Chapter 161: 161

The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (161)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

54 The Establishment of the Empire’s Special Field Army! (2)

Iron was grumpy all throughout their journey. Perhaps it was because the newly built Central Army Command was in the Southwest that they needed to cross the Center for a longer period of time than what he liked.

However, his cold and dreary mood melted away the moment he saw the familiar scenery that he hadn’t seen in a long time. He felt like he was finally back home the moment he passed by the North and arrived in the Northeast.

“It feels like we’re back home.”

“Yeah.”

“Kyaaah… I did not expect that this place would make me feel like home.”

“Feels strange.”

The four comrades and compatriots had strange expressions on their faces as they looked at the Northeast’s familiar scenery through the airship’s window. It was a scenery that they hadn’t seen in a long time so it made them feel quite emotional.

It wasn’t just them. Even the Northeasterner soldiers also felt the same. They were tired of the scene when they were here but when they left and came back, they felt emotional for some reason.

Obviously, it was inferior to the large cities. It was a place that was meant only for soldiers to live in and was fortified and built for defense. However, they still missed it dearly.

It was especially more so for Iron. After being sent to the East, he only came back here for a bit before being sent to the North. Then, he was sent to the Center and did a lot of big things before coming back home. In addition, he also remembered the words that Leopold had left him with before his departure. Maybe he was feeling more emotional because he was going to leave the Northeast soon.

“Wow!”

He was brought out of his reverie when Cardro, who was looking out of the window, shouted loudly.

“What is it?”

Carl couldn’t stand the curiosity as he approached Cardro and looked at what he was looking at too. But even he was surprised. Seeing them react like that made the others feel curious too as they all looked out of the window.

The place where the Northeastern Command was now a fortress that was filled with all kinds of cannons, guns and weapons. This scene was not that much different from the past. But what was next to it was the one that made them feel shocked.

Right now, the Wizard Tower, the wizards’ exclusive property, was built right next to command with a Magic Tool Workshop built a bit further away from the two. There were also high-rise buildings that were built by merchants and other buildings built in styles and forms that they had only seen for the first time.

The buildings that were still under construction when they left were now completed one after the other as a fairly wonderful landscape spread out in front of them. There were still many buildings that were under construction but once everything was completed, this place would not be the least bit inferior to other large cities.

These things alone were surprising enough but what was even more surprising was the fact that there was a huge warp gate installed inside the fortress.

“Does this mean that it’s safe now?”

Cardro looked out of the window with a fresh set of expressions after hearing Carl’s question.

Before, a warp gate was installed in the rear of the fortress in case of its collapse. But right now, it was installed inside the fortress castle. That meant that the Northeast had now become safer.

“Woooow…”

While everyone was in awe, the airships began to descend to the airfield one after the other.

“This place has changed too?”

Carl let out a burst of exclamation as he looked at the surroundings. The airfield had now become wider and was filled with airships. In addition, the place where the drakes were usually staying had now been separated from the airships.

“Loyalty! We welcome General Iron’s return!”

Then, several officers rushed to give Iron a salute.

“The commander is looking for you.”

“I understand.”

Iron received their salutes and replied to the officers briefly before looking at his men.

“I will go and see the commander. Go to your own place and get some rest.”

“Yes, sir!”

All of his soldiers moved to return to their own dormitories after hearing Iron’s orders. Iron watched his men take out their piled up luggage in the airship before turning towards the officers again.

“Let’s go.”

The officers that were moving around urgently briefly stopped to give him a salute as he followed behind the officers that welcomed him. Their salutes were angled and straight, something that was completely incomparable to the salutes that he received when he was still a brigadier general.

Although he still belonged to Northeastern Command, he was now a general. Everyone had no choice but to salute nervously since he was already at the same level as the Northeastern Commander.

‘Is it because of this?’

He could now see why Crimson was always stuck in his office and had never gone outside that much. It seemed like everyone was nervous with the arrival of the new general-ranked individual.

