Chapter 47

The Art of War states that “the best strategy is to avoid fighting.”

However, if fighting becomes inevitable, the second best option is to subdue the enemy through diplomacy without mobilizing the army, the next best option is to engage in a battle to annihilate the enemy forces, and the least favorable option is to attack the castle directly.

This is because living peacefully without fighting does not incur unnecessary expenses, while engaging in diplomatic negotiations often requires substantial financial costs as “price.”

Moreover, if a battle is forced upon us, it leads to enormous waste in resources, money, and the lives of soldiers, and even if a “general” does not make blunders in a siege but deploys more than three times the soldiers, there are still cases where we can suffer tremendous casualties and face defeat…

Right now, I feel that truth in my bones.

Although Count Helzman’s castle is much lower compared to modern skyscrapers or apartments, even the lowest castle walls of the gates are still 2 to 3 times taller than I am.

Moreover, the journey to approach the castle walls is perilous.

As I get within about 500 meters of the walls, stones from catapults fly towards me, ready to crush my head, and when I get within 100 meters, enemy arrows rain down like a storm.

If I barely manage to reach the castle walls after overcoming those hurdles, I must cross a deep moat while being shot at before attempting to climb up the walls, where I’ll face a barrage of arrows from the front and both sides.

It would only be about one in two soldiers that would manage to reach the walls after such a perilous charge.

And considering the attrition rate until we can send soldiers over the walls, even if we are currently twice the number of enemies…

The actual number of soldiers who can engage in the fighting inside the castle will decrease compared to the enemy’s.

In other words, if we go into a siege, we will inevitably suffer defeat.

To prevent that, as soon as I reached the vicinity of the walls, I ordered Balt and the commanders.

“Balt, Helmut, and Weiss, gather your soldiers to collect nearby trees and construct makeshift fortifications to besiege the castle walls. The borders of the main camp will be guarded by the knights, and their squires should also participate in the fortification efforts under Balt’s orders.”

One knight, seemingly displeased at having even the squires, who usually do not engage in such labor, to participate, raised his hand to speak.

“I am Knight Obel. While I can understand standing guard, my squires include those of noble birth. No matter how much a command comes from Your Excellency, we cannot have them wielding shovels and pickaxes like common soldiers. Please reconsider.”

Is he just as foolish as Schwabin, lost in chivalric literature and oblivious to reality?

We are in enemy territory, especially in the dangerous situation of blatantly conducting a siege near the “enemy’s capital”…

And in such a scenario, he dares to demand that the noble squires be excluded from the labor?

If it were up to me, I would want to carry logs and participate in the construction myself…

Thus, I spoke back without hiding my displeasure.

“Lord Obel, although Balt does not ride, he is already a superior knight overseeing several villages, each with squires like yourself. Helmut and Weiss are knights as well, and the officers are nobles just like your squires. What are you saying? In such an urgent situation, you ask to exclude your squires from the labor? Are you in your right mind?”

After hearing my reprimand, Obel stood speechless, trembling at the thought of a knight of supposedly higher status participating in the labor.

“Currently, Helzman is leading his entire army to fight Count Nante, but we do not know when the enemy reinforcements will arrive. It may take a month or two for them to arrive, but if reinforcements arrive when we have not constructed fortifications, we will be caught in a double siege unprepared! Move quickly!!”

Once I finished my command, Balt, Helmut, and Weiss bowed their heads to me and quickly left the command tent.

After they left, Frost looked at me and asked.

“Your Excellency, but if we mobilize all the soldiers to build the fortifications, won’t our main camp be left vulnerable? Even though knights are strong, there will only be 50 of us. If the city garrison of 1500 attacks…”

“That won’t happen. In fact, I would prefer if they did attack. Even if the enemy has 1500 soldiers, if they come out, ‘me and my 50 knights’ can hold them off long enough to win. Let’s see, it takes about 1 or 2 hours to come from the forest, is it too much to hold out that long?”

“….”

Seeing Frost unable to respond, I raised my right index finger and shook it side to side before continuing.

“I guarantee you, they will not have the mind to do so. Because…”

**

Soon, upon hearing news that Croilet Count’s army was about to invade Nante Count’s territory, all the residents of Helzman City entered a state of extreme tension.

Thus, unlike usual, the city guards stood in precise formations on alert, and the normally open castle gates were firmly locked.

In front of the locked castle gates stood a long line of serfs from villages that had their food confiscated by Count Croilet.

“I am Heintz, the village head of Sand, and everyone behind me is serfs from our village. Please, guard, open the gate. We will die like this.”

The guard sternly responded to the village head’s desperate plea.

“Then, what proof do you have that you are the village head of Sand? A village head should have something to prove their identity, no?”

“One moment, please.”

