“Project firepower into the rear of the monsters trying to storm the gate...! HACK, COUGH.”
After I shouted until my throat hurt, issuing commands to the Awakeners on the ground,
I looked around.
‘It’s not that perfectly polished an operation... but this is enough.’
To begin with.
I wasn’t even a command-type Awakener, so I never had the ability to come up with flawless operations in the first place.
Because of that.
What I wanted to do after I seized command was give them enough buffs.
And...
‘To unify their actions into one.’
The expedition force’s strength is by no means weak.
Even if the operation is a bit rough around the edges.
“The Awakeners’ Association fights as one!”
As long as they’re not fighting split up like that.
If I can get them to properly come together and fight as an “expedition force” for a single objective—
“Kneel before the power of unity!!!”
Just that alone.
Is enough that they can crush a decent crisis purely by weight class.
After I confirmed the people driving the enemy back while shouting the Association’s battle slogan,
I immediately sprang into motion and headed up onto the Wall.
‘The monsters that broke into the inside of the Wall can be suppressed just fine by the expedition as it is now.’
The problem was the other side.
PWOOOOMPH.......
‘Figures... this side looks pretty busy too.’
When I got up onto the top of the Wall,
the soldiers from Southern Branch who were manning the artillery set up there—
“Keep firing!”
“Just how many of them are there...!”
Those people.
Were locked in battle with the enemies surging in outside the Wall.
“......You.”
And.
The third leader of Southern Branch, who was commanding those Southern Branch soldiers,
[Kim Jinkyung]
[Intermediate Poison Master Lv.26]
“You’re the one commanding the expedition force—what on earth do you think you’re doing?”
“The situation didn’t leave us much choice.”
In the middle of directing the battle,
Kim Jinkyung shot me a razor-sharp glare.
*****
“Saying the situation ‘didn’t leave you much choice’... If command authority gets passed around on a whim for that kind of reason, the chain of command can easily fall apart in a truly critical moment.”
I hadn’t really talked with her directly very often, but.
Just like Jo Jun and Jo Beomseok, she was a sharp-faced woman who made you think of a soldier.
“I know. I didn’t exactly want to be doing this either, if I could help it.”
The force in the way she looked at me was clearly nothing ordinary.
Which just meant she was also someone fit to play the role of a group leader.
“But... you’ve more or less seen the situation, so you should know, right? Captain Jo Jun is combat-incapable, and General Jo has lost his reason.”
“That, I understand. I also understand that someone has to take command. But there’s no reason that ‘someone’ has to be you.”
I briefly thought that maybe this woman had also been a soldier in her previous life, but.
That part wasn’t important right now.
“When you were talking with General Jo in the conference room, you were there with us, right.”
“I was. What about it?”
“If you heard that conversation, then you know. General Jo has trusted me for a while now. Even when he suspected you two might be traitors, he trusted me enough to bring up the existence of a traitor to me first.”
“......Hmm.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
But Kim Jinkyung gave a little nod, like she wanted to hear more.
“And then?”
“I just came from receiving a transfer of command from General Jo.”
“......What?”
“When I asked him what to do about command, he said he was too busy looking after his grandson to spare the strength, and asked me to take care of it on my own.”
“General Jo said that...?”
A slightly surprised look came into her eyes.
Well.
It’s not like it was a lie.
—Damn it, if you’re not going to save my grandson then don’t get in my way, just get lost!
—How is that my problem! You take care of it yourself!
It’s just, how should I put it.
The nuance was a little different, that’s all.
‘He did tell me to handle command on my own, didn’t he?’
I was just.
Really doing exactly what he said and handling it on my own.
“Besides General Jo, Captain Jo Jun’s command authority is...”
“......Phew, I more or less heard about that part too.”
“Ma’am?”
“Did you forget? This morning. When Captain Jo Jun was running toward you on top of the Wall shouting at you... I was there too.”
Oh, right.
I’ve always been the type who doesn’t sleep much in the morning, and since I woke up a little early and didn’t have anything to do,
I’d come up here to check on the condition of the artillery emplacements set up on this Wall.
And that was when this woman had approached me, about to give me a brief explanation,
when Jo Jun came running at me.
“Captain Jo Jun was so worked up that I didn’t catch all of it, but... I heard the gist. That he would follow you, or whatever it was... something along those lines.”
That’s fortunate.
“In that case it’s simple. I received a legitimate transfer of command from those two. Follow me.”
“......Phew. I really have no idea what kind of situation this even is anymore.”
Letting out a sigh, Kim Jinkyung furrowed her brow and thought for a moment, then—
“All right. For now, I’ll follow your orders.”
“......!”
“But I’m going to trust that you won’t be issuing any strange orders.”
Thankfully.
Kim Jinkyung, who was commanding the artillery crews up on the Wall, also accepted my command without any major friction.
“In that case, start with a report. What’s the situation right now?”
“The second you say you’ll follow my orders you drop into casual speech. Well, I suppose that’s better for securing your authority as a commander....”
With an expression that said she found it a bit absurd,
Kim Jinkyung soon answered me with sharp eyes.
“The situation, you ask. Up until just now, it was the worst.”
Her gaze turned outward, beyond the Wall.
“After that first shot that sniped Captain Jo, the enemy moved immediately. Those snowballs with monsters inside started flying in, and beyond the blizzard the monsters all began their approach at once. As if they’d just been waiting on standby for that shot as a signal...”
“Considering that sniper shot, it should be dangerous to be up on the Wall, shouldn’t it? Are we really fine up here like this?”
