VOLUME 3: CHAPTER 183 – FATINA BATTLE (1/2)

The patriarch, Benem Nemush, was murdered in cold blood!

Word of the patriarch’s death spread even faster through the various countries than Gowen Ranid’s.

When the Genius Adviser of the Clan Coalition of the Red King received that news, he immediately advised his clan leader, Brandika.

“The Kushain believers should quickly fall apart after this. I suggest we go ahead and take Fatina now.” [Carlion]

Like a beast sensing its next prey, Brandika fiercely smiled.

“Alright, let’s do this, you bastards!” [Brandika]

Slapping his knees and standing up, the rest of the adventurers under his direct control that were drinking in the tent stood up as well. Cell the Sword Dancer, Grave the Enchanter, Saldin the Commander. Every one of them was a brave and capable member of the Red King.

Because of the report that the patriarch mobilized his army of 10,000 to the west, they were currently headed north. There were also clan leaders from other clans accompanying them out of admiration of Brandika.

Adventurers weren’t exactly soldiers, but they weren’t far from it either; hence, it didn’t take them long to adapt to the battlefield, and by the time they had occupied a village from the Kushain believers, they could already be counted as a force of the Red King.

“Still, who would’ve thought the goblins would be able to crush the fanatics. That was unexpected… They might turn out to be an unexpected adversary.”

“I don’t really think so, but… The details of the battle should arrive soon. We can scrutinize it closely then.”

Brandika and Carlion chatted as they headed to the head of the army.

They had set up an intelligence network of their own, so they actually knew of the movements of the Kushain believers even before Elrain Kingdom asked for their help.

They had originally set off to restrain the enemy, but from the looks of things, this might actually turn into a real siege. Brandika happily laughed at that.

“A siege will take time… It would be best if we could conclude things quickly,” Carlion said.

“Ho, does our genius adviser have any plans?” Grave the Enchanter asked.

Carlion smiled. “It’s not complicated enough to be called a plan, if anything, you could call it a prank.”

“That’s even better! Good, let’s go with that!” Brandika said.

Carlion nodded. “Mr. Saldin, please advance the army in a flashy manner. We’ll announce that Elrain Kingdom has come and that we’ll be sourcing our food locally. Meanwhile, Ms. Cell will be leading some stealth specialists to infiltrate the enemy. After that when Elrain Kingdom comes, we’ll announce that everyone will be killed.”

“Ha ha ha, as usual, you say some really dark stuff without missing a beat.”

Saldin the commander of the front lines rode with his horse and ordered the army to advance faster. He gathered the vulgar adventurers and had them put on the equipment of the Elrain Kingdom soldiers. They would be needing it once they start attacking the villages.

“…If I have to,” The gnome warrior, Cell, said

“Please don’t misunderstand, this order didn’t come from the clan leader but me,” Carlion explained.

“Hmph, I know. I just have to do that, right?”

“Please choose the time wisely and spread some rumors that the feudal lord intends to hand over the people to the enemies.”

“I’m hating this more and more, but alright.”

“As for you, old teacher. I’ll need you to make the Red King more famous.”

The old teacher cheerfully smiled in return.

The Red King separated its forces into two groups. Saldin led the advance guard, while Brandika led the main force.

The main force slowed down their pace and saved the villages laid to waste by the advance force.

Saldin’s forces were thorough. They took the food and burned every building down. When every building was gone, they would move on to the next village.

“Pigs should cry and beg!”

Saldin himself was originally a fiendish bandit. It was Brandika who picked him up and raised the adventurers in the advanced force. If not for Brandika, Saldin would probably be renowned today as an infamous but great bandit leader.

They spat mud at Elrain Kingdom’s reputation, spreading words of their treachery, while they extolled the Red King, and spoke admiringly of their magnanimity.

“We are the army of Count Sapnir from the Elrain Kingdom!”

At the old enchanter’s words, the villagers who had their food taken cried out. Their food had already been taken, and they had none left to give. They were at the end of their wits, such that they considered bracing themselves for a fight or simply run.

“I pass on to you the words of my master, Brandika. We of Count Sapnir’s Army may be from Elrain Kingdom as well, but we are deeply saddened by what the Elrain Army has done; therefore, we shall bestow upon you pity and share with you enough food until Fatina. Whether you join the fray there or die here is your discretion. Do as you please.”

To cling onto the last thread of hope after being pushed to the brink of death is true for both man and nation. Like this the people who had everything taken from them, started to flow into Fatina as refugees.

But regardless of how the city-state of Fatina shared borders with Germion Kingdom, it did not have an unlimited supply with which to support people.

Elrain Kingdom’s army steadily approached them.

News of the patriarch, Benem Nemush’s, death finally reached Fatina. Moreover, the higher ranked of the army did not return from the last battle, causing the feudal lord to answer for them.

