After the Commander and the other Corps Commanders had agreed on where Jaiden should be deployed, the rest of the graduating students’ destinations and assessments also proceeded rapidly.

Perhaps it was because Command took over number 1 that was why there were more units clamoring for number 2. Even the Corps Commanders were fighting fiercely for number 2. They also fought fiercely for the rest of the graduating students. In fact, Command also wanted to take number 2 before letting them take the rest of the students but it wasn’t an easy task since the other corps were blocking their way. This was mainly the reason why number 2 floated around for a while without any unit.

The others even tried to take chicken instead of pheasant and take number 3 but it was still an arduous task since he was also very talented.

“I didn’t know that I’ll renounce my claim on 1, 2 and 3…”

“This is a disaster.”

The Corps Commanders of the Mountain and Fog Corps looked despondent. The same was true for the Vanguard Corps Commander. They wanted to bring one of the three to their places somehow but it was not an easy choice to make for them. 

If they wanted to bring in one of the three, they would have no choice but to give up on a large number of new recruits. But their corps were all severely lacking in terms of manpower. What they needed the most was more people and not just a single elite. So, in the end, all of them gave up on 1, 2 and 3 to bring in a larger number of people to their troops.

After the three big shots gave up on 2 and 3, the only ones left fighting were the elite groups. Although they were elite groups they still fought fiercely for these two. And only after fighting a long and dark fight did it end. After almost a month of arguing, the Knight Division and Iron Wall division successfully won the bid.

They had no choice but to yield Number 2, who had skills that were close to a knight, to the Knight Division under the strong insistence of the knights. On the other hand, number 3 was successfully won by the Iron Wall Division. They wanted to roll him hard under their guidance to erase his arrogance and useless pride.

Since they had finished dividing up the elites, the remaining students also began to get divided into the Northeast’s units.

“All of the numbers are graduating this time.” 

“How long has it been?” 

“I know.” 

The 6th year professors had all gathered in the 6th year academy building to talk about the graduating class. They couldn’t help but smile happily at the thought that all of their students were graduating. Their smiles were so wide as they thought of the birds that would fly out of their nests soon.

Generally, the graduating class’ academy building was rarely used. After all, the students were sent to the frontlines most of the time so they did not have much time to spend here. Most of the students wanted to stay at the frontlines and focus on increasing their merits from actual battles to increase their evaluation and graduate successfully. However, this time, the amount of times that the academy building was used was close to nil. The only time that it was used was during their first few days of their senior year. The entirety of their time was spent in the frontline.

“They’re here.” 

Everyone stared up at the sky upon hearing the professor’s words. There, they could see the students carried by dozens of drakes. When the drakes arrived and started to descend, the graduating students began to jump one by one.

“All of the 6th year graduating students have returned.” 

“You’ve done well. You should all head inside and change into your parade dress uniform.”

The students moved towards the dormitories upon hearing the professor’s words. When they entered the building they saw their dress uniforms hanging one by one on the doors of their living quarters. Seeing the uniform, they quickly headed inside their rooms to change. Once they had changed, the professors guided them one by one.

Everyone felt embarrassed from their professors’ sudden kindness. They were not used to this scene at all. After all, they had always looked at them with fire in their eyes as if they wanted to eat them up. Being presented with this kindness immediately brought embarrassment to the students’ faces.

However, this was something that the professors always did for the graduating students. It was some sort of tradition for them. They wanted to at least show them kindness at least once in their academy years. It was some kind of respect and heartfelt consideration for their students who suffered greatly during their academy life. So just this once, during their discharge, they would guide them kindly. This was especially true for this year. They felt even greater respect for all of their students. After all, all of their students would be graduating this time. It was a miracle within a miracle. So they became much kinder to this batch of students.

Jaiden also headed to the auditorium under the guidance of the professor. There, he saw simple structures with several partitions. They looked to be rooms where secret conversations would take place.

“Go inside.” 

Jaiden slightly bowed to his professor before going inside.

Once he went inside, he saw a man wearing a military uniform sitting rigidly on a chair in front of a desk.

“Sit.”

Jaiden could see three diamonds embedded on the man’s shoulders.

