Oompahhhh!

After that signal, the battle changed to its final phase: the slaughtering ending falling upon the losers of the fight.

The original Latilian line, having regained its strength after being reinforced, successfully stalled the Elestovakians frontline while it was being distorted, allowing the Winged Husaria and regular cavalry to charge down on the back of the defenders uncontested. It was not just a double flank, it was an entire encirclement.

From his mount, Martin can only see in grimm as Latilian riders smash down onto the rear of his army from everywhere possible. Overrun by the immense pressure inflicted upon them, his Elestovakian line shattered into multiple smaller contingents, each carrying on a desperate last stand until their very last breath. The men fought with all of their strength, though their effort was devastated by the sheer amount of Latilians thrusting swords and pikes upon their armors and bodies, painting them in a red crimson color, with guts spreading on their shield and blackpowder smoke blind their eyes. Some who tried to break the encirclement were struck down by the cavalry, leaving no chance for them to reunite with the still garrisoning force. Eventually, the battle ended after half an hour of bloodbath, with a monumental result in the favor of, obviously, the Latilians.

Out of a thousand and three hundred Elestovakians joined the battle, only seventy survived. What is left of the battlefield looks bloody and somewhat unpleasant for the eyes of an innocent. The Latilians, on the other hand, suffered almost a hundred deaths, mostly from the early stage of the battle. Still, compared to the number of dead Elestovakians, the Latilian number is far too little, needless to say the victory was a landslide.

As for Martin, he was found dead with his club firmly on hand, dismounted. The Elestovakian commander’s body was discovered thanks to his distinguished armor, which was buried with him later on, as a tribute to a valiant enemy soldier.

Seeing the defeat of their comrades, the remaining troops in the garrison laid down their arms, accepting surrender.

The Latilians later entered the fortress for occupation, and even later for looting valuables of it to deliver back to Voyage. It would take a whole day just looking for goods and inspecting them as there are too many to look for. Fort Separ, aside from being a strategic fortification, one might claim it is also a massive size treasure room, one that the Latilians gladly take into their collection. While that will be the task of the dozen of men that were deployed to garrison the captured fort, meanwhile, Belisari, Lily and their army returned to Voyage, triumphant:

“Great work, everyone. Cheer!”

“Cheer!”

And they are now having their dinner in the dining room of Voyage Castle, the only building in the entire city that is able to serve the three thousand victors who have just returned from Separ.

The tables were rearranged as a beer hall, allowing more soldiers to gather around, sitting side by side, drinking beers and enjoying their hot meal cooked by local volunteers. The last week was tiring enough, those hard working fighters deserve a good, ample and rewarding rest, maybe a few days rest before continuing the journey.

**

The day after, Lily called Belisari to go out with her.

“I should’ve taken more rest.”

Belisari speaks, he is still tired from the previous battle. His arms are losing their grip, and his head wasn’t recovered from a blunt hit on his helmet during the last phase of the fight. Nonetheless, those excuses weren’t enough for Lily to spare him. As she said earlier, “I need you for a bit.”

“You can sleep after returning to the castle, now may you come with me first, have you brought your helmet yet?”

Speaking of which, Lily also requested Belisari to bring his helmet with him, while herself bringing her own sword along. Having greeted the Prince, the Archduchess signaled him to follow her, and he did.

“Ehh…”

They went by several notable buildings.

A newly set up open cafe, first in the city, serving as a place for the regulars to gather and enjoy the once uncommon drink of coffee, or just have a good midday meal. Most of the seats were however occupied by soldiers of the Winged cavalry. They do seem to love this kind of service.

A temporary training camp complex, currently home of the light skirmishers and their Archery friends on the back row. There are some opportunistic locals setting up all kinds of stores nearby to make money from the soldiers, and most of them made a huge fortune out of it, especially after the battle of Fort Separ, the troops now are richer than ever.

Finally, a Vinecian jewelry shop displaying a dozen of silver and golden arm rings on their glass. One thing stood out from that shop is a single ring that manifest the color of silver, yet being solemnly places in a red blanket:

“It's called aluminium, which is extracted from clay. Though its origin is humble, the price for a single ring outmatched its golden counterpart.”

In fact, in the entire city of Latila, there is only about a kilogram of this metal.

“Fascinating…”

Lily blankly replied, continuing walking across the street. Alright, what is she up to now? Belisari questioned, he didn’t know that it is already in front of him, just a bit far away:

“Is this…”

After ten minutes of walking around, the two arrived in front of a massive building, with four individual chimneys and a hot steamy atmosphere surrounding it. Along the sides of the building, there is many debris of pig irons covered in black charcoal, the remains of the process of burning and melting.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

All around, there are echoes of welding hammers, hitting repeatedly into something that creates such a distinguished sound: melting metal. By this point, it isn’t difficult for anyone to realize this place is:

“A blacksmith.”

More particularly, this is the workshop of the son of the woman a few days earlier who recognized Lily:

“Come.”-Lily says-”The blacksmiths here are giving discounts for soldiers, it is a good time to do you a favor, I think. Your helmet is broken, I’ve noticed. Your armor is scratched as well.”

