I Became the Commander in a Trash Game Who Copies Skills

Chapter 53. Chess (3)

The plan was simple.

First, create confusion in the encampment with fire arrows from a long distance.

While under the cover of the riflemen and crossbowmen, the scout team composed of rangers would dismantle the traps.

Once a path was cleared, the 1st Company, composed of swordsmen and spearmen, would charge and attack the defensive position.

“Aaargh!”

“A monster, a monster! It’s a monster!”

However, before even half the traps were dismantled, screams erupted from within the wooden stockade where the enemies were hiding.

I ordered them to speed up the trap dismantling process.

The path became somewhat narrower, but it was a risk worth taking given the enemy's confusion.

The riflemen's covering fire entered effective range, becoming suppressive fire that hammered the stockade and the enemies on top of it.

I also added to the firepower with magic.

[Deploying [Wall of Fire].]

The battle that followed was one-sided.

We burned down the main gate of the stockade and entered.

The 1st Company went inside the stockade and wiped out the rebels whose morale had already hit rock bottom.

As a result, we captured the defensive position surrounded by the stockade without a single casualty.

A literal bloodless entry.

The only injuries were a couple of rangers who sustained minor wounds while dismantling the traps.

“Was a siege battle always this easy? No, I mean, it's a defensive position, not a castle, but… still, it’s a well-built stockade.”

“It’s the Captain, isn't it? Just accept the miracle.”

…That Olif.

He keeps spouting strange things whenever I start to forget.

Anyway, after the suppression was complete, we searched the defensive position.

The remaining enemy troops hiding in the barracks were dragged out one after another.

Including those who had shouted their surrender in the previous battle, the total number of prisoners was about 50.

However, the commander, who was a priority target for capture, was found as a cold corpse.

“…He was killed by his own subordinate.”

He had been stabbed multiple times in the side and neck with a dagger.

It seemed he had been a victim of fragging.

After wiping off the blood, I recognized the face.

Was his name Baron Barrenvold?

He was a named character with worse stats than a randomly generated hero that appeared in each playthrough, but his unique name made him easy to remember.

Just as his name suggested, he was a bald baron.

I remembered his main traits were [Smuggling Expert], [Hot-Tempered], and [Shameless].

“Captain, do you have a moment?”

As I was collecting the body and clearing the scene, Karen called me.

“This way.”

I left the cleanup to the two company commanders and followed her with Olif.

“During the search, I found traces of a beastman attack.”

The place she stopped at was a hut.

Located in a shaded corner of the camp.

The area around the hut was a sea of blood.

Counting by the torsos, there were about twenty bodies inside the hut alone, and a similar number of corpses were scattered outside.

“It was a beastman attack. At least twenty beastmen, including two minotaurs, launched a surprise attack on the rear.”

Karen had a tense expression.

Even more so than when she discovered the trapped area around the defensive position.

“It seems they noticed our approach and retreated. I don't sense any presence right now, but we must be careful. We don't know when or how something unusual might happen.”

It was an accurate analysis.

With only one exception.

The beastman attack was a planned anomaly.

While devising the operation in Wolfskrig, the part I personally researched the most was [Warrior's Binding].

[Warrior’s Binding]

[A low chance to bind an enemy killed in battle.]

[Bound enemies can be summoned as minions.]

[A 100% probability bonus is applied to the first time a unit type is killed.]

[Cannot be used on hero characters.]

[Also applies to kills made by subordinate units.]

A crazy trait that collected defeated troops and summoned them at will.

Through several tests, I learned that the summoned troops' range of activity was quite wide.

In that sense, this battle was the first practical test of operating them independently.

The result was a perfect pass.

There was the drawback of not being able to see the scene directly, making detailed instructions difficult, but there was no problem with them moving according to the pre-arranged plan.

If the relatively less intelligent beastmen could do this much, then vampire or human units that could communicate would be able to execute more diverse strategies.

As I was about to leave, Karen stopped me.

