NOVEL NEXT Chapter 301
“I am the one who single-handedly thwarted the crises arising from the mountains during the period when the fairies remained silent in the war, and I am the general who directly commanded the forces when the Great Sage landed on the enemy’s port against overwhelming odds! Of course, there are plenty of generals in the country who surpass me. But that does not mean I am in a position to be controlled by you, Duke!”
Koesernis growled, his face flushed. Sally Jeffrey, who usually kept her composure, now matched his anger with her own reddened brown face as she shouted back.
“Your current attitude is precisely why the Hero placed me above you. The only request from him was to guard the passage and advance according to orders for expansion. He has never granted us any discretion!”
“Has he ever explicitly stated not to grant us discretion?”
“Well, discussing that could lead to greater accidents in emergencies! No, just shut up, Douglas. This is the army, and I am your superior. Whether our legion is granted discretion or not, if you’ve become senile and lost your judgment, then stop barking back and just stay quiet!”
“You’re calling an astute rookie who’s never even worn armor before old? So, it seems this old man has lived long enough. To have such bizarre experiences in my lifetime!”
“Astute? Isn’t it cunning that you are framing me for non-existent crimes after clinging onto the Great Sage? Hey, Douglas. Do you still not understand what it means that even Harker never allowed you proper independent command when you resorted to such vile trickery to gain military power? Can you not grasp why I am here, pushing aside your long-held career as soon as the Great Sage died? Nobody trusts you. Simply put… You are only useful when fighting mindlessly on the battlefield; at other times, you’re an utterly meaningless petty officer!”
“How absurd!”
Koesernis slammed the table in his fury.
“Don’t make a ruckus, Vice Commander! Any further disrespect will be dealt with according to military law! Although this Sally Jeffrey may seem weak, do not forget that she stands above you both in rank and title!”
“Hah! Do as you please! You can command the army you lead, Jeffrey! Anyway, among this legion, there are more troops who will come to follow me when I give commands. Let’s do as we each want! Divide the army!”
“I absolutely forbid that! The responsibility and authority belong to me. If you recklessly chatter or attempt to mobilize the troops, I will indeed punish you according to military law!”
“According to military law? I’m unsure if I can say that if I win and come back.”
“Winning and coming back is a moot point; you won’t even be able to fight. Because if anyone acts foolishly here, I will execute you right here on the spot!”
Jeffrey awkwardly drew her sword from her waist and shouted. Koesernis smirked at the awkward grip she had on the weapon.
“Don’t you learn at least swordsmanship as a form of refinement? How can a lord of a duke’s family hold a sword like that? This country has indeed fallen to such disarray.”
“Isn’t it common for ordinary commoners to learn military law? How can a noble not even know that they must obey the commander’s orders on the battlefield? This country has certainly reached a dire state.”
“With such a clumsy gesture, you think you can cut me? With such brazen audacity, you think you can strike anyone!”
Koesernis disregarded Jeffrey with ridicule and walked out of the barracks. Jeffrey hurriedly returned her sword to the sheath and yelled.
“I warned you not to act recklessly!”
“Hah!”
Jeffrey, feeling at her wit’s end, hung her head and bit her lip. Her strength lies in negotiation and compromise, which is only feasible when the other party is willing to listen.
Feeling a life-threatening urgency against the grumpy old Baron, her words carried no weight. Just as their dispute escalated, the Demon King’s Army launched a surprise attack on the Second Army.
“We’re in trouble! An ambush from the northwest by the enemy’s mid-cavalry! Our allies are being overwhelmed!”
“Northwest? The unit defending the northwest…”
Upon receiving the urgent report, Jeffrey quickly turned her mind.
“The allied Third Legion was annihilated?”
“But, my Duke, the Third Legion had already been repositioned by the Baron to prepare for an offensive…”
“Without even consulting or notifying me!”
Jeffrey kicked her chair in a fit of rage. But unaccustomed to showing anger in such a manner, she immediately felt pain in her toes after kicking the chair and ended up hopping on one foot while holding her foot with her hands, showcasing a rather comical act.
Given the situation, even the messenger who had arrived with the news didn’t flinch an eyebrow.
“W-what should we do?”
“I don’t even know what troops I can mobilize if they moved like that! Just order all of them to retreat without holding back! As quickly as possible!”
However, when Sally Jeffrey donned her helmet and rushed out of the barracks, the situation was already in chaos.
The Shadow Knight Order. And the orc legion, seeping in through the path carved by that knight order, were mercilessly slaughtering the Empire’s most soft and weakest points.
