Episode 68: The Defense of Valhart’s Western Fortress (1)
—
A few days ago, at Anel Castle.
“My lord. Chel Brans has just arrived at the royal palace of Anel Castle.”
Chel, the foremost sword of Brans and Lynn’s older brother, who was guarding the southern front, knelt before Lynn, who sat on the throne.
“You’ve arrived, big brother. It’s the first time we’ve seen each other since the assault on Zelant Castle, isn’t it?”
“…”
Chel didn’t bother to respond to her words.
Even though he had been stationed on the southern front, he too had ears and eyes.
The man targeted in Zelant Castle, and the unbelievable events that occurred on the northern front.
All the way to the rebellion that followed… he had heard it all with his own ears.
And all those events started with the assault on Zelant Castle, led by himself and now the traitorous Airen.
Yes.
The betrayal of Airen Juliet.
From Chel Brans’ perspective, it couldn’t have been more shocking.
Back in his younger days.
The stories his father, who was still alive, always told him, the eldest son.
“Chel. You will be the one to lead the Brans family in the future. Just as I have Kafka, you will have Airen to play that role for you.”
Of course, contrary to his father’s words, he never ended up leading the Brans family.
As he grew older, instead of studying politics or diplomacy, he craved battle every day, and it seemed his father had excluded him from being a successor at some point.
To Chel, that didn’t matter much. He preferred wielding a sword directly in battle rather than issuing orders from a throne.
A monarch’s virtue included not unnecessarily taking the forefront. If the leader dies in battle, the state’s collapse is only a matter of time.
Moreover, if he became a monarch, he would always have to engage in complex political calculations, and he thought his cunning sister would do much better at that.
The problem was Airen.
Their father, Orland Brans, had highly valued her.
Chel felt the same way. When they crossed swords in training long ago, she was the only person who could match his skill despite being a woman.
Even Chel, who hardly acknowledged anyone, couldn’t deny Airen.
Of course, Orland’s high regard for her wasn’t just because of her strength.
It was her tremendous loyalty to the Brans family.
A faithful servant raised and taught by Kafka Juliet to live only for the Brans family.
That was Airen Juliet.
Every time Chel watched her, he was confident that she, of all people, would never betray them.
That’s why the news of her betrayal was so shocking.
Airen Juliet of all people?
Given his distance from central politics while guarding the front, it was difficult for him to speculate how things had gotten to this point.
His younger brother Kalintz had made a huge mistake and was under confinement, his sister and lord Lynn had been betrayed by the loyal Airen…
Without understanding what was happening, he was suddenly called here after signing a three-month truce with two countries adjacent to the southern border.
“Big brother, you’ve heard, right? About roughly what happened.”
“Yes.”
“Great!”
Lynn smiled brightly.
“Our goal is one. To erase Aeshers army from the map forever. And to capture Airen Juliet alive.”
“Capture, you say?”
“Yes! I’d like her to be brought before me alive, without being killed on the battlefield.”
“Why?”
At this point, it seemed unlikely that Airen would be utilized again.
Rather, shouldn’t she be killed without question?
She had betrayed our army, taking with her an army of 30,000.
It would be logical to kill her if possible.
“I know. You’re wondering why I’m saying not to kill her, right? I understand how you feel, big brother.”
Lynn slightly touched her lips with her finger.
“But, to think the price of her betrayal would be just her worthless life… Don’t you think we’d be at a loss?”
“…?”
“Despair.”
Lynn uttered the word “despair” and then chuckled ominously.
Her chilling laughter filled the royal palace.
“I wonder how that damned traitor would feel the greatest despair… After making her experience that, then we can kill her. And it won’t just be a simple death. If we cut off her fingers one by one, what kind of screams will she let out? In agony, knowing no one can help her, yet still begging someone out of reach to save her… Eventually begging me to save her…!”
“…!”
“And in front of her, writhing in pain… I’ll devour Swen, whom she seduced…♥”
Chills!
Ridiculously, Chel found himself speechless under his sister’s spirit.
Swen… Was that the white-haired man recruited during the Zelant Castle campaign?
The man who used something like magic in the northern fortress.
He seduced Airen?
He wanted to ask what she meant, but he couldn’t.
From Lynn’s blue eyes… A dark, sticky grudge was leaking out.
“Huhuhu… I wonder how it’ll feel to have the man she tried to take from me taken back right before her eyes…? What expression will Airen have then? Aren’t you curious too, big brother? Kuhuhuhuhu…♥”
She twisted her body and let out an indistinct laugh, then suddenly, as if nothing had happened, she smiled brightly again.
“So, brother. I’ll give you 53,000 troops, so please quickly take care of Aeshers army. Got it?”
“53,000 troops?”
The number included troops from the southern front and the capital’s defense soldiers.
It was essentially all the troops, excluding those currently being organized in the west and those with Serpina in the north.