As soon as he sat down, the man handed a piece of paper over to him.

Listed on the paper were several names, there were even names that Jaiden knew.

“This…”

“In this paper are the names of the Northeast heroes that are allowed for you to use. These names are the candidates for the last name that you will use in your alias. As long as you’re staying in the military, you need to have your name replaced temporarily.”

“Last name…”

“This last name is a name that you can use even if you get discharged from the military so choose carefully.”

One could choose their first name leisurely but they had to choose their last name well. This last name would be able to follow them for the rest of their lives so they had to choose carefully. With that said, Jaiden looked at the names carefully. 

Then, he saw a hero’s name that was the same as his own. 

Jaiden Carter.

198 battles. 26 wins. 172 losses.

This person could be called the worst commander with his battle record. One would even wonder why he was called a Northeast Hero. But when he saw the explanation written below the hero’s name, he understood everything.

Even in the worst battlefields, he was a commander who prioritized his subordinates’ survival. He was well-known for having 60% of his troops survive during the battle in the Arest Mountains. This was a battle where everyone believed that all of them would be wiped away but he still brought back most of his troops. Ever since then, he had gained the moniker ‘Survival King’. And all of the soldiers wanted to go under his command.

Just looking at the explanation alone would breed thoughts that he was just someone who was in a hurry to run away. However, the situation back then was extremely dire. What he had accomplished was enough to call him a hero. This hero fought in a monster wave battlefield. He was the only person to survive with his soldiers and successfully retreat to the Center despite the entire Northern region falling on the verge of extinction.

“I’ll go with this gentleman’s surname.” 

“Survival King… It’s a bit unusual and unique but I will respect your decision if that’s what you choose. How about your name? You can use your existing name.” 

Whether it was for revenge or for something else, they would usually use the name that reminded them of their promise. This was so they would not forget their oath and continue on in their path. But it has only become a custom now. Now, most of the students preferred using their existing names.

“I’ll use Iron.” 

“Steel… I see. From now on, you will be named Iron Carter. This name will remain with you until you get discharged from the military. Do you agree?” 

“Yes!” 

Jaiden… No, he was Iron now, answered loudly. The officer nodded his head as he pushed a paper towards this graduating class’ number 1.

“Your name is now officially listed under the Northeastern Army. Just like what the commander had promised, as soon as the graduation ceremony is over, you will be promoted to Lieutenant. You will also be assigned your unit. Do you understand?” 

“Yes!” 

“Good. From now on, I will explain the unit that you will be deployed in and what kind of missions you will receive.” 

Jaiden tilted his head upon hearing the officer’s words. This was the first time that he had heard about someone being given the explanation about the unit that they would be joining. 

“You have been assigned to the Special Operations Dispatch Unit directly under the Northeast Command. Our unit is called Ghost. Your mission site is in the frontlines in a search unit called Winter Hawk Unit.” 

“Gho… st? Right now, did you just say that I was assigned to Ghost?” 

“That’s right. I assume that you haven’t heard it. Those who know our existence are limited to commanders above the division level plus a select few. Of course, your affiliation is temporarily filled in on the documents as Winter Hawk Unit.” 

“…Yes.” 

Jaiden nodded slightly when he saw the man look at him as if he was asking if he understood his words. 

“Good. There are matters relating to our security written on this paper so you should discard it as soon as you finish reading it.” 

Jaiden held the paper tightly and bowed his head to read the contents when he heard that he couldn’t take the paper out casually. 

His first mission was roughly divided into three large tasks:

Usually, when someone was assigned to a unit that was in charge of surveillance and reconnaissance, the mission assigned to them would be an extension of a previous mission. But it seemed like his mission was quite unique.

“Our unit’s missions are a bit unique.” 

“Ah…” 

The man also smiled bitterly as he acknowledged the fact that the mission this time was truly too unique. 

“Have you read everything?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then I’ll dispose of this myself.” 

The man tore the paper into pieces, ignited a flame beside him and burned the mission before standing up. 

Then, Iron asked him with a strange look on his face. 

“You won’t do it with the other students?” 

“You’re the only one I’m in charge of.” 

