Translator: Pai_
While the Supreme Commander of the Empire was struggling in a hell of paperwork, others were just as busy.
The commanders of each region were also buried in paperwork, and the field personnel were so busy that they were working overtime every day.
“Damn it... No matter how much I do, it never ends.”
Jaiden Wicks gritted his teeth and slammed his desk.
With a ‘bang!’ sound, the painstakingly organized mountain of documents collapsed, and Jaiden Wicks let out a deep sigh.
He had slammed the desk without realizing it, but the result was only more work.
The never-ending tasks.
It was all because the number of operational areas had rapidly increased.
It wouldn’t have been a problem if it were only about the increase in operational areas, but the issue was that they also had to manage the future Gate locations marked in the capital.
They had to manage all the Gates spread throughout the entire North of the continent.
Of course, it wasn’t just the Northern Command Headquarters that had more work.
“Sigh...”
Jaiden Wicks looked at the map.
A map showing the entire Auzria Continent as the Empire’s territory was spread out.
And the areas under the jurisdiction of each command were marked on that map.
The Western Army was now in charge of the entire territory of the Holy Alliance, and the Southern Army was tasked with managing the Great Forest and the former Kingdom Alliance regions.
The Eastern Army also had to manage all the nearby islands.
As for the Central Army, it had to manage over half of the old empire’s territory.
All the commands had experienced a tremendous increase in their operational range.
Then what about the Northeastern Army and the Mobile Field Army?
The Northeastern Army had moved its headquarters to the area near the desert and had been reorganized into a special defense force, while the Mobile Field Army had also relocated its headquarters to the desert area and was put in charge of investigating it.
“Everyone’s having a hard time.”
Compared to building fortresses on contaminated lands and investigating the interior, this was much easier, so complaining about it was just whining.
Still, hard work was hard work.
“I somehow need to lure those two family heads...”
As Jaiden Wicks said that, he pondered how to appoint the two family heads as commanders.
After the royal family collapsed, the class system had become nominal, and with the joint effort in stopping the Apocalypse, the distinction between the military and the private soldiers of the noble faction had disappeared.
In fact, by now, all private soldiers of the nobles had effectively been militarized.
Which meant that the two families, considered pillars of the Empire, were no exception.
Furthermore, those two family heads were Grand Masters who would play key roles in future battles, so it was only right for them to be placed in high-ranking military positions.
But the two family heads were using training as an excuse and never showed up.
Claiming to be in closed-door training, they were holed up in their respective families, not appearing at all, so there was no way to lure them into the military.
“I need to somehow lure them in and hand over at least part of the jurisdiction to them...”
Just as Jaiden Wicks was racking his brain to reduce even a bit of the mountain of documents stacked on his desk.
There was a knock at the door, and a communications officer entered.
“What is it?”
“The Supreme Commander has issued an order.”
The order from Iron contained information about the Eastern Continent.
“Ha...”
Thinking of the Eastern Continent, which was hostile to them even with Destruction looming ahead, Jaiden Wicks gritted his teeth.
There was already too much work, and now even more had been added.
Although most of it was work for the Eastern Army, the Northern Army also had a navy, and in order to be on guard against the Eastern Army just in case, there was still much to do.
Just covering the gap left by the Northeastern Army was backbreaking, but the workload kept increasing.
“The Dragon Tribe? Ha, those bastards...”
Grinding his teeth as he recalled the arrogant beings that had tormented them in the Northeast.
After the Frost Giants withdrew and Iron and the Western Army departed, the first thing the remaining troops had to do was to crush the Dragon Tribe.
Some of the other races had sensed their defeat and entered into agreements with the Imperial Army for the future, but the Dragon Tribe was a constant headache to the very end.
Moreover, their unique arrogance made communication impossible.
Whenever they tried to say anything, the dragons would respond with, “For a lowly mortal...” and blatantly dismiss them.
As Jaiden Wicks ground his teeth over the workload increasing due to the Dragon Tribe, which treated humans like insects.
