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Chapter 66: The Archbishop's Retreat
“Re... Retreat? Are you serious?”
The knights were stunned.
Especially the knights from Born, who shouted in disbelief.
“We cannot leave without the Lady!”
“I already explained, didn’t I? Those bastards have no reason to kill Prince Damion or Lady Charlon, and you won’t be able to rescue them either.”
If, by any chance, they were already dead, then it was too late anyway.
There was no need to risk their lives for nothing.
If they all got captured, it would only complicate negotiations by increasing the number of hostages.
And he himself, the head of the church, had no intention of becoming a bargaining chip in their hands.
Who knew what treatment he might face as a “heretic leader” by their standards?
Aikob didn’t bother to voice those thoughts.
“But if you recklessly fight to the death, they’ll have no choice but to kill the hostages. That’s why it’s better for us to hurry back to Elum’s camp and bring reinforcements. If we fight with these numbers, we’ll be wiped out. There won’t even be anyone left to inform others that the prince has been captured, will there?”
Aikob had never raised his voice this much before.
He was always one to speak softly.
People had to strain to hear him, often bowing or leaning in closer to catch his words.
It was a deliberate tactic to make them submissive and humble.
But now, he shouted.
“So we retreat, now.”
However, the knights stubbornly and resolutely refused.
“That’s impossible! We swore an oath of loyalty to His Majesty, the King of Triton. Protecting the prince is our duty.”
“If we retreat now, the stain on our honor will follow us forever.”
The royal knights voiced their reasons one by one.
The knights of Born were even fiercer in their rejection.
“When I left Born, I swore that not a single drop of Vormont’s blood would spill on the ground while I yet drew breath.”
‘What a bunch of stubborn fools!’
Aikob had never been in such a life-threatening situation before.
He had always lived safely within the heavily guarded royal court or the cathedral.
Even traveling between the two was done with a security detail of no less than ten guards.
This was the first time in his life he had faced such danger.
This was also the first time he had to think so quickly.
“I will vouch for your oath.”
Oaths?
Honor?
People thought knights valued their names above all else... but Aikob, from experience, knew better.
What mattered more than honor was money.
Why was honor important?
Because a knight without honor couldn’t earn a living.
Why did a family’s name matter?
To secure better marriages, expand territories, and maintain privileges, all of which led back to money.
It was the same principle as merchants needing trust to do business.
If they could still earn money, honor meant little to a knight.
Whether royal knights, Terdin knights, or Born knights, they were ultimately workers sent to battle to earn their pay and return home alive.
Unless there was a specific clause tying their salary to Lady Vormont’s survival, most just followed orders and returned to collect their due.
War was a business.
Just as Aikob prepared stirring sermons to gather donations, knights fought battles to secure salaries and rewards.
Their true concern wasn’t the disgrace of “abandoning the prince and lady” itself but the possibility that such disgrace might cost them future opportunities.
They feared the tarnishing of their family names.
Then, all he had to do was eliminate that fear.
“Can loyal knights like you fight at full strength while the prince and lady are held hostage? The enemy will exploit your loyalty. You’ll hesitate because of the hostages, and they won’t miss that chance.”
Aikob repeated what he had said earlier, changing the tone and phrasing just enough.
As expected, hesitation flickered in their eyes.
He seized that moment and pressed forward.
Surely, they didn’t want to die either.
“I will guarantee your loyalty. As the archbishop, I will say I ordered the retreat, and I will take responsibility. In the name of the Lord, I will protect your honor.”
“Protect the archbishop and retreat!”
Even Boti, who had been a nuisance until now, unexpectedly came to his aid.
While Boti didn’t hold any formal authority, his declaration was the final push the knights needed.
Reluctantly, the knights turned their horses around.
Quietly, they began moving in the direction opposite the barbarian camp.
‘If we can just get out of here. If we hurry, we’ll reach Elum village soon. Terdin will lead the army himself and solve this problem. If we fail, the responsibility will be his.’
The real issue was whether they could avoid detection by the barbarian cavalry heading their way and make it back to Elum safely.
The lead knight guided the group carefully, moving behind the blind spots of rocky hills to stay out of sight of the barbarian riders.
Each knight expertly handled their horses, ensuring the animals made no noise as they maneuvered through the terrain.
The horses obediently followed their masters in near silence.
The problem was Aikob’s carriage.
The wheels squeaked incessantly, grating on everyone’s nerves.
It had been noisy on the way here, but it hadn’t been an issue then.
Now, when silence was crucial, it was a significant problem.
They could only hope the clamor of the barbarians’ horses would drown it out.
‘It’ll be fine. I won’t die so meaninglessly here.’
Once they made it past the hills, they reached a flat, open plain.
That was when the knights began to gallop.
But luck was not on their side.
The issue that had been gnawing at Aikob’s nerves finally erupted.
Just as they picked up speed, one of the carriage wheels, which had been squeaking all along, struck uneven ground and broke off.
The carriage overturned in an instant.
Inside the carriage, Aikob tumbled, rolling twice.
His head struck a wooden beam, and his jaw smashed against a window frame.
The carriage skidded noisily across the dirt, finally coming to a stop after what felt like an eternity.
To Aikob, it seemed as though he had rolled for half an hour.
Dust poured in through the shattered windows, filling the interior.
Gasping for air, Aikob choked on dust and coughed violently.
Something hard crunched in his mouth, and when he spat it out, two yellow teeth tumbled onto the floor—his front teeth.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Aikob couldn’t even tell where he was.
He was still inside the carriage, but the seats were lying next to his face, and he was stepping on the carriage’s right door.
He couldn’t even figure out what position he was in.
It took him a long time to realize the carriage had tipped onto its side.
The right door was buried against the ground and inaccessible.
