Chapter 114: To the Frontline! (2)

Knock, knock.

The door opened after a knock and a woman came inside the room.

“Huh? You…”

Iron looked at the familiar face with surprise.

“Long time no see.” 

“That’s right. It’s been a long time.” 

Ariel Favrice smiled as she came inside. She had heard about him fighting here and there through the news but this was the first time in a long time that they had seen each other again. 

“You played a big part in the battle again.” 

“I just struggled to survive.” 

Iron answered Ariel’s compliment with a shy look on his face.

But Ariel looked like she did not believe him at all. Although she had only arrived towards the end, she knew how great Iron’s contributions were after seeing and taking in the results of the Lion Castle Fortress’ Bloody Battle. After all, he had survived to the end and led the troops to victory.

Simply listening to the rumors would give one the gist of Iron’s great contributions. She felt a bit envious knowing that the people of the Lion Castle Fortress did not respect Iron for no reason at all. Seeing Iron, who was the same age as her, make great contributions and incredible feats several times in a row made her grit her teeth in envy. Even though Ariel was a few steps ahead of the other new stars of the Empire, she still felt intimidated whenever she heard about Iron’s deeds.

However, after seeing what happened in the Lion Castle’s bloody battle, she felt it deep within her bones that her efforts were truly lacking. She didn't even care to know the process that he went through to get those major contributions and just went ahead and became envious of his results.

“But… did you apply to go to the frontlines with the condition that your body is in?” 

“Uhm…” 

Ariel looked at Iron plastered with bandages all over his body.

No matter how effective a potion was, it would not be able to attach and fix broken bones in a short period of time. In addition, injuries that were caused by mana would take a lot of time to heal. It even needed to get sutured before applying some ointment and bandages on it. Although Iron was recovering very rapidly thanks to Baepsae’s abilities, he still needed more time to heal completely. 

“I can move.” 

Iron smiled bitterly as he said so. All Ariel could do was sigh.

“Going to the frontline in that condition is too much.” 

Ariel stared straight at Iron’s eyes as she said so. 

“You… You don’t know what it’s like in the frontlines, do you?” 

Iron nodded lightly at Ariel’s answer.

“There’s always a battle going on and someone dies everyday. Rookies would even be brought out to fill in the vacancy of those who had died.” 

“……” 

Iron’s bitter smile remained on his face as he listened to Ariel’s empty voice. 

He had experienced countless battles in his previous life so he knew full well what Ariel was feeling right now. He could still recall the bitter outcome as countless troops died during those battles in his previous life. 

“More people are dying than you can imagine.” 

Iron sighed at Ariel’s words.

“That’s why I have to go.” 

Ariel bit her lips at Iron’s words.

“The reason why I became a team leader… are you curious?” 

Iron remained silent as he looked at Ariel. 

He could very well guess the reason but he kept his mouth shut and waited for her to say it herself.

“The team leader… is dead. Even the seniors are dead. So… I have no choice but to do it. That’s because I’m the strongest in our group.” 

Ariel cried as she spoke. 

Her strength was almost at the 5th Stage and must be considered high in the entire order. However, there were still quite a few knights above her. But Ariel was the team leader? That meant that more than half of the people above her were dead. 

Even when carrying out numerous operations to deal with the monster wave in the Northeast, this many knights did not die. However, the war with the dark elves was different. The dark elves had properly prepared a meticulous operation after suffering from defeat in the Winter Mountains and the Northeast. Because of this, the damage that the Northern and Northeastern Army had snowballed into disastrous levels. 

One of the proofs of this disastrous event was what happened to the knight order that Ariel belonged to. 

“It’s hard there too.” 

Iron was bitter as he spoke. 

The situation in the Lion Castle Fortress was difficult enough. However, the situation in the frontlines was probably the worst if they sent reinforcements late despite knowing that the situation in the second front was extremely dire. 

Iron comforted the crying Ariel with his silence before asking her what she was doing here.

“From what you said, the frontlines are busy. So, did you have enough time to visit me here?” 

She stopped crying after hearing Iron’s question before speaking quietly.

“I came here to bring you there.” 

“You?” 

“Yeah.” 

Iron tilted his head. He couldn’t understand what Ariel was trying to say. 

“But you’re not from the regular troops, you’re from the knight order?” 

Ariel sighed softly at Iron’s words.

“That’s right. You’ll move with me for a while.” 

“Hoo… What’s this, all of a sudden…” 

Iron was flustered. He did not expect for something like this to happen.

Being a part of a knight order was not just about a matter of having skills. The knight order was a unit that showed strong power when they went into their formation, a formation that they had practiced and worked on together for a long time. In addition, they also had to put pressure on their opponent while matching the flow of mana between each other. Even if Iron was placed in the knight order, he would just stick out like a sore thumb. 

“What are you trying to do?” 

“What?” 

“You know full well what it means for outsiders to suddenly join in the knight order.” 

Ariel sighed at Iron’s questions.

“Hoo… Actually, I came here to stop you.” 

“You’re here to stop me?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Your reason?” 

“If you go to the frontlines like this, you will definitely get sent to the most dangerous area.” 

Ariel looked at Iron’s battered body as she said those words. 

Even with his body that was almost tightly covered with bandages, he was still itching to go to the frontlines where he would be assigned to the most dangerous areas. 

“Hoo… Explain it in detail.” 

Iron had immediately noticed that something had happened in the frontlines so he asked Ariel for a detailed explanation. 

