Chapter 78 - Revealed Only After the Fall (1)

The time the Orcs spent ravaging the North was not that long.

It was barely over two months, and even then, thanks to the cavalry of Ballorhard stepping up and driving the Orcs around before the damage could spread, many cities were able to avoid the Orcs' path of advance.

Nevertheless, the damage suffered by the North was not small.

Nine cities were laid to waste. Nine armies defending the cities were swept away by the Orcs. Countless subjects who couldn't evacuate in time died.

The loss of life and material damage suffered by the North was beyond words.

However, the truly great damage was the shattered spirit of the Northerners.

What kind of place was the North?

Until the winter fortress stood tall, countless amounts of blood had been spilled on this land. Even brushing away the pure white snow, there wasn't a single spot on the earth where the soil wasn't red.

To defend this land from monsters, countless people threw away their lives like straw.

Only then did the fortress barely stand tall, and only then did this land of bitter cold become a land for humans.

Dedication and sacrifice.

To the Northerners, such a past was the proud history of their ancestors, and a spirit they should uphold as a banner.

But the lords had thrown that proud history and spirit into the trash can.

The descendants of Heroes, who should have protected and taken responsibility for their subjects, fled even before the war broke out.

The Northerners, who had been preparing to fight against the Orcs' southward advance, were left devastated.

While they were arguing over whether they themselves should stay and fight, people claiming to be messengers of Ballorhard appeared and urged them to leave their territories.

Many abandoned their weapons and turned their backs on the land their ancestors had protected.

However, not all of those who left set foot on the path of evacuation.

There were rumors that the ruler of House Ballorhard was gathering an army, that the survivors of Winter Castle were preparing to fight again.

A staggering two thousand men harbored a sliver of hope and sought out the banner of House Ballorhard.

When they finally stood beneath the banner engraved with three layered shields, they learned the truth.

They learned just how long House Ballorhard had fought alone, and how the Northern lords had turned a blind eye to their screams.

They heard everything about the fate that befell the lords who had cowardly fled.

They were outraged, and at the same time, relieved.

It was a relief that at least one still remained.

They paid their respects to the descendant of the noble family who had fought against countless winters in a place no one knew about, and mourned the former head of the family and the soldiers who fought to the death until the end.

They decided to gather beneath the banner of House Ballorhard and fight together.

Of course, they were not soldiers. They had never received proper training, and they certainly hadn't learned how to fight ferocious monsters.

Telling them to grab a sword and fight monsters was an impossible task, even for men who had resolved to risk their lives in battle.

But it was a different story when it came to bows and axes.

Fundamentally, Northerners were skilled at handling bows and axes. Hunting beasts with a bow in the barren land was an everyday occurrence for them, and grabbing an axe to chop down trees to overcome the harsh cold was an indispensable skill for them.

Setting traps and tracking the traces of beasts was also a rather unexceptional talent for them.

And the talents they had learned in their daily lives were not that different from the fundamental skills Rangers had to possess.

The Rangers of Winter Castle trained them as Rangers.

Of course, the short training they underwent until reaching the Central region's defensive line could not make them perfect Rangers. Let alone reaching the same level as the Rangers of Winter Castle, who possessed the most outstanding skills among Rangers, which was an impossible task.

However, they already possessed the necessary conditions, and all that was left was to acquire the indomitable Fighting Spirit held by the Ballorhard Rangers through actual combat.

And there was actual combat. Furthermore, it wasn't just any actual combat, but a battle against an army of thousands of Orcs led by a monster called the King of Orcs, the likes of which they had never heard of or seen before.

Many died during the battle. Even more survived the battle.

And those who survived like that refused to return to their homes and grounds.

All of them expressed their intention to voluntarily enlist, and the new Count Ballorhard accepted them all, organizing a Ranger legion equivalent to one legion.

Of course, normally, this would have been an impossible task.

Conscripting this many troops at once would easily cause their intentions to be doubted and lead to trouble, no matter if they were a Margrave. No, even before that, the lords who had their subjects taken away would have risen up first.

