The Knight King Who Returned With a God

Chapter 35: They say the military is well fed these days

Ha-ri felt a pang of pity for the Hunters as he watched them go through the grueling rigors of training.

“Is it really okay to train like that?”

-In theory.

Well, in theory, yes, but how can anyone do anything but theoretically? Leon acknowledged its limitations.

“Yes, there are limitations. But at the soldier level, they’ll grow enough.”

Leon was assuming that their growth threshold would be less than that of his soldiers.

This is not to say that the specifications themselves are unreachable. The current Hunters could reach the level of a royal soldier or first-army elite soldier if they weren’t knights.

‘But the difference in experience is too great.’

Royal soldiers were professional warriors who have fought in countless wars throughout the kingdom. They are capable of tactical action in groups of ten or twelve without a commander’s orders.

In a war against 800,000 orcs, the battlefield had become too wide, and the royal soldiers were left to their own devices to defend ridges and reinforce key positions.

It would be unreasonable to expect them to be as good as the elite troops who have been on the battlefield for thirty years, if not fifty.

“Real skill can only be developed through experience. The burden will push their bodies to their limits.”

In the first place, there was no need to be so harsh at the regular army level.

“If they were this king people, their bodies would already be perfect. They would have always been nourished by crops and an environment blessed by the gods.”

But not these people, who did not know that God existed. They lived sickly lives and were vulnerable to all manner of diseases.

“Unlike this king healthy subjects, they need to be stimulated and enlightened.”

“I see.”

Even though it seemed like nothing more than an ignorant medieval training method, Ha-ri forced herself to understand.

“Your Majesty, do I have to train?”

Ha-ri asked cautiously.

She was technically a seconded employee of the Association, but apart from that, she was the Earthling who had been with Leon the longest.

She was an A-rank Hunter herself, but the desire to be strong was common among Hunters.

“Do you want to be in there?”

“Uhm…I don’t think so.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. It was just the level of difference.

“Well, okay. To you, they’re like little kids.”

“Mmm…not quite.”

“Humility is arrogance at that point. Just as a soldier and a knight are different, so are their training methods. You don’t need to be trained in the same ignorant manner as a soldier.”

So much for recognizing ignorance!

Ha-ri found it curious that this barbaric medieval knight-king could be so sharply self-objectifying at times.

“It’s almost time for me to leave, so let’s go prepare the meal.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right, they’ve been training hard so they deserve a good meal!”

Ha-ri realized that the Hunters had been training hard and needed to be fed. Surely, Leon would have taken care of that. But when Ha-ri saw the meal prepared for the soldiers, she was shocked.

“That…Your Majesty? This. Is that water?”

It was water. Something had been added to it, but was it some kind of special medicine?

“What is this white stuff, is it something blessed that your Majesty has prepared?”

“It is salt.”

“……Is that all there is?”

“There is also sugar.”

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Strange….That couldn’t be it. There had to be more.

“Ha-ri, do you know what is important to soldiers?”

“To be well fed and well trained?”

She quickly pointed out both those things were currently in shambles at the moment.

“Huh, in wartime, maybe, but the most important thing for a soldier is ‘poison’.”

“Poison?”

“A happy soldier doesn’t kill as easily while an undernourished and pissed off soldier is a dangerous combination.”

So the soldiers are given only the bare minimum to build up their ‘poison.’

Ha-ri paled.

“Well, the army is well fed these days!”

“Don’t speak about what you don’t know. Have you ever led an army like this king?”

“……No.”

“Then how can you say that this king methods are wrong?”

“Well, that’s…….”

I tried it, and it worked. Have you tried it?

Ha-ri was speechless.

-Your Majesty. Recommendation.

Oh, Lord Yappy, you’re trying to make objective points with the cold mathematical knowledge of a machine again!

‘Lord Yappy! Everyone’s survival depends on your calculations!’

Come on, Lord Yappy!

“Speak, Lord Spinner, this king is listening.”

