Chapter 51: The Ridiculous Trouble of the Subjugation (2)

The eastern subjugation unit was led by Pavilion, the vice-captain of the Kanas Knights, along with the knight Glen.

Pavilion, a man of strict and upright character, commanded his troops with thorough precision as they advanced in their mission.

Now, they had reached the plains and were taking a short rest.

“What’s that?”

From the south, a strange noise echoed as clouds of dust began to rise.

Dudududududu…!

“Don’t tell me that’s—!”

Pavilion narrowed his eyes and soon identified what it was.

“Everyone up! Prepare for battle!”

The knight Glen, who had been resting nearby, quickly rushed to Pavilion’s side upon hearing his voice.

“Battle? What’s going on?”

“A horde of monsters is coming this way. There’s a lot of them.”

Hearing that, Glen looked toward the direction the dust was rising from.

Indeed—amid the haze of dust, herds of Tugpigs and Rickbirds were running frantically, chased by packs of Saliva Wolves, Orcs, and Goblins.

“Huh—!”

“There’s no time to be surprised! Form battle lines immediately!”

At Pavilion’s shout, Glen hurriedly ordered the soldiers who had just risen to form ranks.

The mercenaries and adventurers, upon witnessing the scene, tensed up sharply.

Dudududududu—!

At last, the monsters charged right up to their front.

“Waaaargh!”

With a roar, the two forces finally clashed. Blood splattered in all directions as the battle began.

Pavilion and Glen, leading their men, cut down the monsters one after another.

“Did these monsters come down from the Clamen Mountain Range?”

“Vice-captain! Our defensive line is starting to give way!”

Even as mercenaries and adventurers joined the fight, the number of monsters was overwhelming.

Worse still, they had just come out of another battle and were far from fully recovered.

“Hold out a little longer!”

“Yes, sir!”

Chwaaaak! Chwaak!

Their swords swung rapidly in all directions.

But the ferocious waves of the monsters’ assault showed no sign of stopping.

Some mercenaries and adventurers began to flee.

At this rate, the eastern subjugation force would be completely wiped out here.

Chwaaaak! Chwaak!

Pavilion and Glen’s bodies grew covered with numerous small wounds.

“Is this… the end…?”

“Vice-captain!”

A mass of Orcs charged toward Pavilion, and he could barely defend himself any longer.

Soon, his knees buckled, and he faced what seemed to be his final moment.

“Urgh…!”

It was then.

A sharp sword arc swept past, slicing through the heads of the surrounding Orcs.

In the next instant, several Orcs’ heads were severed and rolled across the ground.

Pavilion, his gaze lowered, slowly raised his head in bewilderment.

Before him stood a red-haired man dressed in deep green, holding a sword.

“A knight shouldn’t give in to despair this easily.”

The man’s identity was none other than Raion.

Behind him, Jade, Baron, and Cayman led their troops forward to engage the monsters.

Raion made a wide slash around him, then stared straight at Pavilion.

“Who are you…?”

“Is that really important right now? Your life’s hanging by a thread!”

Chwaaaak!

Raion swung his sword, beheading an Orc that had lunged from behind, then turned to Pavilion and invoked a skill.

“Restoration!”

With the Korean word echoing softly, Pavilion’s wounds began to heal rapidly.

The astonished Pavilion stared at his restored injuries in disbelief.

“Are you just going to stand there watching?”

“N-No, sir!”

Pavilion quickly grabbed his sword and rejoined the battle. As Raion’s forces attacked the monsters from behind, the tide of battle swiftly turned.

With Raion leading the charge, the monsters fell one after another, and the battlefield was soon cleared.

Shwaaaak! Shwaak!

Raion’s strikes cut through Orcs with such speed and precision that knights and soldiers alike were left speechless.

Once the cleanup was done, Raion flicked the monster blood off his blade.

“Is it all over?”

At his question, Jade shouted from a distance.

“All finished! We’ll set aside the monsters that can be used for food!”

Even without being told, Jade handled things perfectly.

Meanwhile, Pavilion approached Baron, who had fought alongside him against the monsters.

“Baron! What are you doing here? Does the Captain know about this?”

The western subjugation unit had no reason whatsoever to come east of Kanas.

If they had abandoned their designated operation area without reporting it, it could turn into a serious issue.

Of course, Baron and Cayman were well aware of that fact.

“It was under His Highness’s orders. The western front was already cleared, so we followed the base of the Clamen Mountain Range, passed through the southern edge of the territory, and proceeded to subjugate the eastern outskirts.”

“What? You came all the way here after sweeping through the south? Then those monsters just now…”

“That was because the ones His Highness was driving away changed direction when they spotted your unit, Vice-captain. I assure you, His Highness didn’t do it on purpose!”

At Baron’s answer, Pavilion furrowed his brow deeply.

At the same time, he finally realized who that red-haired man from earlier was.

