Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Personnel—The Hidden Gems Only I Can Find

Eintorian Domain Army: 13,432

Training: 50

The troops’ level of training prior to my arrival had decayed considerably, but thanks to Hadin’s efforts, it was now steadily rising. I was confident that with a few more months of hard work, the new recruits would turn into a competent military force. I’d been maintaining my policy on taxes too, so the people’s Opinion still remained unchanged at 80.

“Your Excellency!”

I was sitting on a chair in the shade of the trees, watching the soldiers train with satisfaction over how smoothly things were proceeding, when Hadin rushed over with a look of shock on his face.

“S-S-Sir! We’ve just received reports of an invasion from the northern border... The front collapsed, and now the enemy have pushed as far as the Ruon Domain!”

Hadin told me nothing I didn’t already know. Defeating the Naruya Kingdom here didn’t seem to have generated any sort of butterfly effect just yet, so their invasion of the Runan Kingdom was proceeding along its historical route.

That was actually convenient for me, though. It meant I could take advantage of what history I knew.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, and they’ve brought a great army. I’m told that the enemy number in the hundreds of thousands!”

“Huh. Well, all we can do for the moment is devote ourselves to training. Buck up, Hadin. What’s going to happen to us if our commander loses heart?”

“R-Right... Forgive me my lapse of composure!”

“Master!”

Now the head chamberlain rushed over to me. From the way he was calling out between ragged breaths, it looked like he’d come here in a hurry.

“You don’t need to run around like this yourself. You know you could just send someone to deliver a message...”

“There’s no time to talk about that now, Master. A-A messenger has come bearing orders from the king!” the head chamberlain exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the barracks. I could see a commander riding a horse bearing the king’s standard and his troops there. The man on the horse was carrying a scroll of some sort.

Orders from the king? Well, this is unexpected. The war up north has been following the history I know, but elsewhere things are going differently. Not that I can be sure if that’s good or bad for me just yet.

Anyways, since there was an envoy, I went to go see him. Unless I wanted to commit treason, I needed to show the royal messenger every respect that I would the king himself. That was the law. Once I arrived at the entrance to the barracks, the man dismounted from his horse.

“You are Erhin Eintorian, lord of Eintorian, correct?”

“Yes, I am.”

Hearing my response, he unfurled the scroll.

“The lord of Eintorian must serve the king’s command!”

I dropped to my knees at the sound of his powerful voice. It was, of course, law that a lord must bow before the royal envoy. Once he saw that I had done so, the man began reading aloud.

“Count Erhin Eintorian, allow us to praise you for your victory over the Kingdom of Naruya. We hold your abilities in high esteem, and therefore we order you to join the royal army and put your skills to use at once. In light of the present crisis, you are dismissed from your post as a border lord. Leave the border to your troops, and come defend the country by leading soldiers on the front line.”

What? So, basically, he wants me to go to the front line and serve as a commanding officer there? The royal army is basically an upgraded version of the individual domains’ armies. Normally, they call the forces that defend the king in the capital the royal army, but when there’s a war, they gather the troops from across all the domains to form a united military.

But the border regions are exempted from that due to the constant risk of war breaking out on the borders. Their manpower isn’t moved around even in times of war. Obviously, in a more dangerous situation, all forces would be mobilized to defend the capital, but things haven’t degenerated to quite that point just yet. That’d be why they’re only calling me and not my entire force.

What do I have to gain from going to the front line? I have all the money I need to revitalize my domain. I need to increase my population to be able to raise more troops. I’ll use the money to suck up population from other regions, train troops, and then rebuild the domain. My current situation allows me to do that as much as I want.

Right now, my biggest problem is a lack of capable personnel. They’re going to be essential to bringing the land under my dominion. And yet, I don’t have a single person in my army that I’d consider excellent. But what about on the front line? Lots of commanders are going to gather there, and I’m sure many of them will be superb. I need to look for potential allies among them. That’s a must.

Besides, staying in Eintorian won’t afford me many opportunities to level up. I don’t even know when the next battle will break out. Meanwhile, there’s battles every day on the front line. That means I can aim to level up. That’s the biggest thing. Obviously, there’ll be risks. But I’ve got the bonus!

I had a weapon to defend myself, so it was worth trying it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

In the game’s history, Eintorian loses, and then this war destroys the Runan Kingdom. I’ve stopped the first part of that for now, but if the Naruya Kingdom takes the capital, they’ll be back to invade Eintorian again. My domain here in Eintorian isn’t powerful enough yet.

I needed to prevent the destruction of the Runan Kingdom to buy time so I could develop more man power.

Basically, I need the Runan Kingdom to act as my shield for a little longer. If I can go to the front line and delay their destruction, then that will give me time to build up my domain’s power. Personnel, level ups, and time. I stand to gain plenty.

There was no need to hesitate.

Having made my calculation, I respectfully accepted the written orders. “I, Erhin Eintorian, lord of Eintorian, do humbly accept His Majesty’s command!”

*

“Did you call for me?”

Euracia wasn’t in her room when I went there, so I’d asked the head chamberlain to call her to the study. For some reason, she appeared through the window.

Use the door, would you? The door.

“Where’ve you been?”

“I was looking around the domain. Seeing the way your policies are put into effect, the soldiers training, and all sorts of other things.”

“With all you’ve seen, you must have changed your opinion of me by now, right?”

If she hasn’t by now, then she’s never going to.

Fortunately, she answered me with a nod. “I admit it. I was wrong about you. I really do need to make up my mind based on what I’ve seen and experienced for myself, not just what I heard. Just like you said.”

“Well, yes, but...even once you do see things and experience them yourself, there are times when you still might have misconceptions. If you witnessed a scene without knowing what’s been going on in the background, for instance. Like with the women in my bedroom. I think it’s never good to rush to a decision. So, maybe the most important thing is to have a wealth of information.”

“I see. You could be right about that.”

“So, can I expect an apology, then?” I said, raising my shoulders with a swagger.

Euracia nodded, then, just as quickly, knelt down before me.

“I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience that my misjudgment caused you.”

Uh, there’s no need for her to go that far. Especially considering her position.

I quickly took her by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet.

“I never said you had to kneel. The first princess of the Kingdom of Rozern shouldn’t bow to others so easily, now should she, Your Highness?”

Yeah, that’s right. She’s a princess of Rozern, and the elder sister of the current king.

Their previous king died suddenly, leaving a fourteen-year-old to ascend the throne, and she’d been supporting him since.

Rozern was a small tributary of the Runan Kingdom, and, in the game at least, they got wrecked pretty badly. Right after the Kingdom of Runan fell, most of the Rozernan nobility fled out of fear of a barbarous invasion by neighboring Brijit.

Still, they weren’t destroyed easily.

That’s because someone roused the fleeing people to fight back and resist to the bitter end. Someone who’d had the support of the people ever since they were young.

Using her inborn charisma, she gave speeches that were received with unending applause, and her popularity grew by the day. She never betrayed the support they showed her. In order to defend her country, she rallied the people of Rozern after most of the nobility fled, and stood on the front lines personally.

Obviously, since she was leading the charge, she ultimately fell in battle.

From the fact that, after her death, Rozern fell within a week, you can see that it was largely her strength that had preserved them in the months before that.

Before war broke out with the Naruya Kingdom, she’d been traveling the world in order to strengthen the Rozern Kingdom. That’s what led her to hear about a certain villainous lord and visit Eintorian.

Her personality won’t let her abide injustice.

Looking at her ability scores, her high charisma made soldiers obey her, which manifested itself in her Command score. She’d used that strength when fighting Brijit. Also, looking at her high Martial score, she probably had potential to use mana too.

You might say she’s more of a pure fighter type than a politician.

Of course, she never expected me to know her true identity, so she rose to her feet with a look of considerable shock on her face.

“How do you know about that...?!”

“I just told you, the most important thing in the world is information.”

“If you knew everything, then why play dumb?”

“Because I didn’t think you’d want it known?”

“I’m thoroughly defeated...”

