Chapter 17 - The Fierce Squirrel Lying in the Grass (5)
"Wilfried."
Wilfried and the cadets he led were definitely keeping a thorough watch on their surroundings. They weren't letting their guard down at all. So it was only natural that everyone was startled when Ernest silently approached and called out to Wilfried.
"Ferdinand is leading a squad to attack—nine people in total."
"...Ernest."
Wilfried clutched his startled chest, glanced at Ernest, and then sighed in slight relief.
"The other nine are circling around to attack. Robert's platoon will block them."
"Then we just follow the plan, right?"
"Yeah. I set up a few things along the way to slow them down a bit. It's nothing big—just meant to delay their steps."
"Got it. ...But Ernest."
Wilfried called out to Ernest in a somewhat hesitant tone as he started running off toward the other side of the forest.
"Where did you leave your crossbow and armor?"
Ernest hesitated at that obvious question.
"Oh, right."
At Ernest's words, Wilfried and the other cadets' faces twisted strangely. But they grew even more flustered when Ernest continued speaking.
"You all should take off your armor too. I meant to tell you but forgot."
"What? Take off our armor?"
"Yeah. It's useless anyway. In a real fight, a Balt Gun shot will almost always penetrate. It just makes noise and limits your movement."
"...That's a reasonable decision."
Wilfried mulled over Ernest's words, nodded, and took the lead in removing his armor. Without the cumbersome breastplate, it was easier to move, and taking off the helmet made his head feel cooler and his vision clearer.
"Put the armor up front to lure the enemy and throw them into confusion."
Ernest went a step further, deciding to use the armor as bait in a trap.
To be honest, some cadets were unhappy, thinking this behavior was 'dishonorable.'
"Got it. I'll take care of this side now, so don't worry."
However, Wilfried was greatly impressed by Ernest's pragmatic orders. The Duke's Son had never once considered such 'dishonorable actions.' But Wilfried was clever enough to see that he could learn what he needed from this trap and deceptive tactics.
Trusting Wilfried, Ernest started running again.
At the same time, Ernest realized something.
'This isn't the kind of thing a commander should be doing.'
Ernest appointed himself as the company commander. After all, as the company commander, he had to lead the company. But in reality, running around giving orders like this was both foolish and dangerous.
Ernest came to truly understand the importance of reporting and command chains, as well as the human resources needed to support them.
"Robert, half of the enemy is circling around to the left."
"...You want me to stop them?"
"Yeah. Who else other than you will stop them? Wilfried needs to hold the front."
"Hmm, okay. I guess I'll give it a try. But why is Commander Ernest running around so hard on his own? Without any armor, too."
"There's no one else but me to relay orders and run scouts. And you guys, take off all your armor. It's useless anyway."
"Ah, you fool. You should have divided the troops better."
"Who should I leave the scout position to, you?"
"That's a deep philosophical question. It's too profound to discuss here, so I can't possibly answer."
Robert chuckled as he quickly stripped off his armor, following Ernest's orders.
"We don't know exactly where they'll come in. For now, I'll go ahead, check the situation, and set up warning traps. After that, I won't have time to do anything else. Robert, you have to locate the enemy and decide how to position your troops on your own."
"Oh, so you expect me to take responsibility if I'm the one making the decisions?"
The two boys, who had a history of using that very phrase—make your own call—to disrupt the Cadet Corps, exchanged smirks.
"Basically, it means you're free to do as you please. As long as you have a good reason."
"Alright. Let's go."
After speaking cheerfully, Robert actually started moving vigorously through the forest, his legs trembling nervously.
"...What kind of guy is that?"
The cadets grumbled quietly at Ernest's retreating back as he dashed off like a squirrel.
"The real battles with the Alliance Army will be fought in the forests and mountains. Don't you think we'll have to be at least that good to fight and survive against the enemy?"
Robert chatted easily with the proud noble faction cadets, the rock-hard military faction cadets, and the disheartened minor noble cadets as he walked on. He was secretly worried there might be some opposition, but luckily no cadet voiced any complaint about the orders from this remarkably sociable boy.
