The helmet of the chief soldier standing behind the king revealed a scar on his forehead. Along with that, his hands and legs were also covered with big and small war injuries. He inhaled and exhaled before he glanced at the young guard beside him and crept closer to him. "Gather soldiers and go fight the enemies. This is my order."

Those words caught the listener off guard. The youth lowered his voice as he looked at his commander. He asked, "What are you saying? Assaulting the Vanne dynasty authorities when the king was in custody? Have you lost your mind?"

​​

"You can rest assured that I know what I'm doing!" Gritting his teeth, the chief soldier uttered these words and exhaled deeply. "After the war, I'll go to the border and surrender. You won't be implicated because it will be my fault."

"But-"

"But what? Should we believe those scrolls Princess Edda got from who knows where?" The commander clicked his tongue. "Definitely, someone is trying to stab us in the back. Fight on, if you must! You can act as a commander. Use the same strategy as before, but you can make momentary changes," the chief said, pausing as if he had suddenly remembered something. "You're now on your own. Good luck."

As he glanced at his chief in concern, the youth appeared to be hesitant. Half-elf or not, he had no interest in fighting, but he wanted to recite poetry non-stop the entire day. Despite his efforts to create a book filled with interesting things for the world to see, no one accepted his work for publication due to his half-elf status. To earn a livelihood, he had to throw away all of his poems to get a military badge.

Even though he did gain some benefit, his mind continued to wander back to the poems. He loathed fighting, and he was especially opposed to killing other people, so he avoided it. It was pure luck that he was chosen to be one of the top soldiers who would stand by the king day and night for the rest of his life.

It was just that the chief soldier whom he had revered so much earlier had given him such an important task: To save this kingdom by any means necessary. Nevertheless, how in the world was he going to take on such a formidable foe?!

Just before he was about to part his lips, the chief pushed him out of the backdoor, leading to the palace. "Go!"

Having no choice, the young man grabbed the seal of the chief soldier and ran out of the courthouse. Now, it was a 'do or die' situation. As soon as he joined the army, he knew he would die a brutal death, but it came too soon!

A sigh escaped his lips as he walked through the palace's corridors before entering a hall filled with soldiers. This hall was inside the palace's main building, which was connected to several other rooms. There were lockers in some of the rooms, while others had bathrooms.

Multiple soldiers could practice in this hall without feeling cramped. Almost everyone could show off their skills even if a thousand people showed up.

There were only a few armored soldiers present when the youth with the chief's seal opened the door. "I, Martin, from the third group,"—he said in a loud voice as he marched toward them—"order you all to gather as many soldiers here as possible quickly!" His next move was to reveal the seal.

The soldiers were stunned before carefully inspecting the seal, confirming that it was real, and then leaving the hall. Martin, the young soldier who had been assigned a seal, wiped the sweat from his forehead. He smiled bitterly and tightened his grip on the seal in his hand. "Damn it all! Fighting ability or not, I'll do my best!"

Even though he didn't enjoy fighting, he wasn't a cold-hearted person who would stand by and watch everyone die a cruel death either. Even though this was his hometown, he was determined to stop the enemy from destroying it further. After a while, he went to where only the chief would stand and put the commander's whistle around his neck before staring at it in a daze for a long time.

This whistle would only be carried by his chief all the time, and now that he was wearing it, he felt complicated and closed his eyes. Millions of lives depended on him. Even so, he thought on some level that he was incompetent for the position.

After a while, everyone entered the hall, their faces bewildered. There was a war going on, and many people were killed, but they were confused as to why the king hadn't sent reinforcements, but they still waited. Just a few seconds ago, when they were called, a wave of relief and the feeling of determination to save the kingdom burst through their veins, but when they saw the scene before their eyes after entering the hall, they froze. They were even more perplexed when Martin, who had always been a hard worker with mediocre skills, arrived with this seal.

Most of the soldiers came to the same conclusion:

Something must have happened at the court.

Why, then, would the chief send Martin, of all people, with his seal to the battlefield? All of them were aware of the significance of this seal. An army commander who possesses this seal is capable of acting as a secondary commander and leading the entire army in dire situations. However, none of them wished for the chief to be forced to use such a seal. In any case, their leader was capable of devising a plan on the spot, so who else could match his skills?

When they glanced at Martin, some of them were envious, while the majority were sympathetic. Despite the commander's absence, the soldier team had many people with enough experience to lead the war in his absence. How could Martin be chosen as their temporary commander? To them, he was a sloppy youth who was always looking for an excuse to laze around. This person's success in getting the king's attention is a mystery.

In their eyes, Martin didn't deserve to become their commander, but when they saw the seal in the hands of Martin, they could only grit their teeth and swallow their frustration. Since the chief made this decision, they would have to believe in his words and deal with it!

Martin was able to hear the murmurs of people who were talking about him. Many of the words echoed in the background contained phrases like 'He doesn't deserve this,' but what else could he do? He also knew he didn't deserve to lead an entire army!

He took a deep breath and blew the whistle that hung from his neck to attract everyone's attention.