“Is everything okay, my lady?”
The voice came from behind.
It was Ulyseon, standing next to the tent as he looked at Maxi with a sad look.
He had probably followed her out of concern.
Maxi composed himself and staggered to his feet.
"I-I'm fine.
All this tension...
made me a little sick."
"You look bad.
Please let me walk you to your tent."
Ulyseon helped her up, and Maxi leaned on him as she stood up.
I was simply too exhausted to maintain a strong posture.
“Is everyone okay?” she asked.
“About seven knights were injured, but none of them were at risk of death,” said Ulyseon gravely, looking up at the hill.
The battle had raged all night.
The knightly orders now stood guard atop the hill as soldiers carried the wounded on stretchers.
Clergymen buried and purified the dead, and others pulled carts loaded with the limp carcasses of their horses.
Although it was customary to honor a war horse with a burial upon death, the army had to resort to eating whatever they could find to conserve provisions.
Horses were either skinned and dismembered or roasted whole over open fires.
Even as hundreds died each day, their screams echoing in the air, the living still needed to fill their stomachs when the time came.
Maxi watched the soldiers running up and down the hill before coming to his senses and making his way through the camp.
Beside the rows of tents was the beginning of construction of the camp wall, a pile of roughly hewn stones four kevettes high.
The rear unit worked on this between skirmishes.
Passing through the irregularly stacked structure, she arrived at the tall tent designated for the mages.
She didn't bother changing her bloody clothes before lying down next to the brazier and curling up under two dirty blankets.
Despite the anxiety and fear that tore at her heart, her exhaustion sent her into a deep sleep.
Garrow was still unconscious the next day.
Hebaron, who had come to the infirmary to check on him, called Maxi out of the tent.
“Do you think the boy will be all right, my lady?” he asked cautiously.
Unable to respond immediately, Maxi bit her lip.
A heavy silence followed.
“I would like your honest opinion,” said Hebaron.
“Garrow is my direct subordinate, so I need to know his condition.”
“We healed the wound… but magic cannot repair damage to the brain.” Maxi hesitated briefly before adding, “We won’t know until he wakes up… if there will be any long-term effects.”
She couldn't bring herself to say that he might never open his eyes again.
Hebaron stood silently under the eaves for a long time, watching the snow fall on the hill.
It began to snow at dawn, forcing a brief interruption in the fighting.
The coalition army was now enjoying a much needed rest.
Maxi was grateful for the break.
The soldiers were exhausted from laying siege during the day and protecting the camp at night, and the mages were running out of mana.
This truce was desperately needed.
After studying Hebaron's grave expression, Maxi suddenly blurted out, "Shouldn't we abandon this campaign?"
Hebaron turned his eyes away from the city of monsters to look at her.
Surprised by her own statement, Maxi shrugged, but the words continued to flow out of her like water from a broken dam.
"Perhaps we should return...
before more lives are lost.
We still have no news from Riftan.
That must mean...
that something has gone wrong!
We must...
give up this campaign and send a search party to find him, Ruth, and Sir Elliot before it's too late!
We'd better return to Anatol with them“"
“Even if we give up now and return, we will have to face the monsters again in a few years,” said Hebaron.
Despite Maxi's words of defeat, the knight showed no sign of anger.
He looked at her with calm eyes before adding calmly, "Now that we have discovered their stronghold, the monsters will act.
They will attack as soon as we order a retreat.
Another war cannot be avoided."Maxi bit his lip.
Hebaron was right.
Much money had been collected to finance this war, enough to supply over twenty thousand soldiers with food, firewood, coal, magical stones and devices, siege weapons, various armaments, and fodder for their horses for several months.
If this campaign failed, it would be especially devastating for the northern regions, which were suffering from famine.
However, continuing did not guarantee success.
They could end up retreating after suffering even more casualties.
As if sensing his fear, Hebaron continued speaking.
"The monsters are also restless.
