Barbarian Quest

Carnius, having been granted command of two legions, gathered his adjutants and knights. The knights were not merely his subordinates but comrades who had been with him for a long time.

"It's an honor to fight alongside you again, General Carnius."

"I'm the one who should be thankful that you've willingly joined me despite my abrupt request."

Carnius nodded toward his adjutants. They were all knights of respectable age. Among them were also a few men who played the role of the head of their families.

'In order to move a large army, I need people who think like me.'

It was an army of twenty thousand. No matter how brilliant its general was, it was impossible to control it all by himself. No matter how great the strategy was, if the hands and feet of the army did not cooperate, it was all rendered meaningless.

To move a large army, one needed adjutants and field commanders who could read each other's minds.

"To think we'd stand on the battlefield one more time. I'm glad I didn't die in bed."

The knights laughed. They had fought together through numerous battles, large and small. They knew each other quite well.

"Who would have thought that young Emperor Yanchinus would entrust the army to you, Sir Carnius?"

The older military nobles were not fond of the young emperor. They disliked watching a green emperor, who had never earned his stripes on the battlefield, usurping the nobles' power to strengthen the imperial authority. This especially caused the power of the military nobles to significantly wane.

‘He even confiscates our lands whenever finds the tiniest excuse...'

Even though Carnius wasn't a pro-imperial faction, he was entrusted with the command of the legions. From the perspective of the anti-imperial nobles, this was a good opportunity.

"Be careful with your words. The emperor has made a precise decision after correctly seeing the reality beyond political factional fights. After all, he is the one who carries the great lineage of the empire."

Carnius preemptively stopped the other nobles from making any reckless remarks.

The knights understood Carnius' intention and nodded. It wasn’t like those who called themselves the anti-imperial faction had any grand objectives. No one but those of the great lineage could sit on the throne of the emperor. Changing the dynasty was an impossible story.

‘At the end of the day, those who call themselves the anti-imperial faction are just afraid of losing land and power to the emperor.'

Carnius was their spokesperson. Nobles who had fought for the empire all their lives had gotten their lands and powers taken away from them by the young emperor.

Because the imperial authority was so strong, one could easily lose their title over any minor fault. As the imperial authority grew stronger, it only became easier to usurp power from the subjects. From the nobles' point of view, it was a vicious cycle, but from the emperor's point of view, it was a great one.

'Centralized absolute power. Yes, that's the basis of the empire's dominance over other kingdoms. Ensuring strong governance by concentrating power and military might in the emperor.'

Carnius smirked bitterly. He looked at the nobles.

The empire maintained its efficiency despite its larger size compared to other kingdoms. Normally, as a country grew, its efficiency dropped. However, thanks to its highly developed administrative system and the centralized system with the emperor at the center, the empire maintained its efficiency despite its size.

'The military might and power that should be distributed among the great nobles became concentrated in one person. It's easy to exercise power when one has all of the power like that.'

Under such a system, the emperor's will became the will of the empire, allowing all national power to be concentrated in one place. If the emperor decided to destroy a kingdom, he could push through any opposition if he was determined to do so.

'Funny enough, if the emperor's power were dispersed and weakened as the anti-imperial faction wishes, the empire would lose the power to control its vassal states.'

Too many cooks spoil the broth. When multiple people have equal power, power relations become much more complex, and the drive to move forward is lost more often than not.

The empire was strong because the emperor held all the power.

'It's a headache. The fact that the emperor taking our lands and power actually makes the empire stronger...'

In everything, balance was always important.

Although Carnius was part of the anti-imperial faction, he didn't want to see the empire he had devoted his life to decline. He wanted to maintain balance.

‘Oh, Sir Ferzen, how much I miss your presence now.'

The Sword Demon Ferzen was the one and only guardian of the emperor. Even the arrogant Emperor Yanchinus listened to Ferzen’s words. Although he was a pro-imperial faction, he served as a balancing figure in national affairs.

"We set out in three days."

Carnius informed the knights.

"Let's show the barbarians what we're made of!"

"Hah, we’ve ended up having to wipe that young emperor’s ass for him!"

"Hey, watch what you say."

The knights gathered in groups and left for a drink.

Carnius had a modest meal with his family before the march and prayed at the temple in the morning.

"May Lou's blessings be upon us,” the priest blessed them as part of the ritual.

“We will defeat the barbarians with my father and save the sons and daughters of Lou,” Carnius' son said to the priest. The young man's eyes sparkled clearly.

“Leo, confidence is good, but do not look down on the enemy with arrogance.”

Carnius stood up from the marble floor of the temple.

“But we have always defeated the barbarians. It will be no different this time.”

“That's the mindset I'm telling you to be wary of.”

Carnius sighed. His eldest son Leo was a vigorous twenty-four-year-old.

“Father, you will finally be known as a knight greater than the Sword Demon Ferzen. The entire world will know.”

“Nonsense! Ferzen was a magnificent knight. I am proud to have lived in the same era as Sir Ferzen, even though we had our differences in many ways.”

“...that’s why you've lived in the shadow of the Sword Demon all your life.”

Leo curled his lips.

‘Young ones these days.’

Carnius shook his head and left the temple.

“Don't entrust your arms to a servant, maintain them yourself. Remember every scratch as if it were on your own body,” Carnius said to his son as he entered his house.

