Chapter 286: 150. Train like it’s the Real Deal -3 (Part Two)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
**
Around two hundred people declared their intentions to give up. That meant six hundred or so remained behind. They gradually started to act and move according to Harman’s commands.
“Our enemies are strong, but the terrain advantage is with us! Use that to its full extent!” Harman called out loudly.
Gril simply roared back at him, “Don’t make me laugh!”
They held the terrain advantage here?
Their opponent was a holy undead army that didn’t feel any fear, and was armed to the teeth with proper equipment. The recruits were having a horrible time trying to oppose such beings with their chipped swords, rusted axes, and rotting shields full of holes.
Not only that, these undead were deliberately avoiding the heads or the hearts of the defenders and attacked everywhere else. Meaning, they were going easy on the living humans.
“I’m gonna pass this trial with flying colours and stand proudly before my daughter!” Gril roared out again.
Harman stared at him, and rather than frowning, smiled faintly instead.
He, and everyone else, might be full of dissatisfaction, but they were still fully following Harman’s commands.
“Destroy the ladders!”
Gril smashed his axe down on the bone ladder.
The ladder broke apart, causing the undead climbing up to tumble down to the bottom of the border wall.
Muskets fired their projectiles in Gril’s direction, but Adolf’s shield defended him just in time. Although the shield itself was large, the projectiles still punched many holes through it, forcing it back.
“Commence firing!” Harman roared out, and Yuria and the others held up their crossbows. Perhaps due to the weapon’s weight, she was sweating buckets while trying to aim and hit the skeletons below.
——
Time continued to tick by. The castle defence battle repeated itself day after day... and the recruits continued to fail to defend the wall.
Fail, fail, fail, fail...
The ‘training’ that used to happen once a day, became a twice-a-day occurrence. It didn’t matter whether it was during the day or late at night, the undead raid mercilessly tormented the recruits.
And so, about two weeks later...
The recruits gradually grew more or less familiar and numb to the fear of death. Their familiarity with the various weapons also improved significantly. Their instinctive revulsion towards the undead also gradually disappeared as well.
Eventually...
“It’s been one hour! The training will conclude here. I congratulate you on defending the wall! It’s our victory!” Harman loudly announced, and the recruits all plopped down on their butts.
“We won...”
“We did it!”
They had finally succeeded in defending this ‘castle’. But rather than happiness, the recruits were chuckling hollowly away, instead.
This training was finally over. They couldn’t even recall how they managed to endure it for so long. They simply moved according to instinct now.
They followed Harman’s orders so that they could protect their comrades as much as possible. They kept enduring and fought back.
The end result of all that fighting was that they had managed to hold on for one hour.
Extra, who was watching this development silently, felt a great deal of satisfaction.
The number of recruits remaining was on the low side, but with this, they were now ready. They were now seasoned soldiers and all they needed from this moment on was a systematic training regime. They would no doubt serve as fine vessels that would become a new generation of Paladins in the near future.
“My lord, you were too cruel this time,” said Harman while walking up to Extra. He had to be feeling tired as well, because he sat down on the ground. “How many more times do we need to repeat this process, sire?”
“Throughout the rest of the year.”
“May I confirm if your intention is to kill me through overwork?”
“Don’t feel too bad,” replied Extra, looking at the resting Harman. “You aren’t the only one working their butts off, you know.”
Alice, Hans, Charlotte, and even Allen AKA Extra were included in this assessment. They might enjoy little breaks every now and then, but even then, all of them would have to suffer a great deal for the remainder of the year.
“Sire, I’ll definitely lodge a request for a long, long holiday later.”
“Of course. After this training is over, take a good rest for a week or so before heading back here.” Extra scanned the soldiers either sagging limply or sprawled on their backs on top of the border wall, and chuckled in a pleased tone, “What a relief that no one died.”
“But Your Majesty, you made sure that didn’t happen, didn’t you?”
“Why are you calling me Your Majesty? I’m still not used to that title, you know?” While retorting like that, Extra lightly tossed a gourd-shaped bottle in Harman’s direction. “You drink that, too, and distribute the potion to all those who passed the last training. We don’t have a lot to spare, so it’s fine to distribute a smaller amount to them.”
“...I was under the impression that this potion is quite valuable. Is it fine to do that, sire?”
“These soldiers will fight for our empire. What’s the point of holding back on our support in that case?” Extra replied, before turning around to leave. “Return to the capital tomorrow. Carriages will be provided, so take a good rest during the journey back to the Imperial Palace.”
“Thank you, sire.” Harman bowed his head.
——
With this, the successful candidates from the first batch that would become a part of the new ten thousand-strong Crusader Army had been found.
Their final number: 557.
——
Gril, Adolf, and Yuria climbed aboard the waiting carriage.
They looked outside the moving vehicle and discovered a new batch of recruits over yonder marching towards the border wall.
“...Oh my goddess.” Gril’s jaw nearly hit the floor of the carriage. “H-hey, they can’t be from the second batch, right?”
These new recruits were crossing paths with the first batch leaving the scene.
The expressions of the second batch of recruits brightened considerably. They were happy to see the first batch heading back to the Imperial Capital on carriages.
