When the other outpost leaders saw Captain Franco praising Iron for being a reliable subordinate, they immediately approached with broad smiles on their faces as they heaped on their own praises. It seemed like they did not want to get left behind in terms of praises. After all, the very first commissioned officer that had been assigned to their company had done a superb job of hunting a named.

Their company had been suffering for a long time since the neighboring company had been pushing them back. So, a good thing like this happening in Captain Franco’s company was bound to bring them happiness for a while. All of them couldn’t stand still. They were all itching to go back and tell their comrades this happy fact. Even Captain Franco wanted to hurry back and annoy his so-called rival, Captain Paulo. So, Captain Franco quickly led his men away after leaving praises and a promise of a massive support whenever the young man needed help.

“Everyone worked hard today. Take a good rest today and prepare for tomorrow. Just so you know, the work will still be focused on the sergeant and corporals so the rest of you can still take a good rest and focus on the work assigned to you.” 

Iron dragged his exhausted body to the outpost leader’s office as he told his subordinates to take a rest for today. 

Watching their outpost leader leave, the corporals and Sergeant Sean’s faces began to twist. Especially the corporals. After seeing the battle at the 3rd guard post, they were now fully aware of their outpost leader’s strength. This meant that they tried to go against someone that strong under the instigation of Sergeant Sean. 

However, after hearing that they still had to shoulder all the work after that exhausting battle, the eyes of the corporals started to turn brutal as they openly glared at Sean. Sergeant Sean felt uncomfortable from their gazes but he couldn’t even use his jjambap and backing to suppress them. After all, he was the one who brought this upon them.

‘Ha… Did I mess up?’ 

Sean was not able to contact Sergeant First Class Maldini ever since then. He was also being half-supervised by Captain Franco since he openly allowed the outpost leader to do whatever he wanted to him. If he so much as placed a toe out of line in this situation, then the outpost leader would take this chance to completely target him. If that happened, the kids below him would definitely ignore him instead of lending a helping hand.

What was worse was the fact that he was already on the verge of being overtaken by Charles. Charles was the corporal who had stayed the longest in this outpost compared among all the other corporals. There was also the vice outpost leader. He knew that the vice outpost leader did not view him in a good light. Although he was currently ignoring him, he was sure that he would definitely grind him down and use his authority openly once he fell down to the bottom.

However, despite all of those glaring facts, Sergeant Sean still did not believe that the outpost leader would continue taking him to work. He knew that no matter how crazy the young outpost leader was, he wouldn’t possibly have the authority to carry a single sergeant to do work. If that happened, then the other commissioned officers in the unit would ask him to do it in moderation while threatening him with military discipline. 

But Sergeant Sean’s wishful thinking disappeared without a trace after a few days. 

“Heok… heok…” 

“Hey, what the hell are you doing? Are you trying to take a break already?”

“…No, sir.”

Sergeant Sean’s slow movements returned to normal after hearing Iron’s words. Iron smiled in satisfaction when he saw this. Then, he turned to the corporals that were working hard.

“The mission season is coming up, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Charles answered Iron’s question as he continued to shovel diligently. Then, Iron smiled as he cheerfully told them his plans. 

“I’m going to bring in the maximum number of people that can come here. We’re going to finish all of the work here as best as we could before the mission season starts.”

Sergeant Sean and the corporals’ faces brightened upon hearing his words. They thought that they could finally take things easy now. No, at the very least they thought that things would be over since they wouldn’t be the only ones to suffer. Everyone’s eyes started to bend in happiness at the thought that their bloody and hell-like working time would be reduced. 

Then, at that moment, Iron opened his mouth once again.

“It’s hard working like this, right?” 

“No, sir!” 

All of the soldiers present answered loudly.

“I know everything. I know that it’s hard since I’m doing the work with you. So, I thought about things and came up with some things that you will like. The one who works the most diligently during this period will be taken out of the mission and will only do guard duty during the mission season.” 

“Ah…” 

The sergeant and the corporals’ eyes began to sparkle when they heard Iron’s words. 

“One corporal teams up with five privates and private first classes and takes turns, right? Well, it’s the mission season so you don’t have to work hard and just patrol and guard leisurely.”

