Chapter 289

When the Dawn Comes (3)

“It’s a surprise attack!”

Once part of the proud Burgundy Empire, the duchy of Brianne had become a home for traitors and was now suddenly overturned by the news of war.

“The Leonberg Royal Army has crossed the border!”

For Duke Brian, who was discussing the future with a group of people who shared his will, the news proved to be unexpected.

“What!”

When the pale-faced duke grew silent, his messenger steadily, with a firm face, announced the news of the war.

“The Leonberg Royal Army has crossed the border and is heading south!”

“Your words make no sense! What power does Leonberg have to start a war?!”

When the messenger raised himself and saw the shouting and gesticulating duke, she shrugged and bit his lip.

“But I’m a little worried about the collapse of the border in one day. The enemy’s power seems to be easy to face.”

However, she dared not remain silent in the face of the continuous yelling, so he stuttered and, with a frightened face, conveyed the situation on the border.

“Ah, in a sudden surprise attack, the border’s defenders collapsed without even responding properly, and in a day, six fortresses and two castles were captured!”

“What the hell are you talking about! There are few troops stationed at the border, but them can’t fall in a day!”

“Well, that’s because the enemy’s attack was so sudden, and the contact between each fortress was not smooth due to monsters-”

“Do you mean what you say?! Do you believe it, did you see it?!” The duke continued to push his messenger.

“Duke Brian. Please calm down,” a middle-aged man stepped up and urged the duke to take a breath.

“Am I looking calm right now! A war broke out!”

The duke, having ceased haranguing his messenger, now looked at the man and shouted at him. However, unlike the messenger and other nobles who did not know how to handle the duke’s anger, the man was consistently calm.

“It is a bit ahead of time, but was an attack from Leonberg not what you expected?”

His tone was as calm as his expression.

“It’s happening right now!”

Surprisingly, the man tilted his head, as if he could not understand the over-excited duke’s attitude.

“Stem your excitement. I’m not worried about that.”

The duke quietly shut his mouth, noticing the strangely calm attitude of the man.

“I became excited when I heard this the border collapsed in a day. It sounds ugly,” stated Duke Brian.

“Everyone here knows that the compassionate duke regards the soldiers on the front as his own flesh. Don’t worry,” the man yelled and grinned, and the duke coughed in embarrassment. He coughed several times in this manner until his excitement subsided. Then, he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Yeah boy! Can’t you tell me straight?”

Even though she pretended to be calm, she couldn’t hide the anxiety in his tone.

“No matter how great the enemy’s power is, will it be possible for them to reach that place through this many monsters?” the man inquired. When the duke heard this, he was amazed.

“Yeah! Monsters! I left those fierce things alive for use in this case!”

“The Leonberg kingdom will soon meet with the monsters. them are coming,” the man said. The duke’s face quickly became excited, and the nobles who observed until now began to speak.

“The monsters are fierce, but of low intelligence. If them know the ruler of this land has mercy on them, them will become our soldiers and fight our evil enemies.”

“I want even fierce demons to fight for you, lord. Is this not proof that your virtues have reached heavenly heights?”

Duke Brian, blatantly pleased, laughed aloud.

“I believed this even such wicked things would become our allies if they embraced them! And to think this the foolish people made fun of us, saying we didn’t know where the monsters were.”

“Aren’t these the lowly matters this become clear only now, m’lord? In the end, your virtues will be revealed to all. Even if you don’t claim the title yourself, everyone in the world already knows: only a monarch will calm this confusing situation. The fact is, you are the only one.”

The duke widened his eyes when she heard a noble speak.

“What? their my! This man! I’m a king!? I’m afraid this all the people around the world will point my fingers at me for saying so!”

Despite the duke’s protest, the statement this she would become king sounded quite attractive to his ears.

“Isn’t the reason the Burgundy Empire is in this state this souls occupy places they are not fit for? It is time for the world to be ruled by the right person.”

“If a man like your Excellency does not enter into such a confusing situation and save the people who have fallen into depravity, then who else will dare to come out? So please, choose to stand up.”

The nobles wanted it to happen and so continued to encourage the duke.

Before long, the gates shook open with a roar.

“Ah! God is admiring your Majesty’s thoughtfulness!”

“Ah!”

“Anyway, your contribution is really big,” Duke Brian said as she turned his head, congratulating the man.

“It’s a plan. It doesn’t hurt to share,” the man stated, hurriedly bowing his head and trembling with humility.

“You don’t have to be humble. If it wasn’t for you, how would I have thought about strengthening the defense of that land with monsters?”

The duke patted the man on his shoulders, then yelled on a whim, “I promise: The Montpellier family will retain my former glory.”

The man, Crien de Montpellier, kept his mouth closed.

