Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Genius Divine Archer Who Became a One-Man Legion
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It was truly the worst condition imaginable.
Their wet clothes and armor were freezing over with thin ice from the cold, and the soldiers' stamina was severely depleted.
"Finally, we've arrived."
Rian felt a surge of emotion upon seeing Sallerone visible below the hill.
From the looks of things, the barbarians hadn't arrived yet.
"Just a little further and we'll be there."
"Ugh... I feel like I'm gonna die. My feet are completely swollen."
"Mine's already one with my boots. Can't even get them off, heh."
The situation wasn't great, but buoyed by the joy of completing their mission, the soldiers exchanged lighthearted jokes.
But Tyler looked at the exhausted soldiers and then turned to Raymon.
"Company commander, wouldn't it be better to rest a bit on the hill before heading down? What if combat breaks out on the way or we need to form ranks?"
"I was thinking the same. Better to rest whenever we can, even if just a little."
The main force wouldn't arrive for at least three more days.
All of this had been possible thanks to the exploits of that young soldier.
"Hoo... At least we have time to plan the operation."
Raymon immediately ordered the soldiers to rest.
They were to relax as long as they didn't stray too far.
With that, Raymon gazed at Sallerone below the hill.
No matter how he looked at it, it was a fortress vulnerable to defense.
The low walls were a problem, but the open plains surrounding it—unable to provide any cover—were the real issue.
And they had to hold it with just one battalion and their own group...
"...Hm?"
Just then, someone entered Raymon's field of vision.
It was a figure so familiar now that it hardly surprised him anymore.
"Rian?"
Even though he'd given them time to rest, there was Rian at the edge of the hill, looking down and sketching something.
It wasn't precise, but it looked like he was drawing a map of the barren plains stretching out from Sallerone.
"...."
It made him question whether this was really just an ordinary soldier.
During the rest period, Raymon promptly summoned the platoon leaders.
It was just a bare hill with nothing prepared.
A crude conference room formed atop a thick stump where he'd spread out the map.
"You all know why we arrived here first, right?"
"Yes."
"We know it's a special operations mission."
But what that special operation entailed hadn't been decided.
They were simply to support the 1st Battalion while the Eagle Company retained freedom of movement.
In other words, to win this war, the Eagle Company had to carry out separate missions.
One might call it abandonment, but Raymon knew better.
He knew their superiors had sent them not out of neglect, but to create even the slimmest hope.
He'd spread out the map, but there wasn't much to confirm.
It was just open plains—what could they do?
He'd already asked if anyone knew Sallerone well, but no soldiers from the area were among them.
As Raymon stared blankly at the map, a certain someone's face suddenly came to mind.
"...Tyler, fetch Rian, will you?"
"Yes? Why Rian?"
This was an important meeting.
It wasn't a place to bring a squad leader. There was no justification for it.
Reading Raymon's expression, Tyler sensed things could go awry.
Rian had racked up achievements so far and played a major role in crossing the Isis River.
But bringing him to an officers' meeting without cause could breed resentment among the other squad leaders.
That's when Derek, the 2nd Platoon leader next to Tyler, spoke up.
"I value Rian as a soldier too, but calling him to an officers' meeting wouldn't be fair, would it?"
"Agreed. It could stir complaints from the other squad leaders."
It was a reasonable point.
And the platoon leaders weren't wrong. But Raymon looked at them and said,
"During the break just now, he was the only one standing alone at the hill's edge, sketching the Sallerone plains. Drawing a map of this empty wasteland, no less."
"Yes?"
"No way...."
The platoon leaders wore incredulous expressions.
Everyone was busy recovering from the grueling march. And in this situation, he was already preparing the next move?
None of the platoon leaders had done that.
Raymon lightly tapped the table where the map lay with his finger.
After a moment of contemplation, he slowly spoke.
"There's one thing I've come to believe from my long years in the military."
The platoon leaders fell silent, listening intently.
Raymon continued.
"That it's the trivial things that create the extraordinary."
Something that might seem insignificant to others.
But Raymon firmly believed that when those piled up, they became something special.
That was why he never discriminated by rank when promoting people or awarding honors.
And it was one reason why other soldiers respected him.
Tyler nodded.
"I'll bring him."
"...I'm curious what that's about myself."
"He's certainly a name that keeps coming up."
The other platoon leaders conceded to some extent.
Especially the Isis River crossing—an achievement no one had even anticipated.
Soon after, Raymon spoke as Tyler returned with Rian.
"Rian, what were you doing earlier?"
"Looking at the Sallerone plains."
As if he'd already heard from Tyler on the way, Rian pulled out the paper he was holding.
