Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Military Reorganization
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He reorganized the military structure.
Just as he had planned in advance, he applied ranks to the army. He appointed 1,500 non-commissioned officers and 500 officers, and increased the regular soldiers to 31,000.
‘The new refugees and soldiers we took in have boosted the regular troops in a big way.’
Even the infantry positions had tons of applicants, with insane competition rates, he heard.
“Hunter Lieutenant, as of this moment, I appoint you as the top senior enlisted and Thousand-Man Commander of the Sheepfold Regiment. I bestow upon you the Rare Class Sniper, the Advanced Spellbook Charging Shot, and the Yuanjian Longbow. Fulfill your duty with unyielding resolve, never stepping back.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Big Man Lieutenant, as of this moment, I appoint you as the top senior enlisted and Thousand-Man Commander of the Flag Regiment. I bestow upon you the Rare Class Lancer, the Advanced Spellbook Charge, and the Night Lance. Fulfill your duty with unyielding resolve, never stepping back.”
“I pledge my utmost loyalty!”
“Hardrock Lieutenant…”
“Goldman Lieutenant…”
He appointed five Thousand-Man Commanders. He selected them from among the existing Hundred-Man Captains who had achieved sufficient levels and contributions (Honor Coins and Gold Donations). They had to have awakened mana, along with enough experience and the support of their soldiers, of course.
And Swordsman, the former Thousand-Man Commander,
became the first general.
“I can’t believe it… Me, a general?”
In truth, the man’s realm fell far short of general standards, but in the current talent shortage, he was the optimal choice.
“You’re a commander, but specifically the Training Commander. You’re also in charge of Wild Boar on the side.”
Wild Boar, where the Wild Boar Dungeon was located, was the castle with the most jobs. It produced food and leather, and being on the outermost edge, it guaranteed stability as a key point.
That was why he decided to build a training camp there to raise soldiers.
“As of this moment, I appoint you as the commander of the Wild Boar Training Brigade and Ten-Thousand-Man Commander. I bestow upon you the Rare Spellbook Command, the Black Wolf Full-Body Armor, and the Rare pet Grizzly. Fulfill your assigned role.”
“Grrrraaah!”
Everyone watching gasped as the red-furred bear, over three meters tall when standing, appeared. Swordsman stared in shock before straightening his posture and saluting.
“I pledge my utmost loyalty.”
Next, he lined up the knights.
“Knight Steelstone. As of this moment, I appoint you as Knight Commander of the Steel Shield Knights. I bestow upon you the Rough Might Mithril Full-Body Armor and the Rare pet Sting. Fulfill your assigned role.”
Thud thud!
A rhinoceros covered head to toe in steel scales materialized out of thin air. The crowd of territory residents murmured in awe at the van-sized beast.
“Steel-plated rhino!”
“Lord—no, the Castellan rode that one… Wow, it’s massive.”
The Steel Shield Knights included 87 knights and 217 squires.
Notably, over three-quarters were women.
“Knight Hundred. As of this moment, I appoint you as Knight Commander of the Silver Cross Knights. I bestow upon you the Hero Class Sentinel and the Rare pet Frost Wolf. Fulfill your assigned role.”
The Silver Cross Knights included 62 knights and 280 squires.
“It’s an honor.”
“I pledge my utmost loyalty!”
The two knights saluted. Steelstone was his usual self, but Hundred’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Especially at the calf-sized wolf.
“Smile. As of this moment, I appoint you as commander of the Flame Magic Corps. I bestow upon you the Hero Class Elementalist and the Rare pet Salamander. Fulfill your assigned role.”
He called it a ‘magic corps,’ but among the 42 who had formed circles and entered magic, and the 94 in training, few could truly be called mages. They were just practicing circling, so mastering spells would take more time.
“Once we’ve trained enough mages, I’ll build you a Mage Tower.”
“I’ll work myself to the bone!”
