Chapter Sixty: The Combat Zone

"Commander Odo, we didn't catch him. He got away."

By the trade route on the north side of the estate, Jason, who had led a border patrol cavalryman to pursue the watchtower commander, reported the battle situation somewhat dejectedly to Odo, the deputy commander of the border patrol.

"Useless! You couldn't even catch a man who took an arrow. How do you usually train?" Odo's reprimand rang out.

The lure-and-ambush operation personally directed by Baron Ber里昂 had succeeded. When twenty-odd border patrol soldiers hidden on both sides of the trade route charged out, the ravenous wolves hunting their prey turned into slaughtered rats. In less than half an hour, six enemy corpses lay on the ground, while the border patrol suffered merely four light injuries. Yet the commander shot in the left chest by Yate actually managed to escape amid the melee. Once this fellow led a large force of enemies in pursuit, the massive wagon train would be in extreme danger.

"Odo, don't blame him. Hurry up and get the wagon train moving quickly to enter Castle Cark as soon as possible. If we get entangled by pursuers in a moment, so many of us won't be able to run away."

"Understood, Lord Baron."

Odo turned around and roared at the two men nearby who were directing soldiers to finish off the wounded: "Baska, Zak, the two of you hurry up and clear the battlefield. Take everything you can carry, and hand over all weapons, armor, and valuables to your custody."

"Jason, ride north and tell Tuba and the others to bring the wagon train over immediately..."

The three men acknowledged their orders and went about their respective tasks.

Spencer was also busy. According to the custom of the border patrol, when clearing the battlefield after a battle, all weapons, armor, and valuable goods worth more than twenty pennies had to be turned over to the border patrol for discretionary distribution after the battle. However, to inspire the soldiers to fight bravely, they were also allowed to keep some miscellaneous items and inexpensive goods.

As a veteran of the border patrol and an important "primary assailant" in this lure-and-ambush operation, Spencer naturally had the privilege of picking his spoils of war first. At this moment, he was rummaging around a dead enemy body poked full of holes. He wouldn't touch the weapons and armor at all—not because he was particularly observant of military discipline, but because he simply had no interest in such things. He had already searched the money pouch, pocketing a dozen copper coins entirely. Now what he was looking for was the holy crucifix that soldiers usually carried with them; the holy crucifixes of some wealthy soldiers were made of silver. Yet Spencer searched for a long time without finding a trace of a holy crucifix.

"Scumbag, not even a holy artifact on your body. No wonder God didn't protect you, leaving you to die a miserable death here." Spencer didn't care that those enemy soldiers who wore holy crucifixes hadn't survived either.

Colin marched angrily toward Spencer and roared, "Spencer, you scumbag! You were afraid of dead people during the battle, but when it's time to loot valuables, you fucking turn into a hero."

"I told you not to throw away the grain sack, but you insisted on throwing it. Now look, Lord Odo is telling us to go and pick up all the goods we threw on the road."

"Huh?" Spencer raised his head in surprise.

"Let's go, what are you staring at? Are you expecting me to go alone?"

"I~ I still have to clear the battlefield according to orders~"

How could Colin be fooled by Spencer's excuse? He picked up a rock from the ground and threatened to throw it, shouting, "Do you believe I'll smash your dog head?"

"Alright, alright, I'll go! I'll go!"

"What a pity for all these good things on the ground~"

...

"What a pity for this good piece of equipment."

Ron stood by the parapet of the watchtower, examining a damaged crossbow in his hands.

Ron was one of the three men in black who followed Yate into the watchtower. When Spencer and Colin pretended to be a trade caravan to lure the enemy soldiers in the watchtower out into pursuit, the three of them quietly entered the tower.

Perhaps because no one had dared to raid this outpost for many days, the people in the tower were extremely relaxed. When the three of them closed the tower door and crept all the way up to the top parapet, two soldiers left behind were actually standing by the parapet, smiling as they watched their companions chasing prey.

Yate took the lead, crouching down behind a soldier and thrusting a sword through his throat. Ron, following closely behind, was half a step too slow; the soldier in front of him was already on guard. When Ron swung his broadsword, the soldier parried it with the crossbow in his hand, cracking the bow body with the broadsword. After killing this soldier together with Yate, Ron picked up the broken crossbow on the ground and wailed in heartache. This type of crossbow was a heavy military weapon, usually controlled by large castles and the elite armies of great lords, and even the armory in Tynetz possessed only six or seven such heavy crossbows.

"Alright, Ron, you two stay here and observe the surroundings. If there is any enemy activity, sound the alarm immediately. I'll go down first and check the situation over there." With that, Yate descended the tower via the wooden ladder.

Night had completely fallen. An empty wagon was parked in the estate, and seven or eight border patrol soldiers were tallying the spoils of war inside the watchtower. This watchtower was presumably established temporarily; everything originally in the estate had been plundered clean by the enemy soldiers. Inside the tower, apart from a small amount of stored food and supplies, there were no other weapons or valuables. After a thorough search, they only found half a small barrel of beer, several bags of rye bread, and some miscellaneous items belonging to the soldiers. Combined with the spoils seized from the slain enemy soldiers, they obtained just over two thousand pennies in coin, eight sets of weapons and armor, and two battle horses.

Looking at the weapons and armor stacked on the wagon, Baron Ber里昂 pulled Yate aside and said, "Yate, I want to discuss something with you. You know that I have recruited so many soldiers now, but Castle Cark lacks weapons and armor. Our stockpiled weapons are still not enough to fully equip the newly recruited soldiers. So I want to know if you can sell the weapons captured this time to me, especially that crossbow. I only have eight such siege-defense instruments in my possession. I am willing to pay one thousand pennies to buy this crossbow, and I'll buy the damaged one together with it. You name a price for the other weapons, and I won't haggle."

