Chapter 136: The Mournful Barracks

After being rescued, Kevin was immediately hauled back alongside the catapult and sent to the army priests for treatment. Upon examination, however, the military priest merely declared that Kevin was suffering from exhaustion rather than any severe injuries, and that a good sleep was all he needed. He was subsequently taken back to his own quarters to rest.

The sight of the catapult being dragged back set off a wave of heated discussions throughout the entire Thunder Knights Legion. Roughly nine days prior, the staff officer had fled the depths of the Caludia Hills with a mere twenty-odd surviving soldiers, lingering in the vicinity for a day to wait for Kevin. Of course, no sign of him appeared, so factoring in travel time, they had returned to the Thunder Knights roughly seven days ago.

Such catastrophic losses, victory or defeat notwithstanding, were enough to shock the entire legion. Naturally, the staff officer automatically shouldered all responsibility, proclaiming his own incompetence while simultaneously dragging Kevin fiercely through the mud. He claimed that Kevin had defied orders during battle, offered numerous excuses, talked back to his superiors, and completely disregarded him as both staff officer and on-site commander-in-chief.

While the staff officer was not shameless enough to pin the entire blame for the failure directly on Kevin, his words clearly implied that Kevin bore a substantial share of the responsibility. He then abruptly changed his tune, stating that since Kevin was now presumably dead, there was no point dwelling on it; he would be buried with full heroic honors like all the fallen soldiers, and notification would be sent to his family.

With Kevin absent, no one was in a position to refute him. To a certain extent, the staff officer was speaking the truth—Kevin was considered dead, and the staff officer had no intention of persecuting him further, intending to bury him as a hero nonetheless. These remarks of his would not be leaked outside; known only internally by the general and a few heads of independent departments, their sole purpose was to slightly mitigate the staff officer's own culpability.

Over the next few days, the Thunder Knights were thrown into turmoil. As one of the kingdom's elite legions, such a heavy blow could not be concealed, instantly drawing the attention of the high command and peers alike while causing severe repercussions. The king personally issued a strict decree demanding a thorough investigation into the origin and aftermath of the incident, dispatching a specialized investigative team. Given the prowess of General Oude, a Sword Saint, the background of this investigative group was far from ordinary. The head of the Assassins' Guild led the team in person, accompanied by Bright, commander of the Flame Knights, along with more than a dozen professionals who took up residence within the Thunder Knights. In reality, the current casualty rate was hardly enough to alarm two Sword Saints, but the problem was that this was General Oude’s territory; dispatching someone of lower rank would likely yield no results.

The kingdom's three major knight orders operated independently of other military hierarchies, holding the authority during wartime to be directly promoted to marshals and command other legions. Commanders of other legions answered to higher-ranking army commanders or marshals who oversaw hundreds of subordinate legions. General Oude, however, had no such intermediaries; theoretically, his direct superior was the king himself.

The investigative team arrived on the same day, though they still had to afford General Oude some courtesy—after all, they were ultimately peers. A day later, General Oude submitted an investigation report based on the staff officer's account, following which the team conducted random interrogations and interviews with several of the surviving soldiers. These interrogations were far from simple face-to-face question-and-answer sessions.

Hypnotic arts were employed. Ordinary soldiers possessed weak spiritual power, making it impossible and futile to resist. The two Sword Saints served merely to anchor the situation, leaving the actual investigation to the professionals. Yet as the probe progressed, suspicions gradually began to surface. The most glaring doubt centered on how utterly wretched their return had been. From the collapse of the hills and the staff officer's solitary escape, down to their collective, panic-stricken flight, the entire episode was fraught with anomalies.

Setting aside the sheer foolishness of the staff officer's tactics, had the bandits truly been completely eradicated? The investigators re-questioned the staff officer on this point, but he adamantly insisted that the bandits had been thoroughly wiped out, claiming that in their final moments, the bandits had tampered with the cave system, causing a collapse intended to bury everyone together. Everyone inside the cave at the time had perished, leaving no survivors, and the staff officer himself possessed formidable strength, making him difficult to hypnotize. Furthermore, the situation at the time did indeed fit that description, even if he secretly harbored doubts that some bandits might still remain.

Next came the investigation into another suspicious point: why hadn't Kevin returned? The staff officer claimed he had waited outside for him for a full day without success, leading him to deduce that Kevin must have been ambushed by magical beasts. At the same time, he painted Kevin as someone who repeatedly talked back to superiors, disobeyed orders on the battlefield, and suffered from unbridled arrogance, adding that even if he did return, he would face military court-martial.

