My Villains Chapter 509
67. Lord of Icebobalt (2)
The road leading to the western gate crossed a small hill. Thanks to this, the tall boy was able to catch a glimpse of the city. The majesty of the most prosperous city in Obdorf was enough to catch his attention.
The height of the castle wall is about 5 meters and the thickness is about that, so it is a very solid shape. There are four tall, angular towers and two flat circular defense towers. It looked like fangs and molars sprouted alternately from its strong lower jaw.
The Munru, which occupied the middle, looked as massive as the keep in Egon’s hometown, and was relatively lighter in color than the left and right walls. This is because Munru was built anew after it was demolished by the new prince of the ‘Devil of Jaan’ – no, Proshafen during the Blade Man War.
Colorful flags fluttered over the walls.
The two flags fluttering from the gatehouse were engraved with the coat of arms of winged reptiles. The three-headed dragon symbolized the emperor of Mittergerand and the empire itself, and the group of wyverns mixed with red individuals symbolized the young emperor.
Except for the gatehouse, the high towers and the awnings below them were all filled with banners of one kind. It was a flag with a two-horned warhorse on a red background, the symbol of the Defelken family
. However, the road paved with a mixture of cobblestone and lime and the many alleys sprouting from it could not be hidden even by the strong walls.
Only the roofs of the warehouses and stores lined up along the walls were barely visible. A market with stalls scattered around and an auction house caught my eye, and I could see a corner of a brick house stacked on top of each other and the Gazebo located in every element.
The gray-domed Horhiu Cathedral and the crystal-like O-Giol Cathedral were much grander than expected. On the road leading to the upper-class residential area, even flagstones were laid, and street lights were lined up on the left and right. The three-four-story houses were neatly arranged, with a courthouse surrounded by a high wall and a towering mansion facing each other. At the end of the avenue was a dingy castle, or rather, the manor house.
With a hazy look on his face, Egon imagined the people coming and going on that street.
Students who revere martial arts and the priests of the catholic society. Wealthy merchants, nobles with a long history, stubborn jailers and stern judges. Brave and loyal knights and terrifying yet alluring women. Finally, the Count riding the two-horned beast.
The boy’s heart skipped a beat at the expectation that he would be able to see all of that soon.
Egon’s expectations were shattered in less than 10 minutes.
“No, Sergeant. What’s the point of not being able to enter the city? We are here for training.”
When a man, the representative of the strong men from Brinst, stepped forward and asked a question, Seon Jang-han, between the gate and the gate of Munru, hardened his mouth.
In Egon’s eyes, Janghan was wearing a rare fancy outfit. This was true even compared to the soldiers dealing with peddlers and tourists, civilian messengers and mercenaries at and near the wide open gates.
“First of all, I’m not just a sergeant. As you can see, the boss.”
Janghan pointed to the emblem embroidered on the upper part of the shoulder girdle. It looks like three wide ‘V’ shaped arcs stacked together. Since Egon had experience with the soldiers of the Combat Brigade during the subjugation of the trolls, he knew that it was a rank insignia.
Of course, you could tell that he was a soldier with a high level of skill just by looking at his clothes. I can’t possibly know
The sturdy sergeant
was wearing a chain armor with iron pieces attached to the joints. On top of that, he wore a red surcoat, leather gloves, and tan boots. Even at first glance, the sword hanging from his belt was on a different level from the ones made in the blacksmith’s in the countryside. Of course, he was not a single soldier or sergeant.
“Uh- I’m sorry, Sergeant.”
“It can’t be that all of these personnel are in their first training and they seem to have forgotten how to read rank insignia.”
The sergeant shook his head pathetically and gave a chin to the north.
“From now on, we will be stationed outside the city during normal winter training. go If you follow the wall, you will come to the garrison.”
“Yes? But nari”
“Stop thinking about arguing. It’s Sir Confair’s order, so all you have to do is shut up and follow it.”
“Lord Confair’s orders?”
“…You stupid bastard. It means that this is an order from Sir ‘Confair von Ajoelten’, the military commander and combat brigade commander of Bang Baek-ryeong!”
“ah.”
“If you know, get out of here! How long are you going to block the road!” Brinst’s men stumbled off the road at the irritable shouts. Egon’s hamstrings tingled for no reason as the eyes of the soldiers shone fiercely in front of the castle tower.
“…a bastard son of a bitch. The same Gellans are doing too much.”
Alban grumbled again.
“By the way, damn it, that’s why I’m insecure. There are so many people gathered that you can’t even enter the city. Hey, if you want to garrison 1,000 people, you won’t be able to occupy the plaza like last time.”
“Do you hate it that much? I heard that living in a tent in the square is the same anyway.”
“If you are outside the castle walls, you have to be hit by the wind as it is. Besides, there are many things to enjoy near the plaza.”
Seeing the middle-aged man deeply regretful, the boy showed curiosity.
“What would you like to enjoy?”
“Drinking and being a bitch, what else is it?”
“Ah…but everything in the city
is expensive. And that woman too.”
“It’s not to the point where I can’t stand it. And since we don’t have to worry about being ripped off, it’s better than somewhere we don’t know.”
