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“…If you had informed me, I would have come out to greet you. My apologies.”

Leonhark bowed his head as Kiaran entered his office.

Kiaran waved her hand dismissively and sat down, pulling out a cigarette.

“It’s fine. No need.”

Sizzle!

As smoke billowed from the cigarette, Kiaran took a deep drag and looked at Leonhark.

“How’s life here? Are you managing?”

“It’s getting more interesting.”

“…Really?”

Kiaran looked at him with surprise.

It was rare for Leonhark to smile or describe anything as “interesting.”

She had expected him to say, “I’m managing,” like usual…

“Heh, but where did everyone go?”

“They all went to the training ground to select a Deputy Commander.”

“Deputy Commander? Not just an appointment?”

“They must have their own way of doing things.”

At Leonhark’s response, Kiaran glanced at Edmund, who had followed her.

Edmund simply sighed softly.

“Trainer, would you guide us to the training ground?”

“This way, please.”

Leonhark led Kiaran and Edmund to the training ground.

There, the Caion unit members were lined up, engaged in hand wrestling.

It looked crude, almost like a childish game, but—

“Hand wrestling, huh? Not a bad method.”

Kiaran commented.

Though it seemed trivial, hand wrestling required a lot of skill and understanding to win.

As the final match began, with two contestants holding training weapons and stepping onto the dueling ground, the unit members erupted in cheers.

It felt as though—

“…Leonhark. Did you teach them this?”

“How could I?”

“Heh, interesting.”

Kiaran murmured as she watched the unified Caion unit.

This contest wasn’t just about selecting a Deputy Commander.

It was also about bringing the unit together and building trust in the newly selected Deputy Commander.

‘It’s not easy to control subordinates if someone suddenly becomes a Deputy Commander.’

The reason was simple.

It’s not easy to immediately accept someone who was a fellow soldier just yesterday suddenly becoming a superior.

Especially in a unit with such a short history.

“A clever move.”

By now, the duel was approaching its final moments.

* * *

Thwack!

With a powerful blow, Terka’s palm, which gripped the wooden sword, stung sharply.

Terka, alongside Jerka, was one of the top soldiers in his original unit.

Whether it was endurance or dueling skills, Terka never failed to secure first place in every training.

But…

“Huff… Huff…”

Terka’s breathing grew more ragged.

It felt like fighting against a wall.

‘…It wasn’t like this just four months ago.’

They had both trained equally hard for those four months.

Terka had seen Dianal sparring before.

But now, there was no denying it—

‘He’s changed.’

So much so that it couldn’t even be compared to before.

Swoosh!

“Ugh!”

Terka leaned back quickly to avoid an upward strike from Dianal.

Dianal’s sword narrowly missed, slicing through the air, drawing gasps from the watching unit members.

Whip!

Dianal quickly spun and charged at Terka, moving behind him with incredible speed.

“What the hell!”

Terka instinctively turned and swung his sword toward Dianal.

The horizontal slash aimed at Dianal’s head—

Whoosh!

But Dianal ducked, evading Terka’s attack.

“…It’s over.”

Leonhark muttered softly as he watched the duel.

Barely after his words had left his mouth—

Thwack!

“Gah!”

Dianal’s sword struck both of Terka’s thighs.

Terka stumbled as his thighs were struck, allowing Dianal’s follow-up attack.

Thwack!

After hitting Terka’s side, Dianal pushed off the ground and moved behind him again.

Terka tried to turn and follow him, but—

‘Damn…!’

His body was slow to respond due to the pain from the previous hits.

Terka gritted his teeth and attempted to strike back.

Tap.

Dianal’s wooden sword was already pointed at Terka’s throat.

It was a total defeat.

“…I lost.”

“It was close. You did well.”

Terka bowed his head in acknowledgment, and Dianal patted his shoulder lightly.

Eventually, Dianal slowly walked up to Damian.

His eyes were filled with a mix of complicated emotions.

Standing before Damian, Dianal spoke.

“I worked really hard to stand here… sir.”

“I know.”

Damian smiled.

Just by looking at him now, it was clear how much effort he had put in.

Moreover—

“You can use mana now?”

“I was lucky. I’m still very inexperienced.”

Damian shook his head at his words.

It wasn’t luck.

It was also his skill and talent.

Damian looked at Dianal.

In his past life, Dianal had fought at the front lines for Damian until the end.

The memory of that final moment was still vivid in Damian’s mind.

As if overlapping with that old feeling, Damian silently clenched his teeth.

He then grabbed both of Dianal’s shoulders and turned to face the unit members.

“From this moment on, Dianal is the Deputy Commander of the Caion Unit! If anyone has any objections, come forward now!”

“No objections, sir!”

