The NTR Knight Commander has Decided to Desert

Chapter 18

A force of troops racing across the plains,

A massive army of 7,000 combat personnel was charging forward in haste.

Leading the group was a middle-aged man riding a white horse at the front.

He wore an ornate uniform adorned with countless medals on his chest,

and as the Stanwick fortress began to appear on the horizon, he spoke to the female officer riding a brown horse beside him, his voice tinged with arrogance and a hint of regret.

"Impressive. Honestly, I never thought those people would be able to hold out this long. Still, I suppose being the daughter of that Councilor Franklin wasn't just for show."

"Well, in any case, isn't that a good thing? What matters most right now is securing victory."

"Yes, you're right. After all, the core of this operation is to seize control of the Saratoga region. If we succeed in that, defending a tiny fortress like this won't even count as a real accomplishment."

With those words, the middle-aged man whipped his horse forcefully.

Watching this, the female officer let out a small sigh inwardly and began to follow her superior on horseback.

*

7,000 reinforcements arrived before the fortress.

To greet them, General Franklin and her subordinates gathered in front of the main gate.

"Welcome, General Gates. We've been expecting you."

General Franklin offered a respectful salute to her superior as a soldier.

In response, the middle-aged commander on horseback dismounted along with his officers.

Wearing a dazzling uniform and giving off a frail impression, he had the air of an old fox.

He was the Grand General overseeing the rebel forces in the East.

Horenshaw Gates.

Looking at Franklin before him, he spoke in a stiff voice.

"You look better than I expected. You managed to hold this small fortress with a rat-sized force."

"Yes. We were quite fortunate in many ways. The enemy moved just as we planned, and above all..."

As a subordinate officer, Franklin began to explain the general situation that had occurred here.

But then—

"Ah, enough. I have no intention of wasting more time on trivial stories from the past."

"Pardon?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, General Gates cut her off with a curt tone.

"What we need to be discussing now isn't some childish skirmish victory, but the real war ahead. We're not idle enough to listen to such insignificant matters."

"..."

"Honestly, youngsters these days... bragging about winning a fight with a few hundred troops. Compared to when I fought the Franz Kingdom, it's laughable."

Gates' words openly insulted their pride right to their faces.

Hearing this, Franklin could only force herself to suppress the scowl forming on her face.

While he had always been petty and condescending, today General Gates seemed even more unpleasant than usual.

His attitude went beyond mere pettiness—he seemed intent on belittling the outcome of the recent battle, and Franklin was starting to feel genuinely irritated, but for now, she had no choice but to remain silent.

'Endure it... He's still a reinforcement ally, and more importantly, he's my superior... If I lash out here, he'll just find more things to nitpick.'

With a major battle looming, it would be foolish to get caught up in petty quarrels. And if she got on this vile man's bad side, things could become far more troublesome.

Just as she was doing her best to suppress her discomfort in front of her superior—

General Gates turned his gaze away from Franklin and toward the man standing directly behind her.

"Hm? And who's this? I don't recognize the face. A new aide?"

Even in this situation, Gates displayed an annoyingly sharp memory as he asked the question.

In response, Franklin answered in as calm a voice as possible.

"Close, but not quite. He's a commander who defected from the Imperial Army not long ago and is now serving under me. His name is..."

"Pleased to meet you, General. I am Edward Cromwell."

"...Cromwell?"

"! C-could it be... the famed undefeated general...?"

At the mention of such an unexpectedly prominent figure, General Gates' face stiffened slightly.

But the one who stood out the most at that moment wasn't Gates, who looked mildly annoyed—

It was the female officer beside him, whose expression showed clear astonishment.

"You're really Cromwell? The top commander of the Imperial Army defected...? What in the world happened—"

"Ahem... ahem..."

"!...Ah... m-my apologies."

Finding her tone overly agitated, General Gates cleared his throat to cut her off, clearly displeased.

At that, the officer fell silent, and Gates spoke again in a voice now laced with even greater irritation.

"Well, be that as it may, let's skip the small talk and get straight to the meeting. Lead the way."

"...Understood, General."

As expected, even Gates couldn't entirely ignore Cromwell's reputation, and he seemed to want to avoid the topic altogether.

Watching this, Franklin felt a bit of her irritation fade as she led the group toward the meeting room.

*

From the very beginning, the meeting between General Gates, the rebel commander, and Franklin was nothing short of heartwarming.

Watching and listening to this scene unfold beside them,

I began to feel my mood sour in real time.

'I expected as much, but wow, what an insufferable bastard. Seeing him in person, he's even more unlikeable than he was in the game.'

In just 30 seconds, this man had managed to draw a visible expression of irritation from the usually icy General Franklin.

General Horenshaw Gates, second in command of the rebel forces and commander of the Eastern front.

Staring at his obnoxious face, I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of regret for the first time since joining the rebels.

'What a shame... Unlike in the game, I can't legally beat the crap out of this bastard.'

As his rank suggests, General Gates was one of the bosses that appeared in the game.

However, despite being a boss you had to defeat, players never had a good opinion of him.

And it wasn't because he was particularly difficult.

In Blue Revolution, the rebel commanders were generally tough opponents.

Each one had a challenging difficulty level, requiring proper gear, levels, and mastery of their patterns and control to defeat.

Yet despite being such formidable enemies, most of them were well-regarded. Some even became more popular than allied characters.

Like Franklin, with her beauty and charisma, or those who showed admirable personalities or tragic, humanizing backstories.

But unlike those other rebel bosses—

Gates was universally despised by players, myself included.

A native of the Britannian Empire, he had an unbearably arrogant personality, and in stark contrast, his combat ability and leadership were among the worst of all bosses.

Despite this, he was obsessed with taking credit and never hesitated to belittle others for his own gain.

Gates was the embodiment of pettiness, incompetence, and greed—the trifecta of unlikeability.

No wonder the single most satisfying moment for me and other players was getting to stab this bastard to death in that hellish final chapter.

'And to make it worse, he didn't even die with dignity. He was the only boss who begged for his life at the end...'

After leading his men to death through sheer incompetence, he met his end by pathetically begging for mercy—an ultimate display of disgrace.

And now, in this moment,

I was starting to get a serious headache at the thought of having to win this battle with that worthless man as my superior.

'Well... it's not like there's no way, but... I doubt I'll be as lucky as last time.'

Just as I was thinking that and starting to frown—

'...'

Right on cue, the quest notification popped up just when I thought it was about time.

Hoping it contained something useful, I immediately began to check its contents.

And then—

'...This is...'

*

Thanks to extensive pillaging of the surrounding area, the Imperial forces under General Neto had managed to hold out internally without major issues.

And now, reinforcements had arrived before them, bringing ample supplies as requested.

"Welcome, General Burgoyne. We've been waiting for you."

The general on the black horse before him.

One of the three top commanders of the Britannian Imperial Army—his direct superior, General Burgoyne, had arrived, and General Neto bowed his head respectfully.

But then—

"...You son of a bitch, lower than a dog..."

"...Pardon?"

"What are you all doing?! Arrest Neto immediately!"

"!?"

General Burgoyne shouted in a voice full of fury.

At that, the soldiers around him began to move as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, General Neto was too stunned to say a word.

And then,

watching him in that state,

a quiet smile began to form on Richard's lips as he stood right behind General Neto.

'Just as planned...'