-Excess of 17 mg sodium and 112 calories over the minimum human requirement for sustaining vital activity. Recommendation that rations be reduced accordingly.

Demons! Demons!

The man’s whose method of training soldiers was evil and based on experience, and a cold machine, without a shred of warmth, have formed a maddening collaboration!

* * * *

Torture in the name of training, which resumed after supper, was canceled due to the arrival of the rain.

The Hunters were crammed into a village hall in the name of improving camaraderie and they stretched out like rainwater.

“Ugh…After all that hard work, all I got was two cups of sugar water…….”

“Ugh, my body is sore. It hurts…….”

The first training session alone was enough to kill them. But strangely, they felt fine.

‘I’m really healed.’

Koo Dae-sung was amazed that his torn skin and broken bones were still intact.

‘I can’t really feel it yet, but it’s almost like my bones have actually hardened.’

The healing power of the Holy Grail was incredible. It gave them the healing of a decent healer for hours on end.

What’s even more ridiculous is that it’s an AoE (Area of Effect) heal.

While normal healers heal one by one person and have a limited amount of mana, Leon’s Holy Grail not only heals all allies in range, but it lasts for at least five hours.

It was a different kind of resilience.

“Ugh…I’m still hungry.”

The Hunters were exhausted from their intense training. But all they were given at mealtime were two glasses of water with sugar and salt.

The calories weren’t a problem, as the water was loaded with enough sugar.

Aside from the nutrients, it’s the minimum life support a person needs to live. But apart from that, the meals were very inadequate. No one can be satisfied with that after training so hard.

Huddled together like an army’s internal affairs squad, with only one blanket over their heads, they are buried in the pouring rain.

“Damn, do we have to drink rainwater?”

“I’m hungry…….”

It was eleven o`clock, the time to go to sleep and none of them could fall asleep but then they heard a knock on the door.

“Is anyone…there?”

“Miss Ha-ri?”

Ha-ri peeked out and asked for permission.

“May I come in?”

“Oh, yes! What can I do for you?”

“It’s nothing… I thought you might be hungry, so I cooked up a late night snack.”

Ha-ri’s hands were full of sweet potatoes.

“We don’t have any cold water…so I bought some bottled water the other day. You’ve all had a hard time, so please have some.”

‘She’s an angel.’

Koo Dae-sung and the Hunters were overwhelmed by Ha-ri’s generosity, and they gleefully grab the sweet potatoes and dunk them into the water, unpeeled.

“Yum, yum, yum, yum, Miss Ha-ri…!”

“I never knew potatoes were so delicious…!”

“Eat slowly. There are still plenty of sweet potatoes left.”

Ha-ri felt a pang of pity for the Hunters as they gobbled up the sweet potatoes, looking like beggars.

Yes, people shouldn’t be made to feel sorry for themselves when they still have food to eat.

Having lost her parents in a cataclysmic event and grown up in an orphanage, she knew what it was like to be hungry.

“Drink some water while you eat, it’s a hot day and you need to stay hydrated──”

-Kwalung!

The door to the hall opened without a knock and the sound of the rain pounding the dirt floor was drowned out by the sound of thunder.

-Maggots.

Against the backdrop of the pouring rain and lightning, the spider machine’s eyes seem colder than usual.

Eight camera eyes creak and squeak and glow all around like an intruder in a top-secret compound.

“Sir Yappy…….”

-Cheating detected.

The machine’s voice, unchanged from the usual, sounded heavier and more chilling than usual.

* * * *

Eight legs traverse the rain-soaked dirt and even the slick ground was no obstacle to the polygonal chariot.

“Stop!”

On the other hand, the pursuing red-haired girl runs desperately along the ground, her eyes filled with tears or raindrops.

“Now, wait a minute, please listen to me, Yappy!”

She’s been caught sneaking sweet potatoes to the hunters.

Although it was an act of compassion and thoughtfulness on her part, she didn’t know how Leon would react to it.

The moment she realizes she’s been caught, the thought of the hunters slurping down the sweet potatoes brings tears to her eyes, but that’s after the fact.

