Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: The 13th Legion (2)
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The territory of the Gesenian Empire was immensely vast.
Naturally, its borders were incredibly long, and there were many places to defend.
And as far as I knew, those borders were still expanding, even at this very moment.
Endless wars of conquest.
That was how the empire maintained its colossal size.
In any case, the empire's borders stretched in all four directions—east, west, south, and north—but not all of them were designated as frontlines.
Humans and non-human species hostile to the empire.
The places bordering the most belligerent among them.
Only those areas where local skirmishes frequently broke out were called frontlines.
The 1st to the 12th Fronts were defensive lines surrounding the mainland, while the 13th Front and beyond were located outside the empire.
I searched my memory.
Where was the 13th Front again?
Something vaguely came to mind.
A frontline bordering belligerent demi-humans.
I didn't know the details, but I recalled hearing in passing that it was a brutal place where local skirmishes were a common occurrence.
And now, I was apparently heading to that brutal place.
So suddenly.
“It’s not sudden.”
The Knight of the Sky explained, as if he had read my mind.
He said it was common for Cradle cadets of a certain year to tour the frontlines and gain various experiences.
“Though I’ll admit, it being a year earlier than usual and outside the mainland's defensive lines is a bit surprising to me too.”
I didn't need to ask to know why the schedule had been moved up.
Malserok.
It was a change brought about by a single anonymous post I had written.
Other than that, there was no reason for the Cradle to suddenly change its policy.
I had hoped for a situation like this, but frankly, it was absurd.
It was almost unbelievable that they were making such a fuss over a single piece of writing.
But apparently, it was believable.
Right after Malserok was posted, several professors had apparently conducted wargame simulations using the Cradle's facilities.
And they had confirmed that the unconventional tactics and strategies described in Malserok, though varying in degree, were indeed viable in actual combat.
They then formally requested that the Cradle's leadership verify Malserok, and the leadership, including the Director, immediately accepted the proposal.
An unprecedented verification process that mobilized everyone from the Chess Knights of the Daisen family—one of the Empire's Eight Great Families, renowned for their tactics and strategy—to even a mere mercenary captain.
“It was exactly as described in Malserok.”
I wasn't really surprised.
The tactics and strategies recorded in Malserok weren't baseless fantasies.
Every single one of them had proven effective in the Great War of my past life.
In fact, the inclusion of a mere mercenary captain in the verification process was far more surprising.
“Professor Dieter Riesner recommended him strongly, I heard. In the end, it was the right choice. That mercenary captain devoured three knight orders in the simulation.”
The moment I heard Professor Dieter Riesner's recommendation, the Mercenary King Yanick had come to mind, and it turned out to be true.
The master of the War Legion who had devoured countless knights in the past, our dear Mercenary King, seemed to be the same in this life.
“It seems various other verifications were carried out as well.”
After completing the verification, the Cradle's leadership further assessed the feasibility of Malserok's scenarios and confirmed that some of them were tangible dangers that could actually occur in the near future.
“They might not be convinced about the empire's collapse or a large-scale civil war, but they did confirm the possibility of the empire falling into chaos.”
Despite this, the Cradle's leadership still considered the actual possibility of the empire's fall or the outbreak of a massive civil war to be low.
Then again, it wasn't strange.
Who could have imagined that this great empire would fall overnight?
Even I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself.
To sum it up, the reason the Cradle was deploying cadets to the battlefield earlier than scheduled was to prepare for the coming tribulations.
“But is this something you should be telling a cadet?”
While I was glad to learn the circumstances I hadn't known, I couldn't understand why he was sharing such confidential information with a mere cadet like me.
“They said it was okay to tell you.”
“Who did?”
“The Director.”
“...?”
“...?”
I tried to ask more, but just then, the griffin kicked off the ground and soared into the air.
The moment we passed through the translucent barrier surrounding the Cradle, the wind began to howl madly.
