Veteran of the Northern Front - Chapter 11

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Asakusa

◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈

Chapter 11: New Recruit Initiation (1)

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Now that we had Marcus, we had no further business here.

“Supply Captain, we’ll be heading back now.”

“Ah, you must be tired from the escort mission. Go get some rest. I’ll have supplies for the recruit sent over separately.”

“Thank you.”

After thanking the Supply Captain, we returned to our barracks.

A lot had happened today, so everyone should have been exhausted. Yet they had gathered in the clearing in front of the barracks as though they still had something left to do.

“Hup!”

“Everyone ready?”

“I’m up first.”

“Max, show us what you’ve got!”

“Hey, Max, we’re counting on you.”

As Max loosened up and stepped forward, the others cheered him on.

The reason for this was the New Recruit Initiation.

I hadn’t known much about it, but Max told me it was an old tradition in penal-soldier units.

Apparently, it was a mandatory event intended to establish discipline in new recruits.

In any case, our squad’s initiation involved a fistfight. Unlike when I went through it, an ordinary soldier had joined us this time, so they seemed determined to do it properly.

‘Right. Better to establish discipline like this than have trouble when it matters.’

Weren’t men supposed to bond by trading blows?

I didn’t particularly oppose the initiation.

Still, there was one problem.

“I’ll let you make the first move.”

Max flicked his fingers at Marcus in provocation.

“...”

“What? Scared? Then again, you’ve got the kind of face that goes around charming women.”

Twitch!

For the first time, a vein stood out on Marcus’s forehead.

I understood trying to create a rough atmosphere, but...

‘Mm, he shouldn’t do that...’

Whether Max understood my concern or not, he kept running his mouth.

“Tch. When I saw you earlier today, I thought you could fight. Looking at you now, you’re nothing.”

“...”

“You even got the right equipment down there? Heh. Drop your pants and I’ll check for you.”

Marcus’s face became chillingly expressionless.

In the blink of an eye, Marcus launched himself forward and drove his fist into Max’s stomach.

Crunch!!

“Guhk!!”

With a strangled cry, Max flew more than three meters through the air. He rolled across the ground before finally coming to a stop.

He didn’t move.

One punch had knocked him unconscious.

The other squad members, who had watched it happen, made dumbfounded noises.

“Huh?”

“Th-this feels familiar somehow...”

Ugh. I knew this would happen.

Marcus hated being sexually humiliated.

Marcus had said women had bothered him since childhood because of Marcus’s exceptional looks. Or at least, I think he had.

‘And Max went and sexually harassed him without knowing a thing...’

I inwardly shook my head at Max, who had collapsed foaming at the mouth.

‘Marcus really put his all into that punch.’

This was the problem I had meant.

A New Recruit Initiation?

It was common here, so that was fine.

Using a fistfight to establish discipline in a recruit?

Sure, the intention was good.

‘But how exactly were they going to do that?’

They weren’t all attacking him at once. There was no way the squad members could beat Marcus in a series of one-on-one fights.

Even in the game, Marcus was the monster who would be called the God of War after gaining both martial prowess and command ability.

To Marcus, the New Recruit Initiation was nothing more than a stage to showcase Marcus.

‘Still, letting this pass as it is wouldn’t be right either.’

I didn’t have any ill will toward Marcus.

But there was a chance Marcus might not listen to my orders at an important moment later. Even if it wasn’t about discipline, I needed to earn Marcus’s respect.

And to earn that respect...

‘I should take the wind out of Marcus’s sails during this initiation.’

In a real fight with weapons, perhaps, but I wasn’t confident in unarmed combat.

I wasn’t confident I’d lose, that is.

After Max went down, the squad members declared that they would avenge him and charged at Marcus.

But...

“W-wait... Urk!”

Thud!

“I yield! I’m going to yield... Agh!”

Thud!!

“Y-you win... Guhk!”

Angered by Max’s provocation, Marcus showed no mercy.

“I... I did nothing... Ugh!”

Marcus knocked down the squad members one after another. Once Ren, the last one, had also been knocked unconscious, no one was left to face Marcus.

Marcus glanced over the squad members, who were either unconscious or barely able to hold themselves up. Catching Marcus’s breath, Marcus looked at me.

“It’s over.”

His eyes seemed to say, “Is this enough for you?”

I’d expected it, but this was beyond what I imagined.

‘To think they’d all go down without landing even a single hit...’

I swallowed a bitter laugh and forced myself to speak.

