128 – Make each other suspicious (3)
Watchtower west of Villa Hora Fortress.
Just a few hours ago, this was the place where Baron Custer’s wizards and archers had settled down and fought for their lives until the sun rose.
Now that the sun has set, only two men remain standing guard here.
In times like this, you have to keep an eye out for drowsiness while chatting, and watch under the watchtower and the enemy camp…
“Okay, meat… Give me some more meat…”
Both of them were now dozing off while standing up, even talking in their sleep.
If only the higher-ups didn’t visit until the next shift arrived, they would be able to enjoy a sweet sleep even during working hours…
The dozing guards were caught by a low-ranking knight’s squire.
“The guys on guard duty during the war are standing there dozing off at this hour! “Things like that wouldn’t be a waste even if you cut off their heads!”
In normal times, if soldiers on guard duty were caught dozing off, they were punished with 50 lashes and half-dead. If they were caught in wartime, they were punished by beheading them the next day and beheading them as an example.
Therefore, there was nothing wrong with what she said, but Hilde, a junior knight served by her squire, stopped her.
“Getting angry only goes so far. “Why are you so angry?”
The servant shook his head at those words.
“Lord Bauman, don’t you know the Lord? Dozing off while on guard duty during wartime is punishable by death, regardless of the circumstances. Moreover, now we don’t know when the enemy will come. “Even though they are lowly serfs, sometimes you have to set a strict example to set the discipline straight.”
Hilde smiled at him and then she scolded quietly.
She said, “Sophie, I told you to calm down.”
“Yes…”
“Sleeping while on guard duty in wartime is definitely a serious problem punishable by beheading under military law. However, if you treat them too harshly, the soldiers, and eventually even the soldiers under your command, will stop following you. “If you want to be a knight who will not be ashamed of your late father, sometimes you have to be cruel.”
With those words, Sophie calmed down and suppressed her anger.
“Yes, Sir Bauman.”
After hearing her words, Hilde calmed down her anger and patted the shoulder of her squire who was reflecting.
“You and I are both women. “To become a knight and be recognized as a woman, you not only have to be stronger than men, but you also have to know how to be virtuous.”
Sophie looked down at her upper body.
Two pieces of fat, or rather, armor covering her breasts, proving that she was a woman caught her eye.
Hilde patted her shoulder again.
“However, it won’t work if it’s too soft. You have to know how to give the right stick and carrot at the same time. So let’s go wake them up first.”
“Yes, Sir Bauman.”
Hilde walked quickly until she was right near the guards in her watchtower.
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The two fell asleep and didn’t hear any footsteps, and were still wandering in their dreams…
“Wake up! “What on earth are you doing while on guard duty?”
The guards who had been sleeping were startled by the loud voice containing Aura and opened their eyes.
The two people who looked in the direction the sound came from thought as they shed cold sweat.
‘We are really dead.’
If the person who woke them up had been at least a platoon commander or a platoon commander under Baron Custer, they could have ended up getting beaten up…
This is because a ‘knight’ who did not view the serfs as the same people would have a high probability of killing them.
“Sin, sin, sorry, sorry!”
As Hilde watched, she felt pity for those who participated in the battle and fought until all her stamina was exhausted, not only because she could not even eat properly, but also because she had to stand guard while on guard duty.
‘It’s so hard that I almost fall asleep.’
However, she did not show her emotions and continued to rant.
“Do you guys know what you just did? “It’s a shame that the enemy hasn’t attacked us even if we’re sleeping here right now. What kind of disaster do you think would have happened if the enemy had tried to attack us secretly?”
“Sorry!”
“You guys would probably have died right here, and if you were unlucky, the gate might have opened. Then we all, including Baron Custer, could have been captured or killed by the Medici army over there. “If you lose greatly in the war, your families and hometowns will be trampled upon.”
Those words reminded the guards.
When you lose a war and the mercenaries plunder your territory, the basic rule is to rob everything without leaving even the bare minimum of food, and when you meet even more vicious people…
This means that they will live a painful life by experiencing torture, rape, and being sold as slaves to the point where people would cry out for death.
“So, according to military law, if a person on guard duty falls asleep during a war, he or she will be beheaded, regardless of his or her status. “You know this, right?”
The serf guards nodded at those words.
“Sophie.”
