Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 352

352

To the Battlefield of Justice!

From the crack of dawn, the territory of Klausen was bustling with activity.

With preparations for the march needing to be completed and the departure set before sunrise, not only the Second Army but also the soldiers of Klausen and even the territory’s residents were assisting with the preparations.

Those who had been following them, providing delicious meals, had now returned the way they came, as it could be dangerous. It was time for the soldiers to truly feel the weight of war once more.

“Take good care of yourself on your journey.”

“I will, Father. Please take care of Mother as well.”

Countess Leona Klausen smiled and nodded at Zion’s words.

The feeling of unfamiliarity with being called ‘Mother’ seemed to have completely disappeared.

Turning away, Zion looked at his younger brother, who was biting his lip, trying to fight off sleepiness.

“Aden, you remember what I told you last time, right?”

“You said that while you’re gone, I have to protect Father and Mother well! You did!”

“That’s right.

Zion Klausen, the hero of the kingdom, believes his brother can certainly protect the house. I’ll be counting on you while I’m gone, so can you do your best?”

“Yes!”

Lichten, Countess Leona, and Zion all smiled at the child’s resounding answer.

After finishing the farewells, Zion mounted his horse, nodded lightly, and spurred his horse towards the Second Army.

His escort knight, Rishikida, and Lilith, dressed as a mage, joined him, and shortly after, Ludwig, fully armed, took his place behind him.

“Young Lord Ludwig, is everything ready?”

“Yes, the entire Second Army has completed preparations for the march. Probably after the commander’s address…”

“I’m not talking about the Second Army, but you. Young Lord Ludwig Redenen.

This war is on a different level from before, a dangerous place where you might have to risk your life.”

Although spoken in a gentle tone, Zion had never said such words before.

Ludwig flinched, but he quickly shook off the feeling, remembering the image of a knight he had always dreamed of.

“If I die for my country, that would be an honor.”

“…You’re talking nonsense again.”

Clicking his tongue, Zion shook his head.

Lilith, who had expected this reaction, chuckled lightly, and Rishikida simply smiled.

Ludwig, who had said something admirable, was the one who was embarrassed.

“You shouldn’t die for your country; you should make the enemy die for your country.

That is the true path of a knight.

That is the most honorable and glorious path.”

“…Ah.”

Ludwig exclaimed as if he had realized something again at Zion’s words.

He diligently spurred his horse, following Zion, nodding and smiling.

“The hero of the kingdom is indeed different.

You easily shatter the limits of my thinking.”

“I think Young Lord Ludwig had too rigid of a mindset, don’t you think?”

“Ahahaha!”

It was a subtle tease towards Ludwig, but he didn’t show the sharp reaction he had before.

It was unclear whether it was simple courtesy because Zion was the vice-commander and he was his adjutant, or whether he had truly realized something and could laugh it off even if he was being teased.

“What’s so amusing?”

Marquis Volko heard his son’s laughter from afar and asked as the Zion party approached.

His son had recently ignored Zion, then was greatly shocked by his change and secluded himself, and had difficulty accepting his transformation, but now that those aspects seemed to have faded, he was relieved.

“I gave my adjutant some good advice, and he seems to like it.”

“I’m a little curious about what good advice it was, but we have a long way to go.

What do you say, Vice-Commander?

Will you take the center army with me?

Or will you lead the vanguard as before?

Or you could take the rear.”

“I think you already know where I’m going, Commander.”

The rear was a position to evoke sympathy when retreating from enemy territory.

When advancing like now, it was a place where one couldn’t receive the soldiers’ favorable gazes, so Zion’s desired position was determined from the start.

Marquis Volko also knew that the most important position for advancing like now was the vanguard, so he ordered the banner of Hispania to be handed over to Zion’s soldiers.

As the soldiers completed their preparations, Marquis Volko spurred his horse, passing through the long line, and encouraged their morale with a very simplified address.

There was nothing special.

He simply said that from now on, they were the light, the good, and the justice, so they should thrust those who threatened Hispania, who were darkness, evil, and injustice, back into their land and enjoy the glory and peace they had achieved with their own hands to their heart’s content.

“Keep in mind.

No light in the world will try to kill you.

In that sense, the Holy Prussia, the followers of light, the Celestial race, who will try to kill you when they see you!

They are not light!

So fight and win without a shred of doubt.

Your light does not reflect its appearance with other lights, but you illuminate it directly!”

With those words, Marquis Volko raised the flag signifying the advance.

