256. Engagement – The Lost Letter

“Why are you two using the tent alone? This is a complete mess! Are you playing house or what?”

The soldiers departing from Abrival Castle merged with those who came down from the capital, Barnau, and headed toward the battlefield. As the scale increased, a temporary commander was assigned to lead the unit, and Leo met the beak-nosed Hundred-man Commander again.

With his cannon-like nose, the Hundred-man Commander acted all high and mighty once more, scolding Leo for sharing a tent meant for three with just the two of them. Leo replied,

“I’m sorry. We are engaged… I know it’s against regulations, but is there any way around it?”

With a glimmer, he discreetly showed a silver coin to apologize. He spent his reserved initial funds as a bribe, and Rena exclaimed,

“Oh? I thought we were going to get in huge trouble, but he’s letting us off? What a relief!”

Oblivious to the situation, she flapped her arms in joy.

This was also a method thought up by Minseo.

While he got hints from the information on the Street Rules, if Leo was the genuine Knight he hoped to be, he wouldn’t have acted this way. Without Minseo, Leo might have flaunted the illustrious surname of ‘Dexter’ and got the Hundred-man Commander into trouble.

But since Minseo had been useful thus far, Leo opted to follow his approach to avoid complications. Thanks to that, they reached the battlefield “safely.”

“Quick! Hurry and take us to the barracks!”

– Gulp.

Upon arrival, it was a scene of utter chaos. Injured soldiers groaned and were transported to the barracks, while the newly arrived recruits swallowed dry gulps.

This was a typical sight on the battlefield.

The Austin Kingdom Army and the Belita Kingdom Army had been engaging in minor skirmishes for the past month. Now that reinforcements had arrived, the Austin Kingdom was ready to launch a full-scale offensive.

As the temporary commander, the beak-nosed Hundred-man Commander had, as before, become Rena and Leo’s superior. He assigned six members of the Ainar Tribe and three soldiers per squad and reorganized the hundred-man unit.

Rena and Leo were assigned to the same squad. As the Hundred-man Commander, who skipped even introductions, checked the soldiers’ equipment, they headed toward the right ridge.

‘This feels strange.’

As they climbed the hill and surveyed the battlefield, Leo sensed something he hadn’t experienced before.

Perhaps due to his tactical ability, he could see the overall situation at a glance. Even in early spring, patches of ice remained on the plains where hundreds of squads were widely dispersed, and the Austin Kingdom Army started to occupy the hills on the left and right.

It was a straightforward tactic.

This indicated to Leo that both sides had sufficient magical forces and were in a similar situation. In such cases, the outcome depended on how well the commander utilized the knights and how adeptly they avoided the sorcerers while maneuvering their units.

At first glance, unit advancing tactics might seem like a simple numbers game, but it was anything but that. It required exceptional spatial awareness and near-prophetic prediction abilities, as clashes often ended in a single blow rather than protracted battles. No matter how well units were scattered, they naturally congregated once fighting commenced.

That’s the principle of gathering and dispersing. The commander must constantly gauge where the battles will unfold and how tightly forces will group, dispatching knights or sorcerers beforehand or drawing the enemy inward. It was also crucial to pin down the placement of the enemy’s powerful knights and sorcerers.

After scanning the battlefield, Leo thought,

‘Our side’s commander must be superior.’

He easily discerned the general’s excellence. Having met the Commander-in-Chief directly, he knew he didn’t possess tactical skills because…

‘In the early stages, the Austin Kingdom always won.’

He knew the future.

Leo fulfilled his duties as a common soldier. Eventually, the charge order fell. The squad, including Rena and Leo, encountered the enemy’s unit.

“I feel a bit tense.”

“Me too.”

Rena, on the brink of her first real battle, was visibly anxious. Gripping her sword tightly, she advised Leo, “Be careful not to get hurt. I heard there isn’t a single priest around.” Leo smiled brightly.

But,

– Slash!

“Huh?”

It was easy. Rena easily cut down the first enemy she encountered. Sidestepping the foolishly charging opponent, she stepped to the side, driving her sword into his abdomen.

Splash! Blood spurted out.

Before Rena could process the thrill of her first kill, another soldier charged in. Unable to retrieve her sword from his gut in time, Rena spun, using the body she had just slain as a shield to push into the chest of the new enemy before he could strike her down.

This prevented him from bringing his sword down.

‘Why is this such a hassle?’

After a brief respite, the sword embedded in the enemy’s belly wouldn’t budge. Startled by the unexpected situation, Rena abandoned her sword and jabbed her left elbow into the enemy’s chest.

“Ow!”

They were close enough that she could feel his body heat. Following up, Rena raised her right elbow to strike his chin and quickly grabbed the sword he had dropped. An unfamiliar texture gripped her hand.

It was a mess.

The dueling and real combat she had experienced thus far were worlds apart. Even the balance of the sword she had just picked up felt off.

But Rena successfully finished off the enemy soldier with that sword, marking the successful conclusion of her first real battle. Wiping the blood from her forehead, she looked around and saw the fighting had ceased.

Rena happily shouted,

“Leo! I took down two!”

“Wow! Our Rena is amazing! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Nope. What about you?”

“I’m fine too.”

“No, how many did you take down?”

“I got one.”

