Chapter 169: Chapter 148: Huh? Iyakis is Besieged?
If an army was present when a desert caravan was trading, the other party to the deal would mysteriously never appear.
The Empire had never given up exploring beyond its borders, but unfortunately, there had been no substantial progress.
What lay on the other side of the sea? What was further east of the Half-Beastmen? What was further north of the Northern Lands’ snowfields? What was further south of the desert? These questions plagued every noble and merchant.
The gloom of war hanging over Hubia gradually dissipated, and citizens began to venture back onto the streets to breathe the fresh air under a blue sky.
For the next three days, everyone tallied the casualties in their armies and claimed the mangled bodies.
Henry lost a full unit of Veteran Shooters and a unit of Senior Infantry. His other units each had ten to thirty casualties. Boman’s and Fass’s forces suffered even more, with only just over three hundred soldiers remaining.
Fass was in even worse shape. He had been struck in the chest by a Lizardman, and his Chest Armor was smashed. Fortunately, he hadn’t died, but he lay in bed, pale-faced, needing his medicine and bandages changed daily.
Three Barons and seventeen Independent Knights had been killed in action. It wasn’t a large number, but it wasn’t small either.
This was also the main reason why genealogy and heraldry, once mandatory courses for nobles within the Empire, had become electives.
They died too quickly and too often. You might learn a name one day, only to have to learn a new one the next.
Cart after cart was loaded with the heads of Lizardmen and the large heads of Cold Lizards. They were dispatched to Razekh, shipped by water to Vostrom, and then transported all the way to Lukaron to report the good news to the Emperor.
After inquiries, inspections, and some networking, Henry’s army was credited with seven hundred merits—the equivalent of killing seven hundred enemies. Henry awarded his soldiers a corresponding amount of Dinars based on this number.
He planned to let them spend some money and relax in Danustika on the way back.
As for why he wouldn’t let them spend their money back at Westwood Laine? It was mainly because the only entertainment establishment in Henry’s fief at the moment was a single large tavern.
Due to the small population, there were no brothels, Opera Houses, bathhouses, or circuses yet. He also didn’t know if Tommy had begun construction on the frontier during this time.
Henry opened his panel and saw that the slaughter from the previous night and morning had brought him over twenty thousand experience points. Looking closer, a single Cold Lizard was worth nineteen hundred points, far more "valuable" than humans and Half-Beastmen.
[The Defense of Hubia]
[Campaign Rating]: Large-Scale Defensive Battle
[Difficulty]: Medium
[Evaluation]: Average
[Reward]: 15 Overlord Training Points
Henry sat in Fass’s tent, listening to Boman tease Fass while sipping the wine gifted by the Third Prince. Seeing the campaign summary before him, he knew the Lizardmen had truly withdrawn.
’Medium difficulty? Do they look down on the Lizardmen that much? Or was it because there were too many allied troops? And what’s with this "Average" evaluation? I clearly killed so many of them.’
Henry scratched his head. The two panels only had a basic operations tutorial and then no further hints. It was just like Stellaris—’Can you click a mouse? Then go conquer the galaxy!’
With peace restored, the nobles awaited the Emperor’s commendations, the soldiers reveled in their safety, civilians began to boldly return to their lives on the streets, and the conscripted Militia from various regions returned to their homes.
Just as everything was getting back to normal, the Cavalry sent out by the Third Prince returned with some bad news.
The several thousand Cavalry sent by the Third Prince had closely followed the Lizardmen’s line of retreat. The horsemen crossed the heart of the desert and witnessed the Lizardmen turn west instead of continuing south, heading in the direction of Iyakis.
This discovery unsettled the cavalrymen. They realized the Lizardmen might not have given up their invasion of the Empire, but had simply changed their target.
After several days of tracking, the Cavalry finally brought back word.
They discovered that the Lizardmen had not retreated further south. Instead, they had rendezvoused with Lizardman forces near Iyakis and begun to lay siege to the city.
This news was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Third Prince and the entire Empire.
Iyakis lacked the sturdy walls and large army of Hubia, but its strategic location was crucial to the Empire.
If Iyakis were to be conquered by the Lizardmen, the Empire’s trade and influence in this desert region would suffer a severe blow.
The Third Prince immediately summoned his officers to discuss a plan of action.
The defensive forces of Iyakis were far from sufficient to withstand the Lizardmen’s grand army. If they didn’t act quickly, the city would likely fall into enemy hands.
Iyakis, like Hubia, had been under siege for over two months, but the defensive pressure hadn’t been great because the main Lizardman force was at Hubia.
After the meeting, the nobles in their respective camps outside the city walls fell silent upon hearing the news, refusing to discuss whether they should reinforce Iyakis.
