Veteran of the Northern Front - Chapter 10

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Asakusa

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈

Chapter 10: Escort Mission (3)

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Their outrageous words may have wounded my tender(?) heart, but it did not matter.

Those regulars over there would punish them for me.

“Fire!”

“Urk!”

“D-dodge!”

At Pellon’s command, the regular soldiers carrying bows loosed their arrows.

Thanks to the unexpected performance from my squad and me, which split the enemy’s forces, they were able to handle them without much difficulty.

“Damn it...!”

“You bastards! Aren’t you just penal soldiers?!”

The mercenaries erupted in anger as their comrades fell one after another.

The penal soldiers they had underestimated had put over ten of their comrades out of action and tied down as many as twenty mercenaries. No wonder they were losing their minds.

Their plan must have been to quickly deal with my squad and me, then take care of Pellon and the regular soldiers.

‘Do we look like we’ll just get shoved around and blown away?’

They had underestimated us too much.

‘It might have been different if they were war mercenaries accustomed to melees, but...’

I had been certain from the moment I saw them hesitate after their initial plan went wrong.

They were no different from a band of thieves who had never experienced real war.

How could mercenaries, who chased money and ran without hesitation when their lives were in danger, compare to Northern soldiers who fought barbarians to the death day after day in freezing weather?

The enemy seemed to have accounted for that when preparing their ambush.

But once I saw through their plan, they had no chance of winning.

‘Now I can slowly drag things out and reduce their numbers. It won’t be hard to finish them off.’

However...

Perhaps because our response had been too effective?

The cornered mercenaries and Genn made one last desperate attempt.

“Open the wagons!”

“Yes?!”

“Open the convoy wagons and take the penal soldiers inside hostage!”

That crazy bastard.

Pellon’s expression turned urgent at Genn’s shout.

“Stop them from reaching the wagons!”

“Y-yes, sir.”

Pellon hurried to defend the wagons, but the mercenaries were faster.

Creak...

They opened the wagon doors and dragged out the new recruits inside.

“What are you doing? Want to die?”

“Get out here already!”

Threatened by mercenaries with swords, the new recruits had no choice but to come out.

“If you don’t want to see these bastards die, throw down your weapons right now!”

“Hoo, those fucking bastards...”

“Why? Can’t we just ignore them and kill them all?”

“We could. But then our heads would roll too.”

Max looked unable to understand.

“Yes?? What do you mean? They’re penal soldiers just like us. The unit won’t care whether they live or die.”

“What matters is not that they’re penal soldiers. What matters is that if those recruits die, our mission fails.”

The military was an organization that valued honor and reputation.

No matter the circumstances, if a mission failed, someone had to take responsibility.

‘Considering who is here...’

There was a high chance I would become the scapegoat.

Punishing a penal soldier rather than a regular soldier would look better both procedurally and publicly.

Someone might say, “Surely not, after all the goodwill you’ve built with Berun.”

But no matter how highly Berun thought of me, if orders came down from above, he would have no choice but to accept them.

‘Besides, are they really trying to survive even if it means killing the penal soldiers they were planning to sell? Their survival instincts really are like cockroaches.’

But did they know?

That among the hostages they had taken was a monster they could not handle?

“Want to see these bastards die?”

“Throw down your weapons now. Otherwise... Urk!”

Just as the enemies used the hostages to demand our disarmament, one of the new recruits slammed his head into the face of the mercenary holding him by the neck.

Then the recruit swiftly snatched the mercenary’s sword and cut the rope binding his hands.

“W-what the hell do you think you’re doing...?”

Despite the recruit breaking free alone in the middle of the enemy lines, not a single mercenary rushed him.

They were overwhelmed by the air surrounding the recruit.

“Diverting penal soldiers to sell as slaves was not enough. When things turned against you, you took hostages as well.”

The recruit scanned their surroundings, then picked up a spear and a sword from the ground.

“You truly are people without even a shred of honor.”

Blue hair fluttering in the wind, the recruit held a sword in the left hand and a spear in the right.

The recruit was none other than Marcus, whom I had waited so long for.

Having recognized the mercenaries as enemies, Marcus went wild like a tiger freed from its leash.

“W-what the hell is this bastard... Urk!”

“Die, you bastard!”

Marcus pierced the throat of the mercenary directly in front with a sword, then spun and struck the face of an enemy approaching from behind with the spear in the other hand.