“Yes, sir.”

The corners of Iron’s mouth quirked when he saw the corporals answering right away. 

“Everyone should work hard. Just so you know, the missions this time will be extremely difficult.”

The corporals’ eyes shook wildly as thoughts churned in their heads.

They did not need to care about the sergeant above them since he was now fully suppressed by their outpost leader. With that thought in mind, each and every single one of them started shoveling faster. The thought of being able to escape the mission that was most likely more difficult than the work they were currently doing had fired up their determination. Their shovelling techniques were so brilliant that they looked like they were sergeants who had enough experience in the field.

So, with the quick and accurate shovelling and repair work that was as good as Sergeant Sean’s skills, the messy and broken area started to get filled and be repaired. Iron nodded in satisfaction when all of this happened. After creating a goal for the sergeant and corporals, Iron brought in a large number of privates and private first classes to speed up their work progress.

All of them were wearing full military gear while working to make sure that they would be prepared just in case a monster suddenly appeared in front of them. This condition added more burden to their extremely difficult work. However, despite the struggle and strain of their work, there was no dissatisfaction in the eyes of the corporals.

Even Sergeant Sean was working hard together with them. If it was before, he would have definitely just done the bare minimum but he was not doing that right now. No one knew if it was because he was feeling a deep sense of crisis but nevertheless it was good for them. In fact, he was even showing a surprisingly fast speed of work right now. It seemed like he did not want to lose against the corporal so he was working hard and showing skills that he did not show before.

Thanks to them working hard, the privates and the private first classes were able to work comfortably. And their work was being done faster than ever. 

There was always a small event that started before the mission season. This event was for the privates.

It was the final bastion for the tired, exhausted and bullied privates.

In this event, a communication channel would be open to listen to the pleas and complaints of the tired and struggling soldiers.

It was none other than the Sound of Heart season.

Usually, the sergeant and corporals would be indifferent to this event. After all, they had lived together in the same place for a long time and had already created a close bond with the executives. Since they were close with the executives, the executives would definitely sift through the soldiers’ complaints and turn a blind eye to their excessive movements.

However, this time, it was different.

The outpost leader was keeping a close eye on the sergeant while the vice outpost leader had been ignored by the sergeant and the corporals for quite a long time. These two factors were already disturbing enough for them. However, what was more disturbing was the fact that the search unit commander had openly declared that he would investigate the irregularities and irrationalities in the unit during this Sound of Heart season.

Since this Sound of Heart season was special, it was not only the soldiers and the sergeants who were all over the place. Even the executives were busy tidying up their loose ends.

However, all units in the Winter Mountains had their eyes on the 4th outpost. Everyone had heard rumors that Sergeant Sean had made a mess. Since they were well aware of his atrocious behavior, they were watching them and waiting for a good show when the soldiers stabbed him in the back. But contrary to their expectations, Sergeant Sean was not given any special disciplinary action.

At first, those who were watching the scene thought that the search unit commander was afraid of Captain Paulo so he did not make a move against Sergeant Sean. However, they heard news that Captain Paulo and the executives standing on his line had received severe disciplinary actions one after the other. When this happened, they realized that their assumption was just a misunderstanding.

Almost all of the units in the Winter Mountains had soldiers, corporals, sergeants and executives being called in by the search unit commander. All of them had received disciplinary actions and had been reprimanded seriously by the commander. 

But amidst the chaos in the Winter Mountains, the 4th outpost remained calm. They had thought that the 4th outpost would be the hottest outpost during the Sound of Heart season but they were surprisingly the calmes of all the units.

“There should be something special. Right?” 

“…Yeah.” 

When Carl Gustav, the search unit commander, asked about the situation in the 4th outpost, the commissioned officer next to him answered. 

All of them had expected that the letters from the 4th outpost would be filled with complaints and grievances but all of the letters from the privates were completely normal. No. Rather than complaints, the letters were filled with praises and compliments.

Hello, Commander, sir.

I’m George, a private stationed at the 4th outpost.

Our 4th outpost does not have any particularly problematic executives. Rather than complaints, I have been always grateful that they have been taking care of us, privates.

