How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 260

Three days after the Gorgon Castle raid.

Tap, tap, tap.

Sitting at a rickety folding table, I leaned back in my chair, tapping the surface with my index finger.

The beer in front of me had gone flat, the foam completely settled. My mind was too preoccupied to focus on anything else.

‘Neutralizing Gorgon Castle.’

The operation was a success. The garrison stationed there would be stuck inside until a new, legitimately authorized noble gave them orders.

Meanwhile, the Royal United Army’s 4th Corps, led by Duke Bashrun, smoothly bypassed Gorgon Castle. Supply troops and subsequent units followed, and as expected, Gorgon Castle didn’t send out any interceptors.

Thus, Antioch Castle was besieged.

The atmosphere inside Antioch seemed to indicate they hadn’t anticipated this offensive at all. Merchants unrelated to the war were hastily fleeing Antioch Castle, escaping through the path we had opened.

The operation is a success. Once the follow-up troops arrive, the offensive will begin.

“Young Master!”

‘Young Master’—not many people would use my old title on a brutal battlefield, especially not in a makeshift tavern built on barren land.

Turning my head, I saw Ruth, arms crossed, grinning playfully.

“Ruth.”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

I stood up abruptly and reached out my hand. Ruth’s firm grip met mine powerfully.

Ruth had married Cella Flores, the head of the Flores family who unified the East, and was residing there.

And in this war, the East had joined the Royal United Army, with Ruth participating in the southern front as a knight.

However, as Duke Bashrun’s chief of staff, I was in a different unit from Ruth, whose main force was the Eastern Army, so we rarely saw each other.

And now Ruth was here. The implication was obvious.

“The Eastern Army was part of the 2nd Corps, right? Led by Count Jeffrey Amalem.”

“Yes. The 2nd Corps is still annexing various parts of the South. The commander summoned only the knights, including me.”

Only the knights were summoned. I already knew that from Duke Bashrun. They needed to reinforce their forces before the most important battle.

But they couldn’t summon the entire corps, so they only brought in the knightly forces.

“Are you going to keep standing? Aren’t you going to sit?”

“To have a drink with the famous chief of staff of the commander. I’m honored.”

Ruth grinned and sat across from me as I offered him a seat.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Can’t I even say that? One beer here! No, two!”

As Ruth ordered the beer, he saw the flat beer in front of me and ordered a new one for me as well.

“Where’s Illia?”

“Sleeping.”

“Sleeping? Back in the Capital, she declared she wouldn’t leave your side for a moment.”

“Yeah. She kept staying awake to protect me, but she couldn’t handle it and kept dozing off. So I came out here to take a breather.”

“……Illia, that tough one, just dozed off?”

“Do I have to say it twice?”

“How long have you been awake, Young Master?”

“Three days.”

“Good heavens.”

Ruth shook his head, paused for a moment, and then gulped down the beer the orderly brought.

“Ah, such cool beer in the middle of the battlefield. That’s the 4th Corps for you.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. The 4th Corps led by Commander Bashrun is truly a luxurious corps. The 2nd Corps where I am… well, it’s not worth talking about.”

Indeed, who else in the kingdom has as much power and authority as Duke Bashrun? Especially since they highly value the importance of logistics.

After repeatedly gulping down beer, Ruth asked with a refreshed face.

“So, what’s bothering you, Young Master?”

“Does it show?”

“Yes. You always look like you’re carrying all the worries of the world, but it’s especially so today.”

“Want to die?”

Ruth’s chuckling made me feel strangely relieved. Feels good.

I leaned back comfortably and opened my mouth.

“Twilight.”

“Huh? Twilight?”

“Yeah, the Twilight Plan. Intelligence obtained from the enemy camp. What do you think it is?”

“What else could it be? Twilight is when the sun sets and it gets dark… Ah, don’t give me that look. Um, I don’t know?”

Ruth’s playful gesture made me chuckle and pick up my beer. The cool taste of the beer made my already complicated head spin.

“Well, the operation is going smoothly. The fact that Antioch Castle isn’t properly defended has already been proven. If the offensive proceeds as is, we’ll be able to set foot in Marquis Rodkius’s territory as planned.”

“Just listening to you, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything to worry about with such vague intelligence.”

“That’s the problem.”

“The problem is…….”

“Is Marquis Rodkius the kind of person who would just keep getting beaten like this?”

“No, he’s not. He’s the kind of person who would reveal a plot against the royal family.”

“That’s why it’s even more so.”

“Hmm… You think there’s something to that Twilight Plan?”

“I’m not sure, but.”

“What does the commander say?”

“Duke Bashrun? He said, ‘War is a stupid act of pretending not to know countless variables anyway.’”

“That’s true. It’s foolish to worry about something uncertain and stop what needs to be done.”

“Smart, aren’t you?”

“I’m not the old Ruth anymore. I’ve been reborn.”

Ruth chuckled and held out his glass, and I clinked my glass against his. Then, I looked around and cleared my throat, opening my mouth in a small voice.

“But listening to you, Young Master, I’m worried. The Unholy Knights haven’t even shown their faces properly yet.”

“They’ll probably show them when they’re cornered. Marquis Rodkius would be quite burdened to reveal those monstrous guys to the world.”

“Then it’s reasonable to think that the Twilight Plan is related to the Unholy Knights.”

“That’s why I asked. What kind of trick are they playing?”

“Maybe a surprise attack? On a dark day when twilight falls, they’ll bring the Unholy Knights all at once to attack the Allied Forces’ strategic strongholds or logistics…….”

