After the soldiers moved in a hurry, the commotion inside the camp settled down. It wasn’t completely quiet, as expected of a place that housed soldiers preparing for an imminent war. Yet, the tent that Chelsea stayed in was considerably quieter and better than most. The size of the tent was not only big—a few people shared it, and the goods stored there were also of better quality. Overall, it was better than most commanders’ accommodations.
This was only expected for someone of her rank. Chelsea was an outstanding holy mage, selected as a saint candidate at one point among the many priests in the church. Furthermore, her power was especially welcomed on a battlefield where the boundary between life and death was the faintest. Yet, even though she received such splendid treatment, Chelsea wasn’t pleased.
‘I hope it will be all right.’ Even if her living space was better than most, the tent’s hard bed, incomparable to the luxuries she enjoyed during her saint candidate days, subtly poked her bottom. The situation greatly irritated her, but the anxiety she felt far surpassed the irritation she felt about her bed.
‘I can’t fail this time.’
It was quite shocking that Uruwon Luce, who was the closest to becoming a high priest, quit his position, stating religious convictions as his reason. She had paid great attention to this war when hearing that the Bellids were involved and even after the Karuwimans declared neutrality. Chelsea thought this war could be her opportunity. Thus, not long after Luce left his priest position, Chelsea also left the church for the same reasons as him. Furthermore, her heart was also the same as Luce’s.
“My status will increase another rank if I just succeed this time.’
If they defeated Steelwall and managed to find evidence that they were connected to the Bellids inside their residence, the Karuwimans would have to call her back again even after they declared neutrality. Naturally, they would also see her in a different light.
‘I can also get Priest Luce’s support too.’ Although they hardly knew each other, Luce was the one who had recommended her companion, Glen, as an Honorary Knight. Naturally, his opinion of her wouldn’t be bad either, and now she had followed in his footsteps, leaving the church and joining Count Flaud’s forces to participate in this war. They already exchanged a simple greeting on the battlefield.
If everything went well and Luce successfully returned to the church, he would have established a great victory and name for himself even before becoming a high priest. Since Luce was already thought to be the next high priest, if he succeeded in this battle even while at odds with the Pope, he would rise to be on the level of becoming the next pope.
‘If that happens, my position inside the church would also grow.’ Then, she would be praised for having stepped down from her position along with the future pope for the purpose of stopping the Bellids’ schemes. They would call her the truly faithful follower of Karuna, and the thought of the praise she would receive gave Chelsea the jitters.
‘I heard that bitch, Lubella, also tried to step down from her position.’ Unlike the situation with Luce, news of Chelsea’s quitting was less known because of this reason. Of course, there were stark differences in the status and authority that Luce held compared to Chelsea, but it was also true that Lubella’s intention to resign completely buried news about Chelsea’s withdrawal.
To think that her once-in-a-lifetime, high-risk gamble to quit the church would be buried by Lubella so that it wouldn’t even make the headlines… Lubella was really an existence that she couldn’t like by any means. Furthermore, the fact that her resignation was processed without many issues while the Pope stepped forward himself to stop Lubella clearly showed the difference in their statuses and that made Chelsea feel worse.
If she thought about it, this wasn’t all that bad. ‘They said the place she wanted to support after resigning was Steelwall.’
This meant that if the alliance with Count Flaud won and they found evidence of Bellid’s connection with the Steelwalls, Lubella’s name could be greatly tarnished. Then, Chelsea would be able to come closer to her wish to drag down Lubella from her position and become the next saintess. Just the thought of it brought her pure joy.
For this joyful thought to turn into reality, she needed one, absolute condition: Count Flaud’s alliance to end victorious. Thinking this, Chelsea let out a sigh. She was aware of the general situation right now. Just a couple of days ago, the possibility of their win was very high, almost guaranteed. Yet, the situation was different now.
Count Flaud’s alliance still had the advantage in numbers, but it was true that the current atmosphere was different from before. Chelsea glanced to her side. There was an empty bed that belonged to Pina who shared the tent with her. After hearing that she would be fighting against a large number of people from the Pulru School of Magic, the flicker in Pina’s eyes changed. It seemed like she was hanging around with people from her school of magic and igniting her desire for victory.
‘Her eyes show that she’s half-mad.’ However, Pina’s new preoccupation wasn’t very important to Chelsea compared to her concerns for another person.
“Lady Windne.” A familiar voice soon called her outside the tent.
“Come in.”
Winstin Dyner flapped open the tent’s curtains and entered. As someone who had guarded Chelsea in her saint candidate days, he also left the church alongside Luce and Chelsea. He was now serving as one of the knights in Count Flaud’s forces.
“How is he?” Chelsea’s voice sounded slightly hopeful, but Winstin shook his head.
“He’s the same as before.”
