Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 830: The Stronghold Army Arrives I

CH830 The Stronghold Army Arrives I

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The combined force of five thousand Stronghold soldiers and hired mercenaries marched towards the Frontier March.

The army was in no particular hurry, advancing at a leisurely pace as the troops chatted amongst themselves.

To the rank and file, this campaign was expected to be little more than a routine clean-up operation, with the greatest danger likely coming from a handful of berserk beasts left behind after the Beast Tide.

Moreover, many of the assembled troops were veterans of previous clean-up campaigns, so they believed they knew exactly what to expect and had little cause for concern.

The officers, all mounted on horseback, made no effort to correct that attitude.

If anything, they actively encouraged it, remaining just as relaxed about the campaign themselves.

In fact, they even admonished any soldiers who attempted to increase the marching pace.

After all, they were deliberately controlling their speed so that they would arrive only after the Beast Tide had swept through the Frontier March, leaving the domain ripe for the taking.

Leading the Stronghold’s forces on this campaign was an elderly man, Baron Benn Stodge.

Baron Benn Stodge was an honorary noble who had earned his title through four decades of service to the Frontier Stronghold. Rising from a lowly farmer conscript, he had steadily climbed the ranks to become one of the Fort’s three Vice Commanders under Viscount Dunhill.

Amongst the three Vice Commanders, Baron Stodge was also the greatest sycophant, which was precisely why he had received the Stronghold Commander’s blessing to lead this campaign.

In the eyes of both the Viscount and the Baron, this was a straightforward operation that would earn the old man considerable merit before retirement.

With one foot already in retirement—and the other inching ever closer to the grave—it was the perfect opportunity to crown his long career.

As long as the troops successfully secured the Ashwell Mine as planned, Viscount Dunhill had promised Baron Stodge a healthy share of the mine’s future profits once operations resumed under the direct control of the Stronghold’s forces.

It would serve as a generous retirement reward for a man who had loyally served at the sides of both Marquis Brendford and Viscount Dunhill, flattering and currying favour with each of them every step of the way until he reached his current position.

That said, although Baron Benn Stodge had climbed the ranks ahead of many more capable officers largely through his political instincts and social manoeuvring, he was by no means an incompetent commander.

He still knew how to command a force of this size, thanks to the decades of battlefield experience he had accumulated fighting the berserk beasts that emerged from beyond the Frontier March.

This was the other reason Viscount Dunhill had entrusted the campaign to Baron Stodge instead of either of the two younger, more ambitious Vice Commanders.

Also accompanying the expedition was Etgar Dunn, the patriarch of the now-fallen Dunn Clan of Castin Town.

Etgar had agreed to accompany the Stronghold Army on the promise that he would guide them through a secret route capable of bypassing both the now fortified valley entrance and the Fonterra Bastide, allowing the Stronghold’s forces to emerge directly behind Ashwell Town.

By doing so, the Stronghold Army could seize Ashwell Town before the Count had time to react, securing the all-important Ashwell Mines. The extracted minerals could then be transported back to the Stronghold through that same secret route while the army either held the Count’s forces at bay or crushed them outright.

In return, Viscount Dunhill had promised the middle-aged head of the Dunn Clan the one thing he desired above all else—

The man who had destroyed his family and killed his son.

Count Skywalker, Alex Fury.

Etgar Dunn’s second son had possessed enough martial talent to catch the attention of several Stronghold captains. They had subsequently acted as intermediaries between the Dunn Clan and Viscount Dunhill, paving the way for the family’s period of prosperity.

That very son had been amongst the Silver-rank warriors slain by Kavakan during the failed attempt on Alex’s life shortly after the young Count first arrived in the Frontier March.

Naturally, Etgar conveniently ignored the fact that his son had died while attempting to assassinate another person.

Instead, he chose to blame the intended victim of that failed assassination for his son’s death.

However, despite the arrangements between Etgar Dunn and Viscount Dunhill, the Viscount trusted him far less than Etgar believed.

As the saying went, there was little honour amongst thieves.

How could the Viscount—a noble in his own right—possibly place genuine trust in a man who had betrayed his own domain lord?

After all, this very lord had granted the Dunn Clan privileges and opportunities far beyond anything Viscount Dunhill himself could have offered had he ruled a domain of his own.

Yet, for the sake of unchecked greed and personal ambition, the Dunn Clan had still chosen to betray him in favour of an outsider.

Half the reason Viscount Dunhill had chosen Baron Benn Stodge to lead the campaign was to keep Etgar Dunn in check.

With decades of experience gained from leading multiple campaigns into the Frontier March throughout his long military career, if there was anyone amongst the three Vice Commanders capable of recognising whether the Dunn Clan head was leading them into a trap, it was Baron Stodge.

Unlike Alex and his convoy during their journey to the Frontier March, the Stronghold Army took the most direct route from the Stronghold’s gates—a road that had been steadily improved and maintained over the years to facilitate the transport and exchange of ores from the Frontier March while making travel far more convenient for the Stronghold.

A journey that had taken Alex’s elite group of one hundred an entire month, owing to the need to bypass both the Stronghold and Marquis Brendford’s sphere of influence, required only about three weeks for the Stronghold Army, despite their leisurely marching pace.

Although they would arrive well after the Beast Tide had ended, giving the Frontier March some time to recover, neither Baron Benn Stodge nor Etgar Dunn were particularly concerned.

Neither believed the domain would recover to any meaningful extent during the extra week following the Beast Tide.

Instead, they were far more concerned about becoming embroiled in unnecessary battles with the retreating berserk beasts.

That was precisely why they had deliberately delayed their arrival by an additional week.

By now, the overwhelming majority of the beasts participating in the tide would have already withdrawn into the Great Berserk Beast Forest, making the Stronghold Army’s task considerably easier.

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