“Now that you’ve put everyone down, you should have a round with me too.”

“...You mean with you, Squad Commander?”

Marcus asked in an uneasy tone.

It was as though he thought hitting a superior officer would be improper.

Seeing how certain Marcus was of victory, I found myself getting stubborn.

“What? Already tired? If you are, you can start after taking a few hits.”

At my faint sneer, Marcus’s expression hardened.

“...I still have plenty left in me.”

“Then that works.”

“C-Commander...”

Max and Martin had regained consciousness.

I clicked my tongue as I looked at them.

“Tsk, tsk. Pathetic. Your training will be doubled from now on. Remember that.”

“W-what...?”

Leaving the two behind with expressions like they had lost their country, I stepped forward.

‘Just rest. I’ll make sure you’re avenged.’

Unlike the fights with the other squad members, the atmosphere itself changed as Marcus and I faced each other. I was one of the largest men in the unit, and Marcus was nearly as tall.

At a glance, I had the advantage.

We were about the same height, but I was bigger.

‘That’s only because he hasn’t finished growing yet.’

Marcus was eighteen this year. In another year or two, once he finished growing, his shoulders would broaden, and he’d grow a few more centimeters taller.

Of course, even before reaching full size, Marcus deserved to be called a monster.

Whoosh!

Marcus closed the distance in an instant and threw a punch at my stomach.

It came cutting through the air with considerable force, but I easily stepped aside.

I’d noticed from watching the earlier fights that Marcus always aimed for the stomach with the first attack.

‘I understand that Marcus wants to subdue an opponent quickly without seriously hurting them, but...’

Marcus shouldn’t underestimate me.

When I avoided his punch, Marcus’s expression grew serious.

Marcus had realized that I wasn’t an easy opponent.

After testing the distance for a moment, Marcus charged like a bull.

‘Looks like Marcus plans to get in close and turn this into a brawl.’

A huge mistake.

My monstrous strength and the fighting techniques from my past life were my greatest weapons.

“Hup!”

I easily caught Marcus’s charge, grabbed his collar with one hand, twisted at the waist, and slammed him into the ground.

It was a bizarre over-the-shoulder throw.

A combination of abnormal strength and techniques from my past life.

Marcus’s vision flipped in an instant, and the jarring impact drew a groan from Marcus.

“Urgh!”

The real thing hadn’t even started yet. He couldn’t be reacting already.

I immediately seized Marcus’s body as he lay on the ground and attempted a submission hold.

Marcus tried desperately to throw me off, but how could a beginner who had never encountered ground fighting possibly shake me?

Like an experienced snake, I wrapped myself around Marcus and pressed my thick forearm against Marcus’s neck.

A guillotine choke.

As I locked my arm in place and tightened the pressure around his throat, Marcus looked flustered for the first time.

“Ghhk!”

Even as a mana user, he couldn’t break free unless he overwhelmed me with technique or raw strength.

Squeeze...

His face gradually reddened. Sensing danger, Marcus struggled desperately to pry my arm loose.

Thud, thud, thud!!

Marcus struck my side and pulled at my arm with all his strength, but it was useless.

‘All I have to do is squeeze harder.’

Squeeze!

Like the superhuman Marcus was after awakening mana, Marcus endured my full-strength choke for more than thirty seconds.

Slump...

In the end, strength slowly drained from Marcus’s body, and Marcus went limp.

“Whew,”

I released the choke and checked Marcus’s condition.

Fortunately, he had only fainted.

“The commander...”

“Won?”

As Marcus collapsed, the squad members watching from behind widened their eyes.

“Waaa!!”

“The commander won!”

I answered their cheers in a tired voice.

“...Stop making such a fuss and carry him inside the barracks.”

“Yes, sir!!”

I could understand their position too.

‘If I had lost as well, they’d have to watch Marcus’s moods from now on... Haah. More importantly, this hurts like hell.’

My side, where Marcus had hit me, throbbed.

It looked like it had bruised.

That wasn’t all.

‘Damn! What is this handprint?’

When I checked my forearm, a clear palm print, presumably Marcus’s, had been left behind. It proved that he had used mana and fought with all his strength.

I let out a laugh as I watched the squad members carry Marcus away.

‘I can’t do this twice.’

No, this trick wouldn’t work at all the second time.

‘If it’s Marcus, Marcus will review this defeat and try to find a way to win.’

If we fought again, I might lose, but I didn’t care.

‘Winning once was enough. Why would I fight him again?’

