Chapter 287

Urich opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by darkness. The murky darkness stretched along the underground waterway, but there was no foul smell.

Hiss.

He stared into the darkness at a sound and saw yellow eyes gleaming.

Hiss.

Urich was not afraid.

An explorer did not fear ignorance and darkness as they were merely things for them to go toward and illuminate. Things that seemed scary were often not that big of a deal once actually approached, as was the case with the Sky Mountains.

No matter what the shamans said, beyond the mountains was the world of humans, and it was humans who lived in the world on the other side of the mountains, not gods.

‘The unknown, the unseen.’

These were the sources of fear.

‘The fear of death comes from not knowing what comes after.’

No one was afraid to fall asleep because they knew they would wake up the next morning, but death was a slumber without the certainty of waking up to see another day.

Those who feared death were those who had no certainty in their afterlife.

Splash.

Urich walked through the splashing sewer.

There was still no stench.

Hiss.

The hissing sound, which felt oddly familiar, continued in the blurry darkness.

Some tremble when encountering the unknown darkness and declare it a ‘taboo’ without even thinking to approach and confirm it.

Sometimes, however, there were some who throw everything away in order to confirm the source of their fear and walk the paths that others do not dare to.

Most of these explorers fall behind and despair and the defeated explorers live miserable lives, hearing jeers such as, ‘I told you so,’ ‘You are a fool,’ ‘Why break the taboo and end up like that?’ or ‘You wasted your time for nothing,’ from the majority who can only afford to pour out curses because they were too scared to do it themselves.

Even among those few explorers, not all get to savor the joy of discovery and enlightenment after confirming the source of their fear.

‘A snake.’

Urich parted the darkness and saw the large snake that was hiding behind it. The snake, which had made the waterways its home, flicked its split tongue as it watched Urich with a body large enough to fill the entire space.

But despite being in the sewer, there was no stench.

Urich realized that he was in a dream and woke up.

“Snake.”

Urich opened his eyes.

He thought of the sewers of Hamel and Serpentism who dwelled in them, though he had no way of knowing if they were still in the city.

“Hooo.”

It was a rough, nightmarish dream. He pondered as he wiped the sweat from his sleep.

“If there is an underground waterway, there must be a way out as well.”

Urich called Georg and the commanders to discuss his plan to infiltrate the imperial capital through its waterways. It was possible if they could find the one leading outside.

Georg led a few mercenaries he trusted and headed into Hamel first.

The Porcana-Alliance army had set up camp by the Johan River near Hamel, as it was a relatively convenient location to secure water and food.

“The empire has rejected the peace offer.”

The Porcana-Alliance army had sent an envoy to Hamel, but it was fruitless.

“They have no intention of surrendering? Even in this situation?”

“They know we can't maintain the siege for long. Dammit.”

“No, even so, the empire should not be in a position to reject our peace offer.”

The unexpected turn of events caused much talk among the command as most of them had secretly thought there wouldn’t be a battle. The idea of attacking Hamel, now that they were actually faced with it, was daunting.

“If the empire rejected peace because they trust their walls, we should be able to take them down easily as long as the men sent by Urich find the entrance to the underground waterway,” Varca said as he interrupted the nobles’ chatter.

“There must be something more. It can’t just be the walls.”

Urich rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“What do you mean by something more?”

“There is no way that emperor would reject peace so complacently just with his trust in the walls. He must have something that gives him confidence—something big enough for him to be okay with giving up the safe option. While they might win by dragging out the war... they would suffer so much damage it would have been better to make peace. What benefit would the empire gain from winning this battle while enduring such losses?”

Knowing well what kind of man Emperor Yanchinus was, Urich could not get rid of the unease. The emperor was meticulous and always planned for failure, certainly not someone who would complacently rely on some walls.

“What we need is a short-term battle. As soon as Georg finds the entrance to the waterway, we must capture Hamel. I’m sure the emperor has some more tricks up his sleeve.”

The nobles of Porcana frowned as Urich spoke with conviction.

‘This barbarian is acting like he knows everything...’

But it was true that Urich knew more about Hamel and the emperor than the nobles of Porcana, most of them who have never even seen the emperor’s face.

“I’ve dined with the emperor and did a bunch of other things with him as well, so I think it’s safe to say I know his character better than you lot,” Urich said, sensing the dissatisfied glances.

The nobles, suppressed by Urich’s fierce gaze, averted their eyes.

* * *

The Porcana-Alliance army formed a siege around Hamel. However, Hamel did not easily succumb to the siege and planned to intercept and inflict damage while the vanguard of the Porcana-Alliance army was the only threat.

“Oh, ooooh!” The warriors shouted.

Urich pulled the reins and looked at the imperial heavy cavalry approaching from the front.

‘Looks like about five hundred cavalry.’

However, five hundred heavy cavalry were equivalent to thousands of soldiers in terms of combat value, and considering the flat terrain around Hamel, the environment was thoroughly advantageous for the cavalry.

Buuuuup!

Urich extended his hand and the flag-bearer beside him waved a blue flag, signaling the troops. Simultaneously, the trumpeters blew their horns with all their might.

The Imperial Army conducted a reconnaissance in force before the siege lines solidified in a half-hearted attempt to intercept the enemy.

“Stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those next to you and hold your lines! If you get separated, you die!”

The warriors of the pike units who were trained to face the cavalry stepped forward and shouted with vigor from having already achieved a victory.

“So that’s the infamous pike unit.”

