The Villainess Lives Twice - Chapter 89

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 89

There were not only battering rams but also two catapults.

Lisia examined them through binoculars. All three were at a crude level.

The wooden wheels were flimsy. The front of the log attached to the battering ram that would pound the castle walls had only one or two iron bands wrapped around it instead of being covered with iron.

The catapults also showed poor craftsmanship in how their frames were assembled. They would break apart on their own from the recoil.

However, the forms themselves were sufficiently refined.

Most importantly, the very fact that such things had appeared was significant.

Until now, Karam had not relied heavily on weapons. They possessed the physical ability to climb castle walls with their bare bodies. That’s why even ladders to place against walls had rarely appeared.

But this time, for the first time, the situation was different.

“Guerrilla warfare followed by siege weapons…”

Lisia said with a sigh.

“They’ve completely prepared for proper warfare. It doesn’t seem like it’s just about kidnapping a Karam child or something like that.”

“No, it doesn’t look like they’ve prepared for war. If they had, they wouldn’t have gathered a mere 20,000.”

Sedric’s face still showed composure.

“Rather, I’m curious about how they came up with such ideas.”

“They’ve been fighting at Told Gate for over a hundred years. Maybe they finally realized that bare hands would be difficult?”

“It’s more like they learned from someone. If they had first come up with the idea of breaking down the castle gate by hitting it with logs, they should have brought logs first, but they suddenly made battering rams. Same with the catapults. I don’t think Karam could make such things on their own.”

“Are you saying someone taught them?”

There were traders, but they only communicated through gestures at best.

Explaining and designing the concepts of catapults and battering rams, and making them wage war with them, was nearly impossible.

Sedric fell silent.

It wasn’t that he had nothing to say, but he decided to save his words.

Both the siege weapons and sending small units across the mountain range to disturb the interior of the border were the same.

It was something that exceeded Karam’s limitation of being unable to accumulate history.

Whether in lifespan or wisdom.

However, someone among Karam had overcome that.

“In any case, 20,000 warriors is insufficient for proper warfare. Karam must know this too.”

The fortress commander interjected. Sedric nodded.

Then he unfolded Artizea’s letter. The letter concisely explained what had happened at the fortress.

Of course, he omitted the story he heard from the priest. The information that intelligence about the northern village of Told had been leaked was written first, along with the aftermath of dealing with it.

And the main point was that this created the need to quickly establish a grain merchant guild, and that there were things to do in the capital.

When Lisia first said she had brought a letter, Sedric had been suspicious. He wondered if there was something to do that required Lisia to leave her post.

But when he saw the contents, that wasn’t the case.

The proposal to accommodate residents of the northern village of Told who might have leaked information to the rebel village was something Sedric could fully accept.

In fact, if they weren’t going to kill everyone, there was no better method.

Artizea seemed to have not yet firmly decided who she could trust in the Evron Duchy.

That was understandable. Not much time had passed since Aubrey’s incident.

Being loyal and being trustworthy were different matters. Sedric now understood this too.

Sedric folded the letter again and put it in his breast. He would have to burn the letter later. It contained several pieces of information that must not fall into others’ hands.

He smiled bitterly. From when they met in the capital until today, they had exchanged several letters, but not one remained in his hands. They all had to be burned.

There had never been tender words written that were worth keeping.

“Rest at the fortress for today, Lisia. I need to write a reply.”

“Yes.”

Lisia nodded.

“But won’t you try to stop her from going to the capital?”

“I am worried about traveling in winter, but Tia already knows that too. If she still must go, her purpose must be that important.”

Sedric said so.

Both establishing the grain merchant guild and offering Karam crops on the altar of the Grand Cathedral were important.

Besides that, Sedric could think of several advantages the Duchess of Evron could have while there was conflict at Told Gate.

So he could guess why she wanted to return to the capital.

Then what he needed to do was support that.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Karam began beating their drums.

Ka! Kark! Ka! Kaaaram!

The war cries of Karam warriors shouting in unison shook the very sky.

Sedric looked down at them and said.

“We’ll need to drag out this standoff for quite a while.”

“Your Highness?”

At Sedric’s words, both the fortress commander and Lisia looked confused.

“The enemy is 20,000. That means they didn’t really come with united resolve for war either. Perhaps some faction made catapults and battering rams, and they came to test whether they’re actually useful or not?”

The fortress commander’s face hardened slightly.

Sedric had been speculating this from the beginning.

He had received the first report about the cause of this conflict.

However, the scales tipping toward the hardliners because of the child kidnapping was just a surface excuse.

As soon as Evron learned the facts, they immediately returned the child and provided considerable compensation.

