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The Imperial Army withdrew, and it was a complete retreat, not a withdrawal to prepare for another day’s siege.

“They were free to leave when they came. Not now, when they’re going.”

I had no intention of letting the imperial forces finish their business and return to their lands. Not after they so excitedly beat against the citadel’s walls for fifteen days.

“Gather the Knights.”

“All have already gathered in front of the gate, waiting for your Highness to come,” said the garrison captain as he pointed to the gate. Lancers in black iron armor were in front of the gatehouse, clutching their cavalry lances. My knights were also there at the fore. They had been locked in these walls for a time, so they were resentful.

“Open the citadel gate!” I cried out, being in such a hurry that I gave the order before I went down the wall. The garrison commander had been waiting for me and ordered the gate to be opened. Leaving behind the noise of the ramparts, I immediately joined up with the Black Lancers.

“You’re late! We wanted to be back already,” Quéon complained about my sluggishness before my feet were even in the stirrups.

“Go!”

Instead of answering, I kicked into my horse’s flanks and rode forward.

“Ride out!”

Quéon followed me, leading a hundred Black Lancers. I saw the retreating Imperial Army in the distance. They might have been retreating after a failed siege, but their numbers were still greater than our forces in the citadel. That is why, even in retreat, they did not evince the urgency unique to the defeated soldier. Their morale might have been damaged due to failing at their purpose, but they still maintained their ranks and order while retreating.

I didn’t like their relaxed attitude; it is best for defeated soldiers to run away from the enemy like thousands of yapping dogs, tails between their legs.

I drew all the mana from my heart, and the energy and spirit I had been keeping back all this time was released at once.

‘Goo-oh-oh-oh~’

The air raged as my presence spread in all directions and finally reached the enemy’s rear.

Those imperials in the rearguard turned our way, and I shouted as I lit a flame along the edge of my sword.

“Charge!”

‘Dukudukudukuduku~’

The sound of more than a hundred horses striking the earth with their hooves resonated over the plains. The white faces of the imperial troops were clearly seen, and in the next moment, their screams, yells, and urgent cries were clearly heard.

“They’re just a small handful!” the imperial army commander bellowed out with mana. “Back ranks, turn about and deal with the foe! The rest, move on the border!”

None of those in the rear turned around. Instead, they pushed at the soldiers in front of them as they fled. It was natural, for the presence of the Sword Master who has reached such a high place was no less than a natural disaster to these soldiers. I was not sure, but by now, these imperial soldiers were feeling the terror of a great tsunami or landslide at their backs.

Those in the rear could not get out of the way, no matter how much they pushed at the backs of their comrades. The confusion was spreading like a plague through their ranks, with the fear of those in the rear extending

all the way to those in the van.

Their orderly lines quickly became crowded, broken, and messed up. Gone was the strict military division; all were mixed together, and the entire army looked like a wild beast fleeing a bushfire.

“Move!”

“Ahhhh!”

I gave a happy laugh as I watched them run away, pushing aside and trampling over allies to live.

Now they looked like a defeated army, and I would give these losers a fate that suited them.

‘Bwak!’

I jumped into the midst of the routed soldiers. My sword blazed as I cried out for the death of my enemies. In this way, I made them all know that the only future given to them is one of despair.

“Tread on the enemy!”

“Don’t leave even one alive!”

The imperial troops screamed as the Black Lancers trampled them.

“No!”

“Help me!”

They screamed like frightened sheep.

“For Balahard!”

“Thank you for this victory!”

Lancers howled like fierce black wolves.

* * *

Only a few hundred of the imperials who had besieged the citadel remained alive when the battle was over. The entire field was littered with the dead. And only a quarter of those corpses had been cut down by swords or stabbed by spears; the rest were all killed by their own side amid the confusion. I had deliberately used my energy to breed terror in them so that they slashed out in panic, not able to judge the situation. The Black Lancers had also tricked them, harrying them from the flanks so that the entire imperial army was pushed back and forth and, in that confusion, was eventually wiped out.

