Spear-wielding soldiers marched down the single road through the forest.
In two columns they marched. Silently and steadily without breaking their stride.
It was almost eerie how organized they were. Poro was amongst their ranks. And he now sighed so that the others would not notice.
It was fine that he was finally given orders as a soldier, now that his training had ended. However, all they really did not was march while holding their spears.
There had been problems with the unit that had fought in the battle against the demon general recently, and so they had to listen to a neverending lecture from the tactician.
‘What our army needs is discipline, and nothing more. As you saw in the footage, by supporting one another and thrusting your spears in unison, you can overwhelm the enemy and achieve victory without taking a single hit.’
He was not wrong, of course. In fact, unlike the heavy cavalry that had returned in tatters, the infantry and magicians came back with very little damage. The knights were always boastful of their rank and nobility, so it had been wonderful to see them beaten down.
However, was this really what he had wanted?
The woman who walked next to him was also sighed with annoyance. She was in a bad mood ever since they had been given this task.
‘I didn’t come here to stand in a neat line and swing my spear politely.’
She spat. There was anger and pain in her expression. Meshe’s village, as well as her brother and only living relative, had been consumed by fire. And so she did not approve of the Hero’s obsession with order.
‘Don’t you feel the same?’
Meshe asked, and Poro had to dig deep into himself.
He was here, because he needed the Hero’s help in order to get revenge for the loss of his family.
However, that was not just about teaming up and trampling over the enemy.
It had to be like that day. When he picked up the axe and killed all of those kobolds. Otherwise, he would not be satisfied.
“All units, halt!”
The commander in the front shouted, and Poro stopped. An orderly march and an orderly stop. The efficiency made him sick.
However, the commander looked tense and nervous. This was not for them to rest. There was clearly something wrong.
‘All of you. Switch to conversing through dog tags. Don’t raise your voices. Stick to acting as ‘Two-man Cells.’’
Pairs that acted while covering for each other. Once you were in the Hero’s army, you were never allowed to act alone.
‘Hey…what’s that smell?’
‘There will be no private chatter! All of you, stay in formation!’
“AHHHHHH!”
A scream suddenly echoed from the right side up ahead. The soldiers turned their heads in unison, and then a man stumbled out of the bushes. He was covered in blood.
“Hey! What happened to you!”
‘Wait, Poro! You can’t talk to people without permission…’
“Shut up!”
He threw aside his spear and caught the stumbling. Great amounts of blood was pouring from his shoulders and back. Wounds from blades and arrows were covered in mud.
“He-help…me…”
“What happened!?”
“Monsters…the village…”
As if proof of his words, figures began to emerge roughly from the bushes.
“Ah!? Humans!? An army! Here!”
“Ru…run!”
It was goblins with bloodied weapons. The villager in Poro’s arms crumbled to the ground.
Poro’s world turned strangely pale. The sounds of flowing blood seemed to echo deep inside of his ears, and his muscles tensed.
“You…”
He reached for his sword.
‘What are you doing!? You will be punished for drawing your blade without permission.’
He slowly unsheathed the sword and pointed the tip towards the goblin who was staring at him.
“Bastaaaaarrrds!!”