WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 137: The Crumbling Boundary (5)

──────

"Village Chief! Didn't I tell you not to let anyone else in? Refugees or soldiers, no one was supposed to come in until today. You took the money, so if this is how you handle things..."

The Federation soldier grumbled irritably as he stepped outside. Then he froze when countless eyes turned toward him.

"Uh...?"

The scene before him was nothing like what he had expected.

A large crowd had gathered in front of the village chief's house. There were a little over twenty people, all with different appearances. Most were typical refugees, dressed in filthy clothes and wounded in several places.

The real problem came after that.

Several unfamiliar people stood beside four horses. Two looked like knights, while another, dressed in a black cloak, looked like a skilled mercenary. The only woman in white robes was clearly a mage. In fact, the village chief paid no attention to the soldier at all and kept nervously watching the knight.

He's watching the knight's reaction? Not mine?

The Federation soldier blankly followed the old man's gaze and turned his head.

A crest was engraved on the breastplate of the handsome knight with blond hair and green eyes. It was the same crest embroidered on his dark navy cloak.

It was the emblem of a knightly order, familiar enough that he could never fail to recognize it.

"Che, Che, Chevaliers..."

The soldier finally grasped the situation and muttered in a trembling voice.

Kyle silently looked the soldier over from head to toe.

Cavalry.

There was as much difference between an ordinary soldier and a cavalryman as there was between a noble and a commoner. The former could be replenished at any time, expendable tools. The latter were elites who played a vital role in war.

Horsemanship itself was expensive to learn. That was especially true when it came to military maneuvers rather than simple travel. Most cavalrymen who were not knights were either wealthy commoners or people with exceptional talent.

So that was why there were so many horses in the village.

Judging from their miserable condition, they seemed to have suffered a defeat and retreated. Or perhaps they were fleeing an Imperial Army ambush.

"Ha..."

Matis let out a sigh as Kyle reached that thought. Perhaps he had come to the same conclusion, because his expression was complicated.

"It appears you're retreating. Where did you come from?"

"We..."

"Are you from the front lines?"

"Yes, yes..."

"Was a border fortress breached? No, did one fall?"

Matis did not beat around the bush. He asked directly.

Everyone's eyes turned to the wounded Federation soldier again. His lips kept moving as though he had lost the ability to speak.

"Well..."

"Be honest. This is very important information."

Matis did not pressure him. He simply waited.

Under the weight of everyone's attention, the soldier hesitated before finally steeling himself. Just as he was about to open his mouth again.

"What's going on, Captain?"

Another soldier rushed out of the village chief's house. Like the first, he was injured and wore blood-soaked bandages. He must have been resting inside, because his eyes widened when he saw Kyle and the others.

"Uh...? Chevaliers...?"

"We should change locations," Kyle said after looking around.

The other three nodded in agreement.

The conversation looked like it would take a while, and they could not have it outside. Countless suspicious gazes were directed at them from all over the village, not just from the village chief's house. It was hardly the right situation to stand in the middle of the road, exposed to the biting winter wind. There were children among the refugees as well.

"Let's go inside first."

Night had fully fallen. Kyle looked up at the bright full moon, then spoke to the village chief.

"We'll pay you well, so we'd like to stay here for the night."

"......."

"That won't be a problem, will it?"

* * *

The village chief did not dare refuse Kyle's request.

After placing five Gold Coins in the old man's wrinkled palm, the four tied their horses in the backyard of the village chief's house.

The refugees who had come with them split into groups of two or three and entered empty houses. Calling them empty was generous. In truth, they were forcing themselves upon homes where no soldiers were staying. Fortunately, those who had been wary of outsiders saw the refugees' wretched condition and took pity on them. Rather than mistreat them, they cared for them properly.

If anything, they seemed to be treated better than the Federation soldiers.

After the village chief had been more or less forced to leave.

"We are Krosen Fortress's Second Cavalry. My name is Gren, and I am the captain of that unit."

The Federation soldier who had first appeared before Kyle and the others bowed deeply.

Kyle, Matis, Elysia, and Noel sat in the village chief's living room, gathered around a Magic Stone Lamp placed in the middle.

"Krosen Fortress..."

