novelraw Chapter 151
Chapter 151
Chapter 151
The Regent of the Empire, Octosia Deloson, let out a sigh as she gazed at the massive white Castle coated thickly with lime.
Contrary to what the Merchants had said—that there were no magical defensive measures at all—the walls were densely covered with Enhancement Magic Circles.
Unless the Merchants had deliberately screwed her over, it meant the Cow Tribe had intentionally hidden it.
If that was the case, everything they had prepared to quickly seize the Castle would become useless.
The only thought that came to mind was that she had been played.
“We’ve been had. But who on earth…”
It didn’t seem like something the Cow Tribe could have pulled off.
Even among Beastmen, they were notoriously simple-minded—nothing more than ignorant beasts.
It seemed someone was helping them from behind the scenes.
“Black Lions? And those are… rabbits, and mice? And even humans.”
As the Imperial Army lined up, she surveyed the top of the Castle walls.
Heavily armed Cow Tribe warriors, and around them, a surprisingly diverse mix of Beastmen.
Starting with the Black Lions, then the Rabbit Tribe, and the Mouse Tribe.
But more than that, what stood out the most were the humans.
Humans mixed among Beastmen were rare enough to naturally draw attention.
Especially that muscular man in black leather armor—he was someone Octosia recognized.
Iron Johnson of the Johnson Territory.
She had only brushed past him briefly at the Lord’s Council, but his impression had been so strong that she remembered him clearly.
He was a human with a completely different vibe from the other Lords there.
Rather than a Lord, he felt more like a Knight—no, more precisely, a warrior.
She couldn’t understand why that man was there.
“Ah… I see.”
At first, she couldn’t make sense of it, but as she organized her thoughts, the situation became clear.
Unless it had been prearranged, a Lord from another territory wouldn’t be standing there like that.
Iron Johnson, who had long been at odds with them, must have incited the Cow Tribe and orchestrated this.
She had thought it strange that the Cow Tribe, of all people, had used such an unusual tactic—but if a human was involved, it made sense.
“So I was deceived from the start. Using your head despite looking like that.”
He had supplied the Cow Tribe with equipment and engraved Enhancement Magic Circles onto the Castle.
Then, he hid that fact until the very end and lured her here.
He even came personally to defend the Castle.
It was clear he had planned this from the beginning.
They had been planning to target the Johnson Territory next anyway, so she didn’t feel wronged…
“But how?”
What puzzled her was how he had persuaded those brutish Cow Tribe.
Beasts were beasts for a reason—Beastmen weren’t the type to listen to humans.
Moreover, judging by how many other Beastmen had gathered, it seemed his words held some level of influence over them.
How was that even possible?
“Is it because he’s a beast-like human, so he communicates well with beasts?”
At this point, that was the only explanation she could come up with.
She knew about the Mana Stone Mine, but she didn’t know about the Horned Rabbit Breeding Facility.
And she had no idea how many Horned Rabbits Iron Johnson had been distributing to the Beastmen, so no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find an answer.
“If that’s the case…”
She had thought she used a tactic to lure all the Cow Tribe warriors toward Lucas, but now that she was here, even that seemed to have been part of the enemy’s scheme.
Then what was their next move?
Octosia couldn’t help but worry about the situation in Lucas Territory.
If they were truly aiming for Lucas Territory…
* Regent. This is urgent.
At that moment, a message came from Dagren, who had remained in Lucas Territory.
But the content was quite different from what Octosia had expected.
The Cow Tribe that had gone down to Lucas had retreated under the cover of night.
It was completely unexpected, leaving her momentarily speechless.
“So these bastards… are targeting this side?”
If the Cow Tribe warriors had hurried back, then their target was here.
Unlike her side, which aimed to tie down their warriors and strike their base, their target was the forces themselves.
They clearly intended to cut down the troops that had advanced to the Cow Tribe Castle, then strike from behind.
“The idea is good, but it won’t go that smoothly.”
Unfortunately for them, Octosia had brought an enormous number of troops here.
Roughly 60% of the military power in the Levelium Region.
Even Iron Johnson likely hadn’t expected her to mobilize this many troops.
To anyone, this would look like an excessive gamble.
“That’s why he’s standing there like that. Unless he has something special like I do.”
She had simply mobilized a large force for a swift victory, but thanks to that, a new path had opened.
Being caught in the enemy’s scheme felt unpleasant, but as long as the result was good, it didn’t matter.
No matter what the enemy did, once that Castle fell, it would all be meaningless.
The Cow Tribe warriors could be forced to surrender immediately by taking the Castle’s residents as hostages.
“Dagren. Immediately pursue the Cow Tribe with all available forces. Delay their advance as much as possible.”
What they were relying on was probably the return of the Cow Tribe warriors.
In the end, it was a battle against time.
If the Castle fell before they arrived, the war would be over.
Of course, the fact that the Castle was covered in Enhancement Magic Circles was painful—but she had also mobilized 1,000 Knights.
1,000 Knights and 2,000 infantry.
A single Castle like that could be taken down quickly.
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“…That’s probably what she’s thinking, right?”
“She’s not wrong. I was a bit—no, actually pretty—surprised too.”
It was true that I wanted as many troops as possible to come this way, but the number they brought was a bit overwhelming.
No—more precisely, the composition was the problem.
I hadn’t expected that many Knights.
I did expect a swift assault, but they also had to defend four territories.
Even if things were in a lull, the war wasn’t over.
With some of their forces tied down by the incoming Cow Tribe, how many troops could they realistically spare?
That had been my honest calculation.
‘Is she actually insane?’
