"Ten men, yeah, okay."
Rousseau was surprised to hear Aldes ask for ten men for the duel, but after the way he'd defeated five men in one fell swoop, he wondered how he would fare against ten.
Rousseau selected ten men and prepared them for the duel with Aldes. Dressed in full regalia, the ten men faced Aldes in a line.
"Drill Leader, can we start with Aldes surrounded?"
One of the troopers said.
"Are you sure you don't mind if we start with ten Aldes surrounded?"
Russo asked.
"Tell them to do as they please."
The men listened to Aldes and formed a wide circle around him, with Aldes in the center.
Rousseau checked to see that they were in position.
"Then. Let's go."
- Hey. Kiya, hey.
At the sound of Russo's command, the ten men cheered and attacked Aldes in the center.
Aldes quickly spun around, parrying all ten attacks.
Again, the men attacked him en masse, and again, Aldeth spun quickly, parrying all of their attacks.
"This time, let's not attack them all at once, let's space them out."
The soldiers attacked all at once, and Aldeth quickly circled around to defend himself, so they decided to stagger their attacks.
However, staggering the attacks would only give Aldeth a better view of each one.
Aldes' defense and attack were almost simultaneous. For all 10 of the staggered attacks, Aldeth quickly switched between defense and offense. The ten men fell to the ground, some on their hips, some on their backs, some on their sides.
Dust kicked up around Aldeth as he stood upright. Only the dust remembered the violent movement that had just taken place.
Rousseau could understand how Aldes could take out five men so quickly, no matter how skilled he was with the sword, but he couldn't believe that ten men could end the duel without touching Aldes.
Watching from Rousseau's side, Walo, Dalbry, and Baibo were equally surprised.
"See? I told you from the beginning that Aldes was hiding his power."
Wallo had vaguely realized that Aldeth was hiding his power during their first encounter. He'd told Dalbry and Vaibo several times that he thought Aldes was hiding his strength, but each time, Dalbry and Vaibo said it couldn't be. Wolo had always thought Aldes was strong, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong.
Russo approached Aldes.
"Aldes, are you warmed up enough?"
"Yes, now. It's cool."
"Aldes, I don't want you to hurt yourself. Watch what you eat, you are a valuable resource to our Gerho army."
In the distance, a man had been watching the scene from earlier. It was Arichi, the head of House Gerho. He was in his forties and had seen much battle. He had black hair and intense eyes.
Before the tactical drill, Arichi was at the training grounds. On the training grounds in front of the officers' building, not only officers, but soldiers of various classes had gathered.
Under Arichi's direction, they practiced formations such as sideways marching, flanking, encirclement, and siege warfare.
Before the tactical drills, Arichi remembered a wooden sword duel between the men, in which a man barely the age of a boy had shown great skill with a sword.
When the drill was over, Arichi sent a man to summon Russo, the drill leader, who ran to Arichi, the commander-in-chief.
"Commander, you called for me!"
"Russo, I'm here to ask you a question. Who is the boy who showed so much skill in the dueling drill before the tactical training?"
"His name is Aldes, the eldest son of the Boldo family."
"So that boy was Aldeth, the one who came as a hostage."
"Yes. That's right."
"But. If the boy was so strong, why didn't you tell me about it before now?"
"I've been training Aldeth ever since he came to Castle Griffenstein, but I only just found out."
"If you're the one who trained him, and you didn't know his abilities, what happened to your eyes?"
"No, Aldes has been hiding his skills all this time."
Arich heard that Aldes had kept his skills well hidden, and he could see why. A strong warrior is a dangerous thing to have as a hostage, but in this time of war, we need a strong force to drive out the orcs. This was not the time to consider the origin or composition of a strong man.
A map was spread out on a large table in the center of the conference room at Castle Griffenstein. The lords, gauthos, and senior officers were gathered in a meeting.
"We must establish the expedition's forward base at Wallabach, build our forces around it, and advance to the Forest of Welcome Fangs. The importance of supply in war cannot be overemphasized, and the Treasurer must make sure we have a thorough supply plan."
House Gerho's Warlord, Arich, said.
"I understand the importance of supply. We don't know when the war will end, so we will make sure we have enough supplies."
Said Tuoli, the Treasurer.
"How many troops can we mobilize?"
Said Gauto, the lord.
"About 50,000 men."
Arichi replied.
"And, my lord, as I was training the soldiers today, I found a man of great skill, a man you know well, Aldes."
"Aldes, I have decided to include him in the expedition to Wallabach. He is a hostage, but the drillmaster says he is strong, so I have agreed."
"My lord has agreed that if Aldeth joins the expedition to Wallabach and successfully destroys the orcs, House Boldo will forgive the debt owed to House Gerho."
Tuoli, the Treasurer, said.
"Hahaha, Tuoli, you are so naive. You think I will forgive the debt? Aldeth is said to be skilled with the sword, so I will send him on an expedition to take advantage of him."
