CH 127

“Baylin Forest?” Eugene asked.

“Yes, Master. Assuming that Baron Riwad’s forces are trying to take over Patos, the route through Baylin Forest is the fastest,” Luke answered. The two were left alone after sending away the vassals.

Luke continued and advised Eugene. “The forest is deep and wide. It will be hard to tell where they will be coming from. However, I believe that we will be able to quickly identify and deal with them appropriately if we make use of your authority and the beowulfs’ abilities.”

“I see. By the way, it seems like you’ve changed. You are full of confidence now. You’re finally starting to seem like a real count,” Eugene teased.

“That’s right! You’re acting kind of arrogant, aide number two! Hmph!” Mirian said after taking a seat on Luke’s head.

“Y-you flatter me.” Luke jumped back with surprise before bowing.

“Do you know who I am?! Hmm? I was with your master when he killed the monstas! We took a bath together! I even crawled into the water dragon’s asshole and… Kiek!”

Eugene gave a rare smile and pretended to stroke Luke’s head while flicking the spirit with his finger.

“It’s a good thing. A count should display at least that much confidence,” Eugene said.

“Thank you, Master,” Luke answered with a blush. Even his ears were colored pink.

Eugene patted Luke on the shoulder a few times before looking down at the map once again. “Baylin Forest. Since he’s supposed to be short-tempered, there is a high possibility that he might try to cross the forest. But just in case, we should send some warriors to the detour as well,” Eugene said.

“Yes. We can station some of the quick, persistent warriors to wait for a few days to observe the situation,” Luke responded.

“Good. Then lead the vassals to Patos. I will have Wolfgan and some of the warriors escort you, so don’t worry. When I contact you, bring the vassals and join forces with me right away.” Eugene ordered.

“Yes! I will follow your orders, Master,” Luke answered.

‘Master is the truth; he is the light. I will do anything he asks of me.’

Although he was now a count, Luke’s eyes still glimmered with awe when he looked at Eugene.

***

“You dimwitted bastards!” Baron Riwad shouted in anger. The mercenary captains were gathered in his tent, and they shrank back in the face of his wrath.

The baron roared with fury as if he was ready to pull out his blade at a moment’s notice. “You can’t even travel thirty kilometers in half a day?! Are you really warriors?! Even donkeys would be faster than you bastards!” 

“I apologize, my lord.”

“Please forgive us. The road is very rough, and the men are exhausted.”

“It is much too difficult to keep up with your lordship and the other knights.” The mercenary captains busily made excuses while bowing.

“You!” Baron Riwad called out after turning his fiery gaze.

“Y-yes, my lord,” the leader of the military depot accompanying the army answered while shrinking back.

“Starting today, you will not sell alcohol and whores to the mercenaries. My orders will remain effective until we reach the Crawlmarine territory,” Baron Riwad said.

“A-as you wish,” the merchant answered.

“My lord! The men’s morale will…”

“Then start walking more than a mere 30 kilometers in a day! At this pace, we will arrive after the new count dies of old age!”

“Ugh.” The mercenary captains dropped their heads.

‘Dammit. He still has that dogshit temper.’

“Fuck! That’s why they said we would be treated like shit if we sided with Baron Half-Orc.’

Even so, they could not resist the promise of silver from the continent and permission to loot freely. Moreover, if Baron Riwad successfully conquered the Crawlmarine territory, he would quickly emerge as the most powerful force in southeastern Brantia. He would come to play a pivotal role in one of the powers gunning for the nation’s throne, or perhaps he could even aim for the throne himself.

‘It would be great if the orc baron took control of the South.’

‘He couldn’t possibly manage all that land by himself. He might even entrust some land to us.’

‘We might even make it all the way to Mungard.’

The mercenary captains dreamt of their respective rosy futures while groveling in front of Baron Riwad.

“If you don’t like my orders, then feel free to leave, or pelt those bastards under you. We will reach Deloton by tomorrow, no exceptions,” Baron Riwad shouted.

“Yes, my lord!” the mercenary captains answered.

“Now, get out!” Baron Riwad hollered.

“Yes!”

The mercenary captains answered before swarming out of the tent. Once they left, slaves rushed to Baron Riwad’s side and removed his armor before carefully wiping his body with wet towels. Meanwhile, Baron Riwad observed the map laid out on a simple table.

“Sirs.” Baron Riwad called out.

“Yes, my lord,” The nobles and knights of the barony answered.

