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 beco unavoidable."
Upon hearing those words, Gregory only opened and closed his mouth, unable to utter anything. He struggled for a mont, at a loss for words, before finally forcing sothing out.
"By war... do you an a war with the Blandi Kingdom?"
Walter shook his head while staring at the floor, then let out a deep sigh. Gregory understood the aning contained within that sigh.
It had now beco 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 ti 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 Ar and provoke an extre war.
In other words, the economy of the Blandi Kingdom was collapsing. Gregory had known this would happen from the mont 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 ant that Gregory's original goals—to prevent his comrades' deaths and to exact revenge on ren 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 Ar 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 forr Blandi Kingdom knight in his previous life.
"If so, why were the new knight order mbers recruited? Isn't there a high chance they'll lose their lives easily?"
It was a natural question. As always, sotis untrained regular soldiers could prove detrintal, which was a reasonable assumption.
But this was not the first ti 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 beco useful in the rear will they not die a aningless death."
To Gregory, those words ca 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 imdiately put into action, and only those who achieved honorable victories were rewarded.
And only those who accumulated rit 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 mbers."
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 sothing broader than that."
"What do you an by broader?"
"It's that the dawn knight order, enduring much hardship, has few mbers 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 sothing.
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 reinforcents for defensive operations.
Whether it was subduing monsters, siege warfare, or an invasion, if they made a serious mistake and lost many mbers, then, due to the order's nature and the small number of volunteers, there was an extrely 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 mbers, 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 ti we have for training."
Walter, apparently convinced he couldn't win against Gregory, reluctantly revealed the reason for the hasty recruitnt.
"It's because your father cares for you all to the extre."
"W-what do you an?"
"Think of it as yet another blessing from your father."
Gregory, mulling over Walter's words, suddenly realized sothing. Only then did he begin to understand, even a little, what Parsei thought of him.
If the number of dawn knight order mbers dwindled and they beca 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 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."
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