Vol 1 Chapter 36 (1/2)

Preparing to Sortie

“Now then, you all. That att.i.tude is good. Listen.”

Royce, accompanied by a tall knight, stood in front of Wynn and the others, and puffed his chest out, allowing his swollen belly to jiggle.

Wynn, Locke, Wedge, and Reeno, as his subordinates, saluted their superior. Royce nodded at them, and returned the salute, then began to speak.

“I am Royce, your superior. As you can see, my rank is Lieutenant. And this is Vice-captain Kelvin.”[1]

“Nice to meet you all.”

Lieutenant Kelvin, who was introduced as Royce’s adjutant, saluted.

Unlike Royce, christened Fat Bald Toad by Locke, who was grimacing, he was a man with delicate features, which gave a meek impression, and his fine eyes carried a light of intelligence.

“First, let’s make sure. You were a.s.signed to this platoon for scouting and patrolling. We will go as a smaller group in front of the main forces to search for the enemy, and once we find them, report to the main army on the double. Since you’ve been a.s.signed to this platoon, I a.s.sume you all have learned reconnaissance and stealth techniques at the Knight School?”

“Yes. We have been trained.”

Locke, acting as their representative, responded.

‘Rather, can you even scout, like that?’

That thought crossed Locke’s mind, but he didn’t say it.

“Alright. There is still some time before the army begins its march, so in that time—”

Royce glared at his subordinates who were lined up in front of him, and gave a big sigh.

“Well, you probably had not been notified of your a.s.signment beforehand. You three apprentice knights, metal armour will surely make a sound. It is important to be silent in a reconnaissance mission. Come to the equipment section and get the knight’s leather armour. And that commoner there— no, Knight Cadet Wynn.”

Royce frowned in displeasure.

“Change what you’re wearing.”

“Huh?”

Wynn reflexively looked down at his body. In the first place, he didn’t have metal armour on, and was already wearing leather armour. Unlike the others, there shouldn’t have been any problems with his attire, or so he thought.

“What is with that filthy appearance? Are you trying to sully the glory of the Remuls.h.i.+l Empire’s Knight Order?”

He was wearing worn-out leather armour over a worn out s.h.i.+rt and trousers. Compared to the three students, who were wearing metal armour, or even Royce and Kelvin, who were already wearing the Knight’s leather armour that was used for scouting, his appearance was conspicuously shabby.

The armour worn by seasoned veterans would get damaged. This was inevitable, and the scratches were badges of pride reflecting their experience.

However, the armour Wynn wore was so damaged, it was as if it had been salvaged from a battlefield somewhere.

“When we set off from the Imperial Capital, there will be many civilians who will behold our gallant figures. When they see your s.h.i.+tty-looking armour among the knights, it will shame the knight order. Follow the other three to the equipment division and get a new suit of armour. Ah, and you should also get a new sword. Don’t get an old, used sword, but a brand-new one. Kelvin, lead them to the equipment division.”

“Yes sir. But, what about the procedures?”

“When I saw the name of that commoner in the list of people a.s.signed to me, I already took care of them. You should only have to tell them my name. I leave the rest to you. There’s not much time until we set off. Hurry.”

“Yes sir.”

In the end, the disdain never left Royce’s face, from the time he first faced them, to the time he walked away.

“My subordinates are all commoners, huh… I got the short end of the stick…”

Grumbling and muttering, he seemed to be walking to where the knights of the other scouting groups were.

“Okay okay, everybody. Listen up.”

Wynn and the others gaped at his receding figure, but were brought to their senses by a clapping sound.

Kelvin was full of smiles after Royce left. That man seemed completely divorced from the concept of a knight. He didn’t give off any hint of the strict, rigid rules a.s.sociated with knighthood.

“First of all, as the Captain said, let’s go to get the equipment. Please follow me to the equipment division.”

“Uh, Um…”

Wynn called out timidly to Kelvin, who was about to lead them like a teacher leading children.

“Wynn-kun, is it? Did you have a question?”

“Yes, sir. Since I’m a Knight Cadet, I thought it was against the rules for me to get a knight’s sword.[2]”

“Ah, that.”

Kelvin nodded.

“There will be no problem. Rather than that, we are headed to a battlefield, where rules don’t exist. In order to survive, you need good equipment and a good deployment…… Well, we can’t choose where we’re deployed, but we should do as much as we can about the equipment and supplies.”

“Huh, I understand.[3]”

“Do you have any other questions? If you do, please ask.”

The four students exchanged glances, while Kelvin continued to smile at them.

“Anyways, to tell you the truth, since you guys have only experienced training missions, and since there haven’t been any live combat situations, I believe that you’ll experience various feelings, but try hard not to die. The first step is getting equipment.”

Kelvin addressed the group of four with a light tone as he led them to the equipment division.

“Umm… Is it okay that we don’t stand in line?”

There was a long line of people in front of the equipment division’s warehouse, all waiting to get spare equipment. Among them were also people wearing rusted armour and swords. Their impatience could be seen on their faces.

Reeno took a sidelong glance at the line, then timidly asked Kelvin, who continued to march forward.

Some of the knights glared at them for completely ignoring the line.

“There is no problem.”

Kelvin kept walking, ignoring the line.

Surprisingly, Kelvin had completely ignored even the Majors[4] in the line, who held a higher rank than him.

“…Sheesh, What are they doing? We’re about to sortie, and they still haven’t finished giving out equipment?”

“That’s right,” Kelvin agreed, when Wynn let out a murmur.

“Unlike the Knights from the front lines, the Knights who protect the Capital clearly have no sense of urgency. If enough of the knights had that sense of urgency, then the line would move more quickly. I wonder how many people of the upper echelons of the Knight Order have that sense of urgency?”

Despite the bustle around them, Kelvin’s words, which had digressed into a monologue, stuck in Wynn and the other’s ears.

“Did I make you nervous? Please relax. Even though our Captain, Lieutenant Royce, said things like getting a.s.signed commoners is the short end of the stick, he still does his job well.”

Kelvin smirked at the Knights in the long queue who couldn’t conceal their irritation, and then turned to face the rookie knights who were his subordinates.

“It’s rather strange for rookie knights about to go to battle to be able to skip the line to get equipment. Is it really alright? It is critical to have proper equipment to survive. Those who don’t prepare their equipment will die first!”