The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

---

Chapter 368 Can Everyone Hold On? (1)

“Lord, it seems the Marquis’s troops are on the move.”

“They’re approaching as if to lay siege here.”

“It looks like, as you expected, they want to settle things here.”

Hearing the report from the knights who had gone out for reconnaissance, Ghislaine nodded.

So far, they had plundered a whopping seven territories, yet the enemy hadn’t even properly pursued them or set up a defense line.

No matter how lazy the Marquis might be, he couldn’t possibly be that foolish. If he were, he wouldn’t have been able to conquer the West in the first place.

As anticipated, it seemed they were well-prepared to catch him.

“What number have you confirmed so far?”

Without the slightest hesitation, the knights who had gone out for reconnaissance answered Ghislaine’s question.

“The number of troops coming from the north is approximately four thousand. All infantry.”

“The number coming from the west is about three thousand. Half cavalry, half infantry.”

“And the number coming from the south is roughly three thousand as well. Mostly siege equipment, archers, and infantry.”

Ghislaine and the knights with her showed a completely different demeanor than usual. Generally, they might act casual when they were mercenaries or idling, but when it came to battle, all of that was gone.

Nodding, Ghislaine asked again, “This time, they have quite a number, huh? What’s their speed?”

Gillian answered that question.

“At their current pace, they could have been here already if they wanted. They seem to have deliberately slowed their march and are coming slowly. They are also continuously deploying scouts to monitor this place.”

Ghislaine narrowed her eyes at that.

If they were serious about saving this territory, they shouldn’t be taking their time like that. They should have raced here to join forces with the castle’s garrison.

The fact that they were deliberately coming slowly indicated—

“They seem to be trying to isolate us.”

She could predict the enemy’s intentions: they planned to lay a trap, tightly encircle them, and wear them down by trapping them inside the castle.

Ghislaine turned her head to look at the distant castle.

“Hmm, this time it’s quite a lot.”

Concentrating her sight, she saw troops densely lined up along the castle walls.

By now, rumors about them were widespread. Therefore, their state of alert couldn’t be casual.

Ghislaine took out a book and flipped through it.

“Let’s see, Baron Deiker’s Territory… About three thousand, right? There are hardly any knights.”

What she was looking at was a book containing information about Marquis Roderick’s territory and the surrounding domains.

Although there was some information collected internally within the territory, the most significant amount of information came from Dominic of the Drake Mercenary Group.

Being originally based in the West and having engaged in more than a few unsavory dealings under the Marquis’s command, it was natural for them to have plenty of information.

After putting the book back, Ghislaine continued speaking.

“There aren’t many knights, but there are a lot of soldiers. So everyone needs to put in some effort today. To keep our backs safe, we need to hold this position. As soon as night falls, we strike. Understood?”

Gordon looked back and forth between the castle and Ghislaine and asked.

“What about the enemies coming to catch us? They seem like they want to lay siege. Wouldn’t it be troublesome if they swarm us while we’re engaged in battle?”

Other knights showed a hint of tension as well. If ten thousand enemies piled up while they were fighting, no matter how powerful the lord was, it wouldn’t be easy.

Even if they somehow managed to win, most of the knights would likely be exhausted or seriously injured.

But Ghislaine smiled, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.

“This is a place we’re meant to be bait. It’s a trap to confine us. They won’t attack while we’re engaged in battle for fear we might escape. So we’ll just play along and reap the benefits.”

“Oh…”

The knights, having been with Ghislaine for a long time, quickly grasped the meaning of her words.

“Indeed, to capture the lord for sure, isolating and beating him is the best approach.”

“Then surrounding him after he’s properly inside the castle is the most certain way.”

“Right, they wouldn’t go to such lengths just to catch a measly four hundred raiders. The lord is obviously the target.”

Unlike before, these knights had become much sharper in the realm of warfare.

Though they hadn’t formally studied military tactics, their experiences alongside Ghislaine had greatly increased their insight and intuition.

This would prove to be a significant advantage in future battles. In dangerous moments, the ability to discern the most appropriate options for survival was crucial.

Of course, they still lacked in various aspects of daily life, but Ghislaine was only interested in their combat capabilities.

With a satisfied smile at the knights’ growth, she nodded.

