The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (142)
Translator: ChubbyCheeks
49 Chaos and Confusion in the Center (1)
[ If you want to live, go to Iron! He’s the Center’s final hope! ]
Newspapers with articles like this spread throughout the cities in the North and the East.
The article introduced the North’s Saint and described in detail what he did and how he came down to save the Center.
[ Starting from the West, he gathered the collapsed Central Army troops and formed his own force in the Center.
The northern area of the Center has been transformed into a relatively safe area after the Death Corps failed to use their power and lost consecutive battles against them.
And all of this happened because of a single person.
This was all due to Iron.
The area that he occupied became an area that was safer than any other area that had been occupied by other forces.
Trust him.
He is the hero who protected the Northeast, the East and the North. ]
It was a somewhat awkward article. But it wasn’t the only article that painted them in this way.
[ Does anybody still doubt his power?
His enormous holy power was a power that contradicted the beings of death. And his powerful divine beasts had annihilated and slaughtered countless beings of the void. Above all, he truly has the power to defeat Molina, the Death Corps commander and the third-ranked vampire.
Believe.
Do not doubt.
He is the new pillar that will support the Empire. ]
Similar newspaper articles poured out as they officially and completely recaptured Soren Territory. All of them published articles that praised Iron.
A new ray of light appeared and shone on the Center’s desperate situation so all of the people in the Center cheered loudly for Iron.
Just like in the Northeast.
In the North.
And in the East.
They believed that he would be able to free them from the beings of the void.
The isolated Central Army troops, the selfish Capital Defense Force, and the other-worlders’ alliance that only moved for their benefit. The appearance of news related to Iron and his troops in such a situation where they were only faced with articles about those three forces was like a ray of hope for the people in the Center.
“There’s a lot.”
Iron murmured as he looked out of the window.
The city was once a count’s territory. The place which had been deserted and almost half-destroyed once again turned lively as countless people flocked to the territory.
They had restored the walls. And with the supplies coming from the North, Iron was able to fortify the area as he trained the incoming Central Army troops. Even if the training was not the level that would make them on par with the Special Mobile Unit, Iron still forced them to train as he injected them with the knowledge that he knew. At the very least, he wanted them to be able to withstand their enemies’ attacks and not collapse even if they weren’t there.
He never intended to stay in this place for a long time.
He wanted to move south while gathering enough troops. But there were more survivors and Central Army troops in the Center. Because of that, he had no choice but revise his plans of quickly joining Leopold and his Central Army.
It was an inevitable choice since the force that he had created by occupying the Soren territory had a more strategic advantage than joining the Central Army and fighting with them. So, instead of doing that, he decided to help the West with his forces. He would take advantage of the territory’s geographical advantage, what with being located in the Center’s northwest, and wiping out the Death Corps headed towards the West periodically.
They were placing their butts down and settling down in this place, something that was completely different from their name Special Mobile Unit, but no one blamed their choice. Instead of blaming them, there were plenty of people who wanted Iron and his troops to stay in Soren for a long time.
“Hoo… I’m getting a headache.”
However, problems would definitely arise when plenty of people had gathered together. Things that they did not need to do before constantly happened for the soldiers. From trivial things to solving problems between people.
Iron was having constant headaches for temporarily handling things that should be done by public officials. He was still doing well since he had done this in his past life but he was still under a lot of stress since he hadn’t done this for a long time.
While he was trying to cool down and calm himself for a while by staring blankly out of the window, Ariel came knocking on his door.
“This is the total number of Central Army troops that have gathered in Soren.”
Iron’s eyes brightened at Ariel’s words.
“There’s not much left before we reach the corps level, huh?”
“Yes.”
“A Brigade Leader leading a corps… It should normally be impossible but…”
Iron mumbled to himself as he looked through the documents on his desk.
The combination of his Special Mobile Unit and the group of the gathered Central Army troops had led to a large number of troops that reached the corps level. To be exact, the troops’ number had already grown enough to reach two divisions.
“Hoo… There’s definitely going to be a problem.”
“You will receive protests from the majority of the army the moment you speak out as the leader.”
“You think so?”
Iron grinned as he asked Ariel when she spoke up.
“Yes. They will force you to get a promotion.”
Iron just grinned at Ariel’s words that were filled with conviction as he looked around the office. This was previously used as the count’s office but has now changed into an office that Iron used.
“Should I settle down in this place once I get promoted? I think this office is pretty good…”
“I know that you won’t do that.”
Iron’s smile turned bitter at Ariel’s words.
If it were in the past, he might have taken his time and considered it. But not now. He knew that just sitting in a higher position would not help especially if they were being faced with the danger of collapse and extinction. What he needed to do was move around more diligently.
“How’s the training going?”
“Well. They’re still a bit inexperienced but they’re slowly increasing their proficiency since we deliberately search for the Death Corps.”
Iron nodded lightly after hearing Ariel’s report.
“What a relief. However, don’t push them too hard. Now that this place has turned into our base, our operation should aim for being reliable and stable instead.”
“I understand.”
Their situation right now was different from when they were still just the Special Mobile Unit.
Right now, their goal was to expand their area with their base in Soren as the axis. That was why they needed to manage their troops so that they could stably and consistently reduce their losses and injuries.
“But we still manage to reach the corps level.”
Most of the knights were low-ranked knights and their numbers were mostly filled with soldiers but after settling in the count-level city, he was able to create temporary aerial units from the small number of airships that the North had sent together with their support. He was even able to imitate a true corps to some extent. And with the participation of the wizards that survived, the framework of the corps that he envisioned was truly coming into being.
