I Became the First Prince: Legend of Sword's Song-Novel

Chapter 305

The author has also announced an audio drama (part 1 is already complete), a webtoon (release date unknown), and a board game that has somesweet,sweetillustrations.

Millennium empire, millennium emperor (6)

One day, the king organized a gathering for everyone to attend.

There was no music to liven the atmosphere, but moderate drinking was allowed.

Sufficient food was also provided to let every soldier eat their fill.

However, as expected, the atmosphere was subdued because of the present circumstances.

Even though the king had stepped in and allowed drinking, wine seldom touched the soldiers’ lips.

Several commanders tried to change the mood, but to no avail.

If it was like this, the king’s preparations for today would have been for naught.

There needed to be something to change the mood.

Fortunately, that something was nearby.

Right on top of the castle wall.

I headed over to the rampart.

The rangers, who had been smacking their lips while looking down from the walls, saluted me.

The looks in their eyes were full of dissatisfaction, as if they really didn’t like being lookouts on this fine day.

“I will stand guard, so go down.”

“Are you joking?”

“No. I’m serious.”

The rangers narrowed their eyes and looked at me, exchanging glances.

“Then we can really go?”

“Do you not want to?”

Jordan and the senior rangers went down first.

The knights and commanders who had been watching from below belatedly understood my intentions and came up.

There was only some hesitation at first, afterwards it was easy.

“We will stand guard…”

Before the knights and commanders who had climbed the walls could finish their words, the rangers rushed down.

After all the rangers had gone down, only the knights and commanders wearing splendid epaulets and badges remained.

“Let’s eat!”

Then the rangers joined, the atmosphere suddenly changed as if the previous gloom had been a lie.

The quiet clearing quickly became noisy, and the barrels that no one had touched were emptied in an instant.

The soldiers who belatedly realized this followed the rangers over to the kegs.

However, there wasn’t much left for them because the rangers who loved alcohol had already swept through once.

The soldiers looked at the rangers unkindly.

Of course, the rangers who were the best in the kingdom couldn’t care less about the soldiers.

After emptying the kegs, they rushed towards the food piled up in the clearing.

“They eat well.”

I watched the rangers crouching down in the clearing below, clutching loaves of breads in their hands and devouring the food as if possessed.

Then suddenly, Jordan and some senior rangers caught my eye.

Jordan and the rangers took out bottles of alcohol from who knows where and began to share them with the soldiers.

The soldiers who noticed pretended not to know, took a sip of alcohol, then passed it to the people next to them.

At first, the amount was not much, and the atmosphere was moderately restrained.

A few rounds of alcohol circulated.

The other rangers who began to notice started to take out bottles of alcohol one by one.

Each of them pulled out at least one bottle, and for the senior rangers it was more than three.

Watching this absurd sight, I suddenly looked around.

The commanders standing on the wall and looking down into the clearing were doing their best to pretend they didn’t see what the rangers were doing.

A corps commander, who was usually extremely displeased with the rangers’ carefree attitude, quietly looked away from the bottles they had taken out. And a short-haired knight, who valued strict discipline above all else, turned his back and looked at the plains outside the fortress walls.

Seeing how desperate their expressions and actions were, I laughed.

The commanders and knights who met my eyes cleared their throats and turned their heads.

None of them came forward to criticize the rangers.

If they did, I would have stopped them.

Today’s event was not for simply feeding the soldiers.

Countless lives would be lost in the upcoming offensive against the imperial army.

Although no one could know for certain, for most of the soldiers here, this was the place where they would experience the final luxury of their lives.

It was possible that today’s supper would be their last.

Maybe that was why.

The soldiers were also aware, so they didn’t know how to enjoy the moment.

If it weren’t for the rangers, they probably would have done nothing but moderately fill their stomachs until the night was over.

I quietly looked at the rangers.

It was really strange to see them take out the bottles they had stored away and share them with the soldiers. I couldn’t get used to the sight of them generously giving out the precious alcohol which they considered as precious as their own blood.

At that time, the senior rangers raised their heads and looked at me.

They nodded slightly.

I smiled without realizing.

The rangers who acted discreetly made me happy.

That was how it was supposed to be.

“No! You were only supposed to take one sip! How could you finish the entire thing!”

A frivolous voice entered my ears.

“Who do you think this drink belongs to!”

It was Jordan.

Him raising his voice and pointing his finger with a reddened face was an ugly sight.

I shook my head as I watched Jordan getting beaten and dragged away by the senior rangers who quickly gathered.

Anyways, with the exception of one Jordan, everyone else was dutifully setting the mood.

Thanks to them, the soldiers became much more relaxed.

It was fortunate.

I hoped that their hearts could be at ease just for today.

Tomorrow, our dangerous days would begin again, and it would be like walking on the edge of a knife.

While I looked at the soldiers, I heard a song come from somewhere.

“Snow-capped mountains, frozen valleys, and the ramparts soaked in red blood are silent!”

Jordan screamed loudly with black eyes.

“Only the horn that heralds the dawn can be heard!”

It was a military song for Winter Castle modeled after “War Poem – Winter Poetry” that I was familiar with.

“The birds return against the departing winter winds!”

In addition, a phrase about spring finally arriving had been added without my knowledge.

“The cloak of snow melts away, revealing the fortress that awakens and stretches!”

The senior rangers got up from their seats and put their arms around Jordan. The junior rangers soon followed them and shouted.

The soldiers, who had originally been staring blankly, also began to shout shoulder to shoulder with the rangers.

The song of spring arriving after a harsh winter resounded throughout the fortress.

Instantly, the silent citadel became filled with the singing of soldiers and rangers.

My chest tickled.

