novelraw Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Chapter 106
I only heard about what happened in the Hawrun side after everything had already been settled.
While rescuing Albert McBane, who had been imprisoned, they also freed the knights of Hawrun Territory—and together, they completely overturned the place.
No, “overturned” wasn’t even enough. They blew away the entire territory.
“If you were going to go this far, you should’ve contacted me first.”
When I asked why they made such a move without even notifying me, they said they hadn’t brought a Mana Communicator.
It was a relief that we managed to make contact even now. Irene had called upon the Fox Tribe after finding it strange that no reports were coming from Hawrun.
Through the Fox Tribe’s communication network, she discovered that something serious had happened, and only then were we able to establish proper contact.
But by that point, it was already too late.
They had acted with ridiculous speed—on the very first day they arrived in Hawrun, they caused the incident.
‘Good grief. Can’t they use what they have properly?’
It was absurd, really. Even without a Mana Communicator, they could’ve used the Fox Tribe’s spell paper.
And we have an informant there, don’t we?
If they had just asked that guy, they could’ve contacted us right away.
Just like how Irene had received reports through the Fox Tribe.
Was this the difference between an intelligent knight and a charge-type knight?
There was a reason I valued Irene so much.
—Aren’t you expecting too much from them?
‘No, that’s not... ah, whatever. Damn muscle-brained trio.’
True, I was expecting too much from people who didn’t even think to bring a Mana Communicator.
The Fox Tribe had only joined them a few days before.
They wouldn’t be that used to relying on them yet.
Even Leon, who was relatively smart, seemed unaware of the spell paper’s existence.
—That lion kid apparently played a part in blowing things up too, didn’t he?
‘Yeah, that’s true. I sent Leon as Leisha’s exclusive restrainer, and that kid somehow ended up negotiating with the Hawrun folks.’
—Even for a cub, a lion’s still a lion. Quite the bold move.
‘Seriously, my head hurts just thinking about it.’
Still, they did manage to strike right at the weak spot of the Empire.
It was right after a major battle, so things were chaotic, and the Masters who usually managed the region had all gone down to the Holy City Saint.
Even I had regretted letting the Empire’s weakest period slip by.
If I had known in advance that the Imperials were attending the Assembly of All Lords with three Masters and two hundred elite knights, maybe I wouldn’t have just stayed still.
‘Even so… to go this far?’
I wouldn’t have gone as far as they did, though.
How did they even manage this? Was it wild instinct? Or just mindless bravery?
Whatever the case, they had bitten hard into the enemy’s weakness.
—The human lord wasn’t half bad either.
‘Ah, that one. Yeah, that was impressive. A decision no sane person could make… though, he probably wasn’t sane at that point either.’
After wiping out the Imperials inside Hawrun Castle, the Lord of Hawrun and his Knight Commander gave up the territory completely.
They just wanted to lead the loyal residents to the Johnson Territory and escape.
No—more precisely, the Knight Commander, Albus Hawrun, was the one who escaped, while the Lord chose to stay.
Apparently, after the Knight Commander was rescued, the lord felt his final regrets fade. He entrusted everything to his youngest son, Albio, and took his own life.
When Leon heard that story, he made a proposal.
Since things had gone this far, they might as well destroy everything properly.
The Lord of Hawrun agreed—and that’s when the fateful incident happened.
Among the residents of Hawrun Castle, those loyal to Albus joined the Journey to Johnson, while those who refused were immediately evacuated.
They wouldn’t hand the intact Hawrun Territory over to the Empire.
Most of the remaining residents fled south, and Hawrun Castle was engulfed in flames.
‘The lord and a few retainers stayed behind to share its fate, didn’t they?’
Other than his youngest son, the Knight Commander, all the lord’s family had been executed by the Imperials.
Enraged beyond reason, the Lord of Hawrun burned the castle down and vanished from history.
It was a suicidal attack born of hatred so deep it was almost unimaginable.
‘They really struck a heavy blow to the Empire.’
The Hawrun Territory, which had become the Empire’s intermediate stronghold, had held a large stockpile of supplies.
All of that was gone now—the Empire’s losses weren’t small.
They even collapsed the castle walls of Hawrun Castle.
Rebuilding the walls might be possible, but the psychological blow would be hard to recover from.
It meant that, given the right conditions, walls could be destroyed anytime.
‘And to think the Rabbit Tribe helped with that too.’
The Rabbit Tribe had actively cooperated in setting fire to Hawrun Castle.
They took out every single Mana Crystal that the Imperials had stockpiled and turned the Hawrun Territory into a wasteland.
They destroyed major buildings like the lord’s mansion and the large warehouses, setting fire all across the land.
On top of that, they buried an enormous number of booby traps and Mana Mines in the half-ruined Hawrun Territory.
All of it was meant to inflict damage on the Imperials who would try to move in and clean up.
They had only stayed in Hawrun Territory for a day or two, but they sure worked fast.
The collapse of the castle walls was entirely thanks to the Rabbit Tribe.
The walls of this world weren’t something to be taken lightly.
By default, city walls were reinforced with defensive magic, and no ordinary shock could bring them down.
That was why sieges were so troublesome.
But the Rabbit Tribe had brought the wall down in a slightly different way.
They dug tunnels beneath the wall, planted Mana Bombs, and collapsed the ground beneath it to create a shock.
No matter how magically protected a wall was, it couldn’t stand if the ground itself gave way.
‘Honestly, I didn’t expect them to go that far. They really outdid the master.’
