Episode 114. Commander-in-Chief (1)
“Since the place is small, it seems difficult to give out all the rooms. Since this is the largest barracks, I would appreciate it if you use this road.”
“All right.”
“And that….. will you please stop using the polite language. I’m fine, but my subordinates may feel confused about the command system.”
“············”.
As I turned around, I saw a restless Pellain.
Pellaine shakes her fluffy cat’s ears.
Even though it was covered in dirt and sweat, her beauty still seemed to shine.
It’s not easy to look pretty without makeup like that, wearing armor.
It was a passage that showed the sullen taste of the original author.
“Are you Schlus Heinkel?”
“Oh, I will.”
He quickly came to his senses and answered.
It wasn’t something I was obsessed with.
The stability of the command system leads to morale boost, and morale is directly linked to victory or defeat in battle.
“Am I supposed to sleep on the floor?”
“Ugh. I don’t want to sleep in the same room with a man.”
“What? Don’t you think I want to be with you?”
Erika and Einz were already in a fight as they unpacked their luggage.
I shook my head and left the barracks because I thought it was not suitable for a conversation here.
Pellin caught up with a road helmet.
“Have you not revealed it to everyone yet?”
“Yes?”
“The inside of the helmet.”
“Yes. Not at all….”
“Is that even hiding the fact that you are a woman?”
“Yes, it is.”
It was understood to some extent.
The members of the Holy Knights who know Pellain’s skills and believe in Pellain, and others will ignore Pellain, who is a woman and a beast.
If it was, they could have tried to expel him because he was a spy sent by Lorraine.
However, none of us in our group showed such a strong reaction.
If it’s a beast, it’s quite common for aristocrats to take off their cranes, but they don’t have such a low personality, so they were just surprised.
“What is the composition of the fortress personnel here?”
“Twelve members of the Holy Knights. There were 20 knights of unknown affiliation from here and there. And there were about 60 infantrymen.”
There were less than 100 troops.
I haven’t seen any other fortresses around here except here.
I was very upset.
Apparently, the suppression force was broken much more thoroughly than in the original.
This was almost irreversible.
“The commander-in-chief?”
“Are you talking about the Imperial Knights Commander? He is currently missing.”
“Then you must be the one who is actually leading this place.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then I will appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the suppression force.”
“Yes? Yes? Eh?”
He lightly tapped his shoulder and showed him the document he had received from the emperor.
Direct Knight Appointment.
I had the power to change the commander-in-chief in case of an emergency, when the suppression force was completely disbanded.
“No, so suddenly…”
“You don’t like it. Then I’ll leave it to the passing archers over there.”
“Oh, no. I’ll take it.”
“Then can you explain exactly what happened now as briefly as possible?”
“Yes. 44 hours ago… So it was around 0:30 am two days ago. The whole army scrambled to make a night raid on the unfinished enemy camp. They succeeded in dismantling the camp, but allowed the enemy cavalry to escape. And while I was chasing…”
“I was caught in the mud and was siege and annihilated.”
“Yes… how did you know?”
“············”.
I knew it.
Long ago, when the Duke of Lorraine led the Imperial Army and invaded the South, it was a favorite method.
At that time, the Southern Beasts boasted abundant cavalry power, but they were all destroyed by Lorraine’s manning tactics.
The same thing happened again decades later.
This time, Lorraine and Suin faced the Imperial Army.
“In the meantime, the 4th castle was taken away in an instant because a large number of prisoners escaped for some reason.”
“············”.
It wasn’t taken from the siege, it was taken from within.
It was truly an incredible report.
Perhaps he was ashamed of himself, Pellin lowered his head.
“Do you know where the rest of the suppression forces are?”
“Most of them are probably prisoners and imprisoned in the 4th Castle. All the mages and mercenaries will be detained in the 4th Castle as well.”
“You have no idea where the Imperial Knights Commander is?”
“I’ve seen him run towards the Great Forest, but haven’t been able to confirm it since.”
“When was that?”
“It was 43 hours ago.”
It’s close.
I thought I might have already died.
However, the opponent is the commander of the Imperial Knights, who is called a monster.
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Just because I was isolated in the dark forest for 43 hours doesn’t mean I’m not a weakling who will die.
