Chapter 82 : Entering the Civil War (1)
Chapter 82: Entering the Civil War (1)
In the Grand Hall of the Kingdom of Daon, King Clover, seated at the highest place, slammed his fist down hard onto the armrest of his throne.
Bang!
“Does this make any sense right now!”
At his furious shout, the ministers lowered their heads deeply.
It was a full fifty thousand.
Half of the forces deployed along the Northern Boundary Line had been wiped out.
When the news of consecutive defeats arrived, the ministers wanted to deny reality.
Despite Deira, the kingdom’s greatest knight, stepping forward, the fact that they were being endlessly pushed back without accomplishing anything was impossible to believe.
“Your Majesty, please calm yourself. Organizing reinforcements must come first.”
Duke Zaira, the only one among the ministers who maintained his composure, bowed his head.
At that, King Clover closed his eyes.
As he said, now was not the time to give in to agitation.
Out of fifty thousand, nearly thirty thousand had already been lost, yet they still had not reduced the number of Monsters.
Facing the absurd momentum of those Monsters, they were now in a situation where they had to wage war with the very fate of the nation at stake.
“Can you ascertain the movements of the North?”
With no spies even planted, the royal court had no choice but to lack information about Ragnar.
They were in a position where they had to roughly grasp their movements solely through the troops stationed along the Northern Boundary Line.
At King Clover’s words, Duke Zaira bit his lip hard.
“…At present, we cannot determine the state of the North, Your Majesty.”
“Ha…! Just what have you been doing until things reached this point, Duke!”
At King Clover’s attempt to shift responsibility for this incident onto him, Duke Zaira gently closed his eyes.
Perhaps they had lived too comfortably all this time.
Maybe because of that, there were no nobles left who would raise a banner of opposition against King Clover.
Whenever nobles with sharp minds or progressive tendencies appeared, they had been cut down from the root.
‘All of them were cut down. Except for the Ragnar Family.’
Though he was the second-in-command of the Kingdom of Daon, the only place he could not properly touch was Ragnar.
Even so, because the royal oath existed, they had been able to put a leash on them.
But with the appearance of Kyle, everything had gone awry.
“…This is my fault. Once this matter is resolved, I will retire from the political sphere.”
“Duke Zaira.”
“I will take responsibility for everything. But before that, stopping the Monsters comes first.”
Blocking the Monsters and suppressing the rebellion of the North, including the Ragnar Family.
These were the things Duke Zaira absolutely had to accomplish before his retirement.
As he revealed a resolute gaze, King Clover rose from his seat and extended his hand.
“Prepare reinforcements. Declare a national emergency.”
The moment a national emergency was declared, the private troops of nobles belonging to the Kingdom of Daon could be forcibly conscripted.
At King Clover’s intention to firmly back Duke Zaira, the ministers bowed their heads.
Of course, while the majority of nobles welcomed his decision, there was no way there were none who harbored dissatisfaction.
‘It was the current royal family that fell out with Ragnar. Why should we suffer the consequences?’
If the royal court had only treated the Ragnar Family properly, this would never have happened.
Had they maintained friendly relations with Ragnar, the kingdom could have gained two more Masters.
But the king foolishly created a hostile situation with the Ragnar Family.
The one harboring the greatest discontent right now was Marquis Shan, the head of the noble faction.
Aside from Duke Zaira, he was also the noble who possessed the largest number of private troops in the kingdom.
When the Grand Hall meeting ended, Duke Zaira approached Marquis Shan.
“Marquis Shan, could you spare me a moment?”
“I am sorry, but I do not believe I have the time.”
“Then I will say it here. Do not do anything unnecessary. The one you must pledge loyalty to is the Daon royal family.”
If Marquis Shan were to turn his back on the royal court in the current situation, it would be disastrous.
Now was a time when persuasion and intimidation were both necessary.
However, Marquis Shan looked at Duke Zaira with an indifferent expression.
“I am not sure you can afford to say such things to me in the present situation.”
“If you help suppress Ragnar’s rebellion, the royal court will value you greatly. Once I retire, who else will be able to control the nobles?”
