Chapter 46

Chapter 46
Chapter 46

“Y-You’re mistaken! I would never think of deceiving your lordship…! I beg of you, show me kindness!”

In response to Lucian’s accusations, the head of the village turned ashen and collapsed to the dirt. To any onlooker, he appeared to be a man consumed by the fear of being wrongly accused.

Nevertheless, Lucian went on, his voice remaining steady and composed.

“It isn’t rare for only the young to be moved away when a conflict begins. Walking away from one’s birthplace is painful, but you must protect the next generation just in case.”

“Precisely! That is exactly why we…!”

“However, that only applies to families with the resources or friends in neighboring towns. Typically, a community either flees as a whole or stays put together. Do you understand why?”

“I-I beg your pardon?”

“The mere thought of sending loved ones away for protection is a comfort reserved for those with plenty to eat. In a secluded spot like this, folks are generally too occupied with staying alive day-to-day to plan such relocations.”

The shivering village head went still. It was as though he had forgotten he was supposed to be playing the part of a terrified man.

Lucian swept his gaze over the gathered peasants once more.

“More to the point, the gap between ‘child’ and ‘adult’ is a concept that only exists in metropolitan areas or prosperous regions. Out in the sticks, every hand is a working hand. Unless they are still toddlers, they are viewed as capable laborers, and they take spouses at a young age.”

“….”

“Consequently, anyone past thirteen years of age shouldn’t have been ‘sent away’; they ought to be standing here with the adults welcoming us. And yet, no matter how I observe this gathering….”

Lucian hesitated for a beat, then released a freezing chuckle.

“Every person here looks to be at least twenty. How peculiar. Are there no thirteen-year-old husbands? In a backwater such as this, a boy of those years is a man expected to join the hunt when a wolf stalks the herd.”

A heavy quiet settled over the clearing as Lucian concluded.

The noblemen and knights, who knew little of the gritty details of peasant life, could only watch the scene, at a loss for words. However, a few of the grunts who had grown up in similar isolated hamlets nodded, seeing the truth in his words.

While everyone sat in the silence awaiting the elder’s reply—

“Heh. Hehehe.”

Instead of a verbal defense, a raspy laugh broke from the elder’s mouth. Simultaneously, his previously harmless eyes sharpened, dripping with a desire to kill.

Flash!

“Gah!”

In an instant, trailing a streak of light, the elder was knocked backward. Blood sprayed from his limb, which had been lopped off in the blink of an eye. He had tried to lunge at Lucian with a concealed blade, only to be struck down by Raymond.

Raymond shook the crimson droplets from his steel and glared down at him.

“How dare a pathetic bug attempt such a move!”

“Slaughter them all!”

The elder—or rather, the killer posing as the elder—yelled through clenched teeth.

The second the command rang out, the plain-looking peasants all at once produced knives and lunged. The Allied Forces were briefly startled by the abrupt transformation, but they regained their footing fast and reacted with chilling discipline.

“Hostile contact! Level spears! Strike as one!”

“Hammer them with shields! Finish them the moment they hit the ground!”

The infiltrators fought with a desperate fury, but they were cut down one by one without doing any real harm. The battalion was still in a combat stance and hadn’t let their guard down for the night. Against high-level professional infantry, a handful of killers stood no chance.

Thud! Thud!

“Gurgle…!”

Five spearheads slammed into the torso of the final infiltrator, leaving only the elder. The man convulsed before his chin hit his chest.

Once the rest of the killers were neutralized, the one-armed leader laughed with a grin like a demon.

“Heh… hehehe. To think I’d be tripped up by a brat like this, rather than some grizzled war veteran.”

“You’re laughing? Have you any concept of what you’ve just unleashed?!”

“Naturally I do. We’ve shredded that decaying Grand Accord. Is this not a moment that will live in history?”

“You raving madmen!”

Jurgen spat a curse. Did they truly grasp the gravity of violating the Grand Accord? It was madness, yet the elder’s expression seemed profoundly at peace.

“Yes, that precious Grand Accord. A pact to trade slaps and kicks rather than taking heads and gutting stomachs. It was sickening, but it’s finally been discarded.”

“Have you lost your senses? Your kind were the ones who gained the most from the Grand Accord!”

“No! It was a decree crafted for your benefit!”

The leader barked back, staring Jurgen down. His presence was so intense that even the other noblemen recoiled.

“Because of the Grand Accord, we were forbidden from drawing our blades! We were forced to use our knuckles to match you, and we were pulverized by an Empire many times our size! Have you any idea what it feels like to be crushed and kicked just enough so that you keep breathing?!”

