Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 62 : Even If You’re Late to the Party, There Are Lim

Chapter 62: Even If You’re Late to the Party, There Are Limits (2)

Blazing flas and rising smoke.

Kyle ignited the flas and personally cremated the victims of this battle.

After carefully cremating each body one by one over a long period of ti, Kyle only turned his body around after quite a while had passed.

“Soldiers of Ragnar, listen.”

At Kyle’s solemn voice, the Ragnar soldiers and knights simultaneously lifted their heads and looked toward him.

“Ragnar has always fought in struggle, and fought battles of defense.”

To protect Ragnar’s Settlent from the clutches of monsters, and further still, to protect the Daon Kingdom, they had fought with all their might.

However, now he had no intention of fighting a battle rely to defend.

“But the Daon Family abandoned Ragnar. No—by abandoning the entire North, they are trying to force you, and the Ragnar Family, into submission.”

The Daon Royal Family had offered no support whatsoever to the North, instead thrusting only obligations upon them.

Rather than praising the efforts of the Ragnar Family, they had harassed and isolated them.

“We will now fight not a battle of defense, but a battle of taking. Are you afraid of that?”

The fact that they would have to turn their backs on their holand and fight might have been frightening to so.

But all the forces present here were territory inhabitants born and raised in Ragnar.

This place, Ragnar, was their ho, and the holand they had to protect.

“We are not afraid!”

Elder Pan stood at the very front and shouted with a deep, heavy voice.

Now was the ti to break free from past ties and seek a new path.

Of course, Ragnar’s situation was still far from good, but they were steadily laying the foundation to move forward.

The result of that effort was the alliance with the Orc Tribe and the Dwarf Tribe.

While the morial service for those who had perished in this battle was still underway, Aron ca running over in haste.

“My lord.”

“Speak after the morial service is over.”

“……It is urgent.”

Kyle did not wish to hear about other matters while the bodies were still burning fiercely, but after checking Aron’s expression, he had no choice but to nod.

“It seems they have moved.”

“Yes. We received intelligence that an army of ten thousand will move toward Viscount Rak’s territory.”

“Inform Viscount Rak. Tell him to open the road.”

“My lord, are you truly all right with this?”

“When the opponent is foolishly committing a mistake, is there any reason to interfere?”

Though he had received news of the awaited enemy’s blunder, this was a ti to focus on the morial service.

Kyle soon gestured as if telling him to go, and Aron bowed his head and withdrew.

‘Had he already anticipated this?’

The painful blunder the Royal Family was committing at this very mont.

It was an action that handed justification to Ragnar.

Of course, Aron also knew about the mistake the Royal Family was making now.

But the problem was that Ragnar was not prepared enough to counter that mistake.

‘What in the world is he thinking…….’

As ti passed, Aron’s doubts only deepened. Standing there with a complicated expression, he approached Kyle again the mont the morial service ended.

“My lord, at most three days from now, the Royal Family’s army will pass through Rark Territory.”

“Are you worried?”

“Ragnar is not yet prepared to clash with the Royal Family’s army.”

“Do you truly think so?”

“……My lord.”

Turning his gaze away, Kyle looked at the bodies that had turned to ash and clenched both fists tightly.

“This monster invasion brought together people who seed incapable of uniting.”

“…….”

“And Aron.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Since when have wars been fought by numbers?”

“Ah…….”

Kyle had never once continued a battle under nurical superiority.

Against forces several tis, even several dozen tis larger, he had always erged victorious and seized what he desired.

Moreover, due to the Empire’s restraint, Ragnar’s forces were in a situation where they outnumbered the army the Royal Family would bring.

“Do you believe that Ragnar is heading into this with a nurical disadvantage compared to the Royal Family’s army?”

At Kyle’s bone-piercing question, Aron stared blankly before shaking his head.

Even an army exceeding ten thousand could not surpass the forces Ragnar possessed.

“I see.”

“Attacking the Daon Kingdom would be a problem. But if they insist on crawling into Ragnar’s land, there is no need to stop them.”

“How should we prepare?”

“Concentrate all forces deployed at the front to the Lord’s Castle.”

“My lord, if we do that, the front-line defenses could collapse.”

“That will not happen. At most, so monsters may flow into the interior of the Daon Kingdom.”