"I see, that's what you meant, my lord, I see."
Tuoli said with a smile.
"My lord, you must honor your promise to Aldeth."
Arich said.
"Captain, that's not for you to decide, it's for me to decide. Forgiving a debt, that's ridiculous!"
"My lord, I have seen Aldeth's swordsmanship with my own eyes. Even though he is only a boy now, I can tell you that he is already the best warrior on the continent, at least in Heneruk."
"Drillmaster, you mentioned that Aldeth is strong, but is he really that strong?"
"If you are interested in history, you may know of the legendary warrior, Berktor, who fought over 500 years ago. From what I saw today, Aldeth is the reincarnation of Berktor."
"Haha, Bertolani, Commander-in-Chief, aren't you exaggerating a bit too much?"
"No, I've fought on countless battlefields, and I've seen many soldiers, some of whom were rumored to be very good. The Aldes I saw today was the best I've ever seen. You can't go back on a promise you made to someone like that.
Aldeth is a hostage, and yet he risks his life fighting for House Gerho. If you successfully repel the Orcs, return to Grifenstein Castle, and then refuse to pay the debt owed to House Boldo, and keep Aldeth as a hostage, do you think he will stand still?"
"And what will you do if he won't stand still? You can mobilize your soldiers and overpower Aldes."
"My lord. Subduing Aldeth would cost us many soldiers. If Aldes returns from the expedition to Wallabach with great accomplishments, it would be unjust to mobilize our soldiers to subdue him. To keep a man who has returned as a hero as a hostage is unacceptable to any of us."
My lord, Gauto had no doubt of Aldeth's prowess, given the way the commander-in-chief spoke. It seemed his promise to Aldeth would have to be honored.
Gauto suddenly understood Aldeth's actions: he had hidden his power for so long, and now he was showing his fear of what would happen if he failed to honor his promise.
It was no harm in forgiving House Boldo's debt. Defeating the Orcs with Aldeth's help would be a great boon to House Gerho.
"I understand your intentions, Warlord. I will honor my promise to Aldeth."
In the council chambers of Griffenstein Castle, they spent three days organizing supplies, troops, and marching plans.
Aldeth did not believe that Gauthau would so readily grant his terms. After all, he had made his fortune by robbing other families so despicably, and debt forgiveness would be a difficult condition to accept.
But on the training grounds, Aldeth proved himself. He used this man, sent him off to war, and returned with a successful campaign. What would happen to him if he refused his promise. He showed them what would happen if they refused.
And he wondered how his lord would treat him when he returned from his great victory over the Orcs.
Aldeth was lost in thought in his chambers when he heard a squawk on the window sill. It was the long-awaited aromatic dove.
'Cute little thing, right on time'
Aldes tied the folded letter to its feet and patted its head a few times. Then it flew off into the sky.
'In a few days, we will march. Castle Griffenstein was busy preparing for the march. Soldiers were coming in from all over, and those being recruited near Wallabach were to join them in the middle.
Rousseau was in charge of the 5th Corps. The 5th was a light infantry unit. Wallot, D'Albri, and Baibo, who had trained with Aldes, were all assigned to the 5th.
The 5th was a light infantry unit that specialized in cavalry warfare. Aldes decided to take the longsword he had brought with him from Rannefels. It was comforting to use a familiar weapon.
Aldes went to the armory and sharpened his longsword. It felt good to have the longsword out after so long. It hadn't been used in a while, and the blade was dull. A little sharpening with the whetstone sharpened the blade, and he finished it off with a sharpening stone.
"This looks different from our swords. Did you bring it from home?"
Wallo asked.
"Yep. I've had it since I was a boy. Let's see if it's sharpened."
Wallo ran his fingers along the blade of Aldeth's sword. It was sharp.
"Aldeth, wait. I'll get something."
A moment later, Wallo returned with an oil-soaked rag.
"Here's a rag soaked in camellia oil. Take it."
"Thank you. A rag soaked in camellia oil is the best way to make a sword last."
"Aldeth, no matter how much you try to fool us, I recognized you from the start."
"All right. Okay."
"When we go to the Forest of Illusory Fangs, don't let anyone separate us, I'll be right by your side."
Wolow felt safe with Aldeth by her side, even if it was a dangerous battlefield.
"You, if you don't want to die, stay by my side, it's a benefit to you."
"Thank you tearfully."
Walo was not tearful, but he was very, very grateful.
"Walo, you have a brother, my lord, Wolpo."
"Yes. What did Wolffo do to him?"
"No, not that, I want you to quietly find out how many troops Wolpo has in his expedition."
"Quietly? Okay. I'll do whatever you say, Aldeth."
"Shh, you're loud."
Aldeth said, mock-slapping Wallo.
Days passed, and the day of the expedition arrived.