"In that case, please sign this battle report, everyone—and don't forget your noble seals!"
Rayne held up a document and waved it about, grinning like a big bad wolf.
"Who would dare refuse at a time like this?"
Baron
"Excellent!"
Once the knights and officers present had all signed one by one, Rayne tucked the document away with a satisfied smile, then immediately changed his tune: "As Commander Karsley's subordinate, I am deeply grieved as well. As for his troops—well, you may divide them among yourselves!"
At this news, the others' eyes lit up at once.
The combined army that Karsley had brought consisted of private soldiers from several noble houses mixed in with Silvermoon City's regulars. The horses and provisions of those regular troops alone were enough to make their eyes burn with envy.
"After submitting our pledge, we get to share the spoils? What a monster..."
Baron Andrew sighed, not daring to raise any objection.
In truth, they were still essentially "prisoners." The afternoon's allied force had been shattered in a single blow by Rayne's private troops.
After all, Rayne's subordinates were all high-level professionals, tempered by blood and fire, and backed by a Legendary powerhouse. It would have been strange if they hadn't prevailed.
And Rayne hadn't pushed them too hard—he had merely "invited" them to negotiate.
"Ultimately, in the North, we'll still have to look to him..." Baron Andrew consoled himself quietly.
……
"So you've finally gotten what you wanted?"
Rafinia looked at Rayne, her gaze cold and sharp.
"You mean this?" Rayne picked up the Noble Coalition Declaration and gave it a wave. "No! This is nothing but a formality. In truth, with things so chaotic right now, whether the Silvermoon Alliance even survives is anyone's guess. Who would care about the death of a mage?"
Even so, Rayne had always liked to hold the moral high ground, so this fig leaf was simply indispensable.
In many situations, whether or not you have a fig leaf makes an enormous difference.
"Silvermoon City won't exist? Are you really that pessimistic?" Rafinia seemed quite surprised by Rayne's assessment.
"That is in fact the case..." Rayne sighed. "The Silvermoon Federation's power has already threatened the standing of the human kingdoms to the south, and right now, the Goddess of the
This simple analysis caused Rafinia's face to turn deathly pale in an instant.
In the past, even if someone could see the situation clearly, they had never dared to lay it out so starkly. Rayne was now tearing away all pretense, laying every brutal detail bare before Rafinia's eyes.
"When you were in Silvermoon City, you saw it for yourself, didn't you? In truth, all Her Majesty truly controls is Silvermoon City's own fief. The other city-states of the Silvermoon Alliance might have supported her when things were going well, but now..."
Rayne's words sent Rafinia's heart plummeting further and further down. She had long known all too well what those human nobles were like.
"Even if the situation has deteriorated this far, I will still go back! To defend the justice and peace I believe in!!!"
Rafinia took a deep breath, her eyes blazing with unprecedented fervor.
"
Though the young Knight had already guessed the answer, she still looked at Rayne with hope, praying for a miracle.
"I'm very sorry..." Rayne looked at this young woman who practically glowed from head to toe. Right now, she was the very template of a true hero. A pity. Seeking death was something Rayne would never do.
"Right now, Silvermoon City is already surrounded by a massive beastman army, and several high-tier Legends are stationed there. That kind of strength..."
Rayne listed his reasons one by one, each one adding a deeper shade of desolation to Rafinia's eyes.
The Rayne before her now was a completely different person from the one she had known before.
"But... you are Silvermoon City's hero. At a time like this..." Rafinia made one last effort.
"Oh! Please do not call me by that title, Sir 'Knight of Light'!"
Rayne's rejection was unmistakable.
This attitude finally caused Rafinia to give up all hope.
"Even if I know for certain that this journey means death! I will not abandon my own justice! Because this is my way of the Knight!!!"
Rafinia's voice echoed slowly through the tent.
Watching the retreating figure, Rayne stroked his chin and sank into contemplation.
"Such unwavering conviction... it really isn't easy to fall from grace when someone has that kind of resolve..."
To single-handedly turn the tide of a losing battle and become a brilliant, radiant hero!
When Rayne was young in his previous life, he had read plenty of novels with this kind of plot. Back then it had seemed incredibly cool, pulse-pounding even — but now he could only smile bitterly.
Reality and imagination were completely different things. Pulling off a dramatic reversal from a position of extreme disadvantage — that was purely fiction, nothing but the author handing out cheat-like advantages.
The chances of it actually working in the real world were probably less than one in a hundred million!
