KR Translators:
・StarrySkySailor
・KawaiiKage
・ImmortalInk
・KingPotato
・SugoiSenpai
Chapter 29: First Come, First Served (4)
I thought Damachi was the biggest enemy.
I thought he was, in short, an idiot who gained the position of High Priest amidst the factions without any real skills, and participated in the diplomatic mission with a special mission to drive a wedge between the Empire and Azot.
However, I left that worry behind as I left Breedpo. Damachi is already deeply indebted to me, so he won’t be able to do anything foolish until he returns to the Empire.
Now, the only thing standing in the way of the future of the Empire and Azot are the anti-Empire nobles within Azot.
My thought was that if I handled them well and successfully concluded this coronation anniversary festival, it would be considered an initial success.
In the process, I never, ever imagined that the Empire’s 7th Knight Order would be a stumbling block. Damn it!
“I’d like to ask if it would be absurd for me to have profound doubts about your mental state.”
Ronen Trigger and Levlin reported all the facts in detail.
Levlin’s sworn brother, who was also Ronen Trigger’s adjutant, visited his sworn brother’s house last night and was treated to dinner.
This was a very good thing.
An Imperial soldier invited to the home of an Azot Kingdom soldier! This would be impossible in 10 years.
Up to that point, it was a good thing, desirable, and something I might even suggest giving a reward vacation for. However, Levlin’s older sister was Ronen’s adjutant’s dream girl, and Levlin’s sister felt the same way.
Two adults.
The night was long, and there were many things to talk about and do.
They, who decided to blame the world for why they had only met now, did not part from each other from night to morning. Levlin discovered this, and Ronen’s adjutant, on that very day, shouted the famous line, ‘Give me your daughter!’ to Levlin’s father.
And so, with the cheers of their comrades, they were preparing for the wedding while building an open-air tavern. Their words conveyed a level of immaturity that went beyond the pale.
I pressed between my eyes and said,
“I have nothing to say about the passionate affair of grown men and women. And it would be truly wonderful if the path ahead of the two who found each other is filled with blessings. Haa, I really have nothing to say. It’s not like Azot and the Empire have severed diplomatic ties, and it’s a common occurrence in Edikinz and Kinchedin. It’s a good thing. But……a union between military families! Do they not understand the weight of the matter?!”
Shouting at people who are ten to twice my age was not a pleasant experience. However, this is not as simple as it seems.
Of course, the incident itself is absurd and even funny. You can’t criticize the fiery love of young men and women for progressing too quickly. They will be responsible for their actions anyway.
But it’s a union between military families. If the woman was a civilian, I wouldn’t say anything, but Levlin is an excellent soldier, and a soldier of the Azot Royal Family at that.
The Imperial Military Service Act has a subtle clause that states, ‘Avoid unnecessary personal relationships with soldiers of other countries.’ It can be used for both forgiveness and punishment.
And the current Commander of the Imperial Knights, as far as I know, is highly likely to use it as a punishment clause.
Who is that?
Ventailican Ma Lorand.
My maternal grandfather, though he’ll be stepping down in three years.
“Haa, but we can’t stop what has already happened……”
I sighed deeply and lowered my head. Suddenly, I heard strange sounds in my ears.
Bang! Crack! Crash!
“Damn! All Imperial bastards get out!”
“Friendship now? What a load of bullshit! Die! Empire!”
“We should bury all the Imperial bastards! Kack, ptooey!”
Looking up, I saw dozens of people who looked like gangsters appearing from the entrance of the street, engaging in classic (?) behavior. Since they are facing soldiers, they look more clumsy than scary, almost cute.
I thought that the nearby residents, or hooligans fueled by useless patriotism, would rise up……but I didn’t know they would move so quickly, and in such numbers. It was a ploy to ruin things before they even started.
It might be a bit of a stretch, but this could possibly be instigated by the anti-Empire nobles. It’s not like nobles getting involved in crimes is a new thing.
I sighed lightly. And then I decided to clean up this mess all at once. It’s annoying. I need to finish this quickly.
“Sir Levlin, Commander of the Empire’s 7th Knight Order. Ronen Trigger.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
I pointed at the group of people trying to look menacing and ordered the two.
“Catch those guys and make them all kneel. If you succeed, I’ll explain this situation well to His Highness Crown Prince Lymant. What do you think?”
