WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression

Chapter 55

Baron Yocamna Dilloso was in his study, which overlooked Dilloso, when a pigeon flew up to the window and delivered a letter. It was from Count Osmal Saikal, warning that the Undying King would march on Dilloso.

That seemed unlikely, however, so few believed it. Indeed, for a full week there was no movement from the Undying King, and Yocamna even complained to Osmal about sowing confusion by sending such an unfounded message. When the Undying King began moving his army on the seventh day, it was too late for Baron Dilloso to request aid from nearby nobles.

Baron Dilloso had only fifteen hundred soldiers, but he still thought he could put up a fight, even against the Undying King. Dilloso was an inland port city, located at the confluence of two rivers. While the land was open toward Cora, the fortress itself was built high and boasted two layers of walls, so many commanders were loathe to attack.

Because Dilloso was set on sloping terrain and shaped like a narrow strip, the defending force required fewer soldiers, and the attackers were limited in how many soldiers could assault the fortress at once. Above all, thanks to its access to the river, Dilloso had a steady supply of fresh water and food, a huge advantage in a protracted siege. In the worst case, a defending force could escape through one of two ports.

However, the Undying King’s plan to capture Dilloso was flawless. The Undying King had prepared transport ships. Having requisitioned these vessels while attacking Cora, he sailed them toward the southern port and launched a simultaneous assault.

Aware they might lose, Baron Dilloso planned to escape by sea, so he burned and scuttled the ships at the southern port, blocking it off, and focused on defending the fortress. One knight suggested sealing off the western port as well, but Yocamna assumed the strong westerly winds would keep heavily laden transport ships from approaching. Indeed, the Undying King initially seemed to intend to send ships to the western port, but he appeared to give up when that plan proved infeasible.

The enemy forces were estimated at ten thousand troops in the vanguard, but not all could participate in the battle. Only about a thousand were able to approach the fortress at a time, with foot soldiers bearing shields advancing under a barrage of boiling oil, stones, and arrows—and retreating when it became too dangerous.

This lasted until, after six continuous hours of combat, the defenders ran out of arrows and found themselves falling under a rain of enemy arrows. Yocamna’s soldiers started scavenging intact arrows from their fallen comrades’ bodies, buying themselves some more time. Three more hours passed, and they had little left to do but throw rocks. Yocamna recognized the danger.

Yocamna had initially assumed that the enemy would not opt for a protracted attack, so he had told his troops to unleash everything they had whenever the attackers drew near. Claiming first blood would boost friendly morale while lowering enemy morale.

However, in hindsight, it was clear that the Undying King had not intended to storm the walls for at least nine hours. He had merely ordered his soldiers to raise shields and rush to the foot of the fortress so that Yocamna’s troops would waste arrows, and then passed those shields on to the next wave of a thousand waiting soldiers. As a result, the Undying King’s forces had spent more than three hours resting, while the defenders had grown exhausted. In a normal battle, Yocamna could have mounted a war of attrition at the first fortress wall and likely emerged victorious, then spent a day reorganizing his troops—this was the scenario Yocamna had been hoping for, so he could await reinforcements.

But this war was on track to end in a single day.

Yocamna lamented, “Who would have thought there could be such an absurd strategy…”

For soldiers, “running to the foot of the fortress wall and back again with shield in hand” was devastating to morale. Even protected by shields, sprinting through a shower of arrows demanded more than mere courage, especially when there was neither glory nor tangible reward in sight.

However, the name “Undying King” and his storied history had not been forgotten among the Ysoren-born troops. The Undying King’s military tactics had been unprecedented in many ways, so much so that he figured prominently in Cario’s Heroic Chronicles. In the end, Cario had emerged victorious, but many from Ysoren were still fascinated with the Undying King, who had once raised their small nation into a formidable power. The Undying King had used that very reputation as part of his stratagem.

Still, Yocamna had a second wall and the inner fortress left to defend. When the Undying King’s army approached with battering ladders and rope ladders, Yocamna withdrew to the second wall. The defenders were short on arrows but still had boiling oil and piles of stones prepared by the local inhabitants.

It was only now that the Undying King sprang his true scheme upon Yocamna. Even Yocamna had known that leaving the western port open was dangerous, so he had posted troops there. However, unlike the peaceful city of Dilloso, Ysoren had faced frequent conflicts with Cora, so its troops were better trained and more experienced, and its knights were on a different level entirely.

Under cover of darkness, a small number of Ysoren knights arrived in the western port in fishing boats without sails and captured it. Immediately, the Undying King’s fleet of transports rushed across the river. The wind was strong, but not so fierce as to prevent mooring. With the port seized, there was no way to stop them.

Although the inlet was narrow, a makeshift bridge between the transport ships allowed enemy soldiers to pour in swiftly. Five hundred of the Undying King’s men attacked the inner fortress, and the defenders’ chain of command collapsed. Yocamna urgently summoned the forces holding the second wall, and the Undying King’s army exploited that opening. The baron made his final stand in his own receiving room but was killed. Yocamna and his 1,531 men were wiped out. The Undying King’s army suffered only 312 losses. The Undying King remarked that if he had personally taken command, he would have kept his casualties below 100.

It took only half a day for word to reach Osmal, who was already near Dilloso. Only three people remained in his command tent: Ethan, Boen, and Osmal.

“What do you think Baron Dilloso should have done?” Ethan asked.

Ethan, for his part, had hoped to save Dilloso.

[Quest activated!]

[Quest: Defend Dilloso (C)]

He had been issued a quest to do just that, after all.

Osmal responded, “First, he should’ve believed me. Well, strictly speaking, he should’ve believed you.”