Crunch!

A body crumpled along with the sound of a crushed nose bone.

Two people fell in the blink of an eye, and the enemies rushed in with furious shouts.

“That one’s alone! Just beat him to death!”

“Aaargh!”

They took comfort in their numerical advantage, but...

‘Idiots.’

What pack of rabbits could ever defeat a wolf?

Stab!

“Urk!”

“Grom! A brat like this...!”

Marcus pierced an approaching enemy with a spear, then deflected the attack of another mercenary coming from behind with a sword.

His prowess was the very embodiment of offense and defense as one.

The mercenaries were swept away like fallen leaves in an autumn wind.

Realizing this was our best chance, I immediately shouted to Pellon.

“Sir Pellon, now! We need to wipe out the enemy in one stroke.”

“Understood. Everyone, break formation and slaughter those damned bandits!”

While Marcus disrupted the enemy from within, we charged in fiercely.

The mercenaries, thrown into confusion, could not stop the soldiers rushing at them.

“D-damn it!”

As the battle turned irreversibly against them, Genn immediately turned and tried to flee down the snowy road.

Unfortunately for Genn, I had no intention of letting them go.

Whoosh!

I threw a hand axe with all my strength.

Crunch!

The axe tore through the air and struck Genn squarely in the back.

“Urk!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Ugh...”

I planted my foot on Genn’s head and turned my gaze toward the soldiers who had colluded with Genn.

“Are you planning to flee like this bastard too?”

“N-no!”

“We surrender! Please, spare our lives...!”

The soldiers threw down their weapons without hesitation and sprawled face-down on the ground. Seeing a large man like me threatening them with an axe fit for barbarians probably looked quite frightening.

I called over several members of my squad to bind them, then looked toward the remaining mercenaries.

‘Their spirit is completely broken. This will be over soon.’

Still...

‘Has Marcus already awakened mana?’

I inwardly clicked my tongue at the sight of Marcus tearing through the enemies in every direction.

After sparring with Berun countless times, I could now vaguely tell whether someone was a mana user.

‘Marcus’s mana isn’t manifesting outside Marcus’s body like Berun’s, so Marcus probably only awakened mana recently, but...’

Marcus was currently eighteen years old. Considering those called geniuses on the continent usually awakened mana in their early twenties, Marcus’s talent was frightening.

Had Berun not said that he only awakened mana after passing his mid-twenties?

‘They made someone this gifted into a penal soldier for insulting a noble?’

I really wanted to see the face of whoever had done it.

Not long after Genn was captured, the situation was resolved.

Out of more than fifty mercenaries, only fifteen surrendered.

The rest were either dead or fled without looking back once defeat became obvious.

On the other hand, apart from twelve wounded soldiers, our side had suffered no significant losses. It would not be an exaggeration to call it an overwhelming victory.

All that remained was to bind the surrendered mercenaries and free the people who had been unjustly imprisoned.

Then an unexpected problem arose.

“H-hey, you! Put down your weapon and get back into the wagon.”

“...”

The regular soldiers surrounded Marcus, who still stood silently with his spear in hand, and ordered him to return to the convoy wagon.

Having just witnessed his prowess with their own eyes, they were wary that he might try to escape.

The atmosphere was tense.

Pellon was about to say something when I stepped forward first.

“Haha, everyone, calm down.”

“Ubel, you...”

“This friend is probably just confused.”

I approached Marcus with a friendly expression and casually grabbed his spear shaft.

Marcus frowned and tried to shake me off, but I tightened my grip around it.

Squeeze!

Marcus looked startled by my abnormal strength, and I smiled before turning toward Pellon.

“Sir Pellon, this new recruit only stepped in because he could not stand seeing people who knew nothing of honor. Surely you don’t think he had any strange intentions? Isn’t that right?”

“...”

I knew Marcus very well.

Marcus valued honor above all else.

Even in the game, Marcus’s loyalty would drop if Marcus was given an order that lacked honor.

As if proving it, I felt Marcus’s hand twitch at the mention of honor.

Marcus had become a penal soldier for an absurd reason, so Marcus must have been considering whether to submit quietly or escape.

What I had just given Marcus was a warning.

‘If you don’t want to become someone without honor, don’t make a scene. Just go quietly.’

Fortunately, Marcus understood what I meant and set the spear down.

Thud!

