Chapter 423 – 121. Lord of Harsen (1)
Harsen Castle was full of tension.
Through General Wittner, already the commander-in-chief of the Yeongji Army. I heard all about Harsen’s situation.
‘They said that 10,000 Bayrea troops surrounded Harsen Castle.’
They are no ordinary soldiers either.
Unlike Harsen’s Territory Army, which was summoned here through a conscription order. The origin of the Byrea Army is the notorious Byrea Mercenary Corps.
They intervene in all kinds of conflicts in the empire and have gone through countless battles.
There’s the Keiatic Gate to the west. Even the Demonic Beasts summoned by Paludis are with us.
All together, it was only 7,000, which was clearly inferior to Harsen, who was not even an elite soldier.
‘And the west gate. Paludis.’
I thought for a moment about the Keiatic Gate to the west.
It’s not as notorious as the permafrost of the north, though. Paludis is also definitely a chaeotic gate.
And, it is significant that the Demonic Beast Army of the West has advanced all the way to Harsen.
Even if Harsen is west of Essenmund. In fact, it was quite far from Paludis, at the westernmost tip of Island.
‘Originally, the farther away from the Keiatic Gate, the harder it is to summon high-level monsters.’
The huge magical power created by the Keiatic Gate.
A sudden gate is created within the range of the influence of that magic power. So, in general, the higher the distance from the keistic gate, the more difficult it is for high-level gates to occur.
‘Otherwise, humans would have perished long ago.’
But that common sense has already been broken.
When I joined here, I had already made contact with the Type 2 Witchbeast. The gate that summoned that high-grade demon beast also had strong demon power.
So, disasters beyond common sense are happening.
And I saw the same phenomenon in the ecliptic just a month ago.
‘Chris did that.’
It was in the rebellion of Grius.
At that time, the Keiatic Gate of the nearby Guhwang Island was sealed anyway. It was unreasonable for any Keiatic Gate to directly supply demon power to the ecliptic.
‘Because the distance is that far.’
Even the ecliptic was full of divine obelisks that dissipated magical spirits.
However, Chris succeeded in summoning a large amount of magical beasts to the imperial palace.
The imperial palace I raided was full of demon beasts, no different from a demon beast’s nest. There was even a type 1 magic beast.
The reason was that Chris was a married man directly selected by Knoia.
‘To be precise, he must have borrowed the power of Duke Pedro.’
In other words, Chris acted as a relay of demon power. In other words, Chris directly provided demon power to Gate and the Demon Beast.
I thought of Harsen’s situation again.
‘There is only one conclusion.’
Byrea forces besieging Harsen here.
Among them, there must be a demon who directly inherits Knoia’s pure demon power, like Duke Pedro.
‘A demon chosen by Keiatic Gate, Paludis.’
So it means that he is much more dangerous than Chris.
In the case of Chris, strictly speaking, he was entrusted with the enormous power from Duke Pedro.
The enemy I had to face in this battle was more powerful than I could have imagined.
The power of the Keiatic Gate. It is on the same level as the Fallen Dwarf that I annihilated with the help of the two gods.
‘Because he is a demon soul who can directly use that enormous power.’
So to speak, the Southern Chaetic Gate, Inferno. It means that it is the same grade as Duke Pedro, who uses that power directly.
So, in the future foreseen by her mother, Harsen Castle always fell. The current situation in Harsen Castle was hopeless.
But I wasn’t afraid. Now I am stronger than my mother’s wisdom saw me.
And I made preparations for the Battle of Harsen before arriving here.
“It’s much better that we’re in Mercury’s position.”
“That’s right!”
At my words, Yuriel, who was standing next to me as an adjutant, shouted.
I was on horseback and touring Harsen Castle with my party.
Harsen is the central city representing western Essenmund. So the scale of the castle was quite wide enough to surround the entire city with walls.
Harsen’s core institutions and facilities were, of course, concentrated within the castle. As a lord, I was encouraging the people of Harsen as I traveled around the place.
“And fortunately, it is said that Harsen Castle has been preparing for war long before now. Ah! Come to think of it, according to the words of the acting lord Hunier, everything was under the command of Julian-sama…”
I glanced at Huneyer, who was moving the horse side by side with me.
Hunier replied as if he was surprised.
“That’s right. Sir Uriel! Without the lord’s prior instructions, the present preparation would have been absolutely impossible. Byrea’s army is much bigger than we expected… Had it not been for the lord’s foresight, Harsen Castle might have fallen long ago!”
Huna, who has managed such a large city well as the lord’s agent. It was never an empty word.
“But Mercury has just begun. I hope you will tell me all your evaluations after this battle is over.”
I said so and drove to my next destination.
***
Many people in Harsen Castle were gathering in the central square.
There is a speech there today.
“To think that the lord is giving a speech… I can’t miss an opportunity like this.”
“The lord of Harsen is the heir of the great Reinhard family! I really want to hear his speech even from a distance.”
So, several groups of people were moving through the roads of the castle. A crowd of hundreds of people filled the central road.
Then people shouted
“The Midnight Knights are passing by! Everyone get out of the way!”
“They are knights of the midnight sun!”
The procession blocking the road began to move aside in an orderly manner. Ten knights on horseback appeared on the road.
Midnight High Night. Rott spoke loudly to the people around him.
“Thank you for getting out of the way. Excuse me, but we’ll cross this road first! Since it’s official business, I’ll ask you all as a Knight of the Midnight Sun!”
At his words, the villagers bowed their heads in unison. The villagers shouted to Rot.
“Of course! Pass first!”
“Knights, everyone get out of the way!”
Sir Lot called out to them once more.
“There are a lot of people, so there is no need to get out of the way in a hurry! Back away slowly so you don’t hurt anyone around you! Safety comes first!”
