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16. Engagement – Prelude

Lena, Leo, the soldiers, and the warriors left Abrival Castle heavily armed.

From the distant castle, the sound of a horn and a drum echoed like a memory. Leo looked back, lost in strange sentiment, while Lena beside him had a wistful expression.

“When can we return?”

“Well…”

At least the war would continue until summer. The end was still unknown.

The warriors and soldiers marched for a month, following the leading knight.

The march was truly tough. The heavily armored soldiers, despite the chilly weather, were pouring with sweat, and everyone’s feet were swollen.

As night fell, the march stopped, and they were given a late dinner and rest time. The soldiers threw off their gear and limped to receive their food.

Lena was no exception.

“Ahh, my feet feel like they’re dying.”

“I told you not to drag your shoes.”

Lena’s feet were a complete mess, covered in blisters.

Not just Lena, but even the inexperienced warriors sat down, groaning.

Most of the warriors burst their blisters themselves, but Leo brought hot water from the cooking area.

“Let me see your feet.”

He soaked Lena’s feet in the hot water.

After soaking the blisters for a while in the hot water, they naturally burst open. It was much more hygienic than popping them manually and good for resting her tired feet.

When he was in the army, he used to poke blisters with a needle and hang a thread on them, letting it get wet and then slowly dry. It was a method to eliminate the blisters with minimal holes, but without a needle now, he had to choose this alternative.

“Ahh… this feels so much better. How come you’re fine, Leo?”

“If you drag your feet around saying it’s hard, you’ll get blisters. If you walk calmly, you won’t.”

He had experience from serving in the army. By the time you reach the rank of sergeant in the Republic of Korea, you generally wouldn’t get blisters.

“Just a moment. I’ll put up the tent.”

Leo left Lena and went to get the tent.

At night, the soldiers would sleep under the tents pulled from the following carriage. It was just a simple thick cloth propped up with branches to sleep under.

Three people had to fit in one tent, but Lena and Leo used it just the two of them. The soldiers did not live with the warriors, and the Ainar Tribe members understood the relationship between the two and didn’t intrude.

Lena limped into the tent. Lying side by side to relax for a moment, Lena turned to Leo.

“Being here feels like we’re already married, doesn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t want to live in a place like this, but is this too much for a honeymoon house?”

The two exchanged bright smiles.

Lena gazed lovingly at Leo.

He looked charming under the moonlight. My man who followed me to the battlefield.

He was taking such good care of her during the march… Leo seemed even better than before.

“Leo, shall we?”

“Shall we what?”

“What do you think?”

“Do you want to do it like this without even having a proper wash?”

Lena pouted her lips.

“Ahh, that’s no fun. They say if you say this to a guy, his eyes will roll back in his head.”

Leo found Lena’s demeanor adorable and flicked her on the forehead.

“Ouch! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Let’s just sleep already. I’m dead tired.”

“Look at you, acting so weak. Can’t you even get it up? My fate is just tragic. A castrated guy marrying me.”

“Keep provoking me like that, and you won’t get away with it.”

“What? Why? What will you do?”

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you today? Did you lick wormwood or something?”

Wormwood was used as a muscle relaxant. This was a tip from her father, who said it was great for easing tired legs from marching, so they brought a lot.

However, the juice squeezed from wormwood was also used as an aphrodisiac.

“No way!”

The two quibbled through the night.

*

After a month, they arrived at a small town.

But this was merely a midpoint. The soldiers who had left Abrival Castle began to march again, now combined with troops summoned from elsewhere.

The scale of their force had grown considerably, and even looking back, the end of the line was not in sight.

As the troop size increased, temporary commanders were assigned to lead each unit. The Ainar Tribe warriors were grouped together as one unit under a Hundred-man Commander.

That stuffy-faced Hundred-man Commander was someone who habitually snorted. From the first night of their stay, he approached Lena and Leo to nitpick.

“Why are you two the only ones using a tent for just the two of you? This is a total mess. Are you two playing house or something?”

