Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-180

Episode 180: The Demon in the Mist (2)

While it might not have been intentional, the treatment of the defeated is determined by the victor. The tone of the captain’s question implicitly assumed Isaac’s victory in this battle.

“If it weren’t for a Holy Grail Knight, such a victory would have been impossible. Wasn’t it a Holy Grail Knight who anticipated the ambush?”

“That may be so, but alone it would have been impossible.”

While the Swordmaster is powerful, and regular soldiers can’t match him, he is not invincible. If ten knights skilled in superior swordsmanship attacked him, he would be hard-pressed. If morale did not break and tactics like the wheel or column formation were executed well, the danger would have been on Isaac’s side.

Isaac actually thought that the true practical use of a Swordmaster was more for assassination than for battle. His highly trained senses made it easy to evade enemies, and his unmatched physical abilities made him nearly impossible to counter unless by another Swordmaster.

Perhaps the reason Elil banned assassinations as cowardly was to prevent a rampage by the Swordmasters.

Edelred asked with a puzzled look, “Does victory weigh on you?”

“No, it’s the battle itself that I find distasteful.”

Edelred looked even more puzzled.

Mors had judged that there was almost no chance the main force would be attacked, a sentiment Isaac shared. While a surprise attack might happen, he did not expect an attack that would use almost half of the cavalry.

If Isaac had been alone when attacked, he wouldn’t have hesitated. However, this was the main force of 30,000 men. If Georg’s army wasn’t foolish, there must be a reason for such a bold gamble.

“This is not good.”

If Isaac’s concerns were true, the closer Aldeon’s army got to the holy site of Elion, the more the existence of the Kingdom of Elil itself was in jeopardy.

Suddenly, Isaac stood up and moved, followed by Edelred.

“Where are you going?”

“Ah, there are things I need to check.”

Isaac went to look for the captain who had earlier inquired about handling the bodies. He checked the condition of the bodies to be buried and gave instructions to the captain that were incomprehensible to him.

The captain confirmed the order several times, but Isaac repeated it.

This seemingly trivial instruction would reveal the answer.

***

With Isaac’s efforts leading to a significant reduction in Georg’s cavalry forces, the enemies changed their strategy. As expected, they chose a route that joined up with Elil Castle, advancing ahead of the vanguard.

The vanguard advanced triumphantly but couldn’t maintain their spirit forever.

“…They filled up the wells and burned the food stores?”

“Yes. It seems like the residents had already been evacuated.”

Mors, leading the vanguard, faced an empty village that had been intended for resupply, and asked bewilderedly before looking around. The vanguard’s goal had been to reach Elion Castle before Georg’s cavalry, so they only had preserved food with them. They had planned to procure or requisition the needed supplies within Georg’s territories, but the first village was already in ruins.

“Did Georg’s cavalry do this? Are they already ahead of us?”

“I’m not sure. From the traces, it looks like it happened at least two days ago. It’s unlikely that Georg’s cavalry is two days ahead of us…”

“It must have been cleaned up by Lianne outside the fortress.”

Mors gritted his teeth. But there was nothing he could do. He moved the troops again while dispatching scouts. The reports confirmed that nearby villages were also devastated. Villages further away were safe, but reaching them would require a significant detour, negating the point of rushing the vanguard forward.

“No, burning the village and blocking the wells. Has Lianne gone mad? Is this your first day at war?”

Mors erupted in anger upon encountering an empty village for the third time. Employing scorched earth tactics against enemies traveling long distances was a common strategy. But neither was this the start of the war, nor their first campaign towards Elion.

Had they burned villages and blocked wells each time, there would be no villages left in the Kingdom of Elil by now. Even changing occupiers had typically turned a blind eye to cooperating civilians as a display of ‘the generosity of a knight’.

Now, however, Georg’s actions seemed reckless, as if this war was their last.

“Delfric!”

As Delfric and Reyna emerged from a ruined house covered in ash and mud, Mors stopped them. The condition of the two knights, caked in ash and mud, seemed to reflect the dire situation of Aldeon’s forces.

“What’s the supply situation?”

“It’s tight. We still have water because of the rain, but we’re running low on food.”

“That scarce?”

“Well, if General Mors could make Georg’s forces surrender in

two days, it wouldn’t be a problem…”

Usually, sieges, unless concluded swiftly, could last from six months to several years. Mors, who hadn’t even considered fighting for more than a month, realized his vanguard strategy had failed.

Mors, rather than stubbornly sticking to a foolish strategy and wasting his troops, chose to admit his mistake and beg for forgiveness. It was a tactic that had allowed him to survive even during the tyrannical reign of the previous king.

“Your Majesty Edelred, I apologize for the failure of the operation due to my inadequacies. I will immediately resign my commission as commander-in-chief and serve as a regular soldier to atone for my sins.”

The next day, Edelred greeted Mors, who had returned with the vanguard, with a wry smile. Of course, no one truly accepted Mors’s apology.

Initially, the primary objective of the vanguard was to draw in Georg’s raiding cavalry from the territory, which they had successfully accomplished. The secondary objective was to quickly form a siege around Elion Castle, but this had failed due to the lack of supplies. No one had anticipated that Georg’s forces would take such extreme measures. Mors had made a wise decision.

“Stand up, General Mors. If not you, whom else would I trust with my forces?”

“I am deeply grateful for your immense grace.”

After this display of theater, they discussed countermeasures. Delfric viewed the situation as more serious than expected.

