Chapter 173 - Splendid as a Flame (1)

The kingdom that was once called the Lion of the North had fallen into ruin, reduced to being called the Watchdog of the North, and the reputation of the lion-like knights who had once chilled the hearts of the Empire was now a thing of the past.

The current Leonberk Kingdom was nothing more than an insignificant, mediocre small country on the frontier.

Such a weak nation suddenly declared the severing of ties with the Empire and proclaimed a return to the past.

Of all times, they did so when the Wyvern Riders of the Dotrin Kingdom were turning the eastern part of the Empire into a wasteland.

Some said it was a timely declaration taking advantage of the chaotic times, while others mocked the foolishness of the royal family blinded by past glory, saying it was like a goby jumping just because a squid did.

The country of lions that had fiercely fought against the mighty Empire for nearly 200 years no longer remained in people's memories.

However, not everyone had forgotten the name of the old kingdom.

A castle of an Imperial noble, littered with red blood and gruesome corpses.

"The Leonberk Kingdom has declared independence!"

One Wyvern Rider frantically delivered the telegram that had flown in from the mainland.

The King of Dotrin, who had been sitting on the corpse of the lord of the castle and chewing on dried meat, sprang to his feet.

GULP.

Roughly swallowing the dried meat he hadn't fully chewed, the King shouted.

"The time has finally come!"

The King burst into loud laughter.

"However, I am concerned that they may have rushed it too much."

In response, the young Wyvern Rider expressed his concern about the Leonberk Kingdom's haste, saying that they must be at the stage of merely starting to sort out their internal affairs and should have been more fully prepared.

However, the King seemed to have a different thought.

"Jean Catherine. Jean Catherine. What was it that I emphasized to you over and over again?"

"You said that once the heart is broken, one cannot fight the Empire even if a hundred thousand elite soldiers are gathered."

"The Leonberk Kingdom is exactly the same."

The King laughed heartily and explained to the young Wyvern Rider.

"It has been a hundred years since they lived as practically a vassal state of the Empire. Even without knowing the details, the country must be overflowing with defeatism and subservience to a greater power. The Leonberk Royal Family swept away such an atmosphere and immediately set the country straight."

"But if they are hopelessly lacking the military forces to actually fight, do they have any way to hold out?"

"Would preparing for 10 years make them equal to the Empire? Would preparing for 100 years allow them to surpass the Empire? Is our Dotrin fighting like this because our military forces are equal to the Empire's?"

The young Wyvern Rider could not answer that question.

"War is certainly not fought with the heart. Compared to strategy and tactics devised with cold reason, a knight's passion and fighting spirit will not exceed twenty percent in war at best. However."

The King spoke as he gripped his spear tightly.

"Sometimes, that twenty percent dominates the remaining eighty percent."

The Wyvern Rider still seemed unconvinced. However, the King never scolded or rushed the promising knight.

"There is no need to try and understand it now. You will see it countless times while this war continues, and you will come to know it whether you want to or not anyway."

Having said that, the King turned to look at the Wyvern Riders who were resting, sitting randomly around the area.

"I ask you, are the knights of Dotrin such shameless people who pretend not to see a friend's hardship?"

"We are not!"

The Wyvern Riders, who had already been looking at the King, shouted in unison.

"Then do you remember the knight from another country who came with goodwill and bled with us when Dotrin was fighting alone?"

"Adrian Leonberk!"

"Is Adrian Leonberk lacking to be called a friend of Dotrin?"

"He is an excellent friend and a trustworthy comrade-in-arms!"

The King of Dotrin struck his spear against the floor.

CRASH!

The high-quality marble was instantly smashed to pieces, sending fragments flying everywhere.

"If you truly think so, what are you doing right now! Are you really shameless cowards who are all talk?!"

At the strict, freezing shout, the Wyvern Riders all stood up at once and shouted.

"We absolutely are not!"

"Then what is it that you must do now!"

"To fight for Dotrin's comrade-in-arms! To repay his friendship!"

At the Wyvern Riders' answer, the King finally stopped shouting.

"Grab your spears. Tighten the reins of your wyverns."

