CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—!
The sound of someone striking an empty pot rang out as it did every day.
The sound that announced morning.
Everything began as an ordinary day.
The waking soldiers rose sluggishly.
Some were grateful they had not been assassinated in their sleep.
Some were relieved the enemy had not launched a surprise attack during the night.
Others even offered morning prayers to gods whose names no one knew.
One by one, those soldiers gathered into an encampment of roughly 800 people.
Such was a morning in the White Wolf Knight Order, the strongest knight order of the Carnia Empire.
The soldiers stretched as usual and left their tents.
The sun seemed unusually bright today.
It was clear enough to see the mountaintops of the Noxis Empire far in the distance.
The soldiers leaving their tents sensed a strange atmosphere unlike any ordinary day.
Every soldier already outside was looking in the same direction.
They pointed and murmured among themselves. Following their fingers, the soldiers saw four long poles planted in the training ground.
"What are those?"
"Did we have anything like that in camp?"
"There's something hanging from the top."
The poles had not been there yesterday.
Round objects like lollipops hung from their tops.
One soldier squinted for a closer look and shouted.
"H-heads! They're heads!"
"Rainer? Meiwa?! That one is from the Third Company..."
Mounted on the bamboo poles were the heads of Rainer, Meiwa, Number Three, and Number Four.
An uproar spread through the soldiers once they realized the objects were heads.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—!
The sound of the empty pot echoed through the camp again.
Someone's voice followed.
"All personnel, assemble on the training ground!"
"Assemble!!"
The restless soldiers received the order and moved in perfect unison.
They sensed that something serious had happened, and their movements were crisp.
As well-trained soldiers, they gathered on the training ground in an instant.
Roughly 800 soldiers stood in ordered ranks.
Behind them, the four heads were raised high.
Knight Commander Shupern stood on the platform before them.
After surveying the soldiers once, Shupern opened his mouth.
"All of you, turn around and look at the severed heads."
At his command, the soldiers turned in unison.
Blood still dripped from some of the heads, while others had already blackened and attracted flies.
The sight made many soldiers retch first thing in the morning.
Most were new recruits with little experience of war.
"The heads hanging behind you belonged to Noxis spies."
Murmur, murmur.
The atmosphere instantly grew chaotic.
After all, those people had been their comrades for at least several years.
When the soldiers reacted noisily in disbelief, Shupern shouted.
"Silence!"
Silence fell in an instant.
His voice, infused with aura, reverberated through the entire training ground.
Everyone waited for Shupern's next words.
"They were your comrades, people you spent at least several years beside. I understand that you find it hard to believe, but we have secured sufficient evidence."
Shupern continued.
"I have matters to convey to you."
Some soldiers straightened their backs, tension settling over them.
Speeches like this usually preceded deployment orders.
"First, next week we will begin the supply transport operation. Battle with Noxis will be inevitable in the process."
The atmosphere froze instantly.
It was their first order to fight in a very long time.
With so much time having passed without combat, most sensed this would be a major battle.
That was the experience of those who had survived.
"Second, all passage into and out of the knight order is prohibited beginning today. Did you think I didn't know you crawled out like rats every night?"
Ahem, ahem.
Several people lowered their eyes and cleared their throats at Shupern's words.
"With spies discovered among us, all contact with the outside will be strictly controlled. Anyone who violates this order will be summarily executed."
Now that an actual operation had begun, he intended to control all entry and exit and keep the operation completely secret.
"Third. Fourth Company, Fourth Platoon, Fourth Squad."
When Shupern singled out one squad, every gaze turned toward the Fourth Platoon of the Fourth Company.
Only now did the soldiers notice the terrible condition of the four squad members.
The clothes they had not yet changed out of were mottled with dried blood, and their faces were battered from what appeared to have been a grueling battle.
"Forward."
At Shupern's word, the four approached the platform.
Shupern drew a breath, surveyed the soldiers, and opened his mouth.
"These soldiers rendered distinguished service in the operation against the Noxis spies."
The assembly erupted into noise.
That squad full of freaks had accomplished such a feat?
That was how most reacted, though.
"In recognition of this achievement, I order every member of the Fourth Squad who participated in the operation promoted by one rank."
"Yes—!" Kaisen quietly cheered before the platform.
A promotion in rank was not merely a numbers game for soldiers.
Those who became officers could receive noble titles, and those who climbed farther might even be granted lands of their own.
Smiles appeared not only on Kaisen's face, but on Johanna's and Creed's as well.
'The higher my rank rises, the closer I get to Reinach.'
Rohan had little interest in land or honor, but that single fact mattered.
And so.
Squad Leader Creed was promoted to Sergeant.
Corporal Kaisen was promoted to Sergeant First Class.
Corporal Johanna was promoted to Sergeant First Class.
Private Rohan was promoted to Private First Class.
Each received a new position.
From Sergeant onward, one could aspire to become a Deputy Platoon Leader, while a Sergeant First Class ordinarily performed the role of Squad Leader.
In other words, the Fourth Squad alone now had three people of Squad Leader rank or higher.
In time, they might move in the circles of platoons rather than squads.
"And."
Shupern placed a hand on Rohan's shoulder.
"I am well aware that you avoid Rohan and call him a murderous demon or worse."
Rohan looked at the roughly 800 soldiers before him.
Those who had insulted him lowered their eyes when their gazes met.
