Chapter 251

The imperial army's procession stretched out long. The sight of the army moving across the vast plains of the empire was magnificent. At the forefront was an old general with graying hair.

As most knights did, the old general Carnius looked at least ten years older than his actual age. He had aged even more in the last year so that just looking at his face, one would think he was well over seventy. However, his broad shoulders and back still carried the sharpness of a man in his prime.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

The combat troops belonging to the army under Carnius' command numbered twenty thousand. Including the supply units, the total exceeded forty thousand. It was an excessive number for a single general to command alone. If he gained the soldiers' trust, he could even consider a rebellion with such a force.

Such a force was given to Carnius, who belonged to the anti-imperial faction. This showed how invested the emperor was in this war.

"General, the plunderers have reached the border of Porcana. It would be best to increase our marching speed," the adjutant reported after receiving the message.

Carnius shook his head and responded, "Do not rush. The barbarians are already cornered. We just need to tighten the noose slowly."

Carnius was cautious. If they failed to drive out the plunderers in this battle, the empire would have to engage in an all-out war.

‘This is just about the extent of the forces the empire can mobilize comfortably.’

Carnius assumed that there were about thirty thousand combat troops on the northern front. The combat troops under Carnius' command numbered twenty thousand. Including the supply troops on both fronts, the empire was mobilizing over one hundred thousand personnel.

The imperial army needed just as many non-combatants as combat troops. Being a defensive army, they could not plunder the lands of the civilized world. They were different from the barbarian armies that sustained themselves through local plundering and self-sufficiency.

‘Mobilizing any more troops would lead to a loss of imperial power.’

The loss of mobilizing one hundred thousand personnel was enormous for the empire. Mobilization of such forces without causing social chaos was only possible because the empire had accumulated wealth by plundering its vassal states and barbarians over three generations. It was an unimaginable act for anyone else.

Emperor Yanchinus likely wanted to end the war as quickly as possible with only the current forces.

“Sigh, they really took every last cil.”

Carnius looked around the devastated region of Marganu. The western plunderers had taken even the food they needed to last until the next harvest, and to make things as bad as possible, set fire to the fields.

‘Marganu won't be able to feed itself until next fall.’

The damage to the granary region of Marganu was a significant blow to the empire as well. The empire's grain storage would have to bear the brunt of that loss.

“There are no remaining forces in Marganu. All the men capable of wielding weapons are dead. Actually, they are demanding security forces from us,” the knight who had gone to conscript reported.

“Tell them we will send them some troops once the barbarians are eradicated.”

Of the twenty thousand troops under Carnius, ten thousand were organized into legions. The two legions formed this way were the core of Carnius' army.

The remaining ten thousand were mercenaries, conscripts, and slave soldiers. They had low morale and poor discipline and were meant to merely bolster the numbers. They were those who would likely flee if the battle turned against them, so they couldn't be included in the core strategy.

Carnius' army passed through Marganu and headed for the border region of Porcana.

"Sir Varican, move ahead by a day's distance."

Carnius sent out a unit of light cavalry for reconnaissance. Traces of the barbarian campsites were scattered here and there.

The western plunderers numbered about ten thousand. Though they were fewer than the imperial army, almost all of their troops were seasoned combatants. They also actively captured and used imperial equipment and weapons, so their level of armament was substantial.

"General, a messenger from His Imperial Majesty."

Carnius squinted as he looked back. The emperor’s direct messenger handed a letter to Carnius.

Carnius opened the letter with the violet eagle seal. He frowned as he read the words.

"...It seems the stalemate on the northern front is dragging on longer than expected," Carnius murmured after reading the letter.

He tucked the letter into his inner pocket and ordered the advance.

‘Is His Majesty serious about this?’

Carnius squinted as he pondered on the contents of the letter. If things were to unfold as stated in the letter, the dynamics of the civilized world might tip.

* * *

The fortress of Porcana opened. Soldiers on the walls and towers stared at the barbarians.

“What on earth is His Highness thinking, dealing with these barbarians...”

“Shh, quiet. Even Duke Lungell agreed.”

“But an alliance with barbarians? How does that make any sense? Anyone with half a brain will laugh at Porcana.”

The nobles and knights murmured. Even someone ignorant of politics could tell that the current situation was unusual.

Up until now, barbarians and civilized people were enemies. No matter how much the civilized fought among themselves, when barbarians appeared, they had always united to fight them. The common enemy was always the barbarians.

‘We are joining hands with the barbarians to fight the empire.’

The soldiers of Porcana were shocked. But upon reflection, it wasn’t entirely strange; it just hadn’t been done before. After all, the imperial army was the very first invaders, and the coastal state of Porcana had never bordered the barbarians.

‘If we think of the plunderers from the west as a civilized nation, this is a perfect alliance.’

Nobles with political acumen chose their words carefully.

No matter how much the barbarians beyond the Sky Mountains expanded, they would never share a border with Porcana on the east coast. This meant there would be no border disputes to cause friction.

“The problem is that they are barbarians and a tribal state that could disintegrate at any moment. Look at the north. As soon as their head Mijorn died, the tribes all scattered. This is an alliance with no guarantee of reliability.”

The western alliance was different from a kingdom with land and a feudal system. To civilized people, their structure seemed very unstable.

