Chapter 239: Men of Purgatory – Part 1

“Neros, do you know someone named Leonard from the Thirteenth Knight Order?”

Listille, upon hearing the reason for Lutz’s visit, asked Neros. He had participated in the war against the Allied Nations and should have known Leonard, a hero of wartime, so it seemed strange that he appeared puzzled.

“I know Captain Leonard very well, but what do you mean by the Thirteenth Knight Order?”

It seemed there was a slight discrepancy in their conversation. Amidst the confusion, Lutz clapped his hands.

“Oh, I remembered. The Thirteenth Knight Order is a newly established unit after the war. So, it’s understandable that Neros, who was a prisoner of war, wouldn’t know about it.”

“I see, did he get promoted? He got promoted…”

Neros said with a voice that seemed to endure pain.

“Can you tell me what happened to him?”

“Before that, tell me about your relationship with Leonard, and why you’re so curious about him. Let me hear that first.”

Although Lutz was essentially a guest of the princess, it might be considered impolite to question him like this. However, Neros, out of curiosity, didn’t want to be asked about such things.

“Well…”

Lutz explained that he wanted to know about Leonard to forge a sword and that Leonard, among the three knight order leaders, was elusive, making it hard to imagine the type of sword he should create.

“I see. Let’s change the location a bit.”

“Is it such a dishonorable story?”

“Well, who knows… Whether to call it dishonorable or not, I’m not even sure myself.”

Turning his face towards Listille, Neros received a small nod. With permission to leave the seat, Neros headed towards the forest, and Lutz followed him after giving a respectful nod to Listille.

After walking outside for a while, Neros and Lutz sat on a suitable tree stump. Even now, there was the sound of axes cutting wood in the distance. At times like this, Lutz couldn’t help but think about the axe’s poor sharpness.

“Now, about Leonard.”

Scratching his head as if itchy, Neros spoke.

“It’s not a story I’m trying to hide. Anyone who participated in that war knows it, except for those who died. Well, I’ll tell you…”

The conflict with the Allied Nations was generally just minor skirmishes, but a few times a year, there were intense clashes. Once, the enemy genuinely launched a full-scale attack. It was seriously dangerous; frankly, I thought the kingdom was finished.

The enemy general was an incredible guy, no exaggeration, a monster. When you engage in war for a long time, weirdos who ignore common sense show up. It might have seemed that way because I was scared, but at least he had the power to terrify all the soldiers of the kingdom.

He wasn’t the type to use sophisticated strategies or tactics, but he was strong. Just swinging a log-like spear once made kingdom soldiers fly like dead leaves on a stormy day. And the soldiers of the Allied Nations, seeing that, got motivated and became stronger. They just advanced, and the kingdom’s army was annihilated. It happened every day, it was unbearable.

The bigwigs were holed up in a large tent every day, holding meetings. Well, it was called a meeting, but it was more about deciding who to blame than coming up with countermeasures, apparently.

That’s when Leonard, the Lord, was chosen as a sacrifice. Having experienced multiple falls from grace and living without his own territory, he was managing a part of some marquisate. A minor noble who lived like a poor noble, but it made him easy to use as a scapegoat, I guess.

By the way, Leonard had an excellent vice-captain. He was a commoner, but he had learned reading, writing, etiquette, and martial arts from Leonard’s house since childhood. A close friend and a substitute older brother. He was said to be proficient in both sword and bow, a hero known even to the Allied Nations.

So, how to defeat that monster from the Allied Nations was the issue Leonard grappled with. He used his trusted vice-captain as bait. Of course, neither of them was informed about it.

The enemy probably didn’t think that the unit with that man was a decoy, charging straightforwardly into a canyon with no escape on both sides. I guess he said that a narrow terrain would allow them to fight without worrying about numerical differences. Anyway, they fought persistently, enduring and persevering.

And when both sides were exhausted, Leonard blocked the ends of the canyon with rocks and dropped oil and dried grass from above.

…Ah, we, the quartermasters, prepared those things. I had a feeling this would happen, but I didn’t inform the decoy unit. I couldn’t make a move that would ruin the operation like that. It might have been cowardly. However, even if I could go back to that day, I’d probably still keep quiet.

Arrows were shot. I was watching from above the canyon, and it was a terrifying sight, as if hell had manifested itself in this world.

The sight of people being burned alive is truly frightening. Despite my deep hatred towards the soldiers of the Allied Nations, I found myself praying for as many of them as possible to survive.

The heroes of the kingdom and the heroes of the Allied Nations were both desperately breaking and moving rocks to clear an escape route amidst the spreading flames and the raining arrows.

That monster died after receiving hundreds of arrows to his back. No, that’s not an exaggeration. No matter how many arrows were shot into him, he didn’t die, so the archers on the cliff were completely terrified and shot arrows like crazy.

The vice-captain somehow managed to escape. At least, for the time being.

…Hey Lutz, do you think Leonard is a cruel person?

I’m not sure. He employed a ruthless and inhumane strategy of using his subordinates as bait to burn the enemy, but it’s also a fact that he saved the kingdom. If the front lines had collapsed and the Allied Nations’ army had poured into the kingdom, the number of civilian casualties would have been far more than ten or twenty thousand.

Even though I harbored complex feelings towards Leonard, all the soldiers were relieved when that monster was defeated. We didn’t say it was good, but…

When Leonard returned to the main camp, the higher-ups treated him as a hero. They praised Leonard’s strategy, which in turn justified their decision to appoint him as a general.

By idolizing him as a hero, those who became decoys were treated as if their deaths were inevitable. We had no choice but to do that to conceal our guilt.

A few days after the operation ended, a banquet was held in Leonard’s honor.

…From here on, it’s hearsay and my imagination, so forgive me. No ordinary soldier would know what happened inside the grand tent.

The banquet seemed to have turned into a wild celebration after the monster died and the kingdom was saved. From what I heard, some count started dancing naked, and instead of reprimanding him, everyone cheered.

Amidst all this, Leonard remained silent throughout. When I asked the quartermaster, who was my superior, it seemed like Leonard was holding back tears.

At the height of the banquet, a man burst into the tent with a sword strapped to his side. It was Leonard’s vice-captain, the one who survived that hell.

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