The Duke's Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (108)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

37 Lion Castle’s Temporary Commander! (1)

Everyone turned to look at Kaiden in shock after hearing his words.

Only then did he realize the blunder that he had made. However, even if he tried to rectify his mistakes and stop talking, would it be easy for the others to forget? There might be a chance if it was just the executives but there were a lot of soldiers nearby.

In the end, Kaiden’s words spread throughout the Lion Castle Fortress. 

“So Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter is actually young master Jaiden.” 

“For real?” 

“Young master Kaiden said so himself, right?” 

“Then, does that mean that the first young master who ran away from home is a hero?” 

“Yeah!” 

“Ho~ As expected, their bloodline really would not go anywhere without making a splash, huh?” 

Two soldiers whispered between each other but the people right next to them were also talking about the same topic. 

In no time at all, stories about Iron circulated all over the Lion Castle Fortress. The rumors that everyone was talking about spread in an instant and reached the Northeastern troops. 

“Ha… This crazy bastard.” 

Iron slammed his fist on his desk when he heard about the rumors.

He did not want to keep his identity a secret forever but he did not want to let it out in the open like this. He wanted to at least reveal it by himself but not here when the situation was not that great. However, Kaiden had let the cat out of the bag in a fit of anger. 

In the end, even the Northeastern soldiers went ahead and made a bet on whether Iron was really Jaiden or not.

That was when the elders and executives of the Lion Castle Fortress went to find Iron.

He thought that only the executives would come find him but even the elders came with them to find him in his commander’s office. Some of them were even looking closely at Iron’s face as if they were scrutinizing if he was really their eldest young master. 

All Iron could do was sigh as he told them to sit.

“Please sit down.” 

Everyone sat down upon hearing Iron’s words as they coughed in embarrassment. 

“What is the reason for your visit?” 

“We heard that the reason why the Northeastern troops have become extremely fraudulent these days was because of the regiment commander’s hard work. We’re ashamed but we would like you to teach us the know-hows.” 

All of the people present nodded their heads heavily at the straightforward words of one of the executives. 

“It’s not that difficult to learn. All you need to do is take one of the things that we have distributed to the soldiers and teach it to them. The soldier’s survival rate will definitely go up if you do that.” 

One of the elders stepped forward this time after hearing Iron’s words.

“We want Lieutenant Colonel Iron to teach us personally.” 

Iron tilted his head at the elder’s words.

“Is there a reason why I have to do it myself?” 

The elder hesitated for a while before revealing what they truly felt. 

“If something happens… we want you to temporarily take over the command of Lion Castle Fortress.” 

Iron looked confused at the elder’s words.

“You want me to be the temporary commander of Lion Castle Fortress?” 

“…Yes.” 

“I believe the executives of the Lion Castle Fortress would not allow this…” 

When Iron spoke with an incredulous look, the chief executive quickly took out a document. 

“This is a document that certifies that all of us had agreed.” 

“What about the elders?” 

“All of the elders had also agreed and I came here as their representative.” 

Iron looked at the old man that represented the elders for a long time.

The old noble bastard that had always been strict and disapproved of him in his last life was now asking him to be the commander. Iron’s expression turned especially blank and solemn after hearing that the proud and high-nosed noble bastards agreed to this. 

“What about the direct descendants? I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t agree and sit still on this matter. Right?” 

Knowing their characters, he was sure that they wouldn’t approve of this. After all, if they approved of it while being aware of Iron’s identity as the eldest son, they would bear the image of being pushed back. In addition, their image would turn more terrible if they allowed a traitor of the family to command them. There was no way that they would listen to the orders of someone who left because they couldn’t endure the training of the Lion Castle Fortress.

“The ones left here do not care.”

Iron looked absurdly at the elder. 

‘Those stubborn and prideful madmen accepted this?’

It wasn’t strange if they treated the cub who ran away from Leonhardt as a bastard. But they even admitted and placed the cub that suddenly appeared again in front of them as the temporary commander of the Lion Castle Fortress. 

Iron asked once again as if he couldn’t believe their words.

“The direct descendants… really accepted this?”

The executives and elders all nodded at the same time at Iron’s question.

The executives had bitter smiles on their faces. It seemed like they fully understood why Iron responded like this. 

There wasn’t anyone from the direct descendants who wasn’t crazy. The youngest was closest to the head but hearing someone close and familiar to them implying that they were crazy people with a few loose screws made them realize that there really was no normal person from the direct line. 

