Wind Magic
However, there was one other issue. When Manir was accepted, voices of opposition arose among the conscript soldiers. It was because he was a noble and a knight from another region in the midst of war.
Everyone disliked Manir but didn't know how to react, so their faces were uncomfortable.
“Those bastards!”
Auger was furious that commoners had complaints about a noble's decision, but he couldn't suppress them openly. The number of soldiers was too few. Otherwise, there had been a short rebellion attempt before. If they were disciplined more strictly here, the opposition might grow uncontrollably this time.
“Perhaps it would be better to give generous rewards.”
“Hah, really.”
Upon Joseph's words, Auger had no choice but to pay silver coins to the conscript soldiers. In fact, it was close to a ruse; they had given part of the reward that would be paid after the Malešov subjugation. But the conscripts were satisfied with the silver coins that fell into their hands right away, and the voices of discontent quickly faded.
Separately from that, Joseph gave extra silver coins to the injured guards who had fallen while guarding the carriage. It was their duty, but in any case, they had been caught up in Joseph's plan. Being conscripted and trained was already grueling, and then getting injured while standing guard at night was like a bolt from the blue for them.
Moreover, they almost died unjustly.
However, the reaction was unexpected. When Joseph gave them silver coins, their expressions brightened instantly. How brightly they smiled made Joseph feel flustered.
“Joseph-nim, I don't think you gave too much reward.”
Auk, who had been watching, cautiously interjected. Auk, one of the three sons of the village farmer, knew how much money they received.
“Yeah...”
Joseph recalled how little the value of life was in this world for the first time in a long time.
In any case, Manir would stay as Auger's subordinate for a while.
“Use the same equipment as the conscript soldiers.”
Joseph didn't return the armor and weapons Manir was wearing. They looked expensive and high quality at a glance. Since he hadn't fully trusted him yet, he couldn't just hand them over easily.
“I understand.”
Manir looked regretful, but he quickly accepted it. To be treated as a noble even though he might be sold as a slave for assassination was something.
“This should be given to Baron.”
Joseph handed Manir's armor to Auger. Because Auger was staring intently from the side. He didn't want to have a staring contest over the spoils with Auger. Moreover, he had been considerate to Joseph several times before.
“This... is completely top-grade equipment.”
Auger admired the armor but didn't seem to intend to wear it himself. He already had quite good equipment. He had bought them with a large sum of money when he first went out. Moreover, since he was already well-acquainted with the body, it was unfamiliar to suddenly use something else.
Instead, he gave it to his squire Arke, but it didn't fit because Manir's build was too large.
“I will definitely wear it someday.”
Arke was overjoyed, with the corners of his mouth curled up, smiling all day.
Joseph equipped his soldiers with the equipment Manir's subordinates had. There were a few that didn't fit in size, but even so, they looked presentable.
“But if this is the case, why did you ask the blacksmith for repairs...! Ugh!”
“How did you know this would happen!”
Jiren said something tactless, and this time both Derik and Auk hit him.
***
“May I ask a moment?”
Several days passed like that. Manir had been quietly behaving as if dead for a while, but his words and actions had become quite polite.
“What is it?”
Derik stepped forward to block him. Now he had a somewhat reliable soldier feel like Joseph's. With the equipment Manir's subordinate wore, it felt more realistic.
“...It's not about you.”
When Derik blocked his way, Manir frowned and glared at him. Then Auk and Jiren also crept forward and stood next to Derik.
“Enough.”
Then Joseph, who had been watching from behind, stopped them.
“What's the matter?”
Joseph asked, and he took a moment to check. Then he cautiously told his purpose.
“I have an opinion regarding the conscript soldiers' training.”
“...Suddenly? I didn't ask you for your opinion.”
Joseph raised his eyebrows at the unexpected words from Manir's mouth. He cleared his throat and spoke honestly.
“I also want to put more effort into completing my mission safely.”
In other words, in his eyes, the training was a bit lacking. Manir argued that with a decent number of personnel, more professional training was needed. Even that the training intensity was somewhat low.
He looked at him with somewhat bewildered eyes quietly listening to those words.
Surprisingly, a sincere type.
It would have been enough to just quietly behave. Seeing him come forward to give an opinion was somewhat unexpected.
“If that's the case, it would be better to request it from Baron.”
“Baron Auger seems to be doing individual training because the conscript soldiers' level is low...”
