Running Away From The Hero! (Remake)

Evade the Hero CH 283 TL (327)

Side Story – Memories of a Princess (56)

After defeating all the enemy forces except for Duke Laisha, we quickly reorganized our troops and prepared to retreat.

“What if he doesn’t come?”

“Our opponent is Duke Laisha. He’s someone who does the unthinkable without batting an eye! That’s why we’re so enamored with him.”

As Ast packed up various items, he raised his voice.

“Hey, that’s expensive! Be careful with it!”

“Yes, senior!”

Does Ast realize that the person he’s ordering around is a dragon? And that the dragon is absolutely terrified of him?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Even if it’s just an act, seeing a dragon obediently following a human’s orders was strange.

“We’ve packed everything. We should leave behind some military secrets while we’re at it.”

“Alright…”

We scattered documents stamped with the Imperial seal, containing completely useless information, all over the place. Then, to make it look like we dropped them in our haste, we scattered some insignificant official papers around.

“Hmm… I kind of want to leak one or two important pieces of information…”

“No matter what the plan is, you can’t leak military secrets.”

“Is that so…?”

Looking disappointed, Ast suddenly had an idea and quickly left, returning with a piece of paper.

“Your Highness, could you stamp this for me?”

“…Is it just me, or do I have a bad feeling about this?”

“It’s just your imagination.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not just my imagination.”

I quickly snatched the paper from Ast’s hand.

“This is…”

There were various things written, but to summarize:

“We plan to attack the enemy in three days? The target location is fully detailed… We didn’t have any such plan, did we?”

“No. I just made it now.”

“I can tell. The ink hasn’t even dried yet.”

“Yes.”

Looking at the fairly neat handwriting, I frowned.

“You want me to stamp this?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“If we can’t leak an existing plan, then we just need to create a plan that we can leak, right?”

“How does that make any sense…?”

What Ast was suggesting was simple. It’s illegal to inform Duke Laisha of pre-planned operations. But informing him of a plan we just made here isn’t illegal.

Well, it’s certainly not illegal.

“You mean we should come up with a plan without reporting it to the military at all?”

“That’s right.”

“You do realize that if the military finds out, it’s grounds for serious punishment, right?”

Except in special cases, all operations must be reported to the military. This is to prevent unforeseen incidents.

For example, suppose Special Unit A moves to attack the enemy. Meanwhile, Special Unit B heads toward the enemy camp to launch an assault and spots Unit A, mistaking them for the enemy. There was once an incident where allies ended up fighting each other because they didn’t realize they were on the same side.

It sounds stupid, but it actually happened in a country in the past.

Therefore, those with certain ranks need to be aware of allied operations in specific areas. Reporting operations to the military is necessary to coordinate this.

Moreover, it’s also to ensure the survival of allied spies infiltrated into enemy lines and for the military to assess the risks of operations. They also prevent actions that are too dangerous or unethical, which could lead to international condemnation.

“Hmm… What level of punishment are we talking about?”

“Considering your past achievements, you might not be executed, but your title would be stripped.”

Therefore, proceeding with operations without reporting to the military is a serious offense.

However…

“That’s perfect!”

The problem was that such punishments didn’t apply to Ast.

“Let’s implement it right away!”

“Sigh…”

For a commoner with no title, receiving a knighthood is an immense honor. Even though many receive titles each year, this is the Empire. A vast territory with countless citizens.

In terms of numbers, it might seem like many receive titles, but proportionally, only a very few can become knights. If one becomes a baron, it’s such a great honor that nearby lords would congratulate them. For a commoner to become a viscount is nearly impossible unless they achieve significant military merit.

Moreover, all of this recognition applies only to the individual.

In Ast’s case, he held a viscount title that allowed him to establish his own family if he wished. He could pass on his title to his descendants. This was nearly impossible for a commoner.

Wealth, power, honor. He had achieved all three as a commoner.

“Well, that’s just like you.”

He was ready to give up such things so easily. No, judging by his expression, he seemed to wish they’d take it away.

I took out my seal and firmly stamped the paper before handing it back. Ast then gave the paper to someone else.

“Maref, adjust the temperature appropriately and dry it well.”

“Understood, senior.”

Using a perfect combination of fire and wind magic, he dried the ink with hot air.

…He was using a dragon.

“Here you go, senior.”

“Thanks.”

“Not at all.”

A dragon, known as the beginning and the end of magic, was using magic just to dry ink. It sounded absurd, but next to Ast, that absurdity was reality.

After confirming the ink was dry, Ast slipped the document among other papers and looked around the messy room, smiling with satisfaction.

—This man is crazy.

Watching him, the dragon trembled. Having observed Ast’s various actions up close, it realized just how crazy Ast could be when he acted like this.

However,

—This is about normal for him.

—That’s the problem!

He had a point. But compared to what we had to deal with, the enemy would have it worse.