The Wyvern Riders, having grabbed their spears, struck the floor with a heavy thud.

"We are heading north!"

At the King's declaration, the Wyvern Riders pounded their spears again.

"For Dotrin's ally!"

"To repay the young lion's friendship!"

Looking at those Wyvern Riders, the King shouted.

"The rest is over! Knights! We will set out right now!"

And one hundred wyverns took flight.

* * *

"We should have completely annexed them from the very beginning! If we had, they wouldn't have been able to brazenly run their mouths about independence or severing ties like they are now!"

"Stop talking nonsense! The reason the wise men of the past gathered to discuss it and yet left them be was by no means out of a desire to show mercy! If we forcibly annexed them, the Northerners, who are born with a rebellious temperament, would constantly rise up and cause chaos, so we rather let them keep their petty name and used them as a barrier to block the monsters!"

Loud shouting did not cease in the Great Hall, where noble figures usually engaged in polite discussions about the country's future.

"We can just crush such petty resistance with force, and we can directly subjugate such petty monsters ourselves! The Empire has the power to do so!"

"If we had done that, I guarantee that the exhaustion from those who constantly rise up and the monsters would have been indescribable!"

It was a bizarre uproar stemming from the sudden declaration and proclamation of the Leonberk Kingdom.

"So what are you suggesting we do!"

"I'm saying that there is no practical benefit!"

"So you're saying we should just sit back and watch those brazen fools who raised a rebellion against the Empire!"

"When did I ever say that! I merely said we should exercise caution because the benefits to be gained from mobilizing the military are small!"

"Dotrin is ravaging the eastern border as we speak! The mainland has been laid waste by an unheard-of monster called a Fire Dragon! The entire world is mocking our Empire! If we leave the Leonberk Kingdom alone on top of that, no one will bow down to the Empire's majesty anymore!"

"And what if we send an army and fail? What will you do then? Do you not realize that it wouldn't just be a defeat, but the entire world could rise up!"

The argument of the cautious faction was that if the punishment of the Leonberk Kingdom ended in failure in a situation where three subjugations of Dotrin had already failed, the situation would become uncontrollable.

However, the majority of the nobles, who were already enraged beyond measure by the small nation's defiance, furiously demanded that a large army be dispatched to behead the arrogant leader of the Leonberk Kingdom.

At that moment, the Emperor's messenger appeared in the Great Hall.

"His Majesty the Emperor has declared that he cannot overlook those brazen fools, and thus he will mobilize the entire military force in the northern region to punish them!"

With that single statement, the fierce debate also came to an end.

Even the cautious faction, who had been shouting at the top of their lungs against the various nobles until now, did not express any dissenting opinions.

Because opposing the Emperor's decision was an impossible thing in the Empire.

Thus, 27 legions and 42 knightly orders of the Empire that had advanced to the northern front began to march toward the Leonberk Kingdom.

At that time, Dotrin's Wyvern Riders, who had flown north, ambushed their supply units and destroyed their empty fortresses.

It was only natural that the Imperial Army's pace slowed as their rear fell into chaos.

Among them, a few timid Legion Commanders turned their troops around, worrying about their own territories that were included in the Wyvern Riders' operational area.

However, there were not many of them.

The Imperial Army steadily marched north, albeit slowly.

It was all because of the strict order of the Emperor.

The Emperor intended to punish the Leonberk Kingdom before the Dotrin Kingdom, and issued an unconditional order to advance.

At that strict command, even the Legion Commanders who had turned back had to turn their horses north again.

Dotrin's Wyvern Riders attacked the Imperial Army even more fiercely.

However, as time passed and the Empire's legions began to gather one by one, their activities inevitably had to shrink.

No matter how swift and brave the Wyvern Riders were, and even if the King of Dotrin who led them was a knight who had reached lofty heights, it was impossible to tie down the feet of 27 legions with just one hundred men.

The most they could do was slaughter the messengers traveling between each legion on sight, preventing the Empire's military from gathering and moving as one.

Thanks to their frantic efforts, the Imperial Army had to march north divided into groups of three to five.

Among them, the first to reach the border of the Leonberk Kingdom were the six legions led by the Empire's 17th Legion.

