Chapter 46: When the Commander steps forward.

“Whether to approve the operation plan is clearly Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief’s authority. Furthermore, I dare to petition Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief to lead the battle directly.”

“Is that Major General Populus’s personal thought? Or everyone’s opinion here?”

Although he said everyone’s opinion, it meant he needed Spes Umbra’s consent. Silence hovered for a moment.

“I also, share the same thought as Major General Populus.”

Spes Umbra, receiving everyone’s attention just as the Duke had earlier, said in a suppressed voice.

“I also share the same thought.”

And as if waiting, everyone shouted in unison. The Duke buried his body deeper into the chair while listening to their petitions.

“Well, I don’t believe in things without substance.”

Rassett saw Spes Umbra chewing his lip.

“Unless there is a document with your signatures.”

“Are you insulting us!”

Lieutenant General Tre shouted loudly again. His two eyes moved busily scanning between Spes Umbra and the Duke. Rassett fell into a thought that was almost leisurely, wondering if his own eyes were moving fast like that too.

It was a thought possible because he knew he wouldn’t open his mouth here.

“I’m going to a place where I might die; shouldn’t I avoid hearing that I rushed out alone ignoring all procedures out of greed for honor?”

The Duke said with a clear smile. Even Rassett, who had been momentarily distracted, flinched.

Rassett hurriedly examined the generals again. Some faces were hardened stiffly, some revealed anger openly with trembling cheeks. Some turned pale, and some eventually saw blood on their chewed lips.

“What will you do?”

The Duke, whom Rassett stole a glance at, was speaking with twisted lips while crossing his long legs. That blatant sneer seemed to infuriate the generals more than his unconventional speech.

“I will write it for you.”

When Spes Umbra, with lips stained in blood, spoke up, Rassett felt the air in the conference room become even heavier. Spes Umbra, twisting his lips as if mimicking the Duke’s expression, looked like a vampire from legends.

“Please do.”

Unlike Rassett, who felt a chill run down his spine for an instant, the Duke answered in a still calm voice.

“Adjutant.”

It was clear that only the Duke and Spes Umbra were not tense here. His adjutant handing paper and a pen to Spes Umbra also trembled his hands so much the paper fluttered. Even Lieutenant General Tre, whose face turned red and mustache trembled, showed signs of tension with his Adam’s apple moving.

“Please, verify.”

The paper with Spes Umbra’s signature was passed to the Duke through his adjutant. The Alpha who bought Rassett’s jealousy by taking the position of Spes Umbra’s adjutant walked stiffly like a marionette and stood in front of the Duke.

“Good. Then I ask for signatures from others as well.”

Contrary to the content of his words, the Duke stood up from his seat.

“Then, since I think I need to prepare, I should get up first. You can pass the signatures to my adjutant.”

The generals, whose tension was evident, now looked up at the Duke with incredulous eyes. Especially Lieutenant General Tre looked like his jaw would drop.

“I’m counting on you, Captain Rassett.”

Leaving a greeting to Rassett too, the Duke just walked out.

Rassett, left behind abruptly, felt like closing his eyes tight. But he didn’t have the courage to close his eyes in front of the generals glaring at him with fierce momentum.

“Give it here.”

He was very grateful to Major General Populus who opened the way.

The past where he criticized him as an indecisive figure who would eventually wither the friendly forces had already become something that never happened in Rassett’s mind.

“All forces standby.”

When the Duke’s calm order fell, Rassett inhaled once and then conveyed the same words to the liaison officer.

The appearance of the friendly forces spread out behind the entrance of the mine barely regained after days of disturbance looked like a swarm of ants.

Although the number was too large to take in at a glance, they said the enemy forces were double the friendly forces. Rassett’s knees were already shaking.

Rassett had also imagined himself achieving merits in battle and rising in the world. However, fighting with Betas who were utterly uncontrollable was never an easy task.

After experiencing several failures, Rassett learned that Alphas less capable than him could be promoted if they lined up well.

When he became the Duke’s adjutant, so Rassett was disappointed and on the other hand relieved.

Disappointed that there would be no more promotion in the military, and relieved that he wouldn’t have to go to the front line. But now, Rassett stood at the forefront.

Dust clouds rose.

“Enemy advance observed!”

The liaison officer shouted loudly. It was loud enough that Rassett didn’t need to convey it to the Commander-in-Chief again. Fear could be read in his voice. Rassett could empathize enough.

The blue uniform color of the Petan army wasn’t even visible, but the dust cloud was already poised to cover the sky. It was evidence that a tremendous number of personnel were marching.

“Message from the 1st Corps! Asking when the attack will commence!”

