────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Chapter 24
5. Storm and Thunder
Reinhardt’s thoughts on Wilhelm were the same.
A young boy who obeyed her. A child that is quiet and doesn’t talk to other people, but only smiles brightly and kindly towards her. He can’t be called a little child now that he is a grown-up man, but Reinhardt still liked the feeling of the hand of the young Wilhelm on her hand.
If Argen Stugall would see what was inside Reinhardt’s head, he would be so surprised and would take the liberty to ask: “I’m really sorry, Lord, but are there two knights named Wilhelm in the Luden estate?”
Marquess Glencia was detailed on dealing with the conscripts sent from the Empire every year in preparation for the raid of the barbarians in spring. To be more precise, it meant that they would only drive the barbarians out of the territory but his own soldiers would be the ones to wipe them out. Because of the conscription, the barbarians would crawl their way out up to the northern part of the country to save their lives.
That’s what the Marquess called the conscripts for. A lot of soldiers thought this battle should only be fought by the soldiers in the north, and no one would want to risk their lives to fight a battle that would last for two months.
But that year was different.
When he heard the name, Dietrich Ernest from the Luden Estate, Marquess Glencia wriggled his facial muscles in joy. It was a name that was much welcomed as he was a veteran who is the second son of the Ernst Family and lived in the North. When Dietrich walked in front of the Marquess, he asked that both he and a knight from Nathantine be sent to the front lines.
That was Wilhelm.
“What is that? Did you bring a medium-sized cock?”
These were the words Marquess Glencia uttered when he saw the still young child. The child wasn’t a chick nor a full-grown chicken, but a medium-sized cock.
“This is an excellent fighting medium-sized cock,” Dietrich replied with a smile.
Argen Stugall learned the meaning of that words when he met Wilhelm for the second time.
For the first few battles, Wilhelm had only looked around. But for the second battle, he showed a completely different side of himself.
The scene of him wielding his sword and swinging the ax was like a devil that was both nimble and brutal. Even Dietrich, who taught him, was astonished.
The battle with the barbarians was close to a scuffle in its nature, and Wilhelm specialized in that. He would throw away his sword and swing an axe. It wasn’t the usual battle weapon for a knight, but all the other knights in the North fought like that. If you fought with your noble sword, there was a big chance the barbarians could steal your sword then have your head decapitated by their whips and axes.
The knights were busy praising the boy after their second battle. They were shocked by the appearance of a mad dog and were curious about him.
However, Wilhelm only gave light responses and would lock himself in the corner of the barracks where young knights like him would sleep. His blunt behavior was to the point that even the other more experienced knights were embarrassed.
Wilhelm was still the same. After only saying a few words to Dietrich, he went to sleep holding the sword inside their barracks after the battle. It was said that his sword was given by the Luden Estate’s deposed Queen. It was clear that the sword he was given to use in the battle was so much better than that sword he sleeps with, but he never used it in any battle. He just wore it around his waist.
No one would have expected that the good in fighting but docile boy, would kill the war chief’s son. While the Imperial Army cheered for him when they learned that the war chief’s son had died, Marquess Glencia only touched his forehead.
This is because the fight against the barbarians has been going on every year as if following a set of procedures. When barbarians started to blow their horns as they were starving before spring comes, the Marquess would give up a few food warehouses closest to the territory of the barbarians and retreat. He had been doing this for 30 years already.
The conscripts who were transferred every year failed to follow Glencia’s training, let alone follow proper command. Therefore, the Marquess could only satisfactorily lead the Northern soldiers. But there was no way that only those few soldiers can sweep away the barbarians, and the situation with the barbarians wasn’t good.
So, the warehouses that the Marquess gave up were like a promise that was implicitly kept for many years. It meant that they can eat in moderation rather than needlessly pour blood.
