Chapter 104 (1/2)

A few days later, Luke and his party arrived at Krom.

Krom was a military town with soldiers being half of its population.

There were more than 30,000 units in the northern command and the subordinate units, and a number of logistics units along with the merchants supporting them.

Luke’s wagon headed to the North.

The command office was located in the center of the city.

“What kind of person is the head?”

At the question of Luke, Philip gave him the information that he had learned from Krom’s guild.

“A veteran general who is an avid emperor noble and spent 30 years for him.”

“And his sword skills?”

“Advanced Expert, better known for being a hindrance to his opponent than his skills in fencing.”

“Then, the military life isn’t going to be so easy.”

The emperor would definitely try to get rid of Luke, the only lineage of Rakan.

He wouldn’t just send an assassin or give out the orders to his subordinates to kill Luke. If the Sword Emperor Rakan’s worshipers knew, then there would be outrage all over.

‘Maybe there is a good chance that he’ll try to trap me in the border conflict with the Volga Republic. And the man who had gotten the orders from the Emperor would surely use the sword on me…’ Thought Luke.

It would be easy to deal with a general who just does assaults with plain force.

However, the opponents were the worst obstacles.

“And one-third of the headquarters are nobles, so no one can just do what they feel like.” Philip said.

“But, the problem is that we can’t surely say the nobles are on our side either.” Luke said.

“That is one thing.”

Luke had rejected the proposal from Marquis Mayers, and that made them turn their back on Rakan Viscount and considered him as the noble, even then, the alliance couldn’t be the best thing either.

“And the power of the Northern Army?”

“300 Gigants and a total of 100,000 troops. And…”

Half of the northern army forces were on the border for the Volga Republic conflicts.

Several forts were built along the borders, and thousands of soldiers had been stationed in each fort.

The other half of the power had been deployed in the city rear, including Krom, which was considered as a war zone.

“And the situation of Torlot?” Luke asked.

“Firstly, there are 3,000 troops stationed there; 3 nobles, 10 Gigants, and around 120 knight apprentices.”

“And the status of the troops?”

Luke asked with a lot of interest as it was going to be his own unit.

“The most recent collapse of the troops had happened earlier this year. They had planned to attack the Volga Republic and managed to defeat the opponent but we had suffered a lot of casualties.”

At the explanation from Philip, Erwin recalled a story she had heard before crossing the borders.

After 5 days of onslaught, they succeeded in defeating Volga gates at Torlot, but they retreated with tears in their eyes as the reinforcements of the enemy had arrived.

Torlot was known to be the most reluctant place for soldiers.

It was the same with officers, knights, and the noble, it was trouble inside the Northern Army.

“Lord, why didn’t you just ask him to assign you to another place?”

Philip asked with a serious expression.

He knew that Luke’s magic and his fencing skills were excellent, however, the war wasn’t a display of individual skills.

In wars between the nations, thousands of soldiers, Gigants, and wizards were used no matter how dangerous the situation was.

Luke just shook his head and answered,

“No, there is no need to.”

“Then, why don’t you contact the estate and ask them to send more knights or wizards?”

“We have come to the end, and I can’t back off and wait. And, Sir Philip, you don’t have the confidence to keep me safe?”

“That isn’t it…”

“I think crisis and opportunity are like the two sides of a coin. We may struggle, but soon we will get stronger. So don’t worry anymore.”

“Tch, understood.”

After a while, the wagon stopped in front of the command office building.

Luke confirmed his identity to the guards and then went inside the building with his party.

Many officers and soldiers seemed very busy in the command office building.

They all looked at the strangers who entered the office with curiosity.

“Commander! Luke de Rakan of Rakan Viscount has come.”

At the call of the officer, the commander asked for them.

“Send them in.”

When Luke and his party walked in with the guidance of the lieutenant, they found an elderly man with a nice mustache sitting behind a large mahogany desk.

He jumped from his seat and opened his arms the moment he saw Luke.

“Welcome to the Northern Army.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Luke sat down after shaking hands with the middle-aged man.

The Count, Naiman glanced at Luke’s party and asked,