A Clever Scheme
The Nord Army led by Ren fled to a fort on the border between the former Saint Miriam Kingdom and the Nord Empire. This is the place where Ren destroyed the army of the former Saint Miriam Kingdom that attacked on the way from the church capital to Nord.
The united front army surrounded the fort. However, the formation was a little different. Only the armies of the three major powers are participating in the siege. The other smaller countries were heading for the Northern Alliance to take control of it.
The control is almost only a formality. No country has yet seriously rebelled against the united front forces. They are merely scrambling to make the terms of surrender as good as possible.
It has already been four months since the siege began. But the fortress shows no sign of falling. The reason for this is that the united front did not launch an aggressive attack.
The loss of King Luine, the commander-in-chief, made it impossible for the united front forces to organize their policy. If they were still unable to defeat Ren after attacking the fort, the next battlefield would be within the Nord Empire. No one on the battlefield could make the decision to go into that. They needed time to check with their home country.
Of course, it is not that they did nothing during that time. At the urging of Amalia, who was accompanying Yuya, they were working to recover the territory of the former Saint Miriam Kingdom.
However, there was no Nord army in the former Saint Miriam Kingdom territory, except for the fortress. All they had to do was go to the towns and villages and tell them that the Saint Miriam Kingdom had been restored.
Even if they wanted to rule, there were no vassals in Amalia to do so. There is also the question of whether Amalia is qualified to rule the Saint Miriam Kingdom in the first place.
Four months passed without any major developments. The time has finally come for that to come to an end. The united front army began to attack the fort. The reason is.
"Invading the Nord Empire?"
"Yes, that's right. There should be a castle at the entrance to Nord. We will take it down."
The one who answered Heinz's question was Crown Prince Albert. King Luine has passed away, so he might as well be called the acting king. That is until the coronation ceremony is over.
"Leaving the fort in front of us and doing that..."
"Dropping that fort in front of us is meaningless if we let the Nord emperor escape. The reason for dropping the rear fortress is to block his escape route."
"I know that. I know, but... how do we attack?"
To invade the Nord Empire, they had to pass right in front of the fort. That way, there is no way they will know that they are trying to take down a castle in the rear. It is unlikely that the Nord Empire would let that happen.
"Using a ship."
"An invasion from the sea."
"We will make a detour on the sea. But only as much as necessary. If there are many ships floating on the sea, they will be conspicuous. And we cannot afford to surround the castle leisurely. The key to success in this operation is to quickly take it down."
Once the castle is surrounded, no matter how tightly the united front force conducts itself, it will always report back to the fort. In the darkness of the night, it is not difficult for the demons to get through the siege.
Taking down the castle in a short amount of time. That is the key to success.
"How many soldiers do we use?"
"It all depends on how many ships we can procure. Fortunately, I've heard that the castle has very few guards. The castle itself is poorly defended."
"I see."
"After taking the castle, send reinforcements and deploy a large army to prevent the Nord from fleeing into the rear."
That's not all. Not only is it impossible to deploy a large force in the narrow rear, but the rear castle is the enemy's stronghold. The hole in the siege has been left open, thinking that even if they deployed, they would only be cut off. The fortress side would then be able to bring in supplies at will.
Four months have passed since the start of the siege, but the fort didn't fall due to starvation.
"I wish the fort would fall."
"If you worry about it, you're denying this battle itself. To win, you have to take down the fort. That's what we're going to do."
"...That's right"
Prince Albert has not the slightest intention of losing. Heinz does not intend to lose either, but he cannot be as confident as Crown Prince Albert. This is not a matter of ability, but of character.
"But that doesn't mean there's nothing to worry about."
"What is it?"
"Nord is not moving. What have they been doing for the last four months?"
For four months, the Nord Army has been holed up in the fortress. That is what Prince Albert suspects. He thinks that Ren, who has been cornered, would not have remained motionless.
This idea is correct. Ren has been waiting for a long time, making plans. He has been waiting for Crown Prince Albert to appear on the battlefield. And not to fight.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
A knight rushed into the tent where the war council was being held, looking quite impatient.
"What's wrong?"
Even though he felt uneasy about the situation, Prince Albert tried to calm down and asked the knight.
"That's……"
The knight hesitates to answer. Prince Albert understood that it was difficult for him to talk in the presence of people from other countries.
"I don't mind. I won't hide it from our allies."
He thought that it would not be good to sneak around and be suspected of something strange, so he instructed the knight to speak.
"Ha... a rebellion."
"What……?"
"We have received reports of an unprecedented large-scale rebellion."
Hearing the knight's report, there was a groan. The king is dead, and in the absence of his acting king, Crown Prince Albert, a rebellion is underway. They understood the dangers of such a situation.
"At a time like this..."