Of course, the barbarians could not keep getting wiped out immediately. They would try to loot some villages in the north and steal everything that can be taken from the northern army for a couple of months. Nevertheless, their battle has never dragged out for more than a month for the past decade or more. This was also because the war chief was already old, therefore, Marquess Glencia also expected that this year would also be a fight where they ‘eat in moderation and run away.’
However, things would’ve been different if the chief’s successor was different. The pattern of their fight changed immediately. Before, barbarians would only take their loot and plunder their barracks, but now they attacked with burning eyes. Marquess called the boy.
“Did you know that he was the son of the war chief?”
“Yes.”
The Marquess’s mood plummeted down immediately.
“I heard from a nearby soldier that the situation was sufficient enough to take the war chief’s son as a prisoner. Why did you kill him?”
On the battlefield, capturing important personnel without killing them is fundamental. This is because, along with the exchange of prisoners of war, hostage negotiations are possible. That is the first thing that every soldier who goes to war pays attention to. It was impossible that the boy was unaware of it, but the boy retorted.
“He stole my sword.”
“…… What are you talking about? I heard you stabbed the war chief’s son with a sword.”
“I carry two swords.”
At that moment, the Marquess’s eyes turned to his waist, and indeed, there was a sword that looked precious to him. The Marquess was also familiar with that sword. It was only natural as Hu Linke always wore that sword on the battlefield. The Marquess and Hu Linke were the two major military commanders of the Empire, and they would meet each other every few years. It goes without saying that the two old men had respect for each other. However, he couldn’t think about it at that moment, and but got angry instead.
“Even if that is so, you should’ve captured him as a hostage if it was a situation you can do so.”
And, to his surprise, the boy talked back in anger.
“He’s dirty.”
“… What is?”
“That dirty bastard stole my sword with his dirty hands and got on my nerves.”
“Yes, it’s a shame that your sword was stolen away at the battlefield, but is that more important than catching an important person as hostage…?”
At that time, the boy’s disrespectful attitude was talked about throughout the three-year war. Facing the Marquess, the boy said to him as he glared,
“The general also knows what shame means, and it would be more shameful to keep that dirty bastard alive.”
In the end, Dietrich Ernst, who could not stand it and ran out, bowed his head and apologized.
“Hey, you crazy bastard! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Marquess!”
Dietrich pressed his big hand to the back of the boy’s head, urging him to apologize. The boy looked at him with dissatisfied eyes. He said “… I’m sorry,” but didn’t look apologetic.
The Marquess later found out that the sword was bestowed upon Wilhelm by his lord. The Marquess wondered if he was trusted that much by Nathantine, but soon found out that he was a rental knight from the Luden Estate, revealing his affair with Reinhardt Linke. It was said that Reinhardt Linke, the former Crown Princess and the daughter of Hu Linke, was the owner.
“The sword left behind by Hu Linke is a worthy treasure for a young knight. Though….” Fernaha Glencia said and tilted his head. “Does that give him the right to glare at me like this?”
“I think it was because the little guy had blood on his head,” Argen had said.
But he soon found out that the kid was just another nutcase.
The war quickly intensified. It was foreseen when the war chief’s son died. The conscripts who were only guarding Glencia Estate or receiving training eventually had to go to the battlefield. Marquess Glencia wrote to the Emperor saying that the battle was going to take longer because of this and that.
The Emperor was dying of excitement.
On the pretext of the war, taxes increased immediately. Though there was money that was delivered to the Marquess as a consolation, most of it went to the Emperor.
The Crown Prince then got up from his sickbed and welcomed his new Crown Princess in a grand way. It was said that the dress of the Canary Princess, who first came as a hostage, wore a gown that was several times more gorgeous and extravagant than that worn by the deposed Queen. A lavish wedding was held as if they had nothing to do with the war in the North.
The Marquess deliberately sent the boy to the front line. Half of it was out of dislike and the other was out of necessity. Even on that battlefield, the boy became sharper and sharper, rather than dulled. The dark-eyed boy had no ties to any soldiers but had the most barbarians decapitated.