The elite forces of Hispania, numbering over 20,000, finally passed through their homeland and entered the land of Nudia, not to attack them as before, but to help them.

“…”

“…”

There were some who closely observed the 모습 [appearance] of the Hispania army that had just departed.

They captured all the scenes with sharp eyes, some heading somewhere, and others gesturing, taking the form that it was about to begin.

Shashak, Shashak.

Those gathered changed into pre-prepared shabby clothes and packed their belongings, disguising themselves as refugees.

And after a while, they began to prepare to blend into the ranks of refugees who would slowly flock to the border between Hispania and Nudia.

—

It had been exactly four days since the Second Army of Hispania entered Nudia territory.

During that time, they encountered people from Nudia who had fled from the east and south several times, and were able to grasp the general situation by hearing various stories from them.

The most concerning part was that the lurking followers of the Light were causing disturbances in line with the advance of Holy Prussia, secretly infiltrating important points, causing fires, and creating chaos, inflicting fatal damage.

“There must be guys like that mixed in with those refugees.”

After hearing that story, Marquis Volko used knights and cavalry to thoroughly prevent the groups of refugees from joining the Second Army’s ranks or approaching too closely.

If there were truly such fanatics among them, it was certain that they would use all sorts of means to hinder the advance of the Hispania army.

“…Griffins are really useful in times like these, Vice-Commander.”

“Seeing it from the front and seeing it from the air is literally like the difference between heaven and earth.”

“I thought we wouldn’t be able to properly operate the griffins anymore because the Celestial race can fly.”

“Even if direct combat is impossible like before, they can indirectly help the army.

Like now.”

There was a guide sent in advance from the Barusura territory, but he couldn’t know all the lines of refugees flocking from various places.

Therefore, Zion was deploying the two griffins he had brought in advance to check the groups of refugees approaching the Second Army’s direction in advance.

The remaining three had to be left in Klausen to thoroughly monitor whether anyone was crossing the border recklessly.

“More than that, I’m really deeply moved.”

“What are you talking about, Ludwig?”

“When we came to Nudia last time, weren’t the people of Nudia full of wariness and hostility in their eyes?

But now it’s the opposite.

All those negative energies have disappeared, and instead, it’s full of energy expecting something.”

“That’s how the world is, and that’s how war is.

It makes enemies into allies, and it turns allies into enemies, that’s what those two are.”

So Marquis Volko was dissatisfied with his son playing knight, talking about honor and such.

The world pursues practicality rather than honor, and in war, naivety is considered a greater sin than cowardice.

If he had been influenced by Zion and still clung to that knight play, honor or whatever, he would have beaten him soundly with the scabbard and then just locked him up in the castle and left.

At this time, ‘Hellcat’, one of the griffins in charge of aerial reconnaissance, landed lightly on the ground.

At the same time, the rider McClusky jumped down and approached the command staff.

“Commander, I’m reporting the reconnaissance.

A group of Nudia soldiers is approaching from the front.

The number is not large, but all of them are knights or cavalry, and judging from the way they move, they are confirmed to be quite well-trained.”

“…It seems like an important person is involved.”

“That’s what I think too.”

“Since we have to take a break for a while anyway, let’s wait here.

To welcome the guests as well.”

Shortly after the Hispania army stopped moving and entered a break.

A middle-aged man, a high-ranking nobleman of Nudia, led his escort knights and a number of cavalry into their midst.

He looked around the command staff for a moment, then confirmed Marquis Volko and Zion and let out a sigh of relief.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Ah, it’s because I’m relieved.

Now that the 뛰어난 [outstanding] people whom many people in Nudia were most wary of have come leading reinforcements, I feel a little relieved.”

The Nudia nobleman said that the reason he came here was because he had received orders from the Nudia king and Aibe to guide the Second Army of Hispania to the vicinity of the royal castle as quickly as possible.

Originally, they could use the main road, but there were many refugees and, above all, the fanatics had dug up the main road and dug pits at night, making the road a mess, so if the army entered there, they could suffer quite a bit.

Listening to those words, Zion bluntly asked a question that could be very sensitive.

“Excuse me, but what is the current situation in Nudia?”

“That’s…”

The Nudia nobleman seemed very embarrassed to say such words himself.

It was only natural that he had to tell the current situation of Nudia, which was a mess, to those who had fought as enemies until recently.

But now, Nudia and Hispania could no longer be called strangers to each other.

They either held hands and died together, or they lived together.

“Our Hispania heard the news of Nudia and gathered elites to come all the way here.

