Chapter 276.
I took out a mana recovery potion from my pocket s.p.a.ce to drink, and as Lieutenant Marlon stared blankly at me, I said, "I think I"ve seen approximately every unit, so let"s go back to the staff office."
"Huh? Oh, yes! Okay!" Lieutenant Marton replied, frozen to the bone.
When I was in my hometown, this level of sparring was done every day, so I wondered if it was worth freezing up over. He’d likely freak out if he saw how my brothers and I toiled under my father and Elder Weger.
"Oh, Head Commander-nim."
When I called Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y, he looked revolted after being referred to by his t.i.tle. "Uack, what’s a Head Commander-nim? Just call me uncle as usual."
I sighed and shook my head at Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y. "You should get used to it. We must differentiate between our public and private matters. People will swear if you show your family ties at work.”
"Well, that"s true, but it makes me cringe if you call me Head Commander-nim.”
I threw a wooden box of pills from my pocket s.p.a.ce at my grumbling uncle. "It"s a nouris.h.i.+ng potion which I made myself that also has stamina and mana enhancing effects. If you feed it to your subordinates and train them, it’ll be quite effective."
"Oh! Thank you!" After receiving the wooden box, Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y threw it at Proban and said, "The instructions are written in there, so you can take them as outlined."
"We’ll take it with grat.i.tude, Colonel-nim."
I nodded my head and left the training grounds with Lieutenant Marton, who was looking between Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y and me in surprise. It wasn"t a secret that I was Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y"s nephew, as it would’ve been exposed either way if I had a match with the Black Water Buffalo Knights. However, it seemed like it was discovered a little earlier than planned. Well, it"ll work out somehow.
* * *
The fallen Black Water Buffalo knights were moved to the lounge, and the visiting soon-to-graduate students from the middle-rank knight school also departed.
Proban, the leader of the Black Water Buffalo knights, was left alone in the training grounds with b.l.o.o.d.y, and he sighed.
Seeing his subordinate sighing, b.l.o.o.d.y spoke while sitting on a bench. "Good job. That was good enough."
"By that, you mean losing miserably against a magician who didn"t use magic?" After saying so, Proban rubbed his face. For him, the knights’ loss in the spar was shocking.
"Well, even before he ran away from home, he was one of the most powerful individuals amongst his age group. Perhaps it’s due to his physical growth, but he"s gotten stronger."
Proban smiled bitterly at b.l.o.o.d.y"s consolation and inquired, "If he’s gotten stronger, to what extent would that be?"
b.l.o.o.d.y pondered and answered, "Well, based on what I saw today, not considering his age, he would probably stand within the top ten of the young people.”
"How about including everyone?"
"In all honesty, I"m not sure since there are so many monsters in my village. Even including the elders, I"m certain he would at least be in the top 300."
Proban stuck his tongue out. "You mean he’s in the top 300 without using magic?"
"Yeah, so don"t be so dejected. He wasn’t chosen as the next chief for no reason."
b.l.o.o.d.y didn’t mention that Mac would be much more powerful if he abstained from using magic. It would have hurt their pride to say that Mac often controlled his strength when he fought against the Black Water Buffalo knights.
Proban asked b.l.o.o.d.y one last question as his officer patted him on the shoulder, trying to get him to stand up. "Then, what would his level be if he used magic?”
"I don"t know, but the great madosa Mirpa ahjumma said that there’s probably no one who can be his opponent besides my older brother-nim, the current chief." While saying this, b.l.o.o.d.y grinned as if he was dumbfounded by his own words, and he continued, "Neither my older brother-nim nor I were that strong at his age.”
While smacking his lips, b.l.o.o.d.y mumbled that if it weren"t for the potential aftermath within the capital, he would have completely released his seal and tried fighting Den.
* * *
I opened the door to the staff office and greeted everyone. "I"m back."
None of the staff seemed to have left work even though it was pretty late. I headed to my seat with Lieutenant Marton.
The chief of staff saw me, and he stared in a daze, asking curiously, "You… What have you done to make your new uniform so ragged?"
For the chief of staff to ask me that, I had to admit that my appearance did look quite atrocious. The sleeved areas where the manrikis caught both of my arms were charred, and I was covered in white dust from being caught in the bead explosion.
I didn"t know when this occurred, but it seems I wasn’t able to dodge everything, as there were three slashes on the hem of my clothes. I probably got cut when they switched out the weights on the manrikis for the bladed hooks. It seems I’m still too inexperienced.
"Hahaha. Well, I just did what Guild Director Glont-nim said."
At my words, the chief of staff’s eyes opened wide in surprise. "That’s a lot faster than I thought. I thought you’d do it in about a week."
"That"s what I was thinking, but the Head Commander-nim suddenly dragged me away,” I said, conveying my lack of control over the situation.
The chief of staff grinned. "That sounds like the Head Commander-nim; did you win?"
"Yes, I won, but they were much stronger than I expected. It wasn"t easy."
At my honest admiration, the chief of staff nodded as if it were natural. "That"s because they use the tactics that Guild Director Glont-nim taught them. So, how many did you go against?"
I smiled humbly and straightened three fingers, and the chief of staff remarked, "Three? I thought you"d fight at least five?"
