III: The Battle of Lind Plain
AFTER returning without incident to the capital city of Gardon, the king of Eyland reorganized his army, solidified his defenses, and made preparations for the approaching Farunian army. However, no matter how long he waited, they didn’t come. According to a scout patrol he had deployed, Farune was spreading monster meat to the towns and villages deprived of food due to the scorched-earth policy. With nothing else to eat, the people were accepting it, and the aversion toward monster meat in Eyland was in the process of fading away.
“We were tricked!” the king shouted like he was spitting up blood. “Once they’ve eaten monster meat, they’ll never come back to us. They’ll think they’re not normal humans anymore, and they’ll abandon Eyland. Anyone who hasn’t eaten the meat will see them as nothing but traitors, and a rift will form between the two groups. It’s like my territory is being smashed apart!”
The king and his retainers realized what Farune’s goal was, and all the color drained from their faces. Although they had attempted to weaken the Farunian army with a decisive scorched-earth strategy, it had been completely ineffective; if anything, it had actually resulted in Farune winning the population over to its side. It would have been an understatement to say that the strategy had backfired.
“The Faurunian army has proclaimed, ‘There are two kinds of people in the world: those who eat monster meat, and those who don’t!’ and is forcing Eylish citizens across the country to eat monsters,” Count Wolf reported, a disgusted look on his face. “If this continues, everywhere except the capital will become Farunian territory. We may hold the castle, but at this rate, we’ll lose everything else. Our nobles are growing restless, worried over the state of their domains. We have no choice but to make a sortie and crush the Farunians’ main force!”
Count Wolf had been against the scorched-earth strategy from the start, so now that it had failed, he had gained the support of nobles dissatisfied with the king. There were many of them, and they formed a large power base that even the king couldn’t afford to ignore.
“Hold, Count Wolf,” said Count Broome. “That would just be playing into the Farunian army’s—into King Mars’s hands. They intend to use crafty schemes to draw us out. If we launch an attack now, it’ll be a fight out in the open, Farune’s specialty. Our chances are slim.” Count Broome had been the architect of the scorched-earth strategy. However, he didn’t oppose a sortie because his plan had failed; he was dissuading Count Wolf on the basis of his detached appraisal of the situation, and nothing more. “The Farunians are fundamentally aggressive. They’ve obtained their victories by always being on the offensive. They’re currently adopting a strategy of provocation, but if we stay in our fortified position, there’s no doubt they’ll eventually grow impatient and assault the capital. We must wait until then.”
Count Broome’s judgment was highly accurate. As a matter of fact, the Farunian army had begun the Eyland Purification Project on the spur of the moment, and it wasn’t the result of any profound reflection on Mars’s part. However, nobody on Eyland’s side knew that. Not even anyone on the Farunian side knew it.
“And when will that be, Count Broome?! Tomorrow, the day after that, or a year from now? At this rate, the nobility will start to secede from the capital,” Count Wolf reasoned. “I’m doing my damnedest to keep them here, but it’s only a matter of time now. Once they secede, they’ll either be individually conquered, or they’ll swear fealty to Farune. That is the enemy’s goal! The entire army must fight as one before that happens if we are to achieve victory!” Count Wolf wasn’t seeking a sortie out of a personal grudge either. He sensed the risk of internal collapse, and so asserted that they ought to preempt it by throwing down the gauntlet as soon as feasible. “From what I hear, the king of Vulcan has been defeated,” he continued. “If Frau’s Mages’ Guild comes here, there’s no telling whether we’ll be able to fight at an advantage, even from our fortified position. We may merely be sitting idly by and awaiting our deaths.”
Frau had completely wiped out the army led by the king of Vulcan on its return from Eyland. However, the brutal method of their destruction had united the remaining Vulcanian nobles against Farune, and they were putting up fierce resistance. Because of this, Sheila was having a difficult time occupying the capital of Vulcan, and Frau was too busy supporting her to go back to Eyland herself.
“The lords of Vulcan are continuing to resist! Now is not the time to sortie on a whim. We must remain steadfast and wait!” Count Broome glared at Count Wolf, persistently advocating a defensive strategy.
“Yet I hear that the plan to ambush King Mars’s children failed! Nothing you say can be trusted, Count Broome!”
Communications had ceased with the assassins who were supposed to have assaulted Farune’s castle, and it was clear that the strategy had ended in failure.
“What did you just say to me?!” Count Broome fired back. “Did you have any other ideas?! Like standing idly by and doing nothing, perhaps?!”
The tense atmosphere around Count Wolf and Count Broome was stretched to its breaking point and a stormy mood had settled over the room. Still, the king was unable to make up his mind. He could see where Count Wolf was coming from, but he himself had been the one who had chosen the strategy of holing up in the castle. It was clear to him that if he reversed his decision after all this time and decided to fight out in the open, he would be vehemently criticized for not having done so earlier. And if he lost the support of the nobility in a situation like this, the entire country could come crumbling down around him.