The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 35
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 35 It was said that even the army is well-fed
these days
Hari felt a pang of pity as she watched the hunters go
through the grueling training regimen.
"Is, is it okay? Can they actually train like
that?"
-Perfect in theory.
Well, in theory, yes. But how can anyone be expected to
operate by the book perfectly? Leon recognized that there were limitations.
"Yes, of course there are some shortcomings. But
they will grow enough to be decent soldiers."
Leon was assuming that their growth threshold would be no
higher than that of his Royal Army, which he was leading.
This doesn't mean that they can't reach that level. The
current hunters could still reach the level of the Royal Army or First Army of
elite soldiers, but not close to being knights.
'However,
the difference in experience is too great.'
Royal Army were experienced warriors who had fought in
countless wars throughout the kingdom. They were more than capable of tactical
action in groups of ten or twelve even without a commander's orders.
In a war against 800,000 orc mobs, the battlefield became
too wide, and the Royal Army used their own judgment to defend the edge of the
land and send reinforcements to key locations.
It would be unreasonable to expect these men to be the
level of the elite troops who had rolled on the battlefield for at least thirty
years, if not fifty.
"Real skills can only be developed through
experience. The pressure will push their bodies to their limits."
Originally, there was no need to be this harsh with a
standing army.
"If they were a people of my Kingdom, their bodies
would already be perfect. They would have always been raised with crops and
environments blessed by the divine."
But this was not the case for these people. They were
ignorant of the existence of gods in the first place. They lived unhealthy
lives and were vulnerable to all kinds of diseases.
"Unlike my healthy subjects, they need to be
stimulated and awakened."
"I see."
Even though it seemed like nothing more than an absurd
medieval training regime, Hari forced herself to understand the reasoning.
"Uhm... Your Majesty, do I have no training?"
Hari asked cautiously. She was technically a staff member
of the Association, but that aside, she was the Earthling who had been with
Leon the longest.
Although she was an A-class hunter herself, the desire to
become stronger was a common desire among hunters.
"What is it, do you want to be in there?"
"Uh... I don't think that would be good."
It wasn't that she didn't want to. It was that their
levels were too different.
"Well, true. To you, they are no different than
children."
"Um… not quite like that."
"Modesty is arrogance at that point. Just as a
soldier and a knight are different, so are their training methods. You don't
need to be trained in the same barbaric manner like a soldier."
So he recognized that it was barbaric!
Hari found it odd that this ferocious medieval
knight-king could be so piercingly self-objectifying at times.
"It's almost time for the session to end, so let's
go prepare the meal."
"Ah, yes! That's right! After hard training, you should
at least eat well!"
Hari thought that the hunters should be fed with meat
after all their hard training. Surely, Leon would have taken care of that.
But when Hari saw the meal prepared for the men, she was
stunned.
"That... Your Majesty? This. Is it water?"
It was water. Something had been added to it, but could
that whitish thing be some kind of special concoction?
"What is this cloudy substance? Is it something
blessed that Your Majesty has prepared?"
"It is salt."
"...... Is that all?"
"There is also sugar."
Strange. So strange.
That couldn't be everything. There had to be more.
"Hari, do you know what is important to
soldiers?"
"To be well fed and well trained?"
She quickly pointed both in indication that those things
were currently in question.
"Hum, in times of war, that may be true. But the
most important thing for a soldier is 'malice'."
"Malice?"
"Happy soldiers don't easily commit murder. An underfed and pissed-off soldier is a
recipe for disaster."
So the soldiers were given only the bare minimum to help
them tolerate their malice. Hari's complexion turned pale.
"The, the army can even feed their troops well these
days!"
"What you do not understand is not a question. Have
you ever led an army like this King?"
"......No."
"Then how can you say that my methods are
wrong?"
"Well, that's......."
I tried it, and it worked. Have you tried it?
Hari was speechless.
-Your Majesty. Recommendation.
Ohhh, Sir Yappy. After all, are you trying to make an
objective point with cool calculations and knowledge of a machine?
'Sir
Yappy! The future of everyone's survival depends on your calculations!'
Go, Sir Yappy!
"Speak, Sir Spinner, for I am listening."
-There are 17 mg of sodium and 112 calories more than
what humans need to maintain minimum vital activity in this product. A
recommendation that rations be reduced accordingly.