"Lord Ber里昂, being able to uproot this outpost this time was your idea in the first place, and you deserve a share of the spoils. As for the other weapons, I will only keep four sets of leather armor, and you can have all the rest. As a condition, both battle horses belong to me. How does that sound?" Yate also lacked weapons and equipment, but right now Baron Ber里昂 needed these things more than Yate did.

In the end, Yate obtained four sets of thick leather armor and two battle horses. Of course, Baron Ber里昂 still paid Yate one thousand pennies for the weapons.

The group did not linger long in the estate. After cleaning up, they immediately set off toward Castle Cark...

When they arrived at Castle Cark, day was just breaking.

This previously inconspicuous castle on the northern side of Osta had transformed into a true Shura battlefield. The city walls bore traces of damage everywhere, and at the base of the walls lay some broken and ruined siege equipment.

Teams of soldiers patrolled the ramparts, and archers on the arrow towers stared nervously into the distance. The brown-background flying horse banner fluttered in the wind atop the city gates, and numerous antler-shaped barricades were set up in front of the tightly shut gates. The gate guards saw the slowly approaching wagon train, and after careful observation, discovered that the lead wagon was flying their own Baron's banner, prompting them to quickly report to the garrison commander.

Before long, the heavy gates swung wide open, and several cavalrymen charged out from the archway.

The leading knight hurriedly leaped off his horse and came to Baron Ber里昂's side, saying, "My lord, you've finally returned. Last week, over a hundred enemy troops came to attack the city, and we almost lost Castle Cark."

"We'll talk once we're inside. Outside the city is unsafe." With that, Baron Ber里昂 led the wagon train into Castle Cark, and waves of warm cheers erupted within the fortress...

...

Just as Yate led the border patrol into Castle Cark and lay down in a thatched hut, a series of ox-horn alarm horns sounded from the fortress walls, and a troop of Barenduan cavalry charged toward Castle Cark from the northern trade route.

Yate could not afford to mind the exhaustion of a night's journey. He struggled to climb up from the straw bed, woke up Ron and Jason who were sprawled out sleeping in the room, and walked out the door.

"Ron, go wake them up."

Ron ran toward another straw shed while putting on his armor and buckling his sword~

Yate climbed the city wall. A bowshot away outside the city wall, thirty-odd cavalrymen lined up in a single row in a standoff. Thirty individuals might not seem like much, but thirty cavalrymen constituted no small spectacle. Yate was astonished by the reaction speed of the Lombard army; within just a few hours, the cavalry had pursued them here. Fortunately, they hadn't lingered in the estate, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The thirty-odd cavalrymen outside the city were led by a fellow bearing a gray bear coat-of-arms banner. Yate was quite familiar with the Lombard noble hierarchy, but he did not remember any Lombard family using a black bear coat-of-arms. It was likely a newly emerged military honor from this war.

The cavalry leader independently drove his horse to a spot about fifty paces outside the fortress gate, stopped, and roared with bitter hatred toward the people on the city wall: "Once we conquer Cark, I will surely slaughter every last one of you."

The leader's words carried a natural, soul-chilling courage and murderous intent. Jason couldn't help but feel a shudder in his heart, his legs growing somewhat weak and sore: "My lord, these fellows~ how are they even more terrifying than those ruthless bandits~~"

"Even more terrifying than ruthless bandits, right?" Yate smiled and glanced at Jason beside him. He had to admit that the cavalrymen beneath the city indeed possessed a kind of battle-hardened murderous intent—the kind of aura that couldn't be acquired merely by killing a few rough outlaws, but could only be possessed by men who crawled out of piles of corpses.

"Yate, it seems you won't be able to leave these two days." Baron Ber里昂 had appeared behind Yate at some point.

"Lord Ber里昂, shouldn't you send troops out to engage them in battle?" Jason asked weakly. In his memories, such occasions should resemble the tales of wandering bards, where brave guardians lead troops to charge out and drive away the invaders.

Baron Ber里昂 and Yate laughed simultaneously. "Little fellow, the boasts of wandering bards cannot be trusted. Charging out to give battle at a time like this is what you call being a fool."

"Strengthen defenses, strictly guard against sneak attacks." After issuing commands to those around him, Baron Ber里昂 descended the city wall.

"Yate, have your men all go back and continue sleeping. Rest up and regain your energy. Tonight I will hold a banquet in the inner keep and invite you and your commanders to attend together."

Outside the city, the cavalry ceaselessly cursed and provoked in the wind. Paying no heed to the enemies cursing themselves hoarse outside while the soldiers on the city wall remained completely unmoved, the enemy soldiers finally lost interest and had no choice but to wheel their horses around and leave.

Yate surveyed the armored and weaponized young soldiers on the city wall, feeling a wave of emotion inside—it seemed Provence still possessed elite soldiers and fierce warriors, and Lombard's ambition to conquer Provence in one stroke would likely not be so easy to realize...

That night, an atmosphere of jubilation resounded throughout Castle Cark. Baron Ber里昂's northern expedition this time had brought back much-needed grain for Castle Cark and recruited over seventy soldiers. Although these temporarily recruited soldiers could not be considered elite, with battle-hardened veterans leading the defense of the city, there would be no problem holding the fort.

Castle Cark could hold out for several more months.