Chapter 144: Chapter 144

Shan caught a spider in a nearby house, retrieved the box from the valuables storage, and returned to the bedroom.

After flopping down on the bed and placing the spider inside the box, it was not long before the spider’s body stiffened.

However, unlike usual, the spider controlled by Cheryn did not write letters directly on his palm right away, but merely tapped its front legs.

After a terribly heavy silence lingered for several minutes, letters were finally written.

[Are you alive?]

“Yes. Completely fine…”

[I heard you fell into a trap and almost died.]

Although no voice or tone could be felt through the written letters, an image of Cheryn staring at him with an expressionless face from the other side came to Shan’s mind.

“I was too reckless.”

When he honestly admitted his fault, the spider hesitated for a moment before writing letters.

Unexpectedly, the content was not a reprimand like the one Roden had given.

[Roden must have already said all that, so I won’t bother adding to it.]

“Ah.”

[However, I just want to let you know this. When I heard the news yesterday, I was in terrible agony.]

Cheryn continued writing in a calm tone.

She said that although she had dealt with the urgent report delivered in the middle of her busy work calmly on the outside, in reality, her whole body turned cold and she felt as if her insides were being squeezed.

She said her legs trembled so much she almost collapsed on the spot, and it was terribly difficult to hold back her tears in front of everyone.

She even added that when she heard a few hours later that Shan had emerged alive, she could not hold back and ended up shedding tears alone.

Cunning Cheryn knew very well what the most effective way to engrave words in Shan’s heart was.

For this boy, using guilt as a weapon was far more useful than cold and harsh reprimands.

In fact, what she was saying right now was not entirely a lie either.

Truly, Cheryn had even prayed to the Goddess for the first time in a very long while, desperately wishing for Shan to come out safe and sound.

It meant she was desperate enough to revive the faith she had thought was dead and gone.

Shan quietly read through the words and gave a low answer.

“…I’m sorry.”

[I don’t want to hear you say you’re sorry. It’s not like you did it on purpose. Just always keep this in mind. Your own life is as precious as the lives of those you cherish.]

Shan made a firm resolve that he would act more carefully in the future, lightly stroking the spider’s back.

As Cheryn had intended, her method of stimulating guilt and sympathy to make him comply voluntarily was engraved far deeper than the previous day’s lecture.

After wrapping up that topic, they turned the conversation to the unfolding situation.

[According to what you said, we can assume the main force of the Ruman Kingdom is pretty much destroyed for now.]

“Though several thousand are still gathered inside the inner castle holding out.”

The inner castle walls were higher than the outer castle walls, and as the perimeter shrank, the density of soldiers actually increased.

In terms of pure difficulty of attack, it was highly likely to be even harder.

[It’s just a guess, but they won’t last long. Especially if the high nobles, starting with Benon Robar who could hold them together, are dead. Ah, that might actually have been intentional.]

“Intentional?”

[Because if Benon had drawn you into the trap alone and died with you, the surviving high nobles might have betrayed him to pursue their own interests.]

In other words, driving the high nobles of the Ruman army into the trap together was not merely to use them as tempting bait to lure Shan in.

It meant he had even taken into account the chaos in the remaining Ruman army’s command structure after both Shan and himself died.

Hearing that, Shan clicked his tongue without realizing it.

Truly, individuals whose brains worked so fast were exceedingly troublesome to deal with.

[Either way, the plan failed, and you survived. At that point, the battle was already over. Perhaps there won’t even be a need to conduct another siege to take the inner castle.]

What Cheryn meant by those words became clear before long.

*

Early in the morning, the Pendia army surrounded the inner castle and began assembling siege weapons one by one, signaling that they would resume the assault.

While directing the scene, Roden realized for some reason that the enemies on top of the castle walls were acting overly triumphant.

Although expressions could not be easily seen from over a hundred meters away, there was an atmosphere felt from their gestures and the sounds drifting down.

“Could there be news of reinforcements?”

“No way. Even if there were such a thing, there’s no way the bastards trapped in here would have heard about it.”

