TSNF 46

Chapter 46

There wasn’t really such a thing as “training” on the northern front.

There was only one reason for that.

Because no one knew when they would be deployed to the battlefield, each person had to maintain their own condition at all times.

That was why there usually weren’t many restrictions, but still—

“……Th-these bastards…!”

Volgren, who had guided Arteon to the 3rd platoon’s barracks, frowned deeply as he looked at the soldiers all sprawled out asleep.

He had clearly told them that a new platoon leader would be arriving today.

He had never imagined they would be this openly disrespectful.

With an air like he might beat them to a pulp at any moment, Volgren started forward.

But then—

“Sergeant Volgren.”

“Don’t stop me. These brats deserve to be beaten half to death. The nerve to make such an obvious show of defiance…”

“I’ll handle things here myself, so you don’t need to concern yourself. Thank you for your consideration.”

“……Will you really be all right?”

Volgren looked at Arteon with a worried expression.

He had heard the stories.

How Arteon had become an officer, and how much merit he had earned in the northwestern front.

He was even the main figure of the commendation ceremony held at the imperial palace for the first time in years.

Every battlefield was harsh, but the northern front was especially unforgiving when it came to both results and process.

They never exaggerated nonexistent achievements just to give someone a reward.

That was why Volgren respected Arteon.

And yet…

‘…Even I find some things doubtful.’

Arteon’s outward appearance simply looked too young.

His body seemed somewhat developed—too much to be called a child—but his youthful face still hadn’t fully shed the look of a boy.

‘If they see him in person, they might look down on him even more…’

Seeing Volgren’s worried expression, Arteon smiled calmly and said,

“Don’t worry. And could you grant me one small request?”

“……A request?”

Arteon nodded.

After he finished explaining—

“If that’s all, then don’t worry. I’ll make sure of it.”

“That will be enough. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“……Understood. Then I’ll be going.”

Once Volgren left, Arteon looked at the 3rd platoon members lying asleep.

They were divided by squads.

‘Roughly… about twenty people.’

The fortunate thing was that none of them appeared seriously injured.

But that also meant that everyone else on the battlefield had died.

‘The number that needs to be replenished is… around ten.’

But that could wait.

First…

“Shall we give this a try?”

Arteon stepped outside the barracks and looked toward the building where the 3rd platoon was.

Then he infused his voice with mana and shouted,

“Enemy attack! The enemy has infiltrated!”

With precise control of his mana, he pushed the sound only toward the 3rd platoon’s barracks.

Of course, that didn’t mean no one else could hear anything at all.

But since he had already asked Volgren for cooperation, there shouldn’t be any commotion.

After shouting, Arteon pulled out the pocket watch at his waist and checked the seconds.

‘Ten seconds… twenty seconds…’

Tick, tick—the second hand moved rapidly.

Inside the barracks, urgent shouts and crashing noises erupted.

And after about a minute—

“Where are they?!”

“Platoon, assemble! We’re moving to the battlefield immediately!”

The man who burst out first shouted while quickly scanning the soldiers.

Centered around him, the 3rd platoon gathered rapidly.

Even so, something worthy of praise was that they had managed to properly equip all their armor and weapons within just one minute.

Seeing this rather impressive first impression, Arteon gave a faint chuckle and said,

“The claim that the enemy attacked was a lie.”

“…What?”

“What did you say?”

At the voice from behind, the 3rd platoon turned their heads toward Arteon.

Then the man at the front glared with a hostile look.

“You crazy little brat… There are jokes you can make and jokes you can’t. Who the hell are you?”

It was a face he had never seen before.

In this harsh northern battlefield, it made no sense for such a young soldier to be here.

Arteon calmly looked at the soldier glaring at him and held out the documents he had been carrying.

It was the letter of appointment naming him the 3rd platoon leader, signed by the company commander.

“I am the newly appointed 3rd platoon leader. What is your name and rank?”

“3rd… platoon leader?”

The man leaned forward to look closely at the document.

At that moment, what he had been told earlier came back to him.

—A new platoon leader is coming. But… I hear he’s very young.
—How young, sir?
—I heard around fifteen? Sixteen? Something like that.
—……Pardon?

That was why.

That was why they had done something this childish.

And when he compared that memory with the kid standing in front of him, everything matched perfectly.

The document the kid held out was indeed an appointment letter with the company commander’s signature.

If they committed insubordination now, they would be punished immediately.

“…Acting platoon leader, Sergeant Grain.”

Grain bit down hard on his lip.

Having to use formal speech toward such a young kid was simply absurd to him.

But Arteon, unfazed, looked at him and said,

“Sergeant Grain. Maintain your current gear and run with me along with the soldiers. If you do not fall behind, I will grant one week of free time at the platoon leader’s discretion.”

