The NTR Knight Commander has Decided to Desert

Chapter 19

General Neto was suddenly dragged away by the soldiers and forced to kneel inside the barracks.

In front of his tightly bound form stood General Burgoyne, staring coldly in his direction.

"G-General! What on earth is going on? What... what crime have I supposedly committed to deserve this?"

"Are you seriously asking because you don't know?"

General Burgoyne asked in a chilling voice.

At his words, General Neto began shouting as if to plead his innocence.

"I swear I've done nothing wrong! Sure, I failed to capture that fortress, but that doesn't mean it was a decisive loss! How could you do this to me?!"

"Silence! We already know all about the vile acts you've committed—acts worse than those of a beast!"

"W-What are you talking about?! You keep insulting me, but I've never done anything deserving of such scorn!"

General Burgoyne's words cut like icy blades.

Though General Neto protested with his mouth, a creeping sense of dread began to take hold of him.

For despite claiming innocence, a number of misdeeds were surfacing in his mind.

'No way... Have they figured out I exaggerated my achievements? Or maybe they discovered I've been siphoning off military supplies...'

He had committed so many things worth hiding that it was hard to pinpoint which one might be the cause.

At that moment,

as General Neto was gripped by anxiety, General Burgoyne spoke with cold fury in his voice.

"Edward Cromwell... You don't expect me to believe you don't know what you did to him, do you?"

"!"

A single name burst from his lips.

At that, General Neto's face froze solid.

And General Burgoyne continued to speak, his voice seething with anger.

"You coveted Cromwell's achievements and framed him, didn't you? A superior officer jealous of his subordinate's merits would stoop to such filth? You've dragged the honor of the Imperial Army through the mud, and yet you dare act shameless?"

"T-That's a misunderstanding! I... I only tried to eliminate a filthy traitor who showed signs of betraying the Empire! As proof, didn't Cromwell himself join the rebels out of fear his crimes would be exposed?!"

Of course, the truth was that Cromwell had fled to survive after uncovering Neto's schemes, but the fact remained that he had indeed deserted.

Seizing on that point, General Neto tried to shift all the blame onto Cromwell.

However.

In response to this attempt, General Burgoyne's rage only deepened.

"He's no traitor—he's a forsaken hero! Even His Majesty knows of the tremendous achievements he's accomplished! And you forced such a man to desert because of your filthy greed?"

"T-That's not true! He may look good on the outside, but deep down he's a filthy traitor! Even if I did envy his accomplishments, I would never go so far! This is slander against me!"

Knowing full well what would happen if he admitted to it, General Neto desperately denied it, lips slick with spit.

Judging by General Burgoyne's demeanor, it seemed he knew a great deal about what Neto had done to Cromwell.

Still, from a different perspective, it could be argued that it was simply an attempt to pressure a traitor.

After all, Cromwell had undeniably joined the rebels.

So General Neto did everything he could to claim his innocence and pin the blame on Cromwell as the true traitor.

However.

-Thud!

"Guh!"

General Burgoyne violently kicked him.

Struck in the abdomen by a heavy military boot, he writhed in agony, rolling across the floor.

And to the fallen General Neto, the general spoke in a cold voice.

"Fine... I suppose you could see it that way. But then how do you explain stealing Cromwell's fiancée?"

"!!"

The general revealed a secret so unexpected and intimate.

General Neto, still collapsed on the ground, froze completely.

"You filthy scum... You stole another man's fiancée, and now you want to talk? How can I trust a man who's done something no real man should ever do?"

"G-General... I... that is..."

A fatal moral flaw that left no room for excuses.

And so General Neto was left speechless.

General Burgoyne then spoke sharply to him.

"Because of your filthy desires, the Empire has lost one of its greatest talents. I will not let this go unpunished. Once this battle is over, I will report everything to His Majesty!"

"!! G-General!"

General Burgoyne's declaration was effectively the end of his career.

If his crimes reached the Emperor and the Imperial Council, not only would he lose his rank, but he might even be executed under military law.

'I can't let that happen! After everything I've done to get here, I won't fall now because of some lowborn commoner! Never... never!'

For someone who had clawed his way up through every kind of filth, this was an unacceptable fate.

So General Neto bowed his head and began to plead desperately, doing whatever he could to escape this crisis.

"P-Please, General! This is all a misunderstanding! I swear I'm innocent! I only eliminated that filthy traitor in advance! It wasn't out of selfish ambition!"

General Neto continued to plead his innocence.

But watching him, General Burgoyne turned to his subordinates and gave an order.

"What are you waiting for? He's a criminal who has disgraced the Empire's honor. Lock him up at once!"

"Yes, General!"

"We obey your command!"

Following the order, the soldiers dragged the bound Neto off to prison.

As he was taken away, General Neto resisted violently and began to scream in desperation.

"Y-You bastards, let me go! General! General! I'm innocent! General! General!!!"

Even as he was dragged away by the soldiers, Neto raged like a madman.

The more he thought about it, the filthier it made him feel, and he was overcome with disgust.

General Burgoyne sat down and began to seriously assess the damage caused by all this.

'Cromwell's desertion... That idiot has caused us an enormous loss...'

Cromwell had built up an incredible reputation until now.

Though technically still under General Neto's command, Cromwell's name was widely known both within the rebels and the Imperial Army.

For someone like him to desert over such disgraceful circumstances was a major strategic loss.

And if word got out, it would deal a severe blow to the morale of the entire Imperial Army.

'There's no helping it... For now, I'll just keep that bastard locked up. Neto's formal punishment will have to wait until after the battle. And if possible, I need to capture Cromwell and win him back...'

With that thought, General Burgoyne turned his attention once more to the upcoming battle.

After all, the most urgent task was to secure a victory and dispel the foul atmosphere, so he began calmly formulating a strategy as a commander.

*

My situation—having to win while dragging along that damn superior, Gates.

As if in response, a quest notification popped up, and I began to consider it seriously.

[Horenshaw Gates, the Eastern Commander of the rebels, has arrived with reinforcements.

With both the reinforcements and the authority of a commander, he naturally assumes command of the upcoming battle.

However, it's already known that he is an incompetent man.

If the battle proceeds like this, defeat is inevitable.

If you can somehow wrest command from him, you may be able to turn this situation to your advantage...

Quest Objective: Secure command over the subordinate forces

Reward: Divine Blessing, Hidden Skill]

A quest window that blatantly states that proceeding with the battle as-is will end in failure, and that I must act independently no matter what.

As I read through it, I realized clearly that I had to butter up that bastard Gates if I wanted any chance of success.

'Securing command, huh... It won't be easy, but it's not completely impossible for me right now.'

I already knew what kind of personality and goals General Gates had, thanks to my in-game knowledge.

And knowing someone that well also meant I could manipulate him to some extent.

From that perspective, this quest had a decent chance of success...

But aside from that, my attention was more drawn to the rewards that followed.

'Divine Blessing is probably just for combat... but what's this Hidden Skill?'

While my raw combat power wasn't the best, I was still a max-level Holy Knight with all skills unlocked.

I had already learned everything a Holy Knight could in the game.

So I had no idea what this Hidden Skill could be.

'It doesn't seem like a bad reward for a quest... but somehow, it feels like the scale is growing larger the deeper I go down this new route...'