Chapter 3 – Union in the Dark

After arriving safely in Krasland, I joined the victory party in the barracks where the common soldiers are staying and satisfied my hunger.

At the same time, I continued to gather information, and from what I found out, Krasland was the safest place to be in right now.

"But the only way for me to live here without connections is to become a soldier. And I'm afraid that's going to be the end of the line for me one day."

If I go out on the battlefield like this, I'm sure to die.

I'll be exhausted just from marching, and I can already see myself being crushed without being able to avoid a goblin's club.

I don't want to join the ranks of the corpses I've seen today.

"Start myself from the very rank and file and do a sink or swim on my own? There is only sinking for me in there."

But as it stands, it's really the only career I can rely on at the moment.

As I was walking through the barracks, I saw someone in the corner of the dimly lit hall.

"Who the hell is in this place at this hour?"

Advertisements

Almost all of the soldiers were either drinking at the victory party or already asleep in their rooms.

"Hey, what are you doing out here? You'll catch a cold."

"...Um, you are?"

I don't know if it's good for me to greet so casually, but when I heard the lone person's voice in this dim area, it struck a familiarity.

The voice was from a girl, no, a woman around twenty years old.

She turned her face in response, and from there, I saw her beautiful face, shining under the moonlight streaming in from the window.

The girl is Baroness Lucy Finlay, whom I called out to back in that day.

"Ah. I'm very sorry for not recognizing you, ma'am! I also apologize for my rude attitude!"

I hurriedly saluted her and apologized for my rudeness.

An unpleasant sweat ran down my spine.

After what seemed like tens of seconds, minutes, or perhaps much longer than it actually was, I heard the other party opening her mouth.

"You...By any chance, are you the one in the carriage earlier? And for you to come here...Has the victory celebration ended, perhaps?"

Fortunately, the tone of her voice was gentle. There was no expression of anger on her face. If y ou ar e ab le to r ead this me ssag e, you are rea di ng from an unau thori zed aggre ga te site. Rea d at m y Wor dPr ess to sup po rt me an d my transl ati ons.

Instead, it was more like lethargy or tiredness.

"Yes, Ma'am! Most of the people have already returned to the barracks. However, it seems that some are still in the mess hall continuing the victory party."

"Fufufu. I understand. And you don't have to be so stiff on me."

The other person laughed at my sudden change of attitude.

I was so nervous about the unexpected situation that my tone had become too rigid. Realizing this, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. But there was no way I could run away now.

I regained my composure and asked her a question.

"Pardon my discourtesy and my uneducated manners, but why are you here, Lady Finlay? You weren't present at the victory party earlier, and the commander's barracks should be further away."

But when she was asked that question, her eyes became a little downcast.

"I had...something to accomplish first. Besides, if I, as a superior officer, were to go to that place that was in the middle of a lively mood, it would only ruin the atmosphere."

"Is that so? They're all drunk, so I don't think they'll mind."

As I said this, I couldn't help but think she's a kind person.

As I had assumed back in that day, Lucy seemed to be an unusual type of aristocrat.

Not the high and mighty types like the count I heard earlier, but one who treats lower classes as equal people.

At the same time, I thanked the heavens that I was lucky enough that the first aristocrat I met in this world was her.

"If it's alright with you, is there anything I could be of help with?"

"That's impossible. I have to do this myself. Actually, it is a matter of choosing a new adjutant...."

"You need a new lieutenant? Ah."

Upon hearing that, I was finally convinced that she is now alone.

Perhaps the previous battle had caused some damage to the unit she was leading.

And perhaps the person whom she visited at that time was her adjutant.

"I see. I'm sorry I asked you such a strange question."

"No, it was my fault. I've been dithering about it for too long, in fact, even when I am not supposed to...."

Advertisements

She lowered the volume of her voice as she said this.

Ah, crap. Did I step on a landmine or something?

This is bad...and we had just met again.

But I also can't let her get away this time. If I miss this chance, all that awaits me is death on the battlefield!

The battlefield scenes that I had seen today came back to my mind and pushed me to take a step forward.

