Dungeon Defense (WN)

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“Earl……What are you saying!?”

The crown prince spoke as his shoulders shook.

“The royal cavalry are mine to command.
You do not have the authority to use them however you please!”

Even now, he’s going on about authority.
Margrave Rosenberg was sick of this, but he couldn’t show his distaste on the outside.
He spoke as courteously as possible.

“Your Highness, please bestow me the right to command.
I will do my best to stop the enemy.”

“Stop? You are going to stop them? Those corpses?”

The crown prince flew into a rage.

“Are you insane!? T-Those are not monsters.
Devils……that’s right, they are undoubtedly devils.
Are you saying that humans can go against devils!?”

“Please calm down.
They are nothing more than simple monsters.”

“Let us rally the royal cavalry and retreat immediately!”

Rosenberg felt his heart cool down.

“……”

“Have you gone deaf? Order the royal cavalry to prepare for our retreat.
We cannot lose the royal cavalry here…….
We must retreat and realign our line of defense while those mercenaries are acting as our shield!”

“……How do you intend to realign our line of defense? Most of our soldiers are currently engaging the enemy’s right wing.
If we retreat, then they will all die.”

The margrave spoke in a matter-of-fact way.

“Your Highness, the battle is not over.
It has only just begun.
If we can defend this position, then our men will soon wipe out the Demon Lord army’s right wing.
Once this happens, we will be able to turn this situation around.”

“And if we cannot defend this position!?”

The crown prince shouted.

“The main army will get wiped out and I will also fall in battle! Rosenberg, do you understand what you are putting on the line right now? It is the future of Habsburg! You are using the Habsburg Empire’s soon-to-be emperor as a gambling chip!”

“…….”

“You said that we can win if we endure until our soldiers breach the enemy’s right wing, right? What will you do if we cannot endure for that long? Do you think you have the right to determine the fate of all of Habsburg!? You bumpkin!”

The crown prince turned around and walked off while fuming.

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“Bet your own life if you are going to bet something.
I am not some man of lowly birth, I am the sole ruler of Habsburg! I will retreat to Habsburg while you are blocking those devils.”

“……I humble apologize, but I cannot allow you to do that.”

Margrave Rosenberg stood in the crown prince’s way.

“What?”

“I am saying that it is impossible for Your Highness to retreat.”

“This traitor has finally revealed his true colors!”

The crown prince instinctively tried to unsheathe his sword; however, the margrave’s hand was faster.
The margrave grabbed the crown prince by his wrist.
He wasn’t only a commander but a robust warrior, so there was no way the crown prince could win against the margrave in terms of strength.

“Ugh, guuh―!”

“Those soldiers out there are defending this position.
What do you think will happen if the supreme commander were to run away? Their morale will plummet instantly and our army will fall apart pitifully.
Our main army will collapse and the soldiers on our flanks will be taken out one by one.
Austerlitz will be forever remembered as the hills where the Habsburg Empire was disgraced…….”

The margrave revealed his white teeth as he grinned.

“Well, it does not particularly matter.
Our empire is already disgraceful.
Nothing much will change if we add another disgraceful moment to our history.”

“You―! This traitorous bastard!”

“What is important is not the empire’s dignity.
Your Highness, it is the safety of mankind.”

Margrave Rosenberg strengthened his grip.
The crown prince could only groan in pain.
He struggled desperately to pull his right hand away, but it was all in vain.
The margrave’s grasp was firm like the roots of a massive tree.

“Failures are frequent when contending for victory.
Winning or losing once is not very impressive.
However, you must not go back on your beliefs.
This is because humans gather to those beliefs like moths to flames.”

“Wha, guh, are you saying…….”

“Your Highness is right.
There is a chance that we may lose.
At that point, I cannot guarantee Your Highness’ well-being.
Regardless, it is for this very reason that I cannot allow for Your Highness to retreat.
The crown prince of the Habsburg Empire had run away from the Demon Lord army and used his allies as scapegoats……The world will learn of this.”

The margrave shook his head.

“The empire will truly come to an end at that point.
Our soldiers will no longer be able to fight and the people will no longer trust us.
Mercenaries will no longer work for us.
No, this will not only affect the Habsburg Empire.
We will have an adverse effect on the people of other nations as well.
Does Your Highness not think you might become a nuisance? As Your Highness’ vassal, I cannot stand and watch you become a public nuisance.
It would not be enough to simply praise me for being such a loyal subordinate.”

