Chapter 11: Siege of Buinyu Fortress (3)

“Waaaaaah!”

The instant the siege tower’s bridge locked onto the battlements, Count Bellua’s troops began pouring out.

Kang! Kakang. Kang!

“Aaaaargh.”

Crack!

“Block them! Block them! Keep them from crossing!”

“Push through! Kill every last one!”

“You die first!”

Shouts and brutal crashes rang from above.

Those who tried to cross the wall.

Those who tried to hold the wall.

Their blood-splitting battle had begun. Which meant the mercenaries below couldn’t just stand idle.

“Hundred-man Company, if you’re ready, we move.”

When Centurion Jacri shouted, Shatien and Miles grabbed their weapons and rose.

Climbing the cramped siege tower, the hundred took the summit one by one.

And this was the sight that awaited them.

“Push with everything you’ve got!”

“We can’t give ground! If those bastards get over this point, it’s over! Think of your families inside the walls! Don’t budge. Use every ounce you’ve got!”

On the narrow wooden bridge joining the siege tower and wall, shield walls from both sides pressed without giving an inch, locked in a taut deadlock.

‘They are really good at defense huh.’

Seeing it, Shatien clicked his tongue.

Just like in his memories, the soldiers inside this fortress were repelling the assault far too well.

Some of the middle steps had changed, but were the big events really not going to shift much?

He didn’t know, but either way Shatien had to do his part.

Which meant fighting well.

“Hundred-man Company, charge. We push too!”

Jacri’s booming voice came from the lower platform. Yet despite the order, the mercenaries couldn’t budge.

The front was already crammed with bodies. Unless the forward defenders collapsed, it would stay a pointless meat grinder.

‘Hmm…’

Shatien stepped onto the lip of the tower and looked down at the opposite parapet.

The gap wasn’t that far.

Roughly four or five meters.

Except for the span where the tower’s bridge lay, there was a fairly broad space behind the enemy’s shield wall.

Wasn’t there some way?

The moment he thought that,

-Ziiiiing.

His ability activated.

Information about the situation rammed through his head in a rush. And, guided by the intuition of that mysterious sense, Shatien grasped it at once.

It would work.

If he went there, it would be possible.

-Thud.

With that thought, Shatien immediately set down his heavy shield. He slid his longsword back into the scabbard and spoke.

“Excuse me. I need a little space.”

He needed a run-up.

“How are we supposed to make space here now?”

“Are you crazy?”

“Ugh… hey, let’s just stay put.”

Packed tight, the mercenaries started grumbling. It was so cramped they could barely move.

Of course his words weren’t going to land.

“These bastards…?”

Miles bristled when he saw it.

He looked about to shout for him, but someone beat him to it.

“Hundred-man Company, open left and right and make space. Do it!”

It was Centurion Jacri.

Having huffed and puffed up from the floor below, he’d heard the exchange and issued the order at once.

They couldn’t exactly ignore the Centurion, so the mercenaries groused but widened a lane as much as they could.

“Is that enough?”

“Yes. Thank you, Centurion.”

His ability was still running. With this much room, he could land safely over there.

‘It’s a gap, but it’s well within reach.’

Besides, the tower’s spire stood higher than the battlements, which helped even more.

“So, what are you trying to do? Don’t tell me you’re taking a running start to jump over there.”

At that, Shatien grinned.

“How did you know? That’s exactly it.”

“What?”

For the first time, Jacri’s face showed surprise.

He’d thought it was an absurd idea, but the rookie really meant to do it. Dumbfounded, Jacri moved to stop this reckless newcomer.

However,

“Here I go!”

Before he could be stopped, Shatien had already set off at a sprint.

-Woooosh!

Planting his feet in quick succession, he launched off the spire and into open air.

From a point higher than the wall, Shatien carried his momentum and skimmed down, gliding toward the parapet.

“Uhhh?”

“H-He’s flying. Up there! Someone’s flying in!”

