Chapter 162: Situation at the border fortress (1/2)

”Finally home,” Sitra muttered when the fortress appeared in the distance. Her horse somehow felt the joy in its rider's soul as it speeds up a bit, even though it was already tired to no end.

”Ara,” Sitra moaned in a slight surprise before pulling on the reins. ”I can't have you dying on me like that. Calm down,” she muttered to the horse while caressing its sweaty neck.

”Ma'am, there seems to be something wrong,” Aabel, the higher in rank out of her two companions, pointed out. ”It's like... It was under siege?” he added with a hesitant voice.

”Huh? What do you mean?” Sitra asked while rapidly moving her head from the man to the massive building in the distance.

There were no fires in the fortress. It was made almost entirely from stone and bricks, so it was given that it wouldn't burn all that nicely... But the massive cloud of smoke that raised to the sky from the other side indicated that some enormous crowd of people camped on the other side of the valley the fortress protected.

”Did the news spread?” Sitra asked the air when a sudden idea came to her mind. An idea that was too disastrous for her to accept without confirming it first.

Her hands moved up. But just as she was about to strike her reins down, she looked down at her horse... And allowed the reins to gently fall back to their usual place. 'I can't do that. I need to be patient,' she thought, unwilling to sacrifice the life of her loyal mount just to satisfy her curiosity a few moments earlier.

Soon, the watchers on the high tower of the fortress noticed them. While Sitra was still way too far to notice their movements or hear their shouting, she was well within the range of seeing how the main gate of the fortress opened up.

A group of riders appeared on the plain as they rushed towards the small group of the girl.

”Enemies?” Sitra muttered under her nose. She placed her hand on the handle of her saber. Thankfully, as the other group got closer, she managed to recognize their outfits, signaling that, at the very least, the fortress wasn't taken yet.

'Did we lose?' she thought, worried about the situation. The fortress stood at the very border between the country and the wild steppe. For it to be besieged like that, the only plausible option was either for the enemy to conquer the entirety of the country in the few days since she left...

Or for the news of the new land opening up to spread throughout the commoners and less loyal nobility.

”Identify yourself!” The leader of the approaching group shouted when they were just about to cross the firing distance of a portable crossbow and common magic. He ground his entire group to a halt.

Obviously, Sitra had no other choice but to do the same.

”Colonel Sitra returning from the deep scout!” She shouted over the distance, taxing her eyes to see as many details of the other group as she could.

'Who knows if they are not the Germanian in stolen uniforms?' she thought warily, unwilling to just enter the range of the other group.

”Sis!” One of the men from the fortress group shouted and broke formation. A grave military offense, but for some reason, there were no shouts of disapproval from his commander or fellow soldiers.

”Igor?” Sitra muttered under her nose, unable to believe her own eyes. 'Wasn't he in the northern frontier? What the heck is he doing in here?' She thoughts, shaken by the implications of her brother's appearance.

”I'm glad you are all right, sister,” Igor said as soon as he approached the other group. At the same time, both parties visibly relaxed.

After all, it was impossible for a part of the ancient Slavian bloodline to defect to the germanian side!

”What the hell are you doing here?!” Sitra wasn't as pleased to see her brother as he was to see her. Not because she hated him or anything, but because of the implications behind his presence in this particular place.

”The entire country is withdrawing from the north,” Igor revealed as a sour expression took over his face. ”Two weeks ago, the barbarians invaded. We had no other choice but to shorten the frontier,” he revealed the more or less recent news.