Chapter 76: The Magician (1)

Milton and his knights were able to easily dispose of the enemy scouts with the aid of Bianca’s invisibility spell.

In the midst of this pitch-black forest with a narrow field of vision and the sounds of nature filling the air, the enemy troops could not detect them a single time as they were helplessly wiped out. But more than anything…

‘They absolutely weren’t prepared for an invisibility spell. There was nothing they could do.’

Magicians were an exceedingly rare sight. Not only that, but it was public knowledge that the Lester Kingdom did not officially retain any magicians. Consequently, the enemy would not have even imagined this scenario.

Whatever the case may be, Milton succeeded in creating a massive opening in the enemy’s area of reconnaissance. There was only one job left to do.

***

“It’s an enemy attack!”

Alfred, who had fallen asleep after exhaustively preparing measures for an enemy attack, was jolted awake by the voice of a sentry.

“What is it!?”

“It’s a night ambush by the enemy, Captain Alfred.”

“A what!?”

Alfred was shocked wide awake.

He really had prepared exhaustively, leaving no stone unturned in readying their countermeasures. Yet the enemy had still managed to attack their site under the cover of night.

‘This just can’t be.’

How did the enemy know that they were encamped in a bivouac in the midst of this forest?

How did the enemy avoid their meticulous reconnaissance network and attack their site?

Try as he may, Alfred could not understand the situation that was presently unfolding.

“Captain Alfred, please deliver your orders. We must respond to the enemy’s attack.”

Alfred regained his bearings at the urging of a messenger.

“All men are to take up arms and put up a fight at once. Bodyguards, follow me. I will be commanding in person at the scene.”

Alfred drew his sword and exited his tent, promptly surveying the situation.

“ARGH!!”

“Fight! Do not be flustered, and- UGH!”

The state of affairs was not particularly good. Though they could not precisely ascertain the enemy’s numbers due to the nature of the attack, the scale of the ambush pointed to a size of at least 1,000 invaders.

“Damn it… how did a force of this size avoid the recon and make it all the way to the main camp?”

Alfred was usually as careful with his words as he was with his actions, but he could say nothing but curses right now. The most pressing matter was stabilizing this situation.

“Rally the men. The enemy is but a fraction of our numbers! Do not be taken aback and respond calmly!”

Alfred personally commanded his troops in real time, ordering the subordinate officers to organize the soldiers.

“Second Lieutenant Lens, move towards the east with 200 men. Warrant Officers Blade and Petri: it’s already too late for the south. Command your soldiers to protect the archers instead. We can repel the enemy in no time so long as we stay composed!”

Realizing this was an emergency, Alfred issued bold and decisive commands. Although his name as a commander had spread for the high survival rate of his troops, this was an urgent situation. He made sweeping and drastic orders, giving up on the areas where he thought there was no hope and concentrating on salvaging what they could. 

Seeing as they had come this far anyway, the loss of troops was unavoidable. To put it bluntly, this was the path to saving the most troops’ lives in a dilemma such as this.

As he continued to command and put up a struggle, the enemy began to sense difficulties and started withdrawing.

“We’ve dealt enough damage. Retreat! All troops, retreat!”

With that the enemies withdrew, seemingly assessing that they had wreaked enough havoc.

“Captain, I shall pursue the enemy.”

One of the Republican officers offered to chase after them, brimming with rage – but Alfred quickly held him back.

“I cannot allow it. Besides, there is nothing to gain from pursuing them in this situation.”

“But…”

“More importantly, assessing our damages takes first priority. Gauge our losses and make a report at once.”

Alfred was intensely anxious as he gave his directions.

As the enemy commander withdrew, he had said that they had done enough; as if they had sufficiently completed the objectives for which they had raided.

‘Surely not… please no…’

In his head, he kept replaying the scenario which he feared most.

A moment later, a messenger hastily approached him and reported the damage.

“Captain Alfred, we have counted a total of 3,300 fatalities from the night ambush. Our casualty numbers will only increase if we include the wounded.”

“Is that all?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What about the supply goods? Are the supplies safe?”

“Oh? Oh… yes, they’re safe. We had stored them in two different places, and both have emerged unscathed by the enemy’s attack.”

“Pheeew…”

Alfred instinctively breathed out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good to hear, at the least.”

There were two outcomes that needed to be avoided most by defenders in a night raid: one was the commander being killed, and the other was the destruction or plundering of supplies. If nothing else, these two results absolutely had to be avoided.

Seeing as he still had his neck intact, all that needed to be paid heed were the supplies; and much to his relief, it seemed the worst of futures had been avoided.

“It appears the bastards did not have the liberty of seeking and destroying our supplies, sir.”

“Right. I see. Just in case, bolster the guards on patrol. We will be retreating to the rear at first light. The western front is…”

Alfred had a grave look on his face as he continued.

“…our defeat. But we will pay it back without fail.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

“My lord, the enemy has withdrawn.”

“Right on schedule.”

Milton nodded at Jerome’s report.

The fact that they caused less damage to the enemy than expected weighed on his mind, but the enemy had prioritized security far too well in the layout of their camp for their attack to do more. It was likely that his troops would begin having larger losses if they overexerted and gave chase here.

Trike approached Milton’s side and queried him.

“Are we just going to let them go without making use of this good opportunity to pursue them?”

“There’s no helping it. We have ourselves quite the meticulous foe. He had come out for battle with a retreat route already secured.”

“Still, if it is your command… I’ll go make something happen.”

