Chapter 95. An Existence Not Permitted by God (1)
It had been three days since I departed for Dijon’s lord’s castle with the Marcel Knight Order.
The cargo ships moving upstream along the winding river came to a stop.
“Open the doors. Everyone, prepare to disembark!”
Creeeeak.
The sound of the dock doors opening rang out loudly.
The sailors carried long planks over and connected them to the pier.
It was a pier used by fishermen on the Rhone, so it was a little flimsy.
“Have the sailors mobilize workers and reinforce the pier.”
We had brought workers and lumber to establish a base camp here.
After repairing the pier, the camp built here would become a forward base for attacking Dijon’s lord’s castle.
From here, it would still take another half day on horseback to reach the castle.
Soon, the knights and squires began leading their warhorses off the vessels, while workers on the other cargo ships unloaded lumber.
Knight Commander Axel, who had arrived here beforehand to scout the area, made his report.
“According to the scouts, there are no knights or soldiers between here and the lord’s castle.”
“Tch. They plan to fight a siege.”
“If we arrive before the Ferrand Knight Order joins them, we can win.”
Of course we could win.
But if we launched a siege, our knights would suffer heavy casualties.
There was no reason to rush.
“No. Just as we planned, complete the forward base here first, then establish a field camp in front of the lord’s castle.”
“Then is there any way to cut off the Ferrand knights before they get there?”
“None. Not right now.”
If territorial war between Ferrand and Marcel had already been approved, that would be one thing.
But at the moment, we had no justification for blocking and attacking a knight order that was not officially our enemy.
That meant we had to stand there with our eyes wide open and watch the Ferrand Knight Order enter Dijon’s lord’s castle.
“I already sent protest letters to the royal family and Ferrand Territory. I also said that anyone inside Dijon’s lord’s castle would be considered an enemy. If those bastards die inside the castle, ignore it and attack anyway.”
Fight trickery with chaos.
When the royal family elevated me to Count, they had sent the message that they would tolerate a certain amount of misconduct and disorder from me.
“I’ll inform the knights to prepare for a siege.”
Even though I said that, charging into a castle defended by forty knights with only fifty of our own was suicide.
The best course was to threaten them enough to force a surrender.
If that failed, we would have to borrow knight orders from other territories.
The cost was secondary.
It would take far too much time.
I need to force their surrender quickly somehow.
Meanwhile, the workers reinforced the pier, completed the camp, and even began constructing a wooden palisade.
As soon as ships carrying supplies and soldiers arrived from Marcel, I intended to fortify this place.
If Dijon began a siege defense, we would need a secure base from which to maintain a long demonstration in front of the castle while receiving supplies.
Four days later.
After completing the forward base, we arrived on the open field before Dijon’s lord’s castle.
In the end, the Ferrand Knight Order had entered the castle.
The fortress in front of me was now defended by forty knights.
This is going to be harder than I thought. It’s a proper castle.
A tall wall, broad moat, and sturdy gate protected by magic items came into view.
I did not like the feeling of it.
The inside of my mouth felt rough.
I pressed my lips together and looked around the ground nearby.
Had a river once flowed here?
The land was barren, covered in rocks and gravel, unsuitable for farming.
Fortunately, that meant there were plenty of things to throw.
“Build the field camp on this ground. Mobilize all workers and soldiers and get it done quickly.”
Then I stepped forward with the eight Wood Golems I had already created.
Knight Commander Axel looked at the golems with interest.
“My lord, are you planning to have them throw stones?”
“Yeah. I’m going to pound on them first.”
The AI-equipped golems were excellent pitchers.
One Wood Golem performed a powerful windup, then swung its long, flexible arm in an overhand throw and hurled a rock the size of a human head.
Fwoooooosh!
A four-thousand-RPM-plus four-seam fastball flew toward the batter’s box.
BANG!
The rock struck the merlon wall on top of the castle wall with perfect accuracy.
The stone shattered, sending fragments everywhere.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Of course, those screams came from soldiers hit by the fragments.
A dead ball.
And naturally, they were actually dead, so they could not walk to first base.
“That’s threatening.”
“Exactly. It’s only a threat. A threat that continues day and night.”
Two starting-pitcher Wood Golems began throwing rocks in shifts.
The golems in the dugout gathered more stones and carried them over.
BANG! BANG!
Rocks continuously struck the walls.
Eventually, the soldiers abandoned the ramparts entirely, leaving only knights behind.
Off-duty knights came up instead, all carrying shields.
Mana was not infinite.
If they ran low on aura, they apparently planned to block the stones with shields.
The stones aren’t infinite either. Once we run out of things to throw, I’ll need another method.
Before I could come up with one, however, Dijon presented a new defensive strategy first.
The next morning.
A woman appeared on top of the wall under the protection of knights.
I had been lazily observing the castle through a telescope.
The moment I saw her, I shot to my feet.
What the fuck? How?
The woman shouted toward our camp.
“I am Sophia Westfalen! I am the daughter-in-law of Count Westfalen and the sister-in-law of Count Eric Marcel! Stop the attack immediately!”
Sophia had been hanged to death right in front of me.
There was no way she could be alive.
I could still vividly remember the moment the rope tightened around her neck.
I hurriedly mounted my horse and shouted.
“Commander Axel, I’m going to confirm it! Hyah!”
“My lord, it’s dangerous!”
Two ghouls and several knights followed me.
About ten of us reached the moat directly beneath the section of wall where Sophia stood.
Dijon’s knights tried to throw spears and fire arrows at us, but Sophia stopped them.
Apparently, she wanted to negotiate.
That was not what mattered right now.
Appraisal!
[Sophia Dijon, 20 years old]
