Rookie Holy Knight Azadine (1)

At present, Vermilion Fortress was under strong suspicion of insubordination. It was only natural—every platoon leader assigned there had died young, and for half a year no one had been able to exercise command authority.

Azadine looked over the terrain and decided to move up to the relatively safe flatland area.

A short while later, an armed force arrived before Azadine’s party.

“We are soldiers of Vermilion Fortress. Are you the newly appointed platoon leader?”

“Yes. I am the new platoon leader, Azadine. Pleased to meet you. But who are you?”

“A soldier of Vermilion Fortress. Hee-hee.”

As he spoke, the soldier chewed something and then spat it out with a smack.

It was chewing tobacco. It was a fairly expensive indulgence, and spitting it out in front of a superior was a rude act.

“But is it true you’re a soulless blasphemer?”

“Hm?”

Azadine realized the soldiers were deliberately being rude to seize the initiative, and he let out a small chuckle.

‘Judging by what they’re doing, these aren’t the ones who killed the platoon leaders.’

If they were truly the culprits, there would be no reason to measure strength with Azadine at all.

It would be more profitable to kill him—or quietly try to win him over later. Starting off with a petty dominance game like this only meant they were simple-minded fools.

“Thank you for coming out to greet us. You seem full of vigor—would you take our baggage for us? Now, everyone, leave your packs to them!”

“Pardon?”

“They’ll carry the baggage. Let’s travel comfortably.”

When Azadine said that, the soldiers who had come down from Vermilion Fortress snorted.

Right in front of Azadine, they pulled out fresh chewing tobacco, stuffed it into their mouths, chewed loudly, and laughed.

“Platoon leader. We came all this way to greet you—are you really going to use us as porters?”

“First, since we’ve met, we should exchange names, greet properly, and as befits a new platoon leader, you should show off a talent—sing us a song.”

“A talent show, is it?”

In that instant, a sharp whoosh cut through the air, and something flashed between the legs of the soldier who had spoken.

Azadine had lightly thrown a pebble, and it sliced through the man’s trousers as it passed.

-Thud!

The trousers split, even the undergarment tore, and the thing between his legs flopped out.

“…….”

The soldier froze, flustered as an important part of him suddenly met the open air.

“My talent is a quick eunuch procedure. Want to see it?”

“Uh. Hey, boss? What do we do?”

The soldier panicked and glanced back.

As expected, the real boss had been hiding among the rank-and-file, watching without starting trouble himself.

A hulking man, a head taller than the others, stepped out from among the soldiers.

“What a pack of rude fools. I apologize, Platoon Leader. The boys took their joke too far. They’re all bursting with hot blood, you see.”

“When it comes to taming vigorous blood, nothing beats castration. Once you remove that, everyone gets obedient afterward. If it’s hard to manage your men, I can castrate them all for you.”

“Hahaha. What a delightful joke. Someone might think you were serious.”

“So, squad leader. Your name?”

“I’m Comek, Platoon Leader. Welcome to your posting.”

“Then will you carry the baggage? The people are exhausted.”

“Yes. Of course.”

Squad Leader Comek said so and jerked his chin at the soldiers. The soldiers, flustered, began moving the baggage.

“He really does have some tricks, this new platoon leader bastard, huh?”

“They said he’s Messenger Clan.”

“Did they send him because they suspect us?”

“Damn it. Send supplies and women, for once. They ignore our demands every time, and then they send some soulless blasphemer as platoon leader?”

The soldiers muttered their dissatisfaction inwardly, but they carried the loads in silence. Thanks to that, Azadine’s party arrived at Vermilion Fortress a bit faster than expected.

“Hm.”

Azadine inspected the fortress. A small watchtower-fort made of stacked bricks—who knew where they had gotten them.

Around that watchtower-fort, barracks and buildings had been put up, and nearby farmhouses—about ten or so—formed a small village, with another ten or so households nearer the mine.

When Azadine reached the fortress forecourt, a half-elf with a teardrop tattoo on his face and a dwarf with hair bristling upward walked out from inside a building.

“Welcome, Platoon Leader. I am First Squad Leader, Sergeant Rijen.”

“Second Squad Leader Kallan.”

“Third Squad Leader Comek.”

“I am trainee knight Azadine, newly assigned as platoon leader of Vermilion Fortress. I look forward to working with you.”

“A trainee knight, you say?”

Rijen grinned. A Messenger Clansman as a trainee knight of the Rescue Knights Order—he found the situation too funny to hold back laughter.

“Then first, we’ll assign the peasants and laborers you brought to lodgings, and we’ll have Headquarters personnel additionally assigned to manage them.”

Azadine began work immediately. His instructions were quick and precise, and most tasks were completed in an instant.

The soldiers of Vermilion Fortress, ready to nitpick Azadine’s every move, were left with nothing to say when the work finished before they could even blink.

“On the way up, I saw an abandoned house at the entrance. If we’re short on housing, repair that and use it for now. Until then, bear with the tight quarters. Do we have sufficient water? Water coming out near cinnabar mines is often toxic, so we’ll need a separate source of clean water.”

“Ah. We have a sand reservoir that collects rainwater.”

“A sand reservoir? Wisdom of the angels. Excellent.”

