Choice and Focus (2)

Corps fortress, operation conference room.

The quiet air of the conference room was heavily shaken by Loen’s single statement.

“From now on, I will implement a comprehensive reorganization of the corps.”

It was a bombshell declaration. All eyes in the conference room simultaneously fixed on her. Unmistakable bewilderment and puzzlement crossed the faces of the staff officers.

‘A comprehensive reorganization at this time?’ ‘Suddenly, even though the major threat of the Southern Alliance has disappeared?’

Loen continued.

“The details of the corps reorganization are as follows.”

A magical projector activated, filling one wall with the contents of the report. The staff officers’ eyes moved busily.

Change of standard weapons. Establishment of new military branches. Supply of magical equipment. Improvement of treatment. And so on.

The faces of the staff officers who confirmed the report’s contents gradually filled with astonishment.

They realized it was truly a comprehensive reorganization worthy of the term “making the corps elite.”

At the same time, an unresolved question occupied the staff officers’ minds. Why go to such lengths?

As if representing everyone’s thoughts, Staff Officer Bern cautiously opened his mouth. His voice carried tension.

“Corps Commander. May we know the reason for this sudden reorganization?”

Loen’s red eyes turned toward Staff Officer Bern.

“To prepare for the coming war.”

Loen dismissed the necessity of reorganization in one sentence. Yet there was no opposition.

The leadership gathered in the conference room already showed absolute loyalty to Loen. During the process of capturing the Southern Alliance’s major cities one by one and defeating the traitors’ armies, they had directly witnessed Loen’s force and cold decisiveness. Their trust in her was already firm.

There was no need to waste time with lengthy persuasion.

At that moment, the Commander of the Armored Knights, who also served as the Chief of Staff, carefully raised his hand. Loen gestured with her chin as if telling him to speak.

As a member of the Imperial Knighthood, he knew the reality of the Southern Corps better than anyone. Compared to the frontline corps, the Southern Corps had been steeped in peace for too long. He keenly felt the necessity of reorganization.

But in his view, this reorganization plan was too extensive. It could be said that it lacked a bit of realism.

The Knight Commander spoke with genuine concern in his voice.

“I also deeply sympathize with the necessity of corps reorganization. However….”

His gaze met Loen’s red eyes.

“The cost required for reorganization would be… truly astronomical. How do you plan to handle this enormous expense..”

The other staff officers nodded in unison.

Forty-seven thousand corps soldiers, five hundred knights, eight mages. Supplying new equipment to all of them and improving their treatment as well?

It would require a budget of unimaginable scale.

‘Could she be planning to cover it with the funds confiscated from the Southern Alliance?’ ‘Even so, as someone from a proper ducal family, would she really pour her family’s wealth into the corps?’ ‘Surely she must have another funding plan.’

The staff officers each imagined realistic funding methods. Securing support from the imperial family, or sharing the budget through cooperation with other noble families….

However, there was one fact they overlooked.

Loen, who had been silent for a moment, finally opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

“All costs will be fully covered by the Franz family.”

Suddenly, the conference room became quiet as if water had been poured over it. It seemed as if time itself had stopped.

“..What?”

With the Armored Knight Commander’s dumbfounded question.

The meeting that signaled the beginning of the corps reorganization came to an end.

Immediately after the meeting.

Loen, who returned to the Corps Commander’s office, summoned the personnel staff officer and logistics staff officer.

“You called for us!”

Facing them as they gave a stiff salute, Loen spoke in a gentle voice.

“Please sit down.”

Except in official settings or urgent situations, Loen usually addressed them politely. It was her own way of managing her image. Nevertheless, the staff officers still found her intimidating.

Loen pushed a stack of documents toward them.

“These documents contain the broad framework of the treatment improvement plan. Please establish a detailed implementation plan based on this.”

Loen couldn’t coordinate all the details herself. This was where the staff officers and subordinate adjutants needed to rack their brains.

The moment they received the documents and turned to the first page.

“Gasp.”

The staff officers’ eyes widened so much they seemed about to pop out.

The numbers written in the allocated budget items… far exceeded their common sense. This was beyond extravagance; it was like building a castle with gold coins.

The logistics staff officer squeezed out a trembling voice.

“C-Corps Commander. Is this budget really… solely allocated for treatment improvement?”

Loen silently nodded.

Making the corps elite. Its beginning stems from absolute loyalty. And the quickest way to secure this was better treatment.

Things like substantially raising salaries or providing high-quality supplies.

So she generously allocated the budget.

‘Anyway, we have more than enough money.’

Loen leaned slightly forward and whispered to the staff officers.

“Since both of you are capable staff officers, I’ll trust that you’ll bring results that satisfy me.”

Though her voice was low and gentle, the weight contained within it pressed down on the staff officers’ shoulders.

“……Yes!”

Loen dismissed them. The two staff officers crossed the threshold of the office with ashen faces.

Next to be summoned were the Armored Knight Commander and the operations staff officer.

Loen went straight to the point this time as well, without preamble.

“We’ll establish an artillery branch within the corps. And we plan to overhaul the entire corps’ training system and organization.”

Since they had already anticipated this through the meeting, they weren’t greatly surprised.

Actually, before that.

There was only one thing they were curious about.

