Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 36

And so, a few days later.

The 3rd Infantry Platoon was deployed on a mission as part of Transport Unit 2.

“Alright, move out!”

Havier, in command of Transport Unit 2, gave the order, and the soldiers followed behind him.

Roden was also among them.

‘Hmm. I wonder how it will be this time.’

Recently, the success rate of the Transport Battalion's supply operations was about 75%.

This meant that for every four supply attempts, about one failed.

The reason was none other than this.

As the Allied Forces pushed back the Imperial Army, the supply lines had become much longer than before.

With the longer supply lines, the possibility of an ambush was inevitably higher.

While they weren't persistently disrupting supplies by forming separate guerrilla units like before, there were occasional instances of the Imperial Army's cavalry invading the Allied Forces' camp.

As a form of check.

‘If supplying becomes too easy, it will be difficult to handle the Allied Forces' momentum.’

In this transport operation as well, being vigilant against such ambushes was the most important thing.

For that reason, the travel speed naturally had to be slow, but it couldn't be helped.

‘Still, the situation is better than before. There’s no guarantee that the Imperial Army’s cavalry will ambush us.’

In particular, Roden’s unit, the only infantry squad in Transport Unit 2, had a fairly simple mission.

This was because they didn't need to patrol a vast area like the light cavalry unit, nor did they need to diligently guard the surroundings like the archery unit.

Simply walking diligently and then protecting the supply wagons if an enemy appeared was the entirety of the 3rd Infantry Platoon's mission.

‘Ah. There’s one more thing. Managing the supplies to prevent them from spoiling.’

In reality, as long as they weren't ambushed, the supplies were unlikely to spoil, so it could be called a nominal mission that was as good as non-existent.

Having organized his thoughts, Roden turned towards the 3rd Infantry Platoon and opened his mouth.

“Everyone, hang in there just a little longer. We won't be walking much since it’s the first day of the operation.”

As soon as Roden finished speaking, a resounding answer came back from the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon.

“Yes!”

As such, the atmosphere in the 3rd Infantry Platoon had been extremely good recently.

This was because as the new training method was proven to be effective, a reevaluation of Roden, who had developed it, had taken place.

In fact, Roden was no longer a person who could be ignored.

Not only had he achieved major military merits twice, but he had also shown a brave figure on the battlefield.

Besides, he was also fulfilling his duties as a platoon leader.

If anything, he deserved respect.

In reality, soldiers like Federico and Nedhab, who had benefited from the new training method, were ardently supporting Roden.

And now, the situation was such that the number of such soldiers was bound to increase soon.

‘Because soon, there will be a few soldiers who will achieve visible results like Federico or Nedhab.’

Zailo, Terne, Hugo, and Manolo were representative of the soldiers with high potential.

In the eyes of Roden, who could read the flow of mana, this was clearly visible.

‘In the first place, the reason those four were far stronger than the other soldiers was because their aura absorption rate was exceptional.’

Their aura absorption rate had originally exceeded 0.3%, in contrast to other soldiers who usually stayed at 0.1%.

But now that they had adapted to the new training method, their aura absorption rate was bound to increase.

On top of that, Roden had even performed a sword dance to increase the mana density of the entire training ground.

For that reason, the four's aura absorption rate could increase from 0.3% to 0.7%.

So, if the four of them also trained steadily, it was possible for them to achieve visible results.

‘Of course, even if they do, they’ll still fall behind Federico or Nedhab.’

For starters, Federico’s aura absorption rate was 0.7%, the same as the four.

So, unless Federico suddenly slacked off in his training, there was no chance of the four catching up to his skill.

In addition, Nedhab’s aura absorption rate was a whopping 0.9%.

It was a figure that made it incomprehensible why he hadn't grown stronger until now.

Furthermore, Nedhab was doing his stretching and massage faster than Roden, so it would have been normal for him to be stronger.

‘But why?’

Roden couldn't help but have questions.

So he looked into it separately and found the cause was his sleep schedule.

Nedhab’s tribe, or so he heard, originally limited their sleep time to five hours in order to use the day more productively than others.

Considering that the core of the training method Roden devised was nine hours of deep sleep, it was a fairly critical problem.

It made him understand at once why Nedhab hadn't been able to grow stronger until now.

‘Actually, the other soldiers are also having the most trouble with deep sleep.’

Life habits were not something that could be easily fixed.

Especially for the soldiers, unlike Roden or Chevalier, this part was bound to feel more difficult because they had to be deployed for day and night guard duty.

However, the number of soldiers who were gradually succeeding in creating their own habits was increasing.

Therefore, Roden was optimistic about the situation.

And he thought.

That the 3rd Infantry Platoon would soon become the best unit in the Transport Battalion.

***

And that evening.

After confirming their arrival at the target location, Havier raised his voice.