Jeffrey hastily mounted a nearby horse and fled wildly. The Duke, experiencing the madness of actual battle for the first time, was so panicked that she actually forgot to issue appropriate commands and, without even commanding her guard, ran off almost as if fleeing alone across enemy lines.
A dangerously reckless act, yet surprisingly, no one anticipated she would do such a thing, making the demon race almost ignore her flight.
Of the thirty thousand troops, about half were completely unaccounted for. It seemed Koesernis had also moved a considerable number of his troops without orders, but Jeffrey didn’t know where those troops were or where to find them, so she couldn’t even ask Koesernis for help.
With the sudden escape of the overall commander and the previous exit of the vice commander, the coalition was utterly collapsing. Frontline generals fought hard, but ultimately, more than half were annihilated, leaving only a few thousand soldiers to retreat south.
Countless weapons, armor, food, and supplies were carelessly abandoned on the roadside, captured by the enemy. The retreat was disorganized, and every legion, battalion, and even squad moved in different directions.
This was the most successful ambush the Demon King’s army had achieved recently, a level of catastrophic defeat for the Empire not seen since the very beginning of the war nearly a decade ago.
It was only natural that Jeongjae, who had devoted all his strength to fend off the Demon King’s attacks, would show a somewhat agitated reaction to the news.
When Jeffrey barely managed to save someone and relay the news to Jeongjae’s legion, the hero, quietly listening, calmly confirmed whether what he heard was indeed true.
The messenger, in a trembling voice, responded that all his words were true. Jeongjae stood up from his seat and shouted.
“Bring that damn bastard here and drag him in front of me!”
His tone was rough, but the content was an unprecedented command in the Empire’s history. The rank was grandiose, yet Jeongjae, merely a baron, ordered the capture and transportation of the Empire’s top noble level duke and baron.
Because Jeongjae’s voice was fierce enough to shake an entire legion, the soldiers raised no questions and immediately rushed to convey the hero’s order.
It took exactly one day for Jeongjae’s command to be executed. First, Sally Jeffrey, not knowing where to flee, wandered around until finally turning her horse toward Jeongjae’s troops, who were the only ones she properly knew the location of, and voluntarily surrendered.
Douglas Koesernis, having placed troops in bizarre locations and completely oblivious to the situation, was suddenly tied up with ropes and dragged on a wagon as the central army charged in, in a confused state.
Jeffrey understood her situation, but the Baron did not truly grasp the gravity of what had happened, mistakenly believing he was captured under Jeffrey’s orders.
However, upon seeing that he had been brought to the base of the Third Legion and that Jeffrey was kneeling beside him, bound with ropes just like himself, he finally realized that he was in a situation far worse than he had imagined.
Slowly, Jeongjae walked into the tent where the two kneeling criminals were, bowed his head respectfully toward them, and asked.
“Commander, Vice Commander. Ah, Vice Commander, do you understand what kind of situation this is?”
Jeongjae asked in a calm voice, showing no sign of anger. Koesernis shook his head with a displeased expression.
“I see. About seven thousand have died. Not the enemy, but our own. I’ll repeat, not the enemy, but our own. The Second Army, do you understand? The forces you two were supposed to command. I haven’t miscommunicated anything, have I? The duke is the commander, the baron is the vice commander. The mission was to guard the passage and act according to orders. Hm? Act according to orders. According to orders. Did I miscommunicate anything? I thought it was too simple to misinterpret, but did I mistake something? Why is there no answer? Why are you both staring at each other? Look up here. I’m telling you to look up here!”
Jeongjae suddenly grabbed an ink pot from the table and threw it at the two men. The ink pot passed naturally between the two nobles and landed with a clatter on the floor.
“Explain the situation. What the hell happened that half the army is in some strange place while the other half is under attack, with the commander wandering around in the wrong place, even as you were supposed to be coordinating with each other? I want you to explain in a way I can understand.”
“Well…”
“That is…”
The two spoke simultaneously, colliding. Upon noticing Jeffrey and Koesernis glaring at each other again, Jeongjae slammed his fist down on the table.
“Just a warning in case you’re unaware, if you suddenly end up fighting each other because your explanations don’t match, I’m too tired to mediate such trivial disputes. I’ll simply send it off to his Majesty the Emperor and refer it to the courts for judgment. Both of you know that the applicable law here is military law. Desertion and fleeing the battlefield will land you both a death sentence in the Imperial court. Judging by the Emperor’s recent policy direction, it seems unlikely that they’d be lenient just because you’re nobility. What you’ve done will be a matter of death regardless of the severity of the charges; don’t waste time fighting over who’s to blame. Now, if you understand, let’s take it slow and discuss what exactly you’ve done, both of you?”