Outside the Castle

Winter nights were extremely dark. There was not a single star in the sky, and even the moon had disappeared once again.

Logan rubbed his frost-reddened nose and stared grimly at the enemies advancing toward the city wall below.

The enemies were no longer the serf conscripts from before, whose combat ability and morale had both been extremely low. These were regular soldiers wearing leather armor, with a few clad in half suits of chain mail.

Although they were not like the army of Morland Castle, where half the soldiers wore full suits of chain mail, this was still quite impressive. After all, the Moreland Family's armaments had been acquired by Reiner halting most of the sale of iron goods.

In Baron Lobean's view, the type of armor those soldiers wore would not have much effect on their combat ability. Only brave and battle-hardened knights needed iron armor to protect themselves.

Deploying the regular army had been a command Baron Lobean had issued through gritted teeth. He had spent money equipping every one of those regular soldiers, and each loss caused him great pain. At this point, he had completely given up on the spy inside the castle.

Logan bit his lower lip and narrowed his eyes. He had to admit that he felt extremely uncertain as well. After all, these were genuine regular soldiers, and their combat ability surpassed that of the temporarily conscripted freemen guarding the wall.

They were worlds apart from the serf conscripts before. When the guards had fought that group of serf conscripts, they had lost only one man—and that had merely been because he had been unlucky enough to be dragged off the wall by the enemy.

But now, heavy casualties were practically inevitable. Logan only hoped that the guards could hold out until Baron returned to the castle with the army.

Please don't let anything happen to you, Baron! Logan silently prayed.

If Baron met with trouble on the road and failed to deliver the letter safely into Reiner's hands, then all their efforts to hold the castle would be in vain.

"Don't be afraid, soldiers! I will stand and defend this place alongside you! I swear I will die before you do! Baron will certainly treat your families well! That is, as long as the castle doesn't fall!" Logan declared resolutely.

By then, Baron Lobean's regular troops had begun climbing the ladders. The guards dragged their exhausted bodies into position and prepared for battle. If they failed to protect the castle, all of Morland Castle would soon suffer a merciless sack.

That was only natural. Every noble would do the same after winning a war. Even if this place was about to become their territory, they would still indulge their soldiers and let them have their fun.

The regular soldiers, carrying shields, spears, or longswords, had already climbed onto the ladders. They ascended toward the wall with their shields held above their heads to protect their entire bodies. They had no intention of losing their lives here.

The guards stared nervously at the siege ladders beside the battlements. They were ready. The moment an enemy showed his head, they would kill him just as they had before.

The atmosphere gradually solidified. All they could hear was the creaking of the enemy soldiers climbing the ladders, along with their own heartbeats and breathing and those of their comrades.

Suddenly, a soldier wearing a crude iron helmet poked his head above the wall. Several soldiers thrust their spears and longswords forward, but unfortunately, just when they thought they had succeeded, a shield blocked their attacks in front of the soldier.

Their attacks missed. Although the blows had left the soldier off balance, he still gripped the ladder tightly with the hand holding his weapon, refusing to let himself fall.

Keeping his body low, he stepped onto another rung, then suddenly stood up and exposed half his body. The next moment, he leaped forward with his shield raised in front of him and landed on the wall.

He blocked a spear thrusting toward him. Just as he tried to swing his longsword in retaliation, another spear viciously stabbed him in the liver.

The intense pain forced a shrill scream from him. As he screamed, two more spears pierced his body. Only when a longsword chopped off his head did the spray of blood—and his screams—finally cease.

The guards had killed one enemy soldier, but this was merely the beginning. The enemies behind him continued surging onto the wall without end.

"Ahhh! Help me!"

One of the guards on the wall let out a terrible scream. He was clutching his right arm and rolling on the ground, but his right hand had vanished. Blood flowed down like water and spread across the ground.

With an injury like that, he would not have lived long anywhere else. But this was a cold land, and the freezing climate slowed the bleeding. If he received treatment in time, there might still be hope for him to survive.

But at least for now, he had completely lost his ability to fight. The already small number of guards defending the wall had lost another man.

All the guards on the wall heard his scream, and it shook them deeply. But there was nothing they could do; they were powerless to help him.

"Hang in there! Baron will be back soon! You, soldier! Get off the wall and go into the castle for help! Don't let yourself die!" Logan shouted.

He was powerless as well. Although he had once been the infamous head spy of an imperial colony, he had no solution to a situation like this. All he could do was hope that Reiner would return as quickly as possible.

As time passed, the battle grew increasingly fierce and brutal. Six of the guards on the wall had been killed by now—nearly half their strength. Only six people, including Logan, were still capable of fighting on the wall.

Logan licked his lips and drew a deep breath. His body was already covered in blood. By now, he had personally killed three enemies, while the intense exertion had also consumed a great deal of his stamina.

He found a moment to look into the distance, but the result disappointed him. He still had not seen the reinforcements arrive, and more than two hours had passed since the battle began.

But he soon emptied his mind, because enemies were once again appearing in an endless stream before him. The dangerous situation left him no attention to spare for anything else.

He raised the longsword in his hand, now full of nicks, and threw himself into battle against the enemy once again. The battle was not especially fierce, but it was terribly brutal and desperate. The six remaining guards on the wall had been stationed where the enemy's ladders stood, but they could no longer control the battlements. A steady stream of enemies had already seized that position.

They could only retreat to the area near the wall's stairs, where they held their ground to prevent the enemy from advancing any farther into the castle.

After all, the main keep of Morland Castle had practically no defensive measures. Even its gate was merely made of wood, making it difficult to hold back the enemy's advance.

At that moment, Reiner finally led the army to the vicinity of the castle. In the pitch-black night sky, points of fire glittered one after another. They were the torches along Morland Castle's walls and the enemy's torches beneath the castle.

Reiner stared at the scene before him, frantic with worry. But he knew that the soldiers were not in good condition. If he rashly launched an attack, they could very well end up in danger.

He absolutely could not allow any mistakes. Even the slightest accident would be fatal to him.

"Rest for five minutes! Get yourselves into shape! After we win this war, I won't take a single bit of the spoils. I'll give them all to you! All you need to do is help me achieve victory!" Reiner said while giving the soldiers time to rest.