Aron was caught on Kyle’s final words.

No matter how much they concentrated all forces at the Lord’s Castle, that possibility should not have existed.

And yet, for so reason, he had a premonition that such a thing would happen.

Just as Aron was about to rest his chin in his hand and sink into thought, Kyle’s voice flew into his ear.

“Have you reported to Pramo?”

“Ah, I have not reported yet.”

“Then report to Pramo and prepare to return to the Lord’s Castle.”

“Yes, my lord.”

After bowing his head, Aron imdiately ran off toward Pramo.

Kyle then turned his body and approached Seori, who was sitting demurely.

“Seori, I have one request to ask of you.”

Awoo—!

At Seori’s eager howl, Kyle ford a faint smile.

‘They sent troops to support Ragnar, so I should give King Clover at least one gift in return.’

The mansion of Viscount Rak.

Even though it was late at night, the lights in Viscount Rak’s study were brightly lit.

“My lord, a letter has arrived from the Head of the Ragnar Family.”

Viscount Rak, who had been pacing anxiously in the lord’s study, urgently reached out for the letter the knight handed him.

A sudden royal letter.

Due to the pressure to open the teleportation device, Viscount Rak had been unable to sleep properly.

As if that were not enough, he was already deeply worried after hearing that Ragnar had been invaded by monsters—misfortune upon misfortune.

With a face still filled with worry, Viscount Rak slowly opened the letter sent by Pramo.

[Please open the road for the army sent by the Royal Family. There will absolutely be no damage to Rark Territory.]

Viscount Rak’s eyes wavered as he read the contents of the letter.

“What in the world is this…….”

After reading the first line, Viscount Rak bit his lip at Pramo’s incomprehensible choice.

At a glance, it might look like a relief force, but in truth it was clearly an army ant to occupy Ragnar.

There was no way Pramo or Aron would be unaware of sothing even Viscount Rak himself knew.

Tightly shutting his eyes, he drew in a deep breath and looked back down at the letter once more.

[The monster invasion has ended. There has been almost no damage. So please be at ease and send them.]

Reading the middle line, Viscount Rak curled his lips into a grin.

He had already been debating whether he should lead his troops to support Ragnar.

Since there had been no request for support from Pramo, he could not move rashly and had remained on standby, but he had kept his forces in a state of readiness so they could be deployed at any ti.

As Viscount Rak let out a sigh of relief, the knight who had been watching his expression carefully opened his mouth cautiously.

“My lord, what should we do now?”

“Prepare to open the teleportation gate.”

“……Surely you are not betraying Ragnar?”

“How could that be? Do not forget that the Rak Family has already decided to share its fate with the Ragnar Family.”

While the knight stood there blinking blankly, Viscount Rak reread the final line once more.

[After the battle with the army sent by the Royal Family ends, all troops dispatched from the northern territories will be restored to their original positions.]

At the intent to restore the twenty thousand troops deployed on Ragnar’s front lines to their original state, Viscount Rak closed his eyes and pondered Pramo’s intentions.

‘This ans it is only the beginning.’

Viscount Rak had already acknowledged Pramo as his lord.

Having resolved to stake his life on opening a new dynasty, he could not afford to withhold his full support.

And discerning what his lord desired and preparing it in advance was also an ability a vassal ought to possess.

“We will receive those coming from the Royal Family as a relief force.”

At Viscount Rak’s words, the knight bowed his head and exited the study.

And exactly two days later, the army dispatched by the Royal Family revealed itself through the teleportation gate.

“I am Count Henson.”

“I am Viscount Rak.”

“Hmph. I heard you were one of the prestigious families of the North, but your territory is more unimpressive than I expected.”

The noble who introduced himself as Count Henson revealed a sneer, as if he had decided from the outset to humiliate Viscount Rak.

Even so, Viscount Rak did not lose his smile and bowed his head.

“The monsters that invaded Ragnar number in the tens of thousands.”

“So you are saying you will seek a way to survive from us?”

“If it ans survival, what could we not do? Previously, Kyle Ragnar committed a great discourtesy toward the Royal Family, but I would be grateful if you would forgive him with a generous heart.”

At the sight of him lowering his head, Count Henson slowly ford a smile.

