Chapter 128
“What? Ah! You mean the news about Baron Tale’s march?”
“Yeah. That news.”
“There’s no one in the capital that hasn’t heard that news. I heard it a long time ago.”
“However you look at it, it looks like Prince Simon made a big mistake this time.”
“I think so too.”
The voices noisily chattered.
In the glamorous grand hall, tens of nobles were focusing on one rumor that had been fiercely heating up the capital, Miller, recently.
It was about Roan Tale’s incomprehensible march.
When they had first heard the news, they thought that the report was mistaken.
Roan’s march was simply that unbelievable and ridiculous.
At least, it looked like that when they saw it.
“Your highness.”
Tio Ruin made a worried expression at the sound of nobles’ chatter.
Simon shook his head with a calm look.
“It’s okay. There’s no need to worry.”
Tio exhaled a short sigh.
“Huu. Even if we do trust Baron Tale, the direction of the march is simply too strange…… there must be some reason, isn’t there?”
Simon cheerily smiled at those words and grabbed Tio’s shoulder.
“The reason Baron Tale is marching towards an unfathomable place is……”
He put strength into his voice.
“Because the victory is there. I believe it so.”
However, it couldn’t be helped that he felt a slight misgiving.
The tip of his eyes slightly trembled.
‘If it’s Baron Tale, he must have some sort of plan.’
He strained to throw away the doubts in his heart.
‘I can trust you, right? Baron Tale. No……’
Simon gritted his teeth.
‘I will trust you.’
The abilities Roan had shown him.
Simon decided to believe in those abilities.
At that moment, the grand chamberlain, Viscount Logan Dayle, showed himself.
With a large staff, he hit the marble floor three times.
“The sun of the kingdom and the deputy of the god Krea, His Majesty Deni III is coming. The loyal retainers of the kingdom, show your manners.”
Simon finally shook away the distracting thoughts only then.
‘The war isn’t only happening in the kingdom’s north. Here also……’
He lowered his head and deeply bowed towards Deni Von Rinse who walked into the grand hall.
‘This place is also a battlefield.’
Simon clenched his fist.
A peculiar energy stormed through the hall.
That was no doubt the spirit of war. 1
*****
Clop. Clop.
The sound of horseshoes clopping noisily echoed.
The troop flag, raised up high, rippled in the northern wind.
< Tale Troop. >
The troop that was tirelessly moving east was the Tale Troop, the one who plunged the capital Miller, Mills Voisa, and Chester Kowan into chaos.
“We can see Karon Village.”
The soldier of the advance party that had the scouting mission shouted out.
Roan, who had been leading the troop at the head, faintly smiled.
‘It seems we have finally arrived.’
His gaze moved towards the village located far away.
No, to be exact, it was looking for a place beyond the village that couldn’t be seen.
‘They must all be confused.’
The smile that hung from his mouth became much deeper.
A march that led them further and further away from Elton Coat’s Barony.
It was completely incomprehensible from others’ point of view.
That was also the same for the soldiers of the Tale Troop.
“Why did we come here?”
“This place is a lot far away from the Coat Barony.”
“Did he perhaps chose the wrong path?”
Soldiers who were temporarily recruited from the Regate Troop and the Ruin Troop whispered.
“It’s Sir Baron Tale’s decision. We just need to follow the order.”
“He is absolutely not someone who would give out meaningless orders.”
Because at least the soldiers of the Amaranth troops put down the agitated atmosphere, there was no particular trouble.
“We turn right instead of entering the village.”
As soon as Roan’s order came down, the direction of the march immediately turned in a strange manner.
The Tale troop left Karon Village to their right and headed south. 2
After an unknown amount of time, the wide open field suddenly ended and a clear blue river appeared.
“We can see the Teluo River.”
The scout shouted.
Roan didn’t hurry but slowly led the horse and arrived at the edge of the river.
“In the end, we actually came here.”
Austin murmured with a tense look.
Roan slowly nodded his head and looked at the Teluo River.
‘Teluo River……’
Originating north of the Pedian Plain, it was a river that flew into Poskein Lake.
It was the largest source of water in the Rinse Kingdom’s north and its size was fairly large.
