episode_0023

An emergency meeting was convened to address the invasion of the Dorok Kingdom army. To be honest, the content of the meeting was nothing special. What would the soldiers know? In fact, no one knew that this war was all a show or that there would be no battle, so it ended with only telling the obvious.

The problem came after the meeting was over. Deputy Commander Bernitz and Mait were also participating in the meeting, and this was what Deputy Commander Bernitz said.

“Winning feels good.”

“Win?”

I was embarrassed by this unexpected comment.

“In an overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, you made a major move to increase our faction, and then with good timing, you called in a central investigator to reduce our faction. It was quite a feat. You must be feeling pretty good. Because we overturned an unfavorable fight.”

“… ”

“What do you think? Doesn’t it make you feel happy to see me who has lost so much?”

As Deputy Commander Bernitz questioned, Ensign Mario intervened from the side.

“You seem excited. Would you mind if you stop? Deputy Commander.”

“People from fallen noble families who couldn’t even go to military school should not shut up. It’s no place for people like you.”

Mario was speechless due to the sudden verbal abuse. Even if everyone thought that way in their hearts, they rarely said it out loud.

“Commander, please tell me. Is the taste of victory sweet? Are you satisfied with being called a winner?”

“Stop.”

The voice heard at that moment was Chloe’s.

“Captain Chloe?”

“It’s ugly. Deputy Commander Bernitz.”

“This crazy commoner girl… ”

Bernitz’s hands were shaking. I felt like my anger was welling up to the top of my head. But the more it happened, the more smiles appeared on Chloe’s face.

“Yes. Crazy commoner bitch. If I had told you a few months ago that you were ugly, my head would have been blown off. But you don’t have that much power right now. It’s up to you to just listen to the insults of commoners. Because the commoner is under the protection of the commander. how is it? It’s humiliating, isn’t it?”

“This bitch… !”

Might, who was next to Bernitz, put his hand on the sheath of his sword.

“If you pull it, you die.”

It was me who said that. This is because the knights who had read the atmosphere and approached us began to surround us.

Bernitz put his hand on Might’s arm. It seemed like the message here was to be patient first. Fortunately, Bernitz was quicker at assessing the situation than Might.

“Indeed. I finally get it. I understand everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“Commander! I know why you tried to fight me!”

Oh, no way. Are you saying that Vinnet Franz’s rebellion was discovered?

“It was all Captain Chloe’s revenge! Since I kicked out Captain Chloe, they attacked me in revenge!”

What kind of bullshit is that? It was only recently that I scouted Captain Chloe, and it was half a year ago that I started fighting with the second-in-command?

“Captain Chloe… Scary bitch. I don’t know how you tricked the commander, but you’re such an incredible bitch that you made him risk his life.”

What kind of bullshit is that? Would I risk my life for Chloe? I think this guy is making a huge mistake.

“Commander. You were a puppet. A puppet dancing on Captain Chloe’s palm.”

Oh, isn’t it? However, if Rachel Groscia and Deputy Commander Bernitz are going to think that way, it might be more advantageous for me to let them think that way.

Deputy Commander Bernitz disappeared, leading Captain Might, and Chloe and Ensign Mario breathed a sigh of relief.

—–

“Ah~ It’s refreshing~”

Captain Chloe shouted from the deserted field.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Of course! This is my first time seeing Deputy Commander Bernitz so angry!”

Looking at it that way, Captain Chloe was abandoned by Deputy Commander Bernitz’s faction. She was originally a successful captain, but she was dismissed because Deputy Commander Bernitz’s faction used Captain Chloe as a scapegoat.

“How good does it feel to get revenge on the person who abandoned me and even ridicule him? This is all thanks to the commander.”

“It’s thanks to Chloe taking care of everything. If I hadn’t come up with the idea of calling in a central investigator, I wouldn’t have won so quickly.”

