A Man Caught In A Whirlpool Of Desire (6)

“Th… That…”

Duke Balsen was savoring the feeling of heat surging up inside him at the conduct of that Viscount Ingrad bastard, who was looking down from atop the siege vehicle.

From the very beginning, ever since he had first faced him, he had not liked him.

Starting with his exotic appearance to his insolent gaze, none of it had pleased him, and the way he created flaws in the Noble Faction’s cohesion at every turn had not pleased him either.

But thinking about it now, not a single one of his actions had been ordinary, and he was in a situation where he had maintained his current prosperity by smoothly resolving problems that ordinary humans would never be able to easily solve.

On top of that… he had been able to feel that the defensive forces of the Ingrad Domain, whom he had now faced, were by no means weak, but there was one statement that poured cold water on Duke Balsen’s thought.

“It must have been an all-out attack. That is not firepower that a mere viscounty could achieve. Perhaps he has no remaining strength now and came out to bluff.”

He was in the middle of worrying because of Marquis Islant Bransch’s words.

‘If it is Ingrad Domain’s earnings… perhaps it might be possible?’

Duke Balsen suddenly tried to recall again the revenue of the Ingrad Domain that he had heard about before, and when he wore a thoughtful expression, Marquis Islant Bransch presented his argument once more.

“Please think carefully. Even if he was able to earn a large sum by selling medicine, he was in a situation where all the supplies were being released through the Imperial Merchant Company. How much money do you think he invested to build that enormous structure on his own? He should have no spare capacity. Moreover, did they not say he even built a harbor recently?”

He could understand that all of them were matters that required large sums of money. To put it bluntly, Duke Balsen could not even grasp how much money, effort, and time would have to go into building such a road, and following Marquis Islant Bransch’s argument, he set aside the thought he had been having and asked a different question.

“Then what are you saying we should do?”

“It is time to make use of the knight orders’ strength. At present, the knights’ and mages’ forces remain intact. Although Viscount Muriel… has fallen for some strange trick and we cannot learn any news of him, he surely would not have simply allowed himself to be captured. Therefore… I believe we must use our mobility and strike in. Afterward, I believe we should send the troops that have been reorganized into that fortress and use it as a supply base.”

Duke Balsen thought it sounded rather plausible. In truth, he was good at politics and maneuvering, but he was a person with little talent when it came to military affairs.

Was that not why, out of concern for this, he had brought along Marquis Islant Bransch, who was widely rumored among the Noble Faction to be a strategist?

“Indeed… Have the knights prepare!!”

The order fell, and the Imperial Army began moving through the messengers scattering in all directions.

“We have been doing this for thirty minutes already, so why are they not reacting?”

I could understand Hare’s confusion. I was also worried because their reaction was slower than expected. By now, three thousand-man units should have withdrawn, and the remaining three thousand-man units would be waiting while staying in their assigned locations for the time being.

I thought now was the right time to lure them, but since their reaction seemed somehow poor, I said to Hare.

“You can use amplification magic, right?”

“What are you planning to say?”

“I think I need to provoke them a little.”

At my words, Hare said she understood and prepared the magic, and when she soon told me the amplification magic had been cast, I stood up and shouted.

“I do not know whether you liked our gift, Duke Balsen!”

At the voice that rang thunderously across the entire battlefield, silence settled over the Imperial camp, which had been bustling.

“I was worried that you might be disappointed because its performance was a little lacking compared to what I expected, but seeing your sluggish reaction, it seems you were quite satisfied?”

Thinking that my words must have sounded truly hateful, I looked at Hare and Demina, and they wore expressions of disgust. They had expressions asking how I could say such a thing.

“I intend to return to the fortress in five minutes, but before that, I would like to see your face. I will give you a whole five minutes, without being petty, so I would like to see your face. What do you say, Duke Balsen?”

After that, I gestured to Hare to cancel the amplification magic and returned to my seat to sit down. That was when the Imperial Army’s camp began to stir, and a short while later, many people could be seen climbing atop the siege vehicle.

So I checked the time and said to Hare.

“What do you think he will feel if I go in without waiting the full five minutes?”

“….He will probably get very angry, right?”

“Would it not make him want to kill me?”

“Haa… Why are you going so far… and making this so troublesome?”

“To reduce the exposure of our forces a little. Think about it carefully. Right now, this place has a structure that is very easy to observe from the wall visible far over there. It is not good for a lot of information to be released to the enemy. There is a huge difference between merely being able to say, ‘Whooosh, boom!! And then everyone died!’ and being able to explain what kind of weapon was used how, what kind of effect it caused, how many there were, and so on.”

“So you are aiming for that whooosh, boom! then?”

“Correct.”

Leaving the women behind, who reacted as though appalled, I slowly stood up and used Construction to remove the chair. Then I asked for amplification magic again, and once the magic was complete, I shouted toward Duke Balsen’s camp, which had begun moving busily in the distance.

“You seem to be dawdling too much, so I think I will simply leave. I hope you make a wise choice, Duke Balsen.”

After that, I slowly moved my feet and began heading up toward the fortress. That was when the sound of horns rang out from the Imperial Army’s camp, and immediately afterward, a group began rushing out in a swarm.