“Huh? Ah...”
Joseph realized why he came to him specifically while speaking. Auger was doing separate training for Manir in a place where Joseph wasn't looking, at Joseph's request. From Manir's perspective, he thought he was doing special training as a knight.
Are all knights like this?
Joseph, who didn't particularly like physical labor and had been locked in his room for days to research magic, found it hard to understand.
“Well... I'll talk to him.”
“Thank you.”
Manir bowed his head obediently and turned back. When he told Auger upon returning in the evening, he nodded.
“Well, if he says so, there's no harm in it, right?”
In fact, for Auger, there was nothing bad. From Auger's perspective, Manir was a real veteran knight. If he helped with training, it would be a great help to the soldiers.
“I understand. Then I'll talk to him tomorrow.”
“I entrust it to you.”
The next day, when Manir was told the news, he was excited and muttered.
“It seems that tactical training should be added to the conscript soldiers now. With simple training like this, it won't be usable in actual combat.”
“...”
In fact, Manir's point was accurate. Although Auger's soldiers said they were educating the conscript soldiers, in reality, they were also ordinary young men from the Danoa region who had only recently become soldiers. So, they had little tactical knowledge, only a few real combat experiences. Manir seemed to have figured this out just by participating in a few trainings.
Surprisingly capable.
But Joseph inwardly admired it but couldn't nod easily. No, rather, he felt a bit worried. Manir's words seemed to indicate that he had assessed the level of Auger's soldiers entirely.
“Education is fine, but I can't give you weapons. And I'll strengthen the surveillance on you.”
Joseph subtly conveyed his intention. Then Manir glanced at Joseph's eyes and said.
“It doesn't matter. I trust your promise.”
He understood Joseph's intention, emphasized the promise, and nodded.
***
After that, Manir officially participated in the training. Joseph moved again with the soldiers to obtain wind mana. He hadn't properly trained for a while because he was worried about Manir. As a result, power was generated, but separately, Joseph also needed to prepare.
“Let's go over there today.”
Joseph, who was wandering around the village, pointed to the empty house roof.
A place with no obstacles blocking the wind nearby, high and open.
He thought of several places, but the safest and most reliable was that roof.
“Understood!”
The soldiers were happy that they didn't have to move far on cold days. It was the same as following Joseph every day, but just knowing there was a fence made them satisfied. At least it would block the cold wind.
Then suddenly, Auk asked.
“Um... Do we all climb up?”
While looking at the roof. It was empty now, but recently someone had been living there, so it wasn't rundown. But that didn't guarantee it was sturdy enough for four men to climb. It wasn't a noble's mansion, so there was no need to make it sturdy.
“Definitely, if we all climb up, it will collapse as is. Then just come up one by one while returning.”
Even so, it was judged that two people would be fine. So the soldiers talked among themselves, and Derik followed Joseph.
When they got on the roof, the strong wind felt even stronger. Joseph sat down and swung his staff.
Swoosh—
Then several mana orbs floated up.
“Storm Chip.”
When he chanted, one mana orb turned into wind and scattered instantly.
Then this time...
Joseph immediately adjusted the ratio of wind mana and chanted again. Then the speed became noticeably faster. After repeating a few times, he chanted the next one.
“Storm Wall.”
Then the shape of the mana orb became disordered and quickly changed into a wide ring shape. It was quite large, enough for Joseph and Derik to pass through the hole.
“Wow...?”
Joseph quietly observed the ring. Upon closer look, the mana that had turned into wind was moving quickly inside the ring.
Whoosh—
Joseph gestured slightly, and the ring instantly burst and scattered strong wind.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
“Aah!”
“Return!”
Thanks to that, Derik who was standing nearby almost fell off the roof, but Joseph saved him by shooting a mana orb. It looked quite painful because he received the impact directly, but.
“Sorry.”
“Ah, no.”
Derik, who was awkwardly apologized by his employer, checked and moved a bit more inward, closer to Joseph.
Joseph cleared his throat once and swung the staff again. This time, he raised it high enough not to be affected, and chanted again. Then similarly, the orb changed into ring shape. But this time there was one difference. The ring was elongated vertically instead of horizontally.
“...”
Derik looked up and, sensing something, hurriedly crouched.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
And at the same time, the ring burst and scattered strong wind. Because the ring was vertical, strong wind poured down on Joseph and Derik's heads.