Chapter 50

Chapter 50

The test for the Caion Unit ended smoothly.

The recruits selected through the test.

“One hundred and one.”

Initially, the plan was to have one hundred recruits, but an additional person made it one hundred and one.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to include any stragglers just to fill the numbers.

Around 105 people were on the borderline, so they ended up cutting off the ones at the very end.

Vincent, who was with Leonhark, stood before the successful recruits and spoke.

“Nice to meet you all. Let me introduce myself again. I am Vincent, and I will be leading you as the deputy commander of the Caion Unit.”

“.......”

An awkward silence followed.

Clap clap clap clap clap.

Damian, standing in the middle, started clapping.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!

Dianal and Kyle soon followed with their applause.

“Whooooooo!”

Kyle stepped forward, cheering loudly.

“Ahem, and from now on, we will temporarily select the vice-commander and squad leaders. The vice-commander will act in the absence of the commander and deliver the commander’s orders to the squad leaders. The squad leaders will each manage their nine squad members.”

“Yes, understood!”

Once again, Kyle responded.

Some of the others nearby frowned and glared at him.

“What? What are you looking at?”

Kyle glared back, challenging them.

His expression seemed to say, “Come at me if you dare.”

And then.

“Enough. I will now announce the vice-commander. The vice-commander is Damian. Step forward.”

Damian, surprised by the unexpected announcement, stepped forward.

He hadn’t expected his name to be called.

“As expected.”

“Heh, there’s no one better than Damian for vice-commander.”

Dianal and Kyle clapped, as if they had anticipated this outcome.

But at that moment.

“......What the hell, that brat?”

“Huh? A kid like that is the vice-commander?”

The atmosphere turned noisy.

One of them raised his hand and spoke.

“Commander, what was the criteria for selecting the vice-commander?”

A man with tattoos on his left neck, shoulder, and arm asked.

Vincent answered.

“The temporary vice-commander and squad leaders were selected based on test scores.”

“So, you’re saying that brat scored the highest among us?”

“Yes.”

“......Huh?”

He looked at Damian with a disbelieving expression. And then.

“Still, isn’t it a bit much to make us follow someone like that brat?”

He continued to protest.

Damian looked at him.

Smirk.

‘Well... not sure if I’m lucky or unlucky.’

As soon as the man raised his hand, Damian recognized him instantly.

He was Jerka, the older of the twins Damian had thought of on his way to Valphate.

Jerka frowned at Damian, who was smiling at him.

“What’s with that grin, you bastard? I’ll rip your mouth open.”

Jerka stepped forward, speaking threateningly, as if he might attack at any moment, but Damian just watched him.

‘Not many yet.’

Jerka Damian knew had far more tattoos on his body.

Interestingly, Jerka, the elder, had tattoos on the left side of his body, while his younger brother, Terka, had tattoos on the right.

‘I heard they added them one by one during their military service...’

Seeing that there weren’t many yet, it seemed that was true.

“What’s with the grin?!”

But Jerka shouted again, looking at Damian.

Vincent spoke to Jerka.

“Are you refusing orders?”

“No, I just don’t understand. Are you saying that kid really scored the highest among us?”

“Yes, it was the unanimous decision of myself and Instructor Leonhark here.”

Swoosh.

Vincent’s eyes flashed sharply.

“If you refuse orders one more time, you will be dealt with according to military law.”

“......Damn.”

Jerka grimaced.

But then.

“Captain Vincent, how about giving him a chance?”

“......Excuse me?”

Vincent looked surprised at Leonhark’s suggestion.

Leonhark looked at the gathered soldiers and spoke.

“It seems that more than half of the soldiers here do not accept the current decision. It will be hard to lead the unit with such distrust.”

“.......”

Vincent looked at the soldiers.

Just as Leonhark had said, most of them were staring at him with eyes full of distrust.

“......Sigh.”

Damian was the only soldier who defeated his opponent during the test.

But among the successful candidates here, few knew that Damian had defeated his opponent.

It was understandable.

So many applicants had dueled against numerous knights simultaneously.

Those who were fighting elsewhere or far from where Damian was might not have seen him.

However, those who had witnessed Damian’s skills just stayed quiet, knowing that this situation couldn’t be solved with words alone.

They also felt that Damian needed to prove himself once more.

Vincent sighed softly.

It looked like he was on the back foot, but.

Wham!

Dianal deflected Jerka’s sword and immediately closed the distance, getting inside Jerka’s guard.

A startled Jerka hurriedly swung his sword at Dianal.

Whoosh!

But his sword again sliced through empty air.

And at that moment.

Wham!

Dianal, who had moved inside Jerka’s guard, rammed his shoulder into Jerka’s chest.

Thud!

“Gah!”

Jerka’s expression twisted as his breath caught in his throat.

The impact of the shoulder strike was far greater than Jerka had expected.

But that was just the beginning.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

Dianal’s follow-up attacks pounded Jerka’s body.

The two wooden swords struck Jerka’s sides and legs in quick succession.

Swish!

Dianal spun behind Jerka and struck his shoulders with both swords.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Jerka couldn’t hide his surprise at the sudden onslaught.

He couldn’t even see Dianal’s sword strikes.

Dianal spoke.

“Don’t be surprised. It’s natural not to see them; I struck from your blind spot.”

“W-what?”

“For a thug, you’re not half bad.”

Dianal genuinely praised Jerka’s skills.

Jerka’s attacks had been sharper and more aggressive than Dianal had anticipated.

However,

“Now, just fall.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?!”

Jerka swung his sword at Dianal’s head.

Whoosh!

But again, Dianal’s form vanished.

Jerka’s sword, missing its target, swung powerlessly through the air.

Swoooosh!

And then, a gust from below.

The moment Jerka glanced down.

Wham!

Dianal’s sword, swung from below, struck Jerka’s chin.

“Guh!”

Jerka’s head snapped back, and his knees buckled.

His legs momentarily lost all strength.

But Jerka didn’t fall.

Seeing this, Dianal clicked his tongue.

“This is the end.”

He swung his sword down with force.

“Dianal!”

Thunk!

But at Damian’s shout, Dianal stopped his sword just before it hit Jerka.

Jerka gulped, staring at the wooden sword that had stopped just before his face.

‘If that had hit me...’

His face would’ve been shattered, no doubt.

Suddenly, his legs gave out.

Thud.

Jerka collapsed onto the ground.

Damian spoke to Dianal.

“That’s enough. He’s going to be a comrade from now on.”

“...Understood.”

Dianal nodded, looking at the fallen Jerka. And then...

Swish.

Dianal extended his hand to Jerka.

“Are you alright?”

“...That brat isn’t stronger than you, is he? About equal... right?”

Jerka asked Dianal.

Dianal answered.

“If Damian fought seriously... he’d probably last about 30 seconds.”

“...?”

“I think that’s enough of an answer. Still want to fight Damian?”

“...No. I must’ve been out of my mind for a moment.”

Jerka grabbed Dianal’s hand and stood up.

Wobble.

But as his legs gave out again and he nearly collapsed.

Grab.

“Heh, this guy. Seems weaker than I thought.”

Kyle slipped his arms under Jerka’s armpits, supporting him.

Jerka frowned, but.

“He’s similar to me.”

“...I see.”

At Dianal’s words, Jerka quickly bowed his head.

It seemed there were quite a few monsters in this unit.

With the situation settled.

“Is it over now?”

Vincent looked at the soldiers.

“If so, I will now announce something important. Everyone, focus.”

At that, all the soldiers turned their attention to Vincent.