In response to Roden’s question, Ravana spoke beside him while folding and unfolding her rabbit ears with her hand.

However, she also agreed that the Ruman army’s morale seemed strangely high.

Like an experienced mercenary, she was also skilled at reading the atmosphere of the battlefield.

And before long, they came to know where the source of the confidence displayed by the enemy had come from.

“Listen, you foolish Pendia bastards! The Altoan savior you serve was shoved into that mire and died!”

“If you get the hell out of this South Sea right now, you might at least preserve your wretched lives!”

“Put your ears to the ground! You might even hear the screams of the Duke Thousand-Slayer you cherish so much!”

Whether they were using a sound-amplification magic artifact, the voices of the Ruman soldiers echoed loudly all the way to the distant Pendia encampment.

It seemed the enemy commander had dug a trap to plunge Shan into it and instructed them in advance to do this afterward.

If he failed to return alive, he must have firmly believed that Shan had also died.

However, upon hearing those words, the Pendia army showed signs of absurdity rather than feeling flustered or afraid.

It was because they wondered what nonsense it was, given that Shan had been walking around inside the camp perfectly alive just a moment ago.

Of course, since not all thousands of soldiers could have witnessed him, there were some who felt somewhat confused.

A moment later, Shan revealed himself directly toward the enemy while riding a horse.

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly looking for me! But unfortunately, I am right here, alive and well!”

Thanks to the commander’s horn magic artifact, Shan’s voice also spread loudly enough for everyone on top of the castle walls to hear.

At the sight of him wearing the golden armor they had heard so much about, confusion spread among the Ruman soldiers.

“I clearly heard he died…?”

“A fake! That’s a fake! The Pendia bastards are tricking us!”

Someone shouted that, but the Ruman soldiers could instinctively tell that Shan was the real deal.

It was because the intimidation emanating from that knight’s body reached all the way up the castle walls, suppressing the soldiers’ minds and bodies.

This bizarre sensation, which they had never experienced from anyone else, was familiar to those who had faced Shan before.

“If any of you doubt my identity, come down! Whether it’s one person or ten, I’ll take you all on!”

Along with his shout, Shan pulled out A Thousand Shapes in whip form and struck the ground with a loud crack, causing everyone’s eyes to widen.

Was that not the ‘Silver Snake’, notorious as the most powerful and terrifying magic artifact in the South Sea?

If the superiors had been telling the truth and the guy had really been buried alive and died in that tunnel, that weapon should not have been seen.

Surely there could not be two such treasures in the world.

“The bastard… is alive. And completely unharmed.”

“Nonsense! His Excellency the Count definitely plunged him into a trap he could never escape alive!”

Shan’s fine and healthy appearance struck fear not only into the soldiers but also into the commanders, including the knights.

Viscount Jere, who had inherited command as Benon Robar’s adjutant and vassal after his death, also let out a sigh as he watched this.

According to what his respected superior had told him in advance, it should have been a trap impossible to escape.

If he had not fallen into the trap in the first place, Benon and the lords of each island would have also come out alive.

How on earth could anyone escape such a trap alive?

Was that man truly an immortal?

“Now… what should we do?”

After losing his mind in half-panic for a moment, a trembling voice was heard from beside him, plunging him into deep thought.

All the strategies Benon had presented were devised on the premise that the Altoan monster had been buried underground and died.

As long as the bastard was alive, everything had changed now.

After contemplating for a long time, Viscount Jere reached a rational conclusion as the commander of the four thousand five hundred surviving Ruman soldiers.

“Surrender.”

“Pardon?”

“Let us prepare… to surrender.”

“S-Surrender? When we still have such a large army left?”

“You saw it two days ago. That Altoan bastard is a demon. As long as a thing like that is in the enemy ranks, there is no chance of winning.”

Truly, even if they fought their absolute best, inflicting a certain amount of damage on the enemy before being wiped out would be the best they could hope for.

Rather than that, it would be better to keep even one more able-bodied man of the Ruman Kingdom alive.

This was half sincere, but half close to self-justification.

Although he respected his superior Benon, he did not offer steadfast loyalty to the King as Benon had.

