I Am the Monarch – Chapter 69: War and more war (7)

 

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The surprise attack was a big success .
They almost didn’t have any casualties and the enemy camp became a sea of fire .
On top of that, they slew the only capable commander, Looter .
This was a real big success .

“How about attacking once more?”

Aaron carefully asked while looking at the enemy camp that was on fire .
Roan shook his head .

“No . Although they wouldn’t have any control because they are putting the fire off… . . ”

Roan looked at Aaron and the commanders and continued talking .

“Now, it would be good to retreat . ”

At those words, everyone frowned .

“Retreat? You want us to retreat after attaining this victory?”

Roan nodded with a calm expression .
His eyes calmly sank down .

‘If I get to raise a force, the first thing I have would to do would be changing the commanders . ’

The actual Rinse kingdom, no, the majority of the kingdoms that were located east of the Grain mountains operated by approximating numbers .
Especially in the cases of corps commanders, many were part of a baron’s family but the problem was that they attained their ranks without having any relation to their skills .

‘Even in this place, excluding corps commander Aaron Tate, and Phillip Hass, the others are all commanders in name . ’

The others were the ones who spent their lives as corps commanders without having any merits to back them up because of the excuse of being the eldest son of a noble family .

‘In the selection of a commander, abilities and human nature should come first . ’

Roan took in a deep breath .
It was time to convince the commanders who only knew how to fight boldly without any abilities .

“The enemy knights are already outside of their camp . On top of that, the mages would also have finished preparations . Compared to them, we don’t have knights nor mages . If we were attacked in this state, we would suffer big losses . And if it turned out like that, the success of the surprise attack becomes meaningless . ”
“Mmm . ”

At the stipulation about the knights and mages, the commanders shut their mouths .
Phillip, who was the eldest, nodded .

“It was also Roan that guessed the surprise attack and proposed counter attacking them . I think that it’d be good to also listen to him this time . ”

His attitude had changed a lot from when he first met Roan . He was different than the other commanders who were only greedy without having abilities to back them up . Because he had been in the battlefield for a long period of time, he didn’t have any unnecessary greed or stubbornness .

‘We can’t keep ignoring him when he has showed such amazing performance . ’

Although his eyes were dark, he had recognized someone with the abilities .

“I think that would be good . ”

Aaron added and came to a conclusion .

“Then, let’s retreat immediately . ”

As the situation turned out like this, Roan quickly revealed his thoughts .

“I think it would be good to first make the infantry retreat while lighting up the torches and leaving the tents intact . ”

At this statement, Aaron and Phillips immediately realized his reasoning .

“You want us to seem like we’re protecting this place . ”
“Yes . That’s right . ”

Roan brightly smiled and replied back .
Aaron called Mendel and sent out the order of retreat .
And then, the whole camp started to move busily .

“Roan . ”

Aaron called out Roan separately .
Roan slightly bowed and approached .

“The merits you’ve achieved by slaying the enemy commander and succeeding in the surprise attack is really big . I will certainly reward you after the war ends . ”
“Yes . Thank you . ”

Roan saluted shortly afterwards .
A proud smile appeared on Aaron’s face .

‘He’s someone that I really don’t want to let go of . ’

He was someone he liked more and more the more time passed .

‘As he slew a corps commander of Istel kingdom…… . . ’

If he did well, he may be able to give him a title of nobility; a title of at least a baron .
This would be his incorporation into the noble’s world .

‘I’ll have to show my strength at least once . ’

But to do that, it was important to attain victory in this war .
After a while, Mendel approached and bowed .

“We have finished the preparations to retreat . ”

Aaron faintly smiled and looked at the other commanders .

‘I can’t leave them behind . ’

Retreating to Nerf region, where the camp of their allies was located, was the safest path .

“My 7th corps will stay behind . ”

As soon as Aaron finished speaking, the other commanders had surprised expressions .

