20 years had passed, but he remembered perfectly.

‘Excluding Pierce and I, all of the new enlisted died.’

It wasn’t only them, but Oliver and Lieutenant Tane had also lost their lives.

‘We were attacked near Ale Village by the goblins.’

It was a gorge which became narrower traversing through it.
That was where those bastards were hiding in ambush.
The Rose battalion who was moving carelessly, was almost completely annihilated.

‘What can I do?’

Warn the Captain about goblins waiting ahead to ambush them?

‘It would be fortunate if he doesn’t cut off my neck.’

There was no way they would listen to the words of a newcomer without any proof.
No, in the first place, he wouldn’t even have the qualifications to meet him.

‘Should I tell Lieutenant Tane?’

This wasn’t a good option.
In his memories, he didn’t really have a friendly disposition.

‘Then, do I have to endure again how the battalion was annihilated?’

He couldn’t do so.
He didn’t want to also ruin this second life.
Then, Roan’s face brighten up with reassuring smile.

‘Ah! There was that.’

The corner of his mouth slowly rose up.
He looked at Tane as if he were waiting for something; eyes filled with eagerness.

“Ah! Also…..”

Tane, who was packing his equipment, yelled with an expression as if he had remembered something of late.

“Is there someone who’s familiar with the region of Ale? Someone that’s lived in that region for a long time, or spent time there?.”
‘This is it!’

Roan took a step forward and raised his right hand.

“I know it well.”
“You?”

Tane frowned.

‘The guy who was being punished by Pete.’

Pete wasn’t the type to become violent for no reason.
Then that meant this guy in front of him had a problem.

‘Troublesome.’

The role of scout was certainly important.
If he made a mistake, he could put the whole battalion in danger.

“Are you really familiar with the region of Ale?”
“Yes! I am. I can go from here, Ellin’s fortress, to Ale Village with my eyes closed.”
“Mmm.”

Tane frowned and looked at Roan.

‘Well, the final decision is made by the Captain.’

He didn’t keep thinking about this for long.
In the first place, he wasn’t the type to do so.

“Fine. What’s your name?”
“It’s Roan.”
“You pack your things immediately and follow me.”

Tane walked while looking at Corporal Lander.

“Lander. If you finish your preparations, head to the training grounds with the squad.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Corporal Lander smiled as if telling him not to worry about it and nodded. Tane hit his chest and went outside.
Roan hurriedly followed behind his back.
As he went outside of the barracks, a familiar smell tickled the tip of his nose.

‘The smell of war. No, the smell of death.’

Ironware, bonfires, horses, sweat, soldiers and blood.
It was a smell that had many things mixed together.
It was a smell he’d sensed for the past 20 years until he became weary of it.
It was a disgusting smell, but somehow a corner of his heart felt more comfortable.

‘The more you become accustomed to this smell, the closer you are to death.’

Roan smiled bitterly and shook his head.
At that time, Tane, who was one step ahead of him, asked bluntly.

“Where are you from?”
“I’m from a small town in the mountains. Closer towards the borders within the Grain mountain ranges.”
“The Grain mountain range….. It’s a rough place.”

Tane commented like that and continued walking at a brisk pace.

‘A recruit from the Grain mountain range knows the region of Ale as well?’

He had a feeling that he was being deceived.

‘Well, I’m not the one to get punished.’

Tane smirked and halted at attention towards the man in front of him.
A middle aged man was seated at a table, while looking through a pile of documents.

“Captain Dosen.”

Tane approached him and bent down.
Dosen, a middle aged man, was one of the five captains in Rose battalion and he was in charge of reconnaissance.

‘He’s already picked quite a few.’

Tane’s gaze moved next to him.
He saw the other scouts from the remaining squads.
They already numbered more than ten.

“Oh. Tane.”
Dosen smiled brightly and greeted him with a nod of his chin.
Tane moved to the side and pointed at Roan.

“There’s also a soldier in our squad who is familiar with the region of Ale.”
“Really?”

Dosen looked at Roan.

“It’s my first time seeing him. Is he a newcomer?”
“Yes. He came in yesterday.”
“He’s a good looking guy.”
Dosen smirked while looking at Roan up and down.

“You are familiar with the region of Ale?”
“Yes.”
Roan replied without hesitating.

‘In my previous life the amount of battles in the region of Ale only amounted to twenty. Twenty…’

Because of that, the surrounding region was really familiar in his eyes.
Dosen nodded at his reply.

