Chapter 105

A soldier spoke up in urgency.

“Will Eisenwald hold until we arrive? It’s a small city with a limited garrison. I can’t say how long it can withstand a surprise aerial assault.”

“Unfortunately, whether it holds or not does not change the fact that it is a position we must defend at all costs,” came the calm reply. “That said, the terrain works in our favor. It is not a city that can be taken easily. All we can do is hope they resist as long as possible.”

At present, Eisenwald was the most prosperous small city in the region, a fortress city surrounded by steep, rugged mountains that made defense advantageous. It also encompassed the basin of the Klug River. If Eisenwald fell, the allied forces would lose their primary supply route in its entirety.

Why did it have to be there?

Even now, rather than the city’s strategic value, the first thing that surfaced in his mind was the pale face of that insolent woman. A frail woman who could barely move, incapable of fleeing on her own. Dead, or captured and reduced to a slave. As the unpleasant images spread, his face twisted.

Neither outcome sat well with him, and bitterness rose in his mouth. He issued the emergency mobilization order without hesitation.

The news that enemy forces were advancing over the mountain ridge came in the dead of night, while everyone was asleep. Blair was the first to be roused. Malena, who grasped the situation moments later, hurried to inform Odelliana.

Ten thousand. There was no way the barbarian tribes alone could muster that many.

Odelliana, still flustered, suddenly froze. A thought flashed through her mind, and her gaze settled into a calm focus.

Unlike in her previous life, the great subjugation campaign against the barbarians had dragged on for two full years this time. What if the surrounding nations, which had previously only sent supplies and watched the tides of war, now saw an opportunity and committed troops of their own? In that case, ten thousand was not an impossible number. The vassal states yearning for independence would want this chaos to stretch on for as long as possible.

Eisenwald might be a fortress city, well suited for defense, but the size of its garrison was far too small. The enemy would be bringing siege weapons along with an army of ten thousand. The moment the walls fell, the city would be helpless.

“Miss, you must evacuate,” Malena urged.

“It’s too late,” Odelliana said quietly. “By now, their cavalry will have descended the slopes and taken positions nearby. Trying to leave Eisenwald would only increase the risk of being captured.”

“But if you stay here…”

“Where is Blair?”

“The lord has summoned the knights for an emergency assembly.”

Blair was the one holding military authority here. There was no time to hesitate. A plan was needed immediately. Odelliana changed into simple, comfortable clothes and took up her cane.

“Let’s go to him.”

“Part of the barbarian force has gathered in the Razagal Forest, outside the outer walls of Eisenwald,” Blair reported. “The assault will begin soon.”

His voice was steady as he delivered the grim news, but his fingers trembled despite his composed expression.

“What is the size of the enemy force currently assembled?” asked Rusler, the captain of the guard.

“At least two thousand from what we can tell,” Blair replied. “They appear to have ballistae and mortars as well, so they came prepared for a full siege. Reports say close to ten thousand troops are on their way, so the rest should join them soon.”

“Where in the world did they gather such numbers…” Rusler muttered, his face drawn.

“The number of troops we can muster within Eisenwald is limited,” another officer said. “Even if we conscript civilians, we would barely reach five hundred.”

“On the eve of the harvest, no less,” someone groaned.

“They chose this timing deliberately,” Blair snapped. “They know Eisenwald’s granaries are full.”

The commanders let out heavy sighs, casting sidelong glances toward one corner of the room. Their eyes lingered on the woman seated beside the lord. Blair noticed and spoke up.

“Odelliana is acting as the lady of this castle in my stead. She has every right to be here.”

Even so, doubtful looks were directed her way, plainly questioning what a mere woman could contribute. Malena bristled internally, but Odelliana remained calm. She had endured such misguided prejudice more than enough in her previous life to find it novel now.

Here, she was not a knight but a refined young lady. To the outside world, she was nothing more than a well bred noblewoman and a distant relative of the lord. It was understandable that the commanders would resent her presence in a council where she held no formal authority.

Given the enemy’s numbers and weaponry, the fall of the gates before winter was inevitable.

Blair had already issued a lockdown order. All entrances were sealed and the gates shut tight, but against siege engines, that meant little. The newly reinforced walls were sturdier than those of other territories, yet without sufficient firepower to repel the assault, they would eventually collapse.

It was simply a question of how long they could hold. No matter how favorable a defensive position might be, there was no overturning such a disparity in numbers.

“Please continue as if I’m not here,” Odelliana said evenly.

Her resolve to remain was unmistakable. Though the knights found her presence irritating, they could not order her out and reluctantly resumed their discussion.

