Hundreds of kilometers away at Bear Chomping Castle, contrary to Bether's expectations, the Border Knights who captured the castle showed little mirth.

Outside Bear Chomping Castle, in a camp on a plain, the fire in front of the main tent was still roasting lamb.

Sparks scattered like backward-moving meteors, licking the chef's greasy hands and the dripping fat of the roasting lamb.

Fat dripped onto the coals, making small crackling sounds.

But inside the main tent, the high-level members of the Border Knight Order showed no sense of victory.

Sitting in the main seat was the new Grand Master of the Border Knight Order, Emmerick Fosse-Lumière.

On the two sides were Priest-in-Charge Wacław and Knight Commander Cosme respectively.

These three were essentially the highest-ranking members of the Border Knight Order.

Grand Master Emmerick was the soul of the Knight Order; all Border Knights swore allegiance to him, and the Grand Master himself swore allegiance to the Pope.

Priest-in-Charge Wacław was the second-in-command and religious leader of the army, capable of taking over duties when the Grand Master was not present.

Knight Commander Cosme was responsible for all military decisions during wartime, and also managed weapons and warhorses.

Despite having captured Bear Chomping Castle, none of these three men spoke.

The entire tent was silent; even the attendants delivering wine and meat tread softly, instinctively.

"How long do we think it will take to repair?" Finally, it was Grand Master Emmerick who spoke first.

Knight Commander Cosme, responsible for frontline combat, took a sip from his wine cup: "At least a month."

"A month?!" Priest-in-Charge Wacław flared up, "Lord, forgive me for speaking such vulgar words… Is your brain full of urine? Do you know, I pledged a military directive in front of the Pope."

"Hey!" The Grand Master ordered him to stop, "The decision was made by all of us together."

Knight Commander Cosme, despite his displeasure, had to swallow it given his lower status: "These damned vampire cult affiliates must have used divination to foresee our coming, and thus broke off the mountain path in advance." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Having brought up vampires as a scapegoat, Wacław couldn't argue and could only roll up his sleeves and heartily eat lamb.

"What about soldier casualties? Have they been counted?"

"Around two thousand, though over a thousand infantry are gone, and it's a pity for nearly eight hundred brave knights."

"So many?" Emmerick was restless, as he had only a force of twenty thousand soldiers.

The attack on Bear Chomping Castle had already cost nearly a thousand, and here another two thousand were gone, losing a tenth of his capital in one go.

Hearing these casualties, the Grand Master felt real pain.

Cosme used a small knife to slice the lamb in front of him messily but couldn't bring himself to eat it: "Not many fell to their deaths, less than a hundred, but it's unfortunate that the knights who pursued either died or were captured."

After saying this, the other knights in the tent sighed and lamented.

These noble and esteemed knights, falling into the hands of those crude and cruel rebels, it was imaginable what treatment they would endure.

"Knight Commander, you commanded this battle, do you have nothing to say?" A knight stood up loudly questioning, his whole body smelling of herbs and splints and bandages tied around his arms, head, and calves.

"Wasn't it just a normal pursuit? Everyone agreed, who could have thought the mountain path would collapse?"

"Excavating such a mountain path would take at least six weeks." Wacław lifted his head, speaking to his area of expertise, "We've only been here two weeks!"

"But it collapsed, maybe they used some evil magic, like transforming stone into mud."

"Even for such a long stretch of the mountain path, transforming stone into mud would take three to four weeks."

"The only possibility is they knew about it in advance, relying on divination to excavate early."

"We have the Saint's Holy Emblem for protection, and the Blessing Priest accompanying us; if they truly divined our actions, then it was the devil revealing himself!"

"Mind your words, Wacław!" The Grand Master again ordered the Priest-in-Charge to rein in his words.

Cosme painfully grabbed his hair: "…Those Thousand River Valley People got across, so I figured I could too.

