Chapter 167: Forced Entry
When Leon leapt out of the window and disappeared into the eastern sky, Chancellor Brighton shook his head and went to report to His Majesty the King.
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“I report. A servant messenger has arrived from Jewelron regarding Lord Vincens. According to the messenger, around two hundred Royal Knights bearing the royal banner have arrived at Lord Vincens’ mansion.”
“What’s that?”
“Skoltin-sama, something seems odd.”
“I’ve never heard of a knight unit carrying the royal banner. There may be something behind this.”
“Indeed… 200 riders, is it? Then we shall also dispatch a force of 200 to Vincens’ estate.”
“Is it not unwise to match their numbers?”
“It’ll take too long to gather more than 200. If we combine forces with Vincens’ own knights, we should be able to overwhelm them. It’s impossible for a unit bearing the royal banner to behave like this! Whoever they’re, they’ll regret baring their fangs against our ducal house. Bring the horses!”
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After receiving the report from the chancellor, the king picked up a report sent from Josefane and asked, “Do you think the duke knew about this?” though he didn’t truly expect an answer.
“How shall we proceed?”
“This is far too grave to end with punishing Vincens alone. We’ll wait for further reports, but we must hold the duke responsible for granting Vincens the rank of viscount and allowing him to govern Jewelron under ducal authority. Other matters will be handled as negligence of supervision and punished accordingly, but since this involves a ducal house tied to the royal family, lenient punishment would set a bad precedent.”
“But Lord Langueille is a man prone to opposition. Will he comply obediently?”
“He parades around with his followers and competes with Duke Barland, but the difference in their ability is simply too great. He’s currently being kept in the royal capital, so we’ll present this to him and make him submit. We’ll make him and his followers regret their recent words.”
“Is that why you summoned Marquis Romberg to the capital as well?”
“Next will be the domain capital of Romberg. Summon Marquis Romberg to the castle tomorrow.”
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When the city of Moorian and the tents before it came into view, I thought they were too close to the town—and as expected, they were.
Looking down at the forces waiting in the grassland, I saw that the tents were completely surrounded by Marquis Romberg’s troops.
However, because the tents were inside a simple palisade and anti-cavalry barriers, they likely assumed this wasn’t just ordinary bandits.
The surrounding Marquis Romberg’s troops were too few to make a move.
The commander of this unit looked inexperienced in field command—if I told him they were surrounded, he would probably panic.
If I changed into the jester’s outfit and dropped in, they would discover my identity and it would interfere with future actions. What to do… well, a man needs courage—so I chose a plunge, or rather, a controlled fall.
I disabled the updraft above the tents, then from freefall I inflated [Perforated Balloon!] to slow down, switching to hover before landing.
“Who goes there!”
I took out the royal banner and waved it. The men who rushed out at the shout immediately stood at attention and saluted.
“Leon-dono, I’m Worgan, captain of this unit!”
“Captain Worgan, you’re surrounded by Marquis Romberg’s troops. Please keep your voice down.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“You’re being watched because you set up camp too close to the city.”
“Impossible! I received no such report!”
Hopeless. He was far too complacent.
“Of course you didn’t. This is unfamiliar ground to you, while the enemy knows the area around the city perfectly. They could surround you without being noticed.”
“What should we do?”
“There’s no point panicking now. Prepare quietly for tomorrow. If you’re attacked… how many men did you bring?”
“Two hundred and twenty-five in total!”
“Then quietly dismantle the central tent. Don’t change into your uniforms until tomorrow morning.”
“Understood! Dismantle the central tent!”
“I said quietly! Call your deputy!”
Even though I was deliberately keeping my voice down, the man bellowed his orders like a gong.
“Leon-dono, I’m Goldrant, the deputy commander.”
“You understand I hold command authority over this unit, correct?”
“Yes, I’ve been informed by the Chancellor.”
“Captain Worgan, your command is suspended. From now on, act in a way that doesn’t interfere with operations, especially don’t raise your voice. Goldrant, you take command.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You’re surrounded by Marquis Romberg’s troops, yet a man who can’t judge the situation and keeps shouting orders is dangerous.”
