The snowflakes that had been swirling in the north wind grew fiercer.
The snowy plains of the north, cloaked in the darkness of night, were unforgiving.
Though the vanguard soldiers had taken a brief respite in the village, fate relentlessly drove them back out into the frost-laden wilderness.
Keldric was the one forcing them into the cold. He couldn’t be at ease.
‘It can’t be helped.’
But someone had to do it, and Keldric was that someone.
Someone had to stop Baron Gottfried. He had to delay his return to the territory as much as possible, forcing him to clash with the main force and end the territorial war in one fell swoop.
“Lord Keldric, the cold outside is no joke. Damn weather.”
Lord Henri approached, speaking with concern. As he said, the biting wind blowing in from the darkness was no ordinary chill.
As summer approached, the north wind was becoming increasingly fierce and violent. It was only natural that the soldiers were shivering from the cold.
“Are you sure we don’t need to defend from the village?”
“Lord Henri, we’ve already discussed this.”
“Still…”
The smacking of his lips was surely due to the knight’s ambition to achieve glory.
Keldric wasn’t without ambition. But no matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn’t ignore the safety of the territory’s people, who lived in a remote, rural village on the outskirts of the territory.
He ordered the soldiers to rest in the village, selecting only a few to guard the path leading to it.
And if anything was spotted, they would act according to Keldric’s plan. That was the basic framework of this battle.
Thus, the daring plan to take advantage of the chaos in the heart of the village had long been abandoned.
This meant missing out on the big catch of capturing Baron Gottfried, which Lord Henri might secretly regret.
“They are Baron Yaben’s people anyway. They will accept a glorious sacrifice as valuable.”
“There is no such thing as a glorious sacrifice for these people.”
The villagers wanted something simple. Just to make a living.
Unlike larger villages near the city, this remote place was hardly a village; it was merely a community of territory residents.
They couldn’t readily accept the sacrifice forced upon them by the knights who had suddenly appeared. They didn’t know about honor, nor did they understand it.
And Keldric had no intention of forcing that empty sacrifice upon them.
Standing against injustice was a promise Keldric had firmly made.
“They want to live too.”
“……”
“Protecting the weak is honorable. I do not wish to take the lives of those born under God’s grace lightly.”
“Lord Keldric. You… always say things that touch my heart.”
Lord Henri gripped his helmet tightly with a solemn expression. His greasy mustache trembled along with it.
“You’re right! Protecting the weak and defending the church… How could I have forgotten such important things?”
“…..”
Keldric looked at him awkwardly. This guy is so simple-minded.
Still, it was a good thing that everyone accepted it without complaint. The soldiers trusted and followed Keldric’s decisions.
In reality, it was thanks to Keldric’s rampage during the Battle of Schafendorf, but Keldric had no way of knowing that.
“So, Lord Keldric, what do you intend to do when he comes?”
“When Baron Gottfried comes… we’ll have to tie him down as much as possible.”
It would be good to capture him, but from the start, not fighting with the village involved meant giving up on that idea.
Keldric decided to stick to his original purpose: preventing Baron Gottfried from quickly returning to his territory and rebuilding his army.
Since he had been chasing him for that purpose from the beginning, there was no need to confront Baron Gottfried’s army head-on in a situation where they were outnumbered.
So, Keldric used his wisdom.
“Are there enough torches?”
“There should be plenty. There are a lot of them. I should get going soon.”
“I wish you luck. It’s a bit of an obvious trick, but…”
“Haha! What do you mean? Lord Keldric!”
Lord Henri, who was about to leave the room, laughed heartily. His thick eyebrows formed an arc.
“To win without fighting! I swear to God, I’ve never heard of such a clever plan!”
Keldric’s uneasy gaze turned outside.
“…Yes. We’ll see.”
Numerous torches were being piled up in front of a large brazier prepared at the entrance of the village.
☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩ ☩
Marching through the darkness was not a wise choice.
One might think it’s as simple as following the dirt road, but in reality, it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Baron Gottfried looked down at the dirt road with dissatisfaction, the sound of his horse’s hooves crunching with each step.
The icy dirt ground was a great burden to the horse. Slipping was one thing, but if it stepped on frost all day, its hooves might be damaged.
But there was no other way. It was better than Baron Gottfried walking on it.
Baron Gottfried stroked the horse’s mane with a heavy heart. The horse, looking a little tired, responded with a snort.
