WeTried Translations
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 197: The King's Return (6)
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The next day came. After spending the night at House Rosenberg’s main castle, Kyle began preparing for the campaign as soon as dawn broke.
Thanks to their strict discipline, it did not take long to gather the city’s soldiers again. Their numbers had grown as well. With the Duke’s full support, they had more than enough provisions, and their force had swelled to over six thousand. Every one of them was a veteran who had survived the Northern War.
That was not the only change. A new figure had joined the leadership. It was Duke Rosenberg himself. He did not merely wish to provide troops and supplies. He wanted to take part in reclaiming Baldheim himself. Kyle could not help questioning it.
“What about your castle?”
“I left it to my heir.”
“You are not young. Wouldn’t it be better to remain at the castle and prepare for anything that might happen?”
“If you die, I and my house are finished anyway. That became inevitable the moment I gave you troops and supplies. Wouldn’t it be better to watch at your side and see how far you can go?”
Duke Rosenberg’s resolve was firm. Kyle did not stop him from insisting on coming along.
There had been three thousand when they first met the lords among the royal loyalists after leaving Falken Fortress. After continuing north and winning Duke Rosenberg’s cooperation, their number had become six thousand. Having rested well for a night, the soldiers silently followed the forced march that resumed without a single complaint.
It was around then that unexpected news arrived.
A letter from the Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim, delivered from the capital, Baldheim.
It was a note unmistakably written in Oswin’s hand.
After reading the letter brought by the messenger hawk, Kyle folded the paper with an expressionless face. At a glance, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking or feeling.
Contrary to the lords’ expectation that it might delay the march, Kyle issued no special orders. The army of six thousand continued moving without rest. Before they knew it, they had left Duke Rosenberg’s seemingly endless territory behind.
Baldheim, which they had longed for so dearly, was right before them.
* * *
“Damn it. Are we really going to end up with a civil war?”
A soldier standing guard atop the towering walls of Baldheim, Hailen’s capital, muttered with a grim expression. The sheer stone walls rose more than twenty meters high.
“No way.”
“You never know. Who can say? For months now, Duke Ehrenfeld has been gathering every scrap of food in the north. Why would he do that if not for war?”
“I heard the loyalist lords have risen up.”
“The loyalist lords? Count Haska? They haven’t said a word since the Northern War ended. Why now?”
“They say the Commander has appeared. The Commander of the Knights of Ash. They say not only the loyalist lords, but even the neutral lords of the central region are joining him.”
“Lord Kyle Baldrick...?”
The soldiers whispered among themselves.
Baldheim was currently under a complete lockdown by Duke Ehrenfeld.
Inspections had become as strict as they would be in wartime, and messenger hawks were kept under constant watch, barred even from taking to the sky. Yet rumors of events in the north spread swiftly, as though they had legs of their own.
As if someone were spreading them deliberately.
“This is driving me crazy. We’re not even Duke Ehrenfeld’s private army...”
“...”
“They aren’t going to accuse us of treason, are they?”
At one soldier’s lament, the others lowered their gazes.
Duke Ehrenfeld’s three thousand troops were not the only force stationed in Baldheim. There were also soldiers who had guarded the capital before. They were men who had survived even the Celestial Knights’ aerial assault during the war with the Empire.
The situation inside the city was not good either. The people had already grown weary of Duke Ehrenfeld, who had betrayed the royal family, and of the excessive tribute payments. With troubling rumors now circulating as well, public sentiment had naturally become grim.
“The weather is getting warmer, but here we are, waiting for an execution date that hasn’t even been set, not knowing when we’ll die...”
Someone looked toward the heart of Baldheim with resigned eyes.
Unlike before the war, the city was cold and dying, stripped of all liveliness.
Once the gates were sealed, merchants were the first to stop coming. When the merchants disappeared, people vanished from the shopping streets. Soldiers patrolled the streets regularly, fostering an atmosphere of fear.
The only thing unchanged was the Caldra Mountains, faintly visible in the distance.
“What do you think the Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim is doing right now?”
“What?”
“Even before the Northern War began, he was the one who truly governed the place. Life was better then. We got paid properly, and the city was full of life. The prince and the Knights of Ash, too...”
Unable to hold it in any longer, someone lowered his head, his voice filled with regret.