* Isn’t it just her determination to win no matter what?
‘No, what is this, a gambling table? She’s like a dopamine addict.’
If the total force was 3,000, I had expected around 500 Knights.
That was the limit of my estimation.
But what the hell—these lunatics brought a full 1,000 Knights.
The Empire’s total forces stationed in the Levelium Region were estimated at around 1,500 Knights—and they deployed 1,000 of them here?
Seen positively, it was a decisive move. Seen negatively, it was a gamble.
The enemy had taken a massive risk.
“And that human… that’s Octosia, right?”
On top of that, Regent Octosia had personally led the army.
It seemed the Empire was determined to subjugate the Cow Tribe no matter what.
This was very different from what I had expected.
“So, not confident?”
“Well, we’ve made our preparations too.”
But we were well prepared as well.
Originally, the Horse Tribe and the Lion Tribe had planned to target the pursuing forces from Lucas Territory.
We already knew that 3,000 Cow Tribe warriors would head toward Lucas, so we expected a significant number of troops to remain there.
If they mobilized forces to pursue the Cow Tribe, the two tribes’ objective was to cut them off.
But now that the largest concentration of troops was here, we had to revise the plan.
‘We have no choice but to trust the Horse Tribe.’
The Lion Tribe would stick to the original plan and cut off the enemy’s pursuers, while the main force of the Horse Tribe had been called here instead.
If the Horse Tribe’s strength was as formidable as expected, then the Imperial Army wouldn’t be able to focus solely on capturing the Castle.
And if the Cow Tribe warriors struck their rear in that situation—
‘We might be able to wipe out most of the Empire’s forces here. With some luck, even Octosia.’
* And you’ve prepared something else too, haven’t you?
‘Well… yeah. But I don’t know if we’ll even need to use it. Not sure if we’ll get the chance either.’
* Either way, we must hold off the first assault.
‘That’s obvious.’
“Leisha, Limond. You’re confident, right?”
“Isn’t it just beating down the Imperial bastards climbing up the walls? No matter how many come, they won’t get past here.”
“This is our specialty. It’s been a while since we’ve earned our keep.”
“Alright then. Give it your all.”
The Territory’s Rangers would intercept them first, but the most important task was dealing with the Knights climbing up the walls.
Compared to the Cow Tribe’s reserve warriors, the Black Lions were far more reliable.
If I had known things would turn out like this, I would’ve left some Cow Tribe warriors behind—but what could I do?
With the Johnson Knights, the Crimson Comet, and the Black Lion Warriors, we had more than enough forces for a defensive battle.
Of course, this was my first war against humans, but holding out should be manageable.
After all, this was a battle where we just had to buy time.
* Charge!!!
From afar, the Imperial Army surged forward.
They say it’s 3,000 troops, but seeing it from above, it was quite a spectacle.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, numbers like tens of thousands were thrown around casually—I couldn’t even imagine how battles like that were fought.
“Loose!”
The Rangers drew their bowstrings toward the advancing army.
The seasoned Rangers experienced in hunting monsters, along with the rapidly growing Rabbit Tribe Rangers.
They were skilled enough to imbue their arrows with Aura, albeit faintly.
From the start, ordinary arrows were meaningless against heavily armored humans.
* Urgh!!
Generally, arrow attacks were considered useless against heavily armored Knights.
Iron Armor enchanted with Enhancement Magic could block most arrows.
To deal meaningful damage, arrows needed Aura—and archers capable of that were rare.
In the Levelium Region, where battles weren’t frequent, this was even more true.
That was why charges led by Knights were so effective.
The Empire wasn’t stupid for launching such a seemingly reckless charge.
‘But we’ve got those kinds of skilled fighters.’
Our Territory’s Rangers were all capable of imbuing Aura into their arrows.
And the bows they used were Horn Bows made from Minota horns—military supplies directly imported from Haken Territory.
The arrows were also solid Iron Arrows designed for hunting monsters.
Even reinforced Iron Armor would be pierced if struck properly.
* Aura-infused arrows! Raise your shields!
As over a dozen Knights charging at the front turned into neat pincushions, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
The advancing troops quickly raised their shields to cover themselves and charged again.
Such rapid adaptation.
That part surprised me a bit.
They were better trained than expected.
Even with shields, charging through a rain of arrows wasn’t easy.
It seemed they had grown quite accustomed to siege warfare, likely from recent skirmishes.
‘We need to reduce their numbers somehow.’
An increase in siege-experienced Imperial elite soldiers wasn’t desirable.
* Fire!
This time, arrows came flying from their side.
While our Rangers suppressed the frontline, soldiers in the rear advanced into range and fired arrows to pressure the forces on the walls.
It was purely suppressive fire.
The power itself wasn’t impressive, but in situations like this, sheer numbers were threatening.
They far outnumbered us, and our Rangers were relatively lightly equipped.
A stray arrow could cause serious injury.
“Don’t flinch! Keep firing!”
But raising shields or hiding behind others was something only cowards did.
Whether Rabbit Tribe or human, only real men filled the Johnson Territory.
Regardless of incoming arrows, they kept drawing their bowstrings with the sole determination to kill as many enemies as possible.
“Ugh!”
“Priest!!”
“On it!”
If someone got hit by a stray arrow, Priest-Warriors or trainee Priests waiting nearby would rush over, carry the wounded to the rear, and treat them.
As long as it wasn’t an instant death, they would receive treatment and be sent back into battle.
* Climb the walls!!
After exchanging arrow fire, the Knights who had been charging under the cover of their shields finally reached the base of the walls.
The real battle was about to begin.