Chapter 152

Chapter 152

***

There was a peculiar atmosphere in war. The anxiety and fear of not knowing when one might die, making the heart pound and flesh tremble, that was.

Terrifying rumors were heard almost every other day. That some village was turned into a devastated land, that corpses covered the fields, that they killed everyone regardless of the elderly, women, or children...

However, there was nothing like that in this war. So they wondered if it was right to call this a war. The garrison of the royal capital thought so.

Passage through the south and west Gates wasn't blocked, and farmers spent their daily lives openly next to the enemies.

They even saw young children approaching the enemies' encampment and playing around. The soldiers of the knighthood just smiled looking at the kids, or played around together with them.

All of that was visible from atop the castle walls.

And there was one enviable thing, which was drinking the wine brewed at the Azuele brewery in Marin like water. That expensive alcohol which couldn't be tasted except by the King and a small number of high nobles, that was.

Perhaps wondering what the point of letting it rot was, the soldiers of the knighthood popped open the oak barrels, scooped it up with ladles, and drank the wine by the bowlful. They also shared it with nearby farmers.

In the eyes of the garrison members, it looked like they were drinking gold coins. There was no luxury like that luxury.

It was the same right now. From far away, the soldiers of the knighthood were drinking that expensive alcohol while spilling it haphazardly everywhere.

A garrison member who was looking at that sight from atop the castle wall as if envious and dumbfounded said.

"It's not even some wine war......"

"Hey, but did you hear that? They say marriage talks are going back and forth. Between the Commander of the Knights and Princess Aenea."

"Who is Princess Aenea?"

"The King's fifth daughter."

"Is that so? Isn't she young?"

"Nobles originally get engaged and do things like that right."

"That is true. But can't they reduce the duty hours a bit now? Or at least rotate shifts frequently. Why on earth are they deploying personnel to the west gate? Doesn't it seem fucking retarded?"

"That's because the castle gate there is kept open during daytime."

"Those guys are funny too. I wonder why they settled down near the north gate instead of going that way and settling down."

"If they settled at the west gate, the gate here would have been opened. Those guys know they can't surround us anyway."

"Anyway, whether it's marriage talks or negotiations, I hope it ends quickly. What the hell is this doing for days......"

The royal capital garrison member grumbled. Understandably so, because there was also separate night duty. On unlucky days, one had to stand guard twice at night.

As if standing was tiring, the garrison member sat down. Without even looking outside, the garrison member over there was already sitting leaning against the wall, sound asleep going KHUL-KHUL.

The garrison captain didn't particularly take issue with it either. Because he knew that managing them strictly at times like this would make dissatisfaction burst out among the soldiers.

Doing it when it's time to did it, and loosening up when it's time to loosen up. Since whatever it was was work done by humans, they had to cope appropriately according to the situation from time to time. War was also like that.

The sun set and the subjects of the royal capital wrapped up their daily routines and returned home. Stars rose in the sky. The lonely cry of a scops owl or an owl was heard from afar.

The garrison members standing night duty became more unfaithful as days passed. Now they outright brought blankets, squatted down, covered themselves, and tried to sleep.

Time flowed, dusk passed, and it was when a bluish aura slowly permeated the night sky. The sun hadn't risen yet, but a garrison member opened his eyes because his sleeping spot was uncomfortable.

And as he yawned sluggishly and stretched, he saw something dark far away below the castle wall. Moving entirely as a large lump, it seemed like a large beast moving.

Wondering what that was, while he narrowed his eyes and closely examined it, from some moment a sound going step, step, step began to be heard. Huh? Wait a minute.

At that time, as if trying to did a pole vault, someone holding a ladder alone ran towards the castle wall with terrifying momentum. And as soon as he ran over, he could see an army marching from behind.

"Huh!?"

The garrison member was greatly startled. He thought he should take some measure, but his heart sank and his brain didn't spin normally.

"Save me!"

So he merely shouted like this.

Presently the ladder hooked onto the castle wall, and like a cockroach climbing a wall, someone climbed up in an instant going brrr.

The garrison member picked up the spear he had placed next to him with trembling hands. However, that was his end.

Feeling like something flashed before his eyes, the world flipped this way and that. And hitting his head hard on the ground, his consciousness was cut off along with the thought that it hurt. His head had been cut off.

Rickart sliced down one garrison member in a single breath and raised his flaming sword in the dawn. So it could be seen well from afar.

That was a sort of signal, and the knights holding ladders ran rumbling and attached clatter to the castle wall. And then climbed straight up. The remaining troops waited outside the castle gate.

The bastards who were still sleeping atop the castle wall were just killed while sleeping, and after going down the castle wall following the stairs, the pre-organized teams raided several barracks simultaneously all at once.

One knight of the Steel Knights holding a torch kicked open the guard post door with a BANG! and shouted loudly.