“Tell me. If you were knights of the Crawlmarine territory, where would you form a line of defense? Don’t hesitate to voice your opinion,” Baron Riwad said. Baron Riwad was almost unparalleled in Brantia when it came to his skills with the blade, but he wasn’t actually a good tactician. Nevertheless, he was known as a good tactician because he had always listened to the opinions of his knights. As a result, Baron Riwad had won several battles and became known as an outstanding tactician.

“If I were a knight of Crawlmarine, I would focus on Penzil or here, Patos Castle.”

“I agree with Sir Deverson.”

“Hmm. And what if you had to choose between the two?” Baron Riwad asked once more.

“I would have to say Patos. Of all the castles located in the Crawlmarine territory, Patos is located in the most strategic location and will be the most difficult to siege.”

“Patos… Patos. Good. Then we will attack there first. We will overwhelm them with force if the enemy focuses their forces there, and if they don't, we will use it as a supply base after we take it over,” Baron Riwad said.

“How wise!”

“As expected, you are the only knight worthy of taking control of Brantia, my lord. Hahaha!”

It was a basic tactic that anyone with some experience could come up with, but the knights spared no praise for Baron Riwad.

Baron Riwad was very pleased and laughed before raising his voice with satisfaction. “Good! We will take the shortest route to Patos.”

“Yes, my lord!” The knights answered. They were excited at the thought of war. Although they occasionally participated in evil land subjugations and bandit suppressions, such things were no match for the thrill of war.

One of the knights, a man who was born near Crawlmarine, carefully scrutinized the map before speaking carefully, “My lord.”

“What’s wrong?” Baron Riwad answered.

“The shortest route to Patos involves crossing Baylin Forest,” the knight said.

“And?” Baron Riwad answered.

“If the enemy sets up an ambush in the forest, we could suffer a serious blow. Why don’t we take a detour?” The knight suggested.

“Is the forest huge?” Baron Riwad asked.

“Yes. It is quite large. It’s been known to house quite a few roamers and predators since ancient times,” the knight answered.

“Then we will pass through it.” Baron Riwad gave his decision.

“What?”

Baron Riwad clicked his tongue. “Tsk! Think about it. If the forest is as wide and as deep as you say, do you really think that the enemy could figure out exactly which path we are going to take to cross the forest? Moreover, he’s a self-proclaimed knight from the continent. He would never even think of setting up an ambush. All those jackasses from the continent are obsessed with shit like honor and chivalry.”

“Ah…”

Just as the baron said, the knights from the continent had suffered many losses in the previous war, sometimes even when they had the advantage, because they had been consumed by ‘honor and chivalry.’

“But since he is a member of the Dark Clan, we can’t say things for sure. Master Pythamoras and a portion of the troops will take a detour along with the depot. It will be troublesome if we run into a problem with our supplies even before we take over Patos,” Baron Riwad declared.

“Yes!” the knights answered.

Since it was a large army with nearly six hundred soldiers, it would be a struggle to feed them all for a day even if they looted a single village. As such, Baron Riwad made the right decision. He knew that the army would not last even ten days if he failed to protect the depot, which consisted of thirty carts and almost 100 workers. However, the problem was that even an exemplary decision was sometimes subject to failure.

***

After parting ways with Luke and the soldiers of the Crawlmarine territory, Eugene sent some of the beowulf warriors to the detour and headed into Baylin Forest with the rest. Afterward, he arranged the warriors in pairs at intervals of several hundred meters.

The beowulf warriors were extremely agile, and they possessed excellent eyesight and hearing. No matter where the enemy was spotted, they could easily gather at a set point in less than twenty minutes.

“Remember. As soon as you spot them, go deeper into the forest. Identify their route of travel. Then, when there are no more than 50 enemies, attack immediately. As for how?” Eugene asked them.

“As fast and as furious as possible!”

Kurararararara!

The beowulfs laughed with satisfaction. They were fully confident in acting according to such a tactic. Moreover, Baylin Forest had been without human presence for a long time and was filled to the brim with ‘meat.’ With permission from the forest’s owner, Luke, they could hunt and eat as much as they wanted.

“The half-orc baron. I hope he comes a little later.”

“That’s right. Salted meat is good, but freshly caught deer and wild boar are truly the best.”

“Shall we have a meal first? I’m hungry.”

“You too? Hey, me too!”

