Chapter 46
A snowy field where a freezing wind howled and whirlwinds arose.
One of the orc settlements dyeing that place in greenish-brown. From the military tents made of beast bones and hides, the orc commander with a grave expression shouted.
"Food shortage!"
At his cry as he tied his curly hair up tightly, the golden-haired man furrowed his brow.
"What are these bastards saying?"
"He says they've run out of food."
"All of that food?"
The man who removed his hood and let his golden hair flutter.
Luteon frowned.
When they led the army here, they had brought several carts of military supplies behind the giant magical beasts.
Most of that cargo should have been food, but was it already depleted?
Ramatu, holding his staff, conversed with the orcs and then said:
"He says the news from the army transporting the military rations has been cut off."
"Cut off...?"
As Luteon spoke with a puzzled expression, Ramatu stroked his chin as if he understood and answered.
"That fellow Kallias went missing a while ago... It seems he came out to embezzle the military rations."
A task that, if done poorly, would result in a meaningless death.
However, if backed by ability, it would certainly be of great help.
Because of his actions, the orc army now worried about food shortages.
"Kallias..."
"Orcs eat human portions too. To fill their tough bodies and stamina, food is just as important."
Whether beast or human, fighting on an empty stomach is difficult.
If the intake of something is lacking, all creatures will die.
Whether beast or human.
"But that important food supply has been cut off. To wait for the next resupply..."
There's no time.
The ones with good appetites had already eaten all the beasts and even magical beasts in the forest near Jaibarsh.
Having to also feed the tamed magical beasts, the food they brought before had long been depleted.
It had become a matter of urgency.
"The next one might be cut off too."
"That can't be. Please refrain from such words."
"Do you really think so?"
A meaningful statement.
Though he knew what it meant, Luteon decided to confirm once more.
Ramatu of Krasion.
He was the being who had lived the longest in Krasion.
"What do you mean?"
"There were great warriors among the orcs escorting this resupply. Don't you know what it means that they were robbed?"
The death of a great warrior.
The theft of military supplies.
What those meant was the same.
"You're saying Kallias killed a great warrior and stole the military supplies."
"Exactly."
But it was hard to accept.
"But that fellow nearly died at the hands of a great warrior just a short while ago. Even if he did... there was a paladin who wielded lightning together with him. Since it was an uncommon elemental spirit sword."
There's a skilled paladin by his side. An expert with a rare spirit sword.
If that person was there, the death of a great warrior makes sense. The elemental type that is said to be powerful even at first glance. If a paladin with a sword imbued with lightning was together, it's not impossible.
"That's also uncertain. Originally, the most frightening thing is a boy's growth."
"He is no boy."
"To me, he's nothing but a young boy."
"Regardless, let's stop that talk. I'm still questioning how Kallias is alive. Furthermore, I doubt he has that level of skill, so a great warrior is nonsense."
"I was speaking of possibilities."
Luteon thought it was too much of a leap. Probably words that could only be said because he didn't know Kallias.
When he was a monk in the cult.
Kallias's swordsmanship skill was, at best, mediocre.
He was a fellow with an absurdly lacking talent for the sword.
For such a fellow to have gone on a pilgrimage and survived this far was impressive enough...
'A great warrior? Nonsense.'
Of course, the martial prowess and Silver Coin Swordplay he displayed were certainly outstanding.
Because there must have been some fortuitous encounter, he could attain that level of skill.
However.
"A scoundrel is a scoundrel."
No matter how much a person has changed.
That essence does not easily change.
Even if he received excellent swordsmanship training, how far could meager talent go?
It's nonsense.
Luteon finished his thoughts.
"Regardless, things have become troublesome."
"While military rations are important, losing other military supplies is also painful. All the items needed to tame magical beasts have flown away too."
They're docile now, but once the medicine wears off, the magical beasts will awaken to their instincts.
Then there will be chaos.
"What should we do. Lord Ramatu."
"If that fellow Kallias isn't a fool, he won't try to return to the castle with the stolen supplies."
"Then......"