“Yes, our destination is right in front of us!”
“There it is, the border wall!”
historical
“Finally! Our march is over.”
“Looks like they’ll let us ride carriages on our way back!”
The first batch of recruits kept their silence while staring at the second batch, inwardly praying for their souls.
Charlotte was standing on top of the border wall, studying the incoming second batch of recruits. As she stood there in silence, one of the Paladins walked up to her and whispered something in her ear.
She nodded, then walked over to Extra, who was sitting rather precariously on the wall’s edge, to speak to him. “Your Majesty, Viscount Hans has succeeded in the experiment.”
Extra turned his head to look at her.
“He has successfully manufactured the item called ‘cannon’, Your Majesty.”
**
Inside the Aslan royal palace...
“Your Majesty, do you think this makes any sort of sense?!”
One of the twelve feudal lords of Aslan, Rehton, expressed his discontent to the ruler of Aslan, Royal Princess Tina. [1]
“Even if we’re now a vassal state of the empire, training in our border region?! How can such a thing be logical, ma’am?!”
Trees and plants were growing seemingly everywhere, not just inside this grand audience chamber, but even throughout the entirety of the royal palace.
As the stream of water flowed gently by, a man with a rotund physique was bellowing loudly at Royal Princess Tina. “Those bastards are planning to invade us! Without that reason, they wouldn’t have done...”
“Lord Rehton, please calm down,” Tina’s clear voice rang throughout the audience chamber.
Rehton flinched at her Spirit Speech, brimming full of divinity, but he didn’t back away. No, he actually stepped forward, instead.
But then, the special squad made up entirely of demi-human species wearing steel masks that hid their faces, the hashashins, quickly surrounded Tina in order to protect her.
Rehon’s steps came to a stuttering halt after noticing the hashashins. “My queen, this is not a matter that I can stay calm about!”
“What are you so worried about, Lord Rehton?”
The queen’s question caused a flood of cold sweat to break out on Rehton’s skin. “The Theocratic Empire’s influence grows stronger every single day, Your Majesty! They even began raising an army! Without a doubt, they will soon embark on the conquest of the entire continent!” Rehton’s words became harsher and louder. “Aslan will become their first target! Those bastards, with the pretext of hunting down the vampires, will...!”
“Aslan won’t be in any danger.”
“How can you be so sure, Your Majesty!?”
“It is because I know His Majesty the Holy King well. If he indeed held some kind of ambition to conquer the continent, then our nation would’ve been destroyed a long time ago.”
“...But ma’am, our subjects are living in fear!”
Royal Princess Tina blinked several times, before standing up from the throne to walk towards one of the windows located on the left side of the audience chamber.
Through this window, located high-up on the royal palace itself, she took in the sight of the streets of Aslan’s capital down below. “You say they are living in fear?”
The city was overflowing with vitality. Verdant leaves covered practically everywhere, while the energy of the living abundantly flowed within the avenues. Every citizen she could see was smiling brightly away.
Tina turned her head back and stared at Rehton. “To my eyes, they seem far more content then when my father was ruling them.”
“...Words just don’t get through to you. This is why damn Elves are...!”
The hashashins were about to make a move to punish Rehton’s insolent words, but Tina stopped them.
“You will regret this!” Rehton spun on his heels and left the audience chamber in a huff.
‘Dammit! It’s not going as planned!’ Rehton grit his teeth.
The reasons why Tina was allowed to become the ruler of Aslan were threefold: one, the Theocratic Empire did ‘politely’ demand it; two, she was Rahamma’s descendent; and finally, the other nobles figured she would be an easy puppet to manipulate.
Indeed, the nobles had predicted that all political power of the kingdom would naturally fall into their hands by manipulating her from behind the scenes, but then...
The hashashins continued to follow her, and before long, all power became concentrated on her, instead. Even a portion of the nobility broke ranks and sided with her, while the citizens were supporting her, as well!
As long as the World Tree existed, her authority would remain untouchable.
‘How dare a measly little demi-human... A lowly Elf dares to rule over humans?’
All demi-humans were slaves. That was the ancient custom, the old mindset, deeply ingrained in the Aslan culture. As such, Rehton openly expressed his dissatisfaction at a mere Elf doing whatever she liked with Aslan.
He eventually arrived at his quarters and closed the door behind him. “I shall definitely take your head one of these days, you little Elf b*tch! I am the one who should’ve been the king of Aslan. Me, Rehton...!”
“Well, in that case, why don’t we make it happen, then?”
Rehton froze instantly. As a flood of cold sweat went down his back, he quickly shifted his gaze over to a sofa located on the corner of the room.
A middle-aged man in his mid to late fifties was sitting there. His abundant, yet rough and unruly hair was spread out like a lion’s mane. He even had wild-looking beard as well, while his entire body was covered in muscles as hard and sturdy as the best armour available.
This man, with crimson hair and eyes, was...
“...C-Count Duran.”
The Progenitor Vampire, Count Duran.
The vampire smiled meaningfully and spoke up, “What you wish to accomplish, I can make it happen for you.”
< 150. Train like it’s the real deal -3 > Fin.
(TL: Changed from Queen Tina to Royal Princess Tina to match the author’s change.)