We used to be scared of the sergeant and the corporals since they were unreasonable before. But these days, they have been working quite diligently. If you’re reading this letter, you might probably think that I’m being threatened but I can assure you that I’m definitely not.

The working environment in our 4th outpost is very special. I don’t know the reason why but our seniors are working really hard. 

Our 4th outpost is currently in the midst of maintenance work until our 8th guard post but the sergeant and corporals are working more diligently, efficiently and skillfully than us. Also, when monsters come out, they would take the lead and move forward by themselves. 

Of course, there are times when our seniors pass their work to us because it’s very hard but every time our outpost leader glances at them, our seniors would all start to work like crazy again. 

You might not believe this but every time our outpost leader is here, they really work crazily like a dog. At this point, you might think that there will be a problem if our outpost leader is not present but his schedule is mostly aligned when the sergeant and the corporals are on duty so there’s no problem at all. Thanks to this, Sergeant Sean, who used to be violent, is now working hard like a gentle cow. 

So, I will be very sad if you punish Sergeant Sean and the corporals. If our seniors who work like dogs get disciplined our work will increase. 

Respected Search Unit Commander, sir. Please leave our 4th outpost just the way it is.

I beg you.

The search unit commander looked dumbfounded when he saw the private’s letter that was begging him not to punish his seniors. The same was true for the officers that were staring at the letter from over his shoulders. 

However, their reasoning was sound. If the sergeant and the corporals, who were skilled in their work, were really working crazily like a dog then there was no need for him to mete out disciplinary actions and make things difficult for the 4th outpost. But they still needed to confirm the authenticity of his words.

If George’s letter was the only one like this, then they would probably think that he was lying. But all of the privates’ letters were the same. Even the private first classes insisted that they would be in a pinch if their seniors were summoned from their outpost. All of them insisted that no disciplinary actions should be given to their seniors. 

At first, the officer who delivered the letters thought that everyone in the 4th outpost was crazy. But there was sufficient evidence that backed up their claims. Their basis was the speed of their work. 

“What about the 4th outpost’s guard posts?”

“All of the work needed to be done to repair the damage from the battle has been dealt with.”

“In all eight of the posts?”

“Yes, sir.”

The officer nodded in answer to Carl Gustav’s question.

“Ho…”

“And that’s not all. According to the 4th outpost leader’s report, he said that things that they have done weren’t enough so they were requesting to do additional work on the guard posts.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, sir. Here’s the report.”

Large number of bombs will be buried in front of each guard post and a path will be set and memorized by all of the soldiers in the outpost. 

In addition to that, the plans for the additional work like setting up traps and other devices that could help the guard post last a bit longer had been written in full detail.

“They’re going to do all of this?”

“Yes, sir. They’re also going to demonstrate the effectiveness by working on trials.”

“Interesting. I will agree to this. I’ll report this to the commander myself and get the supplies for them.”

Carl Gustav beckoned to the officer to leave after saying those words.

“Is this also part of his plans?”

Carl Gustav mumbled to himself as he looked at the confidential report that Iron had sent to him. Right now, there was a first class confidential report that Iron had written to him as a Ghost and not as an outpost leader.

[Every time a group of monsters appears, a suspicious being appears and suddenly disappears.]

This sentence by itself sounded like a big deal but it seemed like it wasn’t a problem yet.

[The presence feels familiar so I kept on investigating. The presence might either be a spirit or a divine beast. We’ll have to continue investigating before I can conclude. I will send a further report after I have determined it.]

Gustav felt extremely surprised when he first saw the second sentence. It was not enough for Iron to hunt a named, he was even already starting to perform the Ghost’s mission early. It seemed like he was really crazy enough. 

Those were just his thoughts, but after seeing the requirements that were written on the back of the paper, he was now fully convinced that everything had been planned by Iron.

[※Things Required for the Mission

Gustav examined and re-examined Iron’s reports carefully. After doing so, all he could do was sigh deeply.

“Hoo… It seems like I have a lot of things to report to the Commander.” 

***

TL’s corner

Again. For those who have a problem with jjambap, and from what I saw rolling too, the author uses these words as is. These words are used separately from experience and working hard. I have already taken enough liberties by reducing them as much as I can.