Breaking through that massive orc army to enter the fortress is impossible.
Moreover, if he's also carrying cargo to transport, the chance of success is close to zero.
Then there's only one thing he can do outside the castle.
"He'll try to rob all the continuing supply shipments."
"Probably."
An obvious conclusion.
Basically, supply materials are not transported all at once.
It's based on first, second, and third shipments.
What was stolen this time was the first.
"Then the second and third remain."
"Even those, if we don't employ numbers, will all be stolen by him."
If that happens, there's only one conclusion.
"The orc army will be annihilated and your mission will also end in failure."
Failure of the mission.
Luteon's shoulders grew heavy.
"......I cannot fail. I must succeed. For that person's sake, definitely!!"
At his conviction visible in his eyes, Ramatu clicked his tongue.
Whether that was conviction or madness of affection toward someone, he didn't know, but if left like this, the mission would fail.
As one who came representing Krasion, Ramatu also had his own pride.
It was unfortunate, but not something that could be left as is.
It was then.
"Hurry!"
An orc came running breathlessly and shouted. He had come to deliver an urgent report.
"What did he say."
After listening to the orc's story, Ramatu's lips deepened into a frown.
"He says the second military supplies have been robbed."
"...Whose doing is it."
"A knight wearing a red cloak, with ashen hair and eyes."
There aren't many knights with such an appearance in the north.
"Kallias......"
It's his doing.
"Sir Luteon. You must stop that scoundrel first. Once momentum starts burning, it doesn't stop."
"..."
"Sir Luteon. A hungry orc is less useful than a beast."
Looking at the dispirited orcs, Ramatu shook his head.
"Since the second military supplies were also robbed, we must meet the military supplies coming from other routes in advance. Which way is it."
"That place is..."
* * *
"The Sunken Forest?"
"Yes. That's likely the most probable place."
"I see. The Sunken Forest."
Sinking forest.
A place known as the second largest of the three famous forests in the north.
How could he not know?
'I'm the one who gave it that setting.'
As the name suggests, it's a forest where the ground is weak and gradually sinks. Originally, in ancient times, there were sheer cliffs and bedrock, but over a long period, a forest formed and roots tangled tightly to create the ground.
Because of this, there are places where accumulated sediment and roots are soft, and if you're in those places, your body gradually sinks, hence it's called the sinking forest.
A forest that, excluding hunters and trackers, few enter.
It's a dangerous place where you never know when the ground might give way, and entering lightly could cost you your life.
Even if you're lucky enough to survive a fall, there's no way to climb back up, so once you fall, it's truly the end.
The dangerous forest where death is unavoidable is precisely what's called the sinking forest.
"Orphin. Are you sure? It doesn't make sense that they'd cross that forest with military supplies."
That's how dangerous it is.
The ground being weak means it's a place difficult to transport heavy cargo, but are those fellows so barbaric that they don't even have that much intelligence?
It doesn't make sense.
"I'm certain. Miss Rini said she clearly saw with her own two eyes that they were heading toward the Sunken Forest."
"That's right! I saw them. Lord Kallias."
Eyes that received Valterus's grace.
If it's Rini's eyes, which are no different from clairvoyance, it's somewhat understandable.
But certainty is impossible.
'It was like that when we stole the first military supplies, but the second wasn't easy either.'
Though no great warrior was stationed, there were many orcs, and their average combat ability was high, so quite a fierce battle unfolded. Even though it was a surprise attack, the battle with them was intense.
A fair amount of sacrifice and blood was shed.
'Compared to them, the fighting power I have now is weak.'
No matter how much he possessed strength equal to a great warrior, his body was only one.
The average combat power of the knights other than Kallias couldn't be said to be high.
He had experienced several fortuitous encounters and coincidences that led to a leap in his skill, but they hadn't.
Though they were becoming more accustomed to the battlefield and their skills were improving day by day, the reality was that compared to the true knights of Zervan, they still fell far short.
'Compared to before, they've improved by leaps and bounds, but it's still not enough.'