"Haha, not three, but thirty."
The chief of staff was beyond taken aback, growing stunned by my correction. "That"s ridiculous. Even Head Commander-nim only deals with ten people at once...”
"Head Commander-nim? No way. If it’s Head Commander-nim, he would be fine even if he went against all of them.”
Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y was a monster who Elder Weger recognized as a genius that was above himself. Personally, I thought Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y was more powerful than Aunt Talaria in terms of pure strength. Of course, if they really fought, I believed that my aunt would win using mental warfare and her equipment.
"Oh! Is it because he usually seals his strength? Or maybe it"s to teach each knight." It could be both.
"Well, that"s not important, so let"s move on. These are the things I thought about while looking at the units. Please take a look." I handed a notebook to the chief of staff, along with a report describing the renovated appearance of the musket and ammunition.
The chief of staff quickly skimmed through the notebook and report before saying, "I didn"t send you expecting something like this... It was a short duration, but you"ve accurately a.s.sessed the characteristics of each unit.“
"There was a lot of help from Lieutenant Marton."
Lieutenant Marton knew a lot of people and had more knowledge than I initially presumed. The chief of staff nodded and said, "Pages 1, 3, and 7 are innovative, but in reality, we don"t have enough time to practice unit teamwork, so it"s almost impossible.”
"Is that so?"
When I smacked my lips, the chief of staff grinned. "I’m just saying it’s too much at the moment; the idea is not bad. I"ll keep it in mind. And pages 2 and 5 are acceptable. They’re feasible to use right now. Can you make a detailed report?"
Number 2 was to improve supply routes by connecting with the Railroad a.s.sociation, and number 5 was a practical method I thought of after seeing the Black Water Buffalo knights.
"I"ll send it by lunch tomorrow."
The chief of staff folded the notebook and examined the report. "This report doesn"t have any pictures.”
"Ahaha, I have no drawing skills."
"That"s just like Head Commander-nim.” The chief of staff was reading with a smile after his joke, but he became more serious. After examining the entire report, he started a.s.sessing it again from the beginning and asked, "Are you sure about the practicality of the measures written here?"
"Yes, of course." As I responded, the chief of staff promptly marked the cover of the report with the stamp a.s.sociated with top secrets.
"Do you... have any demons in your head? If what is written here comes true, the battlefield will become h.e.l.l.”
I shrugged lightly when the chief of staff spoke in a cold sweat. "What do you mean? You speak as if the battlefield wasn’t already h.e.l.l. War is the act of creating h.e.l.l."
The report was just about how muskets and bullets should evolve in the future. It was simply a detailed explanation of what war would look like if it developed like that, referring to the world war from my previous life.
"…That"s true. I"ll tell the weapons manufacturers to start implementing the Nessler bullets that were described at the beginning of the report. However, rifling is too difficult right now."
"Yes, I know. There’s not enough time to train the soldiers."
It was impossible to use musketeers extensively in this war. Yet, its unexpected role as a joker against the enemy would be well worth it.
"If the war wasn’t right around the corner, we could have made cartridges and rear-mounted rifles. It’s such a shame,” said the chief of staff.
I smiled lightly at the chief of staff. "It won"t be easy. They’re not something you can manufacture easily just by knowing how to make them."
"That"s true. Even more so because there are no drawings, nor designs."
I was stung by the chief of staff"s joke, but I couldn"t help it. What can I do with my poor drawing skills?
"I"m sorry about that."
The chief of staff smiled lightly at my grumbling. "Haha, are you upset?"
"No, I’m not."
In reality, despite the lack of any blueprints, it wouldn’t be impossible for the empire to follow the report to some extent since they had the technology to make trains. Even if the guns were developed, it was highly likely that the formation centered on the knight divisions would change considerably.
No, the rise in importance of any superhumans that were impervious to bullets was clear. All I did was throw a small stone into a puddle. No one knew how the puddle would change, even me, the one who threw the stone.
"Oh, when war breaks out, I’ll likely be at the frontlines with Head Commander-nim, so I was thinking about having personal guards."
"Guards? You want me to take soldiers out for you?"
I shook my head. "No, it would be better to think of them as my personal soldiers."
The chief of staff looked at me with a bit of distrust. "Are they trustworthy? With your skills, I don"t think you need a guard."
I glanced at the portrait of Caradoc hanging on one side of the staff office and said, "That"s true, but they"re reliable. In fact, rather than guard me, I"d like them to advise me because they"re very experienced on the battlefield. And I’m certain of their skills as well."
The chief of staff nodded bitterly. "Well, I"m not in any position to restrain you, so you can do as you please. If it"s helpful, you might as well try and see how it goes."
The chief of staff said so, but it’s not like he was a low-ranked soldier. He would have a significant influence on the vanguard’s advances. It seemed he didn’t like the fact that there would be an unidentified person around me.
"Then, I"ll take it as you are giving me permission." After saying so, I went back to my seat.
Come to think of it, since Lisbon was just about to graduate and would be joining the Black Water Buffalo knights, it appeared that he was going to the frontline.
Jeez, just one more thing I have to pay attention to.