Also, what about the massive military expenses?

However, more than half of the lords who would have risen up in protest were already dead, and their descendants had not even fully inherited the authority of the family head.

The military expenses were covered by the wit of Second Prince Maximilian.

The Second Prince demanded massive financial compensation in exchange for turning a blind eye to the crimes of the Central region nobles who had fled the defensive line. The noble houses, including House Branbrut, agreed to this.

It was because they had to make up for the damage suffered in the war, and they knew that even if they held them fully accountable, the penalty they would pay would be nothing more than the disgrace of being runaways.

They also placed the burden of the war on those who had not participated.

Out of the thirty-six houses existing in the Central region, twenty-three paid massive amounts of money. Half of that amount was delivered to House Ballorhard.

The war was over, but the atmosphere in the North was still no different from wartime.

The major cities were laid to waste, and the children of the fallen lords fought bloody battles among themselves over the rights of succession to their families.

Those who inherited noble blood died off without a rumor.

At that time, the messenger of the new Count Ballorhard stepped forward. No, to be exact, it was the First Prince's messenger.

The First Prince summoned all the nobles of the North who held succession rights to Winter Castle.

And there, he personally selected those who would inherit the succession rights of their families.

This was an absurd act. Normally, they would have been jumping up and down in rage, claiming that the Royal Family had infringed upon the inherent rights and privileges of the nobles.

But no one could protest against this.

House Ballorhard, which had only looked toward the mountains beyond the fortress for hundreds of years, backed him up while exercising their authority as a Margrave over the Northern lords for the first time. On top of that, the reputation the First Prince had built in the past battle against the Orcs was no small matter.

When noble people died miserably while fleeing, the eldest son of the Royal Family, who was nobler than anyone, fought at the very forefront.

Rumors of him being an incorrigible Scoundrel and a disgrace to the Royal Family did not work, at least in the North.

Thousands of Northerners had witnessed the fierce battle between the Warlord and the First Prince. And the horrific traces of battle engraved all over the First Prince's body proved this.

House Ballorhard, the guardian deity of the North, and the First Prince, who came to be called the savior of the North.

Even the subjects distrusted the families of the lords who had abandoned them and fled, and refused to follow them. Normally, they would have crushed them down, but that was impossible now.

The subjects who had experienced the war were no longer the docile sheep of the past.

Going back a few generations, there wasn't a single household without martial deeds, and there wasn't a single house that didn't store the swords and shields used by their ancestors in their storehouses.

They no longer trusted their lords and armed themselves.

On the other hand, the lords had lost their power. They had already been absorbed by the First Prince. The remaining private soldiers numbered less than a hundred. If the subjects were to rise up, their family names might be erased, let alone their successions.

In the end, the lords had to bite the bullet and watch as the successors chosen by the First Prince inherited their families.

And those who were chosen and inherited their families competed to swear loyalty to the First Prince. The war burden paid by the Central region nobles was given to them in no small amount as a reward for their loyalty.

With that money, they solidified their authority.

As for the nobles who missed the position of family head right before their eyes, they couldn't even promise a next time.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, to say the least.

They sent messages to the capital, reporting the situation that had occurred in the North. If they could, they wanted to regain the position of family head even by bringing in the armies of other nobles.

Some of the cunning ones among them even exaggerated the situation in the North and reported it to the Royal Family to exploit the discord between the King and his eldest son.

But it was to no avail.

The noble houses felt burdened by the First Prince's faction, which had House Ballorhard and over twenty other houses under its feet, and only the trusted Royal Family sent messengers to try and salvage the situation, but their justification was far too lacking.

Because the decisions made by the Royal Family and the kingdom during the last war were no different from abandoning the North.

All they could do was command his return as the head of the Leonberk Family to a member of their clan.

And the First Prince ignored even that.

"Tell them I will return on my own when the time comes, so stop nagging."

It was said that the new Count Ballorhard and the knights, who were already completely captivated by the First Prince, felt extremely gratified upon hearing that story.

