The Conscript Wants to Be Discharged!

A peaceful day.
Winter has passed, and now as spring fully approaches, the sky of this world holds a magic that melts people’s hearts with its warm and verdant light.
“Ah~ I want to be discharged.”
On a crudely made wooden bench in front of a tent barracks in a corner of the fortress.
I lay there, looking at the endlessly blue sky, and muttered the wish I had cherished for 5 years.
‘Oh gods, if I’ve prayed for 5 years, isn’t it about time you granted my wish?’
I listened closely, wondering if I might hear the gods’ voices in the spring breeze tickling my ears, but what I heard was not the gods’ voices but my subordinate’s grumbling.

“Captain, are you still saying that?”
My subordinate from the Hundred-man Unit, seeing me lying there pathetically observing the blue and high sky, squeezed his buttocks onto the bench I was occupying with a rather gruff tone.
“Move over a bit, will you? How can you take up the whole space?”
“Tsk, I’m still your Hundred-man Captain, aren’t you being too disrespectful? I’m hurt, you know?”
“Hurt… When we treat you with respect, you say you’re uncomfortable, right? How exactly should we deal with you?”
“Just figure it out as you go.”
“Sigh~ Why don’t you just enforce military discipline instead? This halfway approach is more difficult.”

My subordinate, who responded with a sigh to my perfect solution, took out his weapon and began to maintain it.
‘What military discipline, is there anyone to kill?’

Even in a medieval fantasy army, there exists military discipline and irrationalities between seniors and juniors, superiors and subordinates, just like in any army.
For example, errands ordered by seniors and superiors.
Waking up early before the seniors, being careful not to offend their moods while waking them up.
Taking care of seniors’ equipment, cleaning their sleeping quarters, doing their laundry, polishing their military boots, and various other errands. Sometimes becoming a punching bag with good impact for seniors in bad moods, or voluntarily putting on a show to cheer up a senior who’s been chewed out by a superior – these things I experienced in the South Korean army in the past modern era existed here as well.

Yes, they ‘existed’.
I’ll say it twice because it’s important, they ‘existed’!

If you’re wondering why I’m speaking as if many irrationalities are remnants of the past, you don’t yet know the medieval army.
Modern South Korea is a quasi-wartime nation, but in reality, many soldiers are not deployed in combat and live clustered in spaces called barracks.
Among many people, one’s actions are evaluated and monitored, so even if you face irrationalities, you can’t easily act on them, and even if you do, it will soon be discovered.
Most people who have completed South Korea’s compulsory education and are equipped with ‘common sense’ tend to endure or seek legal revenge for the irrationalities they face in the military, rather than physical retaliation, unless it’s the last resort.

But the romantic men of the medieval era are different.
They tend to resolve the irrationalities they face not through legal means or endurance, but through force.

In this place, fists are closer to their daily lives than the law, and swords are closer than fists. In this place where legal professionals are scarce, they preferred to determine guilt through mutual duels in the presence of lords and local officials.

Above all, this is a wartime situation, a hellscape where it’s not uncommon for a comrade you face today to fall to the ground unable to rise tomorrow. We, stationed in the midst of this, whether senior or junior, if anyone indulges in disrespect, excessive verbal abuse, or violence towards each other, they might die the next day in battle from an attack coming from behind rather than the front.

As time passed since the war began, seniors who bullied others, subordinates who were rebellious to orders, commanders and knights alike died one by one on the battlefield, naturally creating an atmosphere where everyone maintained a certain level of boundaries with each other.

Superiors acted more leniently towards justified rebellion from subordinates.
Subordinates obeyed and respected the non-irrational orders and actions of superiors.
Knights and mages didn’t look down on the soldiers fighting alongside them as lowly, but recognized their abilities.
A world was created where everyone showed at least minimal respect (for survival) to each other.

Lost in such trivial thoughts, I was just watching my subordinate maintain his weapon beside me when I turned my head at the sound of someone calling me from afar.

“Hundred-man Captain! Hundred-man Captain Yujin!”
“Hm? Isn’t that our youngest?”
“Yes, it is.”

Our Hundred-man Unit’s youngest, who was running towards us waving both hands from afar, ran so hard his face turned red and he was out of breath.

