Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!-Chapter 78: Ghosts They Can’t Find

Through the Commander Scouter, I could pinpoint enemy positions—it felt like becoming a living radar. The fifty Burgundian light cavalrymen were divided into two units, sweeping through the northern fields and forests like hunters flushing out quarry. The guerrilla warfare seemed to have rattled them considerably. I hadn’t even fallen for the ambush.

It appeared the Burgundian command had unleashed hunting parties to find us. But I had no intention whatsoever of engaging them. First, after raiding three locations, the light cavalry under my command had been reduced to forty riders, and even if we clashed with a single enemy unit, we would be outnumbered.

Engaging head-on in this situation would be reckless. If I first returned to camp to swap horses, then concentrated attacks on scattered smaller units, I could inflict considerable damage. Finding their supply lines would be icing on the cake. Coming down from the hill, I gathered the lieutenants.

"We return to camp to reorganize. Any objections?"

"A wise decision. The horses are thoroughly spent."

The lieutenants agreed with my plan. After securing the captured knight of Épinay and his subordinate knights, along with ownerless horses and equipment, we mounted up. Each cavalryman grabbed two horses to lead along. I confirmed that enemy light cavalry were drawing close, but fortunately, they hadn’t detected our position yet.

The new Commander Scouter function, Optimal Route, guided the best path not only for attack but also for retreat. It traced routes the enemy cavalry couldn’t detect with uncanny precision as we crossed hills and threaded through forests. The cavalrymen behind me didn’t seem to understand why we were taking such a roundabout route.

"Why are we moving like this? Can’t we just follow the road?"

"I’ll grant you, the commander’s ability is impressive, but he’s completely unpredictable."

Since we were moving slowly, I could hear every word. They only fell silent after August warned them. Even if I explained that enemy light cavalry were searching for us and we had to take this route to avoid detection, they wouldn’t understand. At least they seemed to acknowledge my command ability.

"Zut! You bastards ruined all my fun!"

"For someone who calls himself a knight, is plundering what you consider fun?"

"Deployment pay alone doesn’t cover maintenance costs. Plundering is essential!"

"And that’s exactly why you got ambushed and taken prisoner, Sir Knight of Épinay."

I had seated the knight of Épinay behind me on Schatten. Carrying two men in plate armor was a heavy burden on Schatten, but I planned to let him rest once we returned. The knight of Épinay, seething with rage, chattered incessantly—mostly curses and complaints about me.

"Streit? Never heard of you! Damn German!"

"All bark and no bite."

Thwack!

"Kack!"

Since I had removed his helmet, I punched him in the mouth. He was an entirely different breed of knight from the gourmand of Besançon. Not all knights were courteous or honored chivalry, so rough-mouthed ones deserved rough treatment. Only after being hit a few times did he finally quiet down.

The light cavalry I led returned safely to camp. Michael came out to meet us, and his expression shifted to astonishment when he saw that I had brought back three knights of Épinay along with various spoils of war. Since he had assumed I was on a reckless deployment forced by the Crown Prince’s orders, his surprise was only natural.

"Well now, you even brought back prisoners. I feel foolish for worrying about you, brother-in-law."

"I need to head north again. I’ll leave the prisoners and spoils in your hands, so please keep them safe."

"They’re your hard-earned spoils, so of course. I’ll make sure nothing gets embezzled."

After handing over the knights of Épinay, the spoils, and the seized horses to Michael, I took a brief rest, then mounted a reserve horse. It was a chestnut from what is now the Netherlands—Holland. A relatively light and fast breed that light cavalry often rode.

It was a good horse but inferior to Schatten, the Austrian thoroughbred.

Its temperament was also relatively gentle, making it easy to handle. I had worried whether it could bear the weight of a rider in plate armor, but fortunately, the horse adapted well. I didn’t bother with horse armor. Since light cavalry prioritized speed, they didn’t plate their horses’ chests with iron the way heavy cavalry did.

Surprisingly, even heavy cavalry didn’t cover their horses’ entire bodies in iron armor, because doing so killed the horse’s speed. As a minimal measure, they plated only the horse’s chest—to defend against lance attacks. Looking at the Beren Lance Cavalry, their armament was rather light for what was considered heavy cavalry.

Oscar, who had been awkwardly holding Maria wrapped in a cloak, approached. The sight of him clearly not knowing how to hold a child was rather amusing.

"You look surprisingly natural holding a child."

"Sigh, Ted ran off, so I’m stuck looking after her."

"Is that so? She’s an orphan who lost both her parents, so take good care of her. I’m entrusting her to you."

Since Oscar was a responsible man, he would look after Maria well even if he was clumsy about it now. I gathered the light cavalrymen who had switched to reserve horses and rode north. Since enemy light cavalry were conducting their search in the fields near northern Meriant, I led my riders in a completely different direction.

"Captain, why are we going this way?"

One of the cavalry commander’s lieutenants drew alongside me and asked. Since we were riding at a walk, conversation was possible. Cavalry only galloped at full speed when charging; otherwise, they moved at a moderate pace. The same went for the enemy light cavalry. Searching at a full gallop would exhaust the horses in no time.

"Because enemy light cavalry are searching for us in the northern fields."

"They are? How did you know without even sending scouts?"

"After raiding enemy light cavalry three times, do you think they wouldn’t notice our existence? Naturally, they’d dispatch cavalry to hunt us down. Riding into the northern fields now would be a poor decision."

I had actually noticed through the scouter, but thinking it through, the conclusion was perfectly predictable on its own merits.

The fleeing enemy cavalry would have reported our presence to headquarters, and since their plundering units had been raided in succession and suffered major losses, wouldn’t the command naturally send search parties to eliminate the guerrilla force harassing them?

Even as a veteran mercenary, this man was just a lieutenant, so he probably hadn’t thought that far ahead. The cavalry commander would have handled all the decision-making. I had heard from Michael that the cavalry commander’s style lacked consistency. Even when commanding cavalry by the book, he sometimes trusted his gut and made bold, unconventional decisions.

That gut instinct had worked out brilliantly to reverse desperate situations more than once or twice.

My own command style, which was difficult to explain because I relied on the scouter, seemed similar in many ways. If I had framed it as instinct rather than prediction, the lieutenant might have recognized a kindred spirit between the cavalry commander and me. If the chance arose, I would like to observe the cavalry commander’s methods firsthand.

"That does make sense."

"Satisfied with your answer?"

"Yes. Please forgive my rudeness."

The lieutenant asked me no further questions. His doubts weren’t completely resolved, but he seemed reasonably convinced. These men were commoners of mercenary origin, not nobles—clearly subordinate in rank to fellow lieutenants August and Fiel. But they commanded respect by virtue of belonging to the Beren Lance Cavalry.

The honor of serving in the duchy’s most elite cavalry carried that much weight.