Chapter 55

A few hours ago.

“That’s the Ducal Castle. The size is pretty average, huh?”

I had arrived at the ducal territory ahead of the main force with a small detachment. However, we were at a remote location, not the pre-designated rally point.

“There doesn’t seem to be much of a garrison inside. The discipline is also lax.”

“Isn’t it too relaxed for wartime?”

“Probably because they took all their main forces with them. Without the elites, only the rabble is left to guard the rear.”

If you ask why, the reason is simple.

This time, I put my subordinate in charge as the overall commander.

If I keep holding the command authority forever, the guys below won’t grow, so I handed it over to let them gain experience.

Thanks to that, I no longer needed to be stuck in the rear headquarters, so I decided to take on frontline duties for the first time in a while. To regain my field senses and to help the kids if needed.

I brought a regiment (about 3,000 men) to handle rear disruption and flanking attacks, but…

“If we do this well, we can capture it.”

“Y-you mean to take the castle?”

“Yeah. Pick a few dozen soldiers who are agile and good at fighting, including me. We’ll infiltrate and crack open the gates.”

The enemy’s base we encountered along the way looked too weak. It seemed like it could be captured with just a little effort.

So, I decided to just take it.

“Send a messenger to the main force and let them know. Instead of attacking the noble army, we’re going to take their base.”

“What if they oppose it…?”

“Don’t worry, they won’t. We’ve done this kind of thing many times before. They’ll follow without question if I say so.”

It was an on-the-spot change of plan, but it wasn’t a reckless decision.

Back in the Northern Front days, I personally captured Imperial fortresses until I had more than two stars on my epaulettes. So, I have some confidence.

Have you ever cleared rooms with a torch in your left hand and a sword in your right? If you haven’t, don’t talk. It’s damn tough.

Compared to the hellish warriors who have been through it all, capturing a rear castle like this is a piece of cake.

‘There are plenty of reasons to take the risk.’

And the tactical value of that building was too great to ignore.

If we take it, we can cut off the enemy’s base and supply routes, and even block their retreat.

We might even capture valuable hostages. How can we pass this up? Even if we can’t take it, we should at least give it a stab.

“You have 10 minutes to pick the personnel. We’ll strike before the enemy notices. The rest should be ready to move at any time.”

“Yes!”

* * * * *

And so, the daylight infiltration operation of the castle began abruptly.

Despite the messy background, the development went quite smoothly.

–Clank.

We hooked a rope with a grappling hook on the castle wall to make a makeshift ladder and climbed up one by one.

Since we had scouted the blind spots from below, we hadn’t been detected yet.

‘Two in front, one in the back. Let’s take out the ones in front first.’

While the soldiers were climbing up, I took out the daggers I had prepared. I pulled them from the leather sheaths, gripped them like I was clasping my hands, and threw them!

–Thud.

“Ugh.”

“Huh? Why suddenly–urk!”

“Shh. If you want to live, stay quiet.”

I stabbed the carotid artery for an instant kill. The other guy was caught off guard, so I grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth.

“I’m going to ask you some questions now. Don’t raise your voice and only answer what I ask quietly. Got it?”

After confirming his nod, I slowly removed the hand covering his mouth.

“How many troops are left here?”

“A, a little over a thousand.”

“Where are the Duke and his family staying?”

“In the large mansion over there…”

That’s enough information for now.

“Good job. Rest well.”

“Please spare–”

I gently severed the carotid artery and vocal cords to send him off painlessly. I had no further business with this poor fellow.

Meanwhile, I threw a couple of looted longswords to the subordinates who had climbed up and gave them instructions.

“See that watchtower near the gate? The gate control mechanism is probably installed nearby. Find it and activate it immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Ah, and five of you, come with me.”

The gate control mechanism is the equipment used to open and close the gates of a castle or fortress.

Naturally, it’s heavily guarded due to its importance.

But given the technological limitations, its location is usually predictable.

With my soldiers’ skills, they should be able to secure and control it without much difficulty.

“What should we do?”

“Distraction operation. We need to make sure these guys don’t notice anything suspicious.”

While they’re doing that, we’ll be in charge of diverting the enemy’s attention.

I took out the grenades I had prepared and quickly surveyed the surroundings.

The castle walls had several buildings scattered around, making it hard to tell what each one was for from the outside.

The mansion the sentry mentioned is over there. Is this the barracks?

“Kids, throw them!”

“Yes! Here goes!!”

