Chapter 69
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Bows and Bribes
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“They succeeded?”
“Yes, I’ve just confirmed it… It seems they were successful in retaking the gold mine base.”
At Tairen’s words, Seoreil furrowed his brow.
It hadn’t even been a month since he had supplied them with weapons and armor.
And they had managed to retake that hilly base?
Seoreil let out a sigh of disbelief.
But…
“However… Company Commander, a problem has arisen.”
“What is it?”
“They retook the gold mine base… but it seems they abandoned it immediately and returned to the unit.”
“...?”
Seoreil blinked.
“What did you say?”
“They abandoned the gold mine base and returned to the unit.”
“You mean they just left the base they retook and came back here? Why?”
Seoreil asked, as if doubting his own ears.
“That, I also…”
Tairen shook his head.
It was, in a word, an event that defied all common sense.
“…Crazy.”
Seoreil muttered to himself.
To retake the gold mine base in less than a month with a bunch of derelicts was an incredible feat.
‘But they abandoned the base they worked so hard to retake and just came back?’
What kind of nonsense was this?
Seoreil shot up from his seat.
“I’ll go and see for myself.”
“You’ll go yourself, Company Commander?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, sir!”
As Tairen replied, Seoreil began walking toward the Makstri Unit.
Questions swirled chaotically in his mind.
‘In twenty days… he retook the base with those good-for-nothings…’
What kind of magic had he worked?
Seoreil’s pace quickened as he headed for the Makstri Unit.
* * *
“Do any of you know how to hold a defensive position?”
“…Sir?”
At Demian’s question, the squad leaders blinked their wide eyes.
They had a feeling that if they answered, ‘Don’t we… just have to defend it?’, they would get a swift smack.
When no one answered.
“Then, raise your hand if you can shoot a bow.”
Demian posed a different question.
At that, about two of the squad leaders raised their hands.
No, just as they were about to.
“You have to hit at least half of ten shots from a minimum of 150 meters. Assume the target is a person.”
Slowly.
The hands that were being raised were lowered.
Demian continued.
“As you all know, the gold mine base is situated on a hill. There are no fortress walls. The key is to install obstacles to slow the enemy’s advance and reduce their numbers as much as possible before they get close.”
Demian stood up from his seat.
“But if none of us knows how to shoot a bow, what difference does it make if we’re at that base?”
“But since we’re on high ground, isn’t it much more advantageous to fight enemies coming up from below?”
The third squad leader cautiously spoke up.
The man flinched when Demian looked at him, but.
“A good point. You’re right about that.”
Demian nodded.
“However.”
Demian then pointed outside the barracks and said.
“Aside from that one advantage, everything else is a disadvantage. What’s more, in that conflict zone, we can’t even train properly because we don’t know when the enemy might attack.”
Demian looked at the squad leaders and said.
“I’ll ask you. Why were you able to retake the base?”
“That’s…”
They all knew.
It was only possible because they had relentlessly trained day and night in the formation tactics Demian had taught them.
“Because we trained hard… under your command, sir.”
“Right. But unfortunately, we can’t train at that base. We’d be too busy standing guard, not knowing when the enemy might attack.”
That was the biggest reason Demian had decided to retreat.
“Ultimately, to defend it, you need to develop the appropriate skills. Do you understand?”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“Yes, we understand!”
“Then, does anyone else have questions about this retreat?”
“None, sir!”
They answered in unison.
Demian smirked and said.
“Stay out of trouble and rest until I call for you. The next three months are going to be tough.”
Demian’s lips curled into a grin.
Flinch!
The squad leaders couldn’t help but shudder.
Every time he made that expression, they experienced an unimaginable, hellish pain.
“W-We’ll be going now!”
“Rest well, Commander!”
The squad leaders fled from Demian’s barracks as if escaping.
And then.
“Heh heh, are we playing soldier?”
Seoreil, who had seen the squad leaders rushing out, entered the barracks and spoke to Demian.
Demian’s expression momentarily soured.
“I was just about to pay you a visit. What brings you all the way here?”
Demian quickly put on a smile and asked Seoreil.
Seoreil glanced around the inside of the barracks.
“Oh, I just came to have a little chat.”
He said with a sly smile, sitting down on a chair inside the barracks.
Then, Seoreil looked at Demian.
Demian sighed inwardly at his gaze.
He knew all too well the look of men like him.
‘…He’s gotten a taste for money.’
Damn it. He’s going to bleed me dry from now on.
Cursing internally, Demian sat down opposite him.
Seoreil then asked Demian.
“I heard you retook the base.”
“Yes, I was lucky.”
“And I hear there were very few casualties?”
“Five dead, eleven wounded.”
At Demian’s answer, Seoreil burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha, truly an unbelievable level of casualties. What on earth did you do with those good-for-nothings?”
“…I was just lucky.”
As Demian trailed off, Seoreil nodded.