If we could have hit Nudia in the back, we would have done so, but if there was none of that, then our sincerity would have been sufficiently shown, so Nudia should now show its 모습 [true colors] as a friend.”

“…”

The Nudia nobleman let out a groan at Zion’s ‘warning’ in a polite tone.

Thinking that he would hear the news soon even if he didn’t tell it, he sighed and carefully opened his mouth.

“The defense line connecting the eastern and central regions is the last bastion.

If that is breached, it is the royal castle.

So I went into a meeting a little while ago.”

“If it’s a meeting?”

“The content was whether it would be better to take refuge in the Barusura territory in the west and re-examine the situation.

I don’t know the result.

Before that, I came out of the royal castle to greet you.”

“I heard that more than half of the east has already been 넘어간 [taken] from the beginning.

Then what about the south?”

“The south… Ha.”

He suddenly let out a breath full of anger and annoyance, then uttered a short curse.

Seeing that he was furious just thinking about it, Zion could immediately tell that the situation there was absolutely not good.

“I’m sorry, I showed a moment of disarray.”

“No.

More than that, please continue your story.”

“I thought the south would be able to hold out well enough, even if only in the early stages.

The main force of Holy Prussia was concentrated in the east, so if the south held out, the east would not be pushed back.

But that was our delusion, and Holy Prussia had something to believe in, so they did that.”

“Perhaps the followers of the Light.

Are these people, who should now be called fanatics, moving?”

At Zion’s question, he nodded and bit his lip.

Still looking like he was going crazy just thinking about it, he continued in a low voice.

“Disturbances occurred in small villages, large cities, castles, and ports, without discrimination.

Moreover, they were moving so systematically that they began to attack the logistics side, mainly targeting military granaries.

The soldiers tried to quickly suppress them, but it was after there were not only fanatics inside, but also fairies and some people from Holy Prussia, systematically resisting and even counterattacking, giving them the ability to repel them in reverse.”

“…”

They were doing exactly what special forces do.

A strategy of being dispatched to the 현지 [local area], using the 현지 [local] people to turn them into usable forces, and holding onto the enemies’ ankles until the allies are fully 投入 [invested], dragging them out and preventing them from doing anything properly.

Perhaps, in Nudia’s position, they were quite embarrassed that the kingdom’s people, who had been extremely ordinary until recently, suddenly changed, wielding 창칼 [spears and swords], shouting the doctrines of light, and 옮기다 [spreading] flames everywhere.

Still, their mother country was Nudia, and now that Nudia was being attacked by Holy Prussia and those who believed in the doctrines of light, they thought, ‘Would they betray their mother country and stick to them?’, but that happened.

They didn’t care whether Nudia 망하든 말든 [prospered or perished], they just 외치다 [shouted] light, light, light!

They were completely crazy, their eyes 돌아가 [gone wild], and they were 헛소리 [babbling].

‘염병 [Damn it].

If this happens, it means those guys can hide in Hispania and do the same thing.’

Fortunately, there were fewer people in Hispania who were 심취한 [absorbed] in the doctrines of light than in Nudia.

In addition, Zion had 미리 [in advance] aroused a lot of aversion to the doctrines of light and injected patriotism and 국뽕 [nationalistic pride] into the kingdom’s people to the limit, making them about to 터지다 [explode].

Before that 뽕 [high] was all gone, they had to end this war, these fanatics, somehow.

If they hesitated, the 약빨 [drug effect] would be all gone, and they would 우왕좌왕하다가 [be in chaos] and eventually 외치다 [shout] Light!

“For that reason, the south has not completely 넘어간 [fallen], but it has become even more of a 난장판 [mess] than the east.

Currently, even if we try to contact them, we don’t even know who is the enemy and who is the ally, so it is a place that cannot be controlled even by the orders of the central royal family.”

At the words of the Nudia nobleman, Zion let out a deep sigh.

Because this place was adjacent to Holy Prussia, and because the former king was a 병신 [moron] beyond imagination, he had 예상 [anticipated] that fanatics would be 넘쳐날 [overflowing] everywhere.

However, he thought that Aibe and the new king would step up and do something, even if only a little, but as expected, whether it was because there was too little time, it was not even half of what he had expected.

‘Is there any other way?

In the end, this side has to suffer.’

One fortunate thing was the news that the defense line was holding out.

And the reason why that defense line was holding out was probably…

“…”

Zion turned his head and looked at Lilith, who was behind him.

Feeling that gaze, Lilith, who had 딱 [exactly] eye contact with Zion, gave a very alluring smile.

The situation was changing roughly as Zion and Lilith had wanted.