Chapter 360: Scars of the Assault
Although the Aiwood Kingdom Army had allowed the enemy to infiltrate the fort, the battle was decided in about two hours.
To state the conclusion, it was a victory for the Aiwood Kingdom Army.
Every Foreign Tribe warrior who had infiltrated the fort had been exterminated.
With the castle gate blocked by Earth, the Foreign Tribes had tried various ways to get inside for a while… but perhaps judging it impossible to proceed further, the enemy outside retreated.
Although the result was a victory… the Aiwood Kingdom Army’s losses were also significant.
Many soldiers had lost their lives in the surprise attack. Comrades they had laughed with yesterday were dead today.
The irreversible reality of death weighed heavily on Rest’s heart.
Due to the fact that an enemy spy had infiltrated their ranks, a thorough search and investigation of the fort’s interior was conducted once more.
It seemed those who had infiltrated the fort were of mixed Foreign Tribe and human blood.
They were descendants of women abducted when the Foreign Tribes had pillaged human villages in the past.
The Foreign Tribes had sent them, who looked almost human, into the fort to open the castle walls from the inside.
“This time, we were able to break the enemy’s strategy and deal a significant blow to the Foreign Tribes. However, we also suffered losses. We’ve lost many soldiers.”
The day after the assault.
After the post-battle cleanup and disposal of bodies were finished, the key figures of the fort gathered in the conference room.
It was the same room Rest had visited on the day he arrived at the fort… but the faces present had changed somewhat.
There were fewer people. During the recent assault, several field commanders had lost their lives.
“And reinforcements from the Royal Capital haven’t even arrived yet… This is a blunder. It seems I misjudged the enemy.”
Bareya Cattleya said gravely.
Bareya was the supreme commander of this fort. Naturally, he was in a position to bear responsibility for failures and damages.
He likely believed the losses were his fault, and his expression was exceedingly grim.
(Well… I don’t particularly think it’s his fault, though. No matter who the commander was, the enemy’s infiltration probably couldn’t have been avoided.)
Rest thought.
The Foreign Tribes’ assault was a meticulously planned operation.
An attack from the sky by the Winged Folk. Simultaneously, the approach of enemies concealed by magic.
And then… Foreign Tribe warriors, looking almost identical to humans, had infiltrated the fort and opened the castle gate from within.
Rest didn’t think Bareya had been careless.
While there had been some teasing directed at Rest concerning Yuri, akin to hazing a son-in-law… as a commander, he had issued his orders properly.
Even the watch soldiers were doing their jobs sufficiently. It’s likely no one was to blame.
(Could it be that the attack on the day we arrived was a reconnaissance in force? Did they attack to gauge how much strength we possessed?)
If that’s the case… I need to significantly revise my assessment of the Foreign Tribes upwards.
Since they were Foreign Tribes living in undeveloped lands, I had thought them to be more savage and crude.
Their appearances were close to birds or insects, and they were even bare-chested, so I had mistakenly thought them to be a bunch capable only of reckless charges.
(The enemy is more cunning than I thought… In the first place, why…?)
“…Weren’t the Foreign Tribes unable to use magic?”
Rest suddenly remembered and voiced his thoughts.
The attacking Foreign Tribes had concealed themselves to avoid detection during their approach.
He thought that was magic… but what did it mean?
“Count Clover. You’ve noticed a good point.”
Caryas Cattleya responded to Rest’s murmur.
“I was also curious and was interrogating a prisoner. You see, there was that Ogre Clan boy you captured, right? According to him, it was something a ‘Sorcerer’ cast on them.”
“Sorcerer…?”
Come to think of it, the Ogre Clan boy had called Rest that.
“We haven’t gotten all the details yet… but it seems there’s a Magician behind the Foreign Tribes. More than just cooperating, it appears they are commanding the Foreign Tribes.”
“Is that Sorcerer different from the Foreign Tribes? Don’t tell me, a human?”
“Well… we haven’t gotten that far yet. If you’d like, Count Clover, please try talking to the captive boy yourself.”
“…Understood.”
It felt a little awkward to go talk to an opponent who had tried to kill him, an opponent he himself had captured.
Still, the existence of this Sorcerer behind the Foreign Tribes was also concerning.
“Our fort must re-evaluate its defense system. From now on, we will discuss this point as well.”
With Bareya taking the lead, discussions began regarding the replacement of vacant positions and the review of the security system.
Until now, defense strategies had been formulated on the premise that the Foreign Tribes did not use magic. If the enemy side also had Magicians, they would have to fundamentally rethink everything.
Those gathered in the conference room discussed late into the night, hammering out future policies.