Chapter 82

As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

Seeing Otto inspect and command the Iota Kingdom's army, Ellis was honestly surprised.

15,000 men.

A small number, to be sure.

But the knights, with their robust physiques and high morale.

And the sight of the soldiers all kneeling on one knee and shouting in unison with their powerful voices was truly impressive.

'Commanding such a strong-looking army... You're not an ordinary person, are you?'

Ellis looked at Otto again.

At first, she thought he was just a kidnapper and a blackmailer, a criminal with only a handsome face...

“Um...”

Ellis asked Otto.

“Where are we going?”

“To the capital of the Margret Kingdom.”

“Are you planning to attack the capital?”

“I plan to capture it.”

“Really?”

Ellis frowned.

“That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

“I admit your army is strong. You can tell from the soldiers' expressions. The marching speed is fast too.”

Indeed, the daughter of Helmut.

Ellis, who had grown up watching fierce nomadic warriors and soldiers, could immediately see that the Iota Kingdom's army was a strong one.

“You have a good eye.”

Otto smiled and said.

“I didn’t expect you to recognize the strength of our army.”

“That’s not the point.”

Ellis said firmly.

“No matter how strong the army is, it’s impossible to capture the capital of the Margret Kingdom with this number. It’s an absurd plan.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.”

“...”

“Tell me why you think it’s an absurd plan.”

“Common sense!”

A slightly angry voice escaped Ellis’s lips.

“Do you really think it’s possible to capture the capital with just 15,000 men? This is an attack, not a defense! Even with several times more troops, it would be insufficient! It’s too reckless! Everyone will die! You will suffer heavy losses and have to retreat!”

“Yeah~”

Otto replied.

“Your argument is very theoretical and textbook. I heard it well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is that all?”

“Are you mocking me? Just because I’m not a knight or a soldier, you’re ignoring me...”

“Enough.”

Otto cut off the angry Ellis.

“The capital of the Margret Kingdom is currently empty, like the king’s mind.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

“Fine, let’s see.”

“Sure~”

Otto teased the fuming Ellis and then made an unexpected statement.

“Do you like chess?”

“Why are you suddenly talking about chess?”

“The current situation is like a game of chess.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll see. Hehehe.”

Ellis looked at Otto, who wore an incomprehensible smile, and thought:

‘It’s as if he has thousands of snakes in his stomach. What on earth is he thinking?’

But there was no way to know what Otto was thinking.

She could only watch...

The only thing that could resolve Ellis’s curiosity was time.

* * *

When the first report of the siege began, King Margret was in a very good mood.

“Haha! Tell Helmut that he must be captured alive! Only then can I behead him myself! Haha!”

But as the siege continued for a day, then two, then three, King Margret’s mood changed.

“What? These incompetent fools! With an army of 50,000, they can’t capture a fortress defended by just a few thousand? That’s ridiculous! How can they not capture a fortress with ten times the number of troops!”

Helmut’s fortress was even more impregnable than King Margret had imagined.

A week later.

“Damn it! They still haven’t captured it?”

After a week of the siege, King Margret finally realized the reality.

‘The Baldemar family didn’t protect our kingdom from those uncivilized nomads for 250 years for nothing...’

King Margret, who now deeply understood why the Baldemar family was called the ‘Shield of the Margret Kingdom,’ was about to start a painful regret.

“Your Majesty! There’s a major problem! A large force is destroying our border outposts and fortresses in the south and advancing quickly!”

“What?! What do you mean, a large force is advancing from the south!”

King Margret was shocked because there was no significant force that could invade from the southern border.

The southern border of the Margret Kingdom was a safe area, except for occasional monster waves.

Naturally, the defense was lax...

“According to the scouts, the large force had a flag they had never seen before.”

“A flag they’ve never seen...?”

“After gathering information, it seems they are from a place called the Iota Kingdom... but it’s a completely unknown force.”

“Iota...? Is there such a country?”

“Since it’s a completely unknown and unverified country... it’s even questionable whether it’s a real country.”

“Well, let’s assume it is! How many troops are there?”