"Is something troubling you, milady? If you would like, this humble soldier is a good listener to concerns. I may not be of help in providing solutions, but it's proven effective that if you talk your troubles to someone, it will help in making you feel better."

I put on a harmless expression and slowly approached her.

The other side seemed confused at first but nodded after a bit of consideration.

We sat down at a nearby table, facing one another.

"I didn't introduce myself yet, didn't I? I'm Lucy Finlay, the eldest daughter of Baron Finlay."

"I am Sanada Yuushin. Sanada is the family name, and Yuushin is my given name."

"Sir Yuushin Sanada, huh. What a strange name for a knight."

I didn't correct her thoughts about the knight part. It has been like this ever since, and I don't want them to find out my actual status either.

After that, she took a deep breath and began to tell me about herself.

"...Unlike our renowned father, I'm not very good at commanding troops. I have the qualities already ingrained in me in my childhood, so I already knew what would happen and what to do and not do. Yet, for some reason, I always fail to step forward at the most critical moments... Because of this, the morale of the soldiers has sunk rock bottom, and I'm losing my confidence as a commander."

"...may I know the reason for it? In my case, knowing and predicting the future outcome is already a great quality for a commander."

Battlefield awareness and the ability to make quick decisions are undoubtedly the peak essentials in being a competent officer of any unit. And along with magic in play, the troops should bore no prejudice even though she's a young woman. In fact, based on the reactions in the carriage earlier, they even have high expectations of her. This ch ap ter tran sl ati on is made pos sibl e by stab bi ng wi t h a syr in ge transl at ions. che c k up- to-d at e tran sla tio ns on my Wor dpr es s si t e.

"I'm embarrassed to say this, but I couldn't help but get tensed at monsters when I see them."

Lucy looked down in shame, And then, she started to explain her dislike of monsters.

After a while...

"It's...certainly serious. Do your men know about this?"

"The only people who know about it are the retainers who have served me since my father's time. As for the rest, they only think of it as a joke. That it was just a lousy coverup for my own incompetence in commanding."

"Really?"

"Yes. Like "You, the daughter of Commander Finlay, is afraid of monsters?" it has been on and on. The bar on me was just set too high. It's pretty laughable to the point that it's unbelievable, isn't it? But it's the truth."

"I see."

And I was exactly right in my hunch. It really was a bit too much for the young woman.

If this continues, her other subordinates would think of Lucy as a weak commander, and it won't be long before she loses her subordinates' trust.

"If I don't achieve a certain level of accomplishment in some field, it will be our house's downfall. I can't let the Finlay Barony die out in my generation."

Lucy clenches her fists as she says this.

"But...no matter how much I thought about it...I couldn't help but be afraid I'll injure another officer again because of my weakness."

Advertisements

The volume of her voice dropped again as she continued to speak.

To think that her case is this bad...still, her fear of monsters should be resolved soon, or there would be more consequences.

In fact, I've already come up with one countermeasure, but I'll be taking a big risk here.

It was even worse than the risk I made when talking to Lucy while on the carriage.

But what I'll get if I win this will be an all-time high.

(What are you hesitating for after coming this far? This is the only way to get as far as we can out of this place.)

I looked at Lucy again and spoke to her.

"Actually, I know a good way to build up a courage enough to prevent being intimidated by monsters."

"Oh, really?"

Lucy immediately took a bite at what I was about to say.

The only thing left to do was get her to accept my suggestion naturally, which would also require us to be alone.

"But there's just one problem. It's not something I can show to anyone, to be exact. Do you know of a secluded place?"

"Then why don't we go to my room? The commander's quarters are quite private."

This put me in an even more surprise, enough to arouse suspicion to me instead. Is she this desperate? Even though she's a soldier, she's still a bona fide single woman.

Or maybe because she has fearsome magic as they say, that she's confident on this? But by the sound of it, she really wanted to change herself that badly.

"There aren't many people who use those quarters in the first place. After all, most nobles have mansions in Krasland, so many of them opt to work from there instead."

A mansion, huh. That's the privileged class for you. Even the scale of living is different.

"I see. I'll be intruding you then."

And so, just like that, we headed to Lucy's private quarters with just the two of us.