“Huff! Cap- huff! tain! Hoo~ The Defense!”
“Whoa, whoa, speak slowly, you might pass out.”
“Yes, I’m sor- ry.”
“What are you sorry for?”

The youngest, who calmed his breathing with a face flushed from being out of breath, began to explain why he had run here, and the content was not very pleasant for me.

“The Defense Captain is looking for me?”
“Yes, I happened to run into him on my way to receive our Hundred-man Unit’s combat rations from the supply warehouse, and he suddenly told me to catch- no, to bring the Number 1 Hundred-man Captain.”
“Sigh… What crazy thing is he up to this time, alright, I got it. Good job.”
“It was nothing.”

I reluctantly got up from my seat, lifting my buttocks that had grown heavy with anxiety at the Defense Captain’s summons.

“I’ll be back.”
“Be careful.”
“Have a safe trip, Captain.”

And so, with my subordinates seeing me off, I moved to where the Defense Captain was.

The Sordan Fortress, recaptured from the hands of traitors last winter, is a stone citadel.
Based on the fortress gate, with the stone building visible straight ahead as the center, to the right are supply warehouses and stables, and to the left are outdoor tents where common soldiers are stationed, and behind those are religious facilities like temples and weapon warehouses.

The central stone building is the so-called ‘headquarters’, used by the fortress’s main commander, the Defense Captain, and the knights and mages stationed at the fortress with royal support.

Passing through the barracks where soldiers live and crossing the fortress’s wide courtyard, the visible castle walls are about 5 meters high. Last year, truly many comrades sacrificed themselves to cross those walls.

Now, instead of the flag of Baudouin, the head of the rebel army, the royal flag is planted on the castle walls, fluttering in the wind. I stopped for a moment to look at this sight.

The wind blowing from the direction of the walls still seemed to carry a pungent smell, as if the scent of blood remained.
Surely all the corpses of our comrades have been cleared away and buried, and these walls are no longer the fearsome enemy territory to be crossed, but now clearly our sturdy shield to protect us, yet still, every time I look at the walls, the memories of that day come back.

The screams of comrades falling from ladders.
The screams of subordinates being roasted alive by mages’ fireballs.
The voice of someone shouting in anger at the sight of a comrade falling to the bottom of the wall with their neck pierced by a flying spear tip.
The curses, colder than the biting winter wind, uttered by enemies dying by my hand in the battle on top of the walls, and the pungent blood scent now etched in my mind, unable to be erased.

It’s been 5 years since I was conscripted into the royal army and navigated the battlefield.
I’m aware that I’m slowly becoming strange.
‘What if later I can’t even recognize that I’m strange?’
What if I return to my family completely broken, or worse, what if I can’t return at all?

As I was imagining unpleasant situations out of anxiety… I soon shook my head to dispel the rising anxiety and moved my feet again towards the headquarters where the Defense Captain was waiting.

“Before that, I have to return.”
I wish the war would end quickly.

I entered the headquarters, briefly saluted the knights and mages I occasionally encountered, and arrived at the Defense Captain’s office on the top floor of the building.

-Knock knock knock.
“Defense Captain, this is Hundred-man Captain Yujin. May I come in?”
-Come in.

At the sound of the Defense Captain’s voice from inside, I gently opened the door, entered the office, and carefully closed the door.

“Salute! Hundred-man Captain Yujin, I heard you called for me, so I’ve come.”
“Yes, welcome, Yujin.”

Defense Captain Franz Beringer greeted me standing by the window.

“Yujin, I saw you standing blankly for a moment before coming to the headquarters. Was something wrong?”
“Oh, you saw that?”

You pervert, were you watching that too? Were you monitoring when I would come?

It might have been a groundless misunderstanding. He might have just been looking out the window to enjoy the fine weather and happened to spot me, but having been deployed in various crazy operations under him, I couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“Look here, Yujin.”
“Yes, Defense Captain.”
“The way you’re looking at me, it’s almost as if you’re looking at some unsavory pervert, wouldn’t you say?”
“You misunderstand.”
“Is that so?”

‘Your intuition is annoyingly sharp.’

He accurately read my expression, but accepted my words that it was a misunderstanding and moved on. The Defense Captain moved away from the window and returned to his desk, sitting down.