“We will make camp here for tonight.”

At Havier’s command, the soldiers moved in perfect order and began preparing the camp.

Some pitched tents, some prepared meals, and some did not neglect to guard the surroundings.

Roden also pitched a tent with the soldiers.

And after dinner, he went out to a quiet place and conducted his personal training.

During the operation, he couldn't raise his aura absorption rate to 26% as usual.

In the first place, the absolute amount of training time was insufficient, so it couldn't be helped.

Moreover, cold water compresses were impossible during the operation.

‘Ah…. Aura loss. What a waste.’

Still, Roden conducted his personal training late into the night to minimize the aura loss as much as possible.

And as he felt it was such a waste, he ended up overdoing it a little.

Before he knew it, it was past 10 o'clock.

‘I’m screwed. I won’t be able to sleep like this.’

Usually, after exercising too hard, one can't fall asleep right away.

He needed enough time to cool down his body after finishing the exercise.

But it was 10 PM, so there was a possibility that he wouldn't be able to sleep for up to four hours.

‘I made a mistake because the aura loss felt like such a waste. Starting tomorrow, let’s adjust my workout time wisely.’

As he was walking with such thoughts, a voice stopped Roden.

“Who goes there!”

When he turned around, two soldiers were standing there.

They were soldiers on night watch duty.

“Ah. I am the 3rd Infantry Platoon Leader.”

Roden explained, but the soldiers did not lower their guard and shouted.

“Hands up! Move and I’ll stab you! When a sword gets serious?”

Roden realized it was the countersign and answered.

“It turns black.”

For reference, the one who had set this countersign was Havier.

Strangely, Havier liked to set countersigns in this way.

It was definitely not to Roden's taste.

Because Roden was an old man, not a middle-aged man.

Anyway, because Roden’s answer was correct, the two soldiers lowered their guard.

“It’s the 3rd Infantry Platoon Leader. Where are you coming from?”

“Just the latrine.”

“You went quite far.”

“I’m a bit shy by nature. Well then, keep up the good work.”

“…Yes. Understood.”

Having safely entered the camp, Roden walked towards his tent.

He probably wouldn't fall asleep, but it was better to be lying down anyway.

As Roden was walking, he passed by the supply wagons.

Rustle, rustle.

An unusual sound came from somewhere.

He looked in that direction, thinking a wild animal might have appeared, but there was a soldier there.

The soldier was startled upon discovering Roden.

“Aigo!”

Roden asked the soldier.

“Who are you?”

“I, I am Prat from the 1st Archery Platoon.”

The way he stuttered was somehow suspicious.

Because of that, Roden couldn't help but speak.

“When a sword gets serious?”

“It, it turns black.”

Should he call it a relief?

Prat seemed to be an ally.

However, it was a question why Prat was here.

“Seeing you wandering alone, you don’t seem to be on night watch, so why are you here? Isn’t the 1st Archery Platoon’s tent over there?”

“Ah. Th-that. Because of the latrine.”

“You came this far looking for the latrine?”

“I, I’m a bit on the shy side.”

It was an excuse that comes out when one is in a tight spot.

Roden could be even more certain because he had just used the same excuse.

‘What is it?’

Roden thought for a moment and then warned Prat.

“Wandering around like that is bound to be suspicious, even if you are an ally. Go back.”

“Yes. I’m sorry. I’ll be on my way then.”

A moment later.

Roden stood where Prat had left and checked the supply wagons.

He shone a light and meticulously inspected them all over, but couldn't find anything strange.

There were no signs of tampering, and all the supplies were there as they should be.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

Something felt off, but Roden tried to shake off the feeling and started walking towards his tent again.

It was time to hurry and try to sleep.

***

‘Hmm….’

A few days had passed since he made the mistake of conducting his personal training late into the night on the first day.

But Roden still couldn't go to bed until late at night.

Because his meeting with Prat that day kept bothering him.

‘I watched the supply wagons until dawn for several days, but no one appeared.’

Moreover, he didn't just simply watch.

One day, he watched from 12 AM to 2 AM, and on another day, he watched from 2 AM to 4 AM.

Despite watching the supply wagons at different times every day like this, Prat did not appear near them.

He looked into it separately and found that Prat seemed to be living diligently as a member of the 1st Archery Platoon.

‘But why do I keep feeling so uneasy?’

Roden was not originally the type to act based on intuition like this.

He moved only when there was clear circumstantial or physical evidence.

But he couldn't forget the sight of Prat being strangely flustered that day.

That was the reason why Roden had been watching the supply wagons for several days, not getting his full nine hours of sleep.

But he couldn't keep doing this forever.

‘Let’s watch the supply wagons just for today. Today, with a rather special method.’

Just like that, Roden took a different measure than usual with the supply wagons.

If Prat had some kind of scheme, today was the last chance.