The Rural Officer Who Was Once a General

Part 1, Chapter 8

Fade’s bastard sword could have easily taken Yabatu’s head.

Taang!

Fade carefully hooked Yabatu’s neck over his thigh.

He had to take care to position Yabatu’s teeth in a spot not covered by armor.

‘Can’t act like those old fools.’

There had actually been a general from his time who returned with an enemy commander’s head tied to his thigh, only to get scratched and die from an infection.

Fade would rather die any other way than that.

After securely fixing the severed head, Fade looked around.

The remaining nine were fighting with all their strength.

The officers and Niss were fighting decently, and Karun, having fixed his horse in place, was slamming his spear down on the heads of approaching enemies.

Ted had long since dismounted and was wildly swinging his spear.

In the face of the brute strength coming from such a massive body, even the light cavalry had no choice but to back off.

With Fade having taken down Yabatu in this standoff, morale would now lean even more in their favor.

Of course, he didn’t plan to fight to the end.

Even if they could ambush and deal with the troops nearby, this place housed at least over a thousand soldiers.

There was no real chance of winning in a prolonged fight.

‘Besides, the enemy is already preparing to counterattack.’

Those Fade had ambushed appeared to originally be part of the heavy cavalry.

It was only because they had removed their armor and dismounted that such a fight was possible. If they re-armed and got back on their horses, it would be over.

“Sir!”

Fade called out to Tryaev.

Tryaev, gleefully cutting down enemies, turned to Fade.

“Buy us time so the heavy cavalry can’t regroup!”

“Understood!”

Tryaev immediately slashed the neck of a soldier trying to mount a horse.

“Officers, keep fighting! Hughes and Niss, with me!”

“Yes, sir!”

“What about us?”

Karun and Ted, who were stabbing in place, asked.

“You two…”

Just keep doing what you’re doing.

“Hyah!”

As Fade turned his horse, a light cavalryman thrust a spear from the side.

But Fade didn’t react.

Thwok.

Hughes’ spear pierced the enemy cavalryman’s heart far faster.

“Let’s go!”

As Fade picked up speed, Niss and Hughes followed.

Hughes had a natural talent for horseback riding, and even Niss was managing to keep up somehow.

"Here it is!"

Fade's bastard sword ripped through the stable tent.

Inside were thirty warhorses, all well cared for.

"You two, take these and run!"

Fade leapt over the stable and dashed toward the large tent behind it.

"Stop him!"

A few infantry tried to block him, but they couldn’t withstand the momentum of his charging horse and tumbled to the ground.

Chiiiik!

Tearing through the tent, Fade slid off his horse and rolled across a table positioned in the center.

"Wh-Who goes there?!"

The Khanate’s strategy officers, not wearing a single piece of armor, shouted.

"As I thought, the command tent."

Fade grinned, holding his bastard sword out with one hand.

"You bastard!"

The officers hurriedly reached for the weapons nearby.

"Ah, that won’t do."

Fade spun once on top of the table, swinging his bastard sword.

The long blade, moving in a circular path, sliced deep into the officers’ necks and vital points.

Sugguguguak!

After the crimson circle was complete, Fade tucked a few of the Khanate’s military maps—already grabbed with his free hand—into his coat.

"Now then, you’re next?"

"Haaah!"

One surviving officer charged at Fade.

Fade casually flicked his sword to shake off the blood.

Some of the sprayed blood landed in the officer’s eyes.

"Ughhh…"

As the officer staggered in pain, Fade whistled for his horse.

Neigh!

The horse, as if annoyed, trampled the staggering officer and carried Fade onto its back.

"Retreat!"

As Fade galloped toward the forest, officers and soldiers began vanishing one by one into the trees.

From that side of the forest, a bit of dust was rising—seemed they had successfully stolen the horses.

"Haah, what a shame, eh?"

Tryaev, who had been blocking the heavy cavalry to the end, laughed as he joined up beside Fade.

This guy—his tone had changed a bit at some point.

Normally, he couldn’t act serious even if he tried, but once he saw blood, he turned into this.

‘Well, it’s not a bad thing.’

While Fade preferred to avoid commanders like him, Tryaev listened well and left all the command decisions to Fade, which made his personality work in a good way.

Tryaev’s aggressive combat style had a major impact on morale, after all.

"Gather up!"

Entering the forest, Fade cut down a few light cavalry in pursuit and picked up speed.

As he moved to the front, the nine cavalry and the thirty additional horses formed up behind him.

"Leave the pursuers! We’re almost there!"

Fade said, scanning the surrounding terrain quickly.

‘Just a little more and we’re there.’

A natural barrier of sorts.

When it came to obstacles hindering a march, terrain was of course the primary factor. And if asked to name the worst among them, opinions would vary.

Some would say steep cliffs. Others might point to snow-covered plains.

But for Fade, the most troublesome terrain was swampland.

Hard for both soldiers and horses to cross, and even if they could, the advance would slow drastically, leaving them exposed for too long.

And in this forest lay a long, narrow swamp stretching across it laterally.

It was about ten meters wide—no one could cross it easily.

