“Damn it, y-you—you really killed him?”
Staring at the supply officer collapsed on the ground, no longer making a sound, Colonel Rayne couldn’t help but curse, drawing in a sharp breath.
No, that’s not the point!
The point is—how did that pretty boy just kill the supply officer?
Even though that guy was just a showpiece propped up by his family’s resources, he was still a level fifty-something professional. Yet he was taken out in just a few moves?
Could it be…
The Colonel fixed his gaze on Green.
That “pretty boy” bard was as calm as ever, now kicking the supply officer’s corpse over to the horse trough with one foot. He waved his hand, flicking off a few droplets of blood, and strolled unhurriedly over to the trembling soldier.
Pa.
Green snatched the roast chicken out of the soldier’s hands—the one still steaming and with a bite already taken out of it—and took a bite himself.
“Not bad. At least it’s way better than the expired food at that lousy tavern in town.”
Green chewed for a moment and gave his verdict.
“Sir, s-sir?” The young soldier clung to Green’s leg with a wailing face, arms locked tight. “Sir, I—I was forced into this! The supply officer took all the money, I didn’t get a single coin!”
Tears and snot streamed down his face as he pleaded, “Actually, my conscription term was up ages ago, but the cavalry squad is understaffed, so the Captain kept pressing me to stay. I was never supposed to be stationed at this fortress.”
“So, you’re pretty pitiful too.”
Green cast a lazy glance at the young soldier. “But in your cavalry squad, there must be people colluding with that supply officer, right?”
“I-it’s Lieutenant Carl.” The soldier stammered, “His father’s the town Sheriff, he’s got a knight’s title, even the Captain has to listen to him.”
“Oh? Any other accomplices?”
Green watched the soldier’s red, tearful eyes and asked softly.
“…” The soldier fell silent, his dirt- and straw-streaked face twisting with emotion. After a fierce internal struggle, he finally bit his lip and whispered, “I—I can give you the list, but, but if they take revenge…”
“Your Highness.”
Green didn’t let him finish. He turned directly to Theresa, who was watching him with sparkling eyes, thoroughly fascinated.
“According to military law, what’s the sentence for knowing of a conspiracy and not reporting it?”
Theresa answered without hesitation, “Guilt as an accomplice!”
“Ah??” The soldier gaped in disbelief.
“Ai, such a shame, soldier. You’re so young…” Green shook his head in regret. “Your parents will be heartbroken, won’t they? Their own son, dead, and not even killed in battle but as an accomplice to traitors?”
“Please save me, sir!” The soldier cried out, panic in his voice. “I—I really wasn’t an accomplice! When the Lieutenant and the supply officer were falsifying the accounts, I even tried to talk them out of it, but they threatened me with my father’s farm…”
“If you weren’t an accomplice, then why didn’t you report it?”
Green’s smile faded, his tone now grave. “But, if you can name all those involved, I think that should clear your name. Give you a chance to redeem yourself. And not just you—other minor offenders who repent might also have that chance.”
“I’ll say it now!”
The soldier nodded vigorously, then rattled off a long list of names.
With each name, Colonel Rayne’s face grew darker, and by the end, the Chief of Staff’s face was flushed bright red.
“Hmm…” Green carefully considered the group’s crimes, motives, and involvement, thinking about how to handle them.
“Your Highness Theresa, please deliver your verdict.”
Green bowed in suggestion.
“But, Mr. Green, can you be sure the soldier isn’t lying?” Princess Theresa asked with curiosity.
Green smiled. “Well, Your Highness, it’s only natural for a bard to know a little about reading people.”
He wasn’t lying.
He really could read people. Some higher-level bards did possess such skills—though, with Green’s pitiful eighth-rank bard status, he shouldn’t have been able to manage it at all.
However, as a dual-legendary class holder, telling whether an ordinary soldier was lying was as easy as breathing.
“Wait!”
Seeing Theresa moved by Green’s words, Colonel Rayne hurriedly interjected, “This is a serious matter, far-reaching in its consequences. And you, pretty boy, an idle civilian unconnected to the military—what gives you the right to advise us?”
With that, Rayne stomped, unleashing the aura of a high-level professional upon Green, pressing down hard.
Green didn’t reply, just stood calmly before Rayne, his posture unaffected, as if Rayne’s imposing aura didn’t even exist.
Impossible!
Rayne’s face stayed neutral, but inwardly he was baffled.
He was a level eighty-four professional. How could the other man be completely unfazed?
That pretty boy actually had real strength?
But how could he hide his aura from me so thoroughly?
Unless…
His strength surpasses mine?
Legendary?!
What a joke! How could a legend just appear out of nowhere in a borderland—
As Rayne’s thoughts raced, out of the corner of his eye he caught the beautiful young lady watching Green with delighted excitement, and his heart skipped a beat.
Wait—normally, a legendary expert wouldn’t just appear in some border town.
But is this a normal situation?
The Seventh Princess, even if she’s been stripped of succession rights…
No, best not to think further.
To rise from commoner status to his current position, to possess high-level professional power, Rayne knew well: sometimes ignorance was bliss.
