The New Squad Leader
“Come to think of it, is it today?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
Claw, who had come to deliver a report to Velkain, tilted his head. The words had been far too abbreviated.
At Claw’s question, Velkain spoke.
“That soldier. Wasn’t his unit assignment today?”
“……You mean the one assigned to the 4th Platoon?”
“Yes.”
Claw’s eyes widened at the answer. Velkain was not the sort to remember individual soldiers one by one.
Seeing Claw’s startled expression, Velkain let out a short snort of laughter.
“Why so surprised? He left quite an impact worth remembering, didn’t he?”
“That’s true enough, but…… it’s been a truly ‘long time’ since the Division Commander has spoken like this.”
“……Yes. It has been a long time.”
Velkain recalled a soldier who had once been here. A bitter smile soon touched his lips, and he asked Claw,
“There won’t be any particular problems, will there?”
“It’s the first day, so I don’t expect anything major. Still…… he might have a rough time of it, don’t you think?”
Claw thought of the 4th Platoon—a punishment unit composed of convicts. Among them, the 4th Squad in particular held some especially unruly bastards.
Still……
Accidents rarely broke out on the very first day. It was a place where people lived, after all; newcomers usually spent the beginning looking around cautiously, as if probing for openings.
Claw said to Velkain,
“Just in case, I’ve already told them to contact me if anything happens…… Shall I check right away?”
“No need. It’s not that serious. More importantly—what’s the status of the 1st Line?”
“Not good. We barely bought some time with this last battle, but the damage is severe. If we don’t throw in support troops immediately, there’s a high chance it’ll be breached within half a month.”
“There are no support troops. Hold with what we have.”
The answer came without the slightest hesitation. There was no chance the center would send reinforcements to the north.
Claw bit his lip hard, a bitter look on his face. This place they called the most vital region, yet it never received proper support. Hypocrites, the lot of them.
Forcing his feelings down, Claw clenched his right fist and pressed it to his left chest.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Velkain nodded. Claw turned and left the division commander’s office.
The north was always in a bad way, but this time he truly felt it might be dangerous.
Just then—
“Staff Sergeant Claw!”
A soldier came sprinting toward him from a distance. He skidded to a halt, saluted, and said,
“Steel Heart! I’ve come with something to report.”
“What is it?”
“Didn’t you order us to keep an eye on the soldier named Arteon who returned from the punishment detail?”
“Did something happen?”
An uneasy feeling brushed past him. And as always, the ominous premonition did not miss its mark.
At Claw’s question the soldier answered,
“Well…… there’s been a bit of a problem.”
“……Already?”
Claw could not hide his dumbfounded expression.
“……What?”
“Squad leader……?”
At Arteon’s introduction, the soldiers of the 4th Squad inside the barracks frowned. Arteon paid it no mind and looked them over as he spoke.
“Get into proper uniform and assemble at the training ground at once. Time…… fine. I’ll give you a generous five minutes.”
He turned on his heel and headed for the training ground.
The odds that those bastards would actually show up within five minutes……
“Absolutely zero.”
By now they would be raising hell inside, asking who the hell that little shit thought he was.
Arteon recalled the faces he had just seen.
The biggest one is…… Bert.
Having already memorized their descriptions, he had picked them out at a glance. The short one with the narrow eyes beside him was Raphelson.
Arteon waited, committing each of them to memory.
And……
“Just as expected.”
But that was fine. A pretext had been created.
A faint curve touched Arteon’s lips as he headed back toward the barracks.
“Ah, so why the hell would you go out there!”
“He says he’s the squad leader. What if we catch stray fire for nothing?”
“Squad leader my ass! Absolute bullshit! Listen up, every last one of you! If even one of you goes out there, you won’t even be able to collect your bones from my hands!”
As he drew near the barracks, the noise inside was loud. Opinions were clearly split, just as he had predicted.
Arteon strode straight in without hesitation.
At once—
“Hup!”
“Umm……”
“Ahem!”
The men who had been arguing hurriedly cleared their throats and averted their eyes, watching him carefully.
Arteon said,
“Disobedience of a lawful training order. Exactly what I’d expect from trash like you.”
“What?”
“Trash? Is this brat itching to die?”
They bristled at the word. Of course they did. They had been treated that way everywhere. Even here, after being dragged to the front, they had been labeled a problem unit. To them, “trash” might as well have been an Achilles’ heel.
However……
That’s exactly why it works.
Arteon lifted the stick at his waist.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Anyone who will follow me to the training ground right now, step over here.”
He pointed to his side with the stick.
And……
“If you mean to keep disobeying orders, stay right where you are. I’ll give you a generous thirty seconds.”
His eyes sank cold and still. This was the last chance he would offer them.
Thirty seconds passed quickly.
“25……26……27……28……29……”
And thirty.
But contrary to his expectations—
“What’s your name?”
“G-Graphil, sir.”
Pale skin, thin frame. Graphil—who looked as if he could cut a decent figure if he cleaned up a little—stepped over to Arteon’s side.
Arteon nodded.
“The rest of you will face disciplinary action for command disobedience. However, before that begins, if anyone has a problem with this situation, come at me.”