“Sounds good.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Then charge.”
I gave the order perfunctorily and then sat down on a chair at one of the tables lined up in front of me. Then, looking at the three people watching from behind, I said,
“Everyone, sit down and wait.”
“Hyung-nim, are those people going to be alright?”
“What?”
“No, there are only about a third of the knights……”
At Joey’s anxious expression, I lifted the corner of my lip and gave him a light smile.
It’s not unreasonable to think that way. The current number of the Empire’s 7th Knight Order and the Azot Royal Knights working here is only about twenty. However, the approaching gangsters are at least seventy.
Anyone can see that we are outnumbered. But I’m not worried about that. Levidian pulled up a chair next to me, sat down, and explained to Joey.
“Knights are basically soldiers. They are used to dealing with multiple opponents. And you shouldn’t underestimate the knights.”
“Yes?”
“Come and sit here instead of standing there. You’ll see why only 1/3 of the personnel came to escort the 150-member diplomatic mission.”
Levidian said with a smile, and I also leaned back in my chair, crossed my arms, and crossed my legs with a relaxed expression.
300 years since the founding of the Anopuri Empire.
The Empire, which can be called the continent’s victor, has reduced its military power.
Because there is no one to call an ‘enemy.’
The surrounding countries were all weaker than the Empire and did not need to be oppressed.
Only the Azot Kingdom can be compared to the Empire, but the Empire’s population is twice that of Azot.
The Azot Kingdom, basically due to its bloodline, has many intelligent and healthy people, but it has not been able to overturn the historically proven truth, ‘There is no solution to numbers.’
Anyway, except for the ‘Gray Forest’ located east of the Empire, there was no one provoking the Empire.
Naturally, military spending was reduced. Conscription was converted to a volunteer system, and there was money left over compared to the drastically reduced number of soldiers.
Thus, the so-called One-Man Army plan was launched.
The essence of this plan, proposed and implemented by a member of my maternal family, the Lorand family, is to train officers to become beings with the fighting power of a hundred men. And they were awarded the knighthood, which had been a decorative title until then.
From that day on, the knighthood was no longer a decorative title.
To obtain the title of ‘Knight,’ one must undergo three years of training. This training is the grandfather of all hardships, a dangerous training that often results in death.
The officer who passes the training and completes the test becomes a knight, a true one-man army.
Therefore, one knight is equivalent to 100 soldiers.
That’s why, in the Imperial Army system, a knight must lead 100 soldiers. In addition, as a formal operational unit, a single platoon including a knight is treated as 150 men.
Azot is not as harsh as the Empire, but in any case, the principle of granting knighthood to those with skills is the same.
In the end, no matter how many gangsters there are, they are useless in front of 20 knights.
By the way, I’m saying this now, but the number of monsters defeated by 150 knights in Breedpo is a whopping 6,000, with no casualties.
They are incomparably stronger than the knights of 100 years ago.
Me? I was a knight too. Thanks to that, I gained muscle and strength, but now I have a somewhat unsatisfactory body. It’s a good thing I still have the memories.
Anyway, Ronen Trigger and Levlin led their knights, dashed through the gangsters, and subdued them all. In a flash, they made all the gangsters kneel and lined them up on the street in broad daylight, creating a spectacular scene.
“Orders completed.”
“Awaiting further orders.”
Ronen Trigger, Levlin, and all the knights under their command saluted smartly without a single injury.
I got up from my seat and clapped lightly.
“Wonderful. I’d like to paint this scene. So, how many are there in total?”
“Total personnel!”
“Seventy-two! Sir!”
At Ronen’s shout, the knight who was counting the number of gangsters from behind answered. I nodded and said to Levlin,
“Sir Levlin, go to the security forces immediately and find out the personnel and facilities needed to detain seventy-two people. As promised, I will speak to His Highness Crown Prince Lymant about the previous matter.”
“Thank you!”
Levlin saluted and turned around. I watched his back and remembered one more thing to say.
“Oh, Sir Levlin.”
“Yes!”
“Congratulations on your sister’s marriage.”
“Thank you!”
Levlin grinned and then gathered his subordinates and headed towards the security forces. And I watched the scene of the gangsters, bruised here and there under the scorching sun, all kneeling and swallowing pain and humiliation at the same time.
