My Villains Episode 361
61. The Art of War (3)
With Prince Ulkar at the head, dozens of lords and dozens of knights climbed the western outer wall. The officers who assisted these nobles and staff magicians were also present, so Munru quickly became crowded.
Fortunately, the walls of this world are much wider than the medieval walls of Earth. This is because the walls were built thick to withstand the magic or witchcraft used in the siege.
So many people climbed the top of the wall, but the seats around Ulkar, the seat of honor, were of course limited. No matter how closely they gathered, there were only a dozen or so people at most who could see the prince face to face.
“Please keep that out of the way. Let’s go.”
Of course, Sir Ankir, Sir Laam, and myself belonged to the most prestigious of the knights gathered here, so they were able to occupy that ‘high seat’.
...Really, this world is divided into different classes by different things.
After standing in front of the castle, following Lord Ankir, who deftly cut through the crowds, the western scenery came into view.
The vast fields beyond the dried-up valley were full of fallen trees, stumps and ashes.
There were also countless figures that looked like half of the little fingernails, or almost dots. It seemed that the number was at least well over a thousand, but I couldn’t tell exactly.
Experienced officer and sergeant scouts know the number of enemies at a glance, but I don’t seem to have that kind of ability.
Anyway, the figures that appeared to be soldiers of Mittergeland were busy moving. It is to drag trees with a rope, to strike with an axe, and to clear ashes.
Lord Ankir clicked his tongue.
“It used to be a forest not too long ago, but now it has become an empty field.”
“...what are they doing?”
“As you can see. It’s hard to move a large army in a thick bush, so I’m going to push them all out.”
Hearing his explanation, it was originally said that there was a dense forest spreading from a point about 2,300 meters away from the valley. But now the forest had receded so far that the bare branches looked like threads.
“The people of the highlands call that forest ‘Selntri’. It is a forest that burns whenever there is a war with the empire.”
Sir Liam, who was examining the field that would become a battlefield in the near future, opened his mouth with his eyes narrowed.
“But when it rains in summer, new shoots and stems sprout in seven days, and by the time the sun goes down, yew and dogwood trees are said to grow taller than people.”
“In one year? Isn’t that very fast?”
“Thanks to that, some villagers believe that a fairy lives somewhere in the forest. Of course it’s nonsense.”
It’s a fairy...
Even in this world, the fairies
are a similar race commonly called elves, which only appear in legends.
It is said that many similar races, including fairies, lived alongside humans during the ancient empire. But now, more than 700 years after the fall of the ancient empire, it has become a story that is difficult to grasp even the authenticity.
Of course, I could bet my entire fortune on the fact that elves actually exist. I don’t know about Wood Elves, but Dark Elves and High Elves were tediously killed in the Underground and Eternal Worlds.
“...Looks like slave soldiers from Alzenberg.”
Most of the lords and knights looked puzzled at Prince Ulkar’s out of the blue.
“How do you know that, Your Highness?”
“There are a lot of people with different skin colors mixed together. There are also Gellan soldiers who seem to be leaders.”
In Prince Ulkar’s eyes, he could see the skin color of those half-and-half little fingernails. Even though he was not naked, but fully armed with a chain vest and an iron helmet.
Although he lost his left arm, Ulkar was still an archer with peak prowess, and his eyesight was much better than that of a criminal. People who remembered this belatedly shook their heads and showed admiration.
“Your Highness, I have something to report about it.”
Among them, a middle-aged man opened his mouth. He was armed with a gold-rimmed silver shield patterned overcoat and a long chain mail, open-eyed sallet helmet.
“Tell me, Harold.” Oh I remember now This is a man I met in South Harbor. As one of Ulkar’s henchmen, he was a capable commander.
“The size of the enemy army, which was initially expected to be around 5,000, jumped to 15,000. The main reason is that the Duke of Avillambus hired mercenaries on a large scale and attracted conscripts, but Vice King Burcard also sent a huge number of additional slave soldiers.”
” how much?”
“Approximately 4,000 were added, so the total is estimated to be around 6,000.”
Commander Harold’s decisive words made some people hold their breath.
“Six thousand. No matter how strong the power of the electorate is...
“It’s true that he deserves to be called Vice King.”
“So, aren’t they inferior slaves? Just one shout from me will scatter them all, so don’t be afraid.”
Amidst the murmur, an old knight in black plate armor made a joke. He was Sir Ecbert, Viscount Cirillo’s knight, and he looked four or five times the size of his skinny, short lord.
“They would rather gather than disperse.”
A cynical middle-aged knight with a short mustache burst into laughter. He was wearing a famous sword, Vidain, with a large ruby embedded in the permal.
“If Kyung appears in front of starving slaves, wouldn’t they mistake it for an old pig?”
“Daily Ceed. You’re talking recklessly today, you damn bastard.”
Sir Ecbert, who had been known for decades as ‘Bronze with an Axe’ growled, but Sir Daylesse de, the Earl of Coburn’s deputy and the best knight of Odenlock, didn’t blink an eye and shed a sneer.
“For God’s sake, the land I own is a bit large. Shouldn’t Kyungs have to worry about going to and fro without a field plot in their later years?”
“what!”
