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183. Childhood Friend – Ear

“Today, we will camp here.”

Rev commanded.

With that, over seven hundred barbarian warriors followed him, thumping! thumping! thumping! they busily set up simple tents and prepared a clinic and cooking area on the serene mountainside.

Some, wishing to replenish their dwindling supplies after days of trekking in the mountains, headed towards nearby villages, and with a rattle, the funds handed over by Rev dwindled to a mere thin bundle after just ten days.

Armies cost money simply by existing.

Soldiers, who do not engage in economic activities, must rely on others for food and clothing, and that burden fell squarely on the commander.

The general, Rev sighed.

‘At this rate, we’ll be short in three weeks…’

They had circled the Roderan Mountain Range. It had taken four months of traveling, and a total of twelve barbarian tribes, excluding the two that had refused, had decided to participate.

Though he couldn’t visit each one due to time constraints, the chiefs gathered dozens, if not over a hundred warriors, from the dozen or so settlements they contacted.

Could it sum up to ten thousand?

That wasn’t a small number. Unable to lead such a large force, Rev had asked them to send the warriors “to take care of themselves” to the Gaidan Territory, and thankfully, they complied.

“Captain! Report!”

Rev swallowed the sigh he let out. The lieutenant entered the hexagonal tent of the Meiwa Tribe, trying to appear nonchalant.

“Is it a report on the injured?”

“Yes. Seven injuries occurred during today’s march. Most are minor, like blisters, but one is a bit more serious. He got his foot caught in a cart.”

“Can he walk?”

“Not right now.”

Rev nodded. Though he was annoyed at the lack of safety protocols, he knew such things happened in the military and spoke without seriousness.

“Assign two reliable warriors to him. Have them wait for the rear guard and then join us.”

“Understood. And…”

Lieutenant Cesar glanced around cautiously.

“I’ve brought back the deserter from the other day. Just as you said, he ran south. What shall we do?”

“…”

Rev sat down on the floor since there were no chairs or tables in the general’s tent as it should have been. Pondering on the thin mat, he eventually ordered to bring the guy in.

A warrior in his early twenties.

The reason for his desertion was trifling. He volunteered but felt guilty about leaving his wife and child behind and snuck away out of shame.

“Do you think military discipline is a joke?”

Rev spoke coldly. He glared at the warrior, who seemed unaffected by the matter.

“Did my morning and evening recitations of the service regulations seem trivial to you?”

“…”

“Come out.”

As Rev dragged the deserter outside, he called for the great warrior of the Meiwa Tribe.

“This is the deserter. How do you punish traitors in your Meiwa Tribe?”

“…It depends on the severity, but usually with whipping.”

“Good. Give him eight lashes. The punishment will be right before dinner. Do it in front of everyone. Choose someone to execute the punishment and report back.”

“Y-Yes, General!”

The deserter went pale. Faced with the tense atmosphere, he looked pleadingly at the great warrior. The warrior also wore a somewhat uneasy expression.

“…General. Is such a severe punishment really necessary? After all, he volunteered… He must feel quite remorseful. Please forgive him.”

Rev answered coldly.

“Forgive? I’m not punishing him out of anger. It’s to establish military discipline, so you, Hundred-man Commander, quit wasting time and execute it.”

“…Understood.”

Finally, evening arrived. The warriors who had gone to fetch supplies from nearby villages returned as dusk fell.

The cooking area emanated a heavy scent from the large pot of soup boiling away, and the seven hundred warriors gathered in the center of the campsite.

Murmurs.

Since there weren’t many, the rumors spread quickly. Though they had gathered from various villages, as one family called ‘Meiwa,’ they were full of complaints, and when the deserter’s hands were tightly bound to a tree stump, jeers erupted from the crowd.

“Quiet down!”

Rev stepped forward.

The young general was met with disdainful looks from the warriors. The outlander, Rev, shouted towards them.

“Why are you here!”

The murmuring quieted but no one answered. Forgetting the irritated presence of his lieutenant, Cesar, Rev held his head high.

“We left to not become slaves, to protect our loved ones. We picked up arms as soldiers, not as warriors.”

Rev defined them as soldiers. A reluctant consensus spread among the warriors, and harnessing the ability he gained from a quest, {Leadership}, he continued.

“But look at you all. You dashed out and left your life’s line, your weapons, behind for a meal. You don’t know how to protect your ranks, nor can you distinguish between public and private matters, so you jeer. Do you think you’re ready to face war? Or did you simply follow along carelessly?”

