The mountain range raised its buttocks.
Keldric thought so as he watched the snowflakes scattering little by little. It was a metaphorical expression often used by northerners.
Just as dust scatters in all directions when a person moves once in a dusty place, so too, when the mountain range occasionally lifts its heavy buttocks, snow flurries wildly… or so they say.
“Now it’s even snowing? This is too much.”
Lord Henri grumbled, shaking the snow off his horse’s mane.
It wasn’t the usual heavy snowfall of the north, but the flurries were gradually getting thicker.
Thanks to that, Arno was busy tending to the armor every night, and Helga was busy shaking the snow off the horses and saddles.
Aside from the servants who had more chores, Keldric and the special forces were all gradually getting tired.
Even with mounted cavalry, the horses were tired, and above all, the infantry was the problem.
As they headed west, the dirt road became increasingly covered with snow, hindering passage.
Moving along a snow-covered dirt road required considerable stamina. The snow, in which feet sank deeply, was like a swamp.
“My feet are blistered.”
“The blisters are annoyingly bothersome… Damn, does anyone have a needle?”
“Would anyone have a needle? Just cut it open with a knife.”
As a result, some soldiers had to light fires frequently to prevent their cold feet from turning blue.
Keldric watched the scene with a heavy heart. It was obvious that such difficulties would affect the battle.
They were moving along the road, but this was still unacceptable.
However, the northern part of the empire was originally a place that showcased impossible weather, and this Permafrost seemed unwilling to let anyone walk through the snowfields unscathed.
To make matters worse, some of Lord Henri’s servants caught a cold and groaned. Lord Henri’s face was filled with worry.
“Lord Henri, if you wish, we could set up camp nearby and rest for a while…”
“…No. We must do our duty, Lord Keldric.”
“If that is your will.”
Keldric and the special forces walked like that for two days straight.
They had only turned west at the fork in the road, but they had come a long way considering that.
Keldric stared blankly beyond the pure white horizon. The mountain range rising to the west was far away.
And that distant land was probably Baron Gottfried’s territory.
“If we follow this road, is there even a village?”
“Yes. There is one more village before going to Einhorn.”
One of the soldiers familiar with the geography around here answered confidently.
If they followed the road, they could go straight to Einhorn, but there was a village named Rundt in the middle.
According to the soldier, Rundt was once a fortress base surrounded by a low wooden palisade.
However, as the barbarians became insignificant and life gradually stabilized, the unmanaged palisade was demolished and transformed into a village where people lived.
“Rundt is a declining place. Exchanges with neighboring territories have been cut off, so the number of people coming and going has decreased.”
“I see.”
In general, if a waterway is blocked and water does not flow, it stagnates and rots.
Human communities were not much different.
There was a reason why lords sent peddlers to the remote villages on the outskirts of their territories.
Even in the most remote villages, the population was easily fifty to a hundred people, and external intervention was essential for their own economy to circulate. That was the case with Carlton Village.
Keldric, who had been lost in memories for a moment, patted the soldier’s shoulder covered in snow.
His face was red from the cold. Keldric sighed with a heavy heart.
“Then, let’s take a break there.”
“Yes! Understood!”
It was an unavoidable decision. Lord Henri showed a slightly displeased expression, but he also understood that his servants could rest.
Servants were not simply disposable items used and discarded by knights. Loyal and hardworking servants were hard to find.
The bonds they had built with them, and their combat experience fighting for their masters, could not be ignored.
“By the way, where the hell did he go?”
Lord Henri muttered as he rode his horse. Keldric immediately recognized who he was talking about.
“Are you talking about Baron Gottfried?”
“Yes. He didn’t come along the road like us, and he probably had to cross the snowfields and forests…”
Keldric’s gaze shifted slightly. In that direction, there was a small forest far away.
The reason why the road heading west went north before turning west was not without reason.
It was because the forest blocked the way to go straight west, so it was better to make a road through the open snow plain.
“Isn’t he behind us?”