Euracia bit her lip in chagrin. No need to get so bent out of shape over it.

“By the way, is it true that you’ll be going to the front lines?” she asked.

“Of course,” I replied. “In the same way that you’re traveling the world to protect your country, I’m obligated to defend mine. If they say I’m needed, then I have to go.”

“I heard that Runan has been losing battles day after day. They say that Naruya has far greater man power.”

“I’m gonna win. Watch me pull it off.”

“Oh, you will...?” Euracia said, trailing off with a look on her face as if she were agonizing over something. Then, after a moment’s silence, she asked, “Could I join you, perhaps? I wish to learn about war, and I believe my skill with a sword can be of use to you. I know I shouldn’t boast, but I can assure you I’m not weak!”

If she was willing to fight alongside me, she’d obviously be useful. I’d already seen that for myself when I used her 95 Command to raise the people’s Opinion. But I couldn’t do that now, because she couldn’t take part in Runan’s war due to historical events that were yet to occur.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?”

“Watch me fight instead. There’s no issue with you watching from a distance. After that, you should return to Rozern by next month. If the information I’ve received is correct, Rozern’s territory is about to be threatened by Brijit.”

“N-No!”

“I can’t make you believe me, but that’s all the more reason for you to watch. If I’m able to defeat the Naruya Kingdom, then won’t that mean I’ve got the intel and tactical mind to pull that kind of thing off? Once I’ve proved that, you’d better listen to me and hurry back to Rozern.”

She couldn’t respond.

Based on the serious expression she’s making, it doesn’t look like she’s going to dismiss what I said out of hand, but, well... In the game’s history, she’s supposed to die fighting to defend Rozern. I intend to make it so she can protect her country, of course, but there’s no way I’m going to let her die. The game’s history exists to be changed, after all.

Regardless, I needed her to go back to Rozern for the battle that would follow if I defeated Naruya.

If things go as planned, we’ll meet again in due time.

In the capital of Runan.

*

The interim headquarters of the Royal Runanese Army had been set up at Lynon Castle in the Lynon Domain, not far from the capital. Their commander-in-chief was Duke Ronan, who could be said to be the leader of all the other lords.

Ronan was holding a meeting with the advisor to the royal army, Heina, on the topic of personnel assignments. As commander-in-chief, he was in charge of giving orders to the commanders of all the individual units. Directly beneath him was his lieutenant commander, but the advisor was the one in charge of planning the army’s strategy.

This prestigious post had already changed hands three times in the course of the Kingdom of Naruya’s invasion. The first died on the battlefield. The second had gone missing.

The third appointee was Heina Berhin, widely known in the capital for her brilliant mind. She also happened to be a relative of Ronan’s. Under normal circumstances, her position would have been widely coveted. However, with the defeats piling up, no one wanted to touch it now. In all likelihood, they’d go down in the history books as the advisor who let the country be destroyed.

“Where can we even put Count Eintorian?” asked Ronan.

“I’ve thought about that a bit myself...” Heina replied, pausing for a moment before she addressed their biggest headache. “I believe a supply base would do.”

“Are you serious?” Ronan asked, his expression dubious. That’s because the supply unit was incredibly important, delivering provisions from the royal capital to the battlefield.

“I intend to have the current commander of the unit assume the position left open when Count Nolan died up north.”

“No, there’s no way we can allow someone with as vile a reputation as Erhin assume such a vital post,” Ronan protested, but Heina continued explaining.

“Commander! Can we send him to the front and trust him with thousands of soldiers’ lives? Weren’t you so worried by the prospect that you asked me to find a suitable place to put him?”

“Because it’s an order from the king. But giving him the supply unit? Is there nothing better we can do?”

“There won’t be any issue with the supply unit, whereas if we sent him to the front line, there’d be no controlling him. He might get the unit we put him in charge of wiped out. With that in mind, I believe it’s better to send him to the supply unit where we can monitor him. I’ll watch him like a hawk. If he does anything strange, I’ll report it to the king, and have him rescind the order to put him in an important position. I have this all planned out. Trust me.”

By the king’s command, they were forced to give him a position. However, he was a count. He had to be given a post higher than unit commander. That was how the class system worked, so this was Heina’s only solution. Because, in this situation, there was no position they wanted to give to a profligate count who did nothing but fool around.

*

I left Hadin to defend the domain.

What if something happens while I’m away? That’d be terrible. But so long as the treasure remains intact, I’ll figure out a plan. Besides, I’m the only one who can access the treasure. No one can get into the sealed room but me.

Knowing I had a lifeline let me head north without reserve. On the way there, I spotted a long, snaking line of refugees.

It stretched on, seemingly endless. From the northern border to Lynon Castle to the capital, where they thought that they might be at least somewhat safer. With the country at war, in some ways, I should have expected to see something like this. Refugees were an inevitable by-product of conflict.

The procession of refugees was an obvious display of just how dangerous things were in the Runan Kingdom now.

I followed the flow of refugees upstream until Lynon Castle finally came into clear relief. In the narrow definition, Lynon Castle referred to the castle belonging to the lord of the Lynon Domain, but in a broader sense, it could also refer to the castle city surrounding it as well. Generally, during wartime, people used the broader definition.

The castle walls enclosing the city had a total of four gates, one in each of the cardinal directions. When I arrived at the west gate and identified myself, I was escorted into the interim command headquarters. I was met there by the advisor to the royal army.

Heina Berhin

Age: 27

Martial: 60

Intelligence: 81

Command: 55

Her Intelligence score is superb.

She was a highly capable woman.

Must be a noble, given she’s been appointed advisor.

“You’re Count Eintorian, the lord of Eintorian, are you?”

“Indeed I am, Advisor! It’s an honor to meet you.”

If this were a company, then she’d be my superior several levels above me. I tried to show her the proper respect when I greeted her, but all that got me was a glare in response.

I guess I’m not welcome here, huh?

“Good of you to come.”

“The very existence of the state is at risk. If there’s anything I can do for you, I’ll do it.”

That response made her brow twitch as she gave me a look of contempt.

Uh, I don’t think I said anything wrong there.

But it was at least in part because she knew well Erhin’s infamous reputation.

Womanizing and debauchery. That’s what Erhin Eintorian’s known for, after all. Looks like I was called here solely on the decision of the king of Runan. The royal army has no use for a man of my horrible reputation. Well, I’ll just have to make them thoroughly reevaluate that opinion going forward.

“How is the situation?”

Listen, you really don’t have to give me that look of contempt every time I say something.

But getting the information was more important than pointing that out to her.

“Not good. The Manon Domain’s fallen, and now the enemy are marching on Ganen Castle and Bern Castle. There’s an ongoing battle outside Ganen Castle. If those two castles fall, they’ll arrive here at Lynon Castle in no time. Then next will be the capital, and Runan City will become a battlefield. We’re resisting with all our might to keep that from happening, but we were pushed back too much in the early stages, widening the gap in our man power levels...”

Ganen Castle and Bern Castle?

That meant the enemy were already a stone’s throw from the capital. If I were trying to come up with a title for this, it’d be The Runan Kingdom: A Desperate Situation!

“Well, not that it does any good telling this to you. You won’t be going to the front line, after all,” Heina said, abruptly stopping her explanation.

“But where else would you send me in a situation this dire?!” I asked, unable to understand.

I get that I’m not welcome here, but there’s been a royal order so they can’t not use me. Where exactly is she planning to send me?

“One of the front-line commanders died, so I sent the commander of the supply unit to replace him. I’ll be having you serve as his replacement.”

The commander of the supply unit? Huh? That’s not the front line, but it’s still just as important. You look at me with that kind of contempt, but you’re still going to send me to the supply unit? Supply is one of the most important roles in war.

Well, okay, yeah, it is an important role, but, looking at it another way, it’s also one where all you have to do is follow orders. She’s so transparent. “The royal army has no use for incompetent commanders.” That’s what she’s saying, right?

I could only assume I was being made a fool of here.

“I see. The supply unit, is it?”

