An Ambush Out of Nowhere

After Reiner's speech, the soldiers began cheering loudly. In this age, soldiers had no notion of being loyal to their lord.

They had joined the Moreland Family's army solely because they were physically fit enough to be selected. To them, being a soldier was merely a way to fill their stomachs.

Reiner had no doubt that if someone offered them enough money, they would abandon their old master without hesitation and throw themselves into the arms of a new one.

There was nothing unusual about that. Under the constraints of the era, most armies and soldiers were the same.

Reiner understood this well, which was why he had said what he did.

An army of several dozen men did not look particularly large. Reiner rode atop a tall Warhorse, one included in the system's beginner gift pack.

A knight held an Iris Lion Banner with a red background, declaring the identity of this force.

Along the way, they occasionally passed groups of farmers inspecting their fields. The moment they saw the Moreland Family's army passing by, they respectfully removed their felt hats in greeting.

Though they did not know why the Baron's army was here, that did not stop them from feeling heartfelt awe toward the force.

As Reiner marched along, he kept looking at the squire behind him, and the more he looked, the more something felt wrong. That figure was far too familiar.

"Wendell?" Reiner called out in surprise and faint anger. "I think you should explain why you are here—in an army marching to war."

He dismounted and walked over to Wendell, glaring sternly at him.

People said an elder brother was like a father. Though this world had no such saying, Wendell still held his older brother in great awe.

Seeing Reiner's expression, Wendell hurriedly explained in a nervous voice, "B-Brother, I'm already thirteen! A lot of soldiers aren't even a match for me! I can definitely distinguish myself on the battlefield! P-Please don't send me back!"

Looking at his stubborn younger brother, Reiner felt quite helpless. Still, he understood. Every boy at that age had similar thoughts, believing himself grown and wanting to do something to prove it.

All he could do was sigh and say, "I won't send you back, but you must stay by my side. You're still too young. It isn't time for you to fight and kill on the battlefield yet!"

"That's great! Thank you, Brother!" Wendell said excitedly. For him, simply experiencing a battlefield once was already enough. He was not asking for much.

The Moreland Family's territory would not have been large by the standards of Reiner's previous life, but for an army made up mostly of infantry, it was no small distance.

After walking for more than two full hours, they still had not reached the place where the viscount had been captured.

"Are we there yet, dear knight? We're about to leave the Moreland Family's territory!" Reiner said to the knight leading the way beside him.

"We'll be there soon, my lord. Up ahead is where my master was captured. Perhaps they have already fled, but I believe you will surely wipe them all out!"

Reiner could only nod. By now, the arrow was on the string, and he had no choice but to loose it.

And so, the force continued slowly forward.

Just as Reiner wondered why there were still no signs of battle, more than a dozen arrows suddenly shot out from the dense bushes.

Several cries rang out. Four or five soldiers were wounded in the volley. Although they wore armor, some parts of their bodies remained unprotected.

Reiner reacted instantly. He grabbed the still-dazed Wendell, dismounted, pulled him behind himself, and raised his shield to cover his body.

"Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!" Several knights reacted immediately, shouting orders to the soldiers.

The arrows caused a brief disturbance among the Moreland Family's soldiers, but they were veterans of the Dark Ages. They quickly recovered, raising their shields tightly before them.

Several soldiers grouped together and formed defensive formations, warily watching for more arrows from all directions.

Then what came was not another volley of arrows, but a group of ragged armed men. They wore animal hides or hemp clothing, and some were even naked, charging at the soldiers with wooden mallets in hand.

There were a great many of them, a dense mass of figures. By Reiner's estimate, there were over a hundred.

The scene immediately grew even more chaotic. The soldiers gripped their spears and shields, bracing themselves for the coming battle.

"Rally around me!" Reiner shouted. The soldiers were not gathered closely enough, and they could easily be picked off by the enemy one by one.

That was why he gave the order to regroup.

The enemy rushed toward Reiner, while their Archers nocked arrows and fired as they ran, providing cover for the bandits ahead.

"Archers! Return fire!"

Reiner waved the Longsword in his hand and gave his second order under the protection of five Crimson Gryphon Knights.

By then, the soldiers had nearly completed their formation. They clustered around Reiner in an outward-facing defensive circle, while the Archers inside drew their bowstrings.

"Fire!" Reiner shouted.

A neat chorus of whistling arrows sounded as the Moreland Family's Archers unleashed their arrows.

Unlike the bandits, the Moreland Family's Archers had been selected from the territory's lawful hunters and had undergone training. Their shooting ability far surpassed those self-taught rabble.

That volley instantly brought down seven or eight of the enemy. That was only because they were moving at high speed and their formation was spread out.

Otherwise, that round of shooting could have brought down at least ten men.

"Soldiers, hold your ground! Captain Balaf will command for now! Knights, assemble!"

Reiner shouted again, and the knights all gathered behind him: eleven Moreland Family knights, along with five Crimson Gryphon Knights.

At that moment, Reiner suddenly realized that the knight who had been leading the way had vanished at some point.

Only then did Reiner understand that he had been deceived and lured into a trap.

Even so, the Moreland Family's army had not fallen into a disadvantageous position.

An ambush relied on the prepared striking the unprepared. But because the Moreland Family's territory was small, the troops had not loaded their weapons and armor onto wagons to lighten their burden during the march.

In other words, the Moreland Family's army had been fully prepared. The enemy had also missed their best chance. They had not charged out immediately after firing, giving the troops time to react.

This was more properly called an encounter battle than an ambush.

The five Crimson Gryphon Knights followed behind Reiner, with the eleven Moreland Family knights behind them. The Warhorse beneath Reiner seemed to sense its master's emotions, snorting and pawing at the ground, ready at any moment to charge forth and crush the enemy's bones.

"For the Moreland Family! Charge!" Reiner shouted. His fully enclosed helmet made his voice muffled, but his determination was unmistakable.

For the past few days, he had been training according to the memories of this body's original owner. He did not know whether he could fully display his strength, but as a man with blood in his veins, how could he cower at the rear in a situation like this?

The Warhorse began to trot forward. Reiner leveled his over-three-meter lance, gradually loosened his left hand from the reins, raised his shield before his chest, and assumed a standard charging posture.

"For the Moreland Family!" The knights behind Reiner shouted as well. As their Warhorses accelerated, the pounding of hooves became ever more urgent.

Hoofbeats thundered across the battlefield. The bandits, who had seemed so fierce only moments before, finally remembered how knights had slaughtered them in the past. In an instant, their morale collapsed.

And Reiner had not yet led the knights to kill a single bandit.

"Damn it! You cowards! You timid groundhogs! If anyone dares run again, I'll tear out his guts!"

An armored bandit turned and cut down a fleeing bandit lackey, then roared furiously.