–Boom!!

I threw a grenade into each of the nearby building windows. After a brief moment as the fuses burned, flames and black smoke erupted one after another.

One of them was particularly large and spectacular.

Something inside must have exploded, causing the building to burn down completely and even spread the fire to the adjacent area.

Was it the gunpowder storage? Well, that’s good. It’ll draw plenty of attention.

“That’s enough. Let’s move elsewhere.”

After that, it was simple. Keep moving around, blowing things up, setting fires, and dealing with anyone who spotted us.

As we were happily causing chaos, we finally heard the sound of the castle gates opening.

“Finally, they’re here.”

“Spread out by companies! 1st and 2nd companies, follow me! 4th company, head west!!”

“Charge before they can respond! Burn everything in sight!”

My subordinates charged in, shouting excitedly.

Firing guns into the air and running wild, they looked like a bunch of barbarians. If they changed their uniforms, they’d be no different from the Mongol army.

“Sir! Where are you?!”

“I’m here, you idiots.”

They happened to be coming our way, so I waved to let them know our location.

“See? I told you we could infiltrate and crack the gates.”

“Yes. I didn’t think it would actually work, though…”

The battalion commander who brought my horse chuckled awkwardly. Come to think of it, he probably hasn’t seen me on an infiltration mission before.

By the time he enlisted, I was already starting to step back from frontline duties.

“Thanks for the compliment. Now let’s go capture the Duke’s family.”

With the entire detachment inside, there was no need to act stealthily anymore. We could move openly, and the enemy wouldn’t be able to stop us.

We occupied all the roads and arrested every noble soldier we saw.

We seized facilities that hadn’t burned down yet and secured weapons and supplies.

We wouldn’t need them in this short-term battle, but supplies are always valuable.

Humming a tune, we moved leisurely until we finally saw the mansion where the Duke’s family was staying.

“Who goes there! You can’t just barge in here–”

“Farewell.”

The guards at the main gate were taken out with a hole in each of their foreheads.

As we entered, the servants screamed at the sight of the intruders, but we ignored them and headed straight for the stairs.

In my experience, the master bedroom is always in the deepest part of a house like this.

The rooms lining the hallway are reception rooms or other miscellaneous spaces, so we just kept moving straight ahead.

“Found it.”

“Eek?!”

This is how you find high-value hostages.

“D-die, you intruder!”

The bodyguards rushed at me with daggers as soon as I opened the door.

They were quite agile, but unfortunately, they were no match for me.

“Ten years too early, rookies!”

–Crack!

First, I smashed one guy’s skull with a punch to the face, killing him instantly. I grabbed the blade of the other guy’s dagger and pulled him towards me.

I held him in front of me as a human shield to block the attacks.

“Guh.”

“Huh? This isn’t right.”

For those who haven’t tried it, blades stuck in a person’s body don’t come out easily. The skin and clothes get tangled, so you need to use some force.

Especially if the person stabbed is moving towards you.

“Whoosh.”

I pushed aside the now hole-ridden shield and lightly jumped up from my spot.

Using the corpse on the floor as a stepping stone, I launched myself into the air and delivered a flying kick with all my waist strength.

The metal-reinforced soles of my boots were more than enough to take down one person.

Then, I pulled out a dagger from my pocket and threw it at the back of another’s neck, taking out two more. Is that it?

“P-please spare me!”

“Then drop your weapon and lie face down on the floor.”

“Yes!!”

There was one guy left, but he quickly figured out the situation and complied. Maybe I’ll let him live.

“Alright, that’s done… Oh, I forgot to introduce myself since we came as guests. Greetings, members of the Barellmont family. I am Karolus von Roytel, Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction.”

The children on the bed looked at me with fearful eyes, huddled together. There was also an old grandmother.

Judging by her age, she’s probably the Duchess and her grandchildren. Their sons and daughters have either married off or been executed by us.

“Duke Barellmont has been caught attempting to raise a large army for rebellion. You are considered potential accomplices and key witnesses, so we will be taking you into custody. If you cooperate, there will be no further bloodshed. In other words…”

I crouched down to the children’s eye level and whispered softly.

“You’re being kidnapped.”

I’ve always wanted to do something like this.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the capital, Rahator.

“So… you’re saying we should select officials through exams? Does that even make sense?”

“Yes. It’s a system proposed by Sir Karolus.”

A reform with an Eastern flavor was about to take place in the kingdom’s bureaucracy.

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