"Where do you think would be good?"
"Hmm... I think we should go a bit further. It looks like they'll try to bypass pretty deeply. It's probably Hartmann's tactic, so they'll move quite boldly."
"Alright. Let's keep going."
Robert actively welcomed the other cadets' opinions. He knew only the basics of tactics, and on terrain this complex, the best he could do was just distinguish friend from foe.
"Jimman, this might sound strange, but you're the platoon leader. Do you really need to keep asking for our opinions like this?"
One of the military faction cadets asked Robert, who, despite being the platoon leader, focused more on coordinating opinions than taking command.
"Well, here's the thing. Because I don't have the ability to command. Until just a few days ago, all I knew was charging forward and retreating."
Robert openly admitted his limitations. He spoke so casually that it took everyone by surprise.
"There are people more competent than me, and if I tried to boss them around, things would only get messy. What I need to do is just gently, very gently, guide us all so we don't make any mistakes."
"...You're quite something, huh? I'm starting to see you in a new light."
"That tone is a bit unpleasant. I've been this kind of guy from the start."
Growing up under a merchant father and blessed with outstanding social skills, Robert led the platoon well in his own way. He gathered the opinions of the other cadets and carefully positioned the troops, all while waiting tensely for the 'warning trap' Ernest had mentioned to be triggered.
"But if it's a warning trap, what exactly is it warning about?"
"Before, we made something that made noise when stones fell."
"Can that really tell us where the enemy is?"
"Well... I don't know..."
Robert considered the words of a cadet who, following Ernest's orders, had been on standby and managed to take out one enemy. But it turned out that wasn't really necessary, because the moment the 'warning trap' was triggered, they clearly knew exactly where the enemy was.
"Ahhhh!"
"..."
"······."
In the quiet forest, the annoying, high-pitched scream typical of a boy going through puberty rang out forcefully.
"W-What did you do···?"
"That crazy bastard actually crippled our comrade!"
"He's going to kill us all!"
The cadets murmured in fear, not toward the enemy, but toward their own company commander.
"Ernest wouldn't do something like that. I mean, it's a mock battle, and the enemy isn't real. Probably."
Robert tried to defend Ernest, but the more he spoke, the less certain he became about him.
"L-Let's move."
Since they now knew the enemy's location, it was time to act.
Robert led the pale-faced cadets as they fell into formation once again.
***
Ferdinand's squad advanced cautiously. They were so tense that they lost track of how much time had passed.
Clatter.
At the small sound, the cadets flinched, and the cadet at the front looked down at his feet. Damn vine—he had triggered another trap.
"Don't look at the ground; watch your surroundings."
Ferdinand whispered in a cautious voice.
"We're getting numb to the sounds. That's exactly what Krieger wants."
They had already triggered more than five traps. At first, they had been on high alert, scanning their surroundings carefully, but now, even when they heard noises, they just assumed they'd triggered another trap and looked down at their feet. What if they ran into a real enemy ambush then?
"Sorry."
"It's okay. Just don't make the same mistake next time."
Ferdinand didn't truly believe his comrades wouldn't slip up again. However, he knew that simply showing trust could improve the situation, so he kept expressing confidence in them.
Eventually, Ferdinand's effort paid off. The cadet at the front quietly raised his left hand, and everyone fell silent, coming to a halt.
"······."
The lead cadet pointed with his fingertip toward a helmet slightly protruding from the bushes on the other side. The other cadets noticed it too.
"Hold position."
Just as the cadets aimed their crossbows, Ferdinand whispered from his hiding spot as he heard the bushes rustle. A cool spring breeze swept through the forest and drifted away. Ferdinand's eyes narrowed.
"It's a trap. Fall back."
Ferdinand's judgment was astonishingly fast. It was because it happened on an instinctual level. Only after giving the order did Ferdinand fully understand his own assessment.
