496

Episode 496 I'll try my best. (1)

Jiselle laughed and clenched and unclenched her fists. We can't afford to make a mistake here. We have something really important coming up.

He said with a trembling smile.

"I know that the rule is to do personal maintenance yourself."

Then one of the veterans opened his eyes wide and asked.

"Where can you find such an army?"

"… … ."

"Where is the army that protects all that, you punk?"

"… … ."

"Ha, I don't know why kids these days are like this. They don't know how the world works."

He got up from his seat and approached Giselle.

"My name is Victor. I am the squad leader here. Since you are a new recruit, I will personally be training you. Do you understand?"

Victor continued, patting Giselle's neck as she remained silent.

"Why aren't you answering? Does the military look easy to you?"

"...no."

"Or is your military life over?"

"… … ."

"Go and do your laundry right now. If you don't want to get beaten up like a dog by me here. Or you can just go upstairs and do your laundry."

'Should I kill him?'

Jiselle was still smiling with the corners of her lips trembling. She wanted to kill him, but she had to hold back.

With Mana's thread, you can just snap his neck without anyone knowing. But what if you really kill him? This unit might be able to pull out of the negotiation table.

Because there is a custom of not taking a unit that has been in an accident to important places.

'Should I beat you a little secretly?'

That was also dangerous. This unit had to follow along safely to the negotiating table without any accidents.

'You little shit, I remembered your face.'

"What are you doing! Don't go quickly!"

"...yes."

Jiselle went to the laundry room carrying a bunch of clothes and started doing laundry. His mouth was sticking out as he did the laundry.

"Ah, this absurdity in the barracks really needs to be eliminated."

I thought that Fenris would have to catch me and conduct a surprise inspection. I knew that the military discipline was strict and that such things would not happen, but I still didn't know.

Because soldiers have been continuously being recruited recently.

Moreover, the Northern Army was an army composed of soldiers from various territories. It was impossible to guarantee that there would be no irregularities in the barracks.

In order to demonstrate the best fighting ability, such a thing must never happen. Jisel decided that he had to reestablish military discipline after a long time.

"Lucas was good at this kind of thing."

Lucas was a mercenary like Giselle in his previous life. He was also an amazing laundry worker when he was the youngest.

Suddenly, I missed that face. Even though it hadn't been that long since we broke up.

When I returned after finishing my laundry, the soldiers' armament was waiting for me.

'Oh, this is really dirty.'

The equipment was in a shambles. You could tell just how low-level the Royal Army's lowest-ranking soldiers were.

I understand. It was recently completely torn down and reorganized. They even accepted a bunch of random people to fill the positions.

After the fall of the Marquis of Branford, supplies were not properly supplied, so it was natural that the condition was bad.

'No matter what, discipline has become this lax.'

The royal army I had seen before was not like that. Maurice, who was the commander-in-chief, was the type to take meticulous care of the army, if nothing else.

It was clear that they were just increasing the number without any proper inspection.

Jiselle took out a rag and oil and cleaned each of the veterans' weapons. She sharpened the blades and fixed any problematic areas.

Honestly, I could have finished it in an instant, but I had to hide my strength for now.

Still, everyone was amazed by Giselle's incredible maintenance skills.

"Wow, whoa, what's that kid?"

"Why is it so fast?"

"There's light coming from the weapon?"

The soldiers who were doing other things also ran over to watch. They said that it was the first time in their lives that they had seen someone so good at maintaining weapons.

Victor asked with a slightly uneasy expression.

"You… were you originally in the military? Could it be Delphine?"

Recently, the Duke's soldiers have joined in many places. The existing Kingdom soldiers cannot treat them lightly.

This is because their appearance and skills were superior to those of the royal army soldiers.

So when the kingdom's army was reorganized, most of them were organized into rough and tough units.

Jiselle shook her head and said.

"It's true that I was in the military. Not in the Delphine Army."

"Then where… … ."

"Mr. Raypold."

"Oh, that female countess? The one who ate a lot of the eastern territory a while ago?"

"Yes, I came back a little later."

Jiselle didn't hide the fact that she was a former(?) soldier. No matter how much you try to disguise it, it's hard to hide the traces of having served in the military.

Of course, I couldn't sell the names of Fenris or Ferdium, so I sold Leipold's name instead.

Because he knew Leipold's commanders and military system well, he was good at lying.

Victor asked curiously.

"But how did you end up here? Isn't it going well there these days?"

"Ah, my original hometown is the East. I was forcibly conscripted during the Eastern War and then released."

"Really? But you're saying you're going to be a soldier again?"

