“Now then─regarding our next move,” Ashude said, addressing the retainers who’d gathered up to hear his orders. He’d called them together in Castle Lund’s meeting chamber to discuss their current strategy.
“Lord Ashude! Urgent news!” shouted a soldier who frantically burst into the chamber. “Purledo County has fallen to an enemy invasion from Canarre!”
There was a moment of silence.
“What?” Ashude finally said, brow furrowed. He was a man of calm temperament, and did not shout or show any real sign of surprise. Internally, however, he was beside himself with shock.
I knew that Canarre had marched upon Purledo, Ashude thought to himself, and I knew they were not a threat to be dismissed─but now the county has fallen? Surely that was far too fast…?
The army of Canarre had once fended off a Seitzan invasion, and Ashude was aware that they were far more formidable than their modest numbers would suggest. Invading a territory, however, was a far greater challenge than defending one. There was a point at which strength in numbers became mandatory. No matter how capable Canarre’s soldiers were, the idea that they could have taken over the county with such ease was unthinkable.
“Purledo has fallen?! Lies!” one of the lords in attendance shouted. “That man must be an enemy agent! Cut him down!”
It was, by all accounts, a reasonable theory. There was every chance that the enemy had sent a false messenger in the guise of a Seitzan soldier in an effort to sow chaos among their army’s ranks. The guards present at the meeting drew their swords.
The messenger’s face paled with fright. “W-Wait, please! I was given this news from a messenger sent from Seitz─I was just told to deliver it to you!” he frantically explained.
The noble from before withdrew his order. “Then it’s that first messenger who’s an enemy agent,” he said. “I expect he’ll have long since fled the castle, in that case.”
“A-Actually, no, he hasn’t,” said the soldier. “It seems he was exhausted from how hurried his trip was. He’s currently resting.”
“What?! Then apprehend him and bring him here at once!”
“Y-Yes, Your Lordship!” the soldier shouted, white in the face, before spinning about and dashing out from the chamber.
“Hmph─as if there’s any chance that Purledo County could be conquered so quickly! Our enemies have resorted to petty trickery,” said one of Ashude’s retainers.
“They’ve been driven to desperate measures by the speed of our advance, I’m sure. They’ll try anything to make us turn back,” another commented.
Ashude himself sat there in silence, listening to his followers converse.
Is it false information…? That wouldn’t be an unbelievable strategy, by any means…but if that’s the case, the fact that the messenger they sent hasn’t fled is peculiar…
If the messenger truly was an enemy spy, one would think he’d have long since made his exit. There was a real chance that he’d be killed if any suspicion was cast upon him─assuming they didn’t take their time torturing him for information first. There was no good reason whatsoever for a spy to remain in the castle after completing his mission.
“It’s too soon to assume that the report is false,” Ashude finally said. “And if Purledo County has fallen, our situation has taken a grim turn. Take steps to verify this claim at once. We will reconvene once the truth has come to light.”
“Huh?” Ashude’s retainer grunted. “Ah! Y-Yes, Your Lordship! At once!”
Ashude had a number of capable spies in his employ. They could move cross-country at a rapid pace, and could gather information from far-off regions. There was a risk that spending too long gathering information could set back the invasion of Missian, but just a few days wasted would make little difference in the long run.
Ashude dispatched one of his spies to confirm the state of affairs in Purledo County with all due haste.
A few days later, confirmation that Purledo had fallen to the enemy reached Ashude’s ears. The moment the news arrived, he called together another emergency council.
“So we truly lost Purledo? How could this be…?”
“Wh-What’s to become of the war now…?”
Ashude’s retainers were disturbed by the news, but not all of them were at a total loss.
“I believe we’ve no choice but to withdraw,” said Boroths, who was the first to speak up with a proposal. “If Canarre’s forces are left to run rampant across our lands, there’s no telling what irreversible damage they’ll do.”
“How could we retreat now?! We’ve only just claimed this castle!” shouted a muscular man who was in attendance. “We need to stay here in Lund, and let the troops we left behind sort it out! We’ll put our faith in them and keep on the attack!”
“Though a reasonably sizable force was stationed in Purledo, the counties around it were left with only the bare minimum of defenders. If we don’t fall back, and in very short order, the situation will go from bad to worse─of that, there can be no question. Withdrawal is our only option,” said Raddas, Seitz’s preeminent tactician. “Furthermore,” he continued, “the weapon that Canarre has developed─their airship─is a significant threat. The fact that they were able to use it to overcome the fort’s defenses means that our other fortresses could be taken as well. Until we’ve devised a means to repel such a weapon, we have to assume that any structure not protected by a large enough force will be vulnerable, no matter how sturdy its fortifications may be.”
News of the airship had also reached the army of Seitz. Although they were not yet aware of its full, specific capabilities, the fact that Fort Purledo had fallen was enough to tell Raddas that it was a menacing weapon indeed.
“It does seem that we should return our troops to Seitz, then,” said Ashude. “We can’t allow Canarre’s army to attack the surrounding counties, and we can’t allow Purledo to remain in their hands. We must reclaim it as fast as possible.”
The moment after a territory fell was also the easiest moment to take it back. Any fortress that fell in the fighting would already have had its defenses damaged, and the remains of the army that had once defended the territory would do their part to occupy the attention of its new owners, rendering it unstable. The longer you waited, the more those defenses would be rebuilt and any resistance would be snuffed out.
If Purledo County fell under Missian’s permanent control, it would make a future invasion of the rest of Seitz much easier to stage. And on the other hand, if Seitz wished to have any hope of defeating Missian, reclaiming Purledo was an absolute necessity.
“One moment. If we’re to return to Seitz, then what is to become of Castle Lund?” asked one of Paradille’s commanders, a grim-faced man named Bamba Phanamahmaf.
When the Duke of Paradille had sent his troops to Seitz’s aid, he had given Bamba command of the contingent. Just a few years earlier it would have been unthinkable for Bamba to lead a force of that size, given his standing at the time, but his accomplishments had piled up so dramatically since then that he’d risen through the ranks.