Spurt!

Blood hissed from the stump of his missing arm. He had been holding it to stem the flow, but his fury made him squeeze too hard. Yet, as if the pain were nonexistent, the leader yelled even louder.

“Simply because we were a client state, every thing in Krepelt was viewed as trash compared to the Empire! Our trade, our citizens, even our lords and our King! An Imperial vagrant sneers at a Krepelt tiller as if it is the way of the world, and a lowly Viscount treats a Marquis like dirt just because he’s from a subject nation! Under that weight, we didn’t even have the courage to twitch!”

Krepelt was a territory of flat plains and gentle weather, providing zero tactical advantages for defense. It was virtually impossible to best the Empire while clinging to the Grand Accord. They couldn’t even utilize “underhanded” methods for a single win, because the Empire would just come back again and again until Krepelt was wiped off the map.

“Through years of shame, we held back and held back. We couldn’t even unsheathe the knives in our souls; we could only keep them sharp. But that ends today.”

With a crazed cackle, the leader glared at the First Prince. The royal flinched and took an involuntary step back from the pure venom in the man’s gaze.

“A solitary triumph is all it takes. It is enough to show that the Empire is a shadow of itself. Your crimes have reached the clouds, and millions beg for your fall. The only reason they still stand it is because they are waiting for a sign.”

“…So that is your logic for breaking the Grand Accord? You’d see Krepelt reduced to ash just for one small win?”

“I wonder. I seriously doubt you’ll have the breath left to do that once this campaign concludes. No matter how wide a man’s hand is, he cannot hide the sun.”

Ending his tirade, the leader stopped his laughter and pulled another blade from his rags. Raymond moved fast to protect Lucian, but the steel was aimed at the leader’s own throat.

“Have a wonderful time. Your nightmare starts now.”

Slash!

As the metal tore across, a fountain of blood sprayed from his throat. With a look of total satisfaction, the leader fell forward into the growing red pool.

“….”

“….”

Even though the threat was gone, nobody stirred for a long time. They could feel that a massive, invisible barrier had just disintegrated into nothing.

It was Lucian who finally shattered the heavy quiet.

“First, we need to inspect our water supply.”

“…Let us do that.”

Marquis Bernhardt gave a grim nod. No one dared to mock Lucian’s instincts now.

The Allied Forces immediately called for a surgeon to test if the village well had been tainted. It appeared clear on the surface, but they couldn’t afford to be careless.

Sure enough, a short time later, the medic entered the command tent with a grim face to deliver his findings.

“I have verified that the well is spiked. It isn’t a fast-acting poison, but the sort that triggers violent stomach cramps and vomiting forty-eight to seventy-two hours after drinking.”

“So, it won’t slay those who consume it?”

“Strictly speaking, no. However, it leads to extreme dehydration for roughly two weeks. If left without help for a long duration, they could perish. More crucially….”

The medic stopped, unsure. He seemed hesitant to share his next deduction. When the response didn’t come fast enough, the First Prince bellowed.

“Speak up! If it’s not a killer, then what is the issue?!”

“…Since it is a toxin intended to disable rather than execute, it is rarely used for honorable reasons. Generally, this kind of poison is deployed when the foe wants to keep the targets alive to inflict something far worse on them.”

A heavy hush fell over the tent at the medic’s words. The jagged cry of the assassin posing as the elder rang in their ears again. These were people who held that much vitriol for the Empire. What would they have done to the nobles and troops if they had taken them alive? The thought alone made their skin crawl.

“Is there a cure?”

“It can be treated, but it requires a variety of specific botanicals.”

“Meaning it’s out of reach during a march. I understand.”

After finishing his briefing, the army doctor bowed and exited the tent. The First Prince, his previous arrogance replaced by a ghostly pallor, looked around at his subordinates.

“What is our move now?”

“….”

The lords all bowed their heads and stayed quiet. The entire foundation—that the foe would play by the Grand Accord—had been pulverized; what were they supposed to suggest? This was the first occurrence of its kind in centuries, leaving even the most battle-tested knights in a state of shock.

‘If they ignore the Grand Accord, the enemy’s tactics become limitless. Meanwhile, we have zero preparations.’

‘Exactly as Lord Lucian warned, if they just foul the water points, we can’t move forward. Where will we find drinkable water?’

‘Even if we fix the water, they’ll use every foul trick hidden for centuries to bleed us. How can we possibly manage this?’