Of course, if that time were longer, he would die too, so we had to hurry.
“Rescue from the commander of the Imperial Knights. Is it possible to sortie all Holy Knights?”
“Oh, yes. It’s possible, but…”
“Will the other knights obey your orders?”
“You probably won’t hear it.”
That’s why he was going to rescue the commander of the Imperial Knights.
No matter how high the position is here, no one wants to listen to the orders of the kid who leads the private knights.
It means that even if there are 20 more skilled knights, it is useless.
To use them, they had to find a person with authority to follow.
Of course, whether a person with that level of authority will come under me and Pellin is a different story…
I will definitely do it that way.
Otherwise, there is no future.
“Taylor. Sortie.”
“Yes.”
The deputy commander, wearing black armor, began to spread the command instead.
In the meantime, I returned to the barracks where our party was.
“Tree. Iris. I’m going to rescue an isolated ally. I want you to follow me.”
“Uh, what about us?”
“You stay here.”
Einz and Erika’s pupils were still shaking.
They seem to have calmed down now, but they were trembling and unable to do anything until now.
Those guys will be nothing more than luggage if I take them with me now.
First of all, I had to get used to the battlefield.
Iris too, considering the physical, is actually a burden…
Still, in case of emergency, Iris alone will do hundreds of potions worth of work, so it was right to take her.
“I, I can help too…”
“Look into your hands and talk again.”
“ah······.”
Erica looked down at her hand once and let out a sigh.
His hands were trembling as if he had tremors.
It would be a lie if I said it wasn’t frustrating, but it was understandable enough.
Anyone who sees blood splattered in all directions for the first time would be like that.
When I first shaved Iskandal’s head, I thought my heart was beating so fast that I thought I was going to die.
Since then, there have been several opportunities to kill people, making him somewhat blunt.
It’s not as good as a tree that looks casual.
“Relax.”
“············”.
He unloaded the barracks and climbed the sentry tower.
The view of the front of the fortress was spread out.
It was just a plain with no mountains.
First, there are at least 3 enemy camps surrounding the fortress.
The total number of troops seemed to be around 500, but they were sparsely arranged, so it seemed that there was nothing that could not be escaped if they ran on a horse.
The problem will be when you come back.
At that time, reinforcements will arrive and block the entrance completely.
“Is there such a thing as a side door?”
“Yes. There is a side door in the back, but if you use the darkness, you will be able to get out without being detected.”
“To prepare the Holy Knights for sortie.”
“All right.”
They quickly escaped with a small number of elites, and before the enemy noticed, they had to retrieve the commander of the Imperial Knights and return.
The time limit is until dawn.
It means nothing if you don’t come back even if you try to rescue them.
“Let’s sortie. I’ll let Pellain and the horse ride together.”
“Yes. But can’t you ride a horse?”
“Yes······.”
When he got close to Pellain, he was making a sound of hitting bones casually.
It’s a temporary article, so…
I thought that sooner or later I would learn to ride a horse.
Tree seems to be able to handle horses freely even on her own.
I coughed and took a step.
We got out one by one through a door that only one person could pass through.
If it’s a large front door, you’ll know it’s open even in the dark and it’s noisy, but if it’s a side door, it’s perfect for escaping in the dark.
Looking at the reaction of the enemy camp, it didn’t seem like the watchman had noticed yet.
We slowly broke through the widest gap between the enemy camps.
As we leaned over, tall reeds covered us.
When it was judged that we were out of sight to some extent, we all got on our horses and started running.
[Quest: Find the Imperial Knights Commander Kain von Sturmgart.]
[Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆]
[Reward: 2 Shop Coins]
The quest was open…
Seeing that the difficulty and rewards were too salty, I thought I would be able to find it without any problems.
“Once you’re out, what are your plans for the future?”
“Once I know where the Imperial Knights Commander disappeared, I will find it. The goal is to rescue as many allies as possible before dawn.”
That’s what I said, but I didn’t really expect much.
For 44 hours each, without food or water, only humans the size of the Imperial Knights Commander can fight alone, but all the rest must have died or surrendered.
“There, the beginning of the forest. It was there.”
The place Pellin was pointing to was a thick forest with huge trees.
Inside, it was emanating a very dark darkness.
