Chapter 1188 – Conscription of Doctors
“Hmm?” I was confused too. This wasn’t what we agreed on. Older Brother Jayad should have told the Knight Captain my pseudonym “Lime” yesterday, and he would just need to call my name.
After a moment of thought, I understood the Knight Captain’s intention. I was registered as Doctor Amelia’s assistant, an obscure little doctor. Calling my name directly from the list would seem deliberate and strange.
In reality, the soldier was calling out names from small groups, like those from a specific clinic or small hospital, asking them to come over together. The advantage of this was obvious: my name, even my pseudonym, wouldn’t appear on the list at all, completely outside the official roster. This would reduce another layer of possibility for me to be discovered.
Even if the assassination attempt failed, Albrisque would at most suspect that I had infiltrated the medical team and that the Knight Captain had no involvement, as he hadn’t specifically named me. This guy, despite his serious demeanor, was quite cunning, already preparing to shift blame before the operation even began.
But then again, he was someone with status and family, unlike me, who already had a deep-seated hatred for Albrisque and could simply run away if the assassination failed.
“Really, why did your grudges have to involve me? Asking a pregnant woman to go to war, please spare me,” Amelia complained. She could now comfortably refer to herself as pregnant, even though her figure hadn’t changed yet. However, she insisted on using this identity to complain, and what she said was true; she had been dragged into this by me without reason.
“I’m sorry, it was wrong of me to drag you into this. We’ll have to accept it for now. It probably won’t be too dangerous. If anything unexpected happens, I’ll have my brother prioritize your protection,” I said helplessly.
The Knight Captain must have heard my pseudonym from Older Brother Jayad. After checking the list, he found that I was listed as an assistant physician under Amelia’s Clinic and directly called her name. From the Knight Captain’s perspective, Amelia was either an accomplice in my plot or a complete stranger. I had just happened to end up under her subordinate. Therefore, calling her name directly was fine.
Little did he know, Amelia was indeed my friend, but she was a pure doctor. I didn’t want to involve her. Perhaps I should talk to him another day and ask him to let Amelia stay behind. It was impossible now, though. Amelia said with resignation, “There’s no other way. Pack your things, and let’s go.”
Amelia had even less strength than I did, and she was pregnant, so she couldn’t carry much. We only carried our medical kit, hastily assembled, and left the barracks with the soldiers. On the way, I listened to the chatter of the other doctors and learned some information. Several of them had accompanied troops on expeditions before and were more experienced. The other doctors were all surrounding them, asking for advice.
I learned that having doctors accompany troops to rescue the wounded was a tradition or a fixed establishment. Some legions even had their own permanent military doctors. So, regardless of my plan to assassinate Albrisque, the Knight Captain was going to recruit military doctors for his troops. Therefore, I didn’t need to feel like I had caused them to be involved. It was just a coincidence. The doctors shared some precautions, such as how to conserve energy during marches, how to survive in chaotic battles, and whom to prioritize for rescue. All the other doctors listened attentively.
Some doctors also went up to the soldiers to ask about the purpose of this mission. The soldiers were quite polite to these doctors, who might save their lives. “We don’t know the specific mission objective. We’re told it’s to support friendly forces in the surrounding areas. It shouldn’t be too difficult. You just need to follow behind, and there shouldn’t be any danger,” the soldiers said.
Support friendly forces? What a strange mission. Logically, the surrounding areas had already been completely corrupted. Were there still friendly forces fighting out there? If it was to rescue trapped people, it didn’t seem so urgent. Could it be to support other nearby cities? As I pondered these possibilities, the other doctors were also discussing potential future situations. Thus, we walked towards the camp and saw troops hastily assembling.
I had heard from Older Brother Jayad last night that these were the troops directly under the Knight Captain. However, it was clear that the quality of these troops was not good. Their formation was quite scattered, and there was even the sound of noisy chatter. I had also heard this from Older Brother Jayad. Ever since the City Defense Army rebelled, the Lord of the City had lost trust in the knights and officers under his command and had recalled the elite troops’ command back to himself.
The Knight Captain’s army was formed by recently gathered militia and rural groups, even including hastily conscripted farmers and thugs. I shook my head just by looking at their military posture. Although their equipment seemed acceptable, likely because the Lord of the City had temporarily issued them armor and weapons from storage, comparable to general adventurers, I had serious doubts about their actual quality and combat spirit. Moreover, there weren’t many of them, probably only a little over five hundred. Sending these men to fight fierce magical beasts would likely result in a one-sided slaughter, with them being the ones slaughtered.
There were also some strong individuals. On the other side, there was a mixed force of about one to two hundred men, all wearing armor of different styles and colors, and wielding various weapons. These were the Citizen Cavalry, mixed with some mercenaries and adventurers. Once each person assembled a mount, they formed a small cavalry unit. If we talked about individual bravery, they had some skill, but they excelled at fighting alone. They had certainly not trained enough for army formations just days ago.
My gaze swept across the Citizen Cavalry and I saw Older Brother Jayad and Little Elaine. However, they were now wearing full Knight Armor, making them difficult to recognize. Older Brother Jayad had completely suppressed his aura. Coupled with that old and unremarkable Templar Knight-style armor, he looked like a tin can. As for Little Elaine beside him, she was naturally wearing her family’s inherited armor, which looked much more gorgeous than Older Brother Jayad’s old-fashioned armor, but it also completely covered her face. I only recognized her by the distinctive Rock-horned Beast beside him.
All these people combined, totaling six to seven hundred miscellaneous troops. Normally, before a battle, armies would be issued capes of the same color to ensure friend-or-foe identification in chaotic battles. But this time, they were hunting monsters, which weren’t even human and wouldn’t get confused. Therefore, even friend-or-foe identification markers were omitted.