Staff Officer Bern carefully opened his mouth.

“There’s something I’d like to ask first, Corps Commander.” “Feel free to ask.” “What is the final picture that you are drawing, Corps Commander?”

Loen stood up as if she had been waiting for this question and walked toward the huge operational map hanging on the wall.

“The basic framework is this.”

Placing one hand on the map, she continued.

“To use tactics similar to the elf army, but to raise the qualitative level to the highest.”

Replace swords and spears with improved muskets equipped with bayonets as the infantry’s standard equipment.

“The musket infantry will form dense formations and continuously hammer the enemy lines with sequential firing. In case of emergency, they will use bayonets to block enemy charges.”

And artillery.

“The newly established artillery corps will continuously fire shells from behind the formation. Its main mission will be to crush enemy infantry formations and constantly harass the knighthood and mages.”

It was similar to the tactics used by elves, so there was no great difficulty in understanding. They were all experienced imperial officers with frontline service experience.

After explaining thus far, Loen looked at them with eyes asking if they understood.

“Understood.”

Loen continued.

“On top of this, we’ll significantly enhance the corps’ combat power by providing magical equipment applying the Franz family’s magical engineering technology to the entire corps knighthood and some soldiers.” “Hmm. Supply of magical equipment….”

The Armored Knight Commander groaned softly. As the leader of the Armored Knight Corps, he knew best the power of knights armed with magical equipment.

Depending on the equipment level, it was possible to demonstrate combat power that exceeded the star grade itself.

This was truly….

An idea only possible for the Franz family, which had devoured everything from the Southern Alliance.

“Anyway. This is the order I’m giving to both of you.”

Loen’s eyes gleamed like a predator eyeing its prey.

“Establish a new training method and military organization reform plan suitable for the corps reorganization.” “….” “….”

As soon as the words fell, the Knight Commander and operations staff officer’s faces darkened rapidly. Overtime is confirmed for the foreseeable future..

Loen, unconcerned, pushed forward another stack of documents.

“The general direction and allocated budget are written here for reference.”

And sure enough.

The eyes of the two, upon confirming the budget written in the documents, widened in astonishment.

“Is this allocated budget.. really correct..”

Loen similarly nodded silently.

After that day. Inside the Southern Corps fortress, every night, the wails of sleepless staff officers echoed like an echo.

While the fortress was in turmoil inside and out with news of the corps reorganization.

Seraphine was quietly continuing her magic training in a secluded open space behind the fortress. Loen’s overwhelming martial prowess shown in the hill battle had ignited her competitive spirit.

So she was taking this rare leisure time as an opportunity to try to complete her 5-star specialized magic.

Perhaps due to the intensive practical experience accumulated during the eradication process with the Southern Alliance? Seraphine felt she was vaguely catching a thread.

‘Lightning specialization magic….’

In the middle of the open space, Seraphine closed her eyes and concentrated solely on her inner magical power. Her wavy blonde hair fluttered in various directions with the breeze.

Seraphine carefully wove the outlines of specialized magic, as if weaving delicate threads of light.

Fast casting, lightning, thunder, high speed, chain, paralysis, and various other concepts passed through her mind.

‘Magic that can instantly paralyze or subdue enemies over a wide area. And….’

That was the moment.

Kwang! Kwa-ang!

It was precisely then. Along with an eardrum-piercing burst sound and a slight trembling of the ground.

Seraphine’s mind, which had been swimming in the waves of the unconscious, was suddenly pulled back to reality.

Seraphine opened her narrowed eyes between her furrowed brows. Turning her head, she saw Psyche throwing continuous punches right beside her.

As always, Psyche had stealthily approached and was training next to her. Something about being less bored when training together.

‘Sigh..’

Suppressing her rising anger, Seraphine showed the most gentle smile she could manage.

“Inspector Psyche. Could you please be a little quieter?” “Yes!”

Psyche, who answered unexpectedly vigorously, seemed to pause her movements for a moment.

Soon, with a “Heup!” battle cry, she extended her fist much more carefully.

Whoong-.

Seraphine’s brow furrows deepened again. Although the sound was much reduced compared to before, it was still disturbing. It wasn’t that Seraphine was particularly sensitive; it was because this was a crucial moment.

Finally, Seraphine spoke once more, this time without a smile.

“This is an important time for developing specialized magic. Could you pause your training for a moment?” “Yes..”

Psyche, dropping her shoulders, pouted her lips and grumbled.

Then suddenly, as if a good idea had occurred to her, she looked at Seraphine while vigorously wagging her tail.

“Inspector Seraphine. How about having a one-on-one duel instead? You know how enlightenment often comes in the midst of urgent situations, right? You might suddenly complete your specialized magic with a flash while dueling!”

Though her words sounded plausible, it was no different from just wanting to duel because she was bored.

Seraphine nodded with a thin sigh. At least things would quiet down in various ways after a duel.

“Alright. I can’t concentrate like this anyway. Let’s have a light match.” “Yay!”

The air in the open space subtly changed with the suddenly arranged duel. The two naturally widened the distance and faced each other.

Soon, Psyche muttered something, then raised her head abruptly and grinned.

“Shall I go then?”

Seraphine responded with a relaxed smile.

“By all means.”