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“Why all of a sudden…?”

The unit members gathered at the drill ground looked at Damian with puzzled expressions.

They had no idea why the regular army stationed on the outskirts had come here either.

“Commander, is there something going on?”

“Is there a problem with our sentence reduction?”

“…Commander?”

The unit members watched Damian, who stood silently in front of them.

Damian smirked at the sight of the restless soldiers.

And then, he finally spoke.

“Congratulations, you bastards.”

Damian started in a low voice.

He didn’t want to berate them, especially since their sentence reductions were already confirmed.

“The things you’ve done are indeed worthy of contempt and criticism. It’s not something that can be dismissed just because you’ve achieved something now.”

However…

“Nevertheless… Thank you for not giving up and enduring until the end. The time I spent with you all was short but meaningful.”

They reminded him of his younger self.

After all, Damian had once been just like them.

He addressed them further.

“If you leave this place, seek out those you’ve harmed and apologize a hundred times over. It won’t happen overnight, but keep apologizing sincerely and reflect on your wrongdoings.”

It was advice Damian was also giving to himself.

Although such events hadn’t happened in this life, if possible, he too wished to apologize.

The unit members listened quietly, their expressions solemn, fully aware of their own past mistakes.

Seeing them like this, Damian smiled faintly.

“I don’t know if we’ll meet again, but stay alive. If you do, we’ll see each other someday.”

With that, Damian turned around.

And at that moment—

“Compaannnny! Attention!”

Thud!

A synchronized stomp.

The sound, as if moving in perfect unison, made Damian pause and turn back to look at them.

The squad leader of the third squad, who had emerged to the front, was staring at Damian.

The most taciturn but also the most diligent among them.

The third squad leader shouted towards Damian.

“Salute to the Commander!”

“For the glory of the Kingdom!”

The drill ground echoed with their deafening salute.

As their salute continued—

“For the glory of the Kingdom!”

The third squad leader clenched his right fist and struck his left chest.

Seeing this, Damian stood straight, brought his feet together, and placed his right fist on his left chest.

‘This is…’

A salute, a gesture of encouragement for their new beginning.

“Glory to the Kingdom.”

With the salute concluded, Damian spoke.

“Live well.”

Damian turned and walked away.

The remaining unit members maintained their salute, watching Damian until his figure was completely out of sight.

Thus ended the brief, dream-like chapter of Makstri.

* * *

“…Hoo.”

Having left Makstri and arrived at the corps headquarters, Damian let out a small sigh.

He hadn’t expected to be summoned here personally.

‘To think the corps commander would call me directly…’

He had assumed the report would be relayed through others.

Standing before the corps headquarters, Damian adjusted his uniform. A soldier approached him.

“Are you Damian?”

“Yes, that’s correct!”

“Follow me.”

Damian followed the soldier as they navigated the long corridors, taking several turns before arriving at the corps commander’s office.

Standing before the office, the soldier spoke.

“When in front of the corps commander, answer questions quickly and concisely. Do not ask inappropriate questions. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

Damian’s prompt response earned a nod from the soldier.

Then…

Knock, knock.

“Commander, I’ve brought Sergeant Damian.”

“Come in.”

A voice came from inside.

The soldier stepped aside, and Damian opened the door and entered.

“Glory to the Kingdom.”

“Formality is unnecessary.”

Kiaran waved her hand dismissively at Damian’s salute.

She then stared at him.

“…”

The pressure was unlike anything felt with others.

Just her gaze alone made Damian feel as if all his thoughts were laid bare.

Damian maintained his silence, meeting Kiaran’s eyes.

She stared at him quietly before letting out a small smile.

“You did well. I hear you’ve fully secured the gold mine at Makstri for us.”

“I was lucky.”

“Luck, huh… Was it really something that could be achieved with luck?”

Kiaran chuckled softly.

She found Damian’s response surprisingly standard.

Kiaran glanced at Edmund, who was standing beside her.

“Begin.”

“Yes.”

What are they starting?

Damian looked at Kiaran in confusion. And then…

“Sergeant Damian of the 6th Corps’ Caion Unit is hereby recognized for his accomplishment in securing the complete ownership of the gold mine at Makstri from the prolonged war with the Iren Kingdom. The following rewards shall be granted.”

The awards ceremony was over in an instant.

At Edmund’s words, Damian alternated glances between Kiaran and Edmund with a rigid expression.

Kiaran, however, merely watched Damian with an amused look.

Edmund continued.

“Damian is promoted two ranks from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant! In addition, he is appointed as the Commander of the independent Caion Unit of the 6th Corps.”

Commander of the Caion Unit.

It was the position Vincent had long desired for Damian.

And it wasn’t over yet.

“Furthermore, a reward of 100 gold coins and the privilege to select one item from the Corps’ armory will be granted.”

While the reward might seem small compared to bringing back the gold mine, it was still quite significant recognition for a sergeant’s achievements.

“Staff Sergeant Damian, step forward.”

Snap!

Damian stepped forward, and Edmund handed him a small box.

