Roan and the Amaranth troop were directed to the region of Tale.
There was a small troop in the region of Tale which not many people chose to reside there.
The Sollum troop.
It was a troop composed of sinners that were exiled and they were the ones responsible for not letting the monsters of the Tale region trespass.
The numbers amounted to only 500 people, it was being in charge of the adjutant by the troop commander.

‘They’re guys with lots of problems.’

The soldiers that composed the Sollum troop were all sinners that made some sort of trouble.
Io wrote an order himself and assigned the Sollum troop below the Amaranth troop.

‘But there’s no way they would follow me easily.’

Roan had to first make Sollum troop follow him.

‘I have to raise a force with the Tale region as the base.’

They had to become a force that would be able to be picked in the eastern region in at least six years.
And fortunately, Roan was confident in being able to do so and he had the plans to do so.

‘That’s why I was protecting the eastern region.’

He could feel that it was unfair because of the unreasonable treatment he received and could have fled to another kingdom.
But if he did so, all the things he remembered about the future would all become useless.

‘The things I remember clearly are things that happened with Rinse kingdom as the center. On top of that……..’

There was no guarantee that he would keep getting promoted just because he fled to another kingdom.
Especially for Roan, who had already amassed big merits for Rinse kingdom, this was even more so.

‘The commanders that fled from another country receive quite the harsh treatment.’

You wouldn’t know it if you had the force or the abilities to beat that treatment, but at least it wasn’t easy for Roan as of now.

‘Even the trial that’s called to be a tyrant was thrown away after being exiled.’

The exile was a last resort.
In the end, raising a force inside Rinse kingdom was the most reasonable thing.

‘But right now, we don’t have the strength necessary to raise an independent force.’

He was still a noble and his rank was also a mere troop commander.

‘For now, I have to build my strength below the shadow of the Lancephil family.’

The Lancephil family would suffer big changes in six years anyways.

‘I have to become a person that can lead that change.

Roan clenched his fists.
He saw the entrance of Tale region from far away.
The entrance was surrounded with loose wooden fences.
There was a warning note written around it that you shouldn’t enter thoughtlessly.

‘Is it really starting?’

A smile appeared on his face.
He, who was a mere greenhorn spearman of the 13th squad of rose troop, was now a commander of a troop.
On top of that, he also became responsible for a region.
Compared to his past life, it was a commendable growth.

‘Then, shall we go meet the Sollum troop?’

His steps were light.
A faint expectation was seen in the faces of the troop members following his back.
A cool wind blew.
Soon, even autumn was coming to an end.

*****

It was a leisure afternoon.
It was a leisure he hadn’t felt in quite a while.
A man that wasn’t big but strong was humming below the shade of a tree.

“Hmm. Hm. Hmm.”

A relaxed expression was on his face.

‘I, I would like it if this went on for four more days.’

He extended his arms while yawning.
However, his hopes crumbled because of the youth that was running to him from far away.

“Troop commander Semi!”

A voice as big as his body rang out.
The man, Semi, slightly raised up his head and looked at the youth.

“What? Did monsters appear again?”

At those words, the other man shook his head.

“No. Not that……”
“Then?”

Semi frowned.
The youth continued saying.

“The people sent by the Lancephil family have come.”
“What! Lancephil family?!”

Semi stood up abruptly and had a surprised expression.

‘Ah! Am I finally getting out of this disgusting region?!’

A smile blossomed on his face.
Semi.
He was the troop commander in charge of the Sollum troop.
Semi danced and hugged the youth.

“Hamon. It was nice unti… bullshit. Anyways, thanks for what you’ve done until now.”
“Yes? Um, troop commander…..”

The youth Hamon awkwardly smiled and pushed off Semi.

“It seems like you have thought of the wrong things. The people that the Lancephil family sent……”

His voice became lower.

“Are the superior troops that will be leading us.”

At that moment, Semi, who was dancing, abruptly stopped.

“Huh? What did you say? What?”

He frowned and asked back.
Hamon let out a sigh instead of replying back and pointed to the entrance.
He had eyes that meant that he would know if he went over there.

“This fuc……..”

At that moment, curses came out of Semi’s mouth.

“They put us in here without contacting us at all but what? A superior troop? They’re really speaking bullshit.”

The pent up anger surged out.
Because of his hot temperament he made small and big accidents and was exiled to the Tale region, but his temperament didn’t change easily.

“Be it Count Lancephil or what, it’s so dirty that I will throw everything. Pth!”

Semi spat on the ground and started to walk.

‘So the guy that would lead us came, right? Good. Let’s see him once.’

His anger had already surged up into his head.
Hamon, who was looking at that, let out a short sigh.

“He’s out of himself again. He will regret it all later on. Tch.”

Meanwhile, Semi arrived at the entrance.
At that moment, his face became even rmore red.

‘This fuck. That greenhorn wouldn’t be my superior, right?’

The place Semi’s sight was staying at.
It was none other than Roan who was standing over there.
Semi moved his feet and stood in front of Roan.

“What are you guys?”