He couldn’t keep his wits about him at the fire spirit standing before him. The Hero Class held greater value, but the visible pet seemed to captivate him more.
“Flower. I appoint you as Chief Steward and bestow upon you the Necklace of Protection and the Rare pet Panther.”
The man would take on a role like chief of staff. For now, with internal affairs and administration overwhelming him, he assigned 1,000 literate stewards to help.
‘Thank goodness Revenge is a Korean game, so the script is Hangul.’
If the script hadn’t been Hangul, the high illiteracy rate would’ve made processing paperwork a nightmare.
“Th-thank you. I pledge my utmost loyalty.”
He looked a bit frightened by the massive black panther, but Flower calmly swore his loyalty.
Once the whole process ended,
“Woooaaahhh—!”
“Han Jaeyeon! Han Jaeyeon!”
“Congratulations, Sir Swordsman!”
“Beautiful Lady Flower!”
Cheers erupted. Tens of thousands of people shouted wildly, gazing at the ranks of soldiers.
The admiration and trust in their eyes, and the pride on the soldiers’ faces, made his heart swell.
‘Damn, feels good to spend money.’
He’d handed out classes, gear, skills, pets—more than ever before—yet felt no regret. His [Faction] had grown that much stronger… and seeing his subordinates so thrilled was satisfying.
Their reactions were so good he considered doing a pet gacha next time. They probably stood out more visibly.
‘They’re really shaping up.’
He created the position of 1st Army Commander for himself. His men had urged him to claim the kingly title, but it was too soon. Instead, he kept all the new units directly under him.
‘The knights and magic corps need more training. The training brigade has to drill the recruits… So the ones ready to move are the Thousand-Man units.’
Of the new five Thousand-Man units, he made two—the Sheepfold 1st and 2nd Regiments—into combat transport units to shuttle supplies between castles. The Flag 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments he turned into occupation units to seize the new castles he’d left idle.
‘More population makes this easier.’
In short,
most of the refugees, and even the bulk of White Fox’s soldiers, stayed in Starting.
White Fox was furious, but that didn’t change reality. Giving meat stew to every soldier and refugee had worked wonders. And above all, the miracle(?) of meat duplication had shocked White Fox’s troops immensely.
He accepted the newly surrendered soldiers as regular troops, even taking in one knight and two strategists.
Too new to use in critical roles yet, but he sent them to the training brigade and castellan’s castle, where they’d eventually become useful talents.
“Blue Hammer Castle occupied. Accepted 1,500 refugees, enlisted 400 as recruits, and distributed residential areas.”
“Beast Castle occupied. Accepted 4,400 refugees, enlisted 1,100 as recruits, and began land reclamation.”
“Staff Dungeon in progress. Baron Part, leading about 800 troops, claims rights.”
“Send 10,000 settlers and food supplies to Blue Hammer and Beast Castles each. For Staff Dungeon… send Hundred. Let him decide the numbers.”
He’d worked in his office for nearly a month without logging out. Population kept growing—Starting exceeded 40,000, Wild Boar over 70,000.
With population booming, redistribution became a job in itself.
But absorbing literate refugees bolstered administrative staff, and systems started falling into place.
“Now I can finally catch a break.”
“Do you really have to go?”
He nodded at Flower’s question.
“I’m the only one with a flying pet. My solo combat power’s no joke either… Tell the guild guys to grind EXP hard. They need to hit level 6.”
“Yes, Castellan.”
“Signal via auction house if issues arise.”
His character existed without an account, so [Mail] and [Chat] were locked. For long-distance comms, auction house it was.
Pre-arranged items, or return scrolls with notes on the back.
“Right. See you later.”
Flap!
With powerful wingbeats, Sky took to the air.
“Loyalty!”
“Sir!”
He controlled Sky while watching the saluting soldiers.
Destination: south.
The capital of Chrome Kingdom, Gimail.
* * *
He reached Gimail without incident.