Still, with the situation so dire and their available forces so pitifully small, no viable strategy emerged. The best suggestions amounted to conscripting civilians to hold the line, then securing an escape route and abandoning the city to join the allied forces.

Using civilians as shields while plotting their own escape. Expecting chivalry from backwater knights had been her mistake.

Odelliana clicked her tongue inwardly. More disheartening than the reality itself was the utter lack of judgment displayed by these men.

They clearly failed to grasp how vital Eisenwald was as a strategic stronghold. Handing it over would sever the allied forces’ primary supply route and grant the enemy a direct logistical path to the capital, yet even this basic fact seemed beyond them.

With the war spreading outward from Anatolia, it was inevitable that the barbarians would covet this land. Militarily and geographically, it was valuable. That was precisely why she had devoted herself to reinforcing the walls. And yet, these men seemed blind to what even an outsider like her could see.

Though frustration simmered within her, Odelliana stayed silent. There was nothing to be gained by bruising the pride of those in command. Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the map of Eisenwald. While they argued back and forth, she studied the terrain in meticulous detail.

When the first strategy meeting finally ended, Odelliana caught Blair before he could leave.

“We need to talk.”

Once the others had filed out, only Odelliana, Blair, and Malena remained. Odelliana handed Blair a sheet of paper she had been scribbling on throughout the meeting.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Read it, then decide.”

Blair read slowly. His expression shifted again and again before his eyes widened in shock as he looked up at her.

“This is the best course of action I can think of under the circumstances,” Odelliana said.

She moved to stand beside the map, while Malena squinted at her in confusion. Odelliana began explaining, carefully tailoring her words so that even Blair, who lacked formal military knowledge, could follow.

“Dismiss Sir Rusler’s proposal outright. Targeting the rear of the barbarian vanguard in the Razagal Forest with our forces would be suicide.”

Blair said nothing.

“The vanguard is likely composed of elite warriors from their main force. Barbarians excel in open field combat, and the forest terrain works entirely against us.”

“Why?” Blair asked.

“Our strongest unit is the cavalry. The Razagal Forest is riddled with streams and underbrush, making it useless for mounted troops.”

“What if we send in infantry?”

“You think they would occupy the forest without preparations? We would be slaughtered by ambushing longbowmen before we ever reached them.”

Blair stared at her, disbelief plain on his face. More bewildering than the crisis itself was the fact that Odelliana was calmly persuading him with expert military reasoning. Suspicion lingered in his eyes, but she pressed on without pause.

“They may demand negotiations before breaking down the gates. Even with siege weapons, breaching walls of this height is no simple task. The longer it takes, the more time we gain for allied reinforcements. They will likely demand your head as their condition.”

Blair remained silent.

“Knowing you, you would consider surrendering to spare even one more civilian. Do not even entertain that thought. Your death will not buy the safety of Eisenwald’s people. They would only end up captives, or worse.”

Blair gave a bitter smile, struck at his core. Odelliana sighed softly and continued.

“The fall of the outer wall is inevitable. But it is not an entirely hopeless scenario. The internal layout of Eisenwald actually favors us tactically.”

“So this plan assumes the gates will fall from the start?” Blair asked.

“Yes. We cannot stop the breach, and wasting our already scarce forces on a war of attrition at the walls is inefficient. We need to plan for what comes after the enemy pours into the city.”

As Blair studied the document in detail and Malena looked on in stunned silence, questions churned in their minds. The strategy, drafted by a young woman with no official authority, was meticulous. Even to untrained eyes, it was sophisticated.

From selecting the battlefield to deploying formations that maximized the terrain’s advantages, it reflected a depth of knowledge that bordered on veteran expertise. Coordinated assaults combining infantry, cavalry, archers, and spearmen, as well as the idea of positioning skilled hunters as javelin throwers and archers on high ground, were the kind of tactics born from real battlefields.

It made no sense. How could a woman who had lived her life hidden in the shadow of the Grüsewald family possess such command of warfare?

“May I show this to the other commanders?” Blair asked.

“Of course.”

“Thank you, Odelliana.”

There was no time to question how she had conceived it all. With the situation so dire, Blair hurried off at once. Only then did Malena, finally emerging from her shock, stare blankly at Odelliana.

“What are you, exactly, my lady?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is this level of military knowledge something one can gain by reading a few strategy books at home?”

“Now is not the time for that, Malena. Securing evacuation routes comes first. We need to move.”

Malena hurried after her, still flustered.

Questions swirled endlessly in her mind. It seemed that the only genius she had noticed was not the boy Odelliana had brought with her. Perhaps the true genius, hidden in plain sight, had been standing right before her all along.