Volume Two: The Iron-Blooded Baron Chapter 142: The Battle for Nolanburg (Sixteen)

When Pino finally reached the foot of the mountain, leading his own men together with the remnants of Ol’s forces, he was covered in dust and utterly dejected. There he met Aseidan’s fierce, savage glare.

He hurried over, fell to his knees, and said, “Father, I have failed you. Not only did we fail to take the fortress, but I also got so many of our brothers killed. Punish me!”

The moment Pino knelt, the fifty or sixty men behind him dropped to their knees as well. Before the warriors of Tobba Island, who valued honor above all else, such a crushing defeat had left them ashamed to face their comrades, let alone return home to their families.

Aseidan looked at Pino and the soldiers kneeling before him, their bodies smeared with blood and grime. He sighed.

“Defeat is nothing to fear. We people of Tobba Island cannot win every battle. What is frightening is suffering defeat without thinking about how to win the victory back.

“Ol and you are both warriors under my command. I sent you in the vanguard because I believed in your courage. I thought you would be like a sharp blade, piercing through the walls of this fortress. But I never expected that the enemy’s walls would remain unbreached while my blade itself snapped!”

“I… I… I have failed you! Father, you may kill me now. I will have no complaints!”

Hearing the disappointment in Aseidan’s voice, Pino was filled with anguish. His chieftain, who had shown him such boundless kindness, had been let down by him. Pino truly wanted to kill himself on the spot.

“Hmph!” Aseidan snorted coldly. “You have failed? Kill you? Would that bring Ol and all the fallen brothers back? Would it?”

The question from their wolf chieftain struck like a thunderclap. Pino shuddered. His already lowered head sank even further, and only after a long while did he answer in a trembling voice.

“N-no…”

Aseidan seized him by the clothes and hauled the enormous, powerfully built pirate to his feet with one hand. His strength was terrifying.

Overwhelmed by shame, Pino did not dare meet Aseidan’s eyes. He kept his head bowed. The two stood so close that each could hear the other’s heartbeat. Pino’s legs weakened with fear, and his entire body trembled. He had no idea how Aseidan would punish him, but he was already prepared for the worst. At most, they would chop him to pieces and throw him into the sea to feed the fish.

Just as Pino waited in terror for Aseidan to order his execution, Aseidan suddenly released him. With his legs already trembling, Pino fell heavily to the ground. He had no idea what Aseidan intended, and the less he understood about the punishment awaiting him, the more unbearable the torment became.

“You spineless bastard!” Aseidan suddenly cursed with a laugh. Then he continued, “You suffered defeat. Are you frightened?”

Aseidan glanced over the group, every one of them bowing so low that their heads nearly touched the earth. His tone softened.

“Get up, you little whelps. You may have lost the battle, but I saw everything clearly from the foot of the mountain. You gave it everything you had.

“The main problem was that we were not prepared. Over the past two days, we have repeatedly fallen for the Brik people’s schemes. That is why we suffered these losses—last night, and again today.

“Count Kered often reminds us not to be careless, and not to assume that the people of the Veylin Continent are easy prey. We simply had not yet encountered anyone who knew how to fight.

“This time, we have. We found them here at Nolandeng Fortress, and I think that is a good thing. We have grown so accustomed to winning easy battles that you have all forgotten how to fight properly. How can that be acceptable?

“If we do not suffer a small setback now, we will surely pay a much heavier price later. I do not think losing the first battle matters. So long as we take this fortress, everything will be fine.”

His words made Pino and the others lift their heads from the ground. Many of them began to weep. They had never imagined that after suffering such a crushing defeat, Father Aseidan would not punish them.

The pirates watching nearby were equally stunned. By the customs of the Tobba pirates, a commander who lost the opening battle was supposed to be beheaded. His men would then be reduced to auxiliary baggage carriers, forbidden from ever taking the field again and left as free men condemned to labor like slaves.

Aseidan slowly looked around at them all. He knew exactly what his men were thinking.

“I know what is going through your minds! You are shocked because I have broken our custom and refused to punish those who lost the opening battle, aren’t you?

“But search your hearts and think carefully. If you had led the attack yourselves, could you truly have done better than Ol?”

His words caused the pirates who had come merely to watch the spectacle to lower their heads in shame. It was true: if they had led the assault, they might not have performed as well as Ol. They might even have suffered heavier losses.

“We brought more than five hundred men this time. After leaving over a hundred behind to guard the harbor camp, fewer than four hundred remain here. Would cutting off a few more of our brothers’ heads accomplish anything?

“Besides, battles are won and lost. That is perfectly normal. We may lose once or twice, but so long as we capture this fortress and seize the eight hundred thousand dinars and all that grain, we will be the victors!

“With spoils of such value, the defeat in our first battle and the men we lost will mean nothing. We can even double the compensation paid to the families of the fallen.”

Aseidan explained it to them in those terms, using the promise of wealth to inspire them.

As expected, once he finished speaking, the pirates’ spirits rose again. The gloom of their opening defeat vanished from their faces.

“Get up, all of you. The warriors will rest well tonight. Pino, choose several veterans and bring them to me. We will study how to fight tomorrow’s battle together.

“We were careless yesterday and today. We cannot allow the same thing to happen tomorrow!”

“Yes, Father!” the pirates answered in unison.

The men who had retreated with Pino let out a collective sigh of relief. They had thought their status as warriors would be stripped from them, yet after kneeling for a short while, they had received no punishment at all.

On Tobba Island, among all the occupations available to ordinary people, none held a higher status than that of a warrior. There was no profession more noble. Any ordinary Tobban boy who trained until the age of fifteen and passed the examination could become a warrior.

A Tobban warrior—a pirate—earned enough each year to support an entire family on the island. Even if he died in battle, his children would be provided for by the counts of their districts and raised to become warriors and the wives of warriors.

Becoming a warrior meant honor, pride, and a high income for the individual. For his family, it meant pride as well as a secure livelihood. That was precisely why the people of Tobba Island were so eager to become pirates.

Beryon and Bess had watched everything from the rooftop of Greenhill Village. Beryon could not help admiring the pirates. They truly were warriors born by nature. Though they had suffered setback after setback over the past two days, under the guidance of these core veterans, they had only grown more courageous with every battle.