Startled by the sudden shadow, the defenders on the wall looked up, spotted Shatien, and shouted in alarm.

“S-Stop him!”

A few of them realized what he meant to do and lunged to intercept, but it was already too late.

Slaaash!

Sliding onto the battlements, Shatien drew in one fluid motion and cut.

-Crack!

“Gah-urgh!”

A strike laden with inertia and gravity split a defender’s shield and armor straight through.

The defenders reeled at the unbelievable sight.

“What the!”

“What is that bastard?”

“Calm down! Calm down! He’s alone. Swarm him!”

They quickly mastered their panic and rushed him in order.

They knew it too.

If someone rampaged in their rear, the front line would collapse.

So they were desperate in their way.

The problem was,

-Creaaaak.

The mercenary standing before them, Shatien, was no ordinary man.

* * *

“Haa… Huff…”

Shatien exhaled in ragged breaths.

He had moved so hard he could taste sweetness in his mouth.

Just now, he felt like he had taken on over twenty soldiers.

In truth he had stopped counting around eight. What was certain was that on this narrow stretch of wall Shatien had racked up a tremendous achievement.

“Y-You monster… Gkh!”

-Thud!

Shatien cut short the breath of a soldier who was still alive and cursing.

‘Thank heaven it’s narrow.’

If the wall walk had been even a little wider, he might have been fully surrounded and the situation reversed.

Because the width was tight, only two or three could fight him at once, which let Shatien fight them one by one.

As a result, he broke a flank of the defenders’ formation, letting Count Bellua’s troops and the mercenary company seize the wall.

“Nrgh…”

Massaging his sore muscles, Shatien straightened his body.

Using his ability in split bursts as he had practiced recently meant the headache was lighter, but the stamina drain was no joke.

‘And my sword is ruined again.’

Grumbling, he checked the battered blade.

Given how harshly he had used it, it was a miracle it lasted this long.

Sometimes he had chopped shields, sometimes armor, sometimes blades.

Come to think of it, he felt like he broke a sword per battle at this rate.

Step, step.

While he thought that, a man approached from the side. It was the knight who commanded Count Bellua’s forces.

He had watched Shatien’s feat from the tower and seemed deeply impressed.

“I would like to know the name of the man who fought so brilliantly.”

“It’s Shatien.”

“…Shatien?”

At Shatien’s flat reply, the knight knit his brows.

“Hm. Strange. I never heard of such a man in Captain Mordo’s Black Raven Mercenary Company.”

“That’s only natural. I joined just now, Sir Knight.”

“What, just now?”

The Count’s knight stared incredulously, but Shatien only shrugged.

It was true, after all.

He bowed to the knight who praised him, then headed to the rear.

There, mercenaries as blood-spattered as Shatien were waiting.

“Ahahaha! I knew it. It’s you! You’re something else! My lucky charm!”

First to greet him was Miles, who whooped at the top of his lungs and planted loud kisses on Shatien’s cheeks in delight.

“You crazy bastard!”

“Yeah, you’re the best! You punk.”

“You went over like you were flying and butchered them all. Damn it! I saw it and still can’t believe it.”

The other mercenaries’ reactions weren’t much different. He had shown unbelievable skill, so in true mercenary fashion they began to follow him at once.

“Excellent work, Shatien. Thanks to you we took this section of the wall.”

“Thank you, Centurion.”

Centurion Jacri was the same. Clapping Shatien’s back, he commended the deed with his signature stern face.

“No need to thank me. But as I said before, excessive solo action breaks the line and gets our men killed.”

“…”

“Of course, this time the outcome was very good, so we can make an exception. I will report to the Captain. Don’t worry about Count Bellua. That knight over there will handle it.”

That damned preface…

From the rest of his words, he didn’t seem to bear Shatien any ill will.

In fact, he looked like a fine commander who took care of his men.

Truly a puzzling character he was.