The feudal lord of Fatina was a bishop who was deeply loyal to Benem Nemush. It was only thanks to his predecessor being removed and Benem Nemush’s backing that he was able to secure his position. But because of that Benem Nemush’s death greatly weakened his position.

Carlion had predicted this far when he came up with his scheme.

“The feudal lord will want to stabilize everything, but all the refugees coming in will only cause the public order to worsen.”

Carlion explained his scheming to Brandika as he rode alongside him.

“In such times, people always turn their sight outside. But that is a double-edged blade.”

“So you’re saying they’ll eventually have to fight us.”

“Yes, that’s right. We’re relying a little too much on luck here, but I’d say we have about a 70% chance of success.”

“That’s more than enough.”

After the forces of the Red King left the woods, the walls of Fatina could finally be seen. It was the second city-state of the Kushain believers, one situated in a grain-producing territory in the south.

“By the way, what are we going to do if this fails?”

“We’ll take the long way. We’ll surround them and wait for them to run out of food. Fatina’s feudal lord is a deeply loyal man, so I doubt he’d have much food in reserve. Odds are he would much rather bet everything on an all-out battle than wait for his 200,000 people to starve.”

That double-layered strategy put a smile on Brandika’s lips as he looked up at the walls of Fatina.

“You went out of your way to prepare this stage, so we’ll have to make the most of it and show the world the might of the Red King!”

Wielding his long double-edged battle axe (Valdis) on his shoulder, he rendezvoused with Saldin and took position outside the walls of Fatina.

“We’ve successfully spread the rumors,” Cell emotionlessly said.

Carlion happily nodded.

It was then that Fatina’s gates opened and an army moved out. They numbered roughly 12,000.

Because of the weapons on the walls of Fatina, it was extremely difficult to attack them while they were preparing.

But Brandika wasn’t one to attack while the enemy was preparing, anyway.

“We’ll crush them magnificently. Otherwise, it won’t be any fun.”

Brandika only held his long axe as he watched the enemy feudal lord encourage his soldiers while seating atop his three-eyed horse (hipparion).

“Hear me! Believe me! The Red King shall reward the devoted! I am the man who shall be king!”

Cries erupted from the Red King’s army. Like a rampaging flame, those emotions swirled into fanaticism and pushed on the back of the Red King, Brandika.

“Take on a three serpent formation! The clan leader, Brandika, shall take the center. Saldin to the right flank and Cell to the left!” Carlion the Genius Adviser said, and the army of the Red King immediately followed.

“Bring victory to our clan leader!”

Though he looked weak as he drew that blade, the soldiers still cried out in response to Carlion’s words.

“Victory!”

“Go! Take their heads and hang it by the gates!”

At the behest of the clan leader, Brandika, the Red King’s entire army charged into Fatina’s army of 12,000.

Tl Note: Last chapter for the week. Also, if the whole Red King thing is confusing, it seems Brandika is the Red King, while at the same time, the clan itself is also called Red King. Oh, and thanks for all the suggestions last chapter.

As tension filled the battlefield, the feudal lord of Fatina desperately strove to raise morale. He promised the 12,000 soldiers that he would look after them within the holy organization – he would even give them medals – so long as they are able to defeat the Elrain Army.

“Behold! The enemy is few in numbers!”

The enemies gathered atop the hill were at most about 2,000. That was a sixth of their own numbers, so there was no way they could lose, he told them. Unfortunately, he wasn’t blessed with the charisma to lead people.

The monsters had the Goblin King, the enemy had their clan leader, Brandika, and the Kushain believers had their patriarch, Benem Nemush.

Such people were able to raise morale just by being there. Unfortunately, this man, who became the feudal lord solely because of his loyalty to the patriarch, did not have such charisma.

The forces of the Kushain believers were mainly farmers.

Because of that their numbers were many, and when gathered, they were a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, that only held true when fighting a winning battle, for they were not as persistent when fighting disadvantaged, causing them to only be a hindrance to any strategy attempted.

They were mainly footmen, so it was hard to move around with them, but they were all equipped with spears, which kept the enemy away. Most of them were dressed in leather armor, while an exceedingly few had iron armor.

After giving the soldiers with low morale a pep talk, the feudal lord ordered them to advance.

“O god, please watch over us!”

As the feudal lord cried out to his god, he mobilized the army to swallow the 2,000 soldiers of the enemy. At roughly the same time, the cavalry descended from the hill.

In response, the feudal lord clicked his tongue and gave out a command. “In the name of god, send those people to hell! Advance!!”

The Kushain believers lined up their spears and advanced, but the descending cavalry did not slow down even the slightest, instead riding even faster as they raised up their weapon and cried out.

“ATTTTAcccCCKk! GEt them!!”

At the clan leader, Brandika’s, command, the mages at the back casted their spells, and flames of bullets shot past Brandika and his cavalry, raining fire down on the Kushain believers’ line of spears.