"Well, the world is so dangerous these days, isn't it hard to farm or do business? I heard a rumor that Your Majesty has recovered his health, so I volunteered for the royal army."

At those words, Victor and the other soldiers all looked at Giselle with pitiful eyes.

"I should have just gone back to Leipold."

"Why? Is there a problem?"

"No, no."

Victor licked his lips. Once you enlist in the Royal Army, it's almost impossible to get out.

There is a mandatory service period in every military, but the problem was something else.

Victor sighed after thinking about it for a moment. He was a new employee, but he couldn't keep quiet.

"Hey, newbie. Listen carefully."

"What?"

"You know the Northern Army? The Northern Army commander."

For a moment, Jiselle's eyes became bleak. She was contemplating whether she should kill the man in front of her.

As he slowly raised his hand, something strange came out of Victor's mouth.

"We might fight that scary northern army."

"...yes?"

"Don't you know the Northern Army? Don't you know the Earl of Fenris?"

"I've heard the rumors… …

"Yes, we have to fight the monster army that is said to be the strongest in the kingdom."

"Why… … are you fighting?"

Victor glanced around furtively. Other soldiers were also gathering around Giselle and talking.

Because the battle with the Northern Army was the hottest topic for them these days.

"It's a rumor, but the commander of the Northern Army disobeyed His Majesty's orders."

"Yes, so there is talk that we will join forces with the Duke and attack the Northern Army soon."

"If we fight that crazy army, we'll all die."

The soldiers looked terrified. The reputation of the Northern Army was widely known. The thought of fighting such a fearsome force was bound to be terrifying.

Victor shouted excitedly at the tumultuous soldiers.

"Why are you making such a fuss? It's just a rumor that Earl Fenris is scary! Did you see it for yourself?"

The 2nd Corps of the Royal Army had never fought alongside the Northern Army, and had never seen the Northern Army fight. They had only heard rumors.

Of course, Victor honestly did not want to fight such a scary army. But as a squad leader, he could not show fear.

Victor looked at Giselle and spoke confidently.

"Hey, rookie. Don't be so nervous. Isn't Count Fenris a human? Won't he go in through the window? If he were in front of me, he'd just get his stomach ripped open and die!"

"...okay."

"Honestly, if I had only learned the Mana training method, I would have been stronger than most knights."

Then all the soldiers around nodded.

"Yes, the squad leader is really good at fighting."

"He is a man born with strength."

"You said you killed a knight when you fought the Duke last time?"

Of course, the knight was badly injured and had lost all his strength, but it was true that Victor was the one who finished him off.

Jiselle nodded with soulless eyes.

"You seem really strong."

"Okay, so if you have to fight the Northern Army, don't be afraid and just follow me. Do you understand?"

"...yes."

"Honestly, that kid is all a bubble. Even if the nobles fought, how well would they fight? It was all done by the people below."

"… … That's right."

"If we fight, we will kill Earl Fenris and claim credit."

"… … I will try hard."

"I like your enthusiasm as a newbie. Since you seem to be good at weapon maintenance, you should continue to take charge of it. However, I'll exclude you from other tasks."

"… … ."

Victor congratulated Giselle and returned to his seat. The soldiers also patted Giselle on the shoulder and returned.

'What is this… … .'

It was a great pity that Giselle could not reveal the fact that he was the commander of the Northern Army.

Not long after Giselle received such powerful encouragement(?), it was dinner time.

Jiselle couldn't help but look dumbfounded when she saw the food she was given.

"Huh?"

The diet was a mess. All I had was a bowl of soup and a piece of bread.

As far as I know, the diet of the Royal Army has improved greatly since the drought, thanks to the steady supply of food from Fenris.

In particular, chicken was always given in abundance.

'Even though we cut off support, there's no way we'd run out of food already.'

The Marquis of Branford did not waste the food and kept it well stocked. He even brought along wizards and paid special attention to freezing it.

But now that I look at it, isn't this just giving enough to keep you from dying?

Jiselle looked at Victor and asked.

"Why is the food like this? Mr. Leipold eats very well."

Amelia may not know about anything else, but she takes great care of her soldiers. The Leipolds are famous for eating as well as Fenris.

Victor knew that too, so he licked his lips and spoke.

"Oh, it wasn't like this before. We were eating really well until recently."

"But why did it turn out like this?"

Victor looked around again and whispered.

"Your Majesty has regained his health and taken power. The nobles have also been replaced."

"I heard that news."

"I heard that the people above are stealing everything. They took a huge amount of food."

"… … ."

"Ugh, shit. I'm starting to get annoyed when I eat like this after eating so well. But what can I do?"

"Will I gain any strength by eating this?"