“Then should I ask you a simple question? What’s the specialty product of Ale?”

It wasn’t a difficult question.

“It’s barley.”
“Then, the largest village in the region of Ale?”
“It’s of course Ale. Continued by Riven Village, Moss Village, and Ferbus Village.”

He answered back without stopping.

‘All of the places where we had battles.’

Roan smiled.
Dosen nodded with a surprised expression.

“I hadn’t suspected you would even know about Ferbus Village. It seems like you are indeed familiar with this region. You are just perfect for a scout.”

Roan didn’t really talk about where he came from.
Because that wasn’t the important thing.

‘I’ll find the goblins hiding there and keep one step ahead of them.’

He looked at the scouts who were next to him.

‘Because of these fools not doing their job properly, many people died.’

Of course, he knew why they couldn’t discover the goblins.
This area was a safe region with no monsters at all.
So they also assumed that there was no way goblins would appear.

‘This time, I am preventing them.’

Roan bit his lower lip.

“Take this. Don’t lose it.”

Tane handed him one spear.
Roan nodded and tightly gripped it.

Grip.

It had a strong and heavy feeling to it.

‘Uncomfortable.’

His palms were excessively soft and smooth.
The injuries, and hardened skin he’d receive over the past 20 years had all disappeared.

‘It really is starting again.’

He smiled bitterly.

“Then, I will take my leave.”

Tane saluted at Dosen and walked his way towards the training grounds.
Roan took in a deep breath while looking at Tane’s back moving farther away.

“Don’t be too scared.”

A soldier, who was looking at him, patted consolingly on his shoulder.
He seemed to have misunderstood and believed that he was afraid.

“This much is nothing. Last year………”

He regaled Roan with his colorful tales of heroism for quite a while.

‘I also have 20 years worth of stories.’

When he started to talk, the story had no ending.
At that time, Dosen put aside the pile of documents.

“I think that this many guides will be enough. Mason. As you have the most experience, lead the other scouts.”

At his words, the soldier who was talking nonstop, smiled brightly and nodded.

“Understood! Just leave it to me!”
He gave an exaggerated answer.
He carried a look which made you unable to place any trust in him at all.

‘This is why you were ambushed by the goblins.’

Roan frowned.

‘It’ll become a bit troublesome if the Rose battalion were annihilated.’

In his past life, the Rose battalion was annihilated due to the ambush from the Goblins.
Because of that, all of the surviving soldiers along with Roan, were separated out and migrated into other squads.

‘Even if you pile in your efforts, it gets taken away by other guys.’

The stones that came rolling aren’t as appreciated as the fixed ones.
And originally, the soldiers whom were in the new squad already ignored him.
And taking the efforts of another was also a frequent scenario.
Because of that, even after he had caught a lot of monsters, he was reprimanded for moving alone.

‘I can’t live like that in this life.’

Grip.

He put strength into his hand.

“Well! We are also heading out to the training grounds.”

Mason’s loud voice rang out.
He moved one step ahead of them and started walking.
Roan followed behind his back while taking in deep breaths.

‘This is the start.’

The moment his life started again.
His heart beat faster.

Blow.

The cold wind that was blowing, carried the smell of the battlefield.

< Return (2) > End

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Translator’s note: This the my side project I was talking about. The quality won’t be that good because I wasn’t able to find a proofreader yet. So if any of you has any interest of being a help to me, send a mail to kobato 😉 There won’t be a fixed release date for it. But will try to get 3 or 4 chapters a week. Anyways, you will have chapters the next two days. Thanks for reading!
Editor Amendments: Please note:
‘Commander’ & ‘Troop Commander’ changed to ‘Lieutenant Colonel’:
— (Lieutenant Colonel’s Personnel 300 to 1,000 – Dependent unit: 5 companies)
‘Squad Commander; changed to ‘Lieutenant’ – Lieutenant Tane :
— (Lieutenant’s Personnel 20 to 55 people – Dependent unit: 3 squads)
‘General Lander’ changed to ‘Corporal Lander’
‘Adjutant Dosen’ changed to ‘Captain Dosen’:
— (Captain’s Personnel 60 to 255 – Dependent unit: 3 platoons)

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Translator : Subak
Proofreader: st8_lupe / Revised Edit 2.0: Sai101

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