"Wake up!"

As the royal capital garrison members woke up startled in fright, heavily armed knights barged in and beat them up randomly.

Thwack! Thwack! Crunch! Thwack!

"Ack!"

"Wh, what the!"

"Oh my! Save me!"

And grabbing them haphazardly by the hair or the scruff of the neck, they dragged them out, lined them up to face the castle wall, made them kneel, and put both their hands behind their heads. They were all in their underwear.

The garrison members, not knowing what was going on in the middle of the night, opened their eyes wide and looked around with trembling jaws.

It was dark so nothing could be seen well and they felt like dying from fear. The magnitude of fear was greater than the pain of being beaten by kicks and fists.

"Don't turn your heads! You'll die!"

Actually, the knights killed a few people as an example. Then the garrison members were terrified, peed themselves, and their minds went blank. Their sleep had long since fled.

Presently the castle gate opened. Raimund holding the reins of the red horse came running.

"Commander! Commander!"

Because it was night so the surroundings were dark, he shouted loudly. However, there was no need to rush about in confusion, and since the plan had already all been set up, Rickart who was waiting in advance approached and mounted his horse.

Following behind, the troops of the knighthood entered the royal capital in an orderly manner. The knights rode their horses and ran quickly, occupying starting from the main road.

Duguduk! Duguduk! Duguduk! Duguduk!

Blocking every place leading to alleys, the soldiers began to stand in line on both sides of the road.

Towards the subjects of the royal capital who came outside hearing the noisy sounds, a knight pointed his sword tip from horseback and shouted terrifyingly like frost.

"Return home! You die if you approach!"

They seemed to rest leisurely usually, but once they entered operations, the knights carried threats of killing in their mouths. And they actually killed too.

The people, not knowing what this sudden incident was, opened their eyes wide and hurriedly returned home. What was it, what was it. What's going on?

In the meantime, Rickart took 50 selected knights and surged toward the royal castle called the Water Palace. The reason Rickart settled down near the north gate was because the distance to the royal castle was the closest.

However, a moat was dug at the royal castle, so Rickart and the knights had no choice but to stop in front. They stopped their horses and looked far towards the east.

The drawbridge of the royal castle had set times to be lowered and raised. So the plan was to surprise and occupy the north gate around the time the drawbridge was lowered, block the communication network, and wait.

Actually, there was a reason why they let people come and go through the west and south Gates.

If they asked those people, no, the farmers living in the nearby farmlands, they taught them everything. When the drawbridge gwent down and comes up, how many guard posts of the royal capital garrison there were and where they were, etc etc.

They even informed them of the personal profiles, family relations, houses they lived in, and even the affair partners of the wives of the garrison members.

Since it was an era that didn't well recognize the importance of information warfare, only people who learned through experience wielded such things. Rickart and the Steel Knights were people who were thoroughly versed in these things.

From the garrison's perspective it might have looked like the knighthood was playing around drinking alcohol, but they were systematically gathering information and setting up operational plans.

What would the farmers know. They were in a good mood getting treated to expensive alcohol, and fluently told everything even things not asked.

When Rickart looked back, the situation was already such that the main road was almost occupied. For any army, the movement route was important, and the retreat route was also important.

They had divided up and occupied the castle Gates, guard posts, and even roads in an instant, exactly as if weighing with a scale or measuring length with a ruler.

Rickart looked back at the drawbridge again. There were no signs of it coming down. Honestly he was slightly anxious.

However, around the time dawn broke, the drawbridge slowly began to come down. Not even knowing what uproar happened outside.

As soon as the drawbridge lowered to the ground with a THUMP, Rickart and the knights surged inside exactly as if thrusting with a spear. The guards of the royal castle were startled in fright and fell on their butts.

"Hiiik!"

Barging into the courtyard of the royal castle like that, 40 knights surprised the quarters where the King's royal guards stayed, and Rickart along with the remaining 10 went inside the royal castle.

And grabbing the scruff of the neck of a passing maid, said.

"Guide us to the King's bedroom."

As heavily armed intruders threatened holding weapons, the maid ended up rolling her eyes back and fainting.

However, there were many people to provide directions. They just grabbed any passing person and put them in front.

Going up to the second floor, the King's bedroom was not far away. And outside the bedroom, two escort knights were guarding.

The two saw Rickart and the knights whose eyes were glaring with bloodthirstiness, instinctively felt it was a crisis, and urgently shouted into the bedroom.

"King!"

However, as Rickart dashed in like lightning, struck down and swung his flaming sword, the two knights quickly drew their swords but before they could even take a stance, they collapsed spraying blood. Their broken swords fell to the ground alongside their owners with a CLANG.

In the midst of that, the knights secured the stairs and hallway, repelling exactly those approaching by pointing swords at them.

