Chapter 240 - Episode 233: The Invasion ③
The port of Laden in the County of Kivileft was seized in an instant by the Betumia Republic Army.
There were warships known as guard ships stationed off the coast of the port, but the shipbuilding technology of the Kingdom of Roadberg did not even come close to that of the Betumia Republic, and their size and armament were limited. In the first place, these guard ships were primarily tasked with checkpoints and coastal vigilance against neighboring countries with similar levels of civilization, such as the Pallas Empire.
The ten or so guard ships, which were not designed for engagement with a distant superpower like Betumia, were sunk as easily as insects being crushed.
The land forces stationed at the port at the time consisted of about 100 men from the County of Kivileft's guard unit. Their main duties were monitoring cargo being unloaded from ships and dealing with thefts or brawls occurring at the port; they could not become a force capable of offering proper resistance to Betumia's invasion.
Five Betumia Republic transport ships reached the port first. Countless arrows rained down upon the port from their decks, and attack magic such as the fire magic [Flame Bullet], water magic [Ice Bullet], and wind magic [Wind Blade] were unleashed. Guard soldiers, merchants, and porters alike—everyone at the port was turned into corpses.
Then, soldiers landed from the ships. A total of 3,000 men disembarked from the first five ships. Furthermore, small boats were launched from the ships still offshore, and soldiers landed one after another.
The soldiers who entered the city of Laden attacked fleeing civilians indiscriminately, killing them mercilessly, even down to the women and children.
The anomaly at the port was quickly communicated within the city, and everyone desperately tried to flee, not even sparing the time to pack their belongings.
Laden, which held a population of thirty thousand even in normal times, was now even more overcrowded. Merchants who had come to buy food arriving from Betumia and to sell the metal resources and horses that Betumia desired were staying there in the thousands. Consequently, the areas around the gates, the entrances and exits of the city, were instantly congested with evacuees.
"Hey, move it! If we don't hurry, the enemy will be here!"
"It's blocked up ahead! We can't move!"
"I'm being crushed! The children are being crushed! Stop pushing!"
"Hey, don't step on me! My wife is down! Please, don't step on her!"
Residents and merchants rushed toward the gates, and even some soldiers of the territorial army who had abandoned their defensive duties tried to flee. Some were crushed to death by the pressure from all four sides, and others fell and were trampled to death by the following crowd.
Maximilian and Dietlinde were moving toward the port, choosing places on the main street that still had some room, away from those gates. They were led by several soldiers of the territorial army.
"D-Don't panic!"
Maximilian raised his voice as loud as he could toward the civilians and soldiers fleeing in confusion around him. He was slightly surprised himself that his voice came out unexpectedly loud.
"Women, flee! M-Men, follow me! If you want your wives and children to escape alive, fight with me! To stop the invaders, fight with me!"
Those words echoed among the fleeing residents and soldiers. Many civilians and soldiers saw the figure of the lord, clad in splendid armor and a helmet, advancing majestically toward the port without flinching at this situation (regardless of his inner feelings).
Hearing Maximilian's words, some began to follow behind him. Soldiers who had been frightened steeled themselves and summoned their courage, and the men among the general residents told their families, "Go on ahead," and followed Maximilian as he moved in the opposite direction of the gates.
"Follow me! Fight with me to let the women escape!"
Regardless of whether his voice cracked or grew hoarse, Maximilian shouted. The number of people following behind him increased little by little.
While watching that sight and continuing to shout, Maximilian prayed. He hoped that as many of these women and children as possible would survive.
He hoped they would survive to spread the story that "Count Maximilian Kivileft stood against the invaders and met a splendid end befitting a high noble."
Even if it was while protecting his son, grandson, and his own pride, this humble self would die while protecting the people. Those paupers who didn't even pay much in taxes. At the very least, they should do the work of spreading the good reputation of their lord. Thinking this, he urged his horse forward.
By the time Maximilian reached the defensive position, the number of people following him had increased to several hundred.
The defensive position was built around a large plaza in the center of the provincial capital, with carriages, barrels, wooden crates, and even furniture brought from somewhere piled up to block the roads extending outward, forming a barricade. Commanding the center was Baron Saturno, a military noble serving the Kivileft family.
