Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 64

The next day.

Roden officially received the position of company commander.

Unlike the Transport Battalion, the vanguard's ceremonies were very simple.

Being on the front lines, it was impossible to gather all the troops for a grand ceremony.

And so, Roden became a company commander in a small ceremony where only officers of deputy platoon leader level or higher were gathered.

"Gahahahahaha. As of today, I appoint you as the commander of the Special Task Force Company. Serve the vanguard well from now on."

As soon as Tobias declared this, everyone present applauded.

But there was no soul in the applause.

Somehow, a sense of emptiness could be felt in the sound of the applause.

A moment later.

When the applause died down, Tobias added a few more words.

"And the Special Task Force Company will leave next month to carry out the important mission of a rear disturbance operation. As it is a very important mission, I hope everyone will cooperate and help the Special Task Force Company as much as possible. With this, I will conclude the promotion ceremony. Dismissed."

And so, Tobias turned around without any lingering attachment and left first.

The other people who had gathered there also scattered quickly, as if they had urgent business.

That was right.

Roden had accepted Tobias's proposal and decided to carry out the rear disturbance operation.

Of course, it wasn't something he did because he liked it.

He had only accepted the proposal because there was no way to refuse it.

In the first place, it was impossible for a soldier to refuse a superior's order.

No matter how unreasonable the order was, if he was told to die, he had to die.

‘It's a relief that I bought a month's time before the operation.’

Originally, Tobias was going to give him a week.

But Roden had said he needed at least three months.

His reasoning was that this much time was essential to unite the Special Task Force Company, which had not only been newly assigned to the vanguard but also had a new company commander.

It was a reasonable argument, but Tobias did not accept it.

He had countered that the war situation could change too much in three months, so the operation had to be carried out as quickly as possible.

Still, perhaps thinking it was too harsh to give him no time at all, Tobias finally said he would give him a month.

It was not a bad result for Roden.

This was because he had thought from the beginning that the maximum time he could secure was about a month.

And he intended to make the most of this time.

And so, Roden left the battalion meeting barracks and immediately looked for Chevalier as soon as he returned to his own.

"Infantry Platoon Leader."

When Roden became the Special Task Force Company Commander, the name of the existing 3rd Infantry Platoon was changed to the Infantry Platoon.

This was because the Special Task Force Company consisted only of the 3rd Infantry Platoon, the 2nd Archery Platoon, and the 1st Light Cavalry Platoon from the Transport Battalion.

In other words, there was no need to add numbers to call them by name.

So, the 3rd Infantry Platoon was renamed the Infantry Platoon, the 2nd Archery Platoon the Archery Platoon, and the 1st Light Cavalry Platoon the Light Cavalry Platoon.

Also, with Roden's promotion, the position of platoon leader of the Infantry Platoon became vacant, so Chevalier took over.

Chevalier, a 2-star knight, was more than qualified to be a platoon leader of a unit.

And Nedhab, the only 1-star knight in the Infantry Platoon, became the Infantry Deputy Platoon Leader in place of Chevalier.

This was the reason Roden had referred to Chevalier as the Infantry Platoon Leader.

For reference, the Special Task Force Company had a company commander, but no deputy company commander.

And so, Chevalier, who had been called by his still awkward title, appeared.

"Yes. Company Commander. You called."

"Yes. Assemble the entire Special Task Force Company."

***

A moment later.

The Infantry Platoon, the Archery Platoon, and the Light Cavalry Platoon had all gathered at the training grounds.

Roden felt a slight sense of tension as he looked at them.

And for good reason, as he could not guess how the other two platoons would react to his becoming the new company commander.

‘Normally, I wouldn't have been nervous. It wouldn't have mattered if the other two platoons were both dissatisfied.’

Perhaps it was natural for them to be dissatisfied.

In particular, the Archery Platoon Leader and the Light Cavalry Platoon Leader were people who had stood shoulder to shoulder with Roden until just a short while ago.

But for Roden to suddenly receive the position of company commander alone, it would be strange if they didn't feel a sense of incongruity.

However, Roden did not pay much attention to this dissatisfaction.

From experience, this kind of dissatisfaction naturally disappeared over time.

More than anything, Roden was confident that he could gradually prove that he was not an unworthy person for the position of company commander.

But not now.

If the Archery Platoon and the Light Cavalry Platoon were dissatisfied now, there was no way to resolve it in a month.

Even if he did, the next step, which was more important than resolving the dissatisfaction.

That is, it would be impossible in terms of time to raise the combat power of the Special Task Force Company to the maximum before the start of the rear disturbance operation.

‘Because I'll run out of time.’

For that reason, Roden could only hope desperately.