“No. From my point of view, it was a game that was meant to be won whether early or late. The central investigator only made the planned victory a little faster. It’s all thanks to the commander’s outstanding command ability. Soldiers are naturally loyal to those who contribute to them.”

In that case, I decided not to be humble.

“Anyway, why did you come out?”

“Why? Since Bernitz abandoned me, I want to take revenge by mocking Bernitz… ”

“No. The Chloe I know is the calculating type. He is not the kind of person who would provoke Bernitz’s hatred by provoking him when Bernitz has lost his senses. Nevertheless, if there was provocation, there must have been a good reason.”

Then Captain Chloe responded with a bright smile.

“Everyone says that to me. The commoner captain chose the king.”

“Am I king?”

To be honest, I am a minnow. Although he is the heir to the duke and the commander of the Northern Army, he falls far short of those with the same title. This is because my experience is insufficient. For example, if I fight with the Western Army Commander, I will lose, if I fight with the Southern Army Commander, I will lose, if I fight with the Central Army Commander, I will be defeated, and if I fight with the Eastern Army Commander, I will be defeated. That’s why I fall far short of being a king.

“It’s still not enough to be a king, but wouldn’t it be at least a prince? Because he is a person who has the potential to become king someday.”

“Is that so?”

“People think I control the commander. In reality, if the commander just says one word, I’m dead. Everyone knows it backwards.”

Come to think of it, it seems like there are rumors like that going around.

“So, conversely, I’m going to take an active role and try to draw people’s attention to me. I think that’s the best way I can do it.”

“Are you going to use the rumor in reverse?”

“Yes. If word spreads that I am the main body, the commander’s enemies will try to attack me, not the commander. Because it would be easier to drop a commoner girl than a duke’s son. And then, if I lose power… ”

There was no need to say anything after that. Chloe was telling him to abandon her if she lost power. She was claiming to be an expendable item to protect me.

“What do you want to achieve by going that far?”

“To the extent that people mistakenly believe that I am the powerful person, power will be concentrated in me.”

“What do you want to do with that power?”

“Power is not there to do anything. It’s there for power.”

It suddenly becomes a philosophical topic.

“They are in a relationship where they both use each other.”

“It’s a win-win.”

She smiled and held out her hand.

“How do you feel? New contract. Do you want to tie the knot?”

I thought for a while. Is this contract a gain or a loss? It was true that people had always thought of me as a puppet dancing in the palm of her hand. In fact, even though she came under my wing very recently, I knew that she was acting according to her will even before that. then…

“Thank you for your tanking.”

I held her hand.

“Tanking?”

Oh, that’s a modern term.

“So, aggro… ”

“Aggro?”

“I want you to get my attention. Attention of enemies.”

“Ah~ So you’re asking me to play the role of bait well?”

“That’s right! It’s nice that you speak quickly.”

Chloe smiled sheepishly and we looked at each other and laughed for a while.

—–

It seemed that 5,000 troops from the north had crossed the wall. It was the army of the Kingdom of Dorok. The Dorok Kingdom’s army mainly consists of pikemen and crossbowmen. In other words, it is a style that is completely opposite to rechit. In fact, they may be scarier than Rekjit.

But the good news is that the number is only 5,000. No matter how good they are, they cannot beat their own army’s 50,000 with only 5,000. If our troops lead all 50,000 troops, we can easily chase them out, but if we do that, the opponent can also call in reinforcements. It was like trying to fight in earnest. Therefore, we decided to take only 10,000 people and see the situation first. This was a number that could be devoted to defense without being defeated but without provoking the enemy too much.

However, neither the enemy’s 5,000 nor our allies’ 10,000 will have to fight. That’s right…

“Commander!”

In a deserted field, Count Barmont waved his hand from afar.

“The negotiations ended well. Dorok forces will not attack friendly forces.”

This is because the negotiations ended well as planned.

All that remains is to lure the deputy commander’s faction into a trap and wipe them out.