“Why?”
“You really don’t know anything. If you rip off a conscript, you’ll be dragged away by the guards.”
Alban was fiddling with the pockets of his waistband and crying.
“Fuck. My wife secretly saved up coins all fall for this day.”
“What were you trying to do?”
“I was going to call Ines all week.”
“Ines?”
“I have a kid like that. No more, no less, the one who pays just three pennies.”
“…… What is it?”
“It’s not something to belittle because it’s cheap. The technology is great. Perhaps Ines was making better money than the boss I just saw…
Whether it was because he was preoccupied with gossip or because the distance was really close, Egon quickly arrived at the north gate.
Even though the gates were tightly closed, it was far from quiet. It was because of the garrison built nearby. Soldiers were crowded, and like the sergeant I saw at the west gate, those with heavy armament were often spotted. The strongmen gathered from all over Bangbaekryeong were wandering around the post of King Woowangjwa.
Around the entrance to the garrison, a table was set, and a long line stretched in front of it.
“Hey there! The guys who just came! Stop messing around and stand in line!”
At the shout of a soldier, the men of Brinst hurriedly bit the tail of the rope. While waiting without knowing why, Alban whispered to Egon in a small voice.
“That’s the squad leader, that’s the sub-commander rank. Check in advance.”
“I know. I’ve seen it before, even the platoon leader. And those are not squad captains and sub-captains, but skilled soldiers and ordinary soldiers.”
The new lord subdivided his troops into ranks.
In the case of the young men gathered here, they are the lowest rank without even a rank as they are conscripted soldiers.
In the case of formal enlistment in the combat brigade or Eisbowald’s guards, commonly called the ‘Red Army’, the rank of ‘apprentice’ and a yellow ‘—’ sign are engraved on the helmet and sleeves as a rank badge.
After half a year, the rank of ‘general soldier’ is obtained, and the ‘—’ sign on the rank insignia doubles. Apprentices can also receive combat allowance, but it is only regular soldiers who receive official wages.
A small number of ordinary soldiers with both experience and skills are promoted to ‘Skilled Soldiers’ by engraving three layers of ‘—’ signs. Experienced soldiers usually serve as sub-captains and receive at least 3 silver coins per week.
“Oh, that can’t be. I definitely heard that last year. They say that two squad captains and three sub-captains are squad leaders…
“I heard that the squad and sub-captains of the training battalion have lower ranks.”
“Ah, was it like that?”
If you make your mark as an experienced soldier, you get a chance to become a noncommissioned officer.
The first rank of a sergeant is ‘sergeant’, and a yellow ‘V’ sign is obtained as a rank insignia. He usually becomes a squad leader or sub-commander of a cavalry squad with nine soldiers under his command, and receives a generous salary of more than 5 silver coins a week. In addition, sergeants can wear shoulder straps with the battalion’s crest engraved on them.
The next rank is ‘Sergeant’, and two layers of yellow ‘V’ symbols are engraved as rank insignia. As the deputy platoon commander, he is in charge of commanding the platoon commander’s staff and the platoon commander’s squad. In the case of a cavalry squad composed entirely of experienced ranks, the squad leader is a sergeant.
The top of the rank of sergeant is ‘sergeant’, and as Egon’s party just saw in the introduction, three yellow ‘V’ symbols are engraved as rank insignia. They usually become a manager of a company or battalion unit and take on most of the military duties except command.
“In the training battalion, the sergeant plays the role of company commander. The sergeant is the platoon commander.”
“Isn’t that the case in combat brigades?”
Egon narrowed his eyes at Alban’s question.
“The training battalion is also part of a combat brigade. And in other battalions of combat brigades, second lieutenants lead platoons. The captain is the commander of the company.”
“Oh you know. Silver Prince’s subordinates?”
“Not all of them were Prince Eun’s subordinates. The platoon leader I saw was the lord’s private.”
Even in the Red Army, officers are rare. Most of them were those who held high positions in the Silver Prince army, which had been almost absorbed. The rest were private soldiers who had been under the command of the prince before he became a lord.
“Then who is that officer?”
“Who are you?”
“On the table over there.”
What Alban pointed out was a table with a long line of men gathered to participate in the drill. Five or six soldiers and sergeants were busy moving there. There were only two of them sitting in a row. A large young man wearing a sergeant’s rank badge and a rugged man with two silver rectangular marks on his shoulder straps over a plate breastplate.
“Oh well. Looking at the rank insignia, it looks like a captain…
“Isn’t it? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone with the rank of captain. But you look like a pure bandit, don’t you?”
“bandit?”
It wasn’t Egon standing next to him who reacted to Alban’s giggling. It was a soldier passing by.
A young soldier with an experienced rank insignia on his sleeve approached them with a distorted face.
“Did you just call me a bandit? ‘To Captain Taggart, ‘iron glove’?”
“Huh yes?”
“These cheeky countrymen! You guys should start training a day early!”
“Wait a minute. That’s-”
The other soldiers gathered as well, as if that angry shouting had attracted attention. Egon and Alban, as well as the other young men from Brinst, were all white.