“Your Highness,” Quéon softly called to me after he had shaken the blood from his lance.

Instead of answering him, I picked up the imperial army’s banner from where it lay buried beneath the corpses.

“We won!” the lancers shouted, declaring our victory.

“Woah!” shouts bursts out from afar, from the distant citadel.

“Let’s go back.”

I took the imperial banner in hand and turned my horse about.

“Long live the prince!”

“Long live the kingdom!”

Even while we passed through the gates, the soldiers continued to shout. I raised my hand, and the shouts died down.

“I pay homage to your struggles and affirm your daring,” I announced.

I could see the joy of those who had survived, the uplifted faces of those who had saved the citadel and claimed victory.

“You are the heroes of your country!” I shouted. “You are the guardians of the kingdom!”

“Woow aahhh!”

The thrill of triumph swept through the citadel as a collective shout burst out.

As I watched the enthusiastic soldiers, I gave quiet instructions to the citadel’s garrison.

“Release some supplies so that the soldiers can enjoy the spoils of victory today.”

Fortunately, there were quite many supplies abandoned by the imperial army, so it would be enough for these soldiers to enjoy the day, forget the hardships of war, and celebrate their victory.

“Thank you, your Highness.”

“I just want to thank your grace for your mercy.”

Later that day, the soldiers who had been provided with an abundance of food and drink expressed their gratitude every time I passed.

“Your Highness saved my life. Had your Highness not come, I would’ve been a corpse now.”

“I’m glad I did it. I can’t remember all the guys I’ve saved and am glad to hear it wasn’t just one or two. So drink until you forget, eat, and enjoy yourself. A day like today doesn’t come around often.”

Every time they spoke, they congratulated me or tried to hand me a drink. As I wandered among the soldiers, I suddenly remembered something important that had slipped my mind.

“Jordan!”

“Yes? Yes!”

Jordan had been chewing on a hump of freshly-baked horse shank. He now trotted to me from afar.

“What about Malcoy?” I demanded.

“Malcoy… Malcoy… I saw him on the wall until the end.”

“Find him and bring him to me.”

“You mean now? Or later?”

“Do I have to get him myself, then?”

Jordan started to walk away slowly, his mouth mumbling complaints once he was five feet from me.

“Do this – do that. Can’t a bloke get some rest and comfort? What the hell did I do wrong?”

“Aren’t you going too quickly?” I inquired.

“Ah, I’m going, I’m going.”

The ranger disappeared, spouting his dissent. He soon returned.

“I caught him standing blankly on the wall.”

I shook my hand at Jordan, saying, “Okay, go about your business.”

“Yeah. If you have anything else you need done, please call someone else next time. There is a lot of idle folks here.”

Jordan wanted me to respond to his words, but I didn’t say a thing. The ranger company commander wasn’t important right now.

“Malcoy.”

As I called to him, Malcoy raised his head, flinching when he looked at me. I smiled as I looked at his face, covered in blood, sweat, and dust.

“Now, you have a face that suits the battlefield.”

Malcoy raised his hand and touched his face, not knowing how it looked.

“Follow,” I said and headed to Jordan, who was drooping against a distant wall.

“Give me a bottle of liquor,” I ordered him.

“Why aren’t you looking for booze in the storeroom of the citadel’s garrison commander?” Jordan asked.

“So that’s a no?” I challenged him.

“If you just go there and come back out-”

Before Jordan was done speaking, he took a bottle of wine from his cloak and handed it to me.

“Really… really, there’s only one bottle of this stuff. Really.”

Hearing Jordan being on the defensive when he didn’t have to be, it seemed to me that he had more liquor.

“If you’re going to drink it,” Jordan implored, “drink it out of sight of other folk. Even if the others don’t know about it, it won’t be nice if the Lancers see that bottle.”

The ranger suddenly shut his mouth.

“Is there any more, Jordan? I was looking for suitable wine to go drink someplace tonight.”

Jordan looked as if he wanted to yell at me, and the senior rangers around him shook their heads.