“It is. Now head to the supply base.”

“Very well. By the way, where can I find His Highness, the duke? No, I mean where can I find the commander-in-chief? I’d like to pay my respects.”

“The commander is incredibly busy. You should keep your mind on the supply unit!”

Oh, yeah?

There was nothing more to be said. I mentally clicked my tongue at her, then left behind Lynon Castle and the cold, no, downright icy reception they’d given me.

If that’s how they’re going to be, I’ll have to develop my forces in the supply unit until my chance comes. I’ll absolutely need the unit to be loyal to me if I’m going to intervene in this war, after all.

*

Inside the supply base behind Lynon Castle, Yusen the hundredman was unable to sleep at night for just one reason. He was worried for his widowed mother, who was deathly ill. It would have been so much easier on him if he could have watched over her final moments before the war broke out.

Were he on the front line, he’d be able to forget it all and fight to defend the nation, but here in the rear, his feelings for his mother were becoming the more pressing concern. She’d raised him all by herself. She was everything to him.

“You all right, captain? You haven’t been looking so good lately...”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Yusen had a temperate personality and had always looked after his men, but the dark look that had fallen over his face the whole time they’d been stationed at Lynon Castle concerned them. One of the other soldiers who saw this exchange jabbed the questioning soldier in the ribs and shook his head. It was a sign that he shouldn’t be bringing it up.

When they finished sorting through the supplies and it was break time, the onlooker hauled the questioning soldier aside.

“What?”

“Gibun, you really shouldn’t ask the captain that.”

“But I’m worried.”

“Man... You know the captain’s mother hasn’t got long to live.”

The soldier called Gibun recoiled in shock, his eyes widening. No, apparently, he hadn’t known that at all.

“Oh, right. You were dispatched elsewhere for a while, huh?” the other soldier, Donnay, said, realizing his mistake.

“Yeah. But anyway, is that true?”

“He’s always taken good care of her, which makes it even more painful to see him go through this.”

Gibun’s face twisted with grief. It was Yusen who’d helped him out when he was short on money before he was dispatched elsewhere. He’d happily loaned him three months’ worth of pay without saying another word about it.

“Is there nothing that can be done? Like sending him on leave...”

“This is wartime,” Donnay said, shaking his head.

Gibun sighed. He wanted to do something, but he had no way to. It wasn’t like Yusen hadn’t been searching for some way to see her himself either.

He made up his mind and then went to visit Lieutenant Commander Hadan, who was currently directing the supply unit. Of course, the man’s subordinates blocked the way and wouldn’t let him into the tent. Hadan was in a real sour mood today. When the commander left for the front, he’d assumed he was going to be the one taking over. Instead, some boneheaded lord from the countryside was taking the position. The noise outside his tent only served to agitate Hadan further.

“What’s going on?”

“He keeps insisting on seeing the lieutenant commander...”

“Let him in.”

Hadan had them let the noisy Yusen into the tent with every intention of taking his frustration out on him.

“What is it?”

As soon as he stood before Hadan, Yusen suddenly got down on his knees. Then, pressing his head to the ground, he started to explain his situation.

“Just one day... Give me just one day’s leave. I’ll fight to the death after that!”

He hadn’t forgotten his duty for a moment. He simply wanted to see his mother in her final days.

“Ha ha ha!” Hadan bellowed in laughter when he heard this. Yusen cocked his head to the side, unsure what to make of this reaction.

“You’re not the only soldier who has a personal situation to consider. If you were a grunt, I’d understand, but this is just pathetic coming from a hundredman! Hey! Drag this fool out of here and give him a good lashing!” Hadan shouted raucously, blowing off steam.

Yusen’s face twisted horribly. Not because of the lashes he would receive, but because of the despair he felt as he lost all hope.

When he returned and his men saw the whip marks left on him, their expressions grew uncertain, and they voiced their displeasure.

“This is just horrible.”

“Shh! They’ll hear you,” Yusen shushed his men, holding up his index finger to his lips.

There were more men in Yusen’s hundred-man unit who felt indebted to him than he could keep track of, and a lot more outside his unit who respected him for his humanity. Gibun rounded up his fellow soldiers to hold a secret meeting without Yusen.

“I still haven’t paid the captain back,” one man said.

“Me either. He just told me I could pay him back a little at a time. Even though I know he can’t have that much himself.”

The other soldiers nodded and said the same.

“Money’s not the only debt we owe him. The captain’s always looked out for us, first and foremost.”

After more similar sentiments were voiced...

“...”

...a silence fell over the soldiers.

Gibun was the one to break it.

“Anyway... We’ve gotta find a way. Some way we can help the captain...”

“Do you have a plan?” asked Gibun’s friend, Donnay the tenman.

Everyone was paying attention to Gibun. He fell silent for a while, then started scratching his head.

“When we head out to supply, it’s with multiple hundred-man units, so he needs to work together with the other hundredmen. There’s no way of tricking people there. Our only chance is now, while we’re still on standby after returning from supplying the troops. You know how we form patrol units while on standby, right?”

Donnay nodded at Gibun’s words, adding, “Yeah. We were just assigned this task. They just sent another ten hundred-man units out with supplies, so it’s our turn to patrol those units’ posts. It’s true, when you look at it that way, this is our only chance.”

“Definitely!”

“You’re right!”

The other soldiers voiced their agreement.

Once they did, Gibun started to explain his plan.

“We’re going to be put in charge of Sector 12 soon. Our hundred-man unit will be handling all the patrols. That’s when we’ll have our chance. We can let him slip away then. And... I have some good news.”

Gibun paused for dramatic effect, frustrating everyone.

“There’s more?”

“What is it?”

“Tell us already!”

Gibun quickly continued at their urging.

“I heard this from a friend who works in Hadan’s tent. Hadan’s been called to a meeting with the advisor tomorrow. He sounded pleased about it, thinking he’ll be given a mission of some sort. Well, Hadan’s one of her people, and he was always hanging around command HQ in the hopes of getting to do something big. Anyway, if Hadan’s away from the unit, then this is the best chance we’re going to get. I doubt we’ll get another opportunity for the captain to sneak away.”

The men all stood up when they heard what Gibun was saying. They felt, just as he did, that this plan was their only option.

Of course, they couldn’t have known that Hadan had been called to take part in a conspiracy to ensnare Erhin, and the arrival of the new commander of the supply unit would doom their efforts.

*

The supply base was behind Lynon Castle along a key road to the capital. Materiel arrived from the capital and various domains, and was then stored at the supply base until it was distributed to the battlefields.

They put the supply base at Lynon Castle, where the interim command headquarters is?

If Lynon Castle fell, they’d instantly lose all of their provisions and supply routes, so it obviously should have gone somewhere else.

Royal Runanese Army Supply Unit

Manpower: 10,000

Training: 40

The supply base has ten thousand troops. That’s not many.

Five thousand were there to protect the base, while the other half delivered supplies to the battle lines.

So, I effectively only have five thousand.

Their level of training was a disaster. It wasn’t just Erhin’s forces that had a problem with lack of training, it afflicted the entirety of the Royal Runanese Army. They had essentially no units that were properly trained. Small wonder they lost their country without much of a fight.

This was a shabby supply unit with less than 50 Training, and that wasn’t the only terrible thing about them. I was led to the commander’s tent as soon as I arrived. I didn’t have a problem with that. It was the lieutenant commander who suddenly barged in that I didn’t like.

Hadan Gerdick

Age: 40

Martial: 50

Intelligence: 25

Command: 35

Those are some awful stats. He only got to be lieutenant commander because he’s a baron.

Of course, it wasn’t his abilities I took issue with, but his attitude.

“Congratulations on your appointment. I’m Hadan, your second-in-command.”

“Erhin. It’s a pleasure.”

“Now, with that out of the way. I know this supply unit better than anyone. I hope you’ll think of your stay here as a vacation. What I’m trying to say is this: please, don’t do anything.”

As if I wasn’t going to get upset, being told that out of nowhere.

