Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 80

퓨쳐나이트 80

According to their original plan, they were supposed to feign an attack and retreat before the enemy’s main force arrived. But now, even retreat seemed impossible.

That was because the enemy Sword Master and Ogre clung to them like devils from hell.

As the Green Elves fell back, the conscripted soldiers, who had barely managed to hold off the attack, took deep, ragged breaths and looked around.

The ground around them was littered with the corpses of Green Elves.

“W-We won. We won…”

One of the conscripted soldiers muttered, as if he couldn’t believe it.

They, who had always been regarded as expendable, had achieved a great victory.

Never before had they achieved such a significant victory on their own.

Whenever they risked their lives to delay the enemy or engage them in close combat, the regular army would always arrive late, taking the credit and the glory of victory.

That was why the joy of this victory, achieved by defeating the enemies themselves, was truly exceptional for them.

Although they had received help from the unidentified Sword Master and Ogre, all the conscripted soldiers had fought to the best of their abilities until the end to achieve victory.

“Wooaaahhhh!”

“Waaaahhhhh!”

“We won!”

The shouts of victory echoed across the entire battlefield, and everyone was intoxicated with the joy of victory, some even shedding tears.

“We did it! We did it!”

Even the wounded conscripted soldiers forgot their pain and shouted.

At that moment, the regular army, arriving late as usual, were at a loss for words at this inexplicable sight.

“No, what in the world happened here?”

They had been dispatched in a hurry after receiving a report that enemies had appeared, but when they arrived, the enemies were already cold corpses.

Roughly estimating, there were about 5,000 of them, a considerable force of about 10 battalions.

A soldier who had been commanding the conscripted soldiers hurriedly ran to the regular army commander, who was looking puzzled, and reported the situation.

“Reporting in! We have pursued and annihilated all 10 battalions of enemies who launched a surprise attack.”

“What? Are you saying that the conscripted soldiers alone pursued and annihilated that many Green Elves?”

“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

The regular army commander wore an expression of disbelief at the report that the conscripted soldiers, who were essentially serfs, had annihilated the Green Elf army, which was a formidable fighting force.

Then, the soldier told the commander something that even he himself found hard to believe.

“W-Well, um, that is, um…”

“Hoo, I’m getting a little tired.”

Kang Chan caught his breath and looked around.

Around him, countless corpses of Green Elves lay scattered everywhere.

“Are you okay?”

“It stings a bit.”

Loki, who had transformed back into human form, had scratches on his arms and legs, as if he had been scratched by the axes and maces of the Green Elves who had fiercely resisted.

Their attacks, unable to manipulate mana, couldn’t penetrate Loki’s tough skin, but Loki’s appearance, with scratches all over, looked a little pitiful.

“Zekeon will heal you completely when he comes. Just bear with it.”

“Yeah, okay…”

Kang Chan thought to himself as Loki’s steps seemed a little heavy as he headed back to the base.

‘It could be a shock to kill someone for the first time. That’s something you have to overcome on your own.’

Kang Chan still couldn’t forget the mental shock he had experienced when he killed someone for the first time in the past, so he silently hoped that Loki would pull himself together quickly.

However, Loki’s heavy heart wasn’t simply due to guilt.

He was worried about himself.

When he returned to being an Ogre and beat the enemies to death with his bare hands, he felt an unknown joy and excitement at the thick smell of blood from the Green Elves bursting open.

The Ogre’s instincts, which he thought he had completely overcome, were still dormant in his heart, and they were slowly awakening in the midst of the previous slaughter.

“…….”

As Loki was feeling gloomy, a tremendous cheer suddenly erupted.

“Waaaaaahhhh! Long live the Sword Master!”

“Long live the Ogre!”

The conscripted soldiers repaid the Sword Master and Ogre, who had led them to victory, with tremendous cheers.

Loki, who had been secretly anxious, was startled by their cheers.

‘They’re not afraid of me…’

Loki was so happy that tears welled up in his eyes as he saw everyone holding their weapons high and shouting the names of the Sword Master and Ogre.

Kang Chan awkwardly raised his hand to them.

Then, the cheers of thousands of people echoed as if they would pierce the sky.

Amidst the cheers, Kang Chan looked at Loki with his hand raised and said.

“See, I told you, didn’t I?”

As Kang Chan said, they were not afraid of him, who was an Ogre.

“What are you doing, hero? Wave your hand or something.”

Kang Chan deliberately gave Loki, who had been feeling dejected, the title of hero that he admired. Loki gave a shy smile and raised his hand in response to the cheers of the conscripted soldiers.

Then, the conscripted soldiers cheered even more enthusiastically.

Loki’s shy smile was so beautiful that it was almost an illusion that he was not a woman, and one stout-hearted conscripted soldier playfully shouted at Loki.

