WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
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◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈
Chapter 24: Camilla Fortress (1)
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The awards ceremony was over, and I had received my commission.
I thought all that remained was to head for Camilla Fortress, but contrary to expectations, Berun brought me some unexpected news.
“Training?”
“That is right. Headquarters issued separate orders. For the next ten days, you and Marcus will receive training from me.”
We would be taught the basic virtues expected of a commander and loyalty to the Empire. Normally, new centurions attended a separate training camp to learn such things, but thanks to Schultz’s consideration, ours would be handled in an abbreviated form.
As Marcus and I spent our time enduring the dull lessons, ten days passed before I knew it.
“That concludes all the training. Well done.”
“Thank you for everything.”
“You leave tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
Tomorrow, I would leave this place and head for Camilla Fortress with my soldiers.
Perhaps because it was our last day, Berun looked at me with a much gentler expression than usual.
“I pray that all goes well for you. Though I suppose I need not say that. I think you will manage just fine.”
Berun was the first superior in this world to believe in me.
We had not known each other long, but that did not make saying goodbye any less regrettable.
That was why I had thought long and hard about whether I should tell Berun about the Great Invasion when it came.
Even if I warned Berun, Berun might not believe me. And if things went wrong, the blame might fall on me.
So, the conclusion I reached was...
“Berun.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“At some point in the future, I will send you a letter. When that happens, can you promise to believe me without asking questions or demanding explanations?”
“Believe you without asking questions or demanding explanations?”
“Yes.”
I had worried that Berun might react negatively, but surprisingly, Berun said he would do as I asked.
“All right. I will.”
“...Aren’t you curious why I would ask such a thing?”
“Haha, you are the one who told me not to ask questions or demand explanations. I trust you will tell me when the time comes.”
Berun’s gaze did not waver in the slightest.
Berun trusted me more than I had thought.
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“It is nothing.”
To repay that trust, even a little, I vowed that I would save Berun.
The next day,
“Take care of yourself.”
“We will meet again if the opportunity arises.”
“Hehe, it is a shame to see you go.”
“Safe travels, Lord Ubel!”
“I am jealous, Max!”
Berun, Pellon, Supply Captain Mac, the soldiers I had worked with, and many others came to see us off.
“Thank you all for everything.”
After bidding farewell to all those with whom I had formed bonds, great and small, I turned away with my soldiers.
“Now that we are really leaving, I feel a little strange. Don’t you feel the same, Max?”
“Well, I...”
An unfamiliar voice joined their conversation.
“Haha, if there are meetings in life, there are also partings, are there not?”
“You sound like you have been reading books.”
“It is something I learned from the elders in my neighborhood when I was young.”
The voice belonged to none other than Carbin, a medic. Carbin had seemed quite sorry to hear I was leaving, so I asked Berun and brought Carbin along.
Despite appearances, Carbin had once been a regular soldier and was highly skilled in herbalism and medicine, a very, very high-grade talent. I had begged Berun before I finally received permission to bring Carbin.
‘There is no downside to having a proper medic instead of some back-alley hack.’
But perhaps because we had always kept to ourselves, an awkward mood settled over the soldiers when a new face joined us.
Carbin seemed to notice it too and spoke first with an easy smile.
“Come to think of it, we all know each other by sight, but we have never properly introduced ourselves. Ah! Centurion Marcus and I have seen each other often, have we not?”
“...That is right.”
Marcus’s face was strangely stiff.
‘Hmm, that is odd.’
Marcus was shy around strangers, but never to that extent. Why was Marcus acting like that?
As I tilted my head at Marcus’s reaction, Carbin began introducing themself to the others.
“My name is Carbin. I used to belong to the medical corps. We are part of the same family now, so please feel free to treat me casually.”
“If you say so...”
The soldiers, who had been watching each other carefully, began speaking one by one.
“I am Martin. I have served the longest here after that one-eyed guy, so ask me anything if there is something you want to know.”
“I am Jackson. I am good at gathering herbs, so let me know whenever you need something.”
“I am...”
After everyone had introduced themself, it was finally Max’s turn.
“I do not need to introduce myself, do I?”
“I often heard rumors about you in the medical corps, Max. They said that when your left eye was damaged, you thought it would be a waste to throw it away and chewed it up.”
“What?! Which bastard is spreading that kind of bullshit?!”
“What? The soldiers who came to the medical corps definitely said...”
Pfft!
“Hehe, now you are eating eyeballs too?”
“Shut up, you bastards.”
Watching everyone quickly grow comfortable with one another put my mind at ease.
‘More importantly, Max is not Xiahou Dun. Who started the rumor that he chewed up his own eyeball?’
Hmm. Considering Max’s usual behavior, there were far too many suspects to narrow it down.
‘It could even have been one of these guys.’
I watched the soldiers bicker with Max.
“So, what did the eyeball taste like?”
“What did you say, bastard? Eat one yourself if you are so curious!”
“W-Wait, I surrender! I surrender!!”
“Die! Die, you rotten bastard!!”
“Argh!”
Max choked Martin while shaking him, while the others roared with laughter at the sight.
I had worried they might feel uneasy about going somewhere unfamiliar, but thankfully, everyone seemed to be doing fine.
＊＊＊＊＊
Ermil, the territory where Camilla Fortress was located, was warmer than the North and colder than the East.
Though it was one of the Imperial Crown’s directly administered territories, it had been neglected for so long that all it had were rundown frontier settlements and a few slash-and-burn villages.
There was nothing here but people, so even nobles did not covet the place.
That was good news for me. The moment people learned this was a precious piece of land, greedy nobles would swarm in like dogs.
“Lord Ubel, over there!”
“Is that Camilla Fortress?”
