Chapter 68 : Dawn of War (1)
Dawn of War (1)
"Commander, what on earth is happening?"
Gregory, having entered the reception room, asked Walter with a tone pressing for answers.
Walter turned his back to look at Gregory and, as if he also felt stifled by the situation, swept back his hair and spoke.
"It seems that war has become unavoidable."
Upon hearing those words, Gregory only opened and closed his mouth, unable to utter anything. He struggled for a moment, at a loss for words, before finally forcing something out.
"By war... do you mean a war with the Blandi Kingdom?"
Walter shook his head while staring at the floor, then let out a deep sigh. Gregory understood the meaning contained within that sigh.
It had now become official that Parsei had hastily conducted the knight order examination and mobilized many without Walter's presence.
Gregory too gave a deep sigh in succession. He had tried with all his might to prevent this, but in the end, war had broken out.
The turbulent era he experienced in his previous life—a dark time when happiness was hard to find for anyone—threatened to return.
"Did they really wish to witness the despair lying at the end of the abyss...?"
Walter muttered in a low voice. Gregory wanted to ease Walter's worries.
"It's all right. The Blandi Kingdom must be in turmoil right now."
Upon Gregory's words, Walter looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"How do you know that?"
Gregory had to answer Walter's question. Though he was indeed the person who had disrupted the order of the Blandi Kingdom, he intended to explain it for another reason.
He lifted the newspaper lying on the table and handed it to Walter. The headline read:
[The Economic Revival of the Blandi Kingdom]
Walter, unable to grasp Gregory's intent, answered indifferently.
"What does this have to do with the Blandi Kingdom being in chaos?"
"You know the saying—a noisy cart is usually an empty one."
Gregory put the newspaper down with the hint of a smirk. Walter could vaguely guess what Gregory was trying to say.
He was insinuating that the Blandi Kingdom had no reason to break off relations with Arme and provoke an extreme war.
In other words, the economy of the Blandi Kingdom was collapsing. Gregory had known this would happen from the moment he whisked away Radian and his family—it was inevitable.
And the atmosphere was distinctly different from before. The standing of the dawn knight order had risen considerably, and their comrades were now skilled enough not to fall so easily on the battlefield.
It meant that Gregory's original goals—to prevent his comrades' deaths and to exact revenge on Meren and the Blandi Kingdom—had already been accomplished.
"I understand what you're saying... but what wrong did the innocent people do to deserve this...?"
Gregory bit his lip hard. He dusted Walter's shoulders and straightened his clothes.
"It's the mission of the knight order to stop that, and we have done our utmost to minimize the damage, haven't we?"
Gregory knew the horrors of war better than anyone. While, with war nearing, his words might have sounded absurd to Walter, upon hearing them, Walter felt an inexplicable shiver.
Pride and duty as a knight, and the years spent after joining the knight order, all flashed through his mind.
"You're right... We must lead Arme to victory—this is our goal."
As Walter said, now, regardless of who it was, everyone desired victory in the war.
To protect their families, to carry on the will of the long-lost Lytel Kingdom.
Even, in the end, for the impoverished citizens of the Blandi Kingdom. This too was Gregory's unique goal as a former Blandi Kingdom knight in his previous life.
"If so, why were the new knight order members recruited? Isn't there a high chance they'll lose their lives easily?"
It was a natural question. As always, sometimes untrained regular soldiers could prove detrimental, which was a reasonable assumption.
But this was not the first time such a thing had happened. In fact, even Gregory, Ernest, and their comrades had joined the dawn knight order right before war.
Now, questioning it felt almost strange.
Walter spoke a few indifferent words.
"You ask as if you truly don't know. They will not be sent directly to the front. Only when they become useful in the rear will they not die a meaningless death."
To Gregory, those words came as a shock. It was entirely different from the knight system of the Blandi Kingdom.
His previous life's Blandi Kingdom was entirely different. There, regular soldiers were immediately put into action, and only those who achieved honorable victories were rewarded.
And only those who accumulated merit could earn a chance to join the knight order and could undergo the selection test for entry.
And that was not the end. The kingdom would rank its warriors and hold fierce competition to choose the First to the Ninth knight.
Walter asked Gregory in return.
"Is there perhaps a problem?"
"No, it's nothing like that. I was simply curious why you rushed to recruit so many knight order members."
Walter stroked his chin and replied to Gregory's question.
"That too can be easily explained. Gregory, what do you think the dawn knight order is to you?"
Gregory answered unhesitatingly, based on what he had experienced and learned thus far.
A knight order that fights on the frontlines and moves faster than any other. That's why, until now, they'd never encountered other knight orders, he said.
Walter nodded as if agreeing with Gregory's words.
"Hm... that's true as well. But what I want to say is something broader than that."
"What do you mean by broader?"
"It's that the dawn knight order, enduring much hardship, has few members and is hard to maintain across generations."
"Yes, I am well aware of that."
Gregory thought of it as an obvious fact, but as Walter continued, he began to realize something.
The dawn knight order not only went out first to lay the groundwork, but in war, there was a high possibility they'd be sent as reinforcements for defensive operations.
Whether it was subduing monsters, siege warfare, or an invasion, if they made a serious mistake and lost many members, then, due to the order's nature and the small number of volunteers, there was an extremely high chance the order could be wiped out.
This much he already knew. Gregory had joined with full knowledge of it. It wasn't a prominent position in the kingdom, but among knight order members, none would underestimate their fighting prowess.
"Why do you keep beating around the bush, sir?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"Yes. The longer you stall, the less time we have for training."
Walter, apparently convinced he couldn't win against Gregory, reluctantly revealed the reason for the hasty recruitment.
"It's because your father cares for you all to the extreme."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Think of it as yet another blessing from your father."
Gregory, mulling over Walter's words, suddenly realized something. Only then did he begin to understand, even a little, what Parsei thought of him.
If the number of dawn knight order members dwindled and they became disadvantaged in battle, it would negatively affect Ernest, Gregory, and Walter too—so that decision was made to prevent it.
And he could also guess why it was said that way. It appeared that Parsei carried out the knight order exam to give even a small portion of strength to Gregory and Ernest.
'If that's the case, why send me to the knight order at all... I guess I'll never fully understand him.'
They say a child can never surpass a parent's heart, and a parent's love is without end.
Gregory, though voicing mild discontent within, was honestly happy. In his previous life, his father had never embraced him.
It was simply that he was not used to the way that concern was expressed.
"Hm... I understand. But I do have one more question."
"Feel free to ask."