For the entire month of June, the region known as the Land of the Free was extremely peaceful, almost as if it had been forgotten.
In fact, rather than being forgotten, it would be more accurate to say that the region at the foot of Mount Daqing was abandoned.
From west to east, all one could see were abandoned huts and shacks. There was not a single soul to be seen. It was like a ghost village.
Weeds grew all over the abandoned fields, covering the paths that people used to walk on.
The ditches that had been meticulously cleaned up were also buried and clogged up by the sand blown by the winds of the plains.
Of the entire region, only the territory of Count Roykaid ba Krilaus, which was the closest to Mount Daqing, still had signs of life.
There were still people working on the fields, tending to the orchards and growing all sorts of vegetables on the farms.
There were people chopping wood and burning charcoal in the forest at the foot of Mount Daqing. There were also people herding sheep on the slopes.
Claude admired Skree's ability to deal with such trifling matters. While he could have done it himself, he hated dealing with such trivial matters.
He had accompanied Captain Skerry on a tour of the district and had returned with the good news that the 1st Ranger Battalion had been awarded the Meritorious Service, Class I, and Captain Skerry had been promoted to the rank of major.
That night, Skree drank a little too much. He pulled Claude over to look back at his life.
He was born to a noble family. His father was a viscount, but he was an illegitimate child.
His father had an affair with a married woman and gave birth to him. Fortunately, his mother's husband went to Nubissia and didn't return for four years.
So, while the news of his mother's birth could be kept a secret, she couldn't raise him and could only hand him over to her adulterer.
Although the Viscount's father admitted that Major Skri was his son, Major Skri had never received much care since he was a child. His status in the family was even lower than that of a servant, and he was often bullied by his so-called half-siblings. They called him a bastard, which could be seen from the fact that Major Skri's name did not have the word 'bestowed' in it.
Fortunately, he still had a grandmother. The mother of the viscount's father was a sensible old woman. She sheltered Major Skree during his childhood and adolescence, and when Major Skree was 14 years old, she used her own savings to send Major Skree to the youth military academy in the capital, encouraging him to work hard and earn a bright future for himself.
Major Skree graduated from the military academy at the age of twenty and entered the Imperial Guard as a probationary second lieutenant. That year, his beloved grandmother passed away.
At the funeral, he clashed with his siblings again. They were afraid that he would divide the inheritance left by his grandmother.
From then on, he cut off all ties with the noble family. For this reason, he even got rid of the shameful surname, and became a man without a name.
After staying in the Imperial Guard for eight years, Major Skree was finally promoted to a captain. It was also that year that he won the favor of the eldest prince, Hansbach, and was transferred to his side as his aide.
Major Skree said that he could not forget what the eldest prince had said to him. The eldest prince said that it did not matter if you had a name or not, you could rely on your own efforts to earn a great surname for yourself, and that your descendants would be honored by your surname.
It was this sentence that made Major Skree become the eldest prince's loyal follower.
But contrary to his expectations, staying by the eldest prince's side was not the beginning of a meteoric rise. Instead, it was years of bitter experience.
He served the eldest prince for six years, and every year, he could only obtain a second-rank merit for his diligence and conscientiousness.
In six years, there were six second-rank merit awards, which were equivalent to two first-rank merit awards.
In other words, if he wanted to become a major by the eldest prince's side, he would have to endure for another three years.
He watched as his comrades, who were inferior to him in the past, were promoted in the war. Of course, there were also many who fell on the battlefield.
However, Lieutenant-Colonel Ledefonk's promotion had stimulated his competitive spirit. While staying by the eldest prince's side was safe, his promotion was too slow. After much thought, he finally asked the eldest prince to leave his unit and fight for a better future on the frontlines.
The eldest prince satisfied his request and transferred him to 1st Ranger Tribe as its commander.
The eldest prince said that it would be easy for him to advance, but it could also be very dangerous.
In the end, after only half a year in 1st Ranger Tribe, he was awarded a first-rank merit for occupying the land abandoned by the Canasian nobles. Adding on the two first-rank merit awards from before, he was promoted to the rank of major three times.
Major Skree really had too much to drink. Perhaps the long-awaited promotion had finally let go of his worries.
He had worked hard for six years, from captain to major.
If he continued to stay by the eldest prince's side, he would have to wait another three years. By then, he would be 37 years old.
At that rate, he might not even reach the rank of colonel by the time he was 50. Perhaps he would have to retire as a lieutenant-colonel and buy a farm to spend the rest of his life in peace. That would be a far cry from his desire to make a name for himself. He didn't want to disappoint himself.
Claude felt rather awkward. Skree kept nagging at him about his life and dreams. He even apologized and said that he didn't intend to take the position of commander in 1st Ranger Tribe.
He was rather embarrassed to be given the position as a captain, given that Claude was also a captain and a recipient of the Knight's Medal.
Since Lieutenant-Colonel Ledefonk had resigned, it was only right for a major to take over the position. Claude could even be the one acting as the commander.
However, the eldest prince just had to make him a captain instead, which made him feel rather embarrassed, as if he was the one who took the position.
So, he was obedient to Claude's every request and tried his best not to have any conflicts with him.
He admitted that he wasn't Claude's match in terms of fighting. He wouldn't be able to replicate the victory at Squirrel Village under the same conditions.
If he was the one defending Squirrel Village, he would only last a few days before his entire army was wiped out.
Claude could only smile bitterly. Truth be told, he had never thought about climbing up the ranks. What was the point of being a battalion commander? He would only have to worry about more things. Lieutenant-Colonel Ledefonk was a logistical officer and Major Skri was the first prince's adjutant. Both of them had the patience to deal with trivial matters and mediate disputes in the camp.
