The routine at the training camp was simple.
Wake up in the morning, then roll call.
After breakfast, training proceeded according to the scheduled curriculum.
The noncommissioned officer training course lasted four weeks in total, with the first week devoted to so-called basic education, where they learned subjects such as the history of the Empire and the purpose of the Imperial Army’s existence.
The process also included drill instruction and physical conditioning, and since they kept moving until dinnertime, it was a constant stretch of hell for those who had never so much as glanced at exercise in their lives.
Perhaps because of that, the first week of training was also when the most trainees dropped out.
“Haaah... Haaah... Gale, I really feel like I’m going to die.”
After lunch, the bodies of the cadets who had been running lap after lap around the parade ground were soaked with sweat.
Gale was no exception.
‘I can’t believe I have to do this again....’
He had been so busy thinking about events in the distant future that he had completely forgotten he needed to go through this process to become part of the Imperial Army.
Gale steadied his ragged breathing and looked around.
Overall, everyone seemed exhausted, but—
‘As expected, the children of prestigious families really are different.’
Perhaps because their families had put them through harsh training since childhood, some of the candidates showed no change in expression at all.
Some even cast looks that seemed to say it was utterly pathetic to collapse from something as minor as this.
Joseph stuck close to him from beside him.
“Huff... Gale. I’m at my limit.”
“Hang in there a little longer. There’s still a long way to go.”
“I can’t... I can’t do this.”
Gale was already drenched in sweat and struggling, so when Joseph clung to him, the urge to smack him once crossed his mind.
“You there! Don’t stop moving! Keep running!”
“Eek!! Yes, sir!”
After they finished their grueling routine late in the afternoon, they were given a short period of free time after dinner before lights-out.
It was the only time the candidates could catch their breath in an environment that was practically no different from confinement.
When Gale finished bathing and returned to the room, Joseph, who had been lying on the bunk bed, lifted his head.
“Oh, you’re back. Are you studying again today?”
Gale dried his still-damp hair with Wind magic and answered.
“I have to.”
“You’re seriously diligent. I asked the others, and a lot of them just pass out without even washing.”
“It feels like a waste to just sleep.”
With the grand goal of protecting the Empire before him, even time spent sleeping felt wasteful to Gale.
He had told Joseph he was studying, but during this time, Gale organized information on his fellow trainees based on the events of the day.
In his previous life, Gale had been begging on the streets of the Empire at this point in time, so he lacked information on the people currently inside the Imperial Army.
If he wanted to make fuller use of his future knowledge, he needed to fill in those gaps whenever he could.
Once he finished organizing everything, Gale’s day ended with him sitting cross-legged and circulating mana.
‘My growth is slow, but steady.’
Right now, this was the time to quietly build up his strength.
He would grow stronger little by little.
And someday, when the Golden Dawn Society revealed itself along with its filthy desires—
‘I’ll smash them with these hands. Those trash bastards.’
Gale vowed to erase their existence from this world.
***
The days continued in a cycle of education, training, and sleep.
Before long, a week had passed since Gale entered the training camp, and as the curriculum moved into the second week, full-scale combat training began.
Starting from the second week, they began with mastery of personal equipment, then magical beast theory, field practice, interpersonal combat, suppression techniques, and more.
The serious training proceeded so that the candidates could properly fulfill their roles as Imperial Army soldiers once they were assigned to the Imperial Army in the future.
One day after they entered the second week.
After finishing a lunch that tasted as sweet as honey, they moved to the large training ground located within the Imperial Army grounds for their afternoon training.
‘It’s still enormous, even seeing it again.’
When they arrived at the training ground, unlike the many buildings adorned with marble and gold, its interior was revealed to be decorated in black.
Supposedly, it had been built with some kind of impact-resistant material.
Perhaps because of that gloomy color, a strange tension hung over the site.
The cadets, including Gale, were gathered in front of a small platform illuminated by glowstone lights, and an instructor stood imposingly before them.
Dressed in the black Scout Unit uniform known as black garb, he possessed a powerful, muscular build and radiated a massive presence.
Gale only met his eyes for a moment, but he felt a weighty force, as though he had been struck by a giant hammer.
After the drill instructor confirmed that everyone had gathered and closed the doors of the training ground, the instructor opened his mouth.
“I am First Lieutenant Tarun Keyers, the instructor in charge of today’s mock urban training.”
At his words, the candidates nodded silently.
“The place where you now stand may look like an ordinary training ground, but....”
He snapped his fingers.
Rrrrrumble.
The empty space behind them, where nothing had been before, began shifting in every direction, and soon it started to take the shape of a small village.
“In truth, this training ground was specially built by the Imperial Army’s Ministry of Magic Development for realistic training.”
Gale had already known it was enormous, but seeing a small village form before his eyes made its scale feel even more vivid.
The other trainees seemed to feel the same way, as they all stared blankly with their eyes and mouths wide open.
“This training ground perfectly recreates the nightmare that took place on Pontey, an island in the southern region of the Empire. Today, we will push you to your limits here and evaluate your qualities and perseverance.”
When the word evaluate came from the instructor’s mouth, murmurs broke out among the candidates.
“Evaluate?”
“I never heard anything about that....”
“Quiet!”
Tarun silenced the candidates in a booming voice and continued speaking.
“Until now, you candidates have learned how to move as members of the Imperial Army when a situation occurs. Today, based on the knowledge you have learned so far, I expect you to move your bodies in practice and show everything you have learned to your hearts’ content.”