The village head took a thin iron plate from the inner pocket of his clothes and showed it to the guard.

Seeing that plate, the guard signaled to the guards above the gates to open the door.

Before long, the castle gates opened, swinging wide.

Then, the guard stepped to the side and looked at the village head, saying:

“Alright, I have confirmed you are Heintz, the village head of Sand. You and your village people may enter the castle immediately. Afterwards, you must follow the orders of Sir Lance, the commander of the castle’s garrison, and be careful as disobeying his orders may lead to punishment under martial law.”

The village head bowed low at being allowed in, as if bending over to keep a book from closing.

“Thank you, my lord.”

Soon after, the village residents hurriedly began to pull their carts inside.

Standing in the midst of that line, I too, in accordance with the command of my Excellency, clung to the bottom of a high cart and entered along with them.

After entering through the castle gate, I hung onto the cart for about ten minutes, feeling anxious about being discovered, but the chaos within the “narrow castle” filled with 1500 soldiers and numerous citizens and serfs from surrounding villages seemed to obscure my presence.

Fortunately, I managed to sneak into this castle without getting caught.

Now, I need to extract and record information from this castle as quickly as possible and then find a way to escape.

**

A day after entering the castle, the drawbridge that had been raised outside the moat was finally lowered.

As the drawbridge went down, a loud voice from the watchtower outside the castle could be heard.

“The eagle emblem holding a lily is visible!! Damn it, Count Croilet’s army can be seen. Their numbers are approximately 3000!! About 3000!!”

At that announcement, the low-ranking soldiers inside the castle started to panic.

“Damn, are we going to die like this?”

“Shut up, want to get beheaded for disrupting military discipline? Don’t you remember how Hans got beheaded a few days ago just for talking like that?”

“Shit…”

As the soldiers began to stir, their unease inevitably spread to the refugees and citizens.

“…. At this point, wouldn’t it be better to surrender? Count Croilet hasn’t done any plundering. If we surrender, we might be spared our lives.”

“Surviving is the most important…”

“Right, I need to survive. I want to marry Aria… Aria from the neighboring village, she’s got such a big chest… I won’t die until I touch that girl…”

“Wake up, Hans. Is this the time to be saying that? We might die in here anytime.”

I quickly recorded in my document about the situation in the castle that “the morale of the soldiers and citizens has decreased.”

If I return alive, my Excellency will reward me upon reading this record, so I must write as detailed as I can…

Who knows, perhaps if I complete my mission well, I might even get a promotion?

A little later, Commander Lance and a few knights began to draw their swords and started to shout.

“Anyone who incites the citizens from now on will be killed! If you don’t want to die, keep your mouth shut! And do not worry!! His Excellency Count Helzman will return victorious after defeating the pigs of Nante.”

As those words spread among the citizens, they ceased their actions of spreading ‘unease’ to protect their own lives.

Instead, everyone began to internalize their anxieties without saying a word.

“Alright, I will now distribute food. First, I will pass out to the soldiers, and then I will distribute to you, so please wait a moment.”

After those words ended, about two hours later, food was distributed to the residents of the village that I had sneaked into.

What was provided was merely a half bowl of gruel mixed slightly with barley and wheat, and it’s barely been a few days since the defense started, yet that’s all they could supply..

They may rise up if this continues.

So, I subtly probed Matt, who was eating beside me.

“Hey, Matt. Do you think we can hold out eating just this? Even though we’re not heading out for battle, if there’s work on the castle wall, we have to go out too.”

“I don’t know, Short. Just be quiet and eat. I’m starving…”

“I should be able to say at least one word… Hah, I wish the siege would be lifted soon.”

Hearing my words, Matt let out a sigh and whispered to me.

“It’s a miracle we’re not all dead yet. Because of that, we don’t know when the food will run out…”

“Exactly.”

Even this morning, while approaching people in another village, I saw that their reaction was the same, and upon noticing the current sentiment of the people, it was that ‘this tiny castle is filled with over 9000 people without food,’

The prevailing thought is that we will lose due to starvation.

Then… it might be necessary to gauge what the commanders are thinking now.

“Hey, Matt.”

“What?”

“Eat my gruel. I can’t eat today, my stomach hurts too much.”

Upon hearing that, Matt’s eyes sparkled, and he quickly took my bowl and started to gulp down the gruel like drinking water.

Taking that moment, I stabbed Matt’s heart with the dagger I had hidden in my clothes.

“Ugh… you bastard…”

Following that, to prevent Matt from screaming for help, I slit his throat, silencing him before I left.

And then, foolishly, I spotted a squire in shiny armor patrolling alone, killed him, and stole his armor to wear.

Next, I calmly approached the enemy headquarters, pretending nothing was wrong, and reported to Lance, the commander of the garrison.

“Sir Lance, I have just returned.”