For Gale, who had returned to the past, the memories and experience of reaching the 6th Tier in his previous life remained with him.
As long as the principles of the world had not changed, that was nothing short of a blessing to Gale.
“Dark Severance.”
A blade of darkness, drawn in black before his eyes, sliced through the paper before him.
The falling sheet landed atop the countless cut-up sheets piled on the floor.
Watching that, Gale smiled in satisfaction.
‘With this, I’ve risen to the 2nd Tier.’
Normally, like other mages, after creating a mana heart, he would have needed at least one year if it was short, and more than two years if it was long, for the unstable mana heart to stabilize.
However, thanks to the elixir he had received from Count Orhan, he had undergone a bone-shedding transformation, and his mana heart had also stabilized at an astonishing speed.
Gale had operated his mana throughout the night and continued the work of increasing his mana circles, and naturally, the result was a success.
After confirming that he had reached the 2nd Tier, Gale began testing the spells he mainly used.
As he continued experimenting with magic, Gale could feel just how absurd his magical talent truly was.
Not only could he freely change the shape, size, and speed of a projectile by altering the structure and arrangement of the spell, but unlike before, because he had changed the structure of his circles while constructing his mana circles, even though he was only 2nd Tier, he could possess more than twice the amount of mana compared to others of the same tier.
On top of that, as he became able to use some of the spells he had used in his previous life, the number of spells available to him increased to more than twenty at once.
With this, Gale was certain that while he might run short on mana, he would never be troubled because he had no usable spells.
After continuing to use magic, Gale rose from his seat and stretched.
‘Nngh...! This should be enough for magic... and I should avoid raising my tier for the time being.’
His mana heart, stretched to its limit, was beginning to feel the strain of containing a large amount of mana.
Since he did not know what side effects might occur if he increased his mana any further, he needed to stabilize his mana heart for the time being by circulating the new mana.
TAP, TAP, TAP!
At that moment, he heard something tapping on the window.
When he looked that way, he saw something small and round.
“Ah! Come to think of it, the results were supposed to come out this morning, weren’t they?”
Gale immediately ran to the window and opened it.
Outside the window stood a tired-looking white pigeon, drooping weakly.
“Coo....”
This pigeon, called a Saint Pigeon, was a carrier pigeon managed by the Imperial Army.
After the Magic Tower developed the communication crystal orb, the Imperial Army began using carrier pigeons to deliver objects instead.
Gale took the box at the pigeon’s feet and untied the string connected to its leg.
Then.
“Coo...!”
The pigeon flapped its wings and immediately flew away.
“If this came, then as expected.”
When he opened the box, inside was a letter along with the cadet uniform issued to Imperial Army trainees.
The letter was full of boring sentences written uniformly for all cadets.
‘Dear Imperial Army....’
Roughly speaking, it contained the news that he had passed the Imperial Army special track, along with the assembly time.
The gathering place was the central parade ground on the Imperial Army grounds beyond the headquarters.
“Noon today....”
This was no time to dawdle.
Gale packed his belongings and left the guest room.
Although he had only stayed for one night, there was one difference between when he had entered the room and now.
One more circle now spun rapidly inside his mana heart, and he was wearing the familiar cadet uniform.
***
The greatest reason Gale, who had been part of the Imperial Army in his past life, resolved to join the Imperial Army again even after returning to the past was because of its potential.
Gale remembered clearly what the Imperial Army had been like before the Empire and the Imperial Army were stained by the Golden Dawn Society.
At that time, the Imperial soldiers had carried pride in their hearts that they were protecting the Empire.
The sight of Imperial soldiers training for one another’s sake and standing neatly aligned before the people was an object of admiration.
Gale believed that if he could preserve the form of that proper Imperial Army, he could save the Empire from destruction.
When Gale arrived near the headquarters, the scenery before him allowed him to feel, however faintly, the same impression he remembered from back then.
The active-duty soldiers gathered here and there were hitting it off with one another, their hearts filled with excitement, while those wearing noncommissioned officer cadet uniforms looked somewhat nervous.
Watching them, Gale recalled those days, thinking that he too had once had a time like that.
“This feeling really is... nostalgic.”
The gathering place was located inside the vast Imperial Army grounds that spread out beyond the headquarters building.
The Imperial Army grounds resembled a small town. On one side, Gale could see the active-duty soldier barracks where he had been stationed in his previous life, and on the hill stood the massive Imperial Army Central Command Headquarters.
As he climbed along the hill, a national flag symbolizing the Holy Ravion Empire fluttered before the parade ground finished in pure white marble.
The three swords drawn on the flag symbolized strength, and the hawk drawn in the center symbolized honor.
And the golden cross engraved in the background represented dawn, and its meaning was...
‘Salvation.’
Looking at the flag now gave him a strange feeling.
After some more time passed, people began gathering at the assembly point.
Including the active-duty soldiers, their number seemed to be a little under three hundred.
Then a voice came from the sky.
[The enlistment ceremony will begin shortly. Enlistees, please follow the drill instructors’ directions.]
At that, people in Military Police uniforms appeared from somewhere, and they moved around the parade ground, organizing the ranks.
“Form ranks properly. The noncommissioned officer candidates’ place is over there.”
Like that, the ranks of the confused recruits were organized.