“You’ve met a lousy owner…”
Before he knew it, Baron Gottfried felt tears welling up.
It was shameful for a man of the north to cry over such a thing, but Baron Gottfried was in a terrible state.
But he had to live, and only by living could he turn everything back.
Baron Gottfried looked back. Apart from the four knights, there were as many as eighty soldiers following behind.
It had been smaller at first, but it had absorbed stragglers encountered along the way as they fled.
Thanks to this, the march speed had slowed down considerably, but that didn’t matter.
‘How much money did I pour in!’
Gathering conscripts was synonymous with scraping together the territory’s labor force.
Moreover, mercenaries were expensive.
With his pockets light from hiring them, Baron Gottfried found it much more economical to bring along the mercenaries he had already paid for rather than signing a contract with a new mercenary band.
He couldn’t abandon the stragglers. If he did, it would be a major obstacle to rebuilding his army when he returned to the territory.
“Lord, we’ll be at Runt soon.”
A knight spurred his horse forward and whispered. Baron Gottfried nodded sullenly.
Runt, a village a little over half a day’s journey from Einhorn.
A place that remained intact because Baron Gottfried desperately stopped his knights and the Lysian mercenaries from plundering it when they were looting Einhorn.
Could he get something out of mentioning that?
Baron Gottfried thought so desperately.
The villagers would be beheaded if they helped the lord of a hostile territory, but such things were fine as long as they weren’t caught.
Baron Gottfried wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible, even if it was against pitchfork-wielding peasants.
‘If only my forces were intact!’
Of course, if his forces were intact, he would have just ignored them and plundered.
Baron Gottfried didn’t feel much guilt about raiding rural villages. That was common.
What did it matter if such a remote village, which no one would care about even if it disappeared from the map, was reduced to ashes when the situation was urgent?
It wasn’t even a territory belonging to Baron Gottfried, and even more so if it was the territory of that hateful and vulgar Baron Yaben.
But now was not the time, and time was more precious.
There was no reason to waste time plundering.
“The Lysians are waiting outside Einhorn. We should hurry.”
“Have they only just arrived?”
“It seems that Duke Rasau has provided support. A messenger came and went.”
Baron Gottfried’s expression brightened.
Even if the morale and condition of the army were terrible, there was still a way out.
Most of the Lysian mercenaries were cavalry.
Although they were being devoured by the forces of the Karkar, who were true nomads, their strength was still there.
“I hope the Lysians fight well…”
“I heard from the Lysians’ country that another Karkar is invading the east recently.”
“Another Karkar… the Skyscians?”
“No. A force from further east.”
“Ugh… We’re in a tight spot. All we can do now is hope the Lysians fight well.”
Whether the Karkar fought with the Lysians or not, it was all good as long as they did their job for the money he paid.
And to expect that, they first had to go to the Ramdes Plains, where the Lysian mercenaries were waiting.
There was a fortress there. Even if he couldn’t return to the baronial castle right away, he could stay there and send a messenger.
Darkness was descending everywhere.
The snow-white plains turned into a black swamp as the sunlight disappeared, and the approaching blizzard made it difficult to distinguish what was ahead.
Thanks to this, Baron Gottfried’s impatience grew even more intense.
He knew it was the time when blizzards began to blow, but if it was already like this…
‘No!’
Summer was coming. That was the time when the north wind arrived. The blizzard would become even more violent.
The northern summer was not as bad as winter, but it was still notorious.
White hell. The blizzards that concentrated in the northern summer and winter had such a nickname.
How long had he been hurrying with such impatience?
“Lord! Over there…!”
“Oh!”
In the distance, there was light. Baron Gottfried smiled without realizing it.
The vermilion light, which warmed his heart just by looking at it, was still far away.
But it was clearly the light of people, which meant that they had reached Runt.
“Hurry! The village is right in front of us! If we go in there, we can rest warmly!”
Unexpectedly, a loud answer came out. The soldiers were exhausted.
They were sick of the cold, and even if they ate a bowl of warm barley porridge, their stomachs would be warm.
Just thinking about it made their trembling fingertips melt, and everyone’s eyes were filled with squeezed-out will.
“…Hmm?”
But something was strange.
As they gradually approached Runt, Baron Gottfried had to frown without realizing it.
The vermilion light he had seen a little while ago. It must have been the light from a torch.
Were the villagers having a festival?
Logically, that couldn’t be. Then, what was the identity of those lights that were gradually increasing in number?
