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"Huff...*pant* Haah... Damn it... why do I have to do this shitty labor work when I’m a part of the brain clique?!"

An indignant murmur escaped from Cordie\'s mouth, and he immediately got berated for it.

"That\'s enough whining, Cordie! Instead of wasting your energy on complaining, you should move your hands and feet more!"

The owner of the voice was Pet, the leader of the unit Cordie was in. 

In the Yuglia Kingdom, a small group was dubbed a Unit, which was composed of four people. Two units would be called a Squad, four squads made up a platoon, and four platoons would make a company.

With a commoner background, and being nearly 20 years old, much like Cordie, Pet could be seen nagging Cordie most of the time.

Their current task was to dismantle the camp where the combat unit responsible for exterminating the Hellrowcast had been stationed, and swiftly set it up again on another designated point.

While the highlight of this large-scale military operation was, of course, the combat unit that would exterminate the Hellrowcast, Cordie, as someone who knew nothing about swordsmanship or who had no military upbringing, was assigned to logistics as a matter of course. 

This wasn\'t to belittle the importance of logistic units, as they were vital in military operations. However, when their tasks varied from predicting the next campsite for the Hellrowcaust elimination operation to procuring and transporting necessary supplies while also keeping an eye on the troop\'s health and remaining mana — which all required an experienced hand — an inexperienced nobody like Cordie couldn\'t contribute anything significant.

In the end, Cordie was enlisted as a volunteer laborer to carry the supplies, set up tents, and the like while mapping the hills and dales. Basically, work that required little to no critical thinking. And achieving any meritorious deeds in his current situation would only be possible in his dreams. 

The final nail in the coffin was his rank in the army— a common soldier, the very bottom.

While he was sent here to learn and to earn some merits, the rank and placement itself was very odd for an heir of a count family, especially since he was a graduate of a Noble Academy. 

Under normal circumstances, as the heir to a count family, he would be surrounded by knights, and would be assigned safer, less strenuous tasks to earn achievements without taking on real danger. 

Then why was Cordie undertaking menial tasks in a team full of strangers? The short answer was due to the *consideration* of Marquis Grauksh, who had extended this blessing especially to him.

"You bastard! Do you even know who I am!? I-I’m the heir of a distinguished Count family! And my little brother is in the Royal Academy—"

Just as Cordie made his complaint while glaring at Pet, the latter\'s right hand cut through the air toward him. Cordie instantly stiffened when he saw the incoming hand.

The next moment, Pet delivered a strong slap on Cordie\'s left cheek, leaving a red welt and a stinging sensation.

"Argh!"

Seeing Cordie falling to his knees, Pet continued in a deep voice.

"This is the third time, Cordie. Don’t make me repeat myself. When in the military, you better shove your age and status up your arse. You\'re a nobody here, a common soldier. That\'s what you are right now. You can only throw your weight around in times of peace. In operations like this, any act of disobedience that may disrupt the army\'s order is a grave violation of the military rules. I’ll let it slide this time, but know that not everyone is as lenient as me."

With tears pooling in his eyes, Cordie glared at Pet. He swallowed his saliva that now had the taste of blood mixed in. 

"You bastard... Not even my parents have ever laid their hand on me! I swear, as soon as I get my hands on a way to contact my little brother, I will have your—"

Pet shook his head in dismay, and then he grabbed Cordie\'s arm.

"You really don\'t learn, do you?... I don\'t know who your brother is, but they\'re the ones who deserve respect. Not you. Moreover—"

Pet said that, then he once again raised his right hand in the air. \'Eeeek,\' Cordie let out a miserable shriek as he scampered to cover his face with his hands.

"...No one in the military would dare say crap like they\'ve never been hit before. The instant they face danger, they don\'t make a chu sound, nor do they take any other action. What they do is put up their mana guard. You mustn’t shut your eyes. Keep your vision unobstructed, and then look at me. Do it."

Hearing Pet speaking in an unexpectedly soft voice, Cordie clumsily gathered his mana, and hesitatingly lowered his arms. 

As soon he did so, Pet delivered a second slap. 

"Gaah!"

