The Luvien Empire’s Third Army contained many of the talents from the other kingdoms and empires that the Luvien Empire had subjugated.
The nations that the Luvien Empire had overwhelmed and taken control of had realized that their empire would eventually become the master of the continents after experiencing their power firsthand. As a show of subservience, many of those nations’ legends, that had made a name for themselves in their own kingdoms and empires, were included in the Third Army.
Unlike the first armies, the number of troops in the Third Army were significantly higher. There were around 700,000 troops in the Third Army that were going to be deployed. There was also less time before the next army would advance. In other words, the real game would begin starting from the Third Army.
Of course, the Argaon Continent had been completely devastated by the might and power of the First and Second Armies alone. This was because the Luvien Empire was so overwhelmingly powerful.
‘I did not expect that the Third Army would be sent out to catch some mere flies…’
During the battle in the Argaon Continent, the Second Army was the one that swept away the continent and the Third Army only came in to clean up. However, in the war this time, they were faced with many variables.
‘How on earth were they able to exterminate almost 700,000 strong troops all at once?’
This was an unusual surprise for them. Did a God intervene in this war? No, common sense would dictate that to be impossible.
The Third Army’s Commander-in-chief, Ambose, was not one of the God’s Swords. However, he was someone that the Battle God cherished and favored. This was because he was very talented in reading the flow of the battlefield. However, Ambose was a marquis of the very first kingdom that the Luvien Empire had launched a surprise attack on.
Why was Ambose, the one hailed as the ‘God of Tactics’, on the side of the Luvien Empire?
‘I’ll come back safely so all of you don’t have to worry about me.’
It was precisely because the Luvien Empire had his family held hostage. To make sure that his family, people that were now prisoners of war, regain their freedom and be happy once again, Ambose had to make the biggest contribution today.
‘Nerva, that damn bastard emperor.’
Even if he was seething with rage against such an individual, he had to keep it in him. Ambose calmly pondered over the matters of this war, ‘The God of Origin does not want to lose so many lives in this war. That’s why she stopped them from sending all of their troops in one go.’
Of course, that was how the NPCs would think. However, some of the restrictions placed by the God of Origin could be bypassed by using expedient methods.
“Select the tankers and the Luvien Empire’s Shield Knights, and place thirty thousand of them at each entrance.”
“What are you going to do with such a small number of people?”
All of the commanding officers asked the same question. Most of the people here were either legendaries or people that had the power to rival that of a legend. But was that all? Of course not. They were all people that were capable of commanding as well, and those that disapproved of Ambose had formed a group.
Along with the title of God of Tactics, Ambose was also hailed as the ‘Sky Spear’. He was a legend of the spear in his kingdom. Since there were many continents in the world, the myths and legends that circulated in each continent were very different. On top of that, the current era had given rise to many strong men. That was why there were plenty of them that carried similar titles.
“Are you telling me that you really don’t know the reason?”
There were blank looks on the commanding officers’ faces. They were blatantly ignoring Ambose. But then, at that moment, an old and rough voice rang, “Excuse me, I am but a humble servant, will you allow me to speak?”
Ambose turned his head with a curious look on his face. There, he saw an old man with Terrius-like black hair, and a wooden spear hanging on his back. His clothes were slightly shabby and worn out, and there was a wagon attached to the horse that he was riding on. The old man was a commoner porter, who transported the nobles’ weapons and armor.
“How dare a porter like you express his opinions?!”
“Bastard! How about I cut off your head and throw it to the Aphro River?!”
The prideful and arrogant nobles raised their voices. There was even someone that pulled out his sword and stepped forward, fully intending to cut off the head of the old man. But Ambose appreciated such a man, someone that could express their opinion regardless of their status.
“Shut up.”
“H, hiiik…!”
“…!”
The commanding officers trembled at Ambose words, their eyes shifting to look into him. Ambose snorted at their cowardly reactions and completely ignored them. Then, he gestured at the old man with his chin while saying, “Go on, speak.”
“The God of Origin has placed a restriction upon the Luvien Imperial Army and only allowed them to advance with certain time constraints. The Second Army will only be deployed after a certain time has passed after the First Army’s deployment. The same is true for the Third Army.”
Ambose nodded at this.
“Placing the Third Army’s Shield Knights and the tankers at the entrances would allow us to drag the time. Since they are skilled in defending and in preserving their strength, they will be able to survive for longer and hence, be able to drag the time out for us.”
Ambose nodded again.
“By then, the Fourth Army will arrive. Once the Third and Fourth Army join forces, our troops will be able to reach a staggering number of around 1.5 million. If we have 1.5 million troops, the Asgan Continent will not be able to stand against us. Then, we will be able to continue straight towards their fortresses. Also, having many allies means that we will be able to incur less damage to our troops.”
Ambose’s interest in the old man grew after hearing his accurate analysis. As for the other strong men, many of them actually knew the reason why. Even so, they pretended not to know. Why? Because they just did not like Ambose.
‘That measly porter…’
‘I will definitely take that old man’s head.’
Ambose laughed loudly, “Hahahahahaha! That’s correct! Rather than engage in a continuous tug-of-war and turn this war into a battle of attrition, I believe it’s better for us to charge in and break through all of the entrances. Then, what should we do next?”
“That means that we can just advance without dividing the army. The enemy is currently hiding inside several fortresses. If we can break down one fortress first, then they will be left driven into a corner. By that time, we can just wait and sweep them away.”
“That’s amazing.”
