Berserk: The Prophet

.........

"Tch, anyway, we've already completed the task assigned to us." Listening to the grumbling and complaining of the people above, Ganbino ignored them and picked at the snack in his nose.

"...You mercenary! Really, well, here's your pay for this mission." The man complained, but still gave the money to Gambino and his soldiers.

"Thanks, boss."

Gambino took the money and left quickly, snapping his fingers and picking at his ears, which were practically calloused from all the nagging.

"...Uncle North, could you help me read what's written on it? Everyone says you're the most literate person in the entire camp!"

"Hahaha, okay."

Uncle North was one of the people who helped carry Guts back to the tent when he was injured last time; he was a somewhat righteous uncle.

Guts was delighted and sat down to wait for Uncle North to read it to him, while Gambino also came over.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Gambino sat down directly on a wooden stake to the side.

"Haha, the kid asked me to read the letter his brother wrote to him."

"Mmm!" Gus nodded enthusiastically, looking very pleased with himself.

“Uh, let me see… Dear foster father and my brother, I’ve been doing well while I was away. Don’t worry, I’ve completed all my missions admirably. I’m sorry, Gus, I lied to you… Uh.”

North paused for a moment, then continued reading.

"But that was all for your own good. I'm doing very well now, though. I have a very skilled master who teaches me swordsmanship. I hope you won't lose to me when you go back. You must practice your swordsmanship diligently. Signed—Grimm."

Gus was happy at first, but when he heard the second half of the sentence, tears suddenly fell onto the cold snow, and his body gradually began to tremble. He cried and pounded his nose hard on the wood he was sitting on.

"You bastard! Who asked you to do this for my own good?! Liar! Big liar! When you get back, I'm going to give you a good beating!!"

Seemingly still not satisfied, Guts started throwing a tantrum on the ground, slapping the wood like a panda amidst the snowflakes, his palms bleeding but he didn't stop.

“Uh, Gus…”

North reached out to comfort Guts, but Guts stubbornly slapped his hand away. Guts buried his head in the snow to force himself to stay awake, but judging from his trembling shoulders, he was crying.

Gambino looked at Guts, who was throwing a tantrum, speechless. He had never seen anything that could make this stubborn kid cry.

"Tch." Perhaps finding it uninteresting, Gambino prepared to use the money he had just received to buy some wine.

But as soon as he took a step, Gus grabbed his ankle.

"Gambino! Why won't you tell me? What exactly did Grin go to do?" Although Guts' stubborn little face was covered in snot and tears, his eyes were still so obstinate.

"Tsk, how should I know? You're hurting me, brat!"

Gambino, still lacking patience, kicked Guts away, as if feelings didn't exist for him.

"Uh, where is he?"

Gus was already used to Gambino's punches and kicks during training. He was just unwilling to accept it. He was unwilling that everyone was keeping it from him and that Green wouldn't take him along.

"Tch, Midland, who knows, maybe one day..."

Gambino was about to say something hurtful, but then suddenly shut up. Tch, never mind, that kid probably doesn't want him to worry.

"...You'd be better off practicing your swordsmanship. Didn't you say you were going to beat him up? Don't come crying to me if you lose."

"I won't lose to him!!"

Upon hearing this, Gus's eyes instantly blazed with an intense, defiant spirit. He got up from the ground, clenched his right fist tightly, and roared loudly in a child's voice.

"Hmph, that's more like it. I'll practice with you properly."

Seeing Guts like this, Gambino suddenly got excited. He wanted to see whether Green's master was better at teaching or he was better at teaching.

Since then, Guss has worked harder and more diligently every day because he has his first goal in life: to beat Green up with his strength.

............

Midland military camp.

"Damn it, you don't even know if the scouts are one of our own?!" Yuris slapped the lieutenant across the face.

"It was my oversight. Please punish me, Commander."

The man didn't dare to look up at Yuris. Before the ambush, the scouts had already run behind the group and hadn't gone to the lake with them.

"Hmph, you're demoted one rank and given forty strokes of the cane. Get out of here! If you make this mistake again, you'd better commit suicide to atone for your sins!"

"Yes!"

The man broke out in a cold sweat as he heard about the forty lashes, but he dared not argue, because the entire White Dragon Knights had almost been wiped out because of him.

As the lieutenant left, Yuris sat down in a chair, rubbing his forehead and eyes. The attack had already killed most of the squires and some servants. Now, to make matters worse, many of the horses that had been recovered had been ruined on the ice. Now, only about 500 knights had horses left, while the remaining 300 servants and dozens of squires had no horses at all. It would take another month to transport another batch from Midland.

If the elite troops are completely useless, then the elite forces lost on the battlefield will also be quickly lost.

"Calm down. If we can't take the initiative, we have to defend. We can only launch an attack after the White Dragon Knights have recovered their strength."

"...You're right, Lord Laban."

"Yes, the two of us are more than capable of holding a fortress together. Moreover, the gunpowder we obtained from the Kusha Empire is very useful. The last time we tested it on the battlefield, the results were excellent. It's just that the success rate of the gunpowder developed in the firearms workshop is not very high, so it cannot be mass-produced."

"Yes, and since gunpowder has been introduced, single-walled castles have become easier to capture. We also need to guard against enemy artillery units."

"Well, for now, let's bypass Lake Rhine and go to Orse to reorganize. After we get around Lake Rhine, Viscount Eric of the Erot family will lead the Termell Knights to guard Rhine Castle."

"Ah."

Eric nodded. The two of them had already discussed it beforehand. Leiner Castle was a small wooden fortress behind Or City Fortress. It was one of Or City Fortress's key supply lines and the most convenient castle for sending troops to provide support. With the Dordo Mountains and the Dorma River basin to the southwest as barriers, it could not only effectively block the Juda army in the Dordore region, but also effectively prevent Or City Fortress from being surrounded by enemies on all sides, occupying an excellent geographical position that could be attacked or defended at will.

"it is good."

............

"Achoo~, who's thinking of me..." The cold wind in the snow made Green sneeze.

Nearly three hours had passed since the army finished treating the wounds of the knights, collecting the belongings of the dead, moving the bodies of the noble knights, burying the commoner dead together, and bringing back the lost horses. Their stomachs were growling with hunger, so they ate some frozen rations and then set off with the rest of the army.

Green and his men had to proceed on foot, as all the horses had been given to the knights to maintain their fighting strength.

The wind and snow were howling, and all we could do was silently pray that we could find a sheltered campsite to rest in before nightfall.