“What I’m curious about is the purely tactical side,” Ethan clarified. “Do you think there was a better way for Baron Dilloso to fight?”

“He realized the Undying King’s plan too late. Leaving the western port undefended was a fatal mistake. Still, I don’t think the baron was especially incompetent. Most ordinary commanders would’ve done roughly the same. They fall back on conventional tactics and hope to recover later. The Undying King understands that habit of nobles very well.”

“If it had been you, Count Saikal, what would you have done?”

“If I hadn’t known the Undying King was coming?”

“Yes.”

Osmal contemplated carefully. “I know the Undying King revels in deliberate defeats, so first, I’d say be very selective with your arrows. In war, you often command volley fire, but if you give the order for aimed fire, you’ll conserve far more arrows. Even if the enemy is holding shields, there are plenty of soldiers exposed. I’d also watch closely how many are attacking and retreating, then let my own troops rest in proportion. Dilloso is a cramped fortress, so you can let part of the garrison stand down at any given time. Of course, if you do that, the Undying King will bring in siege weapons, but if you balance it well, you can at least buy a day. And, of course, the western port must be closed.”

If they could have held out for just one day, Osmal might have led his forces around the Undying King’s flank. Without the baron’s permission, there was a limit to how close they could bring their troops.

“Excellent. Next time, let’s do that,” Ethan said.

“...Next time?”

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After Loading, Ethan once more took a journey with Boen to Palmize, punched Foen Palmize in the solar plexus in Tobira, met with Osmal in the interrogation room, and revealed he was a dark mage. He even advised Osmal to include Osmal’s own tactics in the letter to Baron Yocamna. Osmal was suspicious, but what Ethan said proved true.

Accompanied by Ethan and Boen, Osmal led his troops to Dilloso. Traveling with infantry took four days, and they needed the baron’s permission as well. Osmal’s forces waited four days outside Dilloso. Once they saw that battle had broken out, they advanced. Within barely half a day, the fortress came into view. True to Osmal’s prediction, the first wall had fallen, but not the second.

Osmal intended to strike the Undying King’s command camp. Although the Undying King himself and Count Yumuran were not there, there were bound to be nobles from Ysoren. Osmal intended to force the enemy to withdraw and give Baron Dilloso’s surviving troops time to catch their breath, then deploy fresh soldiers for a follow-up battle to secure the advantage. Army tents were temporary homes for soldiers, and striking noncombatants impacted morale.

But contrary to their expectations, when Osmal’s soldiers reached the command tent, they discovered it abandoned. The moment they realized something was off, the tents went up in flames, driving Osmal’s troops into a pocket. This was Ethan’s and Boen’s first experience with actual warfare.

Despite Osmal’s orders to retreat, the fleeing soldiers were hacked apart by the Undying King’s troops, who had been waiting in ambush. When the soldiers in front halted in terror of the enemy spears, the soldiers behind them, unaware of the situation, piled in from behind, causing chaos. Soldiers armed with swords and shields swarmed in behind the spear-bearers and butchered Osmal’s men. It was a complete rout.

Only Osmal, some knights, and mounted forces managed to break out of the encirclement. Ethan searched at length for Boen, but he found no sign of his friend. They had suffered a crushing defeat.

Osmal heaved a relieved smile as he barely escaped with his life.

Ethan drew his horse alongside Osma and asked, “In your view, what went wrong?”

“You’re rather blunt, considering we’ve just lost.”

“Talking about it will definitely help you, Count.”

“Hmm. Well, we now know the Undying King prepares for the worst outcome every time. He never gets complacent in victory. When he wins, he checks if anything went wrong.”

“How might we have won?”

Osmal thought for a moment. “No matter what, we should have convinced Baron Dilloso. If that failed, we should’ve moved on to Dilloso without his permission. It was a mistake to believe that our presence here alone was sufficient. If we had joined forces with Yocamna and held the fortress together, we could’ve lasted three more days, and then Yekatan’s army would have arrived.”

“Got it. Then let’s do exactly that.”

“...What?”

∞

Ethan returned once more and told Osmal, “No matter what it takes, we must persuade Baron Dilloso.” Osmal took Ethan, Boen, and a few knights and rode ahead to meet Baron Dilloso. Surprised as he was, Baron Dilloso took the possibility of being invaded by the Undying King quite seriously—perhaps because Count Saikal had come in person.

“Fine, Count Saikal, I’ll allow your troops to garrison here in Dilloso. But I can’t provide supplies, and if they cause any trouble, I’ll drive them out. Above all, if your ‘prediction’ proves false, you will have to answer for this diplomatic slight.”

Ethan glanced at Osmal to gauge his reaction, but the count appeared entirely unruffled and even pressed further.

“I’m prepared to take responsibility beyond that, Baron Dilloso. Let’s take it a step further. Why not hand over command of Dilloso altogether?”

“What… whatever do you mean?”

“You already know. A single fortress can’t have two commanders, and a single army can’t serve two leaders. But I’m not saying you should just surrender command for nothing. Let’s make a wager.”

“A wager?”

“Yes. If the Undying King comes to Dilloso, you relinquish command.”

Baron Dilloso frowned. “Depending on how one interprets that, it might be considered a threat against a fellow noble.”

“I can see how it might look that way. Name your price.”

“Considering the support I must provide for your troops, if the Undying King does not appear, you owe me thirty imperial gold coins.”

“Fair enough. Summon your notary.”

Ethan wondered what gave Osmal the confidence to make such a bold move. Fortunately, Osmal had Ethan.

‘What would he have done without me?’ Ethan grumbled inwardly.

Three days later, now as the commanding officer of Dilloso’s combined force of forty-five hundred soldiers, Osmal prepared to defend against the Undying King’s invasion.

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