In reality, the North was in a situation no different from having broken free of the kingdom's rule.

A few wicked nobles contacted the Ambassador of the Empire. Because the Empire would never sit idly by and watch the large-scale conscription that had occurred in the North.

However, no matter how long they waited, the Ambassador of the Empire remained silent.

He had no choice but to do so. The Ambassador of the Empire, Marquis Montpellier, was currently too busy putting out the fire that had fallen on his own feet.

"You reported to our home country as I instructed, right?"

"I reported it exactly as you said, without a single word out of place."

"And the reply?"

"They said to monitor the situation and spare no financial support if necessary, so that the kingdom might strengthen the North's defenses just in case."

Marquis Montpellier breathed a sigh of relief.

The uproar that occurred in the kingdom's North was a major issue that even jeopardized his position.

There were only two missions given to the Ambassador of the Empire.

To suppress the subversive seeds that had fought against the Empire to the end in the past so they could never rise up like before, and to ensure that the kingdom could serve as a barrier at the northernmost point to block monster legions that might head south toward the Empire.

Neither of these missions was a light one.

Yet this time, the kingdom had almost collapsed. And because of his own misjudgment, at that.

He hadn't taken the uproar in the North seriously, and so he interfered to prevent the Leonberk Royal Family from responding properly. It was out of fear that the subversive seeds might use this uproar as an excuse to expand their armaments again.

He had separately pressured the Northern nobles to prevent them from helping House Ballorhard. He thought it would be a profitable trade if he could use this opportunity to exhaust the power of House Ballorhard, which openly displayed hostility toward the Empire.

It was a misjudgment.

Far from being a profitable trade, he had almost lost his entire capital.

The uproar that occurred in the North was more serious than the Marquis had imagined, and eventually, the fortress of House Ballorhard collapsed and the entire North was laid to waste.

Although they barely managed to block it in the Central region, if he reported the truth to his home country, ruthless sanctions could be imposed on House Montpellier. Therefore, he stopped the rumors from spreading and reported the kingdom's damages on a reduced scale.

Only then would his position be maintained.

"Damn it."

Marquis Montpellier spat out a curse.

It was only a few years ago that the monarch of the kingdom was caught recruiting knight orders without the Empire's knowledge. Through a whistleblower's report at the time, he was able to resolve the matter and weaken the Royal Family's authority, but thinking about the events of that time still sent a chill down his spine even now.

The Leonberk Kingdom was a small nation, but it had a history of fighting against the Empire for the longest time.

He had to ensure they could never struggle again.

That was why he had interfered this time as well, thinking it might be a covert operation by the Royal Family. He only wanted to carry out his mission more thoroughly.

Such a judgment jeopardized his political life.

"Both then and now, that First Prince bastard is a blessing."

Marquis Montpellier, who had been spitting out curses to himself for a long while, grinned.

The bastard who had sold out his own country's knights and helped the Marquis save his own skin, had this time protected his own country and allowed the Marquis to keep his position.

"I thought he was too incompetent to even be of use, but he is surprisingly helpful."

The prince bastard, whom he had tossed aside thinking he couldn't take care of the kingdom that was supposed to serve as the Empire's shield, had displayed unexpected capability.

A bastard with this level of capability was more than enough to be used as a puppet for the Empire.

Although it was detestable that he had bared his teeth at the banquet the other day, he was originally a bastard who couldn't tell heaven from earth when alcohol went in, so he could forgive him that much. After all, he was a bastard who had even sold out his own country's knights, so he couldn't imagine that he had suddenly changed now.

"I'll have to pull some strings."

He intended to set the bastard who had fallen out of the succession struggle back onto the stage.

At that moment, the First Prince, whom the Marquis had decided to set up as a puppet, was chuckling in disbelief.

"I thought everything was completely ruined."

He laughed as he looked at those who had come to find him.

"But I guess it wasn't."

It was a face as if he had discovered a treasure in a pile of trash.