A normal reservoir drew insects and mud, but a reservoir made by filling a pit with sand and gravel could store a significant amount of rainwater without fear of contamination.

Of course, it cost far more to build than a standard reservoir. But in a place like a cinnabar mine, it was worth investing in for a clean water source.

‘Unbelievable. He’s on a different level from the previous platoon leaders. Is this the Emperor’s messenger?’

The soldiers who had come to pick a fight were astonished by Azadine’s competence. But then, an unexpected problem arose.

“This woman is a soldier? Heh! You’ve got to be kidding!”

The soldiers had spotted Camilla.

Even among the Cell Sword Guild in big cities, women were not rare. But in a backwater like this, it was another story.

“Wow. She’s pretty, miss. What’s that sword at your waist? It’s way too big to be a kitchen knife.”

“Hey. How much for a long night?”

The soldiers immediately began harassing Camilla. Camilla clicked her tongue.

“Hey. You lot. Are you running your mouths without thinking about what happens next?”

“Oh? Even your angry face is cute.”

Seeing that, Azadine flicked his eyes toward the squad leaders. The squad leaders merely watched, apparently curious how Azadine would respond.

‘This is troublesome.’

If Azadine, the platoon leader, stepped in personally, he would gradually lose authority. If he interfered in every petty dispute among the soldiers, they would only hate him more.

In cases like this, a dependable middle manager needed to mediate—but Azadine’s adjutant, Macdogal, did not like Azadine much either.

“Enough. She is an excellent scout. If you insult her needlessly, I will not let it go.”

When Azadine said that, the soldiers snickered.

“Yes, yes. Understood. We’ll assume she’s yours.”

As the soldiers cackled and stuck out their pinkies, Kuntachi strode forward. Scratching his head, he asked his older sister.

“Big sis. What are they saying? Are they messing with you?”

“Don’t kill them.”

“So they are messing with you?! You bastards!”

In that moment, Kuntachi rushed in and threw a punch at a laughing soldier. The startled soldier raised his arm to block, but Kuntachi’s fist punched through the arm and into his face.

“Guhk!”

The soldier lifted off the ground and then tumbled across the dirt.

“Y-you bastard!”

The other soldiers drew their weapons. In the same instant, a sharp clang rang out as stones struck their sword hilts. Azadine had thrown pebbles and hit their weapons.

The shock was so powerful that their entire pelvises rang and their lower bellies ached; everyone jolted in surprise.

“Everyone, stop. If you draw blades in a brawl among yourselves, I will execute you on the spot. Kuntachi. You calm down too.”

“Waaah. Azadine. I calmed down. Calm. Don’t hit me.”

Kuntachi raised his hands and covered his face, acting frightened.

‘People are going to think I beat you all the time.’

Azadine was taken aback by Kuntachi’s overly terrified attitude. Unintentionally, it was an extremely effective threat to everyone around.

That huge, terrifying brute was afraid of Azadine. It proved Azadine was not someone they could take lightly.

“Camilla. You shouldn’t be egging him on when you should be stopping him.”

“I stopped him. I told him not to kill them. That’s stopping him enough.”

“You should’ve defended him by saying they weren’t teasing you.”

“You can’t lie like that to Kuntachi. He’s not smart, so if you lie in situations like this, he’ll gradually stop trusting his instincts. My mom did that—lied however it suited her and denied the kid’s instincts—and it broke him. You want me to do that again?”

“That is certainly a problem. All right.”

Azadine nodded, seeing Camilla’s excuse had its own logic.

“Then the remaining soldiers—”

“Ptui!”

The soldier Kuntachi had punched spat. Blood and teeth spilled onto the ground. Three teeth had broken.

“What are you doing, Platoon Leader?! That bastard hit me! And you’re only taking his side?!”

“Kuntachi has had that sort of condition from the start. That’s why I warned you. It’s your own fault, soldier.”

“Ugh. You soulless blasphemer bastard!”

The soldier, missing teeth from Kuntachi’s punch, drew a dagger and charged at Azadine. But at that moment, Bernard spoke an incantation.

“Mmph!”

The charging soldier clapped a hand over his mouth. Blood flowing from the wound inside his mouth turned into a spider shape, its legs ripping through his cheek flesh as they burst out.

It was clearly liquid blood, yet it tore through his entire mouth with the force of an iron spike.

“Kyaaaagh!”

“Eek?!”

The soldiers recoiled in horror at the grotesque sight. Then a meteor of golden flame slashed through the soldier’s mouth. Azadine swung Aurelia Dawn and perfectly cut away only the blood spider.

“Bernard. What are you doing?

“Heh-heh. It seemed to me the platoon leader’s heart was too soft, so I presumptuously interfered. Cough, cough. Punish me. I’ll accept it gladly.”

“Hm. Are you all right?”

Azadine looked over the soldier whose teeth were knocked out by Kuntachi and whose mouth had been completely torn apart by Bernard.

His cheek was utterly shredded—a horrific sight—but Azadine simply looked at the wound, unwrapped a bandage, and wrapped the man’s face.

“It’s a light injury.”

“?!”

“What?!”

The other soldiers were horrified by Azadine’s calm reaction.