Chapter 33: Captive

Troops whose morale had completely collapsed had no combat capability.

When they turned back, they had already exposed their most vulnerable point to the enemy behind them.

Farra pursued them relentlessly, turning the enemy’s rout into a massacre.

When he came to his senses, Yanis, covered in blood, approached and said, “My Lord, we’ve captured Engel!”

“Hmm… What? You’ve captured Engel?” Farra barely registered the news.

“Yes.”

“Where did you catch him? Bring him here!”

“Yes!” Yanis immediately ordered his men to drag Engel, seized amid the chaos, forward.

Engel, his face smeared and filthy, shouted, “What are you doing? Do you know who I am? I am a Baron! How dare you treat me this way? You’ll pay for this! Let me go this instant!”

The soldier gripping his collar looked utterly indifferent, his eyes full of contempt and disdain.

Is this a noble? Can that really be called a noble?

Before seeing Engel in such a pitiful state, he had always assumed every noble was like Farra. Now it seemed he had been mistaken.

Engel was thrown down in front of Farra. He scrambled to his feet, his body trembling uncontrollably. Though his voice was fierce, he knew exactly what capture by the enemy meant.

… It’s over!

Even someone as foolish as Engel understood that.

“Are you Baron Ake Engel?” Farra scrutinized the man before him.

“Y-yes, that’s me!” Engel forced himself to calm down before replying, then looked up at Farra. Their height difference of more than a dozen centimeters made Engel tilt his head slightly.

After a brief glance, Farra lost interest. He turned to Yanis. “How did you catch this one?”

“Reporting to you, Lord,” Yanis said, “we were cutting down retreating enemies and accidentally ran into him. Our warriors planned to strike from behind, but he kept shouting that he was Baron Engel, some sort of noble.”

“Oh, I see.” Farra nodded. … Engel, that fool, had been standing at the rear of his own troops to watch the battle. He’d been too close and hadn’t escaped in time. No brains, no cunning.

“Keep him under guard and finish cleaning up the battlefield. He might prove useful.”

“Yes!”

Ignoring Engel, Farra led his unit back toward the village.

On the other side, Engel’s attacking force still hadn’t realized their leader had been captured. Farra arrived with his sword drawn and switched from passive defense to active offense.

“All right, there’s no need to hold position… attack! Leave no one alive!”

“Yes!!”

At the order to advance, the half-beastmen and pure-human soldiers charged eagerly. As expected, Farra’s leading thrust turned the battle into a one-sided rout. Aside from a few who managed to flee, most enemies were slain on the spot. No prisoners.

“Stop bringing me heads… count ears from now on!” Seeing his soldiers lugging severed heads at their waists, Farra found it gruesome. Counting by left ears was far more convenient. One sack would hold them all.

“Yanis, take men to collect all the enemy’s iron swords!”

“Yes!”

“Harrington, have the men wash off the blood!”

“Yes!”

After assigning tasks, Farra cleaned the blood from himself, then approached Engel again and had a stool brought over.

“Baron Engel, a pleasure.” Farra’s ambiguous smile made Engel shudder. By now he knew Farra wasn’t intimidated by his noble title.

“Wh-what do you want?” Engel stammered, then tried to bargain. “I’m under the protection of Viscount Hannie!”

“I know, but that doesn’t concern me right now.” Farra’s gaze was sharp. “Baron Engel… do you know Baron Joy?”

“Baron Joy?” Engel blinked. “Why are you asking…”

Farra drew his sword and rested the blade on Engel’s shoulder. “Answer my question.”

“…I know him.” Engel swallowed hard.

“Good. I’ll send you back to your castle, and you’ll have your trusted subordinate deliver a password to Baron Joy… tell him your castle has been overrun by bandits and you urgently need his aid. He’ll bring all his forces to assist you.”

“This…”

“Do you think Baron Joy will come?” Farra’s tone was casual.

Engel fell silent, then controlled his urge to babble. “I don’t know. Joy and I aren’t especially close, but he’s the nearest lord to me. If he hears this, he won’t hesitate to intervene… and he’ll expect a favor in return.”

“How many troops does he have?”

“Around a thousand.”

“How many suits of iron armor?”

“He can’t afford full plate armor! With the cost of one suit, you could buy countless iron and bronze swords.”

Full plate was exorbitantly expensive. This far eastern region of East Mead was even poorer than most. Few could afford metal armor.

Farra nodded, then repeatedly confirmed other strategic details: how often local lords clashed, their troop numbers, preparation times, and so on. Only after thorough questioning did he have Engel escorted away.

Yanis cleared the battlefield and recovered a large heap of iron swords. “All right, everyone switch to iron swords. Keep bronze swords as backup.”

After a quick count, Farra outfitted over five hundred men with iron swords, stowing the extras as reserves. With his unit reorganized, he set off, escorting Engel back to the castle.