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Chapter 191: The Unlucky Great Swordmaster
The battle that took place in the Northland on the seventeenth of March, year 1771 of the Common Calendar, would be remembered in the war histories of the Galentea Continent as the "Slaughter of the Furious Bear." King Krisen Iblia of the Iblia Kingdom led a hundred-thousand-strong coalition of Northland nobles to chastise the disobedient
Engaged in the frontal field battle were over fifty-one thousand men of the Iblia Kingdom's First Legion, against forty-five thousand of the Norton Family's armed forces. The Norton Family's armed forces, relying on between two and three thousand mounted ballistae, were the first to open the long-range attack. Six successive volleys directly shattered the will of the Iblia Kingdom's First Legion to resist; after taking over ten thousand casualties, the whole army collapsed. The Norton Family's forces then launched a relentless pursuit, ending in total victory.
Regarding this battle, the military historians and specialists who compiled the continental war histories had only eight words of commentary: take by surprise, strike first, win all. The Norton Family's force had merely exploited the advantage of long-range weapons and launched the attack first while the enemy was unprepared, while the Iblia Kingdom's First Legion, due to its defensive formation, had been kept on the receiving end of the massive ballista barrage with no chance to strike back, until the whole army broke apart. Looking at the battle from a tactical standpoint, neither side had displayed anything particularly remarkable.
…
Count Kenmas trotted over on horseback with two of his retainers, and hailed
Since the more than twenty thousand troops of the Kenmas Family had not left the battlefield, but had merely encamped at its edge in a posture of neutrality, the cautious Malev had ordered two of his war-chariot battalions to split off and keep watch over them, while the remaining three war-chariot battalions had joined the pursuit of the routed enemy.
Lorist also laughed and stepped forward to meet him. He and Count Kenmas, who had now dismounted, exchanged an embrace. "Glad you're all right. Seeing you bouncing about like this puts my mind at ease. Now do you understand why I always refused the Second Prince's invitations? I could feel his ill intent. If I'd gone, I'd probably have ended up like you — unable to go home."
Count Kenmas spat and snapped, "Who could have thought that a dignified king would stoop to such shameless tactics — exactly like a street thug, an utter disgrace to the nobility. I'll never trust him again."
Lorist said with a smile, "Relax, you won't see him in the Northland anymore. Tomorrow you'll bring a contingent and come with me to Geldsk City. I have something to attend to."
"Uh…" Count Kenmas froze, and after a long moment hemmed and hawed, "Lo-Loke, are you — are you going to wipe him out completely? Whatever else, he is — he is our king. The charge of regicide… that wouldn't sit well…"
Lorist shook his head. "I'm not so foolish. I only want to drive him out of the Northland — to capture him and then send him off with all due courtesy. If he dies on the battlefield, that will only save us trouble. The trip to Geldsk City is to witness
Count Kenmas asked, intrigued, "What sort of business could the two of them get into?"
"I've divided the Grand Duke's domain in two. Each of them takes half. That's why the two of them ran off so fast — they were afraid that if they got there late they'd end up shortchanged." Lorist said lightly.
At those words, Count Kenmas's merchant instinct for a bargain instantly kicked in, and he protested, "The two of them are getting too much this time, don't you think? As your friend, I demand equal treatment — you should take care of our family too…"
Lorist's smile was half a smile. "My friend, your Kenmas Family already monopolizes the eastern Northland — where else exactly were you planning to stretch your hand? You tell me…"
"Well…" Count Kenmas could not think of an answer. By now his family controlled the entire eastern region of the Northland. There was, indeed, no room to expand further — at best they could push westward to seize two more fiefs and connect with Baron Filim's lands. But both those fiefs were impoverished, and seizing them would just mean having to pour in money for development. In that case it would be better to leave them as a buffer zone between the two houses.