With King Clover having already left the Grand Hall, all the nobles were holding their breath and listening to the exchange between the two.
It meant that if they could only win the civil war against Ragnar, they were willing to endure any sacrifice.
Yet Marquis Shan still viewed the situation skeptically.
“I will judge for myself.”
“I know that Marquis Shan is more loyal to the Kingdom of Daon than anyone else. Please make a wise decision.”
Duke Zaira bowed his head to Marquis Shan.
The very fact that someone who had never bowed to anyone was asking a favor of someone lower in rank clearly showed the gravity of the situation.
“I will do so.”
As Marquis Shan bowed his head and left the Grand Hall, the nobles belonging to the centrist faction followed after him.
King Clover’s favoritism.
And due to the expansion of Duke Zaira’s house, the forces of the noble faction and the centrist faction that could stand in opposition had been drastically reduced.
It was only because Marquis Shan possessed Shan Territory, known as the kingdom’s largest grain storehouse, that he could maintain his private troops.
‘Even if the noble faction sides with Ragnar, it would not have even the slightest impact. The problem is Marquis Shan….’
Duke Zaira pressed his forehead with his hand and closed his eyes.
A headache came crashing over him without end.
He had believed that Deira would be more than capable of stopping the Monsters, but events were unfolding differently from his expectations.
“Should I never have fallen out with Ragnar in the first place?”
It was too late for regret now.
The relationship between the royal family and the Ragnar Family had already deteriorated to the worst possible point, beyond any chance of repair.
While Duke Zaira remained alone in the Grand Hall until the end, drowning in regret—
Marquis Shan, having left the Grand Hall, let out a sneer.
“Does a man who has thoroughly taken care of only the royalist nobles think he has the right to threaten me?”
“I do not think so. Until now, the Kingdom of Daon has been abnormal. Ever since King Clover ascended the throne, the nation’s talent has begun to dry up.”
The one who loved and cherished the Kingdom of Daon more than anyone else was Marquis Shan.
While Duke Zaira struggled to protect the power and honor he held, Marquis Shan was a man who thought only of what benefited the nation.
Perhaps it was because of such inclinations that Duke Zaira could not lay a hand on him.
“Hoo….”
“The time to make a choice is drawing ever closer.”
“Send word to the Ragnar Family. Tell them I wish to meet the Family Head in person. Convey it as politely as possible.”
It was difficult to make a decision right away.
He needed to see Pramo, the Head of the Ragnar Family, at least once and decide carefully.
As it concerned the replacement of the ruler of the nation, Marquis Shan could not act rashly either.
If he were to support Ragnar carelessly and harm came to the kingdom’s citizens, it would be an unforgivable outcome.
“Understood.”
The forces that had sortied from the North crossed the border, which lay empty like an unguarded mountain.
At the very front, Kyle, mounted atop Frost, shook his head.
“It appears the troop losses were considerable, Grand General.”
“I can see it. With numbers like that, they must have suffered around twenty thousand casualties.”
It was obvious they had retreated as they were, without even recovering the bodies.
Monsters never left behind human flesh.
To them, it was useful sustenance and a means of restoring stamina.
Even at the sight of bones piled high, Kyle estimated the damage suffered by the Royal Army.
Beside him, Harte, who was looking at the same scene, tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Grand General, didn’t we deal with all the Monsters remaining in the rear?”
“Do you not know the habits of Monsters?”
“It’s not that, but I didn’t expect the damage to be this severe……”
At Kyle’s question, Harte trailed off.
Monsters never forgot their prey.
Some of the highly mobile goblins and a portion of the orcs must have moved toward the rear.
“Commander.”
“Yes, Grand General.”
Akun, who commanded the Ragnar Knight Order, hurried over at Kyle’s call.
Would it be best to take hold of the Monsters’ rear like this and apply pressure?
Frankly, from Kyle’s standpoint, it was also true that reducing the Royal Army’s numbers as much as possible was desirable.
The reason the Northern Army had gone to battle was to prevent innocent kingdom’s citizens from suffering harm.
