Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 44
Chapter 44
The size of the clothes seemed to be a little big on purpose, so that the waist and hips looked okay. However, the chest showed that I was clearly a woman, as No. 9 pointed out.
“I have a compression wrap. Please at least try using it.”
Did he bring it just in case?
Seeing the compression wrap that appeared naturally from his pocket, I briefly felt like reality had hit me.
How should I take this ironic situation? I, originally a man, was cross-dressing as a man.
Nevertheless, when I was handed the compression wrap by No. 9, I used it to bind my chest.
It was a little suffocating, but after somehow wrapping it around, I immediately put the army uniform on again and looked back at No.9.
“How do I look?”
“Just from the appearance, I don’t think people would know. For your voice, I brought a magic artifact that modulates the voice. Would you like to use it?”
“Yeah.”
I was planning on staying out of sight, but I took the magic artifact from him just in case.
“Your rank is listed as a 100-Man Commander. Nobody will give it much thought no matter where you go in the army. Oh, and I’ve also created some dummy information about your previous workplace. If you read it over once, it’ll be easy to respond to anyone who speaks to you.”
While I was testing my voice, I took the paper No. 9 held out and gave it a rough glance.
“Thank you. I’ll be on my way then, so you guys finish your work. Come as soon as there’s anything.”
“Yes, oh, and this is a network tool. If you need it, you can use it right away.”
“Thank you. Great job.”
With the network tool in my pocket, I broke into the army training center right away.
As long as I hid my presence with aura, the invasion wasn’t very difficult. Plus, as it was an executive army uniform, no one would doubt it even if I walked around in front of the unit.
In fact, there were more people who saluted me.
‘There are a lot of people, so there’s no way to check everyone individually. This is natural.’
Still, most of the trainees eat and sleep in the training center, so if an executive appears, I would definitely stand out.
When I was thinking about how I should be careful and move away from this location…
Wiiiiiiinng!
Suddenly, a siren or something went off.
There wouldn’t be any planes in this world, but it sounded as if they were announcing an air raid. As I paused to look up, people began to noisily appear.
“Shit, war! It’s a war!”
A sudden war.
I looked around with an absurd look on my face while the squires began coming out, shouting here and there.
“I’ve heard from the Security Forces Chief! He said to first bring all the trainees who came in this time!”
“What? Even the trainees? They’re useless! Isn’t it obvious that they’re all going to die?”
“Shit… The neighboring country, Sotillia, attacked without warning! I asked the other side for immediate support, but for now, the training center is the closest. No matter what, if the wall gets breached, it’s over. We have to somehow make time by filling the number of people!”
“Ah, seriously, Squire. They just wore their army uniforms, does it make sense to drive them to a dog’s death?”
“I’m going crazy, too. But now that they’re here, they’re soldiers. There is nothing we can do if the order is from above.”
I frowned at the sudden tense turn of events.
Things began to flow in a good way, just as the Constellation intended.
‘What’s your goal?’
Of course, there were signs of a war starting.
But you started it as soon as Rush came in.
Clicking my tongue, I first approached the talking squire.
He noticed my approach and turned his head. I saluted him, pretending to have rushed here.
“What about you?”
“My name is Tian, a 100-Man Commander. I was active in the western part of the country and recently heard my younger brother was to join the army. I took a vacation and came to the training center, but rushed here after the alarm. Is there anything I can do to assist?”
When I spoke to him while skillfully acting, the squire looked relieved.
“Sorry to bother you on your vacation. I’ll call your unit in advance and let them know. For now, please help us. Since it’s a training center, there are a lot of 20-Man Commanders, but there are too few 100-Man Commanders. Can you help with that? The situation is crazy right now.”
“Will do. Personally, I’m worried about my brother who just entered the training center. If possible, I’d like to be assigned to the trainees that came in today.”
“There are a lot of people. Will you be okay?”
“Yes. If they’ve just entered, there shouldn’t be any 100-Man Commanders assigned to them, right? It would be much more helpful for the other 100-Man Commanders to be with the 20-Man Commanders and the soldiers they’re familiar with.”
“Damn, I’m really grateful. I’ll buy you a drink when the war is over. I’ll remember you, 100-Man Commander Tian.”
Having said so, the squire asked the 20-Man Commander beside them to guide me and rushed away.
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ applauds your acting skills.]
Watching his back for a moment, I saw the Constellation’s message and clicked my tongue again.
Of course.
Did they think this was my first time challenging a Floor?
I couldn’t even count how many times I’d been through these kinds of urgent situations.
Furthermore, after receiving the dummy information from No. 9, I changed. I was Tian, the 100-Man Commander.
‘Should I try to be an actor when I get out?’
I was pretty handsome, and with my family background, they’d handle the casting. My father had no intention of handing the company over to me anyway, so it might be surprisingly fun.
