Chapter 496
Chapter 496: I Will Do My Best. (1)
Ghislaine smiled as he repeatedly opened and closed his fist. I can’t cause any trouble here. There’s something really important coming up.
With a trembling smile, he spoke.
“I believe personal maintenance should be done directly.”
At that, an old-timer widened his eyes and asked,
“What kind of military operates like that?”
“……”
“What kind of military follows all those rules, you idiot?”
“……”
“Hah, I don’t know what’s up with kids these days. They’re clueless about how the world works.”
He stood up and approached Ghislaine directly.
“My name is Victor. I’m the squad leader here. Since you’re a newbie, I’ll personally train you. Got it?”
Victor continued, tapping Ghislaine on the neck while he remained silent.
“Why aren’t you answering? Do you think this military is a joke?”
“……No, I don’t.”
“Or are you ready to just end your military life?”
“…….”
“Go do the laundry right now, unless you want to get beaten like a dog here. Or you can go report me to your higher-ups.”
‘Should I just kill him?’
Ghislaine still smiled with a trembling lip. I want to kill him but I have to hold back.
Using mana, I could secretly snap his neck without anyone knowing. But if I really killed him? This squad might be excluded from important negotiations.
There’s a rule against taking squads that have had accidents to important places.
‘Should I just hit him a little on the side?’
That could be risky too. Only if nothing went wrong could this squad follow safely to the negotiation table.
‘You little, I’ll remember your face.’
“What are you doing! Hurry up and go!”
“……Yes.”
Ghislaine took a bunch of clothes and started washing. His lips poked out while he washed.
“Ah, the absurdities of the barracks really need to go.”
It seemed like the Penris Army should take some time to surprise inspect things. I knew they were strict, but it was still uncertain.
Recently, soldiers had been continuously replenished.
Plus, the Northern Army was a force made up of soldiers from various territories. I couldn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be absurdities.
To demonstrate top combat power, such issues must never occur. Ghislaine resolved to restore military discipline after a long time.
“Lucas was good at this kind of stuff.”
Lucas used to be in the same mercenary squad as Ghislaine in his previous life. He too had been exceptional at doing laundry as the youngest.
Suddenly, he missed that face. It hadn’t been long since they parted.
When he returned after finishing the laundry, the soldiers’ equipment maintenance awaited him.
‘Ah, this is disgusting.’
The state of the gear was a mess. It was clear how low the standards of the lower-ranking soldiers in the Kingdom Army were.
I understand. They had recently been restructured after everything was destroyed not long ago. Plus, they had accepted a motley crew to bolster their ranks.
After Marquis Branford fell from power, supplies wouldn’t be distributed correctly, making the poor conditions understandable.
‘Even so, I can’t believe it’s gotten this lax.’
The Kingdom Army I had seen before wasn’t like this. Maurice, the supreme commander, may not have cared about other matters, but he was meticulous when it came to the military.
Now, it seemed they were simply focused on increasing headcounts without proper inspections.
Ghislaine took out cloth and oil and began polishing the weapons one by one for the old-timers. He sharpened weapon blades and fixed problematic parts.
Honestly, I could finish this in an instant, but I needed to hide my strength for now.
Yet, everyone was astonished by Ghislaine’s incredible maintenance skills.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s up with that guy?”
“Why is he so fast?”
“The weapons are shining, right?”
Even soldiers doing other tasks rushed over to watch. They had never seen anyone maintain weapons with such skill in their lives before.
Victor looked at Ghislaine with a slightly uncomfortable expression and asked.
“Hey… were you originally in the military? Not the Delphine Army, by any chance?”
Recently, soldiers from the Duke faction had been joining here and there. The existing Kingdom Army soldiers could not treat them carelessly.
Their aura and skills were greater than those of the Kingdom Army soldiers.
So, when reorganizing the Kingdom Army, most of them had been grouped into rough, highly combative units.
Ghislaine shook his head.
“I’ve been in the military, that’s true. But not in the Delphine Army.”
“Then where…”
“The Raybold Army.”
“Whoa, that lady Countess? The one who recently devoured those Eastern territories?”
“Yes, I arrived from there after a while.”
Ghislaine didn’t hide that he was a former (?) soldier. No matter how much he tried to disguise it, hiding the fact that he had been in the military was challenging.
Of course, he couldn’t use the names of Penris or Perdium, so he casually dropped Raybold’s name.
Since he was familiar with Raybold’s commanders and military structure, it was easier to lie.
With curiosity, Victor asked,
“By the way, how did you end up here? Isn’t the fortress going well?”
“Ah, I’m originally from the East. I was forcibly conscripted during the Eastern battle and then released.”
“Really? So you’re a soldier again?”
