Budding Death
Kulm took 200 Salbuveir clansmen and 800 zombies raised from the Imperial Capital"s citizens to defeat Burling"s allies in the suburbs of the city.
The reason why the troops outside the capital have not yet shown movement is that the situation was too strange. Additionally, the soldiers were fatigued from marching on day and night, so the purpose was also to rest.
"Kulm-sama, may I tear apart Burling with these hands of mine?"
It was Emilis, Kulm"s attendant, who spoke to him. Elizabeth, the wife of Emilis, who appears to be in the first half of his twenties had been killed together with their beloved daughter Katarina, by troops led by Burling.
"No, Father strictly ordered to bring Burling to him. I understand your feelings, but that sc.u.m can"t be left to you alone."
Emilis did not express dissatisfaction with Kulm"s response, but Kulm who has a long relationship with Emilis could guess his thoughts.
"Do not worry. I am saying that everyone will be able to use their share of revenge against Burling."
Kulm said with a dark expression. As Kulm acted as a Feudal Lord"s proxy on behalf of his Father, he witnessed the invasion of the beautiful fief of Salbuveir.
"Either way, they don"t have homes to return to anymore, why don"t we torment them slowly?"
Kulm"s words made the retainers of Salbuveir feel excited. They could soon take revenge directly against those who oppressed and trampled upon them.
On the other hand, the citizens of the Imperial Capital who got turned into living corpses had uneasy expressions. Those who were brought, were brought regardless of gender or age, and they were aware of the reason why they were brought here, so they were filled with anxiety.
"The victory is already decided. Letting some free on purpose to give them despair is fine, exterminating everyone to give them despair is also fine, catching them alive to beat them to death is also fair. Go wild!!"
"""Uooooooh!"""
The Salbuveir clansmen roared out loud. They felt incomparable excitement in comparison to the previous small skirmishes.
—————
"General, enemy forces are coming from the capital!!"
"What!?"
The news of "enemy troops" surprised the war council who were still undecided regarding their course of action.
"General Burling!! It"s convenient if the enemy troops come out!! Let"s crush them here to find out their ident.i.ty!!"
Burling nodded to Rement"s words. Unlike the situation up until now, it"s only given to intercept them because the enemy came out this time.
"It"s as Husbeis-dono says. We will battle here and find out the enemy"s ident.i.ty!! Hopefully, we can get more information by capturing the enemy Commander. Officers, return to your respective forces and get ready to head out!!"
"""Understood!"""
When Burling gave instructions to intercept the officers immediately stood up. Burling, however, noticed that the messenger looked a bit uncomfortable.
"What"s the matter?"
The messenger spoke up with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
"The enemy troops are about 1,000 men."
"What?"
"Yes, moreover, only 200 of them are armed at most, the rest seem to have no equipment."
The messenger"s words dumbfounded the officers. It was clear that troops with about 80% men unarmed couldn"t be called troops anymore.
"Are they perhaps surrendering?"
One of the officers muttered. It was no wonder his voice contained great frustration.
"No, 1,000 men are too many to bring out for surrender. Even if it"s surrender, the scouts have called them "enemy troops" therefore they must have judged that the enemy is here to fight."
There were signs of relief from the officers after hearing Burling"s explanation. The officers didn"t want to return without doing anything after coming this far. They desired to make achievements, no matter how small.
"To send only a thousand people to challenge us!"
"I will let those incompetent fools taste the hammer of justice!"
"Let"s slaughter them and regain control of Imperial Capital!!"
The officers voiced their anger. They were stirred up because the enemy troops were only 1,000 men strong.
(There are still many things I find strange, but… we can only do it.)
Burling muttered to himself in his mind while observing the officers get worked up. Though there were many baffling factors, there was no other choice but to fight.