They had already witnessed the might of the Lizardmen. If they went to provide support, a battle in the open field was highly likely.
The casualties had been so high even in a defensive siege; without the protection of walls, the number of soldiers who would die was unimaginable.
At that moment, a large group of nobles gathered in Fass’s tent. They all shared a common identity: graduates of the Imperial Capital Knight Academy, students of the Emperor.
"I believe we should wait here. We should neither proactively head to Iyakis nor return to our own fiefs."
The speaker was Baron Leonard Bustamante, a noble from the Poros region. His ancestors were from an old, established family that had sent him to the academy to burnish his credentials.
"You’re right. Our best option right now is to feign ignorance."
The one who responded to Baron Leonard was Baron Tosa Bas, a noble from the Zeondika Region. His family was of similar standing to Baron Leonard’s, and their fiefs were close, so they interacted often.
Baron Rufus Hatton of the Onira region clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. "Fellow alumni, senior and junior," he said, "since the Third Prince hasn’t summoned us for a meeting or explicitly told us the news about Iyakis, we shouldn’t make any rash moves.
We are vassals of the Dean, not vassals of the Third Prince."
The words of the three men made the dozen or so nobles in the room nod in agreement. They thought the same.
Among the noble reinforcements in Hubia, Baron Leonard, Baron Tosa, and Baron Rufus were the three most senior of the academy-educated nobles.
They had the largest and highest-quality armies and the most prosperous fiefs. Therefore, their opinions held considerable sway among the academy-educated nobles.
Seeing that no one else had any objections, the three men’s gazes finally fell upon Henry.
Although Henry had only graduated from the Imperial Capital Knight Academy last year and was relatively junior, his performance on the Half-Beastman battlefield and in the defense of Hubia gave his opinions significant weight.
His combat prowess and military achievements were second to none among the nobles, so his opinion was also highly valued.
As for Boman, he also received their focused attention. After all, he was first in his class and was very well-connected.
"Henry, what are your thoughts?" Baron Leonard asked.
Henry pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "I agree with everyone’s point of view. We should wait for the Dean’s orders. Acting rashly without clear instructions could bring unnecessary trouble."
Henry paused, then continued, "Besides, my army suffered considerable losses in this battle. I plan to take the Dinars awarded by the Third Prince, along with the weapons and spoils I’ve captured and recovered, and return to my fief to train new troops and develop my economy."
’The small number of troops I have on hand makes me feel very insecure.’
Hearing Henry’s words, the other nobles nodded in agreement.
"Then, we’ll wait here for the Dean’s orders. If the Dean does send us to reinforce Iyakis, then we... will have no choice but to go with the Third Prince’s Legion," Baron Tosa concluded.
The nobles rose one after another and left Fass’s tent. Although the shadow of war had temporarily lifted, the future was still filled with uncertainty.
This made them extremely frustrated. They had been living comfortable lives at home, only to run all this way to eat sand, and on top of that, the armies they had worked so hard to build had suffered such great losses.
After the other nobles had left one by one, Henry and Boman remained in the tent.
"It’s easy for us to say, but what about Fass?"
Boman looked at Fass’s condition, sighed, and said, "Worst case, we let him recuperate here. If the Dean really sends them to fight at Iyakis, we’ll send him back to his fief after we return."
Fass blinked and grunted, "Mmm," indicating he had heard Boman.
The morning after the news of Iyakis’s siege arrived, the soldiers of the Twenty-Third Legion, under the Third Prince’s command, set out for Iyakis with the necessary supplies.
Their column cast long shadows under the morning sun, like a winding dragon slowly slithering out of Hubia’s city gates.
The other nobles stood on the city walls, watching the departing column with complicated expressions.
They knew in their hearts that the Twenty-Third Legion wasn’t one of the Third Prince’s loyalist units. This wasn’t a relief mission; it was a death sentence.
They said nothing more, merely watching in silence, awaiting the Emperor’s new orders.
The next day, the Imperial bureaucracy once again demonstrated its indispensable role.
This system had always been criticized by the nobles for being too cumbersome, too powerful, and having too many functions, but at critical moments like this, it could transmit information with incredible speed.
Only six days had passed since the Lizardmen’s withdrawal, yet letters and orders from Lukaron had already reached Hubia.
’Military Order: The Thirty-Fifth Legion and the Twenty-Third Legion in Hubia City are to proceed jointly to reinforce Iyakis.
The Twenty-Eighth Legion from Gasil, the Twenty-Ninth Legion from Sanara, and the Thirtieth Legion from Askell are to move on Iyakis immediately.
All noble Private Armies in Hubia are to remain in Hubia. No unauthorized movements are permitted.’
This order made the Third Prince so angry he was fuming. He swept everything off his desk in a rage.
’Dammit, am I not his real son?!’
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