“C-Commander!”
“What is it?”
“T-The Frost Giant has come regarding jurisdictional matters. You need to come out...”
At the officer’s urgent words as he rushed in, Jaiden Wicks furrowed his brow and rose from his seat.
“No need to go outside.”
That was because a massive eyeball could be seen at the window on the top floor of the building.
As the giant stared intently at Jaiden Wicks, he sighed and opened the window.
“Tsk! I gave you the communication orb. I gave it so you could use that, so why do you keep coming in person!”
At Jaiden Wicks’s scolding, the Frost Giant awkwardly scratched his head.
–Magic is unfamiliar to me. It's just more comfortable to come directly.
The Frost Warrior Chief said while scratching his head.
“Ha... So what’s the problem this time?”
–The jurisdiction is too wide.
“Ha! Are you kidding me right now?”
Jaiden Wicks stared at the Frost Warrior Chief with a dumbfounded expression.
“Honestly, we’re covering everything below the mountain range, and you're saying you can’t even cover the area above that by yourselves?”
–I know. But what can we do about the lack of numbers? Your forces destroyed the Ancient Species during the war, and our population decreased sharply.
At the Frost Warrior Chief’s words, Jaiden Wicks sighed and replied.
“New Ancient Species are still awakening, aren’t they?”
–That’s with that taken into account.
“Ha... For now, come in- actually, no. I’ll come out.”
Jaiden Wicks looked around his office, then scratched his head furiously, grabbed a few papers and a map from the pile of scattered documents, and went outside.
While Jaiden Wicks was going through what felt like a maddening day filled with an overwhelming amount of work, the Eastern Commander, whose workload had exploded due to the Eastern Continent, was clutching his head in frustration.
“You’ve been working hard.”
A welcome figure, visiting after a long time, smiled bitterly as he looked at the Eastern Commander.
“Ha...”
The Eastern Commander held his head for a moment to suppress his anger, then looked at the man with blue hair before him.
“Sorry. You’ve come after a long time, and I showed you something unpleasant.”
“No, sir. It’s my fault for coming when things are tough.”
“Whew... There was already so much work, and thanks to this pointless nonsense, it’s increased drastically. I momentarily lost control of my emotions.”
As the Eastern Commander said so, he showed the man the order he had received.
“This is...”
“We’ve become enemies with the Eastern Continent. I think even the Merfolk allied with us will be affected, so be careful.”
“I’ll make sure to deliver the message.”
The man with blue hair responded with a gentle smile.
“It’s convenient having someone familiar with the Merfolk. Lieutenant Mateo... no, Mr. Mateo?”
“Speak freely, sir.”
“Let’s go with Mr. Mateo. Either way, it’s truly fortunate to have you here.”
Richard Burton showed a genuinely relieved expression.
No matter how they had joined hands with the Merfolk to stop Destruction, the Merfolk basically did not like humans.
Moreover, communication was difficult.
While the basic language could be understood, their society and concepts were different, so there were often problems with communication.
The one who mediated in between was Mateo Garcia.
After being saved by Daniel Sevayor, he had consistently argued to the Merfolk that they had to join forces with humans.
Thanks to that, they had made it to this point.
“By the way, will the Sea Dragons be alright?”
At Richard’s question, Mateo hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“The Sea Dragons and the Ancient Whale Tribe have already made up their minds to stand with humanity.”
“Hmm... but they’re still Dragon Tribe, no?”
Richard asked with a worried expression.
Fundamentally, Dragon Tribe beings were full of arrogance, and their disdain for other races was practically passive in nature.
That’s why he didn’t expect Sea Dragons to be much different.
“Sea Dragons are beings closer to spirits. They’re in a different category than Dragon Tribe.”
“Hmm... is that so?”
“Yes. So, there was a time when both the Spirit Realm and the Dragon Tribe rejected them.”
“...I see. My apologies.”