"C-Count Your Excellency!? And the Madam as well!?"
Seeing Maximilian and the others arriving with a large number of men, Baron Saturno let out a bewildered cry.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! We shall fight as well! I've brought reinforcements, are you dissatisfied?"
"...No, certainly not. I was merely a bit surprised."
"Did you think it was unlike me?"
"To speak honestly, yes. With such an abnormal situation, I wondered if you had lost your mind."
"Hahaha! You certainly have a tongue!"
Baron Saturno, who had always been disliked by Maximilian because his inner contempt for his lord was visible in every part of his attitude, was kept employed because he was competent. His blatant irony was pleasant to the current Maximilian.
"So, what is the situation?"
Maximilian asked while looking at the territorial army deploying defensive lines in all directions around the plaza.
"What is it, you ask? It's wretched. Thanks in part to Your Excellency reducing the military budget, there is no chance of victory for our territorial army. Well, since the enemy succeeded in such a complete surprise attack, the result would have been much the same for any territorial army... but in the end, it seems this is the only place where a proper defensive stronghold could be constructed within the capital."
In response to his lord's inquiry, Baron Saturno answered with an unrestrained choice of words while shrugging his shoulders.
"The invasion is occurring not only from the port but also from within the capital. It seems soldiers were hidden in advance within the trading companies and workshops of the Betumians. Those soldiers are carrying out destructive activities everywhere... there have been reports that Betumia soldiers are pouring out from the great trading company under your patronage as well."
"What!? ...Those greedy damn merchants, after I treated them so kindly, they've turned traitor!"
Maximilian shouted, recalling the faces of the wealthy merchants.
"From here on, we will be surrounded by the enemy. I believe that if you stay, you will not return alive... is that acceptable to Your Excellency?"
"I don't care! I-I am the lord! I shall neither flee nor hide! I'll take the Betumia scum down with me here!"
"Hahaha, how reassuring."
Beside Baron Saturno, who laughed through his nose contrary to his words, Maximilian ordered the residents and soldiers who had followed him, "You lot, help build the barricade!"
"By the way, Your Excellency, what happened to Baron Alessandri? He was supposed to be heading to report to Your Excellency."
"I entrusted Julian and the others to him and sent them away. I cannot let the Kivileft bloodline end."
"Which means, unlike me who will fight and die now, he will survive along with the young master. How enviable."
"I don't know about that. He has to flee through a country already devastated by famine while looking after that great idiot of a son. I think he'll find that dying here would have been far easier."
"Hahaha, that is also true."
While exchanging banter with Baron Saturno, Maximilian felt his spirits strangely uplifted before the battle.
At that moment, one of the territorial army soldiers shouted.
"Enemy! The Betumia army has arrived!"
At those words, both soldiers and residents became restless. Baron Saturno barked at them, "Quiet! Calm down and prepare for combat!"
Maximilian could see a force wearing armor of an unfamiliar design advancing from beyond the street leading south.
"Your Excellency, Madam. I will fight while commanding the front line. You two should remain mounted in the center of the plaza and wait with the other cavalry, and then perhaps charge when the barricade is breached. I am sure you will meet a most exhilarating end."
"That sounds good. A flashy way to go, befitting the head of the House of Count Kivileft."
"Yes, let us perform a charge that will become a legend."
Maximilian moved to the center of the plaza while remaining mounted. Dietlinde followed. They were flanked by the territorial army's cavalry. Because they were inside the city, the cavalry were few. There were only a dozen or so riders.
"Listen up, you lot! Fight with everything you've got! The Lord Your Excellency is here with us!"
Baron Saturno shouted as he drew his own sword. His command was far more powerful than Maximilian's had been earlier.
The defensive force, a mix of soldiers and residents, met the Betumia army approaching in formation. Baron Saturno slashed at the front line of the Betumia army as they tried to climb over the barricade, and other soldiers followed, beginning the battle across the barricade.
Arrows flew wildly, swords and spears clashed, and the roars of men echoed.
Watching the Betumia army pressing in from beyond the barricade, Maximilian opened his mouth.
