WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈
Chapter 30: Thugs and Shepherds (1)
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In Ermil, where Camilla Fortress was located, the merchants operating there held a secret meeting in a secluded tavern.
Those gathered differed in age and appearance, but they had one thing in common.
Not long ago, they had been unilaterally notified that their military supply contracts were being terminated, leaving them with a grudge against Ubel and the Camellun Trading Company.
“We have news.”
A middle-aged man, Ribal, the head of the Ribal Trading Company, spoke to the gathered merchants in a low voice.
“One mercenary hired as an escort escaped, but the head of the Camellun Trading Company and the others were safely captured.”
“That is a relief.”
“That brat didn’t know his place and kept causing trouble. This was bound to happen eventually.”
“The new lord went too far as well. Canceling our supply contracts without a word of warning?”
“Exactly. They brought this upon themselves.”
In truth, even without the Camellun Trading Company, Ubel would have cut all of them off.
Every merchant present had colluded with Perez, selling supplies at prices inflated to at least twice their original price and up to nearly three times it, then offering a portion of their profits as kickbacks.
Naturally, none of them considered their own wrongdoing.
They were only furious that their source of easy money had been taken away.
That was why they had kidnapped Kane.
“Now, now, calm down. We have captured the head of the Camellun Trading Company as planned, so this matter is practically in our hands now.”
“But will this really be all right? I hear the new lord has quite the temperament. Once he learns what happened, he’ll surely try to mobilize his soldiers.”
Ribal chuckled at the young merchant’s concern.
“Don’t worry. I’ve taken that into account as well. I’ve been doing business in the North for more than ten years. Do you think I wouldn’t know anyone at headquarters?”
The merchant company heads brightened at the mention of connections within headquarters.
“You mean?”
“I’ve already asked someone to keep the new lord from acting rashly. No matter that he’s the fortress’s highest authority, if an officer from the Staff Office warns him directly, he won’t dare act carelessly.”
“Truly impressive.”
“As expected, Master Ribal had everything planned.”
“Ha ha, you flatter me too much...”
Ribal grinned as the merchant company heads praised him.
He had kidnapped the head of the Camellun Trading Company and used his connections to tie down the new lord.
‘Now all I have to do is pressure the lord into restoring our military supply contracts, and it’s over.’
Ribal wore a sinister smile, praising himself for his cleverness.
＊＊＊＊＊
Meanwhile, at Northern Command, Schultz received unpleasant news early that morning.
“...Perhaps my ears have grown poor with age. Could you say that again?”
“Yes. Yesterday, a proposal was raised in the Staff Office to temporarily relieve Five Hundred Commander Ubel of his position and investigate him through an inspector.”
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked why such a ridiculous argument was raised.”
Under Schultz’s chilling gaze, the chief of staff swallowed dryly before answering.
“It seems that Five Hundred Commander Ubel recently notified the merchant companies supplying the fortress that their contracts were being canceled unilaterally. They also mentioned that he punished his predecessor at his own discretion, claiming he is currently abusing his authority and should be punished...”
Having spent many years in the military, Schultz immediately understood the situation.
“Ha ha ha. Well, well... Now even petty merchants think they can manipulate our Northern Army.”
“...”
“The Northern Army’s discipline seems to have grown far looser than I thought. Don’t you agree?”
“W-Well...”
The chief of staff could not agree.
If they did, Schultz’s anger would surely spread across the entire Northern Army.
“Remove him.”
“Pardon?”
“The man who discussed punishing Ubel. Strip him of his position immediately and hand him over to the Inspectorate.”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
“And Camilla Fortress seems to be in some turmoil, so grant Five Hundred Commander Ubel inspection authority.”
“Commander, that is...!”
Inspection authority was the most powerful authority within the military. If someone was suspected of breaking the law, it granted the holder unrestricted power to investigate and punish anyone, whether they belonged to the Imperial Army or not, noble or commoner.
“There has never been a case where inspection authority was granted to an ordinary commander. Please reconsider.”
“If there is no precedent, then we need only make one. It will be more efficient for him to settle matters directly than for distant headquarters to do so. Do not mention this again.”
Schultz had no intention of changing his mind.
‘With the Northern Army in need of change, who will support that boy if not me?’
Schultz had been greatly pleased when Schultz heard that Ubel had decisively dealt with his corrupt predecessor.
Schultz believed that Ubel’s willingness to cut away what was wrong without a moment’s hesitation and pursue what was right was exactly the path the Northern Army needed to follow.
Ordinarily, this was called favoritism.
Schultz, however, did not realize it.
＊＊＊＊＊
Two days after Schultz’s orders were issued,
“What is this supposed to mean all of a sudden?”
A letter unexpectedly arrived from headquarters.
“Inspection authority? I’m supposed to punish those who mocked the Northern Army?”
What in the world was happening while I was unaware?
As I stood there baffled,
“C-Captain!!”
Kram ran over with a frantic expression.
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“Lady Reina has arrived. She says she urgently needs to see you.”
“From the Camellun Trading Company?”
“Yes. I heard that Merchant Lord Kane was kidnapped...”
“What?”
Startled by Kram’s report, I immediately had Reina brought in.
“What happened?”
“W-Well...”
According to her, the merchants whose contracts with the fortress had recently been terminated had been harboring resentment and interfering with them.
“We could endure minor interference. Such things are common when living as merchants. But at some point, bandits began appearing whenever we set out on business, as if they knew exactly when we would be traveling.”
“Bandits?”
“Yes. At first, we somehow endured by increasing our escorts, but...”
The bandits’ attacks grew worse by the day. Then, Kane was kidnapped while coming to the fortress to tell me that he had found the talented people I had asked him to locate.
“Fortunately, one of the guests traveling with my brother broke through the enemy encirclement and escaped to deliver the news, so we learned quickly, but...”
