Chapter 46: Sixth Episode: Chapter 1 (2/2)
From the top, it looked like hell had surfaced from underground. The hopeless abandoned people were like demons, their eyes, fingers, limbs, and their screams of trying to survive.
Oscar recounted what he saw. Was it shocking? No! Was it sympathy? Not in the least. The Prince was finally able to calm himself completely after his first ever battle in his life.
‘Only the Dead could witness the end of war.’ He ruminated, not remembering who the original quote was from, but he did know it was a truth proven by countless lives. And now, another group of people would soon to test the validity of the quote.
The teenager clenched at the rope, waving his free arm.
Four caravans full of mud was pushed up by the knights, creaking loudly as if it was going to cave at any moment. It was rebuilt from scratch by the knights, its bottom was linked to several stallions with ropes.
The knights’ boots nudged the horses, forcing these ‘coolies’ to charge forward after a slight shudder.
The wood beneath the caravan slowly rose, turning the caravan forward, causing the mud to spill into the hell hole. The whole pit started boiling up with beastly wails.
In just a moment, mud had the captives’ chests submerged, slowing down their movements significantly, but no one should underestimate one’s will to live. Some of them attempted to climb out by stepping on their comrade’s heads and shoulders, some of them clawed at the edge of the pit with their bloodied hands. All the effort had been foiled by the knights, but they still tried repeatedly while bawling their eyes out.
Finally, one of the succeeded hiking the steep wall of the pit, it’s only half a body, but it’s enough to convince him he could do it. He tried pulling himself up, but his thighs had been caught by his teammates. He knew other people wanted to come up as well, but they shouldn’t have treated him like a hiking tool!
The captive kicked some of the more annoying guys away from him. He looked at his former comrades, satisfied, but as he turned his head back, a dark creature loomed above his head.
Oscar lightly caressed the Raytheon stallion’s neck, his own bay horse had its forelimbs crushed by rolling wood. The troop couldn’t save the injured horse, they barely had enough men to tend to the knights. The teen remembered how he ended the bay horse himself. The poor thing widened its eyes, unable to understand why its master did it to him.
Oscar’s new ride was one of the most docile of the stallions, it was startled by this muddy man who suddenly appeared beside his legs. It wasn’t sure what that was, so it’s a little jumpy and was only calmed by its young master’s caresses.
The captive realized his luck ending, bt he wasn’t willing to give up, his face was colored with the utmost sincerity, he cursed, he swore, he begged, he talked about his wife and children. He rarely mentioned those, because those were the most private secrets a mercenary could have.
Oscar tugged at the reins again, the tall Raytheon lifted its head. The stallion could feel its young master pulling its head backward, and it knew what that meant.
The black warhorse stood up on its hind legs and the teen leaned forward against the warhorse’s neck. The stallion slammed its legs heavily on the ground, having had enough of the mudman on the ground. As a blood-curdling shriek was let out, it huffed satisfactorily.
The knights pushed the mud on the edge into the pit with their shields, no one knew when the yelling stopped. The Narcissus Knights felt like they were back in their memory long past as they refilled the soil into the pit. They were all good farmhands, these work don’t take much effort for them.
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The mud had fully covered the pit as the rain turned it into a pond. The knights cleaned up and left silently, just as how they arrived.
The teen turned his horse’s head the last, but he saw a hand shoot out from the mud. The Prince’s horse saw it too, and huffed discontentedly. It saw a huge mark on the hand, a mark of horseshoe. The deformed hand was washed pale by the rain. The stallion paced around the pit, it couldn’t believe its stomp didn’t cause the target a critical damage.
Oscar laughed, what a tenacious fella! The teen watched as the hopeless hand scratched at the air aimlessly, but soon, it slowed and calmed down, as if it finally gave up.
The teen pulled his horse aside as he knew his first battle had passed with the motionless hand.
The Prince was greeted with a warm welcome as he entered the camp. The battle was over, and it was won by His Royal Highness the Prince, they successfully kept the whole mercenary group here.
Oscar and his stallion were ushered to the empty space in front of the camp as the knights hammered their weapons against their shields. The teen couldn’t recognize the faces. In the rain, his knights look just like spirits that came back from the abyss to congratulate him.
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”Has His Royal Highness woken up?” Kamille asked Snowstorm.
