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The Empire isn’t much (1)
“The imperial paladin was no big deal.”
Bernardo Eli constantly spoke of his heroic feat.
It seemed that he was quite proud of being able to defeat five paladins with two people.
And in fact, it was an achievement that was worth bragging about and should be widely publicized.
Naturally, one of the duties of a corps commander was to keep the morale of the soldiers as high as possible.
But if it must be said, he was being extremely brazen by boasting with his own mouth, and it was far too much.
“I waited for the right timing, took advantage of his moment of carelessness, and tore through his chest in one fell swoop. The guy couldn’t even counterattack before he was cut into pieces, you should have seen it.”
Whenever he saw someone, he would start a conversation by recounting his exploits.
Even for those who got angry at the enemy’s cunning tricks the first time they heard the story, or for those who expressed their respect at the phenomenal victory, it got to the point where they wouldn’t visit the corps commander unless there was an essential report.
The reason was different, but the circumstances of the ranger company commander Jordan were similar.
He fervently avoided the corps commander, even using in the process some of the stealth and evasion techniques he had learned as a Balahard Ranger.
The only people who could find him when he was hiding like that were the other rangers, specifically the senior ones.
“What are you doing?”
When the senior ranger who saw the company commander hiding the barracks asked with a chilling expression, Jordan quietly stood up and shuddered.
“Why, what.”
The ranger didn’t erase his chilling expression and spat out a sentence.
“The corps commander is looking for you.”
The effect of that one sentence was significant.
“C-corps commander? Which corps commander?”
The experienced ranger, who had never been surprised even when a monster suddenly popped out of the snow, asked in surprise.
“Which corps commander? Who else from the Steel Knights would call out the captain?”
“Then
?”
“Commander Eli is calling you.”
Jordan was visibly flustered.
“Say I went on a long distance patrol. No. Say I went to see His Highness. No. Can’t we just say I died?”
Seeing him like that, the ranger narrowed his eyes.
“Suspicious.”
At the ranger’s words, Jordan shouted back.
“Wh-what!”
The ranger narrowed his eyes even more at the unnecessary fuss.
“There are strange rumors floating around the camp right now.”
“What rumors
”
“I heard that the captain gave our corps commander some relationship advice. Something like, if you confess while showing up to save someone during a moment of crisis, your chance of success is 100%.”
“It wasn’t. It wasn’t me. I never did that.”
Despite Jordan’s denial, the ranger whose eyes had been flashing for a while smiled.
“Honestly, for the captain who has no dating experience to give advice. Isn’t it a nonsensical rumor?”
“It is just a rumor. But, is it only possible to give advice if you have dating experience? And it’s not like I really don’t have any
”
“You’re not trying to say that getting slapped while asking for marriage counts as dating experience, right?”
“There’s more than that
”
“The numerous letters you exchanged with the maids you met in the royal capital?”
“No. No. Not that.”
“Or was it the time when you thought there was mutual love and affection, until all of your savings got stolen? That time when you struggled alone and finally managed to sort it out by yourself in the end.”
As the ranger continued to speak, Jordan’s face became rotten.
Whether or not it could be considered dating experience, the ranger talked about Jordan’s past loves for a long time.
It was a torturous love history for Jordan, but after the tales of his sad breakups passed through the ranger’s lips, they became jokes.
“And how are you any different from me!”
Unable to bear it, Jordan shouted in a fit of rage.
“Captain and I have different circumstances. Honestly, whose fault is it that our kids can’t get together? Isn’t it because someone long ago gave some advice he shouldn’t have, telling him to do the wrong thing, and wasting a golden opportunity?”
The resentment contained in the ranger’s words was so deep and heartfelt that even Jordan, in his rage, quickly became mute.
“Anyways it wasn’t me, you know.”
“Forget it. Go see the corps commander quickly.”
Looking at him holding his mouth shut, the ranger who lost his temper added.
“And watch your mouth. Please.”
Then he turned around and disappeared.
Jordan’s eyes dimmed as he looked at the ranger’s back.
“What do you know about love.”
Of course, there was no way for the ranger to answer after he had already left. Jordan, who stood there for a long time, eventually headed to the corps commander’s barracks.
“I heard you were looking for me.”
As soon as he lifted the cloth and poked his face in, the corps commander was delighted.
“Oh! Jordan! Thank you! It’s all thanks to you.”
It was an unexpected welcome.
“Wh-what?”
When Jordan asked with a confused face, the corps commander smiled happily.
“The advice you gave me to appear in a moment of crisis and express my heart. I think it worked out pretty well.
‘Where are you going with this?’ Jordan forcefully swallowed the question that reached the tip of his throat.
According to the Iron Lions who were present that day, Arwen Kirgayen clearly rejected the corps commander without even considering his confession.
Her attitude was so cold that, in their opinion, she wouldn’t accept his heart even after 1000 years.