The other nearby soldiers were startled.
“They say he’s in the inner castle, but no one has actually seen him. Could it be...”
“Hey, watch what you say. Don’t you remember the guy they took away last time?”
“I do. I know, but...”
“Then shut your mouth. Do you want to get us dragged off too?”
The alarmed soldiers glanced around and scolded the man with his head lowered. Yet he did not seem to care, like someone who had already thrown everything away.
“If you think about it, those soldiers might not be so different from us.”
“...”
“They only followed orders because they had no choice, but they became traitors overnight. So if Lord Kyle Baldrick really has returned...”
As he trailed off while glancing at Duke Ehrenfeld’s soldiers standing watch some distance away, a large soldier who had remained silent spoke in a solemn voice, as though settling the confusion.
“That’s enough.”
“...”
“Focus on your duties. For now, it’s all just rumor. It could all be false. None of us have seen anything with our own eyes.”
“That’s true, but...”
“Nothing will change by worrying. We only need to do our jobs.”
Only then did the murmuring die down.
The large soldier added,
“All a common soldier can do is watch the situation and wait. So there’s no need to worry until then...?”
He could not finish his sentence.
The other soldiers, who had been listening, turned toward him with puzzled looks. A head taller than the average soldier, he stood with his mouth hanging open, staring blankly at the end of a distant ridge.
“What is it? What happened?”
“There...”
“What is there?”
“An army...”
It did not take long for them to understand what he meant.
At that very moment, the walls became busy.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The alarm bells they had not wished to hear rang sharply.
As thousands of soldiers approached beneath fluttering banners, someone shouted in a booming voice.
“It’s Kyle Baldrick! Kyle Baldrick has returned!”
* * *
It had already been over two weeks since the Imperial envoy who had come to collect the tribute payment had left.
During that time, Duke Ehrenfeld had shut himself in his room, repeatedly dwelling on the envoy’s words.
“Let me offer you some advice. It would be best to calm the people.”
“There are still many in the north who miss the royal family. Even more so in Baldheim. If you take the throne in this state, who will acknowledge you?”
“That rat knows nothing about the north...”
Duke Ehrenfeld gritted his teeth.
Now that the war with the Empire was over, it was absurd that not even a great noble of Elandor, but a mere Imperial messenger, had dared to lecture him, the greatest lord in the north.
“It would be best to win over the people...?”
Duke Ehrenfeld let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
Only his laughter echoed emptily through the gloomy room, where the curtains were half drawn.
“They are nothing but commoners who value their own lives above all else. They can do nothing before spears and blades.”
Duke Ehrenfeld muttered to himself.
It was not entirely wrong. The hundred thousand citizens still alive in Baldheim were a kind of traitor. When the capital had fallen to the Celestial Knights, they had humbly fallen to their knees to preserve their lives.
The small fry who had cowered for four years would not suddenly throw away their lives simply because Kyle Baldrick had returned.
What mattered more was when the houses that had defected under his command would arrive in Baldheim.
The north was vast. Naturally, the houses under Ehrenfeld’s command were scattered throughout it. The royal family’s influence was especially weak in the outer regions, so even those who had publicly sworn loyalty to Duke Ehrenfeld were still far from the capital.
That bastard is marching north toward Baldheim without rest.
The only variable is Duke Rosenberg...
The enemy’s numbers were greater than expected. Still, Duke Ehrenfeld was not greatly worried.
He had anticipated, to some extent, that Duke Rosenberg would side with Kyle Baldrick. The more important question was whether his own three thousand soldiers could stop them.
Fortunately, Baldheim’s walls rose over twenty meters high, and its gates, made from a single slab of Lunarium, had never been breached by anyone except the Celestial Knights’ Wyverns. Even if their numbers were twice his own, they had more than enough chance if they fought on the defensive.
They had stored enough food to last them well beyond their needs.
The walls and gates were as sturdy as ever. If they only held out until reinforcements arrived, victory would be theirs. They could simply surround the enemies besieging Baldheim with a force nearly twice their size and crush them.
Even if he lost, the north would suffer damage it could never recover from.
Duke Ehrenfeld had never lost a battle of time.