By that standard, the Royal Army did not fall within that category.
“Is there a route we can use to flank them?”
“Hm, if we can determine the Monsters’ movement routes, we can decide on a flanking path.”
“It would be nice if we could position ourselves behind the Royal Army.”
“Grand General, the royal court will surely send reinforcements. If we take position behind the Royal Army, we could end up being surrounded from both sides.”
At Akun’s opinion, the corner of Kyle’s lips lifted.
He did not know how many reinforcements would come, but that was precisely the aim.
‘It would be a waste for someone of Deira’s ability to die here. Duke Zaira is displeasing, but if I can gain one talented individual, it won’t be a bad deal.’
In any case, Duke Zaira’s house would not survive this civil war.
There were only two outcomes.
Either they would change their master, or they would simply vanish into history.
Kyle expected Duke Zaira to personally march out to support the Royal Army.
Because he knew that Duke Zaira cherished Deira more than anyone else.
“I have an idea, so first find a route we can use to flank them.”
“Then may I take a portion of the knights and conduct reconnaissance first?”
“I grant permission.”
For Pramo’s sake as well, it was necessary to preserve as much of the kingdom’s remaining talent as possible.
There was a high chance Kyle would be unable to involve himself in the kingdom’s affairs.
To focus on battles against the rulers, it was better to devote effort to the growth of the Ragnar Family rather than establishing a new dynasty.
In the end, forming a new dynasty was something Pramo would have to take the initiative on.
“Let’s go.”
With that, Akun moved out with ten knights.
Dismounting from their horses, the knights’ movements were nimble.
Accustomed to moving through the snow-laden North, operating in the snowless Interior Lands naturally made them lighter on their feet.
That harsh, restrictive environment called the North ultimately created circumstances where knights and soldiers had no choice but to grow.
As Akun departed, Harte approached Kyle.
“Are you thinking of persuading Duke Zaira?”
At Harte’s question, Kyle crossed his arms and studied him closely.
“What made you think that?”
“First, Grand General, you are not someone who would aim for the enemy from behind.”
“And?”
“Despite the risk of being surrounded from both sides, you want to take position behind the Royal Army. I thought that was because you could threaten Duke Zaira with the safety of Knight Commander Deira. In this situation, didn’t you judge that Duke Zaira would personally bring reinforcements?”
No matter how he thought about it, the North truly had an abundance of talent.
Of course, not every territory in the North was like that, but there existed a principle of appointing and properly treating capable individuals.
In the North, talent was an extremely important factor.
And many who became knights had served as soldiers from a young age.
Experience gained as soldiers ultimately served as an important factor in preventing knights from falling into arrogance.
“That’s not a bad assessment.”
“I’ll take that as praise.”
“Did you start as a soldier and then become a knight as well?”
Kyle did not know much about Harte.
He only knew that he was a knight who had long remained at Rak Viscount’s side, and that he was the focal point of the Rak Family’s knights.
“How did you know? The previous Head of the Rak Family gave me, a mere soldier, the opportunity to become a knight.”
Harte spoke with his eyes widened in surprise.
At his reaction, Kyle smiled faintly.
“It’s common enough.”
“…Indeed, as you say, Grand General, the North is a place that gives opportunities equally as long as one has talent. Perhaps that’s why. The reason talent gathers in the North.”
“…In the end, are you saying they flowed into the North, which offers relatively equal opportunity, because they couldn’t gain opportunities within the kingdom?”
“Some may have retired and gone into seclusion because they hated power struggles, while others may have struggled desperately to seize an opportunity because they hated seeing their abilities wasted. My father was the latter.”
Harte smiled faintly.
There were still many gems hidden and unrevealed in the North.
Equal distribution of opportunity meant, in turn, strengthened competitiveness.
One could become a knight, but rising beyond that was an exceedingly difficult task.
Talent alone could never win out in competition.
Effort and experience were essential.
“The land of the North is barren, but I think it’s a good place. At the very least, people don’t fight each other just to cling to power.”
“I also think you’re right, Grand General. Hehe.”
Kyle and Harte looked at each other and smiled.