Chapter 259

* * *

After a long meeting, all troops except for the minimum of five thousand needed to guard the castle were organized into an interception force.

The commander-in-chief of the interception force was none other than Lady Lunarien herself. According to the plan, she was scheduled to lead the vanguard alongside Tifa to meet the enemy head-on.

Assisting her as strategist was Jinoru, and most of the sword-wielding commanders, including Mets, also joined the interception force.

Meanwhile, Francis, with five thousand soldiers, was left to hold Tevelo Castle in siege preparation. He began setting traps all around in case of any ambushes.

Though various precautions had been made, once the interception force fell, the castle would inevitably be taken—leaving little Francis could actively do.

Still, he couldn’t just sit idle. If their liege lady, Lady Luna herself, was risking her life, every possible preparation must be made.

With this resolve, Francis personally inspected every corner of the fortress, directing operations meticulously.

“General, all the traps you ordered have been set.”

At the soldier’s report, Francis nodded approvingly.

“Good work. What’s the status of the archer units?”

“They’re undergoing final training.”

“Excellent. Then please ensure similar traps are installed near the eastern gate as well.”

“The east too?”

The eastern gate of Tevelo Castle faced the direction of the Ohana Army—an entrance that used to be highly valued when he served in the Karelia Army. But at least for now, it was practically the safest location.

“You never know what tricks the enemy might pull. Even if the likelihood is low, we should leave no stone unturned in our preparations, right?”

“But General…”

“What is it?”

Just as the soldier hesitated under Francis’ sharp tone, a voice came not from him but from behind Francis.

“It’s impossible to defend the east thoroughly with only five thousand men.”

The footsteps accompanying the voice belonged to a woman—a woman Francis knew very well.

“…Violet.”

Upon seeing Violet, the soldier saluted before receiving a small wave of acknowledgment.

“Brother, we need maximum efficiency with the resources we have. Dividing our already scarce resources to prepare for everything will ultimately be like preparing for nothing.”

“…”

Having heard Violet’s words, Francis turned toward the soldier.

“Was that what you were about to say?”

“A-ah… yes!”

Understanding the situation, Francis waved his hand broadly.

“…Very well. Focus on fortifying primarily the west and north sides then.”

“Yes sir!”

After the soldier left, Violet let out a small sigh.

“Nervous, Brother? You’re flailing around unlike yourself.”

“…Perhaps. Where’s Charlotte?”

“She’s preparing to march.”

Charlotte von Einhardt, the second of the three siblings bearing royal blood brought by Kyle, was assigned to the interception force to assist Tifa. Frankly, if only he could go fight outside the walls too—but deep down, Francis knew that once the interception force failed, there’d be nothing they could do either way.

“…Hmph.”

“Brother, I understand your feelings, but honestly… with such limited troops remaining here… there’s nothing much we can do. Sometimes, doing nothing might be better than messing things up trying to act. You get that, right?”

“…Yeah, I get it…”

Francis slumped to the ground, muttering to himself while letting out several self-deprecating sighs. Then, he finally asked Violet.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Lord Zinor’s strategy. About committing most of our forces to the interception team.”

Sitting cross-legged next to Francis, Violet replied. Despite how strange it looked for two finely dressed individuals sitting on the dirt, neither cared enough to mind.

“I’d never do it. No matter how clever the scheme sounds, I’d probably have chosen to send no one to intercept.”

“But then what about the siege weapons?”

“…Since I don’t know what that ‘clever scheme’ entails, if I were actually given a chance to advise, I wouldn’t have said that.”

“What nonsense.”

Francis chuckled as if amused, though oddly enough, he felt calmer than when he was frantically trying to figure out what else to prepare.

“Still… he’s supposed to be smart, isn’t he? The former Chancellor of the Empire. Though it happened so long ago during our youth, and our father was someone who had fallen far out of central politics, I don’t think just anyone would be appointed as Chancellor in the Empire, right?”

“…Right?”

“Right.”

“…I feel pathetic. I wish I could somehow help our lord, but I don’t even understand what grand picture he’s drawing. Somehow, I wanted to be useful to our lord.”

Listening to Francis’ lament, Violet paused briefly before speaking in a deadpan tone.

“As your younger sister, let me give you some advice: quit. Brother.”

“…What?”

“You’ll never get your chance to interfere. Climbing a tree you can’t reach only harms the one staring at it.”

Before Francis could ask what she meant, Violet stood up, brushing off the dirt from her rear.

“I’m leaving.”

And with that, she disappeared, leaving Francis staring silently at her retreating back for a long moment.

* * *

A few more days passed.

Finally, the dark green banners symbolizing the Karelia Army appeared within sight atop the walls of Tevelo Castle.

“The enemy’s arrived at our doorstep.”

Whistling softly after gazing beyond the castle walls, Tifa spoke.

“What do we do, Luna?”

“What kind of question is that? Everything’s already decided.”

Luna quietly drew her sword from its scabbard with eyes closed.