“I was observing to see if you were properly coming to the headquarters, and you looked a bit off, so I asked.”
“It’s nothing, just… I was reminiscing about the old days.”
“Hmm.”

I heard the words that he had been ‘observing’ me, which I couldn’t just ignore, but I decided to ignore it for now.

“Anyway, the reason I called you is that I want you to lead your Hundred-man Unit to carry out a mission.”
“A mission, you say?”
“Yes, I called you because according to this patrol duty roster, your Hundred-man Unit is off duty.”

About 2,000 people are stationed at Sordan Fortress.
The Defense Captain’s subordinate Thousand-man Unit, the personal troops of knights and mages supported by the royal family, and newly conscripted soldiers to be used as the fortress’s supply and emergency reserve force for the Thousand-man Unit.

And I, belonging to the Defense Captain’s subordinate Thousand-man Unit, am a mid-level officer commanding 100 soldiers as the 1st Hundred-man Captain, assigned to one of the Hundred-man Units divided into groups of 100 each from the 400-man unit directly under the Defense Captain.

‘Hundred-man Captain… Honestly, I didn’t want to do this.’

Caught in the evil grasp of Franz Beringer, who was appointed as Vanguard Captain, I was forced through dangerous battlefields, and after successfully completing the conquest of the fortress and fully occupying the fortress and surrounding areas, I was forcibly assigned the position of Hundred-man Captain by Franz Beringer, who had been promoted to Defense Captain.

-I don’t have the ability to carry out such a heavy responsibility!
-No, I guarantee your ability.
-Who would listen to the orders of a lowborn conscript like me?
-Everyone here except me is a commoner, and you’ve achieved military merits that everyone can recognize by successfully completing dangerous missions regardless of status or age.
-That’s because you forcibly dragged me into those situations!
-So do this forcibly too.

I’m called a Hundred-man Captain and mid-level officer in name only, but in reality, my rank? is still that of a conscript.
The reason I keep saying ‘position’ rather than ‘rank’ of Hundred-man Captain is because I can’t be given an official rank in the royal army as I’m a conscript, not a regular soldier of the royal army.

You might wonder, “You’ve been on the battlefield for 5 years and you’re still a conscript?” To explain, in this Kingdom of Flanders, there’s a law that nobles and royals must pay retirement benefits to their regular soldiers, that is, standing army soldiers who are not conscripts, upon their retirement.

Therefore, if they conscript just anyone as regular soldiers when war breaks out, when the war ends and they discharge those who are no longer needed, it would result in enormous expenditures that could lead to bankruptcy.
And if they don’t pay these retirement benefits to avoid such a situation, those who haven’t received the compensation they rightfully deserve might, with their medieval macho mindset,
instead of opening a forum for discussion and communication to resolve the issue, open a physical discussion forum (rebellion) and hang the heads of the privileged class on the castle walls to express their opinions.

So from the start, they operate by paying minimal wages to conscripts (non-regular soldiers) as a way to reduce post-war processing costs, and as much as possible, they don’t promote ordinary conscripts to regular soldiers.

Of course, if they keep ordinary farmers serving as soldiers for life, the country’s economy would collapse.
So generally, conscripts are returned to being farmers to cultivate the land when not needed, flexibly conscripting soldiers so that they actually serve as soldiers for only a few months.
However, in the case of troops stationed in fortresses, this is impossible, but in exchange, they receive better treatment than other conscripts. Although their base salary remains the same, there are occasional rewards and additional income from selling items looted on the battlefield.

Not that being a soldier is a good status, but.

‘It’s not like I’m a commissioned officer, nor a non-commissioned officer, but a forcibly assigned squad leader position can’t be good.’

The appropriate compensation I want is discharge, but there’s none of that. Instead, Franz Beringer, the Defense Captain who forcibly assigned me this position that only increases responsibility, is truly nothing short of a devil.

-I curse you! Franz Beringer!

The sight of him proudly walking away as I screamed in anguish is still unforgettable.

Anyway.

“Defense Captain, it’s true that we don’t have fortress perimeter patrol this time, but isn’t that because we already finished patrol and forward base dispatch duties last week and received combat leave?”
“That’s right, thanks to you and your Hundred-man Unit diligently performing your duties, the fortress can be safe today as well.”
“Then why suddenly assign a mission? My men are very tired, they need proper rest.”