He had also sent a letter through the Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim, demanding surrender. Naturally, he had not expected Kyle to accept it easily. But it would be enough if it caused confusion.
The Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim had value simply by remaining alive. If he were dead, there would be nothing to fear. But as long as he lived, he was a hostage.
Several knights took turns guarding the very bottom of the underground prison where Oswin was confined.
Even if Kyle tried to make some move within the city, he would not be able to.
No matter how dry his heart might be, could that man abandon the Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim, who was practically his teacher?
Tap. Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap-tap.
For a while, Duke Ehrenfeld sat with his eyes closed, tapping the table with his fingers.
Then hurried footsteps suddenly sounded in the hallway outside, and the door flew open.
“Your Grace!”
“...What is it?”
“There is a problem.”
“Don’t tell me Oswin Ingrahim has escaped?”
“No. It’s the opposite. Kyle Baldrick’s forces are surrounding Baldheim right now!”
So it has come.
Much sooner than expected.
Yet Duke Ehrenfeld did not panic.
“Lead the way.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll go myself. They’ll be waiting for that as well.”
He rose from his seat.
Passing the stunned soldier, he stepped into the hallway. Before he knew it, countless knights had gathered behind him. Without the slightest hesitation, Duke Ehrenfeld left the inner castle with a resolute expression.
* * *
Whoooosh.
The wind swept down the hill with the sound of waves.
Kyle sat on the stump of what had once been a massive tree and looked around.
The first thing he saw was Baldheim’s enormous city walls. Its gates, carrying Lunarium’s distinctive grayish white sheen like moonlight, were shut firmly as though blocking the way.
A short distance away, more than six thousand soldiers and knights stood beneath the banners of their respective houses.
Kyle looked over it all impassively, then lowered his eyes to the paper in his hand.
The letter personally written and sent to Kyle by the Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim.
The letter, almost like a personal one, contained elegant handwriting and warm sentences asking after his wellbeing. But its main point was different.
Fighting Duke Ehrenfeld was not the wisest choice, so Kyle should surrender as soon as possible.
It listed in detail the rights that would be guaranteed if he surrendered obediently. The restoration of the Knights of Ash, the retention of his position as Commander, and pardons for the lords who had joined Kyle.
There were even various beneficial privileges.
How ridiculous.
Kyle gave a short laugh as he looked down at the letter, though he had lost count of how many times he had read it.
The paper delivered from Baldheim by messenger hawk had been thoroughly censored.
It was also a kind of threat.
The Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim is in my hands, so do not try anything foolish.
It was a tactic possible only because Duke Ehrenfeld knew what Oswin meant to Kyle.
Unbothered, Kyle continued reading the rest.
Do not surrender under any circumstances. Do not fall.
Even if this old man must die.
I am sorry that I cannot be of help.
Kyle could understand the Count of the Royal Court of Ingrahim’s true intentions through the code woven throughout the letter.
It was a code known only to Yurian, Kyle, and Oswin, one the three of them had used in the past.
Yurian is dead, so only two of us remain now.
“Kyle.”
Around then, someone came up the hill.
It was Hermann, still the finest knight in the north apart from Kyle.
“Deputy Commander.”
“They seem to be coming out now. What will you do?”
“...We’ll go. There’s no reason to hesitate when we’ve been the ones waiting.”
Kyle rose from the stump and descended the hill with Hermann.
As the wind blew again and brushed through his hair, memories of the past flashed before his eyes like an illusion.
Memories of midsummer.
The laughter of Rowen, Yurian, and Cecilia. Warm sunlight. A languid atmosphere.
But reality was different from then.
The green meadow of that bright summer day had become a yellow, dry field. The clear sky was gone as well.
Before the once peaceful Baldheim, Kyle’s six thousand soldiers faced Duke Ehrenfeld’s three thousand defenders atop the massive city walls.
“Commander.”
“Commander.”
“Commander...”
As Kyle passed, soldiers and knights parted to either side as though Moses had parted the sea. Every one of them lowered their heads and paid their respects.
With Hermann following behind him, Kyle approached the gates.
The top of the walls had grown restless, either because they had recognized Kyle or for some other reason. Kyle calmly looked up at Baldheim.
After a brief moment, Duke Ehrenfeld appeared atop the walls with several knights in tow.
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