During the height of the recruitment war between the troops in the Northeast, Jaiden and the rest of the graduating students were busy growing rapidly while they fought in actual battles at the frontlines. 

Wherever it was, the first time was always bound to be difficult. Although they were said to be joining the troops in the ramparts in a safer area of the frontlines, monsters that came up to such structures were all similar. So once they got used to it, the performance of the graduating students began to grow exponentially.

The biggest reason for this change was the graduating students’ talents. Most of them were talented people who were between the 2nd and the 3rd Stage. Usually, skilled and talented people like them would become knight apprentices, commissioned officers, soldiers or be appointed as non-commissioned officers.

Either way, the more than 300 talented students that were gathered here to take charge of a single place were bound to receive goodwill and praise wherever they went.

Because of this, the frontlines, after a very long time, welcomed their graduating class like they were treasures instead of nuisances. 

“Ensign 1, you worked hard today too.” 

“Thanks.” 

Jaiden gulped down the water that he had received from one of the soldiers before looking at the paper in his hand once more. The soldier pushed his face forward in curiosity and asked him what he was reading.

“What’s that?” 

“This? Ah. I’m just doing my own investigations.” 

“Investigation?” 

The soldier tilted his head as he looked at Jaiden strangely.

“Want to see?” 

“May I?” 

“There’s nothing impossible in this world.” 

Jaiden handed over the paper to the soldier as if it was just a simple matter. The soldier immediately read the contents of the paper once it got on his hands. 

“Huh? This…” 

The soldier’s eyes widened as he looked at Jaiden. 

“Not bad, right?” 

“That… Yes, I think so.” 

Jaiden received the paper again as the soldier hurriedly nodded his head in agreement. After nodding hurriedly, the soldier couldn’t help but stare at Jaiden and the paper in his hands. 

Written on the paper was how the monsters’ weaknesses were attacked, how efficient the weapons they used were as well as what happened in today’s battle.

It was important for them to organize what had happened in the chaos of the battle and make proper countermeasures. But what Jaiden had written was beyond that. His writings were well-written and organized and it went beyond simply writing the ways to target the monsters’ weaknesses. There were even tactical methods and movements that they could use to maximize their strength against the monsters. 

Anything after that, the soldier, who had only learned a bit, couldn’t understand anymore. So, he immediately handed it back. But all that he had seen and understood were great so he was sure that the rest of the paper also had great importance and impact. 

In fact, after getting used to life in the frontlines, Jaiden’s performance in tactics and command whenever he commanded the soldiers stood out. His performance in those aspects was much more remarkable when compared to his own skills and techniques. 

He was completely contrary to people like number 2 who showed great performance with her overwhelming strength. Number 3 was also closely following her in terms of performance but it was not as overwhelming as hers.

With her overwhelming talent, sword skills and practical experience, she began to fly like crazy. But there was actually a reason why number 2 was extremely overwhelming. 

Usually, knight-level talents would be placed in more dangerous areas. There were also knight-level officers assigned in each troop to facilitate communications and give out orders but there was only one person and it would be hard for them to do a one-shot kill for monsters while commanding the rest of the troops. So number 2, with her knight-level talent, who could single-handedly kill monsters was quite overwhelming especially to the eyes of the soldiers.

In addition, the performances of the single-digit students, with number 3 at the lead, started to stand out.

So, number 1’s performance, who stopped showing off his personal skills to lead the soldiers and help them from time to time, was gradually buried. Although the soldiers who had received direct help from him had argued that number 1 was extremely active it was still difficult for other soldiers to believe their words right away. 

Meanwhile, the soldier, who handed the water to Jaiden and read his paper, started to spread rumors about what he was currently doing. Hearing this, almost everyone on the frontlines went abuzz. They even went forward and approached Jaiden to check on the truth of the matter. Jaiden willingly showed his findings to anyone who came to ask, he did not hide anything at all. And with that simple act the rumors were effectively proven to be true.

In a short while, the rumors spread in the frontlines. It eventually passed through the ears of the Corps Commander who was in charge of the frontline fortress. In the end, Jaiden was summoned to prove the truth of the rumors.

Sky Renz guided Jaiden, just like he did during his first day at school, in the fortress command. There were a lot of people waiting for his arrival in the fortress. By the looks on their faces, it seemed like they had heard of the rumors so they were eagerly waiting for his arrival with interest coloring their faces.

Sky Renz knocked carefully on the Corps Commander’s door while Jaiden silently endured the overwhelming gazes of the people along the way. 

“Corps Commander, number 1 has arrived.” 

“Enter.” 

“Loyalty! Northea…” 

“Never mind that, take a seat.” 

The strongest Vanguard Corps Commander protecting the frontlines of the Northeast, Caeden Wall, made Jaiden sit in front of him. 

“I wanted to see your face for so long so I’m lucky to have this opportunity.” 

Once Sky Renz left the room, Caeden stared at him with deep interest.

“You must have realized why I called for you. I want to hear your explanation about the rumors spreading in the frontlines. I will listen to you no matter how long it takes.” 

“What do you want me to tell you?” 

“All of it.” 

Jaiden’s eyes widened when he heard that Caeden wanted to listen to everything. He did not expect that Caeden, someone famous for being busy, would spend so much time on him. 

“It’s fine even if it takes a long time?” 

“That’s right.” 