So Rott said to the villagers.
‘To be so polite even to commoners.’
The idea that it was the White Night Knights after all. Lucia had no choice but to do it involuntarily.
In fact, the existence of a knight was not well recognized in the empire.
An ultimate swordsman who trains his mana to the limit and produces an aura. So to speak, each one of them is no different from a killing machine.
If they wanted to His social status is so high that even if he tramples on people with words and just passes by, the crime cannot be investigated.
Even so, the Knights of the Midnight Sun, including Sir Lot, did not have a ferocious or arrogant appearance at all.
Lucia silently watched those knights.
‘These are… Knights of the midnight sun.’
It was completely different from the knights Lucia knew.
Knights were very arrogant in the southern part or the central part where the ecliptic was located. And to ordinary people, it was a terrifying existence.
As much as they have overwhelming force, their value is very high. Therefore, it was unfamiliar to Lucia to be polite to commoners who were not nobles.
‘Though the high knights of the resistance were different.’
Still, even the perception of the general Guard Knights was the same. It wasn’t because they were the mainstream of the Greek Guard Knights, which were highly corrupt for nothing.
So, the orderly appearance of the knights of the Midnight Sun, including Rott, now. It came to Lucia with great emotion.
‘Especially, it’s completely different from the southern knights.’
Lucia is from southern Cáceres. In particular, the knights of the Southern Sentiac Knights behaved terribly savagely depending on their mood.
If they were commoners, they were not treated as human beings at all.
And when they saw a young woman they liked, they would harass and even curse at them.
Silently following the knights on horseback. Lucia was certain that she hadn’t been wrong in deciding to join her Knights of the Midnight Sun.
“How is it. Sir Lucia. Does it feel like we’re walking together as a company in the Midnight Sun?”
At that time, someone stood next to Lucia. A woman in her late 20s with blonde hair. She was a female knight named Charlotte.
“I… Ah, I am not yet an official Midnight Knight! Sir Charlotte! So feel free to call me by my first name…”
“No. You’re the one that Count Julian himself recommends. That authority alone is enough to become an apprentice knight of the Midnight Sun. And Sir Lucia also did a great job in suppressing the rebellion. So, it is only natural that we should recognize him as an official knight, not as an apprentice.”
Charlotte smiled.
Unlike Yuriel, who lives here, but is always energetic. Charlotte was a female knight with a fairly soft feel.
Due to Julian’s order, Lucia came to be with the knights of the Midnight Sun as she is now.
She was nervous, like Lucia, who always dreamed of becoming a midnight knight. Charlotte, as now, relaxed her Lucia.
Charlotte followed her.
“And talented people who can fight and command at the same time like Sir Lucia are very important. So she was surprised when she heard that she had safely joined two thousand musters yesterday. No matter how many mercenaries and manor guards were mixed. It is not easy to direct them in perfect order.”
“Well, that’s not what I did. Everything was done because Julian-nim… No, because the lord ordered me to do it…”
At that, her Charlotte’s eyes turned curious.
“Hmm. Come to think of it, Sir Lucia is a colleague of the lord and the Pantheon, right? Seeing that you came to Harsen Castle with the lord, it seems that your faith in the Lord is not common.”
“That… It’s not like that.”
At that, Charlotte whispered.
“Actually, my lord… So, the knights of the midnight sun have a lot of questions about the count. You are the one who will one day become the master of our knights. We always talk about him.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yeah. When our ten knights arrived here in Harsen, we were quite surprised. When the Count requested ten knights of the midnight sun, there was a lot of talk within the knights.”
As a grand duchy, the land is very large.
And at the same time, the most dangerous chaeotic gate permafrost exists. The Midnight Knights are always short in numbers.
Therefore, it is not common for ten knights to be dispatched to one territory.
‘If the high night is mixed in like it is now, it’s possible to erase that territory from the map.’
So, of course, there was no choice but to say a lot about the request.
“But when I got here, I knew. Even ten knights were not enough. If that level of knights hadn’t come, it would have been absolutely impossible to deal with that Byrea army.”
Charlotte was right.
The Byrea army that Lucia faced yesterday was very strong.
Even before the 10,000 troops marched directly, Harsen was already in a great crisis with just the selected troops.
“Even so, wasn’t Harsen holding up well now? Even before me and the Count arrived…”
“Yes. Harsen was surprisingly well prepared for war.”
The knights were also surprised by that fact.
Although his strength was insufficient as all the muster men had not been assembled. Instead, Harsen was already ready to start Mercury.
“Not only food, but also supplies for war were already prepared in advance. As if they knew there would be a big war.”
Everywhere in the empire is at war.
You have to deal with not only the Witchbeast, but also Duke Pedro’s rebels. There is bound to be a shortage of food and supplies anywhere.
It was never easy to prepare in advance for a war that hadn’t happened yet.
“But the lord said that he made all the preparations in a hurry from a month ago. Even from the time he was in the ecliptic.”
It was a fact that even Lucia did not know.
‘Did Julian-sama think so much about this place, Harsene, while going to the Pantheon?’
If so, Julian’s knowledge would have far surpassed that of a cadet.
Charlotte continued.
“So all of our knights, including Lord Lot, were surprised. If all of that is true… It means that the Count not only has great skills as a swordsman, but also as a lord.”
And Lucia was well acquainted with a man who excelled in those two talents. Also, Charlotte said that person.
“Like our lord. Like His Highness Wilhelm.”
Imperial hero Wilhelm Marquis. Outsiders, even Lucia was well aware of its reputation.
Even the knights who swore allegiance directly to the margrave. Charlotte’s words will never be empty.
‘As expected, Julian-sama…’
That’s how all the knights arrived at the central square. Yulian had already arrived at the stage prepared there.
