Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 125 - Into the Castle

"That was interesting."

"I think you meant 'frightening', Viviane." Medrauta remarked.

Before they set off to the secret entrance that Isadora had pointed out to them, the two had first made their way to Marilyn's position where Medrauta sought to inform the senior knight of their departure. Of course, the attempt at communication with the battle-crazed Marilyn had been fairly fruitless. Despite Medrauta's best efforts, the only response she received from the senior knight was a guttural grunt followed by a ferocious roar as Marilyn leapt into the fray once more, somehow shrugging herself free of Medrauta's iron grip.

"Oh, I don't know. It was kind of endearing, don't you think?" Viviane laughed.

"As endearing as trying to talk to a bear, maybe." Medrauta smiled, shaking her head.

The two of them were only managing to make such light conversation thanks to the wide berth they were giving to the clashing armies. Once they managed to disengage from the sea of soldiers, the two of them circled around the battlefield's perimeter where the enemy's flank was still recovering and weakest. There, they would attract the least attention possible from their enemies, allowing them to ride toward the castle's side unmolested.

With none of the baron's forces anywhere close to the castle and the artillery still waiting for the signal to advance, Bastiche had neglected to place any sentries on or around the walls. After all, he'd hardly expected the fief's knights to betray him or even for the baron's forces to penetrate into the center mass of his army. In fact, Medrauta was willing to bet that Bastiche probably intended for the enormous show of force to dissuade Baron Dietrich and cause him to retreat.

Unfortunately for Bastiche, the baron never had any intentions of retreating. In fact, if Isadora hadn't appeared and offered a solution, Medrauta doubted that Baron Dietrich would accept Viviane's push to retreat without incident. The silver-haired knight allowed herself a faint smile of relief as she celebrated the fact that they'd avoided an impromptu match with the baron. Of course, it wasn't as if Medrauta knew the baron would try to deny a retreat in such a manner, but knowing how determined the man was, he probably would have challenged Viviane to a match in a bid to overrule her authority.

"There! It's the sluice!" Viviane pointed, keeping one arm wrapped around her knight's torso as their mount thundered forward. The two of them had decided to ride on the same horse for expediency seeing as Medrauta's own steed perished in the fighting.

"You think it'll be guarded?" Medrauta asked. The chance was low seeing as there were no sentries or patrols in sight, but it was always possible that Bastiche had chosen to place guards only at the secret entrances in case a mobile unit like themselves were sent to infiltrate the castle.

"Probably not," Viviane replied as the horse drew near the sluice. It was a long channel dug into the earth around the castle and framed with steel panels. While it wasn't exactly wide, the sluice gate was big enough to fit two people abreast, meaning the pair could've brought the horse inside if they really wanted to.

Of course, Medrauta opted to leave the horse outside as she dismounted. There was no need to affix its bridle to any sort of structure thanks to its training, and though its presence might give away the fact that the sluice gate had been infiltrated, it didn't matter too much. After all, this was far more of a search-and-destroy mission as opposed to one that prioritized stealth. While subtlety was certainly welcome, it was by no means mandatory.

As Isadora mentioned before they departed, the sluice gate was firmly shut and locked by a mechanism that could only be activated from inside the walls. It was unsurprising seeing as the sluice was designed to allow for waste water to flow out from the castle, and though the gate was made of heavy-duty material, it didn't take Medrauta much effort to tear it off its hinges.