Ariel hesitated. But Iron just kept on staring at her as he urged her to speak. In the end, all she could do was to open her mouth and explain with difficulty. 

Her explanation was simple.

The situation up to this point was still understandable. 

Right now, even those seriously injured people could fight as long as they have given them enough first aid and potion. In addition, it would be more helpful to bring in these experienced people instead of rookies who knew nothing. With the situation that they were in, bringing in useless people would just waste the commanders’ time by sending them back and returning them to the rear troops. 

The problem came after.

Troops must be gathered to save these isolated units. But the problem was that there was no way that they could pull out some of the troops from the frontlines. It was only natural. After all, they were even struggling to maintain the frontlines already. Because of this, they wanted to bring in some of the troops from the rear units or even the soldiers that were still in training to build a unit specifically for this task. 

And in the midst of the sharp confrontation between the groups that wanted to send the injured soldiers back immediately to be a part of the support troops and the groups that did not agree on this, a letter came that Iron volunteered to go to the frontlines.

The radical group that wanted to bring in the injured, the rear units and the trainees vs. the conservative group that wanted to at least protect their virtues. These two groups fought even more fiercely at the arrival of the letter that spoke of Iron’s support to the frontlines. 

When the radical group said that the injured Iron could still take command at the very least, some suggested that it would be possible to give him the mission as a commander to command the special troops that could save their isolated allies. And of course, it was a force that was mainly composed of the injured and the rookies. Making a unit like this would be good if it worked but it wouldn’t be that burdensome to the military forces if it did not work. 

It would be good if they could save the veterans that helped maintain the frontlines. And since they were saying that it was just a test unit, the conservative group couldn’t find any faults to oppose it. After all, a test unit would only receive and perform light missions. 

“Of course they’re not just going to ask you to do it without anything in return. I think they’re going to listen to what you want.”

“What I want?”

“Right. Like what you said in the Lion Castle Fortress.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Yes. The monster subjugation.”

Iron tilted his head at Ariel’s words. 

“What do you mean?”

Iron was confused. From what he heard, his main task would be to support the isolated troops.

“The monsters have isolated our troops. They’re testing your capabilities and your temporarily organized troops by making you save them.”

“So, if it works there, they will be dispatched to a more dangerous area?”

“That’s right. They will gradually be given dangerous missions so they could gain experience and in the end, the commanders will make them perform a mission by sending them to the frontlines.”

Iron sighed at Ariel’s words. 

“So, why exactly me?”

Iron looked at her incredulously. 

No matter how active he was in the field, he was still only one of the young officers that only had a few years of experience under their belts. If they considered the entire Northern region, there were quite a few people who were beyond him in terms of skills. And even if they considered his skills as a commander, he had only shown how he commanded troops during the Lion Castle Fortress’ bloody battle.

This was the reason why he couldn’t understand their decision 

“They’re keeping you in check.”

“In check?”

He thought to himself… ‘Why should they place me as a commander if they want to keep me in check?’ but soon realized why. 

The only battle that he had won as a commander was the bloody battle in the Lion Castle Fortress. But as Leonhardt’s eldest son, they judged that he would have a high probability of failure if they entrusted him with the command of this mission. 

“Why are they going to keep me in check?”

“Yeah. It’s because your identity was recently revealed.”

Iron tilted his head upon hearing Ariel’s words.

“You’re the rookie backed by the Northeast. Moreover, you’re Leonhardt’s eldest son.” 

“Don’t tell me…” 

Iron’s brows furrowed.

“It must have been quite burdensome for the Northern Army. There’s also a lot of talk in the Northeastern Army. They said that once you became the Leonhardt’s deputy family head, you would use your power in the Northeast and undermine their independence.” 

“Ha… What bull…” 

Iron was only barely able to stop himself from cursing out loud. 

“The unit was created because the conservatives wanted to keep you in check and agreed with the radicals' plans.” 

“Crazy shits. So, there were people like that in the Northeast, huh?” 

As far as Iron knew, there were no people like that in the Command.

The commanders of the Vanguard, Mountain, and Fog corps as well as the leaders of the Iron Wall, Ranger and Knight divisions. 

The Commander General.

The Ghosts.

And the elite-ranked officers.

All of these people were far from the political strife. 

Ariel replied with a sigh upon hearing Iron’s words.

“The people from logistics and the Rear Unit Commander.” 

“Ah…” 

“Most of the people there are deeply connected to the lords of the North and the nobles from the  Center. The County Governor must have also talked a lot about you in the Northern Army.” 

Iron burst into laughter. He was dumbfounded at their petty actions.

“Ha! I can’t believe they’re playing politics while we’re in this situation…” 

Ariel looked bitter at his words. 

“So, who are part of the troops? Is your knight order the only part of it?” 

“No. The 4th Knight Order that I lead, the 5th Ranger Team, two companies made up of experienced people, and one Artillery Unit. I think?” 

“The troops are much better than I thought?” 

Iron looked at Ariel with surprise. But all she could do was smile bitterly as she continued to speak. 

“First of all, the 4th Knight Order team that I lead is mainly composed of newcomers. All of the seniors were sent to the 3rd and 2nd teams. The same is probably true for the rangers. And the two companies of experienced people will most likely be composed of the injured soldiers while the artillery unit is composed of rookies who had just escaped training. They’re an artillery unit so their injuries are not that big…” 

Iron looked at Ariel absurdly. 

“What do they want me to do with these troops?” 

Ariel shrugged at Iron’s question.