Yet it still came to this.

“We can destroy all the siege weapons with one or two bombardments right now. It would be better to prevent Karam from knowing their effectiveness at all, Your Highness.”

“Karam already knows the effectiveness of the weapons and the meaning of tactics. If we destroy them instantly, we might cause internal strife within Karam. But the result will be the same.”

“The result?”

“There will be second and third attempts. Eventually Karam will learn too. That physical strength alone isn’t enough to break down castle walls. We need to change before that happens.”

They needed either the power to pour in enough resources to block any battle situation, or enough authority to attempt peace.

Sedric extended his hand.

“Bring me my great bow.”

The fortress commander turned his head in surprise.

One of the adjutants ran off. Sedric’s bow was hanging in the third command room adjacent to the castle walls. In these days of using guns, it was almost purely decorative.

Sedric strung the bow that had not been used for a long time.

He chose to shoot a bow rather than a gun because it could have a much more direct emotional impact on Karam.

Firearms were unknown entities to Karam. While they might instill fear, they couldn’t serve the role of letting them know that a true warrior was here.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drumbeats continued without stopping.

The battering ram began to move. The fortress commander said with an anxious face.

“Are you really going to just leave it alone?”

“I can’t let them threaten the castle gate.”

Sedric nocked an arrow to his bow. As the string was drawn, all the muscles in his body tensed.

“After I shoot my second arrow, follow with bombardment.”

“What about the catapults?”

“Leave one alone. Let’s see first whether it functions properly or not. You’ve distributed all the shields, right?”

“Yes.”

Karam moved first.

“Kark! Kark!”

The great warrior of Karam at the front shouted.

“They’re charging!”

Someone yelled.

A group of Karam came running, pushing the battering ram in a pack.

Sedric released the string. The arrow flew with a whistling sound and struck right in the center of Karam’s large drum.

Thud!

The sound of the drum tearing cut through the war cries.

The second arrow broke the flagpole standing beside the Karam drummers.

The Karam hesitated for a moment in surprise. Shooting across that distance with a bow to precisely hit the drum and break the flagpole was not something an ordinary warrior could do.

Without missing that moment, the bombardment continued.

Bang!

The first bombardment destroyed the siege tower in one blow. Some of the Karam who had been pushing the siege tower were caught up in it and turned into bloody pulp.

Bang!

The second bombardment threatened the catapult.

Sedric saw a young Karam standing near the flagpole. Rather than young, it was a childish face.

The reason he noticed that one anew was because that Karam was looking directly at Sedric.

Sedric was not good at clearly distinguishing Karam faces. It was due to the long period he had been away from the duchy.

However, that Karam seemed to be different.

A meaningful gaze swept over Sedric’s face.

Normally, Karam would also be unable to clearly distinguish human faces.

They would be able to tell who the human leader was by things like clothing, holding a bow, or atmosphere. However, that Karam’s gaze was not simply the face of one looking at the leader of an enemy force.

‘He knows me.’

Sedric met that gaze. His chest felt unsettled.

That one has crossed the line.

Would it be better to kill him here?

Or should I let him live?

Is promising the future maintaining the status quo, or is it change?

He wanted to know what Artizea would say.

The Karam warriors murmured. The situation that had almost become a battle entered a standoff once again.

* * *

At that time, Artizea headed to the temple accompanied only by Alphonse.

She wore a hooded fur cloak over her coat. In her gloved hands, she carried a small handbag adorned with jewels.

Though she walked without even a carriage, no one asked why. It was because she had come out without anyone knowing.

If possible, she would have liked to come out alone without even Alphonse. However, unlike in the capital, she couldn’t leave him behind.

There was no Freil to substitute as a guard, and Alphonse also refused to be separated. Alphonse insisted that if he wasn’t there, at least two other knights should be assigned.

Rather than being accompanied by two, Alphonse was better. Moreover, he had followed her to the temple last time too. He had already seen the priest’s face.

When the Grand Duchess came to the temple without notice, the apprentice priest greeting at the entrance was greatly surprised and bowed his head. Artizea said quietly.

“I’ll just pray quietly for a moment and leave, so don’t announce it.”

“Ah, yes.”

The apprentice priest bowed his head.

It probably wouldn’t truly be a secret visit. It would become that the Grand Duchess came to the temple, offered quiet prayers, and left.

That much didn’t matter particularly.

Artizea crossed the temple without removing her hood.

The place she headed to was neither the chapel nor the prayer room. It was the room of that faithful priest who had told her about the Karam crops.

Sedric’s thinking was wrong. Artizea had entrusted the letter to Lisia in order to separate her.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————