“Well, in this chaotic world, it’s tough to farm or trade, right? I also heard rumors that His Majesty has regained his health, so I supported the Kingdom Army.”
At those words, Victor and the other soldiers looked at Ghislaine with pitying eyes.
“You should’ve just gone back to the Raybold Army.”
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“No, nothing.”
Victor licked his lips. Once you enlisted in the Kingdom Army, it had become quite difficult to escape.
There were mandatory service periods in any army, but the issue was something else.
Victor, momentarily pondering, sighed. Though he was a new recruit, he couldn’t stay silent.
“Hey, newbie. Listen closely.”
“What is it?”
“You know about the Northern Army, right? The commander of the Northern Army.”
Suddenly, Ghislaine’s expression darkened. He pondered whether he should kill the guy in front of him.
As he slowly raised his hand, Victor blurted out something absurd.
“We might have to fight that terrifying Northern Army.”
“……What?”
“You don’t know the Northern Army? You don’t know Count Penris?!”
“I’ve… heard rumors…”
“Yeah, apparently we have to fight that monster army known as the strongest in the Kingdom.”
“Why… are we fighting?”
Victor glanced around cautiously. Other soldiers gathered around Ghislaine, chattering.
These days, battles with the Northern Army were a hot topic.
“It’s just a rumor, but I heard that the Northern Army commander disobeyed His Majesty’s orders.”
“And so, it’s said that the Duke faction plans to ally to fight the Northern Army soon.”
“If we fight that crazy army, we’ll all die.”
The soldiers wore terrified expressions. The renown of the Northern Army was well-known. Just the thought of fighting such a fearsome army was enough to scare anyone.
Victor boldly shouted to the agitated soldiers,
“Why are you all panicking? The Count Penris you’re afraid of is just a rumor, anyway! Have you seen him in person?”
The Kingdom Army’s 2nd Corps coincidentally had never fought alongside the Northern Army. They hadn’t seen them in action. It was just hearsay.
Of course, Victor honestly didn’t want to fight such a terrifying military. But he couldn’t show fear as a squad leader.
Victor confidently looked at Ghislaine and said,
“Hey, newbie. Don’t get scared for no reason. Count Penris is just a man, right? Won’t he be pierced by a spear? If he’s in front of me, he’d just end up with a hole in his gut!”
“……I see.”
“Honestly, if I had mastered the Mana Circulation Method, I’d be stronger than most knights.”
At that, every soldier around nodded.
“Yeah, the squad leader is really good at fighting.”
“A man born for strength.”
“I heard he even took down knights when we fought the Duke faction last time.”
Of course, that knight had been gravely injured and was utterly exhausted, but it was true that Victor had finished him off.
Ghislaine nodded with an empty gaze.
“You seem really strong, huh.”
“Yeah, so if we have to fight the Northern Army, just follow me without getting scared. Got it?”
“……Yes.”
“That guy is honestly all talk. How well can a noble fight? It’s all the guys below them doing the work.”
“……Right.”
“If we end up fighting, let’s kill Count Penris and take the credit.”
“……I will do my best.”
“I like your confidence, rookie. You seem good at weapon maintenance, so you can keep doing that. But you’ll be exempt from everything else.”
“…….”
Victor praised Ghislaine like that and returned to his seat. The soldiers also patted Ghislaine on the shoulder as they left.
‘What’s this…’
Ghislaine was extremely regrettable that he couldn’t reveal he was the commander of the Northern Army.
Not long after Ghislaine received such hearty encouragement (?), dinner time arrived.
Upon seeing the rations, Ghislaine couldn’t help but display a dumbfounded expression.
“Eh?”
The meal was a total mess. Just a pale soup and a piece of bread.
From what he knew, the Kingdom Army’s meals had surely improved significantly after the drought. Penris had continuously supported a tremendous amount of food.
Especially, chicken was provided in such abundance that it overflowed every time.
‘Even if they cut off the support, there’s no way all the food would have run out already?’
The Marquis Branford didn’t waste the supplies and had stored them well. He even brought in wizards to handle freezing with special care.
But looking at this, it seemed they gave just enough to not die.
Ghislaine looked at Victor and asked,
“Why does the meal look like this? The Raybold Army feeds extremely well.”
Amelia may not care about anything else, but she took exceptional care of her soldiers. The Raybold Army was known for eating just as well as Penris.
Victor, knowing that, clicked his tongue and said,
“Che, it wasn’t like this before. Until recently, we were eating very well.”
“Then what happened?”
Victor looked around cautiously again and whispered,
“His Majesty has regained his health and regained power, right? The nobles have all been replaced.”
“I’ve heard that news.”
“I heard the higher-ups are taking all the supplies. They’ve taken tons of food.”
“…….”
“Ugh, damn. It’s irritating to eat like this after having a good meal. But what can we do?”
