Shadow's Oath

Chapter 81

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Chapter 81: Bows and Torches (1)

Damion opened his eyes.

He was in a tent at the campsite, lying on a soft bed.

He wanted to sit up immediately, but his body wouldn’t move.

'How did I get here?'

For a moment, he panicked as he couldn’t remember, but as he calmly tried to recall, his memory gradually returned.

He had spent a night at the grand banquet hall in Elum Village, and the next day, he had arrived here—only to collapse into sleep as soon as he arrived.

And now, he had woken up...

'That was yesterday morning. After that, I met Aikob, then went to Raham’s temple. Then the Tagda tribe attacked. I was the only one who escaped. I left the three of them behind in the cave…'

When Damion informed Rusef of the situation, he had already been prepared and set out almost immediately.

At that moment, Damion had insisted on going with him.

But as soon as he placed his foot in the stirrup, his thigh muscles locked up.

He had no strength left to pull himself onto the saddle.

It was humiliating.

Rusef didn’t wait for the prince and rode off at full speed.

Damion could have ordered the other soldiers to lift him onto a horse.

However, Rusef was already giving his all, and even under normal circumstances, Damion wouldn’t have been able to keep up.

Damion understood Rusef’s decision.

It was the right call.

Even if the prince didn’t go, Rusef would do everything he could to save his sister.

A weakling who couldn’t even mount a horse would only get in the way.

So, Damion had returned to the tent and collapsed into unconsciousness.

'...I left them behind in a place like that, and I was just sleeping?'

He had only intended to rest for a short while.

With Rusef and Terdin gone, someone had to oversee the remaining troops at the campsite.

But by the time he came to his senses, it was now.

Wait!

Was this the morning of the 'next day'?

Was this light the morning sunlight?

It could be afternoon.

Had an entire day passed?

He had passed out yesterday.

And now, he had passed out again.

Damion cursed his own frail body.

Back in the royal palace, he had never been weak.

But ever since he stepped outside, he had become fragile.

He climbed out of bed.

He had expected an attendant to help him, but no one was there.

Only then did he remember that he hadn’t brought a servant to the campsite.

When his feet touched the ground, he found that he couldn’t stand.

His head spun.

He tried to brace himself by placing his hand on the bed, but he miscalculated and missed.

He collapsed onto the floor and couldn’t get up for a while.

"Is anyone there?"

Damion waited for his balance to return and then called out.

He thought someone would come quickly, but no one did.

The prince had been unconscious, yet no one was stationed outside his tent?

The outside was noisy.

The commotion was loud enough to drown out his voice.

When his shaky legs finally obeyed him, he stood up and stepped outside the tent.

A large number of soldiers were moving around the campsite.

It was strange that not a single guard had been assigned to watch over him, and it was also odd that there were so many soldiers here.

Most of them should have been taken by Rusef and Terdin.

There shouldn’t have been many left at the camp.

There should have been only a few horses, too.

But at a glance, there were more than thirty horses and riders patrolling the camp.

The majority of them were knights in armor.

He recognized a few familiar soldiers—ones who were supposed to be stationed with his father’s garrison.

Reinforcements had arrived from the main force.

And leading them was Count Vadio.

The count stood at the eastern edge of the hill where Elum Village was located, on the westernmost part of the camp.

More than ten armored soldiers surrounded him as his guard.

Mounted knights were positioned around the hill, encircling Elum Village.

In their hands, along with their weapons, each of them held a torch.

Even in the morning light, the sight of the torches surrounding the village was menacing.

It was as if a hundred torches were aimed at Elum Village.

Damion also spotted a few archers.

They were tying oil-soaked cloth to the tips of their arrows.

Damion approached one of the archers and asked,

"What is going on here?"

The archer, who had been scratching his face with an oil-stained hand, turned to him with an annoyed expression.

But when he realized he was speaking to the prince, he jumped to his feet in shock.

"We’re preparing fire arrows, Your Highness."

