Chapter 38 - First Campaign
The training of the soldiers progressed daily. Even the fifth-year soldiers seemed amazed at their rapid growth. However, I wasn’t particularly surprised. This was because the training methods for the kingdom's regular army's new recruits, which I had introduced, were incredibly efficient. Given that the soldiers were trained according to these methods, such rapid growth was only natural.
Now, as training advanced, it was time for the soldiers to move on to practical drills. Instead of using the training ground, we began by hunting small magical beasts in the extremely shallow Shallow Forest. We ensured safety and had them engage in real combat with the magical beasts.
Even at the Magic Academy’s Knight Department, we had "practical combat" training in a cave where magical beasts resided. Back then, I had my own issues with my actions, but I was confident that our guerilla unit would not be shaken. They had been trained by me and the fifth-year soldiers. Additionally, we had the new "scouting magitech tool" to aid in practical training. I wasn’t worried.
This was more advanced than the "practical combat" at the Magic Academy’s Knight Department, taking it a step further with realistic training.
That’s when a new problem arose. Our main battleground, the Demonic Forest, had dense trees that obscured our vision. The standard tactics of the kingdom’s army, which usually relied on open fields for battle, could not be used here. In the Demonic Forest, making unnecessary noise could be a matter of life and death. Therefore, we could not issue orders through sound, like drums or horns.
This meant that something new was needed... A [method to transmit orders to the soldiers without using sound].
Thus, I decided to consider and develop a [special magitech tool].
The primary task of the guerilla unit—reconnaissance and information gathering—was one where communication on the ground was difficult. Given the nature of the mission, it covered a wide area, and unlike the usual army operations where soldiers gather together, our strategies didn’t often involve being in one place. The trees obstructed the view, making hand signals ineffective as well.
Up until now, Second Brother and the unit had employed specialized communication soldiers to carry information. However, this method lacked immediacy, and mistakes or false reports were common. Currently, the number of personnel was even more limited. Considering the operations of the current guerilla unit, it was unclear how many soldiers would be required to carry out flexible operational actions.
At one point, I even considered making every soldier capable of acting as a communication soldier.
I thought long and hard about how to solve this. In my own way. I spent more and more time wandering around the Fortress’s laboratory, much like a magic bear, until I finally found an answer. After poring over copies of various books I had brought back from the royal capital... the days at the Alchemy Tower gave me the answer.
--- [Telepathy] ---
I remembered a rather old but complicated rune from a magical academic text. I first learned of it at the Alchemy Tower's library, in a place where they kept runes that were considered unusable—though not forbidden. I had visited, hoping to find something interesting.
However, through trial and error at the Alchemy Tower, I had quickly dismissed this circuit as unusable. It was just a confirmation of what the predecessors had already concluded.
--- The circuit itself was excellent, but it had various operational restrictions.
Despite its limited versatility, I came to realize in the Fortress that this rune could be used in a very specific and limited way when carrying out tasks in harsh environments. While it wouldn’t work well in general situations, in a very limited area with few targeted individuals, it could yield sufficient effects.
In the royal capital or large cities, sending and receiving Telepathy would be very difficult. But in the Demonic Forest, where the presence of others outside our unit was scarce or practically nonexistent, it became clear that all the numerous restrictions could be disregarded in its use.
The biggest challenge with the Telepathy circuit was that it forced communication to an unspecified number of people. In crowded areas, the "strength" of the Telepathy would be diluted according to the number of people receiving it, eventually becoming inaudible. Due to the principle of conducting mental communication by using psychic ability via mana, keeping the communication private was very difficult.
Reflecting on a similar case from my past life, I thought of the apartment complexes equipped with fiber-optic communication. This was a concept mentioned in a magazine advertisement, where a telecommunications company had been promoting the slogan to encourage the signing of dedicated line contracts.
Normally, the source sends a single fiber optic line, but when it reaches the receiver, it gets split multiple times. Eight-way, sixteen-way, thirty-two-way, and even sixty-four-way splits, they said. A poorly-rated apartment builder would bring in just one fiber optic line and split it sixty-four ways in the building to save on installation costs.
In such cases, the communication quality would drop to one sixty-fourth of the original.
