Chapter 248 : Chapter 248
Side Story 7. Raven (4)
Lucy was deeply troubled.
Calstein’s declaration of war had come sooner than she had expected.
She had thought she would have another two weeks or so to prepare, but she had been caught off guard.
Soon after the declaration of war, another report arrived.
“Family Head! Calstein’s forces have almost reached the castle gates!”
“What?”
“It appears they issued the declaration of war at the same time they began their advance!”
Lucy’s worries deepened.
“Who is commanding their forces?”
“Oliver Calstein himself has joined the campaign!”
Oliver Calstein.
He was the current Family Head of House Calstein and was renowned for his exceptional swordsmanship.
He had reached the realm of Sword Expert long ago, and there were even rumors that he now stood on the verge of becoming a Sword Master.
Although his exact strength remained shrouded in mystery, the weight carried by the name Oliver Calstein was far too great for the young Lucy to bear.
“Raise our alert status to the highest level immediately!”
“I will see to it at once!”
“And I need to go to the watch post on the castle wall myself.”
“You intend to go personally, Family Head?”
“Of course! Calstein himself has taken the field. How could I possibly sit here in comfort?”
“Understood. I will have your armor prepared first. And please do not worry too much. If we keep the gates firmly shut and maintain an airtight defense, Calstein will not be able to do anything to us immediately!”
After the retainer left, Lucy bit her lip.
Just as he had said, if they focused entirely on defense, they should be able to hold out for some time.
The walls of Raven Castle were famous for being difficult to breach.
However, the fact that Calstein had marched against them with such confidence meant they had something they were relying on.
House Elmer of the neighboring region was particularly concerning.
House Elmer and House Calstein had enjoyed friendly relations for many years.
If the two had joined forces, the situation would become far more troublesome.
Just as Lucy’s thoughts were becoming increasingly tangled, Seo Ji-han spoke.
“Locking the gates and holding out will not weaken Calstein’s forces.”
“Do you know something?”
“Viscount Elmer has agreed to provide provisions for Calstein’s soldiers.”
Lucy’s expression stiffened at Seo Ji-han’s words.
He had pinpointed the very possibility she had been worrying about moments earlier.
One of the most important issues in warfare was supply. But if the nearby House Elmer provided Calstein with provisions, Calstein would gain the means to remain there for weeks, even months.
Under such circumstances, the side trapped behind the castle gates would actually be placed at an even greater disadvantage.
“Is that information reliable?”
“If the information I received from Cheonra is accurate, then yes. I also heard that they will be providing a large number of catapults, so dragging this into a prolonged war would probably make things even more difficult.”
At those words, Lucy’s expression grew even darker.
There was still no word from the neighboring lords to whom she had sent requests for an alliance.
Having to face two noble houses at once under these circumstances was an immense obstacle.
“If only Brother Johan were here....”
Lucy murmured quietly to herself.
Johan Raven.
If he were here, she would not have been afraid even if the entire world attacked them, much less two families joining forces.
No.
No one would have dared even consider declaring war on the Raven Family in the first place.
Lucy missed her brother more than ever today.
But Seo Ji-han immediately rebuked her.
“How long are you going to keep calling for your brother at your age?”
“...What?”
Lucy instantly became embarrassed.
The thought had slipped out before she even realized it.
“My master is not here, so are you planning to surrender?”
“Of course not!”
Absolutely not.
If she had intended to surrender in disgrace, she would never have allowed matters to reach this point in the first place.
Lucy continued with a determined expression.
“Even if it costs me my life, I will stand at the vanguard and fight!”
At those words, Seo Ji-han smiled in satisfaction.
“You pass.”
“What?”
“I mean that is precisely the attitude my master would have wanted from the Family Head of Raven.”
“No matter how inadequate I may be, I am still my brother’s sister.”
Although her abilities could not even begin to compare with his, she had always possessed the pride befitting one who carried Raven blood.
“But there is one thing you seem to have forgotten.”
“What? Forgotten?”
“I believe I told you that I came here as my master’s representative.”
“Yes. You did say that.”
“Then what are you worried about? It is no different from having my master here himself.”
With that, Seo Ji-han rose from his seat.
“They have nearly reached the castle gates, so I suppose it is time for me to go out.”
“D-Do not tell me...!”
“Wait here. It will not take long.”
Seo Ji-han summoned Bastian and leisurely walked out.
***
There were hundreds of soldiers.
And one particularly conspicuous figure stood at their head.
A middle-aged man with ash-gray hair fluttering in the wind as he commanded the soldiers.
It was Oliver Calstein.
‘He has aged quite a bit too.’
When I killed the Pirate King Cortua and arranged the treaty with House Calstein, he had still been a young boy.
Despite his young age, I had found his murky, greedy eyes particularly memorable. And after eventually becoming Family Head, he had finally caused trouble.
Today, he would pay the price for it.
STEP.
STEP.
I walked toward them alone.
“You are certainly a bold one. At the very least, those eyes of yours are impressive. You do not look intimidated even with this many soldiers before you.”
Calstein regarded me with interest.
“Oliver Calstein.”
“Oh? You recognized me immediately.”
“You know, I truly despise people who do not keep their promises.”
“What?”
“And I despise ingrates even more.”
“What is wrong with this bastard? He is just a lunatic!”
Calstein stared at me in disbelief.
I ignored him and continued.