The liaison officer shouted shrilly again. Although called a message, that liaison officer’s inner thoughts wouldn’t be different from the 1st Corps Commander. Hoping friendly forces could at least launch a preemptive strike.

“I order all forces to standby.”

However, the Duke didn’t withdraw the order even while looking at that huge dust cloud.

Gulp, the sound of the liaison officer swallowing saliva rang loudly in the eardrums. Kicking the shin of the liaison officer making useless noise was what Rassett should do at this moment, but he couldn’t. Rassett was also anxious just the same.

The sound of the wristwatch’s second hand was dreadful. The dust cloud grew bigger and closer.

Until when do we have to wait? Until when exactly?

The Commander-in-Chief’s office located at the forefront. It was when he realized horribly that this absurd situation was reality.

“Enemy forces, shelling confirmed!”

The liaison officer screamed as if tearing his throat. As soon as he finished speaking, a large flash was seen. Then, with a slight time lag, a booming bang was heard.

“Confirm the location of the enemy battery.”

The single first shot exploded not far from the Commander-in-Chief’s office. Their target was here.

“Didn’t you hear? Tell them to confirm the location of the enemy battery and report.”

The Duke, who was only looking forward, turned his head and rebuked the liaison officer.

“Yes, yes!”

The liaison officer conveyed the Duke’s order making a dumbfounded sound. His hands hitting the short message transmitter were trembling. It was doubtful if he could convey the Duke’s order properly, but Rassett couldn’t kick his shin this time either.

Identifying the location of the enemy artillery and striking and annihilating them first was the standard of standards.

The problem was that the range of friendly magic cannons fell short of the enemy’s magic cannons. Even if they found out the enemy coordinates, there was nothing they could do.

Because the friendly leadership also had no method, they clung to the Duke. No, they tried to justify the retreat of friendly forces by making the Duke a scapegoat.

The Duke wouldn’t be unaware of the generals’ inner thoughts. Yet he stepped out to the forefront. And in a very conspicuous appearance.

The Duke, the very person who supplied camouflage clothes blocking the enemy’s vision, hung a huge flag on the barracks used as the Commander-in-Chief’s office when he went to war himself.

The national flag, the royal flag, and even a flag symbolizing the Duke himself.

The clothes he was wearing were the splendid ceremonial dress he wore at the departure ceremony.

Even desire for fame has a limit.

Did the Duke just think this place would be his grave? If it’s a place to die anyway, did he try to leave at least a trace of himself? With a head dazed by the barrage of shells falling consecutively after the first shot, Rassett thought about how much of his life was left.

It was purely luck that the Commander-in-Chief’s barracks missed the attack. Or the proficiency of Petan artillery was terrible.

Perhaps due to the conspicuous target, surprisingly, there seemed to be no damage to those standing at the very front. Though it would be just a matter of time eventually.

When Rassett’s mind was encroached by the fear of death, the liaison officer raised his voice again.

“Coordinates identified!”

Numbers popped out of his mouth rapidly. The Petan bastards seemed to have deployed artillery everywhere. The numbers coming out of the liaison officer’s mouth didn’t stop easily.

“Friendly artillery, prepare for simultaneous fire toward enemy batteries.”

When the liaison officer finally conveyed all the coordinates, the subsequent order from the Duke dumbfounded Rassett.

Did he mean he didn’t even know the difference in specifications between friendly and enemy forces? Yet he accepted the generals’ demands?

“Pardon?”

The liaison officer who spat out numbers full of expectation also made a dumbfounded sound.

“Prepare to fire.”

“Yes, yes!”

The sound ringing from the short message transmitter grated on nerves. Rassett wanted to cover his ears instead. Bang! Another bursting sound resonated.

This time it exploded very close. The aftermath of the explosion made his body tremble.

Rassett wanted to run away from here. He heard that guys who went crazy receiving shell barrages on the front line ran toward where the shells fell instead. Rassett felt he could now understand why guys doing such things appeared.

“F-fire preparation complete!”

The liaison officer was screaming his head off.

“Simultaneous fire.”

“Fire!”

The liaison officer moved his fingers shouting a scream that wouldn’t even be conveyed. The moment the signal tone of the short message transmitter stopped, the Duke went out of the barracks.

Rassett barely suppressed the curses boiling up inside.

I am the Commander-in-Chief’s adjutant.

Persuading himself, he ran out of the barracks following the Duke.

“Commander-in-Chief!”

It was the moment the liaison officer’s shout close to a scream was heard.

Rassett stopped walking. No, he stepped back entirely.

A tremendous movement of magical power was felt.