It was one of the three biggest rivers in the kingdom.
But in reality, there weren’t any good uses for it.
It was only used for watering numerous fields and small scale fishing industries for the big and small riverside villages.
‘It’s all because of Poskein Lake.’
Regardless of their origin, Rinse Kingdom’s rivers all fed into Poskein Lake.’
In short, it was a situation where one end was completely blocked.
Consequently, water traffic didn’t develop despite there being plenty of influx of the water.
‘It’s a regrettable thing.’
Roan made a bitter smile.
Originally, he should have conquered the monsters of Poskein Lake and built a military port on Exos Island.
‘The stay at the capital became longer than I had expected.’
On top of that, he was in a situation where he had to suppress Elton’s rebellion.
‘Once this is over, cleaning up Poskein Lake comes first.’
It couldn’t be delayed any longer.
There was a need to at least put down the northern area of the lake.
‘Anyway……’
Roan’s gaze turned towards the Teluo River.
‘There’s nothing.’
This was something unexpected.
At that moment.
“My lord. I don’t see anything.”
He heard Austin’s voice.
“The thing couldn’t possibly have gone wrong, could it?”
His expression looked slightly worried.
In truth, Austin had been endlessly worrying all throughout the march.
The plan this time was just that ridiculous of a plan.
At that moment, a confident voice spoke up from the back.
“Please don’t worry too much. There’s no way the thing could’ve went wrong.”
The one who approached while softly smiling was Clay.
His face was truly calm.
‘Clay……’
Roan’s gaze moved towards Clay.
‘He is a much more brilliant genius than I had thought.’
The first position he had trusted Clay with was administrator of the Amaranth troop’s supplies.
From one point of view, it may have been a lowly position compared to the abilities he had shown.
But contrary to his expectation, Clay had sincerely carried out his job.
And in merely a month, he had completely changed the organization of Amaranth troop’s rations, supplies, weapons, and equipments.
Not only did he turn all the quantity management into documents and safeguarded them, he meticulously examined the rations and equipments, which were previously distributed in an approximate manner, obtained and redistributed them.
Due to that, there were no more cases of carelessly using up supplies, weapons, and equipment, and the ration distribution also became several times more efficient.
Even the few soldiers who looked with doubtful eyes at Clay also had to at least acknowledge his ability.
The problem was.
‘In the process of carrying out the work, a part of him was too excessively individualistic.’
He was overly confident of his abilities.
Because of that, he often silenced the opinions and advice of people around him and pushed through works based on his own judgments and decisions.
Of course, Clay’s judgments and decisions were correct most of the times and led to much better results.
But regardless of that, the complaints and dissatisfaction of those around him continued to rise every day.
Even if one worked efficiently, it was possible to be cursed at by others.
‘He is someone who could be a great strength if led well.’
Roan inhaled deeply.
A genius of Clay’s level wasn’t someone that could be easily obtained.
‘The plan this time was also something I couldn’t even think of.’
In truth, Roan was seriously contemplating before the marching ceremony for the rebellion suppression force.
‘There is no chance of victory by directly heading north.’
Putting aside the mountainous region that spread south of the Coat Barony, the nobles who sat below that and followed the Second Prince Tommy Rinse and Third Prince Kallum Rinse were a problem.
‘Furthermore, Mills and Chester have grabbed each other’s hand.’
It was the truth found thanks to the druidic ability of Clay.
If Mills and Chester had cooperated and schemed together, there was a high possibility that only Roan’s march would be slowed down.
‘I needed a solution.’
At that moment, Clay had proposed an unconventional plan.
‘Go up against the Teluo River using boats……’
It was a completely unexpected plan.
He was in fact building a navy at Neperu Village located at Poskein Lake.
Because he actually had done so, he was planning to subjugate the monsters of Poskein Lake.
But he hadn’t even dreamt of using that navy in this rebellion-suppression plan.
‘My thoughts were unconsciously stuck on fixed ideas.’
Rinse Kingdom’s rivers couldn’t act as a waterway.
He was unconsciously stuck in that thought.