Chelsea pressed her lips into a thin line. The leader of their party, Glen Zenard—the Karuwiman Honorary Knight with outstanding skills who once declared loudly that they should all try to amass fame and glory—had been acting strangely recently.
‘It started after he came back from Yuras.’
Chelsea knew that their plan in Yuras completely failed, but how could someone change so much because of one failure?
‘He should be better as a leader…!’ Since Lubella stole her opportunity to become the next Saintess, Chelsea had hoped Glen would give her another opportunity to regain her rightful position and wanted Glen to show a more reliable and trustworthy appearance as a leader. However, it seemed as if Glen was constantly being chased by something. ‘I should’ve known since I saw him getting swayed by that man named Zich!’
Chelsea was annoyed that Zich was pushing back the person she chose to follow, and Zich also had a close relationship with Lubella. From bodyguard to connections outside of Karuwiman, Chelsea had nothing that could beat Lubella.
“Do you think that his behavior will cause any negative impacts on this war?”
“No. Rather, I think he’s much more passionate about this war than anything else.”
Chelsea was relieved to hear this. She suppressed her conflicted emotions. Even though their current situation was very unstable, they had a lot more troops on their side. In terms of quality and skills, it was a bit worrisome, but it was not to the extent that they would be defeated so easily. She thought, ‘Yeah. We just have to win. Everything will be fine if we win.’
If she re-established her position within Karuwiman after winning this war, she wouldn’t need to be part of a small party and travel around anymore. Once she successfully returned to Karuwiman, she could shake up the weakened Pope and Lubella and become the next Saintess. Chelsea firmed her resolve and burned with the desire to win.
* * *
It was now the second day since Count Flaud’s allied forces set up their campsite. The Steelwalls were still in a defensive position and showed no signs of moving outside of their base. However, the allied forces were the ones on the offense and could not stand still. In the end, the doors of the allied forces’ campsites opened, and the soldiers began pouring out. Even while the allied forces made a commotion while organizing their formations, the Steelwalls didn’t make a move. Count Flaud frowned and thought, ‘This should be the perfect time for them to strike.’
Targeting an enemy before they organized their formation was a great time to attack, so Count Flaud hoped that the Steelwalls would initiate an attack during this time. However, the Steelwalls still showed no signs of movement, so he was disappointed. ‘I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll have to crush them with our strength.’ Even though the damage they’d receive would increase, he had already prepared his mind for that. If all the forces under his command were exterminated, Count Flaud could happily smile at the sky if he could beat Steelwall.
“Attack.” Count Flaud gave out his order. The soldier next to him signaled, and the signal soon spread throughout the troops.
Thud! The soldiers at the very front stepped forward.
* * *
‘They’re coming.’ Zich was staring at the allied forces on top of the campsite’s walls, and he put his hand on top of his sword’s hilt. However, his attitude was unbelievably nonchalant for someone who was facing a war. ‘As expected, the ones on the very front are throwaways.’
The soldiers’ formation was a mess, their armor was of low quality, and their movements were clumsy. Zich thought, ‘They’re definitely not Count Flaud’s troops, so they must be mercenaries or one of the surrounding estates’ foot soldiers.’
Even though the Steelwalls continuously beat the Flauds, they had a sizable enemy, and their soldiers were well-trained. There was no way that any of their soldiers would show such clumsy movements. The allied forces began slowly moving forward. Since they hadn’t reached the campsite yet, the Steelwalls showed no particular response.
Puuuuuuuuuu! A loud bugle came from the allied forces.
Owahhhhhhhh! The troops shouted loudly and began running toward the Steewalls. At the same time, the Steelwalls immediately shoot arrows from their walls. It was the official beginning of a full-fledged battle.
* * *
Splurt! Zich’s sword sliced a soldier climbing a wooden wall. The soldier received a large wound on his neck and fell to the ground. His eyes were full of fear and disbelief that he was going to die, but Zich didn’t care. It was ridiculous for him to feel any emotions about killing a soldier after all this time.
Slice! Blood spurted out again, and another soldier fell. Zich rhythmically sliced the soldiers and scanned his surroundings. So far, the battle was progressing like any other battle. Steelwall soldiers repelled their enemies by climbing on the wooden walls with arrows and spears. There were no rough charges from knights or fancy magic from mages. The allied forces were saving their elite soldiers and utilizing their superior numbers, and the Steelwalls were also only sending out their regular soldiers.
However, the allied forces wouldn’t be able to hold onto their elite soldiers for long, and the real battle would start when they came forward. The allied forces continued to batter Steelwall’s walls for three days. They attacked in almost every direction to find a weak spot and received a lot of damage. However, the allied forces’ troops still had the advantage. Three days later, soldiers that hadn’t come forward until now appeared into view—soldiers fully armored with precise formation. After completing their analysis of Steelwall’s walls, the allied forces launched a new attack.