episode_0040

Once I dipped my body into the river, I hesitated. Was it too close to Sukyeongji? I quietly took one of the torches that brightly lit up the area around Sukyeongji and stuck it into the soft riverbank soil.

I briefly warmed my hands by the torch and then lightly dipped just the tip of my finger into the river. Feeling the chilling cold, I quickly withdrew my hand. It was expected that the winter river would be cold, but it was even colder than I had anticipated. It might not compare to the waves of the northern sea, but fully immersing myself in the river felt like it would turn me into a cold corpse within 10 minutes.

“What should I do?”

Come to think of it, the only time I had properly bathed in the field was probably when I was captured by Sasha. Other than that, I hadn’t had the opportunity for personal hygiene activities until we arrived in Paris. The only thing I did was wash my face with the small water bottle that Mia brought in the morning.

There was a way to wipe my body with a wet cloth, but in my tattered military uniform, I couldn’t be satisfied with such a minimal effort. Was there no other way?

Hiding my body among the tall weeds growing sparsely along the riverbank, I quickly took off my blood-stained uniform. Although I shivered in the winter river breeze, I had faith. I calculated that I could maintain my body temperature using magic and simultaneously endure the cold river with the golden power concentrated in my lower abdomen.

Of course, using ‘magic’ for something as trivial as washing, rather than in battle, might seem absurd, but it was quite a serious matter for me now. I couldn’t stand the discomfort that slowly crept up from the moment I decided to wash. Therefore, I couldn’t be satisfied with temporary measures using a cloth.

“Ugh.”

Even though I had sufficiently prepared, a lingering chill remained, and when I put my foot into the river, a shiver ran through my whole body. After trembling once, I plunged the rest of my body into the water.

The river around me had a faint yellowish tint. There was no special principle to warm it with magic, just rapidly rotating the magic throughout my body. In addition, the golden power of divine power – not particularly sacred, but since it was a power given by the gods, there was no specific term for it – was adding to it, causing my body to emit light from within. Fortunately, the amount of light shining on the training ground was not enough to reflect. It was really a faint glow, so much so that if you passed by, you might wonder if there were fireflies in winter.

I found myself humming involuntarily. It was only natural, as I hadn’t bathed since leaving Paris. The bloodstains on my military uniform were also being wiped away, and I felt considerably lighter. I was enjoying a rare moment of relaxation for about thirty minutes. Just as I was about to consider going out…

Squeak-!!

A piercing horn sound reached my ears. Perfect timing. Along with the horn, the guards’ alarm rang out: “Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” Hurriedly, I emerged from the water. Without even taking the time to dry off my hair or remove the moisture from my body, I quickly put on a new military uniform.

Although it was the same military uniform I always wore, having to put it on hastily brought forth complaints. The pants were too tight, and the decorations and buttons on the top were getting in the way. As I grumbled about why the military uniform was made like this, I barely had time to button it up before rushing to the training ground.

“Torch! Light more torches!”

“If you see the monster, each squad will open fire! Standby for firing up to 20 meters!”

The front-line infantry had already formed ranks and were almost ready for battle. Was it the 42nd Infantry Division? They seemed quite seasoned from their combat experience. The Mado Infantry of the 42nd Division were scattered and lying down in various places.

“Wigo, what about the rest of the squads?”

“Hmm, D squad has just completed assembly, and E and F squads are still not ready.”

Behind Wigo, my C squad and Angelic Dupont’s D squad had gathered. E and F were still about half ready. Kilian brought me a lily spear from the tent. He probably thought I would be best at handling it.

I felt like my hair wasn’t dry enough as I looked at the front-line infantrymen who were passing me by. My silver hair was sticking to my face, causing quite a commotion. As I roughly tidied myself up, I noticed that the right side seemed a bit weak when I checked the formation. We need to move to the right.

“Alright. It’s a good opportunity for the Infantry Division to leave a great first impression on the Royal Cavalry Division. We will take a slightly more forward position than the front-line infantry. Mia, gather E and F Platoons and head to the far left.”

Mia quickly headed towards the still-gathering platoons. The lack of experience in the new platoon was clearly evident. Practical experience wasn’t just about combat; it showed even in such trivial matters.

“C Platoon, advance. Angelic, follow C Platoon 3 paces behind.”

Unlike the cavalry soldiers of the Infantry Division, we advanced in formation like the front-line infantry. There was no real need for that. But being the Royal Cavalry Division, we couldn’t just lie down with lances in hand.

Advancing confidently with our lances, we moved ahead of the front-line infantry’s line.