“You want to run that by me again?” I said crossly, but Hadan kept going with his nonsense.

“The advisor says you are to leave everything to me.”

The way he took an arrogant tone and dropped a mention of the advisor irked me.

Looks like the advisor’s taken moves to keep an eye on me. This guy seems to have an awful lot of faith in her too.

“The advisor has summoned me, so I will be heading to Lynon Castle, but please relax and do nothing while I am gone. Have I made myself clear?”

Having dropped that cheeky remark, he turned and left without waiting for me to reply. I let out an exasperated laugh.

What’s his problem? Just ignore him. Even if he’s acting on the advisor’s order, ignore that too. The game’s history tells me that Lynon Castle is about to become a battlefield. The advisor won’t have time to worry about me for long.

If I do what the main offender responsible for the destruction of Runan says, I’ll end up dying with her. So, I can ignore her. In fact, if I can get a firm grip on the supply unit by the time it happens, I’ll be able to stand on the battlefield.

That’s why I decided to completely disregard his warning and called up the hundredmen.

I want to get a look at the personnel for now.

“I’ve been appointed as your commander from today onward. I am simply informing you of the change in command, and there are no other changes. Carry out your duties faithfully so there are no disruptions to our supply operation!”

Two of them openly smirked when I said that. Probably Hadan’s direct subordinates.

The rest had tense looks on their faces. None of them really looked like they were on Hadan’s side. He apparently wasn’t that popular. That was convenient for me.

Looking around, I found just one person with superior stats.

Yusen

Age: 39

Martial: 82

Intelligence: 60

Command: 90

Hundredman was the highest rank a commoner could aspire to. That meant he’d been in the army for quite some time. If his ability scores were this high, I wanted him as a retainer.

The higher your Command score, the more quickly and efficiently you could raise the Training level of your troops.

He had a whopping 90 Command.

I feel like I just unearthed a pearl from the mud!

There really were excellent personnel on the battlefield! This was the moment that confirmed that for me.

*

Finding new personnel is great and all, but I can’t neglect my duties as commander either.

I dismissed the hundredmen before I went around surveying each of the units.

I mean, even if I do find talented people, I can’t just suddenly say, “Hey, join my side,” right?

The units were moving according to a planned supply strategy. The supply base was on top of a fortress, but the soldiers lived in tents so that they could pull out at any time. The largest of those tents was the one meant for the commanding officer of the unit—the commander’s tent.

I headed there, and read through all the different documents regarding the supply base. You might say I was studying up on it. After spending half a day familiarizing myself with the current state of supplies inside the base, I went to scout out the area.

If there’s an enemy raid or the need to withdraw, I need to know the terrain in advance. I’d be a laughingstock of a commander if I panicked because I didn’t know the lay of the land around my own base. And just looking at a map won’t cut it. I need to see things with my own two eyes.

I chose Yusen as my guide, figuring that I could both do my scouting and get a feel for the man at the same time. Two birds with one stone, right?

“How many roads lead from here to the battlefronts at Bern Castle and Ganen Castle?”

“There are three: one that goes through Lynon Castle, one that goes around it, and the one that passes through the mountains you see to the east. However, considering the difficulties involved in bringing soldiers through the mountains, I suspect the only practical roads are the two leading around or through the castle.”

There was nothing all that special about the local geography. Nowhere to lay ambushes. It was just an open field—grass as far as the eye could see—and the base was positioned on top of a hill with a broad view of the area, allowing guards to detect any enemy raids.

“Okay. Guess we’ll check out the road that goes around, then.”

“Understood. Right this way, Commander!”

I followed Yusen on horseback. Half an hour of riding around and surveying the topography had passed with minimal conversation when we came to a fairly wide river. We’d come out pretty far, and it wasn’t good to be away from the unit too long.

I’ve been able to check out the terrain all the way out here, so mission accomplished.

I turned to head back.

Of course, I had another objective in going scouting, and we need to actually talk if I want to accomplish it.

“You, what’s your name?”

“I am Yusen.”

“Have you been in the military long?”

“Since I was a child. So over two decades, I guess?” Yusen scratched the back of his head, chuckling as he told me that.

Twenty years is a long time. Sounds like he wasn’t drafted but voluntarily chose the path of a career soldier. We’re at war now, so a lot of people are being conscripted, but normally people enlist of their own accord.

“Commander, look!” Yusen stopped embarrassedly scratching his head and pointed towards the north. “Enemies on the road that goes around Lynon Castle!”

Enemies? That road is behind us.

Surprised, I turned around and saw he was right. A cloud of dust was rising into the air, and I heard hoofbeats as it got closer.

“Those are Naruyan scout uniforms!” Yusen shouted.

I quickly confirmed his report with the system. There were ten men—a scout unit made up of rank-and-file soldiers, just like Yusen said.

“There’s ten of them...can you handle that, Yusen?”

“Of course!”

Yusen had an impressive Martial score of 82, while the leader of the scouting party’s score was only 30. It wouldn’t be a problem. As proof of that, Yusen ran over and cut down the enemy soldiers with ease.

One enemy soldier fell from his horse.

Then a second. A third. A fourth.

In no time, Yusen had polished off eight foes.

“Take at least one of them alive! We’ll want information.”

Captive soldiers could be a source of intel, but Yusen was going to kill all of them, so I ordered him to take prisoners. The scouting party had charged at us with their horses in a single column with gaps between them. Now, only two of them remained.

“Surrender, and your lives will be spared!” Yusen shouted loud enough for the furthest man to hear. Soldier #9 wasn’t in a listening mood, however, and he rode in, sword raised in one hand, without attempting to slow down at all.

It was the soldier in the rear who reacted. He pulled back on his reins at the order to surrender—but his lack of experience caused his horse to rear back, whinnying—and he fell to the ground.

That was a really nasty fall. He was going to have some broken bones, at the very least.

Clang!

Just as I was distracted by that, it happened!

The ninth soldier and Yusen crossed blades.

Steel collided with steel.

I thought, Yusen’s gonna win, of course, but when I looked away for a moment his sword went flying and spun high through the air. The enemy had disarmed Yusen and sent him tumbling to the ground with a single blow.

This was unexpected.

I rushed to Yusen’s side, shocked.

Will you use the bonus?

This is impossible. Yusen was unhorsed in a single blow despite his 82 Martial?

It couldn’t have been a mere coincidence. The enemy pointed his blade at the fallen Yusen. His life was in desperate peril.

Jint

Age: 21

Martial: 93

Intelligence: 41

Command: 52

When I saw the enemy’s stats, I got shocked all over again.

93 Martial! The surprise was dizzying.

That puts him in an entirely different dimension from the rest of the ordinary soldiers in his unit. No, that Martial score was simply unimaginable. He’s only 21 too. There’s still a ton of room for him to improve at that age. He’s got the stats to be one of the Ten Commanders of Naruya, yet he’s just an ordinary soldier.

Was he a farmer that they pressed into service as a rank-and-file conscript, maybe? If that’s what happened, it’s possible that they never noticed his incredible Martial. Only I can see people’s ability scores, after all!

The enemy soldier moved to kill the unhorsed Yusen.

Yusen’s gonna die if I don’t do something. There’s only one thing I can do. At 93 Martial, he’s even stronger than I am with the bonus.

“Stop!” I shouted as I triggered Crush without hesitation.

Daitoren’s weapon skill, Crush!

The overwhelming skill that lets me kill or incapacitate anyone with a Martial score up to five points higher than my own.

I couldn’t possibly kill such a promising man, so I chose to incapacitate him.

The moment I did, a flash of light ran through Daitoren, and with that flash the blade flew forward, reaching Jint’s throat in an instant. He made an attempt to sweep Daitoren aside, but the stats said it was impossible.

The system is absolute. No, it must be absolute!

I waited for the result with great conviction. The moment sword met sword, the area was washed in blinding white light.

Once that light faded, what remained was Daitoren, stabbed into the ground, and my formidable foe, fallen from his horse and unconscious. I rushed over to confirm he’d been knocked out.

