The Battle in the Distance
Horn Pass, the border between Antir and the Kingdom of Lorinvik.
This is a fortress built by the Antir Kingdom at the very beginning of its founding, specifically to defend against attacks from the Kingdom of Lorinvik.
The pass was named Horn Pass because the fortress, built according to the terrain at the time, resembled a horn when viewed from the mountaintop behind it.
However, that's all in the past. The current Horn Pass is no longer what it used to be. After the battle between the armies led by Third Order Professional from both sides a hundred years ago, the entire Horn Pass was almost paralyzed, and the terrain has changed drastically.
Now, the Horn Pass is more like an inverted funnel, cascading down a mountain, blocking almost everyone who wants to travel from this direction to the Antir Region.
At this moment, Horn Pass was already immersed in a tense atmosphere.
Almost everyone had a tense expression, glancing frequently in the direction of Lorinvik to see when the army would arrive.
Cliff, a knight who surrendered in Knight's Duel and left the Battlefield unscathed, had a poor reputation among knights because of this incident.
At this moment, Cliff stood on the city wall, looking at the mountains and forests to the south, his right hand gripping the wall tightly, his knuckles taut. Behind him and below the city wall, several groups of soldiers hurriedly carried supplies past.
A deep, deliberately raised voice rang out, causing Cliff to frown and turn around.
"Cliff, stop looking. Just admit defeat when the Kingdom of Lorinvik attacks..."
Cliff looked at the burly man with a full beard in front of him and slowly began to speak.
"Sam, I remember explaining this before: if you were facing an opponent like this, you'd be crippled if you didn't admit defeat..."
Sam burst into laughter, interrupting Cliff. He narrowed his eyes and put on a mocking expression.
"Very well, I'll be crippled. Who will cripple me? Finley, that knight who surrenders like you?"
Sam paused for a moment, then continued with a laugh:
"I never imagined that someone who had killed two enemy knights on the Battlefield would lose to a knight known for his surrender."
Cliff wasn't angry at the mockery, nor did he immediately get angry and explain to Sam. Instead, he slowly said:
"I've already mentioned that. He had a follower with him at the time, and that follower was very powerful. If I had fought him, I might have died by his sword."
Cliff's words drew further ridicule from Sam.
"Still the same old story. Can't you even come up with a different excuse? He's just a follower. How could he possibly be a knight of Formal Rank?"
"You, a Formal Rank knight, can't even defeat an apprentice knight, yet you have the nerve to come back..."
"Why don't you just say it's a mage? If you keep going up to fight him, he'll just blast you in the face with his spells."
"How dare you stay in the Knights like this?!"
Just like Fran's previous life, this other world also has a so-called knight culture. Although there are big differences in the specifics, they all generally advocate courage.
Cliff, who conceded defeat, was clearly going to be badly hurt by this culture, but Cliff did not regret his decision.
Cliff's face remained calm. He closed his eyes and then spoke slowly.
"Knight's Duel grant me this right, allowing me to concede when the situation is unfavorable, saving time and reducing risk."
"I've emphasized this many times, but I don't think you came here just to emphasize this point again."
"Hmph." Sam exhaled hot breath from his thick nostrils, turned his head to look at the mountains and forests to the south, and spoke.
"The Marquis Crawford has ordered us to increase our vigilance, so starting tonight, we will have two knights on duty on the city walls every hour, in shifts. Today it's you and me."
Cliff blinked, realizing that this was an order from the Duke Theodore, because the Marquis Crawford would never issue such a harsh order.
He recalled the scene he had witnessed since he was sent here ten days ago.
Hundreds of tents were erected by the soldiers in a single day, and weapons and armor were constantly being transported to their location.
Even the army besieging the Royal Capital had at least half of its men withdrawn, all of which indicated that a major battle was about to break out here.
Cliff looked at Sam, whose face was full of excitement, his hand unconsciously touching his weapon, while his other hand was constantly pounding on the city wall.
"So we'll stay here and not go to the main observation post over there," Cliff suddenly asked, pointing to the tallest building over there, a huge tower connected to the city wall.
"That's right, we're going to stay on the city wall, not go to that observation post," Sam replied.
"But isn't there an alarm bell there? The two of us have to go there and keep watch..."
