[TL: Hey Everyone, I apologize for the mistakes in the TL, I am doing my best to fix the gender of characters and stuff, the general points of the lines are correct but since I focus on that more, I sometimes miss fixing genders and stuff so if anyone finds mistakes in that are please point it out, so I can fix. The author’s naming sense makes it hard for the aggregator to understand if the speaker is male or female, and I also miss fixing it from time to time.

So far, I have already mapped all character genders and stuff, but I might have still missed some of it. I usually use an aggregator to help me with the TL so that I won’t have to retype everything since I am a bit bad with grammar, and if the results were far from the actual translation, that’s only the time when I really do the manual translations. and when I’m doing TLC. Aggregators and MTL’s are imperfect and make many mistakes that would require knowledge in the language itself to make it right. No matter how much I teach an aggregator to be as accurate as it could, there would still be mistakes which I have to correct.

Also, to those who may question why I am using an aggregator instead of writing it manually, translating it manually would take me too much time with almost similar results, not to mention resulting in bad grammar because I am bad with grammar and I don’t have an editor to help me fix it.

As for those who want to know what aggregator I am using? it is a really old aggregator used in translating visual novels, I won’t reveal my personal configurations n stuff because it took me a long time to tweak it to the point where it could almost accurately TL stuff, but it is not perfect and would still require my personal knowledge to correct it most of the time, especially of onomatopoeia and stuff or shortenedborrowed words.

So, I request readers to help point out any mistakes within the translation that I may have missed.

Thank you for the continued support and reading my works.]

[Another Viewpoint] The Marquis and the King

There was no pursuit, but the citizens’ faces were deeply tired.

The distance to the neighboring towns is not so far, about a week by horse-drawn carriage, but it took two weeks in the end.

With this much time, the citadel should have completely functioned as a base for the kingdom of Jiernetta.

Although the roads are not well maintained, there is a base of the Kingdom of Jiernetta at their back, and the frequency and quality of supply and reinforcements would have improved dramatically.

On the other hand, our side is now in a tight spot, and we must move to recapture the citadel with the help of the Capital Knights, the Border Knights, and the senior nobles in the neighborhood.

However, even if they gather a considerable number of troops, it will take several years to capture the citadel.

“We will reorganize the Knights. The commander of the Border Knights has been killed in battle. Have the deputy commander give me the number of casualties and the future troop strength. The rest is supplies. Make the arrangements as soon as possible.”

I give the order and my men start running. I arrived at the town and immediately began preparations.

The loss of soldiers and armaments was minor, but morale had dropped dramatically.

That unknown weapon was a bad idea. The soldiers who had lost their comrades without knowing why must have been terrified.

But there were those who opposed the enemy who controlled the unknown weapon.

“I didn’t think it was the one who assisted our retreat that time…”

As he muttered this, a large number of knights appeared at the entrance of the town and painted it. At the head of them is Murcia in white armor.

“Father!”

Murcia, who had gathered soldiers from elsewhere under my direction, had finally made it to this town.

“You are late. What are you doing?”

Murcia’s face tightened and his back straightened as he said this with anger in his voice.

“Yes, yes!  I am sorry!  I have sent out messengers to gather as many men as possible!  I have divided them into the first and second armies so that we would not be late…”

This excuse made him inexplicably angry.

“You fool…!  You are slow to do anything!  If you are an ordinary person, you learn one thing and know one thing. If you are a person with a good memory, you learn one thing and accumulate knowledge of two or three. But you have learned ten, and now you are only one.”

“I am sorry!  I am aware that I am not a good learner, but…”

“If you are aware that you are slow, then think and move faster than others, you idiot!”

I yelled at him, and Murcia shrunk and shriveled up. I appreciate his usual efforts, but this feeble-mindedness and poor memory are unforgivable.

As I stared at Murcia with annoyance, I saw a new group of soldiers, mostly cavalry, coming from the entrance to the town.

“Marquis Jalpa Bull Ati Fertio. A man of your stature, Sir, would not speak in such a manner. The young man has atrophied, has he not?”