"Whose orders?"

"Count Vadio’s, sir."

Damion staggered toward the village.

His legs were still unsteady, making it impossible to run.

"Count Vadio!"

Damion called out, but his voice barely came out.

It felt as though a heavy stone was lodged in his throat.

"Count Vadio!"

He tried again, but his voice was still weak.

Fortunately, a nearby soldier heard him and called out on his behalf.

"Count, His Highness is calling you!"

Vadio turned around and gave a slight nod with an arrogant expression.

'Why is he even here?'

Vadio was the lord of Norallin, the region that had contributed the most support to the war effort.

His father had described him as a "troublesome type," and Vadio had proven it when Damion first met him.

He had never left his father’s side, constantly flattering him and boasting about how much Norallin had contributed to the war.

Terdin had warned that Vadio was the one to be most cautious of.

He was a man who sought to profit from the war and believed power would bring him that profit.

Even without the warnings from his father and Terdin, Damion had already taken a dislike to him after just a few encounters.

Before Vadio stood Ikarum, the chieftain of the tribe, bound in ropes.

This was not a good sign.

Neither were the fire arrows and torches.

"What exactly are you doing, Count Vadio?"

Damion asked.

Vadio approached him slowly, wearing a troubled expression as if he hadn’t expected that question.

But Damion knew exactly what kind of response he had been hoping for, which made it all the more disgusting.

"As soon as we received the request for reinforcements, we came immediately. But when we arrived, Captain Rusef and General Terdin were nowhere to be found."

Vadio said, waiting for something.

Damion had no choice but to give him the answer he wanted, just to move the conversation forward.

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"They both left for a rescue mission. I was worried about holding this place alone, but now that you’ve brought reinforcements, I’m relieved. Thank you."

Only then did Vadio smile in satisfaction and say,

"Yes, I’ve already been informed of the situation. His Majesty has placed me in charge here. So, you needn’t worry about anything."

Damion listened quietly but suddenly caught something strange in his words.

"In charge here?"

"Yes, here—this Elum Village. His Majesty has ordered that this be used as a base to govern the barbarians. So I will be staying here from now on."

"But General Terdin is in charge of this place."

"The war is over. He must return."

He wasn’t wrong.

Terdin was a commander who led large-scale battles, not someone who governed occupied territories.

He had said many times that he would retire after this war.

In fact, ten years ago, Born had been his final battlefield.

It was Damion who had forcibly sent him here.

So many had died because of that decision.

The thought of it weighed heavily on his heart.

"I… I know that… But… what exactly is happening here?"

Damion stammered as he pointed to the captured villagers of Elum.

"According to Captain Rusef’s report, Your Highness may have been lured into a trap by them."

"I don’t know what Rusef said, but he must have been mistaken. Stop this immediately. That fire… What if something goes wrong?"

Vadio looked at him with a puzzled expression and said,

"Your Highness, you don’t look well. Please leave things to me and rest."

"Leave it to you...? What do you plan to do?"

"First, we'll burn two of them, and if we bury one child alive, they’ll tell us the truth. It would be best if we had the chief’s offspring, but he doesn’t have any yet. So, I’ve picked out two suitable children instead."

At Vadio’s signal, two Geronian children—a boy and a girl, both under ten—were sitting with their hands tied behind their backs.

They had cried so much that now only silent tears streamed down their faces.

The Geronian men were blocked by the Triton soldiers' spears, preventing them from coming out of the village.

They glared at Damion with eyes full of fury.

The women stood farther away.

They weren’t angry.

They didn’t cry.

They simply stared at Damion.

That scared him more.

"If it's confirmed that these people are responsible, we should behead the chieftain. That would be the most efficient course of action. And after that—"

"Enough. Stop right there."

Damion cut off the count's words.

'This man doesn’t even see Geronians as people. He keeps referring to them as numbers.'

Come to think of it, Vadio saw even his own soldiers as numbers.

