Veteran of the Northern Front - Chapter 26

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Asakusa

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◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈

Chapter 26: Camilla Fortress (3)

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After winning the soldiers’ trust, I immediately began setting things right.

“First, make sure the food and supplies in the warehouse are properly distributed to the soldiers.”

“Understood.”

Perez’s henchmen, including Jason, were to be handed over to the investigators sent by headquarters.

With so many soldiers lost during the recent Frostfire Operation, they would probably be sent to that unit as penal soldiers.

Executing Perez, a noble, on the spot could have caused trouble, but...

“Perez attempted to escape partway through, so I had no choice but to deal with Perez.”

“Even so, to treat a noble like that...”

“My apologies. It was my mistake.”

“Ahem. Be more careful next time.”

After matching our stories with the soldiers and making excuses to the investigator who visited the fortress to determine what had happened, we got through it safely.

“By the way, what will happen to the vacant centurion positions at the fortress after this?”

Originally, there should have been five centurions under my command. But since all the previous centurions, like Jason, had been taken away as penal soldiers, Marcus was currently the only official centurion at Camilla Fortress.

“I reported it to headquarters, but I have yet to receive a reply. Did they tell you anything?”

“I was just about to tell you. Headquarters says the Northern Army is short on personnel as well, so we are to manage it within the unit for now.”

In short, since they had no people to spare, they wanted us to appoint temporary centurions and handle things ourselves.

That was welcome news to me.

‘I can fill the vacant spots with Max and the others.’

It was better to entrust the positions to my trusted subordinates, whose abilities had been tested to some extent, rather than appoint soldiers from the fortress whom I had only met yesterday.

‘They’ve watched and learned enough. They should be able to do their part.’

Now then, who should I appoint?

Max and Martin were already decided.

They had been senior soldiers, so they were good at looking after the soldiers. They had also performed exceptionally during the last subjugation operation. I could trust them with this much.

‘Whatever they lack, I can make up for.’

That left two positions.

After some thought, I chose Walter and Jackson.

The reason I selected those two instead of the others was that I wanted to clearly divide the branches of the force and train them professionally while I had the chance.

‘Walter was a hunter, so he is well versed in the bow. I should put him with soldiers who have handled bows and raise an archer corps.’

Jackson had a good sense of direction and excellent spatial awareness, so it seemed best to have them lead a scout unit with quick-footed soldiers.

‘Besides that, I need people to handle supplies, escorts, and clerical work...’

For now, I planned to leave the supply unit to Raul.

Raul was quick with calculations, and whenever he helped the supply unit back when we were penal soldiers, Mac had praised him for being good at the work. I could trust him.

As for administrative work and clerical support, I decided to select willing members from the remaining squad members.

This was the new organization I had in mind.

I was worried whether the fortress soldiers, who had never received proper training because of Perez, could pull their weight. Still, it would not be a major problem.

After all, they could make up for what they lacked through hard work, could they not?

What? The problem was that they could not?

‘Come on, what is there to worry about?’

I was the person in charge of Camilla Fortress. Unlike when I was a penal soldier, I had the authority to lawfully give orders to soldiers.

And making the impossible possible was one of my talents.

The next day, I gathered the squad commanders stationed at the fortress along with my squad members and announced the reorganization plan.

“Since the centurion positions are currently vacant, with headquarters’ permission, I intend to appoint centurions at my own discretion and reorganize the unit accordingly. The new organization is as follows.”

[First Strike Force]

Personnel: 90

Centurion: Marcus

Primary Mission: Striking enemy positions

[Second Strike Force]

Personnel: 90

Centurion: Max

Primary Mission: Striking enemy positions

[Garrison]

Personnel: 160

Centurion: Martin

Primary Mission: Fortress defense and support

[Archer Corps]

Personnel: 60

Centurion: Walter

Primary Mission: Ranged attacks and support for allied forces

[Scout Unit]

Personnel: 30

Centurion: Jackson

Primary Mission: Scouting and reconnaissance

[Supply Unit]

Personnel: 21

Supply Officer: Raul

Primary Mission: Managing and distributing supplies

[Guard Unit]

Personnel: 6

Guard Captain: To be determined

Outstanding personnel will be selected through future sparring matches.

