The morale among the allied forces wasn’t good. It was only natural since they hadn’t won a single battle after clashing with the Steelwall army several times. They might have been more hopeful if they were making some progress, but their attacks didn’t seem to make the slightest dent in the barriers set up by the Steelwalls. Even if they managed to significantly damage one area using their superiority in numbers, the areas were cleanly restored by the next battle. It was so disheartening that the wooden barriers, which would have easily broken under a trained knight’s swing, were beginning to look like a legendary citadel from hell.
As expected, the mood wasn’t good inside the allied forces’ conference tent. Inside the tent, Count Flaud was with other important members of the allied forces. Each of the members’ faces was stiff and downcast as they listened to the adjutant’s report of the current situation. The adjutant tried to talk as calmly as possible while omitting any sign of emotions, but the content of his words was enough to cause a huge headache for everyone in the meeting.
“That is the summary of damages suffered by the allied forces so far.”
“That’s a lot of causalities,” one of the nobles noted. It was a simple statement, but it perfectly explained the allied forces’ situation.
Another person asked the adjutant, “What about our enemy’s casualties?”
“We don’t know exactly, but it’s estimated that they suffered much fewer damages compared to us.”
“I’m sure they did. We couldn’t even break through that useless, fragile wooden barrier, much less attack them properly,” the noble remarked. The barrier was created too meticulously and well to be called ‘useless’, but the adjutant continued on without retorting this point. He knew that they would stray away from the main topic if he nitpicked such matters.
“We won’t be able to do much if we continue to attack them senselessly like this.”
“I agree. The enemy’s defenses are much stronger than we expected. At this rate, it’s only going to our soldiers who are going to die.”
People began to voice their opinions in the conference room. However, as they talked to one another, their eyes were always pointing at the top seat where Count Flaud sat. Whatever suggestion they made, they knew it would be up to the Count to accept them or not. Yet, they continued to bring forth their ideas in order to pressure the Count to stop his foolish offensive and find a better strategy.
“Even though we lost many soldiers, we are still far superior in numbers. It’s our obvious advantage, and it seems best to use that.”
“How about we leave an army similar in size to our enemy’s and make the rest attack other areas of the estate? If we attack the estate’s insides directly, I’m sure they will be shaken.”
“If we are going to do that, why don’t we turn the entire Steelwall Estate into ruins? I’m sure they will be thrown off even more then.”
“If we do so, the benefits we would gain when taking the Steelwall Estate would greatly decrease. Furthermore, even if the Steelwall troops are mostly gathered here, I’m sure they would have left at least a few troops in their important stronghold. Will our soldiers be able to break through with their current low morale?”
“Moreover, that could place the main base at risk. I hate to admit it, but our enemy’s forces are superior in terms of quality. If we leave a similar number of soldiers with our enemy here and send the rest elsewhere, there’s a high possibility that our enemy would ambush our main base. How about we completely surround our enemies and cut them off from their supplies and starve them to death? I think it would be possible with our numbers.”
Then, Viscount Pinne said, “Whatever the method is, we can’t take too long.”
Everyone’s eyes shot to the Viscount.
“We got news from our estate that our majesty sent a person.”
“The king of the Cronon Kingdom?” Unlike the majority of the people gathered inside this tent, Viscount Pinne was a noble from the Cronon Kingdom, and the place where this war was taking place was within the Cronon Kingdom’s territory. Naturally, everyone tensed up after hearing that the king of the kingdom they were in had sent news.
“Did the person perhaps say that the Cronon Kingdom would be involved in this war?”
“Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case.”
People were relieved. If the Cronon Kingdom officially got involved at this point, their chance of victory significantly decreased. However, Viscount Pinne’s next sentence signified that they couldn’t completely let their guard down.
“Yet, it seems like His Majesty has expressed clear disapproval for this war and hinted at his desire for us to stop it at this point. It's highly likely that the whole kingdom will get involved if the war continues any further.”
“What!”
“Hm…”
Although the worst-case scenario of having an entire kingdom meddling in this affair didn’t happen yet, people sighed after hearing that it was a high possibility in the future.
“If the Cronon Kingdom gets involved, wouldn’t we also be able to get help from our kingdom?”
“That would mean a war between kingdoms. Will our kingdom want to bear such a burden? I don’t think they are even prepared for a proper war right now. Furthermore, we aren’t even winning this war right now and we’re struggling to gain victory even with an overwhelmingly greater number of forces.”
“If that’s the case, it would be best for us to cleanly end the war before the Cronon Kingdom gets involved.”
“However, that’s not easy as it sounds.”
Sighs filled the conference room again.
“What are your thoughts, Count Flaud?” Since it seemed like everyone had pretty much said their opinions, the adjutant asked the Count. Other people’s eyes began to shift back to Count Flaud again.
