WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Prince of Rage ◈
Chapter 30
──────
The morning sun shone brightly, as though it had been given new life. As if it had died and risen again.
Normally, the people of Belfort would have drawn strength from that vigorous energy and begun their day. Today was different.
The armory had been opened, and the men hurried about. Women and children lit fires in the road and set pots over them, as though preparing a field meal.
Long streaks of blood ran across that same road from where Wildmen corpses had been carried away.
“Bring every arrow we have!”
“Then what are we supposed to defend the watchposts with?”
“Shut up and bring them when I tell you to! It’s the Patrol Officer’s order!”
The deputy outpost commander pushed the able-bodied men harder than ever. It was the first time they had ever mounted a large-scale counterattack.
What Valerie had shown them was still vivid in his mind. He had wondered why someone so young had been sent as patrol commissioner, but it turned out he was the recently famed Salt Prince.
If it was that man, if it was him, then surely he could put an end to the anxious days brought on by the Wildmen.
The able-bodied men of the outpost village diligently carried arrows, shields, and other supplies to Valerie.
Meanwhile, Valerie watched the soldiers bring supplies while mounted near the northern forest, and honestly, it was driving him mad. They were too slow.
Once an order was given, everything should have moved like clockwork. Belfort’s soldiers did not work that way.
They ran all that distance just to confirm an order again, then kept coming back to ask what to do with this or that.
So, even when they sweated and ran while carrying heavy equipment, most of it ended up being wasted effort.
They would be entering the forest, so they needed shields, close-combat weapons, bows, and crossbows rather than long spears. Yet they brought this and that, carried water jars around, and made a spectacle of themselves.
Valerie could have ridden over himself, but resting the horse before a major battle was important, so he could not.
Still, looking at it another way, that was simply Valerie expecting too much. Those who had guarded the gate while planting barley could not be expected to match elite soldiers proud of an undefeated record.
“You useless fools! I said bring canteens! Canteens! Why are you bringing water jars?”
Outpost Commander Edric, apparently just as frustrated, berated the young men who were both his soldiers and his neighbors.
“Th-there can never be too many...”
“You crazy bastard! Are you planning to carry that into the forest? Think! Use your head!”
“It is their first time. Shouting will not solve anything, so calm yourself, Commander. Letting your emotions run high will not help in battle.”
Unable to watch any longer, Valerie spoke.
“M-my apologies.”
“Assign experienced soldiers as noncommissioned officers. This seems to be happening because only you and the deputy commander are trying to command everyone.”
“Yes, sir.”
Edric’s face reddened in embarrassment. It was not often that a patrol commissioner had to step in and handle matters personally. Things had gone wrong from the very start, and he felt ashamed.
“By the way, those bastards are still standing there, watching us instead of running away.”
One of the soldiers holding a bow spoke.
Valerie turned his head. Far away, near the horizon, Wildmen stood blankly and watched them.
“It is fine. They are standing around uselessly because they do not know what they should do either.”
The soldiers of Belfort were in disarray, and the Wildmen were no better. They had poured everything into today’s diversionary attack. They had no plan for what came after failure.
A proper army had established procedures for defeat: retreating in order, regrouping, contacting the main force. The Wildmen had nothing of the sort.
They did not even realize that their own base was under threat. To them, it merely looked as though Belfort’s soldiers were running back and forth for some reason.
The supply time had exceeded Valerie’s expectations, but that did not mean the chance for a counterattack had passed.
By the time they had roughly finished supplying themselves, there were around ten men, including Outpost Commander Edric. Normally, that would have been nowhere near enough for battle, but the enemy was in disarray now.
“Listen carefully. First, we rescue the hostages. Second, we set fire to the enemy base. Follow that order strictly. If you start with the fire, the hostages may be hurt. Do not spread out. Advance together.”
Everyone nodded with serious expressions at Valerie’s instructions. Then, with someone familiar with the terrain in front, they entered the forest.
The forest was quiet, as though even the birds were holding their breath.
There was something resembling a path through the forest. It was wider than a trail, likely formed naturally as the Wildmen came and went.
Normally, they would not have dared come near this place. But because Valerie was there, the soldiers’ hearts pounded, yet they felt confident.