“Colonel Rayne!” Theresa’s voice snapped Rayne from his thoughts. “As the highest commander of this fortress, I should have the authority to make personnel appointments, shouldn’t I?”
“Uh?” Colonel Rayne nodded, unsure.
“Didn’t you just say Green is an outsider? In that case, I’ll give him a post.”
Theresa’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh, right! The military library’s records clerk position is vacant, isn’t it? Mr. Green, would you be willing to take that job?”
“Of course, it’s only nominal, it won’t interfere with your bard duties. Also, I’d like to hire you as my Private Advisor—with a salary of… two hundred gold coins per year?”
As expected of a princess, what generosity.
This time, Green did not refuse.
“As a bard, it’s my honor to witness legendary tales unfold.”
Green smiled at Colonel Rayne.
“Phew…” Realizing that Green wasn’t as simple as he appeared, Rayne didn’t rush to argue. He glanced at the dejected soldier and then asked in a low voice, “So, Advisor, what exactly is the operational plan you just proposed to Her Highness?”
Even a legendary wasn’t omniscient or omnipotent.
He kept his gaze locked on Green, waiting for him to slip up.
“My plan is simple: lure the enemy in deep, surround, and annihilate.”
Seeing Theresa’s interest, Green didn’t hold back, “Specifically, we propose to pay tribute—pretend to negotiate. Lure the Barbarian Commander into revealing himself. Then we ambush him at the negotiation site…”
Green clenched his fist. “Capture the leader first, and the bandits will collapse.”
What kind of plan is that?!
Though Rayne was a latecomer to strategy—having been transferred from the Central Legion to this border fortress for certain reasons and grown lax from years of drinking—he still had military sense.
Green’s plan wasn’t impossible, but the uncertainties were simply too many.
“What makes you think the barbarians will agree to negotiations?” Rayne crossed his arms. “Do you really think tribute will tempt them more than taking the Unyielding Bastion and looting the nearby towns?”
“Oh, Colonel Rayne, you have a point, but… the Unyielding Bastion’s situation isn’t new. Don’t you think the barbarians already know?”
Green smiled. “If I’m not mistaken, this isn’t the first time you’ve negotiated or traded with them, is it?”
“Tch, the Barbarian Army never had so many before—two, three thousand at most.” Rayne pressed on, “Fine, suppose they do negotiate. What makes you think the Barbarian Commander will show up in person?”
“Barbarians may be foolish, but they’re still human, not mindless monsters.” Rayne continued.
“That’s why we have to offer enough bait. For instance…”
Green glanced at the excited princess beside him.
“Her Highness herself will negotiate on behalf of the fortress, demanding equal ceremony from the barbarians.”
Drawing on his familiarity with the Adventurers’ Guild’s records and barbarian culture, Green presented his method.
“Bait? The princess?” Rayne’s face fell. “Yes, that’s enough to lure out their commander—but how can you guarantee he won’t bring an army to the talks?”
“With Her Highness as the bait, we hold the initiative.”
Green analyzed calmly, “Barbarian troops may be enthusiastic, but they lack real organization. If they capture the fortress, they’ll just rampage through the towns. Even if the Commander wanted to, he couldn’t conduct a precise manhunt.”
“So, Her Highness is more valuable than the fortress or the towns themselves.”
Green explained, “I suspect the barbarians aren’t interested in holding territory. One, they lack the means. Two, the Empire is no pushover.”
He concluded, “No matter how corrupt the border troops, Colonel Rayne, you know better than I that the Empire’s elite—especially the Imperial Guard and the Central Legion—could mop up the barbarians any day.”
Rayne fell silent.
True. Compared to the decaying border garrisons, the Empire’s elite units—especially those prestigious regiments where noble heirs serve—were more than enough to crush barbarians.
At the end of the day, the barbarians, for all their individual valor, were nothing but a nuisance before the Empire’s magitech. Only here, in the barren western frontier, could they run wild.
“Can’t we just use the old ways—ambush the barbarians, negotiate tribute, evacuate civilians to control the damage?”
Rayne still favored the tried-and-true methods over Green’s risky plan.
“Eh, Colonel? Didn’t you just say this invasion is different from past years?”
Green chuckled. “Maybe before you could use little tricks to hide the situation from the higher-ups, but I’d bet the barbarians’ appetite this time won’t be sated by your usual means.”
Rayne said nothing. He knew.
But to use the princess as bait…
“Colonel Rayne.” Suddenly, Green stepped closer and, before Rayne could react, clapped a hand on his scarred shoulder.
“Trust me—even if something really goes wrong, it won’t matter, because…”
When did he—?!
Rayne’s eyes widened. An overwhelming, irresistible force surged into his body. Was it him?!
Looking up at Green’s silent smile, he heard the bard whisper in his ear, “I’ll step in myself.”
Is this pretty boy really a legendary?
Phew…
Forget it. Time to gamble.
“Damn it, if I’d known I’d end up risking my life with an exiled princess and a bard, I wouldn’t have defied orders out of some misplaced conscience.”
Rayne let out a long sigh. “To think I’ve sunk so low.”
Still… this feeling—
For the first time in ages, Rayne felt his blood, long since grown cold, begin to boil again.
Not bad at all.
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