"It is one of the frontline fortresses bordering the Empire. Count Drevan is its lord. He's known for being rather rigid."

Noel spoke as though explaining it to everyone. Gren did not deny it, showing that Noel's words were correct.

"Krosen Fortress's Second Cavalry..."

Matis rubbed his chin.

"Are you stationed in this village to repair and rest?"

"Yes. There are many wounded soldiers, so we intended to make only the minimum repairs before setting out again."

"How many cavalrymen do you have?"

"...Just under sixty."

"That is not many."

"Yes. Our original strength was one hundred and twenty, but..."

"There is only one reason frontline soldiers would flee wounded so far into the interior."

For a moment, all four sets of eyes turned to Kyle.

They all hoped it was not true, but with the circumstances laid out this clearly, it was difficult to deny reality any longer.

"Did Krosen Fortress fall?"

Kyle looked directly at Gren.

Gren lowered his head in shame and answered in a faint voice.

"...Yes. Krosen Fortress fell recently."

"What happened to the count?"

"Count Drevan remained in the fortress until the end. Our Second Cavalry retreated to deliver urgent news."

"Then he is dead."

The Imperial Army did not take hostages. After launching a surprise invasion without even declaring war, they would not have spared the lord of the fortress. The other knights, mages, and soldiers who remained behind would have met the same fate.

"......."

Silence filled the room after Kyle's blunt words.

Elysia, who had been watching, asked Gren a question.

"Did you see any Wyverns before you retreated?"

Her Imperial accent was clearly different from before.

Gren had been unsure about Kyle's manner of speaking, which carried a northern accent, and he now looked at Elysia with startled eyes. Yet Matis, a Chevalier, and Noel, his squire, paid it no mind.

Gren looked back and forth between Elysia and Kyle before answering.

"...Yes. I did."

"So the Celestial Knights moved after all."

Elysia murmured as if confirming her suspicions.

Matis asked, "How many exactly?"

"Three, as I remember."

"Three..."

He closed his eyes as though pondering Gren's answer.

Krosen Fortress was a fairly large castle. Count Drevan, its lord, was also a capable man whose family had guarded the border for generations. Yet such a fortress had fallen in a single day to only three Wyverns.

Matis had not witnessed the war between the Empire and Hailen himself, so he found it difficult to accept.

He had never believed that three wyvern knights could turn the tide of a battlefield. At least, he had not believed it until now. Individual strength had its limits, no matter how powerful someone was. Even if those creatures were Wyverns, the descendants of Dragons with the strongest bloodline.

"They must have neutralized the guards on the walls with a surprise descent, then opened the gates from inside. The cavalry that had been waiting outside would have rushed in afterward."

"How did you...?"

"I've experienced it before."

Kyle's calm answer made the other three, excluding Elysia, look startled.

They had believed he was simply a high-ranking Imperial noble accompanied by a knight serving as his escort. Why did he speak as if he had fought Wyverns himself?

"That is correct."

"......."

"We could do nothing. Soldiers and mercenaries burned to death in the Wyverns' breath attacks. The mages could not block all of the Wyverns' flames with their magic, and the knights' Sword Aura could not pierce the scales of those things while they flew through the air. All we could do was run..."

The question did not last long.

Gren's heartfelt cry brought a solemn mood over the room. His voice was thick with regret and grief. Kyle quietly watched him. He knew better than anyone what helplessness on a battlefield felt like.

"Wyverns and cavalry..."

"......."

"A concentrated strike to open a route."

Kyle took a map of the Federation from the Inventory Pouch inside his clothes and spread it beside the Magic Stone Lamp. He tapped a point along the Empire's border with his finger.

"Krosen Fortress is here, correct?"

"That's right. This entire area is Count Drevan's territory."

After hearing Noel's explanation, Kyle continued.

"If three Wyverns attacked Krosen Fortress, the rest must have struck other border fortresses."

"......."

"Is their purpose to cause confusion? They cannot occupy land if they advance this quickly. Or are they simply trying to reduce the Federation's forces?"

Kyle muttered to himself.

The others stared at the map in silence.

Rapidly taking key locations with Wyverns and cavalry was certainly an effective strategy. It was not well suited to occupying a vast land like the Federation, though. The cities they attacked would make up only a tiny fraction of that broad territory.