In the densest places, even the moonlight, even the daylight, does not reach it properly.
It was the best environment to outrun the enemy, but the worst environment to survive.
If he had gone deep inside, there was a high probability that he would have lost his way and could not get out.
“hippo.”
The knights jumped at once with Pellain’s gentle command.
Indeed, it was a forest that was reluctant to even set foot in.
The Great Forest was not called the Devil’s Forest for nothing.
The Empire tried to conquer it many times, but the land that the beasts succeeded in defending each time was the Great Forest.
Are you thinking of going into a place like this?
I thought that the empire still had a lot of national power.
“Ah. I don’t need a torch. Iris. I’ll ask for glow magic.”
“Yeah. Light Colonel.”
“············”.
Iris answered bluntly and raised a light source in the air.
We soon tied up our horses and walked in a line into the woods.
Inside, it was as quiet as a mouse.
It was never an easy place to walk.
Fallen trees, tree roots, and rocks were annoying and we quickly got tired.
“I’m not suspicious, but do you know where the Imperial Knights Commander is and are you looking for it?”
“············”.
I’m suspicious of the voice, but what?
“I’m chasing the trail.”
“Are you talking about traces?”
“The traces of the use of magic are faintly etched in the surrounding mana. They are chasing after it.”
“ah······.”
Mana sensitivity was high, so this was a good thing.
Even magic that was practiced a long time ago can find traces of it without much effort.
Had it been like that for about 30 minutes?
I found something.
“············”.
“············”.
We gathered in one place and froze on the spot.
Five corpses with smashed faces.
And there was only one corpse of a human knight equipped with armor.
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Judging by the helmet, he belongs to the Imperial Knights…
At first, it didn’t seem like the manager.
“To retrieve only the sword. The body is left behind.”
“yes······.”
I wanted to retrieve the body too, but I couldn’t afford it.
After a moment of silence, we moved forward again.
We paid our due respect for the noble sacrifice that made five enemies our companions.
“Schlus. I feel uncomfortable.”
“············”.
After a while, Trier came up to me and whispered to me.
Looking back at Pellin, it seemed that he had the same thoughts as he pricked his ears and made his eyes ferocious.
It was also impossible to ignore the sense of the experts.
Especially when two people speak at the same time.
If you have to fight, you’d better fight in the dark.
‘Cause I’m not looking forward to the light
“Iris. Lights out…”
It was about time to instruct him to turn off the lights.
A crackling sound was heard under his feet.
Iris stepped on something.
And at that moment, I sensed a swift flight from behind.
‘Choice and focus. 1 second for Agility.’
sh*t. It’s a little late to push Iris away.
I quickly embraced Iris and wrapped my arms around the back of her head.
Then a sharp twig fell into my arm.
“ha······.”
The pointed end of the branch pierced my arm and stopped right in front of Iris’s head.
Fortunately, it’s a small wedge, and if it had been an arrow with a proper nib, it would have pierced my arm and pierced Iris’ back in an instant.
Thinking about it that way, it was more of a chilling feeling than my arm hurting.
“aah!”
“··········································································?!”
Then something rushed out of the darkness with a loud shout.
He quickly drew his sword, but Trier and Pellain came first.
The two blocked the sword of the assailant, but-
“Aww!”
“Great!”
I was pushed back by that force and fell backwards.
It was like he was trying to destroy the light source and rushed at Iris and me.
There was no room for hesitation.
I immediately drew a bape from my right hand, swung it, and put the sword against him.
Kaan…!
A clear sound resounded, and he was pushed back.
It was because Bape had absorbed all the shocks, so all of his physical strength returned to him as a reaction.
Only then did it become clearer.
It was only now recognizable when placed under the light of the Bape and Luminescent Magic Lights.
was not a savior.
He was a man in armor.
“I’m not the enemy…?”
Perhaps it was the same with him, looking around us with a shaky pupil.
The long dark circles that stretched down to the tip of his trembling eyes and cheeks told him that he hadn’t slept for a long time.
It was not difficult to guess its identity from the armor decorated with gold.
“Let’s take the sword. The Imperial Knights Commander.”
[Quest accomplished]
[You will receive 2 Shop Coins as a reward.]
found
commander-in-chief of the suppression force.
No, the man who was the commander-in-chief.