The margrave seemed entertained by his own words as he smiled.
Since the very beginning, his eyes were the only things that remained cold.
He looked down at the crown prince emotionlessly with owl-like eyes.

“Your Highness, please die for the sake of the empire.”

Crown Prince Rudolf von Habsburg felt a cold sweat go down his back.
This old man was being serious! The crown prince felt a stronger fear than what he felt when the army of undead appeared from the fog. 

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“Although Your Highness does not have even an ounce of talent as a commander; fortunately, your title as the empire’s crown prince can be used.
The crown prince himself fell bravely in battle while fighting against the atrocious Demon Lord army……The other nations will surely be enraged once they learn of this.
The people of all nations will work together to fight the Demon Lord army.”

“Y-You can just die instead!”

Crown Prince Rudolf managed to shout those words out as his jaw trembled.

“D-Did you not become a margrave to die at a time like this……!?”

“I apologize, but I am not significant enough to die alone.”

The margrave snorted.

“As your loyal vassal, I would not dare to send Your Highness to the afterlife by yourself.
Do not worry.
Although I may be inadequate, I will go with Your Highness to the other side.”

At that moment, an officer unsheathed his sword and ran to the margrave.

“You traitor!”

The officer cried out valiantly as he raised his sword meant for cavalrymen.
The margrave didn’t even turn around as he pulled out a dagger and tossed it.
The dagger impaled the officer’s forehead just as he was about to swing his sword down.
The officer let out a short death throe before falling face-first into the grass.

It became quiet.

The crown prince could only manage to stare at the margrave like a surprised frog.
It was then that he vaguely remembered that Fritz von Rosenberg was one of the two hundred Rank 2 knights that exist in the empire. 

“Great soldiers of Habsburg, heed my words.”

Margrave Rosenberg spoke to the other officers.

“I do not know who you all have sworn your loyalty to; nevertheless, I wish for you all to come to a conclusion on your own.
Look upon this with unbiased eyes.
Whether you think it is right for Supreme Commander Rudolf von Habsburg to run away or not.”

The sound of soldiers shouting in the distance could be heard.
The army of 5,000 monsters and the army of 20,000 mercenaries have finally collided.
The mercenaries have 4 times the number of troops, but the margrave and the other officers couldn’t shake off the feeling of this being their last moments.

“If you have sworn your loyalty to the empire, then consider what would be the better path for the empire.
If you have sworn your loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor, then consider what path would be for the emperor’s sake.
If we retreat here, then we would simply be tossing our lives away here in Austerlitz.
……Could you forgive yourselves?”

The margrave didn’t try to intimidate the officers.
He simply spoke in a low voice while meeting each and every officer’s gaze.
This was much more persuasive than some long speech.

All of the officers could tell that Margrave Rosenberg had resolved himself to toss down his life here.
He was determined to risk his life here for the sake of the empire’s future.
To the soldiers of Habsburg, this was enough for them to believe that it would be honorable to lay down their lives while standing side by side with such a superior.
The officers nodded their heads solemnly.
At that instant, everyone present had resolved themselves to face an honorable death.

“It is not too late! You can become a vassal of merit if you take down this traitor!”

The crown prince cried out as if he were screaming.
The margrave turned to look at him.

“Your Highness’ task is simple.
Welcome our great imperial soldiers in Valhalla and tell them that they fought well.”

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“I……I am Habsburg itself!”

“Surely, you jest.”

Margrave Rosenberg smiled imposingly.

“How could a single person be the same as an entire nation? Habsburg is here and over there.
The men risking their lives to protect this nation and humanity are Habsburg.”

Furthermore, the margrave continued.

“We need someone to represent sovereignty.
Nonetheless, you do not have to worry.
Even if an unfortunate event were to happen to Your Highness, do we still not have another heir to the throne?”

“Y-You! Were you that bitch Elizabeth’s underling!?”

The crown prince started to struggle more desperately.

“I knew it! I knew from the very beginning! Elizabeth, that traitorous bitch always says stuff like this! Guuaaah! Elizabeth! Elizabeth―!”

