Chapter 116 – Alliance Army’s Advance – Seazack’s Strategy

This invasion is on a completely different level from before. The Empire and the Kingdom of Brenark, who are by no means on good terms, have formed an alliance under the pretense of subjugating Seazack. That alone shows just how serious they are.

In response to the failure of the defense at the Merkus River, Seazack immediately set his course of action and issued orders to his family.

Each group was to abandon the villages and towns under their control and gather in the capital of the former Rugierlan territory, where Seazack had established his base.

The former Rugierlan territory lies to the west of the former Mardkrald territory. It could be said to be the most prosperous city in the western region.

Beautiful daughters of noble blood had also been gathered there, and among the family it was regarded as 【a town where the『prizes』are collected.】

The major families had already assembled. At present, within Seazack’s mansion, the heads of the three largest families among them had been invited.

In the room, Seazack’s subordinates, including Bliss, were also present. Seazack had not disbanded his mercenary corps, and even now they continued to follow him in this land.

“Yo, you guys. Glad you made it.”

“Hey, Seazack-san. You made us abandon our territories, so what exactly are you planning to have us do?”

“The Merkus River’s already been taken. If this keeps up, we’ll be driven all the way to the eastern edge without putting up any resistance.”

“We’ve been going along with your way of doing things up until now… and this is the result?”

The ones who had been riding on Seazack’s bandit operations and enjoying all the benefits were now directing the damage caused by the enemy’s invasion, and the responsibility for it, straight at him. At that, Seazack couldn’t help but let out a faint smile.

To begin with, if it weren’t for Seazack building this bandit kingdom, these were the kind of men who would have died off long ago. To him, they were worth no more than disposable pawns.

“I’m the one who taught you how to fight at the Merkus River. The only reason it got breached is because they brought the forces capable of doing it. But I’ve always assumed that something like this could happen. That’s exactly why I called you all here. And I’ve got no intention of letting those self-proclaimed『saviors』walk out of this land alive.”

“Y-You mean that?”

“They’re a massive army, and a lot of them are knights with engravings. You’re saying you can take down opponents like that?”

“Yeah, I can. And I’ll make it real damn easy, too.”

Bliss, who had been listening nearby, was once again impressed by how smooth Seazack’s tongue was.

In truth, Seazack hadn’t actually prepared a countermeasure for when the Merkus River was breached. It was just something he had come up with not long ago.

Even so, based on the information gathered so far, Seazack judged that he had found a method with a solid chance of victory.

‘About fifty thousand Brenark knights are advancing from the north… while from the south, it’s around thirty thousand Imperial knights led by Arloston… Unlike Brenark, Arloston can’t afford to neglect vigilance against the Northern Empire. I guess he’s compensating for the smaller numbers with higher quality troops.’

Now that the Merkus River had fallen, mere bandits had no chance of winning. No matter how exceptional Seazack’s martial prowess was, there was a limit to what could be done with such small numbers.

And even if they were to flee this land, they would still need to somehow create an opening in the allied forces.

To begin with, crossing the eastern mountain range to reach Diltak carried high risk. It had now become Northern Empire territory and Diltak’s vigilance was on a completely different level compared to before.

Heading south into the Karmanda territory was even riskier. There was no way Arloston had launched his invasion without a plan. Anyone coming from the western region would be under heavy suspicion.

But when he laid out all the gathered information, Seazack came to a conclusion:『There’s no need to run.』Against an alliance force of eighty thousand, he saw a path to victory with nothing more than a gathering of bandits.

‘Yeah, it may be something『old』from over ten years ago, but it sure pays to have kept it! Heh… this is getting fun…!’

The Imperial Knights led by Arloston were advancing with speed in mind. At this rate, they would reach this land in no more than three days.

However, the Imperial force was composed of a mix of heavily armored infantry and cavalry. The faster they marched, the more those heavily equipped units would lag behind. Arloston was advancing ahead with a vanguard centered on light infantry and cavalry.

The units arriving later were distributing food to the liberated villages, reassuring the residents, and spreading the message that they were righteous Imperial Knights. Considering their plans for future rule, this too was an important move.

‘So the ones actually advancing ahead are, at most, around ten thousand…’

Even so, it wasn’t a number that mere bandits could contend with.

And there was another point that couldn’t be ignored. Unlike the Imperial Knights, the Brenark knights were advancing at an unusually slow pace.

He had sent Goya and the others to scout that side as well, and seeing how thoroughly they were plundering, Seazack couldn’t help but be impressed that they were acting far more like bandits than his own group.

‘The Brenark bastards have three objectives. First, to station their forces at the Merkus River. Second, to strip the Empire of its wealth through plunder. And third… my head. The first goal’s already been achieved. And judging by their priorities, looting ranks higher than taking my head.’

The Empire really picked a hell of a partner, he thought, almost laughing out loud.

There didn’t seem to be any coordination between the two nations, and it would probably be a while before Arloston learned about the Brenark army’s plundering.

‘If it’s just a village, they slaughter everyone, burn the fields, and even scatter salt over the land. They’re turning it into a place no one can live… Even if the Empire regains the territory, it won’t recover properly for years.’

It was hardly the kind of thing you’d expect to be done on the land of a supposed ally. That much resentment must have built up…but personally, Seazack didn’t dislike Brenark’s methods.

No matter how much they looted, it could all be blamed on bandits. And against the Empire in its current state, they were probably assuming it wouldn’t escalate into a diplomatic issue.

They had been mired in civil war for over ten years. Their national strength had declined, and neighboring countries had begun to look down on them.

What mattered here was that the alliance between the two nations was minimal, and they weren’t coordinating their movements. In the first place, their relationship remained hostile.

And because Brenark placed such emphasis on plunder, there was a significant difference in their marching speeds.

‘Arloston is trying to reclaim territory and take me down with this advance…while Brenark, under the guise of hunting me, intends to further drain the Empire’s strength…There’s no way they can keep in step. Which means I don’t even need to create an opening myself, one’s already been handed to me from the start.’

Seazack stood up and led the heads of the families to a warehouse. When they saw what had been gathered there, confusion spread across their faces.

What filled the space were countless sets of armor, along with the national flags of the Kingdom of Brenark.

“Seazack-san… what is all this…?”

“You know what I did when I invaded this land as a mercenary, right? These are the spoils from back then.”

Back then, Seazack had led his mercenary corps and invaded this land alongside the Brenark Kingdom’s knight order. After dealing with the territorial forces of the Imperial nobles, he betrayed the kingdom’s knights and wiped them out in a surprise attack.

So what became of the armor and weapons the knights had been wearing at the time? Some had been distributed among his subordinates but the numbers were overwhelming. There was more than enough left over. The same went for the flags.

“Alright, you lot. I’ll teach you the method I’ve been sitting on for over ten years, just for a moment like this. So listen real damn carefully, got it?”

Watching Seazack speak with such blatant pretense, Bliss couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.