“Right, they’re after me, not you. To catch me, the usual methods won’t do. At the very least, they need to throw out bait of that magnitude. Ha, being popular is tiring.”

“……”

The knights wore slightly perplexed expressions.

‘Overly self-conscious, what’s that about…’

‘But there’s no rebuttal to that…’

‘Being famous must be nice… I want to be famous too…’

“What’s with your faces? Anyway, this time, let’s move as those guys want us to. We can definitely win, so don’t worry.”

“Yes!”

The knights quickly set aside their concerns and answered vigorously. The lord’s confident words clearly indicated that they could win.

So they just needed to focus on battle and plunder as they had been doing.

“Let’s make sure to plunder today as well.”

“I feel the happiest when I can eat something delicious.”

“It’s bigger here, so there will be more to loot.”

All of them wore wicked smiles and shifted with excitement.

Though they had practiced mock raids multiple times in the territory, this would be their first real plunder. Even back then, it was evident that everyone thrived in their newfound passion for raiding.

Since they were dealing with small territories, there were hardly any knights or soldiers present. It would be so easy that it would be impossible not to have fun.

As the knights joyously talked about having fun attacking today, Ghislaine issued a new command.

“This time, we’re doing it a bit differently. The assault team goes to open the castle gate. Fifty people, step forward.”

Kaor was taken aback by that.

“What? Why? We’ve always gone in together! There are three thousand of them over there!”

“If we all go to capture it, the enemies will swarm and surround us, and we might lose our horses, right? If the assault team opens the gate, we can ride in.”

“What does it matter if we lose the horses? There will be more inside, right? We can just take them back as soon as we capture it!”

“No way. We can’t leave Kong behind.”

At that, the Black King chuckled and elegantly tossed his mane aside.

“…….”

After staring at the Black King for a moment, Kaor asked again.

“So… because of the horses, I’m taking just fifty people to open the gate?”

“Yep, it’s also a training exercise. That’s what the assault team does. Don’t want to? If you don’t, Gillian can go.”

Gillian quickly bowed and replied.

“I’ll go in and open it right away.”

At that, Kaor quickly changed his tune.

“No! No! I’ll go! I can open it in no time! Hey! You guys can do this, right?”

The fifty knights chosen from the Mad Hounds and the assault team let out deep sighs.

‘Ah, just send the old man.’

‘Today is going to be really exhausting.’

‘If things go wrong, we could get hurt or die, right?’

No matter how strong these knights were, fighting against three thousand soldiers wasn’t easy. They needed to kill as many of the enemies as possible at the beginning and open the gate.

Otherwise, they would tire and get trampled.

In fact, they could leave a few people behind to immediately bring the horses after opening the gate. But Ghislaine purposely sent out a small number of people in rotation to train them to exert a bit more effort.

As dusk set in, Ghislaine stood up from her resting place and said.

“The sun has set. Hurry up and open it.”

At once, all the knights flipped their hoods over their robes.

Ghislaine had come prepared, intending to launch a nighttime ambush and raid.

Swoosh…

Kaor’s assault team approached the castle very quietly.

The knights had all learned how to conceal their presence and move quietly from Belinda.

Thanks to the lessons learned here and there, they had reached a level where they could deceive commoners, even if not quite at the level of assassins.

Kaor secretly vowed to repay Belinda for every kick to his shins he endured during training.

As Kaor got closer to the castle, he mumbled.

“Ugh… this time I might really get caught?”

Since their methods had already been discovered, the alertness of the guards was extremely high.

The soldiers were tightly stationed around the castle walls, and torches had been set up to illuminate the surroundings.

While skilled individuals like Ghislaine, Gillian, and Kaor could sneak around in the shadows under the torches, most knights couldn’t do the same.

Eventually, some of the soldiers stationed on the walls spotted the flickering black shadows.

“Wh-what’s that? Something’s coming!”

The other soldiers quickly tensed up. They all raised their spears and prepared various defensive weapons to prevent the enemy from climbing the walls.

But before they could even use those, a grappling hook was first thrown over the wall.

Thump.

“Uh? Uh?”

The nearest soldier’s mind went blank, unsure of what to do, and he staggered around.

“Idiot! Get it out of the way!”

