Chapter 54:

The messenger was well-groomed and looked comfortable despite a month-long siege. His perfectly manicured clothes were green and blue, which I thought looked rather awful. Still, they certainly displayed a large amount of wealth. He unrolled the scroll as if he were going to read a proclamation in medieval times, which I guess he was. He cleared his throat, and that very sound echoed, catching everyone's attention. All of us waited for the response with bated breath, and even from the practiced sound of throat clearing, it was clear that his voice would be rich and have no problem carrying across a field of battle.

He licked his lips nervously before uttering a single word. "Balls!"

Everyone stood silent for a second. But a snicker broke the silence, and that soon turned into a chuckle. Before I knew it, I was doubled over, laughing. I threw my head back once I recovered and roared my mirth to the sky. My barons weren't long behind me, laughing at the bit of cheeky defiance. At least Count Roderick had a sense of humor.

The laughter spread through our camp as it was clear how bad the situation was, but you had to respect them for not giving up, even if their soldiers looked a lot less pleased by their response. Perhaps I had gone too far by ignoring too many requests for terms or some sort of negotiation. But now it was clear that it was the butcher's work.

"Very well," I said, turning to my barons and generals. "Prepare."

Raising my voice, I shouted to our engineering corps, "Trebuchets! Fire at will!"

The first stone fired mere moments after I spoke. The crews had been practicing and drilling. It was a point of pride to see who could reload them as fast as possible. It still took minutes, but each stone was as heavy as a cart, and the first one barely missed the now-closed drawbridge, cracking the stones next to it as the rest of the volley fired.

The results were mixed.

Some flew over the inner wall and smashed into the castle inside the city. Others hit the city wall, and a few even clipped the top, breaking off crenellations and throwing men to their deaths off the wall. I checked my amulet and found it was already full after the first volley.

Now, to minimize loss of life. With the will of the Count, a siege would work, but it was unnecessary. Likely, we would have to starve out most of the city, and before we even began our attack, more would die overall than if we just attacked. Now, though, the fighting would be more difficult.

As the men prepared, I went to don my own armor. It was stupid, but I was going to fight. I was almost ready to go back to Valhalla. This place was nice, but I missed my friends. I missed the ability to really practice and learn magic, to grow. The intrigue of meeting with Loki and the real challenge here had been a nice vacation, but I was bored.

It was like I had just retired again and hadn't adapted. My body wasn't that of an old man with too little energy to keep going, but at the same time, I felt like nothing I did here really mattered. It was all temporary.

The only thing was meeting Loki's quota, and even then, I wasn't sure how much that was tied to the rewards. Now that I'd been gone for two months and even paid my tab for the third month, I didn't even feel like I was leaving Loki behind with how much energy or goodwill I had earned him.

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Second, though, I just needed to feel alive. The thrill of combat was not replaced by the spa, and the fear of death for me was just not real. I wasn't exactly excited to send people to Valhalla. Still, I knew I was a more competent fighter than most of the people here. I had the benefit of magical training, practicing with increased stats, and a near-constant chance to fight to the death.

Even if I'd only been training for under a year, that amount of experience in near-death or actual death combat was irreplaceable. Most veteran soldiers only ever fought for a couple days every few months, and those that survived twenty years might have an equivalent amount of fighting experience, at least in small quarters. Fighting and holding a line would be very different, but up on the walls, well, I wasn't stupid enough to be first at the ladders. Still, I ran along with the ladder team before my generals and bodyguards really understood my plan. They raced after me, spitting invectives as I started scaling the ladder.

It had been put up near the gate. All along the wall, ladders were being set down. The soldiers at the top fought back valiantly, attempting to cut down soldiers as they reached the top. Still, our archers and trebuchets were making them twitchy. The trebuchets had narrowed in their aim and were mostly pounding the castle over the wall. However, every time a massive boulder flew through the air, it left an ominous hissing motion that had people flinching.

I was the third on the ladder. The first one above me got killed. The next one managed to roll over the crenelation and get to his feet, narrowly avoiding being slashed on both sides as he spun, a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, attempting to block off all avenues of attack. I dove as soon as my foot was high enough and knocked one of his attackers off the wall to the inside before lashing out with my sword.

The next soldier died with a simple cut through the throat, and then the one after that was impaled through the stomach. I kicked him off my blade and slashed to disarm another. A sweeping leg upended the fourth soldier in as many moves, dumping him off the wall.

Were these defenders just really bad? Looking into their eyes, I saw nothing but fear. These weren't trained soldiers; these were the people of the city desperately trying to hold the walls. Where were the actual soldiers? Our answer came as the gate opened, and from the inner courtyard, I could see a mass of cavalry charging out, attempting to hit our armies as they were preparing to enter the ladders.

I put that out of my mind. My generals would have to handle that. It was a possibility that Max and I had talked about, and it would be his heavy infantry that would bear the brunt of this fight. However, I couldn't do anything about it now. I had to focus on securing the foothold. I pushed several more steps outwards. As more and more soldiers came up from behind, we had no problem holding the beachhead.

They even pushed enough to secure a separate place for another ladder to be put up, with men starting to come up with no casualties. Only now were the siege towers arriving at the wall, and it was almost already so taken that they had very little effect. The men poured out of them in massive waves as the ramps flung down.

Pushing the larger part of the battle out of my mind, I advanced steadily to the stairs, cutting down anyone who got in my way. As soon as I reached them, I activated Dance of the Jester, suppressing every light or fancy effect. I flashed down the steps, avoiding all the soldiers coming up, and dashed into the castle. I was confident that we would win. Now, I just needed to find the Count before he did anything potentially irreversible.

Zipping through the castle, I searched and found him in his throne room. There were some guards, but as I closed the main doors, I barred them with a halberd I stole from a suit of armor serving as decoration near the entrance. The four guards in the throne room came to face me, but I flashed past them and barred the other two doors leading out the back before turning and drawing my sword.

"Count Roderick," I called over my shoulder as I advanced on his four guards who were forming up to face me. I was now between them and their charge but showed no interest in going after the Count directly.

"Who are you, assassin?" one guard said.

So, it wasn't he who had devised the message. I sighed in disappointment. "Really? I'm disappointed, Count. I figured you'd recognize me, but well, after that very insightful response to my request for your absolute surrender, I had expected slightly more wit from you. Perhaps I let my hopes get too high."

"What? I can't even see your face. How could I recognize you?"

I paused in my advance and turned around, looking at the count square in the face before turning back to his four guards. They had halberds and plate mail, and I was dressed in little more than leather armor, with a sword and a dagger in my off hand, but I wasn't concerned. I saw how they moved. If anything I was looking forward to the challenge. Perhaps the personal guards of a count could provide me with a challenge.

Besides, if I really needed it, I had magic. No one in this room was going to leave alive anyway.