Demons! They are demons!!
Thus the training regime for soldiers based on the experience
of a man beyond human, and the calculations of a cold machine without a shred
of warmth, had made a maddening collaboration!
* * * * *
The torture called training resumed after dinner, only to
be suspended for the day because of the rain.
The hunters were crammed into the village hall in the
name of improving camaraderie, and the hunters drooped like dripping rainwater.
"Ugh... After all that hard work, all I got was two
cups of sugar water......."
"Ah, my whole body aches. It hurts...…."
The first training session alone was enough to make them
feel like they were going to die. But strangely, their body was fine.
'I'm
really healed.'
Gu Dae-sung was amazed that the torn skin and broken
bones were all okay.
Although he couldn't actually tell, he felt like his
bones had gotten stronger.
The healing power of the Holy Grail was incredible. It
granted healing like a proper healer for many long hours.
What was even more ridiculous was that it was an AoE1
heal.
While normal healers heal one by one and have a limited
amount of magic, Leon's Holy Grail not only healed all allies in range, but it
stayed active for at least five hours.
It could be said to be on a different level of healing.
"Ugh... I'm still hungry."
The hunters were exhausted from their intense training.
But all they were given at mealtime were two glasses of water with sugar and
salt.
The calories weren't a problem, as the water was loaded
with so much sugar that it burned their tongues.
Nutrition wise, it was the bare minimum to keep a person
alive.
But apart from that, the meal was very inadequate. No one
can be satisfied with such a meal after training so hard.
Huddled together like an old army squad, with only a
piece of blanket over their heads, the rumbling sounds of the rain washed over
their ears.
"Damn, should I drink rainwater?"
"Hungry......."
Eleven o'clock. A time to go to sleep, but none of them
can. There was a knock on the door of the hall.
"Excuse me... hello?"
"Mi, Miss Hari?"
Hari asked for permission, her face peeking out,
"Can I come in?"
"Oh, yes! What can we do for you?"
"It's nothing... I figured you'd all be hungry, so I
packed a little something."
Hari had a basket full of potatoes and sweet potatoes in
her hands.
"There is no cold water... so I bought some bottled
water from the store out front. Everyone has had a hard time, so please have
some."
'It,
it's an angel.'
'She's
so young, but how could she be so thoughtful?'
Gu Dae-sung and the others were overwhelmed by Hari's
generosity, and they quickly grabbed the potatoes and sweet potatoes and dug
in, without peeling them.
"Kkeuheuheuk! It's delicious! It's delicious, Miss
Hari...!"
"I never knew potatoes were so delicious...!"
"Eat slowly. There are still plenty of potatoes and
sweet potatoes left."
Hari felt a pang of pity for the hunters as they gobbled
up the remaining potatoes, looking like beggars.
Yes, people shouldn't be made to feel deprived when they
still have something to eat.
Having lost her parents in the cataclysm and growing up
in an orphanage, she knew firsthand what it was like to be starving.
"Drink some water while you eat, it's a hot day and
you need to stay hydrated──"
-Bam!
The door to the hall opened without as much as a knock.
The sound of the strong rain hitting the wet ground was
also drowned out by the sound of thunder.
The hall's door was now wide open to the outside world. A
brief flash of lightning illuminated the cold, rain-soaked metal body.
-Kririg.
Perhaps it was the setting of the pouring rain and
lightning that made the spider machine looked colder than usual.
Eight camera eyes creak and shined in every direction. As
though looking at some intruder in a top-secret compound.
"Si- Sir Yappy......."
-Cheating detected.
The machine's voice, no different than usual, seemed
heavier and more chilling than usual.
* * * *
Eight limbs scampered across the rain-soaked ground.
Even the squishy surface didn't seem to bother the
multi-legged machine.
"St- stooop!!"
On the other hand, the red-haired girl was running
desperately in pursuit, her eyes filled with what could be tears or raindrops.
"Wa- wait a minute! please listen to me, Sir
Yappyyyyy!!"
She was caught sneaking potatoes and sweet potatoes
behind Leon.
It was an act of compassion and thoughtfulness from her,
but she doesn't know how Leon will perceive it.
The moment she realized she had been caught, the thought
of the hunters shoveling the potatoes and sweet potatoes into their stomachs
brought tears to her eyes, but the worst part would come when it had been
reported to Leon.
