The Betrayed Master Betrays In Turn

Chapter 3

As a poor, orphaned teenager, Viktor had no means of escaping to the empire. He lacked the money, supplies, and stamina for such a journey, and even if he did, there was no way to avoid the robbers and bandits that would undoubtedly be waiting for him outside the city. Even with the help of his mini-map, Viktor wasn’t confident he could outrun armed men chasing him with swords.

Once he entered the Ruth Kingdom's military academy, it became impossible to even talk about the empire in a favorable light. The Dragonnia Empire and the Ruth Kingdom had been enemies long before Viktor arrived in this world. To be precise, it was the nobles of Ruth who harbored a deep hatred for the empire, and the academy was full of those nobles’ children. Had Viktor mentioned the empire, he would likely have been subjected to even worse harassment.

After becoming a soldier, any opportunity to escape completely vanished. Desertion was a grave crime in every military, and as Viktor’s achievements mounted, more and more imperial generals had their sights set on capturing him. Surrendering could very well mean losing his head.

And so, when Andrei told him that the kingdom intended to hand him over to the empire, it felt like a rope from the heavens had descended to save him.

“Hehehe.”

“Have you lost your mind? Laughing in a situation like this?” Andrei sneered.

“Hahaha...”

Andrei’s poorly delivered taunts didn’t faze Viktor. After all, this development solved all of his problems at once.

There were several clues Viktor could gather from Andrei’s actions. The fact that he brought only ropes meant they intended to hand him over alive. Andrei’s reluctance to use force, preferring to hurl insults instead, suggested that he had likely been ordered to refrain from violence. If he hadn’t received such orders, he would have already punched Viktor the moment he thought Viktor was fully restrained.

“What do you think they’ll do to you when they take you away?”

Andrei continued to supply Viktor with free information. According to him, it was Ruth Kingdom that first proposed the truce. The emperor of the Dragonnia Empire specifically mentioned Viktor by name, demanding his transfer, and the kingdom agreed to the terms.

The fact that the emperor personally requested Viktor was critical. As the saying goes, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Viktor had significantly weakened the noble faction of the empire, which meant the emperor likely didn’t harbor any personal grudge against him. In fact, the current emperor of the Dragonnia Empire was well known for recruiting talented people from enemy nations, sometimes even creating special events in the game to hire them. It was very likely the emperor wanted to use Viktor.

That made Viktor’s next move simple.

"Let’s go, Andrei," Viktor said calmly.

"...Huh?" Andrei looked puzzled.

Viktor only needed to be led away without resistance. After all, everything was falling into place just as he had hoped.

---

Now, Viktor lay on the familiar hard cot in his tent, utterly exhausted.

“Phew...”

It had been a year and a half since I became General Viktor's personal adjutant.

At first, I thought it was a demotion. In a military controlled by high-ranking nobles, being assigned as an adjutant to a common-born officer wasn’t exactly a good sign.

I was suspicious from the start. After all, I wasn’t a noble either, and I had experienced the nobles' toxic hierarchy firsthand since the academy. The idea that "commoners should stick together" was something I had learned through bitter experience.

On top of that, Viktor was still a young officer who had only graduated from the academy four years earlier. I worried that following him would get me killed due to some reckless ambition. I'd seen enough of that typical sense of honor in young, inexperienced officers to last a lifetime. I didn’t want to experience it again.

But Viktor was different.

“What the... what do you think you’re doing?”

“I can’t trust you. I need to see for myself.”

“How dare you speak to us like that? Who do you think—”

I was getting closer to the tent, but no sounds were coming from inside, which made me increasingly anxious. If these royal guards had harmed General Viktor...

*Pii!*

A short whistle, and the soldiers advanced another step.

“You lunatic! Are you defying the king’s orders?”

“Defying? Where’s the proof of these orders?”

“The captain...”

“Exactly, I need to see it for myself!”

I was debating whether to blow the whistle again when—

*Flap.*

“What’s all this commotion?”

“Captain!”

The tent flap opened, and out stepped Andrei, the captain of the royal guard, holding a rope in his hand.

And behind him was General Viktor, tied up and dragged along.

"...General?"

He remained silent, head bowed. There were no visible injuries, but being bound like that was not a good sign.

“That wench dared to defy us!” one of the guards shouted, trembling as he ran to Andrei, who had just emerged. His panicked behavior resembled a child tattling to his parents, which made me wonder if these men were really royal guards.

“She tried to resist a royal order?”

“...”

If the king’s order was legitimate, I could be in danger now too. Disobeying the king's orders was treason, a crime punishable by death, especially for soldiers.

“We’ve got another one to arrest,” Andrei said, pointing a finger at me.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

Suddenly, a booming laugh echoed through the camp.