Because they had been in the army for so long, they had a certain level of connections and would receive help from their comrades when problems arose.
Claude, on the other hand, had only been in the army for a little more than three years. He started out as a sergeant major and was promoted so quickly due to his contributions. Not only did he become a captain, but he also received a Knight's Medal.
However, he didn't have much of a foundation in the army. Even though he managed to gain the attention of the eldest prince, it was mostly the jealousy of others.
In 1st Ranger Tribe, Claude held absolute authority. Be it the officers or the soldiers, they were all willing to serve him. They were his subordinates.
But if he were to become the acting commander, his orders wouldn't be carried out in 2nd, 3rd and 4th Tribes.
The captains of those three tribes were all newly assigned to 1st Ranger Tribe and were all captains. Most of the soldiers were new recruits too. If Claude wanted to establish his authority, he would need time and some scheming to subdue the three captains.
However, Claude didn't have the patience to deal with such relationships. He would rather spend more time with his lover, Sheerah.
After the victory in Squirrel Village, Claude had Myjack take Gum to town and buy all sorts of decorations and metal parts for Sheila's new wooden house in Witch's Forest. At the same time, he also bought a lot of supplies to decorate the new house.
After everything was settled, the young Mage Sheerah moved into her new home.
On that moonlit night, after the two of them finished a bottle of celebratory wine, Sheerah fell into Claude's arms and gave her body to him amidst a passionate kiss.
That was the first girl Claude had fallen for in this world. He didn't know if it was true love.
In his previous life, his beloved wife betrayed him and his elder brother, who shared the same fate as him, took him to all sorts of places of pleasure. He saw all sorts of strange betrayals and experienced more women than he could count, so much so that he became an old hand at it. Relationships between men and women were nothing more than a biological need for him and he thought he would never have feelings for them again.
After coming to this alternate world, he had gained familial love. Although the older brother in this body that was related to him by blood really annoyed him, the care of his parents was real. The sibling relationship between his younger sister and younger brother still allowed him to integrate into the family.
At the same time, there was Welikro and Borkal's friendship with him, as well as Kefnie's love for him.
The one that Claude felt the most conflicted about was Kefnie. She was the first love of this body's original owner, but he didn't feel anything for her after transmigrating.
It wasn't that Kefnie wasn't pretty. She was rather pretty and had a great figure. She had a gentle personality and was also very virtuous. She was the perfect partner for someone who could raise a family.
But the problem was that he didn't feel anything for her. It was only when Kefnie saw through his identity as a magus and poured all her love into him that he felt pity for her. Before he left to join the army, he promised her that he would marry her after he returned and gave her the money he had left in Whitestag to manage.
If he hadn't gotten to know Sheila in Squirrel Village, he might've really returned to Whitestag to marry Kefnie after the war.
But what troubled him was that he and Sheerah shared a common language. At the very least, they were both magi and could help each other on the path of magic.
If he were to marry Kefnie, he would have to worry that his identity would be exposed and that kind girl would be dragged into it.
So, he wasn't really interested in being a battalion commander. He wasn't a loyal subject of the Stellin royal family. The only reason he was on the battlefield was because his home was in Whitestag and he had no choice but to serve in the Aueran army.
As for being loyal to the royal family and contributing to the unification of the eastern part of the continent, it was all bullshit to him. He had no sense of belonging to Aueras at all. He only participated in the war for the sake of his family.
If he could, he would rather stay in Squirrel Village and work for the local garrison. That would be the best thing for him to do after the war ended.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as he wished. The nobles of the two duchies didn't have the foresight to send an allied army to his doorstep. As a result, he was promoted twice in a row and received knighthood.
That wasn't his original intention. All he wanted was to protect himself during the war so that he could live until the war ended.
To be honest, there were times when Claude felt that he was really lucky. It had been three years since the war started and he had always been lucky enough to avoid the worst of the battles.
For example, Maria's letter to Bluefeather asked the higher-ups to promote him to sergeant major and order him to set up the infirmary guards and stretcher teams.
Later, when the second prince came to supervise the army, he was entrusted by Maria to keep Eleventh Battalion by his side as a guard battalion. That was how he managed to avoid the bloody battle that Bluefeather fought on Amelia Plains. That battle had cost Bluefeather two-thirds of its men.
After that, Claude's band was tossed to the garrison of Emis by Bluefeather like a burden. In the end, Prince Hansbach took a liking to it and sent it to the Ranger Camp instead of fighting the enemy's defenses on the frontlines like the other second-line corps.
The only one who couldn't get along with Claude in the battalion was Rosler. The most dangerous battle Claude had ever been in was during the attack on Wilfgang.
Claude would never forget the feeling of being forced by Rosler to form a formation and march towards the enemy's formation. He had no choice but to do so and his life was in danger.
As a soldier, being forced to face the enemy's cannons and bullets was a terrible feeling.
Fortunately, Claude didn't die. Instead, he used magic to kill Rosler on the battlefield to avenge the innocent soldiers. At the same time, he used the crawling tactic to take over the enemy's formation and became a second lieutenant.
Claude was like a fish in water in 1st Battalion. With Liedefonk looking after him, he lived a good life and really wanted to stay there until the war ended.
However, the victory at Squirrel Village gave Liedefonk a better position and he was worried that he would become a temporary battalion commander and disrupt his leisurely life.
Now that Skri was here, he breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to worry about living like a salted fish anymore.