WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈
Chapter 25: Camilla Fortress (2)
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I stared at him coldly.
“You thought you could just make the numbers look plausible and I’d let it slide? My eyes aren’t just for show. How could the inventory ledgers from two years ago be identical to the current ones, down to the last word?”
Anyone who had handled inventory inspections or managed a military supply depot would know how absurd this was.
The amount of supplies used by hundreds of people had remained exactly the same for two years?
If it was not a lie, Perez deserved to be called a god of supply management.
Faced with my sharp observation, Perez gave an awkward smile.
“Haha, it seems you don’t understand. This is Camilla Fortress’s custom. My predecessor did the same, and so did the predecessor before that. So why don’t we avoid making trouble and let it go?”
“Let it go?”
“If this blows up, regular inspections will start coming around, and we’ll never be able to line our pockets again. Since you’ve come to a position like this, shouldn’t you take a share too?”
“Oh?”
In other words, if I wanted a share, I should shut up and overlook it.
Perez had a point.
I would not live here forever. In a few years, I would be sent elsewhere. If I did not make some money now, when would I?
Even so, I could not tolerate it.
“You want to stretch out and rest easy?”
I snickered.
“I hear prisons these days are nice enough that you can at least stretch your legs.”
“Haah...”
The warmth vanished from the eyes of the man who had seemed like a kindly uncle.
“I thought a young man like you would be flexible. What a shame.”
“So you’re going to kill me and silence me?”
“Hehe. Kill you? How could you say such a thing? You have never even set foot in Camilla Fortress.”
What kind of bullshit was that?
“Are there only one or two bandits roaming freely across this Empire?”
“Ah, so you’ll cut off my head and make it look like bandits got me?”
What an inventive bastard.
As I marveled inwardly, he shook the bell sitting to one side of the office.
Ding!
It seemed he had arranged things with the soldiers before I arrived.
Ding! Ding!
But no matter how much he rang the bell, no soldiers appeared.
“What is this...?”
The reason became clear when the office door opened.
Creeeak...
“Pe, Perez... sir.”
“Jason? What are you doing here?!”
“Forgive me... Ghk!”
Jason had crawled across the floor and barely managed to open the door. Marcus, who had been stepping on Jason’s back, asked me a question.
“While I was waiting, soldiers suddenly rushed in. I subdued them all. What should I do?”
“Beat them enough to make the point, then tie them up.”
Trying to fight Marcus with ordinary soldiers in such a narrow corridor was practically asking to be killed.
Especially when Marcus had received my signal and was prepared for an ambush.
“Understood. Then what should I do with him...?”
I smiled meaningfully at Perez.
“I’ll deal with that bastard, so don’t worry about it.”
I did not know how much he had stolen until now.
But it did not matter.
He would cough it all back up today anyway.
Perez was the sort of person often found in the Imperial Army. A collateral relative from an insignificant noble family, he had become a commander solely because of the prestige of nobility. Lacking ability, he could not earn a promotion and drifted between dead-end posts.
“Ghk!”
“Careful. Put too much strength into it and you’ll break a bone.”
He had apparently never trained properly, let alone fought in battle.
His combat ability was worse than that of an ordinary soldier.
To me, he was nothing more than a satisfying punching bag.
“Aaagh!!”
When I struck his abdomen with a fist the size of a pot lid, Perez let out a shriek and collapsed to the floor.
“S, stop...”
“You were trying to take my head before. Why are you whining now?”
Perhaps the dizzying pain had broken him.
He rubbed his hands together pitifully.
“I, I surrender... No, I will turn myself in. I’ll put back the money I embezzled, so please...”
“That is a given.”
Separate from the embezzlement, he had tried to kill a commander appointed by headquarters. I could summarily execute him here without facing any consequences.
Perhaps he realized what I was thinking.
His body shook like an aspen as he screamed desperately.
“Treasure!”
“Hmm?”
“I have wealth stored separately, apart from the amount missing from the ledgers! I’ll give it all to you.”
“Oh?”
That was tempting.
I had been worried because I had plenty of places to spend money.
I had silver coins from the reward money, but they were not enough.
“If you let me go, I’ll tell you where it is...”
This bastard still had not come to his senses and was trying to play me.
“Sorry, but I don’t accept payment afterward. So stop testing me and tell me where you hid the slush fund.”
“That is...”
“You don’t want to?”
Then there was nothing I could do.
Crash!
The Black Axe, so huge it was downright sinister, smashed the table. Perez’s face turned white.
“I have nothing to lose even if I take your head right now. Think carefully.”
“Th, that...”
“Will you hand it over nicely? Or...”
There was no need to finish the sentence.
Perez’s eyes darted about.
After hesitating until the very end, he finally lowered his head in resignation.
＊＊＊＊＊
The fortress funds Perez had embezzled this year alone amounted to eight hundred silver coins, or 800 Silver. That was already a considerable sum, but his hidden funds were even greater.
“Ha!”
“How much is this?”
When I entered the warehouse hidden beneath the fortress, dazzling heaps of wealth greeted me.
“At least 3,000 Silver. At least 300 Gold if exchanged into gold coins?”
It was enough money to maintain two decent thousand-man units.
“Damn bastard... He squirreled away quite a fortune.”
“Ack!!”
I kicked his shin and clicked my tongue inwardly.
How much had he squeezed from them to embezzle this much from a fortress with only five hundred soldiers stationed in it?
It was astounding even if he had gathered it over several years.
“Hey, you.”