My goal had been to curb his momentum and establish discipline.

Now that I had achieved that goal, there was no reason to fight anymore.

There was an old saying that a wise person won when they could, then ran away.

It would have infuriated Marcus to hear it.

But a loser’s words didn’t reach the winner.

＊＊＊＊＊

Meanwhile, while Ubel was finishing the initiation and lying down in the barracks, Berun received Pellon’s report on what had happened during the escort mission.

“Ha! I thought there had been many accidents during escorts recently. So that was why? They were diverting penal soldiers and selling them as slaves? How dreadful...”

Even if penal soldiers were criminals, they were still soldiers meant to defend the Empire’s front lines.

Privately diverting them and turning them into slaves was not a matter that could be taken lightly.

“I’ll report this matter to higher command myself.”

The moment Berun received the report, Berun instinctively knew.

‘A storm is about to break.’

The Empire’s current situation was chaos itself.

Within its borders, corrupt courtiers repeatedly seized and sold offices, titles, and territories for their own wealth and glory. Outside, kingdoms and barbarian tribes with conflicting interests constantly provoked the Empire.

The only reason the Empire had remained safe despite all this was because its mighty army kept foreign enemies in check.

However, several years ago, the corrupt courtiers had begun extending their reach into the Imperial Army as well.

‘Once Command Headquarters learns of this, they’ll draw their swords.’

At present, the Imperial Army was broadly divided into two factions.

The Upright Faction, whose commanders had gained their positions through proper procedures and remained loyal to the Empire, and the Corrupt Faction, whose commanders had bought their positions by bribing corrupt courtiers.

Berun belonged to the Upright Faction.

To recover the money they had spent buying their positions, the Corrupt Faction committed every kind of corruption within the military.

The Upright Faction wanted to remove them somehow, but from the corrupt courtiers at the center to officers within Command Headquarters, too many people were involved to move against them easily.

‘And now we’ve caught slave traders and Corrupt Faction commanders tied together...’

They had clear circumstances, evidence, and even witnesses.

The Upright Faction would never let this opportunity pass.

Before the evidence could be destroyed, they would swiftly seize the ringleaders, connect them to prior crimes, and attempt to uproot the Corrupt Faction.

‘We’ve stumbled into the eye of a storm.’

If the Moderate Faction purged the Corrupt Faction, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Berun and the soldiers would be at the heart of the purge and the reason it began.

“Whew. We’ve become entangled in something complicated.”

“But you have no intention of letting this slide, do you?”

“Of course not.”

Berun was not someone who could witness wrongdoing and simply overlook it.

“Still, you accomplished something great this time. If things go well, perhaps you could rise all the way to Commander of a Thousand?”

“Th-that...”

At Berun’s playful question, Pellon scratched his head.

The two had known each other for a long time, and when no one else was around, they often traded jokes.

“Someone like me, a Commander of a Thousand?”

“Isn’t it good to dream big?”

“I know my own limits. After spending many years in the barracks, I’ve gained a rough sense of who can rise high. At best, I can become a Commander of a Hundred. Anything more would be impossible.”

“Hm, is that so? Then who do you think has the potential?”

“Nearby, there is you, Commander of a Hundred. And...”

When Pellon trailed off, Berun smiled mischievously.

“Ubel?”

“Yes.”

Pellon had honestly believed Berun praised Ubel only because Ubel came from nobility.

But after witnessing Ubel’s performance in battle, Pellon had no choice but to change his mind.

The way Ubel calmly gave orders despite being surrounded by enemies was a response so capable that it was hard to believe Ubel had come from the penal ranks.

‘If Ubel hadn’t been there...’

The escort mission that went out earlier that day might have been his last.

Pellon disliked penal soldiers.

No, hated them would have been more accurate.

When Pellon had just joined the Imperial Army, a squad commander whom Pellon sincerely respected and followed had been killed by a deserting penal soldier. Since then, Pellon had not considered penal soldiers to be people.

People who would run whenever their lives were in danger and would not hesitate to kill allies. That was what penal soldiers were to Pellon.

But Ubel was different. He led his subordinates responsibly even in an unfavorable situation and demonstrated his skill by winning a decisive victory.

“To think even someone as demanding as you has been won over by Ubel. Ubel really is impressive.”

“Ahem. I haven’t been won over. I merely thought Ubel was useful, for a penal soldier.”

“Tsk. You can’t even be honest. Anyway, I’ll draft the formal military report just as you described.”