Chapter 33  : The Sound of the Horn

Lunch was underway.

The individual daily portions included black bread, succulently roasted dried meat torn by hand, a bowl of floured cabbage soup, and two dates as dessert.

As a man of noble status and lord of the oasis, Kant, had spices added to his food.

The food tasted and smelled good.

The meal included meat and vegetables. There was also soup, a main dish, and dessert.

To common people, a meal like that was considered quite a feast.

Kant knew that very well.

Back in the Dukedom of Leo, only citizens who worked privileged jobs in cities and towns, or free people who farmed their own lands, had extra funds to eat so lavishly.

The lackluster production capacity of the era meant that not everyone was able to afford good food.

Kant, who possessed the system, was an exception.

“I’m done.”

He put down his knife and fork. He quietly wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

However, he looked rather exasperated.

He was growing a bit tired of this food.

It was not it tasted bad. Rather, he had become sick of eating the same thing for eight days.

Even if his food had been something meticulously cooked with spices added, he had still been eating the same thing three meals a day for days. He felt as if his taste buds were protesting and demanding something different for a change.

At the very least, he needed different types of food.

Bread, dried meat, cabbage.

There were also sun-dried dates.

When one chewed on a soft, supple date, its mesmerizing sweetness immediately filled one’s mouth.

Kant slightly shook his head.

Regardless of how good the food actually tasted, if one kept eating the same thing over and over, one eventually felt it turned tasteless.

He put down his handkerchief.

Kant went up to the second floor of the Council Hall. He turned around to address the Swadian Militia members, who were still having lunch. “Stay vigilant during the afternoon break.”

All of them unanimously responded, “Yes, My Lord.”

Despite it being lunchtime, the militia members were not actually relieved of their guard duty at the Oasis Lookout.

It was especially so given that the construction of the watchtower beside the Council Hall had been completed. Since the tower was 26 feet tall, one was easily able to see what was going on over a 3,280-foot radius. It provided a huge benefit to the members of the militia on guard duty.

The Nahrin Desert’s terrain was comparatively flat and nowhere near as complex as mountainous regions.

“Right.” Kant nodded. He felt at ease as he headed to his room on the second floor.

He trusted his troops’ sense of responsibility.

At the very least, his Swadian troops had never given him any troubles. Also, Kant had never found any of them slacking while on duty.

They were all from the Continent of Caradia, which was a land that had been constantly terrorized by war. Anyone who let their guard down would have certainly been buried six feet under. They would become part of the dead who had watched the eras gone by.

After getting onto his bed, Kant slowly closed his eyes.

Despite the day being a relatively easy one for him, the constant need to think took a toll on his mental stamina.

The scorching sun outside window caused the temperature to rise.

The Oasis Lookout, which had reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit by then, was rendered silent after lunch.

Everyone was taking a break.

It was a break that did not come easily. There was still a lot of work waiting for all of them after the break was over.

That included military training.

There was also training for tactical synchronization between the Swadian Militias, Swadian Recruits, and Swadian Peasants.

The threat posed by the Jackalans remained. Kant had never let his guard down. He kept expecting enemies to show up at any given moment, which was why he organized training sessions for everyone since the week they arrived.

Training in the system allowed for experience to accumulate, which leveled up the troop classes.

However, doing so required [Training Ground] or the leader being someone equipped with [Training] skill.

The world they were in was a real one.

Kant possessed no skill to be digitized, so he was unable to have his troop classes level up through the daily training sessions.

Drondheim was a village. That meant that there was no option for constructing a [Training Ground], which was a building capable of allowing troops to accumulate experience during training.

Then again, that did not get in their way of getting the training sessions underway.

It was only that doing so had not been able to allow them to accumulate experience, so not even a zero-level peasant had been able to level up to become a first-level recruit.

Despite so, they were able to train on the use of tactical formations in battles.

In the real world, where clashes were done physically in all senses of the word, the need for tactical formations was even higher. Battles were not like that in a game in which units were able to simply charge in a messy manner and be done with it.

Kant already had a 200-strong force:

Swadian Peasants

Swadian Recruits

Swadian Militia

Desert Bandits (One more added in the week.)

There was also Kant.

The 183 people in the village were all warriors ready to go all out to defend their homes.

There were also 10 special Swadian Militias among them.

The previous battle had already given those 10 militias enough experience for an upgrade. If Kant was able to pay the required amount of Denars, he could have upgraded them to a third-level troop class.

