Price of Management

A week since the battle began.

The 100 hours that Nigel had foretold as the sun set and the evening began had already passed.

Throughout the week, the Horn Empire has been relentless in its attacks, with the exception of the soil buildup. However, the mansion was not yet underwater by the Horn Empire.

“They're really nasty for young people. No. Is it because you're young? ”

Nigel mutters as he looks at the mansion.

The battle is brief. After 100 hours, Nigel stops attacking and rests.

However, the siege towers were still undergoing workshops with the guards of the mansion above the walls. In the aftermath of the fierce battle, the siege tower is also unstable, and there are traces of fire everywhere.

As the damage grows due to the siege towers, the guards pour boiling oil and throw torches to burn the siege towers. Nigel sent a wizard to make it evolve immediately, but the bridge between the siege tower and the wall was lost. Because of this, the Hundred Disease War between the siege towers and the walls disappeared and became a pattern of exchanging arrows.

I thought about taking back the siege tower, repairing the bridge, and raising it again, but Nigel didn't. Recovering and raising the siege tower that was pushed up there with difficulty was also a great burden on the soldiers. Above all…….

You dropped your arrow, didn't you? I know everything, John Spay. ’

Nigel chuckles.

Since the start of the battle, Nigel has been counting the number of arches on the guards' side of the mansion. On the third day of battle, the number of arches decreases considerably. The arrow must have run out.

“You must be busy picking up arrows. ”

Nigel knew exactly what was going on inside the mansion. That's why he fired his bow at the siege tower. The opposing Pokémon can't respond, so they attack unilaterally to reduce morale.

Of course, the Horn Empire could not afford to waste its arrows. Since the amount of arrows is not unlimited, we should save them, and recycle any arrows that the guards picked up and didn't hit.

That's why you stopped the archers and only let them shoot arrows from the siege towers. The siege towers were higher than the walls, making them more suitable for the palace.

‘We ran in shifts, but many of our soldiers are tired, so let's give them plenty of rest. ’

And at the end of the break, he decided to mobilize his entire army to take the final blow.

‘That was a good fight, John Spay. But we have to see this through. This is war.'

* * *

Seeing the Horn Empire retreating in unison, John ordered it immediately.

“Rest assured we have a minimal force left. ”

“Rest? Are you sure? ”

Bernard asked me with a face of fatigue, making my beard saggy because I couldn't shave. He was also tired of the constant struggle, so he needed rest, but he couldn't give up the fight, so he insisted.

John said.

“The enemy will rest enough and then take a gunshot. This time, we're not going to divide our forces into two sides, we're going to do a full-scale gunfight. If we're going to fight that, we need to regain some of our strength. ”

There was a good reason to take a sweet rest, but Bernard felt faint instead of happy.

“If the whole army is mobilized, that's twice the men we've fought. ”

“Yes…. Enemies have suffered a lot of damage in the ongoing struggle, but at a non-numerical rate, we are also not sufficiently damaged. ”

31 people died and more than 20 were injured. More than six were private soldiers from the late ligand writers, and fewer were killed in the students who came to visit. However, one man was a precious life.

‘Was it the right choice to fight? ’

Thinking about his dead friends, John's heart became heavy. I felt guilty selling my chest with an awl. John was the one who broke up the students to protect this house. I felt responsible for their deaths as if they were their own.

Moreover, if we lose the fight, if this mansion falls, we will all die or be taken captive.

“Can we win, sir? ”

“…… to win. ”

I couldn't be sure that I could even beat a lie. There were too many of them, and the enemy commander was also Nigel Jurden. If the enemy makes a foolish mistake, it will increase his chances, but Nigel makes tactically sound judgments, not mistakes.

Your first military command.

The first war.

John was still just a 15-year-old boy, though he had performed exceptionally well. That's why his heart was never comfortable because of the heavy pressure. Even if I close my eyes for a moment, I still have nightmares.

‘Should I not have fought? Was it a childish toy? Did I not make a wise choice when I was young...? ’

I gradually thought in a pessimistic direction due to mental fatigue. Even though I tried to hold on to my heart firmly, despair came to me instead of hope. Instead of trying to figure out how to win, I thought about what to do if I lost.

He recognized it and blamed himself for being weak.

‘I was such a weak man. ’

You knew that.

It's gonna be a tough fight. The victim will show up. But we still have to fight, and we weren't sure we had to defend this place.

‘Bad guy……. I knew I was young. ’

The slang "genius" that I had been following since I was a child felt like a lie.

In fact, I thought he was a fool who was encouraged by other people's compliments and met Marlowe while praising everyone. There were many talents in history, but many were defeated by wrong choices.

Students were united against the Horn Empire, but they were defeated and killed or captured.

I thought that the humble history that would be recorded in that single line might be all about my career.

I can't do that! ’

John grips his teeth. The determination that began to show the floor rose again.

‘I will not lose. I'll never lose! ’

I hypnotized myself.

But that's when it happened.

“John! John! ”

“Come here, John! ”

You can see Lloyd and Mick rushing towards you in a panic. Awakened from thought, John wondered why. I felt like I was in trouble again.

But fortunately, it wasn't bad news. Rather, it was good news.

Lloyd and Mick shout with a bright face.

“Mitchell's soldiers are here! ”

“Mitchell's here! Mitchell hired hundreds of mercenaries to bring him in! We're alive! ”

“…… what? ”

For a moment, John thought he heard it wrong. I was in a bad situation the whole time, so I couldn't easily believe the good news.

However, as Lloyd and Mick grabbed themselves and were joyful, John's heart slowly turned to joy as well.

“Let's go! ”

John leaves Bernard in charge and jumps into the mansion with Lloyd and Mick.

There were over 200 strong men who looked like mercenaries in the garden in front of the mansion building. I sat on my butt on the ground, panting as if we were all tired.

I could also see a happy face.

“John, I'm sorry I'm late. ”

It was my best friend, Mitchell, the student council president.

“Mitchell! You made it! ”

John is impressed, then runs over, hugs Mitchell, and slaps his back. Mitchell understands the extreme pain John must have been going through, smiling and complaining.

“I'm sorry I'm late. ”

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I'm kind of wondering how you got here already. ”

“I've also bought all the supplies I need for battle, such as arrows and food. But to be as quick as possible, the supplies were told to follow slowly and at full speed with the mercenaries. ”

The mercenaries were exhausted together because they rushed to this place.

But it was Mitchell's judgment that he arrived on time.

Thanks to this, John was able to get rid of despair completely and get hope.