“Thankfully, that snipe hasn’t been repeated. It was an attack carried out from far beyond the range we can secure a line of sight to... so that just means they can’t fire a shot from that kind of distance very often.”
...That was at least something to be grateful for, but.
Her words made a certain question rise in my head.
‘They can’t fire that kind of attack often... so why did that very first shot target Jo Jun?’
On top of that, as if they’d been waiting just for that shot,
the enemies that had been holding their breath on standby all began moving at once right after that snipe.
If all they’d wanted was to shoot anyone at all who happened to be on top of the Wall and then kick off the battle—
There were a lot of things about it that felt off.
‘By sniping Jo Jun, they also put Jo Beomseok in a state where he can’t use his abilities.’
To say they did that without knowing—
The attack had been far too efficient.
“The bigger problem was the monsters that poured into the inside of the Wall. Monsters that broke through to the interior in a situation with no one in command... When I saw those things heading for the gate, honestly, I thought the only thing left for us was total annihilation. That’s why I said the situation had been the worst, but...”
Monsters charging in on the inside in the middle of an already chaotic situation.
If they’d had to fight without proper command, those monsters would have been an enormous threat.
“Thanks to someone, that problem got solved, so I’d say the current situation is more like the second-worst.”
Because of my orders, the people down there had started fighting a proper battle in unison.
The true power of an expedition force with proper command is by no means weak.
We should be able to deal with the enemies inside before long.
“The problem is those things closing in from outside.”
At her words, I also turned my eyes outward beyond the Wall.
“The type and number of monsters?”
“We can’t grasp their numbers. They just keep surging in from beyond the visibility cut off by the blizzard... As for the types, far too many different species of monsters are all approaching at once. It’s hard to believe they all belong to a single faction.”
The bombardment from Southern Branch was still pouring down in a constant hail, but.
Even through that downpour of shells, I could see countless monsters rushing in at tremendous speed.
“Do you think those things will be able to climb or break through the Wall?”
“Let’s see... We’re not exactly pushovers either. Even if the monsters reach the base of the Wall, we’re confident they won’t break through easily. But...”
“But?”
“There are just so many different types, and on top of that we’re seeing them display abilities they never originally had.”
The abilities monsters possess are extremely diverse.
For all we know, there might be some monster out there with the ability to smash the gate to pieces in one blow.
“So it’s hard to be certain, is what you’re saying.”
“Unfortunately, yes. Are you going to reprimand me as a commander?”
“As if.”
To begin with.
The reason I’d hurried up onto this Wall was precisely because of that.
“I’d already more or less predicted it would be like this.”
“......Really?”
At my words.
With a slightly puzzled tilt of her head, Kim Jinkyung spoke.
“You’re remarkable. Unless you’ve gone through a lot of battles like this, I don’t think it’s easy to think that far ahead...”
“......That part doesn’t matter.”
What mattered was this.
I’d predicted the situation would be something like this, and.
Because of that...
KROOOOAR!
“......!?”
I had already called someone in.
“A bear?”
A massive, green-glowing bear thundered up the stairs of the Wall at incredible speed,
and in an instant it reached the top of the Wall.
“I told you to come as fast as possible, but you’re a little late, aren’t you?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
When I spoke to the bear,
a perfectly human voice leaked out of it, totally at odds with its overflowing wildness.
“I had to bring the two people you mentioned with me.”
At that,
the huge bear shifted back into a human form,
and together with the two people who had been riding on its back, it landed on top of the Wall.
“So, Youngjun. What on earth is going on here?”
One of Northern Branch’s three leaders, and—
a powerful Druid Awakener.
It was Gang Jaeho.
“This raid is one thing, but now you’re suddenly taking command too....”
“Well, that’s how it ended up.”
“And what’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) this about a ‘sergeant’?”
“I told you I was out on my end-of-service leave when all this happened, didn’t I? It was before I’d had my discharge ceremony. Officially, I’m still a sergeant.”
“......”
With a slightly dumbfounded look on his face,
Gang Jaeho soon shook his head briskly and got to the point.
“So why did you call me? The battle inside the Wall is in a pretty urgent state too, I feel like there would’ve been a lot for me to do there.”
“Well, there is something I need you for too, Jaeho....”
In response to Gang Jaeho’s question,
I looked at the two people standing behind him and said.
“For now... I think I need those two first.”
At my words,
the two Awakeners who had basically been clinging to the back of the huge bear as they arrived on top of the Wall, and were now sprawled on the ground, dizzy—
“......Uuugh?”
“Is he talking about us?”
Jang Jungseok and Kim Mikyung
lifted their heads and looked at my face as they spoke.
‘We’ll be able to handle the enemies inside somehow.’
I’d already spread the buffs and given the orders.
The combat types should be able to take care of that, one way or another.
But.
‘The monsters swarming in from outside are a different story.’
The monsters inside the Wall were, if anything, a detached force.
The main force was the countless monsters out there punching through the expedition’s bombardment to close in.
To deal with those things.
We needed something more than simple orders.
[Jang Jungseok]
[Lv.12 Lower Water Mage]
[Kim Mikyung]
[Lv.14 Lower Wind Mage]
So I’d called those two here.
‘Private First Class Jang Hongsu’s parents.’
Some time ago.
When I happened to see those two people’s Jobs,
a certain strategy had come to mind.
“Mr. Jang, Ms. Kim. And you too, Jaeho.”
“......?”
“The three of you are going to act according to my orders from here on out.”
Well, calling it a strategy might make it sound impressive, but.
Given that I’m a chef, there was only one kind of “strategy” I was ever going to come up with.
‘Cooking.’
For those monsters rushing in like they’re starving,
I’m going to show them what cooking tastes like.
