An Order to Command
Familiar documents filled my vision.
Written in a hand I knew well, their colors faded with age — I had no trouble recognizing what they were.
"These are… no way."
"That's right. The records Adjutant Lee Jinhyun compiled back at the 28th Guild. I assume you already know they were declassified not long ago?"
"Yes, well… they asked my permission before they did it, after all."
During the dissolution of the 28th Guild, Jinhyun had received word that some adjutant wanted to take the materials that had been shoved into a corner and left unprocessed for so long. Since most of that content already lived in his head, and since he had already extracted the truly critical pieces into his own working files, he had given his consent without much thought.
He had even agreed, readily enough, when they asked if they could upload the materials to the adjutants-only community. The one condition he had insisted on was a matter of respect for the dead: exclude, as far as possible, anything concerning the hunters of the 28th who had fallen. The adjutant in question had promised to dispose of the deceased's records as thoroughly as they could.
And so those documents, which he had not given a second thought to for quite some time, were now sitting in front of him again — a fact that left him more than a little startled.
Watching his reaction, Adjutant Song Dana spoke with a note of something almost elated in her voice.
"Not long ago, a colleague posted these materials, and I was moved. I have reviewed countless reports and papers in my career, but I have never seen anything that analyzed the Abysses' conditions, characteristics, and countermeasures with this near-perfect precision."
It was not empty flattery. Genuine, deep emotion colored every word Adjutant Song Dana spoke. In that moment, Jinhyun realized it was not only her — the other adjutants in the room were watching him with eyes that shone just as brightly.
"And when I learned that the person who wrote them would be standing on the same front line as me, I made my decision at once. I would invest in you."
"Ah… yes… th-thank you."
She was looking at him with a heat that made him start to feel awkward. He offered his gratitude in a voice that came out stiffer than he intended.
The more he learned about the Abysses, the more keenly he felt his own shortcomings — and those materials still carried plenty of traces of that inexperience. Especially now, after seven months — nearly eight — since he had left the 28th Guild, with no updates of any kind. Looking at them, the gaps and the rough edges would only stand out more sharply.
That people could still express such sincere delight over work like that left him feeling less pride than mild embarrassment… and a deeper gratitude toward those who would praise something so incomplete.
Once that oddly complicated round of thanks had run its course, Adjutant Song Dana settled her excitement and addressed him in a more serious tone.
"Ahem. In any case — for those reasons, I, and every adjutant present, acknowledge your ability. Through the materials we reviewed beforehand, and through the clear results you just demonstrated to us. From this point on, no one in this room will dismiss what you have to say. So if there is anything you judge necessary going forward, speak freely. We will do our utmost to take it on board."
In other words: Adjutant Dana and the others were granting him the authority to put forward his own views when it came to planning operations and leading the forces.
Honestly, the weight of that sat heavy on him.
He had been a military adjutant, yes — but the 28th Guild he had served had been a fledgling outfit, barely four years old, and his rank had never been particularly high. Even those rank insignia had vanished the moment he mustered out. For someone in his position to freely voice opinions to adjutants of the so-called upper guilds ran against the grain of a military system that moved by hierarchy.
Keeping that firmly in mind, he spoke carefully to the woman in front of him.
"I'm grateful that you recognize my ability. But… as you know, I'm no longer a soldier. I'm a mercenary. Someone who's essentially just hired help has no business freely offering opinions to all of you."
He declined as gently as he could. Adjutant Dana, however, answered without hesitation.
"You're right — Adjutant Lee Jinhyun, you are no longer a soldier. You are a Black Hunter. Even so, we are in an extreme wartime situation where every capable person is desperately needed. Solving the problem we face right now is genuinely difficult, and we have judged that this is precisely when we need someone like you."
Unlike the slight excitement of a moment before, her words now carried the quiet authority of an adjutant from an upper hunter guild — the 3rd Guild.
She drove the point home.
"And more than anything, if you look at it carefully, this is a kind of order in itself. As someone employed by the state, following that order is only natural, is it not?"
"That… is true, but…"
In other words: she was ordering him to give his opinions, so he was to comply. It was something of a sophistry, but he could find no real ground to push back — and he had little desire to refuse a request made this earnestly.
After turning it over one last time, he reached the only conclusion left to him: he would have to accept the "favor" they were offering.
"…Very well. If you insist, I'll do my best, limited as I am."
"Thank you. Truly."
From the moment he had arrived here, he had sworn never to allow another tragedy like the one that had befallen the 28th Guild. To keep that oath, he would have to help these adjutants and the hunter guilds they led as fully as possible, and win. Their willingness to actively take his counsel meant the board had, in a sense, been set for him to give everything he had.
And so, having secured the right to sit among the command staff as a mercenary adjutant, he carefully took his seat. Adjutant Dana looked around the room and spoke in a calm voice.
"Well then… now that the general situation seems settled, we will begin discussing strategy in earnest. Adjutant Haeun?"
"Yes, ma'am."
With that, the adjutant named Haeun pressed a button on the remote. The screen shifted from the aerial battle involving Glass moments earlier to the massive Abyss army still advancing south even now.
"This is the Abyss army as captured by satellite imagery at this hour. Their numbers have been growing steadily as they push south; current estimates put them at roughly thirty thousand."
"Thirty thousand…"
"Mm…"
Tension and worry settled thickly over the faces of every adjutant present. The forces stationed here numbered fewer than ten thousand. They held advantageous defensive positions, and mercenaries were still being hired to reinforce them — but if an army of that size arrived, the line would not hold for long. That much was obvious. All the more so if the enemy, unlike anything they had faced before, was an Abyss that knew how to use strategy.
"Furthermore, at the center of this vast formation sits that entity — the Abyss that resembles a human form."
Haeun adjusted the remote again. On the screen appeared a figure with the body of a pale woman, two black dragons coiling out from her waist — an Abyss Jinhyun had never seen before, rendered in high enough resolution that even its face was clear.
And then—
"…Th-that's… a lie…"
"…Hm?"
A small voice from behind him. Hearing the shock packed into those words, a cold, uneasy feeling brushed through his chest.