The Royal Family had only extended a hand to Viscount Rak in order to move to the Lord’s Castle without suffering losses; from the beginning, they had no intention of forgiving the North that had sided with Ragnar.

‘Once Ragnar is subdued, you are next.’

As Count Henson’s killing intent subtly seeped out, Viscount Rak mocked him inwardly.

‘You will never obtain what you desire.’

Viscount Rak was unlike Count Henson, who could not properly conceal his emotions.

Maintaining his smiling expression, he grandly welcod Count Henson.

“You must be weary from your journey. We have prepared a banquet in Rak Territory.”

“No need. The crisis of the Ragnar Family is soon the crisis of the kingdom itself. How could I, one of the kingdom’s nobles, leisurely eat and drink in such an urgent situation?”

“Indeed, that is the bearing of a true noble.”

“Enough flattery. However, we ca in haste and are lacking reserve weapons and equipnt.”

“I anticipated that and have prepared the weapons and equipnt we have stockpiled in Rak Territory. However, the quantity is not very large.”

“How many?”

“About ten thousand pieces.”

“Hmph, that should be sufficient.”

In any case, there would be no prolonged battle.

Pramo, who had no combat ability even during the monster invasion, would certainly remain in the Lord’s Castle of Ragnar.

Moreover, the information that Kyle Ragnar cherished Pramo dearly was already widely known.

King Clover had said that if they could secure Pramo, who would be holed up in the castle like a greenhouse flower, they could take him hostage and force Kyle Ragnar into submission.

While Count Henson was contemplating such a sinister plan, Viscount Rak issued an order toward the soldiers.

“Bring out the prepared weapons and equipnt!”

The soldiers brought carts loaded with boxes neatly stacked with roughly ten thousand sets of weapons and equipnt.

At the sight, Count Henson was inwardly startled.

He had thought it was rely for show, never expecting them to have prepared the full ten thousand.

“Why do you look so surprised? I, too, am one of the nobles of the Daon Kingdom. I am in a position where I cannot refuse His Majesty the King’s will.”

“Hahahaha, is that so?”

“This is my loyalty toward His Majesty the King. All this ti, Ragnar threatened the Rak Family, so we had no choice but to go along with them.”

“Threatened? That is the first I have heard of it.”

“They threatened that if we did not side with the Ragnar Family, they would stop blocking the monsters and send them into the interior of the Daon Kingdom.”

“My goodness. No matter how formidable the Ragnar Family’s power may be, is this not an insult to the Royal Family!”

He was almost completely convinced.

Viscount Rak dropped his pitiful expression and clenched his fist tightly, his face filled with what seed like rage.

“I also wish to return to them what I have suffered at the hands of the Ragnar Family.”

“Are you saying you will take part in attacking the Ragnar Family?”

“……Was this not support, but an attack?”

At Viscount Rak’s shocked expression, Count Henson pressed his lips tightly together in regret.

On the surface, support was the pretext, so he should have concealed the truth as much as possible, yet he had made a mistake.

Seeing Count Henson’s troubled expression, Viscount Rak failed to hide his excitent.

“I will keep what you just said strictly confidential.”

“……What is the intent behind your words about returning what you have suffered from the Ragnar Family?”

“To be honest, I thought His Majesty the King had sent troops to support Ragnar. That is why we prepared a banquet as well—to buy ti until Ragnar had suffered sufficiently.”

Seeing Count Henson’s eyebrows twitch, Viscount Rak pressed the advantage and delivered the decisive blow.

“If this is about attacking Ragnar, the Rak Family will also join. However, we have not yet fully gathered our forces, so it seems we will have to follow behind.”

Count Henson, who had been observing Viscount Rak intently with his arms crossed, soon burst into loud laughter.

There was no better situation than the North betraying Ragnar.

For Ragnar to survive, the help of the North was essential.

In such circumstances, the mont Viscount Rak—the central pillar of the northern territories—sided with the Royal Family, it was obvious that it would deal a devastating blow to Ragnar.

“Very well. I will grant the Rak Family the opportunity to work for the Royal Family.”

“Thank you, Count.”

“I will rember the Viscount’s loyalty. Once Ragnar is brought down, the Henson Family will take its place.”