Chapter 314
Chasing the star that shines alone on a dark night (3)
By the time I reached the castle walls, the footsteps had gotten closer.
I looked down at the plains from the ramparts alongside the knights who didn’t even realize I was there.
The plains were filled with only darkness.
Something was clamoring within.
I focused my eyes.
Only then did the plains come into view.
Only then did the shadows screaming inside become clear.
“Ah…”
The unexpected appearance of the enemy made me groan involuntarily.
An old man with a hunched back.
A man with a dirty face.
A woman wearing a tattered skirt.
They were not soldiers nor knights, but rather an unarmed, emaciated crowd.
There were no orders being shouted.
Unlike when the imperial army marched, there was no fancy military flag being displayed at the front.
They seemed like refugees who had lost their home and had been forced out.
But they were not just refugees.
The ominous energy that filled the surroundings and the non-stop beating of the drums made their goal apparent.
I turned my head.
Gawain and the knights were there, standing close to the walls.
Because they were wearing helmets, their faces were not visible.
But to me, their expressions were as obvious as if I could see them.
The agitation and confusion felt by the knights were conveyed to me.
Gawain and the knights were stunned by the sight of the enemy approaching without any weapons.
I also felt the same.
The cause of the ominous premonition was finally revealed, and the identity of the enemy who had approached and surrounded the castle without any signs made my heart heavy.
“That’s vile.”
At this time, a loud voice intervened.
“The sound of drums and footsteps are so loud, but there is only one thing that I can feel.”
My uncle, who had come over at some point, was staring out the castle with his sightless eyes.
“Are the footsteps and drums actually real?”
My uncle had a rare look of embarrassment on his face as he said that.
Even his head turning side to side somehow seemed awkward and unsteady.
It was the first time I saw my uncle actually appearing blind.
The ability that he used to brag about, claiming that he was only able to see the real world after he had lost his eyes, seemed to have disappeared.
My situation was no different.
I couldn’t relax, so I had been on edge this whole time.
Nevertheless, I did not notice the approach of the enemy in the slightest.
It wasn’t until I heard the sound of drums that I realized they were just a short distance away.
Unless they were assassins who were skilled at hiding their presence. No, even if they were, they wouldn’t have been able to deceive my uncle and me.
This was something that could not have occurred under normal circumstances.
I already knew the reason.
Because the world was filled with it. This damn energy.
The sky and earth were covered with a foreign energy.
It was so wide-spread and dense that I couldn’t feel anything else.
That wasn’t all.
The uncomfortable feeling continued to hinder my use of energy.
I ordered the knights to bring out their mana.
Despite the unexpected orders, the Knights of the Silent Order faithfully followed my instructions.
I wasn’t happy at all with their obedient attitude which was completely different from before.
“Our, mana…!”
Their reaction immediately afterward was not at all different from what I had expected.
The only ones who succeeded in completely bringing out their sword energy were the master-level knights, including Gawain.
Even they were perplexed, saying that their mana was being consumed quickly and that the recovery was strangely slow.
This was also due to this damned energy that suddenly covered our surroundings.
The whole world was rejecting me and the knights.
Even mana, which we used to be able to gather by stretching out our hands, was now rejecting us.
It felt like everything in the world was baring its teeth and growling at me and the knights.
And it wasn’t just a feeling.
The world’s hostility toward me and the knights was real.
Burgundy, the emperor who had founded the first country in this land, was speaking to me.
This was his land.
Everything born on this earth belonged to him, and nothing was allowed for us.
“You’re being very territorial.”
I gritted my teeth and glared at the plains.
Within them, I could see the crowd approaching.
“Your Highness!”
Meanwhile, Adelia arrived on the castle walls and ran towards me.
She held out my armor and cloak that she had brought over.
I shook my head.
“If even a scratch gets on your body…”
Instead of answering, I quietly stretched out my hand to point outside the castle.
Only then did Adelia look directly at the crowd, and her eyes shook.
“I, I guess we have to fight them…?”
The air on top of the ramparts froze at her question.
The Knights of the Silent Order stopped what they were doing and looked at me.
I could feel their unfiltered emotions from behind their helmets as they awaited my answer, and their hope to not fight against those who were not even properly armed but had been forced into battle by others.
But unfortunately I couldn’t grant their wish.
“Save your strength.”
There was no way to avoid battle.
“Ah…”
Adelia looked at me with a pale face.”
“Ngh.”
Gawain and the knights let out heavy sighs.
Silence fell on the castle walls.
I rubbed my stiff neck and looked down.
A wave of people filled the entire plain.
* * *
The crowd surrounding the castle did nothing.
They just wandered around the walls.
The uncomfortable sound of shuffling feet continued all night long.
The sound was so annoying that the knights and I couldn’t sleep at all.
And the day came.
The darkness that had been like a fog disappeared, and the crowd became clearly visible.
The people who were revealed looked several times shabbier and weaker than what I had seen the previous night.
The moment I looked at them, I realized.
It would be really painful to point a sword at them.
I wanted to avoid that situation as much as possible.
There was only one way.
We had to get out of the castle without killing them.
In the first place, this castle was just a place for us to rest after its owner and his army had been wiped out, so there was no particular reason to protect it.
I immediately gathered the knights.
“I will take the lead and open the way.”
Adelia and the knights decided to support me while I would open up a path at the front.
My uncle, whose senses had been almost entirely disabled, decided to follow from behind.
I didn’t give them instructions.
Because I believed that they would know what to do without me having to say anything.
