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Volume 7 Chapter 3 Part 9

「I’m just as confused as you are, my Lord. I’ve been trying to geta hold of some solid information, but all my attempts have failed so far. 」

The blood drained from Terius’ face. He himself couldn’t believe the current situation. He also felt responsible for advising Milza to barricade himself in the castle and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

However, if they had attacked at that time, even if they had won, the damage suffered by the Dartanian army would have been too great.

However, even in his wildest dreams Terius couldn’t predict that their situation would become even worse than it already was.

「According to the information that I’ve received, Lady Marine is leading an army of 3000 Heavy Knights of Waldrind as reinforcements for us, and they’ve already moved out. Once they finally arrive here, we should be able to launch an offensive from the castle as well, and I think that should be enough for us to break through the ranks of Theo Cornero’s army. 」

Terius reported, but his voice was trembling slightly.

「Three thousand soldiers as reinforcements… 」

Milza muttered to himself.

「Not as much as I was expecting. 」

「Yes, that number might not be much. However, Lord Milza, you need to remember that the Heavy Knights of Waldrind… 」

「… Yes, yes, I know that the propaganda says that they’re the strongest knight formation on the entire continent. But even if Lady Marine does arrive with her reinforcements, what good is that going to be for us if Lassic David and the Artuk Treaty are going to arrive here much sooner than they would, huh? 」

「If that happens, then… then our situation is going to become even more difficult than it already is. 」

Terius was stunned, but he still managed to respond to Milza’s questions.

「Saying that the situation is going to become even more difficult is an understatement. Castle Unicorn is connected to the land by only one road leading to and out of it. Such an arrangement is perfect for the purpose of defensing it from invaders, but at the same time it means that it is ill-suited for having its defenders attack from it. And now, on the bridge that is the closest to the castle gate, Baron Petr Morva, known as Petr the Worker has gone and build a fort right under our noses. 」

「Baron Petr Morva… 」

Terius muttered to himself.

He was a young Lord originally serving as one of Lassic David’s people who has recently made quite a name for himself after he completed a gauntlet the toughest missions and accomplishments possible without voicing even a single complaint. Even though he started his military career as an ordinary soldier, he recently went on and stopped being a vassal of the King of Selvis and became an independent Lord who then subordinated himself to Theo Cornero. After his latest achievements, he was granted lordship over the entire territory of Veltava, where he had build his personal stronghold known as the Anthill Castle.

At the current moment, Petr was glaring intently at the gates of Castle Unicorn, which he was monitoring for a while now. He has built a fort on the other side of the armed bridge, and he ordered his men to gradually expand it even now. He was just as diligent as his nickname, Petr the Worker would suggest.

Thanks to the fact that the armed bridge was as narrow as it was, attacking it with a large army was out of the question, but it also had an unexpected side effect. Right now, it wasn’t that Milza was barricaded inside the castle, it should be more accurate to say that he’s been trapped inside of it.

「Even if the Margrave of Waldrind does come to our aid, it won’t be as easy for us to join her as we initially thought. And if Lady Marine is going to be defeated by the Artuk Treaty because we failed to come to her aid when she needed it the most, the damage to the Factory Alliance is going to be irreversible. 」
Milza said while pointing a finger at Terius.

「However, if things continue to go the way they are going now, our army will… 」

「I know. As long as we remain isolated in here, not only the castle that we managed to secure ourselves in Regalia, but all of the forts that are manned with the crews of thousand soldiers are also going to be in danger. If they haven’t already fallen into the hands of the army of the Artuk Treaty already, that is. 」

「But if the reinforcements from Artuk and Stark will come to our aid, then the situation will definitely change for the better for us. 」

Terius emphasized.

「Yes, it will. But what is none of the reinforcements come after all? 」

Milza asked coldly.

「If none of them come… then our army is going to be as good as finished. 」

Terius lowered his face and muttered those words quietly, as if he couldn’t bear to squeeze them out of his throat.

「It’s a strange thing, you know? Even though there have been battles that I haven’t won in the past, I never really lost any of the battles I engaged in either. But now, it looks like I’m going to suffer a true defeat for the very first time in my life, and that first defeat is going to be the one that’s going to cost me literally everything. 」

Mirza said with a self-mocking smile on his face. The intense anger that he was emanating before has disappeared without a trace, and now, more than ever before, he was just feeling empty inside.

「I’m going to feel disgusted with myself, but right now I have no other choice but to believe that the reinforcements from our allies will really come to our aid. 」

Castle Unicorn is sturdly build, and Milza saw to it that it would be well-stocked up on food and other kinds of essential supplies. If they didn’t have to worry about being attacked by the enemy army at any moment, they’d be fine with staying inside even longer, because the reserves they currently had should be enough for them to last for as long as two whole months.

Five days later, a fleet of ships appeared in the distance off the coast Castle Unicorn. Judging by the designs, they were definitely Dartanian ships. When the soldiers stationed in the castle saw them, their hearts have been filled with joy… which quickly turned to despair when they saw that there was more than one flag that was hoisted on the ships’ masts, and that the second one was a unicorn flag which represented the Artuk Treaty.

「Well done. Both of you did an admirable job. 」

Theo Cornero said while he visited the main camp of his army where Ender Selik and Juzel Rossini went to after the ships arrived at the coast of Artuk. He has exchanged hugs with both of them, after which they proceeded to make their reports.

「Although we have assembled a number of ships, there are actually very few soldiers that came together with me. We have captured the Royal Palace in Dartania’s capital, but the battles continue in various parts of Dartania, including the capital city Tarocca, so we couldn’t spare anymore of the troops to come here with us. 」

Ender answered.

「I escaped early, so I don’t know the exact situation, but there is no doubt in my mind that the residents of Stark rose up in rebellion all at once. It is highly unlikely that the Norse people will come to Milza with reinforcements when they’re going to have their hands full with them. 」

Juzel said with a cool face.

「That is more than enough for now, you two. 」

Theo smiled and nodded his head at them.

「The only reinforcements that will arrive now are the ones from Waldrind. 」

Siluca muttered in shock.

She felt as if she was dreaming. She never expected this plan against Dartania and Stark to go this far. They were also able to save Haman from its predicament in the process. Queen Edochia has sent words of gratitude through her contracted Mage, Laura, just this morning.

「It’s all thanks to you two. 」

Siluca bowed deeply to Ender and Juzel.

「Lord Theo’s reputation is all that matters. 」

Ender answered with a smile and looked back at Theo.

「Like Artuk, there were many people in Stark and Dartania who were dissatisfied with their Lords. The rumors of Sistina’s liberation must have been stimulating for those people. 」

Juzel added a calm analysis of his own.

「Even so, you did a great job. 」

The two have newly joined Theo’s camp, but their work was unexpectedly impactful.