As the quiet dragged on, the First Prince turned toward the Marquis with a pleading look. Since the Marquis was the one who had first suggested the plan for a swift, crushing victory, the Prince clung to a tiny hope that he had a backup plan.

“Marquis, is there really no other path? Since you drafted the first strategy, surely you considered a plan for when things went sideways.”

“My apologies. This is a first for me as well….”

Marquis Bernhardt looked away from the Prince and trailed off. In truth, it wasn’t that there were no options, but none of them were things he could bring himself to voice in public.

When even the Marquis, his final anchor, stayed silent, the First Prince shut his eyes tight.

“…Lord Lucian, do you have a suggestion?”

Though his words sounded pleading, the Prince’s frame was shaking with shame. It felt like a total loss of face to seek help from the man he had just finished mocking.

Lucian watched the Prince for a moment, then gave a nod.

“There is one path.”

“There is?!”

The First Prince practically bolted to his feet and yelled. If there truly was a way to fix this mess, he was ready to grant any favor. However, the solution that left Lucian’s lips crushed the Prince’s hopes.

“First, go back to the Empire and rebuild the legion. Since the foe has shredded the Grand Accord, you should return to crush the uprising only after assembling a proper force and counter-tactics.”

“…Are you playing with me right now?! You want me to tuck tail and run without a single fight? My name would be dragged through the mud!”

“And yet, it is the path that results in the smallest loss. It is far better to go back of your own choosing than to flee after being broken in the field.”

“Do not talk of loss like a yellow-belly when we haven’t even drawn blood! We haven’t been beaten yet!”

“We haven’t lost, but we are now forced to struggle in a losing position. Your Highness, I am truly regretful to say this, but there is no magic trick that can fix everything in a single moment.”

Lucian spoke with iron certainty to the shouting Prince.

“If you walk into the opponent’s trap, you must keep fighting from a hole. If you surrender the initiative, you will be jerked around by the enemy’s whims. That is the way of war. Countermeasures are supposed to be built beforehand to keep this from happening.”

“So, you’re saying we’re in this hole because I failed to prepare? And because things look bad, we should just scurry away?”

“Yes. The Allied Forces’ readiness was lacking, and we will now be constantly harassed by the foe. The only way to stop this is to pull back, reset the board, and begin again. Please, choose now while the damage is still manageable.”

The Marquis nearly nodded along. It was perfectly sound. To be sure, pulling back now would cause massive damage—from the treasure spent on the march to the Empire’s honor, and the standing of the lords and the Prince here.

‘But we have to suck it up. If you won’t cut off a gangrenous finger, you’ll end up losing the whole arm.’

There were moments when a leader had to make a call even if it meant crying tears of blood. Lucian’s assessment wasn’t just right; it was the only real choice.

However, the First Prince’s face crumpled in fury as he roared.

“No, I refuse! To run without a battle! I will only go home after claiming at least one triumph! If you are so terrified of the enemy, then you can stay at the back and nap in peace!”

“Y-Your Highness!”

“Prince!”

“That’s enough! The choice is made, so do not say another word!”

As if he couldn’t stand another second, the First Prince stormed out of the command tent. The remaining noblemen turned pale and stared at one another. To lose the 1,000 elite guards in a situation where they were flying blind? This meant the Valdek family would keep their power intact while everyone else was chewed up.

Marquis Bernhardt’s face, specifically, went from white to a sickly grey.

‘This is a nightmare.’

The vanguard was a spot for easy fame, but it was also the first to be gutted when things went wrong. And in this mess, the House of Roglan would have to take point alone, without the Grand Duchy of Valdek? It was glaringly obvious that the House of Roglan would be the only ones butchered if they couldn’t spread the risk.

“L-Look here. No, Lord Lucian.”

The Marquis quickly shifted to a pleading tone. Ego meant nothing now. He had to flip Lucian’s perspective and get him to join the front line.

“I will talk to the First Prince, so let us go together. I am certain he will see reason. There is no need to accept such a slight. It makes no sense for the Grand Ducal House of Valdek to be barred from the vanguard….”

“No, I am quite alright, so there is no need for that.”

Lucian shook his head before the Marquis could even finish his plea. Then, with a expression that showed not a hint of anger, he gave a cheerful smile.

“How could I go against the Commander-in-Chief’s decree? I shall stay in the rear in contemplation, so please, go forth and find glory with His Highness. I shall be waiting for the news of your great win.”

“…!”

Staring at Lucian’s beaming face, Marquis Bernhardt felt his entire world go numb.