“Please open the western gate.”

“Western gate, open!”

With the thunderous call of the officer, the western gate opened, and the interception force, led by Commander Luna, marched out smoothly.

Their number exceeded eighty thousand!

Deploying such a massive army outside the castle took considerable time. Had the opposing force been a smaller, more mobile unit instead of an army nearing two hundred thousand, they likely would’ve arrived near the castle and deployed siege weapons before the entire force could exit.

Of course, despite deploying so many soldiers, the situation remained overwhelmingly unfavorable for the Lunarien Army. Outnumbered more than two to one, holding out in a siege might’ve offered some leverage, but since they’d already ventured out…

All we can rely on now is each commander’s prowess and… the “decisive moment” Zinor mentioned.

It’s fine.

If there’s no way to avoid this battle, we absolutely won’t lose.

Gripping her fist tightly to her chest, Luna recalled the man’s voice.

“Lord! Stay healthy! And when the opportunity comes, don’t miss it! I shall surely return to your side!”

“…I won’t let this hard-earned chance slip. Until the day you return, I will definitely…!!”

Gradually opening her eyes, a crimson gleam flashed through them. That same overwhelming aura that had momentarily stunned even Iren enveloped her once more.

The warmth clutched in her tightly balled fist was the legacy left by Strategist Swoen.

Desperately clinging to the faint warmth remaining, Luna shouted loudly.

“Lunarien Army interception force, moving out!”

Waahhhhhhh!

* * *

The battle began.

Naturally, the first priority for the interception force was the siege weapons.

Ordinarily, the enemy could have easily maneuvered their forces to protect the siege engines from destruction…

“Bloody hell, why are there so many?!”

As Sad grumbled while slashing through Lunarien soldiers, the sheer number of interception forces that emerged was simply overwhelming. They had missed the timing to assign dedicated defenses to each siege weapon.

Naturally, the Karelia Army, expecting perhaps 20 to 30 thousand at most, had placed all their siege weapons upfront and advanced slowly. Now they found themselves in a helpless situation where it seemed like every single defender inside the castle had been sent out.

Watching their painstakingly transported siege weapons crumble helplessly before their eyes, there was still something peculiar about this situation from the Karelia Army’s perspective.

Our forces number twenty thousand.

Even assuming the enemy left not a single ant behind in the castle, the maximum manpower of the Lunarien Army would barely exceed ninety thousand. Would throwing such numbers at us without any preparation amount to anything less than suicide?

“Hmph, whatever tricks they’ve got up their sleeves, it doesn’t matter to me!”

While Sad refocused on the battle without much thought, others weren’t so quick to dismiss the oddity of the situation. Vanessa overseeing the overall battle from the rear was equally surprised by the unexpectedly large number of interception forces.

“…Why?”

No matter how you look at it, this move seemed self-destructive.

Sure, our army was caught off guard initially. The carefully balanced momentum was disrupted, and indeed, the siege weapons were quickly dealt with.

But unless there’s a condition where destroying all siege weapons guarantees victory, this decision was hard to justify. Despite the initial confusion, which may delay us somewhat, this battle is bound to end in our favor. It’s not a question of superior or inferior tactics—

How can eighty thousand defeat two hundred thousand?

This boils down to simple arithmetic. With such a disparity in numbers, strategy hardly matters.

‘There must be a reason behind this action. Lunarien Iniyan isn’t stupid. We must prepare for something unexpected.’

The easiest assumption would be reinforcements from the enemy. However, the only potential ally—the Ohana Army—had declared non-interference. Recent diplomatic trends showed no signs of change either.

Then… what is it?

Or is this merely a ruse to make us think something’s coming?

‘…No.’

Regardless.

Vanessa wouldn’t let her guard down.

‘Until we know what’s going to happen, rushing blindly into the fray would be dangerous.’

Just as she reached this conclusion and prepared to relay her thoughts to Cecil in the rear,

“Ch-chancellor!”

“What is it?”

“Enemy reinforcements… apparently hidden reinforcements have appeared! They’ve launched surprise attacks from both our left and right flanks!”

“…Reinforcements?”

What?

Reinforcements appearing?

Taken aback by the unexpected news, Vanessa’s pupils contracted sharply.

“Are these reinforcements from the Ohana Army?”

“No, th-that… they don’t belong to any known nation!”

“…What?”

Despite the soldier’s flustered delivery, his report was accurate.

The massive reinforcements aiding the Lunarien Army—

On the left flank, commanding a formidable archer unit, was Gustaf, known as the captain of the Raven Mercenary Unit.

On the right flank, leading a swift heavy infantry force cutting through enemy ranks, was Aaron, the renowned captain of the Chirein Mercenary Unit.

“Whenever Lady Lunarien reappears on the stage of history, we will surely come to her aid.”

“And until that day, please stay safe.”

That distant past.

After hearing Swoen’s words and withdrawing following their support of Lunarien’s forces, they had returned to the stage of history once more.

* * *