”Not yet…”
”Please let Kamille in.” A gruff voice came from the tent.
Snowstorm stood aside and lifted the entrance of the tent for the Paladin. Kamille instinctively performed a standing salute when he saw the teen Prince. He wasn’t sure why, but he noticed something extra in the teen’s eyes.
Oscar propped himself up, he saw darkness through the lifted tent entrance.
”What time is it now?” The teen had not been clear-headed for the past few days.
”About nine, Your Royal Highness, it’s not that late.” Kamille stood beside the bed.
”Please extend an invitation to the relevant people, you know who I’m talking about.” The Prince was still slightly light-headed, his fever had subsided, but Operation Clean-up had used up a lot of his energy, so he still look pretty beaten up.
In a little while, all the people he summoned, including the Princess, Lady Duchess, the butler, the Paladin, and the King of Sins had arrived. Lady Duchess and the Princess sat beside Oscar, and the men chose to stand at the other side of the tent.
”Look at this!” The Prince handed a thick stack of paper to the Princess.
Princess Alanis nodded with understanding after flipping a few pages. ”They created fake identities for me, the Ladies, and the Prince. It could be deception from the leader himself, no one would dare to carry the burden of murdering the royal family.” The Princess waved the stack of paper about, the papers had portraits on them, with tiny words written on the bottom.
”Very good, Your Royal Highness, no one would dare to murder a royal family, I believe that.” Oscar took the papers, ”However, this explanation has its loophole. Now, someone was really trying to assassinate the royal family, I don’t know this guy’s purpose, if you and I were assassinated tonight, who would benefit from our deaths?”
Alanis shook her head, she was just a Princess, and the Prince was a teenager with no actual power, she really couldn’t figure out why they would be attacked.
”I’m sorry, like you, I have no idea. I don’t have many enemies, I could even count them with my hands, but none of them have the ability to transport a whole mercenary group into Titan secretly.”
”I agree with your opinion, Your Royal Highness,” The butler Ricky interjected. ”Mr. Doramy and I had excluded your enemies in or analysis, please trust us, those Houses don’t have the ability to do so, and their disapproval of His Royal Highness was only a superficial expression. In reality, they don’t even have the courage to turn against His Royal Highness.”
”Can you tell me? Which Houses?” Lady Duchess asked the butler cautiously, wanting to know which Houses that may have a bone to pick with House Andrew.
”Uh… About that…” Ricky stuttered, those are the people in the ‘underworld’, Lady Duchess really shouldn’t find out about them. ”Right, um… For example, House Karl Arnold, the old man had said he wanted to offer a reward for Oscar’s head.”
Lady Duchess looked at the Princess. As the most outstanding daughter of House Karl Arnold, the Queen’s family, Princess Alanis had been close to them.
The Princess understood Lady Duchess’ gaze, she knew she needed to explain herself, House Andrew wouldn’t welcome an enemy. Even though she was a victim in this incident, she had to speak on behalf of House Karl Arnold, no one would want to place themselves across House Andrew.
Princess Alanis smirked a little, ”House Karl Arnold? Don’t you worry about them, Lady Duchess! My mother did come from this family, yes, but I would say this, House Karl Arnold had already lost their sense of honor and initiative, I believe Oscar already knew that. If it wasn’t for my father’s instigation, my reckless cousin wouldn’t have lost his life.” The Princess paused, trying to find the best words. She knew House Karl Arnold was hopeless, but they were still her family after all.
”Lady Duchess, you can think of my father’s action as the final warning from the Royal Household to House Karl Arnold, which means this incident was perpetrated by another party! I believe House Arnold wouldn’t show too much hostility toward House Andrew and Oscar. Of course, I will not overlook the possibility that they were planning to decimate their own selves.”
Oscar waved his hand suddenly. He knew House Karl Arnold wouldn’t really take any actions on this critical period after the duel, they’d been warned by His Majesty after all. The one he was worried about was the military minister. He had already met with the other strategists, except for Marshal Alan, he hasn’t shown his full power yet, maybe that was his most complex side.
”I wonder what happened to Reynold Hewitt Preston, maybe he had arrived at House Andrew.” The Prince asked a seemingly irrelevant question.
”Reynold Hewitt Preston?” The Princess almost forgot about the major general who travelled together with them. ”Are you suspecting House Hewitt? Or to be specific, Marshal Alan?”