Rebellions were frequent. But after repeated attempts to put down the rebellion, the country finally settled down. Just when they were thinking that, they were hit with a rebellion of an unprecedented scale.
"No, it was precisely at a time like this. The Nord was behind it, after all."
Prince Albert sensed the presence of the Nord in the shadow of the rebellion. He was now convinced that he was not mistaken. He was not at all happy about it.
"What are you going to do?"
"...Prepare for the Nord invasion immediately."
"Are you sure?"
In the absence of both the king and the crown prince, can the rebellion be contained? The disaster of the Luine Kingdom is not a bad thing for the Lemberg Empire, but Heinz is in no mood to rejoice about it.
"I want to return to my country as soon as possible. But if the Nord Empire is pulling the strings behind the scenes, we can put an end to the rebellion by severing it."
"Certainly."
"We will begin preparations immediately. First, we need to procure ships. We need men and money from your country as well. Can you provide that?"
"Of course. I will make arrangements immediately."
Putting the rebellion in his country aside for the moment, Crown Prince Albert decided to hurry to settle the battle in front of him. Believing it is the best solution.
◇◇◇
Gathering as many ships as they could procure, the united front army began its invasion of the Nord Empire. The leaders of the united front forces are only aware of the situation through reports, as they set sail from a location far from the fort to avoid being noticed by the Nord Empire.
They gathered ships from the coast and sent 2,000 soldiers. Of course, that would be the first group, and after that, they plan to increase the number of troops by making the ships go back and forth.
At the main camp of the united front army, they are waiting for the battle situation report of the first group. It's time for the report to arrive.
"We have received a report."
The long-awaited report has arrived. However, the knight who came to tell them has a dismayed look on his face.
"What happened?"
It is not good news. They can tell by the look on the knight's face.
"The second group is reported to have been almost completely wiped out."
"What do you mean?"
What the knight told them was not the battle situation of the first group, but that the waiting second group had almost been wiped out. Prince Albert did not understand why this was the case.
"The Nord Army attacked."
"That's... by a ship?"
The Nord Army did not sail from the fort. It is impossible for them not to notice it. If that is the case and they attacked the coastal position, they were by moving through the sea. And they probably did so using the same ships that the first group had boarded. That means that the first group also lost the battle.
"Perhaps. It was a night attack, so we don't know for sure."
"I see... and what about the Nord Army?"
"They've gone missing."
"Do you know their number?"
"No, we have no information."
"I see... anything else?"
"No. That's all we have right now."
"All right. You may step back."
When I instructed the knight to step back, Prince Albert crossed his arms and closed his eyes. No one called out to him, thinking he was thinking about something.
"...Enemy forces have been deployed outside the siege. That gives us more things to think about."
It was Heinz who proceeded with the meeting instead. Heinz spoke of his own thoughts that the Nord Empire forces were aiming to disrupt the rear.
"What do you think they are trying to do?"
Mei responded to Heinz's words. She just couldn't stand the silence. She asked Heinz because she didn't like the oppressive atmosphere. It's the same.
"Attack the supply unit. That's the most likely scenario."
"I see... what else?"
"Threaten our rear. But that depends on the numbers. A few hundred troops hanging around behind us shouldn't pose much of a threat."
"Yes. That number."
Prince Albert, who was thinking, opened his mouth.
"What number?"
"What is the total number of the Nord Army?"
"That's... I don't know."
No country has been able to obtain information on the total number of the Nord Army. Due to the information blockade by the Nord Empire, the state of the country is completely unknown.
"Do you know?"
Prince Albert turned the question to Baat. Baat works with united front forces, although not always. The purpose is to obtain information on Ren from the Nord Empire.
The united front army also did not refuse to do so, saying that the power of the demons was necessary to keep the information secret from the Nord Empire. The relationship has always been one of mutual interest. Emotion is not an issue.
"The scope of the army? Well, I don't have an answer for any range. By the way, all vampires are warriors."
Whether or not the demons are included or not? That changes the number a lot. Even if they are not a regular army, the fighting power of the demons is a threat to the humans. The number of the regular army alone will be multiplied many times if the demons are included in the number.
"How many troops are holed up in the fort?"
"Did you fight without even knowing that? That's pretty lousy."
"I know... the first was five thousand. It doubled in size. Is that even a plan?"
The Nord Empire army that appeared in the first battle was five thousand. That doubled on the next battle, and he thought the total number of the Nord army was 10,000. It can't be. Because there were almost no demons in those 10,000.
"Are you saying that they were conserving their military strength?"
Heinz was surprised by Prince Albert's words. overwhelmingly inferior in numbers. Heinz could not believe that they could spare any troops in such a situation.
"If you don't intend to win, that's one thing."
But Prince Albert is different. As a tactic, he thinks it is possible.
