Nigoru Hitomi de Nani wo Negau

“You somehow managed to survive huh?”

As the sun went down, the Sarria and Liguria battalions, which played a major role in the battle, entered one of the troops’ stations in the fort, and were about to spend the night.

The smoke from the kitchen went into the sky. In one corner of the wall, enemy prisoners of war (POW) whose armor was seized were gathered in one place.

In the past, POW was often sold as a slave to earn foreign currency, but now they would be released if they promised to work for the Highserk Empire for a fixed number of years.

Those who had connections with slave traders and some soldiers might oppose that idea, but it was becoming a better choice because the land was to be annexed, so the number of surrenders increased and damage was suppressed too.

Although Noor was injured, who was taken care of by Walm in this battle, was alive. She killed one person in that turbulent battle and endured the baptism brilliantly. Barito, who was taken care of by Jose, even though his cockscomb wilted, he managed to stay alive. [TN: As you can see in the Character Design, his hair is like a rooster(cock) ]

In front of Walm now, newcomers were bragging about the results and loot that they got.

“Look, Walm-senpai!! It’s a medium gold coin, you know!? Hehehe, unbelievable, it’s a real gold coin.”

“You, it’s from the soldier that Walm-san slashed down, isn’t it? It’s not fair.”

Noor had only one medium gold coin, which would be enough for supporting one poor person for a year. It was a lot of money for rural people. Looking at Noor, who had a strange face, Walm got put off.

When Jose quickly rummaged the soldier’s corpse, he found an ale barrel from the soldier’s station and succeeded in securing the platoon’s liquor and a bed. Walm praised Jose for his excellent ability.

In addition to the victorious alcohol, the Platoon Commander was rewarded. So, the slightly fat Platoon Commander Kozuru was in a good mood from beginning to end. Although there were injuries, the atmosphere was bright because there was zero death in the squad.

Two full moons in the sky looked as if they were celebrating the victory, but at the same time, it made Walm keenly aware that he was in a different world. In the corner of the room, Willart was quietly carrying liquor to his mouth.

“Willart, that fireball was amazing. You’ve been a great help.”

Walm was in a good mood and thanked Willart with a cup in his hand, and Willart replied modestly by raising the cup.

“You too… Walm, are you interested?”

Unusually, a question came from Willart. So, Walm responded with a strong interest.

“Of course. I long for magic.”

No boy would dislike magic.

“I see.”

Willart took his eyes off Walm and re-entered his own world.

Walm went back to his bed and drank alcohol again. Then his bladder screamed because he drank as much as he could.

Am I a little too excited?

Walm regretted it. He couldn’t just scatter it in the building, so he went away from the hustle and bustle, looking for a good place.

As he released his urge to urinate at the empty horn he finally found, he let out a small scream.

Even though I’m drinking now, I’m the invader of this land.

Walm then looked at the longsword that was still hung on the waist.

While thinking about such a matter he entered a room in the building, there, he saw a woman whose limbs were pressed down and her clothes were stripped off. Beside the woman was soldiers from the Sarria battalion.

“What are you doing?!”

When Walm asked with anger, the soldiers answered unabashedly.

“You can tell just by looking. I’m gonna do it from now on.”

“Do you want to join? Well, you can do it last.“

It was common for female soldiers to be harassed, but by all mean the woman was just a normal citizen. Probably the family of the soldier stationed in the fort. It was a common story on the battlefield. Still, for Walm, it was unacceptable.

“The people in this fort conditionally surrendered quietly, so this time we weren’t allowed to plunder or insult the citizens. It’s a violation of military law. If I tell this to the commander, you’ll be whipped for sure.”

Even the three idiots of Duwei’s Squad were drawing a line in front of the military law.

“Are you a saint? a knight? Bastard!”

“Don’t underestimate me. I’ve killed many people on the front line.”

Two soldiers rushed to Walm. The body illuminated by the moonlight was well trained. Both of them were good soldiers on the battlefield.

“…You’ve killed a few people, so what.”

Walm in the previous life might have been frightened, but now that he had taken countless lives, such a thing couldn’t even be called a threat. The battle in the ramparts he had not long ago was much more dangerous.

When Walm answered without any intonation in his words, the soldier stopped. It seemed that they saw Walm. On the body with the armor removed was engraved with countless wounds that were the proof of battles.

“…Tch, my mood gets ruined. Let’s drink again.”

The glaring continued, and the man who acted as the leader said so and went away. Seeing the soldiers leaving the room, Walm faced the woman.

From the point of view of the citizens, he might look the same as the soldiers who just went away. That was why, Walm wasn’t going to go pursue the matter more than necessary either.

“Go home and lock the entrance tightly. If you’re about to be pushed down or taken away, scream with all your might. Okay?… Did you understand?”

“Y-yes.”

The woman who wore clothes in a hurry ran away after she nodded many times. 

This is useless. Everywhere is like this.

Such a thought came to Walm’s mind.

What had changed in him?―― certainly he had killed a lot of people, but still, he didn’t remember ever throwing away his moral standards.

When Walm returned to the room, a squad member was singing a song. It was a song of an honest hero made up by the commoners. It would be ridiculous to compare with such a hero, but for sure it was very different from what Walm looked like now.

Even though the color did not change, the result of killing many on the battlefield and seeing many got raped, his eyes were becoming muddy, and he realized it himself.

In a “violent and crazy” era, drunken soldiers enjoyed their lives as if killing each other during the day was a lie. Perhaps, they might go crazy if there was no alcohol and party.

Walm who had gotten used to it, switched the gear in his mind and joined the party.

