The March of Hardship
The March of Hardship
Colonel Renbolk of the 2nd Army hurriedly ate corn soup.
It was on a whole different level from the thin soup he always had.
A thick soup packed with finely chopped solid bits.
'The 3rd Army's food situation has improved. How much supplies did the rear send?'
He had joined them after seeing the long wagon train, hoping for something, but to give such a fine meal even to stragglers from other units who had lost their base and scattered...
Colonel Renbolk had been hiding in the mountains all this time, so he knew nothing of news from the rear.
'Now they send this kind of support... If they had taken care of us like this earlier, the commander wouldn't have died in battle, and we wouldn't have had to abandon our base.'
The cooks didn't give them any looks at all.
They ladled out soup generously, telling them to eat as much as they wanted.
That alone showed just how plentiful the 3rd Army's supply situation was.
'Still, our annihilation wasn't completely useless.'
Because the front had collapsed, the rear must have woken up and drastically increased the supply volume.
Renbolk, who had finished his meal first and stood up, could see familiar faces of 2nd Army soldiers continuing to enter the training ground mess hall.
More than joy at seeing them, a surge of emotion welled up at their filthy, emaciated appearances.
"Sir Renbolk, Commander Hildea is waiting for you."
"Hmm, understood. Guide me."
Hildea was so famous that there was no one in the 1st and 2nd Armies who didn't know her.
She was the only Sword Master in the North, and because of her goddess-like superior beauty, there were more than one or two knights and soldiers with unrequited love.
Unlike Rebecca, who was from a traditional prestigious noble family, she was a commoner by birth, so many young knights thought there was some room to make a move.
Renbolk was guided into the official residence.
"Sir Renbolk, I want to hear the details now."
"Yes, Commander-nim."
Before Hildea, Rebecca, and an unfamiliar young officer, Renbolk searched his memory and explained.
The content that, upon receiving an urgent order from a messenger sent by the commander who had gone out to hunt wild buffalo, all soldiers took only themselves and left the unit.
"Well done. The decision to carry out the order without doubt and without hesitation was a good decision."
"The Vice-commander's swift decision saved 29,500 men."
"By the way, what about the Vice-commander?"
"After giving the order for the entire force to retreat, saying we must save the Commander, he moved to the front."
"...."
"...."
Both Hildea and Rebecca closed their eyes for a moment and paid their respects.
At that moment, the young Major who had been listening silently stepped forward.
"Sir Renbolk, I am Supply Officer Piel Marshall. I have a question. Is there a way to gather all the scattered remnants of the 2nd Army?"
Renbolk looked flustered and glanced at Hildea.
'A Major steps forward in front of the Eastern Commander-in-Chief? Without even asking permission?'
But both Hildea and Rebecca looked on as if it was only natural.
Renbolk quickly made a judgment.
'He must be from a rear-area noble family. He's probably providing the most supplies.'
He looks frail but already holds the rank of Major. How much support could he have given?
"They all either went into the mountains, or returned to their territories and are hiding near their families. Some might have gone south to become bandits."
"What is the current situation in the western territories of Ainshuvan?"
"Since the lord, the 1st Army Commander, was killed in action, they've probably lost governance. By now, there might be endless plundering and chaos..."
An uncertain answer.
Renbolk racked his brain.
"We also joined after seeing the supply wagon train, so if it becomes known that the 3rd Army's supply situation is good, the likelihood of others joining is high. After all, everyone is grinding their teeth at the Elf Legion."
"I see. I'm starting to get the picture."
Piel nodded as if he understood.
Renbolk cautiously asked Hildea.
"Commander-nim, but who is this young Major friend?"
"This is Major Piel Marshall. He is my..."
"He's the one who will be stuck in our Carlton Marquisate for life later."
"Carlton Marquis-nim! With that nonsense again!"
"So, Colonel Renbolk, make sure you don't make any mistakes in front of our Piel. Understood?"
Rebecca smiled brightly as she stroked Piel's shoulder, and Hildea glared at her disapprovingly.
Renbolk quickly made a judgment.
"Well... I look forward to working with you. Major Piel."
***
The commanding knights gathered before me.
All of them had soldiers behind them.
The knights' ranks ranged from Lieutenant Colonel to Major General.
It's a bit awkward being in a situation where I'm giving instructions to superiors assembled before me.
"I've prepared only two types: snack bars and glucose compressed combat biscuits. I hope you can find even one more 2nd Army soldier and bring them back."
