Chapter 51 - Volume 3 (1/2)

“I never thought I’d see this sight again.”

The plaza was filled to its maximum capacity with the refugees from the Meta District. The formerly bustling area with laughter and smiles was now replaced with a feeling of dread and uncertainty of what was to come.

Isaac looked down at the plaza from the rooftop. It was a sight all too familiar to him, too similar to the memories he didn’t want to remember. Isaac watched the scene with a cigarette in his mouth when Cordnell approached him with a report.

“We have finished evacuating the citizens from Meta District.”

“Can we not use this place?”

“No. This district is also included in the battlefield, and the Department of Administration has ordered us to evacuate the citizens out of here.”

“I guess there’s no choice. Send them over to the remaining three districts.”

“Yes.”

Cordnell stepped back after receiving his order, and the moment he did so, Trentor quickly stepped into Cordnell’s position.

“The Order of Heavy Combat Knights, which has been on standby in Port City, have moved into the Meta District with the arrival of the mercenaries and are now constructing their base camp.”

“That’s quick of them.”

Trentor’s report was quickly followed up with a report from Kalden.

“The construction of our defense line will finish in the next two days.”

“That’s unexpected. I thought it’d be much closer than this.”

“It’s thanks to the many citizen volunteers.”

“I guess they do know it’ll be unlikely finding a better boss than me.”

“… It is volunteering on paper, but it looked more like the citizens were taking advantage of what is probably their last well-paying job.”

Trentor discredited Isaac when Isaac tried to compliment himself. As Trentor said, it was obvious that the war was already lost, and there were many citizens who openly complained that Isaac unnecessarily escalated the situation by provoking the Marquis.

“The people of New Port City know they won’t receive the same amount of pay no matter who takes control of the city. Perhaps we should use this opportunity to recruit volunteers…”

“That’s just a waste of money.”

Isaac cut off Kalden before he could finish giving his advice. This was met with Cordnell’s frustrated response.

“How can money be a problem right now? We have to stop them someway, somehow!”

“What’s the point of stopping them when I’ll be bankrupt anyway?”

“Then are you going to just watch it all crumble down?”

“Let’s say I do recruit volunteers. What are you going to do about the money that will be required to arm, train and feed them? Don’t you think you shouldn’t waste money like that when we don’t even have that many days left?”

“Then what was the point of building that wall! That is the greatest example of wasting money!”

Isaac had barricaded all roads leading to the Ceta District from the Meta District, isolating Meta District as a whole. All of the buildings next to the barricade were also stuffed with miscellaneous object to prevent people from sneaking through. Cordnell could understand the reason up to this point. But Isaac didn’t find this to be enough and demolished all buildings behind the barricades. He then used the debris to create a giant wall with a height of 10m. But the construction of this ma.s.sive wall designed to surround the whole Meta District required materials beyond what could be scavenged from the demolished buildings, so Isaac began buying whatever materials he could use to finish the construction, even buying perfectly sound s.h.i.+ps and scuttling them to sc.r.a.ps to add onto the barricade. That was the greatest, most colossal waste of money Cordnell had ever seen.

“Who cares? It’s not like I can take it with me when I die. Can’t you at least let me use my own money as I wish.”

“Even if you were to build a solid barricade like this, it won’t even buy you a day’s worth of time when there aren’t any soldiers manning it!”

“I told you guys before that you don’t need to know. Once all of your work is finished, I order you to move over to Port City. And make sure you don’t get hit by a stray arrow by some p.i.s.s-poor luck.”

The three didn’t attempt to hide their disappointment at Isaac’s cold words. As they disappeared, Soland quickly came up to their place as if he had been waiting for this opportunity.

“As expected, the Full Hammer mercenary band has started raiding the area the moment they arrived.”

“It’s as the rumors say. How’s the preparation?”

“I have led the project personally using only my most trusted men.”

“Good. All that’s left is to wait now.”