Cordie staggered back with shaky legs.

"See, you managed to not fall this time. Alright, I’ll make an exception to your follow-up snark as well. Anyway, hurry up and carry the luggage! My Unit is the one that appears last, so I better hear you causing trouble again!"

Cordie continued to glare at Pet as beads of tears trickled down his cheeks, though he stopped himself from speaking any further this time.

"...You can eye me as much as you want, but I’ll keep doing it. It\'s my duty to make that flabby belly of yours get into shape, and make you at least presentable as a common soldier. I don’t care if you cry, but I better not see your feet or legs stop for even an instance."

◆◆◆

Later in the evening.

Cordie\'s Unit somehow managed to set up a tent at another location in time. They surrounded the area with a fence for protection before slumping down on the spot. 

A moment later, they saw a company donning an unfamiliar uniform making their way to their location.

"...That uniform— they must be the logistic support dispatched from the Dragoon region. By the way, they don\'t have much of a good reputation. Keep that in mind. They may have responded to the kingdom’s appeal for support, but the demon\'s disaster is often sorted out by the army and knights of its respective region. It\'s due to their kindness that we\'re getting their support. Conflicts often arise when local interests clash, so make sure to stay in your lane. You hear me, Cordie?!"

Pet spoke loudly so that the whole squad could hear him, but during his speech, his gaze never left Cordie.

Cordie barely managed to lift his head and wave his hand in annoyance.

"I don\'t even have the strength to stand. Fighting is the last thing on my mind."

He said as he stole a glance at the newly arrived logistics group. 

It just happened that the leader of the Dragoon\'s logistic support stepped out to greet the commander of the force he belonged to. 

"Report! The first division of Marquis Dragoon\'s army led by Vice-Admiral Abenil henceforth joins the military operation in Bolero Viscounty under the command of Supreme Commander Hugo! We shall now follow the command of Lord Purin, Commander of the Knight Order\'s first legion! My name is Beck, the current company commander. I hope we have a pleasant cooperation. Sir!"

In peacetime, the troops of other regions often acted with their respective Marquis as the Chief Supervisor. Meanwhile, a knight with the rank of a general  — when it comes to a marquis’ army — led the troops in ground zero to handle the monsters.

However, when it came to the deployment of the army guarding the borders or conducting large-scale military operations that span multiple regions such as this one, the Kingdom Knights took command, and during peacetime, the generals assisted under their command. 

"You must have marched a great distance. Indeed, may we have a pleasant cooperation. What about His Excellency Abenil?"

"Likewise! His Excellency at present is—"

"Hmm, he sure is quite a young company commander... It doesn\'t seem like he\'s any older than us. Guess merit talks, huh?"

Pet remarked in an impressed tone. Cordie harrumphed upon hearing him, and lowered his head again. 

◆◆◆

By the time they\'d finished their short respite, the appetizing smell of dinner, which was cooked by the mess soldiers, gradually drifted in the air. 

A messenger soldier arrived and raised his voice toward the leader of the company to which Pet and Cordie belonged.

"Message! The Third Company shall now descend the mountain about 1 kilometer to the southeast and fetch water from a tributary of the Morsa River. Each Unit will bring back two water jugs! The deadline for the mission is 20:00! Repeat!"

"Understood! The Third Company will depart for the Morsa River tributary 1 kilometer to the southeast and return by 20:00 with each Unit bringing two jugs of water!"

"Great!"

This message, of course, reached Cordie\'s ears, but he remained rooted on the spot, showing no reaction. Pet swiftly laid down his order.

"......Cordie and I will go. Luca and Edge, you two stay and get some rest."

Cordie immediately raised his now pale face and objected.

"W-Why me!? And couldn\'t we just have mages create water? That should\'ve been the norm, right? Don\'t expect me to follow such a retarded command!"

Pet hastily covered Cordie\'s mouth.

"You dumb bastard! Are you even thinking, shouting against an order within earshot of another group who could see our tomfoolery? I’ve already said it before, but the others aren\'t as broad-minded as me! What you just did could get you court-martialed!"