◆

The twisting and turning road leading into the forest seemed to keep going without end. The logistic corps of the Highserk Empire’s army continued to move forward without rest.

The transportation of goods by magic bags revolutionized the maintenance of logistics. Combined with a group of fully armed cavalry, it was possible to bring large quantities of supplies to frontline soldiers at a high speed.

Even so, the logistic corps never disappeared. The reason was, rare magic bags, along with magic tools, it only used for transport to the area designated for supplies storage, and supplies that couldn’t fit in the magic bags could only be carried by wagons or humans. One of those logistic officers, Hody, was pulling a cart with a pack animal.

The soldiers who fight on the front line were sometimes ridiculed as being like livestock, but Hody himself was proud of being a logistic officer, and he had seven years of military experience as a logistic officer.

Only once, but Hody was spoken to by Commander Gerald Berger, the war god of the Highserk Empire. 

It happened on the day when it was raining cold and he continued to carry supplies all night while pulling a cart. After checking the cargo, Hody was suddenly hit on the shoulder while unloading the supplies. When he looked back thinking the guards had come to scold him or threw curses at him, it was Commander Berger who was there.

Commander Berger said with a serious look while holding hands with Hody, who had forgotten to greet him.

『”Thanks for your hard work…… logistic officers are an important supporter of our army. We could keep fighting because there are people like you. You’re the pride of the Empire.”』

Since then, Hody had considered that his job must be the best. Even if it wasn’t recognized by many, the war god recognized himself. That alone was enough.

“You seem tired.”

Hody called out another logistic officer who had just arrived in the squad. A man whose one eye was crushed in battle and couldn’t get a sense of distance, then became a logistic officer.

“Of course, I’ve been pulling such a heavy object.”

Saying so, the one-eyed ex-soldier exhaled.

“Put some on my cart. It’s so light, I’m not even sweating.”

The one-eyed soldier thought that it was a joke and laughed, but Hody stopped the cart and began to move some of the one-eyed ex-soldier’s cargo.

“Hey, are you serious?”

“I’m a seven-year specialist in transporting supplies. I’ve been risking my life for a long time. Liberitoa, the former territory of Kanoa Kingdom, Myard, and everyplace in the Highserk Empire. I rushed to any place, from the siege tower to the battering ram, I carried everything. Just this much is light.”

When Hody hit his chest, the one-eyed ex-soldier burst into laughter.

“What’s wrong with you…. Thank you. I’ll give you my drink next time. To be honest, I’m old, after one of my eyes got crushed, I thought they moved me to the logistic corps just because I might become riddance, but I was wrong. It’s a tougher job than a normal soldier.”

The two continued to carry the cart silently without further conversation.

The soldiers approached the slope and the speed naturally slowed down. As Hody focused his eyes to see ahead of the road, the wind blew through the gaps in the trees.

The head of a guard soldier walking in front of Hody flew into the sky. Starting with that, arrows and magic attacked the soldiers all at once.

“It’s an enemy attack!!!! They’re coming!!”

When one of the soldiers shouted, Ferrius soldiers ― and adventurers attacked from the left and right. An adventurer with a large shield literally smashed the soldier’s head with a horizontal shield bash.

The Highserk soldiers who were in battle with the enemy were shot by an arrow in their throat from the side and fell to the ground. The merchants and civilians hired on a temporary basis were all attacked without distinction.

Hody hid in a cart and pulled out a short sword. He had some combat experience. He ever swung sword against a few monsters and stupid bandits.

“Haaaaaargh!!”

It was the Ferrius soldier who came to attack while screaming. Hody stabbed a short sword into the ground and rolled the cart.

Suddenly, the car couldn’t be avoided, and the Ferrius soldier was crushed beneath. Hody escaped the difficulties but made a fatal mistake. In addition to being large, his strength was judged to be dangerous.

A blue-haired adventurer was approaching Hody. Before pulling out the short sword on the ground, the long sword approaches Hody’s throat. He opened his eyes wide convinced that he would be dead for sure.

Without the longsword ever reaching Hody’s neck, he instead heard the treble of metal rubbing against another metal and the voice of someone he knew.

“Run away, Hody!! Tell them about this.”

The swords were crossing at a high speed that couldn’t be seen by the eyes. 

Hody didn’t want to think about abandoning his friends and running away.

“But!”

“Goooo! Faaast!”

Once again, the swords were crossing at a high speed that couldn’t be seen by eyes, and the whole body of the one-eyed soldier was dyed in red. Hody looked around, the escort soldiers were killed one after another, and the merchants and the other logistic officers who were trying to escape were all killed.

“I promise. I will carry this information. In the name of the logistic officer!!”

Hody kicked up the ground without looking back. A spear sticking out of a Ferius soldier hurt his shoulder, and a sword hurt his cheek.

Obstructing the end of the path was a young girl adventurer.

“Moveeee!”

The angry swaying eardrum slowed the girl’s movements. Hody didn’t feel the pain of a short sword stuck in his arm. The girl rolled on the ground many times due to the difference in body size and strength.

“Leethia!!”

The other adventurer called her name to make sure their companion was safe.

“If she’s so important, keep her in the box!! A bunch of soldiers and adventurers like you, it’s just what I want. If you can keep up with his good legs, try. The legs that have supported Highserk, aren’t weeeeak!”

The one-eyed ex-soldier’s scream also entered Hody’s ear. The arrow flew in without stopping, and even if tears began to flow, Hody didn’t stop and continued to run.

TN: Here, the full image of Duwei’s character design