The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 119

The Second Son of a Baron – Episode 119

Many soldiers died during the expedition. But I repeat, the Emperor had bet everything on this expedition, so the support from the central government was far superior to any previous army. Thanks to this, even though tens of thousands of souls were buried in the cold, barren, and distant lands, the expeditionary force maintained nearly twice as many soldiers as when it had departed.

However, even that number was not enough. Each unit that had started from the origin point of the Terra Barrier inevitably grew farther apart as they advanced. If they advanced this year as they had last year, the number of monsters each unit encountered would only increase.

Therefore, we made a choice. Instead of advancing on all fronts, some would maintain the status quo while others advanced in one direction. If the entire empire had staked its survival on this expedition, a million troops could have been mobilized, and offensives could have been launched in all directions, but we were not yet at that point. Rather, it was remarkable that this many troops had been mobilized only a year after the expedition began.

“Wouldn’t the best approach be to build a defensive line along the outer edges and then clear the interior while maintaining the line?”

“Is there really a need to do that? It would be easier to move troops if we advanced along the Terra Mountains and connected the defensive line. We also need to consider supplies.”

The proposed methods were divided into two options. One was to build a defensive line along the outer edges to the desired territory, prevent monsters from entering the interior, and then clear the interior with the Titans [elite, heavily armored units] as the main force.

The advantages of this method were that the roles of each unit were clearly defined and that monsters could be annihilated without giving them a chance to escape. However, the disadvantages were that the troops on the defensive line in the direction of advance could not be moved, and the movement of supply units, especially for the main force, would be inconvenient.

The other method was to push forward as we had done last year. This method had the disadvantage of having to deal with not only the monsters in the area but also those pushed in from the outside, and the construction of the defensive line was relatively slow, but it was the most straightforward approach.

The slow construction of the defensive line meant that it could only be built as much as desired, according to the circumstances of the expeditionary force. In the former case, if the predictions were wrong, there could be an unfortunate situation where troops had to be moved in the middle of winter.

Therefore, there was a heated debate over the two methods, but the latter was ultimately adopted. The intention was not to introduce variables since there had been no problems with the method used so far.

“Then, understanding that this has been decided, I hope everyone will prepare thoroughly for the remaining period.”

#

Time passed quickly. As the weather cleared and the snow melted, the soldiers who had been holed up in the defensive line came out and once again began a life-or-death struggle with the monsters, and as time passed, the human territory gradually expanded. And as the weather began to get colder, the advance stopped, and a defensive line was created to protect the land obtained from the monsters.

During the expedition, the expeditionary force repeated that cycle: advancing when the weather was warm, defending from the defensive line when the weather was cold. As they did so, the human territory increased, and the amount of wealth heading from the monsters’ land to the mainland gradually increased. If the weight of life was excluded, there were more goods from the monsters’ land heading to the mainland than supplies sent from the mainland to the expeditionary force.

At the same time, the land of monsters was no longer called by that name. At least, the area secured by humanity was no longer called the land of monsters.

Safety Zone.

It was the land of humanity within the defensive line, safe from the threat of monsters.

As the seasons repeated, the area occupied by the Safety Zone in the land of monsters gradually increased, the length of the defensive line also increased, and the number of troops responsible for it also increased. It was no longer a scale that could be handled by the Emperor and some nobles who faithfully followed his words, but the achievements brought by the expeditionary force grew day by day. Nobles who were initially indifferent, bystanders, or opposed to the expeditionary force raised the white flag one by one and surrendered, so the expeditionary force continued to grow despite the continued losses.

“Your Excellency! I hope you are healthy!”

“My body may leave this place, but my heart will always be with the expeditionary force!”

“Please continue to lead the holy war to victory!”

As there were those who came, there were also those who left. Unlike the soldiers, most of whom could only have their names returned to their families after death, knights, mages, and nobles, who could be said to be the privileged class, sometimes returned to the mainland as time passed.

What was different from the case of the Terra Barrier was that even if they belonged to the expeditionary force, they were not lacking in background and skill, and the number of those who supported the expeditionary force was considerable, which made this possible.

As this process was repeated, at this moment, there were only a handful of people who had participated in the expeditionary force from the beginning, including Renil and Duke Zieg.

“To make my daughter a widow so suddenly, you are a very poor son-in-law.”

“Weren’t you also a poor son-in-law to your father-in-law? Please think of it as continuing that lineage.”

“You wretched fellow.”

“Still, I will return as a good father once this is over. I can also be a good son-in-law. But you are far too late, aren’t you?”

“······.”

“So please be a good grandfather now, even if it’s late. Who knows if you’ll even have the chance if you’re any later.”