The orcs escorting the military supplies were mostly elite among orc warriors.
If they simply clashed, they couldn't prevent losses among the knights.
At a time when they didn't know how the situation might change, each death of a knight was a painful loss that directly led to a reduction in fighting power, so they had to exercise the utmost caution.
Moreover, these were knights who trusted and followed him.
His desire not to lose them, as they called themselves the Kallias Knight Order, was also great.
"What was their formation like."
"There wasn't anything particularly unusual. Magical beasts were pulling large carts that looked like military supplies."
Nothing special.
That was precisely why it was more suspicious.
With the method of pulling military supplies on carts, they couldn't pass through the sinking forest.
Yet they headed that way regardless.
"It's suspicious."
Extremely suspicious.
"I guess they're orcs so they're ignorant and don't know the fearsome reputation of the sinking forest."
It was Aron, one of the knights.
Words fitting his bold personality.
Orcs are ignorant.
To some extent, that's true.
They're barbarians forming tribal cultures.
"Aron, while they may lack knowledge, they don't lack wisdom. Even if they were driven from the north, they're not fools."
"K-kehm..."
As Aron let out a cough, Allen, who was beside him, opened his mouth as if he'd been waiting.
"It's the Sunken Forest, called one of the three great forests even in the north. It's a forest famous next to the White Forest, so there's no way they wouldn't know. I find it suspicious too."
With a youthful face, having lost one eye, Allen, who had become somewhat sharper and more mature, suspected that they might have set a trap.
"It might be as Sir Allen says. Perhaps they have a special method unique to orcs to cross the sinking forest that's different from what we think. However, since they entered regardless, I think they'll come out. So how about we identify the location where they'll exit the forest and ambush them."
Instead of unnecessarily entering the dangerous forest, this was a plan to estimate where they would exit and ambush them.
As expected of a regular knight who had been under Zornik, it was a stable operation that could minimize losses.
"Orphin, what do you think?"
Kallias, who had been thinking quietly, looked at Orphin and asked.
In terms of experience, she too had been positioned as a northern knight for a long time, so she was hard to compare with anyone.
Though she was absurdly captured by orcs, she too was one who possessed both the dignity and intellect of a knight.
"I think we don't have time."
"Time?"
"Yes. We've already cut off supplies to the orc army twice. So they'll be anxious too."
That's not wrong.
The most important thing in war is military supplies.
In other words, resupply.
The northern winter is extremely cold, and food is endlessly insufficient.
For the orcs, who are moving a large army like many magical beasts and a green wave surging, food is as important as the honor they hold as warriors.
"They too will stake their lives on this resupply, so I think we must seize the military supplies and flee as quickly as possible."
"I see."
That's right.
As much as we are desperate, the enemy is also desperate. So the time remaining for us is by no means much.
If we're to carry it out, it must be as soon as possible.
Decide and execute.
"Then what about this?"
"What is it, Brans."
"What you're worried about right now, isn't it that the bastards who entered the forest might have laid a trap?"
"That's right. Even if we enter the forest and seize their supplies, if reinforcements come and surround us, it'll be hard for us to survive."
They'll also be desperate.
If their supplies are cut off, the ones who'll wither and die will be themselves.
News of what happened to their supplies would have slowly reached them. So they would have sent reinforcements for the last remaining supplies.
"Lord, our goal is to cut off their supplies, right? Then isn't it simple?"
"If it were simple, why would I be struggling..."
Just as I was about to say that.
Brans's gruffly spoken words struck my head.
"Then just make them sink alive along with the supplies."
The place they entered is the sinking forest.
It seems the two successes had made me focus only on seizing the supplies.
Make them sink.
Brans's words completely refreshed my mind.
The sinking forest.
All I had to do was make them sink, befitting that epithet.
"If that were simple, we wouldn't be struggling like this... Think before you speak."
Aron scolded him, but I raised my hand to focus attention.
"No. No..."
If it were someone else, they might not know, but for me, it was an extremely simple matter.
Because.
I'm the one who created the sinking forest.