“He might be. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
Keldric and the special forces went north before turning west.
The remnants of Baron Gottfried’s army headed west without hesitation.
Even though the paths were different, the destinations were similar, so it was impossible for the two groups not to have overlapping routes.
Moreover, the Baron Gottfried’s army, which had retreated leaving behind all sorts of supplies, would not simply pass by a village while starving.
Keldric had not seen any footprints or traces of many people passing by so far.
The traces of Baron Gottfried’s army marching before would have disappeared long ago. It was because of the snow that had been flying around overnight recently.
That meant that Baron Gottfried’s army might still be lost in the forest.
‘Should I search the forest?’
The first objective of Keldric’s mission was to pursue Baron Gottfried.
But no matter how much they pursued Baron Gottfried, it made no sense to take tired soldiers into the forest.
It would be better to block the roads around here and wait, but the snowfields of the north were too wide for that.
However, they couldn’t just stand idly by.
Keldric hurried along the road first. The sun was already setting.
If they went to the village before the sun went down, they could at least be guaranteed a warm bed for one night.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
“Damn it…”
The rightful owner of Gottfried, the family that has ruled the place for generations using the name of Schultheiss. The Gottfried barony.
Baron Ansen Schultheiss of Gottfried, who leads the place, was facing an unexpected crisis.
This terrible cold was a problem, but in reality, something else was holding his lifeline in its grip.
“When will this forest ever end?”
Forest, snow, and the sound of wolves howling every night.
All of those things persistently grabbed at Baron Gottfried’s ankles, who was trying to return to his territory as soon as possible.
At the same time, the soldiers who had barely escaped had their morale plummeting, and the knights, who were also stained with the memory of defeat, were lukewarm and unmotivated.
Baron Gottfried was worried that they would do something disloyal. He was worried to the point of madness.
Of course, disloyal acts here meant cutting off Baron Gottfried’s head while he was sleeping and returning.
Originally, when you are lost, there is no more certain path than going back.
The trees covered the snow, leaving faint footprints, and if they followed them, they could meet Lord Lothar’s army again.
Surely, they wouldn’t kill the surrendering knights… and if that happened, they wouldn’t care what happened to Baron Gottfried.
No, maybe they were thinking that if they cut off his head, they could use it as a ransom.
In fact, the knights had no intention of doing such a thing because of their honor, but people who were cornered tended to imagine the worst.
It had taken them three days to walk through the snowfields in such anxiety, and now they were entering the fourth day.
Baron Gottfried hated this wretched life, but he would do so if he could live wretchedly.
He had to find a way. To survive!
“Your Excellency.”
The knight whom Baron Gottfried trusted the most approached and spoke to him.
Baron Gottfried, who was soothing his stomach with water that had been boiled with difficulty, looked at him indifferently.
“What’s wrong?”
“It seems we will be able to get out of the forest soon.”
“I, is that really true?!”
“Yes. The scouts have confirmed it.”
Baron Gottfried’s lips twitched.
If he could just get out of this damn forest, the rest would be easy.
“On the way here, weren’t there a few villages?”
“Yes. Einhorn and a place called Rundt.”
Einhorn had been completely stripped bare. Thanks to that, they had a good time for a while.
But not Rundt. It had to be used as a half-way base, so it was not easy to touch.
That choice, now, was what had kept Baron Gottfried alive.
“When we get out of the forest, we’ll head to Rundt first. How long will it take?”
“If we leave now… I think we’ll arrive in the middle of the night.”
“Tell the soldiers to leave. We need to hurry and warm up.”
For a moment, Baron Gottfried suppressed his excitement, feeling happy that he was alive.
It was because one uneasy thought flashed through his mind.
‘The pursuit… hasn’t caught up?’
Baron Gottfried was not an idiot, even though he was in a difficult situation.
He thought for a moment from Lord Lothar’s point of view.
Breaking the army of the opposing lord, and then not pursuing the small number of fleeing remnants….. at least Baron Gottfried would not do that.