Despite the impending expedition, Carnius went on with his day as usual. He had a simple breakfast, engaged in strength training, had strategic meetings with his adjutants in the afternoon, prayed in the temple in the evening, and had dinner with his family after coming home. He spent three frugal days like that before leading an army of twenty thousand toward Langkegart.

“Don't we have to protect Novgark, the capital of Langkegart?” Leo asked.

“This is why I told you to attend every meeting. With our marching speed, it would be difficult to defend Novgark.”

“Are we just abandoning Langkegart? It's a vassal state that we must protect! How will other vassals see the empire if even the capital of Langkegart is occupied? They’ll think of it as an empire that can't even protect its vassals...”

“So, are you suggesting that we go deep into Langkegart just to chase after the barbarians' tails? Leo, shut up and watch and learn from your father,” Carnius said annoyingly and rode forward.

“Leo! Your father is an outstanding general and knight. You are going to learn much from him,” another old knight said as he stood beside Leo.

“Was he so great that he lived under the fame of Ferzen while he was alive?”

“Do you know what your father's title was during his prime? The Iron Blood Carnius was not at all inferior to the Sword Demon Ferzen.”

“That is a nickname known only to those who know. But everyone knows the Sword Demon. People will remember the Sword Demon but not Iron Blood. I won't live with a nickname that nobody remembers.”

“...War is not some game for you to build fame, Leo.”

The old knight smirked rather sadly and passed by Leo. After all, the words of an old man never entered the ears of the young.

‘Poor thing... It's only natural for a young man of that age to admire and long for the Sword Demon Ferzen, but because his father was a second fiddle who lived under that fame... While he admires Ferzen, he also hates him, and while he respects his father, he also despises him.’

Carnius' army gave up on supporting Novgark. They did not enter deep into the Langkegart Kingdom but moved along the outskirts of the cities.

Carnius used the light cavalry scouts to track the traces of the barbarian army.

“Was this truly a renowned city?”

The knights who arrived at the commercial city Vernikal, close to the empire, lamented. Half of the city was burned down, and the stench of decaying bodies still wafted through the city as the cleanup of corpses had not yet been completed.

"This is utterly terrible."

"The bastards who did this won't escape Lou's judgment."

"There is no way we can receive supplies here."

Carnius toured the city with the old knights.

"If every place the barbarians swept through is like this, the Langkegart Kingdom is surely finished."

Other knights nodded in agreement to his words. Langkegart might very well lose its status as a kingdom.

"There's one peculiar thing. The barbarians... they have taken the slaves and the lower class into their army."

An adjutant reported after gathering information while touring the city.

"They’re increasing their army with civilized people?"

"According to witnesses, there is apparently a unit within the barbarian army made up of civilized people. And it wasn’t just one or two witnesses who said that."

The knights murmured among themselves.

"What kind of madmen would join hands with barbarians?"

"It's nonsense!"

Civilized people joining a barbarian army had never happened before.

"They seem to be a very adaptable group..." Carnius muttered without panicking.

'Adaptable enough to include civilized people? But even if they are, it's way too quick. These barbarians didn’t have contact with our world until now. How in the world have they adapted so quickly to civilization?'

The civilized didn’t know a thing about the westerners. The only thing they knew about them was the fact that they were barbarians living beyond the mountains.

'It hasn't even been a year since the Western Legion crossed Yailrud, and a massive barbarian army has already crossed into the civilized world. It's likely that they were unified even before clashing with the Western Legion. But if they really were unified, how could they so easily accept their sworn enemies, the civilized people, into their army?'

The northern barbarians, formidable foes of the civilized, were extremely exclusive. The northerners also had their own cultural religion. They were not able to mix with the civilized for a long time.

The integration of the north and civilization wasn't done by force. One could dominate land with power all they wanted, but not the essence and spirit of a people. Only after the non-violent Solarism quietly infiltrated the north and exerted its influence did the north get absorbed into the civilized world.

'They're not as exclusive as the northerners. These barbarians from the west are different. Everything about them is new to us. We have to learn everything from scratch.'

Carnius looked at the city. Dust flew as the wind blew.

"At least we know one thing for sure. They are just as cruel as the northerners."

Carnius led his army out of the city of Vernikal. The western barbarian army was an unpredictable group.

'Their army supplies everything locally, so they don't have supply lines. Freer than us, who can't stray far from our supply lines. And on top of that, we don't even know their purpose. If anyone could predict the movements of such an army, they must have received a revelation from Lou.'

Carnius didn't count on luck. He persistently sent scouts to keep reporting on the barbarians' movements.

"If they want to scorch Langkegart, let them. We'll follow them gradually."

The imperial army abandoned the villages and cities of Langkegart, whether they were going to be destroyed or not. They didn't waste their routes unnecessarily.

Carnius was a commander who knew how to sacrifice the small for the big. That was why he was nicknamed 'Iron Blood'... and also why he never gained as much fame as the Sword Demon Ferzen.

'Of course, I lacked the combat skills too. Sword Demon Ferzen in his prime was almost superhuman...'

The Sword Demon was undoubtedly a great general, but sometimes he entrusted his body and fate to passionate emotions and divine intuition. People preferred heroes blessed by Lou over calculating strategists.

Carnius didn't try to imitate Ferzen. He chose a steady approach, not relying on intuition.

The imperial army marched forcefully, cutting back on the time that they would have spent on sleeping and eating. Every time the barbarians halted to plunder for local supplies, Carnius' army got that much closer to them.

By saving unnecessary detours, Carnius gradually narrowed the distance and finally caught up to the tail of the barbarian army.

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