Chapter 128: Setback

Sir Reynold quickly approached Baron Aldric and bowed respectfully.

’’My lord,’’ he greeted. ’’We’ve run into a problem.’’

He gestured towards two soldiers standing nearby.

The men immediately stepped forward, carrying a strange iron contraption between them.

Aldric frowned deeply.

’’What is that?’’ he asked, tilting his head.

’’We believe it’s some kind of trap, my lord,’’ Reynold explained respectfully. ’’Once someone steps on one, the iron jaws snap shut with tremendous force.’’

He paused for a moment, pointing to the two rows of sharp iron teeth.

’’Several of our soldiers have already lost limbs because of them.’’

Aldric remained silent as he closely examined the contraption.

’’Lost limbs?’’ he repeated slowly.

’’Yes, my lord,’’ Reynold said. ’’The jaws are powerful enough to crush bones. In some cases, they’ve even severed hands and feet entirely.’’

For a moment, silence fell between them.

Aldric had seen many things throughout his life, amongst which were countless traps.

But never anything quite like this.

’Such strong traps...’

He leaned closer, examining the iron jaws.

The craftsmanship was surprisingly impressive, raising another question.

’’How many of these have you discovered?’’

’’Seventeen so far, my lord,’’ Reynold replied quietly. ’’But we believe there are considerably more.’’

He paused for a moment.

’’Unfortunately, that isn’t everything we’ve discovered.’’

Reynold flicked his finger and was handed another iron object by his soldiers.

Then he turned around and presented it to Aldric.

It consisted of four sharp spikes arranged in different directions.

Three formed a base, while the fourth pointed up.

’’This is another trap, my lord,’’ he explained. ’’They’ve led to several foot injuries, being sharp enough to pierce straight through a soldier’s boots.’’

Aldric took the object from him.

After a moment, he began turning it around in his hand.

Alas, no matter how he positioned it, one of the spikes always pointed up.

He immediately understood their purpose.

Unlike the larger traps, these required no mechanism whatsoever.

Simply scattering enough of them across the ground would make advancing dangerous.

And manufacturing them would be considerably easier.

For several seconds, Aldric remained silent.

Then his expression twisted with anger.

’’Arthur Whitemane...’’ he muttered through gritted teeth. ’’This is the cowardly game you wish to play?’’

He threw the caltrop onto the ground.

CLANG!

Reynold lowered his head, wisely remaining silent.

Aldric looked towards Riverwood village.

He could understand Arthur attempting to delay his army.

After all, the Whitemane Barony was hopelessly outnumbered.

But something still didn’t make sense.

’What the hell happened to the advance force?’

Even if they had encountered these traps, Cedric was an experienced commander.

He would have recognized the danger, withdrawn his men, and reported the situation.

Unless...

’’Have you checked for enemy soldiers?’’ he asked.

Reynold hesitated for a moment.

’’We haven’t been able to advance very far, my lord,’’ he said. ’’However, from what we’ve observed, the village appears completely deserted.’’

Aldric frowned.

That only made the situation more difficult to understand.

’’Very well,’’ he eventually said. ’’Continue clearing the road. I want a secure route established before nightfall.’’

Reynold bowed.

’’As you command.’’

...

Unfortunately, clearing the road proved considerably more difficult than Aldric had anticipated.

Despite having hundreds of soldiers available, their progress remained painfully slow.

Every few steps, another trap was discovered.

Sometimes, several were buried within a few meters of one another.

And whenever the soldiers believed they had found a safe route, another unfortunate man would stumble upon something hidden beneath the mud.

SNAP!

’’ARGHH!’’

Another scream echoed across the road.

This time, a knight collapsed, clutching his ankle.

His companions immediately rushed towards him.

’’Don’t move!’’ one shouted. ’’You’ll make it worse!’’

But the injured man was already struggling desperately.

The iron jaws had closed around his lower leg, their teeth buried deep into his flesh.

Blood seeped into the mud beneath him.

’’Get it open!’’ he screamed. ’’PLEASE!’’

Two soldiers attempted to force the jaws apart.

However, the mechanism refused to budge.

Aldric and several other important officers watched the sight from a distance. Even those from the Ironhart Viscounty stood amongst them.

’’Unbelievable,’’ Baldwin said, raising an eyebrow. ’’It actually snapped straight through a One-Seal Knight’s aura...’’

Silence fell for a moment.

They watched as the soldiers finally managed to pry open the trap.

But by then, the knight had already lost consciousness.

’’At this rate, it’ll take days before we can get through here,’’ he continued, his voice trailing off. ’’Truly a devilish way to stall for time.’’

Aldric nodded slowly, his expression dark.

His gaze shifted over towards one of the commanders.

’’How many casualties have we suffered?’’ he asked coldly.

The commander stepped forward, hand pressed against his chest.

’’Thirty-six injured and ten dead, my lord. Almost all of the wounded are unfit for combat.’’

Aldric’s expression only darkened further.

He clenched his fists, glancing at the noon sun in the sky.

’’Set up camp,’’ he commanded. ’’We’ll have to stay here tonight.’’

’’Understood, my lord,’’ the commander replied, bowing respectfully.

’’Have the men continue clearing the road in shifts,’’ Aldric added. ’’And make sure every cleared section is properly marked. I will not tolerate any more unnecessary casualties.’’

’’As you command!’’

The commander hurried away to relay his orders.

Aldric turned towards the distant village.

Even from here, he could hear the occasional screams of injured soldiers.

It was utterly ridiculous.

An army of nearly six thousand men, brought to a halt by a few pieces of iron.

And they hadn’t even encountered a single enemy.

’’My lord,’’ Reynold spoke. ’’What shall we do about our provisions? We hadn’t anticipated such a delay.’’

Aldric considered the question for a moment.

’’Have several hunting parties dispatched into the surrounding forests,’’ he ordered. ’’They are to return with whatever game they can find before nightfall.’’

Reynold nodded quickly.

’’A sensible decision, my lord.’’

Aldric didn’t respond.

His attention had already returned to Riverwood.

’Arthur Whitemane...’

He had underestimated just how troublesome the old baron could be.

But no matter how many traps Arthur had prepared, they couldn’t possibly cover every inch of his territory.

Eventually, his army would break through.

And when that happened, Aldric intended to make him regret every single casualty.