Forget conversation; it was hard to even breathe without burying my face in the griffin's broad back.
If it was this bad for me in the back seat, I couldn't imagine how terrible the wind must be for the rider.
“Here we go.”
But contrary to my thoughts, the rider's voice was perfectly calm.
As if the fiercely blowing wind didn't even exist.
It seemed he had some kind of blessing related to this.
*Screeeech.*
After a single cry, the griffin left the skies above the Cradle and began a steep descent.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
A scream escaped me at the terrifying speed.
It was a different feeling from the descent I had experienced not long ago.
“I was being careful before because you were injured. This beast's speed is much greater than that!”
The Knight of the Sky laughed heartily and leaned forward.
I followed suit, lowering my head and pressing my body close.
*Whoooooosh.*
The wind was so strong I could barely open my eyes.
Instead of forcing myself to endure it, I closed my eyes and organized my thoughts.
I had already heard from the other kids that the Cradle's teaching methods had completely changed.
A series of high-intensity training sessions that made previous classes feel like child's play.
Vomiting because they couldn't keep up with the training intensity had become a daily routine, they said.
I had wondered why they'd increased the training intensity so much; it turned out it was to get the cadets in shape one last time before their deployment to the front.
In my past life, there had been occasional instances of squires being urgently deployed to the frontlines like this, so the current situation didn't feel entirely unfamiliar.
However, I couldn't shake the question of whether this whole process was being rushed.
Take my case, for instance.
Hadn't I been hastily put on the back of a griffin without any precise information about heading to the front?
This, too, had a reason I could guess.
It was only recently that information, from the schedule to the drop location, had been leaked.
Because of that incident, the cadets were put in danger, and there could have been casualties.
On top of that, hadn't I handed over a list of names of traitors within the Cradle?
It would be a problem if security remained the same as before.
Though, to be honest, it had seemed a bit pointless for a while now.
In any case, I was sure that very few people knew the cadets of our Silver Eagle batch were even at the 13th Front.
This was because of me, and that was because of me.
Everything was because of me.
“Sorry, kids.”
Still, I hope you don't resent me too much.
After all, these were things that had to be done sooner or later.
***
*Lurch.*
The ground swayed, and my stomach churned.
“Uweeegh.”
I bent over and emptied my stomach.
I hadn't eaten anything, so nothing much came out, but the nausea kept rising.
Only after retching for a good while was I finally able to come to my senses.
The Knight of the Sky, Knight Ryungsen, who had been watching quietly, patted my shoulder and spoke in a suggestive tone.
“You know, you're holding up better than I expected. How about applying to the Knight Order of the Sky while you're at it?”
“...Ugh.”
Just the thought of it made me want to gag.
I was sick and tired of griffins.
I never wanted to ride one again.
And he wanted me to become a Knight of the Sky?
Regardless of whether this body could become a knight or not, I absolutely wanted to refuse.
“A shame. It's quite rare to find someone who can endure rapid maneuvers this well.”
This was considered enduring it *well*?
Muttering such nonsense, the persistent Knight Ryungsen climbed onto the griffin.
“Esquire Yan.”
I reflexively straightened my back and corrected my posture.
“I hope that you, Esquire, will achieve new feats of valor here, and I look forward to our safe reunion.”
Knight Ryungsen tapped the crest on his chest with his right hand.
*Thump.*
I, too, brought my feet together and tapped my chest in response.
“Thank you.”
With a nod, Knight Ryungsen took to the sky with his griffin.
*Whoosh, whoosh.*
The griffin circled overhead once, then instantly became a black dot and disappeared.
After seeing Knight Ryungsen off, I relaxed my posture and looked around.
“Ah?”
Only then did I notice the soldiers staring blankly at me.
“Where? Where? Where is he?”
A well-built middle-aged man pushed through the crowd.
Judging by the red plume on his helmet, he was a commander of centurion rank.
The centurion looked around.