It seemed she had more to say.

“The dead hunters here. They were famous among the rangers. They were trap hunters who would rob travelers weaker than themselves, a vicious bunch. They were once wanted men.”

“Is that so? It's a good thing that those who were gnawing away at the Empire are dead.”

“Yes. But please look at this. From the traces, it seems they had their emergency funds hidden here and there in the hut, but the raiding beastmen took it all.”

“……”

“It’s strange. Beastmen are more interested in food than shiny things. That they left the food and took only the gold coins and jewels. If you permit, I will track them.”

“……It seems dangerous. Let’s refrain from tracking and focus on our original objective.”

My emergency fund was almost in danger.

I’ll have to secretly put it in my subspace later.

* * *

[Deploying [Warrior's Binding].]

[Bound the defeated enemies.]

[Trap Hunter (3), Human Regular Mercenary (4), Human Apprentice Mercenary (11)]

* * *

“Let's move while considering the possibility of a beastman attack.”

Accepting Karen's opinion, I strengthened our guard and reconnaissance.

I couldn't just openly say, ‘I summoned them, so don't worry.’

Our movement would be somewhat delayed, but the forest was almost over anyway.

After briefly tending to the enemy corpses to prevent them from decaying within the position, we departed immediately.

The sun rose as we were leaving the forest.

The exit of the forest, where two mountain ranges blocked the view on either side, with a wide plain unfolding in the middle.

Beyond the scenery, which felt like entering the mouth of a great plain, the sun rising from behind us caressed the earth with its rays as if stretching.

It was a magnificent view.

“……Wow.”

So much so that a gasp escaped from Bart, who was the most exhausted from the continuous battles and marches.

“Let's rest in shifts. Get plenty of rest, and we'll depart tomorrow.”

We set up camp.

Having not rested properly for nearly three days, it was necessary to replenish our stamina sufficiently.

Now that we had entered the rebels' territory, we might not get another chance to rest like this again.

After confirming the soldiers were resting, I left the camp.

I was still a little tired, but I wanted to look around the area.

Olif accompanied me.

“Those are the Andus and Padus mountain ranges. They lead to the western great sea and the eastern wasteland, respectively.”

As I was looking at the mountain ranges, Olif explained in passing.

Was it because he grew up in a noble family?

I had felt it before, but he seemed particularly knowledgeable about history and geography.

“The two mountain ranges that barely miss each other. Elkanto Forest, formed by the mist and rainwater gathering in the canyon between them. It would surely become a natural fortress if properly defended, so there were often arguments that a castle should be built here.”

“I see.”

“However, it was met with opposition every time. It was in the middle of the Empire's territory, and no imperial highway passed through it.”

I stopped walking for a moment.

Olif also stopped.

“My ancestors ruled this land.”

Come to think of it, Olif's family was once one of the top count families in the Empire.

The Count Kalbang family, founded by the second master of the Blue Magic Tower, was a powerful magic family that, according to the lore, could have become an elector.

“After going through various incidents, the territory was divided, and now it has become a small family in the frontier. Haha.”

As if telling me not to mind.

Olif shook his head with a hearty laugh.

Somehow.

That laugh seemed a little pitiful.

“Olif.”

Olif Kalbang.

The illegitimate son of the Kalbang family.

An upright, white-haired disciplinarian.

The first place I met him was at Burken Fortress.

When I was pretending to be a wandering shaman and fooling Baron Burken, he saw through my deception and warned me to stop my foolish acts.

A not-so-short amount of time had passed.

Animosity turned into goodwill, and he became one of the first members of my mercenary band.

He always accompanied me on my path like a guard, even without being asked.

And it wasn't a clingy following, but one with the delicacy to step aside when I needed space and to not make his presence known even when he was with me.

“Did you call, sir?”

That delicacy was probably not an innate temperament.

It was likely due to being born an illegitimate son and growing up being mindful of others since childhood.