Sir Ecbert’s lord, Viscount Cirillo, was famous for preying on his minor lords and courtiers. In particular, it was quite a famous story that three years ago, his son kicked out an old baron with only one illegitimate son and took over the manor.
Viscount Cirillo wiggled his eyebrows without hiding his displeasure, and Sir Ecbert sighed with his face dyed dark red.
“Don’t be too angry. You’re saying this because you feel sorry for the poor knight who can’t lay down his weapon until he’s in his later years.”
It was not Viscount Cyril or Sir Ecbert who reacted to Lord Daylaced’s sarcasm that followed.
“her. That’s something I just can’t get past.”
Another old knight stepped forward. It was Sir Gidebal, standing behind Count Os, the young great lord, who was observing his surroundings with his shoulders shrunken.
“Unlike the mercenaries whose performance depends on morale or war situation, the saboteurs dispatched from ‘Linhow on the Mountain’ will become a serious headache anytime, anywhere. Well, they’re so famous that there’s nothing to explain.” Destruction magicians are sorcerers who deal with pure power and force fields, and ‘Linhow on the Mountain’ is a historical school of magic that is the root of such destruction magicians.
I have never met the ‘main class’ saboteurs belonging to Linhow on the mountain, but I have fought against the ‘subclass’. It was because there were several saboteurs mixed with Count Mullin’s army that was attacking Longville.
The saboteurs were obviously threatening, but I remember that they were easily dealt with with a group of ambushes.
Come to think of it, when will Mungchi come back? It seems like it’s already been 15 days since we broke up... I just want them to reunite before High Castle is completely surrounded.
“Although there are assassins who sometimes break into the castle, there are no major damages thanks to the attention of the various lords and knights. Therefore, at this point, the most dangerous thing to increase the enemy power is-”
Kiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa enemy!
“Exquisite.” Harold let out a small sigh at the roar coming from afar.
“It is these guys. Strategically and tactically, it is the target that allies should be most vigilant about.”
It was none other than the dragon knights that rose from the horizon. Knights riding the wyvern that Duke Avillambus is proud of.
They were the ones I had seen prior to the bloodmane mercenaries’ night raid, but today felt completely different. It was because there were well over fifty wyverns roaring and flying in unison.
“You must take refuge in the castle, Your Highness
.”
“Don’t you have any means to respond?”
“A bow and a crossbow cannot pierce the scales of a wyvern up high. long-established We are attempting high-angle shooting by modifying the ballista, but the aiming is so slow that the dragon knight can avoid it by just observing the movement of the bow.”
“...Wizards?”
Master Lymond, who was nearby, replied to the prince asking a question with a calm expression.
“It will be difficult. Sending spells farther than arrows is a vision among visions that only a few prestigious schools have, so “at least in this High Castle, there is no one with that skill.”
Harold interrupted Master Lymond and urged the prince.
“Battlemages will cast defensive spells, but they are not completely safe. Hurry up and go to the castle, Your Highness.”
“O uh”
—— I that.
Wyverns were fast among winged monsters, and dragon knights were those who specialized in making such wyverns fly with all their might.
As the dragon knights flew faster than expected, those gathered at Munru fell into confusion. Wizards hurriedly memorized spells, lords fled, and knights looked up at the sky with indignant eyes.
Ulkar, who had been hardening his face, finally turned around to head to the castle. Then he found me and opened his eyes wide.
“...Sir Phoenix’?”
“wait a minute.”
Taking the spear from a soldier standing guard, I broke the rear end of the spear and made it the right length.
“What are you doing?”
“Originally, the throwing skill is an essential skill for heavy armored warriors.”
“what?”
By the time the wyverns grew to the size of the palm of your hand.
“Sigh.”
At the end of a short run, he threw a spear while stepping on a stilt.
Wedge!
The soldier’s broken spear was shot so fast that the shape was blurry and passed by the neck of the wyvern flying in the lead.
Ayeek!
A death sentence that does not follow death.
The wyvern, whose neck was torn long and shallow, poured out blood, and the dragon knight barely calmed the crazed wyvern by twisting his body.
“...What is that?”
“What was it? Did you really throw it?”
For the wide-eyed knights, I snatched a spear from another soldier.
The spear that flew the second time pierced the middle of the wing of a Wyvern, and the dragon knight had to turn around and return to the west.
A dragon knight pointed this way and shouted something. In response, the dragon knights all at once poured large stones and fireballs into the gatehouse.
“Aurnetren!”
“Let the strong wind rise.”
However, Munruen was teeming with excellent battle mages including Master Limond and Master Epos, so the bombardment of the dragon warriors was in vain.
“lily!”
Just as the aftermath of the bombardment had subsided, Eson, who was chubby, jumped onto the door tower just in time and handed over a package of javelins.
“Good after.”
The familiar javelin showed a completely different hit rate than the crudely prepared one. I threw five javelins in quick succession and landed four hits, two of which ended up falling.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The Wyverns screamed and turned
. Not just one or two, but over fifty Wyverns were all retreating.
“...under.”
said Prince Ulkar with a hollow laugh.
“I think we should prepare a seat for the Lord at the top of the castle tower.”
“If yes, I will be grateful.”
By the time Ulkar shook his head, the people remaining in the gatehouse burst into cheers.
After that day, I became a rock star among knights.