WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 74: Dungeon (2)
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“Damn these god-cursed bastards.”
“How can anyone wearing a human face do something like this...”
The monks, who had marched in neat silence without a word of idle chatter, lost their composure for the first time.
The villages along the road to Rasta Monastery had been reduced to ruins.
They had been stripped clean and then set ablaze. At this rate, even after the war ended, this area would become abandoned land.
“It was the pirates. Most of the wounds are short but deep cuts, made by the curved swords they favor.”
A tribal scout who had examined the bodies reported.
Land mercenaries might loot, but they usually refrained from murder. At the very least, they carried a small measure of faith in their hearts.
Pirates might fear superstition more, but mercenaries feared judgment in the afterlife more deeply.
Even mercenaries who lived only for today visited temples once a year or so to offer prayers of repentance and a small donation.
“We’ll collect the bodies before we leave.”
“Will that be all right? We should be hurrying to the monastery.”
Andrew bit his lip at Eugene’s question.
“Even so, we cannot pass by a tragedy before our eyes. It will only take a moment.”
The monks hurried about, gathering the bodies in one place, while Eugene’s subordinates read the situation and helped.
There was no time for burial. They completed a joint funeral by cremating the bodies together and reciting prayers for their rest.
As if fortune had taken pity on them, the monks soon found a chance to vent their anger. A band of pirates was moving in the distance.
“Sir Eugene!”
Andrew looked at him with pleading eyes.
Only the Hospitaller knights were mounted, while the combat priests were infantry. The pirates were far enough away that they would lose many of them if they gave chase on foot.
“We’ll deal with them.”
“Thank you!”
Eugene led the cavalry from the front.
“They’re easy prey, so conserve your strength for the real fight, monks.”
He had commanded a force of a hundred men in Richwood. Still, leading a hundred cavalrymen was on a completely different level.
Look away for even a moment, and the spacing went to hell. The pounding hooves also made it difficult to pass along orders.
When moving at speed, even speaking had to come in short bursts, as though keeping a rhythm. Talk too much as if standing on solid ground, and it was easy to bite your tongue.
That was why Eugene kept taking the field. Beyond loot and connections, he needed practical experience as a cavalry commander.
“I don’t care about any other order, but keep your ears sharp when I order a retreat! Anyone who fails to pull back in time will get beaten by me personally!”
“Sir! We’re mercenaries. We’re damned good at obeying orders to run.”
“If anyone doesn’t hear you, hit them with a whip. If they get punched by you, they’ll die.”
His men joked, but their faces remained tense.
Their employer wanted an ordinary victory without losses, not an honorable and overwhelming triumph.
In some ways, it was a harder demand. Yet it gave those following him more strength.
“Ambush!”
“Damn it! They’re all on horseback?”
The pirates were not in good condition. They looked exhausted, and several had their heads hanging low, their morale crushed for some reason.
That delayed their response to the ambush.
‘As expected, they didn’t listen.’
Eugene looked back to see heavily armed monks running after them. Regardless of their anger toward the pirates, they seemed reluctant to leave the entire extermination to his men.
Thududududu!
The tremors, noise, and dust raised by a hundred-strong cavalry force charging forward were truly intimidating.
Pirates were especially vulnerable to the pressure of cavalry compared to land fighters, and they all froze.
“W-what do we do? Fight? Run? Surrender?”
“Damn it! If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve joined the attack on the monastery.”
While the pirates panicked, Eugene’s troops did not charge in. Instead, they spread out wide and blocked the escape routes first.
“Surrender! We surrender!”
Perhaps thinking there was no other way, some fell flat and begged for their lives.
“Fire!”
A volley from the tribal horse archers rained down. Pirates screamed and fell on every side, but those lying face-down remained unharmed.
“...!”
More pirates saw that and threw down their weapons in surrender.
Even so, their numbers were still small. They knew that if they were caught committing piracy, even a painless death was considered lucky.
“You idiots! What are you doing? They’re just a bunch of long-eared bastards! Do you think they’ll spare you because you surrender... Ghk!”
The man shouting at the top of his lungs clutched the arrow piercing his throat and collapsed.
“Captain!”
Apparently, he had been their leader. The last of the pirates’ morale vanished, and they scattered in every direction.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
Just as they had done to the villagers, they fell with cavalry blades striking them in the back.
The battle ended so easily that even the combat priests stopped running and approached at a walk.
Only a handful remained, those who had thrown themselves flat to preserve their lives. The tribal horse archers looked at Eugene, and he nodded.
Thump!
Thunk! Thunk!
Arrows struck the necks of those lying down. They died without even managing a groan.
Only two were left alive for interrogation. Their clothing and equipment were of higher quality, and they looked seasoned.