Levidian commented coldly, as if the summer sunlight was meaningless.
“This is the end of those who overestimated their power. You should be careful too.”
“I will. But more than that……what should we do now?”
I got up from my seat and walked in front of the gangsters. They lifted their heads and started glaring at me as if they were going to kill or eat me.
I’ve received such gazes many times before, so I ignored them. Besides, there are plenty of people to scold them besides me.
“You bastards! Don’t look up!”
At the shouts of the knights scattered here and there, the gangsters quickly lowered their heads. This is the logic of power. It’s an easy-to-understand and pitiful sight.
I walked past them and pointed at a random man.
“Let’s see……that guy. Take off your shirt.”
“Johnson!”
“Yes! You, the bald one, take off your shirt! Now!”
The knight called Johnson shouted sternly, and the gangsters glanced at me and the bald gangster with expressions that seemed to ask why. The bald gangster reluctantly took off his clothes with a displeased expression.
The bald gangster had a sturdy build, but he wasn’t trained in a balanced way. He just ate and bulked up randomly, so he only had unnecessary muscles and fat. He would be good at brawls.
I examined his arms, but I couldn’t find anything.
“Hmm, turn around.”
“Turn around!”
When the bald gangster turned around, I finally found a tattoo on his right latissimus dorsi.
A snake biting the hand that strikes it.
“Oh, ‘Hunting Snake’?”
“What’s that?”
“Azot’s chivalrous youth organization……or rather, self-proclaimed knights-errant, but in reality, they’re just gangsters. I heard the total number of members is 120, so seventy-two of them came?”
“How do you know that?”
“I did some research.”
I shrugged and pointed to another guy. Then, the knight near him shouted.
“One-Eyed! Take off your shirt!”
The one-eyed man with an eyepatch grumbled and took off his clothes, but after getting hit once, he quieted down. He had a wing-like tattoo covering his left shoulder and upper arm.
“Hmm. This time it’s Sky Gazer? Good, next is that guy. I need to see how many organizations came today.”
After the organization inspection, I found out that ten people each were dispatched from a total of seven organizations. They were all members of what is called Ast’s Seven Violent Organizations.
To be precise, they are a group that was formed when the thieves’ guild derived from Edikinz became corrupted. Moreover, these seven organizations are mostly related to nobles. To be precise, they split like this while being associated with nobles.
I stepped away from them and talked to Ronen.
“It seems like the opinions about us are quite divided. What do you think?”
“I think so too. They are probably influenced by the anti-Empire nobles.”
“Hmm, good. I’ll take responsibility, so deploy the entire Empire’s 7th Knight Order to guard this street. And by any means necessary, don’t let those guys out of jail until the festival is over.”
“Understood. But what are you planning to do?”
Ronen must have read the determination on my face. He asked with a somewhat stiff expression.
“Now that I’ve seen the opponent’s numbers, I have to respond.”
I smiled with a twisted grin.
This is why I’ve been scraping together information on Azot.
To bring in a person who will become famous in five years.
The girl with red hair widened her brown eyes and asked back.
“A secret passage leading outside that even ordinary people can use?”
“Yes. Don’t you have one?”
“I do, but why?”
“Because I need it.”
Daisy frowned for a moment, then pouted and said,
“What’s going on? I won’t tell you if you don’t explain it properly.”
“Sigh, I’m going to teach the anti-Empire nobles a lesson.”
“Are you going to assassinate them?”
“Why would I do such a boring thing?”
“True. Just killing them is not very interesting.”
She nodded.
Somehow, I think I’m getting used to this girl’s personality. Well, even if I wasn’t, assassination is a boring thing. If you just kill them, that’s the end of it. How dull.
Daisy asked with a questioning look in her brown eyes.
“By the way, judging by the fact that you’re asking for a secret passage, you’re going out at night, right?”
“At this time, most of the gates are closed and access is restricted.”
“I’m getting more and more curious about what you’re going to do.”
“That’s a good thing. Currently, most of those who oppose the royal policies are anti-Empire nobles, right? They’re involved in illegal activities, so we need to respond in kind.”
Daisy crossed her arms and lowered her head in thought.
It’s because the request of her drinking buddy (!), honorary knight, and second son of an Imperial Duke, who requested a one-on-one meeting after dinner, is a difficult one to accept.
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