The truth is—
I wasn’t exactly a fan of battles where I had to personally fight.
I’m a production Job to begin with.
In an era where even a single combat unit was precious—
I just ended up fighting a lot because there was no choice.
In reality—
By the time the Legion had secured enough strength and really started its campaign to occupy Gangwon Province...
From then on, I spent way more time in the rear, just cooking at HQ.
Same here in Gyeonggi Province.
Honestly, if I could help it, I was hoping there wouldn’t be too many situations where I had to fight directly.
But I learned the hard way last time.
At the conference we had—
When I explained to everyone how dangerous the “Source of the Cold” was—
And tried to convince them that we had to attack it—
They didn’t give a damn about what I said.
It wasn’t that I lacked logic.
I lacked authority.
To people who had survived through long, savage struggle—
I was basically a total stranger who hadn’t shared that survival.
And earning that level of authority now is going to be pretty damn hard.
It was trust they’d stacked up by fighting side by side.
I couldn’t just suddenly leap over that trust.
But even so...
If I start stacking it now, things will look a little different.
In the end—
There was just one thing I needed to do.
Act tough.
Which is why—
“Where are they?”
“Sir?”
“Those monsters. I asked you where they’re coming from.”
I could say something like that—
Boldly.
*****
“What do you mean, ‘where’? Why are you asking that, Youngjun?”
Jo Jun answered with a flustered expression.
Right now, I wasn’t leading any unit, and my affiliation was ambiguous at best.
Having someone like that ask where the enemy was located—
Of course he’d be thrown, wondering what I intended.
“...They’re in the rear. Just follow the path we came from in reverse.”
“Grandfa— I mean, General Jo?”
Unlike Jo Jun—
Jo Beomseok just looked at my face and responded calmly.
“Based on what the scouts saw... that horde is called Ice-Branch Goblins. Each individual is weak, but they always move in large packs.”
“I see.”
“From the direction they’re approaching, if we meet them head-on, we’ll end up surrounded by two monster hordes. Even if we manage to win somehow, the casualties will be severe. We need them held as long as possible. Can you do it?”
At his words—
I shrugged.
“Well... might as well give it a shot.”
“Heh-heh...”
He made a face like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing—
Then nodded and continued.
“How much support do you need? This battle is urgent as well, so I can’t spare too many troops.”
“I don’t need any. Honestly, it might be better if you don’t send anyone.”
“Mm. Is that so... All right, we’ll do that. Jun. Issue a separate operation to Youngjun.”
And.
At the conversation between me and Jo Beomseok—
“...???, ?????”
Jo Jun just stared, looking like he didn’t understand a single word, completely dumbfounded.
“G- General Jo?”
“What is it, Captain Jo.”
“Did I hear you correctly— you just ordered one person to ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) go hold those monsters, sir?”
“You did.”
“...What!”
He tried to protest that order, but—
“It seems you’re mistaken about something... this isn’t your grandfather asking as family. This is your commander giving you an order, Captain Jo.”
“...Understood, sir.”
When Jo Beomseok spoke firmly—
Jo Jun bit his lip and used his ability.
“...You can refuse if it’s too much, Youngjun. You’re not under any obligation to follow our orders.”
Even as he delivered the order, his conscience must have been bothering him.
So he said something like that.
[The operation plan has been issued!]
I felt the contents of the operation Jo Jun sent download straight into my head.
Unlike the detailed plan that had been delivered to each person in the previous battle—
The one delivered this time was extremely simple.
[Go to the designated area and hold back the approaching monsters.]
Receiving that order—
“Yessir, yessir~”
I casually turned—
And walked off to meet that monster horde.
*****
“Huff! Huff...!”
As the battle against the swarming monsters moved into its later phase—
Jo Jun, panting roughly, checked the surrounding situation.
The battle’s... pretty much wrapping up.
There were still monsters left—
But it didn’t look like they’d cause any major crisis.
The attacking monsters’ numbers had been considerable—
But with the help of the military hardware, the battle had flowed in the expeditionary force’s favor.
If there was any real variable in this fight—
It was the monster horde that had been approaching from their rear.
