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Could Garten handle troops?

Command also seemed to be left to the discretion of each unit commander.

So, when Carl arrived in front of Ishul, located in the northwestern part of the Palton Territory after advancing without any hindrance, he did not know how to accept this \'trap.\'

"This…"

Billford opened his mouth, looked at the same scenery as Carl, hesitated, and spoke.

"Does that mean we should go in?"

Carl had thought they would greet him in front of Ishul since they had no intention of blocking the road leading to the town.

But there was no trace of people near Ishul, so he thought they were planning a siege.

When he got closer, he saw that the gates of Ishul were wide open and unlocked.

There was no sign of life on the walls, and even the view beyond the gate was silent. It seemed like the enemy was shouting at them to come in very openly.

"We shouldn\'t have gone in. They knew about Master Jaren, but they still lured us into the trap. That shows how confident they are," Catherine advised Carl.

Carl knew it too, but it\'s important that someone put it into words.

"It would be better to wait here until Harmon brings support. The enemy may get impatient and rush out when they see you stop right in front of him, so now is the time to wait."

"They left the gates wide open without a single soldier guarding the walls. This shows their confidence, but it also shows their great carelessness," Catherine insisted.

When she insisted on waiting, Jaren, who had never talked about strategy or tactics before, intervened.

"I will advance from the vanguard and crush the unsuspecting enemy. No one can stop me inside the narrow castle walls," Jaren said confidently.

It wasn\'t a case of letting one\'s guard down; it was Jaren\'s cool-headed judgment, knowing the Master\'s power better than anyone else.

To stop the Master, you need a lot of mana users, whether wizards or knights.

And in narrow spaces, there is no angle to avoid the Master\'s attacks or attack him.

The most efficient way for non-Masters to deal with Masters is to run away from them in a very wide space and force them into a war of attrition until their power runs out.

Once you enter a castle like that, there is no room to escape.

Even if you prepare a special trap, there is a limit. With the power of the Master, you can destroy any trap and move forward.

Catherine is right, and Jaren is right.

Carl stared into the silent castle, unable to hear any sound, and then made a decision.

"First, send out scouts to check inside."

At Carl\'s command, three soldiers from the Laurel Regiment rode into the castle.

Carl, Catherine, and Billford would be difficult to deal with when trapped, and it would be problematic if the Laurel Corps were ambushed while Jaren\'s feet were tied up.

So, even if it was cruel, they had no choice but to send the least valuable soldiers. The soldiers rode their horses straight to Ishul without saying a word to Carl\'s orders.

Carl ordered his troops to rest and quietly gazed at the castle shrouded in silence.

\'If i make one mistake, I\'ll die here.\'

Carl\'s near-prescient intuition constantly sounded the alarm. It was as if he was hanging on to a thin thread and crossing a thousand-foot cliff.

As he was about to go inside, his intuition fiercely warned him that he shouldn\'t.

He warned that waiting outside was even more unacceptable.

He even thought about running away, but his intuition warned him that even that was not possible.

This won\'t work, that won\'t work either.

Carl had jumped into numerous crises, trusting his intuition that had shown him the way. And in every crisis, he found a narrow way out and returned alive.

But now, Carl\'s intuition was pointing unconditionally to Carl\'s death without any consideration.

\'It would be best to try to buy as much time as possible.\'

What Carl chose was not to choose.

Even before the scouts he had sent to the castle returned, Carl knew that they would return safely and that they would be of little help in making the choice.

A while later, as Carl had expected, the soldiers who had entered the castle returned without a single wound. But fear flowed from their pale faces.

"There is no one in the castle."

" Not even one person?"

"I couldn\'t look around, but even though I went inside the castle, I couldn\'t feel any signs of people. It was as if, as if… they had suddenly disappeared…"

An incomprehensible phenomenon. There exists a \'heresy\' called the Church of Universal Equality.

All sorts of unholy and evil rituals and images of horrible creatures flashed through the soldiers\' minds.

"What was the living feel like in the building or the traces of movement at one time?"

"I don\'t know if there were any signs of movement, but when I checked the inside of the building, there were signs that people had been living normally until a few days ago."

There was food, though it had grown cold, and the brazier, where only ashes remained after the firewood had all burned down, showed no sign of age. It really seemed like at some point everyone had just evaporated.

"Master Carl, I don\'t think you should go in."

"It could be that there is an illness going around and they have been quarantined, or it could be the result of an unknown ritual."

Not only Billford, but also Milton was strongly opposed to it.

Milton isolated the soldiers and horses who entered and exited the castle, then used alcohol to disinfect their bodies and weapons. He even used magic to cure any diseases that might arise.

"I was short-sighted. I think it would be better to wait."

Even Jaren, who had been confident, realized that the situation was more serious than he had thought and withdrew his insistence on entering.

Even though Ishul was not a very large castle, it was home to at least several hundred, or perhaps even several thousand people.

There wasn\'t a single person left in that shack. There were no traces of a battle or of someone fleeing from battle.

"… Rest and wait here. But be prepared to move at any time."

Carl had no choice but to retreat a little or take up a position near the surrounding forest.

They set up openly in the field in front of the castle, with a good view of Ishul and from Ishul.

