Iron grinned as he watched the soldiers’ expression distort while grumbling on their way back inside the outpost dormitory.

“They don’t even know that this is all for them…” 

Iron clicked his tongue. 

He was fully aware of the thoughts that were currently running inside the soldiers’ heads. He had also served in the military back in his real world so he knew how annoying it was to train when you were expecting rest.

He wanted to give them as much rest as possible too but with the future that was clearly drawn in front of him, he couldn’t just tell them to go ahead and rest so they could die on the battlefield later on.

There were a lot of things that he needed to do to save the Northeast so he needed to finish all of the work that he needed to do in the Winter Mountains and get promoted as quickly as possible. But for him to be able to do that, he needed to make sure that the men that served under him would become stronger before he left.

“Ha… Why did I even come to the Northeast?” 

He had already felt regret while he was still studying at the academy. But for some reason, he felt even more regret now that he had become the outpost leader.

He wanted to let go of the Northeast and just let things go with the flow but if the Northeast failed to hold out, then he was sure that he would not be able to prevent the collapse of the entire continent. So, there was nothing else that he could do.

‘It’s because I don’t have a choice.’ 

Iron smiled bitterly as he stared around the outpost.

No one would be happy if they received undeserved criticism from the people around them. However, Iron just decided to own it and enjoy their harsh criticism. Since he was going to be criticized and scolded anyway, he decided to just go all out and do it properly. Besides, after doing this, he felt like he finally realized what the officers felt when he served in the military back then.

“It’s fun.” 

He laughed to himself as he imagined the changing expressions of the soldiers that he had fished as they trained and rolled around in front of him. They were already showing a variety of colorful expressions earlier that he wondered if he was also like that back then.

He giggled as he recalled the many changes in their expressions when he spoke about their training earlier. He was looking forward to the plenty of other expressions that they would show him during this short training period that he imposed upon them.

While Iron was busily thinking about how he would properly answer their criticism during his wait, the soldiers were all grinding their teeth and chewing out their outpost leader.

There was a saying that someone would still look like the devil even if they were close to you as long as they were shameless and cheeky. The soldiers believed that their outpost leader was the epitome of that saying right now.

Up until yesterday, their young and vigorous outpost leader still looked like an angel to them. He was still their valiant and wonderful leader that punished and dominated their evil sergeant. But in a blink of an eye, his wonderful image had changed. He had now completely turned into a devil.

“You need to develop your basic stamina and physical strength first. Right? So let’s first start with running. Run until the 8th guard post.” 

With the devil’s wicked smile shining on them, the soldiers had no choice but to run together. 

Did their outpost leader run with them? No. However, even if he ran with them, they would not dare to swear out at him in dissatisfaction. But, their devilish outpost leader…

“This is nice.” 

Was currently riding the balloon used for transporting supplies as he watched them run.

The corners of Iron’s mouth were raised as he watched them run and climb the steep mountain. 

“Pretty good. Since the living conditions are basically hard, their level is still pretty good even if they tried to lick honey.” 

There was always a limit to trying to curry favor and living a comfortable life in this difficult place. Since living alone was hard, they were bound to have a bit of skill in their arsenal. Perhaps this was the reason why Iron was able to give them a passing score in this basic physical strength test.

When he saw them like this, he realized that he did not need to waste time developing their physical strength. If they were at this level, he was sure that they could easily move on to the tactical training right away.

The only regret that he had for these sentry soldiers was the amount of training that they received. Even in modern times, these soldiers would not receive more training. Training was focused more on the troops stationed in the frontlines and not in places like this. The same was true in this place.

“Winter Mountains…” 

Iron was lost in thought as he watched the surroundings from the balloon flying above the sky.

The eight guard posts that he was managing was only a fraction of the area of the entire Winter Mountains. Even if he expanded the area to the entire special search unit, it was still just a small part of the Winter Mountains. 

The biggest reason why the unit could settle here was because the area was near the place where the divine beast was originally located. This was a safe area that was created from the overlap of the divine beast and the high-leveled monsters’ realm of influence. 

Just as two Empires in an ongoing war set up an area where they would both agree to a ceasefire, so did the monsters. It was a bit difficult for humans to settle in this demarcation area in the beginning since they were surrounded by monsters. However, over the long course of time, it seemed like the monsters had finally recognized this area as the area where humans dwell so they did not bother them too much. Of course this might be because they would not come out of their territories that often but regardless, they still did not bother the humans too much. And because of that, balance was created and they lived a bit peacefully together.

The problem was that this peace was breaking bit by bit. 

“Is this also caused by the monster wave?” 

Standing in the balloon, he could see a wider area that one could not see easily if they just looked from the guard posts. And from this view, he could see a lot of monster corpses lying around here and there. The corpses looked intact so he assumed that this was caused by a territorial war. This meant that danger was just right around the corner.

The area where the guard posts were located was on the border between the monsters’ realm of influence. It was a very dangerous area. However, the occasional missions that his soldiers underwent were only search and reconnaissance missions. Because of this, Iron had judged that their training was absolutely lacking.

Iron was planning to do something far more than a simple search and reconnaissance mission. He wanted to subdue the nearby monsters while advancing to the area where the divine beast was presumed to have disappeared from.

‘The monsters’ movements are also unusual.’ 

According to the calculation that Iron had made based on the work journal of the previous outpost leader, the monsters’ attacks had started to increase in frequency just like in the other units in the Northeast. However, what he found curious was the fact that a problem had already occurred here even before the incident at the Black Forest had occurred.

