Knights, Let’s Smash Them

58 – Northern monsters tear the city apart (1)

Earthquake.

Recently, there have been frequent reports of earthquakes in the Rupel Manor, but most of them were to the extent that animals were startled, and there were very few cases in which people directly suffered damage.

If at all, it would be about the mine burial incident that took place in Jarhead last time.

But it seems that this was only a story about the Rupel estate.

“At least, earthquakes were continuously observed in the mountains of the Hebron Territory. Just a few days ago, I went to subdue the demons rampaging in the area…….”

Lilia Hebron asked in a serious voice.

“Is there any news from the Hebron manor?”

“It is not yet in the Hebron territory…… I know.”

Sianne answered with a long voice. As soon as she heard the news, she would have come right here, so there’s no way she knew.

“Anyway, it’s true that it’s an emergency. Count Rupel ordered the knights to quickly launch. He told us to mobilize the 4th Garrison Corps, which was scheduled to return to Tippen Village today, and go up.”

It seemed that the situation was going fast.

As the festival was yesterday, the atmosphere in Petalonto was still hot.

I ordered an emergency dispatch of the Knights, even pouring cold water on such an atmosphere.

Moreover, the large-scale south of the monsters.

The size of the villages distributed in the Northern Territory is not that large.

The mining city of Zaheed was able to develop thanks to its abundant reserves, but other towns and small cities would lack the number of people capable of responding to monster attacks on their own.

Since it is the northern part of the territory where the number of original territories is small, the only troops that can be mobilized immediately are a vigilante group consisting of a few young men.

Even that would be helpless without the minimum barrier to protect the village.

“Let’s leave right now. We have to stop it so that the damage doesn’t get bigger.”

“I’ll summon the knights right away!”

Saying that, Xianne ran out of her drawing room. Lucy was the only one who tilted her head as if she didn’t know why.

“What will Princess Lilia do? She thinks it’s better to go back to the Hebron estate…….”

“Although the Ardaros Mountains are the shallowest among the five northern mountain ranges, that doesn’t mean that the monsters living there are weak.”

Of course.

It was simple when you think about why the Duchy of Hebron is treated as a proud member of the Three Dukes of the Empire even though it lacks everything.

A barren land.

And powerful monsters.

The Guardian of the North is tanking while blocking it with his whole body.

If the Ardaros Mountains are just fiery chickens, then the mountains within the Duchy of Hebron are nuclear fiery chickens.

It was the same in that once you tasted its majesty, countless people would suffer while scattering the red liquid.

From noble mtl dot com.

Befitting a knight living there, Lilia Hebron added with a worried look.

“I am not underestimating the Knights of the Snow Leopard, but one corps and five knights is not enough…… !”

That’s realistic.

However, in life, sometimes even knowing the reality, you have to face it with your own body.

I answered while making eye contact with such a princess.

“As much as the cooking contest was held, countless tourists from all over the empire flocked to it. Even if the day has passed, there will still be quite a few people left in Rupel Manor.”

Doesn’t Princess Lilia, who is right in front of you, remain in Petalonto even after the event?

I am not sure that there will be no tourists who are attracted to the territory and head to the vicinity of the Ardaros Mountains.

It’s an event that was somehow managed, but shouldn’t we stop it from collapsing as soon as we manage to build the image of a ‘tourist territory’?

“Besides…… This is also the duty of the Snow Leopard Knights who protect Rupel Manor.”

It was no different when he was in the Imperial Black Lion Knights.

Even though the people there were a bit beggarly, the fact that everyone was busy protecting the safety of the empire at any time remained unchanged.

As a member of the Knights too, even if I was in a non-combat position, I never locked myself in the headquarters and never wrote a pen.

There is no reason for it to be different just because it is now.

On the contrary, if the allies are at a disadvantage, it is the duty of the knights’ administrator and guide to overcome even that disadvantage and present a way to advance.

As I reveal my determination, Lucy, who is sitting on Lilia’s lap, sneaks up to him and grabs my hand.

“Yes, Dad can.”

Did you feel anything? Lucy’s dark eyes twinkled.

“Come on. I’ll be waiting. Dad must be there.”

It was a strange word. As if he knows everything and doesn’t care.

If it was another child, I might have taken it as just a word of encouragement.

As the blood of a half-human, half-dragon, and even a gold dragon flows, something might have really worked.

Gold dragons are the wisest and wisest among dragons.

Strictly speaking, Lucy, a hatchling, must have been born with that ability.

Then Lilia also bit her lip and stood up from her seat.

“Excuse me, Administrator. I have committed great disrespect.”

“Yes?”

“As well as the Magistrate of Luberne, the Knights of this small estate are very good. Truly, they are comparable even to the wolves of Hebron.”

