Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!-Chapter 79: The Net Closes

Skirting the outskirts of the northern fields, I pushed further north. While running the radar network and checking the Commander Scouter, I detected Burgundian forces plundering a small village. Since all the residents had evacuated, the cavalrymen had dismounted and were helping themselves to whatever the villagers hadn’t been able to carry.

The enemy was right before my eyes, wholly absorbed in plundering?

Could there be easier prey than this?

I scanned carefully for an ambush, but fortunately found none. The Burgundians seemed to have let their guard down entirely, being farther north than the fields where the fighting had taken place. And yet, even as we reached the village entrance, they hadn’t posted a single sentry. We drew our cavalry swords in unison.

"Kill the French invaders!"

"Lord, grant us strength!"

Seeing our unit charge into the village at full gallop, the enemy cavalrymen who had been busy gathering loot scattered in panic. Those who couldn’t even reach their horses fell one after another, cut down or stabbed by cavalry swords. It was utter chaos. We swept through the village, cutting down the enemy without mercy.

"Damn it, why are there enemies here?!"

"Quickly, mount up!"

Some managed to scramble onto their horses, but in the chaotic melee, we freely brought our cavalry swords down on their exposed backs. The Burgundian cavalrymen, unable to mount any real resistance, were annihilated. I would have liked to let the horses rest briefly, but I detected Burgundian light cavalry approaching from the north.

"No time to collect spoils! Into the forest!"

"What? All of a sudden—"

"There’s no time! Mount up now! Fiel! August!"

The cavalrymen who had been about to gather spoils were caught off guard by my urgent order. When I called for the two who followed my commands most reliably, they immediately rallied the cavalry.

"Cavalry, mount up!"

"You lot, get on your horses now!"

Only after the lieutenants shouted several times did the men hastily climb into their saddles. I would have given them time to collect spoils if this new cavalry unit from the north hadn’t appeared, but intercepting the approaching enemy took priority. Fortunately, the enemy riders didn’t seem to have spotted us yet.

We concealed ourselves in the forest near the village.

The trees were dense enough to hide us well.

It was the perfect environment for an ambush.

Though the cavalrymen didn’t understand why I had ordered them into the forest, they voiced no complaints, having witnessed my seemingly uncanny ability to detect and raid enemies. And they were visibly amazed when the enemy cavalry came riding into view, just as I had anticipated. Fortunately, the approaching force was small—roughly twenty riders.

"August, Fiel! You two block the village entrance! I’ll circle around to the rear!"

After dispatching the two reliable knights with twenty riders, I led the remaining lieutenant and eighteen cavalrymen to enter the village from behind. We ambushed the enemy, who were already badly shaken at the sight of their slaughtered comrades. We struck riders who couldn’t even draw their swords as we bore down at full speed.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The enemy cavalry fled in panic toward the village entrance as if they had seen ghosts, but Fiel and August, whom I had sent ahead, were waiting for them. The net closed completely. The Burgundian cavalrymen, trapped between our two forces, wore desperate expressions as they fought back.

But they could not escape annihilation.

August clicked his tongue at the lopsided results of defeating enemy after enemy with such ease.

"Tremendous results. But how did you know the enemy was coming?"

"Gut instinct told me cavalry were approaching."

I answered August’s question with a half-joke, but the lieutenants’ expressions turned peculiar. With clear results before their eyes, Fiel and August took my words at face value, but the other lieutenants seemed unconvinced. In truth, there was no way to explain it except as instinct. The situation had been too urgent for anything else.

For the time being, I ordered the men to drag the enemy corpses outside the village—a precaution so disease wouldn’t spread when the villagers returned. The cavalrymen grumbled, but they followed orders, since I had allowed them to collect a reasonable amount of spoils.

However, I forbade anything heavy enough to impede the horses’ mobility.

Light cavalry specialized in scouting, pursuit, and plunder.

As such, this branch wasn’t treated as a main battlefield force.

The flower of battle was still the knight, and the method of smashing battle lines with heavy cavalry dominated the field. But I believed light cavalry were the branch best suited for versatile, all-around operations. If I ever obtained a territory, I wanted to actively develop light cavalry rather than heavy cavalry.

If the light cavalry I trained gained fame, what would they be called?

Streit Light Cavalry. That was one of my dreams.

"Captain, I found something good."

Fiel appeared with two bottles of wine from somewhere. He had found them in the village chief’s house, but this hardly helped our image—we looked more like plunderers ourselves. Having ordered the cavalry to collect only spoils below certain weight limits, was I essentially a bandit chief?

Unfortunately, armies in this era still sometimes plundered private homes in other territories under the pretext of local procurement. Burgundian forces plundering was expected, since they were the enemy, but when allied forces did it, serious problems arose. Such behavior led to bitter disputes between territories.

The underlying attitude was that plundering in someone else’s territory, rather than one’s own, was acceptable.

My father-in-law had worked to stamp out such practices, and now looting evacuated villages like this was the most that was permitted. Even so, ordering the cavalry not to touch this region’s private homes was completely futile. Absurd as it was, it was still better than killing and plundering inhabited villages.

Seizing weapons or horses from enemy soldiers as spoils sat far more comfortably with me.

"It’s Rosenheim white wine."

"Oh, nice find."

Fiel and August happily drank wine and ate jäger. Since the cavalrymen had moved most of the enemy corpses outside, the setting was at least tolerable. With this raid, I completed the Gale Knight II quest. Acquiring 5,000 points brought my total back to 10,500.

Hazard pay came to 50 silver coins at the tenfold rate, which went straight into my saddlebag. If the saddlebag were cut loose during battle I would lose them, but I had nowhere else to carry them on my person. Rewards for combat-related quests were vastly greater than those for ordinary quests.

It seemed the principle of making money through war applied equally to the quest system. To earn massive points and coin, I had to wage war—ironic. Family Prestige also increased to 1,250 points, nudging recognition and governance slightly higher. However, I gained no new titles or rank increases.

F-Rank Cavalry Commander (breakthrough 20%, charge 20%) was enormous for leading cavalry swiftly and destructively. Of course, a head-on clash with heavy cavalry would shatter us to pieces, but no sane commander would pit light cavalry against heavy cavalry. Light cavalry were at their best in hit-and-run engagements.

Should I add another function to the Commander Scouter? Each additional function cost 5,000 points, but even after purchasing one, I would still have 5,500 remaining. In the previous fight with Frost, I had used the medical service for the first time, and the cost had been 5,000 points. At the time, it had felt prohibitively expensive.

Fortunately, the service could be used even without sufficient points, but the balance would go negative, so I made a point of keeping at least 5,000 points in reserve. If I went into the red and couldn’t afford something truly critical, the consequences could be disastrous. I was being deliberate about it.

I weighed the decision but ultimately chose to hold off on spending. Since the functions I needed varied by situation, I decided to keep the points as insurance. After resting while enjoying the wine and jäger Fiel had brought, I turned my attention to the direction the enemy cavalry from our ambush had come from.

Perhaps there was something worth finding in that direction.

Mounting up, I led the light cavalry north.

Advancing while monitoring the surroundings through the Commander Scouter, I finally found it.

The enemy’s supply unit.