episode_0086

It has already been three days since Lily stayed at Count Hart’s house under the pretext of giving her a chance. Meanwhile, Gilbert was wondering how to utilize the opportunity she had given him.

However, there was nothing clear about giving an opportunity. What does it mean to give an opportunity to make up for mistakes?

Healing her trauma could have been part of it, but it was by no means an easy task.

Treating trauma required psychiatric treatment.

Moreover, the concept of a complete cure for mental illness was ambiguous. Even if you think it’s getting better, it often happens again.

And it was Gilbert who suffered from mental illness in the first place. It was absurd to treat someone in such a situation.

Is it good to have at least some sympathy?

Gilbert laughed self-deprecatingly.

In the end, I put aside thinking about the method. The priority now was clearing the main scenario.

Although I felt sorry for Lily, this main scenario was one that was very different depending on what the player did.

The main scenario ‘Sigurd’s Attack’ was one of the few scenarios that did not interfere with the game play even if left alone without intervening in the scenario.

Unlike the scenario where the game is over if not cleared, it is not a part that causes direct damage to the player.

However, in that case, there will be great damage from the war between the Empire and Sigurd, resulting in numerous casualties.

In particular, Wiesbark, the battlefield, was almost completely destroyed and it took a long time to recover.

When I was playing Tactical Combat, because it was a game, I had to take various routes, and there were times when I had to ignore the ‘Sigurdians’ attack’.

After Gilbert also intervened to clear all achievements, he proceeded with the game by taking the neglect route.

But as I always say, this was not a game. Whether it was a different world or something else, the place where Gilbert currently lived was reality.

Even though it was similar to the world in the game, it was reality as long as Gilbert himself recognized it as reality.

Gilbert couldn’t let this happen even though he knew what was going to happen here.

Even though the world has changed and his body has changed, inside he is a former soldier who sacrificed his life with his comrades to protect his country.

The first action of Gilbert, who was formally entrusted with full operational authority by the Count of Lithuania, was to strengthen security.

It was a foregone conclusion that the Sigurdians would attack, but it was unknown when they would attack.

If they valued honor, it would have been normal to declare war, but the situation they found themselves in was so bad that they even abandoned the honor they valued so much.

Moreover, for the sake of reason, the empire and Sigurdians were in a state of truce. He said it would not be surprising if war broke out at any time.

In the meantime, the declaration of war was rather unnecessary.

It was a nominal matter, and it was safe to say that the justification was already sufficient.

That was the reason why the Count of Lithuania was preparing for war. Because they thought they could attack at any time, they tried to complete preparations for a sortie.

Gilbert also had the same thoughts as the Count, so he ordered the preparations for war and further strengthened security.

This was because there was a calculation that if the timing of their attack could be determined, the damage could be minimized.

He shortened the shift period of security teams and operated more security teams, and in addition, he recruited rangers and operated search teams.

It was judged that operating only alerts was too passive.

In addition, Gilbert expected that the Sigurdians would also have realized that their alerts were higher than before. They were not uncivilized barbarians, as the imperialists often said.

He was a specialist in combat, and overlooking that point was something that should never have been done.

Concerned that they might find a loophole in the security guard that they had not yet identified, a separate search party made up of rangers began searching the surrounding area.

This is what Gilbert did after returning to the mansion. At first, there was a small backlash when Gilbert suddenly took command of the operation, but the original army was a gangster class.

Since the order was given by the Count of Lithuania, who could be said to be the commander-in-chief, the subordinates had to listen to Gilbert even if they did not want to hear it.

But that all only happened at first.

Because Gilbert’s orders were clearly valid and only the right orders, the vassals who participated in this war gradually began to trust his words.

And there was one reason why they decided to follow Gilbert’s orders without question.

Taking the initiative in everything.

This was something that was often seen as the Hart family had no sense of authority, but Gilbert was even more so.

In particular, everyone was surprised that he participated in the hellish physical training that was required only for new recruits without missing a single day. Even though the training was such that even quite a few poisonous breeds would cut out their tongues and collapse, Gilbert silently underwent the same training as the new recruits.

Since the supreme commander was doing this, those under him had no choice but to naturally do the same. At first, they thought they would give up after a while, but they were influenced by Gilbert, who took physical training seriously, and made it a part of their daily routine.

As physical training continued with everyone from knights to soldiers, the morale of the military began to rise rapidly. Because if we do anything together, a camaraderie that never existed before arises.

In a way, he neatly summarized the most difficult military unity by quietly carrying out physical training.

Those who doubted his qualifications had no choice but to change their minds through this incident.

In the end, everything was shown in results.

However, there were times when his example became toxic.

In fact, there was one person who prevented him from coming forward.

“Gilbert! How many times haven’t I told you this? Which military unit is the commander providing support to as a search party?”

“Lord Fermo. I too would have told you several times. I have to see it with my own eyes.”

“That’s why I’ve been telling you no, over and over again!”

Currently, Gilbert was engaged in a quarrel with Fermo, a vassal of the Earl of Hart who had taken over as his lieutenant.

The reason was that he expressed his intention to participate in the search as a member of the search party.

As Gilbert’s lieutenant and a vassal of the Hart family, Fermo, who had to care about Gilbert’s well-being, was crazy and furious.

If he went out on a search and something happened, he didn’t have the confidence to handle the repercussions.