Inside was a promissory note for 100 gold coins, exchangeable at the Imperial Bank, alongside an authorization certificate stamped with the corps commander’s seal for the armory.

“So that you may continue to strive for the kingdom.”

“I will strive even harder!”

Damian shouted loudly as he accepted the box.

Kiaran, who was seated, clapped and stood up.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

“Impressive. Honestly, your achievements far exceeded my expectations.”

At first, it was half a joke. She never expected him to pull off something so extraordinary.

Kiaran said to Damian.

“This is a special privilege I’m granting you, separate from the official awards. If there’s anything you want, tell me. I’ll grant one thing within my power.”

Kiaran was notorious in the military for being quite eccentric, but she was also famous for generously supporting capable soldiers.

Hearing this, Damian’s eyes gleamed.

‘I never thought such an opportunity would come…’

The Corps Commander.

And not just any commander—Kiaran, the leader of the 6th Corps, who held immense influence within the military.

Damian cautiously spoke.

“In that case… would you listen to my request?”

She had asked him to make a request, so why was he setting the mood so seriously?

Kiaran tilted her head at Damian’s sudden change in demeanor.

But then…

“It concerns the safety of the kingdom.”

As Damian continued, Kiaran’s expression also began to harden.

* * *

“Hey! Damian—no, the Deputy Commander has returned!”

The Caion Unit stationed at Valfate was in an uproar.

As Kyle entered the barracks, he shouted to the unit members.

“What?”

“Already?”

“The Deputy Commander’s back?”

Though Damian’s time with the Caion Unit was short, the performance he had shown still lingered vividly in their minds.

Moreover, the accomplishments Damian had achieved at Makstri were now widely known throughout the Baroque Kingdom’s military.

“Heh, I knew that guy would pull it off.”

Kyle laughed, and Jerka and Terka, who were beside him, nodded.

“We knew it too.”

“So did I.”

After all, he was the only one who defeated a knight during the entry test for the Caion Unit.

It wasn’t just that—there was never an image of Damian failing at anything.

He always managed to accomplish whatever he set out to do, almost flawlessly.

“Come on, let’s go meet him. He might be shocked to see how much we’ve changed.”

“Yeah… he must’ve had it rough, but we didn’t have it easy either, right?”

Over the past seven months, the members of the Caion Unit had been completely transformed under Leonhark’s brutal training.

They had reached a level where they could somewhat stand their ground against knights.

Moreover…

“The one who’s changed the most… is that guy.”

At Terka’s comment, everyone turned to look at Dianal.

He was walking calmly behind them.

He was the only one among them who had gained the ability to wield mana.

Dianal took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

—“I’ll be back within a year, so train like hell until then.”

Damian had kept his promise.

In just seven months, he had returned from Makstri, one of the most notorious battlefields within the kingdom.

‘I’ve been training as hard as I could, too…’

For the past seven months, Dianal had trained relentlessly, pushing himself to the limit.

There were countless times when his spirit nearly broke.

Leonhark’s training was grueling and intense.

But every time he felt like giving up, he thought of meeting Damian again and endured.

—“If you’re still the same when I get back, I won’t even acknowledge you. You’d better be prepared, or you’ll seriously disappoint me.”

The words Damian had left before leaving.

The thought of staying stagnant terrified Dianal, so he struggled fiercely to improve.

And this was the result.

Although it had been a short time…

Dianal had achieved more change than anyone else in the Caion Unit.

As Dianal and the other Caion members reached the entrance of the base—

“What’s the big deal? You all came out just for me?”

Damian’s casual approach brought bright smiles to everyone’s faces.

Seeing their reactions, Damian also smiled and said,

“I’m back, you bastards.”

Damian had returned.

* * *

“…Good grief.”

The more Kiaran thought about it, the more incredulous she felt.

She turned to Edmund, who was beside her.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s worth investigating, given that the information has some basis. And… doesn’t it align with some of the details on the Iren Kingdom’s side?”

“That’s what makes it so chilling. A lowly sergeant—no, now a staff sergeant—knowing this much about a foreign kingdom’s internal affairs… Does that even make sense?”

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t add up.

Seeing Kiaran’s troubled expression, Edmund cautiously suggested,

“Could he… be a spy planted by another kingdom or the Empire?”

“At the very least, it wouldn’t be the Empire. If it were, he wouldn’t have brought up the internal situation of the Iren Kingdom.”

It was entirely anti-Empire.

However, she couldn’t entirely dismiss the possibility that another kingdom might have planted a spy.

Damian’s displayed skills were, frankly, unusually exceptional.

Tap… tap…

Kiaran tapped the table with her fingers, deep in thought over Edmund’s words.

“There’s no need to view this purely with suspicion. Let’s just keep an eye on him for now.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, and investigate all those people Damian mentioned.”

“The ones skimming funds off the supply lines, correct?”

Kiaran nodded at Edmund’s words.

“There are still scum like that… Tch.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

As Edmund spoke, Kiaran fell into contemplation, recalling everything Damian had said.