The Empire's 41st Legion, which had been defending the border, was waiting for them.

"I am De Gaulle de Debussy, a Senior Knight of the 112th Knights, belonging to the Empire's 41st Legion! I consider it an unsurpassed honor to meet the Legion Commander renowned for his martial prowess!"

The Senior Knight, who was a veteran of the border, guided the Imperial Army, exhausted from their long journey, to the fortress.

The Commander of the fortress, who had been anxiously waiting for the Imperial Army to arrive, welcomed them grandly.

"You are much later than originally expected, did something happen on your way here?"

Despite sending countless messengers in the meantime, the Commander acted as if he had received no contact at all. The Legion Commanders realized that the messengers had met with misfortune at the hands of Dotrin's Wyvern Riders.

"Nothing is going right because of those damn Wyvern Riders of Dotrin."

"If it weren't for them, all 27 legions would have gathered at the border a long time ago."

Having grasped the general situation, the Commander consoled the Legion Commanders who were grinding their teeth.

"No matter how elusive Dotrin's Wyvern Riders are, they won't be able to encroach upon this place, so please rest comfortably and relieve your travel fatigue while you stay."

"As it is, we haven't been able to sleep properly because of those buzzing flies."

Indeed, the Legion Commanders looked extremely exhausted.

Due to the guidelines handed down from the Imperial House of Bourgogne, they hadn't been able to enjoy a single one of the natural privileges they should have received as Legion Commanders throughout their journey.

They had to shove their honorable Legion Commander helmets and armor into carts and travel mixed in with the cavalry wearing the attire of ordinary knights. When resting, they had to sleep in shabby soldiers' barracks rather than high-ranking commanders' tents, and even then, they had to constantly switch barracks, which was no ordinary inconvenience.

But there was no way not to follow it.

Several Legion Commanders who stubbornly insisted that marching like ordinary soldiers would ruin their dignity had been brutally murdered by the Wyvern Riders.

One unlucky legion had the misfortune of an attack happening right when all the commanders within the legion had gathered for a meeting, causing the legion's chain of command to collapse instantly.

After that, all the Legion Commanders gave up their privileges and were reduced to a state where they couldn't carelessly convene their commanders.

For those who had enjoyed privileges their entire lives, it was extremely painful.

But even that was over now.

Just as the fortress Commander had said, even the Wyvern Riders wouldn't be able to ambush a fortress where a whopping seven legions had gathered.

While resting at the fortress, they gathered information about the enemy beyond the border.

De Gaulle de Debussy, the Senior Knight who had served at the fortress for 10 years, informed them about the kingdom's army.

"Over the years, I have seen countless kingdom knights acting like dogs with their tails tucked in front of the Imperial Knights, while barking like wolves at their own soldiers and knights."

Those who were weak to the strong, and strong to the weak.

De Gaulle poured out harsh criticism about the weakness and lack of discipline of the kingdom's army.

"They are a bunch who are busy running away in fear the moment our allied forces just show up at the border. I guarantee that if the Legion Commanders shout at them just once, they will scatter and flee."

The Senior Knight didn't seem to be flattering them but genuinely seemed convinced of it. While they might not literally run away from a single shout, he at least seemed to believe they would be terrified by the majesty of the Imperial Army and quickly surrender.

"Silver Lion Citadel. It's an undeserved name. Dog Pen is a fitting name for them."

The 17th Legion Commander and the other Legion Commanders did not originally have a nature that underestimated enemies, but when everyone at the fortress gave the same assessment, they truly came to believe that the kingdom's army was an incredibly weak bunch of rabble.

They figured they could trust the words of those who had served at the fortress for as little as a few years to as long as decades, interacting with the kingdom's army.

Once they had a rough idea of the kingdom army's strength, the 17th Legion Commander gathered the other Legion Commanders.

"His Majesty the Emperor wishes to punish those brazen fools as soon as possible."

In other words, he meant they should take the enemy's fortress first and claim the military merits for themselves without waiting for the other legions.

