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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“Get up! Quickly, form ranks!”
Dreng, the mercenary captain, following my orders, yelled at his lounging subordinates. They reluctantly got up, their faces etched with annoyance.
While they might look like a disorganized rabble, I knew from experience that they were worth their pay in battle.
As the camp bustled with activity, a figure moved stealthily through the camp, hiding behind tents like a thief.
It was someone fully armored and wearing a helmet with a visor, their face completely concealed.
Despite their efforts, the mercenaries recognized them. The expensive equipment, something most mercenaries couldn’t afford, gave them away.
“Whistle—”
The mercenaries whistled suggestively. The fully armored figure trembled and glared at them, and the mercenaries, as if nothing had happened, looked away and moved on.
It wasn’t an isolated incident. The figure finally reached me, grinding their teeth.
“I’m going to kill them all. I swear I will.”
“They tease you because you react so fiercely. Stay calm. What’s so shameful about lovers sharing affection?”
“Being so openly affectionate is shameful!”
“And yet you were moaning so loudly last night…”
“Argh! Shut up!”
Fiore yelled, cutting me off. The mercenaries watching grinned even wider.
“See? That’s why they keep provoking you.”
“This is all your fault…!”
Her eyes narrowed sharply through her helmet’s visor. I pulled her into an embrace. The mercenaries whistled, and Fiore squirmed to escape my arms.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“I can make sure they never even look at you again If you want.”
“By… by killing them and sewing their mouths shut?! Don’t!”
I stared down at her, baffled.
“Do you think I’m some kind of butcher who enjoys killing people? I was just going to gouge out a few eyes as an example.”
“Are you insane?! These men have fought beside us for years!”
“A joke. Just a joke.”
I appeased Fiore and looked at the mercenaries, the smile I had worn while teasing Fiore gone.
While I understood their camaraderie with Fiore, I gave them a warning glare, reminding them to stay in line.
“Ahem…”
The grinning mercenaries quickly looked away and dispersed, as if nothing had happened.
They had remembered my prowess in the last battle and my infamous reputation, which had spread throughout the region. The commotion quickly died down as they relayed my message to their comrades.
Soon, the mercenaries formed ranks. Fiore and I, mounted, took our place at the front.
The Melbon militia was waiting for us in formation on the main road leading to the village. Their numbers seemed to have doubled since yesterday.
“Have they already received reinforcements?”
“The mounted ones are wearing gambesons. They’ve just rounded up every man in the village.”
“They must think they have a chance because of our small numbers.”
“Foolish. To think a mere militia could stop us.”
They seemed unaware that a single knight could easily dispatch several unskilled militiamen. Moreover, we had two knights and twenty elite mercenaries.
“Your orders?”
“Minimize casualties.”
“Why? If we plan to loot, terrorizing them now would make future jobs easier.”
Fiore was advocating for instilling fear for the sake of smoother plundering operations.
While she had been all coquettish moans and playful teasing in my arms, Fiore, once on the battlefield, was as bloodthirsty as any knight.
Perhaps that was why I felt a greater sense of conquest when I had her.
“W-Why are you looking at me like that? All of a sudden?”
Fiore suddenly covered her chest with her arm and stepped back. They say the eyes are the window to the soul. It seemed my inner thoughts had been reflected in my gaze.
“How am I looking at you?”
“Like… like yesterday. Like a pervert.”
“Then you saw correctly.”
Fiore quickly glanced around. Fortunately, my earlier warning seemed to have been effective, as none of the mercenaries were paying attention to us.
After confirming this, Fiore whispered, just loud enough for me to hear,
“Aren’t you a bit too… easily aroused? Let’s be mindful of the time and place. I’ll take care of you later…”
“So you’re not saying no?”
“Ugh…”
“Well, you were the one who pounced on me at dawn, weren’t you?”
“I-I’m going ahead!”
Unable to bear the embarrassment, Fiore spurred her horse and charged. I chuckled and raised my sword, yelling at the soldiers,
“It’s time to plunder!”
There was no need for a speech. The soldiers cheered and followed me.
Fiore, having charged ahead, was tearing through the enemy formation. The fifty or so militiamen, formed in a shallow horizontal line ten ranks deep, couldn’t stop her, and their formation was collapsing.
This was the power of a knight. It was foolish enough to think a militia could stand against a knight.
“Hyah!”
I wasn’t idle either. I created an opening with my newfound stone-throwing skill and charged through. As a crude wooden spear thrust towards me, I deflected it with my sword and decapitated its owner.
I parried a flail aimed at my horse’s head and, to prevent a second attempt, severed the wielder’s arm.
“Agh!! My arm!”
The soldier collapsed, clutching his bleeding arm. My horse stomped on him with its foreleg. I heard no more screams.
Maintaining my balance by gripping the pommel of my saddle, I swung my sword horizontally, decapitating a soldier wielding a club.
Having neutralized three enemies in quick succession, the remaining militiamen wavered.
“I-I don’t want to die!”
One turned and fled, and the wavering intensified. The militiamen, exchanging glances, began to retreat.
“Hold the line! Hold the line! Reinforcements are coming!”
Their commander’s shout briefly steadied them… until Fiore lunged, decapitating him.
“The enemy commander is dead!!”
Seeing their leader’s head impaled on Fiore’s blade, the militia dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves.
The battle was over before the mercenaries, who had been hurrying to catch up, even arrived.
It was an easy victory.
The plundering began immediately. As befitting a wealthy village, riches overflowed from every house we searched. We even had to discard some of the less valuable loot we had acquired from previous villages to make space.
Even after commandeering the village’s carts, we couldn’t carry everything. Thanks to this, the mercenaries didn’t mistreat the villagers.