“Gilbert, you must be aware of your current position. Lead by example? Of course, this is a very good attitude that will serve as a role model for soldiers. But now, Mr. Gilbert is the commander of the coming war. If such a person goes on a search and gets into trouble, it will inevitably have a negative impact on everything, including the morale of the entire military.”

What Fermo said was correct in every detail. It was very good for the commander to lead by example and boost the morale of the soldiers. When I saw a high-ranking person who didn’t shy away from difficult things, I couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied.

However, being directly involved in the dangerous mission of searching like now is a double-edged sword. Even if you finish it successfully, it’s a loss, and if you fail, no one could have predicted the ripple effect that would occur.

Besides, searching didn’t just mean wandering around. Search was to search for traces that the enemy might have left, examine the surrounding environment, and search for the enemy.

Therefore, when forming a search party, it was always filled with highly trained rangers. Even if Gilbert had been knighted, they were superior in the field of search.

For no reason, Gilbert joining the search party and meddling could only have a negative impact.

“And no matter how knighted Mr. Gilbert may be, the search is something out of the ordinary. Don’t you know well?”

“I know.”

“Then I understand that you will not join the search party.”

Fermo grinned as if he had just had a moment and turned around. It was to issue an order to begin search and reconnaissance, which had been delayed due to an argument with Gilbert.

“Wait a minute. I didn’t say I wouldn’t join the search party.”

“Gilbert!”

Fermo quickly turned around and glared at Gilbert.

If Fermo had been a commoner or a minor nobleman, his actions would have gone too far, but he was one of the trusted vassals of the Count of Lithuania.

Originally, Gilbert was also a person who deserved to be respected.

However, that damn temperament was still inherent in Gilbert.

At least not treating them like before was a compromise that was made as much as possible. Perhaps speaking up might not be possible for the rest of my life unless there was an overwhelming difference in status with him.

As game elements can be used under the influence of the system, it seemed like a penalty to be influenced by the system and keep the settings.

“This is an order given as a commander. I will not receive any more objections.”

“What is your purpose for participating in the search party? Gilbert, don’t you know that this isn’t helpful?”

“I guess so. My hunting skills won’t be as good as those of a professionally trained ranger.”

I don’t know if it was detection using mana, but it was not suitable for a search party that had to move secretly. In the end, I had to use pure detection abilities excluding mana detection.

Although Gilbert was a former soldier and a highly trained pilot, his specialty was fighter piloting.

In that respect, compared to trained rangers, their detection abilities were far below.

However, Gilbert still planned to participate in the search himself.

“You must see the geography of this place with your own two eyes. Especially if it is a place searched by trained rangers.”

Gilbert’s eyes sparkled.

This was not stubbornness; it was something that really had to be done.

Gilbert’s eyes, which were looking at Fermo, passed by Fermo and looked into the empty space in the upper left.

There, the mini-map that I was so tired of seeing when playing Tactical Combat was activated.

I didn’t know there was an unlock condition for opening the minimap.

Gilbert shook his head slightly, as if in despair.

It was when he was officially entrusted with full operational authority by the Count of Lithuania that he received the message that the mini-map had been unlocked.

Suddenly, a system message window appeared, announcing that the minimap, which had been thought to not exist, had been unlocked.

I quickly looked up the conditions for unlocking the license and was able to confirm that it stated that it was securing command authority to command a certain size of army.

Until now, I thought the reason there was no minimap was because this place was closer to reality, but it just wasn’t unlocked.

Whatever the reason, Gilbert was bound to be quite inspiring. The difference between having a minimap and not having a minimap was quite large.

Of course, Tactical Combat’s unfriendly minimap did not function as an all-purpose map hack like other games. When fighting in an area that the player had personally explored, the minimap could only be used within a certain range.

However, in that tense battle situation, being able to know the surrounding situation had a huge advantage in battle. Therefore, users who play Tactical Combat always perform the so-called map reveal task.

It was in order to uncover this map that Gilbert joined the search party and went on an expedition himself.

However, it was not easy for Gilbert, who could not tell this fact to anyone, to persuade Fermo.

“Is there any reason for that? Unless there is a valid reason, you have no choice but to disobey even if it is an order. This is something that the Count of Lithuania has also given permission to do.”

Did it come out like this?

Gilbert let out a deep sigh as Fermo pulled out the last card.

The Lithuanian Count chose Fermo as a brake to prevent Gilbert from going on a rampage. Thanks to this, Fermo officially had the power to block Gilbert’s orders.

Although it was frustrating for Gilbert, objectively speaking, it was a flawless move.

I had no choice but to persuade Fermo.

“As a commander, if you do not know the terrain of where the battle will take place in detail, you cannot give correct orders. I think Kyeong would agree with that too.”

“I am here to assist you with that.”

Gilbert also responded without backing down.

“I know. However, it is dangerous to coordinate opinions in an urgent combat situation. Besides, shouldn’t the Lord be in charge of commanding the divided forces?”

“That’s…”

This time Fermo was speechless. It was none other than Fermo himself who drafted the plan to divide and operate the troops.

“There is nothing to worry about. I have no intention of going on a night reconnaissance, so this one reconnaissance is enough.”

“Phew…”

Fermo eventually raised his hands as if he would surrender. In any case, unless Gilbert gave up, this pointless argument would have to continue.

“Okay. Instead, we will increase the number of search teams.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

In the end, the two people came to a dramatic compromise and moved to issue the delayed search order.

This happened 30 minutes after the two had argued.