Four days after leaving the Elnes Mountains, we finally arrived at Camilla Fortress.
‘It truly deserves to be called a natural fortress.’
Mountains stood like walls on both sides, with thick gates built between them.
I considered how many troops would be needed to take that fortress head-on.
‘Assuming there are five hundred defenders, they would need at least four or five thousand soldiers.’
To think the barbarians had taken a fortress like this.
It was so absurd that I could not even curse.
As I approached the fortress entrance while lost in thought, the soldiers on the wall shouted down.
“Halt! This is Camilla Fortress. Identify yourself!”
“I am Ubel Graum, the commander of five hundred newly assigned to Camilla Fortress. Open the gates.”
“P-Please wait a moment.”
Rumble!
The gates opened, revealing the inside of the fortress.
As I stepped inside, the man who had been on the wall hurried over and saluted me.
“Sir! Centurion Jason greets the new lord of the fortress.”
“Lord of the fortress?”
“Ah, my apologies. Around here, we call the highest commander of Camilla Fortress its lord.”
“That is fine. Can you show me inside?”
“Yes! Please follow me.”
As we followed Jason, Ren let out an exclamation.
“The inside of the fortress is clean.”
“You are right. It seems better maintained than I expected.”
“The previous commander must have been a decent person.”
A decent previous commander?
“Well...”
“Yes?”
“It is nothing.”
The barracks prepared for the soldiers, storage buildings for supplies and equipment, even a fairly spacious training ground.
Just as the soldiers had said, the fortress interior was laid out neatly.
So did that mean things were fine?
It was a little more complicated than that.
‘As far as I know, the commander in charge here is not a very clean person.’
As if to prove it, Marcus noticed something suspicious and whispered to me.
“Lord Ubel, something is strange. There are... too few soldiers.”
“I know.”
A fortress that should have housed five hundred soldiers had only forty or fifty walking around.
One might assume the rest were resting in the barracks, but I knew the truth.
‘It is nothing new.’
I had known since deciding to come here, and it was the first problem I had resolved to deal with.
‘The important thing is how to handle the man responsible for all this.’
I would decide that after seeing his reaction.
At the inner keep in the center of the fortress, Jason stopped.
“This is the office. The lord of the fortress is waiting inside, so please go in.”
“All right. Marcus, wait here with the others.”
For an instant, I gave a subtle wink where no one else could see. Marcus nodded with a grave expression.
“As you command.”
I left my soldiers outside the door and entered the office, where a man greeted me.
“Haha, welcome. My name is Perez Ritz.”
This middle-aged man, with his plump build and face full of wrinkles, was Perez Ritz, my predecessor and the man called the lord of the fortress.
“My name is Ubel Graum.”
“Are you from the East?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it seems you are from the same region as me. It is good to meet you.”
Names varied by region in the Empire, and Ubel and Perez were both Eastern-style names.
Although Camilla Fortress stood on the border between the North and the East, it was nominally under Northern jurisdiction. I wondered why he was serving in the North when he had not been dragged there as a penal soldier like me, but I did not ask.
“I have been waiting for you.”
“My apologies for keeping you waiting. I hurried as much as I could, but the Elnes Mountains are a long way from here.”
“Haha, it is fine. These things happen. Shall we begin, then?”
“Yes.”
The reason Perez, the previous commander, remained here was to hand over his duties to me.
I accepted the documents and account books he handed over and read through them one by one.
They contained various information, including the number of soldiers, the current supply situation, and the dates when supplies would arrive at the fortress.
Rustle.
“Hmm, there are fewer documents than I expected.”
“Camilla Fortress is so peaceful that people say damage from mountain beasts is more frequent than damage from barbarians. What documents would there be to write besides regular reports in a place like this?”
“I see.”
The barbarians did not invade despite sharing a border with us.
Should I be glad about that or not?
‘Still, now that I have checked the account books myself, I know for certain.’
Did he think he could take advantage of me because I was young?
Or did he think this was common enough that I would let it slide?
‘Whew...’
I sighed inwardly and put down the stack of documents.
“I have checked everything for now.”
“You can ask the soldiers about duty assignments and patrol instructions. Then...”
Perez rose from his chair.
“I should be on my way.”
“Already?”
“Haha, I have served here for over five years, so I am sick to death of fortresses. I have been assigned to the staff corps this time, so I plan to stretch my legs and rest there.”
“Stretch your legs and rest. That sounds nice.”
“Yes, someday you too...”
“But even if you’re leaving, cough up everything you’ve been secretly stuffing your face with before you go, will you?”
He recoiled in alarm, as if he had no idea what I meant.
“Hm? Cough it up? What are you talking about?!”
“Do you truly not understand, or are you pretending not to?”
“I-I have no idea what you are talking about. More importantly, you just said to me...!”
“I mean you should hand over all the money you made from selling the supplies and equipment you embezzled. If we reinspect all the soldiers’ equipment and supplies, the truth will come out anyway, so do not bother making excuses.”
I already knew this bastard’s nature from the game.
‘They said he oppressed the other soldiers alongside the sycophants who followed him in the fortress, siphoned off their supplies and equipment, and made money on the side. Probably?’
He had effectively taken control of the fortress by treating a small group of soldiers as his private troops, imprisoning the others and exploiting them.
How did I know that?
Because this bastard’s bullshit was the reason Camilla Fortress fell during the Great Invasion.
Perez Ritz, the previous commander of Camilla Fortress.
He was the man responsible for ruining Camilla Fortress.
And he was the first matter I had to deal with in this fortress.
Footnotes:
Xiahou Dun was a Three Kingdoms general who is popularly said to have swallowed his own eye after being struck by an arrow.
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