But that variable hadn’t entered the battle.
Because one man had gone out alone to hold that horde.
Youngjun.
Once there was a little breathing room in the urgent fight—
Jo Jun immediately thought of that man.
He hadn’t heard exactly what had happened—
But he knew his grandfather, Jo Beomseok, had been in serious danger—
And that Shin Youngjun had saved him.
They’d already received a huge favor.
And now—
On top of saving his grandfather—
He’d gone out alone to fight as many monsters as that, just for the sake of their allies.
“Send the rested troops here!”
So.
Jo Jun mustered the troops as fast as he could—
Calling in those who weren’t already committed to finishing the current battle, but had been resting in the rear and recovering their stamina.
“What’s going on?”
At his shout—
A few people approached him.
The first one to reach him was...
A hulking barbarian.
“If it’s nothing urgent, I’ve got to get moving and kill the next batch of monsters.”
It was Park Junggu.
His whole body was drenched in monster blood, and the heat boiling off him was turning to steam.
He’d clearly been through intense combat, yet instead of being tired, he looked eager for the next fight.
Normally, he should still have been fighting at the very front line—
But it seemed he’d just happened to finish off a monster and was about to move to the next one when he got called.
Good timing! If it’s Junggu, he’ll be a huge help.
With the Chair and all the executives missing—
Even taking the lowest estimate, he was one of the top three strongest in the Association at present.
If he helped, it would be a huge boost.
Thinking that, Jo Jun spoke with a relieved expression.
“The truth is, there’s another monster horde attacking us aside from the ones here.”
“What?”
“It looks like a different group from these ones, but, well... they were approaching in a way that was going to surround us. If the battle had broken out as-is, we would have taken serious damage.”
“That’s dangerous. Even if this battle is wrapping up, getting hit from the rear would be rough.”
“Ah, for now, we’re fine. We’ve dispatched forces to hold those monsters.”
“Is that so? That’s something, at least.”
At that, Park Junggu let out a sigh of relief.
But Jo Jun continued, his expression turning more serious instead.
“There’s only one reason I gathered you all. That man is holding the monster horde, but there has to be a limit. We need to send any spare troops immediately to help him.”
“...Huh?”
Then—
Junggu tilted his head.
“You say ‘that man’ and ‘help him’... so you’re talking like it’s just one person?”
“That’s right.”
“...Didn’t you say it was a fairly large monster horde? And you sent just one person to hold them?”
“Well, we didn’t exactly have spare troops to work with...”
“...Hmm.”
Junggu stared at him silently.
He wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t read the criticism in that look.
“I’m sorry. This is clearly the result of my own incompetence. But!”
Forcing his head back up from where it had dipped in shame—
Jo Jun went on.
“Given that things are quiet so far, it looks like he’s succeeded in holding them. But that has to have its limits. We need to go help him, fast!”
“Haa. From the start, sending one person to do something like that doesn’t make any sense... but fine. It sounds urgent, so I’ll gather troops right away and head out.”
“T-thank you!”
Junggu’s expression stayed sour—
But he still immediately shouted out and called his subordinates.
While his men were assembling—
He spoke to Jo Jun.
“Since the situation’s urgent, I’ll help this time. But as for the judgment to send only one person to hold a monster horde— I’m planning to talk to the General about that later. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“So, who took that mission?”
By the time the troops for the support detachment had mostly gathered—
Junggu asked:
“Sending one person to hold back a monster horde... the order’s nonsense, but... judging by the fact they haven’t gotten through, he’s actually pulled it off, hasn’t he? If someone can do that, it’s got to be either me, or that spear guy from Eastern Branch. Did you send him?”
“Ah, no, not him. It’s someone you know well, Junggu.”
“Hmm?”
Park Junggu was from Northern Branch.
Realizing that—
Jo Jun spoke right away.
“Mr. Shin Youngjun should be out there.”
“...Youngjun?”
He already knew Northern Branch and Shin Youngjun were on close terms.
Hoping the support troops would fight with a little more zeal—
He’d intended to tell them:
“Yes, that’s right.”