If they thought about it that way, then, Iron’s reaction was completely reasonable.

“But the Lion Family Head will come back soon, right?”

“That’s… the situation in the Northern Forest is a bit unusual so they would take some time going back from the forest.”

“What do you mean?”

Iron felt a chill run down his spine as he asked them anxiously. 

“The regiment commander will contact the Northeastern Army soon but… the size of the dark elves’ army has suddenly increased. So, the Northern Forest now has more than double the number of monsters.”

“Then…”

“…Yes. The family head will not be able to come back any time soon.”

Iron shut his eyes at the words of the elder. 

“That means that there is a high-possibility of monsters flocking to the Lion Castle Fortress on a  large-scale.”

“…That’s right.”

Everyone in the commander’s office stiffened at the elder’s answer. 

A large scale monster attack.

With the current defenses of the Lion Castle Fortress, they would most likely fail in handling these monsters. Perhaps, the executives and the elders came here because they couldn’t think of any other way. 

Looking at Iron, who had reorganized the Northeastern troops at a quick pace, they somehow felt that he would be able to help them endure this attack if they entrusted the command to him. They also made this decision since they were fully aware of their situation and their personalities. 

However, Iron could only think of this as something preposterous. 

He was already reaching his limits with the situation that he was in right now. He even wanted to angrily ask them how he could handle even more troops but the words were stuck in his throat. He wanted to tell them that they should retreat right away but knowing that they cared more about their honor than their lives, he knew that this suggestion would definitely not be accepted. 

Iron did his best to swallow down the word ‘retreat’ as he thought hard about how they could overcome this dark and hard situation that they were suddenly placed in. 

“Alright. I’ll accept your proposal. I will go to the Lion Castle Fortress as soon as the Northeastern Army contacts me.”

“Thank you!”

Iron immediately gave orders to the officers when the elders and executives left the office. 

“You’ve heard it well, right? The situation is unusual. Everyone should get ready. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Let the soldiers know of this matter. And make sure to get ready to train hard starting today. I have to move up our schedule.”

Iron went outside as soon as he left those words. He went out to check the overall situation of the Lion Castle Fortress after hearing the words from the executives. 

“This is terrible. But I think this is still a lot better than when I just came here in my previous life, right?”

Iron mumbled to himself as he looked at the entirety of Leonhardt’s fortress.

By the end of his previous life, the entire Lion Castle Fortress was filled and plastered with instruments, devices and all kinds of weapons that could effectively prevent monsters from coming inside. 

But as of now, the weapons and devices on the walls were almost next to none. It was actually a bit strange to see some weapons here and there since the Leonhardt Family was quite an ignorant family when it comes to things like this. After all, they were a family that lived and died by the sword. However, thanks to the Northeast’s influence, they had placed the barest minimum of weapons on their walls. There were some magic cannons and magic bombs placed here and there. However, when compared to the Northeastern Army, the amount that they had placed on their ramparts were just measly.

After checking the situation of the Lion Castle Fortress, Iron received the formal proposal to become the temporary commander in preparation for the large-scale attack in the near future. He also immediately told the Northeast to at least send them as much supplies as possible if it was difficult to send troops. They had agreed to send troops later while they assured him that the supplies would be sent in a few days. 

The next day, Iron immediately went to Leonhardt’s mansion. 

“I’m Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter. Please inform them inside.”

The knight opened the door to Leonhardt Mansion silently upon hearing his words. 

“I have received orders to guide you there as soon as you arrive.”

Iron nodded his head as he walked with the knight to the place where Leonhardt’s command was located. There, he saw the regiment commanders from the Northern Army, the Leonhardt Family’s direct descendants and executives and a few knights left to protect the mansion. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m the Silver Lion’s Silverstein.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter. I’m not good enough but I’m the one temporarily placed in charge of the regiment.”

Iron gave a light greeting to Silverstein. 

As if to prove that he was not an ordinary Silver Lion, Silverstein was wearing a uniform with a lion-shaped crest with a mane that was parted in two. This crest signified that he was the deputy commander. 

Their positions were determined from the mane of the lion crest on their uniforms. For the commander, the mane was not parted while ordinary knights would have the mane parted into three. The same was true for the Blood Lions and the Steel Lions. 

‘At the very least, you still have the minimum defense in place.’

They seemed to be prepared for emergencies since they had placed one of the key personnels in the Lion Family here. 