In the crowded conditions of this world, using Telepathy was like dividing the communication infinitely. So, what would happen then? Yes, the "strength" of Telepathy would diminish to the point of making Telepathy itself difficult. The biggest issue with Telepathy was its inability to function in crowded places.
But what if the sender used multiple single lines, and the location was less crowded? What if it was limited to just a few receivers? It was like paying for a dedicated fiber optic line—just as the promotional slogan in the magazine had described.
Looking back, I reflected on the current situation.
The sender could be me, Old Man, or the fifth-year soldiers. The receivers would be the entire soldiers of the guerilla unit. There weren’t many of them—actually, you could say there were few. The communication network we needed was straightforward: between me as the commander and Old Man as my adjutant, between the command center (me and Old Man) and the fifth-year soldiers, and between us and the soldiers.
Another comparison would be a group of walkie-talkies tuned to the same channel. The memories from my past life were incredibly useful in this case. All I had to do was match what already existed in my previous world with something usable from the runes of this one. Constructing the circuit was simple enough—it could be done by essentially copying directly from academic texts. Plus, it wasn’t a particularly huge circuit. It wouldn’t need a compressed notation method; a palm-sized piece of parchment would suffice.
If incorporated into the scouting magitech tool, it could quickly turn into a "short-range communication device."
Since the communication would mostly involve short exchanges, there was little chance of overlap. There would be no need for simultaneous sending and receiving of Telepathy. There was no need for a more complicated circuit. For the soldiers using the scouting magitech tool, the circuit was embedded within those tools. As for the rest of the soldiers, it was integrated into the light helmets they always wore.
Since the soldiers would only send brief messages like confirmation of orders and search results, this was more than enough. For limited use, it was fully functional.
It was a happy moment to have prepared all the necessary magitech tools for the guerilla unit before their first mission.
--- § ---
The guerilla unit was assigned their first mission. The situation was tense. It was Father who gave the orders. Eldest Brother, commanding the garrison, couldn’t leave the town easily. Second Brother was busy dealing with magical beast countermeasures, leading half of the main force on another operation. The remaining half of the main force was stationed in the town for reorganization, training, and as a reserve.
Then, an urgent report came from the northeastern part of the Demonic Forest.
While there was no solid proof, there were reports of a shadow resembling a monster appearing in the shallow-level forest. The danger level was tentatively judged as medium. Based on the size of the shadow, it seemed like a medium-sized monster, and there were traces of it passing through. The path had been detected with a sour smell and a strong residual mana.
In other words, this wasn’t a false alarm; a monster had actually appeared. However, the main force that should respond were out on another mission. If we stood idle, the people in that area might suffer. At the very least, we needed to confirm what kind of monster had appeared.
Although the guerilla unit was still in the midst of training, it had proven functional, and Father showed no hesitation in deploying it. I was called into his office, where the formal order was given. My father’s commanding voice echoed in his office.
"Though this is your first campaign, head to the northeastern part of the Demonic Forest and conduct a reconnaissance-in-force of the shallow level. We must determine the nature and strength of the monster. If it’s a powerful monster, smaller magical beasts in the shallow forest will start to stir. If that happens, it will be uncontrollable, and the main force won’t make it in time. If it's a high-threat monster, even if we can’t eliminate it, we must push it back as far as possible into the mid-level forest. This is not about whether you can or cannot—it must be done. That is the duty of a man born into a knightly family."
"I understand. I will take all possible measures to handle the situation."
"Good. However, once you understand the situation, send a communication soldier. If you feel it’s beyond your ability, tell me. While the heir cannot go out, I will lead the remaining soldiers in the town to respond."
"Your words are reassuring. I am grateful."
"I pray for your long-lasting success in battle."
"Thank you. I will take my leave."
The orders had been given. Equipment checks were complete. All that remained was to head to the site. The urgent report had come from a village near the area. The first step was to interrogate the person who had sent the initial report.
With my father’s blessing of "long-lasting success in battle" in my heart, I led the guerilla unit toward the village near the site of the monster’s last sighting. The guerilla unit was notorious for its high attrition rate... My father’s blessing had been his parting gift to me, fully aware that I might not return.
That day...
--- I, following the tradition of the commander leading from the front, began my march toward the village.
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