When Trike said he would make something happen, he meant sniping the enemy commander. If anyone was capable of making it work, it would be Trike – even if he operated alone in the dead of night.

Milton was tempted and considered it for a moment, but he shook his head.

‘The situation’s already rolling along according to plan. The enemy commander’s head isn’t so much of a priority as to warrant being that ambitious.’

Reaching this conclusion at heart, Milton shook his head again.

“There is currently no need for that. Leave them to flee.”

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“Hmm… might you have something in mind, my lord?”

Milton formed a hint of a smile.

“You will see.”

***

Alfred rounded his army and retreated to the rear.

Their losses were minimized thanks to the withdrawal route being prepared in advance and responding effectively to the night raid when it happened. An ordinary commander would have been screwed here, but Alfred had managed to safely withdraw with over 70% of his force intact. 

Albeit, there was something he still couldn’t figure out…

‘How on earth did he manage to incapacitate the scout network?’

After their retreat, Alfred scoured for the reason he was defeated to no avail.

The reconnaissance network had collapsed, seeing as not a single scout had returned alive. That much he knew.

But how?

Alfred never let pride get the better of him, but he nonetheless had confidence in the quality of his scouts. Even out of these men who were all used to the mountains, only the gritty and nimble were selected in maintaining the size and quality of the recon unit.

In the first place, the Hildess Republic’s mountain soldiers were already elite amongst the elite. Their eyes and ears were sharp, and they could move quickly over rough terrain.

Such scouts were all killed in an instant.

He simply could not understand. A skillful assassin may be able to slay one or two if they were caught by surprise, but tearing apart the entirety of this scrupulous network would indeed be a tall order.

‘How in damnation did he manage this?’

Continuously drawing blanks was starting to drive Alfred mad, as he needed to know the cause of his defeat to prepare accordingly. It was a source of considerable frustration for someone as cautious in war as Alfred that he could not discern what tactics the enemy used.

“What shall we do, Captain Alfred?”

His aide-de-camp asked him of their plans forward, and in response Alfred chose the safest option available to him.

“We shall hole up in a stronghold and weather it out.”

“Yes, understood.”

The Republican army entered Fort Ranken, the place with the sturdiest walls in their vicinity, with the intention of making their stand against the enemy’s offensive here.

‘Secretary Siegfried’s orders can be completed so long as we hold out.’

Alfred knew that he was not a particularly daring type, but he entered the stronghold with the resolve to complete his assigned mission no matter what.

***

“The enemy has fortified in a position.”

Milton nodded at the messenger’s report as if he had anticipated this.

“So it comes to this as expected.”

He called a meeting at once to react accordingly.

“It’s quite the headache that they are bunkering down.”

“Is Fort Ranken not one of the sturdiest military fortresses of the North?”

“It looks like laying siege to them will take quite some time.”

Milton listened to the discussion of the Southern nobles before speaking.

“There is no need to prepare for a siege.”

“Might you have an idea?”

The nobles’ eyes were glittering with expectation, having witnessed the solid results he had brought in war until now.

Milton did not betray those expectations.

“The enemy will leave the castle of their own accord. We will wipe them out there and then.”

The Southern nobles smiled with awe at Milton’s assurances.

“If that is what the Count says, we will trust and obey without question.”

Though the nobles participating with the Southern army were not exactly outstanding talents, they had one thing going for them: they were aware of their lack of field experience and did not step out of line to object needlessly.

Due to that, they smoothly followed Milton’s lead though he made a solo assessment and even skipped explaining his reasoning.

***

The Southern army formed a robust formation facing Fort Ranken as Milton had commanded. They did not attempt a siege and merely maintained this faceoff.

Milton called on Bianca.

“How many days will it take, roughly?”

“Ten if it’s long. If it’s not, I’m feelin’ round five or so.”

“I see.”

Milton speechlessly gazed upon the castle walls. 

The enemy was shaping up to be a remarkable commander who was considerably cautious. However, as long as he was unaware that they had the exceptional power of magic on their side, the enemies were still dancing on the palm of Milton’s hand for now.

***

Alfred did not leave the castle ramparts, eating and sleeping atop them as he monitored the situation himself. If he caught some shuteye, he would ask his aide-de-camp for an update as soon as he woke up.

“What’s the status of the enemy?”

“Nothing has changed. They are stationed in their spots and have not attacked.”

“Was there no hint of them detouring through a different area?”

“There was not. It may very well be that the enemy is simply keeping watch because they cannot devise an optimal solution.”

Alfred widened his eyes at his aide’s words.

“Do you believe the enemy to be that incompetent?”

“Not at all, sir. I’m merely projecting-”

“Then I suppose that would make me even more incompetent trash, being defeated by such an enemy and losing 11 percent of my troops.”

“That is not so. I would never say something along those lines.”

Watching his flustered assistant, Alfred abruptly let out a heavy sigh.

“… Haaah.”

‘What is this shameful conduct?’

He had only intended to caution his aide to prevent carelessness from settling in his heart. But he suddenly found himself interrogating his assistant – almost as if he was taking out his frustration at him.

Alfred realized that he was backed into a tight spot psychologically more than he had thought.

“I must apologize. My words were too much.”

“No, it’s nothing. You are correct, Captain.”

“Mmmm… I do say this every time, but there is never room for carelessness. Even more so for this particularly strong enemy. They would never do something without further intent.”

“Yes, I’ll be sure to remember that.”

At the time, Alfred did not know: whatever came next would be futile to stop.

Because that event had already unfolded at this point in time. 

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