WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
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◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈
Chapter 42: March in the Torrential Rain
──────
The next day,
I left the supply base with 1,500 troops.
Eight hundred soldiers, including Melton and the mercenaries, remained behind to manage the prisoners.
As we moved along the mountain path in our newly made raincoats,
‘It’s pouring like hell.’
With the torrential rain narrowing our field of vision and turning the ground to mud, we would not even have been able to find the way without the supply base soldiers who knew the area.
“How much farther?”
“The guides say we still have about half a day’s journey.”
“Tell the squad commanders to keep the soldiers’ spirits up.”
With such a grueling schedule, maintaining morale was most important.
Marcus nodded at my order.
“Yes. I’ll pass it on to everyone.”
“Whew. I’d rather be fighting the barbarians.”
“I agree.”
A mountain march in the rain.
Memories of my previous life suddenly came back to me, souring my mood even further.
Who would have thought I’d be doing this again?
And this was nothing but a mountain trail, not even properly paved.
‘Sigh. What’s the point of complaining?’
I just had to get through it somehow.
About half a day later,
though it had been a fairly arduous journey,
we finally reached our destination after much difficulty.
“Is that it?”
“Yes. That is the Third Support Unit we were heading for.”
Concealing ourselves at the foot of a mountain thick with trees and grass,
we looked at the small fort in the distance.
The Third Support Unit.
That was where we would be staying.
“The walls don’t look to be in very good shape. Was there a battle?”
“I’ll go take a look.”
Jackson left with several scouts to inspect the unit.
Not long after, he returned with a soldier I had never seen before.
“Who’s that?”
“A soldier from the support unit. We found them wandering near the unit and brought them back.”
“Is that so?”
I turned my gaze toward the support unit soldier.
Judging by the small wounds all over them and the fact that they had been wandering outside, something must have happened there.
“How did you end up separated from your unit?”
“Th-there were barbarians attacking us, and they captured the garrison...”
They rambled, but after sorting through their story,
“The barbarians currently occupy the unit. Is that right?”
“...Yes.”
“What happened to the soldiers defending it?”
“The barbarians captured them as prisoners, saying they would use them as slaves. I barely managed to escape when the unit fell, so I survived, but...”
According to the soldier, around 700 barbarians currently occupied the unit, while roughly 1,000 soldiers, including the wounded, were being held prisoner inside.
“Hmm, I see.”
The support unit soldier dropped to their knees before me and lowered their head.
“P-please save our comrades!”
I had intended to do so even without the request.
However, laying siege with troops in this weather would be foolish. I considered another method.
“Jackson, did you inspect the walls?”
“Yes.”
“How high were they?”
“About five meters, I’d say.”
Right. I see.
“Marcus, Max. Gather every squad commander in the strike force.”
Normally, breaking through the gate was the standard way to take a fort.
“It’s time to show what you’ve accomplished so far.”
There was no need to take the difficult route when an easier one existed.
＊＊＊＊＊
That night,
Shalta, a barbarian standing watch atop the garrison wall, clicked their tongue as they watched the rain pour down without pause.
“When is this damned downpour ever going to stop?”
The chieftain had ordered Shalta to guard the area around the garrison, but...
“The chieftain is too much. Who would attack in weather like this?”
Shalta did not focus on keeping watch.
The other tribespeople on guard were no different.
Most of them were dozing off or passing the time with other distractions.
Common sense said the Imperial Army would never attack in such weather.
“Haah, I want to go sleep in the barracks like the others.”
When Shalta grumbled, the companion beside them nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. Why are we suffering through this in the middle of the night...”
Then, at that moment,
Crunch!
A black shadow appeared without warning and struck down the companion.
Their head split apart, and their body collapsed on the spot.
Feeling blood splatter across their face and seeing their fallen companion, Shalta’s eyes widened.
“W-what is... Urk!”
“Shh.”
The black shadow, Ubel, grabbed Shalta by the throat and spoke in the barbarian tongue.
“You should be quiet. You’ll wake all your sleeping friends.”
“Y-you Imperial...”
Crack!
With those final words, Shalta’s neck broke, and they died. Similar scenes were unfolding all along the outer wall.
＊＊＊＊＊
“Lord Ubel, we have dealt with every guard on the wall.”
“Good work.”
“It was nothing.”
“Tch. Their defenses were far too lax...”
Marcus answered my observation with a calm expression.
“The enemy was careless, but our previous training also played a great part.”
True enough. To men who had climbed up and down Camilla Fortress’s eleven-meter walls with nothing but a rope, scaling a wall this size would be easy as eating rice cake.
‘All right, we’ve secured the walls as planned.’
Now it was time to let the guests in.
“Open the gate.”
“Yes.”
When the strike force members stealthily opened the gate, the personnel waiting nearby filed into the garrison.
Whether from the exhaustion of battle,
or because the torrential rain muffled their footsteps,
the enemies inside the barracks remained lost in their dreams, unaware that the gate had been opened.
“Is everyone inside?”
“Yes.”
“Jackson, take your men and free the captured soldiers first.”
“Yes.”
“The rest of you, deal with the enemy.”
As soon as the order was given, the soldiers moved in perfect coordination to cut off the barbarians’ breath.
“Ungh, what is this all of a sudden... Urk!”
“Hup! I-Imperials?!”
A commotion rang through the once-quiet barracks.
‘No matter how dull they are, it would be stranger if they didn’t wake up while we’re cutting down the ones right beside them.’
Barbarians rushed out of the barracks.
I had no intention of giving them a chance to catch their breath.
“Marcus, Max, Peiron.”
“Yes!!”
The three waiting men led the soldiers into a full-scale assault.