And there were the people beside them. They were brothers, or neighbors who had grown up together since childhood. Some were fathers with children. All of them were someone’s older brother or son.
They entered the forest in the morning and did not reach the Wildmen’s base until around noon. There were no guards at all, allowing them to approach closely without being noticed.
The Wildmen had gathered every last person capable of fighting for their attack, leaving not even guards behind.
A small stream curved around the Wildmen’s village, while a crude fence, not even a palisade, surrounded its outskirts.
The Wildmen who had returned after being thoroughly beaten in battle were loudly shouting things no one could understand. They never imagined that their base might be attacked.
Valerie calmly surveyed the enemy’s position with sharp eyes, then gave his orders.
“Go to the right and loose your arrows. I will hide here, then charge in as soon as the gate opens. Commander, you and the soldiers enter then. After that, rescue the hostages, set the fire, and withdraw quickly.”
It was not quite a castle gate, but the main entrance was barred from within, making a direct approach difficult.
Edric nodded. He immediately led the soldiers quietly around to the right side of the village.
Valerie hid among the trees and brush, then gave a hand signal to Edric, who was watching him. Edric then gave the archers their orders.
“When I tell you to fire the first volley, fire together. After that, shoot at anything you see.”
The four archers nodded.
“Nock arrows.”
Edric spoke in a tense voice. The archers set arrows to their bowstrings.
“Draw.”
At his command, the archers drew their strings together. Creak.
“Aim... Fire.”
Four arrows left their strings at once. Three struck the ground or flew elsewhere, but one hit a Wildman squarely in the neck. If they had this sort of accuracy on their first volley, anything was possible today.
Thud. Thud. Thunk.
“Ghk.”
As one Wildman fell with an arrow in the neck, the others nearby jolted in surprise and turned toward where the arrows had come from.
Then, pointing this way and shouting like monkeys or goblins, they all grabbed weapons and poured outside.
“Uraaaaaah!”
Naturally, the entrance opened as they came out, and Valerie shot forward like an arrow.
Thududududududududud!
The sudden sound of hoofbeats startled the Wildmen, but it was already too late.
The heavy warhorse charged like a chariot, trampling and smashing through the Wildmen in the narrow path.
Thud! Crash! Thump! Crash!
More than ten were sent flying in an instant, and Valerie stormed into the village like lightning. He pulled the reins and brought his horse to a sudden stop. Snow reared high on his forelegs and gave a resounding neigh.
Neigh!
The Wildmen inside stared wide-eyed, unable to react.
As they fell into confusion, Valerie drove his horse through them once more, then drew his sword and cut down Wildmen. The Wildmen panicked and scattered in all directions.
“Now!”
Edric shouted. He led six close-combat soldiers swiftly into the Wildmen’s village. The Wildmen lying around the entrance had either lost consciousness or were groaning and twitching.
“The hostages are over there!”
Valerie continued riding around to threaten the enemy as he shouted.
Just as he said, the hostages were locked like animals inside wooden cages.
“Brother!”
One of the captives cried out.
At that word, one soldier’s head snapped around. When he saw the condition of his younger sister, his eyes went wild.
“You fucking bastards!”
“Hey!”
Edric hurriedly grabbed the soldier by the back of the neck and slapped him across the face without mercy.
Smack!
“Get a hold of yourself!”
Then Edric personally took a hand axe to the bar of the cage holding the captives. The bar was made of solid wood, and after several strikes, it broke apart with a crack!
“Get out, quickly! There’s no time! You, get a hold of yourself!”
There were quite a few people inside, apparently not only those taken from Belfort. Most were women or children. One woman emerged carrying a newborn baby.
Meanwhile, Valerie dismounted. The space was too narrow to freely ride his horse around.
Most of the enemy had lost their nerve and fled, but some hid between the huts, waiting for an opportunity. Valerie approached them and swung his sword.
The Wildmen tried to fight back with thick clubs, but it was hopeless. Arms and heads were severed and fell to the ground.
They screamed, and their screams carried through the air, stirring terror in their allies.
“Aaaargh!”
Some even approached Snow. But Snow had once been called a man-eater, and he became even more savage, kicking with his hind legs, crushing heads with his forehooves, and tearing faces apart with his teeth.
