C29: Talents Only I Can Recognize. Hidden gems (12)

“So you’re saying that you’re going to die here?”

“Yes. I’m dying for Mirine freedom.”

“You’re going to die holding a grudge against me for losing?”

“…… I had confidence in myself, but I still lost. I don’t have anything against you.”

Zint was adamant in making his position clear. But I didn’t understand.

“Don’t be silly.”

Zint was confused and looked at me.

“Are you kidding me? You can go live somewhere else. If you don’t return to the Narja Kingdom, you will have died in battle. It’s better to miss each other and live than to die, don’t you think?”

“I have nowhere else to go, and if I can’t be with her, I’d rather die!”

Zint shook his head resolutely. It was a definite way of life. It’s a life lived solely for her. That’s why I need to get Mirine as well to make Zint my vassal.

“You have nowhere to go? I’m the Lord of Aintorian. If you come to Aintorian, you will not be noticed. In the Narja Kingdom, you will have died in battle.”

“I can’t live like that!”

“Listen to me until the end. Aintorian territory is close to the western border where you used to live. You will change your military uniform and become my vassal, I’m not asking you to become a soldier of the Lunan Kingdom. Then I’ll do whatever it takes to bring Mirine to Aintorian so that you can live together.”

“What did you just say……?”

“What do you think will change when the world is united by such a tyrannical king? And what has the Narja Kingdom ever done for you?”

Zint didn’t respond to my words, but he didn’t seem to deny it either.

“I’m going to develop the land of Aintorian, but I’m not going to make it a pleasant place to live. A country where everyone is happy is a pipe dream. I’m going to build a country that is at least as good as the people who follow me. So, follow me. I’ll make sure you both live happily ever after!”

“You’ve got a way with words, don’t you? There were many people who tried to entice me like that, but they all had other intentions.”

Zint shouted in an exasperated voice. He was right, but that’s not the whole story.

No matter how much I live in this world as if it were a game, once the words are out of my mouth, I don’t intend to take them back.

“I’m a nobleman with the dream of taking over the world. And like I said, I’m going to make everyone who helps me happy. You can follow me later. The day we end this war and return to Aintorian I will rescue your loved one and help you find your happiness again. Until then I will not force you to be on my side. Just stand next to me and watch. See if I’m a man of my word. If you think I’m a man who can’t keep his word, then you can do what you want. If you want to die, die.”

Yes. That’s all I have to offer.

“Think about it. Of course, I’ll get the ring back as promised.”

We finished talking and I came out of the jail. There was a chance that I could have persuaded him enough to do this.

I have to save that woman, Mirine, that’s the sure way to get Zint! I had to recover the ring so I headed upstairs. The prison is in the basement and the guards usually wait on the first floor. They’re usually holding a gambling game, taking a nap or something like that.

“By the way, where is the guard who was called out by the nobleman earlier?”

“I don’t know. He must have gone out. Did he get paid to do something for him?”

“I should have been there. The prisoner only had this cheap ring.”

There are two soldiers; luckily, they still seem to have the ring. It looks like they have a long way to go before their shift ends.

“Hey, you two. You got a minute?”

“You!”

“How did you get out?”

I immediately executed the [Attack] command towards the two standing up in surprise.

“Thud!”

“Bang!”

After knocking them unconscious, I took the ring and walked out. Zint is Zint, and history is history. It was time for a historical event to occur. If only history as I know it hadn’t been changed!

“Pooh-oh-oh!”

At that moment, I heard a noisy bugle call. This bugle call was a signal that they had found the enemy. I quickly slipped out of the prison and went outside. The soldiers were panicked about the urgent assembly.

There were no ordinary citizens in Linon Castle, everyone was evacuated. No one stopped me as I was wearing a commander uniform. Since I was able to move relatively freely, I jumped onto the castle gate to check the size of the enemy army.

[Narja’s Kingdom Royal Army: 10213]

[Lunan Castle Garrison Army: 23410]

Linon Castle has far more troops than them, the Narja Kingdom army was too small. How could they take Linon Castle in a day under such circumstances?

Of course, the training level of the Narja Royal Army is 80. The garrison at Linon Castle has a training level of 40.

However, in a siege battle we have the advantage, that’s common sense in war. No matter how low their training level is, unless Hayna opens the gates and surrenders, they can hold out for a week.

“Hey! What the hell is this?”

