Jaiden did not answer Caeden’s question. But this did not mean that Caeden would not notice his affirmation.

“Ha… You dream big.”

“Is that so?”

Caeden chuckled at Jaiden’s words.

“So… When do you think this will happen?”

“I think we still have some time left before the monster wave. But, I believe we have a little less than seven years before a full-on dimensional crack descends upon us.”

“You’re much more precise than what I initially thought, huh?”

Jaiden could only smile bitterly at Caeden.

“Why are you hiding so many things… Tch! I get it.”

Caeden gritted his teeth so hard that the end of his cigarette broke off. He just stared at Jaiden in frustration. He couldn’t help but click his tongue when he saw that he had more things to hide than being the Duke’s eldest son. 

“So, are there any solutions? Just like you said, what we have is not enough to deal with a catastrophe.”

“That’s right. If we continue to be like this and only prepare as much as we have, then it will be hard for us to last even for three years.”

“What do you mean three years… just holding on for a year will be tough.”

Countless historical records have proven how tough it was to face such a catastrophe.

It was a war where all of the countries in the continent had worked together just to barely maintain the front and prevent a huge disaster. It was a war that only ended after countless humans had died. In addition, the dimensional crack remained for hundreds of years and resulted in the birth of countless monsters. 

That was how the monster wave was described in the records.

“If a monster wave occurs, then the Northeast will definitely not survive. As soon as it happens, we must retreat.”

“But there’s no way the center will allow that.”

“…Right.”

Caeden replied bitterly. 

Those bloody Imperial Family bastards would definitely leave them behind. They would prioritize buying themselves time while letting them sacrifice themselves ‘For the Empire’. 

This was something that he and the young ensign knew.

“So, what are you thinking?”

“We’ll open a path.”

“Are you dumping them there? Are you telling me that we should abandon the Empire?”

Jaiden shook his head when he heard Caeden’s words.

“Not at all.”

“Then?”

“I’m saying it literally. ‘Open a path’.”

“A path?”

“That’s right. The entirety of the North will create a path for the monsters to get to the center.”

Caeden looked like he still couldn’t understand Jaiden’s words. 

That’s understandable.

This method only came out long after the monster wave had begun back in his previous life. It was a trick that one of the central commissioned officers had thought of in fear that the large monsters would come to the Center once the North was devastated. The method would allow them to create a path from the North to the Center by making ramparts and fortresses. With this method, the Center was able to deal with small numbers of monsters while the North continued to suffer from enormous damages. However this method had successfully allowed them to buy more time until they were fully prepared. 

In his past life, Jaiden was also thrown away by the Center and died while fighting. Remembering the experiences that he had back then, Jaiden began to draw on the paper to help Caeden understand what he was talking about. 

“Monster waves are especially known for their berserkers and their hostility against humans.”

“That’s right.”

“But what’s interesting is that when a monster wave begins, the monsters will instinctively move to where there are more humans.”

“So, what you’re saying is…”

“This is how we should create ramparts and fortresses in between areas to create a path for the monsters to move towards the Center. Anyway, the number of monsters that can attack a fortress will be limited so the monsters from behind will move elsewhere. If we can make that path well, the entirety of the North will not need to deal with all of the monsters.”

Unlike the monsters who would attack the fortresses for their greed, the monsters from behind were more likely going to move elsewhere to find other prey. The number of monsters that will leave would definitely be higher than the number of monsters that attacked the fortresses. And this number would continue to decline the further they move from the North to the Center.

However, it was not called a monster wave for no reason at all. The number of monsters might be reduced but considering the scale of the monster wave, they would still be considerably high once they arrived at the Center. The only thing that he was unsure of was whether the corrupt Central Army would be able to block that flow of monsters especially if they were under huge political disputes.

Of course, there were elites in the Center. The problem was that most of the elites, especially those with good family lineage and good skills, preferred to stay in the capital. What about the Central Command? Most of the people seated in the Command were people who stayed there by giving money to people. And it wasn’t only the commissioned officers. Even soldiers willingly gave bribes to stay in the Central Army and not be dispatched to other regions. They just make up for the damage from their pockets by taking money from the merchants that were below them. As a result, most of the Center’s forces were corrupted. 

