13 (35)

Clack. Clack. Louis heard the sound of horses moving and the echoes of hundreds, thousands of footsteps. The official road leading to the capital stretched onward. The city where the clash with House Grey had taken place was already far behind and no longer visible. The reins in his left hand. He could not even feel the sword hanging loosely at his waist.

Louis was feeling something strange. The road to the capital felt as though a long thirst was finally being quenched. The vast information window before his eyes was enough in itself to draw admiration from many. The regrettable thing was that in this world, only Louis could see it.

The broad map spread out before him had sunk downward in the middle. It was the expanded territory gained not long ago after acquiring House Grey’s city. Once, he had thought that someday it would be nice if the territory below became part of the house’s domain. That wish was coming true. It was more than that. Louis was changing the world. He was both the one setting the price and the one leading it. ‘If I become king….’ It still did not feel real, but he quite liked the title.

Louis checked various bits of information. The food produced in the cities, and the supply routes. Also the movement of the armies. The front line stretched out on a grand scale. Louis’s allied houses were each advancing in union. Even if House Boarne did not choose the orthodox approach, a signal would surely come from somewhere along this vast front.

‘It would be best to try everything that can be tried.’

Parse Akiteia, one of Louis’s allied houses and also his close friend, was looking ahead. A bleak wind blew. An army without visible end stretched on endlessly. House Parse was commanding one of the two wings of House Pontina advancing into the center. He felt suffocated. Naturally, he undid one button at his neck.

Because he occupied the position of strategic staff, his equipment was light. The operation had been prepared with meticulous care, but he dared not predict what result would occur if theory and reality collided. Simply thinking about it and feeling it on one’s skin were on entirely different levels.

Facing armed troops right here in front of him was something on an entirely different level. Suddenly, he thought of Louis. For Akiteia, this was his first war. Louis had already personally led three campaigns. Though Akiteia was much older, there was a qualitative gap between them that could not even be imagined.

The fact that assassins came after him, and the vicious incident Grey Bread had carried out, were not simple matters. This was…. a gap that could not be overcome merely by the number of years one had lived. He relaxed a little and let out a long breath. That made him feel much better. In theory, this front would not clash. Every house moved as though active, while in truth remaining passive. They were trying to reduce losses so that the shrimp’s back would not be broken in a fight between whales. Beneath the blade lay the intention to see how things developed after the standoff. The decisive battle would be in the center. The two who had been in conflict would bring matters to an end.

Rumble, rumble. The sky was growling. Hazdar deeply inhaled the scent of the calm before the storm. The bloody storm that would soon follow would soothe his hollow heart. He was lying low atop the highest cliff. Below the cliff ran a massive river, and before it stretched an endless army.

Outside the river was Duke Louis’s force. The lion banners were fluttering wildly everywhere. The sky was filled with dark clouds. After not sending rain for several months, it now seemed determined to pour it down at last. The situation was ironic. Louis had not yet crossed the river, and if rain fell, the river would swell even more.

The wind swept violently around them. Between the fluttering folds of his robe, Hazdar’s eyes shone. He recalled Louis’s eyes from his memory. He wanted to see the ending of this. And if the chance came, he wanted to see those eyes one more time. The soldiers on both sides were building encampments.

The archers were lined up at the river’s edge. Soldiers were connecting logs to make a bridge. Transport ships large enough to cross the river had been improvised, and huge carts stretched endlessly to the rear. Everything was being moved as a whole. They might be planning to force an assault despite the losses. If so, it was truly a bold thought.

This type of battle method was exactly like Grand Duke Apsen’s. The engineers were piling up temporary barricades, and bonfires flared up in many places. As mealtime approached, provisions were being distributed. At last, the man he had been searching for came into view. A long cloak. A long longsword at his waist. The man receiving salutes from those around him was unmistakably Louis. He was calmly walking toward the riverside and talking with the people around him.

“Hazdar. Will he force it?”

“I don’t know. But if he has to cross, now is the best time. If he does not move now, both sides will wait until the rain stops. If that happens, it becomes a long war, and Duke Louis has a severe advantage. You saw his territory, didn’t you? Add that grain, and he can easily hold the front line for half a year.”

Louis slowly walked up to the Rhine River that cut deeply through the capital. The surging current was quite fast thanks to the strong winds. On the far side of the river was, perhaps by chance, a familiar face. Boarne Aust. Gregory’s marquis and the son who had clashed with Louis in the capital.

He wore a dark expression, and judging by the way he was looking at the sky, it seemed he had not noticed Louis in the distance ahead. Recognizing a person at such a distance was only possible because Louis’s body had gone beyond the normal range. He could see far off like a hawk.

Louis looked up at the sky again. It seemed to be raging as though it would never permit Louis’s rebellion. Coincidentally, Louis had faced a similar situation once before. At that time, he had cut down his brother and Marquis Gangpireu and gained this position.

Louis smiled crookedly toward the sky. As the weather worsened, the current of the river would only grow faster. To cross this river, Louis was already moving whole transport ships. That was why he had needed House Grey’s cooperation. Naturally, he now had that cooperation. The head of the house and all his sons had been beheaded by Louis, and now only one ten-year-old child still remained alive.