The princess put the sword down beside her for a while and fastened it to her waist again.

“That’s why I can’t leave you alone. As the princess of the Duchy of Hebron and the captain of the 2nd division of the wolf pack, I will lend my strength to you.”

Lilia Hebron looked at me and said.

“Please, will you allow me?”

***

“I’m sorry, but most of the troops in the corps are infantry. It is still a rugged terrain, so if you go with us, it is considered impossible to quickly deploy to Bordeaux.”

“Then…… What to do…… !!”

Xianne stomped her feet with her nervous expression. I recalled the number of cavalry in the 4th Corps in my head and told Centurion Milo.

“Weren’t there 15 cavalrymen in the 4th Corps in total?”

“Yes.”

Man at Arms.

Not everyone who rides a horse and wears heavy armor is a knight. If that was the case, there would have been hundreds of knights in the empire.

Basically, the troops of the imperial territories had one knight corps per territory, and in addition to that, there was a separate ‘corps’ composed of commoners, retired knights, and mercenaries.

There were cases where the knights themselves also belonged to a corps.

Most of them were independent troops, under the command of the lord’s vassal—that is, the constable, and were mainly in charge of local defense.

Of course, in emergencies or expeditions, they were used as the main fighting force along with the knights.

As a result, the corps itself naturally had to operate its own cavalry, and such cavalry were called ‘Men-at-Arms’.

He is a commoner, but a ‘jun’ knight who can buy and manage expensive horses and weapons.

For each ordinary corps usually had its own cavalry, from two or three to as many as fifty.

“Then we must mobilize the cavalry as soon as possible. If there are ten cavalrymen to seven of us, the initial action is sufficient.”

Just because it’s impossible doesn’t mean you can’t just let go.

Centurion Milo immediately responded to my suggestion, and cavalry armed with chain mail and steel weapons appeared.

“My name is Ior, the 10th commander. I am the Decurion of the 4th Corps and the cavalry commander.”

He was a man who seemed quite dignified.

He was much younger than Milo, who was entering middle age, but not as young as our Knights.

As reliable as it gets.

Because it was only natural that a soldier who had been in the field for a long time was a seasoned veteran rather than an idle talker who had flowed in from a noble family somewhere.

“Then please come up as soon as possible. At worst, we may have to abandon the city.”

“Okay. Probably, the 2nd Brigade stationed nearby has deployed it in advance, so it would be better to join them for insufficient forces. Please.”

I nodded at Milo’s words and made eye contact with Xian Ne, who was standing in front of him.

“Captain Xianne, let’s start.”

“The Snow Leopard Knights, go out!!”

As she lowered the reins of her steed and spit, all the cavalry followed her through the gates of Petaronto.

“The destination is Vordva City, the northernmost part!”

“Still, it’s a branch of the Ardaros Mountains, so it’s perfect for a siege.”

As I said last time, monsters don’t just live in dungeons.

Mountains, Swamps, Deserts, Jungles, Caves.

In places that are hard to reach, wild monsters live there.

Much more threatening and powerful than naturally occurring monsters in normal dungeons.

Because they are not living in a comfortable place, they are literally living a life of surviving day by day.

Isn’t that the case with Chun-sik’s friends in Tiffen Village right now?

They even armed themselves with the theme of goblins.

Unless it’s a special case, the texture itself is different from the dungeon’s goblins, who are all equipped with clubs, wooden sticks, and dungeons.

If they hadn’t been discovered as quickly as they are now, the colony would have grown larger and ended up directly threatening Tiffen Village.

Perhaps some goblins left their nests and lived a wandering life, growing into a more powerful entity called ‘Hob Goblins’.

But even those hobgoblins are treated as weak monsters in the Ardaros Mountains in the north.

So much so, the northern part was an enormous demonic landscape.

The main reasons why the North has only a small number of infrastructure, few residents, and isolation.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t force the residents to relocate.

It was only natural that they could not be forced to give up the place where they had lived for several generations because it was ‘dangerous’.

What will they eat if they leave the village right now?

Also, from a tactical point of view, having a village or city in this way is much more helpful for regional defense.

It was only natural that it would be much easier to block the enemy’s advance with something rather than nothing.

From a tactical point of view, it was rather essential to have a town or city that would delay the battle in this way.

‘It’s not something I would say in front of the affected city residents right now…….’

At the end of three hours of running downhill.

We were able to reach Bordeaux, a small town close to a ‘village’ with a population of less than 600, in fact only a market and a simple fence, and the streets shimmering.

As the distance got closer, far from calming down, the situation became more and more urgent.

“Damn…… !!”

“I will speed up!!”

Black smoke was rising from the city in the distance.