WeTried Translations
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 192: The King's Return (1)
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The flowing river was icy cold. After squatting there for some time, Kyle straightened his stiff knees and looked behind him.
Not far away stood a camp lined with tents. White smoke rose here and there as people prepared an early dinner. Noisy voices drifted all the way over, perhaps from soldiers resting their weary bodies and exchanging idle chatter.
They were all troops from houses of royal loyalists and a handful of neutral lords who had gathered in response to Kyle's muster order.
A little over 3,000 soldiers.
Far more than the 2,000 he had expected.
The north has not forgotten the Baldrick Royal Family.
That was what Kyle thought without realizing it when he first saw the gathered forces.
House Haska, Lunbern, Sigreta, Wolfran, and even the smaller lords. Some neutral lords had joined them as well. That was how important it was to have a member of the Baldrick Royal Family as their central figure. If he included the other lords still hesitating to make a decision, there would be far more potential allies.
Not a bad start. The important thing is to instill confidence.
After silently watching the camp for a while, Kyle squatted down again and washed his face. The cold water against his skin cleared his muddled mind at once.
This view will change by summer, just as Baldheim did.
Where will I be by then? In Hailen, or the Empire?
Kyle plunged his right hand deep into the water. The current rushed swiftly between his fingers. There was no longer a white ring on his wavering hand beneath the surface. The curse lodged inside him was gone as well. It felt as though everything had returned to square one.
Izra's Thorn had disappeared. Prisia's mana had filled the void it left behind. At times, Kyle felt a strangely powerful sense of omnipotence. It was a change brought on by glimpsing small fragments of the future through Prisia's Authority.
I cannot return to the past. But I can reclaim at least some of what I lost.
If I can restore Hailen, work with the Federation and the South, and kill Cassius Mortein with these hands.
“Commander.”
Footsteps approached as Kyle lost himself in thought. He withdrew his hand from the water and rose.
“Harald.”
“Everyone has gathered in the command tent, as you ordered. Only you remain, Commander.”
“I see.”
Count Haska. The man, three years older than Kyle, who had once been the eldest son of a count's household, had the same face Kyle remembered. His clothes were different, however. So was his bearing. He was no longer the carefree young master of a noble house. Only his worries and wrinkles had deepened.
“What were you doing out here?”
“Clearing my head for a moment.”
“...”
“I was thinking about the past.”
Kyle and Harald looked at the river before them almost at the same time. It was not as large as the Voldra River, but the stream was sizable enough, its waters dyed reddish beneath the early sunset.
“You may speak casually in private.”
Kyle repeated the words he had once said to Rudolf.
“Commander.”
“Or do you still resent me?”
“...”
“Cecilia died protecting me. The same is true of the others. Even now, I cannot understand whether all their lives were worth this one life of mine.”
He regretted it every time. He blamed himself every time. Even now, it was no different except in degree. The conclusion he reached was the same as well.
“So I intend to keep living, even if I have to force myself to. I won't stop until the Empire falls and the Emperor is dead.”
“...”
“That is the least I can do. This life does not belong to me alone. Perhaps it is even more so because I have died once. I don't care if it is self-indulgence, so long as the Empire falls and Hailen can return to what it once was.”
Kyle picked up a flat pebble from the riverbank. When he tossed it lightly, the stone skipped tap, tap, tap, tap over the surface before falling into the river around its middle.
“...I won't deny it.”
Harald, who had remained silent, finally spoke.
“But it is also true that I was proud of Cecilia. Joining the Knights of Ash and choosing to remain and fight until the end were Cecilia's choices.”
“...”
“And any resentment faded long ago. More than that, I'm glad. When I received your letter, when we met again at the gathering point. Do you know how happy I was?”
“Harald...”
“It was the same back then, Kyle. Whenever you came to visit our house.”
Harald's tone changed. Kyle turned toward him. Harald wore a smile as familiar as his voice.
“You always came with Cecilia.”
“That was because she begged me every year before summer ended, saying we should go to your house together.”
“Do you remember how the three of us went out every morning and came back at sunset?”
“You got scolded every day. They said the heir of the house had long since come of age, so why was he acting so frivolously?”
Harald's lips curled upward without a sound before he could no longer hold it in and burst into hearty laughter.
“That happened. Still, it was fun. I don't usually enjoy hunting, but whenever I went out with you two, I enjoyed it so much.”
“Me too.”
“For someone who says that, didn't you fail to catch even a rabbit properly?”
“That was only the first few times. Once I properly learned Wind Magic, I never missed. Around then, I even killed a Troll by myself.”
“It seems Cecilia taught you well.”
For a moment, Kyle was at a loss for words. It was always like that whenever memories of Cecilia came to mind.
“Kyle.”
Harald continued.
“After you disappeared, our house gradually declined.”
“...”
“We fought at the front, after all. It was only natural that our losses would be severe. Many of our elite soldiers died or were crippled. What remained of our wealth dried up, then froze solid.”
Most loyalist houses had suffered the same fate. During the Northern War, those who fought at the very front had been destroyed or suffered losses nearly as severe. Only the neutral lords who withdrew late and the traitors who had never fought properly retained their strength. That was the background behind Duke Ehrenfeld's rise to real power.
“Even so, I never once considered betrayal.”
Even House Haska, famous for generations as one of the north's most prestigious houses, was no exception.
“The same is true now.”
Yet they would not betray him. Kyle slowly turned his head. Harald looked back at Kyle as well. Their eyes met in the sunset, retaining at least a trace of their former selves despite the passage of time.
“Let's go, Commander.”