With those words, when Hilde’s squire tried to subdue the serf guards, the guards knelt down and begged her with tears in their eyes.
“Please save me. What will my elderly mother and wife and children do when I die? “The children are still young, so they cannot inherit the right to farm (the right to sharecrop as serfs).”
“Don’t you know very well what will happen to your wife and children?”
“Please save my wife and daughters from becoming prostitutes and falling into the trap of selling their bodies. Just give me one chance, just one chance…”
Then Hilde sighed as if she had no choice.
“According to military law, you should all be beheaded, but the Baron would not want your family to be unhappy. Because he is someone who cares about Young Ji-min. So, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it today and move on.”
In fact, Baron Custer is a person who does not care whether the serfs are unhappy or happy, but Hilde, a low-ranking knight, has never met the Baron up close and personal.
As her late father had taught her during his lifetime, she knew Baron Custer as a great lord who would always reward loyalty.
She then saw bruises and wounds on every corner of the serfs’ bodies.
“Looking at you, I can see that even though you are serfs, you did your best to fight for the Baron. If you win and return alive, you will receive a reward from the Baron.”
The serfs who heard those words were so moved that they shed tears.
Because they fell asleep while on guard duty, they had nothing to say even if their heads fell off, but the driver who not only saved their lives but also gave them warm words of encouragement.
This is because the emotion was so great that it cannot be expressed in words.
“Thank you, thank you, Sir…”
Hilde took off the cloth pouch she was wearing and handed it to her.
“These are biscuits and jerky. It’s best to eat well when you’re injured and tired, so share it with us when you return from guard duty. “Let’s go now, Sophie.”
As I hurried my steps, I could continue to hear the cries of the serfs behind me.
Hilde looked back at her for a moment and smiled.
“Sophie, my father always told me when I was young. “Even though they are serfs, they are Deus’s precious children, so he told us to win their hearts instead of just whipping them because we think they are lowly.”
“Is that so?”
A smile spread across Hilde’s face as she talked about her revered father.
“That’s right. So, although my father could only reach the level of intermediate Auror, he was a true knight who was respected by the soldiers and serfs under his command.”
She thought of her father, who passed away five years ago.
My father enjoyed sweating and training with the soldiers, and even though his income was small, he worked hard to make sure the soldiers did not go hungry.
A unique person who, as a knight, stopped the village chief or officials when they tried to collect too much tax and took the side of the serfs.
“So, during the harvest season, the serfs would bring generous gifts to my father, such as cheese, raspberries, and freshly harvested wheat flour, to express their gratitude. “On big holidays every year, soldiers would save up their pay and give a thoughtful gift to my father.”
Her father, who was truly respected by his serfs and soldiers, was someone she aspired to be like.
“Thanks to this, even though my father’s level was low, he was always active in the war. “He may not have been a great performer, but he never returned empty-handed.”
However, in order to move up from a low-level knight to a ‘middle-level knight’, you had to make a remarkable achievement to stand out at least once, so her father always remained a ‘low-level knight’…
She truly respected her father, who was respected by everyone and always fought well.
“I wanted to be like my father, so I didn’t neglect training. As a result, I was able to become an expert beginner at a younger age than others.”
Sophie listened intently to the story of her past, which she had heard many times, as if it were her first time hearing it.
‘No matter how many times I hear it, he is truly an amazing person. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for a female knight to be this active.’
Hilde stretched out her right hand to the sky and clenched her fist.
There was a calm smile on her lips.
“And now I have a chance to prove my abilities to my lord.”
Sophie put the words that suddenly came to her mouth.
“What will you do if the Baron does not recognize Lord Bauman? “Because she is a woman.”
Hilde, who had been smiling softly just a moment ago, clenched her teeth.
Not being recognized for her abilities was very upsetting to her, who had lived with her father’s teachings focused solely on her loyalty to her baron, rather than her self-interests such as success or fame. Because it was painful.
“Even so, I am a low-ranking knight of the Baron Custer family. “It may be painful and disappointing not to be recognized, but how could I not be loyal to this family?”
While they were talking like that, several knights spotted Hilde and pointed their spears at her and said,
“Junior Knight Hilde Baumann is under arrest on suspicion of betraying Baron Custer.”
Without her knowledge, she was brought before her baron.