Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: No One Left Behind
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‘Why’s that guy acting up all of a sudden?’
‘Why is the Young Lord doing that?’
‘What the hell’s wrong with him!’
‘Young Lord Sion?’
‘Hm?’
These were the inner thoughts of Margrave Lichten, Knight Commander Lion, Lily, Lucia, and Kim Yuhyun, in that order.
In a situation where they should be firing up the knights and soldiers with every flowery phrase imaginable, he was saying something that drained all the morale!
“Ma-Margrave.
Wouldn’t it be better to stop the Young Lord?”
Surprisingly, Lily was the first to speak up.
She looked anxious, as if worried the soldiers might snap back savagely or do something even worse.
Knight Commander Lion kept his mouth shut, but his eyes flicked back and forth between Sion and Margrave Lichten with deep concern.
Thanks to that, Margrave Lichten was biting his lip, wondering if he should step in himself.
“Let’s watch a bit longer.”
An unexpectedly calm voice.
Lucia said it with a completely nonchalant expression.
She then scanned the room with steady, composed eyes.
“The Young Lord Sion I know isn’t the type to speak without thinking.
So, everyone, trust him and wait.
If you truly believe in him, that is.”
“...”
“Yuhyun.
What do you think?
Is he someone we need to worry about?”
At Lucia’s question, Kim Yuhyun—who had been silent until then—gazed up at Sion on the platform before parting his lips.
“He’s strong, that man.”
“There you have it.
So, everyone, relax and watch.
Watch how the Young Lord ignites a fire in their hearts.”
With Lucia saying that much, even Margrave Lichten shut his mouth as if willing to trust for now.
With the final decision-maker resolved, Lion no longer piped up, and they all waited for Sion’s next words.
“...”
Sion paused his speech for a moment, deliberately letting it hang.
Long enough for them to grow confused, long enough to accept the reality.
‘False hope is just torture, and impossible promises erode trust.’
This was war.
Who could guarantee victory or defeat? Who could be certain of divine blessings? Who could swear everyone would return home safe?
If someone said that to Sion, he’d beat them half to death, leave them a bloody mess, then hit them one more time to finish the job.
“...But.”
But there was one thing he could say to them with absolute certainty.
This wasn’t about weighing odds of victory, divining the gods’ will, or praying for miracles.
“I promise you this one thing.
When we advance in victory, I will always be at your front.
When fortune fails and we retreat in tears, I will always be at your back.
And above all.”
Gazing down at the knights and soldiers, Sion continued in a voice brimming with conviction.
“I won’t leave a single soul behind in that damned battlefield.”
“...”
“Even if we can’t all return unscathed...
Dead or alive, we will all return together—to our homeland, to the homes where our families await.”
“...”
“This is the one promise I can make to you.”
With that, Sion stepped down from the platform without hesitation.
As he returned to his seat, no cheers, no applause, no other noise reached him.
Only the quiet breathing of the assembled knights and soldiers filled the space.
“Sion.”
“Young Lord!”
Margrave Lichten and Knight Commander Lion greeted him first as he returned.
Sion nodded to the two men, who smiled as if to say good job, and took his seat.
Then Lucia sidled up quietly and took his hand.
At the sudden move, Sir North—Lily—standing nearby let out a gasp and lunged toward Lucia, but fortunately Sion stopped it.
“...Lucia?”
“You’re remarkable, Young Lord Sion.”
“I just said what anyone could say.”
“Anyone can say it, but not everyone can do it.”
“...”
“And you don’t look like you have any intention of breaking that promise.”
She was right, as Lucia said.
The speech Sion had just given wasn’t just for the knights and soldiers.
It was a gambit where Sion himself shouldered some risk.
‘I need a stage for Lily to shine.
Somewhere chaotic with melees, mainly.’
He couldn’t disguise her as Sir North forever.
Nor could he keep framing demons as threats indefinitely.
A year was long, yet short.
The real enemies’ plans were proceeding apace even now, and soon the entire continent would be engulfed in flames.
‘It’ll be the official stage to reveal Lily.’
For that, he had to be right near the battlefield.
Lily, disguised as Sir North, was officially his guard knight, so if Sion stayed in the rear, she’d be stuck unable to swing her sword properly.
That was why Sion chose that speech, ensuring neither the Knight Commander nor Margrave Lichten could hold him back without seeing him break his own word.
‘Still, what luck.
That line from the movie popped right into my head.
Thanks, Gibson bro!’
Sion sent silent thanks to Gibson bro.
Without that movie scene, this plan would’ve been hard to pull off.
“I was a little worried, but I also feel relieved.”
“What about?”
“The thoughts I have about you, Young Lord.
And... hehe.”
Lucia trailed off with a faint blush on her cheeks.
The pure beauty’s subtle smile made Sion’s head spin for a moment.
Of course, Sir North’s awkward, loaded cough snapped him out of it right after.
“Young Lord Sion.”