It was a rough talking to.
It was a rude and conceited attitude.
But Roan didn’t say anything.
Austin, who was at the back, walked to the front and gave him the order.
Semi spread the order roughly and started to curse.

“Damn! It’s so dirty, I won’t be able to do this!”

He shook the order and snorted.

“Hmph! So this troop that’s called Amara-what is really a superior troop than ours?”

Only then did Roan slowly open his mouth.

“It’s just like the order says.”

At those words, Semi looked at Roan’s eyes fixedly.

“And you are the troop commander of Amaranth?”
“That’s right.”

Roan’s expression and voice was composed.
Semi had an expression that it was absurd.

‘I have to follow the orders of this greenhorn?’

The anger surged up once again.

‘I would rather go to jail.’

Jail and the region of Tale.
When they told him to choose one of the two, he chose the Tale region.
And that was already two years ago.
From the past two years, he subjugated the monsters.

‘It was dirtily exhausting, and dirtily annoying, but even so, I was the king here.’

The ones managing the Tale region were only the Sollum troop and the one leading that troop, himself.
With just that one thing, he could endure the hell-like times.
However, even that seemed to get taken away.
He couldn’t let that happen.
He couldn’t let that be taken away.

‘Here the Sollum troop is, I am the king!’

He looked at Roan’s eyes fixedly.

“We have to take your orders? Don’t speak bullshit.”

Semi snorted.

“Even at first glance you are a greenhorn bastard that just finished his training. I don’t know how you bought Count Lancephil’s interest, but we have this region grasped tightly.”

At that moment, Austin got angry and stood up.

“Troop commander Semi! Your words are too…..”
“It’s fine.”

However Roan raised his hand and stopped him.
Roan looked at Semi’s eyes fixedly.

“So what do you want me to do?”
“What should you do? You and your Amaranth troop just have to shut their mouths and suck your fingers behind us. Why? Do you feel it unfair? If you do……”
“If I do?”
“Try to fight back with that childish and soft hand of yours. Kukuku. Instead, I don’t hold any mercy to the ones attacking me, so take that into account.”

It was a voice filled with confidence.
Roan just thought of that as funny.

‘As expected.’

When he first heard stories about the Sollum troop, he had kind of expected this situation.
They were troublemakers.
The worst of the worst.
There was no way those kind of guys would simply follow his orders.

“Can’t let you like this. Let’s hit you for now.”
“What?”

At Roan’s words, Semi frowned.
Then.
Roan’s fist split the air.

“Hup!”

Semi was surprised and fell back.
The fist barely stopped in front of Semi’s nose.

Huk.

Wind pressure was felt on the tip of his nose.

“This son of a bitch!”

Semi’s face became red.
He ran towards Roan.
You could see that his anger was already boiling over his head.
His movements were as fast as his hard body.

Whong! Woong!

His two fists and legs split the air continuously.
It was an intent that wanted to drop Roan onto the ground.
However, all of Semi’s attacks only hit the empty air.
Roan dodged all of his attacks with the minimum amount of movement possible.

“So slow.”

Roan smirked and moved.
He dodged Semi’s fist and closed in on him.

“Huh?”

When Semi had a surprised expression.
Roan’s fists split the air.

Pububuk! Pubuk!

He didn’t use mana.
But even so, his bones and muscles that were restructured after the overflowing mana were more outstanding than a normal person’s.

“Kuk!”

Semi was hit in the chest and abdomen and fell down.

“Troop commander!”

Hamon yelled.
He glared at Roan and ran towards him.
Hamon was enduring it well until now, but actually, he was as hot tempered as Semi.

Woong.

A huge fist split the air.
Roan twisted his body and lightly dodged him and then hit Hamon in his crotch.

Pagak.

“Kugk! Thi, this bastard!”

Hamon lost balance and tottered, but he still cursed out.
Roan grabbed Hamon’s throat like that.
A thread of mana surged up from the mana hole.

Uduk.

The muscles in his right arm swelled up.

“Kuk!”

Hamon struggled when he felt that his breath was getting cut off.
His two feet were separated from the ground.

‘Wha, what kind of strength……’

Hamon and even Semi who was looking from the sides had surprised expressions.
This was because a small Roan raised up Hamon with one hand.
Hamon struggled while being up in the air.
However he couldn’t free himself from Roan’s grip.

‘He, he’s a monster.’

Semi unconsciously stepped back.
The anger that surged up over his head quickly died out.

‘Did I make a mistake?’

He woke himself up too late.

‘Now that I see it, even the guys of the Amaranth troop……’

Even when a fuss was happening, there was no one among the soldiers that moved.
The intent hidden inside the solid formation.

‘They are elite soldiers. It’s a powerful army.’

Cold sweat flowed down his back.
Semi inwardly blamed his hot temperament.

Gulp.

Dry saliva passed down on its own.
Nervousness could be seen in his face.
Roan looked at Semi and put on a smile.

‘It’s just like what Count Lancephil said.’

Although the Sollum troop was composed of sinners, they weren’t vile people.
Rather, they believed in their own abilities or talents and acted as they wished.
If he could make Sollum troop come to his side, it would be of great help for his force.

‘Anyways, it’s comfortable as I don’t have to hide my mana anymore.’

