Chapter 9: The besieged city

The castle of Lorient is built on a hill, surrounded by a moat, and the town is traditionally built at the foot of the hill.

Although the castle is safe, the windows are small for defensive purposes, so the living conditions are not very good. The nobles usually live in spacious and light mansions in the town.

Stewart Castle was an exception, of course, because it was surrounded by a river on three sides and sat on a cliff so that siege weapons could not reach it. As a result, the rooms on the top floors facing these three directions had not only large windows but also balconies.

The soldiers of Baron Lorient's fief were all called to the castle to defend it, and naturally the town was taken without resistance by the soldiers of Baron Stewart's fief.

But since war had broken out, everyone in the town who could hide had done so, and those who couldn't had shut their doors and windows. No one dared to go out.

Although the war between the nobles did not involve the common people, if Baron Stewart lost, the noble lords could take their anger out on anyone they saw, and it would be no big deal if they were killed, let alone flogged.

Olika looked out from the castle tower and saw that Baron Stewart's army was not carrying any siege equipment, which was a relief.

Although there were only ninety soldiers on their side, the sturdy castle could not be taken down by a few hundred soldiers climbing ladders, and he hadn't even seen any ladders. Whether siege equipment was transported from the rear or built locally, it would take at least ten to fifteen days, by which time the people Count Rainer had sent to mediate would have arrived.

Christine sat in the carriage, also thinking about how to attack the castle.

War is not a game of chess, and there is no such thing as a strategy that suppresses a profession.

It is true that a knight standing on a castle shooting arrows has a greater range than a mage casting, but a 5th level mage can use Flight to fly into the sky to cover his soldiers attacking the castle.

If there is a crossbow in the castle, the flying mage will not dare get too close, but a higher level mage will have more spell slots, or a 5th level mage will be willing to use scrolls. Flight combined with Invisibility can make it impossible for the enemy to find the target.

So Christine thinks about how to destroy the castle without revealing her level.

Knight Liam came to the carriage and reported, 'Christine, the soldiers are in formation, what should we do next?

Since learning that Christine was a fourth-level mage, Knight Liam has been hanging on her every word. Such a genius will surely make the Stewart family prosperous.

Go up and call,'

Christine instructed him, giving him a detailed rundown of what to say before giving him a zero-level spell called 'Phantom Sound'.

Liam rode up to the castle and shouted, "I am Liam Stewart of Baron Stewart's domain. Please, the heir of Baron Lorien's domain, come forward and speak.

The wizard's apprentice in the castle also cast a 'phantom voice' spell on Olika and he called out, 'I am Olika Llorien, the current heir to the barony.

'Mr Olika, by order of Miss Stewart, please surrender the Barony of Llorien and swear to the True God that you and all the lords will be treated as they deserve.

Knight Liam, as a nobleman I will not surrender without a fight, so please stop talking like that,' Olika shouted.

Sir Olika, Lady Stewart has allowed you to evacuate the castle's elderly, women and children so that they will not be harmed by the fighting,' Liam continued.

There are no cowards in the Lorient Kingdom! Olika replied.

Sir Olika, we will wait until noon tomorrow to attack, giving you plenty of time to consider your answer.

and so the shouting stopped. Knight Liam left ten men to guard the castle, and the rest of the men retreated to the town to rest.

Using the 'phantom sound' technique, half the town heard the conversation between the two sides, and the Stewart Barony followed the rules of the nobles.

Orica, of course, could not allow the women and children to be evacuated. To reassure the soldiers stationed there, he had already taken everyone's family into the castle. If they were let out again, some of them, not worried about their families, might open the gates and surrender the castle.

Furthermore, when Baron Stewart's troops returned to the town, Christine immediately had three knightly guards take fifty men each and occupy the remaining three villages directly under the rule of Baron Lorient.

Once the castle's drawbridge had been raised and the gates closed, it was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Now that the three knights of the opposing side were in the castle, it would be enough for their side to have an equal number of knights leading more than 150 soldiers.

Besides, in Christine's plan, they won't be attacking the castle directly, so of course they won't need that many soldiers. But they can't just sit around and do nothing, so they need to be given some tasks.

Seeing that the other side doesn't have any siege equipment, Baron Lorient's side is naturally relieved and goes to rest. There are no trees within 500 metres of the castle, so they can just leave a few guards to keep watch.

As for attacking at night, that was out of the question. Not to mention that an army made up mostly of militia would never be able to attack without torches, and even if they did, the guards would hear the slightest sound with so many people moving around.

Sending knights to attack by surprise is also impossible. Although knights who have mastered the martial arts can usually wear heavy armour as if it were just a piece of clothing, they can't climb the castle wall, which is more than 20 metres high, while wearing armour. They can climb without armour, but in that case an ordinary soldier can do damage to the knight, so going there is just a waste of life.

There are also 'magical alarm' enchantments at key points in the castle, which can be controlled by apprentices and prevent thieves from sneaking in.

Thieves without magic cannot sneak in, but they cannot defeat Christine. At this point, she is dressed as an assassin (see Assassin's Creed) and is already inside the castle.

Ordinary thieves and assassins would not dress like this, of course, but the young lady likes to do what she can.

The first-level spell 'Arachnid Walk' allows her to climb buildings like Spiderman, and the second-level spell 'Invisibility' allows her to sneak into the castle at night without being noticed. The second level spell 'Lightness' not only allows her to walk quickly without making a sound, but also allows her to easily turn off the 'Magic Alarm' and sneak into the residential area of the castle.

Don't underestimate her just because she's a girl. A normal adult dragonborn is already as strong, fast and fit as a third-level warrior, and she's even stronger. And with her magic, she could kill everyone there if she wanted to.

But she didn't have to. Instead, she left a letter on Olika's bedside table. In it, she warned the person in question, Baron Stewart, in the capacity of a mysterious wizard friend, that if he didn't surrender, he would be killed next time.

As the saying goes, 'Don't say things that aren't true'. While wars between nobles follow rules, they are not pedantic. If you're given a chance and don't take it, no one will say anything, even if you're killed next time along with your entire family.