43 Counter-Trap Attack (1)
It was dark in the castle, fortunately, the sky was cloudless.
Zeff and I slipped out of the prison in the confusion and hid in a secret space underneath a small temple in the fortress.
Before going to Linon Castle, I asked the soldiers about possible places to hide.
One of the soldiers who were in charge of the temple told me about this place.
There was no way that the Visigoth Royal Army, which had just taken over Linon Castle, knew more about geography than the locals.
Hidden in the basement of the temple, We waited for dawn to break and moved to the street.
I avoided the patrols and observed the sky.
It was the night of the day when Linon Castle was occupied when the enemy soldiers were resting.
According to the method I learned from Givens, it was about three in the morning.
It was not as accurate as a clock, but since Givens would also calculate the time based on the position of the moon, we would both know the same time anyway.
The mission I gave to Yusen and Givens started at about 1 o'clock, it's been about two hours since then.
If the two of them were working as planned, I wouldn't have much time to relax.
I came out of the waterway and used the system.
34 soldiers were guarding the north gate, thirty men on the wall and four in front of the gate.
"Zeff." <Julius >
As usual, there was no change in Zeff's expression, he just followed me.
Perhaps accepting my words that he should stay with me to see that I am a man who keeps his word, Zeff followed me without saying another word about dying.
But even so, he just walked listlessly, clutching the ring I recovered, as if he didn't care when he died.
"Aren't you wondering what I'm going to do now?" <Julius >
"You're trying to escape, aren't you?" <Zeff >
Well, there's that too, escape is my last option.
I can't throw away my life.
"No. Even if I have to run, I'm going to take this castle back before I do." <Julius >
"... Are you out of your mind? How are you going to take this castle back by yourself?" <Zeff >
"With a miracle?" <Julius >
"What the hell!?" <Zeff >
"Actually, I've been making some assumptions about the movements of the scouts you belong to." <Julius >
"What?" <Zeff >
"What do you think was the reason for sending you to scout the way when they already knew the terrain and figured the location of the supply base?" <Julius >
"I don't know. I was just following orders." <Zeff >
"Visigoth's people were planning to abandon the reconnaissance team you belonged to from the beginning. They wanted to give us false information. I'm sure the higher-ups in the Visigoth army used you as a pawn." <Julius >
"...That country never did anything for me from the beginning, I'm not surprised." <Zeff >
Zeff replied as if it was no surprise.
"I had my suspicions. Even though we stopped the surprise attack, that part didn't quite add up. But after seeing the fall of Linon Castle, I'm convinced that the enemy's strategist has a plan. I'm going to destroy that strategy now." <Julius >
"What?" <Zeff >
"I hope you understand that once I've accomplished this seemingly impossible feat, I'm going to save you and your woman so that you can live happily ever after." <Julius >
"..." <Zeff >
He says he will die to protect her, but it is only natural for a human being to want to live and be happy together if possible.
"So what are you going to do?" <Zeff >
"Well, it's easy. All we have to do is open the north gate." <Julius >
"There are at least ten thousand Visigoth troops inside the castle. What kind of miracle are we trying to pull off?" <Zeff >
I didn't answer his question and ran towards the north gate.
All I have to do is prove it with my actions.
"Who are you? Identify yourself!" <Enemy Soldier>
The soldiers on top of the castle gate shouted, but I ignored them and rushed toward the gate.
Zeff, who was following behind me, said.
"Miri said I was an idiot. That's why she told me not to act rashly. I don't know if helping you is the right thing to do. If I do, will I really be happy?" <Zeff >
"If you follow me, you won't have to live on the lowest rung of the ladder, because your happiness will be nothing compared to the miracle that is about to happen." <Julius >
Sensing the surprise attack, the soldiers began to blow their trumpets.
In a few moments, enemies would be pouring in from all directions.
After using [Sweep] to instantly subdue the four soldiers under the castle gate, Zint and I arrived in front of the gate.
Then, we removed the long barred bolt on the inside of the gate.
"Enemy!" <Soldiers >
The thirty soldiers on the castle wall came down one after the other.
"Zeff! Can you lend me a hand while I open the gates?" <Julius >
"..." <Zeff >
He didn't respond, though.
I have no idea what to do with this behaviour.
In any case, it's a plan I made assuming that Zeff is not here.
I'll have to do it alone!
At first, I started by dealing with the soldiers who came down from the castle wall.
Opening the gate with my back to the enemy soldiers would be like asking them to kill me.
"They're trying to open the gates! Kill them now!" <Enemy Soldier>
When I finally made my way back to the gate after cutting down 30 enemy soldiers, the soldiers on the other side of the gate began to descend from the castle tower.
The infantry sleeping closest to me swarmed me; the number of soldiers was over a hundred.
Thanks to the fact that I fought alone, Zeff didn't make a move.
He just looked around with a confused look in his eyes, wondering what was bothering him so much.
It was as if he was distracted by something else.
I still had points so I used [Sweep] on the soldiers coming towards me, this skill is quite useful against multiple enemies.
The downside is that it's not a skill powerful enough to destroy the castle gates, the basic skills are like that.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the soldiers in the area died, the problem was that more were coming.
[Sweep] bought me some time so I turned around and started to open the gate.
Giiiiiiii!
It was not that difficult to open the unbolted gate.
Usually, it takes two soldiers to open and close the gate.
So it would be more difficult for a single person.
In the end, I succeeded in opening the gate, at the same time, the enemy was closing in on us.