Silence fell.

At the descending dusk on the mountainside, seven hundred male and female warriors fidgeted, shamefully patting their thighs. Some even shifted nervously to form ranks.

Rev held his tongue. Turning sharply, he said, “Execute it.” The great warrior himself took up the leather whip.

– Crack!

The sound of eight lashes hit the chests of the seven hundred warriors. The deserter fainted after the seventh lash, and by the eighth, he regained consciousness, being helped to the clinic.

Dinner followed. The warriors—no, soldiers—ate silently as they expected their rations in turn. The boisterous mealtime chatter that had once filled the air vanished, replaced by the stern military atmosphere.

[ Achievement: Master-Servant Relation – ‘34’. As long as loyalty is unshakable, those who swear allegiance will trust and follow Leo. ]

Twelve increased.

Whether it sparked a fire in some hearts, it was unknown, but the message popped up indicating that, including Cesar, the twenty-two had grown.

Rev quickly downed the soup that Cesar brought and stood up.

“After eating, recite the service regulations.”

“Understood. You were magnificent today, Captain. But where are you going?”

“Just a quick trip to the mountain.”

He couldn’t confess that he was going hunting to supplement the food costs for fear of running out of money. As Rev stepped outside the tent, he turned back.

“Oh right. Send a letter to the rear guard. Two injuries occurred.”

“Yes! I shall carry it out as ordered. But Captain, I have something to report.”

– Whistle!

Cesar placed two fingers on his tongue and whistled. From somewhere, Sinis flew in, and Cesar said,

“A war has broken out.”

“…What?”

“Wasn’t it expected? According to the warriors who returned from the village, the northern and eastern dukes, along with many nobles, have rebelled. Thus, conscription is occurring everywhere.”

Rev fell silent for a moment.

Though it was expected, it was early spring now, much sooner than initially planned.

‘Something must have happened,’ he thought, reassuring the lieutenant. He took a few of the loyal warriors and ascended the mountain to hunt.

Seeing the unusual reaction of the captain, Cesar shrugged and set Sinis down on the ground. He squatted, placing a piece of paper on the broad back of the bird, writing a letter to send to the rear guard.

Though familiar, Sinis sometimes shook his feathers as if annoyed.

*

It was ten days later when the seven hundred barbarian soldiers led by Rev joined the army.

Rev had climbed all the way to the northwestern kingdom along the Lognum Mountain Range facing the sea in search of the closest rebels, encountering the army of Duke Drazin, who was advancing southward.

As promised, Leo was here.

“What’s going on? Why did the war start so quickly? At this rate, the barbarian warriors won’t have time to train.”

The initial plan was for Rev to train the arriving barbarians from the Gaidan Marquis’s territory for at least a month before advancing west with them. Leo de Yeriel was supposed to rendezvous with Duke Drazin along the way.

“There was a raid.”

Leo, with a significantly altered hairstyle, replied calmly.

His blonde hair had grown long. He parted it left and let the long strands hang down on the right. Handsome Leo de Yeriel always looked good no matter the style.

“Sit for a moment. There’s much to discuss.”

Leo sat at the table. The prince’s tent, set in the middle of the military camp, was spacious and furnished with essential furniture.

Except for the hammock hung instead of a bed, it was a tent that wouldn’t tarnish the prince’s dignity, complete with a carpet.

Rev raised his voice slightly.

“Regardless, how can you move up the timeline by three months? This isn’t just for training. At this rate…”

Leo Dexter wouldn’t have enough time to arrive. For the engagement scenario that would start half a year later compared to the alternative should this round fail, they needed time for Leo to arrive, and that was falling apart.

“I’m sorry. It was unavoidable. The princes moved much sooner than we expected.”

Leo urged him to sit down, his expression bitter. Rev, displeased, sat down, and Leo continued with a faint sigh.

“If it weren’t for Count Safia, we would have died in Nevis. It was that serious.”

Summarizing his words, it went like this:

In January. Leo and Lena were going around persuading nobles when they heard about his upcoming birthday. Since Leo’s birthday was two weeks before Lena’s, they gathered the nobles for a modest celebration, but an incident occurred.

About twenty thugs infiltrated the Gaidan Marquis’s mansion to attempt to kidnap Lena, and noticing this, Leo fought desperately and barely managed to stop them.

Leo’s birthday feast turned into chaos. But more seriously…

“This man is a royal knight! I know him!”

As the identity of a knight killed by Leo was revealed, panic set in when he confirmed that all fleeing thugs were royal knights with his {Tracking Skill}.

