Chapter 278: Bad Actor

Much like everywhere else in this world, the battlefield was also surrounded by heavy wilderness.

According to Bael, the reason behind that was ether, which made it easier for plants, grass, flowers, and so on to grow, even in the least fertile land.

The other reason was that, unlike in his previous world, there weren’t as many humans, so there was no need to clear forests to make way for more land.

Their platoon crossed the forest, as it was their way to the east of the battlefield to check for any possible soldiers of the duke’s forces.

While they were doing so, Bael saw that Jareb and Henry, who had acted as if they feared nothing and were way beyond their ages, looking fearfully at the shadows and shivering at the slight sounds of crunching twigs, rustling leaves, and any beast or ether beasts present within the forest.

’Even though they act strong, they are still children,’ Bael thought with a faint smile, forgetting that he himself was just seventeen years old.

’But I have to admit that they are more like inexperienced adults than actual children… It seems not all noble houses teach their heirs to be either a lion or sheep; some want them to be noble.’

“Spread!” William’s words echoed through the ten platoons and pulled Bael out of his thoughts.

He finally gazed at the battlefield.

The battlefield was a vast clearing with many deformities, such as shallow pits and short hills, yet it was so open that even Bael couldn’t see its distant end without enhancing his sight with an aura.

It was a perfect battlefield for the crimes these brave soldiers were about to commit in a few days, and William spoke, “Everyone break apart in your platoons and spread into the forest. The noon will be your call to return.”

“Yes!” The soldiers shouted, and the ten platoons spread away from one another and stepped into the forest to the east of the battlefield.

As Bael’s platoon of forty soldiers, including him, entered the heavy forest, one of the soldiers asked with a puzzled expression, “Why are we doing this?”

Bael looked at Jareb and Henry, hoping they would answer him, but when he saw their ears perk up, he understood they, too, wanted to know the reason. Still, he waited for some other soldier to answer him, but most of the soldiers in his platoon were young knight trainees or recruits, so most of them were ignorant about this.

After ten minutes of dumbfounded silence, Bael shook his head and said, “We are searching for traps and enemy soldiers.”

“But how would we find out if there’s any trap?” Jareb questioned right after.

“By falling in them,” Bael smirked.

Jareb, Henry, and others stared at him with deadpan expressions, and a soldier asked, “Is that true? Won’t the kingdom lose many soldiers this way?”

Bael nodded. “They would, but what of it? Our death would confirm the presence of the enemy forces, thereby saving other soldiers from the same fate as us. From the standpoint of the authority, saving thousands of lives by sacrificing forty is not a choice but a must.”

The soldiers halted in their steps and stared at him with terrified expressions.

“How can you say that while smiling?” a soldier with short red hair asked while gritting his teeth. The way Bael acted as if nothing of this could harm him was turning him furious.

Bael turned his head towards him and stated with a charming smile on his face, “What would worrying get me to? Only you people and my own strength can save me. So tell me, why should I be worried when I am standing among thirty-nine warriors who are ready to fight for their lives?”

The soldiers, including Jareb and Henry, looked at him with a dazed expression. At that moment, all of them understood that he wasn’t an ordinary person.

“Who are you?” a young knight trainee asked softly.

Bael turned to him and stated with a beautiful smile, “I am nothing but a mercenary paid to guard the two young masters.”

“You are really bad at acting,” Henry commented as he turned around and shouted, “Men! We have a duty to uphold, let’s not just stand there.”

“Yes!” The soldiers began walking, and unlike before, the mood was much lighter and friendlier, as if Bael’s words had made them see beyond their roles.

The knight trainees chattered with the recruits while those at the front and edges kept their gaze locked at the deep forest surrounding them.

A few minutes later, Bael turned to the left and muttered, “Something’s coming.”

The soldiers gave him a deadpan look, as if to say: At least try to act. But what they did not understand was that it was the act — he wanted them suspicious of him, just not of the right things.

For a few moments, the world seemed to halt as sounds of heavy, uneven steps reached them, and Bael whispered to all of them, “Hide.”

His voice, which carried the warmth of ether, made them act immediately. The agile ones climbed the trees, the lean hid behind them, and the broad jumped into the bushes.

Bael also jumped into a bush, and a wide smile spread across his face as he himself didn’t know what was about to happen because of his shrunken Zone.

’This is way more exciting than knowing everything,’ he muttered inwardly as the steps and sound of rattling metal reached them.

The soldiers stared in the direction of the sounds with bated breath and somber expressions, already guessing that the ones approaching weren’t beasts but humans. Their backs were drenched in cold sweat, and the figures that had been the source of the sound finally came into view.

Upon glimpsing them, Bael’s smile faded instantly.

“What are they…?” The soldiers around him murmured as they rose from their positions and stared at the expected humans with dumbfounded yet terrified expressions.

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