Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Betrayed General Betrays
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Orphan teenager Victor, who had nothing to his name, couldn't flee to the empire.
It wasn't just a lack of luggage, money, or stamina needed for the journey. More than anything, once he left the city, he had no means to escape the clutches of bandits and thieves lying in wait.
Even with the minimap's help, he had no confidence he could outrun grown men chasing him with swords.
After enrolling in the kingdom's Officer Academy, even bringing up anything positive about the empire became impossible.
The Dragonia Empire and Ruth Kingdom had been on bad terms even before I fell into this world.
To be precise, it was the Ruth Kingdom's nobles who unilaterally hated the empire. The academy was full of nobles' children.
Just mentioning the empire might have led to even worse harassment.
Once assigned as a soldier, he completely lost any chance to escape.
Desertion was a grave crime, common sense in any army.
As his achievements piled up, more empire generals eyed him with murderous intent, so surrendering might mean they'd lop off his head first.
Thus.
The offer to hand him over to the empire felt like a lifeline from the heavens.
"Heh."
"Are you really insane? Laughing in this situation?"
"Hahaha..."
Andrei's clumsy taunts didn't faze him at all.
All the obstacles blocking him were solved in one fell swoop.
For starters, he gleaned plenty from Andrei's actions.
Bringing only rope meant they needed him alive, and the fact that Andrei just chattered beside him without violence suggested orders from above not to use force.
If there'd been no such mention, Andrei would've punched him the moment he thought him fully bound.
"If you're dragged off, do you know what'll happen to you..."
Andrei's unprompted info-dumps didn't stop.
According to his babbling, the Ruth Kingdom had proposed the ceasefire first.
The empire's emperor had specifically demanded Victor by name, and the kingdom accepted.
The key here was the emperor mentioning him personally.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The emperor had no reason to hold special grudges against him for greatly weakening the Noble Faction.
On the contrary, the current emperor was dead serious about talent recruitment, even featuring dedicated events to persuade and hire enemy generals or staff. The odds were high he'd demanded Victor to put him to use.
In that case, Victor's task was simple.
"Let's go, Andrei."
"...Ha."
Just let himself be taken.
Things seemed to be flowing exactly as he wanted.
I laid my weary body on the now-familiar field bed.
"Hoo..."
It had been a year and a half already since I started serving as General Victor's exclusive adjutant.
At first, I thought it was a demotion.
Being appointed secretary to a commoner-born officer in an army gripped by high nobles wasn't a good sign.
Besides, I wasn't noble-born either, so my suspicions ran deep.
I'd endured the nobles' peculiar class divisions multiple times since the Officer Academy—"commoners should stick to their own kind."
On top of that, he was a green junior officer, barely four years out of the academy. I even worried I'd get dragged into his madness and die.
The ambition unique to rookie officers...
I never wanted to experience it again.
Victor was different.
Some dismissed him as incompetent for repeated retreats despite victories. A few more perceptive commanders admired his strategies and tactics in successful retreats and counterattacks.
But in my view, both assessments missed the core.
Sure, he retreated persistently, and his strategies and tactics were brilliant.
But his true essence lay in the charisma that led his soldiers.
You only realize it after serving under his command.
No matter the distance, his orders sank into your head, your body moving to the perfect spots as if entranced.
Once you've experienced that command, the slow, sluggish orders from ordinary commanders feel unsatisfying.
From handling dozens or hundreds early on, to thousands or tens of thousands now—his command had no gaps.
Unlike others who treated soldiers as numbers and shoved them into the meat grinder, under his meticulous direction, casualties were drastically low.
Morale visibly soared just hearing General Victor was in command.
General Victor rose through the ranks at an astonishing speed.
Anyone with half a brain knew the war dragged on thanks to him, so it wasn't strange at all.
Proving his ability, he stretched what seemed a hopeless war over two years.
Lately, he was boosting morale by saying the time for counterattack was near.
Even from afar, the empire army looked ragged, so plenty of soldiers were getting excited, wondering if we'd really win.
I owed him so much.
For keeping me and the soldiers alive amid news of other units getting massacred.
For telling me to rest first while his tent light burned until dawn.
That's why, even collapsing into sleep every night, I never resented him.
Without him, I'd have died eternally under some incompetent commander.
...Maybe because the end is starting to come into view.
Lately, before sleep, I fantasized about spending time alone with him after the war.
Imagining what the iron-willed General Victor would be like as just a man.
I always woke up when things heated up, but even just going through the process wasn't bad.
I drifted off like that, only to bolt upright at a shout and bustling noises.
"This is the king's command!"
Having fallen asleep in uniform as always, I slipped on my boots, grabbed my weapon, and rushed out of the tent.
"...What the hell."
A group of unfamiliar soldiers surrounded General Victor's tent right next to mine.
Helmetless in leather armor, armed oddly with ropes, bearing the royal red trident emblem on their chests.
"Royal Guard?"
Our soldiers milled about, unable to approach the tent.
In the baffling situation, I tried entering alone, but those guarding the perimeter immediately blocked me.
"Don't come closer."
"I'm Anna, General Victor's adjutant."
"The captain is executing the king's command right now. No one interferes."
"...The Guard Captain?"
"Watch your tongue."
They spoke to me with firm resolve laced with faint sneers.
Why on earth would the Royal Guard Captain lead men to a general's tent in the dead of night during wartime?
I had no idea.
But it was suspicious enough. I pulled the whistle from my pocket.
-Preeeeeeeee!
"What are you..."
At the emergency whistle, the startled soldiers snapped to attention and formed ranks surrounding the general's tent.
Realizing their general was in danger, they glared fiercely at the Royal Guard.
As every torch flared up and fully armed soldiers closed in, the Guard members visibly panicked.
"W-what do you think you're doing!"
"I have to see for myself if I can trust you."
"Talking back? Who do you think you..."
No sound came from the tent even after getting fairly close, making my anxiety spike.
If these guys harmed General Victor...
-Pree!
At the short blast, the soldiers advanced a step.
"You mad bitch! Dare defy the king's command?!"
"Defy? Where's proof of this order?"
"The captain..."
"That's why I need to see it myself!"
As I debated blowing the whistle again, watching their legs tremble yet holding a hardline stance.
-Flutter.
"What's all this commotion?"
"Captain!"
The tent flap opened, and a man holding rope stepped out.
He was Andrei, the Royal Guard Captain they'd mentioned.
And trailing him, General Victor emerged, bound head to toe in rope.
"...General?"
The general kept his head down, saying nothing.
No visible wounds, but being tied up was bad enough.
"Th-this bitch just, she dared to...!"
"Ho ho."
The terrified Guard rushed to Andrei the moment he appeared, whining about what had happened.
They looked less like soldiers and more like spoiled kids tattling to their parents, making me doubt they were truly the royal Royal Guard.
"Tried to resist the king's command, eh."
"..."
Separate from that, if it really was the king's order, I could be in danger too.
Defying the king—especially as a soldier—could mean execution for treason.
"One more to capture..."
The moment Andrei pointed at me with his finger.
"Hahahahaha!"
A booming laugh echoed through the camp.