At my call, Jason, who had been tied up, flinched and raised his head.
“Y, yes!”
“Does the fortress have a prison?”
“It, it is beneath the western spire.”
“Max, Walter, Raul, Kram. Throw all these bastards into the cells and make sure none of them escape.”
“Understood.”
“The rest of you, go to the barracks.”
Marco and Ren asked in confusion.
“The barracks?”
“Why are we going there...?”
“You’ll find soldiers there who are practically being held captive. Free them all and tell them to gather at the training ground.”
The lackeys who had cooperated with Perez would become penal soldiers because of this and be dragged to the front lines anyway, so there was no need to concern myself with them.
But the other soldiers were different.
They would serve under me from now on, so I needed to look after them.
I grinned.
“Tell every last one of them to come. They’ll regret it if they don’t. Understood?”
“Yes! I’ll deliver the message.”
“Why are those bastards... Ngh!”
“Marcus, gag him and bring him along.”
“Yes.”
Perez sensed that something was wrong and struggled, but he could not escape Marcus’s grip.
“Come quietly.”
Once Marcus gagged him and seized him by the nape, Perez became as docile as a rat in a cat’s paws.
‘All this because of a cowardly bastard... Forget it. There’s no point thinking about it.’
It would only give me a headache.
I headed for the training ground with Perez, now thoroughly bound, and Marcus holding him.
After waiting there for about ten minutes, the soldiers from the barracks began gathering at the training ground one by one.
The sight of them made me curse inwardly.
‘Fuck.’
Their faces were gaunt.
They wore scraps of cloth that could barely be called clothing.
They would not have looked out of place as street beggars.
I glared murderously at Perez, crumpled beneath the platform.
‘That bastard...!’
He had not only withheld supplies. He had not even fed them properly?
That gave me one more reason to deal with him publicly.
The soldiers looked at me with fear and faint anger in their eyes.
Their anger toward Perez had made them distrust commanders as a whole.
‘If I’m going to bring the fortress soldiers under my control, I need to calm that anger and erase their distrust.’
It was annoying to clean up the shit some other bastard had made, but what could I do?
This was my job.
“I’ll introduce myself first.”
I slowly looked over the gathered soldiers.
“I am Ubel Graum, the new five-hundred commander assigned to Camilla Fortress. I know well what you have endured. But the past is the past. Put it behind you, and from now on, let us defend the Empire’s lands together.”
“...”
“I have no intention of saying any of that.”
The soldiers who had been frowning widened their eyes and tilted their heads at my sudden change in tone.
“Whatever the matter, it must be settled properly before we move on. That is my ironclad rule, and from now on, it is the rule of Camilla Fortress.”
I flicked a finger.
Marcus, who had been waiting behind me, dragged Perez forward.
Thud!
“Mmph! Mmph!!”
“Th, that bastard is...”
“Why is that devil here?”
The soldiers murmured at the sight of Perez.
They were bewildered to see the corrupt superior who had oppressed them dragged before them, beaten into a bloody mess.
“Perez Ritz, former officer in charge of Camilla Fortress. I will now list his crimes.”
“Mmph!”
Perez struggled in horror.
By now, it seemed he had figured out what I intended to do.
“First, embezzling the unit’s public funds for personal gain.”
“...”
“Second, treating the Empire’s soldiers like his personal troops, abusing his position to seize other soldiers’ pay and supplies.”
I raised my voice as I looked at the soldiers dressed like beggars.
“Third! Causing the Empire’s border, which should stand firm, to decay.”
“...”
“And finally, once his corruption was exposed, attempting to kill the new commander appointed by headquarters in order to cover up the crime.”
The judgment had already been decided.
“Considering the above crimes, I, Ubel Graum, will summarily execute Perez Ritz.”
“Mmph!!!”
At the sentence, he tried to rise and flee somehow, but it was useless.
Slash!
When I swung the Black Axe, his head flew through the air, and his body crumpled limply.
Thud!
The soldiers still looked dazed, as though they could not believe what had happened.
I roused them with a solemn voice.
“Attention!”
“!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“I know you have suffered under that man until now. But do not worry! The scoundrel who oppressed you no longer exists in this world.”
By executing Perez before everyone, I would relieve the soldiers’ anger and earn their trust. That was the fastest way I could think of to restore this unit to order.
“I promise you all this. As long as I am here, no one will suffer unfair treatment as before! Your efforts will be recognized, and your sweat will be rewarded!”
Life began returning to the soldiers’ eyes, one by one.
“I will regard every one of you as comrades and never abandon you. So, will you fight with me from now on?”
Silence fell briefly.
Then cheers like thunder filled the fortress.
“Waaaaah!!!”
“We will fight with you!”
“We will follow Lord Ubel!”
Their response went beyond simple cheering. The soldiers were ecstatic.
Carried along by their excitement, I shouted as well.
“Bring out all the food in the warehouse! Today is a historic day, the day you and I have met. We will hold a feast.”
“Waaah!”
“Long live Lord Ubel, the Fortress Lord!!”
When I opened the warehouse as well, their cheers doubled.
Their almost fanatical appearance worried me a little, but...
‘It’ll be fine.’
In any case, I had earned their trust, brought the soldiers under my control, and completely taken over the fortress. The first task was as good as finished.
“Then it’s about time to prepare for the next task...”
Thinking of the wealth piled in the inner keep’s warehouse, I smirked.
‘Thanks to Perez, things will work out more easily than I expected.’
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