Chapter 192 : Chapter 192
Before the final battle began, Ian gathered the command unit in one place and spoke.
“Moner will not win this war.”
“……?”
“What?”
Actually, there was no such thing as a way to win.
Because the final battle was destined to be close to a gamble.
However, he had no intention of winning either.
“Even if we risk our lives to fight and win, it will only be remembered as one of countless defensive battles. The Kingdom will still learn nothing, and those targeting Moner will not hide their greed.”
Ian’s gaze scanned the Northern nobles, Trimia, and General Garme in turn.
“So I want to leave a lesson. I want to make every human in the Kingdom fear monsters.”
“A lesson?”
“…What do you mean?”
Sven and Vergil asked in turn.
“If the King dies, the legion will return to the forest or move in search of prey. Because Orcs are originally a race more faithful to instinct than reason. And Moner will not do anything in particular.”
“Not do anything?”
“I mean that we do not intend to pursue the fleeing Orcs, nor cooperate with the Royal Army that will be stationed in Lier.”
“Then…….”
“If they clash with the Orcs, the Royal Army will be defeated. Then the Orcs will also move south following the Royal Army moving south.”
“…Are you saying you will let the Orcs loose in the Kingdom?”
At Mogul’s words, Ian shook his head.
“It is the Royal family that ignored Moner even though help was requested through the Magic Tower. It was their choice that the Royal Army is not here, and Moner has no obligation to help such a Royal Army.”
“Guarding the Demonic Beast Forest is Moner’s duty.”
Ian replied calmly to Mogul’s sharp voice.
“I have no interest in a duty that only ends when Moner dies.”
“……!”
“Young Lord……!”
Surprised, Sven and Mogul tried to rise from their seats, but Ian’s words were faster than that.
“I am Moner.”
That was a declaration.
“I am a person to whom the people of Moner’s domain are more important than all the subjects of the Kingdom. As long as I am the owner of this land, there will be no asking soldiers to fight risking their lives while feeding them bread mixed with sand, nor will there be wearing worn-out leather armor while hunting more monsters than any other domain.”
When the two Counts groaned silently at Ian’s words, this time Viscount Dotran opened his mouth.
“Young Lord, if the Orcs are released, innocent people will suffer damage.”
“So?”
“Ahem! Even if they don’t suffer direct damage from the Orcs, if a large number of monsters are released, movement between domains will inevitably shrink immediately. Commercial power will collapse and the subjects will become impoverished.”
At the plausible concern, Ian nodded his head and asked.
“So?”
“No, that is…….”
“That is for the Royal family to do. There is no reason for a family that does not receive the Royal family’s protection to sacrifice for the Royal family.”
Ian, having dismissed the concern, continued speaking.
“Unless the Royal family is exceptionally stupid, they will gather forces to try to save the Royal Army, so do not worry. I will do my best to ensure there is no damage to the Northern domains.”
After the meeting, which was no different from a unilateral notification, ended, Vergil and Trimia, who received Ian’s request, left the fortress.
* * *
Vergil and Trimia moved secretly following the retreating Royal Army, and were able to discover the Noble Alliance moving north.
It was also from this point that opinions diverged between the two.
“Sir, if it goes on like this, the damage will be great.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
Both of them agreed with Ian’s words that the fear of monsters needed to be imprinted, but the difference in degree was severe.
“It seems we should help.”
“…Yes?”
“If it stays like that, they will definitely suffer great damage. I don't know about the Royal Army, but they have done nothing wrong, have they?”
“We cannot do that.”
Vergil wanted to move only according to Ian’s orders, and Trimia hoped there would be no great damage to the private soldier forces of the noble families who were no different from the subjects of the Kingdom.
“It is not only the Royal family that did not reach out to Moner’s danger.”
Vergil expressed antipathy, saying that nobles and royalty were the same kind of bastards.
“Don’t you also know my army well, Sir? It was because of the help of the local nobles that I and my army existed.”
Trimia recalled the nobles who had given him troops and argued that they should help the Noble Alliance.
“No matter what you say, Prince, Moner cannot reveal itself yet. The excuse that we couldn’t move because of post-war handling would become poor.”
“Then…….”
What Trimia chose after pondering for a long time was the retreating Royal Army.
“How about leaving traces to induce them to meet the Royal Army sooner? Just being able to prepare for a surprise attack will be able to greatly reduce the damage.”
Vergil said it wouldn’t be very effective, but Trimia did his best to induce the Royal Army and the Noble Alliance’s scouting parties to meet, and succeeded in handing over more than a hundred Royal Army soldiers.
“But why on earth…….”
Trimia, who was watching the battle of the Noble Alliance with Vergil, muttered blankly.
“It is not exactly something to be surprised about. Aren’t the thoughts of nobles obvious?”
Vergil spoke coldly, but Trimia could not understand.
If they were nobles with strong selfishness and desire for power, shouldn't they not miss the opportunity in front of their eyes even more?
Even to establish military merit, they should have fortified their defenses even more.
Even if traps or fences were too much, at least they should have been preparing for battle while fully armed.
Surely that should have been the case, but why on earth are soldiers who aren't even properly wearing leather armor dying?