Louis could have exterminated House Grey, but forcing a house that had ruled one region for a long time into submission was more efficient in terms of cost. Louis was already lamenting this victory. Boarne Gregory had not noticed it, but Louis now possessed cavalry on a scale incomparable to the past. Thanks to stirrups, many soldiers who otherwise would not have met the conditions could be made into cavalry. If he could only cross the river, he had enough cavalry to smash through the heartland in one stroke.

“The weather is becoming too severe. I think it would be best to wait until it settles down. We have prepared a great deal, but if we push too hard, we could suffer serious losses.”

Led by Jodan, Gaion, Kalbang, and Boromir all voiced agreement with that. Louis looked at them and spoke briefly.

“We cross the river.”

Everyone’s eyes widened. Gaion stroked his beard, Boromir scratched the back of his head harshly, Kalbang propped his chin up, and Jodan remained at attention but wore a deeply troubled expression. Jodan, who best understood strategy, raised an objection to Louis’s decision.

“But…….”

“The fiercer the Rhine becomes, the more Gregory will think the same. If he thinks that, then now is precisely the best time to cross.”

“Do you have some clever move…?”

The tent where Boarne Gregory was staying was spacious and luxurious. Calling it a tent was almost inaccurate, as pillars were supporting the hall-like canopy and paintings hung here and there. There was even a small statue, made entirely of gold. Before the tent stood sturdy armed men, young soldiers, mages, and priests near the entrance.

Gregory had not gone outside, but he knew the weather was worsening with each passing day. As the head of the house reputed to be the most knowledgeable in strategy and war among the Seven Great Houses of the Duchy of Eron, he continued refining his strategy within. Bad weather meant that there might not be a battle immediately. Other fronts might clash, but he judged that possibility to be low.

Above all, he trusted his own ability. If not, he would have holed himself up in the city and crouched there, but he was confident he could crush that overproud young blood. He decided to look outside and rose from his seat.

Receiving a waterskin from an attendant, he poured some into himself and opened the flap. Fierce wind hit him at once. The sky looked ominous, but it seemed it would still take some time before rain began to fall. Surely it was raging. At that damned kin-slayer, king-slayer. He spat on the ground and mounted his horse amid salutes, when suddenly a commotion broke out.

“What is it?”

A chiliarch stationed by the river rode up to him. He immediately dismounted and reported.

“The lion is attempting a river crossing.”

“………….”

‘Fast.’

Far too fast. Of course, it would be easy to defend against. And to attempt such an open crossing like this was the act of someone who knew nothing of tactics. If they came riding onto the Rhine like this, he could inflict severe losses before they even crossed.

“So the lion comes to die by his own feet. Everyone, stay sharp and move exactly as ordered in advance!!!”

As he roared the command, orders were sent out in all directions. The army seemed to writhe like a living thing. Every archer gathered spare bows, looked to the front, and swallowed hard. To the rear, the infantry formed square formations and raised barriers so they could block Louis’s soldiers the moment they attempted to land.

The preparations being laid out one by one looked like a hedgehog raising its quills. While all this was happening, Gregory spurred his horse like an arrow toward the river. He wanted to see the situation and issue immediate orders. A foolish commander only stays behind and receives reports. That dulls the senses. The detailed commands of war had to be instant and adapted differently to each situation. Since he understood that better than anyone, it was only natural that he would go to the scene himself to see the situation directly.

A familiar, noisy sound came from the front. Looking ahead, he saw hundreds of cavalry moving noisily, as if trying to take the river. The horses were being warmed up, infantry had placed transport ships in front of them, and the horses instantly entered those ships. He swallowed, but soon realized the situation was strange. The transport ships stood still like statues, the pontoon bridge was not being connected, and the additional transport ships, the most important part, showed no sign of moving from the shore. Come to think of it, the cavalry being moved first was strange too.

“It seems……. they are practicing river crossing.”

“……………”

Gregory’s brow tightened. Sure enough, the mounted soldiers who had entered the transport ships came pouring back out as though they had never boarded them at all. It was practice.

‘So it is not now. But he has made up his mind to cross. Tch. I, Gregory, will personally teach you what recklessness is. History will remember you as a fool.’

“We do not relax our vigilance like this. Do not forget that the opponent is a lion.”

All the armed men and officers shouted, “Yes!” Gregory smacked his lips and finished the inspection.

Deep in the night, an armed man came running breathlessly before Gregory’s tent. He urgently woke the sleeping Gregory and said, “The lion has begun crossing again.” Gregory, having risen too suddenly, felt as if his head would split open and crooked his fingers at the attendant beside him.

The attendant brought him water as prepared, and Gregory poured it into himself hard, waking up. His mind felt suddenly clear. If one had decided to cross, doing it at dawn was the standard of standards. Thinking happily of the Rhine becoming a sea of blood, Gregory quickly finished preparing himself and opened the tent and went outside.

Darkness lay everywhere, but an enormous number of torches lit the surroundings. The entire army had risen from sleep, and though it was still deep dawn, the place resembled a marketplace. He mounted his horse and rode quickly toward the riverbank. Far away, in the pale distance, floated eight transport ships on the water, far more than he had seen that afternoon. He could see the cavalry rushing into them like arrows.

‘There is more cavalry than I expected. He surely should have lost a great number in the battle with Marquis Gangpireu. Well, no matter. He cannot cross this river anyway.’

As before, all the archers and soldiers hurriedly moved and formed ranks, and Gregory too swallowed hard while staring at the front, yet…. the transport ships once again remained still in place.