Chapter 79: Southern Training Camp (5)

The day Henderson confirmed the recruitment notice for soldiers.

Henderson thought,

'I want to become one of Roman Demetri's men.'

Lawrence Square.

He couldn't forget what had happened there.

People, including Henderson, were living their ordinary lives when Roman Demetri appeared, trampling on the peace.

People covered their mouths with their hands.

The heinous criminal Ben Miles was dragged by the hair by Roman, leaving a trail of blood on the ground with each step.

And then,

Roman executed Ben Miles.

He willingly stained his hands with blood, saying he could not forgive the Blood Gang, who had sucked the blood of the Demetri people.

At that sight,

Henderson was completely smitten.

Henderson, who had been one of the crowd in Lawrence, applied for the soldier recruitment.

'Soldiers probably don't need much extraordinary qualifications, right?'

It was a common thought.

Since it wasn't a great noble family and they were Roman Demetri's personal soldiers, he thought the threshold wouldn't be high.

But,

to his surprise,

the reality Henderson faced after barely passing the selection was different.

Everyone was far from ordinary.

Chris and Kevin, as shown in the Great Knight Battle, were powerful users of aura, and there were veteran mercenaries like Lucas and Puki.

Henderson was the only one who could be considered a complete ordinary person.

It must have started then.

As the training progressed,

Henderson fell into self-loathing.

'...Can I be of any help here?'

For the first few weeks,

Henderson wandered.

Seeing other soldiers easily keeping up with the training, he felt this place wasn't his.

To be honest,

unlike the strong-hearted ones who didn't blink during the arrow-shooting test, he had trembled so much he almost wet his pants.

Even now, thinking about it made his heart race.

He felt like a herbivore among a group of predators.

He seriously pondered for a while.

In the end,

Henderson went to Chris and said,

"Sorry, but I don't think I have the qualifications to serve Lord Roman Demetri."

It was a realistic judgment.

For the sake of the majority, he believed this was right.

Chris asked,

"Why do you think that?"

"You know the reason, don't you? Unlike the other soldiers, I'm a beginner who can't even wield a sword properly. I can't keep up with the training, and I don't have any outstanding skills. I think it was arrogant of me, a lifelong farmer, to offer to follow Lord Roman Demetri."

"Do you want to give up because you're not as good as others?"

"Yes."

If it had been before meeting Roman,

Chris would have agreed with Henderson.

But,

now it was different.

"When I first met Kevin, he was just a kid with nothing but malice in his eyes. Honestly, I couldn't understand why a lord would take in a young boy from the slums. But does Kevin still look weak now? No. In that short time, Kevin has grown into a warrior no one can ignore."

"Is that really true?"

"Yes. And the funny thing is, I'm the same. When I first met the lord, I attacked him without knowing better and lost all my front teeth. I was just a frog in a well. And just as Kevin has changed from his past self, I have also changed thanks to the lord's teachings. So, what are you worried about? The lord believes you have the potential to be a soldier. You may be weak now, but like Chris and Kevin, you have the potential to grow. Lord Roman Demetri, the lord we serve, has the ability to make that happen."

Thump, thump.

His heart raced.

Kevin is a recognized tough guy.

But even Kevin was just a nobody from the slums before meeting Roman.

'Can I become like that too?'

He couldn't be sure.

But,

hearing these examples, he felt his heart burning with passion.

"To be honest, I don't believe in myself. It's unimaginable for a farmer like me to become as strong as others, but I'll trust the lord's judgment, as you said. If he chose me among many applicants, there must be a reason. I'll focus on training again. And I won't come to you with such trivial matters anymore."

That day,

Henderson changed his mind.

And from then on,

Henderson's life began to change.

* * *

In the past few months,

Henderson trained to the point of exhaustion.

To be a worthy man of Roman.

Even if it meant vomiting after each day's training, even if it meant fainting during training,

Henderson trained fiercely to catch up with his comrades, and eventually built his current physique.

Therefore,

seeing the other soldiers who had a year to prepare, Henderson raised his voice.

"What do you think war is? When you're on the brink of life and death, where you have to kill others to survive, will you still say you can't fight because you didn't have enough time to prepare? Pathetic. In a year, you can start and finish a whole season of farming. Living comfortably all this time and now saying you didn't have enough time, or that you had no choice because you were conscripted, is just a pathetic excuse."