The Imperial Army was already aware of the spear units thanks to the stories of the knights who had returned to the empire with one hand lost.

Peeeee!

At the long whistle of the leading imperial knight, the heavy cavalry all turned to avoid the spear units and circled around.

But the ones waiting for the imperial heavy cavalry were the light cavalry of Porcana.

‘Are they hitting our flanks? Dammit!’

The leading imperial knight realized his mistake. Avoiding the pike units was a predictable move.

Thud, thud, thud!

The light cavalry charged and struck the flank of the imperial heavy cavalry. Although they couldn't win head-on, the flank was always vulnerable. As the heavy cavalry fell off their horses, the formation broke apart.

“Good, good.”

Urich pulled the reins as he smiled with satisfaction. He drew his sword and charged into the chaotic battlefield.

“Kill them aaaall!”

The warriors, as if they had been waiting for this moment, gripped their axes and rushed in to grab the helmets of the fallen knights and thrust their swords inside.

“Kaaaagh!”

Most of the knights who had experience fighting the barbarians had either died or were incapacitated, leaving only the novice knights who were completely taken aback by the foreign threat.

The Alliance Army, on the other hand, only grew stronger with each battle. Their strategies and tactics were increasingly optimized against the empire, and more and more tribal warriors found heavy armor for themselves.

“I-I am a knight of House Paris...!”

“What the hell is this idiot saying?”

The warriors ruthlessly killed even the knights who surrendered as the concept of capturing prisoners for ransom was still vague to them.

“Hey, don’t kill them! Great Chief Urich told us to capture them for ransom.”

“Ransom? What the hell are we going to do with that? Watching their blood spray out is much better, so I’d rather just kill them.”

“Well, I guess that’s true.”

The warriors laughed and wiped the blood off their faces with their forearms.

The Imperial Army reopened the gates and retreated into the city after failing to prevent the Porcana-Alliance army from setting up their siege.

After winning the skirmish, the warriors shouted and patted each other’s shoulders. The siege was complete, leaving no openings for the empire to exploit.

“Urich, this is where it starts,” Varca said as he approached on his horse with his blue cloak embroidered with herring and a fishing boat fluttering in the wind.

Three days had passed since the siege began. The local forces of the empire started attacking Porcana’s supply lines, causing their supplies to dwindle faster than expected.

“We have Hamel surrounded, but in the bigger picture, we’re the ones who are effectively isolated.”

Varca reinforced the supply unit with combat troops, but it was just a temporary measure. Maintaining the long supply line was overwhelming for Porcana, and they were staggering under the burden of supplying both their own and the Alliance Army.

More days were spent surviving on a single bowl of thin gruel as the rations thinned out. The morale of the underfed army dropped sharply, and warriors often left the siege lines to go plundering for their own resources.

“Urich, many warriors from your army are breaking out of formation to go plundering. It’s constantly leaving gaps in our siege lines,” Varca appealed to Urich.

The chiefs of the Alliance often took their men away for a day or two to plunder farms at their discretion. As more and more groups engaged in such activities, the Alliance’s manpower shortage became severe.

“The news of our forces dispersing must have gotten to them by now, and if the Imperial Army gathers their strength and pushes in, we might be the ones who have to retreat. If they manage to break us apart even once, all our accumulated victories will be in vain. Control your troops, Urich.”

Urich smiled bitterly, knowing that he had to order the starving warriors to stop plundering and hold their positions. It was by no means a difficult command for a disciplined army, but it was an unreasonable ask for the tribal warriors of the Alliance.

‘There is going to be a lot of resistance.’

The warriors who deserted their lines to plunder were well-fed, while those who stayed on Urich’s orders were starving. It was a situation that required action.

“Katagi, who are the ones leading the plundering trips?”

“It’s Olga, of course. He’s got quite a few men under him now.”

Katagi’s expression was also full of discontent. The diligent warriors who were holding their lines according to the orders were starving, while the deserters returned with full bellies. No matter how much they plundered in the nearby areas, there wasn’t enough food for the entire army.

“Bring him to me.”

Urich’s voice was low. He was also conserving his strength, having not eaten properly either. The Great Chief couldn’t eat well while his warriors starved.

“Great Chief.”

Olga approached Urich with his head held high. Katagi was about to say something about his attitude, but Urich stopped him and stood before Olga.

“I told you to hold your position, didn’t I?”

“The warriors were... hungry. They would have died of star...vation before they even got... to do anything.”

“I was looking out for that too, but it didn’t seem like they were going to die. You simply abandoned your brothers and went plundering because you were hungry.”

“So... what?”

Olga glared at Urich.

“Stay with your brothers and hold the position. That’s all I have to say, Olga.”

“You are the Great Chief, yet you let the warriors star...ve. There’s food out there, but we’re stuck here starv...ing. If we starve and weaken... they will come to strangle us. I filled my belly to prepare for that... moment.”

Though his speech was still slurred, his determination was clear.

“So, you’re just going to openly disobey my orders, Olga?”

“There’s a lot of... discontent against you, Great Chief. Even the priest... isn’t on your side any...more.”

Listening to Olga’s words, Urich smirked.

Urich had tolerated Olga’s disobedience thus far because he performed well in battles, but there was a limit to his patience, and he was finally feeling the beast within him climbing up his throat.

“I really shouldn’t let this go on any longer.”

Urich scratched his head, looking at the ground. When he raised his head again, there was a clear murderous intent in his eyes.

“Olga, it’s sooner than I expected, but go ahead and challenge me. If you want to do as you please, take my position. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut.”