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184. Childhood Friend – Hypocrite

“It’s slippery. Watch your step.”

In the forest, Reb warned the fifty-odd warriors following him. The barbarian warriors nodded silently.

The mountain was covered in muddy fallen leaves from the snow that had accumulated over the winter. The leaves shed by the trees served as fertilizer for them, and they were sprouting fresh green buds in anticipation of spring.

Reb and the warriors walked silently through the damp, sloping forest. After some time, while Reb was looking around, a mountain hideout came into view.

[ Achievement: Mountain Hideout Captured – You can now find bandit hideouts more easily. ]

This was an achievement acquired from a previous round of the childhood friend scenario. Climbing mountains, Reb easily found the bandits’ establishments, which became good bases for the soldiers fighting in the war.

“It’s not the first time, but it’s just amazing each time. How do you manage to find these?”

Cesar, the lieutenant, marveled. He instructed the warriors to clear the hideout and whistled for Sinis. He notified the main forces of the location of this base.

– Beep!

Sinis flapped its wings in response to its master’s increasingly frequent requests lately. The letters Cesar was scrawling on its back became crooked and messy.

Leo didn’t reply. He surveyed the abandoned bandit hideout—left by the bandits who fled in surprise from the sudden war—designating positions for the warriors to stand guard.

After meeting Leo and hearing the general situation, Reb immediately headed to join the army of Duke Gaidan, who was advancing west.

The intent was to meet and lead the warriors sent by each tribe to Gaidan Territory, but the number of warriors was much smaller than expected.

Three thousand six hundred.

And that was including the seven hundred warriors from the Meiwa Tribe that Reb had brought along. It was embarrassing to think that he had confidently promised Prince Leo about the arrival of ten thousand.

When he asked why so few had come, the response from the tribal leaders was this.

The villages Reb had directly visited fulfilled the promised numbers. However, those villages that Reb had not stopped by hesitated to send warriors, being suspicious of his identity.

“At least the most spirited warriors came. I’m actually glad that the useless ones were filtered out,” Reb was consoled by the Dwinor Tribe’s great warrior, who visited Reb’s camp first. However, Reb couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

War isn’t about bravery; it’s about numbers.

While he expected a slight reduction in numbers to Gaidan Territory, the fact that only three thousand six hundred came was shocking. Surprisingly, the only tribe that sent the initially promised numbers was the Norangd Tribe.

Reb found his {Tracking Skill} somewhat embarrassing. He averted his gaze from the Dwinor Tribe’s great warrior (a woman!) who had led the Norangd warriors.

Still, the war was progressing smoothly. It seemed it wouldn’t be an incredibly tough fight; thanks to Leo’s efforts, many nobles had joined the rebellion.

It even came to light that the princes Aton and Alzeor de Lognum mobilized royal knights to raid Duke Gaidan’s mansion, causing some nobles associated with the princes’ faction to turn against them.

Those nobles weren’t necessarily fond of those rascally princes who toyed with noble ladies. To be honest, more of them disliked it, but they had no alternatives, or they were caught up in the factions divided by the princes.

Moreover, the two Dukes guarding the north and east, Duke Gaidan and Marquis Drazin, immediately had their “standing army” at the ready. A formidable force of forty thousand elite soldiers was advancing towards the capital city of Nevis.

The Lognum royal family hurriedly issued a mobilization order, and the farmers who should have been sowing seeds in the spring donned their armor.

However, that didn’t mean the rebel army could advance unimpeded. Even ill-trained soldiers hurriedly drafted couldn’t easily stand against the rebellion, and more importantly…

The royal knights held them back.

Over three hundred knights—strongest forces from the Orun Kingdom, not some random nobility who barely became knights—were at their disposal.

When those knights paired off and hid themselves in the forest, the army couldn’t move forward easily.

Our magical forces were superior, but since the enemy wasn’t without mages, soldiers had to be split. Soldiers grouped into tens or so would be easy fodder for knight duos.

“We need to increase the number of soldiers in the squad.”

That was Reb’s suggestion.

As the general commanding the barbarian warriors, Reb participated in the commander meeting and proposed that soldiers be grouped into the units of twenty or thirty instead of just ten. He based his argument on the fact that there couldn’t be more than two enemy mages at most.

“I asked the mages. On our side, six mages are rotating to maintain ‘Cloud Eye’ magic to light up the battlefield, whereas it seems the enemy has only one sustaining it. They might not have enough magical power to spare.”

However, they couldn’t march in a huge group. If the enemy had no mages at all, that would be a different story.

“There might be at least one mage held in reserve, but usually, they don’t maintain ‘Cloud Eye’ alone; they take turns, so the mana road patterns are more easily predictable… At any rate, if there’s no mage deployed in battle, we could be a bit larger in size for the squad. This would significantly reduce the damage caused by knights.”

This proposal passed.

Then Reb, as the field commander, entered the battlefield. Considering the nearly threefold difference in knights’ numbers, and Reb, who knew nothing of military tactics, had nothing to do among the seasoned commanders.

“Cesar. I’ll be heading out for a bit. Tell the Thousand-man Commander…”

“Yes. I’ll let them know you’re out hunting knights.”

Cesar, in his early thirties, saluted the ever-so-somewhat annoying way. He didn’t have particularly thick eyebrows but had broad ear lobes, making him seem energetic.

His skin was somewhat dark, and if it weren’t for the constantly friendly smile he always wore, he might have been perceived as quite a serious type.

But Cesar was not at all that type; he enjoyed playing pranks, which made General Reb frown.

No, I’ll save the lecturing for later.

Reb changed his mind. Honestly, it wasn’t a matter of scolding him for not being serious, nor did he have the time for it.

The knights were nearby.

