Chapter 30

Translator: Willia

The morning sun shone brightly, as though it had been given new life. As if it had died and risen again.

Normally, the people of Belfort would have drawn on that vigorous energy and begun their day's work, but today was a little different.

The armory had been opened, and the men bustled about while the women and children lit fires right in the street and set pots over them, as though preparing a field meal.

And long trails of blood streaked those same streets from where the Wildlings' corpses had been dragged away.

“Bring every arrow we have!”

“Then what are we supposed to defend the outpost with?”

“Shut up and bring them when I tell you to! It's the Marshal's order!”

The Deputy Outpost Commander drove the able-bodied men harder than ever. This was the first time they had ever launched a counterattack on such a large scale.

Besides, the sight Valery had shown him was deeply engraved in his mind, still vivid before his eyes. He had wondered how someone so young had ended up becoming Marshal, only to discover that the boy was none other than the Salt Prince, whose fame had been spreading far and wide of late.

If it was him, if it was that man, then surely he could put an end to the anxious days caused by the Wildlings. Hope welled up uncontrollably inside him.

The able-bodied men of the outpost village hurried back and forth, carrying arrows, shields, and other supplies to where Valery waited.

Meanwhile, near the northern forest, Valery watched from horseback as the soldiers brought up the supplies and was, in truth, fit to burst with frustration. They were too slow.

Once an order was given, it should have been carried out swiftly and in perfect order, but Belfort's soldiers were nothing like that.

They would run all that distance just to confirm an order that had already been passed down, then come back again and again to ask what they should do about this or that.

So even though they sweated and ran themselves ragged hauling heavy equipment, most of their effort ended up going to waste.

Since they would be entering the forest, they needed shields, close-combat weapons, bows, and Crossbows rather than long spears, yet they kept bringing this and that, even hauling over water barrels. It was a complete mess.

It might have seemed that Valery, mounted as he was, could simply ride back and forth himself, but with a major battle ahead, resting his horse was important as well, so he could not.

Still, looked at another way, perhaps Valery was simply expecting too much. Elite soldiers who boasted an undefeated record and men who planted barley while guarding the frontier could hardly be expected to perform at the same level.

“You thickheaded idiots! I said bring water flasks! Water flasks! Why are you bringing water barrels!”

Edric, the Outpost Commander, seemed every bit as frustrated as he berated the young men who were both his soldiers and his neighbors.

“M, more is better......”

“You crazy bastard! You think you're taking that into the forest!? Think for once! Think!”

“It is their first time, so mistakes are understandable. Shouting will not solve anything, Outpost Commander. Calm yourself. Losing your temper before battle will do no good.”

Unable to keep watching, Valery finally spoke up.

“I, I have no excuse.”

“Appoint the more experienced soldiers as Sergeants. It seems this is happening because you and the Deputy Outpost Commander are trying to handle all the command yourselves.”

“Understood.”

Edric's face turned red with embarrassment. It was not often that a Marshal personally stepped in to sort matters out for them, and with things already going wrong from the very beginning, he could not help feeling self-conscious.

“By the way, those bastards still haven't run off. They're watching us from over there.”

One of the soldiers holding a bow spoke.

Valery turned his head and saw Wildlings standing far away near the horizon, staring blankly in their direction.

“It is fine. The reason they are standing around over there with nothing to do is because they do not know what to do either.”

Even Belfort's soldiers were running around in confusion, so the Wildlings were bound to be worse. They had simply poured everything they had into today's Feint Strategy, with no plan whatsoever for what to do if it failed.

A proper army had established procedures for defeat, such as retreating in good order, regrouping, and reporting back to the main force, but the Wildlings had nothing of the sort.

They had not even realized that their own base was under threat. From their perspective, Belfort's soldiers merely seemed to be running back and forth for no apparent reason.

The resupply had taken longer than Valery expected, but that did not mean the opportunity to counterattack had disappeared.

By the time they had more or less finished preparing, there were around ten men in all, including Outpost Commander Edric. Normally, that would have been nowhere near enough men to fight a battle, but right now the enemy was in disarray.

“Listen closely. First, we rescue the Hostages. Second, we set fire to the enemy's base. Follow that order without exception. If you start the fire first, the Hostages may be harmed. Do not leave gaps between yourselves. Stay together and advance.”

Everyone nodded with serious expressions at Valery's instructions. Then, putting someone familiar with the terrain at the front, they entered the forest.

The forest was silent, as though even the birds were holding their breath.

There was something resembling a road through the woods. It was wider than a footpath, probably formed naturally by the Wildlings passing back and forth over the same ground.

Normally, the soldiers would never have dared come anywhere near this place, but with Valery there, they were nervous yet confident.