Even so, how could a commander simply abandon a man and leave him behind? Faulty or not, a subordinate should have been retrieved and subsequently disciplined according to military law. Moreover, the staff officer had returned victorious from a routine mission, not an emergency operation; even if waiting a full day yielded no sign of him, he should have gone back to continue the search! To take a step back, even if the man was supposedly doomed, the catapult at least should have been recovered.

Faced with this, the staff officer could only flush with awkward embarrassment, bowing his head in a confession of guilt. He claimed he had lost emotional control and was willing to accept punishment.

The third suspicious point concerned the "Sheep-Transformation Spell." In truth, only Kevin had witnessed the spell; the other survivors had merely heard rumors of it. Lieutenant House had once turned back to conduct an inspection, but all he found was a pile of stripped corpses. Although lacking solid evidence, it remained a vital point of reference.

By this stage of the investigation, any perceptive individual could clearly discern the problems. Yet three more days had already elapsed, and the matter was effectively settled. Was there still any necessity to expose the truth? This was the question weighing heavily on the minds of the higher-ups. Within mere days, rumors began running rampant through nearby taverns, claiming that the Thunder Knights had lost over 180 men and limped back in utter disgrace.

Furthermore, rumors were prone to distortion with every retelling. What started as 180 today became 200 in someone else's mouth tomorrow, and half a legion by the day after. As for whether the bandits had truly been exterminated, public opinion remained divided. Some believed that with so many dead, they must have been wiped out; others remained skeptical, suspecting the claims were merely a face-saving facade to conceal a defeat.

Regardless, the reputation of the Thunder Knights had suffered a severe blow. Reactions varied: some felt pity, some sighed, some looked on with disdain, and others mocked them openly. Mercenaries, in particular, boasted loudly in the taverns: "What even are bandits? Poor wretches who can't afford clothes, fighting bare-chested with a crude axe and yelling 'stand and deliver.' I could take down three or five of them single-handedly. It seems this so-called Thunder Knights Legion is nothing special after all."

The ones most desperate to know the truth, however, were passing merchant caravans. They were putting every ounce of effort into digging for answers: had the bandits here actually been eradicated or not? The military first claimed they were wiped out, then stated that an investigative team was still looking into the matter, leaving all the merchant caravans deeply unsettled.

If it were ultimately proven that the Thunder Knights had simply fled back in defeat, where would the military save face? In times of peace, military engagements were rare, and a single defeat was enough to become the laughingstock of years. The damage would not be restricted to the reputation of the Thunder Knights alone; the entire military would feel the fallout. If one of the kingdom's premier elite legions suffered such a crushing defeat, outsiders would naturally assume the other legions were even more fragile.

Meanwhile, the families of the fallen soldiers were all rushing to the scene. Such news could never be locked down, and it was painfully obvious that someone was fanning the flames and spreading the word. The agonizing sensation of a shattered home and lost loved ones was beyond endurance; the fallen soldiers were all young men whose prime years had been buried right here.

Families gathered outside the camp gates in growing numbers, their headcount swelling rapidly. Thanks to the convenience of the teleportation arrays, as long as one's home wasn't too remote, people could arrive from all over the kingdom within a day or two. This included Start's mother and relatives, though Kevin's mother was not among them—likely because she resided abroad, and the news had yet to reach her.

Among these families were quite a few nobles and skilled adepts, but for now, they could only wait silently outside the camp gates. Waves of weeping echoed through the entrance, grief feeding upon grief until the atmosphere grew bitterly wretched. General Oude dispatched men to comfort them, explaining that the investigation was ongoing while gently urging them to brace themselves for the worst.

Everyone expressed understanding. Fortunately, despite their overwhelming sorrow, no one attempted to force their way into the military camp. Yet lingering at the gates indefinitely was no solution, and the town's inns were already overflowing. General Oude ordered tents to be erected outside the camp to provide them with shelter and arranged for their meals. These were the families of the soldiers, and the names on their lips were those of the surviving comrades; using violence to drive them away was out of the question, lest it chill the hearts of the living.

For the past few days, the entire legion had lost all appetite for training. Aside from basic drills, they were essentially assigned to act as babysitters for the soldiers' families—serving tea, delivering meals, sweeping floors, and standing guard. Meanwhile, the investigative team had largely concluded its work here; any further investigation would require venturing deep into the Caludia Hills.