“What is that…”
And that question was soon resolved.
Waaaaaah-!!
A loud shout rang out not far away.
At the same time, numerous vermilion lights soared up from the darkness ahead.
“…!”
Baron Gottfried felt goosebumps all over his body. The same was true of the knights riding their horses beside him.
A dark night, a weak blizzard that made it difficult to secure visibility, and soldiers shivering from the cold.
Wasn’t this too good of a condition?
“It’s, it’s a night raid!”
Baron Gottfried had crushed Baron Yaben’s army with a night raid. There was no way he wouldn’t know the danger of a night raid.
Everyone was confused and panicked. A knight who drew his sword shouted loudly.
“Soldiers, don’t panic! Draw your weapons!”
Numerous torches were moving busily in the snowfield ahead.
A distance that seemed far to the eye, but too close to ignore. The shouts and thumping sounds never stopped.
The thumping sound was coming from Baron Gottfried’s heart. He was so panicked that he couldn’t think straight, as if his breath had been cut off for a moment.
They looked at this side. Just who were they to be holding torches and shouting?
‘Has the pursuit party already arrived!’
The answer was clear. It must have been Lord Lothar’s pursuit party.
They had crossed the path from north to west, and were now waiting for Baron Gottfried’s forces.
“Your Excellency! Orders!”
The knights were just as flustered.
A knight, hastily donning his helmet, rushed to Baron Gottfried, pressing him for a response.
Baron Gottfried felt sweat trickling down his spine. He quickly glanced at the soldiers lined up behind him.
Could they win against the pursuit party?
“Your Excellency!”
They were cold, hungry, exhausted, and their morale was at rock bottom.
Logically, they outnumbered the enemy, but fighting in this state made victory uncertain.
However, not fighting meant they would have to traverse the snowy fields in this condition.
Even if it was only a day’s journey, there was no way the pursuers, who had already caught wind of them, wouldn’t follow.
“We fight!”
“Y-Your Excellency! If we fight here…!”
“What else can we do if we don’t fight! They’ve already discovered us!”
They couldn’t shake off the pursuit.
Rather than running aimlessly and being ambushed later, it was better to establish a defensive position and fight here.
“Your Excellency! Over there!”
However, that thought vanished as soon as they saw more torches rising in the distance.
Booooo!
The hunting horn, signaling slaughter, blared long and loud.
Through the swirling snow, dozens of torches rapidly approached in the dim distance.
The faint sounds of snow being disturbed, hooves pounding, and shouts of “Hyah!” urging the horses on…
It was a cavalry. But they appeared far from the village, in a completely different direction. Moreover, their numbers were overwhelming. At a rough estimate, there were at least thirty.
If that many cavalry were moving together, it could only mean one thing.
“T-The main force?!”
Lord Lothar’s entire army had come after them. There was no other explanation.
The question of whether Lord Lothar possessed that many cavalry was not even worth considering.
Baron Gottfried immediately abandoned the idea of fighting.
Facing only the pursuit party offered a sliver of hope, but confronting the enemy’s main force was out of the question.
“R-Run away!”
“Shit! We’re done for!”
Before he knew it, the soldiers had already lost their will to fight and were scattering in all directions.
The knights drew their swords and shouted for them to return, but preventing desertion in this darkness was not easy.
“Your Excellency! We must retreat immediately!”
Now, there was no cohesion, no morale, and no reason to fight.
The sound of hooves pounding the ground drove Baron Gottfried mad.
“Your Excellency!”
“Damn it! Where can we even go from here!”
They were so close, just a stone’s throw away.
If they could just rest there for half a day, no, just three or four hours, they could return to their territory!
“I’ll clear a path to the south!”
The cavalry was coming from the north. The village entrance to the west was already engulfed in countless torches.
Returning east was out of the question. Therefore, the only way to survive was south.
It would take them further away from their territory, but Baron Gottfried had to survive first.
“To the south! Head south!”
“Everyone, follow me!”
“Those on horseback, lead the way! We must clear a path!”
He knew that a disorganized retreat was worse than fighting, but Baron Gottfried, trembling with fear, frantically spurred his horse south.
The razor-sharp wind mixed with snow, obscuring his vision. The wind carried angry shouts.
It was the north wind. The north wind, coming from beyond the northern mountains, brought chaos and snow.
And it was mercilessly tightening its grip around Baron Gottfried’s neck.