"Understood! Leave it to us!"
"We absolutely won't disappoint you, Supply Officer!"
The search party was roughly several thousand strong.
The knights and soldiers each hoisted up enormous sacks.
They easily carried the huge sacks, whose volume matched that of a one-ton rice sack.
'As expected of mana muscles...'
The sacks were filled with snack bars and glucose biscuits. These are foodstuffs to distribute to the starving 2nd Army stragglers.
After they departed, I conveyed instructions to Colonel Renbolk of the 2nd Army.
"We'll need to build barracks."
"Don't worry! The barracks we'll stay in should naturally be built with our own hands! We've all regained enough energy to move our bodies!"
"We'll build it on a scale to accommodate 29,500 people."
"A-accommodate our entire 2nd Army? Is the supply situation good enough for that?"
"Yes, that's why we're building them."
Since the ruined 2nd Army base is unusable right now, I plan to build temporary barracks in the 3rd Army encampment.
'I desperately need the rank of Colonel.'
Going from 1,500 men (Major) to 2,000 men (Lieutenant Colonel) is one thing, but having 6,000 men (Colonel) changes the scale of the budget itself.
'A Colonel can command a brigade. Not only does the base budget skyrocket, but there should be other significant authorities as well.'
The search party hoisted the large food sacks and set out to find the stragglers.
Hildea watched with wistful eyes.
"We must gather even one more straggler if possible."
"I won't be satisfied with just that much. I want to gather all 29,500 scattered soldiers."
"Major Piel, can the supplies truly handle it?"
"It can. Don't worry."
Just then, Rebecca approached quickly, bringing a messenger with her.
Seeing her furrowed brow, it seems she's carrying bad news.
"Commander-in-Chief, Piel. It seems the southern nobles have formed a punitive expedition and are trying to cross the Dwein River. They say they've prepared as many Extinguishing Soul Torches as possible."
"Are they finally starting the subjugation?"
Hildea clenched her fist tightly, but Rebecca still had a frown.
"I'm worried. Wasn't the last attack the first time we also dealt with that many Ancient Tree specimens all at once? I wonder if the inexperienced rookie knights and soldiers will manage well."
She's talking about the defensive battle where I first brought out the glucose biscuits.
Before that, it was rare for Ancient Tree Legions to move in groups of more than a hundred.
"Like when they attacked our 4th Army encampment in droves last time, and how they collapsed the western front this time. Hasn't the scale of the Elf offensive become abnormally large recently?"
"But thanks to Major Piel, it's been quiet lately. They must have been frightened for sure."
"Anyway, I've stationed sentries at the Baltics River. If the Ancient Tree Legion tries to cross over toward my territory, Piel, I'll ask for your help then."
"At that time, I'll repel them without sparing any magical devices."
"Yeah, I also want to see that mortar magical device salvo with my own eyes. Every single knight boasts about last time's performance with a face like they've fallen in love with a Goddess, and I'm dying of curiosity."
"By the way, the southern nobles surprisingly formed the punitive expedition quite quickly? I thought they'd play dumb a bit longer."
Rebecca shrugged her shoulders.
"They snapped to their senses because the Marquis Oltain territory collapsed. You know that? The Marquis Oltain territory is the largest grape-producing region in our kingdom."
"No way..."
"But I heard that since they're also plants, the Ancient Tree Legion didn't touch the vineyards. Anyway, since they're in a situation where they can't serve wine at this year's social parties, the rear is now actively stepping forward."
My head felt like it was spinning.
At least the driving force behind their movement is remarkably consistent.
Hildea spoke in a dissatisfied tone.
"The biggest factor is that His Majesty the King has seized control of the atmosphere in the Noble Council. Wine cannot be an absolute reason."
"Commander-in-Chief is so loyal, isn't she. I wonder if she even gets angry after achieving Sword Master and receiving this extreme frontline territory, suffering to death here."
"...His Majesty the King bestowed a portion of the scarce Royal Demesne upon me. I should not be ungrateful for that..."
"Sorry, I have a large hereditary territory passed down for generations, so I don't really understand the loyalty of a commoner-born count?"
"Carlton Marquis-nim!"
Rebecca shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm saying don't get too overly attached to the powerless King. You shouldn't forget that you, Countess, are also a small monarch in your own land."
"...."
Hildea's lips quivered before she finally turned her head sharply.
On the surface they always seem to bicker.
But it seems there's a shared understanding between the two that I still don't know about.