“…What?”

“One week of free time?”

“Crazy…”

Grain and the rest of the 3rd platoon stared at Arteon in confusion.

But Arteon walked up to one of the soldiers standing in formation, removed the man’s helmet, and firmly placed it on his own head.

And then—

Thunk.

“Huh?!”

The soldier who had been holding a spear looked startled—the spear had vanished from his hands in an instant.

Holding the soldier’s spear casually, Arteon addressed everyone.

“With this, the weight should be roughly similar… So later, I don’t want to hear any nonsense about whether I was wearing a helmet or not.”

In an instant, Arteon had seized control of the atmosphere.

The soldiers could only stare blankly at him.

But—

“Unniiiiiit! Attention!”

At his shout, their bodies moved before they could even think, snapping into a proper attention stance.

Arteon smirked slightly.

“Run.”

With that, Arteon started running.

The 3rd platoon ran after him without understanding anything.

Soon, however, the corners of their mouths twisted upward.

‘Tch. Whatever glory he earned in the northwest, this is the northeast.’

‘A brat who had it easy in the northwest… does he think all battlefields are the same?’

‘I’m confident in my stamina. I’ll crush that cocky kid.’

There wasn’t anything special going through their minds.

They were flustered by the sudden situation, but none of them doubted that Arteon would soon tire and collapse.

Their minds were filled only with the thought of one week of free time.

But then—

“…?”

“H-how long are we running…?”

After about an hour, confusion appeared on the soldiers’ faces.

A significant amount of time had passed, yet Arteon’s pace hadn’t slowed at all.

Their armor began to feel unbearably heavy.

The spears in their hands felt like they had become two or three times heavier.

By the time two hours had passed—

There was no more ease left on their faces.

“Huff…! Huff…!”

“Hah…! Hah…!”

How long was this supposed to go on?

All they could see now was the sky spinning above them and soldiers from other platoons watching them with curious expressions.

“Ugh…!”

“Urgh…!”

More than half of them finally couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed, vomiting.

Arteon glanced back.

Only Grain, the acting platoon leader, and five soldiers remained.

But they, too, looked like they were on the verge of death.

The corner of Arteon’s mouth lifted.

‘…These ones are decent.’

There was a reason they had survived this long.

Of course, you couldn’t judge a soldier’s worth on stamina alone, but this level went beyond mere physical endurance—it was a matter of willpower.

If Arteon hadn’t been using mana, even he wouldn’t have been able to run this long.

His body and stamina were not yet fully trained.

Still…

‘For a first meeting… it’s better to press them down firmly.’

Arteon spoke.

“All right. We’ll end this in ten minutes. If you stay within ten meters of me until then, I’ll consider it a success.”

But there was no reply.

Only ragged breathing.

Even without the strength to answer, the ones still following clearly had the will to endure those ten minutes.

But then—

Tap tap tap!

Arteon suddenly increased his speed.

Startled, they tried to keep up.

“Urgh!”

“I—I can’t…!”

Thud!

“Huff…! Huff…! Huff…!”

“Just kill me already… damn it.”

They couldn’t even last a full minute before collapsing to the ground, gasping wildly.

Arteon looked at Grain and said,

“Take care of the soldiers and have them assemble in front of the barracks. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Y-yes… sir…! Huff…!”

Grain struggled to his feet.

His gaze was different now.

It was only natural—he had just witnessed that the young superior he had completely dismissed possessed monstrous stamina.

Seeing their expressions, Arteon smiled faintly.

‘For now… this should be enough.’

There would no longer be any sign of their earlier unruly behavior.

The reason they had acted like thugs and disrespected their superior was simple.

On a battlefield where their lives were on the line, the superior standing before them had been someone they “couldn’t trust.”

Think about it.

No matter how much merit someone had earned, if an underage kid was sent as your superior, who could accept that easily?

But by proving himself like this, the atmosphere had completely changed.

Just once—pressing them down with sheer physical ability was enough to establish basic discipline.

Of course, there was still much more he would need to show them…

‘You’ll be testing me too.’

Whether they were worthy of surviving here and claiming glory.

Or whether they were destined to simply burn out and become a handful of ash.

“Everyone, get up.”

At Arteon’s words, the soldiers staggered like zombies as they moved.

Watching them, Arteon turned his body.

‘The northeastern fourth defensive line…’

The harsh yet familiar northern landscape spread out before his eyes.

The reason he had come here, risking danger.

Recalling that reason once more, Arteon closed his eyes.

And when he slowly opened them again—

“Whew.”

Steeling his resolve for life in this new place, Arteon began walking toward where the soldiers were gathered.