“There were no bodies in the ruins. Usually, when a village is burned, you’d expect some residents to resist or express anger, but even though they left in a hurry after setting the fire, no bodies were found. This means the residents are cooperating well.”

Edelred immediately understood the implication.

“Then there might be more soldiers in Elion Castle than expected.”

“Though they are conscripts, the numerical superiority was slightly in our favor until now, which is a bit precarious.”

It was uncertain if the scattered nobles would rejoin, but the situation looked grim if the residents within Georg’s territory were indeed collaborating. Even if Aldeon’s forces won, there could be stories of massacres like those at Saltain.

Reyna, representing the other soldiers and knights at the meeting, added her concerns.

“The extended rain is also a problem. We’re not dealing with an epidemic yet, but it’s only a matter of time since we can’t properly wash and dry. Above all, the rain and fog are making everyone on edge.”

“On edge?”

“Yes. There have been sightings of Georg’s wolves lurking about in the fog.”

Not attacking but merely showing themselves was meant to unsettle Aldeon’s forces. Having suffered significant losses in an earlier attack on the main force, they had shifted to a strategy of gradually wearing down the enemy. For Aldeon’s forces, who were an expeditionary force compounded by the rainy season, it was quite an effective tactic.

Reyna burst out,

“How can they block the front when they say they’ll return the relic? Who supports this? Those Georg wolves act all high and mighty like they’re the foremost devotees, it’s truly disgusting!”

The others responded with bitter laughter.

No one was fooled; returning the relic was just a pretext. The real goal was to suppress traitors.

The moment the envoy’s head was returned, the issue of returning the relic lost its relevance.

“Rushing seems to be the only clear solution we have.”

Mors muttered, furrowing his brow. Considering how aggressively Georg’s cavalry had initially sallied forth, stirring up the Kingdom of Elil, it now seemed it was a strategy to draw in Aldeon’s forces. Mors had to admit that whoever was commanding Georg’s forces was a step ahead of him.

Then Isaac spoke up.

“War is not a puzzle game.”

All eyes turned to Isaac.

Isaac decided it was time to apply a long-held theory to Aldeon’s forces.

“There’s no need to struggle to solve the problems the enemies present. We should become the problem for them.”

***

The intermittent spring rain pattered on the dense leaves of Georg’s lush forests. While not heavy, the drizzle that fell morning and evening was enough to fray the nerves of the soldiers, affecting both Aldeon and Georg’s forces alike.

“The boars are coming. Hurry up!”

A knight of Georg’s forces had the soldiers fell another tree to block the path. It was the twentieth tree. Now, rolling it down the hill would block the route, forcing Aldeon’s supply wagons to either delay significantly or take a detour.

Of course, the alternative route was already flooded due to diverted river water.

“Damn, I could go for a warm bowl of soup.”

The Georg knight lifted his visor and rubbed his face irritably, having been unable to change out of his soaked underclothes for three days. The only comfort for him was that they would soon return to Elion Castle for a warm bed and fire. In contrast, Aldeon’s ‘pigs’ would continue to shiver in the rain.

Maximizing that effect would require drawing out the delay as long as possible.

“Alright, let’s drop these trees…”

As the Georg knight began to give the order, he stopped upon spotting someone walking up from the hill below. Assuming it was a soldier lost in the fog, he approached angrily.

“If you don’t want to get crushed by a tree, get lost now!”

“Ah, yes. Sorry.”

The soldier awkwardly stepped aside. The Georg knight was about to dismiss it when he suddenly noticed more activity around him. More figures were emerging from the mist. A chill ran down the knight’s spine as he hastily drew his sword.

“It’s an ambush!”

“Oh, caught on quick, did you?”

The soldier who had sheepishly stepped aside suddenly charged up the hill. The Georg knight was shocked by his speed and drew his sword in defense.

A foolish move.

Bang! Delfric Hilde’s sword smashed through the Georg knight’s sword, helmet, and skull in one swift motion, burying deep into his chest. It was a demonstration of Aldeon swordsmanship, meant to split an enemy in two.

Another Georg knight screamed.

“Aldeon swine!”

“Georg dogs!”

Reyna countered just as fiercely, slashing down with her sword. The knight fell face-first into the mud. The surprise attack was highly effective. In the fog and rain, unable to tell knight from soldier, Georg’s knights couldn’t properly defend against the powerful strikes of Aldeon’s knights.

After dealing with the knights, the soldiers quickly surrendered. Conscripts with little interest in risking their lives for ‘high lords’ were few. Delfric promptly accepted their surrender and sent them to the rear.

Similar events unfolded throughout Georg’s territory.

Isaac had decided against concentrating his troops for a march, instead dispersing them widely like a net across the front. This was a different approach from previous battles, which focused on massing forces for powerful, sweeping movements. The mist and rain that had been a hindrance now adequately concealed them, allowing them to exploit the vulnerabilities in Georg’s forces.

With numerical superiority significantly reduced, Georg’s forces could no longer leverage the advantage of ‘their own land.’

Although well-organized Georg’s forces occasionally probed the thinned ranks of Aldeon’s troops, they too encountered unexpected problems. Specifically, they couldn’t tell if the soldiers emerging from the fog were newly conscripted peasants or monstrous paladins who had come across the sea to slaughter angels.

A few raids on seemingly weak soldiers resulting in the annihilation of Georg’s knights started bizarre rumors within their ranks.

Rumors that a demon lurked in the mist.

–TL Notes–