They must have built a special bond over a long time guarding the Ainshuvan Front.
Suddenly, a strong desire welled up inside me to melt completely into that space between them.
I felt unnecessarily lonely.
"Commander-nims. We've fed the 2nd Army stragglers and sent out the search party, so how about we go have some whiskey now?"
Both of their faces brightened up.
"That's an excellent idea! Let's do it at once!"
"Wow, can you see my mouth watering already?"
We drank whiskey in the official residence until late at night, fully cursing out the weak and greedy rear-area nobles for fun.
Before we knew it, more than ten empty whiskey bottles were rolling around.
Truly impressive drinking capacities.
"Major Piel! Why do you keep looking at Carlton Marquis's upper body with those eyes!"
"Me? When did I? Hic!"
"Our Hildeng must be happy not needing upper body undergarments. I'm jealous. My shoulders are always heavy and it only gets in the way when pulling a bowstring. Really, ugh."
Hildea, Hildeng, Hildea, Hildeng. The sound is nice...
Drunk, I just blurted out whatever came to mind.
"For sale... 65A bra... never used...."
"Piel? What did you just say to Hildea?"
"Uh, just something that came to mind... Hic!"
"Major Piel, this officer just felt a strange displeasure from your gaze. Immediately confess what you meant by that."
The story about buying an A-cup bra for the first time in your life but even that wasn't necessary, so you put it up for sale on a flea market—that kind of bad thing shouldn't be said...
Ugh, dizzy. I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
'No. Hildea is currently in a state of concentrated upper-body malnutrition. If we feed her well and keep feeding her well, someday...'
"Piel? Piel?"
"Major Piel, I told you to speak. Those words you muttered while looking at me..."
I think I drank too much.
My consciousness completely cut out.
***
"Piel! Piel! Wake up!"
"Major Piel! Wake up at once!"
I opened my eyes to a head-shaking dizziness.
Hildea and Rebecca, having taken off their military uniform tops and wearing only their undershirts, were shaking me. Still, both were wearing their military uniform pants.
Seeing the left and right comparison and control groups, a stray thought entered my mind involuntarily.
'The mana muscles essential for knights are a high-quality luxury resource with very poor cost-effectiveness, so for maintenance, they ruthlessly steal calories from other bodily organs...'
Fortunately, my mouth, unlike my head, let out normal words.
"Do you urgently need hangover soup?"
"Major Piel! The Ancient Tree Monsters have crossed the Baltics River! They've come over to our rear!"
In an instant, my mind snapped awake.
The idle thoughts drifting around in my head just moments ago were all blown away clean.
"What do you mean? What about the punitive expedition sent by the southern nobles?"
Rebecca spoke with a face full of irritation.
"I knew it. Those bastards, I heard they used the Extinguishing Soul Torches they scraped together in a completely wrongheaded way. So the Ancient Tree Monsters moved to avoid the fire, and of all directions, it had to be east."
"Ugh, damn. Understood..."
"Major Piel, start with hangover soup for now. Seeing your expression, you look like you're about to die immediately."
"Commander-in-Chief, right now my territory is... No. Piel, let's start with hangover soup. Where's the ramen?"
"If you open the pantry cabinet in the galley..."
I was honored that the two commanders even cooked hangover ramen for me.
After roughly setting my stomach in order, I dressed properly and stepped out of the official residence. The sun was blazing fiercely overhead.
The 80 knights, including Dvil, who had not departed on the straggler search the previous day, stood lined up with resolute expressions, their machetes strapped to their sides.
As if they had been waiting just for me to come out.
Lord Deville, stepping forward, said to me with a firm gaze,
"Major Piel, we are ready to rain down the mortar shell magical devices onto the bastards' heads."
"Major Piel, here, drink some cold water."
"Piel, not that, drink this honey water, honey water."
Looking around, even the soldiers were all ready for deployment.
I finally grasped the situation.
'Everyone had finished preparing for deployment and was waiting just for me to wake up.'
Since I didn't wake up even past noon, they had no choice but to wake me.
Soldiers carrying a palanquin approached from the front and back.
Hildea and Rebecca lightly patted my shoulders.
"Major Piel, hurry and get on the palanquin."
"Ugh, I'm sorry..."
I didn't even have the strength to climb up, so in the end, Hildea lifted me up and put me on the palanquin.
I lay down flat immediately.
'The unwavering comfort of experienced palanquin soldiers... nice.'
Yeah, this is what marching is like.