Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Qimo Castle’s Crisis

In the Beastman Camp, Eric frowned as he looked at the letter in his hand.

Eric had been in a good mood today. Although the losses his Wolf Cavalry suffered while hunting down those humans were a bit high, they were generally acceptable.

His mission for this trip was basically complete.

Less than 70% of the nobles from North City who had fled made it back. Even the Fengman Knight Order, which had arrived later, lost over twenty men. And all it cost him were a few Wolf Cavalry and some insignificant goblins.

But he hadn’t forgotten that his purpose on this campaign wasn’t just to complete these basic objectives.

The higher-ups had placed him together with that stupid bear, which was clearly a sign of Dor and Kase competing behind the scenes.

Ever since Kase had gotten his Extraordinary Wolf Cavalry Legion crippled at Sunset Fortress, Dor’s ambitions had begun to stir.

Kase might be the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Expedition Army, personally appointed by the Beast Emperor, but even back home, there were times when the Gray Dwarves ignored the Beast Emperor.

’Western Front Marshal? Who appointed him? In any case, General Dor doesn’t recognize it.’

This was obvious from the recent personnel appointments, which were full of mutual sabotage as they vied for control over the expeditionary army.

Therefore, Eric’s mission wasn’t just to wear down the humans. ’I have to win! I have to beat that stupid bear! Only then can I prove General Dor’s brilliant leadership.’

Even if he couldn’t win, Dor had given him the Beast God’s Horn. No matter what, he at least couldn’t lose. Otherwise, General Dor would lose face, and Eric would lose his own standing.

He had thought his own combat record was looking pretty good, but to his surprise, that stupid bear had gotten incredibly lucky, running right into the human commander of Qimo Castle out in the wilds just after he arrived.

"Damn Human Race, why couldn’t you just stay inside your shell? What are you doing out here?" Eric cursed the human commander of Qimo Castle.

"Thinking of taking this fortress in one fell swoop?" Eric sneered after reading the last line of the letter.

"Are human fortresses really that easy to take?"

Putting down the letter, Eric stepped out of his tent and looked toward the tall fortress in the distance. It had its back to the Somme River and had been converted from a naval port.

Eric estimated that stupid bear probably didn’t even know that human defenses weren’t like the Beastmen’s, where every tribe digs its own hole.

Eric had dealt with many human merchants in the past. In preparation for the southern campaign, he had done his homework.

The Human Race’s defenses were different from the Beastmen’s. The Frank Kingdom typically established defensive lines to blockade large armies, with unified command over defense sectors and fortresses blocking crucial paths.

This was mainly because not every major noble family had the spare resources to support a Knight Order. A Knight Order was an incredibly expensive endeavor. Not to mention anything else, just having a full roster of Extraordinary members was a cost that most major noble families couldn’t bear.

The great noble families of the south didn’t typically need a regular Knight Order in times of peace, so they were less prepared in this regard. Their Knight Orders were smaller in scale. In wartime, they would merge their own Knight Orders with the Kingdom Knight Order, like the Sunset Knight Order.

The defense sectors were divided according to the Knight Orders, with each Knight Order corresponding to one sector.

As far as Eric knew, Qimo Castle and Mold Castle were in the same defense sector. Thinking of the terrifying Full-Armored Cavalry from the daytime, a broad smile spread across Eric’s face.

’As a young and promising general of the Beast Race,’ Eric thought, ’one who has always abided by the Empire’s treaty of mutual aid and friendship, I naturally couldn’t do something like sell out a teammate.’

’Unfortunately, the night is dark and windy, the air is dry, and it just so happens that the enemy is raiding our camp, destroying all the supplies in the warehouse.’

’After those damn humans stole all the supplies inside, I, Eric, was truly willing but powerless, and had no choice but to flee from afar.’

’This will also perfectly account for the previous batch of supplies.’ As Eric thought this, he felt the world open up, his mood soaring.

....

「Meanwhile, in the main hall of Mold Fortress’s inner city.」

Valentino was fuming about the day’s events, ranting and raving in the hall about the mistakes of the North City nobles.