My statement was very reasonable. Some of our men were injured in the last mission, so we needed rest for their treatment as well. And don’t you have 400 soldiers directly under you, Defense Captain?

“Haven’t you already rested for three days?”
“Defense Captain!”

But the man sitting in front of me was not a reasonable one.

“Calm down, Yujin.”
“How can I calm down? This might sound like an insult to a superior, but rationally speaking, don’t you have your own soldiers under your command, Defense Captain? If you urgently need people, why not use them instead of making our poor men suffer!”

Despite my words that might sound insulting, Defense Captain Franz Beringer smiled slightly.

“Your statement is justified. I don’t consider it insulting.”
“…”
“Are you aware of the continuous raids occurring recently in the west of the fortress?”
“No… When I was last dispatched to the western forward base, there were no raids.”

Was it three weeks ago? There were no raids then.

“Yes, but according to reports from the Hundred-man Unit recently dispatched there, there have been continuous raids by rebel forces, and they’ve requested supplies and reinforcements along with their report. I think this might be a precursor to some larger event.”

“So are you saying our Hundred-man Unit should join the western forward base as reinforcements with supplies?”

“No, I’m sending a few knights and another Hundred-man Unit that has capacity there. And my direct subordinates will be entering repair work around the area to strengthen the fortress’s defenses.”

If he had explained it like this from the start, I wouldn’t have raised my voice. My face reddened unnecessarily.

“Then what mission are we supposed to carry out?”

“Yujin, do you think the villages around the fortress have strategic value?”
“Pardon?”
“Tell me what you think.”

The Defense Captain leaned his elbows on the desk, interlaced his fingers, and looked at me.

“If you’re asking if the surrounding villages have strategic value… yes, they do.”
“Why is that?”

“If the villages around the fortress turn away from us and join the rebels, it will disrupt our supply lines and create potential threats within the fortress’s sphere of influence. If rebel forces infiltrate our territory and hide with the cooperation of villagers while plundering the surroundings, our forces will suffer great damage, both physically and psychologically.”

“Anything else?”
“With my intellect, I can’t really…”

Hearing my answer, the Defense Captain smiled, raising the corners of his mouth.

“Yes, that’s why you need to take on this mission.”
“…Defense Captain, please explain before you speak.”

Again, again he’s proceeding with talk only he understands, satisfying only himself.

“Recently, we’ve received petitions of continuous damage from the village below the fortress.”
“Petitions, you say?”
“Yes, the village chief came all the way to the fortress to ask us to exterminate the ghouls near the village.”
“So they’re suffering damage from monsters.”

“Other Hundred-man Captains and knights don’t seem to understand the strategic importance of the surrounding villages well. But I believed you would understand that importance.”
“Such trust is burdensome, but.”

At my response, the Defense Captain laughed loudly and leaned back in his chair.

“Hahahaha! You’re always interesting, Yujin. Anyway, knowing the importance of nearby villages, lead your subordinates to help them. If you successfully complete the mission, I’ll grant an additional week of combat leave and guarantee substantial monetary rewards for you and your Hundred-man Unit troops.”

“So, Defense Captain, are you saying our Hundred-man Unit… should go out for civilian support?”

“Civilian support… Yes, that’s it. The safety of civilian life is directly linked to the security of our fortress. Exterminate the monsters, and while you’re at it, repair any deficiencies in the village. I’m counting on you, Hundred-man Captain Yujin.”

With that, the Defense Captain’s dismissal came, and I saluted him and left the office.

“Damn, even in the medieval era, we have to go out for civilian support?”

You had all that long conversation just to say that? The TMI was too long!

And besides, are you telling me to go do something that’s controversial even in the South Korean army as forced labor?

Let’s think about whether this is right. It occurred to me that this is a world where lords can force residents into labor as needed.

This is the medieval era, and there were no human rights.
Since the people had no human rights, naturally, soldiers had no human rights either.

Due to the fantasy characteristics, among those guarding the fortress, there are mages who can use magic. So I dare not even think about rebellion or escape, let alone carry it out.

Not wanting to be chased by such monsters, I moved my feet towards my subordinates.