After the deal with Viscount Karl, I returned to the barracks and explained
the situation to Lucy.
As I expected, she was a bit confused about the idea of letting someone who
had once threatened her life into the same unit.
However, I convinced her that I would take full responsibility.
A few days had passed since then.
Because Krone joined in, her entire unit was also incorporated into our
command, along with three others we handle on our own.
And today, we are conducting a military sortie to see how well they can
fight.
A small group of goblins has been found, and we will see how much they
will fare when we destroy them.
"How useful do you think they are, Lord Sanada?"
The chief retainer old man calls out from the horse next to us.
This time we are sending out two units in this campaign, the 1st Unit, and
the 4th Unit, where the old man is designated as the commander of the 1st
Unit and the temporary overall commander in this campaign, filling Lucy's
usual position. Krone will be the one leading her 4th Unit, comprised of her
own soldiers.
As for Lucy, she is in the base, as we decided this is not worth her trouble.
"Hmm, there have been no mishaps on the march, so I think we're in good
shape."
As I said this, I look at Krone's unit, which is following behind the 1st Unit.
They are moving forward in a solid line, albeit with some bends and turns.
"However, the real thing only starts as soon as we fight the monsters."
"Then I will ask for your help when the time comes."
"Umu. Just leave it to me."
The 1st Unit is tasked to follow up on Krone and her team soon as they
show signs of being defeated.
As for their reliability, well, it has the best fighting strength of the three
existing units because it includes the brave Herderites who fought under
Tilda.
As I looked at the dependable and experienced troops, I saw a small hill
ahead of us.
"Command reported that there was a herd just over that hill…"
"In that case, we should take cover behind the hill and be ready in case of
an emergency."
Seeing the old man nodding to my request, I moved my horse away to leave
the formation.
Then I lined up next to Krone, who was advancing her horse in a bad mood
in the middle of the back lines. If yo u ar e ab le to re ad this me sage , yo u
are re ading f rom an unaut hor ized agg rega te site. Read at my Word Press
at sta bb ing with a syri nge. ho e. blo g to supp ort me and my tr anslati
ons.
"Krone, how are you feeling?"
"Terrible. I couldn't even set my hair properly because we dispatched so
early in the morning, you know?"
She continues to mumble and complain as she played with the ends of her
hair with one hand.
She's doing this even though the battlefield is just around the corner.
"I'm sure you've heard the preliminary report." I opened up the
conversation.
"I know," Krone replied. "The enemy is about 150 goblins, including three
ogres, right?"
I nodded in agreement.
The number of the actual goblins is much more than the number of the
actual ogres.
But a properly equipped and well-trained unit could annihilate them singlehandedly.
The highlight, however, is how we will deal with the ogres, which are a
cause for concern for their huge size.
"I'm going to leave the command of the unit to you. If you can't handle an
opponent of this caliber, then I'm afraid you'll have to start all over again
from officer training school."
"Don't be ridiculous. I can handle this level on my own."
"Ahaha. I see. Well, good luck."
I laughed at Krone's words as he glared at me.
But since I didn't want to provoke her too much and get her excited, after
greeting words of good luck, I moved my horse diagonally behind her.
After that, the troop smoothly crossed the hill and the other side came into
view.
At the bottom of the hill was a small spring, around which we could see a
group of goblins hanging out.
Three large figures, ogres, could be seen among them.
"There were maybe a hundred and twenty goblins? That's a lot fewer than I
expected. Fufu… this should be a piece of cake."
It is not unusual that Krone is full of herself right now.
It is because the goblins, which can be said to rely on numbers to be
formidable, are now outnumbered by us.
Furthermore, we are now on the hillside, the higher ground, in a position
overlooking the enemy.
"All right, let's make the first move. Begin the attack!"
At the female commander's orders, the soldiers advanced to reave the
goblins' lives. It seemed that we have the upper hand in the early stages of
the battle.
"Fufufu, you better witness this. Against me, a goblin is no different from a
straw dummy!"
"It's too early to be reassured. The main dish is about to arrive."
I looked over and saw an ogre approaching the line of soldiers.
"That's not a problem. I have already taught them how to deal with it. Just
leave it to the soldiers in the front line and-"
Just as Krone said this, screams and shouts were heard from the front.
"What the…?"
She turned toward the voice and saw an ogre with a bloodied club raised in
the air and a soldier blown to pieces.
The ogre, which had committed its first blood to one of the soldiers, then let
out a roar and attacked the other troops the next.
"W-why!? What happened!? Move as you trained!"
Krone hurriedly ordered, but it was already too late.
The three ogres that had rushed into the ranks made it impossible to
coordinate.
The unit was in a state of panic, and some soldiers even ran away.
"You, fleeing before the enemy is a capital offense. Return to your posts
immediately!"
Krone screamed loudly, but her voice was no longer heard.
At that moment, she saw one of the ogres that rushed into the center of the
formation turn its gaze toward her direction. Th is cha pter tra nsl ation is m
ade poss i ble by stab bing wit h a sy ri nge tr ansla tions. ch eck only u pto-d ate tra nsla tions on my Word pre ss sit e.
"Damn… you're good. If I can't count on my men, then I guess I'll take
care of it myself!"
Krone drew her sword, trying to confront the monster on her own.
However, her stature alone showed to me that she is not accustomed to
actual combat, even from my rookie eyes. She'll be a burden if she chooses
to confront the ogre now.
We should retreat temporarily.
"We can't stay here anymore. Let's get out of here!"
"Are you kidding me? You want me to run away with my back to the
enemy?"
Krone turned to face me and was completely offended. However, our
situation isn't too forgiving for me to pay attention to her tantrums.
"Don't mess with me. That's an order. I'm going to carry you and take you
with me!"
I carried Krone, who is no longer able to make rational decisions, on my
shoulder as if I were carrying a bale of rice. After issuing a retreat, we broke
away from the scene.
"Hey, let go of me! You insolent! I'm the one in charge here! I'm not taking
orders from you!"
"Shut up and stop resisting. You're making it hard for me to control the
horse!"
Either way, even though it gave me a lot of hardships, I managed to secure
Krone.
As we continued, we saw people appearing from the hilltop in front of us.
They were the soldiers of the 1st Unit.
"I'm sorry, I'll leave the rest to you!"
I said as we passed each other and continued to ride my horse.
Behind me, the shouts of the soldiers and the roars of the ogres intersected.
I was wrong.
It was too much to ask them to fight alone.
I had always been watching the battles alongside experienced troops and
excellent commanders, so perhaps my standards of judgment had become
too lax.
With bitterness in my heart, I left to a safe zone with Krone on my back.