Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Rumors of the Field Manual
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The Gray Fortress headquarters served as the rearmost position on the northern beast frontline.
As such, duty here was relatively safe compared to other postings.
The mortality rate was dramatically lower than that of frontline units.
However, not every unit enjoyed that luxury.
The reconnaissance squads were infamous for missions even tougher than the front lines.
Its proximity to the south turned out to be a poison pill.
The area around the Gray Fortress crawled with the worst headaches: barbarians, deserters, and heretic cults like the Lantern Guides.
And amid all that, word spread that the recon squads had pulled off something big.
In the worst conditions—endless tasks with scant support—they'd staged a real "horsepower show."
A soldier standing watch on the watchtower broke the silence.
"Hey, you hear the rumors? The Lantern Guides got swept up overnight."
Shiver. Shiver.
They kept chattering despite the biting wind.
"Yeah, I heard. Sara's squad, the grand mage, and some guy named Wallowitz."
They had to keep talking, or their lips would freeze shut.
"Grand mage...? You mean Sir Valerius?"
"That's him. Word is he's still out there mopping up the remnants beyond the lines."
"Whoa... insane. He drops by the north now and then. Maybe our workload'll lighten up."
"Dream on, idiot."
Just then, another soldier climbing up for the shift overheard and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk tsk. You clueless noobs."
"Huh? What bullshit is that?"
"The real deal isn't Sir Valerius. It's Wallowitz."
"What're you on about?"
"Howard Wallowitz. Guy took down a Giant Ice Worm solo and handled the Lantern Guides' cult leader."
"Bullshit."
He remembered the "Howard Wallowitz" he'd glimpsed passing by.
A skinny black-haired young man.
A build like that would be crippled by one bad rebound.
In other words, a total liability in real combat.
He pressed on.
"Isn't it just a rumor gone wild?"
"It's legit. Straight from the field mages under Sara."
"..."
The soldier lowered his voice and added,
"And there's another rumor. Wanna hear?"
"...Shoot."
"Word is, Wallowitz wrote some groundbreaking book."
Lloyd, squad leader of Recon Team 3, paced the training grounds, replaying yesterday's events.
'How the hell... did they pull that off?'
The Giant Ice Worm was a notoriously tricky beast.
Tricky enough to land him the squad leader spot.
...His predecessor on Lloyd's squad had died to one.
'How'd Sara's squad take it down alone...?'
He knew Sara's crew were combat junkies.
Still, this exchange rate defied logic.
'They held it off without a scratch before we even arrived...'
Something major had shifted.
'Did Sara hit doctoral level?'
If so, he needed to pick a side fast.
Lloyd decided to scout Sara's squad members first.
They huddled in the corner of the training grounds, whispering among themselves.
He crept closer and eavesdropped.
"So, if we break down other spells like this Field Manual says—into 'loading' and 'firing' phases—we could rework them all?"
"How? You'd need the exact structure to fill the gaps. You... know it or something?"
"Nah."
"Goddamn it, you prick!"
Lloyd stepped in.
"Mind if I join?"
"Gah! Squad Leader Lloyd, sir!"
The squad members jumped and saluted.
Lloyd addressed them.
"What're you guys gossiping about so excitedly?"
They exchanged glances and muttered.
"Should we... tell him?"
"Isaac... er, Howard said it's fine, so probably?"
In the end, Lloyd learned about the Field Manual for Field Mages from them.
He said,
"So Howard Wallowitz wrote this himself? The guy who crushed the Lantern Guides?"
"Yes, sir."
"Wild..."
Combat aces usually sucked at theory.
Excelling at both? Unheard of.
Lloyd continued,
"Mind if I take a peek at this manual?"
"Sure thing."
Lloyd took the manual and flipped through it slowly.
'...What nonsense is this?'
Loading and firing? Was magic a bronze cannon now?
He scrutinized the Field Manual with a skeptic's eye.
Flipping pages at a skeptical slant, that is.
"..."
"..."
Silence fell.
Sara's squad members couldn't hold back.
"Whaddya think of Isaac... er, Howard's idea? Killer, right?"
"..."
Lloyd was now reading ramrod straight.
He replied,
"...This for real?"
"Yep. Took down that Giant Ice Worm yesterday just like it says."
"Seriously? Even if it delays your discharge by a hundred days?"
"Yes! Swear it!"