The fact that they haven't used the wyverns yet is proof of that."
Maxi looked at him, confused.
"I don't understand."
"Do you remember Princess Agnes explaining how much food a wyvern consumes?
A nest that size would need an unbelievable amount of livestock.
That's why the monsters forced the creatures into hibernation." Hebaron stroked the rough beard covering his cheeks and continued, "They need even more food when they wake up, which the monster army cannot provide at the moment.
This explains why there were no wyverns in the battle.
They are probably saving it for when the war is in full swing."
"The monsters may never engage in direct battle!
They may be thinking they have the advantage of time."
"If that were the case, they wouldn't have bothered with the night attacks.
They're trying to decimate our numbers as quickly as possible.
If there's anything certain, it's that the enemy wants to avoid a long war as much as we do."
Hebaron's sharp eyes turned away from the battlefield to look at her.
His voice was full of conviction as he said, "They're probably also low on food.
They'll try to prolong this and then attack at the critical moment."
Maxi looked longingly at the silent hill.
He doubted events would unfold as he said.
Even if they did, that didn't guarantee success.
The mere thought of facing tens of thousands of monsters up close made his heart shrink in fear.
Above all other feelings was his concern for Riftan.
Excusing herself, Maxi turned to head back to the infirmary.
I felt like I would lose all control if I continued this conversation.
Trying hard not to let her thoughts dwell on Riftan, she approached Garrow.
A mage named Nora stood next to him, pouring an herbal tonic into his mouth.
Maxi knelt to inspect the knight's pale face and run her fingers over the surgical marks on his temple.
Although the wound had healed, small lumps ran above his right eye.
The worry that she hadn't put all the bones in the right place tormented her.
After examining his still swollen eye, Maxi asked Nora to reduce the swelling with ice and moved on to the other patients.
The heavy snowfall finally ceased at noon the next day, and the coalition army wasted no time in resuming the attack.
Maxi and Armin summoned an earthen wall of forty kevettes behind the central battalion, creating a vantage point for another round of incessant catapults.
Although the enemy retaliated with fireballs, they never reached the coalition's weapons.
The same could not be said for the soldiers running towards the city gate.
Maxi looked away as they were sent hurtling down the hill into piles of rocks and flames.
Although the mages tried desperately to protect the troops, there was little a handful of them could do for thousands.
By the end of the day, more than two hundred had lost their lives.
Anger and despair boiled in Maxi's chest.
It was unbearable to see so many lives being erased as if they were worthless.
She tried not to look down and concentrated on transporting more rocks to the catapults.
The attacks stopped at sunset, and the soldiers who had rested during the day came to form a defensive line.
Maxi lowered the wall and moved the catapults to the rear.
She devoured her meal as soon as she returned to camp.
In the first days of the siege, she could barely eat a slice of bread.
Now, every few days, she found herself devouring her rations, despite the smell of blood that permeated the air.It was a testament to the incredible resilience of the human body, one she was experiencing firsthand.
His body still yearned for sleep and food even in the chaos of war.
Before this, she would never have thought it was possible to sleep through the deafening noise of crushing rocks.
In the second week of the fruitless siege, Adolf, the commander of Arex's army, let his anxiety show.
“We can't prolong this,” he blurted out during a strategy meeting.
Everyone gathered in the central barracks frowned.
“Currently, we have no alternative,” replied Agnes.
"Rash action will only result in more casualties.
Our best strategy is to maintain the siege until the monsters run out of options without losing any of our men."
“We'll run out of options first,” the man said with a loud growl.
“Morale is falling!”
“So what do you suggest?” Kuahel said coldly.
It was Richard Breston who responded.
He raised his wine glass, his lips twisting into a cruel smile.
"Isn't it obvious?
We should order a full-scale attack.
We don't drag all these siege weapons here for show."
Kuahel's tone turned icy as he said, "Have you already forgotten the catastrophe of the first day?"