Even after that, as a low-ranking soldier, and as the chief of staff to a corrupt baron.

While always being conscious of the gazes around him and trying not to make enemies….

He must have constantly strived to not let his own upright beliefs be dulled by those gazes.

Until he became the dignified and solemn white-haired knight he was today, his life of over half a century must have been like walking a tightrope.

“Here. Take it.”

It couldn't be a reward for those years.

But it was time for a small token of gratitude.

“This is….”

“Your overdue pay. You considered my financial situation when we first formed the mercenary band, didn't you?”

“I am fine. To the others…….”

“Take it. This is an order. You becoming stronger is for the good of the mercenary band.”

Olif accepted the cloth pouch with an awkward hand.

Inside the pouch were an elixir and medicinal herbs.

The elixir I found in the closed-down tavern in Gunterburk.

And the medicinal herbs used by the Golden Knights of the Theocracy, which I had asked the head of the Kambad Merchant Guild to procure.

‘Yuma's Elixir. Golden Leaf. When consumed together, they remove negative traits related to mana capacity.’

In fact, it was not a combination known at this point in time.

It was a recipe that would be developed around the mid-game when playing as Betelia, a neutral human hero and an herbalist.

It was called a recipe, but there wasn't a strict measurement; it was just a matter of consuming both at the same time.

It was just that obtaining those two ingredients was extremely difficult.

One was an elixir made by shamans in the remote areas of the northern grand duchy, and the other was an herb that the Theocracy kept under tight wraps.

“Consume both together. I looked into it, and there are no side effects. It will solve your mana problem. And for a certain period after consumption, the effect is said to be amplified like an awakening effect.”

“…Thank you.”

“There will be more battles from now on, so take it within today.”

After looking around the camp a little more, I returned to the barracks.

Olif, holding the pouch in one hand, guarded my back until the very end.

There had been various misunderstandings, and some seemed to still remain, but it didn't matter.

That wasn't the only thing that defined his and my relationship.

The day passed peacefully, like the calm before a storm.

The next day, the mercenary band began its march into the Anti-Imperial Faction's territory.

* * *

Reading the state of a war is a difficult task.

There are so many variables and the scenarios are so diverse that situations often erupt that are impossible to predict with theory alone.

The reason officers regularly train through wargames is probably to gain and maintain even a small sense of real combat.

The wars in Warlord Conquest were no different.

Although the balance was shattered, this game was made to be quite close to a fantasy simulation.

Almost every imaginable variable occurs during the game, and the tide of war turns accordingly.

However, after playing tens, hundreds, and eventually thousands of games, you start to see something.

You know how people who trade futures say they get a ‘feel’ for it after staring at charts every day for years?

To others, they are just green and red bars drawn on a line, but the big data accumulated in their brains calculates the flow with an algorithm even its owner doesn't know and arbitrarily produces a result.

A similar context of big data is in my head.

[This is the 3rd Division of the Empire. Forwarding a message on behalf of Division Commander, Archduke Gabir.]

The third day since we left the forest.

I received an update on the Imperial army's situation through the communication crystal ball supplied by the Archduke.

[As of 11 o'clock this morning, we have begun a standoff with a division-sized rebel force. A clash is expected to occur soon.]

It was as expected.

I activated the communication sphere.

“This is the Ash Mercenary Band. Please forward this to Archduke Gabir. We have received the update on the main force's situation and are currently departing for the next objective after retaking the planned intermediate point.”

Let's compare the battlefield to a giant chessboard.

On a front where tens of thousands clash, a mercenary band of just over a thousand is nothing more than a single pawn.

But this pawn holds the potential to become the most powerful variable.

When a pawn reaches the back of the enemy's territory, it gets promoted.

“We will proceed with the operation as planned. The first target is Canyonrock Village.”

This mercenary band is a pawn that has slipped out of the enemy's sight.

And before they even noticed, we had entered their territory.

“I wish you good fortune.”

Now, this pawn is like a queen on the chessboard.