Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 47

A short while later, after successfully delivering the supplies to the main battalion, Transport Unit 2 began their return to the unit the very next day.

As soon as they returned to the unit, Havier reported to Adriel.

The story of how there had been an Imperial Army attack during the operation, but they were able to easily block the charge thanks to the performance of the 3rd Infantry Platoon.

The story of how Roden had helped while he was holding back the Imperial Army with a 3-star aura, preventing them from breaking through the encirclement.

The story of how Roden, surprisingly, was a 3-star knight, the same as himself.

Adriel was astonished as he received the report of the series of events.

The story of how the 2nd Light Cavalry Platoon had finished the battle by striking the flank of the Imperial Army cavalry that had barely escaped didn't even register in his ears.

That's how impressive the performance of Roden and the 3rd Infantry Platoon was.

“Huh…. To think that deciding to protect the 3rd Infantry Platoon Leader would return such a huge benefit.”

There were times when he had such thoughts.

Of course, Roden had established many merits, and he was a talent too precious to simply lose, but was there really a need to protect him in this way?

The fact that the Glockner family's private succession war was becoming an obstacle in the war between the Allied Forces and the Imperial Army was also a part that Adriel disapproved of.

At least Adriel, being from the Mediale Kingdom, understood this.

If a noble from another kingdom, for example, the Certator Kingdom, had heard this story, he would not have even thought of protecting Roden.

And yet, Roden had become a 3-star knight.

Furthermore, he had trained the 3rd Infantry Platoon well and turned them into an elite force, which had made a great contribution to protecting the supplies.

For Adriel, all of this could only be surprising.

At the same time, it made him think that it was truly fortunate that he had decided to protect Roden.

“I must grant a reward to the 3rd Infantry Platoon. What do you think? What level of reward would be good?”

At Adriel's question, Havier thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“I think it would be sufficient to grant a Steel Brooch to the 3rd Platoon Leader, an Iron Brooch to the 3rd Deputy Platoon Leader, and award Copper Brooches to a few soldiers who fought exceptionally well in this battle.”

“Hmm. Will that be enough?”

“Compared to dealing with Marco Gallo's Imperial Army cavalry, which had been constantly harassing us in the last supply operation, or establishing a meritorious deed in the unusually difficult rear disruption operation, this was a relatively less important operation. So this should be fine.”

“Still, the reward seems a bit small…. It’s not enough to praise all the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon.”

“Then how about giving good wine and fresh meat to the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon and increasing their personal maintenance time?”

“Yes. That would be good.”

Adriel nodded his head, satisfied with having decided on an appropriate reward.

However, it wasn't all good news.

There was still the story of Gallant and the 1st Archery Platoon, who were lacking in every way compared to the 3rd Infantry Platoon, and had even failed to perform adequately, putting their allies in a difficult situation.

“To put forth personal feelings in operating a unit! There's no need to report this to the higher-ups! I will relieve the 1st Archery Platoon Leader of his position on my own authority!”

For Adriel, the battalion commander, relieving one platoon leader of his position was no big deal.

He had more than enough authority for that.

Furthermore, it wasn't as if the Allied Forces had no one to replace Gallant's position.

On top of that, Gallant's family was not as great as the Glockners, so relieving him of his position was bound to be easier.

Perhaps Gallant, having been relieved of his position, would join the vanguard battalion or the main battalion as a common soldier and go to war to restore his honor.

Or he would return to his hometown, branded with dishonor.

Just like that, Adriel relieved Gallant of his position and concluded the story of the 1st Archery Platoon by requesting a personnel replenishment from the corps.

But Havier still had something to report to Adriel.

“By the way, how did the 3rd Infantry Platoon Leader become so strong so quickly? And how did he train the 3rd Infantry Platoon?”

Fortunately, Adriel asked this question first, making it easy for Havier to deliver his report.

“I had something I wanted to tell you about that.”

First, Havier explained to Adriel that Roden had originally been a 2-star but had recently become a 3-star.

However, unlike Havier, Adriel took this fact at face value.

He did not at all suspect that he might have been a 3-star all along and had been pretending to be a 2-star.

The reason was simple.

In the eyes of Adriel, a 5-star knight, Roden's level was clearly visible.

As such, even among knights, from the 5-star level, it was possible to not only see the mana in its natural state directly, but also to check how much aura the opponent had.

For that reason, Adriel was extremely surprised by another fact.

He couldn't believe that Roden, who had reached the level of a 2-star just a short while ago, was already a 3-star.

‘Is this the power of the Glockner bloodline? Perhaps the talent that had been blocked until now has begun to blossom as the channels have been cleared.’

After hearing that Roden was a 3-star knight, Adriel organized his thoughts like this.

