Under the Oak Tree

Chapter 336: Chapter 97

“We may not recover from a rash attack,” said Kuahel. “We cannot take the risk.”

“We cannot keep wasting time either!” Adolf slammed his fist on the table, his craggy face flushed with anger. “Our supplies are running low, as is our horse fodder. At this rate, we’ll either starve to death in this barren wasteland or retreat without having achieved a thing!”

“We still have enough for a few weeks,” Agnes retorted, annoyance bubbling beneath her calm exterior. “As Sir Kuahel has pointed out, a foolhardy attack could cost us greatly. Our soldiers are defenseless while the enemy is protected by solid walls! Unless we find a way to protect our men—”

“There is no way,” Richard Breston interjected, followed by a sardonic snort. “Unless the walls collapse on their own, the monsters will always have the upper hand. We have a greater chance of winning by mobilizing all of our troops. Let me remind you that it’s not just the enemy that wearies the longer this siege drags on.”

A brief silence reigned over the tent. Indeed, the soldiers were becoming more exhausted by the day. What with the harsh weather, poor conditions, frequent night raids, and an impregnable fortress, it was no wonder they were discouraged.

“Send word to the Bolose Royal Knights at once,” Breston concluded, hammering in his point. “We must end this once and for all while our army still has the will to fight.”

Kuahel Leon, frozen in a pensive gesture with his chin resting on his steepled fingers, finally spoke. “This is not a decision to be made hastily. We still have time, so we shall monitor the situation over the next few days.”

He rose from his seat and strode out of the tent, bringing the meeting to an end. Though visibly discontented with the verdict, Breston and Adolf held their tongues and left the tent.

Maxi promptly returned to the infirmary to tend to the wounded, where she stayed busy for the rest of the day. When the sun rose the next morning, she was napping by the brazier. She woke as the light played over her eyes. One by one, the mages who had rested through the night filed into the infirmary to take over.

A low groan came from beside her just as she was willing her stiff body to stir. Jolting awake, her head snapped toward the sound. The previously corpse-like Garrow was clutching his head.

Maxi rushed over to his side and knelt down. “G-Garrow! Can you hear me?”

With a grimace, the young knight pressed his temple as though suffering a terrible headache before his eyes flickered open. Maxi’s heart sank. One of his eyes was cloudy and lacked focus. She was staring at it in dismay when she noticed his parched lips moving. Grabbing a kettle, she poured water into a cup and brought it to his mouth.

Garrow gulped at it before rasping, “Did someone drill a hole in my head? Worst headache I’ve ever had.”

Maxi breathed a sigh of relief. His brain, at least, was functioning as normal.

“You were brought to the infirmary with a grave head injury. D-Do you remember anything before you lost consciousness?”

“I remember fighting with the monsters on the hill, but after that…” he trailed off, furrowing his brow.

He was likely still dazed. Maxi asked a passing soldier to bring her a bowl of diluted barley porridge, then offered Garrow more water. Propping himself up on one elbow, Garrow accepted the cup and downed the contents.

“How long have 1 been unconscious, my lady?” he said, squinting around the infirmary.

“F-For almost… five days, 1 think,” Maxi answered uncertainly. She had been too busy to keep track of the time.

Garrow sighed deeply, scrubbing his face. “That’s quite a long time in bed.”

“You should lie back down. You must rest for a few more days… to fully recuperate.”

“I’m perfectly fine. I should—”

Garrow swayed as he got to his feet, clutching his head in pain. When he slumped back down, Maxi swiftly cast restorative magic on him. The tension in the young knight’s shoulders gradually eased.

“It appears 1 must obey your instructions, my lady,” he muttered bitterly.

“O-Of course,” she replied in the sternest voice she could muster. She then asked one of the sentries to inform the Remdragon Knights that Garrow was awake.

After silently watching the sentry hurry out of the tent, Garrow asked, “Is my right eye unsalvageable?”

Maxi turned to see him gingerly touching the corner of his right eye. Her fears were correct — his eye was damaged.

