Night of the Soulless Heathens – 386



#386. Winter Entrance 6

The next morning Prince Ghislain’s soldiers woke up completely devastated.

As the light of the royal flower returned to the Banreung Kingdom and the weather became warm I let my guard down and brought some supplies but the temperature suddenly dropped sharply and a blizzard swept in at night.

Some of the soldiers who suffered from the blizzard died within one night.

The army of the Arangi Kingdom in the southern region where there is no winter naturally could not be equipped with proper winter equipment.

The cavalrymen who stayed with their horses were spared from freezing to death thanks to the body heat of their horses but now the horses were the problem.

“I have to feed a ton of macho food.”

“Ugh Macho is all frozen! No but where did Macho go?”

“Hehehe. We brought it because we were cold.”

The soldiers were so cold last night that they took hay as supplies and covered themselves with it shivering like beggars.

However many people froze to death. Normally they would have been beaten for tampering with supplies but if they had beaten these beggars who were suffering from the cold they might have died.

Rather it was fortunate that he did not die because he was flexible.

The soldiers’ eyes were also sharp but strangely their eyes were shining brightly. If I were to beat the soldiers for taking some of this hay now they would attack me and start mutiny regardless of whether I was an Arangian guard or a prince.

The officers were not fools and did not hold the soldiers responsible in this situation.

“Southern horses can eat grass but the grass is all buried under their eyes. Can I feed them this?”

“The horses are thirsty.”

The horses were hungry and thirsty because of the battle yesterday. But there was not enough water and forage to feed the horses.

“There’s a well over there.”

A well in a village devastated by Death Knight Plank is seen. The old well has collapsed under the weight of the snow but the soldiers clear it away and throw buckets down.

A clear cracking sound was heard.

“Hey isn’t the well frozen?”

“Damn. Somehow…..”

The cavalrymen shivered. It was so cold that the well froze. It was no wonder that there were so many dead.

however….

“…Are we seeing things as they are?”

A soldier who was standing on the roof of an abandoned hut near the well and looking north towards Coxhall stuck out his tongue.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

There isn’t a single speck of snow on Coxhall which can be seen in the distance.

It was still protected under the warm sunlight and the light of the royal flower.

*********

“The morale of the soldiers is beyond words.”

The staff reported to Prince Ghislain.

This staff member was named by Prince Ghislain’s mother and was the baby brother of Prince Ghislain. He was the wet nurse’s son. He was practically a brother so he spoke with a gloomy expression.

“You say it’s not a scam? You destroyed the enemies yesterday so why is it not a scam?”

“They say that the light of the king’s flower still lingers in Count Azadin’s territory. We were the only ones suffering from the cold last night. So there are rumors among the soldiers that Count Azadin is the real king…”

“stop!”

Prince Ghislain glared at his staff.

“Do you want to die? How dare you say such a thing….”

“Oh no. But…..”

If this staff member had not been Prince Ghislain’s stepbrother he would have been hanged already. Prince Ghislain was that angry.

“Hey. Where’s Sram? Bring Sram and that enemy infantry captain.”

Prince Sram and the tortured infantry captain with broken fingers were brought in.

The infantry captain was tortured and left in the cold so his condition was terrible but he was still alive.

They were accustomed to the cold having lived on the Chadra Plateau which was much colder than the Arangi Kingdom.

“Hmm. Ghislain. Are you planning on killing the hostage?”

“Shut up. My men froze to death too. I didn’t mean to kill the prisoners. If this guy died it’s not my fault it’s that damned soulless monster!”

“Oh oh oh. Ghislain. Are you saying that the snowstorm last night was Count Azadin’s fault? Then it sounds like Count Azadin can freely manipulate the light of the royal flower.”

“…….”

“Even the Golden King Manja Zadek and the Northern Emperor Cohen Lioner who were said to be extremely skilled could not control the light of the King’s Flower to this extent.”

Prince Sram was admiring with an attitude that made it unclear whether it was pure admiration or an attempt to tease Prince Ghislain.

“We will kill all the prisoners by this morning!”

“No why not? Why don’t you just surrender?”

“What do you mean surrender! Do you think Arangian would surrender without even fighting? I won yesterday’s battle!”

How could they surrender when they have won tactically?

Besides Prince Gislain is the advance guard for King Arangi’s personal invasion. If the unit that was given the task of going first and building the advance guard surrenders without permission King Arangi will never forgive him.

If you are not sure that Azadin will really replace King Arangi you cannot commit yourself to him.

“You can boast that you won against these people who were farmers just a month ago.”

“Shut up Sram! Whose side are you on?!”

“Originally he was a loyal prince of the Arangi Kingdom. But when he was captured he thought hmm. Isn’t this a situation where he can play both sides?”

“…….”

“I never understood why Count Azadin did crazy things but now I see that he deserves it.”

If a miracle is not proven it is nothing more than the nonsense of a madman. However when a miracle actually happens before one’s eyes people instantly fall into faith.

Why has Count Azadin been acting like such a madman all this time? If we assume that it is because he is actually the master of the light of the King’s Flower then everything makes sense.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Even if he is the lord of the throne do you think the King’s church and his father will recognize it? We are just an outpost!”