"How about this, then. Sort out those dozen or so old lords you've been feeding in the eastern Northland. Send the older Northland lords to me — I'll see about exchanging fiefs for them. The new lords, send them off out of the region. From now on the whole of the eastern Northland will belong to your Kenmas Family. How does that suit?" Lorist offered.
"I'll have to go back and talk it over with my father. If your proposal is workable, then I'll handle them just as you say." Count Kenmas thought about it and replied.
In the distance, four fine horses came galloping up.
It was Els, back with two attendants.
"Loke — uh, no, my lord — take a look at the prize from our two super steel ballistae…" With an outsider present, Els had the sense to address Lorist as "my lord."
Once Els had drawn up to them, he reached out and dumped from the fourth horse the body that was strapped across it onto the ground. A great hole had been torn through the chest and belly of the corpse — obviously the work of a steel ballista bolt.
Who was this old man? It certainly wasn't the Second Prince — the Second Prince didn't have that paunchy a face, and besides his age was at least
ten years younger than this old fellow, who looked sixty or more.
Before the smug Els could even start gloating, Count Kenmas beside them had already gone pale with shock: "That — that's Great Swordmaster Ruinns! How — how on earth did you manage to kill him?"
"Why couldn't I?" Els bristled. "This old man was as dumb as a pig — he actually tried, single sword and single hand, to intercept one of our super-ballista bolts. The first bolt he did manage to deflect — but he spat blood on the spot. Then the second bolt arrived, and the old man was punched right through. He fell against the Second Prince's banner and toppled it. The Second Prince stood there stunned. His guards were terrified we'd fire another bolt like that, so they grabbed him and ran — and then the whole legion collapsed…"
"See, my lord? It was worth the trouble of hauling those two super steel ballistae over. He just told us — this old man was a Great Swordmaster. A Great Swordmaster! Haha — one volley of my super steel ballista, and the Second Prince was down a Great Swordmaster. Haha, this is too exciting. When I went to retrieve those two bolts, the prisoners next to me told me this old man was a Great Swordmaster — I didn't quite believe it. Haha, our super steel ballistae — unmatched under heaven…"
"Sheer dumb luck…" Lorist looked at Els's face, grinning like a blooming chrysanthemum, and cursed under his breath. If anyone had told him before the battle that those two super steel ballistae would kill a Great Swordmaster, Lorist wouldn't have believed it even if you killed him. Yet here the facts lay before his eyes. The body of one of the Second Prince's two Great Swordmasters, by reputation, was sprawled on the ground, no wonder Els was prancing about like a delighted puppy, his face all swagger and triumph.
In truth, no one could have predicted it. This Great Swordmaster Ruinns truly had been cursed with bad luck — he had walked into his own death. The first super ballista bolt, when fired, was aimed at the wrong angle for hitting the spot where the Second Prince stood; it should have flown harmlessly over their heads. What was going through Great Swordmaster Ruinns's mind no one knew. Perhaps he felt it would be a great loss of face for a Great Swordmaster to let a ballista bolt sail over his head, so he leapt up, drew his sword, and tried to deflect it.
Only the Great Swordmaster hadn't reckoned on the bolt having such tremendous momentum. He did succeed in deflecting it, but suspended in midair, with nothing to brace against, the bolt's full force passed through him. His viscera were jolted in an instant; he coughed up a mouthful of blood and the sword in his hand was knocked spinning away. His ill luck lay precisely there: the Great Swordmaster's body was knocked into a slant, drifting off to one side, putting him directly into the path of the second bolt — and so the tragedy unfolded…
If the old Great Swordmaster had simply stood still, the bolts from those two super steel ballistae would not have hit anyone — they'd have caused nothing more than a fright. But luck is the hardest thing to fathom. Perhaps it was the old man's fate to die that day, and so he had moved, sending himself onto his own road to ruin. Everyone present was scared witless — this had been a Great Swordmaster, after all. To be killed so easily — what could possibly block another two bolts? Without a thought to anything else, several guards seized the Second Prince and bolted, and the whole legion collapsed…
"Hey! What are you doing?! Don't you dare climb up there — get down at once!"