For instance, he could have leveled them up to become Swadian Footmen.

He was also able to upgrade them to become Swadian Skirmishers.

However, given Kant’s current situation, upgrading them without careful consideration was a bad thing.

It would have simply resulted in being overkill.

The current Swadian Militias, which were second-level troop classes, were more than capable of dealing with primitive races like the Jackalans. They worked exceptionally well on the battlefield, which made them very cost-effective units.

They were well-equipped with scale armors and helmets.

They were armed with heavy spears, which included metal coverings on the front ends, as well as combat shovels capable of penetrating armor and sturdy heater shields.

They were also armed with hunting crossbows.

Despite that type of bow being used predominantly by hunters, making them less lethal than even the light crossbow that Kant carried, they still had an effective range of only 262 feet. They were a suitable means for ranged attacks and effective enough at what they were supposed to do.

All of those reasons culminated to make the Swadian Militias cost-effective combat units.

They were an all-round troop class and vital to the village.

Even in the regular battlefields in the Kingdom of Swadia, if they were to just hunker down and relied solely on their defensive capacities, the militias formed a temporary line of defense capable of withstanding powerful enemy charges.

Their value shone through extremely brilliantly when dealing with the likes of Jackalans.

Kant had thought about it many times before.

If the Jackalan Tribe attacked them a second time, it was bound to cause a change in terms of fundamental qualities of the Drondheim’s forces.

More peasants would have been upgraded to become Swadian Recruits.

At the same time, more Swadian Recruits would have been upgraded to become Swadian Militias.

Then, there were the Swadian Footmen, which were troop class that was even more formidable.

Kant saw war, which was often the thing most people feared, as a means to further his development. The system was something that sustained war by fighting wars. The so-called peaceful development was just something that was said before one claimed success to fool the enemy into a false sense of security.

If Kant had 100 Swadian Knights, he would have declared war on that Jackalan Tribe without a second thought.

Cavalry units were known for their high mobility.

Swadian Knights added to that by being a terrifying force on the battlefield.

Those units would have easily skewered entire Jackalan forces by simply riding on that flat desert and putting them down between the dunes.

It was a pity that he did not have 100 Swadian Knights among his forces.

Wuuuuuuu.

Out of nowhere, the low sound of a horn was heard. Kant was still steeped in thought when he heard the sound.

It was as if the sound shook his soul.

“What’s happening?”

Kant immediately opened his eyes. He was instantly wide awake.

He knew that it was the sound of the horn blown by the sentry on the watchtower. That sound meant something unusual had happened.

That included something like Jackalan forces being detected.

It could have also meant that an unknown force was detected.

One way or another, it was time for Kant’s people to be on the defensive.

He quickly walked out of his room and went outside the Council Hall.

All the recruits and militia members, who were armed with spears, were gathered.

The 100 peasants stood ready with their long scythes in hand at the side of the street.

It seemed as if a fight was imminent.

“What happened?”

Kant carried his light crossbow and walked outside of the Council Hall with a cold expression.

The Swadian Militia member at the top of the watchtower quickly came down and said to Kant, “My Lord, I found a group of unfamiliar knights at the south. They are heading for the oasis.”

“Unknown group of knights?”

Kant frowned slightly. His eyes looked severe.

He turned around to look toward the south, but he was unable to see more than just the seemingly unending dune. He asked, “How many?”

The militia member answered, “It was 50 knights and a carriage.”

“Yeah.” Kant nodded, but he frowned even harder after hearing that.

There was no way Jackalans had cavalry units among them. Even if they did, they would not have been seen in the south.

That was the direction of the Dukedom of Leo.

It was Kant’s hometown. It was a dukedom that prized martial prowess more than anything else, and a human nation sporting the strongest knights.

“Everyone.”

He waved and ordered, “Prepare for combat!”

“Yes, My Lord!” Every one seemed in high spirits.

Kant was not about to let his guard down simply because the group of knights was from the dukedom. It was worth noting that nobles of the dukedom clashed among themselves due to reasons pertaining to fiefs and wealth.

Skirmishes were often seen being fought between the nobles.

As such, he shouted to the street, telling the 17 Desert Bandits who were riding the desert horses, “You all, head out and scout what is going on out there. Do not engage! Return at once when you’re done!”

“Yes, My Lord.” The Desert Bandits all nodded.

Scouting was what they were most proficient in. The Desert Bandits kicked at the bellies of their horses. All 17 of them rode out, dispersing throughout the sea of sand.