'They hid the helmet so it would be visible among the bushes. There's no space for a person to actually hide there.'
In reality, anyone trying to hide wearing that helmet would have to be about waist-high to Ferdinand or have to dig into the ground to bury themselves.
'If it were Krieger, he wouldn't make a mistake like this. Krieger isn't here—someone else did this.'
Thinking that far, Ferdinand furrowed his brow. He instinctively realized that Brandt's squad, which had planned to circle widely to the right and infiltrate the enemy's flank, had long ago been spotted by Ernest.
"Fire!"
At that moment, a strong shout came from deeper in the forest. It was Wilfried's voice.
"Get down!"
Crack!
Responding swiftly to Ferdinand's command, the Imperial Army cadets dropped to the ground. Only one Alliance cadet fell from the volley of their unified gunfire, giving the Imperial cadets their chance.
"Shoot!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
At Ferdinand's order, the Imperial cadets sprang up and opened fire. The time it took to fire a single shot was at most five seconds. If swift, two seconds were enough. The range was far superior, and the accuracy was incomparable.
In that brief moment, more than twenty wooden bolts had been fired by eight Imperial Army cadets. As a result, seven Alliance cadets were killed.
Yet, there was still plenty of time. The Alliance cadets were still winding the pulley to reload.
"Now! Fire!"
Rat-tat-tat!
"What!"
At that moment, Wilfried's shout rang out once again, and wooden bolts poured down on the Imperial cadets, who had been calmly measuring their time and firing.
Because of the range and accuracy, only three died. However,
from a squad of just nine, four had already been killed, cutting their numbers in half.
Ferdinand scowled as he saw Wilfried's face through the trees. Wilfried had divided his forces to fire. After the initial volley, when the Imperial cadets, reassured by their counterattack, exposed themselves, Wilfried quickly struck again with cadets who had been hidden, delivering a second salvo.
It was a basic tactic. But the Imperial cadets, who overwhelmed their enemies with their weapons' performance, had momentarily forgotten even these fundamental tactics.
Even in this crisis, Ferdinand did not panic.
"Fall back."
At Ferdinand's calm command, the five remaining cadets safely fell back.
They were now out of the enemy's range.
From that distance, Ferdinand and the Imperial cadets began firing steadily at the enemy.
"Retreat!"
Wilfried only began to withdraw after losing six more cadets. Now, including himself, he had just five cadets left—the same number as the Imperial cadets. In this situation, the only option Wilfried had was to hide, wait for an opening to fire once, and then die honorably.
"Pursue."
Ferdinand carefully surveyed his surroundings before ordering a chase. If they let Wilfried slip away now, he would just hide and launch another surprise attack.
Thud!
"Damn it."
The Alliance cadets tried their best to escape, but they couldn't shake off the Military Faction cadets, who were in better physical condition and relentlessly pursued them. They chased persistently all the way, and in the end, Wilfried was shot dead, resulting in the complete annihilation of his platoon.
"Now that settles the score, Ravid."
Ferdinand smiled slightly as he looked at the fallen Wilfried. Wilfried returned the smile.
"It's not over yet. And call me Wilfried. Hartmann. Ah, is it okay if I call you by your name too?"
"Sure, anytime. …Wait, you too?"
The two boys acknowledged each other and shared a moment of friendship.
During this exchange, Ferdinand noticed something strange in Wilfried's words.
"Ernest calls you by your name. Didn't you give him permission?"
"...Ah, um. I guess I must have."
Ferdinand racked his memory but couldn't recall when Ernest had started calling him by his name. He couldn't imagine Ernest doing it without permission, so Ferdinand distorted his own memory, convincing himself that in their first conversation or perhaps at the shooting range that evening, he had given Ernest permission.
In truth, Ferdinand had never officially allowed Ernest to call him by his name.
"Well then, next time we should team up and take Ernest down."
"That sounds like a plan. See you later."
"Yeah, take care."