In the few times they had spoken, Vadio had repeatedly compared the number of soldiers to the value of gold coins.

"You don’t even fully understand the situation, Count. How do you intend to act when you don’t even know exactly what happened to me?"

"I heard that Your Highness and Lady went to a heretic shrine and were ambushed by savages."

"It’s not that simple. And I already know who the real culprits are. The Ikarum chieftain is innocent, so release him. And put out the torches immediately!"

Damion spoke calmly as he checked on Ikarum’s condition.

Elum’s Ehodin kept his gaze fixed on the ground, neither looking at Damion nor Vadio.

"Your Highness, as a lord, there's something I always say when handling matters. His Majesty would likely agree as well: ‘Leave field matters to be handled in the field.’"

Vadio continued speaking in a tone like that of a teacher instructing a child.

"They are savages. In other words, slaves. Slaves only obey when they are beaten. That is the status given to them by the divine at birth. The same applies to savages. They have never heard our God's word, nor have they been civilized. How else do you think we should tame them?"

Vadio whispered to the prince as if Ikarum might overhear.

"I don’t actually intend to burn the village down. The flaming arrows are just a show. We need to demonstrate that we could burn it down at any time. That’s the surest method. If we do this now, in the future, all it will take is a single gesture from Your Highness, and they will grovel and obey without question."

"I have no intention of ruling like that."

"Your Highness will rule here for a long time, won’t you? This is an opportunity. Instill fear in them. Show them what happens if they dare to rebel against you."

"Why should I punish those who have never rebelled? Are you telling me to execute innocent people just to instill fear?"

"Show them that you are willing to execute people based on suspicion alone. Even if it seems like you are losing their trust now, in the long run, this will be to your advantage."

Vadio spoke in a calm, persuasive tone.

'His tone is exactly the same as when he flatters my father. Does he think I’ll be pleased by this kind of advice?'

Damion suddenly became curious about what exactly Vadio meant by "advantage."

And just as Vadio was about to explain—

"Captain Rusef is returning!"

A soldier shouted from the distance.

Damion ignored whatever Vadio was about to say and walked toward the direction of the voice.

His legs wobbled as if they weren’t his own.

Vadio kept talking behind him, but Damion didn’t listen.

He couldn’t hear him anymore.

He approached the soldier who had given the report.

About half a mile away, he could see the cavalry approaching.

Their pace was too slow, which irritated him.

He was desperate to confirm Charlon’s safety.

As they got closer, he spotted Ram at the rear.

Behind Ram was Jedrick.

Charlon was nowhere to be seen.

She was probably inside the carriage in the middle of the formation.

Vadio, who had followed after him, finally finished what he wanted to say.

"Your Highness, His Majesty wants you to return to the capital as soon as possible."

Damion, feeling annoyed, responded halfheartedly.

"I will leave once I have settled matters here. Don’t rush me."

"It’s not me who is rushing you; it is His Majesty."

"Did I not just say I will leave today? Stop pressing me."

Vadio, still smiling, continued speaking.

"His Majesty did not say ‘today.’ He said ‘right now.’"

Damion, who had been watching Charlon’s carriage, turned his gaze to Vadio.

"Right now?"

"Yes. Right now. His Majesty ordered you to mount your horse the moment I arrived. I will take care of things here and ensure this dangerous situation is handled. You can spend the winter in the capital and return when the weather warms. By then, you’ll return as the ruler of this land, dressed in golden armor and riding a golden carriage, leading soldiers armed with torches and spears."

Damion didn’t even hear the latter half of Vadio’s words about gold.

His father had heard that his son was in danger.

Any ordinary father would have ordered their child to return home immediately.

But Fried Gallant was no ordinary father.

If General Terdin left and the prince also left, then who would be left to protect this land?

Vadio?

‘Does he think that when I become the ruler of this land, he will act as my regent? No…’

Damion suddenly realized what Vadio truly meant by "advantage."

‘…He plans to take the title of Northern Border Duke for himself.’

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