“Alright, fifty more to the front. Fire arrows. Draw their attention!” Geldova ordered.
Another fifty soldiers were sent forward, and arrows were fired in unison.
This time, the arrows hit their mark, forcing the enemy archers on the wall to take cover. With the upper attacks stopped, the soldiers behind the shields surged forward, aiming to breach the gate.
“Ha, too easy. It looks like it’s about to fall,”
Geldova smiled, watching his soldiers at the gate. The soldiers around him nodded in agreement.
“Although we focused on the north, it looks like we can take it from the front as well. I thought the woman Gyami mentioned would be a bigger threat, but she’s nothing special.”
Geldova spoke to the soldier beside him.
Gyami had insisted they report immediately if they found this woman. He must have had some plan. They had sent a letter reporting the discovery, but there was no need to fuss.
“General Geldova, it’s about to fall,”
one of the soldiers said, watching the soldiers near the gate.
The gate was crowded with soldiers, making it hard to see.
But just as they held their breath, anticipating the fall, an explosion occurred at the gate, sending Geldova’s soldiers flying.
“Magic Stones!”
Geldova shouted in anger at the sudden explosion.
He knew humans used explosive magic devices, and the Demon King’s army had similar weapons, so it wasn’t surprising. However, he never thought someone would blow up the gate they were protecting.
“Don’t falter, push forward! The front is wide open now!”
Geldova urged his soldiers, who had been shaken by the explosion.
The soldiers near the gate had been blown away, but the explosion also cleared the debris of pillars and stones in front of the gate, making it easier to attack.
With the obstacles gone, Geldova’s subordinates boldly advanced, but a knight in fiery red armor emerged from the now open entrance.
Despite being under siege, the red knight willingly came forward. Geldova’s soldiers rushed at him all at once, but the red knight swung his spear left and right, cutting them down like paper.
“Impressive! Archers, shoot him down!”
Geldova shouted, and the archers behind him released a dozen arrows. However, the red knight remained unfazed, dodging the high arrows, jumping over the low ones, and striking down the ones coming at him with his spear.
Even with many arrows shot at him, the red knight didn’t receive a single scratch, and broken arrows littered the ground around him.
In awe of his skill, the soldiers involuntarily stepped back.
“Hey, what are you doing? Are you really soldiers of Geldova?”
Geldova scolded his subordinates for their cowardice.
They had almost pushed back, but the enemy’s attention was now focused on the front, which was good support for the main attack from the north.
Geldova was confident in the success of his plan, but suddenly he felt a chill run down his spine.
Feeling a gaze, Geldova looked up and met the eyes of a woman standing in the tower.
Did she smile?
To Geldova’s eyes, it seemed the woman in the tower had smiled.
The distance was too far to see her expression clearly, but Geldova was sure she had smiled.
“Damn! We don’t have enough archers!”
Geldova immediately realized his mistake. Their arrows had been reaching the enemy and keeping their archers at bay, but on closer inspection, there were clearly fewer enemy archers on the wall.
Soon, there was movement on the wall as the reduced number of enemy archers started running back. Meanwhile, there was no sign of his subordinates who had been ordered to attack the northern wall. They should have already climbed the wall and infiltrated inside, but there was no change in the enemy. They were probably shot from above while climbing the wall.
“No way, did this Geldova lose a battle of wits to that little girl?”
While it was understandable if the soldiers were inferior, Geldova couldn’t believe he was outsmarted in tactics.
“Damn it! Don’t stop shooting at the front, keep that red knight pinned down. Send fifty more soldiers to the east! What’s going on in the west?”
Geldova shouted. From his position, he could only see the front and the east, not the movements in the west. But he couldn’t believe that with a hundred soldiers sent out, they still hadn’t breached the fort.
“Um, sir, the blue knight is attacking from the sky.”
A soldier who came to report the situation in the west said, trembling.
“Attacking from the sky? What nonsense. Send another fifty to the west. How long do you plan to take to break through such a hole-ridden fort? Hurry up and crush them!”
Geldova yelled, urging his soldiers.
But as the sun set and evening came, they still couldn’t capture the fort.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the Demon King’s soldiers attacking the fort began to retreat.
I sighed deeply under the flag of the lily of the valley.
In the end, we managed to defend the fort, but the enemy Captain’s tactics were exceptional, and it was a hard-fought victory.
“Are you alright, Lady Romelia?”
Merrill, with her single arm, showed concern for me. Though I was exhausted and wanted to sit down, I couldn’t show weakness in front of the soldiers.
“Yes, I’m fine. You all did well too.”
I looked at Merrill, Shloh, and Rhett, who had protected me.
The three of them had run around on the tower during the battle, relaying my orders to the soldiers.
“No, we couldn’t defeat the enemies like Al or Ray did. We did nothing.”
“Shloh, that’s not true. You’re mistaken.”
I denied Shloh’s misunderstanding.
“I trust you all. I can rely on you. That’s why I want you by my side. All three of you, please continue to support me.”
“Lady Romelia.”
At my words, Rett and the others bowed their heads and shed tears.
The three of them were looking for a place to die, but to me, they were irreplaceable assets. I had no intention of using them up for their satisfaction.
As they wiped their tears, a cheerful voice called out.
“Captain Rome! Good job today!”
Despite fighting all day, Al came running up the tower.
“Whoa, did I get here first? I beat Ray!”
Al boasted about some nonsensical competition.
“Already here, second place.”
A voice came from above, and looking up, Ray was sitting on the roof of the tower. It seemed he had flown here.
“Flying is cheating. Climb the stairs properly and I would have won.”
Al pouted, arguing about who knows what.
“Stop fighting. More importantly, you two did well.”
I didn’t forget to commend Al and Ray. Al had held back the enemies from the front, and Ray had hindered the western enemies with his aerial attacks, making things much easier.
“It’s not much. But this fort is easy to defend. If we hold out here, we could wipe out the enemy, couldn’t we?”
Al said something foolish.
“No, we can’t. Just surviving today was a challenge.”
“Why not? At this rate, we can hold out tomorrow too, right?”
Al tilted his head at my words.
“Because there’s no well. This fort has no drinking water.”
“What? There’s a well right there.”
Al looked down from the tower, and indeed, there was a well inside the fort.
“That well is dry. There’s not a drop of water.”
I told him the well was unusable. I had confirmed it as soon as we arrived.
“Al, don’t you know the tragedy of Semed Fort?”
When I asked, Al tilted his head.
It was a famous story that gave this place its name, but Al didn’t seem to know it.
“Listen, five hundred years ago, a thousand followers of the Holy Church took refuge in this Semed Fort from a barbarian attack. Protected by the sturdy fort, they repelled the barbarian attacks, but then an earthquake suddenly struck. The fort withstood the quake, but the well dried up afterward.”
I recited the story I had heard as a child.
“Without water, they couldn’t fight. The Holy Church followers, who had taken refuge, were tragically slaughtered by the barbarians.”
I closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer to the followers killed here.
“So, we can’t hold out in this fort. At most, we can defend it for a day. For us, that’s enough.”
“Oh, that’s why we stocked up on water before coming here.”
Al finally understood.
Before leaving the forest, we filled our canteens at a stream and let the horses drink their fill. We could manage with the water in our canteens for a day or two.
“There might be a night raid, so rest in shifts. By dawn, the encirclement my father arranged should be complete, and Gran and the others should arrive. We’ll go on the offensive then. Everyone, make sure to rest well.”
I gave my orders, and Al and Ray nodded.
But the expected reinforcements didn’t arrive even after one day, two days.
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