“The Raven-Calstein Treaty. I doubt you threw away the agreement, so your side should know its terms better than anyone. Yet now you suddenly intend to repay a debt of gratitude with betrayal?”
“It seems that Raven wench sent you here to whine on her behalf!”
“The party to that treaty was not Johan Raven personally, but the Raven Family itself. If you intend to ignore something that fundamental, does that mean you believe the Raven Family has become easy prey?”
“Kekeke!”
“In any case, refusing to honor the treaty also constitutes treason against the Empire. The Emperor himself guaranteed the agreement when it was made.”
The Emperor.
And treason.
The moment those deadly words were mentioned, Calstein’s expression stiffened.
And at that moment, the swordsman standing to Calstein’s left thrust his sword toward me.
He had read his master’s intentions.
“Shut your mouth and die!”
SWISH!
A single glance at his sword was enough to tell me.
As befitted one of Calstein’s close aides, he was a swordsman of considerable skill.
The tip of his blade was aimed precisely at my wrist.
Despite telling me to die, he clearly had no intention of killing me immediately.
Of course, regardless of his intentions, there was no question whose wrist would be severed.
“Aaagh!”
Holy Sword Bastian flashed, and blood sprayed from the man’s severed wrist.
The surroundings instantly descended into chaos.
They clearly had not anticipated anything like this.
Calstein’s guards immediately surrounded me.
The air grew thick with tension.
“You chose the wrong master.”
The only person I truly held a grudge against was Oliver Calstein.
But that did not mean I intended to show mercy to the subordinates who stood in my way.
I needed to show the entire world what happened to those who opposed Raven.
SWOOOSH!
The Holy Sword casually cut through the air, and Sword Qi exploded from its path.
BOOOOM!
Defending was pointless.
No, they probably did not even have enough leeway to attempt a defense.
Unless they were at least Sword Experts, the incoming Sword Qi would have carved their entire bodies apart before they could even react.
“Aaaagh!”
Of course, being an Expert did not mean they would escape unharmed.
They would barely manage to cling to life, and none of them would be in any condition to continue fighting.
SWOOOSH!
As the Holy Sword traced another path through the air, they too collapsed helplessly, bleeding.
In an instant, Calstein’s elite guards disappeared from his front, revealing him once again.
“Oliver Calstein. Shall we continue our conversation?”
“What are you? Who the hell are you?”
“You called me a lunatic a moment ago. Only now have you become curious about who this lunatic is?”
When I took a step forward, Calstein raised his sword again, watching me with utmost vigilance.
Mana sank deeply into his blade.
His mana control was pure and concise.
It seemed the rumors had not been false.
‘So it is true that he is on the verge of becoming a Sword Master.’
At this level, he would rank among the finest swordsmen on the entire continent.
And because he had reached such heights himself, he must have been able to roughly gauge the level of strength I had just displayed.
I took another step forward.
Now, not a single one of Calstein’s soldiers dared stand in my way.
Everyone merely held their breath and watched as Calstein and I faced one another.
“It would have been better if you had kept your promise. Do you not agree?”
“I have never heard of a swordsman like you belonging to the Raven Family. You are clearly an outsider. Am I wrong?”
“Does that matter right now?”
“It does. Because I am about to make you a very tempting offer.”
Calstein gave me a crooked smile.
“What do you mean?”
“I will pay you twice whatever that Raven wench promised you! How about entering my service? I will not even hold you responsible for what you just did to my men!”
Heh.
The offer was so absurd that I almost laughed.
“Not enough.”
“Twice is not enough?”
I nodded.
“Then name your price yourself! How much do you want?”
It seemed Calstein genuinely intended to recruit me.
At the very least, I could give him credit for his instincts and his ability to adapt to circumstances.
“If you give me your head, I might consider it.”
“What?”
“The decision to break your promise must have come from that head of yours, after all.”
“You insane bastard! How dare someone like you speak to me—”
But before Calstein could finish speaking, the Holy Sword moved first.
And then—
SLICE!
With a sharp sound, Calstein’s wrist went flying.
Blood sprayed through the air once more.
The sword still clutched in his severed hand fell to the ground.
Calstein could not even manage a scream.
He merely stared blankly at the stump where his hand had been.
His expression was one of utter disbelief.
“Now you understand how important promises are, do you not?”
“Y-You bastard!”
Calstein hurriedly picked up his fallen sword.
Then he thrust it toward me like an arrow.
Mana fueled by rage exploded into a single point.
BOOOOM!
But there was no chance of him accomplishing anything against me.
Overwhelmed by the difference in strength, Calstein lost his grip on his sword once again.
“Judging from the way you wield a sword, if you trained diligently with one arm, you could probably still become a Sword Master. But you see....”
SLICE!
The Holy Sword traced a short arc of light, and Calstein’s remaining wrist flew through the air.
“Someone who does not keep his promises does not deserve that opportunity.”
He would never hold a sword again.
At last, Calstein collapsed onto the ground and cried out in despair.
The reason I had taken only both of his wrists without killing him was to give him one final opportunity to honor his promise.
Besides, I had no intention of granting someone who dared oppose the Raven Family an easy death.
“I will consider the declaration of war withdrawn. So go back and carefully calculate how many years you still have left to fulfill your obligation.”
Of course, House Calstein would probably be unable to escape chaos for quite some time.
It would not be easy for a Family Head with no hands to retain his position.