Chapter 3

I AM THE MONARCH – CHAPTER 3 : FIRST BATTLE (1)

In the wide drill grounds .

The lined up soldiers in an organized way .

In the middle of them, he saw the 13th division where Tane and Pierce were .

‘This nervousness……’

Even if it was a simple monster subjugation, before any battle, nervousness roamed .

Roan liked this nervousness .

‘This makes you feel alive . ’

However, there was an existence that broke this nervousness .

“So last year, when I was in Loren’s province…… . . ”

Mason, that talked about his tales without stop .

Although Roan put a face that he didn’t want to keep listening to him, it was useless .

“That time, I evaded the spear the orc threw at me…… . . ”

Then a group appeared on the platform of the drill grounds .

“……I… will…… Ahem . ”

Mason’s mouth closed .

‘I think that I would be able to live now . ’

A smile appeared in Roan’s face .

The ones that climbed on top of the knee high platform was the commander of the rose troops, Gale and his adjutants .

Dosen was also there .

Sit .

Quietly and instantly sitting .

Gale stood on top of the platform and looked at the soldiers that were lined up .

“Our rose troop will leave this Ellin’s fortress, and pass through Ale village to reach Pedian’s plain . ”

“Yes!”

A loud replying noise .

A smile appeared in Gale’s mouth .

‘If it’s this much, we can be called the best of the 7th corps . ’

He was quite proud of the soldiers of rose troop that had went through a lot of things with him in the past 5 years .

It was just like a parent looking at his child .

“Everybody, don’t die . ”

Words that seemed to be casually thrown .

With that, the commander’s speech ended .

‘Right . Squad commander Gale was the kind of person that appreciated his soldiers . ’

He threw himself when the goblins attacked them to at least try to save one more person .

Later, when the rescuing soldiers arrived, the corpse that had suffered the most mincing in his body was Gale’s .

‘That kind of commander needs to live long . ’

Roan’s eyes shined sharply .

Stomp . Stomp . Stomp .

Gale and his aides started to move towards the field .

Roan and the other guides followed Mason and stood in the front .

Stomp . Stomp . Stomp .

The steps of the army marching could be heard noisily .

“Where did I leave it back then? Right . In that battle, I……”

He started again .

Mason talked without resting having forgotten the role of guide .

‘Why is it me?’

There were many other guides .

But why did it have to be him?

As he turned his head, he realized the reason .

The other guides were walking far away from him .

‘He was a famous bastard . ’

They knew the incredible talking ability Mason had .

Only that the newcomer Roan didn’t know of it, and fell in their trap .

Roan, that couldn’t hold it anymore opened his mouth cautiously .

“Don’t we have to check the surroundings in case monsters appear?”

“After that, I grabbed his wrist and then his legs, huh? What? Monster?”

Mason, that was even spitting while talking, put on an absurd face .

He patted Roan’s back and shook his head .

“Look . Newcomer . There’s no need to worry this much . This zone is the safest one . It’s a place where no monsters appear . ”

“But…… . . ”

“Ha . You are much more of a coward than how you look . ”

Mason shook his head while clicking his tongue .

Eyes as if he was looking down on him .

However, Roan preferred those eyes .

Because in that moment, he stopped moving his mouth .

At that time, they saw the peak of the mountain that was in front of them .

‘Rose gorge . No, Ale gorge . ’

A small gorge you had to pass through if you wanted to reach Ale village .

The original name was Ale gorge, but after the rose squad got annihilated, it started to be called as rose gorge with that kind of meaning .

‘The day that they change the name won’t come . ’

Roan gripped his spear strongly while gulping dry saliva .

Step . Step . Step .

The guides feet were near the gorge .

‘Now’s the time . ’

Roan called out to Mason .

“Sir Mason . ”

“Huh?”

“The form of this gorge doesn’t seem normal . Shouldn’t we investigate beforehand?”

“Gorge? Investigate?”

Mason frowned and looked at Ale’s gorge .

And then he shook his head and clicked his tongue .

“You are really a coward . This is a safe zone . There are no things such as monsters . ”

“But isn’t there a maybe?”

“No, there’s absolutely not . This is one of the safest places in Rinse kingdom . ”

Mason was confident .

He thought that there would be no one that knew the region of Ale better than him, as much as his confidence .

‘I am a native here . ’

He turned his head and looked back at the other guides .

“Hey . This newcomer here says that we need to investigate the gorge . What do you think?”

Most of the faces of the guides became distorted .