“······Weren’t we supposed to talk about that after the expedition was over?”

“Didn’t you bring up the story first?”

They also had the opportunity to return. Duke Zieg could be replaced by Duke Gunther, and Renil could also have other mages take over his role, albeit inadequately. Nevertheless, the only reason the two of them could not leave the front lines was a sense of responsibility.

For Duke Zieg, the Terra Barrier was a place where he had spent many years, as much as his hometown of Zieg Territory. It was also about fulfilling one order given to him by the late Emperor, his friend and lord, who was now asleep in eternal rest.

Protect the Terra Barrier.

The Emperor’s body was buried in the ground and disappeared, leaving only bones, but that order was clearly alive in Duke Zieg’s mind and heart, and this expedition was the opportunity to carry out that last order most perfectly. Zieg, a soldier of heaven who lived and died by orders, would not have neglected such an opportunity.

The same was true for Renil. It was not an order given by someone, but in some ways, he was taking on this expedition with even more responsibility than Duke Zieg. It was an expedition that started with his greed. At least, even if others could take it easy, Renil was determined not to, for the sake of the many who had died.

“Please watch your grandchildren’s swordsmanship and see your granddaughter’s antics. It’s not that difficult, is it?”

“If you have time to say such nonsense, go out and patrol.”

“Yes, yes. This poor son-in-law will step down now.”

Thus, the contradictory situation of peace in war, which seemed impossible to coexist, continued. And I thought it would last until the end of the expedition. Since the expedition began, only good news had been heard, and no bad news had been heard. However, the land of monsters did not just stand by and be defeated, as if shouting that the harsh weather was not the only reason why humanity had not set foot in this place for so long.

#

“Your Excellency! Urgent report!”

That day was no different from any other day. The expeditionary force’s mission was to expand and protect the Safety Zone, so what I, as the head of the command, had to do was not much different.

“Urgent report?”

In that situation, an urgent report came. Because it was a place where so many diverse things happened, the communication mage, who usually wasn’t surprised by ordinary events, was sweating profusely and running up in a hurry, and a sense of inexplicable tension began to fill the conference room.

“Hah, hah. Th, that is······.”

“Calm down and tell me what’s going on. Urgent report, where did it come from?”

“It’s an urgent report from Sector 7. They are currently under a large-scale offensive and are retreating, pushing the defensive line back!”

“Retreating! How dare they retreat from the land we obtained!”

“Even if it’s a large-scale offensive, most of them are just trash that can’t do anything in front of the castle walls! But they’re abandoning the defensive line? Are they out of their minds!”

Some commanders raised their voices at the contents of the urgent report. That was because Sector 7 was the most recently secured Safety Zone. Unlike other sectors with double and triple reserve defensive lines behind them even if they abandoned the defensive line and retreated, it was a sector where the defensive line had not yet been fully established.

In other words, the fact that they abandoned the defensive line and retreated according to the contents of the urgent report was no different from abandoning the entire Sector 7. It was the same as throwing away the blood, sweat, and money shed for a year into the air.

“To decide to retreat without even thinking of defending the defensive line because they value their lives, what cowards!”

“We must send troops immediately to re-secure the defensive line! We cannot hand over Sector 7 like this!”

Therefore, there was a constant stream of accusations against those in charge of the defensive line in Sector 7. Certainly, the fact that they were retreating despite this being the first urgent report meant that they had not even thought of fighting. It was something that those who had been pushing back the monsters fairly easily until now could say because they were cowards.

“A large-scale offensive, just how many are there that they decided to retreat without even thinking of fighting relying on the castle? 100,000? 200,000?”

However, everyone was shocked by the communication mage’s words that followed someone’s question.

“Th, that is······.”

“That is?”

“According to the report, it far exceeds one million······.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“One million, there should be a limit to exaggeration!”

“They must be making a false report to lighten their sins!”

Even I was surprised, to the point where I briefly agreed with their opinions. The largest scale we had faced so far was close to 300,000, but to suddenly face almost four times that number was something that was difficult to accept rationally.

“I, it’s not just a report from one place. Reports with the same content have come from all defensive lines in Sector 7. It’s hard to see it as false unless they’re all colluding.”

“······Is it really true?”

“That’s the situation based on the reports so far. Besides······.”

“Besides? Is there something more in addition to the number of one million?!”

Everyone could not easily come to their senses at the mage’s words that followed before the shock had subsided. One million was already a number that we couldn’t come up with a solution for right now, but besides?

“According to the report, an unidentified monster group has appeared at the forefront of the offensive.”

“Unidentified monster?”

The Second Son of a Baron – Episode 119 – End