“Ogre sister! You’re so pretty! Give me a kiss!”

At that moment, the conscripted soldiers stopped cheering at his shout and burst into laughter, and Loki blushed and became furious.

“I’m a man!”

“Eek!”

“Aha ha ha ha!”

“Kee hee hee hee!”

What fault was there in Loki? If there was a fault, it was Zekeon’s perverted taste.

As Kang Chan and Loki were receiving the enthusiastic welcome of the conscripted soldiers, the regular army knight commanders pushed through the conscripted soldiers and ran towards Kang Chan and Loki.

“Are you the Sword Master who is the main contributor to this victory?”

“Everyone here is the main contributor, but it is true that I am the Sword Master.”

The conscripted soldiers cheered once again at the words that everyone was the main contributor.

“Wuaaaaawa! Long live the Sword Master!”

“Long live! Long live!”

The officers were flustered by the sudden cheers of the conscripted soldiers and opened their mouths again.

“I am Raon Lanchester, the commander of the Hermes Knights of the Sorpen National Union. Which country do you belong to?”

As the commander of a knight order, he knew the personal details of the Sword Masters, who were among the top ten on the continent, so well that he could recite them with his eyes closed.

However, the Sword Master standing before him had never been identified before.

He wondered which country had nurtured this young Sword Master.

However, Kang Chan’s answer was enough to surprise him.

“I don’t belong to any country.”

“Huh! You don’t belong to any country?”

“That’s right.”

“H-How can this be!”

Lanchester began to get excited, his neck veins bulging, at the words that he didn’t belong to any country.

If he was really a Sword Master with no affiliation, then it was truly a stroke of luck.

Of course, since he hadn’t confirmed it with his own eyes, he couldn’t be sure that he was a Sword Master.

However, with the skill to win against 5,000 Green Elves with only conscripted soldiers who were essentially serfs, it was a bit of a stretch to see him as a Sword Expert.

Lanchester had to bring him into the Sorpen National Union at all costs.

“Do you have any intention of joining our Sorpen National Union? If you become a citizen of the Sorpen National Union and join our Hermes Knights, I will gladly give you my position.”

“Huh! C-Commander!”

“Commander!”

The faces of his subordinates and soldiers were filled with astonishment at Lanchester’s words.

However, Lanchester’s eyes, behind his subordinates, were filled with firm conviction.

The Sorpen National Union was a union of small kingdoms that were geographically sandwiched between giant powers.

They acted as a buffer zone for the great powers and developed their commercial power dramatically, focusing on trade, but their military power was always inferior to that of neighboring countries due to their small territory and the checks of neighboring countries.

The only way for them to survive was to have a strong knighthood, but that was not easy.

Due to the small population, there were few children born with the talent to rise to the level of Sword Expert, and even if they managed to rise to the level of Sword Expert, they would often abandon their homeland and move their nationality to neighboring countries that offered better conditions.

The reason was that the quality of the Hermes Knights was so poor that he, who was not even a mid-level Sword Expert, was in charge of the command.

Their long-cherished desire was to have a Sword Master.

‘If only our country had a Sword Master…’

If they could have a Sword Master, which only the great powers that dominated the continent possessed, the Hermes Knights would no longer have to be called a shabby knighthood of a weak country.

If that were the case, young knights would no longer feel disillusioned with their country and leave for other countries, and his country, which possessed a Sword Master, would be able to proudly join the ranks of the great powers.

As such, the existence of a Sword Master was tactically and strategically the core of a nation’s power.

The subordinates and conscripted soldiers who heard Lanchester’s words had very surprised expressions.

Being the commander of a knight order in a country was no exaggeration to say that it was the core position of that country.

To offer such a huge position and try to win him over….

They could truly realize how supreme the existence of a Sword Master was in this world.

The expressions of the conscripted soldiers who were eavesdropping on the conversation between Kang Chan and Lanchester were filled with regret.

They had no doubt that Kang Chan would accept Lanchester’s offer.

For them, who were no different from slaves, the offer Lanchester had thrown out was so enormous that they would be excited enough to wet their pants just by hearing it.

Now that he was leaving, the conscripted soldiers would never be able to feel the joy of victory like today, so they wore regretful expressions.

However, what came out of Kang Chan’s mouth was an unexpected answer.

“I refuse.”

Lanchester’s heart sank at Kang Chan’s answer.

“Why is that? Is there perhaps another place you have in mind?”

“That’s not the case.”

“T-Then, perhaps? Is it because you don’t like our Sorpen National Union?”

Well, even he thought that a knight who was a Sword Master would not be able to stay in a small, weak country like the Sorpen National Union.

With that level of skill, he could receive the title of Duke no matter which country he went to.

However, the Sword Master’s answer to that question was ambiguous.

“That’s not it either.”

“Huh? So you’re saying it’s not because we’re a weak country?”