And he listened attentively to Havier's following story.

Because he was even more curious about how the 3rd Infantry Platoon had become strong.

Just like that, stories about stretching, massage, cold water compress, and nine hours of deep sleep poured out of Havier's mouth.

“Is that really effective?”

“So I'm told. Furthermore, they even proved it in a competition to pick the best soldier in the 3rd Infantry Platoon.”

Havier had only understood half of Roden's explanation related to aura absorption rates.

For that reason, rather than explaining it to Adriel, he brought up the story of how it was able to be proven.

Fortunately, Adriel also showed interest in this story.

“If an ordinary common soldier defeated all the squad leaders and won the internal competition, then it must be certain that the training is effective.”

“Yes. So I was thinking, how about we introduce this training method to the entire transport battalion?”

“……”

The expression of Adriel, who had been listening to Havier's story with interest until now, instantly darkened.

Adriel explained the reason.

“Hmm…. I wonder, will the platoon leaders who are in direct charge of the regular training be able to accept this positively?”

“……”

“Of course, if I give the order, they will follow it, but as you know, there is a big difference in efficiency between being active and being passive.”

As expected, Adriel was also having the same worries as Havier.

And fortunately, Havier, who had worried about this first, had a solution.

A solution he had received from Roden.

“So I'm saying, how about we hold a battalion-wide competition?”

“Could it be…?”

“Yes. That's right. Just as the 3rd Infantry Platoon Leader did, we prove the value of the new training method with a battalion-wide competition.”

A smile soon appeared on the lips of Adriel, who had been wearing a surprised expression for a moment.

He thought it was a good method himself.

***

The next day.

Adriel gathered the entire transport battalion in one place and handed out the rewards.

As foretold, Roden received a Steel Brooch, and Chevalier received an Iron Brooch.

Also, Nedhab, Federico, and Zailo, who had performed the most outstandingly among the soldiers in this battle, received Copper Brooches.

On top of this, Adriel personally praised their achievements and granted them good wine, fresh meat, and personal maintenance time, so the entire 3rd Infantry Platoon couldn't help but cheer.

Of course, it wasn't just the 3rd Infantry Platoon that enjoyed the joy.

Naturally, Havier, Jamie, and the 1st Light Cavalry Platoon Leader also pinned Iron Brooches to their chests as a reward.

In addition to this, a few soldiers who had performed well also succeeded in pinning Copper Brooches to their chests.

But it was an undeniable fact that the 3rd Infantry Platoon, which had recently suffered a disadvantage due to the supply operation, had received the biggest reward.

For that reason, the joy of the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon was bound to be even greater.

Because it felt like their efforts until now had been acknowledged.

Furthermore, Adriel's story did not end there.

“Also, starting tomorrow, our battalion intends to introduce the training method of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, which has become surprisingly strong in a short period of time, to all units. You've all heard of it, right? Stretching, massage, cold water compress, nine hours of deep sleep.”

At Adriel's sudden declaration, everyone stirred.

It couldn't be helped.

Because everyone in this place was now faced with having to personally carry out the training method of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, which they had been pointing fingers at as strange until just a little while ago, starting from tomorrow.

But Adriel paid no mind to this stirring.

“Everyone, attention.”

“Attention!”

“Even if you don't want to receive this training, you have no choice. It is an order, so everyone will follow it.”

“……”

Just like that, Adriel, who had said everything he wanted to say, ordered them to dismiss and left the place.

***

And a few days passed, but as expected, the new training method was not properly applied.

Everyone just pretended to follow the new training method, but their actual training proceeded in the same way as usual.

It goes without saying that they did their stretching and massage carelessly, and they also replaced the cold water compress with a simple face wash.

So it was only natural that there was no one who kept to the nine hours of deep sleep, which was difficult to do even if one tried.

Furthermore, among the platoon leaders, some even cautiously visited Adriel separately and asked if they didn't have to do it, saying they didn't know the effect of the new training method.

But in the case of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, they ignored these reactions and passionately engaged in their training.

“Hup, dul! Hup, dul!”

“Delicious! So delicious!”

Everyone was seen training hard, even giving up their personal maintenance time.

Not only had they experienced the effect of the training method in actual combat, but the battalion commander had even announced that he would introduce it to the entire unit, so it was only natural.

Rather, the soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Platoon felt great pride in the fact that they had been receiving this training in advance.

However, this was only the case for the 3rd Infantry Platoon, and since the introduction of the new training method, the atmosphere in the transport battalion had become increasingly chaotic.

And in this atmosphere, Adriel issued a new order.

It was that he would hold a competition to pick the strongest common soldier in the transport battalion, so all units were to participate.