Lord of Caldera - Chapter 153

Chapter 153: Chapter 153

Sylas needed someone who valued honor over personal gain and could uphold their promises. The only person that came to mind was the very knight he had just released.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Bjorn admitted.

“It happens.”

Sylas rose from his seat and turned to the soldiers, many of whom still looked stunned by the victory.

“Soldiers!”

Sylas’s booming voice captured everyone’s attention, and he spoke calmly.

“We have won.”

“…”

“We have won without shedding a single drop of our own blood.”

He avoided complicated words, instead reinforcing the simple fact that they had won. Slowly, a spark returned to the soldiers’ eyes.

“We have won!”

They won. No one among them had died, yet they had won. It didn’t matter if it was a trick or whatever—victory was theirs.

“There is hope,” they thought.

It was not a matter of dying like mere fodder. They would survive and tread upon their old homeland in Veldaine. They would see the young master ascend as the rightful heir. A spark of hope spread like wildfire in each heart.

“Just as we have won today, we will keep winning! Rejoice, soldiers, for our victory!”

With a thunderous roar, the soldiers raised their spears. This was no longer the desperate cry of a doomed battalion. It was the shout of those who intended to live and see their king. Sylas’s lips curled into a smile at the sight.

Several days had passed since their victory. The occupation had been remarkably quiet, thanks to the fact that not a single drop of blood had been spilled between soldiers and the residents. After securing accommodations for his troops, Sylas fulfilled the first promise he’d made to the people of the territory.

“The tax rate will be reduced to one-quarter. All other miscellaneous taxes are abolished.”

“Wow!”

“Hooray for Lord Sylas, our new lord!”

The people of the territory cheered, calling out Sylas’s name, thrilled that their choice hadn’t been in vain. However, murmurs of concern emerged among his advisors.

“Is this really okay? Won’t that drastically reduce tax revenue?”

“I won’t be staying here for long, anyway.”

If Sylas were planning to settle and establish roots, stable tax income would certainly be necessary for developing the territory. However, they were still in the middle of a war. Winning the battles ahead took priority over building anything from the tax income. And even if the war ended, Sylas had no intention of staying here.

“For mere maintenance, the reduced taxes will be more than enough. If we cut out all luxury expenses and return everything to the territory, we’ll have plenty.”

“There’s still the matter of upkeep costs, such as food for the troops.”

“We can cover that with the former lord’s wealth. It seems he managed to save up quite a bit.”

Philip, the former lord, had taken a calculated approach to taxation, carefully squeezing just enough to build resentment without provoking outright rebellion. He had been adept at maintaining this delicate balance, and judging by the stocked supplies in the warehouses, he’d managed his resources well.

“Of course, he failed to anticipate someone nudging him off that tightrope.”

After handling various administrative matters, Sylas climbed up the castle wall. The snow-covered fields remained empty, silent as ever.

“Reinforcements in two days? What a load of nonsense.”

Philip had screamed from his cell that reinforcements from the Veldaine Viscounty would arrive within two days to put an end to everything. Prepared for a confrontation, Sylas had waited—only for no one to show.

“It didn’t sound like he was lying.”

Philip genuinely seemed to believe in the arrival of reinforcements; his shocked, hollow expression after two days without them made that clear. This left only one conclusion: his request for reinforcements had been ignored. Sylas summoned a soldier and gave his order.

“Bring Bjorn and Henrik.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was time for a strategy meeting.

“We need to launch an offensive,” Bjorn declared firmly as soon as the meeting started. Toby frowned at the suggestion.

“Isn’t their army larger than ours?”

“Yes. At least three times as large.”

“And their walls are probably just as fortified as ours.”

“They used to be on the front line, so they’re not to be compared with this place.”

Toby looked incredulous at Bjorn’s confident answers. Was he being serious? After one last attempt at patience, Toby asked, “Then there must be some kind of weakness or strategy for taking them, right?”

“Hmm, none come to mind at the moment.”

“What? Then why are you suggesting an attack?!”

Unable to hold back, Toby shouted. This wasn’t just any fight—it was a siege. And it wasn’t some token castle like this one, but a well-fortified structure. Yet Bjorn was proposing an attack with less than half the enemy’s forces?

“You know how brutal real sieges can get!”

The empire’s history books tell a story of an old war veteran who retired to his hometown, visited by his former student, now a general. The student asked for advice on sieges.

“Master, how should I approach a siege?”

The old general replied simply, “Don’t, you fool.”

Unable to accept the advice, the student left. During a subsequent war, he led successful sieges on five castles. Years later, as he prepared to retire, a young general asked him the same question.

“How do you handle a siege, General?”

The former student replied, “Never attempt it.”

Whether true or not, this story illustrates the harshness of sieges. They require ten times the forces, extensive siege weaponry, and provisions for long encirclements. Even after such efforts, there’s often little to gain.

“And now you want us to charge in with less than half their number?”

“I didn’t mean we should go for a direct assault,” Bjorn replied calmly, trying to ease Toby’s agitation.

“But if we don’t make the first move, my uncle will never budge. Time will just drag on for a year or two with no progress.”

“Didn’t you say they have at least three times the troops? With such a large army, you think he’ll just sit there?”

Bjorn was the rightful heir. If his uncle had taken the position by questionable means, Bjorn would be the first person he’d want to eliminate. He should want to act quickly, especially given that Bjorn had already raised a banner of defiance.