A Bird Startled by the Bow

Pope Rossa, who had just made up his mind, found himself in a dilemma once again. The letter was crystal clear: they had to surrender as soon as possible, hand over all their spoils of war, and compensate the empire for its losses.

The harsh attitude immediately filled the kings and Pope Rossa with fury. Their defeat on the battlefield was already certain, but no one was willing to hand over all the gold, silver, and treasures they had plundered, much less pay compensation.

"Your Holiness, I say we might as well fight that damned Reiner to the bitter end! We have the walls on our side, and the food stored here is enough to last us a whole year!"

After hearing Reiner's terms repeated by the others, a young Duke said indignantly to Pope Rossa, his fury blazing.

"I refuse to believe that damned Reiner can surround us here for an entire year. He'll have to return and take control of the territories he just conquered. In my opinion, if we hold out for only a month, he'll have no choice but to turn tail and crawl back!"

"Exactly! I think that so-called emperor's crown is more important to him. We simply won't surrender and see what he can do!"

The clamoring among the crowd continued without end. The more than twenty thousand soldiers in the castle gave them tremendous confidence.

Looking at the excited crowd, Pope Rossa could only say, "Very well. For the Father! For each of your own honors, we shall fight the enemy to the death!"

"Hah!"

Reiner soon received their reply. The Holy War Coalition had likewise shot the letter back on an arrow. The contents were exactly as he had expected: in the end, they still needed to fight a battle.

"Everyone, prepare