Makai Hongi

○ General Miralda’s Army – Corps Commander Dyle

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They were in a fortress that was about a day’s march away from the main camp.

It was situated atop a hill, making it quite ideal for a military base.
Corps Commander Dyle arrived with his own corps, and ordered them to carefully search the surrounding area.

Dyle had been given several orders.
But the most important was that if the troops on the frontlines were to encounter the enemy, he was to come to their aid at once.

And so he had to know the area well in order to be aware of all the routes and avoid being attacked by the enemy while on the move.

Dyle was experienced enough to know that his men would obey his commands without deficiency or excess.
And so there was no problem.

If there was a problem that he was facing, it was related to the training of the corps from the neighboring Lesser Demon King’s country.

It wouldn’t be too hard to get them to the bare minimum level of being usable.
He just needed to make them go through the usual training.
However, once it started, he realized that things were different.

Usually, the people who underwent basic training were new soldiers who didn’t know anything.
Of course, as they had been specially selected, they boasted impressive levels of strength.

And so they were always halfway there in terms of combat ability, however they would be completely lacking when it came to feelings of camaraderie.

“They are a little special, so I’m sure things will be different.
You must take steps as the occasion demands.”

That’s what the General had said.

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Dyle’s eyes dropped to the documents he was holding.

“Their corps consists of different races.
Should they be considered a mixed force?”

As the training program would differ depending on the size and structure of the corps, this was a good question.
After all, it was just a corps of two hundred, and yet seven races were represented.

“As always, have them separated by race and train.
And since they weren’t specially selected, allow them to move onto the next step as soon as they make progress.”

“Yes, sir.”
While he had said that, they all looked quite weak to Dyle.

In terms of mana levels, they weren’t even close to the average new soldier.
He felt that training these men would be back-breaking work.

Dyle thought back on the day they had reunited with General Miralda’s main army.

He had arrived, and was in the middle of talking to the General about their basic training.
That’s when Corps Commander Baltasar butted in about his placement.

Dyle hadn’t felt the need to argue about it, and offered to switch duties with him.
And the General allowed it.
The result was that Dyle’s corps was sent to the fortress near the frontlines.

Of course, that was where the training would take place as well.
And so Dyle immediately had his men head to the fortress and prepare the training grounds.

As veteran soldiers built these training grounds every year, they would be able to finish it quickly.
The Giants seemed quite excited to get started, and so it was expected to be complete in just a day or two.

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However, it was in the meeting after that, that Golan and Baltasar clashed.
If he was being honest, Dyle had assumed that it wouldn’t be much of a fight, as Golan’s mana was so low.

And so he had gone in to break it up, but the General stopped him with a look.
She didn’t want anyone to interfere.

He thought that Golan would be a clump of meat within seconds, but it was to save Baltasar that the fight ended.
And then something most shocking occurred after that.

Yes, small bugs could defeat large animals, but that was only because they attacked in great numbers.
So when Golan overwhelmed Baltasar in a one on one fight, Dyle’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

Ultimately, Golan continued to have the advantage, and Baltasar was relieved of his rank and ended his service in the military as a disgrace who was sent home.

If Dyle remembered correctly, he was from a very important Gurangatch family.
It was very unlikely that they would ever see his face again.

As for who took Baltasar’s place, it was another Gurangatch called Exsheel.
Dyle thought she was very intelligent and had sharp eyes.
In any case, he would not be able to concentrate on their training.
That’s what Dyle thought.

As he rested on the second day, after training was done, he had a visitor.

“Corps Commander Dyle.
Do you have a moment?”
“Ah, Halm.
What is it?”

The visitor was the General’s Adjutant.

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Halm was a Crystal Dragon.
Both he and Adjutant Minish supported the General from the shadows.

Halm was currently with them, while Minish was with the General.

“I was able to watch the Ogres training today and…”
“Ah, so it’s about that.
Yes, they cleared it quite impressively.”

He was rather troubled about it himself.
Normally, it took several days to understand what you were supposed to do.

In war, an individual’s strength was very important.
However, it was not the case for many soldiers.
Besides, there were some enemies that could not be defeated unless you fought them in a group.

It was the same for traveling.
People had to be assigned to carry things, and that included people who could not move.

This kind of solidarity was something that grew little by little.
You could not throw them into the battlefield and expect them to be able to do it.
And so his aim had been to make them learn it through training.
However, they had already cleared the first course on just the second day.

“It doesn’t seem like they knew about it in advance.”

“Indeed.
The first day was quite a disaster.
Someone must have realized it right after that.
Their leader would have then found a solution overnight and corrected them.”

It was very strange indeed.
These Ogres that did whatever they wanted were suddenly moving in perfect synchronization.
No, it wasn’t strange.
It was a miracle.

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“What will you do tomorrow?”
“The Ogres are the only ones who can move forward.
And I have a mind to just sit back and see how far they can go.”

“So the second part of the training then.
You’re making them face the ultimate decision.
Of course, they will fail anyway.
But isn’t it a little early?”
“The General assured me that since they weren’t specially selected, I could push them forward once I was satisfied with where they were.”

“I see.
I actually have work to do tomorrow, but I’m too curious to leave without seeing how this goes down.”
“Do as you like… As you said, they are bound to fail.”

“That’s why I want to see it.
I’m interested in seeing how they mess it up.”

“I understand.
I will let the others know.
You can spectate from a place of your choice.”
“Really?”

“Yes, of course.”
“Then I would like to watch from the inside.”

“The inside… I don’t mind.”

“Thank you.
See you tomorrow then.”
“Yes.
In that case, tell me about it at night.
What choice they made.”

“Very well.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Yes, tomorrow.
I look forward to it.”

Corps Commander Dyle and Halm the Crystal Dragon shook hands and parted ways.