Counter Invasion (1)

And so the march began.

As we climbed up the mountain, the temperature began to drop.

The biggest problem in crossing the Krill Mountains was exactly the temperature.

The climate of this world is basically mild, and the winters are not cold.

That's probably why they are vulnerable to the cold.

In fact, the notoriety of the Krill Mountains probably stems from this cold.

But if anything, the winters of Earth felt even colder to me.

It was cold enough for me to endure, but not for the cold-sensitive soldiers.

They were shivering and complaining.

They didn't seem to be able to adapt at all.

The steep terrain was not as bad as I thought it would be.

It's not as high as the Alps, maybe around 2000 meters.

Of course, it was dangerous terrain.

I had [invincibility for 30 seconds], but there were soldiers who fell off cliffs or lost their lives in landslides.

In other words, the number of my soldiers was dwindling.

Thanks to this, the morale which I managed to keep up, started to drop.

Even so, they seemed to be holding out for the prize money that will guarantee them a lifetime of riches if they take over the Bridget Kingdom.

Even Zeff just shrugged silently.

"Are you okay?" <Julius >

"Yeah. I'm fine" <Zeff >

"Are you shaking?" <Julius >

"No. I did it on purpose. I'm not shaking. Just keeping my muscles loose." <Zeff >

"Okay." <Julius >

Although he's trembling, his self-esteem is high.

As I was talking with Zeff, Fihatri came to me with a lot of blankets.

"Fihatri." <Julius >

"Yes, sir?" <Count Fihatri>

"What do you think is the most important thing for a commander?" <Julius >

I asked him a somewhat abrupt question.

"I think it's courage, because if the commander is afraid, there's nothing he can do." <Count Fihatri>

"Of course, courage is important. But isn't the most important thing maintaining morale? If the morale is high, the soldiers will naturally follow. That's why I don't need a blanket." <Julius >

If only the commander used a blanket, it would increase the jealousy of the soldiers.

Instead, I needed to show them that I was struggling just as much as they were.

I had to do something to stop their morale from dropping.

I quickly made my way through the soldiers, ate with them and showed them that I too shiver in the cold.

To raise their morale I also gave a speech, with the princess by my side.

"I'm sure you're tired from all the walking we did today. I'm sorry to have to ask you to gather here during your much-needed rest, but let me make this clear. It's hard for all of us, even for me. And yet, I endure under the same conditions as you. So you must endure, too. If you endure here and now, Bridget will be ours. That means you'll get your prize and also be remembered in the history of the continent. You will be a living witness to history that your descendants will be proud of for the rest of their lives!" <Julius >

The prize money they would receive and the pride they would feel after returning.

With these things, I was able to win over the soldiers.

Thanks to this, the number of grumbling soldiers steadily decreased.

The look in the soldiers' eyes changed, and their morale did not drop any further, it stayed above 70, since I don't have an identified command rank I assume this is because the princess with a high command value was next to me while I spoke.

We braved the cold and kept walking; I was with the soldiers until the end.

It was hard work, of course, but we persevered because we had to overcome it to reach the Bridget Kingdom.

After stopping the morale from plummeting in this way, I moved on to take a more practical approach, a way for the soldiers to stay warm, if you will.

Shivering in the cold would only exhaust their strength.

If I could keep them even a little warm, wouldn't we be able to get through this summit area?

Then I thought of one of the videos I had seen on the Internet.

I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try.

"Fihatri! Gather only stones that are half the size of a person's head and burn them in a bonfire. Gather as many stones as you can with the soldiers!" <Julius >

"No way, general! You want me to hold that baking stone...? It's too hot! I don't think that's quite right..." <Count Fihatri>

Fihatri shook his head in astonishment at my words.

"That's not so bad. What do you say we give it a try?" <Julius >

"Oh, no, we can't hold a baking stone...! No, I'd rather not." <Count Fihatri>

Fihatri was dismayed.

"If you hold it directly, it will be hot and burn you. Gather all the rocks in one place and put out the fire. Rebuild the fire in another place and dig the ground where you put out the fire!"

I immediately started digging with the soldiers.

"Throw in all the remaining stones!"

Baking stones have the property of not cooling down easily.

This means that the heat will last longer.

Especially on the ground warmed up under the fire.

"Cover the top with dirt!" <Julius >

Soon the stones were out of sight.

I touched the ground where the stones were buried, and it looked pretty good.

"Lie down on this." <Julius >

Fihatri, who looked far, more convinced than when I told him to hold the baking stone, quickly lay down.

"General...it's warm!" <Count Fihatri>

"I see. But you didn't need the stone earlier, did you?" <Julius >

"No, not when it comes to this!" <Count Fihatri>

"All right, now get up. You're a noble. You can't be seen down in the dirt." <Julius >

"That's what...is for." <Count Fihatri>

"No commanders, including myself, are to use it. Give it to the soldiers!" <Julius >

I dragged a reluctant Fihatri out and had the soldiers dig and use the same method to heat the stones.

Of course, no matter how hard the stones heat up, they only last a limited time.

"Take turns trying to warm yourself up a little, even ten minutes lying down will warm you up a bit." <Julius >

Even if it is not of that great use, isn't it important to show that the general is trying to do something?

When I went around showing such a figure to each of the 1,000 soldiers, the morale indeed went up by 5 and became 75.