Chapter 248 Chapter 245 Response to the Chivalrous War
The Duchy of Kasong, a Count’s domain.
This place is far from the front lines, located in the southern part of the duchy, near the Holy Hall. In this Kasong Duchy, which is almost half occupied, it seems more like a paradise.
The midday sun falls from the blue sky, and the peasants work on the black soil outside the castle, their faces showing signs of anxiety. The flock of sheep grazes on the rotated fields, occasionally bleating, which always attracts a few uneasy glances.
A caravan from the Free City-States hurriedly departs from the village below the castle.
This is the de jure territory of Count Virginia Hammer, who also has an illegitimate son whose reputation has spread throughout the Knightly Kingdom of Bato—George the Great Hammer.
In contrast, his de jure heir is the biological son of George’s older brother, who is currently throwing a tantrum in the courtyard.
“I’m going!” George’s brother shouts, clad in his military uniform, wearing the latest style of full plate armor—Gothic full armor. “The king is calling, and this time I must fulfill my duty as a knight.”
His biological mother, although still dressed elegantly with a gown trailing several meters on the ground, and a belt wrapped with gold and silver at her waist, is now crying and shouting, looking like a shrew. With both hands clinging to her biological son’s thigh, she says:
“I beg you not to go. I’ve heard that there are a hundred giants among the beastmen, and stones rain down, smashing knights into pieces. If you listen to your mother, just stay behind the high walls.”
“Last time you deceived me.” The brother, who bears a slight resemblance to George, shouts with a flushed face: “You got me to avoid the call of the Duke of Kasong. What will others think of us? Am I still a knight? Without knightly virtue, what’s the difference between a knight and a green-skinned man riding a pig?”
“That’s for your own good, my son.” Countess Virginia cries out: “I dreamed that knights were all falling from their horses; the dream has come true. You escaped a disaster, why do you want to go and seek death now?”
After saying this, Countess Virginia turns to Count Virginia and shouts: “Child’s father, say something!”
Count Virginia, a bit plump and dressed in crimson tight pants, speaks up:
“Child, don’t worry about what others say. No matter how good one’s reputation is, it cannot be used as gold. I am not slandering the knightly virtues of our country; we just need to leverage our family’s advantages.”
“Advantages! Yes, money, a lot of money, caravans, and industries.” George’s brother says: “But what’s the use? Can hired mercenaries protect a territory? Can they buy us glory? Do those beastmen recognize gold? Will they turn back if given gold coins?”
“Do you know what others say about me in front of me? They say I’m the son of a merchant. Father! What good is money? When faced with knights, don’t merchants have to kneel too? If I further evade my duty, the king can take our territory and give it to others. What use is having more gold then?”
Countess Virginia screams: “No! That illegitimate child has already gone to battle; let him face death!”
Just a moment ago rational, George’s brother suddenly turns red in the face and shouts: “Don’t mention his name again! Today, I must participate in the Chivalrous War; this is the will of the goddess.”
Saying this, he forcefully pries his mother’s hands away. Countess Virginia clings to him for dear life, grabbing him again after being pushed away once, and finally, George’s brother pushes his mother away with force.
Countess Virginia falls to the ground, lifts her head, and cries out at her son’s back: “Son, what will I do if you die?”
George’s brother stops abruptly, looking at his younger siblings playing in the courtyard, only seven or eight years old, looking over curiously.
George’s brother puts on the Xaleel helmet and continues: “Our family still has descendants.”
The sound of his mother’s crying grows louder behind him.
George’s brother takes a few steps, and his father Count Virginia catches up, blocking his way.
George’s brother says: “Father, you can’t stop me; I’ve been the runner-up in the knight tournament, and you haven’t touched a jousting lance in years.”
Count Virginia says: “You are right; often, gold is not omnipotent; at least it can’t buy you from going to your death.”
As he speaks, he draws the family heirloom sword:
“Take it, and bring along the troops you’ve trained. I have long known you cannot become a knight merchant. When you were enthusiastically selecting peasants to train an army, you looked down on those mercenaries. But as you grow up, you will understand that chivalry is not everything.”
“Father, thank you for your support.” George’s brother takes the sword: “But merchants and mercenaries are inherently lowly.”
“Initially, you could have found a lady to tie a ribbon around the sword’s hilt, but now the situation is different.” Count Virginia says: “I will find a way to convince your mother.”
“No need, I have a noble lady.”
“Just don’t let me worry.” Count Virginia continues: “One thing you must remember, don’t spend all day thinking of competing with that illegitimate child; he is a monster.”
George’s brother’s face turns red as he replies: “I will not lose to him; at least in terms of chivalry, I will be more like a knight than he.”
“Be obedient!”
“Tell that to my younger siblings.” George’s brother says, turning to leave.
That afternoon, George’s brother rides his black horse, leading more than a dozen attendants and an infantry regiment, totaling just under five hundred soldiers, setting out from the castle.
Walking, walking.
George’s brother can’t help but turn back, seeing his mother still crying on the city wall.
But, after a few minutes, he forgets his mother’s tearful face.
He gazes at the road stretching to the horizon, thinking of the songs that praise the knight’s journey, and seems to envision knights charging together with lances in hand. He also thinks of the king who initiated the Chivalrous War, Richard the Lionheart.
He is well acquainted with the achievements of the Lionheart King. He looks forward to serving the Lionheart, anticipating seeing the king himself, along with the royal steed, a griffin.
His heart is aflame with fervor, desperately wishing to reach the port of Le’an immediately.
…
…
More than a month later.
“Boom!”
A boulder the size of a cart falls from the sky, directly smashing a counterweight catapult to pieces; soldiers scatter in panic, covering their heads to avoid the tumbling boulders and flying debris.
This scattering triggers a chain reaction, causing all personnel at the counterweight catapult position to flee, abandoning the night-repaired catapults, ignoring the shouts of their commanders, and dispersing.
More boulders plummet from the sky, smashing into the rugged ground, rolling and breaking more of the surrounding ruins, resulting in the deaths of many unfortunate soldiers who couldn’t escape.
One by one, the remaining half of the unmanned counterweight catapults are smashed. When the last repaired catapult collapses, a flock of crows that had been circling the catapult position scatters.
George stands on a rooftop without a ceiling, gazing at the dust-filled catapult site.
A distant sound of hurried hooves approaches as a herald runs up, shouting: “Report! The catapult position has been completely destroyed, and most soldiers have fled and are unaccounted for.”
George glances at the row of corpses hanging on the gallows by the street, each with a sign around their necks, reading:
“Thief!”
“Deserter!”
“Unauthorized fire-fighting!”
“Heresy!”
Among them, deserters are the majority.
George says: “Let them flee; the catapults simply cannot compete with the behemoths.”
“Yes!”
The military council surrounding George shows no dissent. Compared to the beginning, the size of the council has shrunk; four members are dead. Additionally, the teleportation array set up in the city of Quinas has become ineffective under the interference of the beastmen’s strongmen.
“Boom.”
Another boulder crashes into a gap in the city wall, and the stones and wood blocking the breach tumble down, but this is the last boulder.
The observer sees that close to forty behemoths have stopped throwing stones, waving flags to indicate that the militia below are carrying beams torn from houses, shouldering baskets filled with stones and dirt to fill the gaps in the city wall.
The walls of Quinas city are already battered. There are no fewer than ten such breaches; all the arrow towers have collapsed, but they still hold on, or rather, the garrison is still trying to repair this crumbling wall.
But George knows that it cannot hold out for long.