‘The longer I stay with these people, the harder it’ll be to work with any other mercenary company.’
Eugene had not even given an order, yet the tribal warriors had already selected them. It was the practiced instinct of veterans.
“We’ll tell you everything!”
“Please, just spare our lives!”
The two pirates realized why only they had been spared and answered Eugene’s questions readily.
They admitted that they had looted the villages, and that far more pirates remained.
“The remaining men in the area gathered together and headed for Rasta Monastery.”
“You god-cursed bastards!”
“Do you truly not fear divine punishment?”
The monks were furious at the wickedness of men who intended to loot a holy monastery.
“No! We fear the gods!”
“That’s why we stayed out of the attack!”
The surrendered pirates protested as though they had been wronged.
It was true. They had been too afraid of divine punishment to join the monastery raid.
“We don’t have anything, do we? Our comrades called us cowards and drove us off empty-handed.”
“So that was why you all looked so discouraged.”
“...Yes.”
That was why they had all walked with their heads down.
They had fought and looted their way deep inland, only to be branded cowards and sent back empty-handed.
“Do you know anything about the men who went to the monastery, or what happened afterward?”
“We don’t.”
At their answer in unison, Eugene gave Haind, standing behind them, a meaningful look.
Swish!
One man’s head fell in a single stroke.
“I truly don’t know! Please, have mercy!”
The pirate slammed his forehead against the ground as he begged.
“It seems he doesn’t know anything else.”
Rex had conducted this kind of interrogation so often that he could roughly tell from a person’s expression and movements.
“All right. I’ll show you mercy.”
“Thank...”
As the pirate raised his head, Haind’s sword severed his neck.
The monks watched the smiling head roll across the ground without much reaction. Even to them, merciful as they were, pirates were little more than monsters that could speak.
“We need to hurry, Sir Andrew. They moved faster than expected. The monastery may already be under attack.”
* * *
Eugene’s army hurried through the dense forest, and Rasta Monastery came into view.
As befitted a place sealing a dungeon, it looked closer to a fortress than a monastery. There was no moat, but it had stone walls and a gate.
Several hundred pirates had surrounded it and were attacking fiercely.
“It’s fortunate we made it in time.”
“My God, grant me righteous anger and courage.”
At Eugene’s words, Andrew took a cross necklace from inside his clothes and kissed it.
The combat priests made the sign of the cross, while the heavily armored soldiers and tribal warriors took up their weapons.
“They still haven’t noticed us.”
“Magic truly is incredible.”
Before the battle, everyone looked at Varda in wonder.
Whenever her delicate hand moved, a path opened through the forest that had seemed impossible to cross.
“With this many people moving, we didn’t make a single sound. It’s as if the forest itself hid us.”
That was why the hundreds of pirates fiercely attacking the fortress still had not noticed Eugene’s army.
“Varda, you’ve truly worked hard.”
“Don’t get off your horse.”
Varda, drenched in sweat and lying among the bushes, stopped Eugene as he tried to dismount.
“Your victory will bring me more joy than your courtesy, so focus on commanding.”
Varda gave him a strained smile. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, and Eugene was grateful to her as well.
“Homi, take care of Varda.”
Nod.
Eugene left Homi behind as she offered a solemn military salute.
“Pirates have no need for grave goods. The only thing they’ll take into the next world is the sins they’ve piled up. Wipe them out, every last one!”
When Eugene drew his long-handled flail and took the lead, his men’s eyes gleamed with anticipation for loot.
The pirate band they had met earlier had been good enough to warm up against, but they had been penniless beggars.
Those pirates attacking the fortress, though, glittered in the sunlight from all the valuables they had taken. They seemed to have gathered quite a lot.
* * *
“Push a little harder! How much treasure could a monastery that keeps itself so tightly shut be hiding?!”
The pirate captain’s booming voice made his men attacking the monastery roar.
“Harder!”
Bang!
The improvised battering ram repeatedly slammed into the monastery gate.
“Keep climbing!”
Ladders were raised against the walls, and pirates climbed them.
“Aaagh!”
They were attacked while climbing and fell one after another, but surprisingly few died.
It was a monastery at its core, so its walls were low, and it lacked skilled archers. There was no boiling oil, murder holes, or any of the key defenses.
“You won’t die, you bastards!”
“Overwhelm them with numbers!”
Even in an age where defenders had the advantage, defenders facing such a situation could not help but collapse before overwhelming numbers. Still, it was taking far too long.
“Fuck. Priests should act like priests and chant scriptures. Why are they all running around with weapons?”
The pirate captain did not know that a dungeon was sealed inside, and frustration churned within him.