Harald stepped aside, returning to his earlier formal tone.
“Everyone will be waiting.”
Kyle quietly watched Harald. The sun above them was slowly sinking. He gave a small nod and headed with Harald toward the center of the camp, where the command tent stood.
* * *
The tent where the lords and commanders had gathered was quiet.
The heads of each house, the commanders leading the soldiers, and the Ash Knights.
They were all waiting for someone. No one even held a proper conversation. Now and then, a few could not hide their interest and curiosity as they stole glances at the Ash Knights. But they did nothing more.
The Ash Knights did not react much either. A thick silence hung in the tent when two sets of footsteps approached from nearby. Slow but measured. Soon, the tent flap hanging down was lifted.
“Commander.”
“You have come.”
“We have been waiting.”
The lords and knights rose from their seats at once upon seeing Kyle and Harald. Kyle motioned for them to sit, then crossed the tent to the seat of honor, where he could see everyone seated on either side.
“Thank you all sincerely for gathering at such an unfavorable time.”
Once the murmuring had died down somewhat, Kyle spoke. Every gaze in the tent turned toward him.
“You have heard the general situation.”
Kyle swept his eyes over those assembled.
“I would like to catch up at leisure in celebration of our reunion, but unfortunately, it seems we do not have that luxury.”
“...”
“I will not drag this out. There is only one reason I issued the muster order. To punish Duke Ehrenfeld, the traitor who sold Hailen to the Empire, and to reclaim Baldheim, the capital he has occupied. If anyone has something to say, speak. You may speak freely.”
Silence fell the moment Kyle finished. But shortly afterward, those who had remained silent began raising their hands one by one.
“Commander, may I speak?”
Count Lunbern raised his hand. He was a loyalist lord no less devoted than House Haska. At Kyle's nod, he rose and looked around.
“I do not know whether you are aware, but the current situation in the north is not good. It is even worse for those of us here. For example...”
“Is it the matter of troops?”
Kyle asked. Count Lunbern did not deny it.
“Yes. We have 3,000 soldiers. More than expected have gathered, but it is still far too few to contend with Duke Ehrenfeld's forces. He currently has 3,000 private soldiers stationed in Baldheim alone as a garrison. And there are the traitorous houses scattered across the region as well.”
A contest of strength or a long war of attrition would not do. The gap between Duke Ehrenfeld and Kyle was that great. At least, that was how it appeared to others.
“Anything else?”
Kyle looked away from Count Lunbern and turned to the others. As though they had been waiting, they raised their voices passionately.
“Spring is approaching, but the winter chill has not completely passed. The farther north we go, the slower our march will become.”
“The enemy is not limited to the traitorous houses. I have heard Duke Ehrenfeld has been reaching out to the neutral lords as well. It would not be strange for them to turn to his side at any time.”
“The greatest problem is food. We have been given some relief thanks to the supply wagons you brought, Commander, but they will not last long. At most, we have only gained another week.”
“Is there truly a need to attack the capital? We do not have enough men for a siege. Instead...”
Loud voices flew back and forth throughout the tent. They looked ready to debate what should be done in their unfavorable position. Kyle waited briefly before slamming his hand against the table.
Bang!
“Enough.”
The chaotic tent fell silent in an instant. Kyle examined each of those seated around him and spoke in a low voice.
“Have you all finished?”
There was no answer. Kyle spoke again.
“We advance as planned. Ignore the weather. We will secure provisions as we move north.”
“Will you requisition supplies from the locals?”
“No. Indiscriminate plundering is forbidden. We are not an invading army from a foreign power. We will win over the neutral lords along the road to Baldheim.”
Supplies were always the problem for an army. Kyle, who had endured the Northern War four years ago, knew that fact all too well.
They could travel along the rivers for water, but there was no answer for the enormous amount of food consumed each day other than local requisition. This was even more true because the north was not as wealthy as the South. But Kyle had no intention of repeating the mistakes of the past. He intended to use legitimacy to draw the neutral lords to his side.
There were several great lords with vast plains in the central and southern parts of the north. If he could receive their help, food would not be a problem. After that, he intended to march north as quickly as possible and take Duke Ehrenfeld's head. By then, their forces would be far greater than they were now.
“Commander, forgive me, but is there any need to insist on the capital?”
That was when a lord who had been listening quietly raised a question.
“Duke Ehrenfeld will not come out. Baldheim's walls are too high. Even more so if he knows what we are planning.”
“...”
“We do not need to force ourselves into an unfavorable battle. Instead, why not attack the traitorous houses on the outskirts? We can defeat them one by one before they gather together. If we slowly cut off his arms and legs like that, even Duke Ehrenfeld will have no choice...”
“No.”
Kyle cut him off sharply. The lords who had quietly nodded, perhaps thinking it a sound strategy, closed their mouths.
“That would be carving away the flesh of the north.”
Kyle spoke clearly to them. The traitorous lords might deserve it, but the soldiers under their command were not at fault.
“Remember this. Our true enemy is the Empire. We cannot collapse before we have even properly begun.”
“Then...”
“It is foolish to throw away the future in pursuit of an easy victory.”
“Then do you have another way?”
Kyle looked at Harald, who sat directly across from him. Everyone's attention shifted to Harald.
“Do we not have allies in the capital?”
At Kyle's words, Harald nodded as though in agreement.
“The Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim. And more than 100,000 citizens.”
Kyle's black eyes gleamed as he looked down at the map spread across the table.
“We will not be the ones to open Baldheim's gates. The countless people who cannot forget Hailen will be the key to this.”
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