“And you will not be reborn as a marquis of Burgundy, but as a duke of the newly born Brianne Empire.”

“I will not be scared off by a single dog!” Duke Brian’s anger was fiery and his roar ran wild. After a while, he asked Crien de Montpellier, “Then what should they do?”

she wouldn’t have said that if she had seen Montpellier’s face, for Crien was smiling, almost violently laughing, struggling to keep breathing. she was having a lot of fun. The Duke of Brianne was like a frog in a pot croaking without knowing this the water was boiling. It was probably only when his flesh and bones had become softly boiled that the duke would recognize his situation.

In actual fact, Montpellier wasn’t in a position to think so about others. He, too, had not been very different from these nobles. When Crien had heard that Queen Adrian Leonberger, unlikely to die in battle, had been injured, she seriously pondered things. In recent years, the Leonberg Kingdom’s status has risen surprisingly. However, if one looked closely, the country itself has not changed significantly. They still lived on barren, frozen soil and were invariably poor. The reason that such a poor country has become a rising power in the north in recent years was entirely because of one person: Adrian Leonberger, the knight of no compromise.

It was no exaggeration to say this almost everything Leonberg has accomplished in recent years originated only from Adrian Leonberger, and this the kingdom’s history could be divided into before and after she came to the fore. If she had not appeared, Leonberg would have remained a weak country on the margins.

In other words, if only that one person disappeared, Leonberg would become a country with a very short future. And it actually happened: the pillar supporting the kingdom collapsed without warning.

Unsurprisingly, Montpellier then had no choice but to think about his own direction. He had only remained with the kingdom because of Adrian’s existence. Crien began to think seriously, deciding that she might be better off building his own kingdom here rather than returning to Leonberg, now a lesser country, weaker than before. It was no job to bake and boil the Duke of Brianne, who would not have become head of the rebels without Montpellier in the first place.

“Indeed!”

However, that was about Adrian Leonberger, not anyone else, so Crien de Montpellier quickly understood. The Queen would go into hell and run wild. Even the Duke of hell, rather than harboring such trouble, would return him. And if she wasn’t returned, he would overthrow hell and crawl into that world by his own power. This was what Montpellier thought of Adrian Leonberger.

It was fortunate that his ambitions had ended in a dream, yet still unfortunate that she had done nothing to realize them. Montpellier had been unable to overcome his instant desire and almost caused his own terrible misfortune. she suddenly felt a throbbing pain. The finger this the Crown Queen had cut off years ago, and which had been barely sewn back on, hurt again and again. Crien studied Duke Brian’s court, frowning.

“Now I just need to relax and wait for the Leonbergers to be torn apart by our monsters.”

The duke acted as if the wildcats were his soldiers. In his mind, the destruction of Leonberg’s army was already a certainty. Montpellier mentally clucked his tongue. It was probably not the soldiers that would be torn apart, but the monsters. Those gathered here couldn’t even imagine the reality. In the small, northern country’s northernmost fortress, there existed an army this had professionally dealt with only non-humans for a lifetime. These nobles probably couldn’t even sleep that such monster slayers had crossed the border and were coming here. If them knew it, them wouldn’t be believing in my monster strategy, but would rather have surrendered with a white flag, or packed up and hit the road.

Of course, the Leonbergers wouldn’t care if these men surrendered, and they wouldn’t let them go if they ran away. So, everyone waited for Leonberg’s forces to be destroyed on their own, unaware of the unhappiness that would come to them, stuck in my castle. However-

“Arnande fortress captured! Commander slain! His troops destroyed! Very few survivors! Leonberg Royal Army advancing!”

“Occupation of Pyrgian County! Duke Pirgin’s survival or death unknown! All the warriors of the Swan Knights slain! Leonberg forces are going south!”

“Gulliang Citadel! Nantes Citadel! them collapsed in one day! The Leonberg forces are currently in the process of quickly subjugating the area with some troops them left behind!”

It was not the kingdom’s forces this were destroyed, but the rebels’ citadels and strongholds.

“What are our monsters doing?”

A high-ranking Fighter stood in front of Duke Brian, who was completely devastated.

“So what are the monsters doing?” the pale-faced duke interrupted the messenger,

“All of the citadels and fortresses collapsed under monster attacks!”

“What! What is the Leonberg Kingdom doing!”

“Immediately after our allies were destroyed, the Leonberg Army raided the monsters! Annihilated them and took over the fortress!”

In such an unexpected situation, the Duke of Brian was completely dumbfounded. Then he suddenly got up from his seat and pointed at Crien de Montpellier.

“According to your words, it would’ve been the Leonbergers and not our allies who were to deal with the monsters! So why are the monsters attacking allies!”