"...Dietlinde."
"Yes, what is it?"
"More than twenty years ago, before our marriage, you still came to marry a fool like me who had concubines and illegitimate children. Even when I asked the reason, you stubbornly refused to tell me... will you tell me now, at the end?"
Asked this, Dietlinde fell silent for a few seconds, then gave a short laugh.
"...I didn't want to be at my parents' house."
Dietlinde was born into a certain count's family in the northeast of the kingdom.
"My older brother, who was supposed to inherit the family headship, died of illness before reaching adulthood, and I worked desperately so that I could inherit the headship myself... but my father did not respond to my efforts. Because it was a prestigious military family, he was obsessed with having a male inherit the headship, so he formally remarried one of his concubines and decided to let the son, who had been illegitimate until then, inherit the headship."
"...That would certainly be infuriating. So, you came to me to leave your parents' house as quickly as possible."
"That's right. If I had rejected the marriage proposal from the Kivileft family, given my age, I would have become a spinster, and I might have spent my whole life as a parasite at my parents' house while feeling marginalized. I refused to live such a life."
"...Hahahahaha!"
Having the mystery of his wife's marriage revealed, Maximilian laughed pleasantly.
"I see, that's why you hate the illegitimate Noein so abnormally."
"Hmph, an illegitimate male is nothing but a seed for trouble just by existing. An illegitimate child more talented than the legitimate heir is out of the question. Instead of something as soft as house arrest in a detached villa, they should have just strangled him quickly without worrying about a bit of scandal."
"That might have been the way... well, it's too late for that now."
Meanwhile, the battle continued. The defensive force had stood their ground vigorously, but spirit alone could do nothing. Gradually, the number of casualties increased.
A [Flame Bullet] blew away a part of the barricade, and the bodies of territorial army soldiers caught in the explosion and debris were torn apart.
A resident man who had traded blows with a Betumia soldier fell.
"...That's why, even so, I am grateful to you for taking a woman with such a troublesome personality as a wife and getting me out of that house."
Some enemy soldiers entered the houses beside the barricade and tried to enter the plaza through the windows. To prevent this, the resident men attacked them with farming tools, clubs, and picked-up stones.
"I see..."
To Dietlinde's words, Maximilian only replied with that.
Simultaneously, multiple magic attacks landed, and more than half of the barricade was blown away. Enemy soldiers began pouring in from there.
"Count Kivileft! If you're going to do it, now is the time!"
Baron Saturno shouted upon seeing the collapse of the defensive line.
Finally, he had to charge. He was truly going to die now.
Thinking that, his hands began to shake again.
Another hand wrapped around them. Looking beside him, Dietlinde had brought her horse close and was holding Maximilian's hand.
"Dear, I am with you."
"...Yes. Thank you for everything until now, Dietlinde."
"What are you saying? Even if we go to hell now, we'll be together."
"...Heh, that's also true."
Maximilian gave a bitter smile at Dietlinde's words. He had lived exactly as he pleased until now. It would be only right for them to go to hell.
The shaking of his hands had stopped.
Maximilian drew his sword and held it high. Dietlinde followed suit. The cavalry surrounding them also followed.
"...I am a noble of the Kingdom of Roadberg, Count Maximilian Kivileft! This is my territory; I absolutely will not permit foreign invaders to trample it with their dirty boots! Prepare yourselves! Haaaah!"
Side by side with his wife, with the cavalry behind him, Maximilian raised his sword and charged into the midst of the enemy.
The defensive capability of the County of Kivileft's Laden was extremely fragile, and the lord was incompetent in military matters. The occupation was expected to be completed before sunset. That had been the initial prediction of the Betumia Republic Army.
However, the territorial army constructed a defensive position within the city, and with the addition of the residents, they stood against the enemy with a larger force than expected. Furthermore, as Count Maximilian Kivileft's encouragement spread and sporadic resistance unfolded in various parts of the city, the battle dragged on until night.
As a result, the Betumia Republic Army abandoned the attempt to expand the invasion to the surroundings of Laden on that day. Many evacuees were able to gain distance for their escape during the night. Among them was Julian Kivileft's party.