Greek Feast (2)

Six years ago, on the northern front where many lives were lost in the war against the monsters.

Derient, a former member of the Knight Order, was the Captain of the Vanguard Unit of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Conquest Army.

The Conquest Army was a coalition force consisting of conscripted soldiers from various territories, the central army, and the Knight Order, formed as a temporary unit to fight against the monsters.

As the Captain of the Vanguard Unit in the Conquest Army, Derient made a grave mistake by advancing into enemy territory and getting surrounded by monsters due to a wrong judgment.

The mistake was painful. Surrounded by monsters on all sides, there seemed to be no way out. In front and behind, filthy-looking monsters were closing in, snorting with every step.

At that moment, Derient thought everything was over. As a knight who lived and died by honor, it was a mistake he should commit suicide for even if he survived.

An ogre’s sharp claw grazed his arm, and blood oozed out. The problem was that if the Vanguard Unit fell like this, the supply unit would also suffer, which would deal a significant blow to the 3rd Infantry Division.

In the worst case, it could lead to total annihilation.

Derient gritted his teeth and beheaded the ogre that attacked him. But he was the only one fighting back; his surrounded subordinates were dying meaningless deaths, blood spraying everywhere. The screams from all around were filled with the shadow of death.

“Dieee!”

Derient thought only of killing as many monsters as he could before he died.

It was a bit regretful that he would die without seeing his wife and the child in her womb waiting for him in the Capital, but there was nothing he could do. He had already given up on everything.

But at that moment, a powerful magic attack struck the center of the ogre horde.

As fire spread in the center, the ogre horde fell into chaos. Moreover, the monsters in the front row began to burn all at once from a second magic attack.

Thanks to the wide-area magic that attacked the ogre horde, a retreat path was created. The mage that suddenly appeared asked Derient,

“Are you the captain of the Vanguard Unit?”

“Yes! B-but who are you?”

Who was this person who turned the tide with a single spell? In response to Derient’s question, the mage calmly opened his mouth, almost emotionlessly.

“I am Ellison, newly appointed as the Adjutant of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Conquest Army.”

At this time, El had not yet consumed the Dragon Heart. Naturally, it was before he met Rurin and before he established himself as a key figure in the Monster War.

The Adjutant of the 3rd Infantry Division was the position directly under the Infantry Commander. So, to Derient, the Centurion of the 3rd Infantry Division, he was a direct superior. Therefore, Derient immediately knelt.

“Thank you for your help! But being surrounded was entirely my fault! My subordinates are innocent!”

Derient, instead of focusing on the immediate battle, started discussing right and wrong.

But El did not respond to that. Instead, he asked another question.

“Do such trivial matters concern you right now?”

“What?”

“The ogres are coming from behind. Just kill as many as you can. That’s what war is.”

It was a very straightforward order.

Momentarily coming to his senses, Derient nodded, grabbed his sword, and ran towards the ogre horde. If he made another mistake, the 3rd Infantry Division could be annihilated because of him. Fighting as if to atone, Derient threw himself into the battle.

As a result of El’s intervention, the monsters’ encirclement was broken, and the tide of battle turned. Fortunately, the Vanguard Unit of the 3rd Infantry Division maintained the front line and established a stronghold at the front.

The next day, Derient visited El’s tent and knelt.

“Adjutant, I am a sinner and a knight who has lost his honor! How can I receive a reward?”

A sinner among sinners who nearly destroyed the Unit. Receiving a reward was unthinkable. A knight lives and dies by honor. Derient thought only of this and pleaded for punishment.

“You did make a mistake. But the number of monsters you killed afterward piled up like a mountain. Because you stepped forward ahead of anyone else, the soldiers’ morale rose. Your mistake and your merit cancel one another. Punishing such a commander would mean reducing the number of future monster kills, wouldn’t it? No matter how much a knight lives and dies by honor, there should be a chance to regain that honor. You’ve earned that chance by winning the hearts of your subordinates. Yesterday’s battle was a victory overall. Your men unanimously said that if you didn’t accept the reward, they wouldn’t either. So, you must accept the reward.”

“Such…!”

“Or do you intend to burden your subordinates twice for the sake of that honor? If you’re punished, your subordinates will also be marked as losers in battle. They’ll all be punished too. Is that what you want? Choose. Will you save your subordinates and seize this opportunity, or die along with them?”

Derient couldn’t say anything. But he couldn’t burden his subordinates, who were guilty of nothing but following him.

That was definitely more important than honor.

Derient nodded reluctantly.

He decided to forget about restoring his honor.

By having forgotten a knight’s honor, Derient gritted his teeth and fought even harder from that day forward.