The crown prince cried out as he got dragged away.
His arms were bound and a piece of cloth was wrapped around his mouth.
He was then thrown into the far corner of a tent.
A thought went through the margrave’s head as he watched the crown prince get taken away.
Of course, the imperial army might come out victorious.
If they do, then he’ll gladly offer his head.

The margrave spoke to the officers.

“Men, the quality of their soldiers may be superior to ours, but we outnumber them greatly.
If we work together to resist, then we should be more than able to last for a couple of days.
Your strength is required now more than ever.
I pray that each of our soldiers has the power to face a hundred.”

“Yes, General!”

The officers responded firmly.
They hastily ran off to do their respective tasks.
Some of them went to the frontline, others went to convey orders, and the rest started to run around in order to get a grasp of the current situation.

Margrave Rosenberg took the table out from the tent and set it up outside.
He raised and lowered his head over and over again as he updated the map of the current ongoing battle in real time.

A liaison officer came to give a report.

“General, our first line of defense has fallen.
They have merged with the second line of defense.
Fortunately, there was not a lot of confusion while they retreated.”

“Continue to defend like that.
Remind our soldiers that we can win if we endure long enough.”

“Understood!”

Shortly after, a liaison officer came with another report.
He wasn’t the same liaison officer as the one that came earlier.
He had taken their place because the previous liaison officer had died.
Margrave Rosenberg responded without raising his gaze from the map on the table.

“Our second line of defense has fallen.
The second line has joined up with the third line and they are fighting back.
Our troops’ morale is still high.
Once they were informed that His Excellency the Supreme Commander will be with them to the very end, they responded with a cheer.”

“Good.
The most important thing is for our soldiers to not feel as if they were abandoned.
Even if they are not that effective, continue to use the catapults and archers.
We will show the enemy a fight to the death.”

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“Understood!”

Another liaison officer came to give a report.
Once again, it was a different individual.
They had to urgently replace the previous liaison officer because he had fallen in battle.
He gave a salute before clearly explaining the current situation.
Margrave Rosenberg once more responded in a firm tone.

“Our third line of defense has been breached.
Our remaining forces are fighting back at our final line of defense near our encampment.
Mercenary Captain Ferdinand von Wallenstein fell in battle so there was a problem with the chain of command, but it was quickly fixed.”

“Send the royal cavalry in from the right side.
The enemy’s formation must have become sloppy due to their continuous advance.
Use the opportunity given to you by the cavalry’s assault by defending the third line of defense.”

“Yes, General.
May the fortune of war be upon you.”

And then another officer and another…….

Eventually.

There was no one left around Margrave Rosenberg.

Befitting their title as the best mercenary brigade on the continent, the Landsknecht mercenaries fought valiantly to the very end.
The Habsburg royal cavalry managed to put the enemy in a precarious position, but everyone starting from the cavalry captain to the lowest attendant ended up falling honorably in battle.
The officers had also been wiped out.
The last person to give a report to Margrave Rosenberg wasn’t an officer but a soldier without any rank.
He reported that the third line of defense had fallen before immediately returning to the battlefield.

Step, the sound of footsteps could be heard.

“Hm.
Are you Fritz von Rosenberg?”

“That is correct.”

The margrave continued to look down at the map on the table.
The war was still going on in his mind.
The girl standing in front of the margrave spoke in a pleasant tone.

“The battle is over.
What are you looking at, human child?”

“The battle.”

“What will you look at if even that battle is over?”

“The battle.”

The girl nodded.

A large scythe flashed through the air.
The blade severed through human flesh with ease.
With a thud, something fell to the grass.
It rolled for a moment before coming to a stop.

Fritz von Rosenberg’s eyes continued to look ahead.
Nothing reflected off of those eyes and they could no longer perceive things.
Their frozen gaze simply continued to stare off towards a certain direction indefinitely.

As if an endless battle was still ongoing in that direction.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter.
Jeez, this was a long arc.
I’ve still been thinking about what to translate next.
I want to continue Million Dollar Bill, but I’m realizing that it might also be a series that isn’t updated for years.
The last volume came out several years ago now.
The only two safe bets are DD WN and Handholding since they’re both completed series.
I wonder if it’s rare for Korean LNs to ever reach their conclusion.
Maybe I should search for a new series… Eh, whatever, I’ll continue translating DD WN chapters till I can sort this out.