In war,

you have to protect your own life.

Even if you were conscripted, how much effort you put in can make a difference.

But,

what about the soldiers of other nobles?

They didn't even meet the minimum qualifications.

Seeing these soldiers complain, Henderson sneered.

"It might have been hard for you, who lived without a care for a year, to go through today's training. But if you realize you're lacking, the normal reaction would be to try to catch up, not to whine to us. Why are you asking us to be at your level?"

Roman said,

For this southern expedition,

be prepared for war.

Henderson and Roman's soldiers really underwent training like real combat, and while it wasn't perfect, they were ready to face war at any time.

That's why he couldn't understand the other soldiers' reactions.

In the same place, they were unrealistically optimistic.

Henderson's words were aggressive.

The other nobles' soldiers.

They were speechless.

Henderson's preparation period was less than half a year, so they had no grounds to argue.

"Idiots."

Henderson turned and walked away.

Even after today's incident, they wouldn't change, but Henderson would continue to train passionately, day after day.

For Lord Roman Demetri.

Roman's soldiers had already started the war in their hearts.

* * *

The training continued.

Extreme physical training.

Despite the increasing intensity day by day, Roman's soldiers gritted their teeth and completed the training to the end.

The gap with other soldiers was significant.

Perhaps because their pride was hurt by the overwhelming difference,

the nobles watching the training complained.

"I don't understand why they're overdoing it like that."

"Exactly. If this were the Western Front, where battles happen all the time, I could understand, but the Southern Front is far from war. Anyway, it seems our kids are suffering because of those guys."

"Originally, those of low birth tend to exert themselves in meaningless places. If they don't do something like this, how would the Demetri family gain recognition?"

"True, hahaha!"

They openly mocked Roman.

It was ridiculous.

The Southern Training Camp is famous in the noble world as a place to spend two years in leisure. Why are they training so hard here?

If it were the Western Training Camp, it would make sense.

There, you can earn rewards for your efforts, but the Southern Training Camp doesn't even force training on nobles.

Under the scorching sun,

Roman's face turned red.

Seeing him training with the soldiers, one couldn't help but think he was foolish.

Among the nobles in the shade,

Henry Albert was also there.

Unlike the nobles mocking Roman, he was only worried.

'...How am I supposed to win the heart of a guy like that?'

He was

a unique character.

If he were interested in pleasure like other nobles, he could at least try to start a conversation, but this guy trains hard in the Southern Front for no reason.

His way of thinking was fundamentally different from Henry's.

Honestly, if it weren't for his uncle, Viscount Vale's order, he would have been joining the other nobles in mocking Roman.

But,

he couldn't.

Thinking about being assigned to the same unit as such a guy made his head hurt.

'Or does he have some kind of safety paranoia? If he just came to the Southern Training Camp, he could chat and bond with other nobles. Anyway, commoners don't know how to relax. Whatever, I don't know. It'll work out somehow.'

He sprawled out in the shade.

The sun was scorching.

He heard the soldiers shouting in the distance but fell asleep in the cool shade.

After a good nap,

the boring training would probably be over.

* * *

At that moment,

Southern Front, First Defense Line.

On the high walls, Cairo's soldiers watched the border.

"Man, I'm tired."

"Anything happen yesterday?"

"Don't even ask. I played cards with the 2nd Squad all night and only got two hours of sleep."

The soldier showed a clearly exhausted face.

He didn't properly check the border.

He glanced down the wall to see if anyone was around, then took out a canteen from his waist and opened the lid.

Click.

The smell of alcohol stung his nose.

The soldier next to him was surprised.

"Did you bring alcohol?"

"What do you mean? Bringing alcohol in a canteen isn't a new thing. You need to loosen up a bit. In a place where no one will come, what's the harm in having a drink? And it's actually good for the job. It's better to have a drink and stay alert than to be so sleepy you can't properly watch the border."

"But..."

"If you don't want to, don't. I'll drink it, no problem."

Gulp, gulp.

The soldier took a drink.

The stimulating sensation as it went down his throat.

The soldier sighed in admiration, and the other soldier on duty couldn't resist.

"Can I have a sip?"

"Of course."

The Southern Front.

This was a common scene.

The long peace had bred complacency, and over the years, no major incidents had occurred.

But,

they didn't notice.

In the dense bushes at the border,

while they were drinking, the area was visibly stirring.