But everyone thought little of the matter since it was only increasing little by little and was not enough to be raised as a concern. In addition, the army was a place that always tried to cover up the problem that appeared in front of them. Those at his position tended to cover these small things in fear of being reprimanded and stripped of their position once a problem occurred in their unit. Some even feared that they would be accused of working nonchalantly if they tried to raise concerns of this scale up to the higher ups.

“Do you think so too?” 

Iron asked as he stared at the faint figure that was looking at him from afar.

Then, he lowered his gaze as he slowly went down the rope that anchored the balloon. The soldiers that sweated like crazy watched him come down. 

“Attention!” 

“Cor… Corporal Charles!” 

Charles cut through dozens of people as he lined up first.

So, what about the rest?

“What are you doing? Run again.” 

Seeing Iron smiling wickedly, the soldiers that reached this place late turned around and ran back slowly. Iron smiled broadly when he saw them like this. 

“The last person to arrive will have a one-on-one face-off with me. You can look forward to it.” 

When the soldiers, who were running slowly because of exhaustion, heard Iron’s words, their speed increased. Watching them like this, the soldiers that stood in two rows trembled in nervousness. 

“You guys came in quite fast. You’re cutting it pretty close but you’re still up to my standards.” 

The soldiers’ expression brightened when he heard his words. 

“Well then, shall we officially start our training?” 

The soldiers staggered. They were expecting that they would be given time to rest but when they saw Iron’s bright smile and hearing him say that it was just the beginning, their faces crumpled once more. 

“Don’t tell me, you thought that the training would be over just because you ran?” 

“N… No, sir!” 

“That’s right. It would be a problem if you mistook warming up for training.” 

The soldiers’ faces hardened. 

“From now on, we will start with our tactical training. All of you should stand as I say.” 

After Iron said this, he began to tell them the basic tactical formation. 

Thankfully, they had been trained sufficiently in the training center specialized in training those that would be deployed in the special search unit so the soldiers immediately understood what he meant.

“This is literally the basic tactical formation.” 

This was a method where several soldiers would act as tankers and stand in line with their shields while the rest of the soldiers used their guns to check the opponents.

However, the method that Iron would teach them from this point on was something that was far from the basic method. 

“This basic formation will be the foundation. If all of you fight against the monsters using this basic formation even ten lives are not enough for you. So, you guys have to fight in combination with the formation that I will tell you from now on. Then, are you wondering why I’m teaching you this formation again?” 

Iron’s question birthed questions in the eyes of the soldiers.  

“After a battle, you always have to maintain this basic formation.” 

Iron looked solemnly at the soldiers who looked like they couldn’t understand what he meant. 

“The platoon mission this time is not some kind of joke. I’m sure some of you already know that I have been doing strange research and investigations lately.” 

Some corporals flinched when they heard Iron’s words. They thought that it was important so they kept their mouths shut and did not tell the other soldiers. However, Iron knew that they were curious. 

“I will be honest with you. In my opinion, the current Winter Mountains is a very dangerous place.” 

Iron shook his head as he thought about how he should go about to explain these things to his soldiers. He was going to explain it to them but since he couldn’t reveal his mission as a Ghost, there was bound to be a hole in his explanation. In the end, they would definitely fail to understand. So, instead of explaining things shoddily, he just decided to omit the explanation and just push ahead. 

“You might be curious but don’t ask. Just follow me. If you do that, then you can get out of the Winter Mountains alive.” 

The soldiers flinched upon hearing his words. They could see that Iron was extremely serious. They couldn’t help but feel confused at the sudden solemn atmosphere that landed upon them. 

“Think of this as common knowledge.” 

Iron pulled out his sword and pumped it with his mana. 

“I feel embarrassed to say this myself but…” 

Iron cleared his throat several times before continuing his words. 

“Ahem, ahem! You’re probably wondering why I came here with just this level of skill?” 

The soldiers’ expressions wrinkled but Iron just continued to speak regardless of their expressions. 

“It might seem like I’m bragging but it’s all because of my tactical skills. My skills in this area are good enough and I also received good grades for it in the academy.” 

Several soldiers ground their teeth as they watched their outpost leader shamelessly boast about himself. Iron just smiled when he saw them like that. 

“Think about it. The reason why I came here.” 

“Don’t tell me…” 

“Don’t think about knowing more from me. Even if you notice something, keep it to yourself.” 

Iron immediately blocked the smart and quick-witted Charles from saying anything more.

“If you want to live and survive then follow me. Of course, it goes without saying that I’ll save you. Promotion is just a bonus.” 

Iron smiled deeply after saying those words. 

“The mission this time is not like a child’s play. You’ll have to risk your life here. So, if you want to live you have to bear with me and follow me. Even if you have complaints.” 

After saying that, he began to explain the tactical formation.

‘Is there really something?’

This thought flashed through the soldiers’ heads as they began to do what Iron asked them to do. They weren’t sure why Iron was stationed here. Some of the corporals thought that he was bullied by someone from above that was why he was stationed here. But when they heard what he said, their thoughts changed.

While everyone endured their doubts, complaints and annoyance during the tactical training that Iron made them do, the soldiers who were working hard on the 8th guard post also began to join their tactical formation one by one. 

They continued to repeat the several tactical formations that they had been taught until late at night. However, despite the constant repetition, everyone thought that this training was alright. It might be annoying but the training itself was not that hard. 

However, just as this thought bloomed in their heads, it disappeared like bubbles as soon as the new dawn arrived.

After they had finished learning the tactical formation, they immediately ventured to a dangerous area near the 8th guard post. 

“There’s no better training than participating in an actual battle. Don’t you think so too?” 

The figure of their outpost leader as he smiled brightly at them made the soldiers explode deep inside.

I want to kill him. If I ever get that chance, I definitely will…

However, they couldn’t overcome the difference in their level so they just clenched their fists and endured everything.