“How can you exert any strength with this?”
“Still, in these days, the only place that gives you this is the military.”
“Really?”
“People living in the capital can’t even eat properly in one meal a day. They’re supposedly losing everything they have. At least we, being soldiers, are getting two meals. That’s why you should’ve just stayed in the Raybold Army.”
Victor grumbled quietly as he brought the bread to his mouth. Ghislaine sighed.
How long had it been since high-ranking nobles fell from power, and already it was this bad?
‘There are really a lot of incompetent guys.’
Suddenly realizing how hard the original nobility had worked to lead the Kingdom.
Ghislaine shook his head and ate his dinner. It was disgustingly tasteless.
The next day, training began. Ghislaine willingly participated in training without any rebellion.
He had to be diligent in military life until he could accompany them to the negotiations.
“One, two! One, two!”
One of the commonly conducted training sessions for soldiers was jogging. Basic stamina needed to march comfortably required working on endurance.
Sometimes, they’d run without a break to the point of being almost foolish.
They would be forced to run until they collapsed, whether by the commanding officer or due to pride battles among the soldiers.
The hard-working soldiers collapsed one by one with horrified expressions as time passed.
“What the hell… what is that guy…?”
“Why is he running so well…?”
“Wasn’t he a messenger before?”
Only Ghislaine continued running with a calm expression.
He simply suppressed his strength and adjusted his pace to match the average.
Thud, thud, thud.
The soldiers running all collapsed onto the training ground. Ghislaine clicked his tongue at the sight.
‘Geez, why are they all so weak? Is it because they can’t even properly eat their meals?’
These soldiers were just too weak. If anyone from Penris fell out at this level, they’d go straight into special training.
In reality, the soldiers with such differing standards regarded Ghislaine like a monster.
Due to their pride, the one keeping up the longest, Victor panted out,
“Ugh… you… running… haah… you’re really good at it…”
“Ah, yes.”
“Today… huff, huff… it’s just the first time… so I’m letting it slide… ugh…”
“Ah, yes.”
Despite Ghislaine’s soulless reply, Victor earnestly justified how much he had let him off the hook.
Ghislaine’s uniqueness was something that couldn’t be hidden. There was no way he could tire out from this kind of training.
The same went for other training sessions.
“Shield!”
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Shield training was the most important training for infantry. This part was also conducted strictly by training instructors.
“Thrust!”
“Thrust!”
At the command, soldiers poked their spears through the gaps in the shields. Their target was a straw pillar in front of them.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
At first, it was all good. But as time passed, the soldiers grew tired and their postures faltered. The shields lowered, and gaps appeared all over.
With so many new recruits, many couldn’t even stab properly and were mostly missing to the side. Spear heights varied widely.
Amidst all this, there was someone who shined.
“What’s up with that guy?”
The instructor looked at one soldier in astonishment.
Normally, when trainings were carried out to this extent, everyone would get worn out and it would be a mess. That was unavoidable.
But that soldier was still lively.
He continued to hold his shield with precise posture and thrust at his spear. The instructor had never seen a soldier like him in his life.
“Stop!”
The instructor halted the training and stepped in front of Ghislaine.
“What’s your name?”
“Dougly!”
After nodding several times, the instructor shouted loudly.
“You fools! A newbie is doing this well, and what are you all doing? Start jogging now!”
The soldiers, pale-faced, started jogging. Ghislaine could only watch the scene dumbfoundedly.
The instructor wore a pleased smile.
“In all my military years, I’ve never seen a soldier work as hard as you. I wish everyone was just half as dedicated as you. If someone bothers you, just tell me anytime.”
“……Yes.”
“You said you were in the Raybold Army before? As expected, they are as skilled as the rumors say.”
“…….”
Unintentionally, Amelia was also being complimented.
Ghislaine hadn’t been particularly trying hard. He had nearly dozed off from boredom while doing it.
That was how great the difference was between him and the soldiers.
Every training Ghislaine received a lot of affection from the instructors. He received so much praise that the other soldiers gritted their teeth but couldn’t touch him.
Thus, Ghislaine spent his time being slightly ostracized and training hard (?).
Days later, all members of the 3rd Infantry Division of the 2nd Corps gathered in the training grounds.
The infantry company commander stood on a high platform, and in front of him stood Ghislaine facing the company commander.
The infantry company commander spoke in a serious voice to everyone.
“Everyone, attention! There is a soldier who has shown particularly outstanding results, and I have decided to commend him. That soldier is Dougly standing right in front of me!”
“……”
“Dougly is a pride of our army and a role model for all soldiers….”
The infantry company commander’s long speech dragged on boringly.
In front of him, Ghislaine stood with a soulless expression.
He had somehow become the best soldier in the infantry division and was receiving an award.