After all,

“Now, let’s get out of here.”

For some reason, whenever Ast smiled like that, I’d never seen him fail.

***

#71 Their Situation: The Situation of a Certain Knight

“I’m sorry.”

I still can’t forget the sight of my lord dying with a weary face.

“I’m truly sorry, but could I ask you one last favor?”

It wasn’t just one. Two, three… ten. No, a hundred.

We were prepared to do anything our lord asked. We were all saved by him. So we wished he would get up and continue to lead us. If he did… we would carry out any order.

“He may be a hopeless son, but he’s my only child.”

What our lord worried about until the end was his child. Born as the sole heir of the Laisha ducal family, destined to continue the lineage. An only child who grew up arrogant, having monopolized all the family’s love.

Our lord worried and worried about that son.

“No matter how lacking he is… he’s my only child.”

Realizing it was too late, our lord did his best to educate his son. But the result was failure. He wouldn’t listen to others, was arrogant, and only kept sycophants who were good at flattery but had no real talent.

He wasn’t particularly gifted, had no desire to learn, yet held an unfounded belief that he was the best.

The trash of the Laisha ducal family. That’s what people called the sole heir of the Laisha family.

“He will inherit the Laisha family… He will protect it.”

That worried him greatly. Until his dying moment, our lord worried about his child and the Laisha family.

“If you lack talent, make up for it with effort. If you lack ability, learn.”

These were words our lord often said since I was very young. If you lack talent, compensate with effort. If you lack ability, compensate with learning.

Since no one is perfect, we must complete ourselves through effort and learning.

All the retainers, knights, and soldiers who followed our lord worked hard and learned according to his words. Thus, we became one of the elite forces in the Merdea Kingdom.

“But he does nothing despite lacking talent. He does nothing despite lacking ability.”

He lamented that it was all his fault. With that, our lord left us his final words.

“However… from now on, he is the head of the Laisha family. So please… help him.”

Leaving those words, our lord fell into a sleep like death. And three days later, he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

After our lord’s passing, the Laisha family fell into ruin. Scammers and sycophants filled the surroundings, and people even began buying titles with money.

Seeing the once glorious Laisha family turn into a garbage dump, many shed tears of blood.

But remembering our lord’s last request, we tried our best to uphold it. In the process, many were dismissed and expelled from the Laisha family. And those positions were taken by flatterers and opportunists.

As time went on, hope became harder to see.

Then, war broke out. A massive war that shook the continent. And our Merdea Kingdom faced one of the two empires on the continent.

Naturally, as a family with military authority, the Laisha family had to participate in the war.

We were uneasy. Under our lord, we were an undefeated unit, but with his son holding command, we feared we’d become a unit that only knew defeat.

And my fears were realized.

We lost. We lost, and lost, and lost again.

If the enemy had brilliant commanders, we would have accepted it. If they outnumbered us, we would have understood.

But the enemy was weak. Their commanders were average, their numbers fewer than ours, and we were better trained.

Yet we lost.

We suffered nonsensical casualties due to absurd charges and lost. It was utterly humiliating.

An army that didn’t know defeat in the military powerhouse Merdea Kingdom was now losing every battle.

What rumors must be spreading in the Kingdom? How much lower must the once honorable Laisha family fall?

Eventually, some of those who had served our lord spoke up, saying we would only face defeat if we continued like this. But the response was abusive words: “It’s all because you’re incompetent.”

After that, several who had spoken up were dismissed.

During a war, several experienced commanders were dismissed. Officially, it was for responsibility over the defeats, but everyone in the army knew it wasn’t.

They were dismissed simply because they displeased Duke Laisha.

It was natural that morale in the army hit rock bottom.

In that state, we were sent into battle again.

Defeat was certain.

Our morale was low, and the plan was reckless.

In the end, we were encircled by the Imperial army and barely managed to escape with the help of our allies.

But even after sacrificing tens of thousands of our soldiers to escape, Duke Laisha didn’t come to his senses.

“Now is our chance. We must go on the offensive.”

It was utter nonsense.

If we went out now, we’d all die.

I was convinced of that.

But…

“Huh?”

Watching the enemy retreat in confusion, I couldn’t help but be astonished.

Moreover,

“Here! We found the enemy’s secrets!”

“Over here too!”

“And here! They didn’t have time to destroy these!”

It seemed they intended to burn them but couldn’t finish destroying these confidential documents.

Among them were plans about attacking our forces.

Suspicious. Very suspicious.

But we couldn’t not report what we found.

We collected all the materials and sent them to the military, who used them to thwart enemy attacks.

And this was just the beginning.

“Attack!”

“Retreat!”

The Empire, who had known no defeat, began to flee before Duke Laisha’s attacks.

The one who succeeded in the first counterattack against the Empire.

The evaluation of Duke Laisha in the Merdea Kingdom began to rise sharply.