"The guards... Marquis Crawford has provided ample manpower, or do you want to be crammed in with so many people...?" Sam chuckled, then continued:
"Then you can go there. When the enemy attacks, stay there and warn those knights huddled under their blankets..."
Cliff looked at Sam and sighed involuntarily. He knew that the other man was probably obsessed with Battle Merit.
Cliff knew that this was no longer a dispute within the Antir Region. In Antir Region, rival knights were generally not killed unless their stance was truly unchangeable.
Cliff killed two knights who were obligated to side with the royal family, which is already among the most he's killed. Apart from him, probably no other knight has ever killed an enemy knight.
A large number of knights were incorporated into Duke Theodore's reorganization, such as Finley, and there were no fewer than ten knights in the same situation, all of whom had surrendered from the royal family.
This situation might have given knights like Sam the illusion that they could only achieve Battle Merit by displaying bravery when their position was not irreplaceable.
This is also the mindset of many knights: they generally won't die on the Battlefield, so they might as well fight with all their might.
But Cliff knew that this time the situation was different; they were facing the Kingdom of Lorinvik, a nation with a history even longer than their own Antir.
The enemy's land was already filled with knights, and almost every piece of land was used to its fullest potential.
Therefore, they have a deep enthusiasm for outward expansion.
However, the situation has changed. After the Third Order Professional in Lorinvik aged or were seriously injured, the country's foreign wars were forced to come to a halt.
However, things weren't much better for Antir. Their Third Order Professional were long dead, otherwise Duke Theodore wouldn't have been able to so easily push the royal family to this point.
The needs of the Kingdom of Lorinvik and the needs of Duke Theodore are different.
Duke Theodore had only so many knights at his disposal, and he had to keep the lords of most of his territories unchanged, otherwise other countries would attack him.
Therefore, when launching the rebellion, Duke Theodore did not kill every enemy, but tried his best to reconcile the interests of everyone.
This is why most of the opposing knights survived.
However, things were different in the Kingdom of Lorinvik. The number of knights there was severely saturated, and they desperately needed new territories to produce more knights.
Some even have the special circumstance of wanting both of their children to become knights, which leads to a completely different way the Kingdom of Lorinvik responds when facing hostile knights.
At first they would choose to imprison them, but this wouldn't last long. After achieving some success, Cliff was certain they would kill these rival knights to make room.
Faced with this situation, Cliff's only chance of survival was to hold out in the castle.
Cliff walked up the steps leading to the observation deck. The steps had been there for many years, and they swayed slightly as Cliff climbed them, causing Cliff to frown.
He walked to the top, pushed open the door, and saw an alarm bell as big as himself, with a lever next to it that would activate the alarm if pulled.
"Hello, Sir Cliff."
A soldier jogged over, a slightly nervous look on his face. He stood in front of Cliff, blocking his Cliff, and said...
"Everything is fine here. According to regulations, no one can enter without special circumstances. May I ask what brings you here, Knight?"
Cliff frowned, then said:
"I am a knight assigned by the Marquis Crawford to be stationed here. Has no one informed you that there will be two knights on duty every night?"
The soldier remained expressionless and responded slowly.
"I'm sorry, Knight, we haven't received any information, so we cannot let you in."
Behind the soldier, others had already drawn their weapons, forming a human wall, and some had even placed their hands on the levers.
Cliff suddenly realized something, he slowly backed away, and then said.
"I'm going down now. If you don't see me waving at the conference room door in five minutes, then immediately sound the alarm."
As he was speaking, Cliff was about to get down and quickly turned around when he suddenly heard the crisp sound of a weapon being drawn from its sheath.
But before he could react, a bright silver light pierced his neck at the same moment the sound rang out, instantly robbing him of all his strength.
He collapsed to the ground, his vision blurred, but even as he lay there, he could still see what was happening on the entire observation platform.
There were still some bloodstains on the ground that hadn't been cleaned up yet, and several parts of the steps were broken, with fresh marks. The soldiers in the observation room all took out daggers hidden at their waists.
"I apologize, Knight, but this is also a mission we received from Marquis Crawford: to prevent anyone from coming here and ringing the alarm."
Cliff stared wide-eyed at the dagger that had killed him, but whether from blood loss or something else, he could barely make out the dagger's appearance.