“What?”
The massive Bert frowned and asked. Arteon answered him directly.
“If you can break me right here by any means necessary, I’ll hand the squad leader position to that man. I’ve already settled it with the platoon leader, so don’t worry about the aftermath.”
“For real? If I smash you, I become squad leader?”
“I don’t say one thing and mean another. But it ends the moment either of us says ‘surrender’…… or loses his life. I trust there are no pieces of trash here who would lose dirty and then try to take it back later.”
“Hmph! You just keep your damn promise!”
Bert lunged at Arteon without warning. For his bulk, the movement was surprisingly sharp.
Arteon nodded.
“A good surprise attack. On the battlefield, fair duels mean nothing.”
He had already drawn up his mana. After inheriting Wolfhart’s knowledge and experience, many things about Arteon had changed. It was not merely that he had learned a mana cultivation method or gained new knowledge……
Whish!
Every sense had awakened to a degree incomparable to before.
“……?!”
Bert, fist already flying, could not hide his shock at how easily the other man slipped past the blow. It had been a proper ambush, after all.
He dodges this easily?
And those eyes—watching the fist all the way through. It was the look you only saw on men who had long eaten knife-meals in the back alleys.
There was no time to dwell on it.
Thwack!
The stick in Arteon’s hand smashed into Bert’s side.
“Gyaah!”
Bert screamed and crumpled to the floor.
“Ugh…… Uuuugh……!”
Seeing the big man unable to rise, the others’ eyes went wide as rabbits. What the hell was this……
“B-Bert!”
Raphelson rushed toward him. But—
“Stop.”
“……”
“He hasn’t said ‘surrender’ yet, so it isn’t over. Don’t interfere. Or do the two of you plan to come at me together? If so, go ahead.”
“Ah, I…… I……”
Raphelson read the mood and edged backward.
Arteon looked down at Bert.
“If you don’t want to hear that you don’t live up to your size, get up. I didn’t even hit you hard.”
He had only raised his mana lightly. Simply circulating mana greatly enhanced the body’s capabilities. It was a vivid demonstration of why knights who had mastered mana were so strong.
“Ugh…… You son of a bitch……!”
“Good spirit. Come at me again.”
Arteon wagged the stick lightly. He knew exactly how to handle men like these.
These are the ones who’ve survived this barren north. Ordinary methods won’t even scratch them.
He had to thrash them until it felt excessive. If he did not completely break their spirit, they would only wait for a chance at his back.
Arteon watched Bert push himself up. Sturdy body or not, the big man soon sprang to his feet and glared.
“What are you waiting for? Attack.”
“Th-This son of a bitch!”
Bert snatched up the spear that had been lying nearby. That single blow had completely flipped a switch in his head.
“B-Bert! Don’t!”
“Not the spear, Bert!”
“Killing a superior is a capital offense!”
The watching men all shouted at once. But Bert, already past reason, heard none of it.
He simply—
“Die, you son of a bitchhhhh!”
—thrust the spear at Arteon. The blood-scabbed blade shot forward; the squad members watching cried out in horror.
But—
“Tsk……! What kind of pathetic thrust is that.”
Arteon clicked his tongue and lightly tapped the side of the spear blade with his stick.
Clang!
“……?!”
Stagger!
The spear’s path veered sideways and Bert’s balance broke. In that instant Arteon slipped inside his guard and cracked the stick across the man’s thigh.
“Put more strength into your lower body.”
Thwack!
“Gyaah!”
“And you’re putting far too much force into your arms. Relax, then put power into it the moment you stab.”
Thwack!
“Gyaah!”
Just two hits. More than enough to end the fight.
Bert lay trembling on the floor, unable to rise. Yet his eyes remained as hostile and fierce as ever.
Arteon said,
“There are more than one or two things that need fixing.”
He looked down at Bert with eyes that had gone completely cold. Bert flinched involuntarily under that gaze.
What…… kind of eyes……?
The brat looked barely mid-teens. Yet those eyes belonged to a veteran who had survived every kind of hell.
Bert’s instincts screamed the truth.
D-Dangerous……!
This one was dangerous. The senses honed through years in the back alleys and on the battlefield told him so.
Bert tried to shout,
“S-Surren——kuh!”
The moment the word began to form, Arteon’s right hand clamped over his mouth. Eyes that seemed to flash with a red light, mouth curling into a long smile, Arteon said,
“What are you talking about? This is only the beginning.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
Bert frantically tried to tear the hand away.
But—
Thwack!
“Kehek!”
Arteon’s fist drove into his left side. Bert screamed and toppled flat onto his back.
B-Breath……!
He had to say it—surrender—quickly. Trembling, he stared up at Arteon.
By now Arteon held the stick like a proper club and grinned.
“Try to endure it well.”
“S-Surrendeeeeeeeeer!”
The desperate cry rang out, but—
“Then from this moment, you will receive discipline for command disobedience. Accept it gladly.”
“U-Uwaaaaaaah!”
Under Arteon’s relentless clubbing, Bert could only curl into a ball and scream.