Chapter 163: People Out Of Favor (1) |
As expected, there was no immediate fighting upon arrival.
The boldly extended feet retracted due to the cold, and the faintly sensed magical energy moistened every crevice of the body.
This was an instinctual reaction that not only the students but also the forcibly conscripted prisoners and knights could not avoid. Therefore, an adaptation period was provided before they headed to the battlefield.
About two weeks.
During this time, allocated for adapting to the harsh environment, those who would now be called the expeditionary force were provided with hygiene tools and new military uniforms before entering the temporarily constructed barracks.
Yes, so far, so good.
Familiar environment, familiar atmosphere… Fortunately, thanks to those that evoked unpleasant memories, Shiron did not freeze up.
With only divine power and personal prowess to boast of, hadn’t he confidently reassured Victor? Although not as experienced as Malleus, who had been on several expeditions, Shiron did not engage in any foolish behavior such as babbling or looking around in the unfamiliar environment.
The same was true for the expeditionary force meeting.
Headquarters tent.
Among the bearded men, Shiron kept his mouth shut tight and stared straight ahead.
“Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Igor Kairon.
Until a few years ago, he had been guarding the western border and was now in charge of this expedition. Igor, flaunting the epaulets on his shoulder, bowed to Victor.
“Just proceed as planned without minding me. I know that nothing good comes from including the opinions of outsiders.”
“Well, then, I’ll announce the general outline.”
With Victor’s straightforward approval, Igor tapped a large map with a stick.
“With the replenished numbers, we plan to extend the front line to the east.”
“I’ve heard that about a thousand people have arrived here in a week. There was a major defeat during the last wave at the 4th line. And you want to extend the front?”
Wave referred to the term used for the approaching demonic beasts.
“Maintaining the front line is anyway the role of the conscripted, not the selected forces. It’s the selected knights’ job to directly fend off the waves, isn’t it?”
“Even so, I’m against extending the front.”
“How about selecting those among the conscripted who can at least unleash sword energy?”
“Among those who responded to this conscription order, there are those who can skillfully use magic and emit sword energy, but we might lose future resources if we’re not careful.”
“Using those personnel just for maintaining the front line… Isn’t that too wasteful? Losing knights who are currently serving as resources seems like a more foolish decision to me.”
In name, it was headquarters, but it was essentially an expeditionary force made up of various knight orders, so noise erupted from everywhere.
The word defeat was also explicitly mentioned.
In the corner, a man looking in bad shape furrowed his brows. Even Shiron, who hadn’t been here long, could easily tell that this man was from the 4th unit.
However, Shiron understood that the expeditionary force could not operate as a perfectly unified group. In this world, an individual’s prowess could indeed replace the collective might of a group.
Just as Hugo had done.
If one had achievements, one could act autocratically based on personal judgment without facing criticism from others.
Of course, had they failed, not only would they face the loss of unit members, but they would also have to brace for the pressure and mixed glares of ridicule, enough to make one’s hair fall out.
“Instead of that, how about we preemptively select and train excellent resources in each unit?”
“That’s a brilliant idea!”
“Increasing the front line is less important than immediately boosting the combat power we can wield. Yes!”
‘…Have they lost their minds?’
Listening to the ongoing meeting, Shiron’s eyes widened. At the same time, Igor’s face turned as cold as if it were encased in ice. Perhaps because they had been individual knight orders until a few years ago, those who had just voiced their opinions were directly opposing and twisting the stance of Igor, the head of the headquarters.
“That won’t do.”
Igor barely managed to regain his composure and took control of the situation.
“Though the situation of the expeditionary force is dire, issuing the conscription order and replenishing our ranks was a decision made by His Majesty the Emperor himself. His Majesty’s intention is to use them as auxiliary forces, not to throw them into the front line to be slaughtered!”
“If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Cough. I didn’t mean to go against His Majesty’s will.”
The men who were eager at the thought of training the new recruits shrank back as soon as the term ‘imperial command’ was mentioned.
Just as the heated discussion seemed to be winding down, someone unexpected chimed in.
“Aren’t there others besides those who responded to the conscription order?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’m not talking about the youngsters who just turned twenty and came here. I mean the scum that wouldn’t be missed even if they were killed right off.”
Scum,
Even without any further explanation, everyone understood the derogatory term.
“However, they too were assigned under His Highness the Crown Prince by His Majesty himself. Isn’t going against the imperial command the same?”
“From what I’ve heard, His Majesty said he would leave all authority over the prisoners to His Highness’s discretion… Isn’t that right? Your Highness.”
“…That is…”
Unaware that the arrow would be shot at her, Victor couldn’t immediately respond. The silence in the headquarters stretched as long as her silence did.
Thump, thump, thump. Victor calmed her loudly beating heart under the glaring eyes.
“Th… That’s true, but I want to hear why we’re coming to this conclusion. Captain Eugen.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Captain Eugen, leading the 3rd unit, confidently responded.
“I would like to ask for Your Highness’s understanding in advance. I may speak rudely, but please forgive me with a generous heart.”
“Just explain. How exactly do you plan to utilize the prisoners?”
“Among the prisoners, there are those of considerable size.”
The fact that the prisoners were brought up here didn’t seem to be a spur-of-the-moment thought, as a general outline emerged. Captain Eugen spoke, his golden eyes shining.
“When I observed their gait, some seemed to have significantly trained in martial arts or swordsmanship. And most importantly, none of them seemed to have sealed their core.”
“…And what’s the point of that?”