Jaiden took a deep breath and opened his mouth to explain after hearing that the Corps Commander was willing to listen to him no matter how long it took.

He explained the following:

First, he emphasized on making active use of guns and other firearms to have a wider range of tactical methods. 

Second, he spoke about the tactics and strategies that they could use against the monsters based on the combination of the evidence that he had gathered as well as his future knowledge of their weaknesses.

Third, he explained in detail his plan of receiving and getting large-scale ammunition.

And fourth, he spoke about his planned development of weapons that he had seen in the future, all the while explaining that it was something that he had imagined to hide the fact that he had seen it from the future.

After hearing Jaiden’s explanation, the corps commander fell into deep thought. He understood how realistic his words were after listening to it carefully. 

“Hmm… It’s alright to make active use of guns to target the monsters’ weaknesses. It’s good enough to propose to the Northeast Command and officially ask for a unit to be established.” 

“Thank you.” 

“The problem starts with your third point… Did you improve the thesis that you had made back in your 1st year?” 

“That’s right.” 

Caeden once again fell in deep thought after hearing Jaiden’s confident answer. 

“Do you think that’s possible?” 

“I think it’s more than possible. For the first and second point to be possible, there needs to be a large quantity of ammunition and gunpowder. But the amount that we’re currently being supplied with will not be able to support those points.” 

“It’s that… essential?” 

“That’s what I think.” 

Caeden smiled like he was having fun when Jaiden spoke his honest thoughts. Then, he stood up from his seat and opened a drawer on his desk. He took out a thick pile of documents and placed it in front of Jaiden.

“Read this.” 

Jaiden quickly picked up the pile of documents and read it. After reading for a while, his eyes started to widen.

“This…?” 

“Isn’t it similar?” 

Caeden grinned while Jaiden stared blankly into the paper.

“I wrote that myself.” 

“This is really…” 

Jaiden stared blankly at Caeden. Caeden stared at him too. It seemed like he found his blank stare interesting.

The things that Caeden wrote also included a draft for the unity of the North. First, he wanted to unite the forces of the northeast and the north. Then, he would attract merchants to the Northeast and make his own merchant association thereby forming a force that was entirely unique to the North.

The content of the papers mainly wanted to attract people who had the same interests as them. For example, they would make an alliance with the west and the northern barbarians to make a military force that was strong enough to not be ignored by the Center.

“You and I have the same thoughts. To develop the Northeast, we should attract the attention of the merchants from the North before attracting the attention of the West. Once we’re able to do this, we will be able to remove the entire Northern region from the central power of the Empire.” 

“Amazing. It seems like you have been preparing this for a long time, this does not look like it has just been prepared for only a year or two.” 

“That’s right. I have revised and supplemented those documents during my stay here. So I think it has been more than a decade?” 

Caeden smiled when he heard Jaiden’s assumption.

“By the way… I have one question. Nobles and commissioned officers usually do not think this way. The Imperial power will definitely fall to the bottom once this is implemented. So why?” 

“That…” 

He had acted like he did not think that far but Caeden just smiled at Jaiden’s laughable acting.

“At first, I thought it was because you were just young. But after hearing your plan, I am now convinced. You definitely have complaints against the current Imperial Family.” 

“…Not at all. My loyalty to the Empire is absolute…” 

“Bullshit. Although you did not tell me the end of your plans, your thesis includes stimulating the Western Merchant Federation and taking advantage of the disputes in the South. Do you think I wouldn’t know? It’s easy to understand once you put the pieces together.” 

Caeden looked straight at Jaiden’s eyes.

“You want to isolate the Center. This is an idea that will drag the Imperial power down to the very bottom. Right?” 

Caeden took out a cigarette after speaking his mind. Jaiden was at a loss of words. He did not speak even until the cigarette in Caeden’s hands had been lit.

He knew that someone would notice it sooner or later. However, he had unknowingly engraved his personal feelings into his plans since he thought that they would just think of this as a childish whim. He never thought that someone would read the thesis that he had made during his 1st year and scrutinize it in every detail. 

“My ideas… Those ideas did not come out because I have complaints about the current Imperial family. It’s simply because they had neglected the North. Hoo… Something like that.” 

Caeden said so and spat out smoke from his cigarette. He looked at Jaiden seriously as if he knew that he also had the same thoughts. 

Jaiden frowned when he saw Caeden’s gaze. It seemed like his gaze was digging through all of the thoughts that he had hidden deep inside his heart. 

“In the past, I took the elite course in the capital. But that road collapsed thanks to the Imperial Family’s crab mentality. So I was demoted to the North and old man Crimson sent me here. That’s already more than a decade ago.” 

“……” 

Caeden stubbed his cigarette off and continued to talk about his past while looking at Jaiden’s silent figure. 

“To be frank, I don’t have any complaints. But it’s because I was beaten like a fool. But when I came here, I realized that I was not the only one. You know? I was bound to be suspicious since there were dozens of people who were demoted in the same way as me.”

“Exceeded… dozens?” 

“That’s right. Dozens of elites get demoted to the Northeast in the same way that I was demoted every year. So, I thought that it was weird and made investigations of my own. And I reached only one conclusion.”

‘They’re demoting them and branching them out to solidify the Imperial Family’s power in the Center.’ 

Caeden smiled strangely when he heard Jaiden’s solemn mumble.

“The Imperial Family is pruning.” 

Then, Caeden looked at Jaiden firmly. 

“Did you know this?”