Episode 139: West and East

On the western city wall, a tense standoff continued unabated.

Siegfried raised his palm calmly, unleashing a sinister surge of magical energy toward the wall. The soldiers atop the wall watched the eerie spectacle, holding their breath.

Yet, amid this stagnant situation, a troubling doubt began to stir in Zefard’s mind.

(Could Count Kreving’s true aim… be something else entirely?)

That thought had crossed his mind not long ago. And so, he issued an order.

“Recheck the status of the walls besides the western one and the situation inside the city. But under no circumstances are you to leave the walls. Report any anomalies to us immediately.”

Zefard’s subordinates saluted in response and quickly dispersed.

Some time later—

“G-Grandmaster Lord Zefard, Knight Commander! I have a report!”

A soldier, his face pale with urgency, came running toward him.

“W-Well, it’s…!”

“Why are you so shaken? Calm down and speak clearly.”

“Y-Yes, sir…!”

The soldier took a deep breath to steady himself, then spoke through trembling lips.

“T-The gate has been breached! The eastern gate—it’s been broken open… from the inside!”

“The east…!?”

Zefard turned to look at Siegfried, his expression one of shock. The silver-haired young man still faced the capital, radiating that same sinister magical energy.

But now—that sight carried an entirely different meaning.

“The attack on the western wall… it was a diversion!”

Zefard realized the truth.

The relentless barrage of the magical catapults, Siegfried’s dramatic appearance—all of it was a feint.

Their true objective had been to breach the eastern gate.

Immediately after, more soldiers rushed to Zefard with reports, one after another.

The western wall had been sabotaged from the inside by Serodonian prisoners.

Moreover, these prisoners were imbued with an otherworldly magical power, unlike anything human.

Reports flooded in, overwhelming Zefard with information.

And then—

“The Eastern Army’s soldiers… they’re advancing on the eastern wall from the outside! Their numbers are approximately fifteen thousand!”

“What…!?”

For a moment, Zefard doubted his ears as he gazed at the enemy forces arrayed beyond the western wall.

The army positioned behind the magical catapults numbered roughly fifteen thousand. Even accounting for errors in estimating from a distance, the discrepancy would be a thousand or two at most.

To think that an equal force had appeared on the eastern side… it was information almost impossible to believe.

The Eastern Army’s total strength was fifteen thousand. It shouldn’t be possible for them to be present simultaneously at both the west and east.

 

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A few days before the siege of Kirchherion.

Siegfried had come across a group of people exiled from the capital and shared food with them.

At first, they numbered only a few hundred, but as rumors spread that ‘Count Kreving will provide food,’ more and more people began to gather.

The Eastern Army’s encampment, set up a short distance from the capital, became overrun with the influx of civilians.

“Man, Count Kreving really saved us. He’s a true saint, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. I’ve always thought Count Kreving was more trustworthy than King Luverios.”

The people sang Siegfried’s praises with fervor.

“…What a bunch of fair-weather types. That old guy over there was badmouthing you at first, you know.”

Fen muttered as much.

Walking beside her, Siegfried responded with a faint smile.

“I am evil. To me, insults are nothing short of compliments. Whether they praise or curse me, the opinions of others are irrelevant. I simply walk my own path.”

“Haa… That’s so like you.”

“Besides—people who sway with the tides, changing their opinions on a whim, have their own uses. Those without conviction are the easiest to manipulate.”

With those words, Siegfried disappeared into a tent. Fen followed silently behind.

Inside the tent, they continued their conversation in hushed tones, out of earshot from others.

“…So, what’s your plan? I knew you didn’t feed those people out of the goodness of your heart.”

“I’ll arm them. Equip them with weapons and armor.”

Siegfried had been gathering weapons and armor in nearby town storehouses, using the same methods as when he transported the magical catapults.

There were more than enough arms to equip the civilians.

Moreover, for this strategy, the weapons didn’t need to be fully functional.

In extreme cases, even broken equipment would suffice—as long as it looked convincing, that was enough.

“Arm them for what? Those people haven’t had a lick of combat training. You’re going to send amateurs into battle?”

The number of civilians gathered under Siegfried had already surpassed thirty thousand. Selecting only the adult men would yield a force of over ten thousand.

But they were mere civilians, unaccustomed to wielding weapons, let alone prepared to stand on a battlefield.

“There’s no need to make them fight. They’re nothing more than decoys.”

With that, Siegfried began to unveil the full scope of his plan.

First, a makeshift army of civilian ‘decoy soldiers’ would be deployed at the western wall, accompanied by an attack from the magical catapults to draw the enemy’s focus to the west.

Meanwhile, the main Eastern Army would remain hidden beyond the eastern hills, out of sight from the capital.

Then, in coordination with the Serodonian prisoners opening the eastern gate from within, the Eastern Army would launch a full-scale assault.

“Will it really go that smoothly? Won’t the enemy see through the fake soldiers?”

“Perhaps. Someone like Zefard or Klaus could likely distinguish real soldiers from makeshift decoys, even from a distance. To prevent that, we’ll place actual Eastern Army soldiers at the front. From atop the walls, only parts of the soldiers behind the front line would be visible at best.”

In a typical battle, the enemy might send scouts to observe from various angles.

But in a siege, carelessly opening the gates of the magical wall, Magia Valm, would disable its defensive mechanisms.

It was highly unlikely they’d open the gates to send out scouts.

“If the front line consists of real soldiers, they’ll assume the rest are genuine too… is that it? The enemy’s attention will already be drawn to the magical catapults, so it might just work. But what about the timing of the assault? If the Serodonian prisoners’ gate-opening and the Eastern Army’s charge don’t align, won’t that cause problems?”

The Eastern Army would be hidden beyond the hills. Moving too early would alert the enemy, while moving too late could allow reinforcements to arrive and close the gate.

“No need to worry. Ricardo and the others will act after I awaken them as vampires. I’ve calculated the time it’ll take them to force open the eastern gate and will instruct you on the precise moment to charge.”

“Wait, hold on… What if the civilians refuse to arm themselves? Even if they’re just ‘decoy soldiers’ who won’t actually fight, they’d still be opposing the Kirchhen Kingdom.”

“Then we threaten them. I could outright say, ‘Obey, or I’ll kill you.’ Or perhaps, ‘I’ve poisoned your food. If you want the antidote, follow my orders.’ I could even turn them into vampires and say, ‘If you don’t obey, the Holy Church will hunt you down.’ Though, turning untrained humans into vampires risks them fainting from the sudden transformation. That’s a last resort.”

Siegfried spoke of manipulating the civilians with an almost gleeful tone.

Fen let out a deep sigh at the sight.

“You really are… a true villain, aren’t you?”