Raising the Princess to Overcome Death

Chapter 257: Engagement – The Lost Letter

256. Engagement – The Lost Letter

"Why do you two get to use a tent by yourselves? This is a mess. What is this, a cute little playhouse for just the two of you?"

The soldiers who had departed from Avril Castle met up with reinforcements from the southern capital, Barnaul, and continued toward the battlefield. With their numbers growing, a temporary commander was assigned to lead the unit, and Leo once again encountered the white-nosed sergeant.

The sergeant, who had a nose like a cannon, was just as stern this time. He reprimanded Leo, aiming his verbal artillery directly at him, demanding to know why a tent meant for three was being used by only two. Leo responded,

"I'm sorry, sir. We're engaged... I know it's against regulations, but could you make an exception?"

He apologized, discreetly flashing a silver coin behind Lena's back. He used the last of his initial funds as a bribe, and Lena, oblivious, chirped with relief.

"Oh? I thought we were going to get in big trouble, but he just left? That's a relief."

This was another of Minseo's ideas.

Although the hint came from his knowledge of {The Rules of the Backstreets}, the real Leo Dexter, who aspired to become a knight, would never have taken such an action. Without Minseo, Leo might have relied on his noble surname, "Dexter," to force the sergeant to back down.

But since it had proven useful before, and wanting to avoid unnecessary complications, Leo followed Minseo's advice. Thanks to that, they safely reached the battlefield."Quickly! Get them to the barracks!"

- Gulp.

When they arrived, it was a scene of utter chaos. The wounded, bleeding and groaning, were being transported to the barracks, barely able to move. The newly arrived recruits swallowed nervously.

It was just another day on the battlefield.

The Kingdom of Aslan and the Kingdom of Bellita had been engaging in light skirmishes for a month. Now that reinforcements had arrived, Aslan was poised to launch a full-scale offensive.

The white-nosed sergeant, who had been the temporary commander (as he had been in previous episodes), was now officially in charge of Lena and Leo. He reorganized the centuria by assigning six Ainar warriors and three regular soldiers to each squad, under the command of a decanus.

Lena and Leo were assigned to the same squad as regular soldiers. The decanus, skipping introductions, immediately checked the soldiers' equipment and led them toward the right ridge.

‘This feels strange.’

As he climbed the hill and surveyed the battlefield, Leo felt an unfamiliar sensation.

Perhaps due to his {Tactics} skill, he could grasp the situation at a glance. Despite it being early spring, patches of frost lingered on the plains, where hundreds of squads were scattered widely in formation. The Aslan forces, having gained the upper hand, were starting to secure the ridges on both sides.

A textbook strategy.

From this, Leo deduced that both sides had sufficient magical forces and were evenly matched. In such a scenario, victory would depend on how the general utilized his knights and how well he managed to disrupt the enemy's formations while avoiding magical interference.

At first glance, squad-based assault tactics might seem like a mere numbers game, but they required excellent terrain analysis and near-prophetic foresight. Even the best-dispersed squads would naturally regroup once a fight broke out, which was the principle of "heogangsipyeong" (合成散開), where they would scatter and reassemble.

A general had to constantly assess where fights would occur, how much the squads would group together, and whether to deploy knights or lure the enemy inward. Estimating where the enemy's powerful knights and magicians were positioned was also crucial.

As Leo scanned the battlefield, he thought,

'Our general must be better.'

He easily judged the superiority of their commander. Not because he had the {Tactics} skill or had met the supreme commander in person...

'It's because Aslan always won in the beginning.'

He knew the future.

Leo fulfilled his duty as an ordinary soldier. Soon, the order to charge came down. The squad, including Lena and Leo, encountered an enemy unit.

"I'm a little nervous."

"Me too."

Lena was tense as she prepared for her first real battle. Gripping her sword tightly, she warned Leo, "Be careful not to get hurt. I heard there isn't a single healer with us." Leo smiled warmly.

But then,

- Slash!

"Huh?"

It was easy. Lena swiftly cut down the first enemy soldier she encountered. She sidestepped the enemy's reckless charge with a diagonal step, her sword sinking into his abdomen.

Hot blood spurted out.

Before Lena could even process the sensation of her first kill, another soldier rushed at her. With her sword still lodged in the previous soldier's belly, she spun, using the corpse as a shield, and pushed her body into the enemy's chest before he could bring his sword down.

This way, he couldn't strike her.

‘Why is this so troublesome?’

Catching her breath, Lena found that she couldn't retrieve her sword. Startled by the unexpected situation, she abandoned the weapon, instead slamming her left elbow into the enemy's chest.

"Ugh!"

They were close enough to feel each other's body heat. Lena's right elbow followed, catching the enemy under the chin, and she quickly grabbed the sword he dropped. The unfamiliar grip felt odd in her hand.

It was chaos.

The sparring she had done before was nothing like this. Even the balance of the sword she picked up was strange.

But with it, Lena finished off the enemy soldier and successfully completed her first real battle. She wiped the blood from her forehead and looked around to see the skirmish was over.

Lena shouted happily,

"Leo! I took down two!"

"Wow! Lena, you're amazing! You're not hurt, right?"

"Nope. How about you?"

"I'm fine too."

"So, how many did you take down?"