Those blazingly heroic figures who burned with righteousness and radiance were certainly admirable, but Rayne would absolutely never become one of them!
"And besides... how many hotheads like Rafinia end up dying halfway through, only for someone else to reap the rewards and go down in legend as the real 'hero'?"
……
The next day, Rayne learned that Rafinia had left without saying goodbye. Apparently, she had used her personal charisma to convince a number of people, walking off with a group of nearly twenty.
Rayne's response was to shrug his shoulders: "Let the fools go if they want to."
Gathering Andrew and the other nobles, Rayne began discussing their next move.
"Right now, Silver Moon City is under siege. As citizens of the Silver Moon Alliance, my heart aches deeply. I've already dispatched my Knights to lead a relief force. If any of you wish to join, feel free to speak up!"
Rayne asked with a pleasant smile.
What followed was a heavy, awkward silence. Every noble in the room knew that the Beastkin had committed themselves fully this time — a hundred thousand elite soldiers had encircled Silver Moon City so tightly not even water could get through. Their handful of forces marching over there would be nothing short of suicide.
On top of that, Rayne's troops had already crushed whatever limited morale these nobles had to begin with.
As a result, every one of these nobles wished they could bury their heads in their chests, taking full inspiration from the ostrich.
"These nobles' private armies are only good for bullying people on their own estates!"
Rayne shook his head inwardly, then clapped his hands. "Very well. Now then, let us discuss our next move…"
This authoritative posture left the nobles exchanging uneasy glances. Rayne's phrase "our forces" clearly swept them all into the same fold, yet not a single one dared voice an objection.
In terms of official rank, Silvermoon City had pulled back all its strength to face the siege, which meant that here, Rayne held virtually the highest position as a Grand Captain.
In terms of noble title, he was also a hereditary baron personally invested by
And most importantly, in terms of raw strength, Rayne's forces alone were more than enough to wipe every last one of them out. The only reason he was dragging them along was for the sake of a nominal pretext, so the nobles prudently chose to keep their mouths shut.
In truth, that was exactly how Rayne had planned it. If any of these nobles dared step out of line, he would simply have them dragged outside and butchered on the spot.
In times of war and chaos, a few dead men meant nothing at all.
A massive campaign map was hung up on the wall.
At its heart stood the City of Mages, the jewel of the North—Silvermoon City! Several blood-red arrows now surrounded the landmark on every side, forming a tightening encirclement.
The map laid out the surrounding terrain in clear detail.
To the north of Silvermoon, most of the territory had already fallen, shaded in pitch-black, while to the west lay the Darkwood and the Nether Mountains. Because the orcs had mustered the bulk of their forces to besiege Silvermoon—perhaps compounded by the Beastkin's Black Blood tribe—the region could still barely maintain a human-dominated situation. But the terrifying Beastkin had already posed an enormous threat, driving these nobles into a state of constant exhaustion.
Now only three paths lay before Rayne and the rest. The first was to throw caution to the wind and march to Silvermoon's relief, clashing head-on with the orc horde.
The second was to stay right where they were, pray that Silvermoon held out, and hope that no purge would follow the war.
The third was to relocate southward, abandoning their territories and their people.
Rayne personally leaned toward the third option. "…Silvermoon is, after all, a City of Mages, and Her Majesty is one of the Chosen. Even if the orcs manage to breach the city, the cost will surely be staggering—and they'll have no strength left to push south…"
This unambiguous stance darkened every other noble's face.
"Lord Rayne! With Silvermoon's strength, it's not impossible that they could hold out…" Although plenty among the nobility were greedy, despicable, and shameless, quite a few still had clear heads, and they simply could not bear to abandon their fiefdoms.
Because their domains were the sole source of their power! To protect their influence, nobles would gladly collude with orcs or even devils, and they would ignore every threat to life itself!
"The best outcome would be for the orcs and Silvermoon to bleed each other dry—that way, no one will come bothering us!"
Those who harbored this thought were almost certainly not few in number.
Rayne's gaze swept across the room once, and he had already read every last one of their minds.
"How naive… Do they really think burying their heads in the sand will make the danger disappear?"
Rayne mocked them silently, though he knew it was wildly unreliable to expect the nobles to give up everything they had.
Fortunately, the reports, joint statements, and even official documents had already been sent out. Whether these nobles stayed or not made no difference whatsoever.
In fact, bringing these people along would cause more harm than good.
"Very well, then you're all free to leave. Anyone willing to march south with me may stay behind."