“Kieek! Look at those dog-pig bastards! They’re trying to eat again!” Mirian shouted.

“Hey. Eat the dried meat I gave you first. After the battle, I will treat you to a meat party.” Eugene commented.

Kiieng.

The beowulf warriors became sullen and returned to their respective positions.

Three days soon passed…

***

Caw. Caw.

The ominous cries of crows resonated as five hundred troops separated into about ten groups and walked through the unbroken forest. They couldn’t exercise proper formations due to the dense, thick bushes, but they had formed long lines which allowed them to defend against attacks from predators or monsters without losing their way.

“Dammit! I can’t believe how slow they are,” Baron Riwad turned his head irritably and shouted. He stood at the forefront of the army.

“What’s the distance between us and the rear of the army? We must keep it less than five hundred meters,” Baron Riwad asked.

“I-I’m not sure.”

“Then go and find out!” Baron Riwad shouted. His path had been clear of any beasts or roamers, and there had been no signs of any human presence even now. However, Baron Riwad was never the type to let his guard down. Rather, it annoyed him that most of his troops were mercenaries with no military discipline. Most of them had experienced the crusade and were quite skilled, but they devolved into a mess when they were resting or traveling.

‘I could at least beat them into obedience if they were serfs. Tsk, just what you might expect from mercenaries...’

Serfs were easy to control, but they were quite useless in combat. By comparison, mercenaries were more skilled. As such, Baron Riwad forcefully suppressed his anger and glared at the group of mercenaries, who were trudging along in groups of dozens.

It was then…

Ahhhhhhh~~

Kuaggh!

A series of screams began to echo from the rear of the army.

“I-is it an ambush?”

“Dammit!”

The mercenaries became disoriented by the sudden turn of events, but Baron Riwad quickly turned his horse toward the direction of the screams without hesitation.

“Uagh?!”

“Move! Get out of my way! Move, you dimwits!” Baron Riwad shouted. However, he couldn’t easily navigate through the blockade of large trees and the disorganized mercenaries.

Moreover, due to the uneven paths, it turned out that the line of troops was longer than he had expected. As he headed further back, he realized that the mercenaries were clumped together because of the unexpected, unidentified attack.

“Who is the enemy!?”

“Humans? No, monsters!”

“I can’t see them from here!”

“What are you doing!? Go help them!”

Some were hurriedly looking around with their weapons, some were hurriedly climbing trees, and others were running toward the rear to help their comrades.

It was a mess.

“You fucking fools!”

In the end, Baron Riwad and his knights finally reached the rear of the army after traveling nearly a kilometer. But a few minutes had already passed since the beginning of the screams.

“…!”

Around fifty mercenaries were found dead. They had been marching a little too far from the main army.

However, Baron Riwad noted a peculiar fact. The mercenaries hadn’t been killed by ordinary weapons such as spears and blades. Rather, some of them had their heads removed from their shoulders and vanished, some had their armors ripped to shreds, and some of them had their limbs torn off…

“Monsters…?”

“Keugh! Only monsters would do such a thing.”

The knights hurriedly looked around, and Baron Riwad spoke in a bloodthirsty voice. “Monsters or not, they aren’t ordinary. I don’t see a single corpse belonging to the enemy.”

“Heut…!”

The knights froze at his words. As the baron said, all of the corpses belonged to the hired mercenaries.

“Any sign of the attackers?” Baron Riwad asked.

“W-well… They seem to have scattered in all directions,” one of the knights responded.

“What…?” Baron Riwad said. His voice and gaze contained the full force of orc royalty.

The knight flinched before responding, “About ten of them. Based on the traces they left behind, they seem to be intermediate-rank monsters. But they didn’t flock. Instead, they fled individually. A-as such… I think it is going to be quite difficult tracking them down.”

“Motherfucker!” Baron Riwad’s furious shout resonated through the forest.

But then…

Arrrrghhh!

Kuagghh!

Screams began to resound from the front of the army…

“What the fuck!?” Baron Riwad roared before turning his horse once more. His copper face was red with shock and anger.

Meanwhile, the Origin Vampire and the other beowulf fighters excitedly slaughtered the leading mercenaries during the knights’ absence.

“Kuaagh! I will kill you all!” Baron Riwad burst into an unfathomable rage after discovering the bodies of the slaughtered mercenaries.

It was then…

Uaaaghhh!

“It’s the enemy!”

The rear of the army was once again attacked by unidentified enemies.