“…It seems like everyone agrees that we must deal with our enemies as quick as possible,” Count Flaud said. Everyone nodded. “I also agree on that point, and on that note, I’ve made my decision.”
Everyone’s gaze gathered towards Count Flaud, and they anxiously waited for his next words.
Count Flaud said, “Let’s split up the troops. I’m going to keep a slightly greater number of troops than our enemy and send the rest of the troops deeper into Steelwall.”
“Then, are you aiming for Steelwall’s capital city, Violsa?”
“No.” A cruel light flashed in the Count’s eyes. “We’ll be burning down the Steelwall Estate.”
People were startled. Although such a proposal had been suggested before, they didn’t expect the Count to carry it into action.
“If you do that, we’ll be severely criticized for our actions, and we’ll also have less to gain from this war.”
“Moreover, this operation may encourage the Cronon Kingdom to officially step in and participate in this war.”
Various opposing statements came out, but Count’s resolution was firm. “I understand all of your concerns, but please remember that we’re here to defeat Bellid supporters. We must deal with those evil demons before their influence spreads outside of Steelwall.” Even while saying this, Count Flaud’s mind was occupied by a completely different thought. ‘I have to win this war at all costs!’
Count Flaud still only cared about victory even though victory was no longer guaranteed for them like in the early stages of the war. He couldn’t help it. The Count carefully observed all the people sitting around him. Of course, everyone here wished to win the war, but they didn’t seem desperate like him. In the first place, their estates didn’t border the Steelwall Estate, and even if they lost this war, they could just retreat and go back to their estates. Since they could easily pass on Steelwall’s retaliation and anger to Count Flaud, they shared none of his urgency.
However, Count Flaud’s position was completely different. It wasn’t just a matter of facing Steelwall’s retaliation. ‘Those guys will never allow me to give up on this war.’
Count Flaud literally joined hands with the devil for this war—a devil called the Bellid. The Bellids wanted to destroy the Steelwall Estate by using any means possible.
Count Flaud thought, ‘If I back down now, I have no idea what those guys will do. No, even if I lose, I’ll probably suffer the same consequences.’
He was joining hands with them, but he also didn’t like the Bellids either. He had merely joined forces to get what he wanted. However, this was only Count Flaud’s problem. He saw several people frown and scowl at his remarks. They had come to take a part of the spoils in the name of subjugating and expelling out the evil Bellids, and very few people had come here out of sincere faith. Of course, Count Flaud was aware of their concerns.
He said, “Even if we can’t make a decent profit due to this operation, the Flaud Estate will make up for it.”
“Well, if that’s the case…”
“As expected, you’re generous.”
Only then did people finally look relieved. There were some people who still looked slightly uncomfortable, but no one refused Count Flaud’s offer.
“Shouldn’t we also listen to Viscount Pinne’s thoughts? Wouldn’t he suffer the most if the Steelwall’s Estate is burned to the ground?”
“It’s all right with me.” Viscount Pinne nodded. Frankly, the Viscount was not in the position to protest Count Flaud’s proposition. If they lost this war, the Pinne Estate, whose territory bordered the Steelwalls and even shared the same kingdom, would receive serious retaliation from the Steelwalls. The Pinnes were also desperate to win. Of course, since they were Bellid supporters, they couldn’t give up on this war either.
“It seems like our meeting has been sorted. Then, let’s hurry up and reorganize our forces. We must end this war as soon as possible.” Like this, the allied forces’ commanders made a final decision. However, no one here expected the Steelwalls to make their move first.
* * *
“You’re suggesting that we attack the Pinne Estate?” Count Steelwall’s wary gaze headed towards Zich.
“Yes, sir.” Zich nodded. Everyone gathered in the command headquarters, including Count Steelwall, tilted their head.
Count Steelwall asked, “What’s your reason?”
Attacking the Pinne Estate was not a very good choice considering their current circumstances. Regardless of how well the Steelwall’s army was blocking the enemy’s attacks, they were still at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. If they wanted to attack the Pinne Estate, they needed to split the troops, and doing so would weaken their main defense. The main camp could be destroyed if things went wrong. Moreover, since they had relatively few troops, the number of soldiers they could send out to attack the Pinne Estate was not much. It was questionable whether such a small number of soldiers would be able to effectively attack enemy territory. It was for these reasons that people hadn’t thought of counterattacking their enemy.
However, no one ignored or criticized Zich’s words due to his high reputation. Count Steelwall also asked a question for clarification, not because he was looking down on Zich.
“Our enemies aren’t going to attack us head-on anymore, since they know that we’re at a complete advantage. Even Count Flaud has probably figured that out by now.”
No one rebuked Zich for talking so harshly about his grandfather. Their relationship with Count Flaud had already crossed a river of no return.