Lorist turned to look. At some point Count Kenmas had climbed onto the flatbed war chariot and was lovingly stroking the super steel ballista, his face revealing an expression more besotted than anything he'd ever shown his beloved beauties: "A divine weapon…"
Below, Els was pointing at him, telling him to come down.
"Pull him down for me!" Els was furious.
Two retainers heaved Count Kenmas off the chariot.
"What are you up to?" Lorist demanded, his face stern.
"Brother — my dear Brother Loke — you have got to sell me one of these divine weapons, no matter what…" Count Kenmas clutched Lorist's hand tightly.
"Not a chance." Lorist shook his head.
"Really, no?" Count Kenmas's face was full of pleading.
"No. Truly." Lorist answered very seriously.
"Sigh…" Count Kenmas knew Lorist would never let go of such a great weapon, and could only abandon the matter with a sour face.
"What are you sighing about? These things were made by me to deal with large magical beasts. Your fiefs aren't anywhere near the wild plains — what do you want with them?" Lorist was actually rather curious.
"To deal with Great Swordmasters!" Count Kenmas's answer caught Lorist completely by surprise.
"Do you know how many Great Swordmasters the Iblia Kingdom has?" Count Kenmas asked.
"No idea…" Lorist thought a moment and said, "I know the Andinak Kingdom has two, both attached to the Third Prince. There's also Grand Duke Mailein, said to be a Great Swordmaster as well. As for the Iblia Kingdom, all I've heard is that the Second Prince has two with him. As for the rest, I don't know."
Count Kenmas held up one open palm: "The Iblia Kingdom has, in total, five Great Swordmasters."
He kicked at the old man's corpse on the ground. "Now only four. Two were with the Second Prince. One was his childhood teacher — Galinan. But Galinan is obsessed with becoming a Sword Saint and has gone into seclusion to study the Sword Path. He came to the Northland before the New Year, and I only met him once. At the end of March he escorted the queen back to the capital, Wendbury City. The other was this old man on the ground — his name was Ruinns. He was, in a manner of speaking, Galinan's martial junior. Because Galinan wanted to focus on the Sword Path, he had entrusted Ruinns with the close-protection of the Second Prince."
Count Kenmas kicked the old man's corpse a few more times. "This old man was the worst of them. The Second Prince relied on his backing to humiliate the Gold-rank family knights of various fief nobles again and again — he wouldn't stop until he'd dragged people through the mud. And he was greedy and lecherous. The last time, he forcibly carried off the poor Viscountess Justin from beside me, and even bullied me into handing him ten thousand Gold Forde in gold-elven notes. By the way, let me check whether those gold-elven notes are still on him…"
""
Count Kenmas got both hands all bloody, but found nothing.
Lorist turned to look at Els. Seeing him grinning, Lorist understood at once — Els had already cleaned this old man out completely.
Wiping the blood from his hands with the towel his attendant handed him, Count Kenmas continued: "Apart from these two with the Second Prince, the remaining three are all with his father-in-law, Grand Duke Fisablen. That is the main reason the Second Prince fears Grand Duke Fisablen — because the Grand Duke is a Great Swordmaster himself. And one of his important commanders, the family knight Viscount Christopher, is also a Great Swordmaster. The last is a woman, called Shandi. Her real name I don't know. She was Princess Silvia's wet nurse, and apparently also the Grand Duke's lover. After becoming pregnant, for some reason she had a miscarriage; just at that time Princess Silvia's parents died young, so the baby was given to her to raise, and they say she loves Princess Silvia like her own…"
"The Eastern Iron-Chain Bridge our family has built leads through to the Mu-Ye-Yuan Province controlled by Grand Duke Fisablen. Think of the border legion under the Grand Duke, then think of those three Great Swordmasters — and I have to sleep with one eye open. If I had this great weapon behind me, my mind would be a great deal easier…" Count Kenmas pleaded.