That’s why only a small number of elite troops had been selected for the assassin-led covert operation.

So, couldn’t Fade cross it either?

'As if.'

Though the Khanate had only recently occupied the forest’s edge, the forest itself had belonged to the Hecate Empire for hundreds of years.

‘Of course I have a map.’

It looked the same on the surface, but there were spots where the water flow was slow and the footing firm.

"Alright, let's go!"

Fade dashed across the swamp, stepping swiftly onto the path he had memorized in advance.

The horses, soldiers, and officers behind him followed.

"They crossed!"

The cavalry chasing them must’ve underestimated the swamp.

Wooooosh.

The area they charged into was one of the deepest, most viscous, and fastest-flowing sections of the entire swamp.

Only after the ground beneath them gave way with a wet thud did the soldiers realize the danger and throw themselves backward off their horses.

"Ha! Idiots!"

Karun chuckled as he watched the soldiers try to pull their horses out by the reins.

"Karun, shut up and keep your horse steady. Don’t fall."

"Wow, sir, your tone’s really changed in just a week, hasn’t it?"

"Try training someone like you and see how your speech turns out."

"Heh, I already talk like trash anyway."

"Tch."

Fade shook his head.

"But say, Officer Fade?"

"What is it?"

Tryaev, whose tone had already softened a bit, pulled his horse up beside Fade.

"Now that those guys have seen us cross so easily, won't they soon find the path too?"

"Let them find it."

"......?"

‘No, really, I hope they find it.’

Fade’s lips curled into a smirk.

‘So that something bigger can walk right into my jaws.’

***

In the command tent of the Khanate's Western Front, an old man was glaring at a young woman.

"General Rakula, I hear the operation failed."

The half-bald commander continued in a lazy voice.

He wasn’t the supreme commander, merely one of the subordinate generals in charge of this sector—someone who preferred stabbing allies with his tongue over skewering enemies with a spear.

"The elite troops sent there were annihilated by a mere rural unit, and to top it off, even the White Banner Captain was defeated and their warhorses were seized?"

He sank into a leather sofa, locking eyes with Rakula.

The blue irises glowing within the black sclera had dulled slightly.

"Are you angry?"

"...No."

Rakula turned her head with a sigh.

"I see."

The commander chuckled to himself.

Rakula closed her eyes, her face twitching slightly.

‘These damn eyes are the problem.’

Her eyes, black at the base and tinged with blue, were what they called ‘reverse eyes.’

With these eyes, all her emotions were directly reflected in her gaze, so in times like this, it was a constant irritation.

‘But it can't be helped. It’s the only reason I’m not being held accountable.’

These eyes marked her as having the blood of the Khan.

She wasn’t in a position to actually contend for the Khan’s throne, but the bloodline alone carried considerable weight in the military.

So a failure like this wouldn’t lead to punishment or demotion.

But that wasn’t the issue.

‘My plan was foiled.’

A complete failure.

Her operation could be summarized with just those three words.

Not only had it failed, but it had led to additional losses.

Given how things turned out, her reputation was bound to take a hit.

This would inevitably tarnish her reputation—something she couldn’t afford when both merit and fame were essential to even be considered for control of a small ulus.

That was also why she had willingly accepted the somewhat unpleasant moniker: ‘Witch of the Steppe.’

It was a name given by those she had tricked and massacred with her strategies—but to her, it was no different from praise for her accomplishments.

‘The Witch of the Steppe must not fail—especially not in strategy!’

At first, she couldn’t believe her plan had been seen through.

But now, what she needed wasn’t to dwell on the past, but to plan for the future.

Rakula left the command tent as if fleeing and returned to her own, sitting down in her chair.

Despite the sheepskin cover, the stiff, rough texture still pressed into her back and hips.

Some might call it uncomfortable, but Rakula preferred it that way.

Her mind worked better when her body wasn’t at ease.

"The enemy possesses both intelligence and strength."

From what she’d heard, only two among them displayed significant martial prowess:

A pale man wielding dual swords, and the one who had commanded them.

It was likely the commander, the man in charge, who had seen through her strategy.

"And they had information."

Somehow, they had crossed the swamp with ease and even managed to steal military maps of the Raman Khanate.

‘They weren’t detailed maps.’

Even if the enemy deciphered them, it would only sharpen the Empire’s understanding slightly—most of the real secrets were kept elsewhere, so it wasn’t a major loss.

"They crossed the swamp just like that..."

Rakula didn’t find the soldiers’ reports suspicious.

She’d fought in other swamps before, and the conditions always varied somewhat.

But this was a swamp of significant size.

It wouldn’t be strange if there were spots with greater differences.

"If I send someone to scout the area, they should be able to locate that crossing point."

Rakula's lips curled upward.

If so, she could land a heavy blow on those bastards and restore her reputation.

No—perhaps even have her previous failure praised as part of a larger strategy: sacrificing the flesh to break the bones.

***

Part 2

"Well now, this is getting exciting, isn't it?"

A wicked smile spread across Rakula’s face.

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* Ulus = a territorial or tribal unit, typically from Mongol/steppe culture, often ruled by a subordinate leader.