Since I was wearing a nobleman’s uniform, the soldier immediately answered.

“I don’t know, sir. I’ve just been told to be on high alert since Ganen Castle has fallen…….for more information the chief of staff has assembled everyone, so please come over!”

How on earth is the Narja Royal Army going to overcome this disparity in numbers and capture Linon Castle?

“Enemy attack!”

Immediately, the Narja Royal Army began attacking the gates of Linon Castle. Apparently, they were attacking the north gate instead of the south gate where I was standing.

The castle gates were attacked with a siege hammer. As expected, the battle has begun in favor of the garrison forces of Linon Castle. In this state, there was no way that Linon Castle would fall any time soon.

As I was thinking that the situation suddenly changed, cheers erupted at the west gate. A battle suddenly broke out inside the castle, the enemy had concentrated their attack on the north gate and Hayna also deployed most of the troops there.

As a result, the number of troops at the west gate was quite small. Under such circumstances, enemy soldiers suddenly broke into the castle! The west gate was quickly occupied and the gate was opened.

The enemy forces are pouring in from inside the castle, or more precisely, the underground canal of Linon Castle!

They’re trying to use the underground canals? Impossible! The entrance where the water flows into the castle is blocked with iron bars. No one can come in, only water or fish can pass through. If they tried to remove the bars they should’ve been discovered.

How the hell did this happen? No, no way.

That’s right. When Hayna was absent from the castle! What if they were working on it while she was away from the castle? The surprise attack I’ve always thought was strange. It was a decoy!

The reconnaissance team was sent through the detour route in a careless manner. That reconnaissance team was also a decoy. Not only the reconnaissance team, but also the surprise attack itself was a decoy.

The real goal was to get the chief of staff, Hayna, who was worried by the surprise attack, to leave Linon Castle. Did they try to infiltrate the castle while the chief of staff was away?

An army with a training level of 40 and a morale of not even 30. What if Hayna would’ve left the castle with a large number of soldiers? In the meantime, what if they’ve developed some kind of trick to break through the bars of the underground canal and get in?

It was a mistake for Hayna to leave the castle. Even though the gates of Linon Castle were tightly closed, the moment the chief of staff took out all the commanding officers, it meant that the enemy had already infiltrated.

Come to think of it, that decoy mission started with Aintorian, a strategy to attract attention by attacking Aintorian and actually invade from the north. They used something similar here.

This was all a plot concocted by the strategists of the Narja Kingdom army. It seems that our chief of staff, Hayna, is in the palm of their hand.

It seems that the Narja Kingdom has a very good strategist. A strategist who is intelligent enough to use Hayna as a pawn!

All right.

I’ll change the course of history. I didn’t know how to bring down Linon Castle, but I already had a strategy in place to get it back. A strategy like the Trojan Horse in Greek mythology. With my mind made up, I went back to my cell.

* * *

Take this gold, you were informed of your mother’s condition after the war broke out, and you couldn’t go see her, so you don’t know the details. There was no one to buy her medicine during this time so if you’re going to the desert, do your best to come back.

Yusen looked at the gold that Erhin gave him. It was money for his mother’s medicine. With the war going on, it was difficult to get medicine.

In fact, Yusen’s mother had almost died because she could not get medicine. In addition, Erhin gave him a vassal certificate of the Aintorian House. This meant that he could use it to obtain the medicine in the capital. With the name of a noble family, he could obtain medicine that was not available to the general populace.

Yusen could not refuse the kindness, because the life of his mother, who had raised him, alone, was at stake. The gold he had given him and the vassal certificate had saved his mother’s life.

In other words, for Yusen, Erhin was a benefactor among benefactors who not only saved his life in battle, but also saved his mother’s life. It was only natural that he would give up his life to save such a benefactor.

Therefore, after Erhin was taken to the prison of Linon Castle, he ran away from his unit as soon as he heard the news that the castle had been attacked. There was a person following Yusen, it was Givens.

“Captain ……! Wait, please! You can’t go in there by yourself!”

“Givens? Why did you leave the unit, too?”

“Orders from the commander?

“Kuhk. I have an order for the captain. Here.”

Givens chuckled and pulled a letter from his pocket.

“A letter from the commander. I’ve been following you to give you this.”

Yusen was surprised and began to read the letter. He was shocked as if he had been hit in the head with a hammer