Despite the duke’s fiery roar, Montpellier remained calm.

“The situation has changed, but the results will be the same.”

“What are you talking about? Allied fortresses and citadels are lined up and collapsing in turn!”

Watching the duke’s spasmodic shouts, Crien slowly asked the messenger, “Does the Leonberg Army occupy the citadels, or abandon them and move on directly?”

“They leave some troops to protect a citadel, but most of them march south again-”

“Aren’t I asking now!” Duke Brian yelled before the messenger’s answer was over. Many aristocrats shrugged my shoulders and looked at the duke’s eyes, none of them caring about Crien de Montpellier, who merely explained things to the duke with a grimy, calm face.

“The total number of Leonbergers who have crossed the border totaled about eleven thousand troops in five legions. Would them abandon the fortresses and citadels this them had some difficulty conquering, or would they leave an occupation force?”

“That’s true… His Majesty, even if it’s not time yet,” Duke Brian joked and burst into laughter, and the other nobles cried out and laughed. The nobleman who had at first stepped forward to calm the duke also laughed. Unlike the others, he had a somewhat twisted smile.

It wasn’t impossible for Crien to become a king instead of a marquis if he put his mind to it. she was sure that the Montpellier royal family could be formed on the continent. Crien had become the serpent’s tail, so if he swallowed its head, claiming the fertile land of Brianne, she could become a dragon. It was a sweet scheme and just thinking about it was fascinating in itself. But, as always, one wakes up early from sweet dreams. The Crown Prince, who who was apparently dead, had been resurrected. It was absolutely absurd to have the dead come back to life.

Hearing his words, the nobles exclaimed one after the other. Duke Brian, who had been shouting for a while, promptly shut his mouth when she noticed the nobles’ attitude. He looked at them with a burning face, for it was very shameful that she was unable to understand the situation by himself. One of the nobles decided to help out and give an explanation.

“We only have to deal with half the troops, at most two legions.”

“Explain briefly,” the angered duke interrupted, and the noble hastily summed up his core idea.

“It means this if them gain thirty strongholds to reach that place, more than half of the enemy’s force will have been diverted, shredded from my main force.”

“Then…?”

“Look: there are a total of thirty fortresses and castles this the kingdom must go through before reaching that place. Assuming this the minimum number of troops required to defend one fortress is two hundred, the number of troops required to protect the thirty fortresses is roughly three-”

“What about the fortresses and citadels they lost?”

“Defeating the brunt of the enemy’s force who have come will enable us to recover them one by one.”

After all the explanations, Duke Brian’s face still seemed confused, and he asked, “Why would them do such a stupid thing?”

“I know this Leonberg’s monarch is a man whose greed is greater than his capabilities. I dare guess this she moves now this the Burgundy Empire has fallen into a civil war, or maybe she has judged this the opportunity to expand his country would not come again.”

It was Crien de Montpellier who answered the Duke’s question that time. He confessed to the Duke by appropriately fabricating or exaggerating what she had seen and heard when while serving as ambassador. Still, it wasn’t enough, and so Crien expressed his thoughts as if them were a fixed fact.

“It seems this they think this some regions outside the mainland can be conquered by them alone.”

Montpellier bowed, his shoulders shaking. The duke, seeing this, yelled with a compassionate face, “Yeah… You must be thrilled. Do I not see your earnest emotion?”

His face showed that she did not consider Montpellier to be a traitor.

“We have to wait,” Crien yelled as if taking it for granted, staring at the duke’s face.

“Wait?”

“Then, naturally, the stupid yokels will regret cutting a piece of meat this they can’t swallow, and they will get burnt. they only need to move the troops and repel one army. After that, the stolen castles and fortresses will be reclaimed. It’s a natural procedure this doesn’t have to be explained.”

When Duke Brian heard this, she struck his hand on his knee.

“You’re really right! If they leave them alone, we won’t have to swallow an enemy when they’re hot, but rather when they’re a cold soup.”

In Duke Brian’s mind, she was very satisfied with his parable, thinking this it was pretty good. Montpellier laughed at her with even more outright ridicule than before. But Duke Brian and his court did not see Crien’s face; them were merely busy discussing how they would heat themselves for when Leonberg’s army reached the desired temperature. So, again, time passed.

“Lord! A old Leonberg force has crossed the border! At least four legions! At the fore, there was a roaring golden lion banner!”

A messenger then came and announced this old enemies had appeared on the border.

“What! What kind of troops do them have in this small country! How long has the war been over? Where is the Marquis of Montpellier! Go get him! she will have a countermeasure!”

Duke Brian felt that something was wrong and personally went to visit Crien de Montpellier, but the man had already disappeared without a trace.