Wilfried, leading the Alliance cadets who had fought hard and raced through the forest with him, moved out toward the woods. Ferdinand rubbed his chin as he watched him go. On Ferdinand Hartmann's chin—who was growing faster than boys his age—a faint beard was already starting to appear.
"Ravid... Wilfried isn't a bad guy at all. I thought he'd be like the other nobles—full of pride but lacking ability."
"Exactly. Being the Duke's son, he must have received excellent education."
Ferdinand's admiring tone was echoed by the other cadets from the Military Faction.
"We don't have time to waste. Let's move out again."
Leading four Imperial Army cadets, Ferdinand began advancing through the forest once more. He kept track of how many opposing cadets he had taken down. With this battle, he had eliminated eighteen in total, which was exactly half of the enemy forces, excluding Ernest.
"It seems Krieger has noticed Brandt's Squad. Half of them must be here, and the other half sent toward Brandt's position without a doubt."
Ferdinand calmly explained the situation and then flashed a confident smile.
"Krieger underestimated us. He thought he could stop us with just half his troops."
Ferdinand had perfectly read Ernest's tactics and thoughts. Ernest likely assumed that with double the number of troops, a surprise ambush would be enough to hold their ground. But unfortunately, these cadets were not Ernest Krieger. They couldn't ravage the enemy as skillfully or retreat safely like he could.
In other words, this was clearly Ernest's misjudgment. He hadn't accurately assessed the skill level of the other cadets.
"This means a complete victory for us. Brandt's Group will definitely break through and reach the flag too."
"Yeah, we'll meet again in front of the flag. That is, if we don't get wiped out by Krieger's traps before then."
"...Damn right."
The Imperial Army cadets, still drunk on their small victories, immediately tensed up again at Ferdinand's warning. They couldn't afford to be careless. There was no one more dangerous in this forest than Ernest Krieger. They never knew when, where, or how an attack might come.
***
"This is insane!"
A cadet from Robert's platoon had heard an alert.
Someone from Brand's squad's ankle was caught in a vine, and as he fell, he cursed and struggled desperately to free himself. However, the vine was much tougher than expected, and its rough surface made it impossible to loosen easily.
"Stop, stay still. And shut your mouth."
Brandt spoke calmly to the struggling cadet tangled in confusion.
Then, inspecting the vine tightening around his ankle, he frowned.
The vine wouldn't loosen.
Damn Ernest Krieger had known well that the vine's rough surface was raised only on one side, making it a kind of snare that, once tightened, wouldn't come undone unless cut.
"Anyone have a knife?"
"Wait a moment."
Fortunately, there was a cursed little nail clipper knife inside one of the cadet's military packs. Brandt used it to cut the vine and, after helping the fallen cadet to his feet, spoke in a calm voice.
"They've probably already discovered our position."
"Then what do we do?"
"..."
The cadet who had screamed glanced around nervously.
Brandt swallowed hard, pondering how to overcome this unexpected situation.
He wanted to charge forward, but his rash decision had already thrown off Ferdinand's tactics once; he couldn't afford to do that again.
"Let's fall back."
"What?"
"We'll pull back a little and infiltrate from farther ahead."
Instead of pushing deeper in, Brandt decided to withdraw to a shallower spot to launch their attack. Since Robert's platoon was already formed up and waiting, Brandt's decision was both precise and on point.
***
"They're pulling back. Looks like they intend to strike again closer to the front."
However, because Ernest was stealthily trailing them, monitoring every move they made, Brandt's excellent tactical judgment was rendered ineffective.
"Alright, let's move again."
"Again?"
"What's there to complain about? While we're moving from here to there, those guys will be panting with their tongues hanging out, having to make their way all the way over there."
Although there were grumbles about constantly changing positions, Robert's playful remark quickly defused the dissatisfaction.
Ernest watched this carefully and realized just how exceptionally skilled Robert was in mercenary tactics. He also understood that this was something he himself was decisively lacking.
"Teacher Robert, it seems the day has come for me to learn something from you."
"Teacher Ernest, have you been drinking?"
