What Happened That Day (4)
"Wait a mont, battalion commander!"
"... What is it, Ian?"
The mont everyone's sharp gazes pierced into ,
I opened my mouth and spoke clearly.
"Even as we take in the soldier prisoners, I suggest we ensure a thorough verification process. We can't completely rule out the possibility that one among them has sided with the enemy."
Hank seed ready to argue with ,
but the battalion commander stopped him and spoke.
"That's a good point. Hahaha. In that case, I propose that everyone gathered here, including myself, check the prisoners directly together. Would that be sufficient?"
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly and bowed my head toward the old man.
"Thank you."
The commanders and I, having left the operations room tent, headed to the front of the garrison.
Where the beastkin bastards and the prisoners were held.
Amid all that, Hank shot a look full of discontent.
But since I had achieved a satisfactory outco, I could happily ignore it.
Really, the old man is an impressive person.
'He took everyone's opinions and made the most appropriate decision.'
Honestly, I had opposed accepting the prisoners,
but that's a tough choice from a commander's perspective.
Morale would have fallen instantly.
'It's because it could give the impression that even if you beco a prisoner, you'll be discarded all the sa.'
That must be why the battalion commander decided to confirm the prisoners himself.
To check whether any of the prisoners had turned to the beastkin side.
With the eyes of the old man, myself, and the company commanders, not only could we identify defectors,
but it would also serve as an opportunity to actually boost morale.
Is there a Trojan horse, or isn't there?
'Please, let it be an unnecessary worry.'
With such concerns, I walked in line behind the battalion commander and Lantz.
Soldiers who were already fully ready for deploynt were standing by.
Passing by their greetings for quite a while,
finally, the steps of the commanders and myself ca to a halt.
"Loyalty shines upon you!"
To Sergeant Pab's salute, the battalion commander remained silent.
Soon enough, Hank answered in the old man's stead.
"What are you doing?! Open it at once!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Pab's signal, the soldiers began to move busily.
Between two wooden watchtowers, the soldiers pulled open the wooden fence that served as the entrance.
Drrrrrk.
Gradually, very slowly, my field of vision opened.
Drgedggrggrrk. Kkijijik!
It fully opened, and only then did the battalion commander walk out again.
As a platoon leader, I followed behind the commanders and looked toward the prisoners and beastkin ahead.
'They said there were only thirty beastkin, but all of them turned out to be mana users.'
Already, I felt uneasy.
There wasn't a single rat beastkin, and all of them looked like at least 2nd-rank types.
Those beastkin bastards stood in formation, surrounding the human prisoners.
"Oh ho. Kratan Chieftain, I didn't expect you to show up in person."
A red chicken beastkin, all top-heavy muscles with a weak-looking lower body, took a step forward and spoke.
'That bastard isn't an ordinary one either.'
I really must have developed a good eye.
Just from a glance, I could tell the opponent was 4th-rank.
Well, if a red chicken beastkin had co as the negotiation representative, he must be pretty high up.
"Hahaha. I'm not the chieftain, but you still can't get it through your thick head. By the way, what was your na again?"
Parrr, the bastard's comb shook violently.
"You leatherhead bastard?! It's Filnar! The first son of the illustrious Jonar, and the sub-chieftain, filnar!!"
That sound from the chicken reminded unpleasantly of a pig getting its throat cut.
"Hmm, did the eldest son change, or is my mory just bad because I'm old now? Hahaha."
The battalion commander ignored the chicken and half-turned his head to speak to the commanders.
"Co to think of it, we only decided about our prisoners, but nothing else. What should we do?"
A smile lingered on the side of the battalion commander's face.
But I could see.
Our old man was now,
'Consud by anger.'
He wasn't the only one.
Ralph, who was closest to , was the sa.
The killing intent radiating from big-jaw hyung was enough to make my skin prickle.
'Now that they're seeing the prisoners up close, it's too much to contain their anger.'
From earlier, I had heard murmurs of recognition from the prisoners toward the commanders.
"Battalion commander!?"
"Oh, gods."
"Ralph, team leader? Why are you wearing a company commander's scarf?"
They all looked haggard, with frail and emaciated faces.
Those among them who could even speak properly were the lucky ones.
"L-lo-yalty shines... upon..."
"Aeugh..."
There were several prisoners whose minds seed gone from torture.
No, hardly anyone was physically whole either.