“Do you want me to get back in the wagon?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Marcus climbed back into the wagon he had ridden in.

Marcus’s hands were no longer bound, but Pellon let that much slide.

Once the commotion caused by Marcus was settled, we immediately prepared to return.

“Bind every soldier who colluded with the mercenaries and load them into the convoy wagons.”

“Yes, sir!”

The number of people we needed to take back had suddenly increased, and we nearly ran out of space. But once we freed the slaves who had been imprisoned, the wagons quickly became spacious.

“Th-thank you, soldier.”

“Thank you so much for saving us.”

“There are many wild beasts nearby, so I’ll assign two soldiers to you. You two!”

“Yes, sir!”

Pellon pointed to two regular soldiers under his command.

“You will guide the people who were held captive to the nearest territory, explain the situation to the guard, and request aid.”

“Yes, understood!”

Once the two soldiers left with the former captives, Pellon called out to the rest.

“The remaining personnel will now return to the unit.”

“Understood!”

After the eventful escort mission, it was finally time to return.

We had been delayed far longer than expected, and I worried we might not make it back before the end of the day. Fortunately, we reached the unit before sunset.

“I need to report to Sir Berun, so Ubel, lead the new recruits to the supply corps.”

“Understood.”

Taking Pellon’s place, I led the new recruits to the supply corps as soon as we arrived at the unit.

“Hey, they’re back!”

“Wow, there are quite a few this time.”

Penal soldiers emerged one by one, prowling around like hyenas. It looked like they had all come out to see the new recruits.

“But what’s with the state of some of them?”

“Maybe they got beaten on the way here.”

“They’re bleeding too.”

“Do you think those bastards tried to run away?”

The people who had remained at the unit had not yet heard what happened outside, so they tilted their heads at the mercenaries mixed in with the new recruits.

Ignoring the whispers around us, I stopped the wagons in front of the supply corps, where Mac greeted me.

“Oh! Ubel, did it go well?”

“...Hahaha, well...”

Mac studied the wagons for a moment with a puzzled look. Once Mac noticed there were more people than expected, Mac frowned.

“Something must have happened.”

“That is correct. Squad Commander Pellon should be reporting to the hundred-man commander by now.”

“Hm. Well, that is for the hundred-man commander to handle. Let us do our own work.”

Mac was completely right.

“I’ll line up the new recruits first.”

“Please do.”

Leaving the surrendered mercenaries and soldiers alone for the moment, I opened the wagon door where the new recruits had been confined.

“Everyone, get out and line up in front of the barracks.”

Perhaps because of the crowd that had gathered around them, the new recruits hesitantly lined up in front of the barracks.

Once all of them had climbed down, the penal soldiers around them erupted in cheers.

“Waaaah!”

“You sons of bitches! Welcome to hell!”

“You would have been better off freezing to death on the way here, but you crawled here anyway!”

“Come on, let’s bet supplies on who among those recruits dies first.”

“Puhahaha! I’m betting on that idiot-looking one.”

“I’m picking that lanky one. That one looks slow at a glance.”

Surprisingly, this was the Northern penal soldiers’ unique welcome ceremony.

From another perspective, it was also a trick to crush the new recruits’ spirits from the very beginning.

It could be called childish.

But it was surprisingly effective.

“Ugh...”

With the skin-cutting cold and jeers pouring down from every direction, the new recruits trembled and lowered their heads. The more they did, the more excited the penal soldiers became, raising their voices even further.

“Haha! Look at them all drooping like that!”

“Are your dicks even attached properly?!”

“But what’s with that guy? Why is he the only one holding his head up?”

The recruit who alone stood straight without being intimidated by the others was none other than Marcus.

“Hm, that one looks useful...”

“He’s got guts. His face looks a little irritating, but he’s well-built, so he must be pretty strong too.”

The ten-person squad commanders among the penal soldiers eyed Marcus greedily at Marcus’s unshakable demeanor, but none of their wishes could come true.

Because...

“I heard Sir Berun told you to personally select a new recruit for your squad?”

“That is correct.”

“We’re assigning the recruits soon, so hurry up and pick one before then.”

“Thank you!”

I had already staked my claim to Marcus.

Since we had already met, I approached Marcus with a friendly expression and greeted him.

“Seeing you again?”

“...”

“My name is Ubel Graum.”

“...Marcus.”

“Thanks for earlier. Without your help, many of the new recruits would have died.”