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Chapter: 78

"Who the hell took the arrows from here?!"

"Pour the oil!"

"Don\'t let them climb the walls!"

"Almost there! Just hold on a little longer...!"

The chaotic battlefield was gradually becoming organized. It seemed like a considerable number of the monstrous beasts had retreated, perhaps exhausted. It was also midday, when they were at their weakest.

"Beasts are beasts after all."

They never retreat once they instinctively sense that their opponent is weaker than themselves. They were truly relentless creatures.

Still, as their exposure to the sunlight increased, their momentum waned.

However, the situation wasn\'t exactly hopeful. The problem was that our troops were far more exhausted.

Even if the monstrous beasts retreated for now, they could return once the sun set.

No, that was almost a certainty. That\'s why we held an emergency meeting at dawn.

As the battle stretched past noon, the people from the village entered the fortress. It would be quite noisy for a while.

Still, this was the better option. As long as the walls held, they wouldn\'t meet their end as a meal for the beasts.

However, it was already early summer.

Early summer was the farming season. The demand for labor at this time was the highest throughout the year.

Even wealthy landowners with ample workers always complained about labor shortages during this season.

Yet, here we were, forced to summon the people into the fortress and bolt the gates.

What would happen to the crops left unattended while they were trapped inside? They would all die. And then, come harvest time, what would we have to show for it...?

We\'d be grateful to have even a handful.

Moreover, the weather was getting hotter.

The heat would quickly sap our strength, making it impossible to fight off the endless waves of monstrous beasts while we could barely stand.

The glue on the bows would melt in the heat, and diseases would spread easily.

Heavy rain would be a problem, and so would a lack of it.

With the gates locked, the rapid spoilage of food was also a major concern.

Frankly, I could just leave, but the others couldn\'t. With the year\'s harvest on the verge of ruin, I wondered how the Lord of Wolhan Fortress was feeling.

It was difficult to even imagine the depth of his worries. I\'d never been a fortress lord before.

"What would you have done if you were the Fortress Lord?" I muttered to myself as I walked, staring at the ground, when a shadow approached and fell over me.

"You\'ve worked hard."

The voice accompanied the shadow that blocked my path. I wasn\'t exactly pleased to be stopped on my way back to my quarters after a long fight.

I was covered in blood. I couldn\'t say that none of it was mine, but it wasn\'t my blood that had made such a mess of me.

Son Gye-du approached me as I was heading to my quarters to wash up.

"It\'s been quite a struggle."

I simply nodded and tried to pass by. But he wouldn\'t let me.

"Have you still not made up your mind?"

I turned around to face Son Gye-du directly.

His complexion wasn\'t good. It was only natural, considering he had witnessed the battle with the monstrous beasts unfolding right before his eyes since dawn.

The roars of the beasts had the power to exploit the weaknesses in the instincts of those weaker than them. It couldn\'t be helped, as humans were ultimately animals too.

Perhaps a seasoned veteran who had seen it all could withstand it, but for someone like Son Gye-du, who had lived a sheltered life within the fortress walls, it must have been an unbearable killing intent.

Nevertheless, Son Gye-du continued speaking with shameless composure. That in itself was a skill.

He even feigned a smile.

"It seems I cannot wait much longer..."

"Wait? Wait for what?"

When I pretended ignorance, Son Gye-du\'s expression turned serious. I mirrored his expression. Or rather, was mine more indifferent?

Anyway, it was still risky to openly feign ignorance, but as long as Son Gye-du treated other people\'s lives like those of flies, I couldn\'t join forces with him.

"Have you forgotten?"

"Did you know that I have a pretty good memory?"

Son Gye-du reacted as if he had been betrayed.

I met his glare and placed my hand on the hilt of my sword. The hilt, soaked in the blood of the monstrous beasts, was sticky.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It would be disappointing if you couldn\'t understand such simple words."

"Are you saying you\'re going to abandon me?"

"It\'s quite disappointing to hear you put it that way."

I chuckled.

"Since when were we close enough to talk about abandoning each other?"

I gripped the hilt tightly, lifted it slightly, then put it back down.

Clank-

Son Gye-du\'s eyes followed the movement of the sword.

He seemed to have just noticed that my sword was drenched in the blood of the beasts, a look of bewilderment spreading across his face.

It seemed his field of vision was unexpectedly narrow.

"Elder Son Gye-du."

I let out a deep sigh.

"I\'m a little tired. No, actually, I\'m very tired. From all the fighting, you know. As you can see from this."

I gestured towards my sword. Son Gye-du was still glaring at me. But now he seemed to be asking what I wanted.

"Will you step aside? I need to rest."

In truth, there was no need to ask him to move. The path was wide, and he was...

Someone I could defeat with one arm tied behind my back.