“The silver lining is that the leader of the barbarian alliance army is that Urich.”

“Urich?”

“Urich, the mercenary leader who participated in Porcana’s civil war. He is close friends with His Highness and a capable barbarian who could serve as a mercenary leader in the civilized world.”

“A barbarian is close friends with royalty? I wish that were a joke.”

“He is the leader of the army that destroyed even the Langkegart Kingdom. If an army that fought the imperial army to a standstill is an ally of Porcana, independence is not a stretch!”

The nobles’ eyes widened at the mention of independence. It was a desire that they had long abandoned.

King Varca ascended the throne with the help of the emperor. They thought Porcana would never escape the empire’s grasp, at least while King Varca lived.

“Is His Highness aiming for Porcana’s independence?”

“Of course, he is. The fact that we’ve joined hands with the barbarians means that we’ve turned against the empire.”

“My goodness, opposing the empire! The empire...”

Some had only now grasped the current situation. Even such foolish people could hold power over others simply because they were nobles.

In any case, the alliance was formed. With Georg, Urich was able to formalize the treaty in writing.

“No plundering. Do not leave the designated area!”

Katagi, Urich’s right-hand man, went around shouting. The warriors spat on the ground with indifferent faces, glaring at the soldiers.

“We managed to get inside, so why don’t we just take over? What’s the point of keeping this treaty or something...”

Belligerent chiefs grumbled. Now that they were inside the fortress, they could sweep through and take over if they wanted.

“Where are the women? Any women?”

The warriors shouted. No matter how great the Great Chief’s authority, controlling all ten thousand warriors individually was impossible. They were seasoned warriors but not trained soldiers.

Olga of the Frost Snake Tribe glared. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Boo!”

Olga shouted at the soldiers staring at him. The frightened soldiers flinched and looked away.

‘To think we are joining hands with these men... They are nothing but a bunch of weaklings.’

To the warriors, the soldiers seemed weak and frail. The gap between tribal warriors who spent their entire lives hunting and fighting and civilized soldiers who farmed was vast. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The alliance between Porcana and the barbarian alliance was formed, but internally there were many uncertainties.

“But for what it’s worth, I do like the food here!”

Olga shouted in his tribe’s language, grabbing the meat hung over the campfire. The smell of smoke wafted through the air.

Clang!

Olga was about to eat the meat when an axe blade touched his shoulder.

It was Katagi’s axe. Katagi, while trying to control the warriors, saw Olga trying to eat the meat and stopped him.

“Olga, the Great Chief has forbidden any sort of looting. Do not touch anything without permission.”

“You... will die... Put... this away...”

Olga spoke haltingly. His words were clumsy, but his eyes were as fierce as a hungry beast.

“You seem to not recognize the Great Chief’s authority. That part of you didn’t sit right with me since before.”

Katagi did not remove his axe. Warriors gathered around to watch the fight.

“I recognize... but not worship... like you. I am a proud... warrior. I... believe in... myself.”

“If you recognize his authority, then put down the meat. In the alliance, the Great Chief’s order is the law of the heavens.”

“We take... what we want. That is... what warriors... do.”

Olga bit into the meat and chewed. Katagi frowned at the blatant provocation.

“Looks like I’ll have to make an example out of you here.”

Katagi gripped an axe in each hand. In response, Olga twirled his spear like a windmill.

“Ooooh!”

“Ho! Ho!”

The warriors shouted in a circle.

Hearing the commotion, Urich shoved himself through the warriors.

“What’s going on over there? Is someone fighting?”

Urich saw Olga and Katagi and scratched his messy neck. He flicked the dirt from his nails into Katagi’s mouth.

“Blegh!”

Katagi spat out the dirt clump that nearly went down his throat.

“Stop fighting over stupid stuff like some ten-year-old kids.”

“G-great Chief! Olga broke your order to not loot. We need to kill him to establish your authority,” Katagi shouted after clearing his mouth.

“It’s not worth killing him over a bit of meat. But if it’s not just Olga but all of us doing that, it’ll be quite a big problem. The alliance with these civilized people that we worked so hard to form would break. I trust that you guys won’t follow Olga’s example and plunder. He’s being let off because he did well in the last battle. Anyone else will just die. If you’re upset, go cut off one of the imperial army’s general’s head in the next battle. Then I’ll give you all the special treatment you want.”

Punishing Olga for merely stealing meat would cause other warriors to rebel. Olga was a renowned warrior.

Urich scratched his oily scalp with a blunt dagger, thinking.

‘The lack of discipline in the alliance is a problem. It’s hard to keep letting things slide like this.’

There were many warriors in the alliance causing minor disturbances like Olga, and the main troublemakers were often excellent warriors. Without confidence in their abilities, they wouldn’t cause such problems.

‘But it’s not like discipline can be established overnight.’

Urich rubbed the grease from his hair on the blade.

“Well, I guess that’s also a problem to worry about after we beat the imperial army.”

Urich ordered the alliance to set up camp behind the fortress. It was better to keep them away from the soldiers of Porcana.

Urich and a few close adjutants stayed in the fortress to attend the high-level meeting of Porcana’s leaders.

Creak.

Urich pushed open the door to the meeting room. All eyes turned to him. Nobles, knights, and King Varca.