For some reason, I couldn’t stay still.

“I leave it to you!”

In the end, I couldn’t stand it any longer and leapt down, leaving the wall to the other knights.

The rangers who saw me secretly opened up a gap for me.

I jumped right in.

I reached out and grabbed their shoulders.

“Snow-capped mountains, frozen valleys, and the ramparts soaked in red blood are silent!”

I sang the war song with them, while thinking in my mind.

Fucking bastards, if you were going to take a war poem and make it into a song, you should do it properly.

The pitch and tempo were a mess.

But it wasn’t bad.

This messy song touched my heart more than any sweet ballads composed by famous bards.

Before I knew it, I was shouting with them.

Arwen and Eli sang the war song alongside the rangers. Carls and Adelia also followed along with awkward faces.

In the distance, I could see my uncle moving his lips slightly.

“For the spring of the kingdom!”

The king, who had been sitting on a raised platform, jumped up and cried out.

With a voice full of enthusiasm, like the day they had shouted for a future of independence.

“For the spring of the kingdom!”

The soldiers cheered.

* * *

Shortly after the dinner gathering, the legions gathered in the fortress dispersed to the north and south.

With them were my dear knights.

Arwen left to take charge of the southern forts, and Eli went to defend the northern fortresses.

Rangers crossed the border en masse to delay the advance of the enemy, and Jin and the other wyvern knights frequently flew back and forth from the citadel to keep our allies informed of the imperial army’s movements.

And I went around the front lines with the wyvern knights, destroying the abandoned imperial fortresses as much as possible.

So that even when the imperial army arrived at the front lines, they would not be able to rest comfortably.

Around the time I had halved the number of the Empire’s strongholds, the rangers who had been sent out to delay the enemy’s advance began to return one after another.

Their expressions were unusually stiff.

“The enemy is advancing as fast as ever!”

“The enemy camp has a fairly good ranger unit!”

All of their carefully crafted traps had been destroyed by the Empire’s rangers, and their secret night raid had been discovered early on before they could even attempt it.

This was a series of failures that we had never before experienced when dealing with the imperial army.

It was as we expected.

“The imperial army has divided into six! Five of those groups, excluding the ten legions that appear to be the reserve force, are advancing in different directions!”

The wyvern knights’ reports also did not differ from our predictions.

Even so, my heart was not light.

The imperial army had been split across five directions, with each group consisting of ten legions.

On the other hand, we were defending each fortress with only one or two legions.

We had already known and prepared for this, but it would not be an easy fight.

But I believed.

Our allies would not collapse.

The knights I had raised had the ability to overcome adversity, and the soldiers who stood up for the kingdom would firmly defend the fortresses.

If they were a strong shield that would defend us on the frontlines, then I would be a sword who would tear the enemy apart.

“The northern fortresses have started fighting the imperial army!”

“The southern front is also facing the enemy!”

The wyvern knights who flew in from the north and south informed me that our allies had begun to engage the enemy.

“Arwen. Bernardo. Hold on.”

I prayed that my knights and the kingdom’s knights would be safe.

While also raising my spirits to prepare for our opponent’s main force, which would soon arrive.

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“10 legions of the imperial army! They are advancing straight towards this castle!”

The enemy reached our citadel.

Rangers sounded the horns.

“All troops to your respective positions!”

Knights and soldiers climbed the ramparts, grabbed their bows and swords, and glared at the plains.

I also climbed the wall and saw the imperial army revealing itself across the plains.

A large army of 20,000.

They approached the castle slowly, beating drums with no sign of haste.

“Don’t tire yourselves out yet.”

“They’ve only just arrived. They won’t be attacking immediately.”

Experienced commanders comforted the soldiers who had already become tense and exhausted.

“Yeah. It’s packed!”

“We’ll be able to hit them without even needing to aim, right?”

The rangers estimated the distance while making some trivial noises.

The imperial army continued to approach.

“Huh? What. It looks like they’re going to attack right away without resting?”

Contrary to our expectations, the imperial army did not stop at a suitable place to set up camp and continued their advance.

“Rangers! Get ready to shoot!”

“Iron Hawk Archers, raise your bows!”

Rangers and archers pulled back on their bowstrings.

The imperial army stopped on the spot.

The drum beats suddenly ceased.

“Hm?”

The vanguard of the imperial army began bustling.

The infantry split to the sides, and a group of knights appeared from the back.

Holding a wooden post of unknown purpose.

I squinted at the pole.

The circumference was too small to be used as a battering ram, but it was also too thick to be considered a flagpole.

Just then, the imperial knights lifted the pole up high.

I quietly watched what they were doing.

Eventually, the imperial knights fully erected the pole and fixed it to the ground.

A yellow cloth was rolled up at the top.

At first, I thought it was a flag.

Perhaps they were trying to show off a huge flag specially prepared by the imperial army, since they loved to boast unnecessarily.

But no.

The knights pulled the rope that was hanging from the post.

The wad of cloth wrapped around the top suddenly fell.

And the black mass hidden inside it was revealed.

It was something made of melted metal and burnt remains.

The moment I saw it, my heart sank.

A moment later, a faint sound came from behind me.

When I turned my head, Jin and the wyvern knights were staring at the plains with ashen faces.

The moment I saw their complexion, my whole body went cold.

I forcibly twisted my head.

A pole towering high above the plains came into view.

I blankly looked at its tip.

The black mass hanging from the top of the pole entered my eyes.

“Doris!”

Jin’s screams echoed throughout the citadel.

It was the corpse of a noble and great prince who had fought for days, enduring the pain of his burning body in order to save his allies.

The moment I realized that fact.

Something broke in my head.

Note: next chapter’s hint, to no one’s surprise