Lord Lothar might make such a misjudgment because he lacked experience, but didn’t he have experienced and veteran knights by his side?
Until now, there had been no sign of a pursuit party. In fact, that was normal.
Even if they were desperate to catch Baron Gottfried, they wouldn’t be in a position to jump into the snowfields in a hurry.
The possibility that the pursuit party had gone ahead could not be ruled out.
“Hurry! Finish preparing to depart!”
If so, there was no time to delay.
Baron Gottfried urged the knights and soldiers to hurry and prepare to leave the forest.
That was the only way to survive.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Rundt, a village next to the burned-down Einhorn.
Keldric felt the gloomy atmosphere flowing here.
The residents were in a state of anxiety. Their neighboring village had been brutally ravaged a while ago, so there was no reason why they wouldn’t be.
“The army passed through here?”
“Yes! Those bastards! The ones who burned Einhorn, didn’t they pass through here a few days ago and head east! Sir!”
The village chief’s words seemed to refer to the time when Baron Gottfried’s army was intact.
Since they had looted Einhorn and passed by, it was only natural that the people of Rundt were in a state of anxiety.
“We’ve come, so calm down. They haven’t returned here, have they?”
“Yes, yes. We haven’t encountered them again since then. This must also be God’s blessing…”
If so, it was a foregone conclusion that they were still wandering in the forest.
After leaving the village chief, Keldric immediately called Lord Henri.
“Lord Henri. It seems they haven’t passed through here yet.”
“That’s a relief. Are we supposed to protect this place?”
“For now, but… I don’t know.”
Was it enough to just protect it? Keldric was doubtful.
If that was the case, they would have to face those who were exhausted from hacking through the forest and snowfields, and if so, it would be an easy victory.
But if you asked if that was a sure way to capture Baron Gottfried, it wasn’t.
Keldric’s special forces consisted of two knights including Keldric, one mage, five cavalry, and twenty elite soldiers.
On the other hand, the remnants of the defeated Baron Gottfried’s army numbered at least forty.
In fact, this was a hopeful observation. There would probably be more than that. Moreover, there were three or four knights.
No matter how tired they were, the difference in strength was clear.
Baron Gottfried could tie them down and run away.
Keldric’s mission was to pursue Baron Gottfried and prevent him from returning to his territory to regroup his army.
But would he miss such a good opportunity? No.
“Instead of defending the village, how about ambushing him inside the village and in this vicinity?”
Lord Henri suggested another method. It sounded plausible enough.
However, if they did that, they might as well give up on defending the village.
If a fight broke out, it would be a surprise attack on Baron Gottfried, and that place would surely be inside the village.
There was no guarantee that Baron Gottfried’s army, cornered, wouldn’t set fire to the village.
Instead, they would unconditionally achieve the minimum requirement of tying up Baron Gottfried’s feet.
“Hmm…”
Lunt, a small rural village in the northern part of the Empire. Less than a hundred people live here.
It’s best not to expect farming; they make a living by picking mushrooms in the nearby forest, selling goat’s milk, or firewood.
Keldric was reminded of Carlton Village.
It was an ordinary backwater village where people in similar situations lived huddled together.
If they were caught in the middle of a fight between soldiers, easily numbering over sixty… could they survive?
“Lord Keldric. What will you do?”
Should they preserve the village and force a frontal battle, or should they ambush in the middle of the village without worrying about the lives of the residents?
The difference between the two was this—
Even if Baron Gottfried could ignore it and pass by, should they reduce the sacrifices?
Or… should they be prepared for the deaths of innocent villagers and tie up or capture Baron Gottfried as originally intended?
It was a choice between two options. Keldric was at a crossroads.
Keldric looked outside with troubled eyes. Outside the village, where snow was falling, everything was white.
If the red blood to be spilled there was the blood of innocent villagers…
‘Even so, do I have to endure it?’
As the snow fell more heavily, Keldric’s worries gradually deepened.
It was the first hardship Keldric experienced as a ‘leader.’
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