The squad members who had only recently arrived becoming centurions might have drawn objections, but the people already entrenched here had been Perez and Perez’s lackeys. Thanks to that, and the performance I had shown earlier, the existing soldiers did not react with much resistance.

Instead, they were more confused by the new unit organization than the new appointments.

“Um...”

“Before asking a question, state your unit, position, and name.”

“Yes! I am Garban, squad commander of Camilla Fortress.”

“Yes, Squad Commander Garban. What are you curious about?”

“I have a question regarding the new organization. Looking at your reorganization plan, Fortress Lord, each unit has a different assigned duty. What will happen to duties we have normally performed, such as guard duty?”

A sharp question.

I gave Garban a faint smile and answered.

“The duties you take on from now on will also be divided according to each unit’s specialty. For example, unless something unusual happens, guard duty will be handled by the garrison. That is why the garrison has more personnel than the other units.”

“Then how will the personnel assignments for each unit be decided? Can we be assigned to the unit we want?”

“First, soldiers will be assigned according to their individual strengths. Then, we will assign them to their preferred units where possible.”

What if too many soldiers flocked to one unit?

Then I planned to conduct simple tests of endurance and strength, allowing those with the highest results to enter their desired unit.

After finishing my explanation, I gave the squad commanders one final instruction.

“Since this is a sudden, large-scale reorganization, the whole fortress will be in an uproar. Cooperate with the centurions and make sure the soldiers do not become confused. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

After ordering the squad commanders to relay what they had just heard to the soldiers, I kept Marco, Ren, and Kram behind.

“I still have not decided what duties to give the three of you.”

In other words, unlike the other squad members, the three of them did not have any standout specialty.

Their abilities were awkwardly placed, neither fit for ordinary soldiers nor for commanders.

‘Still, I cannot leave them as regular soldiers.’

They were all people I could not help worrying about.

All three had believed in me and followed me this far.

I wanted to give them a chance to find a new path.

“Since none of you have been assigned a proper position yet, I will do my best to let you take on whatever work you want. So do not feel pressured. Speak freely. If nothing else suits you, you can help me with administrative work at my side.”

After a brief silence, Ren was the first to speak.

“I, I would like to work beside you, Captain.”

“You want to handle administrative work?”

“...Yes.”

Ren’s expression looked somewhat bitter.

“To be honest, I am not as talented as Marcus, nor do I have the courage to stand proudly before others like Max and Martin. Even during the last subjugation operation, I only pretended to be calm...”

“...”

“Even now, whenever I remember facing the barbarians, my hands and feet start shaking.”

“Ren...”

“I am sorry. You accepted even a coward like me, Captain, but I...”

I patted Ren’s head as he tearfully trailed off.

“You do not need to say that. You did your best.”

It was true.

Whether in training or in battle, Ren had always done his best.

“Everyone has things they are good at and things they are not. There is nothing shameful about finding work that suits you.”

“Captain...”

Ren had been running at full speed while wearing clothes that did not fit.

Just because the result was not as good as someone else’s did not mean anyone could mock him for it.

I comforted Ren while also giving him confidence.

“And hey, the administrative work you will handle is important work that affects the entire fortress. Take pride in it, understood?”

“Yes!”

Ren was good at work and diligent in everything, so he would adapt to administrative duties quickly.

“What about you two?”

“I...”

The dark-skinned Kram carefully voiced an opinion.

“If you permit it, Captain, I would like to serve as the fortress’s liaison.”

“You mean you want to handle outside business, traveling between merchant companies and other units beyond the fortress?”

“That is correct.”

“Hmm...”

Looking at the fortress’s current circumstances, there was not much for Kram to do yet.

