The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (165)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

54 The Establishment of the Empire’s Special Field Army! (6)

Cardro and Ariel recalled the past as they watched everyone twitching listlessly on the ground. 

It wasn’t this extreme back then. His swordsmanship was already at the 6th Stage back then and his strength was great. But right now, he was showing a far skillful display of strength.

Just like any other 6th Stage individuals, he did not show any flashy or destructive display of attacks but he showed a sharper and neater swordsmanship than any other swordsmanship. His neat swordsmanship meant that there was not even a little gap in his movements. 

Because of that, the more he trained his men, the more despair they felt. They thought that they could do it but the more they fought, the more they realized that they couldn’t dig into any gaps since his swordsmanship was perfect. Just like that, they fell into a pit of despair and pain. 

By the time they thought that they had overcome his power, Iron used his other weapons, frost energy and lightning. 

“If that was the end, then we did not have to go through all that suffering.” 

“Yeah.”

Ariel and Cardro watched Iron press the soldiers more firmly with his frost energy and lightning. 

Iron would probably roll them countless times until they used their heads to attack him. They needed to find a way to use their numbers to break through Iron’s steel mana that strengthened his body, keep his frost energy and lightning in check, and crush his high-leveled swordsmanship. However, even if they were able to overcome those, Iron still had the divine beasts’ power. 

It was because of the various abilities that this ‘person’ has that they couldn’t respond and kept on being smashed again and again. 

“Phew… They must be suffering.” 

“I know. I feel a bit of pity for them. I think they’ll probably be rolled by him until we leave.” 

Cardro and Ariel looked at the officers and non-commissioned officers, who would be rolled hard, one last time before slipping away. After all, it wouldn’t be good for them if Iron noticed them for no reason at all. 

Their hellish training ended an hour after the two of them had left. However, their training was not yet over. 

“I’m very disappointed. None of you were able to endure and hold on during the morning training. So, I will be with you until evening for training. Make sure to be present.”

The officers and non-commissioned officers screamed after hearing Iron’s words. 

However, humans are beings that could adapt and conform, right? Or so they thought.

The painful and hellish training that they had experienced on the first day continued on day after day. It was still painful and hell-like even on the next day. That was right. The time and intensity of their pain just increased day after day. Thankfully, more and more people were able to skip the evening training since they were able to endure and hold out during their morning training. 

While the self-proclaimed elites were enduring Iron’s hellish training, the others were also training like crazy. 

What would happen if they saw the people next to them working hard and training diligently? Of course, they would work hard in fear of being included in that hellish training regimen.

Everyone gritted their teeth as they started training hard after occasionally witnessing Iron’s training. Perhaps it was because of this devilish instructor that they were all shaking and trembling in fear to the point that they had no choice but to work hard. 

While all of this happened, Iron’s younger brothers came and brought the Lion Family’s branch family descendants. And finally, North’s Gaon Temphet and the Northern Territories’ noble sons also arrived.

With their arrival, the people who would become the basic framework of Iron’s field army were finally completed. 

Fortunately, the people from the North followed Iron’s training without any hesitation. They believed that there was a reason for doing this training so they all nodded their heads in agreement. Perhaps they agreed and believed easily because they had seen Iron’s contributions or maybe because he had proven his strength to them. Since they were willing, Iron did not need to add more people to his hellish training.

Finally, the completed field army began to train in earnest. 

The only thing that did not change was the self-proclaimed ‘elite group’ that Iron personally trained. The elite group continued their hellish training despite the fact that a more systematic, more professional and more difficult training regimen had been implemented for others. In fact, even the wizards’ training with the divine beasts had been reduced greatly. Only the self-proclaimed elite group continued on.

Iron did not let them go. He was fully aware that their useless pride and arrogance would become a hindrance and a problem later on if he failed to fix it now. So, he made sure to train them well.

“What a pity.” 

The officers that were lying on the ground flinched after they heard Iron’s words. 

Their hellish training, which lasted for more than a month, has finally come to an end today. They all held on to Iron and persistently fought against him thinking that they would only endure this hell until today. However, it seemed like Iron wanted to continue training them for a few more days. 

“They’re only barely able to get themselves together but…”

They were still lacking in more ways than one. Even their lazy and prideful spirits were still yet to be completely trained. Iron believed that he needed to roll them hard for at least two more months before they could have a strong mentality that was suitable for the army that he had envisioned. However, they did not have that time. 

Ariel and the other high-ranked officers were all lined up and waiting for Iron, who felt that it was a pity that they ended the training today, to return to his temporary commander’s office. 

“Let’s go inside.”