"Are you saying that they fought because they knew they would lose? No, that's not possible. A man named Ren would never think that way."
"He didn't intend to lose. He just didn't want to win. At least in the early stages of the fight."
"...I see. To draw us in. Gradually cut down our fighting strength while our own country is..."
Heinz understood what Prince Albert wanted to say. It also opens up new possibilities.
"What are you going to do with it? A rebellion has been started in our country."
"Do you think something will happen to our country as well?"
"The Nord emperor intends to attack our weakest point. That's why he separated us from our own country."
It is a natural choice to attack the weakest point. But no one expects it to be done with the entire continent in view. The time to find out is after the fact.
"What are you going to do? From now on, the Nord Empire will try to keep our army on the battlefield for as long as possible."
Meanwhile, the rebellion that is taking place in the Luine Kingdom increases its scale and throws the country into chaos. At worst, Prince Albert may lose his home country.
"...I guess I'll have to go back."
"I see."
They can't blame Prince Albert. The rebellion taking place in the Luine Kingdom is also one of the battles with the Nord Empire. They knew this battlefield wasn't everything.
"Yuya. You lead the Polaris Knights and stay here."
"Yeah. I understand."
Prince Albert did not withdraw the entire army. Yuya's knight order because he thought it was not necessary to suppress the rebellion. Not because he trusts them, but because he disrespects them.
"I will return as soon as I have finished suppressing the rebellion. No, that may not be just me."
Something may happen not only in the Luine Kingdom, but also in the Lemberg Empire and the Izrim Magic Kingdom sooner or later. If that happens, both countries will have to pull their armies back for a time.
Prince Albert thinks that it will definitely happen.
The first battle was a complete defeat. Crown Prince Albert admitted that he had lost to Ren without even putting up a good fight. While vowing to avenge his defeat in the next round.
◇◇◇
A few days after the Luine kingdom withdrew, leaving Yuya's Knight Order behind.
This time, a messenger came from the Izrim Magic Kingdom. With information about a shocking incident in which a leading figure in the elected court was almost assassinated. Moreover, it was a plot by the Elected King Selim, and there were signs of a rebellion among the members of the Elected Court who had learned of the plot, as expected, in a sense.
With this, the Izrim Magic Kingdom army also withdrew. The reason for leaving Jin and his Knights behind was in accordance with the Luine Kingdom. However, Prince Charles' evaluation of Jin is different from that of Crown Prince Albert's evaluation of Yuya. He left the knight order without thinking about it, just because they were both heroes.
Now, if this is the case, what will happen in the Lemberg Empire? Heinz waited for that time with anxiety. It would be best if nothing would happen, but Heinz knows that will not happen.
And as expected, the time has come.
"His Majesty thinks I'm trying to start a rebellion?"
In a slightly different way than the other two countries.
"Yes. Rumors are circulating that the Duke is trying to replace His Majesty."
"That's impossible."
"I know that. But there are many who have feared it for some time and have believed the false rumors."
Many people are not happy about Heinz's presence. Some think it out of loyalty to Emperor Lemberg, and others are jealous of Heinz's position as the emperor's aide.
He has many enemies in the country. Heinz was prepared for this, but now, under the current circumstances, he could not calm down if the Nord Empire had pounced on them.
"As an excuse... No, that's also strange."
Heinz had nothing to hide, but he was going to make an excuse. He was worried that this would only increase Emperor Lemberg's suspicions. Heinz was concerned about this. Heinz's relationship with Emperor Lemberg was not good to begin with. This complicates Heinz's thinking.
"...Better yet, should I ask the Nord emperor what he wants?"
The thing that is bothering him is that he is completely falling in the middle of Ren's tricks. He knows this, but it doesn't change the fact that he can't come to a conclusion. Heinz is frustrated by this.
"It's no use. You'll just be cajoled into it."
Mei gives this Heinz the obvious advice.
"I guess so... but..."
"What?"
"...I really wanted it. If only I had this talent."
Ren plots all over the continent. If only that power had been put to use for the Lemberg Empire. Heinz had this thought. It's called regret.
"It's too late now. Ren-kun is an enemy. If you don't clearly recognize that, you'll face even worse."
"Yeah, I know."
However, as a result, Heinz will remain on the battlefield. In return, it would be strange to say, but three-fourths of the Lemberg Empire's army received orders from their home country and returned. It was feared that Heinz would turn the army he was leading against his own country.
By remaining on the battlefield, he would not be given a chance to defend himself in the immediate future. The rift between Emperor Lemberg and Heinz was that deep.
Yuya, Mei and Jin. The united front force of the three remaining students, who were known as the Four Heavenly Kings during the academy days, could be called elite. However, the greatly reduced military strength would give the Nord Empire freedom of action. The chaos spread further.
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