly in the sun. As if he had been waiting, Eugene pulled out Madarazika and threw it as hard as he could.

Fwoooosh!

“What!?” The noble knights raised their weapons in a futile attempt to defend themselves, but Madarazika smashed apart all of their weapons. Their weapons were considerably high in quality and were luxury items as well, but they could not possibly endure the combination of a vampire’s incredible strength and Madarazika’s tremendous weight.

Shuack!

Madarazika returned to Eugene’s hand after completing its mission.

“A magic spear?”

“T-this is unbelievable.” The shocked knights took on blank expressions. As a result, they briefly forgot that Eugene wasn’t the only opponent they were facing.

Thuck! Blam!

Lanslo’s spear drew a brilliant arc in the air and struck the knights’ helmets.

‘Hooh!’

“Kiek?! Sir Quarter Elf is amazing!” Even Eugene and Mirian were amazed by Lanslo’s spearmanship and his horseback riding skills.

“Sir Eugene!”

The free knights came running after they were done taking care of the noble knights that they had to face.

“Heuk…” The faces of the noble knights and aides became noticeably pale when they noticed the dozens of free knights rushing toward them. After noticing that their colleagues were crawling like dogs in the distance, they came to an immediate decision.

“I surrender!”

“Please treat me honorably!”

Thus, the mock battle came to an end.

Red army: 0 prisoners, 11 wounded.

Blue army: 80 injured and captured—all but the mercenaries.

It was an overwhelming victory.

***

Although the mock battle had come to an end, a feast wasn’t held like yesterday. There were simply too many injured individuals. But as if to prove his mercy and generosity, Count Winslon provided all knights with mana stones and praised both the victors and the losers.

However, Eugene was the recipient of the loudest cheers and praise. The free knights were grateful to Eugene for allowing them to fulfill their desires, and the defeated noble knights attempted to lessen their embarrassment by praising Eugene.

“Tsk, tsk! They change their stance even faster than the spirit of light,” said Mirian. Eugene silently agreed with her words while comforting the losers.

There was no need to make enemies by mocking the losers when they had already bowed their heads. Some of the noble knights came to truly admire Eugene for his generosity and boldness. However, their admiration was nothing compared to the joy of the free knights.

Eugene kept his promise and the free knights were rewarded about 200 silver coins per person.

“Kieeeeek?! Why is there so much ransom? Do we really have to hand these over to the knights? It’s such a waste!” Mirian shouted.

Although he tried his best to smile, Eugene also agreed with Mirian.

‘What the hell are these crazy men doing? Do they have trees that grow money?’

Eugene had never expected that he would receive silver coins in boxes by the dozens as ransom.