“Since that day, I can feel that the way Sir Arwen looks at me has changed. Of course, she hasn’t opened her heart to me yet, but I think we’ve gotten a little closer.”
Even Jordan, who had his fair share of love troubles, could see that her change was more negative than positive.
But he forced himself to endure the itching of his tongue.
The ranger’s nagging to watch his mouth lingered in his head.
So he was able to get through a crisis.
“Anyway, it’s not just because of that that I called for you.”
The corps commander who was talking by himself for a long time finally brought up the main matter.
“His Highness is coming.”
“Shall we go to greet him?”
Jordan asked reflexively.
Currently, the rangers were busy searching for and tracking down the enemy nobles and knights, who cleverly hid among the soldiers who deserted the Briand Duchy.
“That would be reassuring. His Highness will be happy to be received by a ranger.”
The corps commander was pleased.
It was the moment when the rangers were assigned a new mission.
“Yeah. I’ll go right away.”
After saying that Jordan tried to get up from his seat,
“6 forts captured, 4 enemy legions disabled, and 4 enemy paladins I personally beheaded.”
The young corps commander suddenly listed out his achievements.
“This amount isn’t small, but it keeps bothering me that I couldn’t catch Degare with my own hands at that time.”
At the words that followed, Jordan laughed.
He knew the cause of the corps commander’s regret very well.
“Don’t worry. You easily have the second highest level of contribution in this war, even if you’re not the first, His Highness will be more than satisfied.”
In his opinion, these were words of consolation, but to the corps commander, the word ‘second’ seemed to bother him.
“Second?”
Jordan answered the question asked by the frowning corps commander without much thought.
“The first, of course, would be Sir Arwen. The number of paladins she defeated were no less than yours, and she captured 7 more forts than you. Strictly speaking, those 4 legions you mentioned were easily destroyed thanks to Sir Arwen breaking through the enemy camp with the Iron Lions and slaughtering their commanding officers
”
Not noticing that the corps commander’s face was hardening, he praised Arwen Kirgayen like that for a long time.
“Even though the heads of paladins are worth a lot, they’re still less than the heads of the enemy commanders, so it’s clear that Sir Arwen is the greatest contributor in this war.”
After saying this, Jordan belatedly saw the corps commander’s expression and tilted his head.
“Is there a problem?”
“No. Go.”
“Yep.”
“When you go, let all the other ranger company commanders who are still in camp know that I’m calling for them.”
“Yeah.”
As ordered, Jordans passed the summons to the other company commanders and prepared to go meet the crown prince.
“Another unavoidable task. I didn’t sign up for this.”
Jordan, who was feeling inexplicably numb, said to the platoon leaders like he was making excuses.
However, the platoon leaders, who would normally snap at their boss complaining about work, were somehow quiet today.
“Captain, we better go quickly.”
“The other company commanders are looking for you with red eyes and threatening to hang you upside down.”
Rather, they even urged him to leave sooner.
“What did I do?”
At their sudden remarks, Jordan frowned.
“Because of the captain they couldn’t even rest, and they’re cursing you for making them go around in circles.”
“They’re pissed that you’re the only one who can sit around talking about love and go pick up His Highness, while they have to wander the plains.”
This was news to Jordan.
However, his intuition forged from his time as a ranger told him to get out of the military camp as soon as possible.
“Let’s go!”
Jordan was a competent ranger who did not ignore this feeling, and they quickly departed.
It took a long time for them to leave and head north, and it wasn’t until the end of the day that Jordan was able to shake off the unknown ominous feeling that pierced his chest.
Of course, some feelings of discomfort remained, but even that disappeared completely the moment he saw the symbol of a crouching golden lion fluttering in the distance.
“It’s His Highness the crown prince!”
The bright-eyed rangers found the flag even in the dark and started running towards it.
Because of this, the soldiers of the crown prince’s army mistook them for an enemy attack. There was a brief commotion, but it ended up not being a big deal.
“What, is it an attack?”
The crown prince, who jumped out of ranks with a wide smile, frowned when he saw the rangers.
“They’re allies.”
As if he had been expecting a battle to break out, his face showed an expression of blatant disappointment.
“Your Highness.”
Jordan didn’t look sad at all even when he saw that.
Rather, he felt thrilled and began to tremble.
His trembles turned to giggles and laughs.
The rangers laughed along with their captain.
Ttok.
Then, as if they had practiced in advance, they suddenly stopped laughing and looked at the crown prince with eyes full of enthusiasm.
The sickly and thin figure that they had seen last time was nowhere to be found.
Instead, the guardian spirit of the north that they had longed to see again was there.
“At last!”
Seeing this, Jordan cried out in tears.
“Your Highness!”
Another ranger continued his words.
“You are back!”
And Jordan finished.
Then the rangers went into a frenzy,
“What am I coming back to? I’ve never been here before.”
