Chapter 48

Rance, who had received the report, looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked.

“Looking at the phrase engraved on the armor, it seems to belong to that Hans fellow… but the voice is unusually deep for his age… could it be…?”

I suppressed the fear of being found out and calmly replied.

“I am also at that age… slowly becoming an adult.”

“I see…”

After pondering for a while, Rance looked at me and patted my shoulder as he spoke.

“Well, I’ve seen that Hans fellow often enough, but I’ve never seen his kind. I guess I was mistaken. Sorry about that. So, what’s the situation outside?”

It would probably be better to simply state the facts I had seen and felt rather than lie and raise suspicion, which could be detrimental to my safety…

So I spoke as it was.

“The morale of the soldiers is fairly maintained, but the morale of the citizens, especially the refugees, is at its lowest. Among the refugees, there are talks of ‘might as well surrender to Croilet Count to survive.'”

Upon hearing this, Rance sighed and said.

“Hmm… the situation isn’t better than I thought. Although, including the food given to the refugees, we won’t last a month…”

At that moment, I couldn’t hold back a smile that I didn’t even realize was forming.

Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet, so my face was hidden, but if they saw my expression now, I would certainly be suspected of being a ‘spy’…

To match Rance’s gloomy atmosphere, I recalled the most frustrating moment of my life.

Yes, that wicked ‘Mant’ fellow came in with me and, by mere luck, captured a noble in the last war and got promoted to sergeant. That expression of his… That saying…

“Hey, Private Short… aren’t you going to salute? From now on, I’m a sergeant, and you’re still a private…”

I felt a surge of anger, and frustration and despair welled up inside me.

So after shaking for a moment, I replied in a trembling voice.

“This is serious… How can I help?”

Hearing my words, Rance seemed touched by the fact that this younger trainee knight was willing to help him. He tried to brighten his gloomy face and then patted me on the shoulder as he spoke.

“We can’t open the castle gates and fight until Count Helzman returns. If the enemy has looted and committed rapes or murders, we could unite and arm ourselves, but… since not a single serf has been killed, even if we arm them, they’ll probably just do it half-heartedly and want to open the gates.”

“So…?”

Rance looked at me with a skeptical expression, but then shook his head as if to dismiss the thought.

“You sure are curious about a lot of things. Don’t do that in front of other knights; you could be suspected of being a spy. We need to assign some citizens and a guard to suppress if ‘serfs’ rise up directly.”

I nodded and pretended to be impressed as I replied.

“That’s a brilliant insight. Once Count Helzman defeats Count Nante and returns, we’ll be in a much more favorable position.”

Upon hearing this, Rance waved his hands in front of him.

“Is that so? Though compared to other knights, my head is at least a bit better. Well, I’ll take my leave now; Hans will be looking for me.”

“Yes, understood.”

I then bowed my head slightly in a gesture of respect, just like the knights do, and naturally stepped back from Rance.

Ah, I thought my heart might burst.

What kind of guts did I have to approach the leader of the enemy’s defense and think to obtain such important information?

Still, if I return safely, I might even get promoted to sergeant.

Wait for it, Mant… I’ll make sure to wreak havoc using my rank.

**

After leaving the lord’s castle, which served as the headquarters of the guards, I encountered enemy knights several times.

Most just exchanged greetings and mentioned they were looking for ‘Sir Hans.’

However, I managed to kill one knight, who seemed to be wandering alone in a secluded area, by stabbing him in the heart from behind to silence him.

I took his sword and head, which were proof of his noble status.

Once I arrived close to the castle walls, I threw the noisy armor somewhere out of sight to avoid detection.

Then, pretending to be a regular soldier, I quietly made my way up the castle wall, seeking a soldier who was ‘on duty’ alone.

After searching for about ten minutes, I spotted a ‘lone’ soldier holding a torch, trying to walk toward the restroom.

Before he could meet with the other soldiers, I quickly ascended the stairs leading to the castle wall.

Upon reaching the stairs, I naturally came face to face with the soldier.

The soldier waved his hand at me and said,

“Are you a rookie? It’s still a bit early for a changeover here… Are you lost?”

“Haha, yes. I was told to go to guard tower number 5 at the gate… where is this?”

Hearing my question, the veteran soldier laughed and said,

“‘Yo’! There’s no discipline! But since I got caught going to the bathroom during guard duty, I’ll let you off easy. It’s the other side. If you run to my opposite side, you won’t be late.”

“Thank you.”

I then brushed past that soldier and, as soon as I did, quickly covered his mouth from behind and stabbed his neck with a dagger to silence him. I then ‘leisurely’ hung a rope over the castle’s watchtower as I had learned in training.

As soon as my feet touched the moat, I rushed to the camp of Count Croilet’s army, doing my utmost to avoid being detected by the enemy sentries.