Even I, soone who didn't know them personally, felt sothing hot surge within my chest.
'So just how furious must the commanders be?'
But the other side had co under a flag of truce to make a pact.
It would not be right to take out our anger on them.
Moreover, their representative was the chieftain's eldest son, so we had to hold back.
- Or so I thought, but maybe that's only possible for a modern person like myself.
"Hahaha. Normally, I'd ask for your opinions and then give orders, but please excuse this ti."
The battalion commander's head faced forward again.
Though from where I stood I could only see his shining crown,
I could more or less imagine the expression on the old man's face.
"Battalion commander. Please give the order."
First Company Commander Lantz also drew his sword in an unusually angry voice,
and the other two company commanders quietly took their preparatory stance.
Not to be outdone, I drew Black Vein.
"You crazy leatherheads?!"
As expected, the red chicken beastkin panicked and lifted his mace.
"The Great Tree is watching your atrocities! Are you not asha—?"
The bastard's disgusting voice was abruptly cut off.
"Ek, rlk? Kokok?"
The battalion commander's rapier artifact, One Point, was piercing the bastard's beak.
A perfect thrust—pointed sword.
"Kek!!"
But it didn't end there.
Pyut, pyut, pyut!
In the blink of an eye, the battalion commander punched holes in the crown, neck, and chest, then flicked the blood from his blade onto the ground.
Chot!
The body of the sub-chieftain, now turned into chicken at, collapsed.
"What—he's mad!"
"Take up arms! Prepare for battle!!"
Belatedly, the beastkin realized what was happening and grabbed their weapons,
so screaming threats to kill the prisoners as hostages.
But in my ears, only the battalion commander's low voice rang out.
"All commanders, kill the beasts near the garrison."
Even before he finished speaking, the three company commanders charged forward.
But not .
'Even if I move now, I'm slower than the company commanders.'
But I could deal with them faster than they could.
Because I have a ranged skill they don't.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Faster than the company commanders' steps, I gripped two utility knives,
filled them with Sword Energy, and hurled them at the beastkin trying to kill our prisoners.
It was good I had eaten that special variant bear soup.
Pook! Pwoosh! Pook!
I didn't stop throwing.
To save even one more of our soldiers.
Pook!
As the tenth and final utility knife sank into a beastkin,
the three company commanders clashed with them.
I, not to be outdone, charged with Black Vein in hand.
'Huh?'
I stopped in my tracks.
With the battalion commander joining in after the company commanders, the fight was over before I knew it.
The beastkin with holes in their vital points were all lying on the ground.
While the three company commanders faced their equivalents,
the battalion commander had slain all the rest that I failed to.
'So strong.'
His swordplay was so refined it was beautiful.
Is this the power of a battle-hardened veteran ard with an artifact weapon?
I'd felt it with Jeros in our duel,
but it had only been a mont's thought that the battalion commander was sothing beyond even the three 4th-rank company commanders,
when Ralph felled the last remaining 4th-rank beastkin,
and—
"Waaaaaah!!"
Cheers erupted from the garrison.
Shouts from the soldiers who had watched the commanders' fight.
Morale soared to the heavens.
'Did the old man calculate this far ahead?'
Saving the prisoners and decisively refusing to forgive the beastkin.
The soldiers, moved by this, roared,
"Honor to the North!"
At Sergeant Pab's shout empowered by mana, the cheers hit their peak.
"Death to the beasts!" the soldiers called in answer.
Each raised their weapons sky-high and began to sing the military song.
Forge the path with steel and blood.
Sons of the north winds, we stand in honor.
Beasts, your end has co.
Hurry and crawl back to your Great Tree.
It was the most fervent I'd ever seen the soldiers of Granfen.
The sight sent chills through my body,
and apparently it was the sa for the prisoners.
"Uaaargh!"
So, still restrained, collapsed as their legs gave out,
others just wept without end.
So even joined in the song.
Overwheld by a blood frenzy too profound for words, my senses sharpened,
for the first ti the barbarity of the dieval North felt romantic.
At that mont—
"Hahaha. Lantz, Hank. What are you doing? Hurry up and release our soldiers."
The battalion commander's order brought to my senses.
The reason and spirit I'd lost returned to settle within in an instant.
Wait a second, battalion commander?
'We were supposed to verify the prisoners properly.'
I took a step toward the battalion commander to raise the issue,
but—tak—soone grabbed my wrist.