At the sound of his voice, he turned and crouched down on one knee at the same time.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry to have to ask this…”

It was the voice of my one and only lord, a voice that could not be mistaken. I bowed deeply, feeling my anger and frustration dissipate in the blink of an eye.

I hear the sound of stepping on pebbles up close, and a voice descends from overhead. 

“Marquis, you may stand. Explain the situation. How is the war going?”

I was aware of my own face twitching as he said this.

But I must answer.

The fortress city of Scudetto has fallen. But we will surely take it back. We are now making preparations for that…”

“…I understand the situation. Give me the details. Was it already fallen when you arrived?”

A cold sweat runs down my face at the slight irritation in his voice.

“When I arrived, Scudetto was close to falling due to a mysterious attack using wyverns. Completely surrounded and besieged, I attacked from the west, where the road to the city is located, and broke off one side of the siege. However, the enemy threw a strange spherical weapon, and a number of our knights were blown to pieces.”

“…What?  A magical tool?”

“I don’t know. But it was so versatile that there was hardly any warning. Just throwing it on something sparks sparks, and the moment it hits something, there is a violent sound and an explosion of flame. We took that attack in retreat, and even the wyverns rained down their spherical weapons from above.”

As he explained this, a roar was heard.

The brief pause of silence made me feel like a criminal awaiting execution.

As I took shallow, long breaths, feeling my mouth dry up, His Majesty opened his mouth.

“…Okay. So you’ve retreated, then?  And the damage?”

His Majesty was calm. I noticed that his body had relaxed and his shoulders and back had become unusually stiff.

“The damage to our Knights is slight, but 30% of the Border Knights deployed in Scudetto were killed in action. Another 20% were seriously wounded. Since we were not pursued during the last retreat, the civilians have been evacuated with almost no casualties.”

“…no pursuit?”

A skeptical voice echoed.

This could be a suspicion that I am in communication with the Kingdom of Jiernetta.

When I realized this, another cold sweat ran down my spine.

“Yes. It is a vague report, but when we started our retreat, we were covered by someone from the south, where the other street is located. We do not know what happened. But we saw several wyverns fall in the blink of an eye with no sign of magic. The enemy judged it to be a threat and directed their soldiers to that something…”

As I say this, I gnash my teeth.

What a disgraceful report. Rather than slash the backs of our Knights and Border Knights, it was deemed more important to defeat the third party handling the mysterious weapon.

If we let the enemy get away, he will attack us next with twice as many men. Therefore, the threat must be crushed as much as possible when they have the upper hand.

However, the Kingdom of Jiernetta gave priority to a mysterious third party over me.

This fact makes my gut boil.

“…Nine times out of ten, it will be Baron Van. But he can’t have that many men ready yet. I hope he escapes without fighting.”

I hear His Majesty’s voice, and I look up involuntarily.

“Va, Van…!?”

The voice came from behind me; it was Murcia.

At Murcia’s surprised words, His Majesty slightly relaxed the wrinkles between his brows and nodded shallowly.

“Hasn’t the rumor already spread to the Marquisate?  A young boy named Van Nay Fertio has settled a frontier village and defeated a dragon. In honor of his achievements, he was knighted at an early age.”

His Majesty tells him with satisfaction.

At these words, Murcia’s eyes widen in surprise and she eventually bursts into tears and laughs.

I wanted to reprimand him for being a fool, but now is not the time.

“Your Majesty. How could Van have accomplished such a feat as defeating the dragon? That thing couldn’t do four-element magic and had only a few men on its side. To put it bluntly, I can only assume that someone or something has intervened.”

His Majesty’s eyes lifted as he expressed his thoughts. Then, a voice, clearly filled with anger, descends on his head.

“…Marquis. You think I am telling a lie?  Or are you saying that I am being deceived by that someone or something?  That I am falling for such a silly scheme?  Do I seem that shallow to you?”

I bowed deeply and apologized.

I bowed deeply and apologized. I didn’t mean to…”

As I bowed my head, I could picture Van’s face in my mind as he left.

That kid was really going to slay a dragon? 

But how in the world…