Of course, the Central Army had the best firearms and weapons system in the entire Empire but what was the meaning of placing quality weapons in the hands of corrupt officers?

‘But regardless, they’ll still be able to hold out.’

Jaiden believed that the Center would still be able to hold out. After all, there was a political system that created a lot of laws in the past. And no matter how corrupt they became, there would still be a minimum condition that they needed to meet for them to stay seated in their positions. 

To become an elite soldier, they needed to achieve mana awakening. Otherwise, they would just be regular soldiers. For knights, it did not matter if they borrowed the power of magical tools or used elixirs, they had to exert the power of a 3rd Stage powerhouse no matter what. In other words, they could use any means necessary regardless of their nature. They could use illegal or legal means as long as they met the minimum condition and achieved the required strength. That was the only way for them to become a part of the Central Elites.

‘I should have survived to personally see the collapse of the Center’s forces but… what a pity.’

Caeden was still struggling to understand even though Jaiden was already busy thinking about his previous life.

“This makes sense but… We don’t have any supplies to prepare for this. And even if we have prepared everything…”

“You’re not sure whether we’ll be able to withstand the monster wave.”

Jaiden spoke bluntly about the facts. All Caeden could do was nod heavily. Even though they could prepare for everything perfectly, it was impossible to expect that things would happen the way they expected it to be. 

Monster waves always had varying scales in terms of the disaster and catastrophe that it would bring. If a powerful disaster came this time, then whatever the Northeast had prepared would be pushed away and broken. 

“Hoo… I understand. I’ve heard all of your explanations. You can get going now.”

“Yes! Loyalty!”

Jaiden saluted upon hearing Caeden’s dismissal before turning around to leave. 

 Caeden sighed as he watched Jaiden leave. 

He had realized to some extent how disastrous the future of the Northeast was after hearing the words of a 12 year old child. 

Jaiden was still young but he already had everything sorted out in his head including the way he would move the Northeast to accommodate his plans. All he could do was sigh after comparing himself to the child. He had realized that he had been trying to deny everything even though the answer was already in front of him. 

“Monster wave…”

Caeden smiled bitterly. 

Hearing Jaiden’s explanation, he was convinced that the precursor to the monster wave was already nipping at their ankles. Once he placed the monster wave as the answer, all of the strange situations that they were currently experiencing could already be easily explained. 

“A huge catastrophe is about to happen but the Center is rotten and the nobles are all crazy for their battle for power.”

Caeden shook his head as he thought about the Empire’s current situation.

The Empire had already started to rot even before he was born. However, their scale and level had been getting a bit too severe in recent years. But now that a huge catastrophe was upon them, he was sure that the current Empire’s power would never be able to prevent the oncoming disaster. 

“Adjutant!”

“You’ve called for me sir?”

“I’ll be going to Command right now.”

Sky Renz bowed after hearing Caeden’s orders. He immediately went out to prepare for their trip to Command. After a while, the two of them rode on a drake and headed towards Command.

“I can’t believe you came here personally?”

Commander Crimson stood up as he welcomed Caeden. 

“I heard that you called for number 1… How was it?”

“Hoo… I came here because of that.”

“No way. I’ll give you number 2 so give up on number 1. He’s a guy that’s more useful here in Command.”

“That’s not the problem.”

Caeden sighed when he saw Crimson’s unyielding expression. Then, he pulled out the card that proved his position as the Corps Commander. 

“As the head of the Vanguard Corps, I’m requesting to gather all of the Corps Commanders in the Northeast immediately.”

“You…”

Crimson’s eyes widened as he stared at Caeden’s serious expression. This meeting that he was requesting at Northeast Command was something that could only be held when there was an emergency.

“Your reason?”

“The investigation into the precursor to the monster wave.”

“What?”

Crimson looked at Caeden as if he was talking nonsense. But when he saw Caeden’s serious expression, he immediately calmed down and summoned all of the Corps Commanders.

Even though there were only two more people coming, the entire Command was brought to a frenzy. After all, the Army Commander had summoned all of the Corps Commander at the Command. 

Not long after, the two other Corps Commander arrived at Command. 

“Caeden, you’re the one who asked for it?”

“Monster wave? If you don’t give a good reason, you’ll definitely get a good beating from me.”