The princes drew their swords.

Given that two dukes had joined forces to create a fairly significant faction, they had expected that even if their rebellion plan was exposed, they wouldn’t move until Aton de Lognum’s heir ceremony.

What had provoked them so intensely?

If it became known that the princes had used royal knights against nobles, many would turn against them. No matter how much they belonged to that faction.

But it wasn’t time to ponder this.

The raid returned to naught, and worse yet, the flailing prince, Leo de Yeriel, left behind casualties that exceeded imagination, meaning the twin princes would undoubtedly resort to more extreme measures.

“We need to escape immediately! The army will be summoned soon. In the worst-case scenario, the knights might move…”

If the king stepped in, they were as good as dead. Even if the nobles of the Orun Kingdom tried to suppress the mobilization of the royal knights, they wouldn’t stand a chance on Lognum aristocracy’s territory, Nevis.

All the citizens around Nevis belonged to the king. It was the king who had the authority to conscript them, and once the army entered Nevis, it would all be over. Every noble who participated in the rebellion would see their mansions burned.

The nobles gathered at Leo’s birthday feast hurried back to their mansions. Leo and Lena escaped Nevis with the Gaidan Marquis, during which the support they had from Count Safia proved beneficial.

“Open the door!”

“It can’t be done. The royal order is to seal all gates in Nevis…”

“How dare you mention the command structure in front of me! I am the Grand Officer of the Nevis garrison!”

In truth, he had been dismissed. However, the twin princes moved in such haste that they hadn’t learned Safia Count was no longer in command.

Including Lena and Leo, the nobles who sided with the rebellion exited Nevis while Count Safia seized control of the side gates, and the king summoned the council to label the fleeing nobles as traitors, declaring war.

“So… here we are.”

Leo’s composed explanation came to an end. The prince spread out the map and explained the next steps.

“Drazin and Gaidan have raised their armies. They’re currently on the move, and here, here, here, and here… twenty-three noble houses have promised to join. We’ll have to watch further, but it seems there are still fifteen more noble families likely to join. Oh, according to Lena, there are three generals who said they would join if they were made nobles.”

“What? Why is Lena involved?”

Leo, who’d been explaining while pointing at the map, looked up.

He emphasized with his serious eyes just how talented his sister was while spitting words…

Honestly, it felt like he was a simpleton.

Though our dear little sister has some extraordinary talent, Leo’s words were an exaggeration.

Apparently, Count Soarel Demetri Ogerton, whom they thought they couldn’t sway without the {Bracelet of Barbatos}, responded positively because of Lena.

That sorcerer count ultimately refused to join, but Soarel contacted his ‘Bolinude Mage Tower’ and fellow mages.

Asking them to side with the rebels if possible.

That alone was a tremendous help. Mages acted like mercenaries, but they weren’t overly influenced by money.

Many folks offered them more than enough, so they required only the necessary research costs to bother moving to help.

“So, you succeeded in securing the mage force? How many?”

“Twelve. But that’s not important. Our Lena…”

Trying to pivot the conversation again, it started anew. Rev waved his hands dismissively.

“Okay, okay, I get it. So, you mean she’s a remarkable royalty? But honestly, she’s just a child…”

“She isn’t a child!”

Leo shouted. He moved closer to Rev, looking exasperated as their eyes met.

“Remember this clearly. It’s not directed at you. Let her do as she pleases. She’s a hundred times better than you.”

It felt as if he was addressing someone else rather than Rev. Rev felt absurd as Leo treated him as a mere tool for delivering memory messages, leading him to chuckle lightly.

“Huh? What is…?”

At that moment, something caught his attention.

Rev reached out toward Leo’s charming face, with none of his breath escaping his cheeks.

His long-blonde hair, parted and grown to the right. As he parted the hair that masked half his face, a severe scar was revealed.

From just behind the cheekbone to the ear.

And his ear was completely severed. Split both top and bottom…

It was evident he had been struck by a blade. The sword had barely grazed Leo’s face.

Rev momentarily lost his words. The delay in treating the wound had left the flesh hanging sickeningly open, symbolizing the urgency of the situation at the time.

Leo pushed Rev’s hand away, brushing his blonde hair aside to obscure the scar and stated coolly.

“It’s nothing significant. I’m alive, that’s what matters. Lena’s safe too.”

After a long moment of silence, Rev said, “…I’m glad to hear that.” He didn’t bother to add an apology.

There was no need to articulate it.