No problem. He’s out cold! The only issue is for how long.

Knocking him out is one of Crush’s functions. It’d be pretty pointless if he woke back up right away. If he were to regain consciousness and resume fighting, all I’d have accomplished is to waste a usage of Crush.

Assuming I must have at least some time, I rushed over to Yusen, dismounted, and extended my hand to him.

“You okay, Yusen?!”

“Commander... Thank you for saving a useless fool like me!”

I’d rushed to his side to help him to his feet, but Yusen actually knelt before me instead.

“Of course I’d save my subordinate,” I told him. “And don’t call yourself useless. You’re more than strong enough. The problem was who you were up against. That guy was unnaturally strong.”

“Humiliating as it is to admit this...he sent me flying with a single blow. Ha ha ha.”

Yusen bit his lip with chagrin as he acknowledged his opponent’s strength.

“I’m just glad you’re not dead. Well, can you walk?”

“Yes. I’ll manage,” Yusen replied as he did just that.

He knows how to fall safely. That 82 Martial isn’t for nothing. He’s on a completely different level from that enemy soldier with a Martial of 30 who started thrashing around in agony after falling from his horse. The guy I used Crush on is just ridiculous.

“Let me see you ride. Riding a horse takes all your muscles, after all. If there’s anything wrong with you, we’ll find out fast.”

Yusen mounted his horse when he heard me say that. Then, he nodded.

“No problem!”

“Glad to hear it. Now, I have a request. I plan to take the man who fell from his horse and the one I just knocked out prisoner. Head back to the unit and fetch some chains and manacles. I’ll want you to bring a cart to carry them in, and some men too.”

“You want me to leave you here alone, Commander? I can’t do that. Come back with me. I’ll return with some men to capture them later!”

“Nah. We wouldn’t want them waking up and running off in the meantime. It’s better if I stand watch. Now, get going.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right... I’ll hurry as best I can, then!”

With that, he left, and I found myself a place to hide.

If that Jint guy woke up, I’d be in trouble. The bonus was still active, but I’d have to wait another five hours before I could use Crush again.

I checked my level while I was waiting, but it hadn’t changed. I’d expected as much. Just because I fought didn’t mean my level would increase.

The enemy’s death is the deciding factor. I won’t get experience just practicing. Yeah, that makes sense. If I got experience just for knocking out enemies, then I could level up by repeatedly knocking Jint out and waking him up.

There’s no way they’d have made that possible.

*

Night fell—the night when Yusen’s subordinates were also hoping to enact their plan.

“Captain!” Gibun called out as he entered the tent.

“What is it?” Yusen replied, looking up at him.

“Could you come with me?”

Gibun looked worried. Yusen hurried to his feet.

“What is it? Another fight? If the lieutenant commander gets wind of it, we’ll all be whipped, you know...” Yusen said, clicking his tongue unhappily.

“Well, something like that. Ha ha!” Gibun answered vaguely, scratching the back of his head. He then went outside the tent, and Yusen followed him.

“Where’re the guys who’re fighting? Not out on patrol, right?” Yusen asked with a look of exasperation, but Gibun refused to give him a clear answer as he led the way to Sector 12. That’s where Yusen’s men were.

The men all gathered around in no time. That’s when Gibun made the suggestion to Yusen as representative of the group.

“Captain! Everything’s all set up. We’ll cover for you for a day or two. Please, go and visit your mother.”

There was a noticeable hint of surprise in Yusen’s eyes at this unexpected statement from his subordinates.

“Guys... You do know that desertion is punishable by summary execution, right?”

“But Captain...! The commander just arrived today, so he probably doesn’t know anything... With Hadan away, today’s your chance!”

“You’re wrong. I was just out scouting with the commander. I can’t see us getting anything past him...”

When the hundredmen were dismissed after the assembly, Yusen had been immediately called by the commander while his men were carrying out their duties patrolling Sector 12.

Obviously, it was impossible for a common soldier to keep track of everything going on inside the unit. There was a lot that they could have learned if they’d tried to, but they made the mistake of moving into action as soon as they’d confirmed that Hadan would be away.

“Well, I doubt he’ll be calling on you again so soon,” Gibun suggested, but Yusen firmly shook his head.

“If I do it this way, I’ll cause trouble for all of you. I can’t have that. It’d be far better for me to desert on my own!”

Yusen had considered desertion himself. He just hadn’t committed to doing it. So, while he was genuinely happy about his men’s suggestion, he knew it wasn’t realistic. If he deserted alone, he’d be the only one to die for it—but if he did things their way, they’d all be punished.

“He’s right, you know. Desertion is a capital offense,” said a sudden voice from behind them.

Everyone turned in shock. Yusen instantly knelt down when he realized who it was, and then the other soldiers did the same.

“C-Commander!”

“Eeek! What’s the commander doing here?!”

The soldiers screamed at Erhin’s sudden appearance.

“Desertion is a capital offense.” Those words told them he’d heard everything.

Yusen immediately pressed his forehead to the ground.

“Commander! It’s not their fault. I bear all the responsibility.”

“No, Commander! The captain didn’t know anything. We forced him to do it...”

“Hey, would you shut up?! Don’t say anything you shouldn’t.”

They’re both desperate to claim responsibility.

Erhin scratched his cheek with his index finger. This scene told him exactly what kind of person Yusen was. A hundred-man unit with bonds this tight would be useful on the battlefield. The supply unit’s overall Training was only 40, but taken on their own, Yusen’s hundred-man unit must have had a fairly high Training.

Yusen’s Command score is 90. That’s damn impressive.

Between the captive with the monster-like Martial and Yusen here, Erhin wanted to cry out in delight at the appearance of two such capable people. Of course, they weren’t his just yet, but he was still happy to have met two potential recruits.

“So, why exactly were you trying to desert?”

“Commander! The captain’s mother is...” Gibun started to explain the situation on Yusen’s behalf.

Once he’d heard everything, Erhin closed his eyes.

They were trying to sneak him out, then cover it up? Are they ignorant or just stupid? Well, it’s heartwarming, I’ll give them that.

Having thought all this, Erhin said, “Still, desertion is a serious crime.”

Yusen’s men hung their heads.

And yet, the next words out of Erhin’s mouth blindsided all of them.

“But you know what? I haven’t seen anything. It’s absurd for a soldier to put his family first after coming to the battlefield, but if she’s that important to you, then go! And then pay me back for the life you were about to throw away when you return to the battlefield!”

*

On my second day as commander of the supply unit, I received a report that Jint had woken up. It happened precisely five hours after I knocked him out. That meant Crush had a duration of five hours when I used it to incapacitate someone.

I took a shower and then headed to the prison tent.

Since he was staying put like a good prisoner, he presumably didn’t have any skills that would let him sever his chains. Besides, now I could use Crush any time I wanted to. That’s why I was able to enter the tent without any fear.

Inside the gloom of the tent, there were two soldiers, both bound with chains. One was in the back, sleeping. The moment I entered, Jint fixed me with a glare and the stare down continued for a while.

Is this what they call a psychological battle? Nah, this is pointless.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked, ending the senseless staring contest.

Or so I thought, but Jint just kept on glaring at me without a word in response.

“Looks like you didn’t sleep. Now, stop glaring at me like that and let’s have a little talk. I rate your martial abilities quite highly.”

He stayed completely silent. I tried talking to him repeatedly, but never got a response. As proof of that, Jint’s eyes were completely closed now.

In fact, it was the soldier sleeping in the back, awakened by the sound of my voice, who spoke instead.

“That guy’s always been silent. I can talk on his behalf, if you want. If you’ll promise to release me, that is!”

“Silent, you say?”

“Yeah. He never responded to anyone, even in our unit.”

I see. So he’s always been like this, huh?

“You’ll tell me anything, then?”

“Just spare my life! If you’ll let me go, I’ll tell you anything!”

Time for a change of objectives, then. From recruitment to interrogation.

“I can spare your life. But I could also kill you here and now.”

I drew the sword at my hip and put it to the soldier’s throat.