Ambose was in awe. Of course, it was easy for commander-level figures like them to think of this method. Yet, the old man was supposed to be a porter at best.
“How did you know?”
“Hoho. I have been making a living on the battlefield for more than forty years now.”
An old man that had been living and fighting in the battlefield for more than forty years must have already seen and experienced a lot. At that moment, Ambose’s mood turned better.
“Can you carry my luggage for me?”
“Hoho. It is my honor.”
“…!”
“…!”
All of the other strong men trembled. But Ambose did not care. The old man quickly left behind the other luggages that he was carrying and only took on Ambose’s luggage before sitting next to him.
“Stay by my side. I think I can only endure this lonely battlefield with you here.”
The old man nodded at Ambose’s words, “We are fighting this war to protect.”
“That’s right.”
Ambose’s smile turned bitter at the old man’s piercing gaze. Then, the old man handed him a cup of coffee and said, “When I’m not traveling across the country to fight a battle, I usually indulge in my hobby of making coffee. Here, have a drink.”
“Thanks…”
Ambose felt a bit drowsy after listening to the old man’s soft and gentle voice. Then, Ambose took a sip of coffee from the rough and unsophisticated iron cup, and found out that the tension that was building up in his body slowly melting away. That was not all, the scent that wafted through his nose and the flavor that danced in his mouth were things that he had never experienced before. He had never tasted a coffee like this before in his life.
“H, how can coffee taste like this… this is really delicious…”
At that moment, Ambose felt a bit strange. It was as if he was falling for the old man. The old man’s gracious smile suddenly felt warm, just like a father’s smile. After savoring the best coffee he had ever tasted, emptying the contents of his cup and finally standing up to go to war, he asked the old man, “Ah. What’s your name?”
The old man grinned and answered, “Ban. People call me Coffee Maker Baggage God Ban.”
“Coffee Maker Baggage God?”
“Yes. I think they called me Baggage God because I’m good at carrying things?”
This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“Hahahahahaha. That’s very funny.”
Ambose grew to like the old man more and more. No, perhaps he was truly falling for him. And that was true. Baggage God ‘Ban’’s coffee was made by a legendary barista. Because of that, he was able to mix various effects into his coffee.
Currently, the coffee that he made was the ‘coffee of favorability’. With this coffee, Ambose would have great affinity with the old man ‘Ban’, viewing him in a very favorable light.
Of course, the identity of Old Man Ban was none other than Spear God Ben. Spear God Ben’s task was to create chaos within the Third Army. Well, according to Ambose’s words, it would become the Third and the Fourth Armies.
As Ben continued to talk to Ambose, he could tell that the man did not really want to be here. However, he was still going to war. Ben stared at Ambose and thought, ‘If I do this well, then…’
Ben thought that he would be able to solve this problem with a much better method. At that thought, a soft smile bloomed on Spear God Ben’s face.
***
Most of the commanding officers of the Third Army were powerful individuals that had made a name for themselves in the Luvien Empire, or were ones that supported the empire from other nations. Some of them were called sword masters, some were spear masters, while some were called great mages. These people did not like Ambose, to the point that their bodies would shiver in disgust. And there was also the old porter that was standing beside him!
One such officer was Count Ramatley.
‘That measly old man…!’
In fact, many of them were rebelling against Ambose’s strategy and wanted to use this method to force him to step down by himself from his position as Commander-in-chief of the Third Army. But everything fell through because of that old man. However, they could also use this as an opportunity.
“So, Count Ramatley is saying that we should corner the old man once he comes out of the bathroom and threaten Ambose with him until he’s driven into the corner?”
“That’s right. I think that would work with Ambose. After all, he had built a good relationship with the old man. Once that happens, we will kill him and the old man together.”
If the life of the trivial porter was threatened, they were sure that Ambose would make a move. Then, they would take that opportunity to kill both Ambose and the old porter. Besides, Emperor Nerva Sephiroth would likely not pursue the matter, since Ambose would be declared dead during war. After all, death was only natural during a fierce war.
There were a total of five legendary commanding officers who were looking for opportunities to make their plans come to fruition. Before they knew it, The Third Army’s Shield Unit had already started to endure and hold out against the Eivelis Empire.
Meanwhile, the old man left to go to the bathroom. The five commanding officers secretly followed behind him. Count Ramatley, who was among those that followed the old man, raised his sword and said, “Bastard, if you want to live then bring Commander Ambose here!”
“If you don’t bring him right away, I will make sure to kill every single one of your family!”
It was definitely not that hard to threaten a porter. But then, Old Man Ban nodded and chuckled, “Hohoho. You truly delivered yourselves to me with your own two feet, just like His Majesty told me. This is really ‘f*cking good luck’.”
“…?”
“…??”
“…???”
What in the world did ‘f*cking good luck’ meant? All of them looked at the old man in doubt. A minute later, Old Man Ban finished peeing and came out of the bathroom.
Some time later, one of the soldiers went to the bathroom, and was horrified by the scene that he saw inside.
“Th, the five commanding officers have been assassinated!!!”
“Wh, what do you mean?! Are you talking about the five legendaries?!!!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Th, there seems to be a powerful assassin hiding amongst us!!!”
Amidst the loud ruckus, Ban stood next to Ambose calmly while watching the commotion that was unfolding in front of them.
The deaths of the commanding officers placed a heavy toll on the soldiers fighting on the battlefield. And Ben? He would continue to strike the enemies like this. After all, he was a very good spy and he would do his job well.
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