As Richard apologized for lumping them together with the arrogant Dragon Tribe, Mateo smiled and waved it off.
“It’s alright. Now, they are with our tribe.”
At Mateo’s words, Richard smiled and nodded.
“Phew... I was hoping to reduce your workload, but it looks like I’ve only given you more.”
“It can’t be helped. But it’s just until we stop Destruction, so it should be fine, right?”
“I don’t think it’ll stop there.”
At Mateo’s words, Richard showed him the updated documents.
After reading the brief summary report on the Eastern Continent's situation, Mateo wore a grave expression.
“This is serious.”
“If we're not careful, they could invade this continent while we're too busy fighting off the Fallen Beings.”
The Dragon Tribe, driven out of the Auzria Continent, had not forgotten their grudge.
Some races who still believed in the vanished Outer Gods also bore resentment toward the Empire.
Given such circumstances, there was no guarantee they wouldn't invade before Destruction was over.
“You’re going through a lot.”
“Still, we must push through. Compared to the hardships of the Mobile Field Army and the Special Defense Force, this is nothing...”
Richard Burton said as he turned his gaze westward.
His eyes gleamed as he thought of those struggling on the corrupted lands.
“If there's any movement from the Eastern Continent, we must also consider launching a preemptive strike.”
“...Understood.”
At Richard’s words, Mateo gave a heavy nod.
They couldn’t burden the Western Front, where the largest army of Destruction was expected to appear.
At the very least, the Eastern Continent’s forces needed to be intercepted at sea.
To do so, more preparations than what they currently had were required.
Just as the Eastern Army and the Merfolk pledged to increase their readiness for any possible threat, a report flew into the headquarters of the Special Defense Force, one of the most overburdened units in the Empire.
“This... is this true?”
“Yes! The Mobile Field Army Commander has just confirmed it personally.”
Caeden Wall, the former Northeastern Army commander and now commander of the Special Defense Force, wore a serious expression.
“Report this to the Supreme Commander immediately. And summon Sky Renz, the corps commander.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Caeden Wall’s order, the officer quickly ran out.
Not long after, Sky Renz arrived at Caeden’s office.
“Loyalty! Did you call for me, sir!”
“Take a seat.”
Caeden handed over the report from his desk after seating Sky Renz.
“This... is it true?”
“Commander Ariel confirmed it herself. She requested support from us just in case.”
At Caeden’s words, Sky Renz's face turned grim.
“I’ll assemble the main forces of the corps immediately.”
“Yes, I’ll personally lead my direct unit there as well.”
“You too, Commander?”
Sky Renz looked surprised when Caeden said he would go himself.
“We must be prepared for any contingency. We don’t know what dangers lie ahead... If we have the Four Masters, even in a worst-case scenario, we should be able to respond to some extent.”
With the assistance of the Four Masters and the knights, even against a Grand Master-level threat, it would be possible to buy time or make a tactical retreat.
“Prepare as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Caeden’s command, Sky Renz bowed and left.
Caeden also went outside, issued orders to prepare for deployment, and then began readying himself.
He donned his specially made armor, equipped his treasured sword, and immediately headed out, prepared to leave for the Corrupted Desert.
And around the same time, as Iron was buried in paperwork, a report arrived on his desk.
[We have discovered a ruin related to Destruction.]
The ominous title of the report made Iron read it in haste.
It detailed how a ruin discovered by the Mobile Field Army’s reconnaissance unit contained drawings related to Destruction and depicted events surrounding the fall of the old Mythical Era.
And at the end of the report...
–The system indicates that something critically important related to Destruction lies dormant here. A thorough investigation appears necessary.
At the final line, written personally by Ariel, Iron jumped to his feet.
“Contact the two family heads immediately.”
Iron burst open the door and gave orders to the officer, then grabbed his sword.
“W-Where are you going, sir?”
“To the Corrupted Desert.”
Iron answered shortly and immediately headed for the Warp Gate.
***
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