If things went well, good, but if they messed up here… the already precarious balance would be significantly shaken.
“That should be enough.”
Reportedly, the fortress of Aeshers army, including the troops that were originally ours, housed just over 40,000 soldiers.
Similarly, a number of soldiers were believed to be in Valhart Castle.
And, conveniently, the troops at Valhart Castle were currently engaged in battle with Alephel army.
And crucially, the first target wasn’t the castle but the fortress.
With this number of troops and enough siege weapons, he believed they had a good chance of success.
Especially since Chel himself would lead the vanguard.
The biggest concern was the presence of the traitor Swen… If they could somehow counter his strange tactics, they were confident of victory.
“As soon as the western front is organized, I’ll send additional troops, so make sure to capture Valhart Castle with this deployment. Got it?”
Receiving troops from the western front would mean controlling over 90,000 soldiers.
With this number, he believed they could conquer Aeshers army.
“Yes! I shall obey.”
Chel answered, firming his resolve.
Right. What did it matter how things were going?
If told to go to war, he would go.
If his sword needed to be bloodied, then so be it.
That was how Chel Brans survived in these turbulent times.
* * *
Upon arriving at the royal palace with hurried steps, Yuri, wearing a grave expression, greeted us from the throne.
“Iren Juliet, at your command, I have just arrived at the royal palace.”
“Iren, you’re here. And Swen too.”
After a brief greeting to us, who had knelt before her, she immediately moved on to the main topic.
“You’ve heard, right? The Brans folks have made their move.”
“…I apologize.”
Yuri shook her head in response to Iren’s words.
“No, it’s not… I’m not blaming you or holding you responsible. The decision to accept you was made by me, out of my own will. We need to address what’s happened.”
“Do you intend to fight?”
Zinor, standing beside us, asked with a serious expression.
“At least Epinel seems to think so.”
“But… if we choose to resist and lose our forces, we will suffer greatly. It might be better to abandon the fortress and gather at Valhart Castle with those forces for a siege-”
“…Zinor. I’m really sorry, but could you go to where Epinel is? If you want to persuade someone, it would be better to convince Epinel directly rather than talking to me.”
“…”
Zinor had no response to Yuri’s request.
“I see.”
It was then that the problem with Aeshers army became clear.
Epinel. Emma. And leading figures like Hernandorf, part of the “Aeshers Trio.”
In this nation, the influence of these founding heroes was too strong.
If Lin and Serpina reigned as absolute rulers over their subordinates, Yuri and Lunarien were more like horizontal leaders of a group.
Apart from which was right or wrong, that was one way to categorize them.
However, if Lunarien knew how to assert her opinions despite her gentle nature, Yuri seemed to be swayed by the founding heroes, which was a fitting assessment.
This explained the outcome of the last meeting. Since Emma was one of the founding heroes, it was natural for Zinor, who joined later, to be outmatched.
I had experienced such dynamics firsthand before my reincarnation.
The military.
A mystical group where everything revolves around “how much experience one has.”
In Aeshers army, the most valued thing wasn’t individual capabilities but how long one had stayed and contributed-
In essence, it was about “seniority.”
A monarch who cherishes her comrades, considers everyone as family, and leads them-
Ironically, such a monarch’s weakness lies in not being able to dominate them absolutely.
After all, one can’t step on and climb over those they cherish, right?
As the leader of a band of righteous thieves, this might be an excellent virtue, but she was the leader of a nation.
While acting like an absolute tyrant wasn’t good, being constantly swayed like her was also far from ideal.
Ideally, there should have been no need for Zinor to persuade Epinel; as the monarch, Yuri should have been able to command Epinel to return, and as a subject, Epinel should have obeyed.
But she didn’t do that. Instead, she asked a subject to “please persuade” her own subject.
The monarch herself!
“Is this why Yuri can’t unify?”
While I was lost in thought, Yuri, who seemed to have made up her mind, stood up and said,
“Iren. I’ll give you an additional 3,000 troops, so please take the vanguard and join Epinel at the fortress. I’d like to give you more troops, but they’ve already been deployed. Once you arrive at the fortress, consider her commands as mine and follow them.”
“Yes, I understand!”
“Zinor. Join Iren’s forces and head to the fortress. Got it?”
“…Yes, I understand.”
“And Swen.”
Yuri finally turned to me.
“I have a lot of expectations for you, Swen. If you can make a difference, I hope you will. You’ll understand the details once you hear from Epinel. Got it?”
A lot of expectations.
It seemed she was hoping for something miraculous like what happened at the northern fortress…
Of course, I had no ability to bring about such miracles.
But, if the predictions work out like last time… surely, there would be a way.
“Yes, I understand.”
With that, Iren, leading about 3,000 soldiers of Aeshers army, including Zinor, myself, and a few unnamed Aeshers army commanders-
Set out for the fortress located to the west of Valhart Castle, which once belonged to Brans army.