“…Understood. Next time I’ll find a safer, more disciplined way. Ahem…”

Thanks to that, Shatien could only answer with a wry face.

‘Tch… honestly.’

He shook his head and wiped the blood from the corner of his eye.

If his memory was right, a signal to abandon the assault and withdraw would come soon.

They had seized a portion of the wall this time, but it didn’t seem all that different from the past.

The captured section was only a tiny part of the whole field, and the attack had already reached its culminating point.

It would be sunset soon if they kept going.

A retreat order would likely arrive any moment.

And sure enough, he saw their camp in the distance grow busy.

At the same time,

-Bwoooooo.

The retreat signal blared.

‘As expected…’

Shatien gave a bitter smile and flicked the blood from his wrecked sword.

“What, retreat?”

“No way, we finally took this with blood and sweat and we just give it up like this?”

Startled voices rose among the mercenaries. But that didn’t mean any of them stayed on the wall.

Everyone hurried down the tower. They grumbled, but none objected. The longer the war dragged on, the more their pay would climb.

* * *

The fighting continued after that.

But every assault failed, and Count Bellua had to accept the truth. This fortress was very hard to crack by frontal methods. Fortunately he wasn’t a pigheaded fool.

He was a noble who admitted his mistakes and adapted flexibly to the situation.

Count Bellua immediately split the army into three and chose a nerve-grinding approach of avoiding a full-scale siege and sending small detachments in succession. And to bolster sagging spirits, he doled out large rewards.

He wanted to prove they were winning somehow and that the situation favored them.

Thanks to that alignment of interests, Captain Mordo’s Black Raven Mercenary Company enjoyed rare luxury.

They were one of the only units on their side that had taken a section of wall.

-Bubble bubble bubble.

Late at night, the stew pot that never went cold was crammed with rich ingredients for the first time in a while.

Dried jerky and green beans, and even soft white bread cubes, the kind only nobles ate, bobbed to the surface.

“Man, this is a real feast!”

“Guess a man really does need to fight well. Ahh…!”

“Nice, nice!”

The mercenaries marveled as one and dunked their heads, too busy inhaling stew to talk.

You didn’t often get such luxury on a battlefield.

Watching his comrades, Shatien smirked, then sank into thought.

‘Hmm… around now, by timing, the fall should be near…’

The problem was he could hardly remember how the place fell. There had been some incident, and through that they had taken the fortress…

‘What was it?’

While Shatien was racking his brain, Centurion Jacri, who had just come from the command tent, walked over.

“Attention!”

With his customary stern expression, Jacri swept the crowd and spoke on.

“Our hundred-man army has been tasked to form a night reconnaissance party.”

“Why us?”

“Aw, come on. Weren’t we supposed to be excluded?”

There was a little commotion, then it became quiet right away.

“When do we leave?”

“Right now.”

“Huh?”

“Boooo.”

This time boos broke out at once. There was a special meal tonight, and they wanted them to move without even eating. That was a bit much.

‘Ah?!’

At that moment, Shatien let out a soft exclamation. Jacri’s words had jarred loose the forgotten memory.

‘Right, that was it.’

Nodding, Shatien grabbed jerky and white bread, then stood.

“Huh? Are you taking that to eat out there?”

“Yeah. I’ll nibble while scouting if I get hungry.”

“Hmm? You’re volunteering for recon right now? Why? Do you have to?”

Shatien was one of the people who had earned the most credit in this battle. Even if he said he wanted to rest, no one would complain, yet he volunteered.

“Everyone looks tired, so the lively one should go. Haha.”

After tossing out that platitude, Shatien turned to Jacri.

“I’ll do it.”

“You? Why? Well… you can, of course… hm. Is it because I told you to think about your relationships with your comrades? If so, you don’t have to. This is separate from that.”

“No. I insist.”

The night reconnaissance.

The key that led to victory in the siege of Baron Buinyu Fortress lay in that mission.

And Shatien had no intention of giving that credit to anyone else.

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