How cruel of him if he were to say he was going to take
the sugar out of the sugar water after the late-night meal?!
Hari was desperate to stop Yappy as it rushed to report
to Leon.
Luckily, Yappy's speed was slower than Hari's. Its
shorter strides and its smaller size meant it had less speed.
"There, I got you!"
But before Hari could touch it, Yappy stopped.
-Please cease pursuit. You are committing a grave
offense.
"Ah, okay! I'll stop, okay? I just need you to
listen to me for a minute!"
Yappy had stopped, and Hari naturally stopped too. But
this was Yappy's psychological tactic. It was a technique it had learned from
countless battles, and one that was very effective against those who had a
preconception that 'machines do not lie'.
Yappy slowly closed the distance, then sprang back into a
run.
"Did, did you just play me?! You tricked me by
pretending to want to talk to me?!!"
Hari hurried after the machine again. But then, out of
nowhere, something strong and hard was tied around her ankle.
"Wire? U-guh!"
Hari tumbled to the ground, while Yappy gained distance.
Hari flicked her fingers when she realized it was wire binding her ankle.
-Whoosh!
A flame bursts forth in the harsh rain. Her [blessing of
fire] burned away the wire tied to her ankle, burning despite the downpour.
"Stoop...!"
Hari ran again. With just a little more than ten paces of
running, the distance between her and Yappy was disappearing. Hari threw
herself at it.
"Gotcha!"
Hari jumped forward and grabbed Yappy. Mud splattered
across her face and her suit was torn, but the joy of protecting the hunters'
meal made up for that.
-Touchdown.
However, the place where she threw her body and caught
Yappy was right in front of Leon's quarters. The door swung open, and Leon
stared down at Hari with a cold stare.
"What's all the fuss about in the middle of the
night?"
"Uh?"
Hari's mouth gaped like a goldfish. But the machine was
unfazed. In a cold, even voice, it reported,
-Cheating detected. Unnecessary nutritional
supplementation discovered.
Hari was caught red-handed giving out food. Yappy
delivered the report brutally.
"Tsk, tsk... You couldn't even wait one day to do
something like that?"
"N- no, that's... I'm... sorry..."
Hari hung her head, feeling a tinge of bitterness, but at
least the poor men could get some food.
"It had been done. What can I do with what was
already eaten? But you should be wiser next time."
When Hari gave him a look of disbelief, Leon smiled and
continued,
"I'll make sure they're fed properly for the
practical training at the gates. Now go bid on the next gate."
"Y, yes!"
Hari figured that for the sake of the hunters' human
rights, she should find a suitable gate as soon as possible.
"Ah, right. Your Majesty... I will go to relay the
message tomorrow."
"About what?"
"As your Majesty requested, for the Chairman of the
Association’s visit to evaluate the results of the entire program."
"Hmm, I see."
This was what Leon had requested.
He invited him to the final training session to
re-evaluate the trained hunters' ratings.
Leon was taking them to attack a yellow gate, where the
hunters who showed growth would be officially re-evaluated.
'Once
you entered the Pantheon Guild, you could become this strong'...
It was exactly a means of attracting more recruits.
"There will be many guests, and the authority of the
Lionheart King would be tarnished if we failed to welcome them, so we must
instruct the residents to make preparations."
"Yes, I'll pass it o~n..."
Leon added while looking at Hari, who was a mess from
chasing Yappy,
"Go wash up, and... from now on, I will have you
take care of those recruits. I wouldn't mind if you took some of the crops of
this land."
Hari's complexion brightened at the words. She felt sorry
for the men who were forced to consume nothing but water with salt and sugar,
and now this man was letting them enjoy potatoes and sweet potatoes!
Whether or not this was something to be grateful for, it
meant that the hunters wouldn't have to eat nothing but salt+sugar water for
the rest of the four weeks.
'Huh...
I guess he's still merciful.'
Hari didn't know.
There was never a one-sided plus or minus for the
inflexible authoritarian.
If there was a plus, there must be a minus, right?
Sir Gratas, the inventor of the Grail Knights' standing
army training regime:
A soldier who cheats must be made to pay.
***
Notes:
1 Area of Effect: It is a saying used to describe an attack, spell, or ability that affects an area.↩
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