So the Medieval Age Has a Split Inheritance System…
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Ai
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 53 – Landslide
Someone grabbed my arm. When I realized it, my vision brightened as I was pulled with tremendous force.
…Aah, so Wagner’s landslide buried friend and foe alike. Apparently, I fell unconscious after being buried alive, and it was evening by the time I woke up. Since I lost consciousness around noon, I had passed out for about five hours.
I already maxed out faint resistance a long time ago, but the fact I still did meant it was enough to kill a person instead… As I looked around, I noticed that the people by the castle peaks were mostly elite slaves. How much damage did the landslide cause?
“I will proceed with my report. 18 of the 1,000 elite troops died, and 193 are still missing. In addition, among the slave soldiers, 237 died, and 498 are still missing. Many suffered major wounds, so it’s expected that the death toll will increase.”
“I see. It’s our complete defeat this time. How are Wagner’s garrison troops?”
“Annihilated.”
“…Hah?”
“The standing army of 1,500 soldiers, mainly composed of the cavalry, tried to withdraw from the foot of the mountain as the landslide occurred, but almost all of them were caught by it. The few that managed to survive were hunted down by our army. Their garrison, which we presumed had 2,000 men, were all confirmed dead.”
The elite slave platoon leader, a veteran whose face I remembered, reported the deaths. Even if they were trained as an immortal corps, it only took an instant for death to get ahold of them. That said, most of the missing elite slaves found had survived the landslide, and their injuries, though severe, completely recovered in time. The 19 deaths of 1,000 happened right by the mountain peak when the castle collapsed, well within the acceptable range of casualties. I would have preferred if none of them died, though.
Rather than that, the loss of nearly 500 newly and efficiently trained slaves felt more painful. As expected, since the training didn’t account for being buried alive in earth and sand, many of the slaves were crushed to death, as was the usual case when caught in a landslide. Wagner’s method could be considered very rational against the immortal corps.
Then, regarding the standing army, it seemed that Gramilian, who was in the command at the time and stood just outside the cannon range, felt something off and withdrew further towards the foot of the mountain, and barely spared them from the landslide. What a good thing that he was a cowardly and self-serving commander. That said, the messenger who was supposed to relay the command to retreat was caught in the landslide and died. They rode horses, so it couldn’t be helped.
All in all, more than 500 people died in the Klaus county fortress. It was the first time my army suffered this much. If the standing army hadn’t retreated, we would have suffered greater losses, so I should honestly praise Gramilian for that. It would have been preferable if he told me earlier that he felt something was off, but there was no use asking him at this point.
…Well then. With this, there were almost no soldiers protecting Wagner’s territory. Our army suffered a devastating blow, so we should retreat, but we haven’t achieved results yet.
The landslide was a major setup after all. Needless to say, the enemy would have noticed the explosion, so they might be rejoicing at the thought that I might have died from that. It wouldn’t be strange if they let their guard down.
“…Have the people who suffered major injuries return to the territory with the standing army. I entrust the command of the returning army to Gramilian. The rest of the elite troops are to follow my lead. We’re heading to Wagner’s mansion.”
I separated the elite slaves from the returning army and led them to Wagner’s mansion. This was originally my hometown. I could march right in there, even in the dead of night. It would have been better if I brought Cornelia since it was a night march, but if I did, Cornelia might’ve gotten caught up by the landslide and died, so it was for the better that I didn’t bring her with me.
As a result of marching all night with only the elite slaves, by morning, we caught sight of Wagner’s mansion and raided it. They didn’t have much money saved up, but I managed to secure Wagner’s eldest son, Behrens-kun. Such an important person would, of course, immediately become a hostage.
After that, I thought of capturing Wagner’s legal wife, the sixth princess, but I decided not to. Things would become troublesome if I completely burned my bridge with the Carling Empire and Wagner. Finally, we captured the beautiful women in the territory as war prizes. Wagner’s army hadn’t arrived yet, so I could do everything I liked. It was his own fault that his troops were decimated.
Speaking of, they probably scattered a large amount of gunpowder in the mountain to artificially cause the landslide, but they might have also placed earth and sand at the top of the mountain. His army was affected since he couldn’t have done a large-scale trial beforehand, so they could only execute it and see the results after.
There was also a possibility that Wagner had trump cards that he didn’t explain to his own people. If he already expected this, wouldn’t that mean he had a worse personality than I? I did eliminate 500 of his elite army when he invaded me last time, but mine didn’t suffer any real damage back then.
In any case, since I survived and reaped the rewards, I could consider this my victory. But the number of my slave casualties was still painful. At this scale, replacing the 500 of them would take about half a year to replace.
Behrens-kun, only a year old and crying out in his cage, was loaded on the platform as we retreated for the time being. It would be bad if we encountered Wagner’s army on the way back, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. After we set fire to the mansion, we finally rushed back to Fenz county. Farewell to my parent’s house. When I return, it will be to completely crush Wagner’s army.
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