Unexpectedly, these damned Thousand River Valley People designed a small mechanism; the walkway covered with floating soil was actually on wooden planks.

When they crossed, it was just a few at a time; but when we came across, they fired a shot from the mountain opposite, collapsing the wooden walkway…"

Having just personally experienced the scene during the day, these knights hushed into silence.

They had to admit, these deceitful vampire cultists were surprisingly more difficult to deal with than the Blood and Flesh Royal Court.

They were most skilled in one-on-one main force battles vast grasslands.

In the complex terrain of the Empire's interior, the Border Knights' tactics were somewhat misfit.

Having suffered this loss, they truly had no other options.

"Within a month, we can't proceed with further attacks, is that right?" The Grand Master confirmed once again with Knight Commander Cosme.

Cosme pressed his lips tightly, taking a while before speaking with difficulty: "Unless we attack Ladan Castle in the north; anyway, from Bear Chomping Castle to Wolf Pit Castle, we can't cross, nor can they."

The Grand Master looked around, coughing: "Otherwise, let's retreat."

The Knight Order may be called an order, but effectively it was already a nation.

It had its own noble electoral system, its own fixed territories, and appointed bureaucrats.

Besides recruiting second sons of nobles from outside, it also generated a large number of its own knights internally.

For the Grand Master, these troops were his capital for standing firm at the border.

Infantry were easier to replenish, he could go to the Royal Court or Centaurs to buy some slaves.

But knights were scarce upon death, dying too many would leave him without replacements, who would refill his ranks?

Could the Puliano Pope at Holy Seat City offer assistance? Emmerick had long seen through it; he couldn't offer a damn thing!

The Puliano Pope had already spent the Holy War Treasury, so how could he offer aid?

Hence it was best to preserve their strength, to avoid the day Centaurs raided near Holy Seat City and have him bear the consequences.

"That won't do." Wacław was the first to oppose, "If we just retreat like this, where does the Knight Order's honor go?"

"This battle was cheating by the Pope…"

"Nonsense." This time the Grand Master stopped Cosme instead, "Wacław, what do you propose?"

Wacław looked at Cosme: "Knight Commander Cosme, tell me honestly, how feasible is the attack on Ladan Castle?

No need to hold back, speak the truth. If you say it's not feasible, then under pressure, we will retreat and not mingle with these fallen bishops."

The Grand Master and Priest-in-Charge simultaneously looked towards Knight Commander Cosme. After contemplating for a long time, Cosme finally said: "I think it's feasible."

Nodding his head, the Grand Master called an attendant to summon the various knight commanders.

One by one clad in coarse cloth but with excellent armor, knights entered—the Border Knight Order liked treating armor as clothing.

The opinions of the three high-ranking members were shared, and the Grand Master surveyed the captains and leaders present: "Given the situation, what are your thoughts?"

This medieval product, the Knight Order, had developed to this day, still maintaining quite primitive military democracy.

For instance, now the Grand Master hoped each core member of the Knight Order expressed their stance.

Led by the oldest elder knight, many knight commanders stepped forward to express their views and reasons.

"I support the attack on Ladan Castle!"

"Withdrawal is a wise choice, but I suggest modifying slightly, let's attack Ladan Castle instead."

"Better to sit tight and be prudent…"

In the voting, most knight commanders still chose to continue the attack on Ladan Castle.

For others, the distance from Bear Chomping Castle to Ladan Castle might be far.

But for the Border Knight Order, a military order marching with over ten thousand mules and warhorses, the distance wasn't far.

Having arrived here, the Border Knight Order hadn't achieved any success; at least they needed a good result to justify returning.

Moreover, they felt stifled by anger; losing battles was no problem, it wasn't as if they hadn't lost before.

Being defeated by such despicable methods, that was the real disgrace.

Seeing this, the Grand Master could only express his stance: "Then let's attack Ladan Castle, it sits atop the Shattered Stone Plain, an ideal place for our knights to ride forth."