As the door opened, a pair of men and women entered the Commander’s office speaking brusquely to Caeden. They were Caeden’s seniors. Oz Tereivo, the commander of the Mountain Corps, and Fogg Coshway, the commander of the Fog Corps.

The two sat down after greeting the Commander. Then, Caeden took out the paper that Jaiden drew, placed it on the desk and began explaining. 

The longer he explained what Jaiden had told him, the stiffer the smiles of the three other people listening to him became. Just like what Caeden thought earlier, they also thought that he was saying something ridiculous. But the more they listened, the more they realized how similar the events were to the precursor of the monster wave. 

Silence enveloped the entire commander’s office when he finished his explanations.

“You’re telling me that a 12-year-old kid said all of these?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s Leonhardt’s eldest son?”

“Yes.”

Hearing Caeden’s honest answer, Crimson as well as the other two Corps Commanders looked at him dumbfounded. 

No matter how much of a genius he was, there would always be a limit. It was already surprising for a 12-year-old to think of this but they were shocked and dumbfounded when he took out pieces of evidence out of his head and made it easier for them to understand. 

“I think I really should bring number 1 to Command.”

“Impossible. I have to bring him to the frontlines and investigate with him myself.”

“If you put it like that, then our Mountain Corps is closer? It will be better if we take him.”

Caeden immediately refuted the Commander’s words. Even the Mountain Corps’ commander, Oz Tereivo, was greedy for Jaiden. All Fogg Coshway could do was curse at them and call them stupid. 

“Think about his age! It will be better for him if we can take him and nurture him! On that note, why don’t the Fog Corps take all the graduates? We’ll nurture them and share them with you.”

“You’re too greedy! Grandma, do you even have the ability to nurture number 1?”

“You won’t be able to because you’re both old. I’ll be able to handle such a genius because I’m young!”

“You’re young but you’re already bleeding in the head.”

“How dare a youngster like you interfere?”

“At least I’m much better than you, two oldies, who are just waiting for retirement day!”

While the three of them were arguing fiercely, Crimson was lost in thought.

“Ghost.”

When Crimson uttered the name ‘Ghost’ after a long silence, all three of the Corps Commanders shut their mouths and turned to look at him.

“I have never used my first Ghost appointment. And there are no conditions to enter Ghost.”

Caeden refuted and told him that he was speaking nonsense. Even the other two Corps Commanders nodded their heads and agreed with Caeden.

The Northeast’s hidden unit. The unit that had the elites among the elites. The unit that was always sent in the most dangerous of areas. It was none other than Ghost. 

Because of that, it was a unit that was extremely difficult to enter. They had plenty of conditions. At the very least, one needed to be at the 5th Stage. The person also needed to have accumulated a lot of merits in each unit as well as have high proficiency in commanding. 

“I heard that number 1 has a contract with a divine beast?”

“That’s right but… he said that he can’t see them right now.”

“But his abilities won’t go anywhere, right?”

Crimson continued to speak firmly to answer Caeden’s incredulity earlier. 

“There are areas in the Northeast where events with unknown causes have occurred, right? I heard that it was near the area where the divine beast was assumed to be staying.”

“No way… are you going to send him there?”

“Ha! Commander, are you finally going insane?!”

“I’d rather you give him to me.”

The Corps Commanders all protested loudly upon hearing Crimson’s words. 

There was a guard post located in the frontlines and he intended to place him there. It was a place that was several times more dangerous than the Northeast’s frontlines that was well-known for its dangers. 

But he was trying to deploy an almost 13-year-old boy to that place. 

“The Command will give up on all the other graduates this time on the condition that number 1 be placed in Ghost.”

The Corps Commanders all shut their protesting mouths when they heard Crimson’s conditions. 

“But it’s still too dangerous.”

“I intend to appoint Captain Ghost as the Special Reconnaissance Leader. I’ll also send Ghosts to a few nearby guard posts.”

Caeden eventually sighed and nodded his head in agreement. The other two Corps Commanders also nodded their heads as if there was nothing that they could do. 

And with the consent of all the Corps Commanders, Jaiden’s first unit was finally decided.

***

Notes

[Adjutant] Aide de camp – high rank officers that act as aides to chiefs of states or commanders.