Before the sun rose, about 100 elite soldiers were gathering in the castle courtyard to form twenty-five elite squads. Each squad had a total of four members.

Their reason for gathering here, they would be sent to reclaim one of the fallen lands of the empire.

They were gathered in haste, so there were only a hundred of them in total. A very few numbers for the mission.

Everyone was wondering about the sudden summon. None of them received notification beforehand. That's why many of them were asking the person beside them.

"Hey, don't you think it is related to last night's incident?"

"Incident?"

"You don't know?"

"No!"

"Do you mean the act of assassination for the emperor's life?"

Another person interjected.

"Yes, yes!"

"I heard many of the guards lost their life."

"That's horrible."

Nod!

"How about the emperor?"

"I heard he was fine."

"That's a relief."

"Exactly. Tsk! Those bastards! I wonder who was the man behind it!"

"Don't worry."

"Eh??"

"I also heard the guards captured the assassins?"

"Really?"

"Right! That's why there's a high chance that they will find out the truth regarding it."

"I hope so."

"Regardless, this gathering…"

"Maybe they already knew if who's behind the assassination that's why we're gathered here to attack the bastard!"

"What are you saying?!"

Another person suddenly interjected.

"??"

"What?"

"It wasn't about the assassination last night."

"What do you mean?"

"Right. What do you mean?"

"This mission is for another reason!"

"What!?"

"!!"

"Are you sure about that, brother?!"

"I am!"

"W-wait!" Said the soldier as he scanned around him. "Where are the others?" He asked.

"Do you believe the higher-ups could regroup a great number of soldiers in just a few hours?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"There's no other soldiers that will come to join us! This is the total number for the mission!"

"Wwwhhaaaattt!!!?"

The two soldiers shouted in shock.

Just right after their exclamation, two people walked into the center. They immediately fell silent as they identified the other person.

"His majesty has arrived!"

They heard a loud warning. Everyone snapped and readied their ears.

"Good Morning my brave warriors. I know most of you are baffled by this sudden, unceremonious summon…"

The emperor then explained to them the reason for this gathering. Although most of them were surprised upon hearing the emperor, none of them showed disagreement with him.

After all, it was their duty as a soldier. They made an oath to protect his majesty and sacrifice their life for the empire.

However, everyone was wondering… 

Since it was a mission of land reclamation, who would be their commander?

Just then, the emperor called out for their attention.

"Listen, everyone! This young man here will be the commander of this mission!"

The emperor said as he was pointing at the person beside him.

Everyone gawked after seeing their commander for this mission. He wasn't just young. He was as young as most of their sons and daughters.

Did the emperor make a mistake? Maybe he mistook someone?

They questioned the person beside them. But even the person beside them also had the same question as to them.

"Is the emperor serious about this?"

"Why?"

Most of them thought that it was impossible. It was a mission that mostly needed 500+ or so soldiers. Even the subjugation mission needed more than that. Yet now, they were going on a mission with just a hundred soldiers and a young man as a commander?!

"Is this for real?"

"Is this a suicide mission?"

"..."

Everyone doubted.

It was clear as day that the young man was just academy level based on how young he looked.

Since it was a crucial and important matter, one of the soldiers stepped in the front and asked the emperor.

"Your majesty, isn't he too young for the mission?"

Said a man with a large build. His mouth was almost covered with his beard. The man was wearing black leather armor. And stuck on his back was a flat, large sword made of iron.

This man was known as Captain Demyul, an experienced elite soldier who had an outstanding record in every mission. 

The emperor squinted his eyes. "Don't get fooled by his appearance, Captain Demyul." Even the emperor knows the man. The emperor continued. "Although he's very young in your eyes, this young man was one of the survivors on the subjugation mission," he said.

"The subjugation mission? With the number of survivors less than half of their original number?" Asked Captain Demyul with a surprised face.

Even the other soldiers were as surprised as him. Then another soldier stepped forward. He was one of Captain Demyul's subordinates. "Your majesty, could it be… this young man was from the great families?!"

Upon hearing his words, every other soldier started to whisper to the person next to them. If he was truly from the great families, then it was understandable that he was able to survive in that mission. Everyone knew that each member of great families was a talented individual.

However, the next word of the emperor silent them all.

"No, he's not part of any great families. He was from a normal family."

What?

The group immediately headed towards their destination. They are now riding on a carriage. Each carriage for a squad. So at the moment, there were a total of 25 carriages that were in a parade in the middle of the road. The residents who saw the parade of carriages were all in the wonder of what was going on. They all had uniformed surprised faces.

None of them heard that there would be a subjugation mission. Supposedly, if the palace planned for a subjugation mission, they usually announce it to the public a month before the actual mission. So that they had more chances to recruit many people who wish to join the subjugation mission.

Yet, none of them seemed to remember that the palace issued such an order or announcement. Could it be they were heading to the frontline? 

But they could not spot any flag from the great noble families or royal family. Those who went to defend the frontline were either super-elite soldiers of the royal family or those from the great noble families.

However, they could not see any banner which represented the family they belonged to. Even if they asked the people beside them, no one could give them the answer they were seeking.

The sun already rose and sent its first ray of warm light when the group departed from the main city gates.

Meanwhile, they were heading southeast of the empire. Their destination was the fallen village known as Sunville Mining Village.

It was one of the mining areas of the empire before it was overrun by the monsters.

The village wasn't so bad. It was located in the valley surrounded by a rocky mountain on its east, a lake on the northern part, a forest on the east, and a vast prairie on its southern part.

Regretfully, this village was now occupied, not by the empire's residence, but by the bandits and any kinds of beasts.

The young man, Eman, as the commander of the group was riding in a leading carriage. Together with him were 3 other people to form a complete squad of four people.

The three people with him were personally chosen by his majesty to escort him. They were the loyal and most trusted soldiers of the emperor.

None of them questioned the emperor's decision for letting a young man take over the commander's role. They believed that the emperor had a reason for doing it.

After a couple of hours of traveling, they were now entering the canyon. From both sides was a steep mountain. Everyone was a little nervous as this canyon was popular with bad rumors. Honestly, it wasn't just rumors because it was a real occurrence. Ambush from bandits was frequent in this area. Many soldiers lost their lives and many merchants got their stuff forcibly robbed from them. Even the residents were killed.

However, since there were quite a number of them right now, they believed that even the robbers or bandits would think twice to ambush them. Or so they wanted to believe that it was the case. 

Soon, everyone's heart sank when the leading carriage suddenly issued a sudden stop. Those behind readied themselves. 

Some of the soldiers started to ask the reason for the sudden stop. The others were already caressing their trusted weapon. 

Demyul's brows were twitching. He never trusted the young man as their commander. Even if he was one of the survivors of the latest subjugation mission, it wasn't a satisfying achievement to appoint him as commander of this mission.

"Harry, go check if what's happening on the front!" Demyul beckoned one of his squad members to check for the cause of the sudden halt.

"Aye!"

The soldier named Harry hopped from the carriage and walked towards the front. But Harry widened his eyes when he arrived at the front.