And then there were the men beside them. They were either brothers, or neighbors who had lived next door and grown up together since childhood. Some were fathers with children of their own, while every one of them was someone's older brother or son.

They had entered the forest in the morning, and it was not until around noon that they reached the Wildlings' base. There was not a single sentry, allowing them to approach quite close without being noticed.

It was only natural. The Wildlings had scraped together every person capable of fighting for the attack, leaving no one behind even to stand guard.

A small stream wound around the Wildling village, and the outskirts were surrounded by something more like a crude fence than a proper palisade.

The Wildlings who had gone out to attack and returned after taking a beating were loudly shouting among themselves, though none of it was intelligible. Even they had never dreamed that their base might be attacked.

Valery calmly studied the enemy's position with sharp eyes, then gave his orders.

“Move around to the right and fire arrows at them. I will stay hidden, then charge straight in once the gate opens. Outpost Commander, bring the soldiers in after me. Then we will rescue the Hostages, set the place on fire, and withdraw quickly.”

It was hardly a proper gate, but the main entrance had been barred from the inside, making it difficult to simply walk straight in.

Outpost Commander Edric nodded. He immediately led the soldiers quietly around to the right side of the village.

Valery hid among the trees and brush, then signaled with his hand to Edric, who was looking his way. Edric in turn gave orders to the Archers.

“For the first volley, fire together when I give the word. After that, shoot at anything you can see.”

The four Archers nodded.

“Nock.”

Edric spoke in a voice thick with tension. The Archers nocked arrows to their bowstrings.

“Draw.”

At the command, all four Archers drew at once, and the bowstrings creaked under the strain.

“Aim...... fire.”

Four arrows left their strings at once. Three buried themselves in the ground or struck somewhere else entirely, but one hit a Wildling squarely in the neck. If they were getting that kind of accuracy on the first volley, then today was going to be their day.

Thud. Thud-thud. Thunk.

“Ghk.”

When one Wildling collapsed with an arrow in his neck, the others nearby jumped in alarm and looked toward where the arrows had come from.

Then they pointed in that direction and began shouting like monkeys or goblins before grabbing their weapons and pouring out of the village.

“Uraaaaaah!”

Naturally, the gate opened as they rushed outside, and Valery shot forward like an arrow.

Thudududududududududu!

The Wildlings flinched at the sudden thunder of hooves, but it was already too late.

The massive warhorse charged down the narrow path like a chariot, plowing straight through the Wildlings in its way.

Wham! Thud-thud! Thud! Thud-thud!

More than ten men went flying in an instant, and Valery burst into the village like a lightning bolt. He pulled hard on the reins and brought Snow to an abrupt stop, whereupon the horse reared high on his hind legs and let out a tremendous cry.

Neeeeeeigh-!

The Wildlings inside stared wide-eyed at the sight, completely at a loss.

While they were still reeling in confusion, Valery drove Snow forward again, trampling them underhoof as he drew his sword and cut down the Wildlings. Panic spread through them, and they began running wildly in every direction.

“Now!”

Edric shouted. He quickly led six Melee Infantry into the Wildling village. Around the main entrance, the Wildlings who had been knocked aside lay unconscious or writhed on the ground, groaning.

“The Hostages are over there!”

Valery shouted while continuing to ride around and keep the enemy at bay.

Sure enough, the Hostages had been locked inside something like a wooden cage, penned up like animals.

“Brother!”

Someone among the prisoners shouted.

At the cry, one of the soldiers snapped his head around, and the moment he saw the condition his younger sister was in, he completely lost his mind.

“You fucking bastaaaaaards!”

“Hey!”

Edric hurriedly grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and slapped him across the face without mercy.

Smack!

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Then he went over himself with a Hand Axe and struck the wooden bar holding the cage shut. The bar was made of solid timber, but after several blows, it broke apart with a crack.

“Hurry, get out! We don't have time! You, snap out of it!”

There were quite a few people inside the cage, seemingly not all of them taken from Belfort. Most were women and children. One woman came out carrying a newborn baby in her arms.

In the meantime, Valery dismounted. The village was too cramped for him to ride freely.

Most of the Wildlings had lost their nerve and fled, but some hid between the huts, waiting for an opportunity. Valery approached them and swung his sword.

The Wildlings tried to fight back in their own way, swinging thick clubs, but they had no chance. Arms were severed, heads were cut off, and both came tumbling to the ground.

They screamed, and those screams cut through the air, feeding the fear of their comrades.

“Aaaaaaaagh!”

Some tried to approach Snow in the midst of it all, but Snow had once been called a Man-eater. He kicked with his hind legs, smashed heads with his forehooves, and tore into faces with his teeth, rampaging even more viciously than they did.