Oh yeah, the blunt hit left a clear mark on the steel helmet, one that is hardly noticeable for anyone, but not the one-eyed Archduchess. Dammit, the Prince tried to ignore that:

“Ah”-Belisari embarrassed-”You don’t have to, I can pay on my own-”

“No, I will, just consider this as I am taking care of my subordinate. Also, I am not buying you a new one, just repairing the old.”

Hearing his friend politely reasoning, Belisari surrenders. Well, good, this attire is very old anyway, it was a surprise that it still fit. The only problem Belisari got with it is having his friend pay for his goods.

Knock knock

Lily knocks on the door of the blacksmith, then she opens the door and enters. A stream of dense hot air immediately flows out, blinding their vision with its shade of gray white. When the mist was clear, a figure steps out, welcomes them into his workshop, the young blacksmith of the workshop:

“Greetings, Mr.Blacksmith.”-Lily speaks.

“Greetings, Your Grace, Your Royal Highness. Welcome to Atelier Workshop, we make, repair and tailor all types of metallic tool here, military and civilian alike-”

The blacksmith was about to read out his full-length introduction to his workshop, about half an hour or so, but thankfully, Lily rudely skips it, like skipping dialogues:

“Yeah yeah, I know.”-she flaps her hand-”Just do your job, please.”

“Fine, as you wish.”

Despite his introduction being ruthlessly ignored, the blacksmith quickly excitedly got to his work. He grabs a rope with length marks, measuring Belisari and the old combat attire of his, while noting everything he saw into a piece of paper nearby, by centimeters. So this is how a tailored repair combat armor is made, unlike those mass-produced of the gear complex in Latila:

“Ten centimeters from here and here.”

(Ugh!)

Well, the scratching feeling of the rope really makes the Archprince uncomfortable, it was like someone was trying to restrain him. His vivid and exaggerated bothersome expression on his face caused Lily, who was looking at him, to chuckle a bit.

(Dammit, I will do the same to you one day.)

Then it comes to height. Even when compared to the gigantic body of his friend, his height is not too bad, much less when compared to normal people, though it is always a shame when these two people stand side by side, measuring the other’s figure.

“Hah…”

Thankfully, the process ended quickly, though Lily’s chuckle can still be heard in the background.

“Alright, I’m done.”-the blacksmith says as put down his ruler-”Please return in a few hours or so, I will have it done for you.”

**

“Two cups of coffee, one with sugar and some milk please.”

Back to the street again, the two decided to go somewhere while waiting for Belisari’s armor to be fixed. After a while, they ended up in the very cafe they saw from the beginning, when Belisari said that he wants to taste the flavor of coffee brewed by people in Voyage with Lily:

“The aroma here is most pleasing.”

The entire shop is filled with the scent of coffee beans, which is somewhat very enjoyable. This is not a thing from the process of making coffee alone. Clearly, the owner here deliberately put baked coffee underneath the tables in order to create the smell, thus attracting more customers to his shop. Additionally, they also planted some flowers around, making the experience here delight not just your nose and your taste, but your eyes as well.

“Yes, though I wish the taste would be as pleasant as its smell, though…

Looking at the expression of the horsemen around, the coffee must be amazing. Lily doesn’t drink coffee as regularly as Belisari, yet she understands while her friend loves it:

“Such an elegant drink, the cafe too, very pleased.”-She says-”I must say it was quite a fine choice for a date-”

“Pfft-”

“Ew, gross.”

Cough “A date?”

“Ah, it was I who called you out for armor repair, but we could’ve returned to the castle while waiting. However, instead you suggested that we should go walking and eventually we visit this cafe to kill time. Wasn’t that your intention to lure me into a date? Or was it just my misunderstanding?”

“Ah…I think…”-Belisari hesitates to give an answer-”…it is up to you to decide what it is.”

“I don’t mind considering this a date.”

The words were a bit teasing, enough to make both the speaker and the listener blush a bit. They stop talking for a while, until the waiter comes to bring their drinks over:

“Such a fancy flavor”-Lily says, while taking the first sip-”The bitterness is strong, but it turns rather tender when we drink it with milk.”

“Right?”-Belisari adds-” It is not a drink to be served alone, with some milk and sugar included, a cup of fine brewed coffee can easily win people’s hearts. Honestly I don’t understand why there are people who drink this alone though, they are immune to the bitterness of something.”

Coincidentally, the table next to them is the gathering place of a bunch of sole-coffee drinkers. They heard what Belisari said and tended to explain, but upon recognizing their bosses, the men decided to just shut up.

“I still prefer cigarettes, but I guess this is not bad at all. I would love to spend time drinking coffee with you. Have you ever brought Arlin and Klein out for a coffee before?”

“No, Arlin doesn’t like coffee, Klein and I on the other hand usually drink coffee brewed right away in the palace, though the quality is a bit lower and I occasionally had to go out to buy beans.”

“Klein, huh?-saying Lily while she pours some sugar into her and her friend’s coffee-You two are close, I’m almost jealous.”

“Jealous?”

Belisari says, he thought he misheard something, but the Archduchess turns away with her ears turning red.

“No, nothing. Though I wish I also had an office at the Latila Palace like Klein does, then I could…”

Stopping the dialogue in the middle of the sentence, Lily grabs her hand on the cup, then takes another sip.

“Ah- dammit.”

It was too sweet, perhaps she forgot to stir it up.