It was a crudely drawn sketch, but a fairly convincing map.
And there were strange markings here and there.
"What's this?"
"Places where stones are piled up beside fields. Probably rocks cleared aside while tilling the land."
"Good spots for ambushes."
"Yes. In such open terrain, to strike the enemy, ambushes are essential. But at this time of year, digging into the Sallerone ground is practically impossible."
For soldiers to set up an ambush, they needed to dig at least a meter deep.
But digging a meter into frozen ground like this was nearly impossible.
Raymon nodded at Rian's words.
"Then...."
As Raymon stared at the map Rian had drawn, he noticed the piles of stones and the dotted lines leading toward the fields.
His eyebrow twitched for a moment, and then he turned to the platoon leaders beside him.
"How much gunpowder do we have?"
"Gunpowder? We didn't bring much to maintain mobility—about 10kg or so."
"10kg...."
Against two thousand barbarians, it was woefully insufficient. But,
"These dotted lines represent igniting the gunpowder, right?"
"Exactly."
Rian inwardly marveled at Raymon's words. To think he'd deduced that much from the map.
'One of the strategies that came up later....'
The longer he stayed with the Eagle Company, the more he realized there were talents here too valuable to lose.
Rian looked at the fields on the map.
"The harvest is long over, but traces remain scattered about. If we scatter gunpowder there and create even a moment of chaos for them, we can seize the opportunity."
"But 10kg won't inflict serious damage."
"That's why we need a diversionary tactic."
"Diversionary tactic?"
Nod.
Rian immediately began explaining the strategy he'd devised.
The Eagle Company would descend but not enter Sallerone—instead, they'd use the stone piles in the plains for ambushes.
Keeping friendly distances over 30 meters apart.
The existing stone piles near the fields would make it look natural enough.
"And send a messenger along this route to inform the trailing main force to wait in the plains, then strike the enemy together on our signal."
"But why not let Sallerone know we've arrived?"
An early-arriving Eagle Company could resupply at Sallerone and focus purely on combat.
But Rian shook his head.
"If they know we've come, Sallerone will feel relieved."
"Relieved?"
"Begging your pardon, but in my personal opinion, the kingdom's army underestimates the barbarians too much."
"What do you mean by that?"
"They have their own strategies and tactics for war. They're just a different type from ours."
Rian pointed at Sallerone on the map.
"They'll definitely scout the mood in Sallerone before attacking. If they learn there's no garrison, they might act even bolder."
"You're saying the barbarians will notice Sallerone's anxiety and lack of troops?"
"Absolutely."
Without reinforcements, Sallerone would try to bolster its defenses in some way on its own.
And the barbarians would surely detect that.
"They'll think they've seized the advantage and try to end the battle quickly. Reinforcements would complicate things for them too."
"Hmm...."
Raymon pondered.
He hated to admit it, but Rian was right—the kingdom's army did dismiss the barbarians.
They didn't bother analyzing "primitive" tactics.
But fully acknowledging them bruised his pride a bit.
Raymon asked Rian,
"Why do you think they have tactics?"
"No need to look far—just the Pellan Gorge ambush spots tell you everything."
Normally, ambushing in an easily concealable gorge would be obvious.
But they'd pulled back a step to the plains and dug in there.
"That alone shows they have their own strategies and tactics. Even if they seem inadequate to our eyes."
Those inadequacies were precisely what the kingdom's army tended to overlook.
"Hell no, that's ridiculous. I think that mindset is the deadliest weakness for us fighting the barbarians."
"Aren't you overestimating them?"
"Are you saying our kingdom army is inferior to mere barbarians?"
Some platoon leaders frowned as they spoke.
Rian's words stung their pride, just as the company commander had implied.
Raymon let out a deep sigh.
"Hoo... This is tricky."
He crossed his arms and tapped his elbow with his fingers.
Finally, Raymon spoke.
"You're right, Rian."
"...Yes?"
"Maybe it's exactly because of such trivial oversights that we lose wars to those primitive barbarians."
They were just ferocious, monster-like brutes, but they had their own intelligence.
And through long fights with the kingdom's army, they'd accumulated their own data.
Buoyed by Raymon's words, Rian continued.
"They... won't possibly think Sallerone's anxiety is fake. Because it isn't."
"To deceive the enemy, we must deceive our own forces too."
"Yes."
Raymon nodded at Rian's response.
"Alright, let's do it."
It was a disadvantageous fight from the start. But defeat wasn't an option for the kingdom's army.
Even in this politically charged situation,
"We will win. And."
We will return alive to our families' embrace.
At Raymon's words, everyone clenched their fists, steeling their resolve.