Release that Witch

Tangen, who had been compelled to follow the First Army, found that he had seriously underestimated this army’s strength.

During the battle, they never fought in hand to hand combat against the army of the Kingdom of Dawn, and Tangen did not see a shower of arrows nor any brutal fighting scenes in this 500-meter-long front. The First Army soldiers just kept firing at their enemies and the people in the army of the Kingdom of Dawn kept falling down at the sound of the guns.

This scene seemed like a flashy show to him.

But the loud, shrill cries from the main road reminded him that it was an extremely fierce battle. This easy victory of the First Army clearly demonstrated its strength to him.

He finally understood the combat method of The First Army that Nail mentioned.

He had never seen such an well-organized, disciplined army in the past and thought that the First Army soldiers were as outstanding as their lethal weapons. In this army, hundreds of soldiers acted in unison as if they were one person. They moved quietly in the darkness to get into position and got ready for the ambush before daybreak. They silently lurked and launched an attack according to their plan. Even with no supervisor overseeing the fight, the five squads still worked closely together. The commander, Eagle Face, also came to join the ambush rather than staying in the camp. Every soldier was highly concentrated and attentive to his duty. Each order was promptly executed. He believed that if it had not been for these excellent soldiers, the First Army would have not been able to achieve such great success solely relying on their fierce weapons.

After witnessing the battle, Tangen could not help but feel glad that he had chosen to leave Hermes in time.

He thought that if he had stayed in the Holy City, a merchant like him probably would have been accused of financing the enemy when the First Army seized the city.

He secretly sighed. Well, it’s really dangerous to do business in the outside world. If I can return home safely this time, I’ll never leave the city of Evernight in the future.

I can carry on business within the city. Although I won’t earn much money that way, I’ll still be able to raise my family.

And my Fuer in the ”Paradise on Earth”. She must miss me very much.

I really had hoped to get home earlier. Tangen was absorbed in thought.

***************

Towards the evening, Eagle Face stepped into a temporary tent for a meeting. He saluted Edith and handed a report to her. ”The battlefield has been basically cleaned up. Here are the reports from each squad. I’ve briefly summarized them.”

”Thank you for your hard work.” The Pearl of the Northern Region received the report and roughly glanced through it. Just as she had expected, the casualty figure for the First Army was zero. As for the army of the Kingdom of Dawn, more than 1,000 people were found dead and about 600 were wounded. This fight was estimated to reduce the number of Dawn’s soldiers by 20%. Most of them were killed in the explosions of the bombs and the panic-stricken stampede. The guns and bullets had greatly increased the turmoil but had not directly killed many people.

This result corresponded with the Adviser Department’s predictions. The garrison of the Northern Region did not have many soldiers and the Magic Ark could only carry a limited amount of ammunition. Without effective methods to pursue and wipe out the enemies, they could only let most of them run away, but as long as the garrison managed to drive them away, this action could be considered a success.

At the end of the battle, more than 1,800 people had dropped their weapons and surrendered and 25 of them were nobles. The one with the highest rank was an earl who claimed himself to be the lord of Bloom, but Edith was more interested in a baron named Remin Payton. According to the reports, all the nobles had promised to pay the ransom and demanded preferential treatment, except this baron. Remin had repeatedly emphasized that he had known a distinguished official of Graycastle for a long time and was a friend of the king.

”Did he really say that?” she asked Eagle Face while shaking the pamphlet in her hand.

”I assumed that it was just nonsense. Or perhaps, this guy still thinks the king is Timothy Wimbledon,” the deputy battalion commander frowned and said. ”What are you going to do with these nobles?”

”It’s impossible for us to let their families ransom them, so throw them into the dungeon.” Edith thought for a moment. ”They may be useful for us in the future. As for the civilian captives, release them now. We don’t have the extra food to feed them.”

”Yes.”

”Did you find the King of the Kingdom of Dawn, Appen Moya?”

”We’ve checked all the corpses and found no one that looked like him.” Eagle Face shook his head. ”During the interrogation, a captive said he had seen Appen and his knights fleeing the battlefield. According to him, Appen and his men changed clothes and brought with them no flag or anything bearing the coat of arms of the royal family, and the others who wanted to join them to escape were all stopped by the king’s knights. However, he also admitted that he was not sure about this for he saw this from a distance and at that time, the army of the Kingdom of Dawn was in chaos.”

”Where did this captive see this?”

”Inside the old Holy City.”

”There’s a strong possibility that it was Appen.” Edith shrugged her shoulders. ”It’s imperative for him to personally lead such a large army and if he was marching with the army, where do you think he was?”

”Ugh... at the head of the procession?” Eagle Face expressed some uncertainty.

”To be accurate, he should be behind the vanguard units,” she answered. ”As the old Holy City has no walls, the first one getting into the city will collect the most trophies in the robbery. In order to make sure that he was the first to be there, he must have made his own knightage the vanguard to eliminate threats and ensure his own profits.”

”Do you mean that he and his knights were already inside the city before the Bomber Action started?”

”Well, yes. That’s why Appen survived the air attacks launched by Maggie and Hummingbird and had enough time to identify the situation and choose the correct direction to escape. I have to say, he was quite wise to put aside his dignity and act decisively to escape in disguise.” Edith slightly raised the corners of her mouth and quickly licked her lips.

”Damn it! We let the big fish escape,” Eagle Face said angrily. ”If I had arranged another group to chase...”

”No, it’s of no use,” she interrupted. ”On such a broad plain, it’s not easy to catch him unless you know his escape route in advance. We succeeded in the ambush on the main road just because we took full advantage of their retreating habit and herd mentality. If they had chosen to escape to the wheat fields on the other side of the road, we would not have achieved such an easy victory.”

”...” The deputy battalion commander did not refute this but still looked very vexed at his failure to catch Appen.

”You don’t need to blame yourself for this. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for us.” Edith smiled.

”Why?” Eagle Face raised his head in interest.

”It’s complicated to explain. You only need to know that fear is contagious and when the people of the Kingdom of Dawn realize how formidable we are, they’ll never belittle His Majesty’s warning.” The Pearl of the Northern Region paused. ”Appen Moya will have a difficult time.”

Knowing that she did not want to explain further, Eagle Face stopped pursuing the matter. ”So what should we do next? Directly go to occupy the old Holy City?”

”No, it’s impossible. The five hundred people we have are far from enough to fulfill this task.” Edith denied his suggestion without hesitation. ”Let’s wait. Miss Maggie has gone to pick up a key person for this task. With her help, we may be able to seize this city effortlessly.”