That the person who needed support was someone close to them.
But...
“So... let me ask first—did he say he needed support?”
“Sir? No. Nothing like that...”
Junggu’s expression had shifted quite a bit—
But failing to notice that, Jo Jun just answered innocently.
“In fact, he refused when we told him we could send support.”
“...”
“I couldn’t understand it either. But since this battle is dire, he must’ve made a hard call for the sake of our allies. Now that we’ve finally got some breathing room, we should hurry and—”
And as Jo Jun, in his urgency, kept answering—
“...Oh, that’s what this is?”
Park Junggu—
Let out a soft, incredulous laugh.
“Whew, I got all wound up for nothing.”
“...Sir?”
“When I heard you sent just one person for something like that, I thought you’d thrown someone from another group into a deathtrap just because they weren’t yours. Looks like I was wrong. Sorry about that. You’re not the type to do something like that, I guess, Jun.”
“What are you talking about, sir?”
Junggu, who’d been tense thinking he had to rush to help, now had a strangely relaxed smile.
Then he turned to the gathered troops and gave a light-toned order.
“Everyone, sorry for dragging you out the moment you got called. Wounded, fall out! The rest of you, take a break and get your strength back!”
He issued those orders to the assembled troops—
And when Jo Jun heard them, his face went pale.
“W-what are you doing, Mr. Junggu!”
“Mm. Our people have been fighting on the front line this whole time. I’ve been a little too excited and dragged them all over the place, so their fatigue has to be way worse than the others. So.”
“So...?”
“I should let them rest a bit.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Jo Jun shouted, eyes wide with incomprehension.
“Aren’t you and Northern Branch close with Mr. Youngjun? They say Mr. Youngjun is in danger right now...!”
“...Mm. ‘Youngjun is in danger,’ huh.”
At that reaction—
Junggu stroked his chin and spoke in a calm tone.
“My thoughts are a little different.”
“How could you...!”
“That might just be your way of seeing it.”
It was an answer so irresponsible it defied belief.
At that—
Jo Jun clenched his fists and thought:
I had no idea he was this irresponsible of a person...!
The branches might cooperate closely—
But the Association’s branches were still, fundamentally, different groups.
They didn’t know each other all that well.
Even so—
Jo Jun had been harboring a fondness for the strong warrior named Park Junggu.
But the way he’d just acted—
Ignoring an ally’s crisis...!
Made that fondness shatter in an instant.
“Fine!”
“Mm?”
“Looks like I wasted my time trying to explain this to you. Just relax and rest up like you said, Mr. Junggu. I’ll take other people and go provide support.”
In the end—
Jo Jun led Southern Branch’s troops and began to move.
“...We’ll join as well.”
Thanks to Eastern Branch and Central Branch people joining in late—
They were able to form up a support detachment to aid Shin Youngjun.
“Whoa? Hey, you’re actually going?”
“...We’re going!”
Ignoring Junggu’s oddly relaxed attempt to stop them—
Jo Jun led the support force toward the place Shin Youngjun had gone.
*****
And a short while later—
The troops who’d gone out to provide support—
Realized one thing.
“...?”
The monsters gathered at insanely high density—
Judging by their numbers, they could be sure this horde was at least on par with the one the expeditionary force had been facing.
“...”
“M-Mr. Jo? What... is this?”
And—
“What is this pile of corpses.”
The support detachment that had rushed in at full speed—
Did not find a battlefield where a desperate fight was underway.
The main force hasn’t even finished their battle yet, so what is this...
Countless monsters, without a single exception, turned into corpses—
Neatly stacked in one place.
“Huh? What brings you all out here?”
As they were staring, stunned at the sight—
A calm voice drifted down from atop that pile of corpses.
When they raised their heads—
What they saw there was:
“Ah, looks like the main battle’s already finished up, huh?”
“...”
“Sorry about that. Guess I made you wait.”
Using a mountain of corpses as a chair—
Body soaked in the enemy’s blood—
Casually wiping monster flesh off his blade...
“Things over here just got wrapped up.”
“...”
It was the figure—
Of one man.