Still, if things went according to the plan I had in mind, we would be dealing with outsiders often before long. So I told Kram to do that for now.

Kram had chosen a path as well.

Now only Marco remained.

“What about you, Marco? Have you thought of anything?”

“Captain, if possible, could you give me some time?”

“You need time to think?”

“...Something like that.”

“Fine. Take your time and give me an answer.”

Marco was an awkward talent in a different sense from Ren and Kram.

‘Marco has good basic strength and decent combat instincts, but...’

There was still too much lacking to push Max or Martin aside and appoint Marco as a centurion.

‘Well, Marco seems to have some separate plan in mind.’

I decided to give Marco time and wait.

Nothing would happen just because I waited a little.

＊＊＊＊＊

After announcing the unit reorganization, noisy days continued at the fortress.

“Hey, where did you apply?”

“The garrison. What about you?”

“Me? Obviously...”

Since everyone’s affiliation would change completely through this reorganization, the soldiers were too busy deciding which unit to apply for. Meanwhile, I had no time to rest as I reviewed related documents and the fortress’s current situation.

“Ren, where is the supply inventory report?”

“They say the inspection has not been completed yet. Supply Officer Raul says it will be finished by tomorrow.”

“Really? Then...”

As I sat buried in paperwork with Ren, looking utterly exhausted,

Knock knock!

Marcus and Carbin came to visit.

I had put Carbin in charge as the fortress’s medical officer and asked Carbin to examine the soldiers’ health.

‘There are not enough medicinal herbs, and we do not even have proper facilities, so there is only so much Carbin can do.’

It seemed it would take quite some time to establish a proper medical unit.

“What brings you two here together?”

“We met on the way here. As you ordered before, these are the documents recording the soldiers’ health examinations. A few are suffering from minor ailments, but no one has a serious condition such as an infectious disease.”

“Good work.”

I took the papers from Carbin, then turned to Marcus.

“What about you? Do not tell me something happened.”

“No. There is nothing to worry about, so please rest assured.”

Right?

No one would be crazy enough to cause trouble, would they?

I already had a mountain of work. If another problem arose, I could not guarantee what I might do.

Seeing the gleam in my eyes, Marcus cleared his throat and stated the reason for coming.

“Ahem. I came to report that all the soldiers have finished submitting their applications.”

“Oh? Let me see.”

I checked the applications Marcus had brought.

“As expected, the scout unit and archer corps have exactly the right number of applicants.”

“Since the required abilities are clear, it seems only soldiers confident in those areas applied.”

The supply unit was unexpected.

There were not many positions, and the work was relatively safe, so I had expected it to draw many applicants.

‘Only nineteen? It is short instead?’

Instead, the strike forces, which I had expected to be the least popular, were crowded with soldiers.

Why was that? After thinking it over, I soon found a plausible answer.

‘Could it be because of the speech I gave on the first day?’

They seemed to remember what I had said about recognizing effort and rewarding sweat, so they applied to the strike forces, where there were more opportunities to earn merit.

Their attitude was commendable, but that meant I had no choice but to assess each person’s abilities and divide the positions according to their results, just as I had said before.

“Are the soldiers’ assessments going well?”

“Yes. We have completed basic endurance and strength tests, including running and push-ups. We have selected the top fifty, including the squad commanders, and are holding sparring matches separately.”

“That is a relief.”

I wanted to oversee it myself, but with so much work piled up, I had no choice but to leave it to the centurions.

Those who performed well in the tests would either enter the guard unit or be assigned to their desired unit, according to their wishes.

“Are there any promising ones?”

“The overall quality still leaves much to be desired, but I believe they will improve if we fill their weaknesses through training. However...”

Marcus wore a strange expression.

Puzzled by Marcus’s ominous reaction, I asked,

“Is something wrong?”

“Well... there is an unexpected contender...”

An unexpected contender?

What was that supposed to mean?

As I tilted my head, Marcus awkwardly scratched his cheek.