The officers lined up outside of his office came inside one after the other after Iron entered. 

“Is it tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir!”

Tomorrow was the day that the ‘Empire’s Special Mobile Field Army’ would be officially established. It was also the day that Iron would be officially appointed as the Commander of the field army. 

He had to move to the Southeast immediately after receiving the appointment of Field Army Commander in the Empire’s capital. 

All of the materials and workers that would work on the buildings were prepared and ready. All they needed to do was sweep away all of the dangerous beings lurking in the Southeast and create an environment where they could work on the construction peacefully. 

“It’s time for us to work seriously. Make sure that everyone is determined and ready.”

“Yes.”

“Real battles will be waiting for us the moment we arrive in the Southeast. You might have fought a lot of battles but keep in mind that there are others who haven’t done so.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“Hoo… You still have a lot of areas to improve on but there’s no helping it. It’s only a pipe dream for us to move out fully prepared. The only thing that we can do right now is make use of our current state and show maximum efficiency.” 

Everyone felt tense and nervous as Iron stared at them firmly. 

Their personal strength and improvement was not a problem. But right now, they were commanding officers. They would now be responsible for the safety of their subordinates. 

Iron had also told them this when he led the brigade. However, the scale of things had already changed. Compared to the situation that they were in back then, they had to take responsibility and lead much more inexperienced and immature subordinates. It was not even comparable to dealing with the beings that could be killed easily in Iron’s sanctuary. This time, Iron would not be able to pay attention to all of them unlike when they were just a brigade. 

“I’m fully aware that you’re all not yet used to leading your own units.” 

Iron pointedly looked at his younger brothers and the wizards.

The others already have some experience in leading their own units. Not only those from the Northeastern Army but even the Northern noble sons had a bit of experience on this. The Northern noble sons had experience in leading their own territories and the other officers had pinned down the basics since they had a lot of experience in the military. 

However, his brothers and the wizards were different. 

‘The Leonhardts don’t really have the concept of leading an army.’ 

Unlike other families, leadership was not important in the Lion Family. After all, they were a family that pursued individual strength. They might be able to gain experience if they entered the Knight Order and gained a high position but the war in the North took a long time so following the knights had been delayed. The knights were all busy trying to fill in the vacancy after the death of a lot of people. 

The same was true for the wizards. It was probably because they had been stuck in their Wizard Towers and devoted themselves to studying and learning magic that they had a lot of shortcomings when it came to leading others. 

“I don’t have the time to tell each of you any kind words. The situation in the continent is constantly changing, even right at this very moment. We don’t have enough time to respond to all of these changes. My consideration and care for you will end here. If you encounter problems, solve them. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“Good. I will stop the nagging here… Prepare to move from now on. Get ready to move to the Southeast.” 

Ariel tilted her head after hearing Iron’s command. 

“Are you going to the capital alone?” 

“That’s right. I will receive the official appointment and join you right away. So, move to the Southeast first. Cardro and Carl Stein will lead the transportation missions and logistics management.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“Yes, sir!” 

Iron clapped his hands together after hearing the two answer him loudly. 

“Good! Move out!” 

All of the officers left the commander’s office and moved quickly after receiving Iron’s orders. 

Meanwhile, Iron washed up and changed into his formal uniform after a long time. There were three medals pinned on the left side of his chest. 

Usually, general-level individuals would have a lot of medals hanging on their uniforms with marks that symbolized their status as special soldiers and elite executives. However, Iron’s uniform was relatively neat and clean. He only had three medals and only had the mark that symbolized the Ghosts, the mark that represented the Winter Mountains Search Team and the unofficial mark that showed the Mobile Brigade. 

However, any soldier who saw his medals and marks would admire them the moment they saw him. After all, all of the marks on his uniform represented famous units and his medals were all the best medals of the regions that he fought in. 

“There’s only two left?”

Iron mumbled to himself as he looked at the medals pinned on his left chest. He had received all the medals that he could receive in the Northeast. He had also received the best medals in the East, North and the Center. The only regions left were the South and the West. 

“In fact… the effects are good.”

With the pretext of being in the 6th Stage and his hellish training, he was able to ‘bash’ the self-proclaimed elite group and almost kill their useless pride and arrogance. However, the truth was that no 6th Stage person could smash hundreds of these officers every day no matter how strong they were. After all, they were still human and would get tired. Even if they could do it the first time, they would eventually lose a few times. 

But Iron was not like that at all. He had his title effects backing him up. Thanks to his Hero’s Achievements, his body had now become several times more powerful. In fact, in terms of abilities, he was already as powerful as a master. In addition, his spirit and mental strength was stronger than any other warrior. 