When the sun rose to the center of the sky, the enlistment ceremony began somewhere with a thunderous drumbeat.
[From this moment, the Imperial Army enlistment ceremony will begin.]
As the enlistment ceremony began, the twelve stars symbolizing the Empire appeared on the platform.
The generals, each entrusted with an important role, revealed themselves and lined up in a long row.
Even in his past life, Gale had been forced to attend enlistment ceremonies several times and had seen this scene more than once, but their presence in uniforms covered with countless decorations was truly overwhelming.
Then, at the center of the platform, Imperial Army Commander-in-Chief Wilhelm Schulhauser appeared.
When he appeared, the drums stopped, and a loud voice rang out.
“Good to meet you, soldiers. I am Imperial Army Commander-in-Chief Wilhelm Schulhauser. All of you who have come here....”
The Commander-in-Chief’s speech continued.
If it had been one’s first time standing here, the words that flowed out would have set anyone’s heart ablaze with patriotism and strengthened their resolve,
but Gale let the speech fade into the background and quietly clenched his fist.
His gaze was directed at everyone on the platform.
He did not know how long it had been since he had seen the generals without a single one of them wearing a Golden Dawn Society decoration.
How long had he longed to see this sight?
Now that it was actually unfolding before his eyes, a burning resolve welled up in his chest.
‘This time, no matter what it takes, I’ll protect it.’
Gale vowed to himself.
Before he knew it, the speech had reached its climax, and a voice rang out so loudly that it snapped everyone to attention.
“From this moment onward, I declare you honorable soldiers of the Holy Ravion Empire!”
***
After the speech ended, “Active-duty soldiers, to the barracks in the east! Cadets, move to the barracks in the west!”
the voices of the drill instructors, veins bulging in their necks, filled the parade ground.
When Gale moved according to their guidance, the cadet barracks building came into view.
“Haa... To think I’d come back here.”
The barracks where the cadets stayed was three stories tall and by no means small, but unlike its clean-looking exterior, the inside was in a hopeless state.
This was ultimately a space for trainees, and perhaps because there was a perception that they would use it briefly and leave, proper maintenance had not been done.
“Move quickly! Cadets, check the nameplates on each room, unpack your belongings there, and wait.”
The room Gale would stay in was by the stairs on the second floor.
He checked the nameplate hanging beside the shoddy wooden door that looked as though it would break if kicked.
[Gale]
[Joseph Light]
It seemed he would be living together with this fellow named Joseph Light.
“Joseph Light....”
He repeated the name and rummaged through his mind, but it was a name he was hearing for the first time.
When he entered the room.
“Haa....”
Just as he had expected, a sigh escaped him at the deadly condition of the room.
If the decent lodging he had stayed in last night was one gold, this place was ten silver. No, it was such a low-grade room that, if possible, he would rather not stay in it at all.
As he was looking around the room, the door behind him opened.
“Is this the place...?”
The one who carefully opened the door and entered was a boy with brown hair and black eyes.
He looked around Gale’s age, or perhaps a little older.
He looked at Gale inside the room and then,
“You’re...! You’re that guy from back then, right?!”
he shouted in shock, as if he had seen something he should not have.
“That guy from back then?”
When Gale asked back, Joseph moved his hands with strange excitement and said,
“You went up to the guy messing with the attendant and said, ‘Stop there,’ right? That was exactly what you did.”
“Ah....”
At the time, Gale had thought it was only natural.
But now that Joseph expressed it with such exaggerated gestures, he felt somehow embarrassed.
“Wow... It feels strange, like I’ve met a famous person. Ah, where are my manners? I’m Joseph Light.”
“I’m Gale. I don’t have a surname.”
Joseph smiled and held out his hand, and Gale took it.
Because Joseph was someone he did not remember, Gale had been a little worried on one hand.
Thankfully, Joseph did not seem to be the type to be twisted somehow or put on some strange act, so Gale felt a little more at ease.
It was probably just his imagination that Joseph seemed as if he would be a little tiring.
Then Joseph, who was looking Gale over, lifted the sword at his waist and said,
“Come to think of it, you don’t have any weapons. What did you use for the qualification exam?”
Now that Gale thought about it, the acceptance document he had received that morning had included an explanation telling him to bring personal armament.
The Imperial Army had standard weapons prepared for candidates, but even as a candidate, if one already had a weapon suited to one’s hand, it was more comfortable to use that.
‘Though in truth, it’s probably a ploy to save military expenses.’
Thinking that to himself, Gale flowed mana into one hand and revealed a blue light.
At that, Joseph’s eyes widened.
“Magic...? W-wait. How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
“You’re two years younger than me and already a mage? Are you from the Magic Tower, by any chance?”
Mages were precious beings.
Because there were few of them, and because most of them were positioned in the Magic Tower, as long as Gale showed magic, this was a question that inevitably followed.
As a result, explaining it every time felt subtly bothersome.
“No. I happened to meet a good teacher and learned from him.”
At that, Joseph quietly exclaimed in admiration.
“Haa... They say there are lots of geniuses in the world, and it was actually true....”
If Gale from his previous life had been looking at his current self, he probably would have reacted in a similar way.
As he and Joseph were talking about this and that, a loud voice came from the hallway.
“Notice to all cadets. Effective immediately, everyone is to assemble on the parade ground!”
And with that, his full-fledged training camp life began.