“I deemed it irrational to let a group of criminals, gathered due to their corrupted nature and yet not having sealed their core, run rampant on the vast battlefield.”
Upon Victor’s inquiry, Eugen stiffened his face and nodded.
“I’m not sure of His Majesty’s intentions, but I judged it too risky to use criminals, who haven’t even sealed their danjeon, as Your Highness’s hands and feet.”
“…”
“A hand and foot that doesn’t listen might well strangle Your Highness’s neck, couldn’t it?”
“There won’t be such a thing. I have a certain level of skill in magic and martial arts myself, and beside me are Sir Malleus and my long-time friend.”
Victor sharply rebuked Eugen, showing a hint of anger.
“Mere criminals cannot breach through two of the empire’s most distinguished warriors. Your words are highly inappropriate.”
“I had no intention of belittling Sir Malleus. But isn’t it better to address and move past any unsettling factors?”
Eugen looked at the young man beside Malleus with his golden eyes. Shiron blinked under his gaze.
“Shiron Prient.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
“Do you need to hear my opinion? I merely follow His Highness’s intentions.”
‘What’s with this guy? Why is he suddenly turning the arrow towards me and freaking out?’
Although that’s what he thought, Shiron decided to lower himself and avoid unnecessary confrontations.
The plan was to use the prisoners to enhance their reputation and solidify Victor’s position. He felt the need to refrain from actions that stood out too much for the plan to proceed smoothly.
Unfortunately, it seemed Eugen had no intention of letting Shiron off the hook.
“I heard that you executed someone on your own authority. Is that really His Highness’s intention?”
“…Isn’t it fine to kill a disobedient bastard?”
“We’ve had friction from the start.”
“There’s no friction. I killed because I was annoyed. As the captain said, there are rough ones around. I killed them to set an example.”
Although rough words were used, Shiron managed to laugh off Eugen’s gaze.
“Let’s move on from this matter to the next. Igor.”
Sensing the conversation drifting elsewhere, Victor shifted her focus to Igor.
“Yes. Eugen, please take your seat. Since we still have some adaptation time left, let’s postpone the treatment of the prisoners for now.”
With Igor’s words, Eugen shrugged his shoulders.
Thus, the meeting continued for another two hours.
After the meeting, the three gathered in Victor’s private room to discuss future strategies. In a place where there were only three of them, Shiron treated Victor more casually.
“Victor, did you have a fight with Eugen, that guy?”
“…Why would I?”
“Weren’t the treatment of the criminals entirely your responsibility? Even nominally, your position is that of the Crown Prince, but isn’t it odd that Igor, the overall commander, is meddling in areas he shouldn’t?”
As Shiron spoke with apparent displeasure, Victor fiddled with her lips.
“I had no particular thoughts on the matter and didn’t feel I was treated rudely. In a place where various opinions are exchanged, if you can’t even handle that, what would happen?”
Although Victor furrowed her brows at Eugen’s remarks during the meeting, she was pleased to know that Shiron cared for her and pretended everything was fine.
“Still, I think His Highness needed to push his assertions more firmly.”
Malleus crossed his arms and sighed.
‘When Sir Hugo was here, such things never happened.’
Having been part of several expeditions, he realized firsthand that this strategy meeting was significantly more chaotic than the last.
“First off, as this friend said, Eugen’s remarks were a clear overstepping of authority. If he wanted to seek Your Highness’s opinion, he could have spoken more gently…”
“I don’t deny there was unpleasant jockeying. But it’s not incomprehensible.”
Victor chuckled and shook her head.
“Everyone’s probably too exhausted to bother with minor formalities. But since we’re getting noise from this side, we need to take a strong stance on the treatment of the disciplinary squad so others can’t meddle.”
“Assuming we take the prisoners as they are, I have something I’d like to discuss based on that.”
Shiron replicated the map he saw in the headquarters on a piece of paper on the table.
“Let’s push to extend the front line to the east with the authority of the Crown Prince.”
He pointed to the eastern side of the mountains, the unexplored area on the map where the resolution was low.
[The Lair of the Fervent Dragon]
Though it was uncharted territory, Shiron knew exactly what was there.
“Now that it’s been brought up in the meeting, the front line will eventually be extended. But do we really need to push for it from our side?”
Malleus focused on him and opened his mouth.
“Wouldn’t it be good if we were to break through the end of the front line ourselves? That’s what I’ve been thinking.”
Shiron said this and looked at Victor.
“If the knight groups formed from cells are to block the waves, the achievements will inevitably be biased towards them.”
“So, you’re saying we should take on the most conspicuous role with the other manpower?”
Victor took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling.
Shiron was already presenting her options. And they were quite rational, so no objections came to mind.
Victor laughed at the future that seemed to be approaching faster than expected.
“Are you sure? Escorting and pioneering… You’ll be busy.”
“Taking charge of the end of the front line solves the supply issue. After that, we just need to wield our swords and advance.”
“…The construction work necessary for maintaining the front line could be assigned to the prisoners. I think it’s not a bad idea.”
As Malleus agreed with Shiron’s opinion, Victor found no reason to oppose.
“Then, since a rough decision has been made, let’s have dinner.”
Victor playfully tapped her diaphragm and smiled warmly.
“Shiron, what’s on the menu today?”
“…Seems like oat porridge with salted meat and rye bread.”
“Well, at least it has meat in it. Don’t frown too much.”
Malleus playfully patted Shiron’s back as he held the menu.