In silence, I reached out my hand, and he handed me a bottle.

“Really, really, really- This last one is the only one I have. It’s the lifeboat that any ranger must keep with him to maintain his body temperature in stressful situations.”

“Hey, that means we’ve been cheated! You’ve been holding out on us!”

The other senior rangers jumped up, swearing as they closed in upon Jordan.

“Hcha! That such a bastard is also a company commander!”

“This liar wants his knees crushed!”

While the rangers were having a good time and a friendly chat with Jordan, I dragged Malcoy, who stood there with a vacant expression, to a secluded spot.

We went up to battlements. Few other people were there. I sat down casually on one of the merlons, then uncorked one of the bottles Jordan had given me.

I savored the hot smell of the wine, then suddenly started gulping it down. It tasted far better than I had expected; it wasn’t the cheap stuff that the soldiers drank.

“Fuck. He managed to steal some bottles from the Imperial Army’s supplies.”

While I admired Jordan’s skill, I handed the bottle to Malcoy, who still vacantly stood before me. Malcoy didn’t hesitate; he pushed the bottle’s lip into his mouth, and tilted his head back.

‘Glug glug glug.’

Malcoy had halved the bottle in an instant, and his face soon flushed red.

With his color returned, he looked better.

“Okay. What do you think? Still feel the same?”

Malcoy gazed at me, bottle in hand.

“You still think that war is ugly and that everyone who fights in wars is the same?”

Malcoy didn’t answer. I didn’t want to force an answer from him. I reached out in silence, took the bottle from him, and brought it to my mouth.

“Aah. It tastes real good. Are the Empire’s guys drinking this class of wine, even during the war? Must be like this because their country is rich.”

It was a wrong emotion to feel, but I sincerely admired the might of the Empire.

However, I did not take my seat to eat or drink, so I returned to the original topic.

“So, war is ugly, and all soldiers are perpetrators. I’ve known a few guys who made such sounds before.”

When Leonberg had first been settled upon this earth, there were many who talked like that.

“In wars, there are those who sit in their high places of safety, wrapped up in their greed, while men die for their convictions, giving their lives so that others can live.”

While Leonberg’s knights and soldiers bled under the imperial invasion, there are scholars who stay safe in the rear, behaving as if they have mastered all the truths of the universe.

“But none of those men, who talk about war in that way, have ever been on the battlefield.”

Malcoy’s lips moved, but he shut his mouth again. I already knew what he had wanted to say.

“So you’re talking about the horrors of war? Right. War is terrible. On the battlefield, humans do not exist as humans, and war sweeps the land clean.”

War is indeed a monster that exists by taking the lives of the living, and only grief, scars, and hatred remains in the place where the beast of war passed by.

“But Malcoy, there are some things in this world that cannot be helped. One of them is war.”

Malcoy frowned as he looked at me. I could read him: He saw me as an irresponsible knight who judged something by glancing at it; a hypocrite who rationalizes war.

I snorted as I faced his blame-filled gaze and asked him, “Was it our kingdom which has caused the current war? Do the soldiers of Leonberg look like war maniacs to you?”

Malcoy didn’t answer because he knew: Leonberg did not start this war. The horror of war he spoke of was the only means for us to defend our land.

“If the Leonberger family did not declare independence, there would have been no war,” Malcoy managed to say after a while.

Rather than trying to defeat my central premise, he spoke in a stubborn voice, unable to overcome his convictions.

“So you are telling us to live on while being robbed and stepped on? If that was the case, then not so many people would’ve died. Do you just want us to live with the oppression?” I asked Malcoy.

“If we just live like that, what makes us different from animals? The king is the king, and the nobles are the nobles. The Leonbergers are the Leonbergers. Must they live as something that they are not?”

“Isn’t this war what the Leonberger royal family and a few nobles wanted?” Malcoy asked.

I could only cluck my tongue.

It seemed that it hadn’t been enough for him to suffer on the fortress wall. I guessed that I had to roll more obstacles his way for a while.