That a miracle would happen and the Archery Platoon and the Light Cavalry Platoon would easily accept him as their company commander.

Especially the Archery Platoon Leader and the Light Cavalry Platoon Leader.

‘If not, I'll have to end the dissatisfaction and raise the combat power of the Special Task Force Company at the same time.’

After organizing his thoughts in this way, Roden took a step forward.

Then he opened his mouth.

"You've probably heard the news. From today, you are part of the Special Task Force Company, and I am your superior, the Special Task Force Company Commander. It's become a bit of an unfamiliar relationship, but I look forward to working with you."

And so, Roden managed his nervousness well and briefly summarized the situation.

But the reaction of the Archery Platoon and the Light Cavalry Platoon was unusual.

"Wooooooh!"

At the same time as the Infantry Platoon cheered like this,

"Waaaaaaah!"

"We look forward to working with you!"

Such cheers erupted from the Archery Platoon and the Light Cavalry Platoon as well.

What's more, the Archery Platoon Leader and the Light Cavalry Platoon Leader were showing the same reaction as the soldiers.

An unexpected situation.

It was when Roden was flustered by this situation.

The Archery Platoon Leader, Olinto Colombo, stepped forward.

"I have respected your abilities, Company Commander, since we were in the Transport Battalion. Who would oppose you receiving a new position when you have achieved the greatest merit in every operation, introduced a new training method to raise the combat power of the entire battalion, and even been proven to have reached the 3-star level?"

Following him, the Light Cavalry Platoon Leader, Liviano Varese, picked up his words.

"I am also happy that you have become my direct superior, Company Commander. It was difficult to get settled after being assigned here, but I finally feel relieved. Please save us in this rear disturbance operation. I will only trust you, Company Commander, who has always come up with brilliant strategies."

After hearing Olinto and Liviano's words, Roden was able to grasp what was going on.

Certainly, it must have been more difficult for the Archery Platoon and the Light Cavalry Platoon to adapt to the vanguard.

The Infantry Platoon had a strong belief in Roden and the overall combat power of the unit was very high, so it didn't matter what others said.

They could silently look forward to a positive future and get through the situation.

But the Archery Platoon and the Light Cavalry Platoon were different.

Compared to the Infantry Platoon, their combat power was weaker, and they had little pride to begin with.

What's more, there were many units in the vanguard that were stronger than the Archery Platoon or the Light Cavalry Platoon.

It was only natural, as even the Infantry Platoon could not be confident of being the strongest unit here.

Because of this, it was easy for the two units to be swept away by the new environment of the vanguard.

But in this situation, Roden, whom they already knew, had become the company commander, so they couldn't help but feel a sense of psychological stability.

Moreover, if they had to be dispatched for the rear disturbance operation, it was advantageous to follow Roden.

This was because Roden had already survived a rear disturbance operation once.

In addition, the fact that Roden's level was a 3-star knight, which was sufficient to be a company commander, seemed to be a reason why they could easily acknowledge Roden.

Certainly, Olinto and Liviano were still at the 2-star knight level.

‘In the end, a combination of extreme situations has made it so that they have no choice but to relatively trust me.’

There were times like that.

When you were just standing there, unchanged, but public sentiment improved due to the surrounding circumstances.

Now was exactly like that.

‘It's not a bad thing for me. Anyway, I've been able to make the Special Task Force Company stronger right away.’

And so, Roden, who had grasped the situation, opened his mouth to Olinto and Liviano.

"Thank you for welcoming me. And don't worry about the rear disturbance operation in a month. I will make sure that the entire Special Task Force Company returns safely. In that sense, I plan to conduct high-intensity training starting today. What do you think? Will everyone follow?"

"Yes!"

"We will follow!"

Olinto and Liviano answered loudly first, and the rest of the soldiers, including Chevalier, followed.

Now all that remained was to raise the combat power of the Special Task Force Company for a month.

***

And so, a month later.

As promised, the Special Task Force Company left the vanguard's camp to carry out the rear disturbance operation.

The expressions of the other units watching the Special Task Force Company leave were not good.

It was only natural, as no one imagined the safe return of the Special Task Force Company.

Their expressions were so bad that a sense of pity could even be felt in their eyes.

But the expressions of the Special Task Force Company, who were actually leaving for the operation, were different.

For some reason, they were full of confidence.

What's more, it wasn't just Chevalier's Infantry Platoon.

The Archery Platoon, led by Olinto, and the Light Cavalry Platoon, led by Liviano, also held confidence amidst their resolve.

Roden thought as he took in this sight.

‘It certainly wasn't easy to strengthen our combat power.’

But he had done it.

So he could be confident.

A confidence that absolutely no one would die in this operation.