If it was a guest, then it was surely one of the talented people I had asked Kane to find.
I wanted to meet him and hear the full situation.
“May I meet that person?”
“Yes, one moment.”
After Reina gave an order to her escort, a man appeared in my office shortly afterward.
He had the appearance of a bandit, muscles that looked as hard as armor, and a halberd strapped to his back.
There was no doubt.
‘Kane found Peiron?’
[Peiron]
If I had to compare him to someone, he was like Zhang Fei from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the game, he was one of Arhan’s twin pillars and a hero who would later become Marcus’s sworn brother.
He was more of a vanguard captain than a commander, a man enemies would call the nightmare of the battlefield.
‘I never expected him to bring this guy... I’ll have to thank Kane.’
But first, I had to rescue him.
“It’s good to meet you. I am Ubel Graum, the one in charge of Camilla Fortress.”
“I am Peiron. Glad to meet you. I heard you were looking for me?”
Marco frowned at his manner of speaking.
Marco, I understand how you feel.
But this was not the time to dwell on such trivial matters.
“I heard rumors of you and called you because I wished to speak with you seriously. However, the situation is not favorable at the moment, so it seems we must postpone that conversation. If you do not mind, would you lend a hand in rescuing Merchant Lord Kane?”
“I have had drinks bought for me by the Merchant Lord, so if I can help, I’ll do so gladly.”
“Good.”
I had already learned the full details of the incident through Reina.
‘Those vermin. Merchant companies joining together is common in the Empire, and it was a nuisance to arrest every last one of them, so I left them alone...!’
I never imagined they would be blinded by greed enough to do something like this.
‘The letter from headquarters must have come because they were trying to pull something too.’
It seemed they had planned to use headquarters to tie my hands before dealing with the Camellun Trading Company, but they had picked the wrong person to provoke.
The moment headquarters gave me inspection authority instead of restraining me, their plan had already failed. Yet without realizing it, they happily kidnapped Kane. There were no bigger fools than them.
Perhaps because she was still young, or perhaps because she had always treasured her family, Reina bowed her head and pleaded with me.
“If you rescue my brother, I will regard you as my benefactor for the rest of my life and repay you. Please...”
“Don’t worry. I’ll rescue Merchant Lord Kane.”
Repayment aside, as the commander responsible for the fortress, I could not simply let this pass.
“Do you know the bandits’ base and their numbers?”
“There were around fifty men that I saw, and before I broke through their encirclement, I roughly determined where their base was as well.”
“I see. Marco.”
“Yes!”
“Gather Marcus, Max, and Jackson.”
Mobilizing this much strength to subdue a mere group of bandits might seem excessive, but given the circumstances, too much was better than too little.
‘No matter how their guts managed to wander out of their bellies,’
they had better pray that Kane was unharmed.
Once the preparations were complete, I headed to the training grounds. The soldiers were already standing in orderly ranks, waiting for me.
Reina wore an unusually flustered expression.
“Those soldiers...”
“They have been forged through grueling training. They will not fall to mere bandits, so please watch without worry, my lady.”
After reassuring her again, I looked over the gathered soldiers.
“Attention, all troops.”
“...”
“From this moment on, we will punish the bandits threatening the Empire’s peace and the merchants who mocked the Imperial Army.”
I intended to leave the fortress to the archers and garrison troops while we were gone.
‘Normally, I would need headquarters’ approval before moving the soldiers, but...’
Now that I had inspection authority, I could skip the procedure and act first before reporting afterward.
“Max.”
“Yes!”
“You will lead the soldiers and arrest every merchant involved in plotting this affair. Raul should know where their companies are located.”
“Ha ha, leave it to me!!”
“Marcus and Jackson, you two will join me in wiping out the bandits and rescuing Merchant Lord Kane.”
“We accept your orders.”
Seeing them salute with such disciplined movements, they truly looked like commanders now.
Pleased by how much my men had grown, I drew Black Axe for the first time in a while.
“All troops, advance.”
“Yes, sir!”
It was our first deployment since being assigned to the fortress.
The soldiers moved in formation with dignified expressions. It seemed they all wanted to see the results of their training firsthand.
As the sun set and darkness settled over the area,
“That place.”
Peiron pointed to a narrow path leading up the mountain.
“Follow that path, and you will find an abandoned village. That must be their base.”
“Jackson.”
“Yes!”
Wanting to check the scouts’ capabilities, I ordered Jackson to investigate.
“Leave it to me.”
Jackson disappeared into the bushes with the scouts, wearing a confident expression. Now all we had to do was wait for Jackson to return.
About thirty minutes later, Jackson and the scouts returned.
“Did you confirm it?”
“Yes, it is their base. However, the enemies don’t look right.”
“What do you mean?”
“They were all wearing chainmail and carrying proper weapons. I don’t think they are ordinary bandits.”
It seemed the merchants had deliberately hired them to kidnap Kane.
“This has become troublesome. What are their numbers?”
“About five men were standing guard around the village, and there appeared to be a little over fifty inside, as the information suggested. I wanted to investigate more closely, but I thought we would be discovered if we approached any further, so we had no choice but to withdraw. I’m sorry.”
“You have no need to apologize.”
This was more than enough. It was an excellent result.
‘There will be no problem sending them into real combat right away. Jackson seems to have a natural talent for this sort of thing.’
How to use cover and concealment, how to move secretly without making a sound, how to watch every direction and move strategically.
I had established the basic training system, but without Jackson’s ability, it would have taken much longer for the scout unit to fulfill its role.
‘Perhaps I should train a specialized intelligence unit later.’
Raising my assessment of Jackson, I loosened my neck.
‘Now that we have confirmed the enemies are here...’
Was it about time to let loose?
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