The left door hung precariously above his head, swaying and broken.
Aikob clambered up the seats as if scaling a cliff, reaching for the carriage door.
But as soon as he grabbed it, the frame gave way, and he fell back inside.
A groan escaped from deep within his chest.
‘Oh Lord, what great blessing do you intend to bestow upon me that you give me such trials beforehand?’
Aikob reached out again, but his strength failed him, and he couldn’t even grasp the seat this time.
“Someone, please...”
As he spoke, Boti appeared above the door and extended a hand.
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“Bishop!”
Aikob managed to grab his hand, and the young knight pulled the elderly man out in one swift motion.
Once outside, Aikob found himself unexpectedly grateful for the previously bothersome Boti.
So, he gave him what he had always wanted.
“May the Lord’s blessing be upon you,”
Aikob said, patting both of Boti’s shoulders in turn.
To his surprise, Boti didn’t seem pleased.
Instead, he pointed toward something in the wilderness.
“With that blessing, you’ll need to take care of that first.”
A hundred barbarian cavalrymen, who had been riding toward the temple, were now turning in their direction.
The noise from the overturned carriage had clearly given them away.
“You’ll have to ride, Bishop.”
“Ride a horse…”
He stopped himself from saying he couldn’t.
If he rode behind a knight, it would slow them down, and they wouldn’t be able to escape.
One knight untied two horses from the carriage, handing one to Aikob.
Mounting the horse with his heavy body wasn’t easy.
Boti and the coachman’s knight helped him up, and he managed to get on.
“Follow the lead horse. If you just hold the reins properly, the horse will know what to do. I’ll guard the rear,”
Boti said, turning his horse’s head.
‘When was the last time I rode a horse?’
He hadn’t ridden since he was twenty, and even then, he hadn’t been good at it.
He wanted to admit he was unsure, but it wasn’t the time for that.
The barbarian cavalry was already within half a mile.
The lead knight had already started galloping.
Aikob’s horse began to follow, jolting forward and nearly throwing him off.
The speed increased, and Aikob’s body swayed violently.
The gaps in his teeth ached terribly, and blood trickled from his mouth down his chin.
‘At this pace, we’ll reach Elum Village in less than an hour.’
In fact, they wouldn’t even need to reach Elum Village.
Just waving a distress flag beyond the horizon would bring reinforcements.
Scouts were patrolling everywhere; they only needed to be seen.
‘I won’t die here.’
But despite his determination, Aikob’s horse was falling farther behind the lead horse.
Boti shouted from behind,
“You need to go faster! Don’t pull on the reins!”
But he couldn’t help it.
Staying steady on the horse was hard enough.
Then the lead knight suddenly slowed down.
Dust kicked up by the skidding hooves blew toward Aikob.
The lead horses abruptly changed direction, and the others followed suit.
Aikob’s horse, too, turned without needing to be guided.
“What’s going on…?”
He started to ask but bit his tongue due to the horse’s jostling.
His mouth, already full of blood, filled even more.
Swallowing it briefly quenched his thirst.
It was hard to move his head while bouncing on the horse, but curiosity compelled him to look back.
About ten barbarian riders were closing in.
They were surprisingly close.
When Aikob saw why, his heart sank.
Another group of barbarians had ambushed them ahead, blocking the way.
There was yet another ambush, this time with five riders.
The knights were forced to stop.
The five barbarian riders did not attack but simply blocked the path.
The ten pursuers stopped at a distance as well, clearly waiting for their hundred comrades to join them.
Now that he thought about it, the numbers were overwhelming.
Barbarians, who he thought only threw axes and stones, could operate over a hundred cavalry?
No wonder the Terdin had struggled against them.
Aikob opened his blood-filled mouth and shouted,
“Protect me!”
‘I won’t die here.’
He wanted to say more, but the blood made it hard to open his mouth.
‘I am a noble servant of God, spreading His word. Your duty is to protect me.’
He was glad he didn’t say that out loud.
A better idea came to him.
“If you die protecting me, I will honor your sacrifice by placing your name at the highest point of the cathedral. I will also inform the Arkian Empire’s Church. Your names will be eternally engraved in the sanctuary as martyrs who died in heathen lands.”
Aikob shouted again,
“I swear it in the name of God!”
“Truly?”
Boti asked.
“I swear in God’s name.”
“My name is Allant Boti.”
“Allant Boti, you will be a martyr.”
At Aikob’s words, the other knights began shouting their names.
“I’m Jake Manew from the Horn Region!”
“Jake Manew, you will be a martyr.”
Several knights followed suit, shouting their names.
Aikob gave them the same answer each time.
Then he immediately forgot their names, but that was a problem for later.
He worried that if all the knights sacrificed themselves, there would be no one left to escort him.
He wanted to shout for them to stop.
Thankfully, Boti intervened.
“You two, escort the bishop back to camp!”
With that, Boti charged at the barbarians.
“Protect the bishop!”
Aikob turned his horse in the opposite direction and galloped away, not caring whether it was north, east, or south.
Two knights rode beside him, shouting something.
He couldn’t hear whether they were saying, “Keep going this way!” or “Not that way!”
The clash of swords and armor echoed from behind, blocking out all other thoughts.
“Protect me!”
Aikob bit his tongue again from the jostling, but he kept shouting.
“Protect me!”
‘I won’t die here.’
‘Oh Lord, guide me.’
Then he saw it—a light in the distance.
A path of light guided the horse.
The light seemed to say, This is the right way.
‘I picked this direction randomly, yet it was correct.’
Aikob galloped forward.
The pain in his thighs and calves disappeared.
The once-unfamiliar horse felt comfortable beneath him.
This was a revelation.
It was the light of divine protection.
‘God will save me.’
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[Translator - Night]
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