Lena was at a loss, but Leo knew how to handle such situations.

“I’m sorry. We are engaged… I apologize for our behavior being against regulations.”

As he spoke, he discreetly gestured to the Hundred-man Commander, showing a glimmer of silver coins.

“Is that so? Hmm, well, in that case, it might be a little awkward for another warrior to butt in. I understand.”

The Hundred-man Commander pretended to understand and walked away.

Bribery was useful even in the army. Spending money like this could solve trivial inconveniences. In a little while, he could go find that Hundred-man Commander again and hand a few silver pieces to avoid more trouble.

I felt proud for appropriately using {initial funds} and {the rules of the underworld}.

Lena, totally oblivious, flapped her arms in relief.

“Wow? I thought we’d get scolded, but he just left? What a relief.”

“Right? He seems to be quite considerate.”

Leo played it cool.

I hope she doesn’t have to learn about this dirty reality for a long time.

*

After a long march, they reached the front lines. It had been two whole months since they departed from Abrival Castle, but fighting had been ongoing at the front line for over a month.

The war in this world was very different from what Leo knew from his father.

In Leo’s understanding, wars in such eras typically involved formations of hundreds fighting in huge battles.

But here, that wasn’t the case.

It was due to those strategic weapons called “sorcerers.”

There were only about two to three hundred sorcerers across the entire continent, but just a few on the battlefield could influence the outcome of the battle.

It was foolish to form dense formations in front of sorcerers capable of massive slaughter, so the army was divided into smaller units so that the sorcerers couldn’t concentrate their firepower.

The soldiers were organized into units of ten, and Ten’Injangs were assigned. Hundreds or thousands of these units spread out widely on the battlefield to push the front line.

It was reminiscent of modern guerrilla warfare.

Lena and Leo were assigned to one unit.

Six members from the Ainar Tribe and three soldiers, plus one Ten’Injang to command the unit. The Ten’Injang didn’t introduce himself and focused on managing the soldiers.

“We’ll go along the right ridge. Did we get enough supplies?”

With an equipment check, their unit set out immediately.

The tense front line advanced another step south. The Austin Kingdom successfully reinforced its troops ahead of the Belita Kingdom, leaving the enemy no choice but to give up several hills.

But such a grand picture was known only to the generals, and at the front line, each unit clashed according to orders.

The unit Lena and Leo belonged to began a fight for survival.

“Leo! Behind you!”

Leo twisted his body and swung his sword at Lena’s warning. The finger of the enemy soldier trying to strike him fell to the ground.

Leo ignored the guy who lost his finger and barely dodged the blade from his opponent. Soon, Leo’s sword neatly pierced the guy’s neck.

[ Achievement: Ten Soldiers – You become stronger when battling soldiers. ]

Was it already the tenth?

He wasn’t even counting. Thanks to the achievement, it was much easier to catch the guy who lost his finger.

When the fight was over, the Ten’Injang looked at Lena and Leo with admiration.

“You two fight like knights. Impressive.”

They had prevented the union of two enemy units. Yes, their unit had lost six men, but the opposing side lost only a few who fled.

However, it was too soon to rejoice with so many corpses piled up. The four remaining survivors laid their fallen comrades neatly and paid their respects.

They planted small flags next to the fallen before leaving. Another unit that came from behind would collect the bodies.

With their unit reduced to four, they needed to join another unit quickly. It was regrettable not being able to recover the bodies immediately, but lingering here and encountering the enemy would be disastrous.

“Lena, you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. You fought well, didn’t you?”

Lena looked a bit sad. She hadn’t lost her cheerful spirit, but it seemed the deaths of the tribe members weighed heavily on her heart.

*

Minor skirmishes that left emotional scars and corpses continued daily. Lena and Leo switched units several times, and the first Ten’Injang they met was dead.

In the meantime, spring ended and hot summer began.