“Slaughter the barbarians who dared covet Imperial land!”
“Waaahhh!!”
“Y-you cowardly Imperials!”
“What the hell is this barbarian bastard saying!?”
Unable to understand the barbarians’ language, Peiron ignored their curses and swung his halberd, spraying blood.
‘Has he improved from gaining combat experience? He seems better than before.’
Just as I was looking forward to seeing the man who would go on to distinguish himself alongside Marcus,
“Graaah! I’ll kill you, Imperial!!”
A man wearing elaborate ornaments appeared.
‘The chieftain?’
How kind of him to show himself.
I immediately kicked off the ground and launched myself forward.
The man spotted me and hurriedly drew his weapon, but...
“It’s already too late, bastard.”
Before he could ready himself, I drew up my mana and brought Black Axe down.
Slash!
His body split in two.
The chieftain was cut in half with a single strike, and the surrounding barbarians cried out in shock.
“C-chieftain...!”
“It’s a monster! The Imperials brought a monster with them!!”
Calling a perfectly normal person a monster?
‘The real monster is right there.’
Marcus was still slaughtering enemies without pause.
Compared to him, I was not only ordinary, but downright kind.
“Commander.”
Max looked at me with a grave expression.
The chieftain was dead, and the enemy’s will to fight was broken. Max was suggesting we urge them to surrender.
I nodded and shouted at the enemy.
“Your chieftain is dead. Stop this meaningless resistance and surrender at once!!”
“Ah...”
More than half their comrades were dead, and their chieftain had also been killed.
The remaining barbarians dropped their weapons one by one, their faces dark.
“Max, bind the enemy with Marcus.”
“Leave it to us.”
After leaving the cleanup to Max,
I approached the prisoners Jackson had rescued.
“I am Commander of Five Hundred Ubel Graum. Who is in charge here?”
“I-I am.”
A man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties raised his hand and stepped forward.
“...I am Carlson, Commander of Five Hundred of the Second Support Unit. The Commander of a Thousand originally stationed here was killed in action, so I am in command now.”
Perhaps the hardship had taken its toll, because Carlson looked gaunt as he expressed gratitude.
“Thank you for saving me and my soldiers.”
“I only did what needed to be done. Think nothing of it.”
“Um... May I ask what you plan to do next?”
“We will subjugate the barbarians in the area, gather the soldiers in the rear, and then join the main force.”
Carlson’s eyes widened.
“You mean you intend to aid other units in this torrential rain?”
“It will be difficult, but if we alternate between marching and resting each day, it is not impossible. That is how we made it here.”
“Huh...”
“If it is not too much to ask, can you lend us your strength?”
“Yes, of course. I will place everyone except the 200 soldiers needed to guard the unit under your command.”
“Thank you for your courageous decision.”
Eight hundred new troops joined us.
It would be harder to move with our numbers increased, but...
‘That much, we can endure.’
I clenched my fist, resolved to use this momentum to gather all the remaining troops as well.
After rescuing the Third Support Unit,
we continued gathering the rear forces as we alternated between rest and marching.
As a result,
six days after parting with Melton,
around 5,000 troops had gathered under my command.
The Fourth Support Unit, about two days from the main force.
“We will rest here today.”
“Yes!!!!”
The soldiers entered the barracks in orderly ranks.
Watching them, I could not help but feel pleased.
‘Looking at it now, we really have gathered quite a lot.’
No, was it still little compared to the number of enemies we had wiped out?
During the march, our allies had killed or captured around 2,000 barbarians. Adding those swept away by the water attack at the Seventh Supply Base, the number came to nearly 20,000.
It was a considerable difference compared to the number of allied troops we had gathered.
Of course, nearly 10,000 barbarians still remained in the rear, but...
‘The Subjugation Army will take care of them.’
According to information learned from the prisoners, a sizable number of barbarians had headed south with the Sunrock Tribe.
‘Kundra’s doing.’
Kundra, chieftain of the Sunrock Tribe.
One of the named figures from the game, Kundra currently held a reputation among the barbarians second only to High Chieftain Kantulan and Lapkin, the Cunning Warrior.
That would make Kundra roughly third in rank.
‘The remaining 10,000 probably followed Kundra south.’
And if Kundra had gone south, a clash with the Subjugation Army was inevitable.
Kundra was not an opponent to take lightly, but the Subjugation Army’s strength should be enough to drive the tribe back without much difficulty.
‘Then does only the enemy’s main force remain?’
High Chieftain Kantulan, who led the barbarians.
Unless Kantulan was dealt with, the barbarians would cling to the Empire to the bitter end.
‘It bothers me that Kantulan is a Master-class powerhouse, but...’
I was not too worried.
‘Even a Master is not invincible.’
As long as they were human, they would eventually collapse from exhaustion if countless troops surrounded them in layers and pressed them without respite.
Moreover, Marquis Rokselon and Count Mirus, who should be leading the Subjugation Army by now, were knights who had reached the highest tier. Even in the game, Kantulan could not withstand their combined assault and the soldiers’ offensive. This time should not be much different.
As I stroked my chin and organized my thoughts,
“Commander!!”
Max rushed over urgently.
“What is it? Did barbarians appear?”
“N-no. People claiming to be the Subjugation Army’s advance force have arrived.”
An advance force?
I did not think the Subjugation Army had operated a separate advance force in the game.
“The advance force commander wishes to meet you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. They looked young, but the soldiers around them were extremely deferential, so they seemed to be some noble lord from an important family. Their name was... something Jeg or other...”
“What?!”
At the familiar name, I sprang to my feet without realizing it.
[Jeg Hallios]
My favorite character, the person who would one day be called the Iron-Blooded Lord, had come looking for me.
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