In the meantime, Edric and the soldiers quickly escaped the Wildmen’s village while protecting the hostages.
“Patrol Commissioner!”
Edric shouted.
They needed to set fire to the village before leaving, but perhaps seven men including Edric were not enough, or perhaps protecting the hostages was already difficult enough that they had been unable to do so.
“Go on ahead!”
Valerie shouted.
Valerie quickly looked around and saw a bonfire burning inside one of the huts. He charged inside without hesitation, only to see something he should not have seen.
Human bones were piled in one corner.
Even from the skulls alone, it was clear they did not belong to animals. Some still had flesh clinging to them.
His head spun for a brief moment, but he quickly grabbed a piece of firewood and set fires here and there.
Most of the huts had been made from woven brushwood, so they caught fire remarkably well.
Once one hut began burning in earnest, the flames spread to the others in an instant. Acrid smoke rose into the air.
Valerie immediately mounted Snow again and rode out of the village.
“Let’s go!”
Clopclopclopclop!
When Valerie emerged from the village, the soldiers were finishing off the Wildmen lying on the ground. The archers kept shooting at the fleeing Wildmen until the end.
“Regroup! Regroup!”
Valerie shouted from horseback, raising his sword. In the midst of the chaos, everyone turned toward him and hurried over.
“We have completed the objective. We return now. Do not take unnecessary action.”
His decisions were truly clean and decisive. When attacking, he entered first. When withdrawing, he guarded the rear.
Edric and the soldiers alike felt loyalty toward Valerie swelling within them before they even realized it. If there was a true hero, it was this man. They were certain of it.
Whatever their swelling feelings, Valerie coldly surveyed the surroundings.
There were around twenty rescued people. Once they could finally breathe easy, they hugged each other and wept. There were families among them, and neighbors too.
“It will not be too late for joyful reunions after we return to the outpost. Commander, lead the way. Close-combat soldiers, guard the flanks. Archers, follow from the rear. I will go ahead and check for possible ambushes.”
There was no reason to expect one, but Valerie remained thorough to the end. Perhaps it was because he was so emotionless. He truly seemed like a machine.
Naturally, there was no ambush. By the time they left the forest, the sun was beginning to set.
Then one soldier, apparently unable to contain his bursting joy, suddenly threw aside his weapon and helmet. He ran through the barley fields dyed red by the sunset and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“We’re back! Everyone’s back!”
The soldiers guarding the edge of the barley field turned in surprise. Soon, people poured out from the outpost as well. The rescued hostages ran across the barley fields.
“Mother!”
“Fatherrr!”
The people from the outpost ran over in shock.
People died in childbirth, died as infants, died of illness, died in war. In a world where people died in so many different ways, they lived stubbornly while pretending not to care even when they lost family. Still, how could they not miss them?
They met in the barley field, embraced tightly, sank to the ground, and wept.
Valerie watched them and felt an inexplicable sense of isolation. So he quietly turned his horse toward the direction opposite the setting sun. As though he did not wish to see it set.
After he had gone some distance, someone called after him and came running.
“Patrol Commissioner! Patrol Commissionerrr!”
When Valerie turned, it was Outpost Commander Edric. Edric ran to where Valerie was, then spoke between gasps.
“Where are you going? We, we owe you a great debt. I am sorry that we could not properly receive you yesterday. Today, we will slaughter a cow and serve you. Please, stay with us.”
Valerie shook his head.
“As I said, I cannot stay long. I have completed what I had to do as patrol commissioner, so I will be going. For the time being, pay closer attention to guarding the outpost and search the surrounding area thoroughly. There are remnants left behind. If you do that for a while, they will lose their base and naturally scatter like grains of sand in the wind. I pray that peace comes to Belfort.”
Valerie gave a slight bow of his head and turned his horse again.
“What? B-but...”
From Edric’s perspective, he could not understand how a person could be like this. Should he not have been proud after accomplishing so much? At the very least, he could have demanded money.
Yet Valerie did none of that. He merely continued east alone, even though the sun had already set.
His back even looked lonely, and Edric stood there for a long time, watching him like a dazed man.
Why did someone who seemed such a shining hero look so solitary? What kind of story could he possibly have...
Chapter 8: Prince of the Barley Field. End.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