“Oh! Will you really?”
“You’ve made a really difficult decision . ”

They became happy at the truth that they would be able to retreat to a safe zone first .
Aaron bitterly smiled as he looked at their expressions .

‘The person that is suited to be in that position is Roan . ’

He was talking about the **** that occupied the seats of a commander just because they were nobles .
He felt bitter .

“Then, I will leave it to you . ”

Phillip approached and extended his hand .
Aaron grabbed that hand and said the same thing .

“Then, I’ll leave it to you . ”

Phillip, who realized what that meant, smiled bitterly .
After a while, the commanders left the camp while leading the infantry with Phillip at the front .
As the retreat happened really quietly in the middle of the darkness, Istel kingdom didn’t realize it at all .
Aaron looked at the back of the commanders getting farther away and let out a sigh .

“Whew . Nothing has to happen . ”

At those words, Roan and Mendel bitterly smiled .

“Does something have to happen?”

Aaron nodded .

“Right . As commander Hass is there, would something really happen?”

He awkwardly smiled and looked at Roan .
As a result, Roan also faced him and smiled .
But they couldn’t expect it at all .
That the maybe would catch the person .

*****

When the sun rose, the 7th corps also started to prepare their retreat .
Roan stood in the middle of the empty camp and extended both of his arms .

“I think that it would be good to start a fire and make smoke appeared as if we are eating . ”
“Oh, that’s a good method . ”

Aaron nodded with a satisfied expression .
Soon, they lit up three thousand fires to make it look as if they were boiling soup and heating up bread .
They gathered plenty of branches and leaves on purpose and made it smoke .
The tents that were also set up on purpose took place along the fence .

“We will place scarecrows at the front of the camp . ”
“Right . They will be suspicious if there aren’t any guards . ”

Aaron nodded .
The soldiers used spears and weeds to make a scarecrow .
And they also put armor over it .
Although it was a scarecrow without doubt when you looked at it closely, it was enough to trick the Istel’s soldiers that were far away .
Aaron looked at the insides of the camp and took in a deep breath .

“We will have to retreat . ”
“Yes . From now on, speed is life . ”

Now, the camp of Istel kingdom’s disorder was controlled a little .
If they were late, they would get their tails caught .
Roan looked at Istel kingdom’s camp fixedly .
Because of Kalian’s tear, he saw the camp as if it was right in front of him .

‘They’re already preparing to attack . ’

The soldiers of Istel kingdom were maintaining their camp and moving around busily .

‘There’s no more time to waste . ’

Roan set an eye sign to Aaron .
Aaron nodded and climbed his horse .

“We retreat as quietly as possible . ”

The hoof of the horses, that were covered with pieces of cloth, stepped on the ground without making any noise .
The remaining cavalrymen left the camp in an instant .
Three thousand fires and hundreds of scarecrows protected their empty camp .

*****

“Let’s repay the disgrace we suffered last time!”

Corps commander Baron Wett Landel of Istel kingdom raised his sword high and yelled .

“Waaaaa!”

The soldiers of Istel brought up their morale even when they were tired .
They knew how important morale was in a battle .

“Charge!”

Wett yelled with all his strength and pulled the reins .
He was quite excited .

‘The commander has left his seat . ’

He planned to grab this opportunity .

‘Although Looter failed, I will succeed . ’

If he won this battle, he would raise huge merits .
If that was the case, he would receive half of the obtained territory as a reward for his merits .
Wett mobilized a large scaled army and crossed the plains .
He closely approached the Rinse kingdom’s camp and yelled with strength .

“Bastards! Cowards of Rinse kingdom! Don’t stay hidden like that and fight!”

What he wanted was a confrontation in the plains .
But even if Wett and the soldiers yelled, the camp was still quiet .
Wett frowned .