The crown prince said bluntly.
The corners of his mouth twitched.
* * *
“Monsters and enemy soldiers have all been cleared. Thanks to you guys, I had a peaceful trip. It made me yawn.”
The joy of their reunion was short-lived, and the crown prince suddenly opened his mouth.
His voice was full of thorns as he said that all he had done on his way to the front lines was sit on his horse and yawn.
The rangers unwittingly hunched their shoulders, but the ignorant company commander proudly raised his chest and stepped forward.
“Your Highness said you were coming, so we cleaned it up.”
No matter how much they listened, the crown prince’s words didn’t seem to be a compliment, but only their leader had a proud face.
“Just in case, I even went back to check a second, and a third time.”
“I see. So it was Jordan who did the clearing.”
“Who am I? The Plague of Monsters, oh, the front lines call me the Devil of Winter
 Eup-up!“
The rangers belatedly stepped in to shut the mouth of their company commander, who still hadn’t noticed.
“Still, we didn’t clean up everything.”
One of the rangers who was sealing his superior’s mouth stepped forward and said.
Hearing the sudden words, the crown prince became a bit agitated, but the rangers could tell that his expression looked friendlier as he asked a question.
“How many?”
“There are quite a few big ones, and also some small ones. The number is at least a thousand.”
The crown prince’s hardened expression immediately relaxed.
The ranger met the crown prince’s eyes and cautiously opened his mouth.
“But that
”
“What is it?”
“They were originally left to be used for when we besiege the Briand Duchy.”
At those words, the crown prince frowned.
“Balahard Rangers.”
Then, he called the rangers in a low voice.
“Yes! Your Highness!”
For some unknown reason, the rangers stood at attention when they heard the voice filled with clear disapproval.
“As far as I know, the Balahard Rangers never leave monsters that appear in the kingdom alone. Did I misunderstand?”
The crown prince asked.
“No! That is correct!”
The rangers shouted in unison.
“Really? It’s strange.”
Tilting his head, the crown prince stared straight at the rangers.
The rangers hunched over under his heavy gaze.
“I’m asking because I don’t know, has the enemy entered this area?”
“No sir!”
“So, this is the kingdom’s land, completely occupied by the kingdom?”
“That is correct!”
The crown prince asked, and the rangers shouted while sweating profusely.
“But why are there still monsters in the land of the kingdom!”
“We’re sorry!”
“What? Leave them to use when attacking the duchy? Are monsters lunchboxes to you? For you to save and then forget about them later?”
A thunderous roar sent the rangers scrambling to the front of the ranks.
“What are you doing. Aren’t you going to move? Aren’t you the kingdom’s army?”
The knights and soldiers of the crown prince’s army, who had been blankly watching, started moving forward in amazement.
Soon after, the rangers guided the army to a cluster of monsters, and one of the cards that the kingdom’s army had been saving to attack the duchy was discarded on the spot.
“It’s really our Highness.”
“I know. He’s really back.”
The rangers trembled when they recalled the crown prince who stood at the forefront of the one-sided massacre that couldn’t be called combat.
The crown prince who returned was as ruthless as before.
And his ruthlessness was indiscriminate.
“Cough. I heard you were heartbroken.”
He casually trampled on the sincerity of the knight who was looking forward to the reunion with his master.
“Jordan said I absolutely needed to keep it a secret. I made a mistake.”
He also showed his stubbornness and punished an ignorant ranger by borrowing the hands of others.
However, compared to the person who came forward after being called by the crown prince, what the two of them went through was nothing.
“Montpellier.”
In the name of the prince, he had been hiding in a nearby fortress watching the situation. The former Marquis of Burgundy, and current Count of Leonberg, belatedly hearing of the crown prince’s arrival, came forward with tears streaming down his face.
“Your Highness! You don’t know how happy I am to see you in good health
 Uwak!“
Count Montpellier, sent by the crown prince’s kick, tumbled to the ground.
Pingpong! Boing!
The count who had been thrown backwards immediately jumped back up and ran in front of the prince.
Then he lay flat and bowed his head.
The count knew.
If he stayed on the ground while pretending to be hurt, he would be stepped on while lying down. If he carelessly opened his mouth, he would be punished even more harshly.
At times like these, the best thing to do was to get down on his knees, apologize first, and only speak when he was asked a question.
It was a lesson he had learned from being bruised, and it was the way of life that he had arrived at after having his bones broken several times.
However, despite his tearful efforts, the crown prince was relentless.
“Guuh!”
The count did not even ask for an explanation, let alone protest his treatment.
If the prince wanted to hit him, he would be hit.
Around the time Montpellier’s consciousness had begun to fade from the long beating, the crown prince finally revealed the reason.
“Haha.”
But the reason was so absurd.
Count Montpellier laughed involuntarily.
“Why didn’t you attend my funeral?”
Not attending his funeral was his self-righteous justification.