The 17th Legion Commander's opinion was that it was a tiny kingdom, so how many fortresses could they possibly have, and how much merit could there really be to claim? He reasoned that if they destroyed just a few border fortresses, there wouldn't be any proper battles left to fight, so if they didn't seize the chance to gain merit now, they wouldn't get another opportunity.

The other Legion Commanders also agreed with the 17th Legion Commander's words.

It was a foregone conclusion that the insignificant, weak nation on the frontier would fall, and if they wanted to get anything out of that tiny country and return, they had to move quickly.

In that sense, since they had arrived at the border earlier than anyone else, they could be said to hold an advantage.

So they decided to actively utilize the advantage they had already seized.

"We will rest for four days to relieve our travel fatigue and immediately strike the Silver Lion Citadel."

The Commander of the fortress supported their decision and said he would attach knights and troops who were well-versed in the border's geography and the kingdom's situation to them.

The Legion Commanders weren't too thrilled about sharing the merit with the fortress Commander, but they accepted the offer.

Still, having someone who knew the local situation well would reduce the casualties they might suffer in battle, and if their forces remained intact, they could be the first to plant their flag in the kingdom's capital, rather than at some trivial border fortress.

Thus, receiving support from two companies and twenty knights of the 41st Legion stationed at the fortress, they advanced toward the Leonberk Kingdom's fortress.

"The Silver Lion Citadel won't last even a few days."

The Senior Knight attached from the fortress chattered endlessly about the rosy path that would unfold before the Legion Commanders.

His sweet talk and flattery were so tempting that even the seasoned Legion Commanders unwittingly imagined themselves planting a flag on the Leonberk royal palace.

Perhaps one of them might even be appointed as the new governor-general of the Leonberk Kingdom region, replacing Ambassador Montpellier, who had failed to properly suppress the kingdom.

Once they started thinking that way, the soldiers and citizens of Leonberk began to feel like subjects they needed to embrace.

Perhaps that was why.

They felt inclined to show mercy, ignoring the mainland's instructions to completely trample them and make an example out of them.

The 17th Legion Commander stepped forward, ignoring the knights' pleas that it was dangerous.

Indeed, just as the Senior Knight had said, the kingdom's army was weak. Perhaps terrified at the sight of the large army, they had tightly locked the fortress gates and were just poking their heads out over the walls, rolling their eyes around.

The 17th Legion Commander thought.

'What crime did they commit? The monarch of the land they were born and raised in simply made a wrong decision.'

"Pitiful soldiers of the Leonberk Kingdom! Your master made the wrong choice, and His Majesty the Emperor intended to thoroughly hold him accountable for that crime! He meant to trample you to show the whole world the end of a foolish man!"

The Legion Commander shouted at the soldiers of the Silver Lion Citadel with a gentle yet dignified voice.

"However, I know not only His Majesty the Emperor who punishes, but also His Majesty the Emperor who shows mercy, so I have no doubt that if you truly repent your sins and defect, His Majesty will welcome you with open arms!"

Intoxicated by his own words, the Legion Commander went on a long-winded speech.

"Surrender! Open the gates and welcome us politely! If you do so, you will all live, and everything you wished to protect will remain intact!"

No one in the citadel stepped forward to answer the Legion Commander's words.

At this, the Legion Commander cleared his throat again and advised them to surrender.

"Though I know changing your flag is not an easy task, serving a foolish ruler and following a wrong choice is a greater disgrace..."

SWOOSH!

As he was rambling on for quite a while, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air suddenly pierced the Legion Commander's ears.

And an alien sensation was felt around his chest.

"Huh?"

The Legion Commander looked at his chest.

An arrow with gold-painted fletching was lodged in his chest.

"H-How could you to someone discussing peace..."

Spitting up bloody phlegm, the Legion Commander looked up at the wall.

An old man holding a massive strongbow stood on the wall, having appeared at some point.

An old man who looked somewhat too frail to be called a knight, yet far too noble to be called a mere aristocrat.

Before he could even realize his identity, the 17th Legion Commander's eyes rolled back.

"Your Excellency the Legion Commander!"

Beyond the screams of the knights, someone's shout rang out.

"It's the King of Leonberk!"

And after that, no more sounds could be heard.