Roan talked with Io about things related to mana techniques before separating.
You wouldn’t know about other places, but the Tale region was quite a secluded place and was the most suitable place to train in his mana.
In Roan’s position, there was no need to be aware of other people anymore.

“Listen well.”

His voice was quite calm.

“I’m troop commander Roan of Amaranth troop. Although it was the order of Count Lancephil, I have no thoughts of forcefully commanding you.”

Roan turned to look at Semi.

“Come find me when you want to be commanded by me. Until then, I won’t butt into your things.”

He loosened the strength in his grip after saying that.

Tuk.

“Kek. Kek.”

Hamon started to cough after he fell onto the ground.
He didn’t think of attacking him again and fell back.
Roan saw that and put on a bitter smile.

‘I didn’t want to use force like this……..’

But there was a need to show a suitable amount of strength to control the troublemaking soldiers.
And of course, he wasn’t planning to forcefully make them follow him after pressing them down with strength.

‘I will make them follow me on their own.’

He wanted to make them follow him first with their hearts, and then with their thoughts.
Now was the start.
Roan turned back.
Amaranth troop followed his back while maintaining formation.

“Whew. I thought I would die.”

Hamon let out a long sigh and touched his neck.
Semi, who saw Roan and the troop disappear into the distance, frowned.

‘What to do……’

He couldn’t make a decision.
If Roan used force and tried to forcefully command the Sollum troop, they would have all rebelled roughly.

‘Because the 500 people of Sollum troop are all like that.’

But as Roan made one step back, he felt somewhat frustrated.
Even if he wanted to rebel, the reason to do so had disappeared.
On top of that, the truth was that Roan was too strong to the point that he was able to easily toy with him and Hamon. This made him feel uneasy.

“What kind of guy could he have been? Even the soldiers that came with him seemed to be beyond normal.”

At Hamon’s words, Semi’s face contorted.
He was hit while not being able to resist properly.
As Hamon complemented Roan and the troop in that situation, Semi’s anger surged up.

“How do I know that?! Go and do what you were doing!”

At the sudden rebuking words, Hamon smacked his lips.

‘He’s taking it out on me.’

He hid his thoughts and saluted and then walked towards his headquarters.
It was best to hide himself when Semi was angry.
Today was quite an eventful day for Semi for many reasons.

‘Damn. I don’t know. Don’t know. I’ll know if I keep watching them.’

This Tale region was different from the others.
It wasn’t a place where a troop that popped up out of nowhere could get accustomed to and endure easily.
Even if Roan and the troop were strong, he had a need to check if they could adapt well to this region.

‘Even Sollum troop took three years in taking a place.’

At least in this place, Sollum troop was like the elites.
Roan and Amaranth troop.
Semi and Sollum troop.
Two completely different troops were taking place in the same region.
A flower that never withers and soil.
The relationship started like that.

*****
Although the headquarters were quite old and shabby, it still had useful buildings.
Amaranth troop checked the buildings thoroughly and made a place for themselves on the opposite side of Sollum troop.
Roan remembered the continued forced march and ordered a rest for two days.
Meanwhile some soldiers of Sollum troop approached their headquarters and made some fuss, but no big incident occurred.
Even Roan started to “rest” in his place.
He started to inspect his plans and trained in the Flamdor mana technique.
The current level of Roan’s mana level was like that of a novice knight.
And it was all thanks to the overflowing of his mana that his mana hole, mana road, bones, and muscles were reconstructed and strengthened.
As he didn’t know much about mana techniques, he was lacking comprehension about it.

‘When the troop stabilizes, I will have to buy books and accumulate them.’

There were many things he had to do.
He had to bring books and goods from the house that was in Beno castle, and he had to earnestly manage Chris’s agency and the five invested people and make them grow.
But most of all, what he had to do first.

‘I have to change the structure of the troop.’

It was a roughly made up troop.

‘Although I couldn’t touch the formation as I wished until now, but now the situation has changed.’

Amaranth troop was completely Roan’s.
He was planning to apply one of the formations developed after the era of the great wars to Amaranth troop.

‘To lead a small scaled troop effectively, it’s good to use groups of ten.’

He would group 10 soldiers to become one and give the commanding rights to one person.

‘I’m going to make hundred-man squads with the groups of ten as the base.’

Actually, the number of soldiers in Amaranth troop amounted to 400.
If he reorganized them as groups of ten, four squads of 100 and four commanders to lead the hundred-man squads.

‘I’ll use the basic strategies of the troop as the hundred man squad.’

Although the basic formation was that of ten men groups, what could become the basis of the strategy was a hundred man squad.
Roan quickly wrote down his thoughts on a piece of paper.
At first glance it felt like nothing, but it was the basics of the basics.
However what Roan was thinking about wasn’t only this.
The conditions of becoming a strong army wasn’t only composed by the soldiers.

‘I will have to slowly start some madmen of the small rooms.’

Madmen of small rooms.
People called them like that and fingered at them.
But they called themselves with other names.
A faint smile appeared in Roan’s mouth.

‘Alchemists.’

< A new opportunity (1) > End