"Just one."

"Hehe..."

Lena placed her hand on her hip and puffed out her chest, a gesture she often made when she felt proud or wanted to boast.

Up until now, Lena hadn't been fully aware of her own abilities. Although her swordsmanship had improved significantly, her only sparring partners had been Noel and Leo Dexter, father and son.

It was impossible for her to defeat Noel Dexter, who would have been at least a knight commander if he hadn't retired, and strangely enough, Leo always matched her skill level, despite her noticeable improvement. This was the first time she had a point of comparison.

A messenger ran to report their victory to the main unit led by the white-nosed sergeant. The decanus pulled back the squad from the front lines for a brief reorganization, and on the way, Lena boasted with pride.

"Maybe I'm really strong? This was surprisingly easy."

"Easy," Leo chuckled, bursting into hearty laughter. He wasn't mocking his jubilant fiancée.

'Yes, this is how it should be. It was never supposed to be difficult in the first place.'

[ Raising Lena ]

The goal was to nurture Lena through the war by achieving great feats. Katrina was the biggest obstacle, but as long as they could overcome her, it was practically over.

What about Count Herman Forte, the Swordmaster of the Kingdom of Bellita, who they were inevitably going to face?

Leo carried a letter from his father, Noel Dexter, in his pocket. It was the final piece of preparation for Leo to achieve a happy ending.

- "Weren't you around back then? You said you were once his junior, didn’t you? You kind of bragged about it."

If the enemy had Count Herman Forte, then they had Baron Arpen Albacete on their side. Noel Dexter had been directly linked as mentor and mentee with Baron Albacete, something Leo had learned through Lena during the eighth loop when they first met the Baron.

So, Leo had asked his father for a favor. He requested that if they achieved enough merit and were on the brink of becoming knights, he wanted to deliver a letter to the Swordmaster.

His father had been a bit surprised by the request, but he wrote the letter nonetheless.

Now, all they had to do was be near Baron Albacete on the night they encountered Count Herman Forte. The goal was to showcase their achievements to the Swordmaster and, together with the Baron, defeat Count Forte. This was likely the endpoint of this engagement scenario.

As proof, the fixed {Events} always occurred, no matter what actions they took. Count Herman Forte would inevitably find his way to where they were and die.

‘Haha. Yes... I have a lot to pay him back for.’

That man had killed them twice.

Once, he had killed Leo, and once, he had killed Lean. Lena had also fallen to his hand, and Lerialia had been murdered by knights he had sent. Alongside the thug who had become the guardian of the Chang-Gwan, Lean de Yeriel.

This was likely the last round of their engagement scenario, and they could now finish it cleanly with revenge. Since Katrina wouldn’t be appearing on the battlefield, there was no reason to doubt a happy ending. They even had the achievement of earning favor from Prince Arnulf de Klaus, who would grant them knighthood.

Everything was perfect.

Leo then annihilated the next enemy squad they encountered, cutting down five men in an instant and knocking Lena’s pride down a notChapter Lena, frustrated that Leo was still ahead of her, pushed herself even harder in training.

The decanus leading their squad was quite bewildered by the continuous victories, but soon learned the reason. An Ainar warrior in the squad boasted,

"You're lucky, you know. Lena and Leo are knight aspirants. Leo’s father is an amazing knight. I didn't expect them to be this strong, though..."

"Right. I never imagined Lena was this powerful. Haha! Truly remarkable. She’s indeed the daughter of a great warrior, just like Leo."

"...I see."

Seeing this as a positive, the decanus was genuinely pleased and praised them, to which Leo responded humbly,

"It was a team effort. Please don’t give all the credit to us."

They shared the glory of their achievements. Naturally, the squad, which had been demoralized by the harshness of the battlefield, came together in high spirits.

Thanks to this, even though Leo didn’t need to exert much effort afterwards, they continued to win. The enemy was just as scared, and with the momentum on their side, there was nothing to fear. As expected, Katrina never showed up on the battlefield.

This fact eventually reached the ears of the supreme commander. There was no way it couldn’t.

Despite experiencing twenty battles, their squad hadn't suffered a single casualty, and they were gaining a reputation on the battlefield as the invincible decanus squad.

The supreme commander, concerned that they would become a target for enemy knights and be wiped out, decided it was better to use them to boost the morale of the entire army. He ordered their strange squad to return to the main camp.

The excuse given was that they needed resupply, which was actually true. Normally, squads would return after running out of supplies during frequent battles, either merging with another squad or receiving reinforcements.

Usually, they would return before they completely ran out of supplies like food or emergency medical items.

However, the squad that Lena and Leo belonged to had been on the front lines for nearly two months. They had indeed run out of supplies and had been receiving food from the centuria, so it was time for them to return.

cough cough

The seasoned warriors proudly marched back to the main camp. It was early summer, around the time when the news spread that Prince Arnulf de Klaus was soon to arrive at the front with significant reinforcements.

Lena and Leo's squad was scheduled to attend the prince’s review, where they would receive generous rewards and praise...

But then, a problem arose.

"What?! Baron Arpen Albacete isn’t coming?"

The Swordmaster, who was supposed to accompany Prince Arnulf de Klaus, hadn’t even departed. The letter Leo carried had nowhere to go.