”Why not? Why did Reynold leave the team mid-way? Where was the last time we saw him, do you remember that? Fort Hanodt, that’s where. He said he wanted to join the Narcissus Knights as soon as possible, I’d thought he couldn’t wait to get on the battlefield, but now, there seems to be a question. Shouldn’t I interpret his changing of route as an evasion of the incoming attack? Besides, only House Hewitt could easily order the imperial army, that could easily explain why there are at least four strong assassins in the cavaliers Marshal Alan gave me.” Oscar had that question for a while, he thought the it was out of character for the young major general to be so low profile. Sightseeing was not part of a soldier’s duty, but as an imperial officer, escorting the most outstanding Princess of the empire should still be a great task to take on.
”No! That’s impossible!” Lady Duchess shook her head, ”Little Oscar, disregarding House Andrew’s lack of bad relationship with House Hewitt, from the current situation, they have no reason to kill you. Yes, the major general left with a feeble excuse, and we didn’t notice him leaving, but all these only proves their innocence. If Silver Fox Alan did plan for all this, don’t you think his method was too clumsy for someone famous for his military prowess? He mixed assassins into his troops, and let his grandson leave the team so obviously, isn’t this too stupid a move? It’s basically announcing to the world he’s the perpetrator. If that’s really the case, it must be his most idiotic assassination throughout his career!”
Oscar knew his judgment was too arbitrary, but he couldn’t not think that way, from Marshal Alan’s attentiveness toward him in Dulin, he had long suspected Marshal Alan from having an ulterior motive.
Right! Motive? Whatever intention Marshal Alan had, and regardless of when his grandson had left, the assassins would need a motive when they carry out the assassination. The Prince gave it a deep thought, but he couldn’t identify what changes his passing would bring to the empire. Who would care about a prisoner on parole? Yes, the prisoner may have changed into clean and majestic clothes, but he hasn’t done anything aside from pulling the Secretary of State down.
A shrieking alarm disrupted everyone’s thought process. Kamille Rayen’s eyes shined brightly and rushed out before notifying anyone. He knew, the troop had been tormented enough, no matter how valorous the knights were, it’s impossible for them to endure another round of assault.
The situation was unclear, but the alarm was real. The campfires were extinguished without delay, showing once again the quality of the Narcissus Knights through their endless battles.
The knights soon gathered with their armors and moved hastily toward the predestined location; the injured brandished their weapons, even though they had lost their abilities to move, their comrades had already took their final letters to their families. Even lying down, the Narcissus Knights could still let the idiots who broke into their tents pay a heavy price; the nobles hid into the hill area with the help of a small team of knights, stopping at a hilltop where they could see the battlefield, so they would be able to escape speedily if the battle didn’t go well.
The woods calmed down after a short while. Two torches disappeared in the darkness. Kamille sighed, he needs to bid farewell to His Royal Highness, his knights already went into the best sniping location.
”Your Royal Highness…”
Oscar stopped the Paladin with a wave of his hand. His shaking hand pointed at the peak of a faraway hill. ”Look!”
The Paladin obeyed in stunned silence. He didn’t want to believe it, but the fearless Colonel Kamille Rayen drew a sharp breath.
A light spot appeared on the peak, diffracted by the rain, forming a corona on the dark mountain ridge. Soon, the light spot turned into a scythe of fire.
Countless torches brightened the dark sky, roasting it into a brilliant red. Above the torches, mist was formed from the evaporated rain, brought by the mountain breeze together with the soulful howl from afar.
The torches congregated into a river, its crimson light chain pouring down from the peak. The Paladin took off his helmet hopelessly. If the scout hadn’t sounded the alarm, he might have faced all this with relative calmness, but now it seemed like even resistance seem futile.
”Your Royal Highness, allow me to bid you farewell, even though my mission was to escort you through the whole journey, but… I don’t think I could finish the mission after all, you know, I can’t leave my men.”
Oscar stared at Camille with confusion, he didn’t believe the brave knight would say such dejected words.
Kamille knew the Prince still didn’t understand meaning behind the amount of the torches and their moving speed. He pointed at the only source of light in the rainy night, ”Your Royal Highness, those are a whole mountain division, a whole elite division of mountain soldiers.”