Chapter 48 Ch. 48: It Begins [1]



"The Kearny Knights are on their way here."

Adrian frowned.

What bullshit was this again?

Didn't they just surrender a few seconds ago?

Was it an information delay?

Seeing his little brother's perplexed expression, Nathaniel spat his mind.

"I told you that we should have escaped. Now look at your face, look how flustered you are."

"What? No! It's just—"

Ignoring his complaints, Nathaniel instructed Asher.

"Please inform the others."

"As you wish."

Soon, Asher approached the Knight Lieutenants.

"I've told you, you're just too young for this, Ian. You're—"

Deafening his ears, Adrian folded his arms as a jumble of puzzle pieces formed in his mind.

"Haaa…"

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Thus, Adrian rewound everything, starting from the beginning.

The novel began with Nathaniel returning from the war at 18, after wiping out the remnants of Kearny Kingdom.

Right now, Nathaniel was 11 years old.

Despite the Kearny Kingdom's surrender, they proceeded to send their troops to the Refugee Camp—which was confusing and preposterous at the same time.

But glimpsing how calm Nathaniel was and how he warned Adrian of the danger, it was clear that this also happened in the past timeline.

Then it explained a lot about why the war continued for another 7 years.

"—a long way—"

"What is their motive?"

Adrian cut him and Nathaniel shrugged indifferently.

"Who knows? Out of revenge, perhaps?"

Adrian could feel how the corner of his lips quivered in annoyance.

This damn Regressor didn't seem to care about the situation at hand and was just letting things play out as they had in the past, huh?

Let alone their motive, even the Kearny army's existence in this land had become a big question for him!

The white-haired boy massaged his wrinkled forehead at the sudden headache.

Nevertheless, Adrian decided to set aside all distractions and focus solely on the impending war.

—Claps —Claps —Claps 

The audience erupted in applause as Gizel ended his speech. 

Soon after, dinner was abruptly cut short due to an urgent situation and Adrian bid his friends farewell before hurrying to the meeting room.

Upon entering, the guard outside announced their arrival.

"His Highness the Imperial First Prince, His Highness the Imperial Second Prince, and Sir Asher enter the room!"

Adrian could see six people inside; five Knight Lieutenants and Gizel, they were sitting around a round table.

They stood up and quickly bowed before greeting them respectfully.

"Your Highness."

The Princes nodded in response, and once they were seated, the others followed suit.

—Click

Sir Wyatt, a middle-aged man with brown hair and eyes, activated the silent magic device and placed it on the magic.

He was the 25th Imperial Knight Lieutenant.

When the translucent bubble enveloped them, without beating around the bush, Nathaniel opened the dialogue.

"Sir Asher, please provide us with the current situation."

"As you wish."

Asher stepped forward and projected the map from the Telesphere into the air. 

In an instant, a map appeared with five red dots surrounding the Refugee Camp, hovering in front of the room.

"As per Sir Fre—er, Sir Egberg Flash reported—"

Adrian suppressed the urge to facepalm, Asher could have just called him Ferdinand.

And due to how famous Egberg Flash was among the Knights, the room exploded in excitement at the mention of Fredinand's title.

The Knights Lieutenants could not believe that the Continent's renowned loyal Knight was among them without their knowledge.

"Egberg Flash?!"

"That Egberg Flash?!"

"I can't believe—"

"Ahem!"

Adrian cleared his throat loudly, and the chatter immediately died down.

With that, he steered the discussion back on track.

"Sir Asher, please continue."

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Your Highness."

Shortly, he began again.

"It appears that each camp has deployed over 1,000 troops, who are currently spotted marching towards the Refugee Camp from all directions, while the remaining troops are serving as reinforcements."

"So, the total number of troops is 5,000 men?"

Sir Wyatt asked and the young Knight nodded his head.

"That is correct."

Even though the number of their troops was reduced by half, the gap between their forces was still too great.

Gizel raised his hand and posed a question.

"May I inquire about the status of our enemy's arrival?"

"Their arrival is expected in less than three hours."