It was obvious who he was looking for.
He must have been hoping to get acquainted with the griffin rider.
But what could be done?
Knight Ryungsen had already vanished beyond the sky.
“Damn. I was too late.”
At the words of a nearby soldier, the centurion lamented with a face full of regret.
“Hmm...”
Then he finally noticed me, his expression strange.
It was a 'who's this kid?' kind of look.
“Are you the one in charge here?”
“I am, but you are...?”
I pulled aside the cloak Knight Ryungsen had given me.
The indigo uniform symbolizing the Cradle was revealed.
“Oh! Oh. Oh...?”
The centurion had the peculiar talent of expressing a wide range of emotions with a single exclamation.
“...”
“...”
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a moment.
Normally, greetings should have been exchanged by now.
But neither he nor I could bring ourselves to offer the first greeting.
It was because of the Cradle's special status and my own ambiguous position.
According to Imperial law, a knight was to be treated as equivalent to a centurion or a chiliarch depending on their rank, but there were no clear provisions regarding squires.
Customarily, they were treated according to the status of the one they served, but the problem was that I currently served no one.
In the Imperial Army's hierarchy, I was clearly subordinate to a centurion.
But to treat me openly as a subordinate was problematic, given that I could show up as a knight at any time.
Regardless of my personal circumstances, to him, I was a promising cadet from the Cradle.
Even outside the Cradle, the status of a squire was always a bit ambiguous in the military.
That was precisely why the centurion was just staring blankly at me with an awkward expression.
“...”
“...”
As the centurion dithered, more eyes gathered on us.
The poor centurion was now sweating bullets, deep in thought.
In situations like this, one side had to establish the hierarchy as quickly as possible.
It seemed that was my role.
“Esquire Yan, of the Cradle of Stars. I am here to join my colleagues. It is an honor to meet you.”
I brought my feet together and offered an Imperial salute.
“Oh! So you're Esquire Yan. I am Centurion Bravos, commander of this garrison.”
The sweating Centurion Bravos finally brightened up and welcomed me.
He seemed quite pleased that I had taken the initiative to act as a subordinate and show respect.
It would be a different story if I were serving someone.
From my perspective, it wasn't a difficult thing to do.
“Looks like you just missed them. Your peers headed for the forward fortress two days ago with the relief troops.”
The centurion's eyes were full of goodwill as he looked at me, the one who had saved his face in front of his men.
“Is that so? If it's not too much trouble, may I impose upon your hospitality at the garrison until I can travel with the next troops heading to the front?”
“Impose? Not at all. I have no intention of treating a friend who's come all this way to help us poorly.”
This way.
Centurion Bravos led me to one side of the garrison.
“Ack! What is this? Which one of you bastards puked here? Aren't you cleaning the camp properly? Don't you know we're all screwed if a disease breaks out because of this?”
Centurion Bravos, having stepped in the vomit I'd spewed, berated his innocent soldiers.
The sight was quite unfamiliar to me.
In my past life, it was common for epidemics to break out because commanders neglected sanitation in their camps.
But now that I was back in the past, I found that some things were actually better.
It wasn't just sanitation management.
It was a telling detail.
The camp's defenses, the soldiers' equipment—nothing seemed lacking in any respect.
“This is...”
...the Imperial Army before its fall?
It was astonishing to think that the empire had fallen despite commanding such a powerful army, as numerous as the sands on a seashore.
“Esquire?”
“My apologies. I was just lost in admiration for the camp's excellent defenses and the soldiers' readiness.”
When I shared my honest impression, Centurion Bravos laughed heartily and clapped me on the back.
“A supply convoy heading to the forward fortress will be passing through here soon. You can stay here until then.”
To my surprise, Centurion Bravos assigned me a personal tent.
“The Imperial Army isn't so stingy as to mistreat a brother who has come all this way to help.”
A moment ago he called me a friend, now I was a brother.