“Eeek! Have mercy. P-Please, spare me!” the soldier cried, trembling.

This is the guy who got scared and tried to run away when he encountered us, only to fall off his horse. He seemed a lot more timid than the other nine. Well, that makes him easy to interrogate, at least.

“Tell me honestly. What were you scouting for? What is your unit preparing to do?”

“Well...”

“Listen, if you try to get clever with me, I’ll kill you instantly.”

I pressed the sword flush against his throat to show I meant business. A thin trickle of blood ran down his neck.

“I’ll talk. Honestly. I don’t know the details, but I think we’re preparing some sort of surprise attack. That’s why we were sent out to scout.”

“A surprise attack? On this supply base?”

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s all I heard. I don’t know the details either. I was just given orders to come scout the place. Honest. P-Put the sword away now, please. Spare me!”

It’d be more suspicious if a common soldier like him knew too much. This could be fake information, or it could be real. Even if he thinks it’s real, he could have been fed false info by his commander in the Naruyan army before being sent out to scout.

Of course, the odds are the surprise attack is real. When I went out scouting yesterday, Yusen showed me how there’s a road that comes here from Ganen Castle without passing through Lynon Castle first. If the Naruyans learned about that road while marching on Ganen Castle, it seems obvious they might want to raid the supply base.

A successful attack here would leave Ganen Castle and Bern Castle with a shortage of food. Even if we set up other supply lines, it would take days, and the defenders might begin to starve in that time. That’d be a major hit to morale.

Also, if they occupy this supply base, that’d make it especially difficult to set up alternate supply lines. The enemy has more than enough to gain from it, so his story isn’t completely unbelievable. Although, the way they sent in a scouting party so blatantly is suspicious in and of itself. It’s almost like they wanted us to capture them and make them talk.

Does that mean they’re deliberately informing us about the surprise attack?

“Very well. If what you’ve told me is true, I’ll spare you. But if it’s a lie, you’ll die. Now we get to wait and find out.”

“Eeeeek! I-It’s true. That’s exactly what I heard. I don’t know the rest of the details, but that’s what my commander said!” the enemy soldier cried desperately.

Jint, meanwhile, remained calm and unmoving, eyes closed.

He’s unperturbed even in this situation. That makes me want him even more, but the problem is that it’s impossible to even talk to him. I’ll have to think of something.

I decided to leave Jint as he was for the time being and went outside the prison tent. I had bigger concerns now. On my way to where I was going, I stopped by the tents where Yusen’s hundred-man unit were gathered.

“C-Commander!”

When they noticed me, Yusen’s men stood at attention, placing their right hand over the left side of their chest. That was this world’s salute.

“I have something to tell you. I’ll be rounding up the hundredmen after this. There’s something I need to have a meeting with them about.”

“B-But our captain’s currently...” Gibun replied, so startled his voice sounded like a hiccup. His fellow soldiers gathered around, looking hesitant too.

“Don’t you worry. I’ll say Yusen’s away attending to other duties. I just came to tell you in advance so that you’re not surprised. Anyways, you, your name was Gibun, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I am Gibun!”

“You’re a tenman, yeah?”

“Indeed, I am!”

“They tell me you’re Yusen’s right-hand man.”

“Well... Ha ha ha! Something like that.”

“Then you’ll attend the meeting in his place.”

“A-Are you sure?”

“I have orders for all of the hundred-man units, so someone needs to act as a stand-in.”

Once I’d explained the situation to Yusen’s hundred-man unit, I went to the commander’s tent and called for an emergency meeting. Even if the enemy had some other target in mind, as the commander of the supply base, I needed to prepare for a surprise attack.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, we caught some enemy soldiers while out scouting yesterday. Well, one of them spilled his guts. The enemy that occupied Ganen Castle have discovered the road that goes around Lynon Castle and are now planning to raid this supply base.”

“Whaaaaaa?!”

“Is that true, Commander?”

“A-A-A raid?!”

The hundredmen gathered in the command tent all started making a fuss. That’s how important this information was.

“There’s no question that the prisoner told us what he knows. Although, whether the attack is coming or not is less clear,” I said with a shrug.

“S-Send a report to Lynon Castle at once!” exclaimed one of Hadan’s subordinates. “I can’t believe this is happening while the lieutenant commander is away!”

“I’ll send a report, yes, but only after considering countermeasures...”

What would having him around even change?

The supply base was situated in a fortress on top of a hill along the road leading to the capital. It was also surrounded by castle walls, even if they weren’t very high. The one unique thing about it was that, in order to ease the transport of supplies, each sector had its own doors, so there were a lot more entrances than a castle city with gates in the four cardinal directions.

“We haven’t the time! I’ll report to him at once!” the hundredman who I’d had my eye on as Hadan’s man since yesterday ignored what I was saying and took off running.

Blatantly ignoring his commander? Well, with his superior officer being who he is, I shouldn’t have expected any better from him.

“Well... Setting that aside, we need to prepare for ourselves. Whether what our prisoner said about the surprise attack proves to be true or not, we should be more than able to fend them off if we’re ready for it.”

Of course, since we’re inside a fortress, we can hold out against attacks to some degree. But I predict a long, drawn-out battle, and we won’t be able to carry out our supply duties while it’s happening. That’d be just what the enemy wants.

On top of that, with our current level of Training and Morale, it’s questionable if we can make it through a long battle. It may look like we should have a terrain advantage here, but we really don’t. What good is a supply unit that ends up isolated?

There was terrain outside the base that would be easier for us to fight on. If there were some way to take advantage of it to rapidly drop the enemy’s morale and drive them off, that would be an effective strategy. It won’t be too late to hole ourselves up in the fortress afterwards if that plan fails.

“I will be giving new orders to each hundredman regarding the countermeasures we’ll be taking. You’re dismissed for now to explain the situation to your men. Be ready to move into action at a moment’s notice!”

Once I’d given those orders and dismissed the meeting, I had Gibun stay behind. I had something to ask him.

“Gibun, you stay.”

Gibun looked around, waiting for the other hundredmen to file out before walking over to me.

“Is this about the captain?”

“No. I’m sure Yusen will be back eventually. I have something else to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Could you tell me which of the hundredmen have an axe to grind with Hadan? The ones who don’t obey him.”

“Who has an axe to grind with Hadan? Well, um, that would be...practically everyone. Everyone but the hundredman who ran off to report to him, and one other, hate the man’s guts.”

“Oh. Is that a fact?”

“Yes. The lieutenant commander is...scum—No!”

Disrespecting a member of the nobility was a crime. One usually met with immediate punishment. Gibun hurriedly covered his mouth as he belatedly remembered that I, too, was a member of the nobility.

“You can insult scum like Hadan all you want.”

I chose to allow it. If he ever insulted me, I’d punish him. But that detestable prick Hadan? Eh, whatever.

“Y-You mean it?”

“Yeah.”

“Th-Then I’ll do just that. He’s rotten to the core—always looking for the tiniest fault in the hundredmen so he can have them whipped...”

“I see. So, there’s a lot of ill will built up against him?”

“Yes!”

This was good news for me. Now was my chance to eliminate Hadan and seize complete control of the unit!

“Then which hundredmen are close to Yusen and trustworthy? Are there any we could share Yusen’s absence with?”

“I’d say pretty much everyone likes the captain, but Hundredman Jido is probably closest to him.”

“I see. Okay, I want you to get your hundred-man unit ready to deploy immediately. And call Hundredman Jido here for me.”

*

“A surprise attack, you say?” Advisor Heina asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes,” Hadan answered her. “The new commander says he made a prisoner talk.”

“What...?”

Heina was taken aback. Erhin had captured an enemy scout so soon after being appointed and managed to make him talk?

“It is true that he captured an enemy soldier. He must have gotten lucky, I’m sure.”

Lucky, huh... Heina scratched her head in confusion. The enemy were already advancing on Ganen Castle. Given the current situation, she couldn’t write off a raid on the supply base as utter nonsense.