If Benon’s operation had worked and there had been a chance of victory, he would have followed it faithfully, but why should he dive into a fight where failure meant certain death?

In fact, it was precisely because Benon knew of his self-preserving inclination that he had personally jumped into the operation instead of using his adjutant and confidant for it.

Of course, not everyone agreed with his opinion.

There were those who believed it was better to die than stain their honor, as well as those who could not back down due to their interests with the pirates or Duke of Licharzo.

However, there were not many such people, as the truly valiant ones had already died in the first battle or been taken prisoner.

Most of those remaining here were the type who had fled even before the retreat trumpet sounded during the outer castle siege, or had fled fastest the moment it blew.

Furthermore, since Benon Robar had dragged away all the high commanders, there was no noble with higher authority than Viscount Jere.

“Surrender!? Absolute nonsense! I will never allow it! This is treason! Hold out! Until His Majesty the King arrives!”

A short while later, Duke of Licharzo, who had been cowering in a mansion inside the inner castle, fiercely protested the knights’ decision.

Branded by the Pendia army as a sponsor of pirates who used evil magic, he was highly likely to be burned at the stake.

The Pendia army was already notorious for doling out ruthless responses to anyone associated with pirates.

Not to mention, the one proposing surrender was not Benon Robar, but a viscount who merely served as his steward and adjutant!

However, a significant number of the Duke’s knights had died in the previous battle, and most of the high nobles who might have sympathized and supported his view had been buried underground and died alongside Benon.

And the Duke’s soldiers did not wish to risk their lives fighting against the knights for a ruined master either.

After a brief internal conflict, the gates of the inner castle began to open slowly.

*

“It ended much more anticlimactically than I thought…”

“Well, winning without fighting is a good thing.”

“That’s true, but still.”

Straining his long neck to look around, Lug nodded at Ravana’s words.

After securing the bound Duke of Licharzo and his family, the Pendia army confiscated weapons from the Ruman army walking out of the inner castle.

The adjutant who had received command from Benon Robar bowed his head respectfully to Shan and Roden.

“As the defeated, I pray for your mercy.”

“We will not punish those who merely fought bravely, so do not worry.”

At Roden’s solemn declaration, he nodded with a somewhat relieved expression and was led away.

Having been burned before, instead of entering the inner castle immediately, they dispatched soldiers first to thoroughly scout the inside.

It was because they suspected the bastards might have piled up a mountain of ‘Flames of Purification’ or similar alchemical items brought from somewhere and detonate them.

Since they were bastards who had already committed a similar act once, there was no guarantee they would not attempt it again on an even larger scale.

Of course, the results of the reconnaissance were completely clean.

Once safety was secured in that manner, the full-scale looting began.

Roden organized the most trustworthy Pendia regular troops into several squads to secure the loot and compile an inventory.

If such a task were entrusted to mercenaries, they would probably walk out with the insides of their underwear bulging so much that walking would be difficult.

Of course, he permitted the knights of Libert, their allies who fought alongside them, to inspect the process.

Because if they were to participate in the distribution as allies who had fought together, they needed to know what had been gained.

“Uwa…”

When the vault inside the castle was opened, the soldiers gasped in admiration.

Massive amounts of gold coins, gems, and all sorts of ornaments were piled up randomly, looking like nothing short of a legendary treasure vault.

Befitting a powerful feudal lord of the South Sea, Duke of Licharzo was enormously wealthy.

Most of these were likely items looted from other nations of the Arman Alliance or from the Selim Sultanate on the southern continent.

“The rumors that the Duke was receiving tribute as a patron of pirates were true!”

“The one hanging on the wall here is the Azork Tapestry! The one said to have burned away five hundred years ago during the fall of the Arman Empire… Could it be authentic?”

“This is the magic artifact that the King of Pendia gave as a gift to the King of Ruman a hundred years ago!”

“Why is the Frost Helmet, a holy relic of the ancient Ajun Kingdom, here?”

Various antiques, magic artifacts, and holy relics (items originally precious whose value had grown even higher with added history) poured forth.

