Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Most Ideal Commander (3)
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The moment she removed her helmet, curly golden hair cascaded down.
The instant I saw the pure white jawline and red lips revealed beneath it, my eyes widened in shock.
"A woman?"
Incredibly, the commander of the fortress that had tormented our forces so mercilessly was not a man.
The allied commanders, who had naturally expected a tough, grizzled veteran, began to murmur in surprise.
The Astorians were far more conservative than the Thracians in many ways, and a female commander? She even looked young.
Her plump cheeks and button nose made that clear. She was more girl than woman, really.
-......!
At that moment, the fortress commander opened her mouth.
Her voice was fierce and sharp, like a wounded beast growling.
"What did you say?"
The defector knight translated the 8th Legion commander's words a beat late.
"From the look on your faces, you're shocked I'm a girl. Shouldn't you be ashamed before you're surprised? Grown men who ran their hardest, only to get outmaneuvered by a kid like me."
The defector knight's translation lacked the diplomatic polish typical of professional interpreters.
A chill swept through the hall like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over everyone.
"Looks like you don't realize the position you're in."
Major General Barnichi of the 8th Legion vanguard division growled threateningly. The others said nothing, but their displeasure was obvious.
-.......!
Before the defector knight could even translate, the young enemy commander snarled again.
No translation needed for this one.
-Kill me if you want.
Something like that.
The defector knight's translation wasn't far off.
"You think I'll get leniency because I'm young? On the battlefield, no one cares about age or gender."
-So why are you hesitating?
Major General Barnichi—who had suffered the heaviest losses in his vanguard during the two days and nights of siege—finally drew his sword.
"If you want to die that badly..."
"Enough."
The 8th Legion commander stepped in to intervene, unable to stand it any longer.
"That resourcefulness and willpower... You must be the daughter of some prominent house. Mind telling us your name first?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the enemy commander clamped her lips shut.
Then, out of nowhere, she glared at the defector knight with eyes full of venom, like he was the murderer of her parents.
-.......!
Insults were fascinating things.
You didn't need to know the language to recognize one instantly.
I caught the word "Thracia" in there, so I could guess the gist.
Thracia's dog. Lackey.
Sure enough, the defector knight's face twisted like a demon's.
He even swung his foot up and kicked the enemy commander square in the gut.
-...!
She rolled across the floor several times from the brutal kick.
Hunched over, clutching her stomach, her shoulders heaved violently as she retched.
Murmurs rippled through the allied command staff, who hadn't expected their fierce enemy to break down crying from a single kick to the stomach.
It was a misconception.
She wasn't crying.
"You're laughing?"
She was laughing.
Tears streaming down her face from whatever she found so hilarious.
And even then, her venomous glare never left the defector knight.
It went beyond mere contempt for a Thracian turncoat. I couldn't let it slide.
"Otto. Do you know her from before?"
The defector knight shook his head.
No, absolutely not.
That wasn't the look you gave a stranger.
I ordered him to step back and summoned another soldier fluent in Astorian.
"Translate what I say from now on."
The soldier, dragged before the command staff out of nowhere, sweated bullets but faithfully relayed my words.
"Your name first."
After huffing for a moment, the enemy commander spat out each syllable like it tasted foul, her eyes still fixed on the defector knight.
-Johanna von Bauer.
The moment she finished...
Every head in the hall whipped toward the defector knight in unison.
**
I excused myself from the commanders and hauled the defector knight outside.
I got the full story from him.
And finally reached one conclusion.
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"
Otto von Bauer was beyond redemption.
The commander who'd put our forces through hell was none other than his eldest daughter.
Good lord. Not recognizing his own daughter right in front of him.
"As lord bearing the honor of House Bauer, it was unavoidable. A man might understand, but a daughter you ship off after marriage? A lord's seat isn't that leisurely."
"Keep talking out of that hole in your face."
His excuses were something else.