"I presume the arrival of the support unit had disrupted our water arrangements. They\'re not locals, so they won\'t be able to fetch enough water, after all. And most of all, we\'re not inside a city, and there\'s a limit to a mage\'s mana. Their conjured water is mainly set apart as drinking water. In such a prolonged operation, it\'s common to collect water from local sources. Be thankful that you can at least clean your clothes because of it."

Confirming that Cordie had stopped speaking, Pet slowly moved his hand away from Cordie\'s mouth.

"Then why not just bring in civilians who have water affinity magic? There are plenty of ways to handle it!"

Pet shook his head in disbelief.

"Do you really think that the higher-ups wouldn\'t have thought of what you\'re suggesting? That\'s bringing an untrained civilian into a support unit inside a mountain where a monster could attack at any moment. Who will take responsibility if someone dies, huh? Or what, do you think they should then just increase the soldiers to tighten security?  But that\'s going to increase the tent supply that needs to be carried. 

Just get this through your head. We\'re not the ones calling the shots in arranging the supplies. If you consider yourself to be one hell of a strategist, then get some merits and get the hell out of here."

Hell-bent on not obeying the command, Cordie gripped the stump his back was leaning on with teary eyes. He made himself clear that he wouldn\'t be getting up this time.

Pet heaved a long sigh, and said in a soft tone.

"Just so you know, Luca and Edge had been silently managing the mess your sorry ass had left behind all this time. You must at least let them take a breather here, or else our Unit will continue to fall behind. And when that happens, you’ll have to carry even greater weight then… Anyway, I believe you still have some mana left. After all, you surpass everyone out here with your incredible mana capacity. I guess that much is to be expected from a Count\'s lineage. I’m quite jealous myself."

Cordie blinked repeatedly when he heard Pet. He wasn\'t exactly expecting any praise from him at this point.

"...Well, my base mana capacity is merely 700 units. It\'s a drop in the ocean compared to what the Royal Academy wants."

There had been a time when Cordie actually exerted effort while carrying the weight of his parents’ expectations at the age of 12. However, after failing to even clear the baseline criteria for the Royal Academy entrance exam, his attitude had become increasingly indifferent. This behavior only worsened over time, leading to his current state.

"Haha, well at least you got a chance to tackle it. That\'s already an achievement you can brag about for your whole life… If you already had 700 units of mana capacity back then, then it\'s safe to assume that your mana capacity now might have crossed 1000 already. Mana compression will naturally happen when you train.

Once you do so, you\'re surely bound to become an indispensable corner of this unit— scratch that, I bet even other squads would fight each other to get you into their ranks. And when you hit that potential, the road to becoming an officer is mere inches away. Well, that\'s only possible if you get your act together though. This is why I’m telling you to get that flabby belly back into shape. You\'re just wasting your talent."

Wasting your *talent*. 

Cordie gingerly gazed back and forth between the faces of his Unit members. 

As much as he kept shouting \'damn commoners\' or \'how dare you,\' he knew deep down he was dragging everyone down. He had never looked into their eyes properly until now. His inflated pride had shattered to pieces when he had been shoved under the command of a commoner, and was granted the lowest common soldier rank. 

He felt aggravated especially when no one came to even shout at him except for Pet. 

Luca, and Edge, who were even younger than him, made mischievous smiles as they remarked nonchalantly.

"...It\'s tough for everyone in the beginning, Cordie-san!"

"So hurry up and get your deserved seat!"

Being the eldest son of the Count family he was in, he had an endless line of people trying to fawn over him in the Noble Academy. However, no one except his mother ever looked at him for his ability, his potential, or had any expectation from him.

\'Maybe I always wanted someone to see me for what I am,\' Cordie keenly realized the lurking feeling in his heart. 

Pet gave a light slap on Cordie’s back as the latter immersed himself in that feeling.

"It seems like you got it. Then let\'s get going. My mana is already on its last leg."

Saying these words, he briskly walked forward.

"D-Don’t get the wrong idea! I’m not doing all this to get your approval!"

Cordie hastily stood up and followed Pet’s footsteps.

E/N - Don\'t you hate it when you feel like you\'re getting blue-balled? Also, Cordie\'s about to get his own character development.