Since the central tent was gone, I ordered everyone to remain silent and created a transparent dome about 15 meters in diameter with multiple entrances.
I had them gather thin branches from around the tents and place them beside the entrances.
Worgan and his men looked puzzled as they planted branches into empty space.
After confirming the entrances quietly, I had them return to preparations. I also told about 30 men to prepare ropes for binding prisoners.
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“What’s that?”
“They’re planting branches in pairs—what are they doing?”
“Who knows… setting up tents so close to town, and their horses and uniforms don’t look like bandits either.”
“I’ll report it anyway.”
“You’ll just get yelled at for wasting time. Don’t even bother.”
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“How are things?”
“Nothing unusual. One tent was taken down, that’s all.”
“I see. Report immediately if anything changes.”
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The abnormal report reached Marquis Romberg’s command post shortly after dawn.
“Captain, the tents are being dismantled…”
“What else?”
“It’s the Royal Knights! Every one of them is wearing a Royal Knights uniform!”
“What!? Why are the Royal Knights here? Report to the marquis immediately!”
So that’s the command post, huh.
From above where the updraft wouldn’t disturb the tents, I formed a dome downward, covering each tent one by one with transparent barriers from the sky.
The guards noticed me and started shouting, but it was dawn and there were few on watch; most were still sleeping or eating breakfast.
It felt like throwing a net from the sky.
I signaled to the men waiting in the grass, and those carrying ropes rushed in. I released the dome around groups of guards and had them bound.
The men gave up when surrounded by drawn weapons. The knights bound them efficiently, then moved to the next group, repeatedly releasing each dome and restraining its occupants.
For entire units, I strengthened the dome so they couldn’t escape until the following evening.
Since their numbers were small, it ended quickly.
“What’s this? There’s some kind of wall!”
“What happened?”
“That, captain… something is blocking us…”
“Hm? A barrier? This?”
“Yes, it’s a special barrier. You won’t be able to get out until tomorrow evening.”
“Who is it!? Why are you floating?!”
“Who are you?”
“We were told there are Royal Knights here—but are you one of them?”
“Why are Royal Knights here?”
“You don’t need to worry. Just relax until tomorrow evening—it’ll all be over.”
The captured men were locked inside a dome, and those who helped were ordered to change into knight uniforms as preparations for departure were rushed.
“Goldrant, I’ll lead the assault. Don’t fall behind. Follow the plan.”
“Understood.”
I took out the royal banner from my magic bag and slung it over my shoulder.
The men inside the dome stared at me in disbelief, mouths hanging open as I floated above them.
Leaving the grassland, the 225 riders moved onto the Jaltan highway toward Moorian, raising clouds of dust and producing thunderous hoofbeats—an impressive sight.
But I was flying alongside the cavalry, looking like nothing more than a spectator.
When the city gate came into view, I moved ahead. Since it was early morning, only guards and travelers were present.
I stopped at the gate, held up the royal banner, and shouted:
“The King’s cavalry is passing through! Open the noble passage and clear the way!”
People stared blankly at me floating in the air, but after I shouted again and the sound of approaching hooves grew louder, they hurriedly opened the noble passage. Some fled, others collapsed in fear.
I casually tossed those who had collapsed aside with [Whirlwind!].
We passed through the gate, and I led the cavalry at the front.
I had checked the route to the marquis’s estate earlier that morning, so I was fairly confident—but not entirely, so I occasionally rose higher to confirm the direction.
According to information from Count Arkwright, Marquis Romberg’s estate was being used as a relay point for slave transport. When I was told we would be taking it down in one go, I was surprised.
The front gate of the estate was closed, but I threw a massive boulder into a large [Whirlwind!].
The roaring [Whirlwind!] smashed into the gate with booming impacts, and in moments the gate was shattered and blown away.
Facing the charging cavalry, I swung my arm in a circle to signal the assault on the mansion.