Boils down to ditching family and home for knightly adventures.
No wonder his wife's family had packed up and left Bauer lands the moment he defected.
"Treat me with honor."
"Honor my ass. Swear to god, if you badmouth your ex-wife in front of me again."
"...I'll tolerate no further insults."
"Or what? What're you gonna do if you don't?"
If it bothered him so much, we could go another round.
"......On second thought, managing one's family is a lord's duty too. You're right. It's all my failing."
Watching him tuck tail so quickly, I paused in thought.
"Hold on. If I play this right..."
House Bauer's messy family drama didn't seem all bad for me.
"Out."
I sent the defector knight away after sorting my thoughts.
Then returned to the hall alone.
Creeeak.
The door swung open, and every eye in the room turned to me.
They all had questions burning on their tongues.
I ignored them.
That wasn't what mattered now.
"Look at the state of her."
Otto von Bauer's trash of a kick had left Johanna von Bauer in rough shape.
"She fought honorably. Least we can do is treat her like a person."
I neatly combed her disheveled hair and wiped the tear streaks from her face.
"...Major. What are you doing?"
Major General Barnichi, who'd been watching, muttered under his breath.
"I'll handle her interrogation."
"Why you, Major?"
"Because my subordinates captured her?"
By Thracia custom, rights to her fell to me.
"Come to think of it, you're also overseeing the defector knight. Quite the coincidence. The fortress holds out for three months until you arrive with him, and it falls. Then its commander turns out to be his family. How am I supposed to take this?"
The major general's eyes sharpened instantly.
"Enough. We'll call it here for today. We've got mountains of work beyond interrogating the enemy commander. Need to regroup the troops and root out any holdouts in the fortress."
"But Legion Commander! Something's fishy here!"
"See? Thorns in your voice. I'm your superior."
"...My apologies."
"It's fine. I get it. Two days and nights of fighting. Everyone's on edge, not just you. No point dragging this out—we'll just end up fighting among ourselves. Save the talk for later."
The 8th Legion commander timed his intervention perfectly and adjourned the meeting.
"Major."
Major General Barnichi called to me as he left the hall.
"What I said earlier... I was heated. I know His Majesty's cavalry commander wouldn't pull something like that. But you must realize how this looks to others."
He was right on every count.
"If you're planning some tearful father-daughter reunion, think again. That's not a suggestion."
"Thanks for the advice."
He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction at my reply and turned away with a cold expression.
"Don't take it personally."
The 8th Legion commander's voice came as I watched him go.
"He lost the most men over these two days. That's him going easy."
"...I understand."
"Good. No need to say more. Anyway."
He glanced casually at Johanna von Bauer, kneeling motionless in the center of the hall.
"Planning to turn her?"
"Yes."
From what I'd seen, the 8th Legion commander was boldly unconventional in odd ways.
Even now, while everyone else seethed to devour Johanna von Bauer, he alone stayed calm.
"Alright. You confident? Doesn't look like a close-knit pair to me."
True to form, instead of ranting about our sacrifices or other commanders' backlash, he asked how I'd turn her.
"As you know, House Bauer's not well-regarded in Astoria. Means she's faced plenty of prejudice from her background."
Honestly, it was a wonder she'd commanded at all with that stigma.
"You've already got a plan."
"Going to stop me?"
"Why would I? You said it yourself—prisoner rights are yours."
Do as you will.
He waved it off dismissively.
"I know you're not that delicate, but just to be clear."
Then, as if it just occurred to him, he added:
"Don't mind Major General Barnichi."
Meaning he'd handle the others' objections.
"...Thank you."
"No need. A general sitting pretty does nothing otherwise. Least this keeps the subordinates from badmouthing me."
With that, the 8th Legion commander vanished.
I lingered on the spot a moment, then left the hall.
"Let's go."
Of course, Johanna von Bauer came with me.
**
The next while was a blur of nonstop work.