“20-Man Commander, your name is?”
“It’s Iremic. Commander Tian, are you alright? Trainees are much worse than you think.”
“It’s alright. Where are the trainees now?”
“They would have just changed into their army uniforms and received a weapon. I did tell them to have them gathered in the training camp, but…”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Having said that, I went with Iremic to the place where the trainees were gathered.
At the sanded training ground were trembling trainees with weapons in hand, and the number of people appeared to be about 1,000.
There were definitely a lot of people, as they said.
‘Rush is over there.’
Looking at Rush standing at the end, shaking with his head wrapped in his hands, I stood next to the microphone prepared by Iremic.
There were as many as 1,000 people, but because they were trainees, 20-Man Commanders were in charge of them. The number of assigned commanders was about ten.
The ones in charge of the rest of the trainees were probably assistants who had been dispatched from among the soldiers.
They were also forced to take the position because of the war. Everyone seemed scared.
“Ah, ah. Trainees.”
Even when I spoke, the trainees showed no sign of concentrating.
Geez, I never thought I’d be an army officer.
It was annoying but I let out a loud yell.
“Trainees!”
As my voice burst out, the grounds that had been noisy quickly became quiet.
Looking at them, I gave a light summary of the situation.
After that, when I said that we would head to war immediately, their faces began to rapidly deteriorate.
No matter what I said here, it wouldn’t reach them.
No matter how great a speech, it wouldn’t work.
They were not soldiers.
They were just ordinary young men who were forced into this by the country.
“I have nothing to say to you, having been dragged into this. You probably don’t like it. You probably want to run away. Because you’re not soldiers, but ordinary folk who were forcibly drafted.”
And I told them, as a soldier like them.
“But a war has broken out. If you run, your family will die. I know that you’ve heard this story a hundred, or even a thousand times. I know, yet I’m saying it again. But today, your families were here to see you off.”
The moment they heard that, some paused.
Then, one by one, they slowly began to look up at me.
“It’s only been an hour since you entered this training center. Your families are still outside. Still nearby. Even if they returned home, they would’ve only gotten an hour away. Just an hour. By horse, it would take less than half an hour.”
The realization hit them one by one.
Their families were just around the corner.
They were exposed to the dangers of war.
That reality hit them.
“You have swords, and healthy bodies. But what of your families? What of your parents? They lack weapons, and they’ve aged while raising you. They’re overwhelmingly weaker than you all, and less capable of protecting themselves. A war has broken out. As soon as the wall collapses, soldiers will rush here. Now that your family is facing that danger, do you intend to think only about the reason you were brought here, hesitating to fight against it?”
I took out my Heavenly Star Sword and stabbed it into the ground with a loud thud.
With just one action, all the trainees looked up at me as I looked down at them and continued.
“The army always talks with your family as the hostage. I don’t like that. But this is all I have to tell you now. I won’t tell you to give your lives. So…”
And in a place where everyone’s eyes were gathered…
“Protect your family.”
I told them to protect them. The first people you think of when war becomes reality.
The trainees’ eyes turned red.
They bit their lips and their faces were soon filled with determination.
I came down from the podium while looking at them.
‘Tsk, I’m annoyed that I remembered my soldier days for no reason.’
Of course, I hadn’t been to war. But I was still annoyed to be doing this as a former soldier.
However, it was inevitable if it was necessary to clear the Floor.
“We’re moving. 20-Man Commanders, bring the trainees. One 20-Man Commander will stand in front with me. They’ll take charge of the directions next to me.”
“Are you saying that you’re going to take the lead?”
“If I don’t, then who will? Hurry up and move. There’s no time.”
Surprised to hear me, trust began to emerge from the eyes of the 20-Man Commander.
“I’ll take the lead.”
Iremic had stared at me strangely from the beginning, but now he looked at me with trust and was the first to step out.
Seeing him, I nodded as if to say yes, and we moved quickly to the wall where the battle was taking place.
‘The most important thing to watch out for is Rush’s survival.’
It seemed Rush hadn’t recognized me. My face didn’t change much, but there was the distance from the podium, my voice and army uniform during the speech I gave, and the fact that I was a woman.
The fake status of Tian, the 100-Man Commander, could be abandoned at any time.
Thinking of going to the side to guard Rush, I arrived at the wall where the war had already started.
There were loud noises everywhere. A wild fight was taking place beyond the walls.
The gate was already open.
In order to oppose the hostile army, we also temporarily opened it to send out soldiers.
“What should we do, Commander?”
We rushed here after hearing the alarm, but the soldiers on the other side who arrived before us were already flocking to the battle.
Looking at them for a moment, I asked Iremic.
“Do you happen to know how to handle aura?”
“What? If I could handle it properly, I would’ve been a squire by now.”
Was that the level of this world?
I nodded, guessing that those Number guys were better than I’d thought.
