Chapter 192: The Spoils of War
The next day, in the early morning, the weather was clear.
The army of Duke Kasong was stationed in a gray-yellow wilderness, where the terrain was undulating, and there was a forest nearby. The forest was being eroded, and the trees were beginning to deform. From a distance, it looked like the dead crawling out of graves.
Although they knew that the beastmen liked to launch surprise attacks from the forest, the sergeant in charge of setting up camp had done his best to find an open area far from the woods.
In the northern part of the Kasong duchy, the unsettling forest stretched for miles.
The sun hung high in the sky at the end of winter, pouring down harmless sunlight.
A group of mounted attendants, composed of former farmers, with bows at their waists, were galloping through the forest, doing the work that no knight was willing to do—scouting.
For the noble knights, the task of scouting was a disgraceful job, second only to drawing bows and shooting arrows, because scouting involved no honorable combat—it was tedious and dangerous. Such dishonorable work was only given to farmers.
The leading mounted attendant was a seasoned veteran; since being fortunate enough to be chosen by the knight lord at the age of fifteen in the lord’s castle, he had been in this line of work for twenty-five years, his hair half black and half white. Several ambushes by beastmen had left him with a few lifelong scars on his back and face.
Suddenly, a thorny bush by the roadside swayed.
The seasoned veteran quickly reined in his horse and shouted, “Ambush!”
As everyone instinctively pulled on their reins, the seasoned veteran had already turned his horse around, aiming to tactically retreat.
A lesser horned beast burst out from the bushes, its brown fur making it look like a skinny sheep walking upright. It raised its hands and shouted:
“Please, please don’t run! I surrender! I’m a human, a human.”
It was using the common tongue.
The seasoned veteran held his horse still; it was the first time he had seen a beastman surrender upon appearing. He shouted:
“You’re tricking me; there must be other beasts beside you. Brothers, shoot him!”
“Don’t! I’m a human, a human! Everyone, come out quickly! We’ve finally found the royal army!”
As the mounted attendants were confused, over twenty beastmen suddenly ran out from the bushes on both sides, like a magic trick.
Startled, the mounted attendants drew their bows, ready to shoot.
Some of the smaller beastmen began to cry out of fear.
One lesser horned beast, wearing patched blue and yellow clothes of the farmers, knelt down, sobbing:
“Please, we are humans, all humans.”
“Do not shoot at my command!” the seasoned veteran shouted. “Humans don’t have horns on their heads!”
“We—we were villagers. That group of beasts abducted us and stuffed us into a mountain of meat, turning us into this! They even gave us weapons and told us to fight.”
“Well then, you quickly put down your weapons. How can I believe you if you don’t?”
The lesser horned beasts hesitated but said, “We managed to find a chance to escape, hoping that the goddess of the lake’s servants can turn us back into humans.”
“I can do that; I’ve been trusted by the lord. I’ve served under him for twenty years,” the seasoned veteran said with a sympathetic expression. “I can vouch for you; it’s not easy being farmers, but you must hand over your weapons. Otherwise, who knows if this is a vile trap?”
The lesser horned beasts were still hesitating.
The seasoned veteran drew his bow and shot an arrow at the ground at their feet, threatening, “I think you creatures are impostors pretending to be walking beasts!”
The lesser horned beasts jumped in fear, and out of a desperate desire to return to being human, they all dropped their weapons and gathered them.
The seasoned veteran grinned, “Alright, follow us, fellow villagers.”
The lesser horned beasts felt much more at ease and followed behind the mounted attendants.
The seasoned veteran also dismounted, leading his horse and chatting with the head of the lesser horned beasts. After a few exchanges, the latter expressed gratitude, with tears in his sheep-like eyes.
“We were terrified! You said, how could a person turn into a beast? Luckily, we met you; otherwise, we wouldn’t know how to explain to the knight lord.”
“Indeed, lucky you met me.”
“That life was too terrifying. A beastman said not to think about escaping; even if we did, humans would kill us. Yesterday, a knight charged into the army, and I and the villagers took advantage of the chaos to run; truly, a blessing from the goddess.”
“What did that beastman say? I didn’t quite hear earlier.”
“He said even if we escaped, we would still be killed by humans.”
Suddenly, the seasoned veteran drew his knife and forcefully cut the neck of the head lesser horned beast. The latter clutched his neck, staring wide-eyed at the veteran.