‘But Clay has presented the most ideal plan based on the situation without any stereotyped thoughts or preconceived notions.’
What was more astonishing was.
‘Even though it had merely been a month since he joined, he knew I was developing a navy and completely grasped just how far the development has advanced.’
It wasn’t something he knew of beforehand either.
While carrying out his work as the supplies administrator, Clay had separately asked Keep and studied and memorized every piece of information about the Tale Barony.
Because of that, he was able to immediately present a plan when Roan had fallen into thought.
‘Is this what they call a hard working genius?’
Roan looked straight into Clay’s eyes.
Although he pretended to be composed, confidence radiated from the light in his eyes and his behavior.
At that moment.
“Is this really okay? Even though there’s nothing on the riverbank?”
Austin asked with a stiff look.
Clay slowly nodded his head.
“They will soon arrive.”
His face was full of certainty.
‘There are no errors in my calculation. The ships will soon arrive. If things have gone wrong……’
He cringed the tip of his nose.
‘That’s all President Chris of Agens’ fault.’
The work this time was carried out with Clay and Chris’ strengths put together.
If the ships from Neperu village didn’t arrive on time, that would be because Chris had made a mistake somewhere halfway in the work.
At least, that was what Clay had thought.
Austin let out a short sigh while looking at Clay’s confident look.
“If the thing has gone wrong, we would have made a big mistake in this rebellion-suppre……’
When he had spoke to that point.
“Here they come.”
He heard Roan’s voice.
“Yes?”
Austin asked back with a surprised look and turned his head following Roan’s gaze.
But all he could see was the Teluo River that calmly flowed by.
“Wh, where……?”
Austin extended his neck straight while his eyes turned round.
But there was still nothing that could be seen.
Then.
Vvuuuuu!
A sound of a horn quietly echoed out.
And at the same time, the prow of a ship suddenly appeared from the waterway that was hidden behind Karon Village.
“Ah!”
Austin let out a quiet exclamation.
It was also the same for the ten thousand soldiers who were lined up behind him.
“It, it’s a ship!”
“A ship has come!”
“And it’s not just one or two, but tens of them!”
Everyone shouted about with surprised faces.
On the other hand, Clay was making a truly confident smile as if to say ‘see’.
‘As expected, there’s no way I would be wrong. It seems President Chris also do a pretty good job.’
An arrogant thought filled his head.
Chwaaak!
With the sound of cutting through the water, tens of sailboats threw ropes towards the land.
Roan, who had been watching the situation, pulled his reins and looked towards the Troop’s soldiers.
“Tale Troop! Begin preparing to board!”
He shouted aloud.
“We will take these ships and go up against the Teluo River!”
Immediately, the soldiers began to whisper.
“Is, is that something possible?”
“We’re moving by boats?”
Their thoughts had been solidly fixed just like most people.
Vvuuuuuu!
Once again the sound of the horn echoed out.
Strangely shaped ships tied their ropes to the land or landed and organized themselves.
Kkiiiig!
With a sound of wood being twisted, the tightly expanded sails folded at once and the anchors were submerged.
A familiar person’s shape emerged from the prow of a large and solid ship at the lead.
“My lord! Daiv of Amaranth troop Poskein Navy Branch greets you after a long while!”
The young man with a skeletal body.
He was the young sailor that Roan made a connection with when Roan was going to the Potter Fief. 3
Daiv, who at the time only had a single boat as his all, had endlessly endeavored for his dream of freely roaming the entire Poskein Lake, and the result of his efforts were the small and large ships that numbered in the tens.
Of course, it was thanks to Roan’s monetary support that he was able to remodel and build the ships. 4
“Daiv! Your fleet is magnificent!”
“It’s all thanks to my lord! Please board quickly!”
Daiv loudly laughed as he shouted.
Roan nodded his head then called Austin, Harrison, and Clay.
“Austin. From now on, we must move faster and more covertly. First……”
For a moment, he calmly explained the plans from then on.
The parts that weren’t clear or not explained were supplemented by Clay.
In the first place, the designer of the plan this time was Clay.
“Yes. Understood, sir.”
Austin gave a short salute and answered once he heard it all.