Wilhelm seldom spoke to anyone first, but numerous soldiers and knights often wanted to talk to him. As time went on, Wilhelm became almost a hero to the other soldiers. His lack of words simply turned into him being his quiet self, a person who would choose if he will eat or sleep, and an unconventional person.
However, the soldiers close to him knew that he would sometimes roll his eyes and become a crazy bastard.
For example,
“Hey, have you heard about the Crown Prince’s second marriage?”
“She is his lawfully wedded wife, and I heard that they scattered flowers and bread on the street. D**n.”
“S**t. A certain someone is struggling in the North now. I heard she came as a hostage?”
Autumn was slowly approaching so the soldiers were twisting straws in preparation for the harsh winter. Naturally, some soldiers would tell some useless stories, and that talk spread. The grand wedding of the Crown Prince was bound to be a hot topic. In the process, talks about the deposed Queen Reinhardt Linke also came out. She was a woman who crippled the Crown Prince by stabbing his right leg when he asked her to divorce.
“I mean, she can also remarry, so why did she have to stab his leg?”
“Who says that? I heard that she is also pretty. If you ask me, I’d be willing to be her husband….”
The soldiers made demeaning gestures. A certain amount of obscenity was common on the battlefield, so Argen, who sat nearby and was oiling the saddle, pretended not to hear it. It’s not like they cursed anyone or something, and since it was the Crown Prince they were talking to, he didn’t take it seriously. But it was a big deal to someone else.
Thrust, creaak!
“I can be her husband too,” said a strange voice in the ear of the soldier who was twisting the straw. At the same time, something hot splashed on his face.
“Eesh ,what is… aaaah!”
Reflexively wiping his face, the soldier screamed in horror. His hands and face had blood on them. His fellow soldier next to him, who was just saying and doing lewd gestures, was slashed on his neck.
“There’s an attack!”
In a moment of confusion, the soldier screamed as he thought there was an attack from the barbarians. The knights around the vicinity ran out at once without even wearing their armor. They managed to bring out a sword and an ax in that commotion, but instead of an enemy, they only saw a knight from the imperial army who pulled out a sword that slashed the soldier’s neck.
“What is going on?”
The knight of the Imperial Army, Wilhelm, indifferently twisted his sword and smashed the soldier’s neck bones, answering,
“It’s nothing.”
“Ah, no… aaah!”
The soldier who was talking next to him screamed again. As soon as Wilhelm took the sword from the dead soldier’s body, he swung it again, and the screaming soldier’s nose was cut off.
The soldier gripped his nose and moaned in mourning. Argen, who was brushing the horse’s fur after putting the saddle, witnessed it all. However, he was unable to stop Wilhelm because he had to calm the horse that was startled by the sudden scream, so it was another knight that stopped Wilhelm from raising his sword again.
“Stop! What cruelty is this? Please explain, sir!”
Wilhelm answered the question with a stern look on his face.
“There were people who were making the military discipline lax by blaspheming the Imperial family, so they were promptly disposed of.”
Eventually, a small hearing was held. The soldiers who were around that time all said that the dead soldier and the one who has his nose cut off had both insulted the Emperor and the Crown Prince. The dead soldier was cremated and his ash was sent to his hometown, while the one who has his nose cut off was sent back without receiving a penny of consolation. Dietrich scolded Wilhelm but to no avail.
“D**n. It’s not like this our land.”
Dietrich said as he was worried about the boy. The change in the boy wasn’t unusual as a lot of people changed after killing many people in war; some knights felt sorry for him.
Since then, Wilhelm would often strike others for lack of discipline. Some barbarians knew that he was a knight from Luden Estate, and made fun of him saying that a pimp like him had come all the way there. After the battle, Wilhelm crushed the barbarian’s corpse into small pieces with his feet, until it was nothing more than an unrecognizable lump of meat and blood.
Argen saw Wilhelm do it all night and concluded: “That bastard wasn’t changed by the battlefield, but was originally a psychopath.”
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────