Yet with so many days having passed, what could possibly be uncovered by returning now? General Oude insisted that concluding matters in their current state was the best course of action, whereas the head of the Assassins' Guild maintained that the truth must be uncovered, even if it wasn't made public. Ultimately, the commander of the Flame Knights proposed a compromise: let the matter drop for now, but mandate that the Thunder Knights provide full-scale, continuous escort duties along the Caludia trade route for half a year. This resembled a form of after-sales service that would earn them considerable public praise. At the same time, it would prevent a scenario where bandits supposedly exterminated one day were back to robbing travelers the next, which would effectively slap the military in the face.

The previous defeat had primarily stemmed from an unfavorable terrain, but on an open trade route, bandits would never dare confront a military formation head-on. Even if remnants remained, watching the legion conduct daily escorts day after day would eventually force them to seek somewhere else to ply their trade. Should the bandits somehow manage to endure for half a year, the military could simply announce that a brand-new band of outlaws had emerged. The outside world would no longer question it, as ordinary people would never believe bandits possessed such extreme patience.

Though this seemed like a decent proposal, it actually constituted a significant drain on the Thunder Knights. Just how many merchant caravans traversed the route? It would take the entire legion to manage it. Halting training for half a year to escort merchants day in and day out would inevitably lead to a decline in combat effectiveness. General Oude could not help but wonder if Commander Bright was deliberately scheming to suppress him—though even if it were a deliberate suppression, it was only natural given the inherent rivalry among the three major knight orders.

The three Sword Saints debated for a long time. The assassin leader insisted on unearthing the truth, General Oude fiercely opposed it while listing a myriad of reasons, and the Flame Knights commander sought to exploit the situation to suppress a peer, agreeing with some of Oude's arguments but demanding they follow his method instead. In the end, a reluctant Oude resolved to proceed with the Flame Knights commander's plan.

The underlying reason Oude wished to avoid uncovering the truth was simple: he wanted to protect the staff officer. After all, a Tier 7 warrior was an exceptionally rare and valuable asset, vastly superior to many legion commanders. In the harsh calculus of power, a high-tier expert's value far outweighed that of ordinary foot soldiers. To put it brutally, if the general had to choose between the staff officer and Kevin, he would sacrifice Kevin without a moment's hesitation to save the staff officer.

With a consensus reached, the investigative team departed. Their official report, however, explicitly noted their suspicions as well as General Oude's obstruction. Choosing not to pursue the investigation further did not mean failing to report the matter to the king for his final judgment.

In truth, the king was unlikely to do anything severe to General Oude; a stern reprimand at a grand assembly was the absolute limit. As for the staff officer, that was for the general to handle himself. Even now, the general was contemplating how to discipline his subordinate; heavy casualties notwithstanding, they had technically won—at least on paper. It was hardly appropriate to issue an excessively harsh punishment, as war inevitably claimed lives.

Meanwhile, the king summoned representatives from the Mercenary Alliance to coordinate with the general regarding how the escort fees for the Caludia trade route should be calculated, whether it would cause massive traffic jams of merchants funneling down a single path, and a host of subsequent logistical issues that required discussion and negotiation.

And right in the middle of these deliberations, Kevin returned!

This development caught everyone completely off guard. While the lower-ranking officers and soldiers buzzed with gossip, the high command was thrown into absolute panic. The staff officer instantly turned ashen, completely at a loss, while General Oude personally stepped forward to receive Kevin.

Judging by Kevin's condition, he had clearly endured an extraordinarily brutal battle—one of such intensity that no one could accurately gauge its true horrors. Yet one thing was certain: the bandits had not been wiped out. For all those who had adamantly proclaimed the complete annihilation of the outlaws, this was nothing less than a resounding slap across the face.

As the catapult was hauled back, the families gathered at the camp gates erupted into commotion. Among them, only Start's mother could be considered overjoyed, having been explicitly informed that Start was still alive and currently recovering near the magistrate's office in Caludia. The most agonizing despair, however, was reserved for Gray's parents.

They had already learned that their son had recently been assigned as a catapult operator. Seeing the catapult brought back, coupled with the news that Start had survived, they had momentarily believed their own son was also alive, only to be handed a cold corpse. Life offered no greater cruel swing of fortune than this.

This was the sole corpse transported back from the battle; all the others remained permanently buried beneath that hill. The families of the other fallen soldiers still clung to a sliver of hope, feeling that without a body, perhaps a miracle had occurred. Kevin had briefly considered retrieving the corpse of the parrot-lady, but a bird's body was simply too small, and his physical exhaustion at the time left him no choice but to abandon the idea.