“Hehe…”

With her hands on her hips, Rena puffed out her chest. This was a habitual gesture when she felt good or wanted to boast about something.

Until now, Rena hadn’t known her own strength. Her swordsmanship had improved considerably, but the only opponents she had faced were Noel and Leo Dexter father and son.

There was no way she could have defeated Noel Dexter, who would have at least been a Knight Commander if he hadn’t retired, and Leo’s skills always seemed to match her own. She had thought her sword skills had improved notably, yet finally, for the first time, a comparison had arisen.

A messenger ran back to report their victory to the Hundred-man Commander leading the main unit. The hundred-man squad had stepped back briefly to regroup, and on the way, Rena strutted and said,

“Could it be that I’m incredibly strong? This feels just so easy!”

Easy? Leo burst out laughing heartily. It wasn’t that he was mocking his happy girlfriend.

‘Right. This makes sense. It wasn’t supposed to be difficult in the first place.’

[Rena’s Growth]

As they fought in the war, Leo would help Rena grow. Although Katrina presented a significant hurdle, it would be practically over once they got past her.

What about Count Hermann Forte, the swordmaster of the Belita Kingdom, whom they would inevitably encounter?

In Leo’s possession was a letter from his father, Noel Dexter. It was the final piece of preparation for Leo to achieve a happy ending.

– “Weren’t you close to him back then? You said you were a junior to him, right? You seemed to take pride in that.”

If there was Count Hermann Forte among the enemy, there was Baron Albasete on our side. Noel Dexter was directly involved with Baron Albasete, serving as his junior and mentor, and he learned this from Rena during the eighth round, when he first met Baron Albasete.

Therefore, he asked his father. If they could achieve remarkable feats and become knights, he wanted to deliver a letter to the swordmaster.

His father seemed surprised that he would make such a request but nonetheless wrote the letter.

Now, they just needed to be near Baron Albasete on the night they met Count Hermann Forte. Presenting their achievements before the swordmaster and defeating Count Forte alongside the baron would likely be the conclusion of this engagement scenario.

To confirm, a fixed event was bound to occur. No matter what they did. Count Hermann Forte would come to their location and meet his demise.

‘Haha. Yeah… I owe that guy a lot.’

He had killed him twice.

Once by him, once by Rena. Rena had also fallen at his hands, and Reriana had been murdered by the knights he sent; alongside Ran de Yeriel, who had turned into a thug protecting the brothel.

This would be the last engagement round, so he would be able to achieve clean revenge and wrap things up. Perhaps because he had broken free of the curse, Katrina said she wouldn’t make an appearance on the battlefield, so there would be no lingering anxieties to reach a happy ending. There were also achievements to win the favor of Prince Anolf de Klaus, who would grant them knighthood.

Perfect.

Leo obliterated the next enemy squad he encountered. In an instant, he slaughtered five men, deflating Rena’s ego, and Rena exclaimed, “How uncool!” Over the fact that Leo still outpaced her, she intensified her training.

The Hundred-man Commander, leading the squad through consecutive great victories, was quite bewildered. However, he soon understood why. One of the warriors from the Ainar Tribe within the squad arrogantly declared,

“Lucky day for you all. Rena and Leo are aspiring knights. Leo’s dad is a great knight, you know. Honestly, I didn’t expect this level of strength though…”

“Right? I never dreamed Rena would be this strong. Haha! Truly impressive. She’s indeed the daughter of a Great Warrior. Same goes for Leo.”

“…I see.”

A good thing is a good thing, the Hundred-man Commander genuinely rejoiced without pretense. Leo humbly replied to the compliments,

“We all did it together. Please don’t attribute all the merits to us.”

They shared the credit for their achievements. It was only natural for the previously subdued soldiers on the battlefield to bond together.

Thanks to that, even after Leo stopped showcasing his skills, they continued to win. The enemies were just as intimidated, so they charged forward with confidence, feeling no fear. As expected, Katrina never showed up on the battlefield.

This fact even reached the ears of the Commander-in-Chief, as it couldn’t be overlooked.

Despite experiencing twenty battles, they had sustained not a single casualty and were beginning to establish a reputation as an invincible hundred-man unit on the battlefield.

At this rate, they would become targets for enemy knights. Realizing it would be better to utilize their unusual unit to boost the morale of the entire army rather than risking them being slaughtered by knight attacks, the Commander-in-Chief recalled the peculiar unit to the base.

The excuse was that they had been on the front lines for a long time and needed supplies. However, it was not merely an excuse; with frequent battles leading to injuries, units often merged on-site or returned to replenish.

Typically, they returned before the initial supplies of food or emergency medical supplies ran out.

Yet the squad to which Rena and Leo belonged had been at the forefront for nearly two months. In fact, they had run out of supplies and had been scavenging food from the hundred-man unit, so receiving a return order was due.

Ha-ha-ha!

The heroes returning from their conquest did so with great honor. It was early summer when news arrived that Prince Anolf de Klaus would soon bring a sizable reinforcement to the front lines.

The squad including Rena and Leo was set to attend the prince’s inspection ceremony where they would receive hefty rewards and praises…

But a problem arose.

“What?! Baron Albasete isn’t coming?”

The swordmaster, who was supposed to escort Prince Anolf de Klaus, hadn’t even departed. The letter that Leo held was left without a destination.