"But in a world like today, the only place that gives this much is the military."

"is it so?"

"People living in the capital can't even eat one proper meal a day. They say everything they have is taken away. We're soldiers, so we get to eat two meals. So why don't you just stay in Leipold's Army?"

Victor grumbled softly and brought the bread to his mouth. Giselle sighed.

How long has it been since the high-ranking nobles fell from power and it's already like this?

'There are a lot of really messy guys.'

I could see once again how hard it was for the existing nobles to lead the kingdom.

Jiselle shook her head and ate her dinner. It was so disgustingly tasteless.

The training began the next day. Jiselle also participated in the training obediently without much objection.

I had to remain faithful to my military life until I went to the negotiating table.

"One, two! One, two!"

One of the most common trainings soldiers underwent was sprinting. This was because it was necessary to build up basic physical strength to make marching easier.

Sometimes, they run nonstop to the point of being reckless.

Sometimes they were pushed around by their commanders until they collapsed from exhaustion, and sometimes they even had fights among themselves for pride.

The soldiers who had been running hard began to fall down one by one with astonished expressions after some time had passed.

"That kid… … What the… … ."

"Why do you run so well… … ."

"Weren't you a messenger before?"

Only Jiselle was running with a calm expression.

He was just running at a normal pace, holding back his strength as much as possible.

Thud, thud, thud.

All the soldiers who were running fell down on the parade ground. Jiselle clicked her tongue when she saw that.

'Oh my, why are you all so weak? Is it because you haven't even eaten properly?'

The soldiers here were so weak, they were so weak. If you fell like this in Fenris, you would immediately go to special training.

Even though their standards were different, the other soldiers all looked at Jiselle like she was a monster.

Victor, who had been following along to the end because of his pride, spoke out of breath.

"Ugh… … You… … Running… … Ugh… … You're really good at it… … ."

"Oh, yes."

"Today… … Heh, heh… … It's the first time… … so I let it slide… … Heh… … ."

"Oh, yes."

Despite the soulless answer of Giselle, Victor tried hard to make excuses for how much he had been forgiving.

There was no way to hide the specialness of Jiselle. What could I do when she didn't even get tired of this level of training?

It was the same in other trainings.

"shield!"

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The training of the infantry was the most important training. Even the drill instructors were strict about this part.

"Stab!"

"Stab!"

At the command, the soldiers thrust their spears through the gaps in their shields. Their target was the straw pillar ahead.

Phew! Phew! Phew!

At first, everything was fine. But as time went by, the soldiers became tired and their posture became sloppy. Their shields went down and there were gaps here and there.

Since there were many new soldiers, most of them were unable to stab properly and instead just swerved to the side. The heights of the spears were all different.

Even in the midst of all this, there was someone who shone.

"What is that guy?"

The instructor looked at one of the soldiers with a surprised look.

Usually, if you train to this extent, everyone gets exhausted and becomes a mess. That was inevitable.

But the soldier was still in good spirits.

He still held his shield and thrust his spear with more precision than anyone else. The instructor had never seen such a soldier in his life.

"Stop!"

The instructor stopped training and approached Jiselle.

"What is your name?"

"It's Dougley!"

The instructor nodded several times and then shouted loudly.

"You little punks! Even new recruits can do this, so what are you guys doing? Everyone, run to the parade ground!"

The soldiers began to prepare for battle with pale faces. Jiselle could only stare blankly at them.

The instructor smiled happily.

"I've never seen a soldier as hard-working as you during my military service. I wish everyone was half as hard-working as you are. If anyone ever bullies you, just tell me."

"...yes."

"You said you were in the Leipold Army before? As rumored, you are of a high standard."

"… … ."

Amelia also ended up being praised unintentionally.

Jiselle didn't really work hard. She just got bored and fell asleep.

The difference between him and the soldiers was that great.

At every training session, Giselle received a lot of love from her instructors. She received so much praise that the other soldiers gritted their teeth but could not touch Giselle.

So, Jiselle spent her time being bullied a bit and training hard(?).

A few days later, all members of the 3rd Infantry Company of the 2nd Corps gathered on the parade ground.

The infantry company commander stood on a high platform, and in front of him, Giselle was facing the company commander.

The infantry company commander spoke to everyone in a solemn voice.

"Attention everyone! I would like to congratulate a soldier who has shown exceptional performance. It's Dougley, standing right in front of me!"

"… … ."

"Dougley is the pride of our army and a role model for all soldiers… … ."

The infantry company commander's speech continued boringly.

In front of him, Giselle still stood with a soulless expression.

Before he knew it, he had become the best soldier in his infantry company and was even receiving a commendation.