Taking advantage of the opening, Edric and the soldiers quickly escorted the Hostages out of the Wildling village.

“Marshal!”

Edric shouted.

They were supposed to set the village on fire before leaving, but whether seven men including Edric were simply too few, or protecting the Hostages was already all they could manage, they had been unable to do it.

“Go on ahead!”

Valery shouted.

Valery quickly looked around and spotted a fire burning inside one of the huts. He rushed in without hesitation, only to see something he wished he had not.

Human bones were piled in one corner.

One glance at the skulls was enough to know they did not belong to animals. Some still had pieces of flesh clinging to them.

For a brief moment, his head swam, but he quickly grabbed a burning piece of firewood and began setting fires here and there.

Most of the huts had been built from woven brushwood, so they caught fire almost absurdly well.

Once one hut began burning in earnest, it took only moments for the flames to spread to the others. Acrid smoke billowed upward.

Valery immediately climbed back onto Snow and rode out of the village.

“Let's go!”

Clatter-clatter-clatter-clatter!

When Valery emerged from the village, he saw the soldiers finishing off the Wildlings sprawled across the ground. The Archers continued shooting at the fleeing Wildlings until the very end.

“Regroup! Regrooooup!”

Valery raised his sword from horseback and shouted. Even amid the chaos, everyone turned toward him, then hurried over.

“We have completed our objective. We are returning now. Do nothing unnecessary.”

He was utterly decisive about when to act and when to stop. On the attack, he had gone in at the very front, and during the retreat, he guarded the very rear.

Edric and the soldiers alike felt loyalty toward Valery swelling inside them before they even realized it. If a true hero existed, then surely this man was one. They became convinced of it.

Whatever feelings were swelling in their hearts, Valery coolly surveyed the surroundings.

There seemed to be around twenty people they had rescued. Now that the immediate danger had passed, they embraced one another and wept. Some were family, others neighbors.

“The reunions can wait until we return to the outpost. Outpost Commander, take the lead. The Melee Infantry will guard the flanks, and the Archers will follow from behind. I will scout ahead for any possible ambush.”

There was unlikely to be one, but Valery remained thorough to the very end. Perhaps it was because he seemed so emotionless, but he truly appeared almost like a machine.

Naturally, there was no ambush, and by the time they emerged from the forest, the sun was beginning to set.

Then one soldier, apparently unable to contain his overflowing joy, suddenly threw down his weapon and helmet and sprinted through the barley field bathed in red sunset, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“We're back! Everyone's back!”

The soldiers guarding the edge of the barley field turned in surprise, and a moment later people came streaming out of the outpost as well. The rescued Hostages also began running across the barley field.

“Mother!”

“Fatheeeer!”

At that, the people emerging from the outpost gasped in surprise and ran toward them.

People died in childbirth, died in infancy, died from sickness, died in war. In a world where death came in so many different ways, people forced themselves to live on stubbornly, pretending they were fine even after losing family, but surely that did not mean they could stop missing them.

They met in the barley field, threw themselves into one another's arms, sank to the ground, and sobbed.

Valery watched them for a while and felt an inexplicable sense of alienation. So he quietly turned Snow away and headed in the opposite direction from the setting sun, like someone who did not want to look at it.

After he had gone quite a distance, someone came running after him, calling out from behind.

“Marshal! Marshaaal!”

He turned and saw Outpost Commander Edric. He ran all the way up to Valery, then spoke between ragged breaths.

“Where are you going? We, we owe you a tremendous debt. I'm sorry we failed to treat you properly yesterday. Today we'll slaughter a cow and give you a proper feast, so please stay with us.”

Valery shook his head.

“As I said, I cannot remain here long. I have completed what I needed to do as Marshal, so I will be on my way. Pay greater attention to the outpost's defenses for the time being and thoroughly search the surrounding area. There are still remnants of them left. If you keep that up for a while, they will lose their base and naturally scatter like grains of sand on the wind. I pray peace settles over Belfort.”

Valery dipped his head slightly, then turned Snow around again.

“Pardon? B, but......”

From Outpost Commander Edric's perspective, he could hardly understand how someone could be like this. After accomplishing something of that magnitude, wasn't it only natural to show at least a little pride? He could have asked for coin, if nothing else.

Yet without any of that, Valery simply continued east alone, into the darkness after the sun had already set.

His retreating figure looked almost lonely, and Edric stood there for a long time, staring after him like a man struck senseless.

For a shining hero, why did he look so terribly alone? Just what could have happened to him......

Chapter 8 – The Prince of the Barley Fields. End.