Still, at my request, Son Gye-du stepped aside. I went straight back to my quarters.

But there was something strange.

"How is it that everything is going in his favor...?"

It couldn\'t be possible unless the gods were helping him.

* * *

After the first day of battle, the Lord of Wolhan Fortress declared that he would reinforce the walls and request reinforcements from the surrounding areas. It had already been three days since he dispatched the messengers.

Replies arrived from the two closest fortresses to Wolhan.

"Rejection."

Flutter. The first letter fell from the Lord\'s hand.

"And another rejection."

Thud. The Fortress Lord slammed the second letter on top of the first.

His fist, resting on the letters, trembled. His eyes blazed with fury.

His usual calm and gentle demeanor had been replaced by a slowly simmering rage.

Moreover, since no letter had yet arrived from the capital, it was natural for him to be angry.

"How can they do this to us?!"

An elder, rising to his feet, shouted indignantly. His wrinkled face flushed red, and he trembled before finally sitting back down.

"It seems we have silently endured the north wind for far too long. They have forgotten how cold and fearsome the north wind can be. How else could they treat us this way! Am I wrong?" Another elder exclaimed.

As the elders began to express their anger one by one, the flames of their fury grew uncontrollably.

The pride of the prestigious noble families, suppressed for so long, had been ignited.

Then, the prince, who had remained silent until then, spoke up.

"I will go."

Instantly, silence fell over the room. But no one voiced any objections.

Everyone present knew what the prince had been doing all this time.

For the past three days, the prince had climbed the fortress walls every day before dawn.

Even before the battle began, he inspected the walls with the soldiers, examined the traces of the previous day\'s fighting, and insisted on reinforcing weak points.

Unable to obtain the fortress blueprints as an outsider, he walked the grounds himself, studying the structure and defense strategies.

And he reorganized the troop deployments and made suggestions.

When the sun set and the monstrous beasts swarmed in, initiating the battle, he never left the walls. He personally climbed the walls, observed the movements of the beasts, and issued commands.

Whenever they struggled to withstand the waves of enemies, the prince would shout encouragements to the soldiers until his voice was hoarse.

To say that the prince played no part in maintaining the battle lines would be an insult.

It wouldn\'t be an exaggeration to say that he was the last to sleep and the first to wake. The military officers gathered in the meeting hall recalled what had happened just this morning.

As dawn broke and the monstrous beasts retreated, the prince pursued the beast at the rear of the retreating horde and single-handedly slew it.

The commander of the guards would never forget the sight of the prince finally lowering his sword and catching his breath after killing the last beast of the day.

The day before, he had torn his own clothes to dress the wound of an ordinary soldier. He said he simply did it because the soldier caught his eye.

The firstborn son of the king, rolling around in the mud with a common soldier like him. Sharing the same hardships and rejoicing together in the joy of survival.

The battle had just begun, but the prince was already a hero among the soldiers.

Whenever the soldiers gathered, they talked about the prince and praised him.

With such heartwarming stories emerging every day, how could the commander of the guards, who was fighting alongside him on the same battlefield, possibly hate the prince?

Moreover, the prince\'s arm was still injured. Yet, to see him fight harder than anyone else, it was only natural that the way people viewed the once-reckless prince changed.

"Why is no one answering me? Is it not possible?" the prince asked.

"Is there anyone who disagrees with His Highness\'s will?" Elder Noh asked. No one stepped forward.

"Since there are no objections, I would like to ask His Highness for this favor."

The Wolhan Fortress Lord, after much deliberation, spoke. He also had no particular complaints about the prince. He knew how diligently he had been working.

If his sincerity was a lie, then there was nothing trustworthy in this world.

\'He might have been trying to deceive me completely.\'

He couldn\'t completely trust the prince. There was a reason that prevented him from fully believing in him.

If it weren\'t for that one thing, he might have already decided to follow him.

"Your Highness, we are deeply grateful that you are stepping forward like this for our fortress. As members of the Son clan, we are concerned about how to repay this kindness."

The elder spoke again.

"However, since we have yet to receive a letter from the capital, we are worried that there might be complications. We humbly request that you take at least one member of the Son clan with you when you go to request reinforcements."

He was implying that they should use the Son clan\'s name to seek troops, even if it meant not being able to borrow the authority of the royal family, as they didn\'t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

"That\'s not difficult. I shall do so."

From the Wolhan Lord’s perspective, it wasn\'t a bad thing for the prince to step forward.

However, he couldn\'t bear to see the prince, who wasn\'t even fully healed, running around like this.

\'But there\'s no alternative, so I\'m stuck between a rock and a hard place.\'

He felt uneasy. Even though he believed he shouldn\'t completely trust the prince, he was aware of his growing concern for him.

It was beyond his control.

"Then, since time is of the essence, I shall leave tomorrow."