novelraw Chapter 6: Showing Value
Chapter 6: Showing Value
Hearing these words, Henwil abruptly looked up and stared at the gray-haired ranger.
The gray-haired ranger waved his hands exaggeratedly: "Exactly this kind of gaze! Little guy, do you realize how terrifying it is for someone your age to have such eyes? That's why I'm debating whether to kill you! You always give me this feeling that your future achievements might be quite remarkable. Yet snuffing out a promising seedling isn't something I want to do either. How about my previous condition - what do you think?"
Henwil didn't believe he was exaggerating threats. The traces he had cleared away could never deceive a qualified ranger.
After thinking for a moment, Henwil brought his index and middle fingers together and raised them beside his head: "I, Henwil, swear! No matter what happens in the future, I will never seek you out—"
The gray-haired ranger interjected: "Kavizé!"
"I will absolutely never seek revenge against Kavizé!"
The gray-haired ranger Kavizé gently clapped his hands: "Excellent! Your oath is rather peculiar, but I can sense its sacred nature! Now we can communicate calmly. As reward for your honesty, I'll go clear away the traces your family left behind, ensuring no one discovers that secret room! And you—now you need to properly explain your situation. Just as you said, I need to fetch a good price for you, don't I?!"
For the next several days, Henwil followed Kavizé constantly. When Kavizé went on missions, Henwil would train his body as quickly as possible.
When Kavizé returned, Henwil acted like a young page boy—removing his armor, caring for his horses, and sharpening and maintaining his weapons. He fetched meals from the mess tent, prepared foot wash water, and arranged bedding and tents.
Except for the first day, Henwil's subsequent days truly resembled those of a qualified young page boy. Even Kavizé had to praise how thoroughly Henwil performed his duties.However, Kavizé understood clearly—this boy wasn't a natural-born servant nor had he received any training in this area. Rather, Henwil's learning ability was astonishing. In such a short time, Henwil had already learned several foreign languages.
This army belonged to the Worui Duchy, so Henwil was learning the Worui language. Fortunately, the two neighboring countries shared similar languages that still belonged to the same linguistic system, both evolved from the Continental Common Tongue.
For Henwil, who had mastered the Continental Common Tongue, both his native language and the Worui language felt like two dialects derived from the same root language. Once he grasped the essentials, mastering them wasn't difficult except for some specific slang.
With his life at stake, Henwil studied with exceptional dedication and concentration, making rapid progress understandable.
Henwil himself didn't find it too difficult, but that was only due to his experience from two lifetimes. From Kavizé's perspective, this child who might not even be ten years old possessed truly extraordinary learning abilities.
Henwil wasn't learning the Worui language to spy on military intelligence. He simply wanted to avoid the mess hall staff thinking he was from the Ika Kingdom, hoping they might give him more food.
Kavizé didn't make things difficult for Henwil regarding meals—he let Henwil eat the same food he did. So each time, Henwil went to collect two portions of food, as he had explained to them.
However, the cooks had the authority to give Henwil smaller portions. Many of their friends and relatives had died by the swords of the Ika Kingdom's army. For a child from an enemy nation, withholding some rations was reasonable—they even had justification for poisoning the food.
Henwil understood this clearly, which was why he needed to learn the duchy's language. Humans are social creatures—when facing someone of their own kind who can communicate normally, people instinctively categorize them as belonging to the same group. Simply put, using the duchy's language could better evoke the cooks' empathy.
Of course, beyond this, Henwil also wanted to understand what the soldiers were saying. He had no intention of being a slave forever—if an opportunity arose, he would definitely escape. Then, knowing the duchy's language would increase his chances of surviving his escape.
This army's designation was the Duchy's Third Legion, codenamed Silent Battleaxe, with over seven thousand personnel. The vast majority were professional troops maintained at great expense by the duchy.
However, there were also many noble officers temporarily assigned to the legion. These noble officers all had their own guards, varying in number. These men weren't incompetents—they understood warfare quite well.
Kavizé was a lone wolf-style mercenary employed by the legion's commander, who was also the Worui Grand Duke's younger brother—Count Obiken!
Two months ago, it was Count Obiken who led the Silent Battleaxe Legion on a forced march around the allied forces' right flank and lay in ambush. When the battle began, Count Obiken led the Silent Battleaxe Legion, which had been hiding for two days, to charge out from the right flank and directly crush the Ika Kingdom's Sixth Legion.
This also caused the allied forces to lose that battle, allowing the combined army to successfully break through into Ika Kingdom territory. Afterwards, the Silent Battleaxe Legion fought three battles within Ika Kingdom territory, all small-scale engagements without significant resistance.
After nearly half a month of rest and reorganization, the Silent Battleaxe Legion was preparing to march out again.
Henwil was nervously organizing and packing Kavizé's luggage. After completing this task, he also took down and neatly arranged the tent. Although this was typically army logistics work, Henwil understood he was a prisoner, not here for vacation camping. The more he could do, the more security he had for his life.
When Kavizé returned and saw everything Henwil had done, he didn't say anything. "I'm going out on reconnaissance! You just need to carry my pack. This is the attendant pass I got for you. Don't lose it—you don't need to keep up with the main legion, just follow the logistics corps."
As Kavizé tossed over a metal tag, which Henwil hurriedly caught, he added: "You're a smart person—you won't try to escape during this opportunity, will you!"
Henwil quickly nodded: "Of course! I'm only safe here. Without the Third Legion's protection, I'd likely be killed by the noble forces behind us—they wouldn't even care whether I have a pass!"
"Good that you understand! Hope to see you still alive!" Kavizé smiled, threw some things over, mounted his horse, and galloped out of the camp.
Henwil looked down—they were his original short sword and small bow. He understood Kavizé's meaning: Henwil needed to take care of himself. In the chaos of war, anything could happen.