Self-Inflicted Evil Cannot Be Survived

"Ah! My lord, spare us! Spare us, my lord!" The moment Nalant's head rose above the battlement, the Maple Leaf City "soldiers" standing nearby turned deathly pale. They all dropped to their knees and begged for mercy without end.

Only then did Nalant finally lower his guard.

His guess had been correct. These were no soldiers at all, but clearly commoners or serfs dressed in Maple Leaf City soldiers' outer uniforms.

Among the seven or eight "soldiers" nearby, Nalant even spotted two young girls. They had merely been impossible to notice from afar because they wore helmets.

After confirming it was safe, Nalant ignored them and leaped up onto the broad walkway atop the city wall.

Once atop the wall, Nalant pulled the siege ladder up as well.

Crack!

A cold glint flashed from Nalant's longsword as he cleaved the siege ladder apart, then chopped it into a wooden pole four or five meters long.

After obtaining the pole, Nalant slipped his large Storm Territory banner over it.

Once that was done, he planted the pole into the city wall. Storm Territory's banner immediately fluttered in the wind above Maple Leaf City's walls.

"Th-this... this... it's taken already? We've captured Maple Leaf City?"

As Nalant completed this fluid sequence of actions, the tens of thousands of soldiers outside the city erupted in an uproar, as though they were dreaming.

The King's hands trembled slightly. Watching all this, he too felt as though it were an illusion.

Once upon a time, he had also wanted to capture Maple Leaf City. Yet ever since inheriting the throne decades ago, that wish had never been fulfilled.

And now, a mere little noble had accomplished his dream alone, with a single man and horse.

Of course, excitement aside, everyone's minds were now filled with