Iron smiled bitterly when he saw the field officers that used to talk comfortably with him stand nervously and salute in cold sweat. Perhaps it was because this was Command that there were a lot of corps commander-level individuals. However, it seemed like they all felt burdened when Iron, who was lower than them in rank before grew rapidly and surpassed them in rank, passed by them. It was not just a one or two rank difference but a direct jump to general-rank.

In fact, they still respected each other even if they had one or two ranks in difference, but that was all. After all, some were his peers in the academy while some had trained together with him so they could still talk comfortably with each other. They only felt a bit burdened when he became a brigadier general but the moment he took the general-rank, the peak rank for any soldier, everyone saluted without any hesitation.

Iron arrived at the commander’s office amidst the burdensome salutes and greetings from the other officers.

“You’re here?”

Iron finally let out a huge breath of relief when Crimson welcomed him with a bright smile on his face. He couldn’t help but feel relieved since his commander did not change that much when interacting with him.

“Sit.”

Crimson smiled wider the moment Iron sat down.

“How was their welcome greeting?”

“Hoo… It’s burdensome.”

Crimson shook his head and mumbled ‘I know how you feel!’ when Iron sighed and answered his question frankly.

Just being at the commander-level was enough to make the entire unit’s eyes sparkle while those at the lower rank look down and sweep the floor with their eyes, what more if one reached the general-rank? No matter how often they saw them in Command, the person sitting at the Army Commander position still had the power to make them feel nervous. And even though Iron was not the Commander, the power and deterrent of a General was still no joke.

“You’ll have to get used to it.”

“Hoo…”

Iron sighed deeply as he shook his head. However, even though it was burdensome, it did not mean that he was having a hard time. After all, he had already experienced the burden of everyone’s eyes focused on him after he had climbed the high position that made him oversee the North in his previous life.

“Well, I know that you’ll do a good job.”

Crimson said so as he handed Iron some documents.

“This…”

There were two pieces of paper in front of Iron.

“One will make you the Northeast Command’s Deputy Commander. If you accept this, you will become the Commander of this place when I step down in a few years.”

“Ah…”

This was the easiest method. It was the general course of action for a person from the Northeast to become the next commander of the Northeast. However, the problem was Iron was too young. The burden that all of his superiors becoming his subordinates would carry because of his high-speed promotion was not a laughing matter. Of course, this was a problem that could be overcome and stabilized over time but from the perspective of the subordinates, this was something that would continue to become a burden for a long time.

“The other one is…”

“It’s to establish a new army for you.”

Iron lifted the paper and read it carefully after hearing Crimson’s words.

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“Seeing that you’re not surprised, you must have heard some things from the Central Army Commander.”

“He just gave me a heads up.”

Crimson nodded lightly after hearing Iron’s answer.

“In fact, the commanders had already discussed this issue.”

Establishing a new army was not a simple task. After all, there were a lot of disputes between each armies and there were even complex problems like how much territory they had to give up for the creation of a new one. These were all underlying problems in creating a new army.

In addition, they also had to get permission from the Center. With the creation of the Capital Defense Corps, would they allow the establishment of a new army? There was no way that the Center would accept this. No matter how weak the Center was right now, the story would change once they had a justification.

There was an empty commander position in the Center so establishing a new army and giving Iron the position of commander there meant that they were openly showing their intention of screwing them over. If that happened, the public opinion towards the Central Government, which was at its worst, would probably turn and become amiable.

Because of this, they needed to create a reason for Iron to lead a new army and not become the Center’s Capital Defense Corps Commander.

“Empire’s special field army.”

Crimson smiled when he heard Iron blankly reading the contents of the paper.

“The only field army in the Empire.”

It was not a corps but a mobile unit in the scale of a field army. And the commander of this army was none other than Iron.

Crimson explained to Iron quietly when he saw him staring blankly at him after reading something so unbelievable.