Lorist shook his head with a smile. "It really won't do. This sort of thing cannot fall into outside hands. But don't worry — once the Second Prince has been driven from the Northland, the Northland will be ruled by the four of us. So long as we four houses form an alliance, no one can bully us. If one house is in trouble, the other three will send troops to its aid. Even if Grand Duke Fisablen wants to come after you, he'll have to consider whether the other three of us agree. If you're still uneasy, then cut down the iron-chain bridge — I don't believe a Great Swordmaster can fly across a natural chasm to bring trouble to your house."
"Er — well, we'll talk about that later." Count Kenmas knew Lorist was joking. After all the family had spent on the iron-chain bridge, how could one tear it down on a whim? Whatever else, the bridge and river-crossing tolls alone were no small source of income.
…
Lorist stayed on for one more day. He ordered Botterfinger to lead three heavy infantry battalions in setting up a prisoner camp on the open ground before Boulder Castle, gathering the prisoners and, once the campaign was over, marching them off to the Black Mire Swamp to do labor on its development. He also pressed Els into dragging those two super steel ballistae back to Boulder Castle. Only after Count Kenmas had sent his twenty thousand household troops back to their fief did Lorist set off, together with Count Kenmas and his retinue battalion, for Geldsk City.
The journey took three days. Word came back along the way that the Second Prince had not yet been caught, and no one knew where he had fled. Meanwhile, as agreed, Baron Filim had launched a surprise attack and seized the Hendlefoso Bridge checkpoint and the Fresd fortress castle, and was now attacking the two towns and three manor castles he had been allotted. Progress was good, and they were expected to fall soon.
The former Grand Duke's domain of the Northland comprised one regional capital — Geldsk City — along with the Hendlefoso Bridge checkpoint and the Fresd fortress castle, plus three manor castles and seven towns. Sir Hennedo had already taken the Cherry-Blossom Ridge manor castle and the town of Evansen; that left two manor castles and six towns. The three manor castles being attacked by Baron Filim — one belonged to the former Grand Duke's domain and the other two were the property of neighboring fief nobles. Because the three manor castles were close together, Lorist had assigned them all to Baron Filim; and since these fief nobles had all joined the Second Prince's Northland coalition, Lorist did not mind clearing them out in one sweep.
Sir Hennedo's mission was to take the other manor castle of the Grand Duke's domain and four towns, plus the regional capital itself, Geldsk City. The courier who arrived that morning reported that Lord Sahin Hennedo, Baron, was progressing much faster than Lord Baron Filim — he had already taken control of Geldsk City, and the other four towns and that one manor castle were also in his hands.
Along the road, every so often, they saw Norton Family troops escorting groups of prisoners toward Boulder Castle. Lorist had to admit that the potential of human beings really was limitless — only a few days had passed, and the soldiers who had joined the Northland coalition had managed to flee this far.
That evening, just after sharing a few drinks with Count Kenmas in camp, chatting for a while and about to turn in, a rider came galloping up.
The moment the messenger entered the tent, he dropped to his knees. "Lord Norton, please save the two lords of our house!"
What was going on?
At the messenger's words, Lorist gave a great start. "What? You say Tabek the
"Yes, my lord. Baron Filim has already led troops to surround the Grand Duke's mansion and demanded that Princess Silvia hand over the two lords. The princess refuses, and threatens that if the mansion is attacked, the two lords will be killed first. The situation is at a standstill. Baron Filim asks that you, my lord, come quickly to Geldsk City to take charge and rescue our two lords." The messenger sobbed out his report.
…
[Thank you for all your support. For this Qidian 515 Fans' Festival's Author Glory Hall and Best Works Election, I hope you can lend a hand. There are also some red envelopes and gift packs at the Fans' Festival — pick them up, and please keep the subscriptions going!] (To be continued.)
PS: Today is May Day — wishing all my readers a happy holiday!
[Author's note about juggling family life and writing — irrelevant to the chapter.]
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