As the Kushain believers screamed in pain and squirmed, the hipparion trampled them underfoot. and with Valdis, a soldier’s head was claimed.

Brandika tore through the densely packed formation, and cavalry and footmen alike followed him from behind.

“That’s the clan leader of the enemy! A thousand gold to anyone who takes his head!”

The Kushain believers’ eyes changed when they heard what the feudal lord said, but try as they might to focus their attacks on the man, all they could accomplish was increase the number of corpses.

Countless soldiers were either trampled over under hipparion hooves or cut down by Brandika’s Valdis. And just when it seemed he would finally stop, the Kushain believers were suddenly attacked from both flanks like two snake heads tearing through them as if they were a piece of paper.

“Die!!”

Saldin attacked fiercely from the right, piercing through the collapsing flank of the enemies.

“Hmph!”

The calm and collected Cell attacked from the left, meticulously tearing apart the enemy formation as she dyed the ground in the blood of the reserve soldiers at the back.

“We have 12,000 soldiers! How are we being pushed back!?”

As the feudal lord screamed in fear, the person who appeared next was none other than that very Brandika who should have already lost all momentum. Somehow he had renewed his momentum and was tearing straight through the formation toward the feudal lord.

But what was most terrifying of all was how heads flew with every swing of his Valdis.

As a fierce smile appeared on Brandika’s lips, the feudal lord felt like a beast had set its sights on him. Suddenly, it didn’t seem as if there was any hope of living through this.

“E-Eek!”

There were still some distance between them, there were soldiers too, but for some reason, it was as if none of that mattered.

The red-haired man would surely claim his head uncontested. At the very least, the feudal lord believed that.

“KU…”

“Shall we retreat, my lord!?”

While the feudal lord was speechless, his aide asked him that question.

But the feudal lord was so stricken with fear that he didn’t even have the leisure to respond as he turned to the gates and screamed.

“Open up!! Open up now! Hurry!”

When Carlion saw that, he immediately raised up his voice.

“The enemy feudal lord is retreating! We’ve won!”

Ally and foe alike searched for the feudal lord at Carlion’s proclamation. When the Kushain believers saw the feudal lord running, morale plummeted, while morale rose high for the Red King’s side, and they immediately set out to pursue the enemy to the gates.

“A reward for anyone who gets the general’s head!” Saldin announced to his soldiers.

“Hurry! Close the gates!” The feudal lord cried.

The feudal lord hurried for the gates to be closed, but alas, Saldin and his soldiers was able to pass through from the right flank.

“Take the gates! Banish the cowards from Fatina!” Saldin said

“Yes, sir!” The soldiers said back.

The moment the gates were taken over, the Red King’s victory was guaranteed.

With the feudal lord taken prisoner, the Red King was able to successfully defeat an influential city-state under the Kushain believers’ banner.

Such an achievement was unheard of within Elrain Kingdom. Not even Kanash himself has accomplished such a feat.

Word of this quickly spread through the southern parts, and before long, everyone knew that of the Red King’s great might and the decline of the Kushain believers.

◆◇◆

10 days after the Red King defeated Fatina.

Management of Fatina was left to him, but the only things given as remuneration were medals.

Despite that not a word of complaint was given, and Carlion continued to work in the office in place of Brandika.

Brandika needed to deal with the Elrain Kingdom, the various clans under their banner, and even government affairs. Frankly, it would not be enough even if he were to split his body into two to deal with all those.

“You sure work hard even though your master is out frolicking in the red-light district,” Cell said after popping out of nowhere.

Carlion wryly smiled. “I pushed all the annoying human relations to him, so this is the least I could do.”

“I don’t get it. You work this hard so late in the night, and yet you don’t take more than a paltry sum for your wage. Didn’t you say sufficient compensation should be given to deserving people?” Cell asked.

“You sure talk a lot today. Did something bad happen?”

“…Hmph. Suit yourself.”

The sound of Carlion’s pen rushing through the documents resounded throughout the office.

Cell sat herself on the sofa meant for guests and watched Carlion.

When Carlion had completed one part of his work, he looked up and smiled at Cell.

“So, was there something I could help you with?” He asked.

“What a fishy smile. I’d prefer it if you pointed that only toward other humans,” Cell said.

“That’s a little troubling,” Carlion wryly smiled.

Cell sneered and she gave Carlion a letter.

“It’s about the current state of the east. It’s from Shunrai,” she said.

Carlion’s eyebrows twitched as soon as he read the contents of the letter.

“…Things really don’t just go according to plan, huh. But I guess that’s exactly what makes life interesting.”

Carlion leaned his back onto his chair and heaved a sigh of relief.

As Cell sent him an inquisitive look, he revealed the contents of the letter.

“The Dagger of Webrus has fallen.”

Those words came out more bitter than he’d intended.

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