Duke Ronan, the commander-in-chief, was currently preparing to lead the sole elite force left in the Runan Kingdom’s military, his own house’s troops, in a decisive battle at Bern Castle. It was the one place he refused to give up.

It would be a massive hit if his supplies were disrupted now.

Heina was a relative of the House of Ronan, but not in the direct line of succession. Because of that, she had sought the position of advisor in order to raise the profile of the House of Berhin, which was often looked down on in the Runan Kingdom’s noble society due to their status as a branch family.

She didn’t want her treatment in noble society to get any worse. That’s why she really couldn’t afford to mess this up. Especially not now, when she’d received the important task of defending Lynon Castle in Duke Ronan’s absence. It was a huge burden resting on Heina’s shoulders.

“For now, have that prisoner brought to me. I’ll interrogate him personally.”

“Understood!”

No sooner had Hadan accepted the order than Heina took it back, saying, “No, wait!”

Heina looked at the map again and began racking her brain. Ganen Castle and Bern Castle weren’t about to fall. She couldn’t see that happening. That meant the supply base was her primary concern.

“I’ll go with you. We’ll take half of the man power from Lynon Castle with us to the supply base!”

“U-Understood!” Hadan nodded. But, after struggling with the decision a little longer, Heina changed her mind yet again.

“But, still. If this were a diversion, and they launched a surprise attack on Lynon Castle... No, with Lynon Castle’s man power and high walls we could still hold out. So the supply base comes first...”

Heina bit her lip as she considered a variety of possibilities.

“Hadan. Head back to the supply base immediately. You aren’t to leave the fortress under any circumstances. Order the commander to do the same. He must meet the enemy attack inside the fortress, no matter what happens!”

“Understood. But, Advisor, I can’t imagine the soldiers in the supply unit will be capable of handling this...”

“If there really is a raid, I’ll come to reinforce you personally. Just to be safe, I’ll lead half of our man power from Lynon Castle to a position between the castle and the supply base. You’ll be able to hold out long enough for me to come to your aid, I’m sure. If there’s an enemy raid, you raise a smoke signal!”

Yes. If this was a diversion, and they attacked Lynon Castle, she could return immediately, while if there was a genuine attack on the supply base, she could rush to their aid. It was a flexible plan that worked for either outcome.

Heina, convinced she’d come up with a superior strategy, sounded immensely satisfied with herself as she gave the order.

“And have the captured soldier sent to my camp. I’ll interrogate him myself.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll head back to the supply base!”

*

In order for the enemy to launch an attack on the supply base, they needed to use the road from Ganen Castle that went around Lynon Castle. That was why I sent the hundredman that Gibun told me about, Jido, on a scouting mission.

I ordered him to standby on the side road with two hundred troops, and send a message if there was any movement from the enemy.

Once those two hundred men and the others out on supply missions were excluded from the total, I was left with forty-eight hundred troops.

I excluded all of the hundredmen who were on Hadan’s side from the operation to prepare against the attack. Yeah. I gave them separate orders to defend the inside of the fort. Then I advanced to the side road with my forty-eight hundred troops.

Fighting inside the fortress would guarantee our defeat. There was a risk of it falling before reinforcements could arrive from Lynon Castle.

If that’s going to happen, we need a plan to catch the enemy by surprise and drive them off all at once!

For that, I had the river that cut through the middle of the side road.

It’s knee-deep, which isn’t really that deep.

If we dammed the river so that it was only ankle-deep, and then released the water behind the dam all at once, we could probably wash away hundreds of enemy soldiers.

Against an army of a hundred thousand, or even a million men, this strategy would be completely useless, but there was no way they would mobilize that many men in what was supposed to be a surprise attack. Raids like this lived or died on the speed with which they were executed.

If they do come with a force of that size, then we need to withdraw to the fortress and hole up there immediately. But our invaders, the Naruyan army, aren’t even on that scale to begin with.

Of course, this water attack can’t sweep away enemies spread out over a wide area. The river’s not big enough, and it’s impossible to hold back that much water anyway. It’d only be doable with sufficient men and time, as well as a river with lots of flow. My aim here is to use the water we hold back to temporarily divide the enemy. Then we attack the ones who’ve crossed and wipe them out before going after the remainder of their forces.

I hurried our march along until the river was in sight.

The enemy has to come down this road if they’re going to attack the supply base, so of course we’re going to lay a trap upstream.

“We’re going upstream to dam the river. Follow me.”

I started by gathering the hundredmen in front of the river and explaining the plan to them. They were all bewildered at first, but must have acknowledged the idea had some chance of success, because they quietly obeyed me as I led them all upstream.

“This looks like a good spot. Block off the water here. Have all your men work in teams to do it. Understood?”

With that order, they began building the dam. Forty-eight hundred men moved into action as one.

Fortunately, no messenger had come yet.

As the work was progressing, a soldier from our forces ran over to me. Well, this particular soldier might as well have been an enemy, so far as I was concerned.

It was none other than Lieutenant Commander Hadan himself.

“Commander! There’s no time for this. I have orders from the advisor. Stand by inside the base and don’t do anything reckless!” he announced the advisor’s commands with smug superiority.

‘Stand by inside the base’? That’s got to be the worst possible idea. It won’t be too late to pull back if we fail here, after all.

But Hadan’s words seemed to give the hundredmen pause. His mention of the advisor only added to that.

“Hey, what are you doing?! Pull back to the base immediately!”

Hadan didn’t even wait for my response before he started barking orders at them. The hundredmen and their soldiers, who had been hard at work, all stopped to watch us.

This guy’s screwed in the head. I should just ignore the advisor. When you consider what’s about to happen to Lynon Castle, the advisor’s just a loser.

Rather than follow her commands and lose with her, I’m better off winning this battle, even if it means countermanding her orders. In fact, winning here would be actively beneficial to me. I brought only the hundredmen who are discontent with Hadan in case something like this happened.

He’s only a baron and I’m a count. Besides, even if he brings the advisor into it, I’m the actual commander of this unit, not him. If I go through with this, the advisor’ll probably get pissed and call me back to Lynon Castle—the center of the action.

“Ugh, just shut up.”

With that decided, it was time to act. Hadan’s Martial was only 50. I pointed the back of my hand at his throat and triggered the Attack command. With a 10-point difference in our martial scores, I could knock him out whenever I wanted.

Hadan went down with a groan.

“I’ll bear all responsibility for this. Continue with the plan at once!”

“A-Are you sure...?”

“This is the most effective way to defend the supply base. You won’t be held responsible, so don’t worry about it. I’ll take all of the responsibility!

“Understood!”

When I then pointed at Hadan and said, “Gibun, put this guy in a corner somewhere,” everyone seemed to cheer up and nodded.

“Right! On it, sir!” Gibun chirped and then dragged Hadan off, chuckling.

The many carts that we had access to because we were a supply unit made this operation possible. But it wasn’t just carts; the fortress where the supply base was located hadn’t been in use prior to the outbreak of war. Thanks to that, the walls were crumbling in a number of places, and had been hastily repaired with sandbags and rocks—repair supplies I repurposed for dam building.

With thousands of men working on it, we soon had something that held back the water like a real dam.

If we let the water build up behind it a little and then break the dam so it’s released all at once, the enemies crossing the river are sure to panic. Especially the cavalry. Their horses’ll go wild with the fear of death. Then we take that opportunity for a quick strike. They can’t be bringing that large of a force with them for a raid, anyway.

The preparations were done by nightfall.

Still no sign of movement from the enemy. I worried that they would appear before the trap was laid, but they didn’t show up even once it had been.

The water behind the dam had now built up to the same height as it and was flowing over the top. There was nothing to be done about that. The enemy just needed to show up before the dam broke.

If the water’s up to the height of the dam, that’ll be more than enough to throw them into chaos!

Dawn came as we waited for the enemy to appear.

Hadan woke up.

“Urgh... Commander, what is going on here?”

“Shut up.”

I knocked him right back out, of course.

