Burying Loyal Souls

Once there was a first deserter, there would be a second. This deserter set an example for the other defenders. Not wanting to face the terrifying enemy any longer, they turned and ran toward the stairs on the wall, quickly fleeing from the battlements.

Naturally, the knights did not hesitate either and immediately gave chase. However, while their armor provided extraordinary protection, it also slowed them down.

Though they could not catch up in time, the walls had already fallen under the control of the Morland Army.

Reiner climbed onto the walls of Goer Castle as well. Though the sun was shining, the temperature remained bitterly cold. He licked his chapped lips and said to the soldiers who had fully taken control of the walls, "Keep advancing! Once we take the main keep, thirty percent of the spoils will be yours, and the women in the castle are yours to do with as you please!"

Although Reiner found looting, killing, and pillaging somewhat contemptible, he knew that soldiers of this era were simply like that. In battle, they were soldiers, but at times they could do things even bandits would not.

He wanted to enforce strict military discipline, but his prestige had not yet been enough to suppress these soldiers. Even if he issued orders, they might simply turn a deaf ear.

Besides, at a time like this, such behavior was highly effective at boosting morale, so Reiner did not mind letting the soldiers do such things.

In any case, most of the women in the castle were surely relatives of the Gwen Family. This was extremely common here. The maids in Moreland Family Castle, for instance, were daughters of his relatives or of local gentry.

They hoped their daughters could find a good match in the Baron's castle. Even if they failed, girls who had come out of the Baron's castle would still be eagerly sought after by many. They had knowledge and manners, and their speech and conduct differed from girls from ordinary families. Quite a few knights' wives had once been noble servants.

Upon hearing this news, the soldiers seemed as though they had been injected with chicken blood. Shouting and howling, they let out a chorus of ghostly wails and wolfish howls as they noisily made their way to the front of the main keep.

The main keep also had a massive wooden gate and complete defensive measures. It could truly be called easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, no matter how complete the defenses were, they needed people to make use of them. The castle's defenders had all been routed on the walls, and there was not a single guard in the enormous main keep.

Lady Gwen had regained her senses by then. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she held her son with Baron Lobean in her arms as she said to the trembling Secretary beside her, "Go negotiate with Baron Reiner! As long as I can preserve the territory, I am willing to pay any price!"

"I must hand the territory over to my son intact!" she said.

"Yes, my lady. I will see to it at once!" the Secretary said in a hoarse voice, though he had no confidence in his heart. Negotiations required leverage; only two sides of roughly equal strength could negotiate.

But now there was not even a single soldier left in the castle who could fight. What right did they have to negotiate with the other side?

He looked at the maids gathered in the hall, clinging to one another and trembling, and felt a pang in his heart. He had served the Gwen Family for a full forty years. A great family that had ruled for more than a century was now facing destruction.

Let me... show my loyalty to the Gwen Family one last time... He sighed inwardly and resolutely walked out of the grief-stricken hall.

"Greetings, esteemed Baron Reiner. I believe you remember me!" The Secretary used a hanging basket through the window to descend outside the main keep. After landing, he bowed to Reiner and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Secretary! May I ask what brings you here?" Reiner said with interest as he watched the Secretary step out of the hanging basket.

"It is like this, Baron. My mistress, the wife of Baron Lobean, wishes to make peace with you. She deeply regrets what my lord did and hopes that you can forgive all of this. For that, she is willing to pay any price."

"Ha!" Reiner laughed arrogantly before saying, "Please understand, my elderly Secretary, your master launched a surprise attack on my territory, and I am merely returning the favor. The Holy Father said that my people should answer hatred with tooth for tooth, eye for eye, and blood for blood! I am simply following the Holy Father's will! Goer Castle will become my territory. That is beyond doubt!"

"Is there truly no room for negotiation?" he asked pleadingly, desperately hoping to hear an affirmative answer from Reiner.

Reiner could not bear to see the old man like this, but since his own interests were at stake, he hardened his heart and said, "There is no room for negotiation! I must have Goer Castle!"

After hearing Reiner's words, the Secretary seemed to have all the strength drained from his body. In a low voice, he said, "Very well, I understand what you mean. I have served the Gwen Family for a full forty years. I have no children. I devoted my entire life to the Gwen Family. Since the Gwen Family is about to perish, then I might as well perish with it!"

As he spoke, he drew a dagger from his waist and bowed to Reiner. "Forgive my offense, Baron!"

Reiner watched as the dagger in his hand slowly approached his chest. His lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

He had only been in this world for four months, but he understood that this was the loyalty and code of knights. He neither understood nor comprehended it, nor could he follow the so-called principles and conduct of those knights.

But he knew that this was something as important to knights as their very lives.

Perhaps there were many scoundrels among this class, but there were still many knights who upheld the vows they had once sworn. People like this Secretary were not unheard of.

The Secretary pressed the dagger against his chest. He had once been a knight himself. After growing old and frail, he had voluntarily relinquished his fief and returned to Goer Castle to serve the Gwen Family as a Secretary.

"I have fought for the Gwen Family all my life. Please forgive me for committing such a rude and drastic act before you!"

With that, he exerted force with his hand. Veins bulged on the back of it, showing that he had once been a valiant and battle-hardened knight in his youth.

As blood flowed, a flash of pain crossed his face. Then, at last, there was a trace of relief in his expression. If not for the sorrow in his eyes, his life had finally come to rest. Perhaps this was the most fitting end for him.

He slowly collapsed to the ground, his breathing gradually ceased. For a knight, perhaps this was the most honorable death—not wasting away in a sickbed, but dying from a wound dealt face-to-face, the equivalent of falling on the battlefield.

The knights present all drew the longswords at their waists and automatically formed a line. They held their swords with both hands before them, while those without helmets put them on. A solemn, tragic atmosphere spread beneath the main keep.

The Crimson Gryphon Knights did the same. Though they were characters manifested from another world, they were knights as well—knights who regarded honor and loyalty as dearly as life itself.

Reiner slowly drew the longsword at his waist and held it before him. Though he did not understand the other man's code, such a person was always worthy of respect. For some reason, when the man plunged the dagger into his own chest, Reiner felt a touch of sorrow in his heart.