Reb dashed in the direction the {Tracking Skill} indicated was moving rather quickly. As he dashed through the forest, he called out the password to reassure startled allies, “Dandelion!” After running a while longer, he finally stopped.

Four knights were carefully watching the allied squad.

So they managed to increase their numbers, huh?

He intended to catch the knights wandering around to ambush the squad, but he didn’t expect to find four of them. The {Tracking Skill} only revealed one ‘direction’ each time he used it.

Four, huh…

Feeling a bit pressured, Reb decided to wait. After watching the knights observing the squad for a moment and waiting, they moved.

“A knight!”

The barbarian warriors shouted. Normally, a messenger should’ve dashed out to call for reinforcements immediately, but either from their lack of training or because of their foolish pride, they hesitated.

Reb clicked his tongue, waiting for them to clash…

[ Quest: Duelist 978/1000 – {Swordsmanship} skill increases by one level. ]

He knocked one knight from behind. “General!” shouted the warriors as they pressured the remaining three knights.

“You cowardly scoundrel!”

A knight, whom Reb remembered splitting in two from a memory of being an Apostle of Barbatos, yelled in outrage.

Sorry, but honestly, I’m not a knight either, and even if I fought like you all, I wouldn’t gain any insight. My swordsmanship remains fixed, so it’s only right I keep my efficiency.

Just like the war between Belita Kingdom and Austin Kingdom, the Cross Church declared it wouldn’t intervene in the civil war that had broken out in Orun Kingdom.

Without a priest to heal on the battlefield, boasting too much about {Swordsmanship.5v: Forte Style} might just lead to serious trouble if by any chance he got injured.

Reb held his sword against the enraged knight. While the other two engaged with the warriors, he smoothly extended his arm to bring his sword to the opposing knight’s blade.

Count Hermann Forte’s swordsmanship.

This style, which hides preliminary moves, was thoroughly faithful to the basics.

First, he deceived his breath.

While inhaling, he contracted his chest. He made a gesture of wanting to engage in probing, signaling he had no intention to attack, then stomped the ground with just the strength from his ankles.

As the opponent was taken aback by the sword that suddenly came in front of him while attempting to parry, he turned one knee. He shifted his center of gravity to the right and executed a kick as the sword was rising.

Following Bart’s swordsmanship. Before his body had completely turned, he released his right hand from the grip he held with two hands and swung his left hand down.

“Ugh!”

Still, he was a royal knight, wasn’t he?

The enemy reacted. Even while dodging the kick, perhaps seeing the falling sword, he took a step back. It ended with a cut on the forearm.

But…

“Grrr!”

Behind him stood a barbarian warrior, his axe targeting the knight’s back, and at the moment the knight hastily turned around and struck the warrior’s neck,

– Thud!

Reb’s sword pierced the knight’s side. It crushed the ribs and stabbed the heart.

Embarrassingly, the ‘Duelist’ message popped up, but Reb hurriedly charged toward the next knight. After a brief scuffle, the air filled with shouts and the warriors’ cheers erupted.

[ Quest: Duelist 980/1000 – {Swordsmanship} skill increases by one level. ]

Even though it was four against one, in the end, Reb would have won, but with the warriors joining, it became three against thirty-one, so the outcome was apparent from the beginning. Learning from past experiences, Reb had endeavored to kill at least one knight, yet he still let one get away.

“What are the casualties?”

“Four dead, three seriously injured, seven lightly injured. A great victory! If you hadn’t shown up, General…”

If I had just fought alone, they probably wouldn’t have even died.

In the entire kingdom, just hundreds of them. Even after achieving the feat of killing four rare knights, Reb felt more guilt than joy.

Though he was treated like a hero by the barbarians, he didn’t care in the slightest about their liberation, feeling like a hypocrite. No, he was a hypocrite.

Reb didn’t smile.

With a frown, he ordered, “The dead should be buried, and the seriously wounded should be moved to the rear.” Misunderstanding it, his ‘Master-Servant Relationship’ achievement count rose by twenty.

He felt very dirty.

Ignoring the message that popped up as if to mock him, Reb returned to his original spot. “Indeed, our general! You’ve handled it well!” he passed by Cesar, who was making a fuss.

“Um… General?”

Cesar followed Reb when he plopped down inside the hideout.

Despite seeming like he lived to tease the general, he had the sense to stay away when Reb was in a bad mood. The fact that he came in meant he had something to say.

“What is it?”

“A courier has arrived.”

Cesar handed over the letter with a businesslike attitude. It was from Prince Leo.

“Stay outside.”

Cesar licked his lips and stepped out. Our general seems to be exchanging letters with the prince, the leader of the rebels? He thought as he silently closed the door behind him.

The letter spoke of Sir Bart. It mentioned that Bart and the former royal knights accompanying him had come. However, it noted that Bart had simply left.

‘…Could it be because of Marisa?’

Perhaps Prince Leo had the same thought, as the letter continued along similar lines.

It seemed Bart returned merely because of his wife Marisa and children, whom he had separated from long ago.

The strange part was that, according to the royal knights, Bart had sent his second son back.

He had promised to return after finishing his work, asking his foolish father to forgive him, but it seemed he had changed his mind during the visit to the prince, leaving the royal knights bewildered.

What on earth is this game even about…

At this point, Reb tucked the letter into his garment. Leo was not asking for anything to be done, simply sending a reminder, so Reb fell back and mulled over the contents of the letter a few times.

In the meantime, chaos probably erupted in the main forces. Thinking how General Reb would be praised for yet another incredible achievement made his stomach twist.

I am but a despicable hypocrite.

Reb tossed and turned in the dark, stinky hideaway room. He curled up and soon fell asleep.

Leah…