“Right now, the threat to the Empire is almost gone. The remaining Death Corps in the Center, monsters in the North, sea monsters in the East and the void monsters in the West are all within the control of the armies in each region.”

Iron nodded heavily at Crimson’s words.

The South and the West were both still in danger while the Northeast was already carefree and safe. Since it had become the safest place in the continent, they now had an endless potential for development. Because of this, anyone could argue that the troops guarding the Northeast could be reduced so they could send support to the vulnerable and dangerous areas.

“The Central Government might try to get a bite in the Northeast.”

“They might say that we’re relatively free but… it’s not like that at all.”

Crimson spoke seriously.

“What are you… Is there another problem? By any chance, did you discover surviving elves…”

“No. It’s not about them. Even if some of them survive, the World Tree will manage them.”

Iron tilted his head in confusion after hearing Crimson’s words.

“Then…”

“It’s beyond the mountain ranges.”

Iron’s expression hardened after hearing Crimson’s words.

“We have detected a suspicious mana wavelength over there. However, the area where it originated from is still unknown.”

“The void…?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Iron was confused when he heard Crimson’s firm answer.

“Then, what in the world is it…?”

“We don’t know yet.”

It was almost impossible for the Northeast, which was already cut in half, to spy beyond the mountains. In addition, they had already withdrawn the outposts and the search areas in the Winter Mountains so it was difficult for them to search and investigate anywhere beyond that area.

Even if they declared that the Northeast was safe, it was only in the area that was below the mountain ranges. Many high-leveled monsters might have disappeared from the top of the mountain ranges but there was no guarantee that they did not go beyond the mountain ranges.

Because of that, the Northeastern Army had to reorganize and prepare for emergencies more diligently than ever.

“We can’t even tell the public about this.”

“That’s only natural since we’re already independent from the Center.”

Iron understood Crimson’s intention immediately as he spoke.

“There’s no need to inform the outside of an unidentified threat.”

“That’s right. I don’t intend to let anyone else know until our army recovers.”

Iron nodded at Crimson’s words.

The Center was already broken and they could no longer expect any external help since the other regions were also in a difficult situation. The Northeast now had to go through this ordeal alone.

And in such a situation, it was impossible for them to show people the image that the place was as dangerous as before.

‘White lies.’

Iron and Crimson both nodded their heads as these two words flashed in their heads. These were the perfect words for their current situation.

“How many know about this?”

“All of the commanders and the corps commanders of the Northeastern Army.”

“You didn’t tell the Center?”

Crimson smiled bitterly at Iron’s question.

“I’m going to let them know after a while passes.”

Iron respected Crimson’s decisions. There was no need for them to create more risk especially since the Northeast was still recovering.

“How are you going to persuade the Center?”

“If you choose to become the commander, we will gather troops from each region and ask you to deal with the threats on the outside.”

“Don’t tell me…?”

“That’s right. Dealing with threats outside the Empire, not inside the Empire. That’s our justification to persuade the Center.”

Iron thought that it was possible after pondering over Crimson’s words.

With the Empire already damaged and on the brink of collapse, damage from the outside would also become a burden to the Center. Creating a mobile army that would deal with the threats outside the Empire would reduce the burden from within the Empire. It did not matter if they chose to help the allied forces of the kingdom or they moved by their own, whatever threat they dealt with would reduce the burden of the Empire.

In addition, they could inform the outside that the Empire was still in good condition. Even if it was just a false facade, they would still be able to gain the support from the people. After all, they would gain the confidence and pride of being the strongest country and Empire in the entire continent.

“Choose. All the commanders said that they would respect your choice.”

Iron laughed when he heard Crimson’s question.

“I believe there’s only one choice.”

Crimson smiled as he quietly took the paper after hearing Iron’s words. Then, he looked at Iron and said…

“Congratulations. You are now a commander, like me.”

***

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