"??"
It was Ralph.
He furrowed his brow and shook his head.
A sign not to step in now.
'But, no, no matter what—'
Ralph, reading my thoughts, flicked his gaze toward the garrison where the soldiers were watching.
The troops were still lost in the throes of frenzy.
'Is he saying we shouldn't verify the prisoners now?'
Go along with the mood?
No. No matter what, that's not right.
Public and private matters must be kept separate.
Sotis you have to forgo the mood and insist on what's right, even if it ans making a scene.
With that thought, I was about to say sothing to Ralph, when—
"Ian. Which of them do you really think is capable of intel gathering or assassination, huh?"
At Ralph's words, I looked at the prisoners.
The half-dead human soldier prisoners.
Shivering, they kept thanking Lantz and Hank as they untied the ropes.
"That's enough, Ian. You've done well enough. But sotis, there is such a thing as going too far."
Big-jaw hyung's last words chilled my heart.
There's such a thing as going too far.
Why would I think of father right now, at this fleeting mont?
'Damn it.'
Finally, I decided to go with the flow and relaxed my body.
"Alright."
Ralph's grip on my wrist finally loosened.
"Well done, you brat."
Thunk. Ralph patted my forearm.
He looked as proud as if I were his little brother.
'He was raging in the operations room not long ago...'
Just recently I'd been worried my rapport with Ralph and [Regular Custor] might have dropped,
but seeing his deanor now, I need not worry.
As I thought that—
'Huh?'
A prisoner soldier stumbled to the front of the group and collapsed. Plop.
Slowly, he got up and staggered forward.
Sothing about him gave a persistent creepy feeling I couldn't shake.
His padded armor was even more tattered than the other prisoners',
but his limbs were oddly intact.
Perhaps that was fortunate for him.
'Why does my gaze keep following him?'
My instincts tracked the staggering prisoner.
What is it, why am I staring at him?
Wait a minute. That prisoner—
'... Why is he wearing a leather helt?'
A helt is essential for a soldier going to battle.
But prisoners don't have them.
Except for the gear to cover their bodies, they've had most things stripped away,
no gloves, not even boots.
That prisoner too, like the rest, was barefoot.
'That guy is suspicious!'
Belatedly, I sensed sothing off, and I kicked off the ground imdiately.
Behind , I thought I heard Ralph call my na,
but I ignored it and rushed the prisoner.
"?!"
Damn. The bastard realized I was charging.
He stopped faking the stagger and started running normally.
Step by step.
His strides so rhythmic, he seed to bounce as he moved,
when suddenly the thimble-like leather helt popped off his head.
'Damn it!'
Two pressed-down ears sprang up like springs.
A shock the opposite of Legion's headband.
'Damn rabbit beastkin!!'
Mana, burning hot, surged through my muscles down to my toes, and I burst from the ground.
Belatedly, Hank and Lantz seed to realize sothing and shouted, but I couldn't hear them.
I had to shout at the rabbit beastkin approaching his target.
"Battalion commander!!"
I ran desperately, but it was too late to intercept.
Still, by so stroke of luck, the battalion commander stared directly at the approaching rabbit beastkin.
Uneasy, but at the sa ti convinced nothing would go wrong.
'The old man is insanely strong.'
No common assassin could touch him.
And the battalion commander lived up to my faith.
Pwoosh!
A lightning-quick strike.
The battalion commander's rapier, One Point, pierced through the rabbit beastkin's chest.
Blood stained the sword as it passed through.
A wave of relief washed over , like the pressure on my chest had finally eased.
But only for a mont.
The bastard's face expressed elation, not pain.
'He's... smiling?'
The rabbit beastkin showed not the slightest sign of anguish,
instead grinning twistedly, like he was thrilled by how things had played out, and said,
"Fufu... That's it? How disappointing, you foolish leatherheads."
With those words, an unfamiliar flash glead in the bastard's hand.
He clutched a crystal orb of ominous color.
As it touched the battalion commander's body—
Pakak!
An alien eyeball lodged in the orb popped into the air.
It writhed as if alive, gliding through the air,
and then shot straight into the battalion commander's eyes, mouth, nose, and ear holes.
"Ughhhhhhhhh!"
The old man's groan was beyond pain—it was a scream,
and seeing that effect, I couldn't help but feel despair.
'It's over.'
Before long, the old man would die.
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