Had to assess siege casualties and figure out how to fill the gaps.
No Bluecoats died—battlefield hadn't given them much chance to shine—but the Landsknechts who'd grappled with Astorians atop the walls for two days straight took heavy losses.
Mercenaries bought with coin or not, they were my men.
"How does the Imperial mercenary company handle Landsknecht deaths?"
"If pay's owed, it goes to next of kin. No pay or kin? Done."
"Then let's do this."
I decided to pay out the remaining contract balance as a lump sum to the dead—money due only after a full year otherwise.
"They didn't even finish the term?"
"They earned it. Call it death gratuity. Oh, skip the ones without family. Company'll just swallow it."
I left selecting recipients to Newman.
"What? Why?"
Not my money anyway—why skimp here?
Newman didn't smile at my quip.
"...Understood."
Just gave me a strange look.
"Let's see."
After handling the dead, the 6th Legion's turn.
8th Legion commander said Barnichi lost the most, but numbers showed 6th Legion far worse off.
Nearly half their thousand-strong force dead or too wounded to return.
They'd fought recklessly to restore honor.
"I've got merits going up under my name. Shift them all to 6th Legion."
"...Really?"
"Five promotions in two years. More merit won't promote me again, just drag me to the capital for headaches. Better to whoever needs it."
Affiliation meant no promotion regrets.
Hadn't I just jailed a lieutenant general as a mere major?
"...You always surprise me."
The 8th Legion commander let out a hearty laugh.
Even after shifting merits, I attended every meeting, raising my voice.
My subordinates might not share my disinterest in advancement.
Least I could do was personally handle merits for Captain Gaf and Lieutenant Staretska.
With major issues settled, I turned to recruiting Johanna von Bauer.
"Alright, let's have a frank chat."
Every relationship starts with talk.
-......
But Johanna von Bauer had no intention of cooperating.
She stuck to silence and stonewalling.
Ptui.
She even spat at me across the table.
"Gah! Gulp."
The translator I'd summoned recoiled in horror, then again when I casually wiped it on his clothes.
"How'd you take command? Hard to believe those Astorian officers handed it over easy to a Bauer."
I pressed on steadily.
"Even if dad's neglectful, a daughter knows her father. At that range during retreat, you'd recognize him. Or did you know and let it slide?"
Slim chance, but maybe Bauer fall and defection were a ploy for bigger aims.
Having watched Otto von Bauer up close, I knew his schemes weren't that deep—but other commanders wouldn't buy it.
Had to nail it down for later.
"Tch. No progress."
I kept at the interrogations day after day.
"I've got this experiment going. Might help Yannick. Want in?"
Natasha had made scary offers before, but I'd ignored them.
Five days later, Johanna von Bauer finally spoke.
"I'm not like him."
Shockingly, in Thracia, not Astorian.
-......
The clueless soldier translated her Thracia into Astorian, then realized with a dumb "Eh?"
I waved him out and sat face-to-face with Johanna von Bauer, who'd fooled me completely.
"Thracia fluent, huh?"
"Hmph."
She snorted.
Despite her edge, I just smiled.
"Ptui! Quick to laugh, aren't you."
No "can't spit on a smiling face" here—at least not for Astorians.
Not even in Thracia.
Thracians took a stranger's smile as a fightin' challenge.
Anyway.
She thought I laughed for no reason, but that wasn't it.
We'd sat wordless for five days, and now we understood each other.
Huge progress for us both, right?
Or not.
"I said it again: I'm not like him. I won't be Thracia's dog. Save your breath."
She clearly wasn't interested in bonding.
But that's up to me.
I knew hundreds, thousands of ways to build rapport—and which worked best.
Especially since...
"I could give you what you want."
Gifting what they desire was key.
"Revenge. I'll help."
For her, revenge on the father who ruined the house and became enemy puppet? Perfect gift.
Though I couldn't guarantee it'd match her idea of it.