If the explosion wasn’t powerful enough, they even wondered if they hadn’t used enough Mana Crystals.
Sure, I was the one who had taught them how to make Mana Bombs and booby traps, but those guys… they were absolutely insane.
—So, what happens now?
‘Good question. What does happen now?’
Seizing a castle, evacuating the people, and then erasing the entire castle itself—what kind of lunatic idea was that?
Both Leon, who suggested it, and Lord of Hawrun and Albio Hawrun, who approved it, were completely out of their minds.
Forcing the remaining residents to evacuate was just as crazy.
From a modern perspective, it was a plan no one in their right mind would ever attempt.
After all, how many of those forcibly relocated people could possibly survive?
If they were lucky, they’d get captured and dragged back by the Imperials; if unlucky, they’d end up as monster feed.
‘And yet, they went ahead and did it without hesitation.’
Was this the average mentality of a medieval fantasy world?
I could feel a kind of madness beyond my comprehension.
‘But the result… was spectacular.’
They had burned all of the Empire’s supplies—its advance was bound to slow down.
Capturing the remaining two territories would be much harder now.
And the longer the war dragged on, the more time it would take for the Empire to recover.
They probably couldn’t afford to look at any other regions for a while.
‘The Imperials will be gnashing their teeth, but… what can they do?’
It wasn’t as if we could ever shake hands and smile with them anyway.
Our territory was already full of beastmen who held a deep grudge against the Empire.
‘The problem is the settlers, though. There are about ten thousand of them.’
Still, our original plan to secure new settlers was practically a failure.
Ten thousand settlers.
The number might sound impressive, but they couldn’t really be considered our people.
There were far more who followed Albio Hawrun in their escape than those who fled to become residents of the Johnson Territory.
There might be a few who sincerely wished to settle here, but they wouldn’t be many.
And that number itself was another issue.
Ten thousand—more than the population of our own territory.
It was like the tail wagging the dog. Feeding that many mouths would be a massive burden.
Just thinking that all ten thousand of them were basically destitute beggars made my head ache.
Sure, they must’ve gathered whatever they could while looting Hawrun Territory, but given the situation, it couldn’t have been much.
‘If they were our people, I’d find a way somehow… but they clearly aren’t.’
First, I’d have to meet this Albio fellow.
Only then could I decide what to do next.
The one saving grace was that, at the very least, they’d cooperate with us against the Imperials.
That was my only real comfort right now.
“So, how’s the situation on that side? I doubt the Imperials are just sitting still.”
—They’re moving along the route they used to escape before. The Rabbit Tribe and the Lion Tribe are staying behind to hold off the pursuers.
“Ah, that route. No problems so far?”
—Yes. There are more residents fleeing south, so it seems the Imperials are busy.
“That makes sense. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to evacuate the residents.”
Leisha, the Black Lions, and the Rabbit Tribe, who all had experience escaping Hawrun Territory before, were leading the evacuees along that same path.
The Imperials had sent pursuit squads, but the beastmen were handling them effectively.
Apparently, there were more refugees heading south than those bound for the Johnson Territory, so the pursuers weren’t very numerous.
‘Maybe they simply don’t have the capacity to spare.’
In the first place, the Imperials weren’t in a position to dispatch large pursuit forces.
Their commanders were absent, and with all their supplies gone, chaos had erupted.
They might still have Mana Communicators, but at this point, that wasn’t a problem that communication could fix.
By now, that so-called regent should’ve arrived in the Levelium Region. Soon, he’d have to make a decision.
Would he chase the remnants of Hawrun Territory, or would he first consolidate the remaining two territories and pacify Levelium?
If they did commit fully to chasing the settlers, the damage would be great—but it didn’t seem likely.
‘It’s far more urgent for them to stabilize the Levelium Region.’
With Hawrun wiped off the map, their supply lines were already in shambles.
They’d need to secure Levelium before running out of resources.
‘If they send a half-baked force after us, the Imperials will only bleed more.’
They’d have a hard time matching the troops stationed at the Johnson Territory, so I wasn’t too worried.
“In the end, what’s left is securing supplies and housing.”
Whatever happened, we had to accept the people.
Just like before with the Fox Tribe, we’d set up temporary housing and settle them there first.
The moment he heard the news, Elder Benetrang had already begun mobilizing, so temporary shelters for the settlers would be ready soon.
‘The real issue is food and supplies. We’ll need to release some of our stored goods and restock afterward.’
Fortunately, with the discovery of the Mana Stone Mine, we could now produce enough Mana Crystals.
I didn’t want to publicize that our territory owned a Mana Stone Mine, so we wouldn’t release too much at once—but under these circumstances, we’d have to distribute some.
Since we had already opened trade with the Dog Tribe, importing grain from the Vines region shouldn’t be impossible either.
‘If it’s the Fox Tribe, they’ll manage to buy food at a reasonable price.’
Trade should always be handled by merchants.
The Merchant-class Fox Tribe who traded with Rubina didn’t have much to do lately—now they finally would.
‘Actually, not just now—if we think about future trades too…’
The merchant foxes were about to get very busy.
There might come a time when merchants would be busier than knights.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yuria, who had been spreading rumors while claiming to be the wife of the lord, had amused herself by teasing me with zero sincerity.
But I couldn’t tolerate pleasure without responsibility.
It was about time she took some.
‘So work hard for the sake of the territory, self-proclaimed lady of the lord.’
I planned to dump the entire burden of supply procurement on Yuria.