Isaac nodded at Soland’s report. But when he shuffled to light another cigarette in his mouth, he saw a hint of hesitation harbored in the corner of Soland’s eyes.

“What? Are you regretting it now?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then why are you acting like a puppy that needs to take a s.h.i.+t?”

“No matter how concealed the elves and North Bears are during their mission, they will be found out.”

Soland’s worry was met with Isaac’s smirk.

“They often say that you can forgive a commander that has lost a battle, but you cannot forgive a commander that has failed to maintain proper vigilance.”

“Was there a line like that? It sounds rather impressive.”

“But the problem is, no matter how well the commander drills his men to maintain a good watch, it’s the soldiers who have to perform guard duty.”

“Well, no high ranking officer would do such work in the first place.”

“And the Marquis only deployed their knights in the war. These proud knights would never take guard duty themselves, so the duty would naturally fall to the mercenaries. Now, if you were the mercenaries, would you maintain a proper watch over the surrounding, or would you just act like you’re doing your job, especially in a war that is so clearly decided already? I’m sure they’ve found the money we’ve left as bait by now, so they’ll be even more enthusiastic about raiding the area.”

“Won’t the knights run a patrol around the area?”

“That’s where the loophole is. Any military activity is forbidden by both sides until the starting date of the war, so would the soldiers care to stay on guard in this situation? When the difference in military strength is so large that it’ll be more difficult to lose? When the elves and North Bears, who pose some threat to them, have already moved over to Port City? I’m sure that forcing them to stay on guard duty will cause more discord than order, especially when some lucky men happened to find secret stashes hidden under the rubble.”

“… Is that why you told us to hide the money around?”

“How else would we be able to make our notorious Full Hammer mercenary band our scapegoat?”

In times of war, intelligence gathering is one of the most important works. Any competent commander would try their best even in a war that is as predetermined as this one. Sadly, Dike Duberon, the commander of the knightly order that the Marquis is so proud, of wasn’t such an individual.

“He’s buying any magical artifacts that he can get his hands on? I guess he’s still trying to cling on to dear life.”

Dike’s insult brought laughter from all of the knights around him.

“We shouldn’t let our guard down. He must be planning something in secret.”

Anton’s warning only triggered a look of dissatisfaction from Dike’s drunken face.

“Viscount Anton, may I take that as an insult to the glorious knightly order of the Marquis?”

“That’s not what I’m…”

“That pathetic barricade and the wall Isaac has built would only need a day to be removed with the strength of our order!”

“It can’t possibly take a day! Just give us a half a day and we’ll do it!”

“Even that’s too long!”

“No! It’ll take us that long if we spare some time for our meals.”

“Kuahaha! That’s exactly it!”

Dike and the officers of the knights cheered and hurrahed as they applauded the witty joke from one of them.

“It’s a pity there’s no women around here. Why don’t we enjoy ourselves with the Blue Roses that New Port City is so famous for once we take control of that place?”

Dike’s proposal was met with shouts of excitement and elation from the knights. Anton watched the sight, his frustration clear as he bit down on his lip. But all he could do was watch before walking away from the party.

“Ha! How did that coward manage to gain the t.i.tle of the Marquis’ sword when he couldn’t even enter the campus?”

Dike’s insults wounded Anton’s pride deeply. Anton was just a servant when he first worked for the Marquis. It all changed however, when his talent with the sword was noticed, and through sheer effort, Anton managed to climb to where he was now. He was thankful to the Marquis for supporting him to this day and swore his loyalty in return, but he couldn’t attain the seat of commander of the knights.

Since the knightly order was the Marquis’s greatest military a.s.set and something he invested almost all of his wealth into, he couldn’t risk giving the position of commanding officer to someone outside his family. That was why Dike was given the seat of Commander instead after just barely graduating from the Campus’s School of Military, while Anton was relegated to the butler of Marquis despite the t.i.tle he held.