The problem was that there would always be greedy people that would come out the moment he managed the corps well.
“There will definitely be people who will speak nonsense. Try to hold it in as much as possible.”
“…Yes.”
“Especially Cardro. Follow him around so he doesn’t get in trouble.”
“I’m busy.”
Iron sighed when he saw Ariel speaking grimly.
“You know full well how quick tempered that guy is. And our problems will only increase if he causes just one problem.”
“Hoo… I understand.”
Ariel’s reply was reluctant. She was annoyed because she was already busy but she needed to go and take care of her colleague too. But she thought that it was alright to do it once in a while since she was a bit older than him.
However, Ariel’s wishful thinking had been broken in just a single day.
“Ho… Does it even make sense for a brigade leader to lead a corps?”
“That’s what I’m saying. How dare a brigade leader do that when Division Leader Rishun is here…”
“Tch! The fact that a commander from the Northeast is leading the Central Army troops is already nonsensical.”
Some of the officers gathered together and spat on Iron as they drank together. All of them were officers from the Central Army.
These officers who gathered together were all officers and leaders who ran away and escaped with Division Leader Rishun. They were the ones who immediately hid themselves behind the knights the moment the Central Army collapsed and only crawled out from their hiding place to gather in the area where Iron was when they saw Death Corps had disappeared from the performance of Iron and his troops.
All of them were elites and officers that were in line with the capital. And because of that, they did not like the fact that they were being ordered and led by someone from the Northeast.
In their point of view, no matter how strong Iron was and how much he was hailed as a hero, he was still a commander from the countryside. However, they couldn’t mix and cause a disturbance alone. They lacked both in skills and contributions to be considered as a pillar. So, all they could do was secretly protest to Rishun, the only person with the title of division leader.
“These trashes…”
Cardro’s anger and bloodlust burst after hearing the rumors and tried to find them but Ariel grabbed his shoulder and shook her head.
“Don’t cause any more problems.”
Cardro’s eyes were filled with killing intent as he looked at Ariel.
“Iron told me to look after you because he’s afraid that you’d go berserk.”
“…So, you’re telling me to leave them alone?”
Cardro only asked Ariel with an annoyed expression on his face after a moment of silence.
“I don’t like it either. But we have to leave them alone for now.”
“Ha…”
Cardro wanted to smash the heads of Rishun’s officers right there and then but he was being stopped. Seeing his look, Ariel had no choice but to speak again.
“You know that Iron is narrow-minded, right? Do you think he’s someone that would let them go like that?”
“Uhm…”
“Leave them alone. We have a lot of work to do, we don’t have the time to care about them.”
“…Right.”
The scared officers who saw them from afar began to talk shit about Iron once again the moment they saw that Ariel had barely calmed down Cardro. They became more agitated because they thought that they weren’t touching them because they couldn’t hastily touch them since they were the elite officers of the Central Army.
Perhaps it was because of Iron’s command that the Special Mobile Unit just continued their training while enduring the Central Army officers that were ignoring them. They endured after hearing that Iron would give them special training by himself if they caused a problem for no reason at all.
With this situation continuing on for a week, the elite officers of the Central Army began to stretch their backs little by little. Because of the defeat and collapse of the Central Army, the officers’ spirits were also broken as they sought shelter in a safe place. However, their arrogance was emerging little by little.
Then, Iron officially called for Division Leader Rishun.
“It’s been a while.”
“Haha! That’s true.”
Division Leader Rishun shook hands with Iron arrogantly. Ariel’s brows furrowed when she saw how he was acting. However, she was able to endure it after seeing Iron’s signal.
“Sit down.”
“Sure.”
Ariel placed a teacup in front of the now sitting Rishun.
“I will be straightforward. Major General Rishun, take your officers and go somewhere else.”
“Hmm?”
Rishun’s eyes sank the moment he heard Iron’s words.
“Your reason?”
“You’re a disturbance.”
Rishun frowned at Iron’s firm words.
“They are the elite officers of the Central Army.”
“I know that.”
“They might not be any better than the ones from the Northeast but they are good officers in their own way.”
“I know that too.”
“But you want to give them up?”
Iron nodded at Rishun’s words.
“They are interfering with the army’s consolidation and merging.”
Rishun frowned at Iron’s words.
He knew this fact too. He knew that his men were causing problems. However, he ignored it because of the greed that remained in him. His greed and desire to command an army again and fight with the Death Corps too. That was the reason why Rishun wanted to meet with Iron at the right time too.
“You know full well about the battles that you have been fighting so far. This kind of bloated and ballooned unit does not fit you.”
“What do you want to say?”
“Give me the Central Army troops. Just pick the elites from your Special Mobile Unit and the Central Army. And let me take charge of this place.”
Iron just looked silently at Rishun after hearing his proposal. Thinking that his words were working, Rishun continued to speak again.
“The majority of the surviving Central Army troops are now entirely disorderly. It will take a long time to raise them. In fact, you’re the only one that’s dragging them down. Don’t you think so?”
Iron quietly took a sip of his tea after hearing Rishun’s words.
“Then?”
“I heard that you’re going to help Commander Leopold. Right?”
“And so?”
“Then, you only need to lead the elites. Instead, I will remain here and protect Soren.”
Iron drank another sip of his tea before placing his teacup down quietly.
Then, he looked at Rishun and said…
“I’ve heard your bullshit well.”
***