“There! Cavalry, halt!”

Looking at the insignia, he was a captain, the commander of the vanguard infantry company. With a stern look, the officer issued a halt order with his saber. How dare he issue orders to another unit? It was a terribly rude gesture.

“It doesn’t matter, 15 paces forward!”

“Halt!”

Ignoring the annoyed shouts from behind, we stopped precisely fifteen paces ahead of them.

Captain Angelic was watching me closely. The commanders of D, E, and F Platoons were all from the Guards. The Guards were usually composed only of elites, but those without any practical experience, like Captain Angelic, were sometimes assigned to the Guards due to the power of their families. Looking at her, I could tell how remarkable Clerc, who had started military life directly in the front-line field unit, was.

A soldier quickly ran up to me through the front-line infantry.

“Sir, you must fall back.”

“Tell your company commander. The Royal Cavalry will hold the front firmly.”

“No, sir… Look at your feet.”

“My feet?”

What’s under your feet? The place the soldier pointed to had a round hand grenade lying there. Not only there, but also in many places around there, grenades were clustered.

“…Madoda retreat! Retreat 10 steps back!”

I hurriedly gave the retreat order. Connecting the clustered grenades and scattered Madoda infantry in front of the frontline infantry clearly conveyed its meaning. It was a trap. And the Royal Madoda was standing on top of it.

I led the way out of unnecessary pride and ended up in an embarrassing situation. Still, I couldn’t stand behind the frontline infantry, so I insisted on being 5 steps ahead. The platoon leader who gave orders to the Madoda was about to say something more, but stopped. If it’s the grenades of this era, damage is almost negligible within a 10m distance. Plus, there’s defensive magic.

It was late at night, but the area around Sukyeongji was quite bright due to torches. However, that light couldn’t reach beyond a certain distance, so the place the soldiers were watching remained dark.

In the darkness, tension lingered in the camp, as if villains could emerge at any moment. Just a few hours ago, they had seen large-scale tunnels at Sangmarg, so they wondered if this might be the start of their full-scale attack.

While the entire Sukyeongji held its breath and refined its defensive posture, several minutes passed in the blink of an eye, but still, there was no sign of the villains. Wondering when they would come, I concentrated my magical power and tried to enhance my vision, but I couldn’t see anything.

Beep-

With the first horn sound and other subtle crackling noises, along with shouts of “Release! Release!” What’s going on?

“Did the sentry make a mistake? Is that what happened?”

Everyone in the Royal Madoda, including me, looked perplexed. In contrast, the soldiers of the infantry division were returning to their tents with familiar and relaxed expressions. Some soldiers grabbed those passing by and asked what was going on.

“It’s a drill, a drill.”

A piece of memory from a past life stuck in my head. It seemed to be a drill like the preparedness exercises done in my previous life’s army. The soldiers of the infantry division knew from the beginning that it was a drill. Why didn’t they tell the Royal Madoda?

I was only 15 steps ahead after the training, and suddenly the battalion commander started scolding me. It would have been better if he just spoke nicely, but instead, he shouted, startling me.

“You’ve been caught being sloppy.”

Wigo whispered from behind. He could be considered a kind of confidant. If it was training, I wouldn’t have come out wearing my clothes carelessly.

“……”

As the thought of wearing my military uniform carelessly crossed my mind, I realized that I hadn’t buttoned up all the buttons on my top. With a sense of disbelief, I slowly lowered my head to look at my chest, and there it was, the white undershirt showing. The unbuttoned part of the coat had opened up, revealing almost half of my chest. Now I understood why the soldiers who had asked what had happened were staring at me, and why the battalion commander had hesitated to say anything.

Carefully glancing around and cautiously moving forward, I buttoned up one by one. As I glanced back, not only C Company, but even the members of D Company were coughing and looking elsewhere.

It was a betrayal that not a single soldier in the infantry division, let alone in the same unit, Madode, had said anything. Especially Wigo, whom I trusted!

“Sir, I was definitely trying to speak, but…”

It was clear that Emma had stopped her from speaking by poking her side. When I glanced at her, Emma whistled and turned her gaze away. She never had much respect for the company commander, but now her influence seemed to extend beyond C Company to the entire Royal Madode. If even I, who was oblivious, could feel it, it might have been like that for a while.

If Clera were here, she would have taken charge, but now it wasn’t a situation where I could even hope for that. Until Clera’s uncertain return, I needed to take charge of Madode. In that case, I had to roll up my sleeves. It was time to recall the discipline I had received in my previous military life.