“Such guerrilla warfare is already happening enough, so there’s nothing new about it.”

“That’s true.”

I suddenly realized that even after Ruth came, I was still just pouring out my worries. But Ruth was the first person I made friends with after falling into this world.

I relaxed my expression and shrugged.

“By the way, how are you doing, not even enjoying your honeymoon and just wandering around outside like this?”

“Oh, don’t even mention it. This is better.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s much better to wander around the battlefield like this than to be stuck in a room all day wrestling with the local issues of the territory.”

“Cella must be working you hard.”

“She’s like a demon.”

We laughed and joked with each other, and I felt a little relieved.

But Ruth seemed to think differently.

“Hmm. You don’t have to worry about me. More than that, shouldn’t we find out more about that plan?”

“I told you, it’s just vague intelligence, and there’s nothing more to pull out.”

“But it’s touching your gut feeling, isn’t it, Young Master?”

“Gut feeling?”

“Yes. That uncanny gut feeling.”

Ah, Ruth and the others here thought that my actions, which were similar to predicting the future based on the contents of the novel, were simply because I had a good gut feeling.

I can’t reveal everything now, so what should I do?

Ruth smiled at my troubled expression.

“I feel like I can give you a good gift, Young Master.”

“Gift?”

“Yes. I’m a little surprised myself that things are overlapping like this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Come with me. There’s someone I want to introduce you to at my tent.”

“You have company? Who is it?”

“You’ll be surprised when you find out.”

* * *

A man with long, flowing gray hair reaching his waist, reddish-brown eyes that made people flinch, and a strong physique was sitting in a tent in a relaxed posture.

“Lordain.”

At my call, Lordain, who was sitting in the chair with his eyes closed, chuckled.

“Kid.”

And next to him, at the same table as Lordain, was a woman drinking tea with rising steam.

Neatly braided black hair and a demeanor that seemed to exude a noble character.

No matter how long it had been, I couldn’t forget the person to whom I had revealed my innermost thoughts.

“Rahenna?”

“It’s been a while.”

“Rahenna Grantree, is it really you?”

“How many more times do I have to confirm it?”

Rahenna Grantree.

A druid who had accompanied me to the Great Forest, and the woman who had helped me shed a layer of my limitations in the Blue Mountains where the Sky Fortress was located.

Feeling a strange sense of joy, I approached the table where the two were sitting.

“How did you get here?”

“That guy Ruth brought me.”

The answer came from Lordain. I looked at Rahenna with a dumbfounded feeling.

“Lordain is one thing, but Rahenna, weren’t you in the Demon Spirit Mountain?”

“Yes. Didn’t you send me a bunch of baggage?”

“Ah, you mean the dark elves and beastmen. Are they doing well?”

“It’s better than the cold north.”

“They haven’t been exposed to the outside, have they?”

“Well, wasn’t there already a rumor that the Demon Spirit Mountain was infested with evil spirits because of Kalandart? Besides, that girl Cella helped too.”

“Ah, Kalandart. Is he doing well?”

“He’s doing well. He still stutters, though.”

Rahenna and I chuckled at the thought of the stuttering druid who had secretly admired Rahenna.

After roughly finishing the reunion, I tilted my head.

“But what brings you here? I know Lordain, but Rahenna, you’re not interested in human wars.”

Lordain snorted in response to my words, but Rahenna slowly nodded.

“That’s true. But Kalandart told me that something ominous was happening on the continent. So I came all the way here to find you.”

“Something ominous?”

“Yes. As you know, Kalandart has great knowledge of necromancy.”

That’s right. Although he stutters a bit, he has great abilities when it comes to necromancy. That’s why he summoned Hashnar and passed on the sentence to me.

“That’s right.”

“One day, he told me that the law of causality was distorted.”

“You said the law of causality is distorted?”

What is this suddenly about?

At my question, Rahenna slowly nodded, took out a long pipe from her bosom, put it in her mouth, and snapped her fingers.

Whoosh!

After a brief ignition, Rahenna slowly exhaled smoke and slowly opened her mouth.

“From existence to nothingness, everything in the world is burdened with the burden of life by being born and eventually has the destiny to disappear from the world. That is an absolute law that can never be changed. Of course, as you have seen in your life, there have always been those who reject it. But that doesn’t change the ending. Sooner or later, the end will surely come. And Kalandart is a necromancer, one who is with that end.”

“Is that so? Anyway, that Kalandart said that the law of causality was distorted.”

“To be exact… he said that things that should have disappeared from this world are not disappearing.”

I’m getting goosebumps.

I straightened my posture and looked straight at Rahenna.

“What exactly do you mean by not disappearing?”

“I can’t know that much. Kalandart has only said that things that should disappear are being temporarily postponed by intentional external forces… If I knew the reason clearly, would I be rambling like this?”

“That’s true.”

Rahenna paused for a moment and exhaled smoke again. It feels like fog is spreading in the quiet tent.

“So, do you have any rough guesses?”

“Roughly. The Neviros Order, the Unholy Knights. Of course, those disgusting bastards must be involved. That’s why Rahenna-nim came to find me, and Lordain too.”

Rahenna slowly nodded. I licked my lips at her gesture to keep talking.

“But they were active even before I actively dug into their tracks. But why did Kalandart only feel such signs now?”

Even as I said it myself, I felt like something tangled in my head was unraveling.

That’s right. That’s why I felt so uneasy.

“……Twilight.”

At my short words, the gazes inside the tent turned to me.

“Twilight?”

“It seems like those guys are starting to do something.”