As he endured Lily’s storm of nagging—jabbing his side with her elbow, ranting about how great it was to flirt with another woman, why volunteer for such a reckless act—Kim Yuhyun suddenly spoke up.
“If it’s not rude, I have one question.”
“What is it, Kim Yuhyun?”
“Will you really keep that promise?
On a battlefield where anything could happen, you—a person like you—taking the vanguard and the rearguard?”
Sion gave a faint smile at Kim Yuhyun’s question.
‘Kid, I have to keep it if only for you, so don’t worry.
Liars with flowery words, flashy talkers who bail when it counts, leaders who hide in the back during the crucial moments.
You despise and hate all those types!
The punk’s testing his hyung?’
Unlike his looks, Kim Yuhyun held grudges subtly and clung to first impressions—he was this novel’s protagonist.
Sion didn’t particularly want to get chummy with the scary guy, but he was an essential trump card to avert the continent’s doom, so he absolutely couldn’t afford to squander goodwill needlessly.
“You’ll see for yourself, won’t you?”
Whether I’m just a smooth talker or not.
―
The assault force left Clauzen Margrave Territory and advanced swiftly.
Setting out at dawn, they crossed the border into Nudia Kingdom by late morning.
Since Nudia had officially declared war, there were no diplomatic issues.
Everything went according to plan, but the knights and soldiers couldn’t shake their initial unease—because Sion was leading the vanguard.
The vanguard always took point, guiding the main force and preemptively detecting and eliminating enemy scouts—a heavy responsibility.
Veteran commanders usually handled it, but today, that greenhorn Sion Clauzen had the role.
They feared enemies swarming from all sides soon, but they penetrated deep into Nudia territory without a single attack.
Nudia scouts appeared along the way, but Kim Yuhyun handled them discreetly, preventing any reports from reaching the enemy.
Lily subtly swept the surroundings, feeding Sion scout positions and paths, letting him predict locations eerily or call out routes.
‘To think Young Lord Sion was like this?’
‘No way.
The enemy scouts are getting crushed entirely!’
Even battle-hardened elites and knights were impressed.
It was like he’d hidden his talents, then unleashed them all at once.
“Yuhyun.
Young Lord Sion really seems amazing.”
“...”
As Lucia said it with a blush, Kim Yuhyun let out a grunt.
He admitted his earlier doubts were unfounded, watching Sion handle everything flawlessly without his help.
‘We push fast to the Nudia encampment.’
The enemy likely planned to camp near Clauzen Margrave Territory’s castles that night, advancing to siege by tomorrow.
But soon, Clauzen Margrave forces caught them deep in their own territory, utterly unprepared.
“Arghhh!”
“W-What!
Why are the enemy on our land?”
“The scouts!
What the hell were the scouts doing!”
The road to war is long and winding, but once battle joins, it’s brutally simple and swift—enough to bore onlookers.
The side that clashes, breaks formation, and retreats loses unconditionally.
More casualties happen in retreats than clashes anyway.
“Attack!”
“Press them without respite!
Break their momentum, and we end not just this fight but the whole war!
Keep pushing!”
“Raaahhh!”
Hundreds of soldiers locked shields into a massive wall, those walls crashing together.
Knights dueled enemy knights, straining to pierce behind the shields.
Battle was, in a way, just a test of strength.
But the side that yielded first lost everything.
Morale, victory, lives—all of it.
Thud thud thud thud!
Just then, a earth-shaking rumble rose from behind the Nudia forces.
Clauzen troops faltered into slight chaos; Nudia soldiers surged with renewed fury.
“The knights are here!”
“It’s the White Leopard Order!
We can win!”
Shouts erupted from Nudia ranks.
Sion bit his lip lightly.
‘A bit early?
In the original, they crashed in just as these troops crumbled and we prepped to withdraw.’
The big picture aligned, but small details kept veering off.
Tch, Sion clicked his tongue and yelled to Kim Yuhyun waiting in the rear.
“Kim Yuhyun!
Take out that knight order first!
If they reach our lines, we’re done—sweep them!”
“...I’ll do that.”
Shing―.
At last, Kim Yuhyun drew his real blade.
The novel’s protagonist, who cleaved all foes with a single sword.
The one whose absurd stats and swordsmanship shattered power balance in the late game.
‘Uahaha!
You bastards!
You’re all dead now!
Your kingdom got nothing like this, right?
Our Yuhyun’s the real deal!’
Dozens of knights versus one man.
To any eye, a suicidal charge—but Sion was confident.
Because that one was Kim Yuhyun, this novel’s protagonist.
...But in his excitement, Sion overlooked one fact.
Kim Yuhyun became the continent’s strongest only late-game; early on, plenty could match him.
Sebastian, Lido, and other top-tiers in Hispania Kingdom.
And naturally, Nudia Kingdom had its own powerhouses.
[Author's Note] ‘I can’t promise to bring you all back safe.
But I will set foot in the combat zone first, and lift it last.
No one will be left behind me.’
―We Were Soldiers (2002)―
I’ll keep ramping up the tempo to avoid dragging.
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