He had heard that his companions in other regions had easily obtained gold and silver treasures from monasteries.
It even made him feel unfairly singled out, as if he alone had been made to suffer for no reason.
“Just wait until we take it. I’ll strip them all naked and whip them until they die...”
The pirate captain’s fantasy was interrupted by a trumpet call and the sound of hooves crossing the battlefield.
“Gold is waiting for us!”
“For Varda! Offer her victory!”
Heavy cavalry charged from behind the pirates as they rushed toward the fortress.
“W-what? Where did those bastards come from?”
“There wasn’t any sign of them!”
The pirates fell into complete chaos. They never imagined the enemy had come through a pathless forest.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Arrows fired by the tribal horse archers struck the backs of those climbing the ladders one after another.
The pirates tumbled down in droves, as though a giant dusting brush wielded by a god had swept past them.
“Reinforcements!”
“What did I tell you? I told you to trust Duke Ismar!”
The monks struggling atop the walls cheered and struck their weapons against their shields.
Ambushed by a large cavalry force, the lightly armored pirates had no way to hold out. They began fleeing from the spears and blades.
“You idiots, where are you going?!”
The problem was that their escape route had been cut off while the fortress stood before them.
They could not break through the cavalry swinging weapons with murderous force, so everyone rushed toward the walls.
Of course, going there changed nothing. Yet the pirates’ survival instincts ordered them to live even a few dozen seconds longer.
“Don’t come! I said don’t come!”
“There’s no more room... Gasp!”
Countless pirates were crushed together, and pained groans burst out from every direction.
“Listen up! There’s no need to cross blades with them. Spread out and pressure them! Slowly drive them toward the walls!”
After grasping the situation, Eugene shouted at the top of his lungs.
Even though his men were elite, they were outnumbered several times over. If they tried to kill every pirate through direct attacks, losses would accumulate on their side as well.
“Sir! The situation is perfect!”
Haind shouted excitedly as he understood Eugene’s intent.
Haind recalled the lessons he had heard countless times at The Knight's House.
-Focus, everyone. This map recreates the Battle of Bützholz exactly. It is a perfect example of the hammer-and-anvil tactic succeeding...
The hammer-and-anvil tactic Haind had studied countless times at The Knight's House was being recreated before his eyes in perfect form.
The key was the anvil’s solidity. When they studied tactics at The Knight's House, his classmates often argued over which force made the best anvil.
-Obviously, the Gord infantry. Those men aren’t just anvils, they’re sharpened anvils. They’ll split everyone apart with their axes.
-An anvil’s first priority is durability. The iron wall formation of dwarf warriors is the best choice.
Yet no army could be sturdier than walls made of actual stone.
Haind felt the knight’s blood within him boil beyond its limit, ready to explode. Since following Eugene, he had never felt such exhilaration.
“Surround them! Seal them in without leaving a single gap!”
At Eugene’s command, the tribal horse archers spread out wide and formed an encirclement on both flanks.
The heavy cavalry, on the other hand, reacted too slowly, drunk on the excitement of battle.
“Are you not listening to my orders?!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Eugene struck the helmets and shields scattered around him with his long-handled flail. The tremendous noise snapped the heavy cavalry back to their senses.
“Fall back! I said fall back! Spread into formation and drive those pirate bastards toward the walls!”
“Y-yes, Sir!”
“We’ll follow your orders!”
In the center, combat priests and heavily armored soldiers formed a solid wall behind their shields and advanced.
“N-no!”
“We have to break through somehow... Aagh!”
Some pirates quickly understood what was happening and risked their lives to escape. They only became mangled corpses beneath the spears and blades raining down from every direction.
“There’s no need to fight them. Just keep pushing slowly.”
Eugene’s subordinates laughed excitedly as they pushed the pirates back.
About half the cavalry also dismounted, joining the encirclement with shields held before them.
The pirates on the outer edge tried to fight somehow, but there was no way.
Everywhere they looked, there were huge shields. Spears protruded between them, aimed at their bodies, while arrows flew in from behind.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The meaningless sound of weapons striking shields.
Stab!
Thud!
“Argh!”
Screams came from those struck in the stomach by spears, or in the shoulder and neck by arrows.
At last, the pirates caught between the fortress and the army began to suffocate.
“Bleurgh!”
“Cough! Cough!”
Gasping, coughing, and vomiting could be heard continuously from every direction.
As the encirclement tightened further, the sound of pirates on the outside pounding against shields rapidly increased.
In contrast, the screams of those trapped inside grew weaker. They were packed too tightly to even cry out anymore.
“Gasp...”
Once they exhaled, they could not draw breath again. There was not even enough space left for their chests to expand slightly.
Footnotes:
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