Chapter 184. Childhood Friend – Hypocrite
“It’s slippery. Watch your step.”
In the forest. Lev warned the fifty warriors who followed him. The barbarian warriors nodded silently.
The mountain was covered with damp leaves that had been soaked in snow all winter. The fallen leaves served as compost, and fresh, light green buds were sprouting in the spring.
Lev and his warriors walked quietly through the muddy, sloping forest. After walking for a while, Lev’s eyes caught sight of a mountain hideout.
[Achievement: Mountain Hideout Occupation – You can find bandit hideouts more easily.]
This was an achievement obtained from a previous session of the Childhood Friend scenario. When climbing mountains, Lev could easily find the bandits’ hideouts, which also served as strategic points for the battling soldiers.
“It’s always amazing, isn’t it? How does the boss find these spots every time?”
Lieutenant Cesar marveled. He ordered the warriors to clear the hideout and whistled to call Sinis. He notified the main forces of the location of this point.
– Beep!
Sinis flapped his wings frequently in response to his master’s increasing requests. Cesar’s handwriting on Sinis’s back was scribbled and crooked.
Leo did not respond. He looked around the emptied bandit hideout, startled by the sudden war, and assigned positions for the warriors to stand guard.
After getting a brief update from Leo, Lev immediately joined the army of Commander Guidan on the western front.
He met and led the warriors sent by each tribe to the Guidan territory, but their numbers were much smaller than expected.
Three thousand six hundred.
Even this included the seven hundred warriors from the Meiwa tribe that Lev had brought. He had boasted to Prince Leo that ten thousand would come, but he was embarrassed.
When asked why there were so few, the explanations from the main warriors of each tribe were as follows:
The tribes Lev had visited personally had sent the agreed number. However, the tribes contacted by the chiefs without Lev’s presence were suspicious of Lev’s identity and hesitated to send warriors.
“But at least we have the most passionate warriors here. Perhaps it’s fortunate that the weak ones didn’t come.”
Chief warrior of the Dwiner tribe, which Lev visited first, tried to console him. But Lev sighed internally.
Wars are fought with numbers, not just bravery.
Although Lev had expected the number to decrease somewhat upon arrival at Guidan’s territory, he was shocked that only three thousand six hundred had come. The only saving grace was that the Norangde tribe had sent the initially promised number.
Lev felt ashamed of his {Martial Training} ability. He couldn’t meet the gaze of the chief warrior who led the Norangde tribe, who was a woman.
Nevertheless, the war progressed smoothly. Contrary to the predicted arduous battle, the rebellion prospered thanks to Leo’s efforts and the participation of many nobles.
News spread that Princes Aeton and Algeo de Lognum had used their royal guards to attack Marquis Guidan’s mansion, causing some nobles in the princes’ faction to defect.
They didn’t necessarily follow the debauched princes because they liked them, but many did so out of lack of alternatives or were swept into the princes’ divides.
Moreover, the two border lords guarding the north and east, Marquis Guidan and Marquis Drageen, had standing armies ready to be deployed. A formidable force of forty thousand elite soldiers pointed their swords toward the capital, Nevis.
The Lognum royal family urgently issued a conscription order, and farmers who should have been planting crops in the spring donned armor.
Of course, this didn’t mean that the rebel forces could advance unhindered. Even hastily mobilized soldiers blocked their path, and most crucially…
The Royal Knights held them back.
Over three hundred knights. Not just subpar knights serving under nobles but the strongest force of the kingdom.
When such knights paired up and concealed themselves in the forest, the army found it difficult to advance.
Our magical power was superior, but since the enemies also had magicians, we had to split our forces. Larger groups of soldiers were easy prey for the pairs of knights.
“We should increase the number of soldiers per squad.”
This was Lev’s suggestion.
As a general commanding the barbarian warriors, Lev proposed at the command meeting to bundle soldiers in groups of twenty or thirty instead of ten. He based his argument on the fact that there seemed to be no more than two magicians on the opposing side.
“I asked the magicians. While six of ours take turns lighting up the battlefield with the ‘Cloud Eyes’ spell, it seems only one magician on the enemy’s side is maintaining a spell. They may not have an excess of magical resources.”
Even so, they couldn’t advance in a tight formation unless the enemy had no magicians at all.
“It is possible to have one wizard on reserve, but usually they rotate duties rather than maintaining the cloud cover alone. This prevents the mana load pattern from being easily detected… Anyway, if there’s no wizard deployed on the battlefield, we can afford to increase the squad size a bit. This would greatly reduce the damage inflicted by knights.”
The proposal was approved.
Lev went into the battlefield as a field commander. The number of knights present on the battlefield was nearly three times higher, and since Lev was unversed in warfare, he had nothing to do among the seasoned commanders.
“Cesar. I’m going to be away for a moment. Tell the thousand-man commander that…”
“Yes. I’ll inform him you’re off to hunt knights.”
The early-thirties Cesar saluted sarcastically. He wasn’t particularly strong-browed but had a broad one, thick earlobes which made him appear energetic. His skin was darker, giving the impression he was a warm person because of his constant smiling eyes, otherwise one might have thought of him as a serious type.
Yet Cesar wasn’t that kind of person at all, and he liked to stealthily joke about, making General Lev frown.
Never mind. I’ll scold him when I get back.
Lev changed his mind. Honestly, even if he berated him seriously, he wouldn’t heed it anyway, and he had no time for that.
A knight was nearby.
Following the direction given by {Tracking Skill}, Lev sprinted swiftly. He reassured the startled allies by shouting the password “Wild Garlic!” as he ran through the forest. He continued sprinting for quite a distance until he finally stopped.
