Chapter 110: Enemy Ambush (1/2)

Berengar and his forces had arrived in the Viscounty of Schwaz after a few days worth of marching. Obviously, they had made camp throughout the nights. Berengar was trying to lose as few forces as possible to attrition; as such, he had kept his forces far from exhaustion and well-fed, hydrated, and equipped to combat the effects of the cold. To him, every one of his soldiers was a precious member of his society; those lost were not easily replaced without his land suffering from it. War was necessary for expansion, but he did not want to fight a war without regard to his soldiers' lives. As such, they marched at a safe pace.

Berengar was currently on watch for the night, one of the men who were on patrol had gotten too cold, to the point where his health was beginning to suffer, Berengar who was passing by, offered to take his place, as such the Viscount and Commander of the Army was standing on watch with a group of foot soldiers. Berengar decided to break the ice with the simple infantrymen to who he was standing aside.

”So... What are your names?”

The two men looked at each other with odd expressions before answering Berengar's question as if it were coming from the commanding officer and Viscount of Kufstein.

”My Lord, I am Private Arnwald, and this is Private-First-Class Bardo!”

Berengar spoke in an informal tone as he addressed the men

”I am Berengar... Though I suppose you already knew that.”

The two men nodded as they gazed at Berengar in awe. Berengar was more than just their Lord and Commander; he was close to a legend. His childhood infirmity was well known, even among the ranks of his army. Yet, despite all of that, he had risen above such circumstances after twenty long years of suffering, only to be plotted against by his own brother, surviving numerous attempts on his life, including a rebellion by Lord Ulrich where he was able to rise to the position of Regent and crush his neighbor expanding his family's territory to the level of a Viscounty.

The two men nearly nodded their heads in silence, afraid to say something that might offend the man they looked up to. However, before the conversation could continue, Berengar spotted what appeared to be a shimmer not far away under the bright full moon in the sky above. He patted Private Arnwald on his shoulder with a grave look on his face and commanded the man with a tone filled with authority, immediately dropping his informal speech as he did so.

”Private Arnwald, I need you to sound the alarms as quickly as possible!”

Arnwald did not know why Berengar was so serious, but an order was an order, and he would be damned if he failed to fulfill it; the man saluted Berengar by pounding his chest before running off to do as he was commanded.

”As you command, My Lord!”

After Arnwald ran off, Berengar unsheathed his sword and aimed it in the direction of the darkness ahead. While doing so, he chatted with Bardo.