“Ah…” 

“Then, let’s meet after your graduation.” 

The man left those words and went outside first. There was only a small card left in his place. Jaiden did not know when he had left it there. There were dots embedded on the card in the form of a hawk. 

“Is this a winter hawk?” 

Looking at the card, Iron realized that this was the symbol of the Winter Hawk Unit, the unit where he was going. Iron placed the card in his pockets and stood up from his seat before going out of the room slowly. 

He did not know whether he was the last one but he was the only one left in the auditorium. When he came out, he saw his classmates busily calling each other’s names. It seemed like they were happy to receive their names. 

Unexpectedly, the first person to approach Iron was number 2.

“Did you receive your name?” 

“Yeah. It’s Iron Carter.” 

“Iron? An alias?” 

Iron nodded lightly upon hearing the girl’s question. 

“Hmm… I see.” 

The girl looked slightly disappointed when she saw Iron’s agreement. It seemed like she wanted him to ask her name.

“Yours?” 

“Ariel Favrice.” 

Iron nodded upon hearing Ariel’s words.

“Ariel… Is that your real name?” 

“Yeah. Ah. By the way, where did you get assigned to?” 

“Winter Hawk Unit. It’s a search unit in the frontline.” 

Ariel’s eyes widened when she heard Iron’s unit. 

“You’re going to a place like that right away?” 

“…Seems to be the case.” 

Iron just smiled bitterly. He did not know if it was because he did well in the academy that it wasn’t enough for them to deploy him, he even became a Ghost. 

“You?” 

“Knight.” 

“They took you, huh? I feel a bit jealous.” 

Iron looked a bit envious. Unlike him, who was only going to be given a hard time, it seemed like Ariel would still have enough time to pursue what she liked.

“How about number 3?” 

“Curious?” 

Iron turned around in surprise when number 3 suddenly popped out from behind him. 

“Number 3. Where are you going?”

“It’s Cardro Giovanni. Me… I think I’m going to the Iron Wall.” 

“Iron Wall?” 

Iron looked at Cardro in shock. He thought that he would either go to the Knights or to the frontlines but it seemed like he went to a place that was completely out of the ballpark. However, he soon realized the reason for this.

“Haha~ I know the reason.” 

“Hey!” 

The boy, number 73, smiled widely as he looked at Cardro’s angry face. But number 73 just continued to speak, not minding his anger. It seemed like he was no longer scared of him.

“That guy… He has long been  marked by the higher-ups and the professors because of his arrogance. So they assigned him to the Iron Wall Division. They’re probably going to roll him hard in there.” 

“Ah…” 

“You bastard…” 

“If you make a fuss here then you’ll have a harder time there.” 

The boy just smiled with his twinkling eyes as he looked at the glaring Cardro. 

“Where are you assigned?” 

“Ahem, ahem~ I’m in the rear. We’re in charge of the military supplies! Hahahahahaha~”

“Ah…”

Iron looked extremely envious when he heard number 73’s words. Even Cardro, who was going to the Iron Wall Division, was looking at him enviously. The other boys who overheard him also surrounded him with envious gazes. 

“Hahaha~ Everyone, you should praise this Carl Stein-nim!”

***

Notes

[Chicken instead of pheasant] 꿩 대신 닭 – Pheasant is a more luxurious meat while chicken is much more common. Hence, the proverb means that when the best choice is not available, they’ll go for the next available choice. Like something is better than nothing. Something a bit subpar but can still be used in replacement. In this case, since they can’t take the overwhelmingly strong students like number 1 and 2, they at least wanted to take 3 for themselves. BUT, they still couldn’t do so since no matter how weaker 3 was compared to the two, he was still a cut above the rest.

[Parade Dress Uniform] 정복 – Dress Uniform, Full dress uniform or parade dress uniform. Most formal type of uniform worn by military, police and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies and receptions (including private gatherings like marriage and funerals).

[Regarding Iron and Steel] – Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, hence steel is mostly iron. That’s why Jaiden chose the name Iron. Well, pure iron is technically not that strong and is prone to rust but steel is much stronger thanks to the addition of carbon.