“What? Investigate? What dog shit are you talking about?”

“You really are a beginner . Beginner . ”

“If you don’t know a thing, just stay still . ”

Pouring criticism .

However, Roan’s face didn’t change in the slightest and had a serious face .

“However, all of our troop has to pass through that narrow gorge . If there are monsters hiding, we will get a huge blow . ”

“Ha, really!”

In the end, Mason shouted .

He pointed at Roan’s face with his index finger to the point he almost poked him .

“Don’t say useless things . There’s no way that will happen . ”

However, Roan wasn’t the type to back down right now .

Because he knew really well what was going to happen .

“They also say that you have to hit a stone bridge and then cross it . If maybe, there are monsters waiting for us ……”

“Stop . ”

Mason raised his hand and stopped him .

His face was bright red .

Gulp .

Roan gulped down dry saliva .

The reason Roan could talk back like this was because he didn’t directly belong to him .

Actions he could never do to Tane or Pete .

Mason glared at him as if he wanted to devour him, and in the end said with an annoyed voice .

“If you want to investigate that much, go alone . ”

“Can I?”

It was a grave offense to leave his rank .

Mason nodded .

“Go . I don’t think that there won’t be anything bad by doing something in vain . ”

Words as if he was mocking him .

However, Roan’s face became brighter .

“Then, I will be going . ”

After he nodded, he started to move .

Running .

Legs that couldn’t be seen .

Roan left the ranks and ran through the gorge’s peak . Gale that was leading the front squad, noticed him .

“Who’s the soldier that left the ranks and is running to the gorge?”

Dosen looked and then, frowned .

“It seems like a soldier in charge of guiding . I will go and check . ”

“Mmm . ”

Gale nodded with a disturbed expression .

Because of an unauthorized solitary action, he could make the entire squad fall in danger .

Dosen looked at Gale and grabbed the reins .

Rattle . Rattle .

The steps of the horse became faster .

“Mason!”

Dosen found Mason .

Mason, that was looking at Roan running to the gorge, bent his head .

“Yes . Aide Dosen . ”

“What’s that bastard? Why did he leave the ranks as he pleased?”

Firing words .

Mason put a bitter smile and scratched the back of his head .

“I wonder, that guy said that there could be monsters hiding in ambush in that gorge, so he said that he needed to investigate . ”

“In the gorge? That bastard, doesn’t he know that it’s a safe zone?”

“He knows . But even so, he says that maybe…… . ”

Mason shook his head .

Dosen was following with his sight the back of Roen that couldn’t even be seen while frowning .

“Damn . Anyways, he was spotted by commander Gale . Maybe later you and that guy will have problems . ”

“Ah! I find it unfair! That guy kept insisting stubbornly……”

“Shut up . You are the responsible one . You have to get punished because you couldn’t properly control your guys . ”

After Dosen fired those words, he turned back his head .

Whine .

He heard the burbling of the horse and thought that it was making fun of him .

Mason looked at Dosen’s back that was getting farther away and then frowned .

“Damn . What is this because of a crazy newcomer bastard . ”

After he spit, he looked back at the Ale gorge .

“But where did that bastard go to?”

He thought that now, he would have to kick him in the crotch once .

Roan, that didn’t know that Mason was thinking like this, was approaching the entrance .

Shock .

The sharp senses he accumulated in the past 20 years were telling him that it was dangerous .

‘Danger . ’

A threatening aura could be felt all around the gorge .

Roan gulped dry saliva and grabbed his spear .

‘The only thing I need right now is acting . ’

He didn’t need to get deeper while facing danger .

He needed to return in a moderate amount of time as if he had investigated the gorge and come back startled .

‘If I just say that there are goblins in the gorge, the end . ’

A smile appeared in Roan’s face .

He leaned in a big tree trunk .

A sky without clouds .

“Right . The weather was this good . ”

He remembered his past memories .

The day when they got attacked by the goblins .

The sky that day was deep blue .

“Just like we have gone in an excursi…… . . ”

He gulped back the words he was mumbling .

Shock .

His back was pulling .

The hair in his skin raised, and dried sweat flowed through his back .

‘There’s something . ’

Inside the forest that didn’t have anything until now .

However, he felt a frightening presence .

The noise he heard at that time .

Chwee .

Roan’s face froze in an instant .

‘Goblin!’

It was certainly the cry of a goblin .

Chwee .

The noise came closer .

End

Translator’s note: Thanks for reading and for your support!

Translator : Subak