As expected, the knights who gathered in front were holding clubs instead of swords.
Seeing that, I also grabbed a suitable stick.
Standing before the castle gates, I took a breath and smiled bitterly.
“What is this.”
Even if I had to face a million soldiers, I wouldn’t feel this nervous.
If only that was the case, I would have been able to split apart the enemy’s ranks and escape without having to think too hard.
I shook my head.
I tried to shake off these distracting thoughts.
Sigh.
I glanced at the Silent Order knight who was in charge of the pulley controlling the castle gates.
The knight grabbed the pulley and started turning it.
At that moment.
Dun dun dun.
The sounds of beating drums resumed.
“Do you hear that?”
Someone asked from behind.
Someone else nearby said that nothing would change regardless.
But that wasn’t the case.
The air beyond the castle walls was turbulent.
Especially now.
I had a bad feeling.
“Stop!”
I shouted urgently.
Slam.
With a rumble, the gates came crashing down again.
“Why…?”
The knights asked me why.
Instead of answering, I jumped off my horse.
I headed straight to the top of the ramparts.
And confirmed.
The reality of the turbulent air outside the walls.
“Ah…”
The weak crowd that the knights and I had been so worried about did not exist.
The only people down there were drooling monsters with empty gazes.
Dundundun.
The drumbeats were much faster than before.
The area below the castle walls became more agitated.
The people who had been slowly circling the castle walls began to approach the gates.
The drums came more urgently.
The crowd’s pace quickened.
Thud!
The crowd finally reached the gate and attacked it with the same force they had used to rush towards it.
Some stuck out their heads, some stuck out their shoulders, and still others stuck out their fists.
Blood spattered.
Those whose heads exploded fell to the ground. Those with slumped shoulders stumbled back and crashed into the gate again. Those with crushed fists continued to pound the castle gates.
Behind them, the crowd continued to rush in.
The ones who reached the gate first were trampled by the feet of the ones who came after them.
The ones who trampled on others to reach the gate were trampled by the ones coming from behind them.
It was hell.
I definitely hated the Burgundy family.
I had never for a moment forgiven the atrocities committed by the progenitor of Burgundy immediately after the end of the Great War.
But still, I had recognized him to an extent.
If it weren’t for him, the Great War wouldn’t have happened.
Humans who had lived like slaves and livestock would have never gained the will to fight against the powerful ruling species.
The flames of liberation would not have spread across the continent, and humanity would not have finally become masters of the continent after a long war.
Although I didn’t want to admit it, he was fully qualified to be the founder of an empire.
Nowhere did he lack the status deserving of a myth.
But what did all that matter in the face of this current tragedy?
Countless people died powerlessly.
Innocents died without leaving so much as a name behind.
The country built on the hope of humans who used to live like livestock and wished to live like humans was now treating its own people like weapons.
The sublime song that had once encouraged the frightened lambs was now driving them to fleeting deaths.
My stomach was boiling.
The fact that the emperor who did this was most likely the progenitor of Burgundy himself made me even more angry.
Even after such great accomplishments,
Even though he had built his country by betraying those who had fought with him,
The only thing he was doing now was driving his people into battle.
I couldn’t bear the fact that such a scumbag was even once mentioned in the same breath as Agnes and praised as one of the great heroes.
I was so disgusted.
I shook my head to get rid of the distracting thoughts.
I did this several times and made up my mind.
I looked down in front of the gates.
Corpses piled up like a mountain before the walls.
Another body joined at the top.
The mountain of corpses continued to rise.
The crowd kept rushing forward.
And then more died and joined the pile of corpses.
The height of the pile had already reached halfway up the castle walls.
If left as is, the mob would eventually be able to climb on the walls, stepping on the bodies.
I drew my sword and aimed it at the pile of corpses.
“Whew.”
I took a small breath and lowered my sword.
Paat.
A flash of light hit the pile of corpses under the feet of the crowd.
Bang!
There was an explosion.
Bodies flew in all directions.
The mountain of dead bodies against the walls disappeared without a trace.
I repeated to myself quietly.
It was okay. It was nothing compared to the blood I had spilled in my life so far. I had been covered in blood so many times, so what was there to worry about now?
No matter how much I tried, I could not forget the sight of the ones who had disappeared in the sword light along with the pile of dead bodies.
“What the hell is this…”
Then a cry of astonishment came from behind me.
The knights who had followed me up the ramparts were staring blankly at the unbearably tragic sight below.
As I looked down, the image in my mind became blurry.
Now was not the time to feel pity.
The crowd kept rushing.
A new mountain of bodies piled up.
Stairs made from the corpses were being built up not only in front of the gates, but all around the walls.
All I did was buy time, and it wouldn’t take too long for the mob to climb the walls.
Now I had to decide.
I looked back.
Gawain and the knights could be seen looking at the plains with crushed faces, some even taking their helmets off.
Adelia’s face caught my eye, as she gasped deeply while trying to suppress her feelings.
While breathing heavily, Adelia suddenly looked at me.
I looked at that kind face which seemed as if it might cry at any moment.
And gave her a small smile.
“Y-your Highness!”
Turning pale, Adelia called out to me.
“If someone must be drenched with indelible blood.”
At my words, my uncle stepped forward with a stern expression and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Then that will be my responsibility.”
Adelia stretched her hand out towards me with an ashen face.
“Your Highness!”
But before she could reach.
Hwaruru.
A flame bloomed from the tip of my sword.
Hwaak.
And fell on the crowd.
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