‘Perhaps it was because of this that I can reach this stage and reach the wall faster…’

He thought that it was because of his title effects that he was able to reach this stage early. It wasn’t as obvious as the Monster Scholar and Winter Mountain Hunter but he felt that he was getting stronger as he accumulated the Hero’s Achievements. They piled up and created a body and mental fortitude that allowed him to withstand the blood storm. 

“…I should gather more.”

He had received the title Empire’s Hero but it was not over yet. 

So, he made another oath to himself and stepped forward wearing his formal uniform. 

Iron headed towards the warp gate with his neat and clean attire and moved towards the capital. After receiving the salute of the officer in charge of the warp gate, Iron once again opened his eyes at the half-collapsed Imperial Palace. 

The installation of a warp gate inside the Imperial Palace was evidence that the once closed-off palace had now changed. Because of this, plenty of the high-ranked officials have become more comfortable in their work. 

“I have been waiting for you. Let me guide you to the audience hall.”

Iron nodded lightly at the words of the servant as he followed him to the audience hall. It was a ‘temporary’ audience hall but they renovated it and used it because it was the largest building that remained intact among the buildings that survived in the Imperial Palace. Along the way, he saw the construction of the collapsed buildings of the Imperial Palace. 

Then, the servant stopped in front of the door. 

“General Iron Carter has arrived.”

The huge doors opened with the loud words of the servant as Iron stepped inside. 

Inside the audience hall, the newly appointed ministers, bureaucrats and major nobles were lined up as the Crown Prince, who was yet to be crowned as the ‘emperor’, sat on the highest position. Right below him were all of the commanders of the Empire. 

“Come.”

Iron crossed the ministers and stood in front of the Crown Prince at his order. Then, all of the masters stepped forward and surrounded Iron. 

The Crown Prince lifted the ceremonial sword as he spoke…

“Will you become the sword that protects the Empire?”

“Yes.”

“Will you carry out your belief and creed for the glory and honor of the Empire?”

“Yes.”

“Are you confident that you will not back down no matter the circumstances the Empire is in?”

“Yes.”

The Crown Prince tapped Iron’s shoulders with the ceremonial sword as he bowed his head to answer his questions. 

“I appoint General Iron Carter as the Commander of the Imperial Army’s Special Mobile Field Army. He will be the first to move to eradicate the external forces that threaten the Empire and will be the pride of the Empire as he dominates the continent.”

The Crown Prince looked at Iron as he spoke. His expression was filled with disappointment. He wanted to appoint him as the commander of the new Capital Defense Corps but he was pushed back with the others’ ‘justification’ and things eventually developed to this point. 

“Do all of the Commanders of the Empire agree with this?”

“Of course!”

The Crown Prince nodded after hearing the consent of all of the commanders. 

“Let this be known that the Empire has welcomed the establishment of a new army. In addition, the newly established army’s first Commander will be General Iron Carter.”

The Crown Prince placed the ceremonial sword in front of his chest as he officially declared the establishment of the new army before handing it to Iron. Then, the servant delivered the official letter of appointment. 

“It’s a pity but I respect your will to eradicate the ‘threat’ to the Empire first.’

“Thank you for respecting my will. I will make sure to repay your grace.”

All of the commanders and ministers applauded and congratulated Iron the moment the Crown Prince nodded his head.

Iron, who was appointed as a commander, left the audience hall amidst the congratulations and applause of everyone and faced the commanders that were waiting for him. 

“It’s rare for us Commanders to gather like this but… thanks to you we’re always able to meet.”

Everyone smiled at the words of the Western Commander. 

“Since we’re already gathered like this, how about we get some drinks?”

All of them nodded their heads after hearing the Northern Commander’s follow up. However, Iron shook his head. 

“My men are already heading to the Southeast. I believe I need to finish my schedule here as fast as possible.”

“This… So, you’re really busy.”

Jayden Wicks looked disappointed after hearing Iron’s words. 

Then, the Southern Commander spoke. 

“If you need help, just tell me.”

“The South is already in shambles, I can’t cause you anymore trouble. We will organize the Southeast on our own as soon as possible.”

Everyone smiled after hearing the confidence in Iron’s words. They all knew that he was not a person to lie and fake confidence. 

“Then, let’s have a drink once you complete your Command.”

“I will accompany you to drink all night then.”

Iron’s answer brought a huge smile to Jayden Wick’s face. The other commanders also promised to make time for him by then. 

The commanders once again congratulated Iron on his appointment as commander. This signaled the end of all his work in the capital. 

All that’s left now was his work in the Southeast.

***

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