The veteran smiled, “He was right.”
The lesser horned beasts, once human, were laughing and congratulating themselves, hoping there would be enough time to turn back into humans to return to farming just in time for planting season. Some even said they would build their houses properly in the future, ensuring roofs that didn’t leak.
But the hope for the future shattered when the lesser horned beast collapsed, clutching its neck, like a glass cup falling to the ground.
The lesser horned beasts looked at their fallen compatriot in confusion, not yet realizing what had happened.
“Run… quickly!”
“Kill all these beasts!” the seasoned veteran shouted as he struck again at the unarmed lesser horned beast.
The other mounted attendants reacted, raising their knives and disregarding cries for mercy, slashing at the lesser horned beasts. The battle was over in less than ten minutes.
“The boss is smart; only two beasts managed to flee.”
“Haha, chop off their heads and take them back for a reward. The knight lord will surely be surprised. Also, don’t forget to smear some blood on yourselves; we’ll all say we were suddenly ambushed by a group of lesser horned beasts.”
“Understood, boss.”
The seasoned veteran stepped on the chest of a seriously wounded lesser horned beast, which weakly begged, “Please, pity…”
He thrust his knife through its throat.
…
…
In the afternoon.
The military camp of the Kasong duchy was bustling, with knights rubbing their fists together as they moved about because the Duke Kasong had announced something urgent in the morning.
The beastmen army, the most important and primary target of this expedition, was less than ten kilometers away.
With the goddess’s blessing, these despicable beasts, who liked to slip into forests, had finally mustered the courage to gather together after terrorizing a third of the duchy. Now they foolishly wanted to compete with the knights using their horns against the knights’ lances.
Many knights were both anxious and excited, especially the many young gallant knights who had come from other duchies to prove themselves on the battlefield. This was the only way to earn land and not waste the blessings granted by the goddess of the lake.
Simultaneously, the usually generous Duke Kasong announced that, considering this expedition, the knights who fought bravely would be rewarded well.
The atmosphere heated up at once.
The knights showed no humility as they hung their spoils from their saddles and rested them on their helmets. Many wealthy knights even hired a skilled bard to follow behind their horses, singing praises of their achievements as they walked.
The spoils consisted mainly of the pathetic horns of lesser horned beasts, as they were the most plentiful prey the knights could find.
Duke Kasong called a brave knight to come in front of his large tent and announced that they were promoted to knights of the kingdom, granting them their own lands. This was because Duke Kasong had seen them chase and kill a group of mounted beastmen and bring back the horns of a great horned beast.
This elicited envy from many knights, and the tension of battle began to dissipate, replaced by a thirst for glory.
The black knight looked disdainfully at the young gallant knight, who was flushed with pride after just acquiring his land.
In his bag full of horns, the black knight held the horn of a great horned minotaur, a trophy earned from a life-and-death struggle that sufficiently proved his valor.
Since everyone envied a knight who had merely killed a great horned beast, it only meant they were all cowards who could only kill lesser horned beasts.
He looked over at Sir Dan, clad in silver armor, with a silver pegasus.
Sir Dan, leaning against his shiny appearance, attracted everyone’s attention like a tin knight toy. He was nothing but a superficial waste, and his spoils didn’t even compare to one-tenth of his.
The black knight was sure he would become the center of attention.
No one would deny he was the greatest in front of the undeniable horn of the great horned minotaur; he would surpass Sir Dan.
Everyone would forget the disgrace of the knight’s contest. He had failed due to his steed’s cowardice, while everyone believed it was his inadequate strength!
The black knight suddenly recalled the self-satisfied holy warrior George, who bullied others with his rank.
He didn’t even know what that guy had been doing these days; he must have been lounging on a succubus’s belly and refusing to get up.
The black knight smirked derisively and turned to command the servant beside him, “Hold the bull’s horn higher, and you, bang your coconut shells and tell that bunch of fools that I’ve arrived.”
The bard holding the coconut shells smiled obsequiously, “Yes, my lord.”
As expected, the black knight became the focus of everyone’s attention, exhibiting the massive horn of the great horned minotaur like the richest hunter.
However, just at that moment, the knights led by George returned.
Every knight was adorned with various horns, the lowest being the horns of great horned beasts. Behind their warhorses followed packhorses, each carrying a bag stuffed full of horns from beastmen…
