novelraw Chapter 19: Is this eight years old? !
Chapter 19: Is this eight years old? !
Everything unfolded exactly as Henwil had predicted.
The Command showed tremendous enthusiasm for Fabio's return, then appointed him to begin serving as commander of the serf soldiers.
Of course, he wasn't the sole commander—there were several high-ranking knights as well!
However, just as Henwil had said, all these men owed Fabio favors.
They generally wouldn't oppose Fabio's decisions.
Additionally, they genuinely believed Fabio had some capability. Rather than exhausting themselves with effort, it was better to leave things to Fabio to handle.
After all, if things went wrong, Fabio would bear the primary responsibility, and if there were achievements, they wouldn't be left out either.
Although Fabio frequently consulted Henwil on how to handle certain matters, Henwil always brushed him off with excuses about not understanding enough.
What a joke!
Fabio was now a proper general. If Henwil kept giving advice regularly, he would definitely attract attention from certain observant people.He was only in the enemy camp to survive—not to become a genuine, hardcore traitor.
If he became famous and was eventually liberated, how would he face the Ika Kingdom then?
His family had no powerful backing whatsoever. Wouldn't they all be executed when the post-war purges came?
So for now!
Henwil would obediently remain a little page boy, a proper attendant—that was enough.
Fabio was initially puzzled but eventually figured it out.
He believed Henwil only displayed extraordinary wisdom during life-or-death crises.
However, Henwil wasn't without benefits either.
As Fabio's little page boy and important attendant, Henwil's status had now risen along with Fabio's.
At least in logistics matters, nobody dared look down on him anymore.
This made Henwil's life much more comfortable.
As for the fighting in the city, it progressed much as Henwil had guessed.
The Allied Forces hadn't been completely driven from the city, still holding onto nearly one-third of the territory.
Both sides engaged in brutal street-by-street combat, fighting for every block, battling through every house.
The Allied Forces had committed three legions to the fight, with twelve additional legions stationed in the encampment outside the city.
Their material reserves were relatively ample, so no problems were immediately apparent.
But as time passed, the logistical pressure on the Allied Forces operating deep behind enemy lines would become evident.
And so the war continued into the height of summer.
Henwil would honestly remain a little page boy, a proper attendant—that was enough.
Like that custom-fitted chainmail armor, and a set of custom-made leather armor.
He even went to the military equipment repair station and had craftsmen make a bow suited to his size.
These were all small items—what Fabio gave him were the truly valuable things.
Fabio obtained some secret medicine for him, substances that assisted with knight training.
Just that tiny little bottle, barely enough to cover his whole body, was worth over a hundred gold coins.
And that was just the cost price—if sold, even with connections, the price would multiply several times over.
Because Fabio was busy with official duties and couldn't instruct Henwil personally, he gave him five bottles of this secret medicine.
After coating his entire body with this medicine and practicing the Knight's Body Training Techniques, the effects were extremely good.
Not only could it temper muscles and bones, it could also repair hidden injuries left by the training techniques.
According to Fabio, one bottle of this medicine could maintain training effects for nearly two months.
Yet Henwil couldn't feel the additional effects from the medicine after less than a week.
He thought he might be using it incorrectly and specifically found an opportunity to consult Fabio.
But the second bottle's effects also lasted only about six days, which made Henwil feel somewhat strange.
After over a month, having confirmed he'd completely absorbed all five bottles of secret medicine, the changes to his body were extremely obvious.
Clearly he hadn't wasted the medicine's effects—in fact, the results seemed more outstanding than what Fabio had described.
He now possessed strength exceeding that of an adult, with obvious enhancements to his bones and muscles, and his stamina had increased significantly.
After confirming he hadn't developed drug resistance, Henwil felt extremely excited.
Seven years had passed!
These seven years had finally come to an end!
Had he finally awakened his golden finger?!
The standard equipment for transmigrators had finally been delivered!
The Transmigration Bureau had finally remembered his newbie benefits!
Carrying both anxiety and excitement, Henwil endured for another month-plus, finally welcoming his eighth birthday.
After confirming his golden finger hadn't arrived, Henwil could only comfort himself—maybe it would come after he reached adulthood!
By this time, Henwil stood 1.5 meters tall with a well-proportioned figure, without obvious muscle definition—not looking anything like an eight-year-old child.
If someone said he was in his teens, people would believe it.
The tail end of summer remained, the weather still hot.
But the hearts of the Allied Forces Command had already turned icy cold!
They knew they had to make a choice now; otherwise, when winter came, they would be completely passive.
Thus the intensity of the war suddenly escalated by an entire level.
The trigger for the final major battle ultimately came because of the serf soldiers.
That day, Fabio was patrolling around the encampment as usual, leading the robust serf army he had trained for over two months.
These three thousand men were his most important bargaining chip.
Besides this, he now also commanded the remaining soldiers of the Silent Battleaxe Legion, numbering about a thousand men.
These five thousand troops secured his position as overall commander of the serf army.
Every time he patrolled with his newly organized serf army, he felt a sense of pride.
Usually looked down upon by various legion commanders, he could only find some confidence when facing the opposing serf army.
Seeing the sloppy, undisciplined serf soldiers opposite him, he couldn't help but show disdain, inevitably taunting and cursing at them.
Most of the time, when opposing serf army officers saw Fabio's neatly arrayed ranks and uniform equipment...
They would recognize this wasn't someone to provoke and generally swallowed their pride.
However, today's opponent was clearly a troublemaker.
Hearing Fabio's curses, that young man immediately raised his large bow and shot an arrow at Fabio.
The guy's archery was quite good—it accurately hit Fabio, but struck his armor.
Although it caused no substantial injury to Fabio, the spiritual insult was enormous.
Whether considering Fabio's noble status or his position as serf army commander, he couldn't let this slide.
So he immediately led his troops charging toward the opposing force.
The opposing side's strength was clearly inferior, and they quickly began to falter.
But just as their main commander was killed and their forces were about to collapse completely, allied reinforcements arrived.
Although fresh troops joined the battle, their overall combat strength still couldn't match Fabio's army.
After all, he had expended great effort to equip his serf soldiers with armor.
Originally, no matter how much he pleaded, he couldn't obtain this much armor. But because the meat grinder in the city continued, many professional troops from the Allied Forces had fallen.
Armor and weapons needed to be recovered, and the military equipment department now had plenty—that's how Fabio acquired them.
Now seeing their commander surrounded, Fabio's guard captain immediately sent a signal.
Over a thousand guards stationed outside the main encampment immediately charged into the battlefield, joining this chaotic fight.