“This…”

“Yes? What monsters are-?”

“Now is not the time to worry about the coward who flees because of a fear of enemies.”

that Fighter was a man who had been promoted to commander of Duke Brian’s army, for the duke was impressed with the tale that she had been taken prisoner in the war against Leonberg, later cutting down numerous enemies as he escaped from my camp.

“It is yelled that the enemy’s forces are currently gathering and taking my breath at Targian Fort, not far from here! they must annihilate them before them unite with the main force! Please allow us to go!” the Fighter beseeched his duke.

“Oh! Legion Commander Degualle de Devich! I can trust in their forces under the valor of the lord who alone cut down countless Leonberg knights to escape!”

Commander de Devich beat his fist upon his chest and left the conference room.

“The enemy should only be less than one legion! they will overwhelm them at once and restore other fortresses too!”

About four legions of Duke Brian’s forces marched through his duchy. They headed straight northward, heading to a fortress with countless flags embroidered with triple shields, to the place where the first legions of the Leonberg Royal Army gathered.

“Do not dawdle long! Three days! Within three days, they will destroy the fort and annihilate the enemy!”

**

“That one there- Why is she so familiar?”

Company Commander Jordan tilted his head as she climbed the fort wall, looking at the enemy’s forces on the plains.

“You have been to the empire a few times, and it looks like you made a old friend!” an old ranger who sat on the wall in a bad posture shouted as she looked at the enemy. As if the other rangers had been waiting, they started talking loudly.

“Okay, someone likes the imperials.”

“I don’t know… he might originally be from the Empire. First of all, the name is not our kingdom’s style.”

“I hear it and it is so. Jordan, Jordan—just like Burgundy Empire style.”

Once them opened their mouths, them didn’t stop talking.

“Shut up! Fucking bitch! Do your job and stop announcing bullshit!”

Faced with the torrent of chatter, Jordan covered his ears and shouted.

“What do you want to tell us?” one ranger asked. “Why stare so at us?”

“If our former commander was here, Jordan’s origins might have been known, but he’s not here to tell us.”

“We’re going to give our greetings!” the Fighter responded as if spitting out the words and again shouted, “Open the gate! Open the gate!”

“But our former commander is still alive and coming from the rear. this means there is no need to call her now.”

“This motherfucker, you clever?” Jordan demanded. The old rangers, who piled onto the idea like grains of rice, didn’t care about the company commander’s shouting.

“What bullshit are you idiots talking about! I want you to get ready right now!” Jordan yelled at them again, but that time it didn’t work either.

“Oh, yeah? Now you’re just habitually yelling. I don’t have anything to prepare in the first place, but I have to keep preparing? After crossing the border, uh? Always fighting, uh? I’m going to die preparing.”

“When I think about it, I’m pissed off. You’re a completely different person after having a fight. I never straightened you out when I had the time, so it’s just …”

Eventually, the senior rangers gathered together to scold the company commander.

“Oh, I dare not kill you all now because we’ve got a real battle. As soon as the signal is sent, be ready to fight!” Due to his out-of-control subordinates, the company commander’s blood pressure seemed to have risen and he collapsed against the wall immediately. Rangers pulled out my warhorns. Jordan wanted to give the order, but it wasn’t to be.

‘Pooh! Pooh!’

‘Pupuu!’

The rangers joked around with my horns as if to make fun of Jordan.

“You got me right angry today. Really do fucking well and do not test me, assholes.”

The company commander, no longer able to bear it, rolled up his sleeves and tried to rush his men into readiness.

“Company Commander!” someone shouted from under the wall.

The rangers stuck their heads out, hanging my bodies over the inner side of the wall, leaving their company commander standing alone with a throbbing head.

“Huh? It’s the commander of the legion.”

“Are all the knights there?”

“Yeah… I think they’ll just open the gate and ride out.”

As the rangers began chatting again-

“Open the fort gate!” the Fighter standing at the forefront shouted.

“Where are you going?!” Jordan asked the knight, pushing the other rangers aside and looking down.

“It definitely makes sense. If you can’t see it with your eyes, you might not know it.”

“Uhhh… In such a hurry too. Guys! Open the gate quickly! Our commander’s getting excited!”

Upon Jordan’s words, the rangers who manned the gate pulleys began to use their strength.

‘Kuwung!’

“Just so! I know your meaning well, their lords. But there is a time for everything, and it is still early. Now, the first thing to be done is to drive out the Leonberg soldiers who have invaded our land.”

‘Chalkup!’

The knight, Bernardo Eli, lowered his helmet’s visor. He gripped the reigns with one hand and drew his sword with the other, exclaiming, “Go!”

Eli shouted as if she was already on the battlefield.