“Kinda anticlimactic.”
No problems, no interference. Refugee groups dotted the way, but no dangers nearby, so no need to land and help.
“Kahn Slasher’s still struggling.”
He held on thanks to his exploits, but the odds were overwhelmingly against him. Volcano Point’s monsters had too many elites, and even without that, the matchup sucked.
He’d held out long, but a special boss—the Ice Queen—would doom it instantly.
‘I need to claim the outpost before then, if possible.’
But just claiming it wouldn’t cut it. He’d need to upgrade to Hero-grade right away to defend against endless foes.
So, conclusion?
‘Gotta make money.’
That’s why he came to Gimail.
Whoooosh…
200km south, yet instead of warming, it grew colder. Not normal weather—surely the Ice Elementals at Volcano Point’s influence.
‘No Ice Queen… She hasn’t hit the Orc Dungeon either… Maybe invading another dungeon.’
He scanned the area, then began a slow descent. The [Wagon Wheel] Mage Tower was a landmark, easy to spot, and he landed on its roof.
“Must’ve been chaos.”
Mages hadn’t gone down without a fight—items and gold littered the ground. Collapsed buildings, the frozen Mage Tower.
‘Below -40C, easy.’
Insane for the season, but irrelevant to him.
[Cold Protection Ring (Rare)+9.]
Born from countless enhancement failures. No warmth emanated, yet wearing it blocked all chill.
“Ah.”
It didn’t take long to find what he wanted.
No surprise.
“Only novels left.”
The Wagon Wheel Mage Tower library was a mess, chaos from the raid plain.
Scattered on the floor: novels and miscellany.
Magic theory books, spellbooks, encyclopedias—all snatched by mages, shelves bare.
Creak.
He shoved empty shelves against the broken doors, blocking the biting gale. The library interior was still frigid, but the Cold Protection Ring (Rare)+9 kept him comfy.
“Let’s see…”
He piled the remaining novels on a desk and picked one up.
“Best to start with this, right?”
Every time he mentioned Sword Master to Ardania folk, they said the same.
[My lord, that’s just from legends.]
[Aura Blade… Sword Master?]
“Crazy talk! That’s legend!”
No one thought Sword Masters existed, yet everyone knew what they were. No one had seen one, but all knew the [legends].
Great Emperor Shine Light.
A legendary name. Emperor of Fatima Empire, which held over half the continent before Holy or Ming Empires.
And the tale weaving a slave-born man’s rise to emperor: [Shine Light Heroic Chronicle].
‘Fits modern tastes best. And it’s the most common.’
Ardania’s cultivation methods were garbage; ordinary talent couldn’t advance realms. Only geniuses using Three Disasters Heart Method could reach Sword Master.
Great Emperor Shine Light was just such a genius.
A growth story with a genius protagonist—ought to get some buzz!
⤷FriedPotato: Boring. Well-written but no fun.
⤷Kyukyu2020: WTF, over 5 volumes and still prologue?
⤷Swordsman: Why no escape? Enjoying slave life~?
⤷010***: No clue what it’s about.
⤷Kyukyu2020: WTF, past vol 1 and still a slave ffs.
⤷Noah: Lmao worldbuilding ㅋㅋㅋ too weak? I could kill everyone and be king right now ㅋㅋㅋ.
⤷Kyukyu2020: WTF vol 2 and still slave? Title Heroic Chronicle? Or My Clever Slave Life?
He’d even bought a plagiarism checker fearing a Revenge in-game duplicate. Results: dismal.
191 followers.
Paid from vol 3, average purchases under 20.
“No wonder.”
But no discouragement. If it were his own writing, yeah, but this was just copying?
He serialized Shine Light Heroic Chronicle weekends, alongside other gigs.
Started with 2 volumes per weekend, soon upped to 4.
⤷Kyukyu2020: Check this boring trash’s update speed.
And so, time passed.