As soon as I reached the camp, the guard looked at me suspiciously and immediately shouted loudly.

“Code word! Hardtack!!”

“Flail!”

“Good! Pass.”

I finally made it…

**

“As of now, I haven’t seen any soldiers affiliated with Count Helzman approaching this side within a day or two’s journey.”

“You’ve done well, Captain.”

“No, Your Excellency.”

Despite saying that, the captain’s face was filled with exhaustion.

He must have gone out to scout himself to report more accurately…

“That’s good. Even back in the mercenary days, Helmut always praised you for being the veteran mercenary who took the initiative to scout. It’s great to see that you still maintain that good habit. I’m proud of you.”

Having a noble title, his lord, who lives in a world above the clouds, was saying he was proud of a commoner like himself, so the captain was holding back tears.

“Everyone knows the importance of reconnaissance, but I understand it even better. I’ll consider your promotion soon. Dismissed.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Upon finishing those words, the captain quickly stepped ahead, seemingly not wanting to show any signs of crying in front of me.

I could soon hear the sound of a 40-year-old man sobbing.

“Mother, mother… if only you had lived ten more years, you would have been able to see your son rise to the rank of captain and receive a title!!!”

Every time I encountered moments like this, I felt that this place was completely different from the modern world.

In modern times, what is taken for granted like ‘promotion according to ability’ is seen here as an unimaginable stroke of luck and grace even for those with great abilities.

That’s great, then I’ll need to write about this incident in the personnel record of that ‘Captain Sandman’…

As I was about to add a good review to his records, a sergeant stationed in front of my tent came in and said.

“Your Excellency, a scout named Short insists on reporting something personally to you. What should we do?”

“Well, I understand that he’s had a tough time scouting… but isn’t it best to keep the reporting structure intact?”

“Even knowing that, he’s stubbornly asserting, ‘The decision rests on your report!!’ He also brought with him what appears to be a capture of an enemy knight…”

Regardless of the soldier’s rank, if he brought anything above that of a ‘knight’, it would be right to listen to his report.

This is because even if the information obtained from reconnaissance has no meaning, in the already unfavorable situation against the enemy, just eliminating ‘one knight’ would be a significant advantage.

The enemy’s morale would plummet like crazy the moment they learned of a knight’s death before any battle even began.

“Let him in.”

As soon as I finished speaking, a scout clad in muddy rags entered and saluted me.

“Private Short from the reconnaissance unit, I came to report something to Count Croilet.”

“You’ve worked hard. First, let’s check the knight’s head.”

Short opened a bloodied cloth bag on my desk.

Inside was the head of a man who seemed to have died recently.

“And here’s the sword that this knight was wielding. The hilt and pommel are engraved with a crest.”

Only a knight could carry a sword emblazoned with the crest on the hilt and pommel…

If it were any other equipment, it might have been worth doubting, but a knight never hands over a sword bearing his crest to anyone, so it’s certain he killed a knight.

“You’ve done well. Now, please start your report.”

As I encouraged him to speak, the soldier gestured excitedly as he reported what he had seen.

Since most of the information was similar to what other scouts had brought, it was evident that the information he brought was likely true as well.

So then…

“Is it really true? That you killed the knight serving Hans, put on his armor, and approached Commander Rance saying the morale of the enemy citizens is too low, and we should use the ‘guard’ to supervise the refugees?”

“Yes, that’s correct. As evidence, here’s the ‘signet ring bearing the crest of the knight serving Hans’.”

Upon confirming the signet ring, I noticed the crest in the center was definitely something I was unfamiliar with, so it seemed like it was indeed authentic.

In an unexpected situation, an incredible stroke of luck had fallen into my lap.

I couldn’t help but laugh heartily in front of the ‘soldier’ without worrying about my dignity, filled with gratitude for the luck.

“Haha, this unbelievable stroke of luck! Truly remarkable! So, what’s your rank?”

“Private.”

“Alright then, you may go. Normally, honors are not given on the battlefield, but I’ll make an exception and consider this, and I’ll convey it to your superior shortly!”

“Private Short! Thank you!!”

After completing those words, Short rushed out of my tent.

That day, I received a report concerning Short from the captain, who was the head of the reconnaissance unit.

The next day, I gathered all the soldiers together and announced Short’s promotion in front of them.

“Private Short, having entered Helzman Castle and directly uncovered the weaknesses of Commander Rance’s defense forces, and based on the achievement of eliminating ‘one enemy knight and one nobleman’ as well as his past accomplishments, I hereby promote him. Additionally, he shall receive a reward of 20 gold coins.”

Though it seemed excessive, considering the morale drop brought on by this knight’s death during Short’s reconnaissance and the value of the information he provided…

It’s only right to reward him accordingly.

Now, if I just fortify the stronghold, I can sleep well for a while.

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