“Lost eyesight… sometimes does return,” Maxi managed to strangle out through her tight throat. “But… such c-cases are extremely rare. And permanent vision loss… c-cannot be recovered even with—”

She bit her lip, unable to finish.

Garrow calmly nodded as if he had been expecting as much. “1 see.”

Maxi’s mouth opened and closed, but she could not find the words.

“There is no need to look so sad, my lady,” Garrow said, smiling. “For a head injury, I’d say I got off lightly.”

“Y-You should rest. I shall go make you a tonic.”

Realizing that the young knight was putting up a brave front so as not to appear weak in front of her, Maxi hastily rose. As if on cue, Ulyseon burst into the tent, and Maxi slipped out of the infirmary through the opposite entrance.

The coalition army resumed its attack at noon. After barely managing a few hours of sleep through the din of battle, Maxi pushed past rows of soldiers to take her turn in assisting with the catapults. As she neared the front, a high earthen wall emerged before her with a long row of catapults and soldiers lined atop it.

She walked to the ladder installed on one side of the wall and carefully made her way up. When she reached the summit, she stepped over to Armin, who was standing close to one of the catapults.

“L-Let me take over now.”

“I can keep going,” said Armin.

“But… you have been awake since dawn.”

“I managed some shut-eye in the middle,” he replied dismissively, tightening one of the catapult’s screws.

Soldiers pulled the latch, and huge rocks that would require lifting by three strong men flew in an arc toward the wall. Maxi covered her ears to block out the deafening crash. Despite the resounding impact, the walls of the monster city remained intact.

Maxi’s face fell in dismay. Just then, she caught sight of four siege towers advancing toward the city.

“A-Are we… launching an all-out attack today?”

“If we are, I wasn’t informed,” Armin replied, appearing just as surprised.

Maxi looked down to study the reactions of the soldiers below. They were all murmuring in confusion. Soon, the blast of a kopel came from the front. Maxi realized that it was the signal to halt. Despite the order, the siege towers continued to roll forward, and the soldiers of Ar ex marched behind them.

With nearly four thousand troops breaking formation, the coalition army was thrown into disarray. The soldiers were visibly confused while the officials of each battalion began bellowing instructions. Then, a booming command rang out from the front.

“Charge!”

Maxi whipped her head up to see the commander of the Arexian army standing at the crest of the hill, his sword raised above his head. Like moths flying headlong into fire, the troops charged toward the city. The soldiers were as relentless as frenzied warhorses struck with a whip, and the flaming arrows raining down on them did little to stop their advance.

The first person to regain their composure in all the chaos was Kuahel Leon. Standing at the head of the Osiriyan army, he began to blast his kopel for an all-out attack. He was ordering them to finish what the Arexian army had started. They had gone too far now, and he had no other choice. Losing four thousand men along with their siege weapons for no reason would be a devastating blow to the coalition.

“Archers, advance!” Kuahel bellowed. “Mages, shield while the infantry ready the battering rams!”

Maxi finally broke out of her stupor and leaped into action.

“Quick!” she yelled. “Fire the catapults! We mustn’t let them attack the siege towers!”

The soldiers immediately tightened the catapults’ ropes and began launching a barrage of rocks at the ramparts. Maxi anxiously watched as the siege towers advanced through the shower of flaming arrows.

The monsters’ burning projectiles soon knocked down one of the towers. Though the soldiers inside it quickly dispersed, dozens were still crushed by the falling debris. Maxi stifled a scream.

Despite the horrific scene, the coalition army kept advancing, and the monsters began hurling rocks. The mages summoned barriers, but they could do little to stop the swirling embers alighting the siege towers.

Black smoke billowed from the towers as flames engulfed them, forcing the soldiers inside to rush out. The blazing structures then began sliding down the slope. Soldiers knocked each other down like dominoes in their attempts to avoid the moving columns of flame. In a matter of seconds, about a hundred men lay sprawled across the hill.

The tragedies did not end there. The Arexian cavalry riding close behind failed to stop in time, trampling their comrades.

The senseless carnage left Maxi speechless. Even those bent on self-destruction could not have failed so spectacularly..

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