She was both shirking responsibility and venting her emotions.

After all, according to the original plan, today’s events should have gone perfectly. The North City nobles should have been completely safe. But due to Walker’s rash actions, not only did the North City nobles suffer, but even the Fengman Clan’s Knight Order lost over twenty members, with dozens more suffering injuries of varying severity.

The Fengman Clan was not one of the Kingdom’s top noble families; their entire Knight Order numbered only around three hundred people.

Robson, being the only one with a presentable combat record, was naturally praised extensively at the meeting.

Under normal circumstances, Robson would never have dared to accept such praise.

’Everyone else is getting chewed out while you’re the only one being praised.’ Standing out like that didn’t align with Lord Robson’s way of doing things.

But Robson was now something of a savior to these North City nobles. They couldn’t be more grateful to him, so the praise at this moment would only inspire genuine admiration.

"Enough! I caused this incident, and I will bear the consequences, no matter what they are."

Valentino, on the stage, had been implicitly and explicitly blaming Walker’s actions. Unable to bear it any longer, Walker shot to his feet, slammed his hands on the table, and stared directly at her.

Everyone present, including Valentino and Robson, was startled.

Robson looked at Walker and sighed internally. ’Such a youthful temperament.’

’Poor kid. He’s been played like a fiddle this whole time and doesn’t even know it. You don’t speak up when they’re handing out merits, but you’re the first to jump up when they’re assigning blame. Isn’t this playing right into their hands?’

Valentino was secretly delighted, but her face remained cold as she looked at Walker.

"Bear the consequences?

Do you think this is something you can bear? The nobles of the entire Mold Fortress share the duty of defending the border for the Kingdom. Is that a responsibility that just any single person can bear?" Valentino chided.

"You!" Walker’s face flushed red. For a moment, he was caught, not knowing whether to sit or stand.

Valentino took a deep breath, as if she were truly suppressing some great resentment.

"Regardless, our entire Mold Fortress is a single entity. We still have a long time to work together.

I received a request for aid from Qimo Fortress earlier. Don’t say I never gave you a chance.

I will temporarily suppress the report on today’s events. This mission to reinforce Qimo Fortress is an opportunity to redeem yourselves. When both battle reports are submitted together, and if there are merits to show for it, the Marquis will naturally not pursue the matter further. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

If we fail to achieve a decisive result at Qimo Fortress, then everyone can wait for the Marquis to hold them accountable, myself included."

Watching Valentino’s combination of moves, Robson felt as if he were seeing his past self.

’Familiar, all too familiar. I know these rotten rhetorical tricks so well I could recite them backward.’

With just a few words, Valentino had completely absolved herself of all responsibility.

On the surface, she talked about shared responsibility and putting the collective first, but in reality, she was the one writing the reports. After she’d finished shifting the blame, why would she care about the collective?

Even if someone tried to call her out, there was nothing they could do to her.

As for the matter of Qimo Fortress, that was even more ridiculous.

Valentino was the commander of this defense sector. She was indeed responsible for the danger at Qimo Castle, but what did that have to do with these nobles from North City?

This was clearly a cross-sector deployment. Normally, Valentino would have to offer these North City nobles some benefits to mobilize them, since in terms of mission assignments, everyone only needed to be responsible for their own part.

But after Valentino’s little speech, it had become perfectly natural for the North City nobles to go and clean up her mess.

They even had to thank the great and benevolent Earl for giving them a chance to redeem themselves.

Judging by the expressions on the faces of the North City nobles, Valentino’s tactic had succeeded.

An outsider sees things clearly, while those involved are lost in the confusion. Once you’re truly drawn into it, you’re too panicked to think things through.

"Let’s leave it at that. This matter is now closed. I don’t want to see anyone acting so rashly again.

Next, Sir Robson will lead the Fengman Knight Order and act together with you. From now on, you will all be working under Marquis Oscillate. The Royal Capital has also sent people.

I hope we can achieve a result this time!" Valentino said.

"Sir Robson, stay behind. The rest of you may leave."