Most of them were riding horses, and at the head of them, I could see a knight decorated with rather splendid patterns charging out.

Looking at them, I smiled faintly and asked Demina.

“Could you carry me on your back and run at an appropriate speed?”

Demina said she understood and transformed into her beastkin form, and I made a different request to Hare beside her.

“Can you tell everyone? Tell them to withdraw.”

“Are we not going to fight back?”

“I changed my mind. If we fight back here, the knights at the front will definitely all die. If that happens, I think they will withdraw. So we will all pull back to the rear as we are. Let us go.”

Like that, Hare used amplification magic so the entire fortress could hear and ordered a ‘retreat,’ then began running side by side with me and Demina, and quite a lot of Imperial troops began following behind us.

Meanwhile, the troops that had withdrawn for the operation arrived at the location where the bridge had been cut off and began moving toward the strongpoint made in advance by using rope ladders.

The mana cannons also had ropes tied to them, and several people were struggling through the process of lowering them to the ground. At that moment, after receiving a message from a messenger who had hurried over, Wijel shouted to everyone.

“Each unit will move to its designated position. When the signal comes, use all mana cannons to annihilate the enemy. Not a single enemy must be allowed to leave alive, so prepare thoroughly!”

Once the order was relayed, the beastkin began hastily scattering, and amid that, Marquis Giltian glared at Wijel and growled.

“Do you think you can win the war by doing this?”

“We are already as good as victorious. You can think of it as over the moment your foolish human commander got swept up in our lord’s lure.”

“….The Imperial Army is not that foolish. They should be able to notice a lure of this level from you.”

“How about saying that again if you think that fool Balsen is competent?”

“….Damn it…”

Marquis Giltian also knew Duke Balsen’s stupidity. He acknowledged his political actions and skills, but aside from that, he thought he was nothing but a greedy worm.

So when he fell silent, Marquis Giltian saw a familiar man being dragged over from behind by Gamung and Debik and burst out angrily.

“What did you do to that child!!”

“He is a grown son to be treated as a child… We will not kill him. The lord said he intends not to kill any of the Empire’s Masters.”

“Why… is that?”

“We cannot know his deep meaning. However, if I were to make one guess… it seems he does not want the Empire to split apart as it is and for our domain to become a region bordering the Demon Tribe.”

Marquis Giltian wore an expression that said he could not understand, and Wijel, after looking at his expression, continued speaking as if joking around.

“They say half of Atoon has already fallen into the hands of the Demon Tribe. They say the Demon King is moving personally, and her might is tremendous. On top of that, it seems the Imperial Army dispatched there is also repeatedly retreating day after day and is barely managing to preserve its strength. I suppose that may be why he thinks that way.”

“…That Atoon… What is the Sword Saint doing?”

“They say she lost in battle against the Demon King and is fleeing after suffering severe wounds.”

“Damn it… Is this how humanity meets its end…?”

“I do not think it is right to make such a fuss over one insignificant kingdom collapsing, is it?”

The despair Marquis Giltian felt was not despair that stemmed from Atoon collapsing. What was despairing was the fact that the supposedly great Sword Saint had lost in a life-or-death battle against the Demon King.

The strongest human in humanity had lost. What that meant was quite significant.

“What are you… planning to do?”

“We have no worries even if our border touches the Demon Tribe. That is because our current lord will find a way no matter what.”

“What dreadful blind faith…”

“He is that great a person. He is not so shabby or worthless that you can think lightly of him.”

Marquis Giltian did not think the Viscount Ingrad he had seen was an incredible person, but why did the beastkin look at him as so incredibly great from their perspective?

Marquis Giltian grew deeply curious about Viscount Ingrad. What in the world was different about him?

Only questions were filling his head.

Meanwhile, all the mana cannons had been lowered to the ground, and now only the troops had to descend. At that moment, Wijel clicked his tongue as he looked at the troops retreating at high speed.

“Is it faster than expected?”

He could not know what decision the lord had made, but it felt like things were proceeding faster than at least the expected time, so Wijel had to urgently shout to those around him. In the case of those who could transform into beastkin form, they were choosing to transform and jump down as they were.

Because of that, it felt as though things were moving urgently, and Marquis Giltian asked Wijel a question.

“What in the world are you going to do in this empty place?”

“You will know if you watch. It will become the starting point of the Empire’s downfall.”

After Wijel transformed into his beastkin form, tucked Marquis Giltian under his side, jumped down to the ground, and began running like mad.

That was because they had to move quite quickly if they wanted to reach the designated location. And a few minutes later, Marquis Giltian looked with disgust at the towers standing alone among the huge trees. Seeing that familiar weapon poking out in large numbers, he turned pale and asked.

“Surely… you intend to attack the bridge…?”

“That bridge will not be destroyed by this weapon. In the end, only the bastards on top of it will be swept clean away. They will die without even knowing how they died. It is something they should be grateful for.”

At Wijel’s calmly spoken words, Marquis Giltian turned deathly pale and his lips trembled. On top of that, for a moment, he even worried about the Empire’s future.