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

“…Seeing him say that I guess he’s really scared.”

Prince Sram was surprised to learn that Prince Ghislain was speaking on the premise that they the vanguard would be defeated.

Although he pretended not to notice it was clear that the snowstorm last night had taken a toll on Prince Ghislain’s spirits.

At that moment a call came from the scout.

“Prince Ghislain! The rear supply unit!”

“what?”

“The rear supply unit was attacked by Count Azadin’s army and all of their supplies were stolen!”

“…what?!”

*********

The only proper cavalry in Count Azadin’s army was Count Ivechek’s retinue.

But the numbers are woefully small.

The majority of the men were light cavalry and there were only a few of them. There were only five heavy cavalrymen wearing heavy armor including Count Ivechek.

“The cavalry force is certainly in a miserable state.”

“But we have a hippogriff! And I can run really fast!”

Selim said with a grin.

What’s the point of running fast by yourself?

Since the cavalry is heavily attacked with arrows and stone attacks even the most powerful cavalry will be destroyed before they can even approach the enemy.

For this reason the cavalry formed formation while maintaining a certain number.

The people around him were taken aback by Selim’s childish remark but Azadin nodded.

“Well the hippogriff is certainly important from a strategic standpoint.”

“What are you going to do Count Azadin? You are sending Prince Sram as an envoy. If he betrays you….”

“He won’t betray.”

“Why?”

“Well even if I send you as an envoy and you use that opportunity to escape you’ll be treated like an idiot when you return to the Arang Kingdom. And I’m so mysterious right?”

Are you saying that with your own mouth?

Count Evecheck was taken aback but Azadin continued with a shameless smile.

“I am overly confident but I don’t explain why to my staff.”

“I know you well.”

“huh?”

“Oh no that’s not true. So how does that prove that Prince Sram won’t betray?”

Evecheck accidentally slipped up and was so startled that he covered up the question with a question to turn the situation around.

“That’s right. Prince Sram doesn’t know why I’m so confident. If he betrays my trust without knowing all the information about me and returns to Arangi and the royal army is defeated? He’ll lose too much right? On the other hand if he stays here because of the god who trusted him as an envoy Prince Sram has nothing to lose. Rather he might be treated as a cold meal but he might still be considered a man with personal trust. Even if you think about it from a purely self-preservation perspective there’s no reason for Prince Sram to return to the Arangi Kingdom at this point.”

“surely…”

If you think about it calmly it would have been better for Prince Sram to fulfill his mission as Azadin’s envoy.

“But doesn’t that mean we have to destroy the Arangi Kingdom’s advance unit? It’s not honorable to attack them when they’ve sent an envoy. And even if we can defeat the advance unit if the damage is severe….”

Count Azadin’s army is large in number but most of them are refugees. They are not even equipped with metal armor.

What if we charge in with these troops simply because they are numerous and suffer enormous casualties in return for the loss of life from the Arangi Kingdom army?

Even if you win the battle you lose the war.

Right now since there are so many of them Azadin is increasing his power at a rapid pace so we are afraid to do anything about it. But once it is revealed that most of those troops are paper tigers there is no reason to be afraid.

“That’s why I’ve gathered my cavalry. Follow me. I’m going to attack the enemy’s supply unit from now on.”

“yes?”

“Bypass the enemy’s main force with cavalry and prey on the supply units coming from the rear.”

Azadin was able to look down on the terrain from above by raising the voice of Arael not the foresight one.

You could see clearly where the enemies were camped how much supplies they had and where the supply units were coming from the rear.

“But this is a plain so there’s no cover. There are a few hills and a small forest that obstruct the view but they would have posted guards anyway. And on top of that they could probably use magic.”

What if you get caught trying to bypass the enemy’s main camp with a small number of elite cavalry? You’ll end up surrounded from the front and back or cut off at the waist.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Azadin made his boast and as soon as he finished speaking dark clouds began to gather in the sky.

*********

Count Azadin successfully carried out a clever flanking maneuver while the blizzard obscured Prince Ghislain’s forces and successfully attacked the supply unit.

Throughout the East and the West the combat power of supply units has been extremely weak.

If you have to load and pull a wagon or cart with supplies but attach a lot of escort troops to it half of the supplies you’re carrying will end up being eaten by the escort troops.

Eventually the supply unit will be escorted only to the extent of driving away wild beasts and bandits and if they encounter a proper military force even a small cavalry unit will be completely wiped out.

Azadin simply took the supplies from the supply unit and sent the supply unit alive to Prince Ghislain’s side.

“The more people there are alive the faster the consumption of materials will be.”

“Aren’t they going to kill all the prisoners because they’re tightening the supply too much?”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Prince Sram does. I don’t intend to drag this fight out anyway.”

If Prince Sram has any sense he will somehow persuade Prince Ghislain or provoke him to not let the prisoners die.

“This is true. It seems like you always spout nonsense and tricks but at this point I can’t help but believe you.”

Count Ivechek fingered the New Testament Declaration he kept in the breast pocket of his armor.

I used to think it was nonsense even though it was written by Count Azadin but today seeing the blizzard raging so fiercely in the enemy camp I changed my mind.

I thought to myself “I should read it carefully and show it to Count Azadin better.”