It might be weird to bring this up after already using it so much, but the Attack command sure made things easy. It’d be impossible for a normal guy like me to knock out a tough guy like Hadan without the system’s support.

Once I had laid Hadan low again, a soldier came running towards me from off in the distance.

There’s our long-awaited messenger. That means they really did launch a raid. Well, I’m still dubious if it’s really coming. What kind of surprise attack announces itself in advance and gives the opponent time to prepare?

Well, I’ve got some ideas of my own on that. For now, though, winning is the key thing. No matter what the enemy may be thinking, I don’t have any intention of losing.

“That’s the signal! Everyone, deploy! Gibun, lead Yusen’s hundred-man unit and follow me. I want all the other units to lie in wait on the field behind the river, just like we planned. You attack once the dam breaks and the water hits the enemy. Got it?”

“Yes, sir, Commander!”

The hundredmen and soldiers who’d been half asleep on the job jumped up and hurried back to work.

Once I’d urged them into motion, I led Gibun and his hundred-man unit north of the river on horseback. When we crossed the river, with its water level greatly diminished, we saw Jido and his two hundred soldiers pulling back.

When he saw me, Jido brought his horse to a stop and shouted, “Commander, it’s the enemy’s raiding party!” with a look of urgency on his face. “Wh-What do we do? We need to do something, take some countermeasures...”

He was gasping for breath—panicking.

“What’s the scale of the enemy force? Give me a detailed report,” I asked him calmly.

“Their main force is a cavalry unit. The soldiers I had watching from a higher vantage point reported there’s a unit of infantry in the rear too.”

“I see.”

Cavalry were to be expected in a raid. It sounded like they’d added an infantry component with an eye to taking the fortress too.

“None of the enemy got past you, right? Were you strictly monitoring them?”

“Of course! We expected they might have scouts, so we were meticulously careful. Nothing passed us but wild animals.”

If they figured out our plan, it was over. That’s why I’d sent out a full two hundred men to watch for them everywhere. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like it was going to be a problem.

“Okay. You link up with the forces on the other side of the river and get the full details of the plan from them. I’ll move once I have a fuller grasp of the enemy’s scale.”

“Understood!”

After watching Jido’s scouting party go, my unit hid ourselves and waited for the enemy. I need to check their scale. Knowing the number of enemies would let me take more certain countermeasures against them.

After some time, I saw the unit of cavalry Jido had told me about kicking up a cloud of dust. I immediately activated the system.

Naruya Kingdom Army: 5,320 men

Training: 80

Morale: 80

I saw a well-trained enemy force—small in scale, but still more than a supply unit with a Training score of 40 could handle.

Still, at this scale, the plan would work on them.

Raiding parties had generally been around this size in the game too. I knew this world well because I’d already experienced it through the game.

I don’t really know for sure, but it looks like their troop numbers are the same as in the game.

*

“Everyone, listen up! We’re going to cross that river! Our objective is the enemy’s supply base!” the enemy commander, Randall’s younger brother Hirina, bellowed as he chased after Erhin and his men. He’d expected the raid to be discovered and already included that in his plans.

Now, a river appeared in front of Hirina’s cavalry. It was a broad river, but the water level was rather low. The enemy force, more than fifty-three hundred strong, split into four groups as they began to cross.

As Hirina’s lieutenant and his men finished crossing, and the rest of the men moved to follow them—it happened!

Roar!

Suddenly, there was a rumbling noise.

“What’s that sound?” Hirina cocked his head to the side and looked in the direction it was coming from.

However, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Commander?”

The lieutenant was about to remind him that their target was the supply base, and they didn’t need to get distracted by anything else, but then his face twisted with shock. There was a massive surge of water coming at them from upstream.

Around five hundred cavalry had finished crossing, but one thousand were still making their way across, and another roughly four thousand infantry troops behind them hadn’t even begun to cross yet.

Their main force, the cavalry, were swallowed up by the onrushing water. As the height of the river rapidly went from ankle deep to chest high, the force of the water started to sweep away man and horse alike.

Whinny!

The horses’ distressed cries echoed in all directions, joined by the screams of their human riders.

Eeeeek!

“What’s happening?!”

Soldiers abandoned their horses and tried to swim, but the current was too strong for them to resist.

“Wahhhhh!”

This wasn’t the end of their troubles either. Hirina was shocked. Not only were his men caught in the muddy flow of the river, they now had the enemy converging on them from both sides.

“Damn it all!” Hirina cursed, drawing his sword.

So many men and horses, gone in a single water attack. Well, he had more left than he’d lost, but they were in a state of utter disarray, and having suddenly been divided was a big part of that.

“Attack!” Gibun shouted, leading his hundred-man unit in a charge. The hundred-man unit trained by Yusen, with his long career in the military, was better trained than any of the others, so they had no trouble with the charge attack.

The problem was the other hundred-man units. Their men quaked in their boots as they attacked. Even a hundredman like Jido appeared frightened. Only Gibun, his hundred men, and Erhin could fight properly. Even with the enemy in disarray, the soldiers of the supply base were losing to Hirina and the Naruyan cavalry in spirit.

Seeing this, Erhin shook his head in dismay.

This is the sad state of the supply unit. And they thought these guys could’ve held out at the fortress? Absurd.

The way things were going, he was going to lose even though the plan was a success. Erhin sensed the need to kill the enemy’s momentum and raise his own forces’ confidence.

There’s only one way!

Erhin sent his horse galloping towards Hirina. The man’s Martial was 80. That was pretty strong. And yet, when Erhin rushed towards him, bonus equipped...

“Gwagh!”

...he lopped Hirina’s head off without giving the man any chance to fight back.

When Daitoren flashed, he shouted out loud!

“Fight without fear! The enemy is confused. Look at their commander’s head. These enemies are nothing. Jido, man up, would you?”

“Y-Yes sir, Commander!”

Hoping for an even more dramatic effect, Erhin used a skill, triggering Sweep on the mass of enemies as a show of his own majesty.

Boom!

When he used the skill, all the enemies in range died in a flash of white light. Everyone froze stiff when they witnessed such an intense mana skill.

“M-Mana!”

That included his own forces, who were especially shocked by how off-the-charts Erhin’s power was.

“You can use mana, Commander?!”

“That doesn’t matter,” Erhin answered Gibun curtly. “Focus on driving off the enemy!”

Then...

Wooooo!

The soldiers of the supply unit, having regained their vigor after seeing him use the skill, cast their fear aside as they brandished their swords. That went for the hundredmen too.

And so, they completely mopped up the enemies who’d crossed the river. All that left were the remaining forces on the other side!

When Erhin took the lead, the soldiers who were entranced by his use of mana cheered as if they were under the illusion they’d wielded that power themselves. They quickly began crossing the river, now returned to its normal level, after him.

Their morale was on the rise! The enemy had lost their commander, and all that were left now were the infantry in the rear.

This was the first victory for the Runan Kingdom Army.

*

“You’re telling me he won...?” Heina murmured, trembling, when she saw the report.

He’d wiped out five thousand enemy soldiers to secure a massive victory. And, on top of that, his own losses were minimal.

“Impossible. That’s just not possible!”

Heina was mad with jealousy.

If the commander-in-chief were to learn of this, my position would be in danger. That was the first thing that occurred to her.

Erhin’s a count. I’m a countess too, but after something like this, it’s entirely possible he could drive me from my position.

If she let herself be driven from power by someone she’d thought of as incompetent as Erhin, the House of Berhin would surely be a laughingstock. She could never suffer the indignity of it. But more than that, she couldn’t stand that Erhin had disobeyed her orders and acted on his own. Heina’s eyes were no longer on victory.

Forgetting the risk to the nation, she racked her brains solely for the sake of her own glory. Erhin had ignored the advisor’s orders not to leave the supply base. Even if they were equals in terms of nobility, she was still his superior in the army’s command structure. That was an indisputable fact.

So, this is insubordination. Blatant insubordination!

Having found the perfect charge, Heina called for some of her soldiers at once.

“Arrest the supply unit’s commander for insubordination!”