“Woohoo! Congratulations, Deputy Commander!”

At Damian’s declaration, the unit members shouted their congratulations and encouragement.

Dianal, looking bashful, smiled at his fellow soldiers.

Damian spoke to Dianal.

“Let’s work well together from now on.”

“Likewise, sir.”

With this, the Caion Unit became a fully united force.

The next day—

“One, two! Three, four! One, two, three, four!”

Training for the Caion Unit had begun.

Naturally, being a combat unit, their training intensity was extraordinary.

“Run faster. If you don’t make it on time, I’ll increase the training load starting tomorrow.”

Leonhark’s voice was chilling, returning to his role as the demon instructor.

He pushed the Caion Unit members to their limits, day after day, until they were on the verge of collapse from exhaustion, pressing them so hard that they nearly wanted to give up.

But none of them quit or gave up.

The reason was simple.

They could clearly feel the difference between their past selves and who they were now.

And during the toughest training, it was always Commander Damian and Deputy Commander Dianal who led at the front.

Dianal watched Damian lead and pushed himself with all his strength to keep up.

“…Is it tough?”

Damian asked as he looked at the soldiers, who were staggering as if they might collapse right after training.

Not everyone answered, but if they had the strength to speak, they would have said it wasn’t.

Seeing the fire and determination still in their eyes, Damian said,

“There will come a day when you’ll be rewarded for all of this. It’s going to be tough, but I hope you won’t give up and keep going.”

With those words, Damian moved with the soldiers to the mess hall.

This was the happiest moment for the unit members.

They ate the carefully prepared food, relieving the stress from the grueling training.

Training hard, eating well, and resting properly—

If these three elements were well combined, becoming stronger was inevitable.

Damian also dined with the unit members.

“…Wow.”

“The food’s been amazing lately.”

Recently, it seemed like the quality of rations and meals had significantly improved.

Hearing the soldiers’ comments, Damian’s lips curled into a small smile.

‘Looks like she’s doing a good job.’

He remembered her promise to do her best.

He hadn’t worried about it.

He knew he could trust her.

As Damian and the unit members were finishing their meal—

“Staff Sergeant Damian. Could I have a word?”

Leonhark called Damian over.

Damian followed him into the office.

“An operation order has come down.”

“…An operation order?”

Damian received the document that Leonhark handed him.

‘…It’s been a month since we returned.’

Was their deployment already decided?

Damian opened the letter from Leonhark.

It was an operation order stamped with the seal of the 6th Corps Commander, Kiaran.

The location was near the northwestern border of the Baroque Kingdom, and this place was…

“This is the area where the Iren Kingdom and Spanian Kingdom border each other, right?”

“You’re aware that the Spanian Kingdom has already completely fallen to the Empire?”

“Yes.”

When the Spanian Kingdom failed to cross the Baroque Kingdom, its fate had already been sealed.

Although it hadn’t been completely overrun yet—

‘It’s practically become the Empire’s puppet.’

Damian nodded.

Leonhark continued.

“It seems the Empire is using the Spanian Kingdom to target the Iren Kingdom. A considerable number of troops appear to be gathering near the border.”

Damian listened as he read through the operation order.

The Caion Unit had only one mission.

‘To assist the Iren Kingdom…’

Could this be somewhat related to what he had told the Corps Commander after the Makstri mission?

Damian had shared information about the current situation in the Iren Kingdom when he met the Corps Commander after Makstri.

He wasn’t sure if that was connected to this operation, but—

“I understand. When should we depart?”

“The sooner, the better. This could potentially lead to a formal alliance with the Iren Kingdom.”

‘The sooner, the better…’

Damian stepped back and nodded.

“Understood. We’ll prepare and depart as quickly as possible.”

Damian then returned straight to the barracks.

“Everyone, gather up.”

His voice, laced with mana, prompted the entire unit to assemble quickly.

The barracks were crowded to the brim, but Damian held up the operation order and said,

“This is our first operation order.”

“Oh?”

“Is it a real mission?”

Someone asked.

Damian nodded.

“Yes, we’re tasked with assisting the Iren Kingdom at the contested zone with the Spanian Kingdom.”

Though it was an intervention in a battle between other kingdoms, it was a dangerous mission involving the Empire.

Hearing Damian’s response, the soldiers’ expressions turned serious.

Damian asked,

“Is anyone too exhausted to participate? If so, speak up, and you’ll be exempted from the mission.”

“Hahaha.”

“Heh, if anyone’s feeling it, speak up.”

The soldiers exaggeratedly looked around, but with no answers forthcoming, Damian chuckled.

“Then get ready quickly, you rascals.”

They were leaving immediately.

With those words, the Caion Unit swiftly began preparing for deployment.