“The report says about 15,000.”

“15,000?!”

King Margret was startled to hear that the unknown Iota army had about 15,000 troops.

The capital of the Margret Kingdom was virtually empty.

No, it was empty.

Due to the mobilization of all available troops for the Helmut campaign, only about 2,000 troops were left to defend the capital.

If 15,000 troops invaded in this situation, the fall of the capital was only a matter of time.

“How long do they think it will take for them to reach the capital! Answer! Hurry!”

“According to the scouts, they can attack the capital in two days.”

“My God.”

The king’s face turned pale.

“Send a messenger to the front immediately! Retreat! Retreat now! Stop attacking Helmut and retreat immediately! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

A scream, almost a wail, burst from the king’s mouth.

Two days was an absurdly short time for the main force, which had set out to subdue Helmut, to return.

Even if they retreated immediately, the possibility of arriving in time was zero.

They needed at least three days, no matter how quickly they retreated.

* * *

“What? Retreat immediately?”

The commander-in-chief of the Margret Kingdom’s army was very confused by the sudden order.

“Is that a reasonable order now! Retreat! When we’re so close to subduing the traitor Helmut!”

Currently, the rebel army led by Helmut was exhausted and had suffered significant losses.

Moreover, the fortress that had been solid for 250 years was gradually collapsing, and with a few more days of pressure, its fall was a foregone conclusion.

The sudden order to turn the army around and retreat was bewildering for the commander-in-chief.

“It’s the king’s order! He says to turn the army around and return to the capital immediately!”

“What’s the reason? Why did the king suddenly order a retreat?”

“A mysterious army is advancing towards the capital!”

“A mysterious army...?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. By now, that mysterious army might already be attacking the capital.”

“...!”

“The capital is in danger! The situation is so urgent that the king is even considering abandoning the capital! You must retreat immediately!”

“Damn...”

The commander-in-chief clenched his fists in frustration.

After ten days of intense fighting, they were on the verge of victory, but the unexpected variable made it impossible to leave the army.

However, he couldn’t let the capital be devastated while finishing off Helmut.

“All troops... to the capital... retreat.”

Finally, the retreat order was issued by the commander-in-chief.

Meanwhile, as the Margret Kingdom’s army began to retreat, the rebel army fell into confusion.

“The enemy is retreating!”

“Suddenly...?”

The rebel army had been fighting with the expectation of certain death, without any hope of victory.

Since it was a battle with no chance of winning, they fought desperately, determined to take as many enemies as possible with them.

But as the Margret Kingdom’s army, which had almost secured victory, suddenly retreated and disappeared over the horizon, the reaction was one of bewilderment and confusion.

Logically and rationally, the sudden retreat of the Margret Kingdom’s army was incomprehensible.

Only one person.

Helmut, who was sitting on the wall, panting heavily, understood the sudden retreat of the Margret Kingdom’s army.

‘If you hold out, the Margret Kingdom’s army will retreat on their own. When will that be? Just before everyone dies? Just before the fortress falls? It will be around that time. Think of it as a hellish ordeal. And when the Margret Kingdom’s army suddenly retreats, then you can consider it a victory. It’s a real victory.’

Helmut smiled, remembering what Otto had said.

“Just as you said... the enemy... has retreated... victory is ours... as you said... this battle... is really our victory.”

Helmut muttered and mustered his last strength.

His physical strength had long been depleted.

He had numerous injuries, and his body was not in good condition.

While not in immediate danger of death, he was in a state where he could faint at any moment.

Nevertheless, Helmut gritted his teeth and stood up.

He raised his broken and worn-out sword high into the sky and shouted.

“We won... we... we won! We won!”

Helmut declared victory.

“Us... we won?”

“Really... did we win?”

Helmut’s soldiers, who couldn’t understand what was happening, initially couldn’t accept the declaration of victory, but it was only a matter of time.

The enemy had retreated, and the battle was over.

They no longer had to fight and could rest.

They could rest.

So...

“We won, we won!”

“We... we won...!”

One by one, the soldiers began to realize the victory.

And...

“Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh