The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 140

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (140)

Whoooooosh!

The barracks tent swayed in the wind.

Each time the lantern flame flickered, the outline of the map became distorted.

4th Battalion Commander Hardmel.

He looked down at the back of his hand resting on the map, then pressed down hard on one point until his knuckles turned red.

“What a damn fucked up situation.”

Irritation seeped through his strangely hoarse voice.

The base camp on the hill that he had built through his forced march had already been moved down below.

Though there wasn’t major damage, building the temporary base camp on the hill made it impossible to quickly detect enemy attacks.

‘I thought defense would be easier from the hilltop…’

The darkness of the Northern Plains was thicker than expected, and the hill’s slope actually served as cover for the attacking bastards.

Naturally, due to that incident, Hardmel was excluded from attending the staff meetings.

Thanks to that, now while the meeting was taking place, he had no choice but to look at maps alone in his barracks and plan operations like this.

But then.

“With the success of this surprise attack operation, the Silent Spear Unit’s status is explosively rising. Currently, there’s no one among the soldiers of other battalions who doesn’t know Arteon, the unit commander.”

At his adjutant Lyngston’s words, Hardmel’s eyebrows slowly rose.

“That damn young bastard.”

There had been various comments about the independent unit created by the commander-in-chief’s unilateral decision.

No matter how accomplished a general he was, there were even concerns about whether a mere lieutenant could handle running an independent unit.

But the first operation.

Because he perfectly succeeded in something that could have been quite reckless, those concerns disappeared as if they had never existed in the first place.

Naturally, the Silent Spear Unit gained power, and they were completely pushed to the back.

Hardmel asked.

“Is there no talk of moving the main force?”

“Yes, there’s still too little information about the enemy to move the main force. Moreover, the reconnaissance unit that was forward this time was completely wiped out… they say.”

As bad news continued to come, Hardmel unconsciously bit his lips tightly.

If the situation became like this, they would continue operating small units for the time being, attempting to chip away at the enemy.

Hardmel ran his tongue across the roof of his mouth once and clenched his fist tightly.

“The main force needs to move for our army to exert its strength…”

Information about the enemy’s main force was needed.

If only that was certain, they could push forward at least once more.

But then.

“Then how about moving the 4th Company again?”

“You mean where Company Commander Tyren is?”

“Yes, wasn’t it the 4th Company that succeeded in reconnaissance before? Although things are a bit off because of building the temporary base camp on the hill, he won’t be able to refuse the battalion commander’s orders.”

Lyngston’s voice dropped a tone lower than usual.

It was because of Tyren’s character.

“Tyren…”

Hardmel’s eyes narrowed.

4th Company Commander under the 4th Battalion.

His skills were so outstanding that no one could deny them.

However, his personality was nasty and selfish, making him difficult to control.

As a prime example, when they built the temporary base camp on the hill based on the information he had scouted, didn’t he declare that he wouldn’t go to the battlefield?

‘Arrogant bastard.’

How dare a mere captain rebel against him, someone from a central noble family.

Hardmel clicked his tongue softly while thinking of Tyren.

“He’s not an easy guy to deal with, can you get him to move?”

“His personality is shit, but he’s a guy with strong pride.”

Lyngston leaned forward slightly, approaching Hardmel.

“Right now, all the focus on the front lines is on Lieutenant Arteon. If we use Arteon’s name to scratch at his pride a little… it seems like we could easily get him to move.”

“Oh? Would that work?”

“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t. If that doesn’t work, we can say we’ll form a unit with the 4th Company soldiers and assign a different commander to send them out.”

Tyren had tremendous camaraderie with his fellow soldiers.

He would never be able to watch his subordinates being dragged away by another commander.

At this quite plausible operation, the corners of Hardmel’s mouth rose.

Hardmel nodded and said.

“Then let’s proceed quickly. If we can get detailed information about the enemy’s main force using the 4th Company… there will be an opportunity to move the main force and attack.”

If that happened, a situation would arise where the 4th Battalion, which had the most solid troops, could shine again.

‘This is the first battle since advancing north. In this battle, I must definitely achieve proper merit and make my mark.’

That way, when returning to Central later…

Imagining future events, the corners of Hardmel’s mouth were gradually twitching.

*    *    *

The fierce wind of the plains shook the flags.

Though silence continued, tension that could end at any moment lingered.

Inside Commander-in-Chief Belkain’s tent.

Belkain looked at Arteon standing before him and said.

“This operation couldn’t have been easy… The merit of burning the enemy’s supply warehouse and eliminating over three hundred enemy soldiers is tremendous.”

“It’s thanks to your support, Commander-in-Chief. Thanks to that, I could focus on the operation looking only forward without worrying about the rear.”

At Arteon’s words, Belkain took a sip of warm wine and smiled faintly.

But soon, the smile faded.

Belkain pointed to a part of the map with his finger.

“But perhaps because of this incident, their movements are unusual. Last night, troops moved from the enemy’s central area… and the reconnaissance unit that was forward was completely wiped out.”

“…Excuse me?”

Arteon’s expression hardened.

Although it was a unit deployed forward, since it was for reconnaissance purposes, avoiding combat with enemies was the principle.

Since they maintained quite defensive movements, they should have been able to easily evade most attacks…

‘But they were completely wiped out?’

Arteon’s brow furrowed.

Belkain continued.

“Since there are no survivors, we can’t even properly know how they were attacked. However… it’s quite concerning that many of the dead were killed by arrows.”

“Arrows?”

Arteon’s pupils shook.

There was a face that came to mind.

But…

‘No, it can’t be that guy.’

That fight in the reed bed.

Just before escaping, he had severed the tendons behind both of the guy’s knees.

No matter how good his recovery ability was, walking around already would be impossible.

That guy couldn’t have come to the battlefield.

‘Then… is there another skilled fighter?’

Considering the scale of the Kar Tribe, that was certainly possible.

Wasn’t it possible that there was someone who not only had skills but also perfectly knew the terrain of these plains?

Arteon looked at Belkain and said.

“Commander-in-Chief, if it’s possible…”

Arteon wanted to lead the Silent Spear Unit on a reconnaissance operation.

If they didn’t know what those arrows meant, they would suffer considerable damage.

But that’s when it happened.

“Commander, this is Major Hardmel. I’ll come in for a moment.”

Along with the sound from outside, Hardmel entered the tent.

Belkain frowned slightly at his action of entering without permission.

“What is it, Major?”

He asked in a calm voice.

Hardmel, who had entered, glanced at Arteon standing beside him and then spoke brazenly.

“Ah, there was someone here first.”

At those words, Arteon’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

‘This guy…?’

Someone he had seen somewhere before.

Certainly someone he had encountered in his past life…

But unable to recall immediately, Arteon frowned slightly.

And then…

Nod.

Arteon gave him a small bow.

Since they were in front of Belkain, a salute wasn’t necessary, but he was still a superior officer so greetings were in order.

However, Hardmel made a displeased expression and turned his gaze to Belkain.

“I heard that the Reconnaissance Unit currently deployed at the Forward Position was completely wiped out.”

Belkain’s fingertips stopped moving for a moment.

“…You should be absent from the staff meeting, where did you hear that news?”

“I heard other officers talking as they passed by. More than that, what I want to say is that I’d like to assign the reconnaissance mission to the 4th Company, 4th Battalion. Please give your permission.”

“…You want to carry out a reconnaissance mission?”

Belkain’s eyebrow rose slightly.

What was this sudden talk about?

But Hardmel continued speaking without hesitation.

“Yes, the 4th Company perfectly executed the first reconnaissance mission earlier. They even have the skills to overwhelm the enemy should they encounter them. Please give your permission.”

With those words, Belkain’s gaze turned toward Arteon beside him.

The Oil Lamp inside the Barracks cast long shadows of the two men.

“…”

Arteon did not speak.

Because he knew there was nothing he could do here.

He could only wait for the decision of Belkain, the commander-in-chief.

“…Hmm.”

Belkain tapped the Table with his finger as if pondering.

What could he be contemplating?

As silence continued, Hardmel and Arteon simply watched Belkain wordlessly.

But soon.

“…Let’s do that.”

Belkain answered with a small sigh.

Hardmel smiled faintly and said.

“Thank you.”

Then he turned his head to look at Arteon.

His eyes looked as if he had won some silent competition.

Hardmel turned his gaze back to Belkain and said.

“I’ll report back as soon as preparations are complete.”

With those words, Hardmel left the Barracks.

Arteon’s gaze briefly followed his retreating figure.

The 4th Company, 4th Battalion he had mentioned.

‘If it’s the 4th Company, 4th Battalion…’

Tyren, perhaps.

Not only had they perfectly executed the previous reconnaissance mission, but in his past life.

He had heard quite a lot of stories about him.

‘But to think he was under someone like that.’

The reconnaissance mission they had worked so hard on had come to nothing, so there must be regret.

Arteon was recalling his appearance from his past life.

*    *    *

Scrape, scrape.

The sword tip scraped against the whetstone, making a thin metallic sound.

Outside, a fairly strong wind was blowing.

But the Blacksmith didn’t seem to care as he lifted the Sword and carefully examined the Blade.

He believed that a sharply honed Blade could save lives on the Battlefield.

But then.

“Company Commander!”

A Subordinate who had come running spoke without even catching his rough breath.

When the Blacksmith looked up, he continued.

“Permission for the mission has come down from the commander-in-chief.”

“…Is that so?”

The Blacksmith slowly stood up.

A tall figure nearly reaching two meters.

He was large but had a well-balanced physique without excess, and his sharp eyes were impressive.

The Blacksmith tightened the leather straps of his Armor firmly, then looked at his Subordinate and said.

“Assemble the selected soldiers. We’ll depart as soon as it gets dark.”

“But… won’t it be dangerous?”

The Subordinate hesitated and continued.

“The Unit that went on reconnaissance the night before last was completely wiped out… I heard. Four units of thirty men each, well over a hundred people…”

The Blacksmith turned his head halfway.

With a slightly hardened expression, he spoke in a low voice.

“Benzens.”

“Yes, Company Commander.”

“There’s no Battlefield without danger. Focus only on carrying out the mission.”

A moment of silence.

Outside, the wind swept past a Flag.

Soon Benzens realized his words were wrong and bowed his head.

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“Assemble the soldiers.”

“Yes!”

As Benzens answered briefly and turned to run out.

“Sigh…”

Various complex emotions seeped into Tyren’s expression as he prepared for the mission.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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