The Blood Lions were the knights directly under the command of the family head. The Silver Lions was a knight order that was centered and composed with Leonhardt’s bloodline. And the Steel Lions was a knight order that has knights selected only through pure skill and abilities. These were the three knight orders that represented the Leonhardt family. 

The Silver Lions, composed of all the direct and branch descendants of the Leonhardt Family, might be weak. But being the relatives of the direct descendants of the Lion Family meant that they still overwhelmed the Steel Lions, those who were only chosen based on their abilities, when it came to status. That was why the deputy commander of the Silver Lions could also be considered as one of the top executives in this fortress. 

Their meeting officially began once Iron sat on the seat that represented the commander under the guidance of the Silver Lion’s deputy commander. 

The first one to speak was Iron.

“How many elite knights are still here in the mansion?”

“There are no Blood Lions, 10 Silver Lions and 20 Steel Lions.”

There were no Blood Lions, the most prestigious and strongest order under the leadership of the family head, and only some of the Silver Lions and Steel Lions were left. If the Lion Family Head made this drastic decision, then it meant that they were truly in an urgent situation.

“Hoo… I looked at everything before coming here but there must be around 100 ordinary knights left in the Lion Castle Fortress. Around  1,200 Leonhardt troops, 2,300 soldiers gathered by the nobles in the North, 1,700 soldiers from the Northern Army and 1,600 soldiers from the Northeastern Army. There are also the 10 Silver Lions, 20 Steel Lions, the direct descendants and executives. This means that this is the troops that we have…”

Iron frowned. 

Due to casualties, the regiments sent by the two armies had been halved after barely escaping the disastrous situation from before. And even though the Leonhardts were elites, they still only had a little bit more than a thousand soldiers with them. 

They were now facing a situation where they needed to face off against a large-scale monster attack with just this small number. Iron’s head throbbed in pain when he realized the direness of their situation. 

“Hoo… I’m going to put this out bluntly. I will make the Lion Castle Fortress into a fortress similar to the ones in the Northeast.” 

Everyone’s eyes widened when they heard his words.

“If there really is a large-scale monster attack coming then… just knowing a few more weaknesses would not be able to solve the problem. The thing that we need the most right now are… huge and large-scale firearms! I will also give the troops here in the Lion Castle Fortress bombs and guns loaded with magic bullets. If you don’t like this solution then… I’m going to step down from this position and order my own troops for a retreat. Immediately.” 

Iron had blocked their escape route. Once he retreated with his troops, they would never be able to respond to the large-scale monster attack.

Fighting a lot of monsters with their sword was only somewhat possible for knights who were skilled but it was completely impossible for soldiers. No matter how elite the soldiers of Leonhardt were, they couldn’t do such a feat. They were the ones who had awakened their mana at the very least or had their bodies strengthened at the most. But what if they were handed the modern weapons that were recently developed at that level? Their level of force would definitely increase. 

Perhaps they had realized that Iron was stubborn and determined? The Silver Lion’s deputy commander stood up while speaking politely. 

“We’re the ones who asked you to be the commander. So, we will leave everything to you, Sir Iron. You can do whatever you want.” 

“The Northern Army also leaves it to you.” 

Iron nodded lightly when he heard the words of the Silver Lions’ deputy commander and the Northern Army regiment commander before turning to look at the direct descendants. 

The direct descendants looked dissatisfied but all of them were silent. 

“Are the direct descendants opposed to it?” 

Everyone turned to look at Kaiden with bated breath after hearing Iron’s question. They did not expect that he would ask this so everyone was watching the situation with nervousness. 

Kaiden grimaced before speaking.

“Brother knows this best. I am not someone fit to take command. All I ask is that you put me in the frontline. That’s the only thing that I want.”

Iron also nodded lightly at Kaiden’s words.

“The direct descendants also have significant power. You will be placed in the most dangerous places. Be prepared…”

Iron stood up. 

“That’s the end of our first meeting. Our next meeting will be held once the supplies arrive. We don’t know when the monsters will flock here so let’s focus on familiarizing ourselves with the monsters’ weaknesses and how to attack them. The Northeast will help you with that.”

“Yes. We’ll follow your orders.”

“We will implement it immediately.”

The Silver Lions’ deputy commander and the Northern Army regiment commander answered as they stood up. 

Iron had safely finished his first meeting with the Lion Castle Fortress executives.

That very same day, all of the troops stationed in the Lion Castle Fortress began to move busily. 

***

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