Made for war

After a while, training the men became routine.

Supervising them as they moved was something Elijah advised me to do. It's the logical thing to do.

I also participated in the training while doing the exercises, obviously adapted to my strength.

Having Elijah bombard you with arrows is not the most fun thing to do.

And so the days went on and on for another month and a half.

In between, I continued to refine my core, which was already close to advancing, and continued to inspect everything the hero was doing.

Basically, training with a papal guard I don't know and fucking with the church maids.

His personality remains the same, except that he now has a raw determination to become stronger.

And also to kill me. Apparently, in his mind, I am some sort of ultimate demon elf who will bring destruction to the human kingdoms.

In his mind, I'm basically some kind of fairy tale demon king.

And he is obviously the hero who is destined to defeat me after many sacrifices.

This fantasy that he has created motivates him to fight. Hopefully, I will kill him in future battles. The last thing I want is a hero with delusions of greatness to come after me.

Anyway, I need to finish training the soldiers by sending them into the forest, and when they return, I will test them in combat with the guild missions.

That has always been the goal of this troop, to help me loot, destroy, and conquer.

With that in mind, I contacted Elijah and told him to send the soldiers to the edge of the forest.

I also brought Ingrid and Seth with me. Seth for exploration, Ingrid for companionship and combat.

I also warned the mercenaries to kill anything that came out with the insignia of my house. These mercenaries are not ordinary either, they are assassins from the capital's underworld.

No official mercenary would accept missions to indiscriminately kill those who may or may not be innocent.

War crimes allow the army to easily uproot the mercenaries.

And in general, the state is not interested in having military groups with enough strength if they get together and hang around.

In general, I doubt that anyone will escape, because the behavior of the soldiers has been quite stable, but you never know.

And I don't really want to kill them, but I can't go against my words.

To keep them tied down, I use their greed and their history of oppression, coupled with a deep fear of the consequences of abandoning their quest. It is not the most effective method, it will never be the most effective to threaten death, but I have no other way to gain their loyalty but to use the threat of death. I am not exceptionally strong, and the past Marcus has a history of uselessness that does not help.

The "desire" I offer them is also not strong enough for them to become too greedy and try to betray me. All in all, it is a quick result, but one that requires deaths to establish rules.

As a commander, I have to act like a tyrant, a cruel and merciless one, but one who gives good rewards if you serve him well.

Basically, I have the same characteristics as any boss of a clandestine organization. Quick profits at a high risk of death.

Thinking about it all is a headache... It's hard to keep the balance of punishment and reward without the soldiers thinking you're soft or sadistic.

As I thought it all over, the wagon moved slowly but steadily.

"Marcus, are we going to wait here every day?" asked Ingrid. Logically, no one wants to take care of soldiers as if they were children.

"Don't worry, we won't do anything like that. I'll give them their orders and a possible reward and we'll leave. The mercenaries will stay in control and take them to the mansion." I replied calmly.

"Boss, is it really necessary to be so cruel to the men? I mean, they are simple soldiers, some men of value and with families you killed," Seth said with some bad temper.

"Hmm? They were accidents. I didn't expect 12 men to die in training. But that's the life of a soldier. You can't expect it to be any different. Sure, most of them die in combat, but some of them die in training. And their families are compensated with a stable pension. The few who had families..."

"Still boss. I think it's a stretch to justify it by saying they were still going to die. They weren't necessarily going to die, but you gave him a sure fucking death," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Seth. That is simple, if those men had gone out on an expedition or on any battlefield that was a little more complex, they would have died. Do you know why? Because they are cannon fodder for the area spells of the human magicians. And you can raise objections, I have no problem with that, but don't think you can insult me. We're not friends, we're partners," I said in an extremely cold tone that I never used with my companions.

Seth is always like that, he acts impulsively and does not measure his words or actions. He's talented, but he'll still get killed if he keeps it up.

"Yes, boss," Seth lowered his head in apology and said nothing more.

The rest of the way was quiet. So quiet... It would have been nice if you didn't hear Seth tapping his foot on the ground.

Finally, we arrived, and as I stepped out of the carriage, I noticed 300 soldiers lined up perfectly in attack posture. The mental training has been effective and now they are alert at all times.

In front of them, Elijah stands proudly. As he should be. He has been an emotional support for the soldiers. I give them nightmares and Elijah cures them with his swordsmanship and genuine concern for the men.

When the soldiers see me, they draw their swords and thrust them into the ground, using them for support.

"WE SALUTE COMMANDER RUNA!" 300 men shouted in unison.

It was something they did every morning in training. By now it is in their blood. But it will be some time before those words carry respect.... For now, they carry only fear.

"Soldiers, it's been a tough few months since you came under my command. You were all lazy and had no respect for the military hierarchy. But today that is changing, I see new men, men of courage."

"I am sure you have suffered, you have bled, and unfortunately some of you have died. But that doesn't stop us. The wounds open and bleed and we move on. Our bones creak with each step, but our legs don't stop.

"Our air escapes a little more with each breath, but we continue to breathe, for we are no longer elves or Drysiccs. We are men made for war." I paused to look at each of them. Their eyes a little more alive and hungry for battle.

"But we are not all made for war. Some of us have to pack up and go where there is no honor. This final test will make that difference. It will separate us from those nobles who oppress but show no skill. From those who scoff because they consider us weak."

"We will show them and ourselves who are true warriors. WE WILL SHOW THEM WHO LOOKED DOWN ON US FROM ABOVE, WHO IS MADE FOR WAR AND WHO IS NOT"

With a final shout that echoed through the forest, the soldiers raised their weapons and shouted.

That will be enough.

It really is very difficult to get people to do things.

"Soldiers, one last warning. Those of you who make it through alive will receive a gift from me, so don't hesitate to claim your well-deserved reward after you've conquered the forest."

With that, the soldiers formed their squads and slowly moved in.

Elijah approached me and patted my shoulder with a smile.

"I may not agree with your methods, young master. But I am glad to see you taking such responsibility for what you are doing. I'm a little proud," he said with a wide grin, as if he were a child.

I couldn't help but smile a little, "Thank you, old man. They really wouldn't have listened to me without you."

"Well, everyone, go on back, everyone except Seth. I'll wait for the mercenaries while he watches the soldiers a bit."

After saying goodbye, everyone left except Seth. He stayed on a tree and looked in all directions.

We waited for a while. About 2 hours until a man dressed all in black in a robe appeared in front of me.

He looks a bit mysterious, but I guess that's necessary. They are assassins after all.

"You are Marcus Runa?" he asked in a rough, emotionless voice.

"Yes. I guess you know why you're here, don't you?" I replied.

"Yes," the man in black said as he stepped aside, "to kill those outside the circle and also to drop a bengal when 4 weeks have passed."

"Yes. All those who come out of the circle and wear the runebadge will die, without exception and without mercy," I said as I walked away a little and motioned to Seth, "The payment has already been made."

With that we left without looking back.

And unnoticed by Marcus, Seth looked behind him with an icy stare.