‘Something is wrong…… . ’

Normally, when a side asked for a battle in between the two camps, the opponent had to reply to them .
Because of that, Wett led 10,000 soldiers and left his camp .
This was to be a battle between 10,000 soldiers .
He was confident in achieving victory with just his capabilities .
But the camp of Rinse kingdom was as quiet as a dead rat .
An uneasy feeling was felt in their backs .
Then, the closest person to him and the staff officer of the corps, Arr, approached him .

“Doesn’t it seem weird?”
“Right?”

Wett frowned and asked back .
Arr turned his head and pointed at Rinse kingdom’s camp .

“Even the guards that were standing guard by the fences didn’t show any movements . ”
“Mmm . ”

Wett frowned and raised his right hand .

“Archers, to the front!”

At those words, the archers came to the front and readied their bows .

“Fire!”

As soon as the order was sent, thousands of arrows split the sky .

Sweeeeeeeeeee!

A sharp sound rang out .

Pubububuk!

A rain of arrows poured over the camp of Rinse kingdom .
Even the guards that were on the fences became porcupines .
However they didn’t yell or fall; they kept protecting their places .
Then, Wett frowned and yelled .

“Damn! Even if it’s wrong, it’s completely wrong!”

He grabbed the reins and started to ride towards the camp .

“Co, corps commander!”

Arr was surprised and followed his back .
Soon, all the remaining soldiers started to charge towards the camp with hurried looks .

Bang!

The entrance that was seemingly closed, opened up .
Wett, who went into a deep part of the camp, clicked his tongue with a hopeless look .

“Ho! We were completely done in . ”

The camp was completely empty .
The guards that were guarding the fences were scarecrows made from weeds and spears .
On top of that, thousands of braziers were taking place at the back of the camp .
Arr, who arrived late, discovered a piece of cloth between the braziers .

‘What’s that?’

He grabbed the piece of cloth and then frowned .

“What’s that?”

As Wett asked, Arr brought him the piece of cloth without saying anything .
There were letters written in it .

<You have done well coming all the way here . Make some food with this . >

“Thi… . . this! Fucking!”

This was a major insult .
They were thoroughly conned .
Wett tore up the piece of cloth and ground his teeth .
His sight moved to the west .

“I will certainly pay back this humiliation . ”

*****

The 7th corps that quickly left the Bink region, soon arrived in Nerf region .

“I can see the camp of our allies . ’

Aaron pointed a huge camp that was placed at the side of a mountain .
The placement of the camp showed that it didn’t have any thoughts to attack .

‘You gave up the whole eastern region starting from Nerf?’

Aaron clicked his tongue and shook his head .
And Roan also did the same .

‘The problem is that his ambition is great for someone that frightened . ’

Because of that, there were many cases where Benjamin spoiled things at important moments .

‘I can’t just let him be like this . ’

But he couldn’t do anything right now .
Roan was merely a vice troop commander of the army in the region .

‘I have to grab an opportunity . For Rinse kingdom, no, at least for me I want to chase him away . ’

And fortunately, Roan was confident in being able to do so .

‘He’s someone who makes a lot of mistakes . ’

He was waiting for the opportunity to completely chase him away .
While he was thinking about this and that, the front of the 7th corps entered the camp .

“It’s corps commander Aaron Tate of the 7th corps . ”

At Aaron’s words, the guards saluted and then opened the entrance .
As he moved inside the camp, many scattered soldiers approached .

“You achieved victory while facing the Istel kingdom?”
“Based on the words that arrived yesterday, they say that the strategy was planned by the 7th corps . ”
“Nowadays I hear a lot about the 7th corps . ”

They mumbled while looking at the soldiers of the 7th corps .
It seemed like rumors were being spread by the soldiers of the other corps .

“Uhm . ”
“Ahem . ”

The soldiers of the 7th corps raised their chins up and widened their shoulders at the proud feeling .
Then, a group of people showed themselves from a deep part of the camp .
The group consisted of Benjamin, the staff officers, and the corps commanders .
Aaron and Roan hurriedly got off the horse and bowed .

