Chapter 360: Scars of the Assault

Although the Iwood Kingdom’s army had allowed enemy forces to breach the fortress, the battle was settled after about two hours.

In the end—it was a victory for the Iwood Kingdom.

Every one of the invading foreign warriors who had entered the fortress was exterminated.

After the castle gate had been sealed with earth, the remaining enemy outside tried various ways to force their way in—but realizing it was hopeless, they eventually withdrew.

Yet, despite the victory, the cost was great.

Many soldiers had been slain in the surprise attack. Friends who had shared laughter the day before now lay dead.
The irrevocable weight of those deaths pressed heavily upon Rest’s heart.

Because spies had infiltrated their ranks, a thorough search and inspection of the fortress was conducted.
It was found that those who had infiltrated were half-bloods—offspring of humans and the foreign tribes.

They were descendants of women once kidnapped when the foreign tribes raided human villages.
The invaders had sent these human-looking hybrids into the fortress to open the gates from within.

“The enemy’s scheme has been broken, and we’ve dealt them a heavy blow. But we’ve also suffered dearly. Too many soldiers have been lost.”

The next day, after the cleanup and the handling of the dead were completed, the fortress’s key leaders gathered in the conference room.
It was the same room they had first visited upon arrival—but the faces were fewer.

Many were gone. Several field commanders had perished in the attack.

“Reinforcements from the capital haven’t even arrived yet… This is a disgrace. It seems I misjudged the enemy.”

Valeya Catreya spoke heavily.

As the fortress’s commanding officer, he was responsible for its defense—and thus felt personally accountable for the losses.
Believing the deaths were his fault, his expression was dark and remorseful.

(Well… I don’t think he’s really to blame. No matter who was in command, the enemy’s infiltration probably couldn’t have been prevented.)

Rest thought so to himself.

The foreign tribes’ assault had been a carefully orchestrated plan— an airborne strike by the winged folk, simultaneous attacks by invisible enemies using magic, and finally, infiltration by humanlike warriors who opened the gates from within.

It wasn’t a matter of negligence on Valeya’s part.

Sure, he had teased Rest over the matter with Yuri, but as a commander, his orders were sound.
The sentries had also done their jobs. There was no one who could be singled out as “at fault.”

(Could that first raid on the day we arrived have been a reconnaissance-in-force? Were they testing our strength?)

If that were true, then they would have to drastically raise their assessment of the enemy’s capabilities.

He had assumed the tribes living in the wilds were brutish and unsophisticated savages—
creatures resembling birds or insects, wearing little clothing, relying only on brute force.

But reality had proven otherwise.

(They’re far smarter than I thought… But how?)

“…Weren’t the foreign tribes supposed to be unable to use magic?”

Rest suddenly recalled and voiced his thought.

The invaders had used invisibility to approach undetected—that was clearly magic.
How could that be possible?

“Count Clover—you’ve noticed something important.” 

Carlius Catreya replied.

“I was also curious, so I interrogated the prisoners. You remember the ogre youth you captured, don’t you? When I questioned him, he said a ‘sorcerer’ had cast the spell on them.”

“A sorcerer…?”

Come to think of it, that ogre youth had called Rest by that same word.

“We haven’t extracted all the details yet, but it appears that a magic user is backing the tribes.
In fact, rather than mere cooperation, it seems this sorcerer is the one leading them.”

“So this sorcerer—he’s not one of the tribes? Don’t tell me… a human?”

“Hard to say. We don’t know that much yet. If you wish, Count Clover, perhaps you should speak to the captured youth yourself.”

“…Understood.”

It felt awkward—to speak with someone who had tried to kill him, someone he himself had captured. Still, Rest couldn’t ignore the existence of this “sorcerer” lurking behind the enemy.

“We must completely overhaul our defensive system,” 

Valeya declared.

“Let’s begin our discussion on that now.”

He led the conversation, focusing on replacing fallen officers and revising the security protocols.

Until now, their defense strategy had assumed the tribes could not use magic.
Now that they knew otherwise—and that the enemy had magic users among them—they would need to rethink everything from the ground up.

The meeting went on late into the night, as those gathered debated and finalized the new course of action.

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