Four knights were cautiously observing an allied squad’s movements.
So, they increased their numbers too.
Though he came to hunt knights that were prowling to attack squads, he’d never expected there to be four of them. {Tracking Skill} only revealed the ‘direction’ of one person each time it was used.
Four of them…
Feeling a bit of pressure, Lev decided to wait. Observing the knights who were observing the squad, he waited for a little while until they moved.
“Knights!”
Barbarian warriors shouted. Ordinarily, a messenger would have immediately dashed to call for reinforcements, but due to either inadequate training or some unnecessary warrior pride, they hesitated.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Lev waited for the clash…
[ Quest: Duelist 978/1000 – {Swordsmanship} skill level up. ]
He struck the back of a knight’s head. Joining the remaining warriors shouting “General!”, they together tackled the three remaining knights.
“You coward!”
A knight whom he had seen before shouted in rage. He remembered slicing this knight in half once when he was an apostle of Barbatos.
Sorry, but I’m not a knight, and unlike you who learns something from their many duels between life and death, my swordsmanship skills are fixed and don’t change. Prioritizing efficiency is just the way to go.
Just like the war between the Kingdom of Belita and the Kingdom of Austin, the Crusade declared they wouldn’t intervene in this civil war that broke out in this kingdom.
With no priests to provide healing on the battlefield, it would be very troublesome if I became overconfident in {Swordsmanship.5v: Forte Style} and ended up getting injured.
Lev pointed his sword at the furious knight. While the other two knights were fighting the warriors, he stretched his arm and connected his sword to his opponent’s blade.
Count Herman Forte’s swordsmanship.
This style of swordsmanship, skilled in hiding preliminary movements, was fundamentally thorough in basic techniques.
First, deceive the breath.
While taking a breath, he compressed his chest. Pretending he had no intention of attacking and merely probing his opponent, he reassured the enemy and then pushed off the ground with only his ankle strength.
While his opponent, startled by the sword suddenly at his nose, tried to parry, Lev twisted his knee. Shifting his center of gravity to the right, as the opponent’s sword was raised, he spun and delivered a back kick.
Following swiftly with Bart’s swordsmanship technique. Before his body had even fully turned, he released his right hand from the grip he held with both hands, swinging the sword downward with his left.
“Ugh!”
Still, he is a royal knight, I guess.
The opponent reacted. Dodging the kick, he saw the falling sword and retreated a step, resulting in a gash on his forearm.
But…
“Hiyah!”
A barbarian warrior was behind. His axe targeted the knight’s back, and in the instant the knight hastily turned and struck the warrior’s neck,
– Thrust!
Lev’s sword drove into the knight’s flank, shattering a rib and piercing the heart.
Ashamed, ‘Duelist’ notification popped up, but Lev hurried toward the next knight. After a brief period of clanging sounds, shouts, and cries, the warriors erupted in cheers.
[ Quest: Duelist 980/1000 – {Swordsmanship} skill level up. ]
Even if Lev had fought alone with four opponents, he would have eventually won. But with the added help of the warriors, fighting 3-to-1 initially guaranteed a quick resolution. Drawing upon previous experience, Lev endeavored to personally kill at least one enemy, but once again managed to miss one knight.
“What are the casualties?”
“Four warriors killed, three seriously injured, and seven lightly injured. A great victory! Had you not arrived, General, we…”
If I had just fought alone, none of them would have died.
Across the entire kingdom, only a few hundred people exist. Although he achieved the remarkable feat of capturing and killing four incredibly rare knights, Lev felt more guilt than joy. He was treated as a hero by the barbarians, yet felt like a hypocrite, knowing he had no interest in their liberation. No, he was a hypocrite. Lev did not smile. With a deeply furrowed brow, he ordered, “Bury the dead and transport the severely injured to the rear.”
Perhaps misunderstood, the ‘master-servant relationship’ achievement count increased by twenty. He felt extremely filthy.
Without even glancing at the mockingly surfacing message, Lev returned to his original place. “As expected of our leader! Back from a great fight, I see!” he ignored Cesar’s fussing.
“Sir… Captain?”
Cesar followed Lev as he collapsed into the camp. Though Cesar was a subordinate who seemed to live to tease the captain, he had the sense to stay away when Lev was in a foul mood.
The fact that Cesar had come in suggested that he had something to relay. “What is it?”
“A courier has arrived.”
Cesar handed over the letter with a formal demeanor. It was a letter from Prince Leo.
“Leave me.”
Cesar smacked his lips and exited. He wondered if their captain was exchanging letters with the leader of the rebels, Prince Leo, but closed the door silently.
The letter contained information about Sir Bart. It mentioned that Bart and his former guards had arrived. However, it also stated that Bart had simply left. ‘…Is it because of Marissa?’
Prince Leo seemed to think the same, as the letter continued with a similar notion. It appeared that Bart, separated a long time ago, went back because of his wife Marisa and his children.
What was odd, however, was that Bart had apparently sent back his second son, according to the guards. He promised to return after finishing his duties and asked to be forgiven for being an unworthy father, causing the guards to grow perplexed whether he’d changed his mind as he sought the Prince.
What a mess this game is… Lost in thought, Lev tucked the letter away. Since Leo sent it more as a reminder than asking for anything to be done, Lev lay down and reread the letter’s contents several times.
Around now, there must be a great commotion in the main camp. They would be praising General Lev’s exceptional achievements. The thought twisted his stomach. I am nothing but a vile hypocrite. In the dark and foul-smelling room of the mountain camp, Lev tossed and turned. Curling up, he eventually drifted off to sleep. Leah…
