TOPWL 208

“Are the reinforcements still not here!?”

Someone shouted loudly. They had joined up with the soldiers on the mountain, but the enemies’ resistance was still fierce. On top of that, the mountain was enemy territory. Soldiers were falling one by one to arrows fired from who knows where. But if they retreated, a rain of arrows would pour down on them. In that critical moment, someone shouted again.

“At least tell us from which direction they are coming!”

Yudit turned his head.

Not yet.

An arrow grazed his ear. Bagon and Shane swung their swords desperately to protect Yudit.

Not yet.

People’s screams, the smell of grass cut by the wind and of blood, the sound of metal clashing. Yudit was just as desperate. Poison had spread, and his whole body felt heavy like wet cotton. His eyelids were swollen, and he could barely open his eyes. His body moved by instinct to survive.

Still not.

Yudit did not give up, not until the very last moment. Even if he died here, he had to cut down at least one enemy. Then suddenly, he noticed there was no one on the fortress wall.

The archers who had been waiting to fire at them were completely gone. Since when? At least a few minutes must have passed. Yudit forced his stiff mouth to open.

“The reinforcements, they are coming from there.”

Yudit pointed his finger at the fortress gate. Some looked at him as if he had gone mad. But then, the gate opened, and with shouts, people poured out. Reinforcements had arrived.

***

“Do you intend to share that notebook with everyone?”

Before going into the meeting, Noban asked Yudit. Yudit nodded.

“Yes. I was thinking of doing that.”

“I disagree. The information is too valuable.”

What Noban was referring to was the notebook given by Marquis Kinezia, with maps and details of the Gotha Kingdom.

“Look here.”

Noban pointed at the map of Breda Castle. Behind Breda Castle, built halfway up the mountain, there was a sheer cliff. At first glance it looked covered by foliage with nothing there, but there was a hidden path climbing the cliff. It had been used long ago to smuggle goods. Few knew of it, so guards were likely scarce.

“This notebook is the key to victory. That is why it must be handled carefully.”

“All right. I will do as you say. But if this information is to be used in the operation, someone must know. Who do you think it should be shared with?”

After thinking briefly, Noban spoke.

“Only the commanders of each knight order should know.”

Yudit thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I agree with Noban.”

Hearing Yudit’s answer, Noban let out a sigh of relief.

After the meeting of centurions ended, the four of them gathered again to discuss. The knight order commander from the duke’s house spoke after some thought.

“We will split the duke’s knights in half. One half will attack the side, the other half the rear.”

“Is that not too few? We should consider the risk of being annihilated.”

“If there are too many, the risk of being discovered increases. That number is enough to disrupt the defense and open the gates. Just draw their attention and buy us time.”

“Leave that to us.”

And they carried out their mission successfully. The duke’s knights climbed the hidden path, widened the entry from the back step by step, and recaptured the side gate, letting in their allies fighting outside. From there they pushed forward and opened the main gate in less than an hour.

Trapped like the filling of a sandwich, the Breda army collapsed helplessly, and Yudit barely managed to claim victory.

***

“You are awake.”

Yudit blinked his eyes on the bed.

Why am I here?

He tried to lift his body, but it would not move. Seeing Yudit struggling to rise, the medic spoke.

“Your muscles are weak because of paralysis caused by poison. But since we have given you the antidote, you should recover movement naturally in a day or two.”

Yudit blinked silently. Was it really such a strong poison? He had been confident, having resistance to most poisons, but maybe because he had stopped taking his usual doses, the effect had hit harder.

“How long… have I been asleep?”

“About four hours.”

His voice came out a bit slurred, as if even that was affected by the paralysis. Four hours. What had happened before then? Yudit slowly retraced his memories. The gates opened, the reinforcements poured out, and after the battle, they won. He checked Noban’s condition and was on his way into the fortress when everything went black. He must have fainted the moment his willpower relaxed.

“And then…”

The medic hesitated, unable to continue. When Yudit looked at him with a puzzled expression, the medic leaned closer and whispered like he was sharing a secret.

“……”

Yudit’s eyes widened at his words. He was about to speak when someone lifted the tent flap and came inside. It was Shane and Bagon.

“Oh, you are awake. How is your body?”

“It… hardly moves.”

“Consider yourself fortunate. They say it was rattlesnake poison. Very venomous.”

Ah, it was snake venom. If it was snake venom, then it made sense that it had been this difficult. Poisonous herbs were relatively easy to get, but snake venom was hard to obtain, so he had only taken it a few times before.

“What happened, the situation?”

“It is all finished.”

Shane gave a short answer, and Bagon added an explanation.

“We spared those who surrendered and killed those who resisted. Once we explained your conditions, most of them surrendered.”

Yudit let out a sigh of relief.

“Also, the lord was found dead.”

“The lord?”

“Yes. It was staged to look like suicide, but… it is assumed to be murder.”

Murder? Who killed the lord?

“And this is a notebook we found on an enemy corpse.”

Yudit tried to take the notebook Bagon was holding out, but his stiff hand made it difficult. In the end, Bagon turned the pages and showed it to him. Yudit’s gaze hardened when he saw the notebook.

“Imperial script.”

“Yes. We found quite a few notebooks and items written in the Imperial tongue. It is not proof on its own, but it seems your guess was correct.”

Another prince had sent reinforcements to Breda. And when things went poorly, he killed the lord and fled.

“You have not found the one who killed the lord yet?”

“We are pursuing him, but since he used a poison that takes time to activate, it will not be easy to track him down.”

“That is important evidence. You must capture him alive and bring him.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Yudit looked around.

“Where is Noban?”

“I am here.”

Hearing the voice from the side, Yudit turned his head. Noban appeared as he pushed aside the tent flap.

“Noban, are you all right?”

“Thanks to quick first aid, I am fine. But Your Highness, you are the one in terrible shape.”

It could have sounded rude, but the way he spoke was more like a grandfather to a grandson, so Yudit gave a small smile.

“Is that so.”

“Yes. From now on, I will guard you with even more care. How about increasing your escort? One each in front, behind, and to the sides, then you would feel more secure.”

“There is no need for that….”

Yudit was about to say there was no need but closed his mouth again. After thinking briefly, he said,

“If it becomes necessary, I will tell you.”

“Yes.”

“Noban, how about you also have an escort. If you had, you might not have been hit by an arrow.”

“I would rather bite my tongue and die.”

The word escort seemed to wound his pride deeply. Yudit, who had three escorts of his own, shrugged. Reports continued without pause afterward. If Shane had not stopped them, they would have gone on until dawn.

As soon as things were over, Yudit fell asleep almost instantly, as if he had fainted.

When he woke, it was still dawn. The sky was pale, with yellow beginning to spread as the sun was about to rise. Yudit moved his hands and feet slightly. Fortunately, the antidote had worked well, and his body felt much better than before he slept. Yudit got up from his place. Shane and Darius, who had been guarding beside him, quietly followed.