Chapter 65: The General

As Jia Yuan stood on the stage, Zeng Bao and the rest of the

new battalion stood below the stage and knelt.

“Battalion Commander!”

The General of the Burning Legion

And like this, the new battalion was born, with Jia Yuan as

its head.

The general of the Burning Legion stepped down from the

royal box where he had been sitting with the King and his ministers.

Along the way several members of the audience stood up as

well, following the general to the stage. Evidently, these people were the various

battalion commanders of the Burning Legion.

The general looked Jia Yuan up and down, and then patted him

on the shoulder. “You’re quite a fine young man! You’ll make quite a battalion commander.

Hmph, you should already be stronger than the commander of the 30th

Battalion. Aren’t I right?”

He glanced at a youngster standing behind him.

“Yeah, yeah. The kid’s a freaking genius. No need to pour it

on me.” The person waved back in an mildly annoyed manner.

However, his words and mannerisms were clearly contradicted

by a beaming smile on his face. A new power had arrived at the Burning Legion!

As a loyal soldier of the Fire Kingdom, how could he not be happy?

On the battlefield, he would take a stronger ally over a

weaker one at any time. What did he care if another battalion commander was

stronger than he?

The General looked back at Jia Yuan. You’ll be the commander

of your battalion, but the officers and their ranks will be determined by the

results of the tournament. You are allowed, as battalion commander, to change

them after, but all changes need to be run through a battalion commander higher

in seniority. For you, this means basically everyone behind me.”

“This is to prevent a battalion commander from putting his

friends into all of the high level officer positions.”

“However, there is a spot in the battalion that you are

allowed to fill for yourself. This is the position of strategist. Usually, some

noble families will their train their younger generation to be a warrior of the

mind as well as brawn.”

“It’ll be up to you to decide who to pick as strategist.

Just remember that the strategist will serve as your vice commander, and that

the lives of your battalion will be held, for the most part, in your and your

strategist’s hands.”

He paused at stared deep into Jia Yuan’s eyes, his gaze

stern. “Make the right choice.”

He then abruptly smiled again, and laughed. “Haha, we’ll be

leaving now. Tomorrow I’ll send a guide to lead your battalion to the place you’ll

be posted. Every month you will be delivered a bunch of pills and weapons and

armors. It’ll be your job to either delegate the distribution of these

resources or to do it yourself.”

“Good luck.”

And with that, the General turned around and led his group

of battalion commanders away. The stands began to empty of people, and soon

enough, the only people in the stadium were Jia Yuan and his battalion.

Jia Yuan groaned in his mind.

So many

responsibilities! I’m not even going to have time for myself anymore. Hmph. Who

the hell do I even make a strategist?? AHhhhhhhh, I don’t even know how to

distinguish between a good strategy and a bad one. What’s wrong with just

charging at the enemy? Blah.

Despite the feelings in his heart, he faced his battalion

with a smile.

“Hello everyone. My name is Jia Yuan, and from today onward,

I will be your Commander. Please treat me well.” Jia Yuan clasped hands toward

the crowd.

“Battalion Commander!” The crowd shouted, as they clasped

their hands back toward him.

Alright, might as well

get this out of the way.

Jia Yuan shouted, “JIe En! Come here!”

In the midst of the crowd, Jie En had a rather blanched

face. He knew exactly why Jia Yuan had called him up…

He made his way out of the crowd and slowly walked to the

stage, looking as if every step was one to his death.

When he finally made his way onto the stage and was standing

next to Jia Yuan, Jia Yuan finally spoke again.

“Now, apologize.”

Jie En groaned internally, but what could he do? “Umm… So a

few days ago during the tournament I spoke some rather condescending words

about commoners…um… trying to join the Burning Legion. For that, I apologize to

all of the commoners who made it into the Burning Legion.”

Jia Yuan nodded, pleased that Jie En was able to make it

through the situation. It was hard for a noble to bend their ego to apologize

to the common folk!

However, Jia Yuan was still a little mad at Jie En for

causing Dou Di’s current predicament. He knew that he couldn’t blame Jie En too

much... but he still felt bitter.

The soldiers in the 31st Battalion felt rather

surprised. It seemed that their new Commander was an interesting fellow! Not

only did he possess remarkable talent and strength, but apparently he was even

a champion of the common people! The nobles in the battalion felt respect for

Jia Yuan both for his strength and acceptance of the common folk, while the

commoners were in awe and felt gratitude towards Jia Yuan. Not only did Jia

Yuan achieve his current strength despite not being born into a noble family,

but he had even made a noble apologize for disparaging commoners!

But Jia Yuan didn’t care about this. Why would he care who

was a noble and who was a commoner? To him, they were all the same thing. They

were soldiers of the Burning Legion, the special and proud unit of the Fire

Kingdom.