Just then, one candidate raised his hand.
“What is it?”
“So what are we supposed to do?”
“You are an impatient one. In this training exercise, you will defend Pontey for a limited time. Your mission is to hold back the incoming lava slimes and rescue survivors.”
A smile touched Gale’s lips.
‘Pontey, huh.’
The content of the second week’s training changed periodically.
But Gale had undergone training set in Pontey in his previous life as well.
Citizens plunged into panic.
Lava slimes surging endlessly from the north.
They swallowed the candidates in fear in an instant.
One might think it was nothing more than a simulation.
However, through the Ministry of Magic Development’s thorough investigation and historical verification, the Pontey training had been recreated as an environment that was almost endlessly close to reality.
Tarun gestured to the side and said, “Look over here.”
Then a temporary unit assignment chart appeared there as a hologram.
“The candidates will be divided into six squads of ten. Each squad leader has been selected arbitrarily, so check the assignment chart beside you.”
Gale turned his gaze and scanned the chart.
Squad One was packed entirely with the children of famous nobles, while the other squads seemed to have commoners placed under noble squad leaders.
No matter how much this was a society of status and a temporary assignment for training, the sight of the Imperial Army, which sought equality beneath rank, so openly favoring nobles left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“The time limit is two hours in total. In thirty minutes, the full training will begin with the command. Until then, squad leaders may assign roles to their squad members and draw up their strategies. Begin now!”
With the command to begin, confusion descended among the candidates.
The most important thing in this training was teamwork, but for candidates who had spent all this time keeping each other in check, coming together in such a short time was no easy matter.
At that moment, Tarun, who had been stepping down from the platform, spoke.
“Ah, I forgot something important. The squad that receives the best evaluation in this training will be given a reward personally prepared by the Commander-in-Chief, so I hope you will do your best. That is all.”
At those words, the candidates, who had been lost in confusion, began to burn with zeal, their eyes flashing.
But Gale let out a small sigh, as if he had expected it.
‘So that’s what this is.’
On the surface, the training held at the training camp might seem like competition under fair conditions, but that was absolutely not the case.
There were corrupt instructors among the teaching staff, and as the Imperial Army was also influenced by high-ranking nobles, the candidates from famous houses would already have been given information about this training.
Gale knew well that the Commander-in-Chief’s reward had only been offered because that kind of secret existed.
‘So he’s the one who benefits from this training.’
[Squad One Leader: Kuff Granz]
Gale looked at him as he stood in a corner, snickering with the other candidates.
Kuff was the eldest son of House Granz, a ducal family famous for magic swordsmanship, and in Gale’s previous life, he had risen as high as colonel in the Imperial Army.
He had used the influence of his family, House Granz, to climb quickly through the ranks of the Imperial Army, and after being promoted to colonel, he joined the Golden Dawn Society and betrayed the Empire.
Gale stared at him quietly and clenched his fist.
Just then, a loud voice rang out from one side.
“Everyone assigned to Squad Two, gather over here.”
Gale, who had been assigned to Squad Two, looked toward her.
There stood a girl on a small platform, shouting.
Her name was Anesia Kindelly, a girl with long golden hair.
She was the second daughter of House Kindelly, a count family that had produced Imperial knights for generations.
Once the squad members gathered around Anesia, she spoke.
“Even if this is a temporary assignment, we’re on the same team. I won’t give unreasonable orders, so I hope you’ll follow my lead.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Anesia began swiftly taking control of the squad members.
“First, our squad will be divided broadly into two teams. Those who wish to rescue survivors within the town, stand on the left. Those who wish to stop the incoming lava slimes, stand on the right.”
At her words, the roughly ten squad members began moving quietly.
“Mana users should handle the slimes if possible, and close-combat candidates have good stamina, so move to the rescue team. I won’t force you, but that will be far more efficient.”
Once the members had been roughly distributed, Tarun, who had been watching the candidates from the rear, spoke.
“Ten minutes remaining!”
After finishing the role assignments, Anesia held a meeting with the other squad leaders and designated the southern starting point as the survivor evacuation site.
She judged that gathering the rescued survivors in one place and protecting them would be reasonable.
Afterward, the rescue team in charge of rescuing survivors spread out as widely as possible and took their positions, while the defense team in charge of stopping the slimes began sharing the magic and abilities they could use and forming a strategy.
Gale was a mana user, but he had joined the rescue team.
Joseph, standing beside him, kept jabbing him in the side as if telling him to go to the defense team, but Gale lightly ignored him and sank quietly into thought.
He had joined the rescue team partly because rescuing citizens was the most important part of this training, but Gale had another purpose as well.
‘The rescue team will have much more freedom than the defense team, which moves as a group. That should make it easier to find it.’
Time passed, and as the scheduled moment approached, Tarun shouted in a booming voice.
“Then, as of this moment, the mock urban training begins!”
Along with a sharp whistle blast—
time began to flow in Pontey, where it had been standing still.
Desperate screams from survivors rang out from every direction, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
The scenery was so realistic that it was hard to believe this was training, and the candidates froze as though they were facing a real natural disaster.
At that moment, Anesia shouted.
“Everyone, snap out of it! Defense team, follow me! Rescue team, search every building as thoroughly as you can and rescue the citizens!”
At Anesia’s voice, firm resolve rose over the faces of the dazed candidates.
Then, one by one, they began moving busily.