chapter 7

— Kingdom’s southern military base, Gallia Fortress

Gallia Fortress had become the Kingdom’s frontline after Kiel Fortress fell . A vast amount of expenditure was invested in expanding the base as fast as possible . Though it boasted the capacity the largest capacity, it wasn’t enough to hold 100,000 men .

— The Commander’s room in Gallia Fortress

Behind the ebony office desk sat sixty-year-old Lieutenant General Pual . He was the General of the 7th Army who led a total of 40,000 soldiers . He leaned into his comfy leather chair and asked for the deputy’s reports .

“Your Excellency, according to the information that arrived this morning, His Majesty has decided to recapture Kiel Fortress . The First Army that previously guarded the capital has also been dispatched . ”

“Fumu . If only that decision had been made a year earlier; the situation today would’ve been very different . That strategy doesn’t make much sense while we’re still under siege like this . In the first place, no matter how many elites are in the first army are still low…”

Lt . General Paul sighed, took a cigar from his breast-pocket, and lit it . Nowadays, cigars had become a rare luxury . Even for a high-ranked officer like himself . He was a talented man – if a bit stiff .

“There is no way someone like me can understand His Majesty’s deep thoughts . There is a direct order from His Majesty, addressed to Your Excellency . ”

“Direct order…? Tell me . ”

“Yessir . Lieutenant General Pual is to defend Gallia Fortress while making preparations to head out . That’s it . ”

“Fufu . Now, now . Don’t make such a face . If his place fell, then it’s over for the Kingdom . His Majesty knows that as well . He just wanted to emphasize it . ”

Otto’s expression suddenly changed upon hearing Pual’s comment . Otto coughed a few times before he resumed .

“In any case, we’ll only need to defend the fortress . But there’s a change in the situation . Does Your Excellency remember an imperial soldier called Samuel?”

“Samuel? I think I’ve heard that name before… Right, right . I remember now . He was the one who defeated the Firth Army’s Major Lance . ”

Lt . General Paul said scornfully . Major General Lance was only twenty-seven years old, but was both a wise and excellent man . However, in the battle of Arsmitt, he’d been skewered by Samuel and died . The Lt . General heard that his corpse had been displayed for three days and nights in front of Kiel Fortress .   A few days later, the Fifth Army led by Lieutenant Belmar had been violently decimated .

“It is as your Excellency said . Samuel has been killed . ”

“Ho! Is there truly such a fierce man in our army? From which army is he from?”

“Yes, about that…”

Otto’s words stalled there as he hesitated to continue . The Lt . General sighed and asked .

“What’s wrong with you? Have you lost your tongue somewhere? Do I have to check if you still have one?”

“… Pardon me . It’s just that, the slayer was not someone from our army . Its a traveling young girl . ”

“… Am I getting old that my hearing is failing me? Sorry, but can you repeat that once more?”

Afterward, Lt . General Paul scratched his ear . Deputy Otto repeated his report without a change in his expression .

“It was a traveling young girl who killed Samuel . ”

“I see . So Deputy Otto can also joke around once in a while . I wonder if a storm is coming…”

With that said, Lt . General Pual peeked through the window and found the sky unexpectedly dark outside .

“Sir, unfortunately, it’s not a joke . A girl came with several imperial soldier heads – including Samuel’s . ”

— A few days ago .

Deputy Otto worked in his office when a report from the soldier guarding the front gate came . A girl had come with several Imperial soldiers’ heads in tow . The Deputy had quick;y went to see this himself, only to find a girl whose entire body was covered in blood . In her hand, was a large blood-stained hemp bag .

When he checked the contents of the hemp bag, it was full of Imperial soldier heads . So he asked the girl what happened . To which she replied she had encountered the soldiers back on Canary Road .   Since some of them had pointed their swords at her, she had simply returned the favor . The story alone was shocking, but even more surprising was the fact discovered soon after .

When all the heads had been inspected, they found Samuel’s head among them .

—

“So its not a lie, and she really brought his head with her?”

“Yes . I’ve seen that man a couple of times on the battlefield . There’s no mistake, it was Samuel the ‘Violent Skewer’ . ”

“… That’s a too outlandish story to believe . ”

Even if it’d been a boy instead of a girl, the story would’ve still been hard to believe . But then, a man who was called in a hero showed his power since a young age .

Lt . General Paul inhaled the cigar’s smoke before he exhaled it slowly .

“I thought so too . I wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it with my own eyes . ”

“Then what purpose did she come to this fortress? Was it for the bounty?”

“That’s not it . She originally wanted to go to the capital to apply to become a volunteer soldier . She mentioned that she happened to find this fortress on her way, so she decided to stop by and send the heads as a souvenir before they rotted away . ”

“Haha, that was quite bold of her . Maybe we should be thankful that such a person was crazy enough to apply in times like this… Also, you said earlier she was a young girl – just how old is she?”

“When I asked, she said she was fifteen years old . ”

At the unexpected answer, Lt . General Pual nearly dropped his cigar . If she was fifteen years old, then she was no older than his granddaughter . Publicly speaking, she could’ve already been considered as having taken half a step towards adulthood at that age . But to him, she wasn’t past her childhood yet .

The Lt . General glanced to his Deputy to see if he was joking . His subordinate silently shook his head . The answer would remain the same, no matter how many times it’d been asked . It was written on his face .

“Haa… Then, what is this girl doing right now?”

“Maybe in the cafeteria as we speak . By the way, taking into account the volunteer application and the enemy’s heads, we’ve decided to appoint her as a warrant officer . ”

This time, the Lt . General really dropped his cigar . He admired Deputy Otto’s foresight, but this man could be too blunt at times . His subordinates serious expression remained the same . Thinking he deserved it, Lt . General Pual opened his mouth to reprimand his deputy .

“Deputy Otto, no matter how short on soldiers my army gets, that isn’t something we should do out of the blue . ”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right . It’s great that she killed Samuel . If she was a soldier, I would’ve awarded her the Silver Lion Medal . Unfortunately, she wasn’t . And to welcome such a young girl amongst us is…”

“Sir, pardon me, but we’re not in a position to think about such trivial matters . Whether she’s a young or old woman, if she has the capability to slaughter the imperial soldiers, then she should use it . I cannot deny that this may cause a little mishap, but- well then, I still have a lot of work . Please excuse me . ”

Deputy Otto quickly saluted, turned, and vacated the Lt . General’s office . The Lt . General took his cigar that’d rolled on his desk after dropping, and slowly placed it back into his mouth .

(“Indeed, it’s as he said . I have no room to care about trivial things . Therefore, diving a young girl to war is… Somehow, I feel is extremely deplorable . ”)

The Lt . General exhaled hard as he sunk deeper into his chair powerlessly .