El stayed with the 3rd Infantry Division for about three months, continuously winning with appropriate strategies, and Derient’s Vanguard Unit was always at the center of it.

And so the reward money was earned.

Derient stubbornly refused the reward money.

El had heard from Derient’s colleagues that his wife was pregnant, so he secretly gave the reward money to his wife each time.

In a wartime situation, it was hard to eat properly. Even in a safe city, unless you were a noble.

Derient only learned after the war ended that his wife had given birth safely thanks to the reward money.

Afterward, El left the battlefield temporarily only to get involved in an even greater war, but Derient didn’t know that.

However, he believed that the restoration of his lost honor and the safety of his wife and daughter were solely due to El.

After the war, Derient was recognized for his achievements, continued to be promoted within the Knight Order, and eventually rose to the position of Vice-captain of the 1st Knight Division.

Derient briefly recounted his experiences.

“So, this person is not your enemy…?”

“He’s not my enemy; he’s my benefactor! I’m angry that he disappeared without giving me a chance to repay his kindness! But that can’t be considered a grudge. I called it ‘unfinished business’ just to make you act more quickly.”

Derient looked around and shouted loudly again.

“Sheathe your swords immediately!”

The knights, who were looking at their superior and me alternately in bewilderment, hurriedly sheathed their swords in shock. Then Derient knelt before me.

“It’s been five years, Adjutant. Though the time we spent together was short, I have never forgotten it for a moment. Do you know how surprised I was today? I sent my subordinates ahead and then hurriedly got permission from His Highness to come here! Do you know how desperately I’ve been searching for you all this time?”

It seems he spotted me just at the moment he was observing the procession.

“Indeed. It’s been a long time.”

I had been rolling around on battlefields long before I gained absolute power. That was my life after being summoned to this world. I achieved everything from the bottom to becoming a high-class mage on my own. Of course, only up to what a human could achieve.

It was only after I had an extraordinary encounter that I transcended human strength. I wasn’t a transcendent from the start. The period of fighting together with the fear of death was actually longer. It was like a battlefield on thin ice.

Derient is a subordinate I met on the battlefield when I only had human strength.

Of course, whether human strength or transcendent, those are just memories that don’t matter now.

I helped Derient up and spoke.

“Can you forget the me of that time? Now I’m just a retired restaurant owner tired of fighting.”

“So that’s why I couldn’t find you. I never imagined you were in a place like this! But Adjutant, isn’t the war over now? There’s no need to be tired of fighting anymore; you should receive the treatment you deserve!”

Derient only knows the me from when I had human strength. He doesn’t know what happened afterward. In his eyes, there’s no reverence, just joy at seeing an old comrade.

“What use is receiving treatment? It’ll just drag me into another battlefield. I’m just enjoying the peace. I’m content with good people and good scenery.”

“That…”

Derient seemed at a loss for words. But he’s not someone who can’t understand that everyone has different ideals. As proof, Derient nodded quietly.

“Rather than that, since you’re here, why not stay for a meal?”

At my words, Derient immediately shook his head.

“No, I just got temporary permission to come here during my duties, so I’ll come back after finishing my duties. Knowing you’re here is enough for now. I’ll bring my wife and daughter next time. My wife still talks about the reward money you sent back then… Haha.”

Derient scratched the back of his head.

“That sounds good.”

It’s a heartwarming story just to hear.

“You’re not going to suddenly disappear again, are you?”

“That won’t happen. Just as you have a home, this is now my home too.”

With a dragon’s lair under the hill, this place is undeniably my home now. When I spoke firmly, Derient nodded as if relieved. Then, he left the restaurant with his subordinates.

It seems he found me by chance on the street and hurriedly came to see me. Since he had to carry out his knight duties, it was only expected that he couldn’t stay long. Thanks to that, it felt like a storm had swept through.

“Arrogant humans. I don’t like them.”

“He’s a man I knew from before.”

“If I wasn’t in the middle of eating, I would have killed them all!”

Rurin raised her eyebrows. Get the rice grains off your face first.

“But since they knelt to you, I’ll let it go. If they show respect to you, I won’t treat them poorly either.”

“Thank you for that.”

As I removed the rice grains, Rurin started laughing. Then she took the grains I had removed and put them in her mouth along with my finger.

“Hehe.”

Still laughing.

That was fine until the dragon suddenly started biting my finger. And she was biting it hard.

“Hey, don’t bite!”

When I shouted, Rurin declared boldly and let go of my finger.

“Your finger is now mine!”

My finger was clearly imprinted with teeth marks.

Then, the dragon immediately ran upstairs. Naturally, I had to chase her.