How harsh would it be to even suggest that they take the sugar out of the sugar water, since they’ve had a late night snack!

Ha-ri is desperate to stop Yappy as he runs to report to Leon.

Luckily, Yappy’s speed is slower than Ha-ri’s as his strides are shorter, and his power is reduced due to his smaller size.

“There, almost there!”

Before Ha-ri could reach him, Yappy stopped.

-Request to cease tracking. You are committing a grave offense.

“Ah, okay! I’ll stop, okay? Just listen to me for a second!”

Yappy stops, and Ha-ri naturally stops too but this was Yappy psychological warfare. It’s a tactic that’s been proven to be very effective against those with a preconceived notion that machines don’t lie.

Yappy slowly closes the distance, then runs again.

“You cheated?! You tricked me by pretending to negotiate?!”

Ha-ri ran, panting but before she knew it, something strong and hard was tied around her ankle.

“Wire? Ugh!”

Ha-ri sank to the ground, while Yappy distanced himself but as Ha-ri realized a wire tied to her ankle she snapped her fingers.

-Boom!

A flame bursts forth in the harsh rain as her blessing of fire burns away the wire tied to her ankles.

“Stop…!”

Ha-ri ran again and with only ten percent of his power left, the distance between her and Yappy is closing as Ha-ri throws himself at him.

“Gotcha!”

Ha-ri throws her whole body and catches Yappy as mud splatters her face and tears her suit, but the joy of securing a meal for the Hunters more than makes up for it.

-Touchdown.

But when she throws herself at Yappy, she lands right in front of Leon’s quarters as the door opens, and inside, Leon stares down Ha-ri coldly.

“What’s all the fuss about in the middle of the night?”

“Huh?”

Ha-ri’s mouth twitches like a goldfish but the machine is unfazed and in a cold, measured voice, reports.

-Cheating detected. More nutrients than needed.

Ha-ri was caught feeding the hunters.

“You mean to tell me…you couldn’t wait one day to do that?”

“Oh, no, it’s just that…I’m sorry.”

Ha-ri lowered her head, still feeling guilty, but at least the men should be fed.

“That’s it. What can I do about it? But you’ll have to be careful next time.”

When Ha-ri gave him a puzzled look, Leon smirked and continued.

“I’ll make sure to feed them properly when it is time for actual training at the gate. Now go bid on the next gate.”

“I see!”

Ha-ri realized that for the sake of the Hunters’ human rights, she had to find a suitable gate as soon as possible.

“Ah, right. Your Majesty…I was actually supposed to report tomorrow.”

“About what?”

“As your Majesty requested, the President of the Association will be attending the training ceremony to evaluate the performance of the training.”

“Hmm, I see.”

This was what Leon had requested.

He invited them to the graduation ceremony to re-evaluate the trained Hunters’ ratings.

Leon would take them to the Yellow Gate, where the Hunters who had shown growth would be officially re-evaluated.

This was how strong they could become once they entered the Ten Thousand Gods Guild…And it was also a means of recruiting more soldiers.

“There will be many guests, and King Lionheart’s authority would be compromised if he neglected his visitors, so I must warn the villagers to make preparations.”

“I’ll pass it on…ahh…….”

Leon added, looking at Ha-ri, who was a mess from chasing Yappy.

“Go wash up and make sure you take care of their food in the future. I won’t mind if you use the crops of this land.”

Ha-ri’s complexion brightened at the words.

She felt sorry for the hunters, who were forced to eat nothing but salt water, and now could eat sweet potatoes!

She didn’t know if this is something to be thankful for, but at least the Hunters won’t have to eat nothing but salt water for four weeks.

‘Huh… I guess he’s a merciful man after all.’

Ha-ri didn’t know that there were no unilateral pluses or minuses to this inflexible authoritarian.

If there was a plus, wouldn’t it have to be countered by a minus?

Lord Gratas, author of the Army Training Manual said that if a soldier cheats, make sure he is screwed.