If they pushed too deeply, they could be surrounded instead. The lengthening supply lines would also become a problem. If Kyle's guess was right, the Imperial Army was focusing on taking cities and weakening the Federation's forces rather than occupying territory.

The refugees who had traveled with them today were proof.

If the Imperial Army had been steadily seizing fortresses and taking control of the surrounding areas, they would not have survived. The delayed news of the invasion and the refugees' survival both made sense if the Imperial Army was prioritizing speed and only taking key locations.

"We need to head to Marent as early as possible tomorrow morning."

Kyle rolled up the map and put it back inside the Inventory Pouch.

Matis, who had been silent, spoke.

"Gren."

"Yes, Sir Matis."

"Since things have come to this, would you like to travel with us?"

"Travel together...?"

"It is only a day's journey. We plan to meet the lord of Marent when we arrive, and there is no reason not to go together. If those of you who encountered the Wyverns on the front lines come with us, your testimony will carry more weight."

Matis looked toward Kyle and Elysia, seeking their agreement.

Neither objected.

After thinking for a moment, Gren accepted the offer with a nod.

"Understood."

"Good. Then we must leave at daybreak tomorrow. For tonight, we should turn in early..."

"There is one more thing I need to tell you."

The four, other than Gren, had just begun to rise when they stopped.

"Among the three Wyverns that attacked Krosen Fortress, there was one that was especially large. It had black scales and crimson eyes. It was a Wyvern as large as a Dragon..."

Gren muttered with a grimace, as though recalling a terrible memory.

Then he realized the room had become unnaturally quiet and looked up.

All four of them were staring intently at him.

"Ksalak..."

Elysia spoke softly.

"Cassius Mortein moved personally."

Kyle drove the conclusion home.

The atmosphere turned icy in an instant. Gren's face had gone pale. A cold winter wind suddenly shook the closed windows violently.

* * *

"What a disappointment, Chevaliers. You are supposed to be the Federation's finest knightly order, yet you are painful to watch. Compared to the Knights of Ash, you are pitifully lacking."

"Urgh! Cough..."

The bloodstained blade slowly withdrew from the body.

The knight's eyes lost their light, and the knight collapsed helplessly to the ground.

Bright red blood flowed from the puncture wound. The dark navy cloak, shredded and torn to pieces, soaked up the flowing blood and turned purple. The man who had watched the final moments of the Council Knight, now a corpse, turned away without hesitation.

The city, burning with bright red flames in every direction, was filled with the screams of countless people.

Grrr.

The familiar low cry of a Wyvern reached his ears.

The man turned his head slightly and looked at his Wyvern.

It was twice the size of an ordinary Wyvern, with scales as dark as the deepest night. Its blood-red eyes remained fixed on him. Reflected in its vertically slit pupils was a man in black full-body armor. Whenever the wind blew, the crimson cloak draped over his shoulders fluttered faintly.

"Commander."

As the knight and Wyvern looked over the city thrown into chaos by the cavalry, another Wyvern landed on the city wall beneath the blackened night sky.

"Have you captured the lord of the city?"

The knight who descended from the Wyvern bowed crisply.

"Yes. We captured him just now as he tried to flee."

"There is no need to keep him alive. From now on, execute every noble we capture on the spot."

"Understood. More importantly, the Wyverns are very tired. I believe they need to rest for the day tomorrow..."

The knight trailed off as they watched the man's reaction.

The black eyes faintly visible beneath his sharp helmet shifted from the knight toward the city.

"It cannot be helped."

The man gently stroked his Wyvern's head.

The enormous black Wyvern gave a low growl.

A Wyvern's pure speed far surpassed that of a horse, but its stamina always held it back. They had been fighting without rest while taking fortresses and cities alongside the cavalry, so their advance was slower than planned. Even so, it was much faster than an ordinary invasion.

"Prisia..."

The man murmured to himself without realizing it.

As the knight flinched, he considered the Emperor's words.

"What is our next target?"

"...Marent."

"We move the day after tomorrow."

The knight bowed once more, then mounted his Wyvern and flew high into the night sky.

Inside the city, screams still rang out as bright red flames surged. The man watched the sight for a long time.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried