The Silent Spear Selection
"This way! Come this way!"
"Don't just shove in wherever you like! Move to the groups you were assigned and take the test promptly!"
At the Imperial Army's temporary fortifications, a scene was unfolding so strange it was hard to believe a war was on — and that the enemy's lines stood right in front of them.
A newly formed independent unit. The moment word spread that its commander would be Arteon, soldiers had poured in by the score.
"……Who was it that said we wouldn't even fill a hundred?"
"This is…… way too many."
Grein stared at the men volunteering for the independent unit and found himself clicking his tongue without meaning to. The applicants alone looked to number around two hundred.
Out of them, they would have to select roughly sixty.
No point dragging this out…… and we couldn't even if we wanted to.
He and Arteon had already finished their discussions. What the independent unit needed in a soldier right now was brutally simple.
Grein recalled the conversation, then poured mana into his voice and shouted.
"Quiet, please!"
The ringing command rolled across the grounds, and the noisy throng fell silent in an instant. Some two hundred soldiers turned as one to look at him.
Grein stepped up onto the platform they had prepared and addressed them.
"I am Grein, vice platoon leader of the independent unit under Lieutenant Arteon. First, allow me to thank all of you who have volunteered for the founding of Lieutenant Arteon's independent unit."
As he spoke, many of the men in the crowd looked him up and down as if appraising him — quite a few of them, it seemed, thinking something along the lines of, If a guy like that is the vice leader…… passing shouldn't be hard.
A few, of course, had noted the mana in his voice and looked impressed. Grein paid none of their stares any mind and pressed on.
"As members of the independent unit, we require only two things of you. Fast feet, and strong stamina."
"Fast feet and stamina?"
"What, so they're not even looking at swordsmanship or spearmanship?"
"Fast feet and stamina? That's me. I'll breeze through this easy."
The grounds erupted into noise again. Some men looked disappointed by the content of the test; others wore the look of absolute confidence.
Grein was not about to let it stand.
"Quiet, please!"
At his barked order the grounds fell still once more, and he looked out over them.
"The test will begin immediately. Take up the spears and shields that have been prepared and stand at the starting point."
As he finished, one of the Fourth Platoon's soldiers climbed the platform with an enormous pack strapped to his back. Grein spoke again.
"This is Renpir, one of our independent unit members. Renpir will be taking the test alongside all of you. I apologize in advance, but any soldier who fails to beat Renpir will be automatically eliminated."
Even among the Fourth Platoon, Renpir was not particularly fast on his feet. If someone could not outrun him while he was hauling a heavy pack, they were unqualified from the start.
Failing to fill the roster did not matter. Anyone who could not clear even the minimum standard would likely die in the first engagement anyway.
"Remember — no mana. The lieutenant's orders."
"Understood."
Renpir nodded and took his place among the applicants. Grein raised his voice.
"At the signal, you will descend the hill and run twenty laps around it. Once you have completed twenty laps, our platoon members at the base of the hill will issue you a verification token. Bring that token to the summit, and the test is over."
"May I ask a question?"
"Given the time, I'll take one or two. Go ahead."
"You say twenty laps around the hill — what about people who lie? Couldn't someone cut it short and just claim they finished?"
"Our platoon members are stationed at every checkpoint along the route. Anyone caught cheating will be disqualified on the spot."
"There'll still be idiots who try, won't there?"
"More than thirty of our platoon will be checking. If you think you can fool them, by all means try. Just understand that the consequences are yours alone."
The terse answer settled the mood. Simple as it was, the pressure in Grein's face and voice was anything but ordinary. The eyes of those who had looked down on him at the start began to change.
At last every applicant took up a spear and shield. They handled such things every day — yet perhaps because of that strange pressure, the spear, the shield, even the armor on their backs all felt heavier than usual.
In the hush, their eyes turned forward.
And then——
"Begin."
"Hyaaaaaah!"
"I'm taking first place right now!"
"If you get tangled up in the back you won't be able to push forward! Breaking out early is what matters!"
With a clamor of shouts the applicants surged into a run. Watching them, Claw turned to Arteon beside him.
"Your vice platoon leader is rather impressive."
"Yes. He's no ordinary man."
Arteon answered with a calm face. Of everyone in the Fourth Platoon, Grein was perhaps the one most determined to catch up to him — and the one who poured the most effort into it. In the time they had been apart his skill had grown considerably; after learning the mana cultivation method he had gathered mana at a remarkable pace. His ability was already at the tail end of the 2-star realm, without exaggeration. Once he gained more combat experience using mana, there would be nothing strange about him reaching the 3-star realm before long. Of course, the 4-star realm beyond that — the manifestation of aura — would require a true awakening of insight……
Arteon simply watched Grein overseeing the applicants and allowed himself a quiet, satisfied smile.
And then——
"Once we've finished selecting the full roster today, I plan to spend about two days running some simple coordination drills."
"I apologize. Even the Supreme Commander knows this is not the sort of thing that should be rushed…… but it is not a matter we can afford to draw out."
"I understand."
Even at this moment, the enemy would be maintaining their perimeter and continuing their reconnaissance. After the recent battle, the Kar Tribe would not dare to sortie lightly. That was precisely why they had to seize this window, find the gaps in the enemy's lines, and strike first. Momentum in war was something that could not be traded for anything else.
"Still, this looks like it will take quite a while."
"The circumference of the hill is longer than it appears. Anyone who fails to hold a proper pace won't even manage twenty laps."
"Heh. Even if you want to manage your pace, watching the fools around you run themselves into the ground tends to wreck it."
In a sense, it was a test of stamina and speed at the base — but of composure and self-control as well. Extremely simple, and yet not simple at all.
There was just one thing that struck Claw as odd.
"But that soldier…… can he really finish this test carrying a pack that heavy?"
He meant Renpir, the benchmark. Arteon answered without the slightest hesitation.
"With the exception of the newest transfers, every single man of the Fourth Platoon who was at Elbarphiel Lake can do it. No exceptions."
The conditioning they had endured until now had been far harsher than this. At Arteon's certainty, Claw simply nodded in silence.
And little by little, the sun began to sink.
"Hah…… hah…… hah……!"
Speed was no longer the issue. Faces flushed scarlet as men gasped for air in increasing numbers. Some had already gone down with seizing legs and could not run at all.
"T-twenty laps……!"
"You may run for the summit. Good luck."
Squad Leader Ragnel of the Second Squad, waiting at the hill's entrance, spoke calmly. Beside him, Squad Leader Barter of the First Squad bellowed.
"Come on, come on! Renpir still hasn't shown! If you climb now, you pass — so get running!"
Whatever had him so fired up, he burst into booming laughter at the sight of the applicants clawing their way up the slope. The thought of receiving new comrades seemed to have him thoroughly worked up.
Ragnel said, "You're properly checking all twenty laps, right?"
"You're the one checking that."
"……Right."
No point getting angry over something so minor. Ragnel kept tally as men gradually finished their twentieth lap and started up the hill.
Before long Renpir himself came jogging in at a measured pace, still shouldering the pack, and asked, "About how many have gone through ahead of me?"
"Around fifty……?"
"That should be about right."
"You take it easy out there?"
"Hardly. I feel like I'm dying. You can see my legs shaking, can't you?"
They had pushed the conditioning hard of late, but running with a stone-filled pack and no mana was never going to be easy. Ragnel looked at him with a touch of pity.
"It's almost over — hang on a little longer. Once you're done, rest time is guaranteed."
"Right now I think I could sleep on bare dirt."
"Heh. Talk like that and your face'll freeze that way."
They exchanged a few idle remarks, and Renpir started up the hill. A few more men had passed during the brief chat, but he paid it no real mind. That he had run this far at all meant he had held his own pace without getting swept up in the crowd.
The sun set completely, and the heavy dark of the north settled in. Here and there, torches threw light across the grounds as the test drew toward its end.
At the summit, Arteon watched the applicants slowly come into view.
"F-first plaaaaace!"
It was only a low hill, but they had been running without rest for nearly ten hours. The man who came in first collapsed where he stood, legs gone, and shouted it out. Waiting soldiers distributed water and food and set up a place for them to rest. Then second place, third, fourth — one after another they arrived, each crying out their rank.
And then——
"F-fifty-fourth plaaaaace!"
"Fifty-fifth. Renpir. Test complete."
Coming in fifty-fifth, Renpir snapped a crisp salute toward Arteon. Arteon nodded.
"Well done. Set the pack down and rest. Effective immediately, personal rest time is guaranteed until noon tomorrow. Take it easy."
"Thank you, sir."
Renpir shrugged off the pack, casually drew up a thread of mana, and walked toward the tents as if nothing were amiss. The men who had already passed watched him go, clicking their tongues and shaking their heads.
"Shit, they must've gone easy on him."
"Is this place…… full of nothing but monsters like that?"
"I heard earlier…… that he was one of the independent unit's weaker ones for stamina……"
"……Then what the hell are the strong ones like?"
Every face wore the same look of disbelief as they muttered among themselves.
"The test is over. Anyone arriving after this point is disqualified. Return to your respective units."
Claw, standing beside Arteon, spoke firmly as he watched those still coming in. At his words the Fourth Platoon soldiers bellowed that the test had ended, carrying the news to every applicant still on the course.
But then——
"What the fuck kind of bullshit is that?!"
A sudden shout from the side snapped Arteon's gaze around.