Ch#203
203
Varkas ordered his knights to reform their ranks and climbed back into his saddle.
As they moved along the gentle ridge for a while, the distance narrowed enough for him to identify the faces of the approaching knights.
He observed the knight leading the group intently. Although the man wore a helmet, it wasn’t difficult to recognize his identity.
Kylias. He was a high-ranking knight within the top ten of the Roem Knights’ hierarchy.
He was also a man Varkas had clashed with several times in the past.
Having risen to a high position through his achievements over the last two years, the knight approached with a triumphant air and offered a greeting.
“It has been a long time, Your Excellency.”
“……What are you doing here?”
“It seems you haven’t heard the news yet.”
The man spoke with an arrogant tone.
“The lords of the Northeast region have conspired with the remnants of the Northern rebels. Upon receiving this report, His Majesty immediately ordered us to support the East and suppress the traitors.”
A frown creased Varkas’s brow.
As if enjoying his displeasure, the man smirked and uttered a jeering remark.
“Why that expression? Surely you aren’t unhappy to see the reinforcements His Majesty sent.”
“……What exactly do you mean by the lords of the Northeast conspiring with the Northern remnants?”
“I’m sure you have an idea, even if I don’t go out of my way to explain it.”
The man spoke with a meaningful tone.
Unable to endure his insolence any longer, the Eastern knights, including Beirop, stepped forward with menacing looks. Only then did the sneering man click his tongue and add:
“Fifteen days ago, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince captured Blodar Keep. Thanks to that, we were able to obtain detailed information regarding every faction involved in the rebellion.”
Varkas’s eyebrows twitched at the unexpected news.
“Was there not a strict order to keep the castle under siege and wait until the peace treaty was signed?”
“We couldn’t exactly sit on our hands forever with a pack of traitors right under our noses, could we? His Majesty has also recognized the Crown Prince’s great service.”
After speaking as if defending the Crown Prince, the man turned his horse with a low sigh.
“Let us depart for now. I will report the details of the battle situation while we move.”
Varkas stared silently at the man while gripping the reins, then eventually signaled his waiting knights to move out.
A short while later, the reorganized Eastern knights began their march, maintaining a slight distance from the Roem Knights.
Kylias rode up beside Varkas at the front and continued his explanation in a businesslike tone.
“Fifteen days ago, the Crown Prince infiltrated agents into the castle beforehand and then launched a massive offensive. The tactic worked, and they succeeded in capturing the castle by dawn. The Crown Prince immediately hung Duke Heimdal’s head from the castle gates to show the whole world the price of treason.”
“What happened to Bjorn Blodar Heimdall?”
Varkas, who had been listening in silence, threw out the question. The triumphant knight’s face crumpled slightly.
“He was not inside the castle. There is no way of knowing when or how he escaped…… but they say the majority of the core leadership, including Bjorn, had already made their escape immediately after the castle was surrounded. The siege was merely a way for them to buy time to plot their schemes elsewhere.”
Varkas let out a hollow laugh.
“So he sacrificed his own father and the largest city in the North?”
“He is the one who led this nonsensical war, after all. It was a mistake to expect him to be sane in the first place.”
The man let out a heavy sigh and continued his explanation in a calm tone.
“Anyway, we tracked Bjorn’s movements meticulously from the moment the castle fell. And as soon as we received intel that he had fled to the East with his followers, we reported it to His Majesty. His Majesty ordered the troops waiting at the border of the North and East to attack, while simultaneously ordering us to provide additional support.”
Varkas gripped the reins so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand bulged. It seemed Daren’s telegram had been sent immediately after the imperial order was issued.
‘……The stage where this could be settled quietly has already passed.’
If he tried to cover up the crimes now, he risked being branded a traitor himself. Now that the Emperor had publicly dispatched reinforcements, an armed conflict was an unavoidable sequence of events.
“The battle has likely already begun at the border. We must hurry as well.”
Having finished his report, the knight spurred his horse and galloped ahead. Varkas silently followed, picking up his pace.
They rode tirelessly for how long? Beyond the horizon, tinged with the light of the setting sun, a city surrounded by magnificent sand-colored walls revealed itself.
Observing the walls spewing smoke as if the attack had already begun and the thousands of soldiers stationed around them, Varkas ordered the knights following him to enter combat formation.
Soon after, with the resounding blast of a horn, the knights drew their swords and charged across the fields into the battlefield.
To get an accurate grasp of the situation, Varkas scrutinized the military camp from a slight distance.
Spearmen carrying the banners of the Grand Duke’s house were stationed to the north and east of the city, while infantry units bearing the Imperial flag were pushing battering rams to break down the gates.
He frowned at how rapidly the situation was unfolding, but his gaze soon shifted as he spotted Daren giving orders to soldiers at a camp set up on the outskirts.
“Your Excellency!”
Daren shouted loudly, looking relieved to see him.
Varkas skipped the formal greetings and went straight to questioning the state of the war.
“I have heard the detailed explanation from the Imperial reinforcements. What is the progress?”
“As you can see, the assault on the city is proceeding smoothly. However…….”
The man wiped his weary face, looking as though he had been through a great deal of trouble, and continued in a heavily somber tone.
“The number of people involved in the rebellion is not small. To settle this chaos, a large-scale purge seems inevitable.”
Varkas looked at the damaged sections of the city walls with a hardened face.
The magnificent city he had visited to inspect the territory shortly after becoming Grand Duke was now being submerged in screams and flames.
After staring at the scene with a bitter gaze, he eventually drew his sword and spurred his horse toward the front lines.
He saw soldiers pouring into the shattered city gates like a tidal wave.
Inside the city, which had become a shambles due to the stone catapults, the clashing of polearms echoed incessantly.
Entering the fray, Varkas cut down the enemies blocking his path with a single stroke, opening a path for the cavalry lined up behind him.
Soon, warhorses armored in heavy barding charged into the streets in formation.
The soldiers who tried to block the enemy’s entry were pushed aside and trampled by the massive frames of the warhorses. The cavalrymen riding over them crushed the enemies without mercy.
Watching the scene of cruel devastation with a dry expression, Varkas eventually led the cavalry through the plaza toward the citadel that towered in the center of the city.
The citizens seemed to have evacuated into the inner castle beforehand, as the city interior was nearly empty.
After looking around the quiet buildings and the central plaza, which seemed detached from the clamor of battle, he shifted his gaze to the firmly closed gates and the sturdy walls beyond the moat.
He could see archers standing atop the towers, arrows notched, waiting for the enemy to approach. He stopped the soldiers who were about to charge the gate.
“Do not approach recklessly. Since we have taken the city, seizing the castle is only a matter of time.”
Carefully gauging the distance where enemy attacks could not reach, Varkas turned his horse and gave orders to the soldiers.
“Surround the castle thoroughly so that not even a single rat can escape. They will raise the white flag within a month at the latest.”
* * *
Tarlin declared its surrender in less than three weeks. The inner castle guard had revolted and hung the head of the Lord—the primary instigator—from the walls. Thanks to that, they were able to enter without bloodshed.
“The new Lord was a mere greenhorn who had only been in office for a few years. No one knew that he had betrayed Your Excellency and His Majesty the Emperor to sell military supplies to the North.”
The captain of the guard who had led the internal revolt said, begging for mercy.
Varkas, who had entered the castle courtyard leading his knights, looked down at the man with indifferent eyes and replied.
“If your words are true, I shall request clemency from His Majesty the Emperor. If even a single word is a lie, you too shall face legal punishment.”
The man bowed his head with a dark expression.
Varkas ordered the soldiers waiting behind him to take the collaborators into custody and strode across the courtyard.