“Didn’t we guide over a hundred Royal Army survivors? And yet to be defeated so futilely like that……. Doesn’t it seem like they didn’t prepare for a surprise attack at all?”
Trimia, who was tracking the Royal Guard, had left quite a few traces so that the scouting party would meet the Royal Army survivors to warn of the surprise attack.
Since not just a few dozen, but over a hundred Royal Army soldiers would have conveyed the same information, he thought they would be able to sufficiently prepare for a surprise attack.
“That is why I told you, that it would be useless.”
Vergil, who opened his mouth with a frigid voice, continued speaking while looking at the battlefield.
“The families standing at the vanguard are in a prepared state compared to other families. Seeing that the knights were also fully armed, it seems they are the five families that guided the Royal Army. They probably controlled the information.”
“That can’t be… Why on earth!”
“Isn’t that obvious? They must have intended to accumulate military merit using this opportunity. Because they would be able to be active with full preparations while everyone else is off guard.”
“Don’t tell me it’s such…….”
“They only look like one in appearance, but they are not one. They are just dozens of armies pursuing their own benefits. Can’t you tell just by looking at the scouting parties of different families moving along the same path?”
At Vergil’s words, Trimia bowed his head with a miserable face.
“I… I…….”
Only then could Trimia understand.
Why Ian entrusted this mission to him.
He probably wanted to show this hidden side of the Kingdom.
Royalty that drives nobles to the battlefield for the Royal family's rights and interests, and nobles steeped in greed no different from such a Royal family.
“The Young Lord said that most of the nobles who entrusted their troops to you, Prince, probably couldn’t participate in that battle. Even if they participated, they would have been pushed to the rear because the scale of their forces is small.”
“Ah…….”
Trimia was slightly relieved at the explanation that the nobles who gave him troops would not be there.
Even though they were troops taken by a method no different from fraud, weren't they nobles who willingly gave up soldiers for the Kingdom?
If they were there, he might not have been able to endure it and moved to help them.
“Hahaha… While I feel relieved, thinking it’s a relief when so many people are dying, it’s not even funny.”
Trimia watched the battlefield with a bitter expression for a long time.
* * *
Marquess Dmitry swept his hand over his face in frustration as he looked at the nobles who sought him out not long after the battle began.
“We must retreat immediately!”
“Until when will you delay the decision?!”
“Marquess! Even just us, we must move to the rear immediately!”
“They are devils! Devils, I tell you!”
The humans who were shouting that they would establish higher military merit than anyone else are making a fuss about having to run away as soon as the battle started.
They would have been at ease if they were in the rear, so why on earth did they follow to the frontlines and make a fuss here?
‘It must be because there is no person in charge.’
There is no person in charge in this expedition.
Because the majority of those shouting in front of my eyes right now rejected a person in charge.
The reason they are demanding a retreat order despite knowing that was obvious.
Not wanting to take responsibility for the first battle, the first defeat.
The Marquess, who calmed down the pale-faced nobles with a deep sigh, opened his mouth.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“Calm down? Did you say calm down?”
“Devils that eat humans are running wild outside, and you say calm down!?”
A vain laugh escaped as I watched the nobles shouting that they were scared so shamelessly.
‘Did they think they were out on vacation or something?’
Just seeing that the Royal Army was defeated, they should have guessed how strong the opponent was.
When that Moner requested help, they should have noticed that the situation was unusual.
Nevertheless, the Royal family continuously tried to drag Moner down, and the result was this sight.
‘I told them to be careful like that, but they were ignoring them because they were monsters.’
Those who were disparaging Moner were unconsciously ignoring the monsters as well.
‘If the local forces were in this place instead…….’
Paradoxically, the local nobles who were most active in this expedition were in charge of supplies in the rear because their forces were small.
If they were at the front, no one would have spoken of retreat.
“Marquess, please……!”
At the appearance of the nobles who seemed like they would collapse if they stayed a little longer, the Marquess sighed and opened his mouth.
“Calm down a little, since the House of Marquess has stepped forward.”
For the Marquess, this expedition was no different from a poisoned chalice.
Because annihilating an enemy the Royal Army couldn't defeat and establishing merit was impossible no matter how many times he thought about it.
The King assured them that they were in a weakened state due to the battle with the Royal Army, but the only certain thing was the fact that they were strong enemies enough for the Royal Army to decide to retreat.
Considering it an established fact that he would suffer damage in this expedition, the Marquess decided to do his best instead.
He thought it was a wise choice to reduce damage by doing his best rather than suffering irreparable damage by supporting halfway.
“No matter if it is the House of Marquess…….”
“Retreating before it’s too late is…….”
One of the privileges Dmitry of the Iron Tongue , who assisted the Royal family for a long time, obtained from the Royal family.
“The family’s Guard Unit has stepped forward.”
The fact that they can found a Knight Order just like the Moner Duchy.
The House of Dmitry of the Iron Tongue knew better than anyone that power was needed to add weight to words, and operated a Knight Order called the ‘Guard Unit’ for generations.
True to the name ‘Guard Unit’, they rarely left the domain of the House of Marquess, but whenever they stepped outside the domain, they proved with blood that what the House of Marquess possessed was not just a tongue.
What people called, the Knights of Iron Blood .
They were indeed the last card of the House of Marquess.