𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 (1)

With the dawn, the dwarves merrily began pushing the siege engines. The dwarves had always been the leading technologists of the age.  

As the state-of-the-art trebuchets boasted their mighty power, the dwarves let out cheers of joy.

“Those crazy dwarf b*stards. . .”  

“What did they make?”

The mercenaries looked at the dwarves with bored eyes. The mercenaries fundamentally respected the dwarves. The reputation of the dwarf warriors had always been great.

But seeing them stacking those up, they couldn’t think anything but that it was ridiculous.  

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴?’

“Is the siege tower really not necessary?”

“Yes. Please trust us, Your Excellency.”  

Mackald spoke resolutely. Although the siege tower itself, moving the huge tower and attaching it to the wall to attack, was a powerful weapon in sieges, there was no need for it this time.  

The dwarves had already finished their calculations.

“It’s enough to collapse the wall. No need for a siege tower.”

“I see. I trust you.”  

“Yes. The <World Destroyer> and the <Mountain Tearer> will be especially active.”

“?”

“Those two trebuchets, we put in some new technologies in particular. . .”

‘𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.’  

Johan grumbled to himself. The dwarves’ naming sense wasn’t great, but he couldn’t say that. They were names passed down from dwarf ancestors.  

That aside, it was a pain to keep listening to the principles of siege technology he had no interest in. Still, Johan endured and responded enthusiastically.

“I see. Using the principles of pendulums and fulcrums to launch them, truly remarkable.”   

“Ah! You perfectly understand this device!”

‘𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰.’  

The dwarves were greatly moved by Johan’s casual words. There were many employers who rushed and harassed them, but few who showed genuine interest like this.

“I have something I want to build next, but. . .”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸  

𝕒𝐰ᴇ𝔟𝚜𝙩𝕠𝙧𝕚𝐞𝘴.ċ̇𝙤𝕞

The sight of the approaching trebuchets was seen by those inside the castle as well.

“Trebuchets!”  

“What did you do while those were being built?!”  

The dwarves cleverly used angles to hide the work process. Still, some intelligence should have come in from outside, yet there were no reports at all.  

More than the trebuchets themselves, not knowing the situation was more terrifying. It felt like everyone else had been replaced.

“Should we try negotiating again?”

“And say what when His Excellency refuses?”  

Currently, the Count of Jekyllid was barricaded inside the inner castle. It was due to the shock from the battle. Thanks to that, only the other retainers had headaches.  

They had to get help from other feudal lords, call back children of the family who were away as hostages, or scrape the vaults empty to come up with ransom money, when the lord was barricaded in his room, only caressing his lovers. . .

It wasn’t only Jekyllid who was shocked. Other nobles were also trembling in fear.  

The battle in the plains was one thing, but insulting the opponent in this situation. . . If negotiations failed and the gates collapsed, they could all die.  

“Let’s buy some time at least. If we can get them to stop, a chance to destroy them may arise.”  

The nobles nodded. They needed time even to try to destroy the trebuchets.  

Another envoy visited again. But this time, they didn’t even see Johan’s face.  

“. . .Count Yeats refused an audience!”  

“What did you say?”

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐦!  

The answer came from the castle walls instead. It was the sound of a huge boulder hitting the wall. The earth-shaking sound startled those inside the castle.

“Stay calm! Don’t panic!”  

The vassals who entered the castle with the Count encouraged their troops to maintain morale. Meanwhile, the retainers exchanged glances.  

While the vassals received fiefdoms from the Count and had families who would pay ransoms for them, the retainers who did odd jobs under the Count had no such fiefdoms or families. Most were minor nobles from insignificant families.  

If the walls collapsed, the chances of them dying were very high.

“We’ll bring His Excellency here!”  

Some of the retainers headed inside with soldiers. The nobles were too distraught to even notice.  

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“The walls have collapsed! Order an advance!”

Johan nodded. The mercenaries’ morale was sky high as they began to approach. The defending troops who had been waiting on top of the walls were completely demoralized by the raining boulders and didn’t even stick their heads out.

Taking advantage of their superior forces occupying the castle exterior, the mercenaries poured bolts as they pleased through the collapsed walls.  

“Block the walls! Don’t let them. . . Ugh!”

The shouting knight dropped his weapon in terror. A familiar face had appeared among the mercenaries. It was Johan wielding the Giant Slayer.

Though the walls had collapsed, the terrain was still quite narrow, so it could have been blocked if they tried. But Johan’s appearance shattered that premise.

Every time he swung his weapon, empty spaces appeared and soldiers collapsed. His fierce attacks also forced knights who tried to fight back to retreat.

“His Excellency fights with us!” 

“Charge forward!”

Thanks to that, the mercenaries’ morale couldn’t get any higher. Among mercenaries, there was nothing more respected than an employer who fought shoulder to shoulder with them. Moreover one whose opponent was the knight among knights.

After fighting for over a day, the flag of the Yeats Family flew over the castle walls.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Your Excellency! We have captured the count we were chasing after.”

Johan looked at the vassals of the Jekyllid family with a tired expression. After fighting all day, Johan was drenched in blood and sweat. As a result, his voice came out rough.  

“But why is he dead?”

“Because he violently resisted. . .”

The vassals kowtowed as they spoke. The Count of Jekyllid had been captured.

As a corpse.

‘𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣*𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴. . .’

Instead of answering, Johan covered his face with his hand. He was going to keep the count alive and exploit him in various ways!

The vassals seemed to be trying to win Johan’s favor by capturing Jekyllid and offering him up. The drunken Jekyllid brandished his sword and raged around, and the desperate vassals also fought back. . .

As a result, blood was shed and the fight intensified.  

As Johan remained silent, the vassals seemed a bit anxious. They cautiously opened their mouths.

“Your Excellency. We have captured the count for you. According to custom, please give us a reward for this. . .”

“Custom? Reward? Oh my. Pay them for killing their own master.”