"Rohan made the greatest contribution to this operation. From now on, anyone who denounces him without cause will be severely punished."
The soldiers looked at Rohan in silence.
It felt as though a new wind was blowing through the knight order.
Rohan, meanwhile, was looking at the sky.
Caw, caw.
There were many crows today.
***
Rohan opened his eyes the following day.
He had fallen asleep after hearing Shupern's speech and had only now awakened.
His body was covered in scars but otherwise fine, suggesting he had been treated with a potion.
He sat up in bed, but despite it being daytime, no one was inside the tent.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Rohan fell into thought.
'I have a lot to sort out.'
First was Meiwa's swordsmanship.
It was the greatest prize from the battle.
The Nakandiya tribe's swordsmanship was fundamentally different from other sword arts.
Rohan searched beneath his bed and drew out Meiwa's sword, which he had stored there.
It curved like a crescent moon and was specialized for close combat and agile movement.
SWISH— Rohan held the hilt and swung it through the air.
'I need to practice.'
The sword could only shine when backed by sufficient agility.
Even with the memories, the information would be useless unless he built a body capable of following it.
Rohan knew that his body ultimately had to support the swordsmanship if he wanted to make it entirely his own.
'I should visit the Nakandiya tribe too.'
There was much to gain there.
He thought it was a place he had to visit if he ever had the opportunity.
- Form up for battle!
- Form up for battle!!
Rohan's contemplation was brief. At the sound outside the tent, he stepped out.
The sun stood high as if it were around noon, and the soldiers moved in perfect order beneath it.
Only one day had passed, yet the mood of the unit had changed.
They had never trained on this scale before.
"Eek!"
As Rohan watched, a gigantic human figure emerged from the Third Squad's tent, saw him, and hurriedly hid again.
Rohan pulled aside the Third Squad's tent flap.
Goto was trembling as he hid beside the entrance.
Thump, thud. Several potatoes spilled from his body.
When Goto hurriedly bent over to pick them up, even more potatoes tumbled from all over him.
"N-no. It's not like that... This is..."
"Goto. What are they doing?"
When Rohan did not question him about the potatoes, Goto cleared his throat and hurriedly answered.
"Training. There's a supply transport operation coming up."
"Then why are you here?"
"My stomach hurts, so I was excused..."
Rohan's gaze dropped to the potatoes rolling across the floor.
"T-these potatoes were in bad condition..."
"I see."
Rohan cut him off.
Whether Goto stole potatoes was no concern of his.
After leaving the Third Squad's tent, Rohan looked across the training ground.
He was encountering tactics for the first time, but searching his memories and watching closely allowed him to understand their movements.
At the commander's orders, scouts, a vanguard, an escort force, and a rear guard formed a column to escort the supplies.
'A standard supply escort formation, I suppose.'
Shupern probably still did not know they had fed false information to the enemy.
Rohan and Creed had agreed to report it that way.
Creed had probably followed Rohan's wishes.
Otherwise, Rohan would not be walking around openly.
Rohan narrowed his eyes.
'I have to take the supplies.'
The true nature of the cargo was the Phantom Beast Egg.
He did not know its exact effect, but a Phantom Beast said to grant tremendous power would hatch from it.
To steal the cargo...
'I need to set a more perfect stage.'
The Black Dawn Knight Order in his memories.
Muria in particular was no easy opponent.
Rohan believed they could not defeat her with an ordinary operation.
'But how?'
Rohan had never commanded an operation.
Nor did he possess detailed information about this operation.
The spies had left the opposing camp more than three years ago.
Even they did not know how the current Black Dawn Knight Order operated.
'There must be a way.'
Rohan's gaze slowly rose to the sky.
Caw, caw.
The crows were particularly rampant today.
***
That night.
As always, Rohan left the tent.
"Rohan. Not tonight."
The sentry who saw him shook his head.
Only a few days had passed since Shupern ordered everyone not to leave the camp.
However, the sentries' tone had grown gentler than before.
Rohan approached them and spoke.
"Isn't it fine as long as I don't leave the camp?"
"Aren't you going to hunt outside?"
"I feel restless."
Rohan indicated the sword at his waist.
"The training ground?"
Instead of answering, Rohan nodded.
The sentries looked at each other once, shrugged, and stepped aside.
"Practice quietly."
"And don't leave the camp under any circumstances."
Was it thanks to Shupern's speech?
No one picked a fight with Rohan for no reason, and no one went out of his way to stop him.
Rohan was about to turn away when it happened.
"Um...... congratulations on making Private First Class."
"And sorry for doubting you."
A quiet voice came from behind him.
Rohan nodded and walked toward the training ground.
Not even an ant's shadow could be seen across the broad training ground.
Rohan searched inside his clothes.
What he drew out was Rainer's eye.
'Potions certainly are useful.'
It remained submerged in potion-laced water and was in good condition.
Rohan raised his gaze to the sky.
Rainer's iris glittered in the moonlight.
How much time had passed?
FLAP—!
A loud noise came from the nearby forest, and a crow began gliding through the air.
It was an enormous crow, large enough to make the tree it had launched from sway violently.
It was two or three times the size of an ordinary crow.
After circling through the air a couple of times, the crow descended toward Rohan.
Just as it slowed and flapped in the air to land on his arm.
- CAW!
Rohan's hand shot out and snatched the crow by the neck.
CRACK.
Before it could react, the crow's neck twisted.
The crow's memories then flowed into Rohan.