A veteran soldier rushed over to the grappling hook, but it was too late. Kaor grabbed the rope and swiftly climbed up the wall.

He brandished his greatsword forward and grinned wickedly.

“Here I come!”

“The enemy’s climbing up!”

Seeing Kaor smile, the soldiers screamed and immediately thrust their spears.

Boom!

Kaor dodged the spears and swung his greatsword.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

The soldiers guarding the front were wiped out in an instant. Watching that, Kaor laughed again.

“After all, a big weapon is the best for taking out weaklings.”

While he giggled, shouts echoed from all around.

“Catch them!”

“There’s only one enemy!”

The soldiers on guard all rushed to where Kaor had climbed up.

The sight of three thousand troops pouring in was quite a spectacle. But Kaor wasn’t alone either.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Dozens of grappling hooks were thrown over the walls. The knights, who found it tough to scale the walls, quickly ascended using the ropes.

“Woooaah!”

“Kill them!”

“Not much left! We can stop them!”

The soldiers of Baron Deiker’s Territory pushed forward, relying on their numbers. There seemed to be about fifty or so of them. There was no way a few thousand soldiers here couldn’t hold them back.

Seeing the approaching enemy troops, Kaor shouted in a slightly urgent tone.

“Let’s go down! Move quickly!”

To go down, they had to clear the soldiers in front first. Kaor and the knights sprang into action.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Knights of Penris instantly killed dozens of enemies. However, they hadn’t gained much ground.

Kaor ground his teeth. He had thought the walls were wide enough to go down quickly, but he realized he couldn’t underestimate their numbers.

In fact, the narrower the walls were, the faster the soldiers would fill them up.

Kaor muttered unconsciously.

“Damn… what should I do?”

Meanwhile, soldiers waiting below kept climbing up the walls, but the front rank was completely filled, preventing Kaor’s group from getting closer.

The soldiers were gathering so densely that it was hard to fathom.

‘Think. Think.’

No matter how much he thought, all that came to mind was a reckless assault.

Thinking harder didn’t yield a faster way down either. Instead, Kaor became annoyed with thinking and recalled something else.

‘Should I just try to kill all three thousand of them?’

That would indeed be impressive, but he thought it would be impossible, no matter how strong he was.

Of course, with fifty knights putting forth all their strength, he could likely kill around two thousand.

But afterwards, they would all valiantly perish, most likely.

He didn’t want to die in such a foolish manner. It would be better to break through the enemies blocking their way.

“Hey! Block the sides! The rest follow me to break through and go down!”

In terms of combat training, the Knights of Penris were quite well-prepared. Instantly half of the knights took their positions and began to hold back the surrounding enemies.

Kaor threw his greatsword straight ahead.

Boom!

“Uwaaaaaah!”

Dozens of soldiers fell at once. Seeing that, Kaor let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Phew… I guess I really have no choice but to fight properly now.”

In truth, he had been fighting too easily up until now. He actually understood quite well why Ghislaine had pushed them into such a situation.

To keep their senses sharp, once in a while, that kind of tension was necessary.

Kaor unsheathed the two swords strapped to his waist.

Clang!

Ghislaine had ordered the Knights of Penris to train to use all weapons. Kaor had been focusing on dual-wielding during that training.

Thanks to Ghislaine’s recommendation, of course.

— You don’t use a shield anyway. You should practice using two swords too.

— Two swords? But I can’t use my left hand well.

— That’s why you need to practice more. Do you just want to die if your right arm gets cut off while fighting?

— …….

— Also, using two swords means you can double your attack power. What do you think?

— Oh…..

When he heard that back then, Kaor nodded. It sounded incredibly reasonable.

Thinking back, Gillian also swung two axes when dealing with weaker enemies.

So he thought if he got used to dual-wielding, he wouldn’t fall behind Gillian.

For that reason, having taken the training quite seriously, Kaor had now become quite proficient at dual-wielding.

“Woooaah! Kill them!”

The soldiers rushed in, filling the empty space.

Seeing that, Kaor rotated the swords slightly in his hands and smiled.

“Double attack power, here we go.”

Swish! Swish!

Kaor’s body moved like lightning, and the two swords danced gracefully in his hands.