"..."
Even in the bone-chilling northern cold, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his back.
No choice but to believe it.
'If this tech rolls out to all field mages...'
Recon combat would transform.
A revolution in irregular warfare.
Lloyd told the two squad members,
"Can I borrow this to copy it real quick?"
A few days later, at the Gray Fortress tavern.
Off-duty field mages gathered, swapping stories.
"No joke, the Field Manual works in real fights. Our squad bagged four Ice Trolls with it!"
A fortress guard sneered at the recon mage.
"Cut the crap. You think it's some Principia-level universal theory?"
"..."
The mage clammed up at his comrade's jab.
'Bringing him up here...'
On the northern front, you heard the Uphills name constantly.
Every retreat birthed dozens, hundreds of "Uphills."
So most field mages felt an odd mix of guilt and pity for the name.
Then Isaac Uphills shot up like a comet, hero of the Magic Tower and capital.
Not fangirling now would be weirder.
Some devotees claimed Neptune's true name was "Uphills Planet."
Even though Neptune came straight from Isaac's Principia.
...Few truly grasped the Principia.
But that's the way of the world.
Admiration thrives farthest from understanding.
The manual-obsessed soldier got the whole dynamic.
"Isaac Uphills" was sacred ground to some.
Still, he had to speak.
"Look... purely in combat, isn't the Field Manual better than the Principia?"
"Horse shit. Wallowitz is obviously some imperial black ops project. You comparing him to Isaac, who clawed up from nothing?"
"No, no. Forget bias—pure combat power."
"Pure power... tough call."
Thus began the Howard Wallowitz vs. Isaac Uphills debate.
"Rumor says Isaac bursts orc heads with a flick."
"Pfft. Wallowitz shredded a Giant Ice Worm blindfolded."
"..."
"..."
Their eyes locked.
"Isaac beat blood mage Malakai. Doctoral tier."
"Wallowitz smashed the Lantern Guides. School head level, they say."
"Nah, just speculation. Could be doctoral."
Like most pointless debates, it dragged on without resolution.
Pure power was that ephemeral.
Then Gwendolyn Everglow pushed open the tavern door.
All eyes swung to her.
They'd all seen her back when Count Everglow was commander.
A "Howard fan" nudged the "Isaac fan."
"Wanna ask her?"
Gwendolyn knew both Isaac and Howard.
She could end this endless spat.
"Hmm... she won't get mad, right?"
"You ever see Miss Everglow mad?"
"Nope."
So they approached her.
"Uh... Miss Everglow. Remember us?"
"Whoa, of course! Grant and Darren, right? Your discharge was ages ago... still serving?"
"We're rooted here."
"Oh..."
"..."
Silence, then Gwendolyn asked,
"So, what's up?"
"Well... Howard's your attendant, on the surface, right?"
Her expression turned serious.
"And?"
"Between him and Isaac Uphills... who's stronger?"
"...Pardon?"
A heavy silence hung in the Gray Fortress commander's office.
Commander Viscount Marques couldn't tear his eyes from the copied Field Manual on his desk.
At last, he looked up at Sara standing opposite.
"Heard you subdued the Giant Ice Worm using the techniques in this manual."
"..."
Sara's squad leader bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry, sir."
Following an unofficial civilian document over the empire's standard manual was a clear breach of regs.
Normally, severe punishment.
But the commander just smirked.
He said,
"It's fine. The recon manual was garbage from the start anyway."
"..."
Those in the know all knew.
The recon manual was penned by desk-jockeys with zero field time.
Taking it seriously would've doomed the empire long ago.
The commander pointed at the Field Manual.
"This... is way better. I'll report it up the chain, see if we can distribute it army-wide."
"...!"
Sara's heart sank.
Howard was an alias.
If this went through official channels, Isaac's identity might leak.
Then the commander murmured,
"This 'Howard Wallowitz'..."
Sara swallowed hard.
"He's Isaac Uphills, right?"
His words were a question in form only.
His tone dripped certainty.
Sara's rigid stance crumbled.
"...How did you know?"
Instead of answering, the commander pulled more papers from his desk drawer.
Principia
Calculus
Ideal Gas - Absolute Temperature
All Isaac's papers.
Each crammed with memo papyrus notes.
The commander said,
"You know a lion by its claw marks."
"..."
"No wonder I felt tense around Wallowitz."