Roan tapped Austin’s shoulder and turned towards the troops.
Paat!
Roan raised the Travias Spear towards the sky.
“Board!”
He gave out the order.
“Board!”
“Quickly board the ship!”
Then the hundred-men commanders and the ten-men commanders shouted and quickly moved.
The soldiers of the troops gracefully moved towards the ships like a stream.
That was, word for word, a grand sight that was never seen before.
Roan faintly smiled and looked towards the southwest.
A cloud flew by following a slope far far away.
Beyond that lied Elton Coat.
Vvuuuuu!
The sound of the horn once again hit his ears.
*****
“Yawn. I’m so tired I feel like dying.”
“Early morning guard duty is always so boring. Yawn.”
Two soldiers yawned and stretched on top of a castle wall.
On the night sky, the stars finely filled the space.
“But will we really be okay? I heard the capital has sent out a suppression force……”
The soldier with a sharp chin muttered with a worried look.
Then, the soldier with a short beard smirked and shook his hand.
“Don’t worry. Haven’t you heard? The Byron Kingdom will soon send us reinforcements.”
“That’s that, but what if the suppression force arrive first before the reinforcements?”
The sharp chinned soldier still looked worried.
The bearded soldier clicked his tongue while wearing a look that found him pathetic.
“Cht cht cht. Don’t worry about something so ridiculous. The suppression force has probably barely arrived at the southern border region. Since it’s a mountainous region there, their marching speed is slow, and most of all, our lord has personally went to face the……”
At that moment.
Sswaeeeek!
Out of nowhere, A sharp sound of impact echoed.
And at the same time, the guy who had been excitedly chattering on, shut his mouth.
His eyes were gaping open almost to the point of ripping apart.
Kung!
The guy who had been standing straight fell down without a twitch.
“Hck!”
With a surprised look, the sharp chinned soldier looked down at the bearded soldier.
“A, arrow?!”
His eyes widely opened as if he couldn’t believe it.
On the back of the man who fell, a single arrow was stuck there.
The sharp chinned soldier quickly turned his head and looked outside the castle wall.
His eyes quickly moved as if to search for the direction that the arrow flew from.
Then.
Sswaeeeek!
A sharp noise of impact hit his ears.
Pck!
An arrow stabbed itself into the sharp chinned soldier’s face.
“Kkeueug.”
The soldier fell forward just like that and fell down out of the castle.
Kuung!
A blunt sound rang out.
And simultaneously.
Sswaeeeeek!
A mind-blowing number of flaming arrows flew out and crossed the night sky.
Ppububububuk!
The burning arrows lodged themselves into not only the castle’s wall and the gate, but also the watch tower and the buildings inside the castle.
The fire spread instantly.
Pushing back the pitch-black darkness, the flames surged.
“As expected, it seems it simply hasn’t been fortified.”
The owner of the composed voice was Clay.
On the open field that spread outside the castle.
Roan and the Tale Troop were there.
“Harrison, that was a brilliant shot.”
Roan praised Harrison, who had put down the two sentries with merely two shots of arrows, and raised his spear up high.
“Elton Coat’s castle is right in front of our noses!”
A strength was carried on his voice.
“Break through the gate and enter the castle!”
“Yes sir!”
The soldiers answered in one voice.
Roan grabbed his reins.
“Attack!”
The order came out.
Vvuuuuu!
At the same time, the sound of the horn broke the silence of the plain.
“Waaaaa!”
“Attack!”
“Break down the castle’s gate!”
“Climb the castle’s wall!”
The roar of the soldiers soon followed.
Roan stood at the very front and led the soldiers.
The Travias Spear took the light of the fires and flashed with a red light.
< March 2 > End.
Translator : CSV
Proofreader: st8_lupe.
1. just to make it clear, not “spirit” as in literal “spirit/magical beings”, but “energy/mood” kind of spirit
2. Yes, the raw said right. From what I can understand, the troop went past the left side of the village, then turned north so that the village remained on their right. Like turning a corner and going right, except the village is the corner in this case.
3. “Potter territory” was previously translated as “territory, but the more exact term is “fief”, which we will be using.
4. This happened back in chapter 50