Robert cautiously asked in response to Ernest's admiring tone.
Robert could almost believe that Ernest had found and sipped some secret, mysterious liquor crafted by nature itself somewhere in this dense forest.
In any case, even with Company Commander Ernest present, the Alliance Army cadets followed Platoon Leader Robert's orders and quickly settled into formation again.
"Is this okay?"
"No."
"Damn. Hey, then you should have told me that from the start."
Robert politely inquired about the troop deployment from the company commander, and Ernest kindly responded to the platoon leader.
"Do you think this will help?"
Looking at what he considered a messy troop placement, Ernest calmly asked Robert. Robert hesitated and let out a deep sigh.
"Sometimes, experiencing failure is a good thing. Yeah, I know too."
"But I really don't know anything about tactics, so failure just ends up as failure. You have to help me."
"Sure, Krieger. Right now, you're the company commander here. Who's going to say anything about your orders?"
Robert's words were met with agreement from the other cadets. During this, Ernest realized that his abilities were being recognized by the others. It was a small thing, but for Ernest, who had become aware of his own shortcomings and inexperience, it was more significant than he had expected.
"All right. Let's redeploy."
For the first time in his life, Ernest was truly giving 'orders.' The cadets moved in perfect unison, following his commands. Afterward, Ernest called them out one by one to personally walk through the enemy's expected approach routes.
"Oh my god. I'm scared to death."
Even as Robert passed among the cadets redeployed under Ernest's command—knowing they were there—he couldn't detect the slightest hint of an ambush.
The same went for the other cadets. They finally understood how threatening a skilled Ranger could be in the forest and mountains and shivered while imagining the moment they would have to face an actual Alliance Army Ranger in battle.
"Shh."
Having successfully convinced the other cadets of his tactics while leading them, Ernest was now able to control all of them with just a simple gesture or whispered instruction. At the faint sound Ernest made, all the cadets fell silent. The rustling of leaves in the wind, birdsong drifting in from afar. Amid those sounds, several shallow, labored breaths could be faintly heard.
'Damn, they're slightly off.'
Ernest bit his lip in frustration. Brandt's squad was circling around to attack a bit more centrally in shallower ground than the spot where they had set the ambush. Normally, Ernest would have kept moving to gather information, but he had been too busy commanding to do so.
The cadets noticed this too and exchanged uneasy glances. Ernest quietly approached those on the outer edges and whispered softly.
"When the battle starts, run and launch a sudden attack on the enemy's rear."
"Is that really going to be okay?"
"First, open fire, then charge with your bayonets. Reloading is just a waste of time."
Only then did the cadets realize the bayonets attached to their crossbows were clumsily obstructive yet terrifyingly effective. They nodded grimly in response.
Robert carefully observed the approaching enemy. Ernest's troop deployment was so masterful that they could see the enemy, but the enemy had no idea they were there at all.
"Jimman."
One cadet next to Robert called to him in a low voice. With those words, Robert realized this was the moment they had been waiting for.
"Fire!"
Robert shouted with all his might. His voice cracked from nervousness, but that didn't really matter.
Tatak!
"Argh!"
"Return fire!"
That single volley killed two Imperial cadets.
Brandt immediately ordered a counterattack, and as seven of them fully drew their crossbow strings and unleashed a barrage, five Alliance cadets fell in an instant.
Five may sound like a lot, but given the range and that the Imperial cadets had fired more than thirty bolts, only five casualties were actually quite minimal. Ernest had hidden his cadets so well that their exact positions couldn't be identified.
"Waaaaah!"
Meanwhile, the cadets on the outer flank, following Ernest's orders, ran hard through the forest and struck the Imperial cadets' rear.
"Damn it! Take cover!"
At Brandt's command, the Imperial cadets quickly sought cover. The shots from the Alliance cadets attacking from behind missed futilely.
"Fire...!"
Brandt again poked his head out and ordered his troops to shoot. But then, startled, he saw the enemy charging at them, bayonets fixed.
"Shoot!"