These were incomprehensible instructions.

It would be right to retreat to a place that cannot be seen from Ishul. From the top of the walls, especially the spire, you can see everything around you.

If you\'re nearby, you can see everything they\'re doing. But since it was a choice Carl made while knowing full well that it was true, everyone kept their mouths shut and focused on unpacking and soothing their tired bodies.

"Are you really saying you\'re going to rest here?"

Only Jaren, who had teamed up with the Laurel Corps for the first time on this mission, objected to Carl\'s absurd decision.

"Yes. Jaren, be alert and watch out for Ishul. If you, the Master, let your guard down and make a mistake, we will all be dead."

"… ."

Carl didn\'t convince Jaren.

With a confident look and firm words, he clearly stated what Jaren had to do, which made Jaren follow along without complaining any longer.

Carl acts more rationally and logically than anyone else, but when persuading others, he taps into an instinctive realm that transcends reason and logic.

Charisma that transcends reason can sometimes be a more compelling persuasion than a thousand words.

\'Harmon, not yet?\'

Carl even remembered the entire map surrounding the Palton Territory. Because if Harmon had run at top speed to call for reinforcements, he knew it would have been too late to bring reinforcements.

It\'s too late, even considering the problems with the map\'s scaling. What happened?

\'I feel like I\'m wandering in the dark.\'

Carl felt as if he was slowly walking through the darkness, relying on the sensation in his fingertips.

\' I never thought I would be in danger so suddenly.\'

The green eyes, slightly narrowed with a disturbed mind, glared at Ishul as if the immovable castle would move. Shadows danced beneath the fluttering cloak.

But as if nailed to the shadow, the black puddle stood still in place, unmoved by the fluttering cloak, shaking hesitantly.

***

The sun was about to set.

After finishing their early dinner, everyone couldn\'t take their eyes off Ishul with anxious eyes. It was a concern about the strange phenomenon, but the main concern was that Carl, who always led everyone with confidence, postponed the decision.

Except when he was eating, Carl stood as if he were a statue, staring at Ishul without moving an inch.

The weather in the Palton Territory, located in the northwestern part of the Empire, and especially in Ishul in the northwestern part, was still very chilly.

As the evening approached, the temperature dropped further, making it feel almost like winter. Pure white breath flowed out, and everyone gathered in front of the brazier to share the warmth.

Hurrruk!

A strong wind blew, and the burning fire swayed violently. Carl barely felt the cold, so he didn\'t care, but to others, the sight of Carl\'s back didn\'t look human.

In an instant, the strong wind stopped blowing.

The field in front of Ishul was suddenly enveloped in a cold silence.

Everyone\'s mouths were shut tight due to the tension building up, so the only sounds you could hear were the small noise of the steel armor breathing and the crackling of the wood in the brazier.

"Get ready." Carl\'s voice cut through the silence like a light illuminating the darkness.

Clank!

The soldiers put on their helmets, fastening them with clasps to prevent them from coming off during battle.

"Entering Ishul."

The moment Carl\'s words fell, the wind began to blow across the quiet field again.

At the same time, the sun, which was slowly setting, was hidden by the mountains and forests, and the hem of night that covered all things was drawn.

Beneath the wildly billowing cloak, a black shadow moved strangely, hovering near Carl\'s ankles.

But in the end, it didn\'t stop Carl.

"Now. Right now. If not now, there\'s no chance."

Carl whispered to himself, but everyone could hear his voice clearly.

Ishul, where heretic priests lie in wait, setting traps.

The interior of the castle was empty, as if everyone had evaporated overnight. And darkness fell, not a good time to jump into the trap with a small group.

Yet Carl\'s voice shone brightly, burning clear like a comet cutting through the darkness.

The soldiers ran from the front, following the fluttering red cape and the comet\'s tail.

Carl, the most noble bloodline of the empire, the 4th prince,

Grand Duke of Hardion who united the eastern part of the empire, he who plants laurel trees, their red comet promising victory.

"There\'s no time. Move quickly."

At Carl\'s confident voice, everyone jumped to their feet and prepared for battle.

There was no doubt.

Whenever Carl spoke like that, it was definitely a moment of victory. And even if it was a misjudgment, they would silently follow Carl\'s back.

As it had always been, as it always would be.

\'This is crazy.\'

Jaren inwardly sighed at Carl\'s judgment.

But, ironically, he also prepared to enter Ishul without saying a word and armed himself. Jaren carried a longsword and a mace at his waist in addition to a halberd.

He wanted to prepare as much as possible because he didn\'t know what would happen.

Others were well-prepared, but none could match Carl.

Carl held a spear in one hand but also had two swords on each of his waists.

Two one-handed swords and two longswords. Even though he had a dagger on his waist, he went so far as to carry an additional dagger on his chest belt.

The fully prepared Laurel Troops formed up behind Carl\'s red cloak. Milton was also there, protected in the center of the soldiers.

"We advance."

"Understood!"

The soldiers responded to Carl\'s order, and Carl, ahead of Catherine, Billford, and even Jaren, started to run slowly with his spear on his shoulder.

The wide-open gates of Ishul awaited them like the mouth of a monster.