"Get lost! Come closer and you die!"

The King's bedroom had an unexpectedly small door. Instead it was thick, but when Rickart kicked it with all his might it opened with a BANG!. The inside was spacious.

"What is going on!"

Around the time Rickart smashed the door, the King in his pajamas got up from the bed and shouted. His eyes met exactly with Rickart who barged inside holding a sword.

"Wh, who are you!"

"Actually, vengeance is a lie. That does not mean what you did disappears though. Killing innocent people by framing them, isn't it a truly terrible thing to do? So do not feel it's unfair. Because it will be less unfair than what they felt."

Rickart said while holding his chillingly flashing sword. His hazel eyes were colder than the blade.

King Leonar felt goosebumps rising slash along his spine. With a trembling jaw, he said.

"Wh, what did you say? I, I, I, because everyone else was doing it......"

"I am Rickart. I have no personal feelings."

Hearing the name Rickart, King Leonar didn't know why but that elegant handwriting signature popped into his head. What the, the handwriting and actual appearance don't match at all?

At that time, the woman who was beyond the silk cloth covering the bed came outside wearing see-through pajamas. And opening her arms, blocked the King's front.

"You bastard! Where do you think this is that you dare!"

She was a younger woman than expected. It seemed she wasn't the Queen but a mistress. However, although her spirit was magnificent, Rickart slapped her cheek with the back of his hand wearing a leather glove.

Slap!

The King's mistress was knocked out in one blow and fainted, and King Leonar with wide open eyes looked down at her collapsed figure. And suddenly his neck burned hotly and her collapsed figure came right before his eyes. Uh, what was this?

He didn't even know his own head was cut off and falling. The headless body folded over her body. Rickart only packed the head and left.

Coming outside, the people of the royal castle, startled by the sudden situation, saw what Rickart was holding in his hand and were shocked as if they would faint.

"Gasp!"

"Hiiik!"

The King's face separated from his body had both eyes pointing in different directions, and his mouth was gaping stupidly as if crumbling, with his tongue sticking out long.

Rickart squared his shoulders and walked proudly. The Chancellor, Head of Military Affairs, Treasurer, and other advisory council members dared not even make eye contact with Rickart, and cowardly hid their bodies behind the servants like rats.

Only now did they know. Who they were dealing with. Had there ever been such a reckless and destructive man in the world?

Whatever those cowardly people thought of him, Rickart exited the royal castle without any hesitation.

Pulling out the flag symbolizing the Basque Royal Court featuring a yellow lion lying on a red background, he skewered the King's head onto that flagpole and stood it exactly in the center of the courtyard. Blood ran down the flagpole and soaked the flag.

Around that time, the Steel Knights came out from the quarters of the royal guards. What they did inside could be known looking at their blood-smeared appearances.

Rickart shouted loudly.

"Look clearly! At the end of the one who falsely accused the knighthood! This is what God has decided! Which is to say he received heaven's punishment!"

And mounting his Crimson Comet, he pulled out the flagpole again, lifted it and went outside the royal castle. They were blocking the subjects' access to the main road, but around it people were gathered bubbling as if it would burst.

When Rickart appeared holding the flag skewered with the King's head, everyone's gaze gathered on it. At the overly shocking sight, the minds of the royal capital's subjects went white.

"The knighthood! Is innocent!"

Rickart shouted slowly running down the main road holding the flag skewered with the King's head.

Duguduk. Duguduk. Duguduk. Duguduk.

Then the knights and soldiers of the knighthood, even knowing this was all an operation, had surging emotions and shouted together.

"The knighthood! Is innocent! The knighthood! Is innocent!"

In the silence of the crowd, only the Steel Knights shouted loudly. 6,000 men overwhelmed the whole city.

On the plastered white wall of a particularly large building, Rickart wrote words with the King's blood.

And thrusting the flag in front of it, he exposed King Leonar's severed head.

Seeing that, the subjects of the royal capital thought the country was perished. Thoughts even came up holding WERE WE ALL GOING TO DIE. Because it was an event that happened so suddenly and out of nowhere, they couldn't come to their senses.

The knighthood's offensive operation was exactly like lightning striking, and like fierce winds and angry waves raging. It was an event that happened in an instant.

But looking into it, a few garrison members, royal guards, and one King dying was all. In other words, the gap between what actually happened and the shock people received was very huge.

Rickart and the Steel Knights thoroughly sucked the souls out of the people, and still occupying the roads, robbed the royal treasury and storehouses clean. They robbed it openly.

And after that, proudly exiting the royal capital, they headed north. The sun had just fully risen, announcing that morning had broken.

The farmers near the royal capital, not knowing what happened inside, waved their hands smiling towards the departing knighthood.

Chapter 31 - Reason for War. End.