Return of The Unrivaled Spear Knight

a fact.”

“What do you mean ‘fact’? Then are you seriously saying that Lady Charles should have led seventy thousand soldiers here?!” Icarus gave Cain a death glare.

He awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“I’m not saying that…”

“It’s fine,” Charles interrupted at the perfect time.
“Stop it, Icarus.”

“Lady Charles?” Icarus turned her head to look at her.

Charles nodded.
“It’s only natural he’d raise such a question.”

“Don’t say that.
No matter how quickly you all ride your horses, it would have taken at least two weeks since you can’t use the warp gate to teleport seventy thousand people.
This wasn’t something you could have done.” Icarus finished by scowling at Cain again.

“Haha… If I knew Einberg was going to fall this quickly… I would have at least thought of a Plan B…” Cain scratched his head guiltily and quickly changed the topic.
“By the way, where is my master?”

“How should I know?” Icarus grumbled.

“I wasn’t exactly asking you…” Cain’s expression gradually turned gloomy.

“He’s there,” Charles answered instead.

“…Huh?” Cain tilted his head in confusion.

“There.” Charles pointed.

Cain turned to look and his jaw immediately dropped.

“Wait, he’s with those unsalvageable messes…?”

Charles was pointing her finger at the front of the high palace, where numerous people had gathered.
However, even in a time like this a quarrel was taking place.

“Viscount Muntra! Our country is in a crisis, and you’ve only brought a thousand soldiers?” VIscount Romeno shouted.

“It’s funny to hear that from you when you’ve only brought one thousand five hundred soldiers,” Muntra scoffed.

“That’s not important,” Romeno snorted.
“You definitely had men to spare.”

“What?” Muntra narrowed his eyes.

“Do you think I wouldn’t know that you decreased the number of the soldiers you were going to dispatch at the last minute after you found out about the number of my soldiers!?” Romeno shouted.

“Don’t slander me if you can’t take responsibility for your own words!” Muntra yelled back at the top of his lungs.

“Responsibility?” Romeno growled.
“Well, I can definitely do that!”

“And let me get this straight! If we compare the overall numbers, we, the nobles on His Highness Kiser’s side, brought more soldiers than the nobles on His Highness Kaizen’s side!” Muntra added, pompously raising his chin.

Even in a national crisis, meaningless disputes like such were taking place here and there.
The two men that were basically in charge of this army weren’t exceptions.

“The higher-ups still haven’t decided who the commander-in-chief is going to be, so what are you going to do, Marquess Arie?” Marquess Demir asked.

“I have zero interest in the seat, but as you can see, I’m not sure how the other nobles are going to react… Kekeke…” Marquess Arie chuckled.

Demir shrugged.
“I think things will easily be sorted out if you refuse the seat.”

“You know what? I don’t want to do that.” Arie grinned.

Demir had been planning to talk the matter out.
He raised one of his eyebrows in annoyance.

“By the way,” he said, “you keep talking to me like I’m a friend of yours, so why don’t we show—”

“Well, there is a way.” Arie pointed behind him with his chin.
“If the great hero over there agrees on you being the commander-in-chief, I might say yes… keke.”

“Great hero?” Demir repeated, unsure of what Arie was talking about.
He turned to look and frowned slightly.
“That boy is… You’re talking about Joshua Sander?”

“Kekeke, are you not sure if you can win?” Arie asked provokingly.

“…So you mean you’ll willingly hand over the seat of the commander-in-chief if I earn that boy’s recognition?” Demir summarized.

“Exactly.” Arie chuckled ominously.
He kept his true plan hidden.

‘I’m taking care of him even without getting my hands dirty, kekeke,’ Arie thought.

Of course, there was no way for Demir to know Arie’s scheme, so he reluctantly walked toward Joshua.
The clock was ticking, after all.

The nearby nobles became quiet and watched Demir intently as he approached.

“I’m Marquess Demir.
I’ve heard a lot about you, so I also know you’re skilled.
But the ability to command an army and your fighting skills are completely different things,” Demir told Joshua.
The man himself, however, just stared back at Demir with his unreadable, deep blue eyes.

After clearing his throat, Demir continued, “I heard the Pontier Family has supplied you with seventy thousand soldiers.
Since you must have made some promises to the Pontiers, it’ll be better for you to move separately from us and back us up… hmm?”

Demir raised an eyebrow in annoyance.
His one-sided conversation was cut short because Joshua turned away before Demir could finish speaking.

“How rude…” Demir clenched his teeth.

“Do as you wish,” Joshua quietly said.

“…What?”

“I wasn’t interested in leading soldiers who won’t listen to my commands in the first place.
Just like you said, I’m going to fight this war only with the soldiers from the Pontier Family and my colleagues,” Joshua declared.

As soon as Joshua finished speaking, one hundred knights wearing full armor came forward.
Of course, all of those men were knights of the Auxiliary Battalion that had trickled in one by one.

“I knew it… Kekeke!” Arie, who had been watching the whole situation, burst into laughter.

Joshua looked straight into Demir’s eyes.

“Keep in mind that we’re going to depart first as the advanced army, not as the backup army.”

“You mean…?” Demir narrowed his eyes.

“Did you forget?” Joshua calmly asked.

Demir tilted his head in confusion.

“I’m Joshua Sanders,” Joshua said.

Even the people who had been watching the conversation from the sides widened their eyes.
A suffocating silence descended as they were finally reminded of some memories they hadn’t recalled for a long time: Joshua was the youngest Master on the continent, the king of Reinhardt that had earned the Wilhelm, and the great hero that defeated numerous Superhumans.

“These one hundred men are more than enough people for me,” Joshua boldly stated.
Then he immediately walked away.
His knights trembled faintly, goosebumps running down their skin.
Yes, that was how great their commander was.

“We’ll depart immediately!” Cazes shouted.

“Yes, sir!” the Auxiliary Battalion knights shouted at the top of their lungs.

1.
This line came from an Korean idiom ‘서당 개 삼 년이면 풍월을 읊는다(A dog that spent three years in the school can read)’.
It emphasizes the importance of practice.
☜