He hadn’t come here to find out the reason anyway.
Seoreil asked.
“But I heard you retreated after retaking the base. Was that your plan?”
“Yes.”
“That makes reporting to the higher-ups quite tricky. What were you thinking, abandoning the base and coming back?”
At Seoreil’s question, Demian forced himself to hold back a sigh.
He had just finished explaining it all to his squad leaders, and now he had to explain it again to this good-for-nothing.
“…I determined that it would be impossible to defend the base with our current forces, even if we retook it. Besides, training at the base is extremely difficult.”
The gold mine base was a battlefield, deep in a contested zone.
There was no way they could train there in peace.
But at Demian’s answer, Seoreil beat around the bush, looking displeased.
“Hmm… for a reason like that… I’m not sure the higher-ups will find that acceptable.”
“…”
Demian knew exactly why the man was acting this way.
Seoreil frowned and said to Demian.
“There are a lot of questions among the soldiers within the unit as well. And to convince the higher-ups… I’ll have to pull a lot of strings.”
At those words, Demian opened a box in the corner of the barracks.
Click.
He had brought some extra, just in case…
Clink.
Demian handed a pouch containing several gold coins to Seoreil.
At that, Seoreil said.
“Now, now, what’s all this? Do you think I came all this way for something like this?”
“Haha, of course not. But my unilateral decision has put you in a difficult position, Company Commander. Please use this to treat the unit members to a meal, and I’d appreciate a favorable report. And…”
Demian brought up the topic of bows to Seoreil.
Seoreil’s brow furrowed slightly.
“You need enough bows for all those derelicts?”
“Yes. I’ll procure the arrows myself. If you could just supply the bows.”
“Hmm… well, it’s not impossible, but…”
As Seoreil trailed off.
“On the day you supply them, I will show my appreciation for your troubles, Company Commander.”
Demian leaned in close and whispered to him.
Seoreil’s lips twitched.
“Well, if you put it that way, I’ll see what I can do. I assume the sooner, the better this time as well?”
“The greater your effort, the greater my appreciation will be.”
“Hahahaha, you’re quite a straightforward fellow for your age. Very well, I’ll have them ready in three days at the latest.”
He meant that Demian should also be ready in three days.
Demian nodded.
“I’ll be ready on time.”
After Seoreil left.
“Hah, this isn’t going to be easy.”
For a moment, he felt the urge to just quit and leave.
* * *
In a way, Seoreil was an incredible man.
He was corrupt, but he got things done quickly.
No.
‘…Just how much has he siphoned off to be able to process this so quickly?’
One hundred and fifty bows.
On top of that, as if doing a great favor, he also brought a cart full of arrows.
All in just two days.
“Hehehe, I pulled a few strings. And this here is a little something extra because I’ve taken a liking to you.”
“…Thank you.”
Seoreil said, gesturing to the cart laden with arrows.
“But I had to pull more strings than I expected, and now I’m worried about attracting attention from the higher-ups. Supplying so much equipment all at once tends to get people talking.”
This was his roundabout way of asking for more money than what he would have spent on the outside.
Demian sighed inwardly.
“Haha, you always go through so much trouble for me.”
He approached Seoreil with a smile.
“This… is a token of my appreciation for the bows, and this… is an additional token for providing the arrows.”
Demian handed two small pouches to Seoreil.
Though they were small, each pouch contained several gold coins.
‘…Should I be glad it cost less than buying the arrows myself…?’
In a way, one could say it was a gain, but.
‘This is why the army is so corrupt.’
He thought he could understand why a kingdom with an army as large as the Baroque Kingdom had been pushed back so helplessly at the beginning of the war with the Empire.
The army was large in scale only; it wasn’t being managed properly at all.
‘I’ll have to report this to the 6th Corps Commander when this is over.’
Demian smiled brightly at Seoreil.
“I’ll put them to good use.”
“Feel free to let me know anytime you need help again, hehe.”
With a light heart, in contrast to his heavy pouches, Seoreil left the unit.
As Seoreil disappeared into the distance, Hemus approached.
“Should we distribute them?”
“…Yes.”
Demian said.
Right, things like this didn’t matter.
After all, hadn’t he endured far worse things in his past life?
‘For now, I’m focused on only one thing.’
The reason Kiaren had sent him here was likely to see if he had the capabilities of a commander.
If that was the case.
‘I need to bring back results that will leave no room for doubt.’
Demian despised half-measures.
Overwhelming results that would silence any and all critics.
To achieve that.
‘It’s crucial to make the gold mine completely our kingdom’s territory.’
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
Not just by teaching these men a few tactics.
But he never expected it to be easy in the first place. And…
“They’re more useful than I thought.”
They had committed crimes and deserved to be condemned. But separate from that, on the battlefield, they were quite useful.
If he just polished them a bit…
Watching the men receive their bows and arrows, Demian began to map out his future plans.