——Hoping that the enemy's cavalry is also celebrating the victory with the infantry.
Anning ran past another navigational waypoint.
By this time, his strength was gradually depleting, and he began to slow down. He looked back and saw that the enemy camp's bonfire was now far off in the distance, so he found some roadside bushes, set down the young master, and then leaned against the bushes to rest.
That's when the young master woke up: "...water..."
Anning took out a leather water flask, had a big gulp himself to quench his thirst, and then handed it to the young master.
The water in the flask had a strange taste, but Anning couldn't afford to care about that now.
The young master took a small sip of water, then smacked his lips and handed the flask back to Anning.
"What's your name?" the young master asked Anning with a clear, weak voice, "The Tolleson family always repays kindness and settles debts."
——Talking about settling debts, are you from the Lannister family?
Despite his griping, Anning began to consider how to reply and then realized that he actually retained the memories of this lifetime, but they had been suppressed by the intense warfare and the urgencies of escape, unnoticed until now.
It is the year 1780 in this world.
In this life, Anning's name is Andy Frost, residing in Caen, son of a leatherworker.
The son of a leatherworker playing the marching drum in the military - that actually made sense. Perhaps the drumhead of the marching drum that Anning had discarded had been tanned by his father.
Besides, the pronunciation of Andy and Anning were quite similar and could be interchangeably used.
So Anning—no, Andy whispered, "My name is Andy Frost, son of a leatherworker."
"Is that so, I am the third son of the Tolleson family, Croci de Tolleson. You can call me Croci. My father is the Duke of Orleans..."
Anning: "Understood, Mr. Tolleson."
Although the person had said it was okay to address him by his first name, Anning still decided to be cautious. After all, he was new to this world, unfamiliar with everything, and what if he inadvertently made a faux pas?
Croci seemed slightly dissatisfied with Anning's reaction, but he said nothing, instead turning his head to look back at the wilderness, "I came to experience the battlefield... I thought it would be a glorious victory."
Anning shrugged.
If this were the Seven Years' War, there would be no shame in losing to Frederick the Great's Prussian army. But Anning vaguely remembered it was already the year 1780, so if this was the Seven Years' War, wasn't it a bit too late?
Could it be that the historical timeline in this parallel universe was different?
No matter, whether it was the Seven Years' War or not wasn't Anning's concern as a military bandsman who played the drum.
Now, Anning could only think of one thing: to flee back to his own side and then see what the Tolleson's promise of gratitude actually entailed.
Hopefully, it would keep him far from the battlefield forever.
Anning recalled the experiences from this morning, and the terror of the battlefield seized his heart once more.
The desire to flee the war that had sprung up was now rushing back.
——I never want to see a battlefield again in my life!
Just as Anning was thinking this, a red arrow suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
An experienced gamer, Anning immediately realized that enemies had appeared nearby.
He quickly turned towards the direction of the red arrow, simultaneously drawing the military saber that had always been on him, belonging to the young master Tolleson.
At that moment, the clouds in the sky parted, allowing moonlight to stream through the gaps and illuminate five figures in front of Anning.
At first glance, these five individuals were wearing military uniforms, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that none of the uniforms matched; some wore white breeches of an officer on the lower body, but the upper body was clad in a private's gray military coat, and they donned the fur cap of grenadiers.
Without a doubt, this was a gang of bandits who profited by looting the battlefield.
The leader of the robbers wore an officer's coat with a chaotic array of medals on the chest, and two officer's dog tags.
This was someone who had looted countless officers.
"Oh, such loyalty from the personal guard," the medal-clad bandit leader sneered, the moonlight illuminating his gap-toothed smile, "but will your master give you anything in return? Why not join us, let's rob him - he's bound to have Gold Coins on him, and we'll share some with you... "
The leader turned his head to look at his men, as if counting heads, before saying, "You get one fifth."
A bandit immediately teased, "Boss, you forgot to count yourself. That makes it one sixth..."
"Shut up! Can't you see I'm negotiating here!" The leader glared at the speaker, then looked at Anning, who was holding a knife, "What do you say, considering it?"
Another bandit with a pitchfork smirked, "Forget it, he doesn't understand what we're saying."
But Anning did understand. It was only after hearing this bandit's remark that he realized they were speaking German, as if understanding their German like Chinese.
— So is this my cheat power?
Anning spoke up, "I understand what you're saying."
"Wow," said the bandit leader, surprised, "it seems the officer's lord has a German-speaking attendant. You're prepared for the worst, huh? How about considering our recent proposal?"
Anning was indeed considering.
There were five of them. Apart from two with pitchforks, the others were armed with knives or bayonets taken off rifles. He only had one military saber.
Clearly, he wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. At times like this, he should—
Suddenly, Anning heard the sound of a flintlock gun being cocked behind him.
The only one behind him was young master Kroetz, leaning against a tree, resting—
The next moment, the gun fired.
The bullet flew off somewhere; none of the five men seemed to be hit.
The bandit chief roared, "Damn it! Kill them!" and rushed toward Anning with a knife in hand.
At that instant, Anning entered bullet time, just like in the Assassin's Creed game series, where in the game, if you press the right button during bullet time, you could execute a beautiful defensive counter and instantly kill the enemy!
Of course, this crude and simple system disappeared in the latest Assassin's Creed games.
But that didn't stop Anning from nimbly taking action.
He deflected the bandit chief's knife with his military saber, then swiftly and cleanly thrust the sword through the chief's throat.
The bandit chief, clutching his neck, fell to his knees, struggling to speak, but the gurgling of blood from his throat only emitted a faint hissing sound.
That was the sound he made as he collapsed to the ground.
The whole incident happened too quickly; the other bandits poised to rush forward were stunned in place, gawking at their fallen leader.
Anning shouted in German, "Who's next!"
The bandits exchanged glances, then the two with pitchforks were the first to bolt, and seeing this, the other two flung down their bayonets and turned to run.
"Don't run!" Kroetz, holding his gun, stood up and, in a panicked flurry, continued to load it, but his hand trembled while tearing the gunpowder packet, spilling it all over.
Anning grabbed the young master's hand as he was loading, "Are you crazy? Firing could draw the enemy's attention! You can see the enemy's campfires from here!"
"But... these bandits seem to have killed many soldiers already..."
"Enough! Even if you fire, you won't hit them. With a flintlock's accuracy on a night like this, it's about as good as drawing a lottery!" Anning snatched the pistol, staring at the young master, "If you want to stay alive, listen to me. We still have to keep moving tonight!"
Young master Kroetz pursed his lips, silent for a few seconds, then nodded, "Alright! I'll listen to you."
He paused, then suddenly looked at Anning with admiration, "Are you really just a musician? Your swordsmanship just now was beautiful!"
— Of course it was beautiful. That's because I'm cheating.
Anning kept a straight face, "I just have a rudimentary knowledge of swordsmanship."
With that, Anning sheathed his knife, then began to examine the pistol he had just snatched from the young master.
The moment he picked up the pistol, the weapon icon in the corner of his vision changed to a pistol.
He fiddled with the pistol and then aimed it in the direction the bandits had fled. A crosshair appeared.
At this moment, Anning had a better understanding of his own cheat powers.