"I see. Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Upon hearing this news, a wave of tension swept through the room. 

Their faces turned grim and the atmosphere grew thick with unease.

As the seconds ticked away, they cast furtive glances at each other, their eyes betraying the fear and uncertainty that gripped their minds. 

They knew they had to act fast to protect this place, but their thoughts were in a mess, racing in a thousand different directions.

Amidst a deafening silence, a confident voice rang out.

"If it's only 5,000 troops, I can stop them with my magic."

Everyone inside the room fixated their eyes on the white-haired boy, gazing at him with unreadable expressions.

It was true that the Imperial Second Prince was known to be gifted in magical abilities, but stating that he could single-handedly stop an entire army was a bold claim.

Nathaniel facepalmed and sighed wearily.

And that was his exact expression when that little brat was spewing that crap the other day.

Despite the dubious glances of others, Adrian's aura remained unchanged; firm in his conviction.

As he couldn't let his little brother be disrespected anymore, the black-haired Prince stood and spoke, drawing their attention toward him.

"I understand that some of you doubt my brother."

Nathaniel made his way to the front.

"However, after hearing his plan, I am convinced that we can win this battle."

He paused, scoffing wryly before continuing.

"And believe it or not, my brother even predicted that the enemy would divide their troops, which has proven to be true."

Nathaniel's golden eyes swept over the faces of those gathered before him.

"I simply want to urge you all to listen to my brother's plan. After that, it is up to each of you to decide whether or not to follow it."

The people inside exchanged glances, and after a brief silence, they nodded in agreement.

.

.

.

"Must you really go? This wasn't part of the plan."

Adrian expressed his displeasure as he looked at the black-haired boy standing in front of him.

Nathaniel let out a small smile and patted his head gently.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

Although Nathaniel was someone with experience in battle, Adrian couldn't help but feel concerned. 

After all, Nathaniel's body was still that of a boy, and the war they faced was very real.

"It's dangerous."

"I know."

Suddenly, a voice rang out behind them, making both boys turn and the bowing Sir Wyatt came into view.

"Your Highness, it's the time."

Nathaniel returned his eyes to him.

"I have to go."

And no matter what Adrian did, Nathaniel was determined to leave—even after he popped his cute eyes, the damn Regressor didn't even budge.

In the end, Adrian sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Don't die."

Nathaniel couldn't help but chuckle.

"I won't."

With that, Nathaniel followed the Knight Lieutenant and approached Gizel.

There were 1,000 Knights stationed in the Refugee Camp, consisting of 500 Archers and 500 Infantry.

·ƈθm The strategy was to divide the troops into two groups: one would defend the camp while the other would ambush the enemy's reinforcements using guerrilla tactics.

Later, the ambush team would split into five groups of 100 knights each, creating a 100 vs 1,000 scenario.

Arriving before Gizel, the man took out a ball of glass from his Magical Sphere.

Its size was akin to that of a globe and inside it, a golden hourglass hovered in the center.

That item was a Blink Sphere, a teleportation device invented by the Tower.

However, to do teleportation, we must put another Blink Sphere in the place where we wanted to be transported.

Not only that, but we also needed to make sure that both Blink Spheres were connected to prevent device malfunction.

Despite being a one-time use item, the price for a pair of Blink Sphere was worth a fortune.

And the fact that Nathaniel owns five pairs of them was a testament to his wealth.

Well, as expected of a Regressor.

As they scouted the enemy, Asher and Fredinand had planted and linked all of the Blink Sphere beforehand, which made the operation easier.

When Asher returned here to report, he gave them back to Nathaniel before the boy handed them over to Gizel.

Waste no more time, the Professor infused his Mana into the device. 

Soon, the hourglass inside the ball began to spin and sent streaks of blue lightning that spread throughout the sphere.

—Drrtt!

The ground began to shake and a golden Magic Circle was formed beneath the knights' feet.

Nathaniel glanced at his brother for the last time and waved, Adrian who saw it waved back.

And in a blink of an eye, the first ambush team vanished into thin air; they were teleported into the forest.