“Did you just say, His Highness?”

“Yes, sir. And the knight beside him is Sir Jade, his escort.”

Understanding everything at last, Pavilion hurriedly approached Raion and knelt before him.

“Vice-captain Pavilion of the Kanas Knights greets Your Highness.”

Glen quickly followed suit beside him.

“Knight Glen greets Your Highness.”

At their greetings, Raion sheathed his sword and scratched the back of his head.

“Every single time I run into someone, it’s always the same formal greeting. Enough of that. If anyone among your men is injured, gather them immediately. They need to be treated.”

“Eh? Ah, yes, understood.”

Pavilion recalled how Raion had healed him earlier and quickly began gathering the wounded with Glen’s help.

Baron and Cayman also stepped in to assist.

Meanwhile, Jade was commanding the western subjugation force, sorting monster corpses by whether they were suitable for consumption.

Once all the injured had been assembled, Raion began treating them with Restoration (復舊).

As each person recovered, Pavilion’s expression grew more and more astonished.

The patients themselves were equally shocked.

But to Raion, it was a reaction he had grown tired of.

“Is that everyone?”

When all the treatments were done, Raion turned to Pavilion to confirm.

“I believe so. But… why is Your Highness taking part in a subjugation mission?”

Now that things had settled, Pavilion finally voiced his curiosity.

“Why else? I wanted to see whether the subjugation units were doing their job properly.”

“Does the Lord know about this?”

“He does. Though… I did sort of ignore his protests and left anyway.”

“What? Your Highness, how could you…! And bringing the western unit all the way to the east—what were you thinking?”

Pavilion, thinking Raion had disrupted the operations, spoke in a flustered tone.

“If Baron and Cayman had done their jobs properly, would I have needed to? And that goes for you as well.”

“What do you mean…?”

“If just being ambushed by monsters while resting puts your men in mortal danger, that’s not exactly something to be proud of, is it?”

Raion wasn’t wrong. Pavilion knew that all too well and couldn’t bring himself to respond.

Raion pressed on even harder.

“When the one in command on the battlefield gives up first, that battle is already lost, isn’t it?”

“……You’re right. I have no excuse.”

“I can’t just leave things like this. From now on, the eastern subjugation unit will also come under my command. Once we sweep through the north, the operation will be complete.”

“I… I beg your pardon?”

Pavilion couldn’t make sense of what he was hearing.

At that point, Baron, the commander of the western subjugation unit, stepped forward to explain.

“As I said earlier, the western subjugation unit, under His Highness’s command, has already cleared the south and eastern outskirts. During that time, we discovered an Orc habitat, which His Highness dealt with on his own.”

At the detailed report, Pavilion was left speechless.

“An Orc habitat? And His Highness handled it alone? What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said. His Highness is far stronger than you think. Even the Captain wouldn’t be able to match him.”

“……”

Pavilion recalled Raion’s fighting earlier—his clean, precise sword trajectory and the martial techniques he’d never seen before.

They were certainly not skills learned superficially.

“In any case, Vice-captain, we’d like your cooperation under His Highness’s command.”

At that, Pavilion looked at Raion with a serious expression and asked,

“What are Your Highness’s plans from here on?”

“I’ll follow the outer ridges of the Clamen Mountain Range northward. Once that’s done, the subjugation ends. I was just going to pass through here like I did in the south, but… since we’ve met, we might as well move together, don’t you think?”

It wasn’t exactly the most convincing persuasion, and Pavilion could feel something uneasy about it.

After some thought, he finally spoke.

“Understood. But the Captain must be informed of this situation. I’ll send a messenger immediately.”

“Do as you please.”

Once the decision was made, Pavilion gave instructions to Glen, who quickly mounted his horse and rode westward.

In the meantime, Raion called out to Jade.

“Is the sorting for the edible monsters done?”

“All finished. We’ve separated the ones suitable for immediate consumption.”

“Good. Storage (倉庫)!”

With the spell, the door to a magical storage opened, and the monster corpses meant for reserves were sucked inside.

Pavilion was once again left in disbelief at the sight.

“That’s… also magic?”

“It’s a type of spatial magic. Don’t bother asking—I’m not in the mood to explain.”

As they spoke, Jade gathered the inedible monster remains and burned them all.

“Alright then, we’ll eat here and move north afterward!”

At Raion’s command, Baron and Cayman began moving skillfully. The adventurers and mercenaries were assigned to butcher the Rickbirds and Tugpigs for food.

Meanwhile, Raion used Perception (感知) to scan the surroundings.

A map of a 3km radius appeared before him, filled with blue dots marking allied forces.

Thanks to the large-scale subjugation just now, the red dots had turned dark and nearly vanished.

“At this rate, it’ll be over soon.”

It had already been three days since the subjugation began.

At their current pace, the operation would be completely finished by tomorrow.

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