Confronted with Kevin's sudden reappearance, the staff officer immediately dropped to his knees, begging for a chance to atone for his dereliction of duty through service. He requested command of a troop to re-enter the depths of the Caludia Hills, swearing upon his life that until the bandits were utterly exterminated, he would bring back his own head to the general.

At that moment, Kevin was still unconscious, and the investigative team had only just departed. Learning of Kevin's return, the investigators would likely rush right back. Knowing he could stall no longer, the general immediately issued an order instructing the staff officer to lead the entire First Vanguard Brigade out to wipe out the bandits.

The commander of the First Vanguard was none other than the general's eldest son, the third-strongest individual in the entire legion. Having accompanied the general through numerous small-scale skirmishes against the beastmen, he possessed formidable, peerless bravery. The brigade itself boasted the top-tier strength among the three cohorts, making it the elite of the elite within the Thunder Knights.

Having learned his lesson from the previous failure, the staff officer was unlikely to repeat the exact same mistakes. Entrusted with an elite brigade, he should surely be able to handle those bandits this time. Even if he couldn't annihilate them completely, bringing back fifty or sixty bandit heads would be enough to fulfill his duty, unlike this last time when he returned empty-handed, leaving himself wide open to suspicion.

By evening of that same day, the staff officer had assembled his troops—once again numbering over two hundred men—and set off in grand fashion. They planned to rest for the night at a transit station outside Caludia and enter the hills the following morning.

In truth, the staff officer knew perfectly well that he bore unshakable responsibility for the fiasco and would likely lose any debate against Kevin. Fortunately, Kevin was still unconscious, prompting the staff officer to urgently request deployment and flee before Kevin woke up. As long as he returned holding the heads of the bandits, even if Kevin woke later, there was nothing he could say. At worst, his merits and demerits would cancel each other out, and he would emerge unscathed.

The staff officer hardened his resolve: this time, he had to win.

Meanwhile, back at the bandit lair, Robes inwardly acknowledged that he could no longer control this unruly mob of intellectually challenged outlaws and had no choice but to seek help from General Bradley. The former imperial general was still handling matters in another major city; he had closely monitored the bandits' campaign, and growing impatient when the matter dragged on for seven or eight days, he had repeatedly sent prods—only to be struck by the disastrous news on the ninth day that his heavy-load-bearing wheels had made a jailbreak.

Robes was also a high-tier expert, and experts tended to be somewhat proud, reluctant to easily ask others for help lest it make them appear incompetent. Thus, even after being heavily battered by the catapult, Robes hadn't immediately sent for reinforcements from General Bradley, naively believing his opponent was already securely in the palm of his hand.

Bradley arrived the next day. Naturally, the two of them did not meet in front of the bandits; if the chamber-pot mage appeared twice, things would get rather uncanny.

Robes recounted the details of the battle in full: how he had fiercely resisted the bandits for eight days before being severely wounded by this mastermind. The bandits had been conditioned to firmly believe they possessed protagonist plot armor, yet even the combined plot armor of over a thousand men had ultimately crumbled before the solitary protagonist plot armor of a single opponent. Bradley listened in utter shock.

The two men then visited the hill where the grueling multi-day battle had taken place. The meticulously arranged traps bore testament to a highly professional layout. Nearby, there was even a patch of farmland; anyone capable of growing vegetables under such circumstances undoubtedly possessed extraordinary, far-reaching strategic vision.

Bradley sighed, "What a pity. Such a talent—only in death can they serve us to the utmost."

"What should our next step be?" Robes asked.

Bradley fell silent for a moment before replying, "Find out who he was. Bribe the bards, use public opinion to smear him first, and ensure he never receives the recognition he deserves!"

Robes nodded in agreement, and the two stepped into the cave. Suddenly, they spotted two lines of characters carved into the cavern wall:

*"Wars between great nations are stalled by the shackles of forbidden curses. There are always those who attempt to meddle in the shadows, trying to incite civil strife among the great powers. But have you ever considered whether you are prepared to face our wrath on the day the truth is finally brought to light?"*

Both men recoiled in shock, for the characters were unmistakably written in the script of the Raine Empire—clearly left behind specifically for them to see!

*"Interesting!"* Bradley muttered after a long pause. *"Most interesting indeed!"*
*(To be continued.)*