Unfortunately, their brave charge failed to make much of an impact. In any battle, the strongest one is the person with a loaded gun.
Wooden Bolts rained down on the Alliance cadets struggling to gain speed while running through the rough forest terrain, and their charge only managed to kill one enemy with a bayonet strike.
"Fire!"
But during the time they bought, the cadets led by Robert finished reloading safely and were able to open fire on the enemy once again. This time, the enemy was watching their rear so intently that their backs were fully exposed, making for an easy target. Three of them fell dead in a single volley, leaving only three—including Brandt—remaining.
Unfortunately, the Alliance cadets left were just four in number, so they couldn't overcome the overwhelming difference in weaponry and ended up losing their lives in vain.
"Pant! Pant! Pant!"
Panting heavily, the Imperial cadets who had easily won the battle nervously scanned their surroundings. They suspected the surviving enemies could still be hiding, aiming at them, and found themselves unable to advance. Unlike Ferdinand's calm count of the fallen, they couldn't keep track of the exact number they had killed.
"Oh man, we lost. What did we do wrong?"
"We didn't do anything wrong. We just couldn't overcome the difference in weapons."
"Is this what actually happens in real war...?"
"No, it's not. In real combat, the Alliance would cover the entire forest with traps and shoot bows that fire almost silently and at speeds comparable to the Balt Gun."
"...Oh my god. Is that for real?"
"I can shoot a bow too. Once you get used to it, you can shoot really fast—maybe not quite as fast as the Balt Gun, but close. I've heard some people can shoot even faster than that. It's insanely hard to master, though."
"...W-wait a minute! Krieger! You were part of the battle?"
Brandt, surprised, shouted at Ernest, who was casually chatting with the Alliance cadets including Robert as he left the forest.
"No. The instructor told me not to join the battle."
"...Then are you still alive right now?"
"Probably?"
"...Shoot!"
"Ah!"
Startled, Ernest dashed away through the forest.
"Damn that guy!"
Ernest managed to escape safely, and the frustrated Imperial cadets who had gone through so much trouble because of him clenched their teeth to hold back their anger before starting to advance deeper into the forest again.
"Hey! Ernest!"
"They're gone!"
"Huh?"
"Should we check on Wilfried?"
"Wilfried should be fine!"
"I'm going!"
"You're not reliable!"
"You bastard! Why are you just saying what I say?"
As Ernest and Robert yelled fiercely like that, Brandt and the Imperial cadets trembled with anger and pressed forward.
And just as Ferdinand had predicted, they were able to reunite in front of the Alliance Army's Red Flag.
"Brandt, it looks like Krieger went that way."
"Damn it. Yeah. You must've had a tough time."
"Good work. You did well."
Ferdinand praised Brandt, patting him on the shoulder for successfully carrying out the operation. Ernest hadn't really been serious about fighting, but still, winning the battle and making it this far despite Ernest being involved was definitely something worth commending.
"All right. The second battle is over. Now, let's head back outside the training ground."
A training instructor approached the cadets and gave them instructions.
Everyone followed and exited the forest.
The cadets who had grown closer through the mock battles chatted warmly as they walked.
"Take a break and then proceed with the final mock battle."
Thomas, who had already come out beyond the training ground, watched the cadets gathering one by one. Once everyone had assembled, he spoke in a heavy voice.
"Next, Ravid will lead the Alliance Army, and Hartmann, you'll follow orders as part of the Alliance Army. Krieger will command the Imperial Army."
At Thomas's words, the cadets couldn't help but tense up.
Although Ernest couldn't participate in the battle, he had fought twice in the forest and had surely become familiar with the terrain. Above all, he was a hunter who could see things others couldn't.
"No telling what kind of trouble they'll cause,"
"I completely agree with you."
Ferdinand muttered bitterly, and Wilfried nodded in response.
Ernest rolled his restless black eyes as he looked at him, then seemed to make up his mind and nodded slightly.
His gesture was enough to make anyone watching feel uneasy.