Emperor of Steel - Chapter 428
The rumors that Sebastian spread after turning into a knight spread throughout the kingdom in no time.
And as a response to that, the Milton Kingdom’s army commander stated that the King’s nightmare was groundless rumors and the dead knight was someone who tried to execute the King under the orders of Marquis Luke.
Even then, the rumors didn’t subside so easily.
Therefore, the commanders began to release statements that the rumors were the enemy’s trick to divide the men, and those who would be caught spreading the rumors would be punished.
Indeed, dozens of soldiers and knights were executed as an example.
But the more they did things like that, the more rumors and doubts began to grow.
In addition, something unexpected happened.
-Huhuhuk… Your Majesty, it is unfair…!
“What, what is this sound?”
“Ho! G, ghost!”
The ghost of Count Bazzo who only appeared in the King’s nightmare began to appear and disappear every night before the knights who were standing guard to the King’s camp.
And it didn’t stop there, the ghost appeared in the dreams of the elder nobles, including Reynold and complained about the unfair treatment he had suffered.
“The complexion isn’t great, maybe this is a dream…?”
“Shh, lower your voice. We will be put to death.”
“Okay. But was Count Bazzo really killed so unfairly?”
“Maybe he was deliberately sacrificed to start a war against Marquis Rakan?”
They were men who never knew that politics was so heartless.
The suspiciousness floated around, but none were raised officially, fearing the news about execution.
The problem was that the army of Milton kingdom forced their troops to fight with such doubts.
There was nothing wrong with the cause of war, but the suspicion only threw down the morale of the knights and soldiers sharply.
They were worried of dying in a fight that was started without any real need for justice.
And the morale fell even more as the news spread about their homeland being plagued by the monsters and the lack of troops to stop them.
And naturally, the outcome of the battle changed with that.
“What the hell is this?! How long am I supposed to hold my legs without attacking the small town?!”
King Mayers screamed with his round sleepless eyes and skinny cheekbones.
He was daily being tormented by Count Bazzo every night, and his men didn’t proceed any further with the battle.
“Y, Your Majesty, it was…”
“Shut up! If you can’t take them down tonight, be prepared to take responsibility for your failure.”
Mayers couldn’t stand it anymore and gave out ultimatums to his commanders.
If they failed to occupy the town, Mayers wouldn’t just deprive them of their titles but even hand them to death.
When his eyes were gleaming with madness, Reynold said.
“Your Majesty, Batron is a small town, and it has the full force of Marquis Rakan and his knights. Capturing it won’t be easy.”
“What? Are you not going to follow my orders?”
“I am not saying that I wouldn’t follow, but I am saying that it is practically not possi…”
“Shut up! The attacks keep failing because of men like you who are frightened to fight! If you don’t follow the orders right away I’ll have to cut your neck!”
Mayers shouted and shrieked at the nobles and commanders.
Reynold was the commander of the Iron Fist knights.
Except for his brother, Reynard, it didn’t make much sense on how many people would be killed in the battle going in like that.
And even if they didn’t and he got executed by the King, the morale of the knights would completely fall down to the floor.
So the servants around the King went tense.
“Your Majesty, please calm down.”
“Yes, Commander Reynold too said those words with a frustrated heart, so please understand him…”
“Shut up! What are you knights doing? Get that man out right now… kuk!”
Instead of calming down, Mayers fell down on his back.
Reynold, Reynard, and the other servants who saw that were shocked and lost their minds.
“Y, Your Majesty!”
“Oh my! Call the medic right now!”
The servants of Mayers shouted in nervousness.
As the commander was silent, the servants called for a medic to help the unconscious King Mayers and take him back to the army camp.
“How is His Majesty?”
Reynold’s question was answered with a sigh.
“Thanks to getting him here right away, the danger has passed. But he is down due to extreme fatigue and insomnia, I don’t think that he’ll wake up for at least 2 to 3 days.”
“Huh, make it forever…”
Unlike the elder brother, Reynard was rather outspoken and mumbled in a low voice about his wish to let Mayers fall asleep forever.
Reynold stepped on foot as quickly as possible.
It wasn’t that he had no complaints with Mayers, but there was nothing about speaking them out loud when there were many nobles watching them.
“Anyway, we need to hold our breath for a while.”
“In the duration let’s do some maintenance. Things are getting heated right now, and the morale of the army is off.”
The cavalry commander Marquis Volant nodded.
Ever since they got stuck with Batern town, the persistence of Mayers had gotten worse.
Preparing every morning for the meetings, and the constant threatening to kill down the commanders who failed to siege, and the confiscation of the estate.
Naturally, the pressure on the front line commanders was severe.
Then spread the rumors that the real killer of Count Bazzo was the King himself, and the loyalty of the commanders wavered.
“That aside, what about the attack on Batern?”
“Obviously it needs to stop. If we try to attack, aren’t we the ones in trouble?”
At the words of Reynold, Marquis Volant nodded.
In fact, he was actually thinking of the invasion as a failure.
The enemy’s defense was stubborn, and the nation was turning into a mess with the monsters and lack of soldiers.
In such a time, the morale of the knights and the soldiers were broken, which meant there was no chance for them to have a win.
Marquis Volant, who had a large manor within the Milton Kingdom wanted to return back to his homeland right after hearing the news about the monsters.
However, the King was too stubborn to let anyone go back.
However, there was an excuse now.
“How about we just resolve this? The attacks are sluggish, and our domestic situation isn’t good, and Majesty has passed out…”
“No way! How can we ever violate the majesty’s orders and retreat on our own terms?”
It was Count Lao, one of the closet aids to King Mayers who began to oppose Marquis Volant’s request.
As a response to that, Reynold spoke with a stern face.
“Then do you want us to grumble in here?”
“What do you mean by that?! Shouldn’t we capture Batern town?”
“The attacks we did so far are in vain. And if there is a problem with Your Majesty’s health, will you be taking responsibility?”
“Didn’t the Majesty tell us already during the last meeting? We will have 50 knight Gigants being deployed.”
Reynold heard about it, so he knew.
It wasn’t just about the 50 knight class Gigant, and they were enough to tilt the battle.
But that didn’t mean that the skills which Reynold and the knights had were lacking, it was just that the morale had fallen for their riders.
And there was no guarantee that the 50 Knight class Gigants would be supplied right away.
But Count Lao who might be aware or not of it spoke.
“And, the Majesty will be in good spirits by 3 days. Shouldn’t we give him the news about victory when he wakes up?”
“Good spirit? That was never mentioned around us.”
The medic said that he wouldn’t wake up for 2-3 days.
Even if he did regain consciousness, no one was sure if he would be able to stand tall before the rest of them.
However, the eldest son of Count Leo who was listening to all of it asked Reynold.
“Commander Reynold, it seems like you don’t wish for his Majesty to get up in good spirits.”
“How could I? I just wanted…”
Before Reynold could even finish his explanation, Reynard shouted.
“This kid! Are you condemning my brother?”
“Kid! How dare you say that!”
“Hurry up and apologize, Sir Reynard.”
The fight grew as the son of Count Lao intervened and Reynard shouted.
The other nobles began to take a side.
And as a result, the Milton Kingdom’s commanders divided into two. The sides of those who were withdrawing and the side to continue into battle.
The former sided ones were the nobles who had rich manors in the Kingdom and the latter were the close retainers and the aides of Mayers and the ones facing favor through the battle.
The opinions were different, and neither attack nor withdrawal was decided.