Story[]
Karitoke was one of Dawn Academy's alumni who had traveled with Lorist to The Northlands. But midway there, he had been poached by the second highness and became a knight of the royal family. It was a shame that of the 26 silver-ranked knights from Dawn Academy that joined the second highness's banner, only Karitoke and Sander remained.
When they conquered Frederika, they discovered a secret path leading outside the city, which could be what the first prince used to escape. When Frederika was encircled, His Highness brought the rest of his subordinates through the secret path. Back then, they had 6000 men, but less than 2000 remained because we ran into the first prince, who had gone missing in action.
It led to a small valley in the Cloudsnap Mountains located 50 kilometers from Greatsnow Mountain. His Highness had his men scale across the Cloudsnap Mountains to make it back to the Andinaq kingdom so they could gather their forces and start over. The six thousand men following him were his most loyal and elite.
After leaving Frederika using the secret path, they crossed a small stream to cover their tracks. They traveled about half a day from the river and turned towards the Cloudsnap Mountains when they were about 50 kilometers away from Frederika. On the way there, they passed through a dense forest where we took a short rest. His Highness wouldn't let them rest there for long, though. He wanted them to find a better spot so they could rest for a few months before they attempted the crossing after the winter. He wanted them to pass over Cloudmist Swamp before it thawed and head for the kingdom from there.
They were surprised to discover from a map they obtained in the palace in Frederika that the valley near Greatsnow Mountain was a noble's dominion, specifically, Baron Krimando's. They later found out that the baron had never shown up at the royal court before, which explains why almost nobody knew of him.
His Highness decided that Baron Krimando's dominion would be the best place for us to rest. If they had someone defend the valley's entrance and prevent anybody from getting in or out, nobody would discover what was going on inside. They headed for the valley and conquered the small castle near it in a night assault. Once they occupied the castle, His Highness instructed someone to advise Baron Krimando to surrender. Bowen Ketty volunteered and marched over proudly to carry out the task. Nobody expected his decapitated head would be hung above the walls of the baron's castle a few minutes later.
They were almost driven crazy by anger, no sane noble would do something as egregious as murdering a messenger. His Highness instantly ordered his men to continue pressing their attack and avenge Knight Bowen. After two months of bloody battles passed, they incurred more than five thousand casualties; even Knight Sisreid died on the walls. Of the 13 gold-ranked knights that left Frederika with His Highness, only Glacia, Ripleid, and Karitoke were left. One of the two blademasters protecting His Highness also perished. The other was heavily injured.