“Oh! Corps commander Tate!”

Benjamin brightly smiled and faced Aaron .
However, he was boiling inwardly .

‘Damn . If I had known that Istel kingdom was that weak, I would have set up the camp in Bink region . ’

He missed the opportunity to accumulate merits .
Benjamin was angry at that and felt regret .

“I received the report from Phillip Hass . You’ve truly achieved an excellent merit . ”

Aaron slightly moved his sight and looked at Phillip .
Phillip bitterly smiled and shook his head .
His expression was somewhat bad .
Benjamin continued speaking .

“But you made one mistake . ”

He clicked his tongue as if it was regrettable .

“Why didn’t you push back Istel kingdom even further when you had already achieved victory?”
“That……”

When Aaron was about to reply with a calm voice .
Benjamin shook his hand .

“Anyways, it’s regrettable . It was an opportunity to annihilate them . So I was saying……”

In the first place, he didn’t even want to listen to Aaron’s story .
Benjamin continued saying with a chilly expression .

“From now on, I’ll lead the soldiers myself and intercept the **** . ”

Aaron didn’t say anything .

‘He’s looking down on them . ’

His heart scattered because they blocked the Istel kingdom’s attack with just three or four corps, and also gave them a big blow .

‘I now know the reason why Phillip Hass’s expression wasn’t good . ’

Probably some other commander would have been seduced Benjamin with sweet words .

‘Stupid **** . ’

Istel kingdom wasn’t that easy of an opponent .
Benjamin grabbed Aaron’s shoulders .

“You should be tired because you raised big merits in this battle and even retreated while protecting the camp until the end . ”

His next words felt somewhat weird .

“That’s why I’m going to exclude you from the next battle out of consideration for you . ”
“Yes? But……”

Aaron frowned and raised his head .
He could see Benjamin’s face right in front of him .
He had an expression that was smiling but was somewhat severe .
Pressure and overpowering intent was felt from his eyes .

“But what…… . ?”

Benjamin repeated Aaron’s last words .
Aaron tightly bit his lower lip and bowed .

“The 7th corps is to rest and then annihilate Istel kingdom when they get nearby . ”

In one sentence, he was leaving the main part for himself and giving him the leftovers .
Aaron couldn’t reply easily and ground his teeth .
Benjamin looked at that and snorted .

‘You’ve already raised a big merit . I can’t let you accumulate more merits that catch the eyes of others . On top of that Aaron, you bastard………’

He wasn’t even on his side .
If he kneeled down and pledged allegiance to him, he was thinking of using him, but now this wasn’t the case .
He felt rotten when he saw that he was acting friendly with Reil .

“Then, I’ll be asking you . ”

Benjamin didn’t even listen to Aaron’s answer, and disappeared to the insides of the camp .
The staff officers and commanders followed his back .
Phillip, who stayed still until the end, approached and grabbed Aaron’s shoulders .

“Corps commander Tate . It’s useless . Although I tried to express my opinion, as the mouthing of the others was too strong……”

Phillip let out a long sigh .
Aaron forcefully smiled and shook his head .

“You didn’t do anything wrong . ”

The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly .
Phillip just nodded instead of replying, and then walked away .
Aaron looked at him getting further away and let out a sigh once more time .

“Whew . How untrue . ”

It wasn’t that he was greedy in accumulating merits .
However, it felt like he was everything taken away from what he had done .
Then, Roan approached .

“Roan . It’s useless . Everything was taken away by them . ”

Aaron couldn’t even look into Roan’s eyes properly .
However, Roan’s expression was quite composed .
No, there was rather a faint smile in it .
He whispered in Aaron’s ear .

“No . Rather, it turned out well . ”

Aaron opened his two eyes widely .
Roan continued speaking .

“The opportunity for us to end this war has come . ”

<  War and more war (7) > End

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Thank you for reading!

Translator : Subak

Proofreader: st8_lupe .