It was enough to make one wonder if this Duke might actually be richer than the King.

Dancers of the Duke could also be seen in the castle.

In addition to pleasing Duke of Licharzo with dance and song, they were sex slaves who attended to him at night, many of whom had been kidnapped from the continent and raised.

Since they likely had seen and heard a lot, it seemed best to extract necessary information, give them an appropriate amount of money, and send them back to their families.

Regrettably, no physical evidence proving the collusive relationship between Duke of Licharzo and the pirates emerged.

Even if such evidence had existed, it would have been burned to ash the moment the Pendia army came swarming in anyway.

However, securing witnesses was not difficult.

“That’s right. By my lord’s command, I joined the Red Eagle and raided Pendia merchant ships. Now that I have confessed honestly…”

“It will be taken into account during sentencing. At the very least, you can avoid burning at the stake.”

“Phew…”

Based on data obtained from interrogating pirates in the past, when they located and interrogated the Duke’s surviving knights who had participated in raiding Pendia merchant ships, the knights opened their mouths before long.

Of course, as knights who had to remain loyal to their lord, leaking operational secrets was taboo, but keeping silent here meant becoming accomplices to colluding with pirates, engaging in human trafficking, and practicing evil magic, facing execution at the stake.

Had it been just themselves, it might have been one thing, but with their entire families having to share the blame, they could not pursue personal honor alone.

Having obtained statements one by one in this manner, Roden dragged Duke of Licharzo out from where he had been thrown in prison and made a unilateral declaration.

“As of now, your family is no longer the administrator of Licharzo Island. This island will be managed by a governor as a direct territory of the Pendia Royal House, and Count of Meln’s merchant ships alone will be subject to the same tariff rates as our own country’s merchant ships.”

“It was the Ruman Royal House that bestowed this land upon our family! By what right do you dare!”

“The right of the victor. Since it has already been confirmed that the King of Ruman is the mastermind behind the pirates, the Eastern Holy See has judged that they are unqualified to rule a nation of the Arman Alliance. Therefore, the King of Pendia shall reclaim that position on behalf of an unqualified king.”

Roden spoke sneeringly toward Duke of Licharzo, who was shouting in anger.

Others around them also laughed together.

The vast plunder obtained from looting the island this time would be of great help to Pendia’s finances, which had been running dry due to recent internal reforms, military operations, and mercenary recruitment.

Count of Meln would also receive a portion of it, finding the deployment of his troops worthwhile.

Except for Duke of Licharzo, a few nobles of the Ruman Kingdom, and the pirates, it was a happy ending for everyone.

*

After loading Duke of Licharzo’s family onto a single warship and sending them under escort to Pendia, the Pendia army split into two groups once more.

First, the first group took on the role of establishing a full-fledged governing body here on Licharzo Island.

Serving as the third vertex of the triangle between Pendia and Libert, this island could function in the future as an important trading hub for both kingdoms to trade with the South Sea.

In the past, merchant ships used to avoid this place due to risks such as paying exorbitant taxes or having goods unfairly confiscated, opting instead for small, inconvenient ports where they would encounter pirates, but from now on, everything would change.

For the time being, Roden would handle urgent matters while additional officials were scheduled to be dispatched from the Pendia mainland later.

One thousand Pendia regulars and one thousand troops of Count of Meln remained on this island for its defense and maintenance of public order.

And all the remaining forces headed southwest under Shan’s command.

The place where the ruler of the South Sea, the King of Ruman, resided.

It was to capture the largest island, ‘Yezor’, and overthrow the head of the enemy nation.

Four thousand men was a small number for going to strike a country that comprised the Arman Alliance, but in any case, there was no need to worry about resistance.

It was because the King of Ruman had already poured almost all his forces into the previous war, so all he had left now was a few knights and several hundred royal guards.

On top of that, now that even the few feudal lords who had sided with him in the end (whatever deal they had struck) were miserably crushed, the lords of Ruman had completely turned their backs on their king.

All they had to do was finish off the enemy who had collapsed, stripped of all strength.