After leaving Liesen, Raoul and his army made camp just outside the wasteland. The sun had already begun to set. Campfires crackled as the troops settled in for the night. They planned to launch their attack the next day.
“I have a report, my lord! Scouts have confirmed the presence of a walled city. The fortifications are over five meters tall, and considerably thick as well!”
“The bastard’s Gift was Village-Making, wasn’t it? That doesn’t sound like a village!” Raoul snapped, the irritation clear in his voice. “Tch, no matter. Five thousand troops are more than enough to crush it. We launched a successful siege just the other day, after all.”
Raoul had successfully taken down a fortified city in Schneiger during his last campaign. Even if Luke’s city had comparable walls, Raoul had a hard time believing its defenders could be nearly as trained or disciplined as House Schneiger’s. It wouldn’t even be a struggle.
“They’re just a bunch of refugees and migrants. I highly doubt they’ve got any real soldiers. Heh. I bet they’re shaking in their boots right now, just hearing the number of our troops!”
But not even one of his vassals dared to respond. Everyone still questioned if five thousand troops had been necessary, but none had the guts to say it out loud.
Naturally, Raoul had no plans to ask for surrender or to get stuck in a drawn-out siege. His goal was simple: He’d storm the city and drag his traitorous brother out by his neck.
Out of nowhere, a familiar voice rang out of the darkness: “Hey! Long time no see, Raoul.”
For a moment, Raoul wondered if he was imagining things. He was in the middle of his army’s camp, after all, and the very last place that voice could ever be.
And yet...
“It’s been a year and a half since we last saw each other, huh? You’ve gotten taller again. I’m jealous!”
From the darkness emerged none other than Luke, his half brother and sworn enemy.
“L-Luke! What the hell are you doing here?!”
Raoul was surrounded by thousands of soldiers who should’ve caught any intruder long before they’d gotten this close. Yet Luke stood alone, perfectly calm, as if he’d just strolled in through the front gate. The nearby vassals were so shocked they couldn’t even move.
“I came to talk,” he said.
“Talk?!”
“That’s right. You’re planning to attack my village with your five thousand soldiers, right?”
“Oh, I get it. You came to surrender, hoping to spare your village—or should I say, your city?” Raoul tried to ignore the elephant in the room, which was how Luke had gotten here undetected, and chose to assume what he thought was his most logical motive.
“Nope.”
“What?”
“I came to ask you to stop wasting everyone’s time. You’re spreading rumors that I’m building an army and planning to rebel against you, and that’s why you raised those troops. But I’m not interested in any of that.”
“Huh?!”
“I don’t want to inherit House Arvale. I like my life out here in the village.”
Luke’s flat-out denial made a few soldiers let out a noise that sounded a lot like exasperation. They were starting to understand that this war was completely unjustified.
“Be quiet!” Raoul shouted. “Do you really think I’m gonna fall for that? You’re just trying to lull me into a false sense of security so you can avoid a fight! Every man craves power!”
“I’m telling the truth, though.” Luke scratched his head, looking genuinely troubled. He certainly didn’t behave like a guy who’d walked straight into enemy territory.
“So you don’t want to talk it out, then? Well, I didn’t have high hopes anyway. I guess I should get out of here before things get ugly.”
Finally, the soldiers realized there was an intruder in their midst. They hesitated, unsure what to do while their commander was still in mid-conversation, but then they began to surround him.
Luke turned to leave, but the soldiers had blocked every path by then.
And then, right before everyone’s eyes, Luke vanished.
“What the?!”
The soldiers rushed forward, shouting and looking for him, but Luke hadn’t even left a footprint behind.
“H-He’s gone?”
“But how the hell did he do that?!”
“Find him! He couldn’t have gone far!” Raoul ordered.
But no matter how long his men scoured the camp, they found no trace of Luke’s presence.
✦ ✦ ✦
I ran down the stairs to the underground tunnel and immediately deleted the entire staircase behind me, preventing anyone from following.
Seren, waiting for me in the tunnel, looked angry.
“You idiot!” she yelled with her arms crossed. “What kind of moron strolls into enemy territory alone?!”
“I’m sorry! I thought that if I went alone, they’d be more willing to talk. You’re a noble from the Bazlata house, so it would’ve only caused more trouble if you’d come along.”
I’d built the underground tunnel to get close enough to talk to Raoul. I’d planned to do it alone, but Seren had caught up to me halfway there and insisted on coming.
Having been able to create the tunnel meant this entire area had already been absorbed into the village’s territory. Worst-case scenario, I’d figured I could fight with golems or escape easily. But Seren came along anyway, because she knew it was still dangerous.
“Well? How’d it go?”
“I blew it. I talked to him, but he didn’t listen to a word I said.”
“Figured.”
At this point, there was no choice but to face Raoul’s army head-on.
“They’ve got five thousand soldiers. That’s way more of a threat than the orc horde that attacked us before.”
“I know. But I think we can manage,” I said.
“Do you have a plan?”
“I wouldn’t call it a plan, but I do have a few aces up my sleeve.”