As the foliage thickened, limiting visibility, each unit entered a state of heightened tension. This was the environment that knights thrived in.

Since the infantry couldn’t form dense formations and were scattered by squads, knights were going wild on this battlefield.

Even with the sorcerers present, the knights didn’t actively deploy cavalry. If the cavalry gathered or several units merged to form dozens of troops, sorcerers would be dispatched instantly.

So the knights roamed in pairs through the thick underbrush, decimating the units. For them, ten common soldiers were easy prey.

“There they are.”

The two knights stealthily observed the unit ahead.

“Senior, there are quite a few of them.”

“Don’t whine about just ten or so.”

The female knight tied her red hair back again. The young knight looked anxious as he continued to scan the front unit.

“There are two wielding two-handed swords… could they possibly be knights?”

“They’re too young to be knights. A unit won’t have two knights. Let’s go.”

This kid had just joined the knight order and didn’t know his own strength yet. So when he saw the numbers, he tended to flinch, not realizing how fearsome knights were against regular soldiers.

The female knight encouraged her junior as she pushed through the bushes and rushed out.

“Knight!”

As soon as one unit member shouted, another soldier dashed in the opposite direction.

It was a messenger.

The unit that spotted the knights immediately called for nearby units, hoping that their knights would come to help.

The male and female knights rushed in without delay.

“Hold on! Reinforcements are on the way!”

Lena and Leo faced the male knight.

The Ten’Injang assigned five men to conceal the male knight while he trusted Lena and Leo. The remaining ten focused on the female knight.

The female knight swiftly cut down seven soldiers, but Leo’s side only managed to kill two.

“Hey! You idiot! What’s taking so long with just five men!”

“…Senior Katrina! These guys are not messing around!”

Katrina!

Leo’s eyes widened.

An unforgettable name. A thick aura of killing intent mixed in her blade.

“There they are! Charge!”

Just then, one unit arrived for support.

Katrina became anxious. If this dragged out any longer, other units might arrive as well. They needed to eliminate quickly and hide, but that idiot was stalling.

While she cut down another one, she shouted.

“Hey! Stop fooling around!”

“It’s not fooling around! Ack!”

Lena’s sword grazed the knight’s head.

As the knight bent back to dodge, a soldier with them jumped in and swung down his sword.

“This guy!”

With his upper body leaning back, he twisted and sliced through the belly of the dashing soldier.

Guts splattered everywhere as Leo stabbed the knight whose posture broke down. The knight collapsed.

“Ha!”

Lena shouted as she aimed for his chest, but right before her sword could touch, the knight twisted his body and kicked Lena’s arm away.

The sword barely stuck into the ground.

Noticing the knight’s crisis, Katrina yelled urgently.

“Deros!”

Leo seized the opportunity and thrust down with his sword.

He was blocked once, but as Leo put his weight into it and struck again, the sword went in without resistance. The knight named Deros let out a groan and struggled until he lost the ability to move.

[ Achievement: One Knight – You become stronger when battling knights. ]

He had finally taken down a knight. He was much weaker than his father, but even with five of them charging, it was still not easy. Lena and Leo took a moment to catch their breath and looked back.

The female knight, apparently angered, was furiously swinging her sword. It was as if she was trying to finish this up in a hurry, not sparing her breath.

Katrina eventually sustained several cuts yet annihilated the unit. Her red hair flowed down.

As she spat on the ground and tied her hair back again, two soldiers approached.

“Are you Katrina?”

“Yes. What’s knowing my name to you?”

Leo grinned. He felt a sense of pride in front of a knight who had decimated two units.

Finally! He encountered the one who had killed Lena in the previous scenario. It was around this hot summer afternoon that Lena would meet her demise.

He had seen the name Katrina at the end of that day, but he hadn’t thought he would see her again.

Katrina nodded and asked.

“Was it you or your woman who killed Deros?”

Blood dripped from her extended sword. Lena must have been cut by that blade last time.

“It was me!”

Leo charged in with fury.