‘They’re still our enemies, though.’
Fiore, who had gone scouting immediately after the battle, returned just as the plundering was nearing its end.
“Any reinforcements?”
The enemy commander, who had been identified as Baron Debussy’s tax collector, had claimed reinforcements were on their way. I had sent Fiore to scout because we would need to drastically alter our plans if that were true.
“None spotted. We’re safe today.”
“Baron Debussy sent a messenger to his capital two days ago,” interjected Captain Dreng, bowing.
“Did you interrogate the villagers?”
“Yes. I thought it necessary… Forgive my presumption. ”
Dreng bowed his head apologetically, having acted without orders.
Since the prisoner escape incident, his attitude had become much more serious, and he was now taking initiative, which was unusual for a mercenary.
Was he trying to keep his promise to repay my kindness with loyalty? Such mercenaries were one in a hundred. However, I would have to observe him further to determine if he was genuinely diligent or simply an opportunist.
“Report to me before acting next time.”
“Understood Sir.”
As Dreng withdrew, Fiore spoke.
“We should leave. The carts slow us down. If we delay, they’ll catch us.”
If that happened, we would not only lose all the loot we had gathered but also have to worry about our lives.
“We depart tomorrow. But we need to meet with Sir Powell first.”
“Ah, finally collecting his ransom?”
“No. We’ll free him.”
“What…?”
Fiore was shocked, The man himself mirrored her shock when summoned.
“You’re releasing me?”
Powell Osborne, summoned to the command tent, looked at me incredulously.
“As agreed.”
“The deal was your subordinate would eliminate my political rival. Yet you’ve neither met nor instructed them…”
“I reconsidered. Cutting out the middleman seemed wiser.”
Powell Osborne’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re arrogant. Do you really think I won’t keep my deal?”
“Would the ‘Fox of the Battlefield’ pass up a chance to avenge his defeat and cripple his enemy’s forces?”
Moreover, if he revealed that Bolton and the other vassals had conspired to kill me, he could sow discord within our ranks.
It was an offer Powell Osborne couldn’t refuse.
“What’s your angle?”
“Am I obligated to tell you? Decide, accept or decline?”
“What if I decline?”
That was the problem with intelligent people. They were overly confident in their own intelligence and believed they had options even in the worst-case scenarios.
I made it clear that this wasn’t an offer, but an ultimatum.
“I suppose I’ll have to make the same offer to Djak.”
If Djak managed to reverse Powell Osborne’s defeat, he would gain enough power to threaten his young great-nephew’s position as heir.
Moreover, if I delayed the return of the prisoners, that threat would only grow stronger. Powell Osborne knew this.
“You…!”
“Choose.”
It was an offer, or rather, a threat, that Powell Osborne couldn’t refuse.
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“Bolton’s forces are lying in ambush at the border between the two territories.”
A contingency for my return. Thanks to regular intelligence from Muel, who’d infiltrated Bolton’s ranks, I knew their every move.
“If you’ve lied, your death won’t be quick.”
Powell Osborne, still suspicious of my motives, departed.
After seeing him off, I didn’t return to camp immediately. Instead, I went into the nearby forest and retrieved the pouch I always kept close.
Inside was the orange crystal I had taken from the ancient ruins.
I placed the crystal on the ground, and the earth, turning into a swamp-like substance, swallowed it whole. I turned and walked away, leaving behind the ordinary-looking ground, the crystal now gone without a trace.
‘I hope the timing is right.’
The goblins generated by the artifact would emerge from the dungeon once their numbers exceeded a certain limit.
I thought about the next war. Powell Osborne wasn’t one to back down. He would undoubtedly seek to avenge his defeat.
This was a contingency plan for that time.
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Bolton and his vassals’ forces were lying in ambush in the forests flanking the main road connecting the two territories. Deeper in the forest were several wagons piled high with plunder.
Despite there being only three or four territories belonging to Ailgar’s supporters in this area, the amount of loot was substantial.
It showed how thoroughly they had plundered the area.
Despite this, their expressions were grim. They hadn’t received any news of Powell Osborne’s victory over Allen.
“Damn it! What’s that Powell fellow doing?! If this goes wrong…”
Just as one of them voiced his concerns, a scout returned.
“He’s returning!”
The vassals paled at the mention of my return. They’d seen my prowess firsthand.
“How many? How many troops does he have?”
Bolton asked calmly.
“Fewer than twenty. No carts—likely lost.”
“Really…?”
The vassals’ expressions brightened. Bolton’s grim face relaxed as well.
“Sir Powell must’ve crushed them. They’re fleeing. ”
“But twenty is still…”
Our forces barely numbered twenty, even including the vassals. With Allen and Fiore on the enemy’s side, victory wasn’t assured.
Bolton silenced the doubts.
“That’s why we’re ambushing them. Their morale must be low after their defeat, so they’ll scatter and flee once they realize they’ve been ambushed.”
“Hmm…”
“Don’t get any ideas. Our only hope of survival now is to kill him and frame him for everything. Do you all understand?”
As Bolton addressed his comrades, the scout quietly slipped away.
Muel, positioned at the edge of the ambush, ready to flee if necessary, was waiting for him.
“What happened?”
“Thirty elite soldiers. And three knights leading them. Moreover, they don’t seem to have seen any combat.”
It was completely different from what he had told the vassals.
“Ha… It’s going exactly as Master Allen planned.”
Muel’s expression turned grim. Thirty elite soldiers and three knights were far superior to our forces.
Moreover, if Allen’s plan was proceeding as intended, they would be aware of the ambush.
We had no chance of winning.
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Checkmate!♟️
Thanks Teot!