The Imperial Supreme Commander Has Returned - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Commander Returns — Episode 30

Whoosh.

Delram’s hand shot up suddenly, alone among all the others.
While everyone else said yes, he was the only one claiming no?
It was the perfect setup to be torn to shreds.

Especially since this wasn’t a question about the lunch menu.
This was the moment the Commander’s decision was being announced to all.
There was no way he should have voted no.

Besides, he had no reason to do it in the first place.
So why had Delram raised his hand?

‘He wanted attention, that’s all.’

No matter how he thought about it, there was no other explanation.
Sure enough, the higher-ups’ faces hardened.
Even accounting for his youth — how could he dare?

Some of them loosened their tongues, preparing their attacks.
This upstart had already rubbed them the wrong way.
Now that they had a legitimate excuse to dress him down, they’d make full use of it.

But none of them opened their mouths.
One man suddenly gunned his engine.
A man in his thirties bellowed out, his face crimson with rage.

“What is this commoner spouting off about!”
“Huh?”
“Do you think this is the Academy? Some unschooled wretch who’s never even set foot through the Academy’s main gate — and you dare pull a stunt like that!”
“…….”
“Commander, that one must be thrown out of here at once! A Special Operations Unit commander like that — something is deeply, deeply wrong here!”
“No.”

Delram asked, sounding baffled.

“Your name was Matthew, wasn’t it?”
“Matthew! And unlike someone of your filthy lowborn background, I am the proud second son of House Antonio.”
“But you’re still just one of the adjutants, aren’t you? By any measure, my rank as Special Operations Unit commander is far higher than yours.”
“Rank is irrelevant. There exists such a thing as sacred bloodline.”
“Wow, you’re actually insane, aren’t you?”
“What did you say?”

Delram waved a dismissive hand, looking bored.
Yammering on endlessly at a time like this was amateur hour.
Who was it that had granted him the position of Special Operations Unit commander?
The Commander standing right beside him.

“Commander, I’m at a loss as to how the military discipline of our Pior forces has deteriorated to such a state. Or should I suspect the judgment of the Commander himself, who directly appointed me to this role?”
“What? Why are you suddenly bringing the Commander into this—”
“I’m having a conversation with the Commander right now… Is it possible you’re eyeing the position of future Commander or something like that?”
“……!”

Matthew flinched at the absurd accusation.
There was that saying about digging yourself deeper with every word.
But more than that, it was the Commander’s expression.
His mood was visibly deteriorating by the second.

“Insubordination in wartime is a capital offense, is it not, Commander?”
“It is. But my staff is somewhat thin, so I’ll overlook it.”
“If that is your will, sir.”

Delram bowed lightly.
Matthew’s face, by contrast, had gone ashen.
They stood in a chamber where all the kingdom’s military hierarchy had gathered.
There, in front of them all, he had been branded an official fool of the Commander.

Who would ever promote Matthew after this?
His prospects for advancement were finished.

Matthew left the barracks without even a military salute.
He looked out of his mind with anxiety.
Yet even in such a state, the way he glared so bitterly at Delram showed he was, in another sense, a man of considerable mettle.
Once the tension had eased, Delram spoke.

“I raised my objection because I hold a different view. But if your will is firm, Commander, I’ll voice no further complications and execute your orders without reservation.”
“No. Youth sometimes errs in judgment, but the old can miss new perspectives that younger minds perceive.”
“Then I shall speak.”

What Delram meant to say was simple.
Pior, which had conquered two kingdoms in rapid succession.
That such elite soldiers as ourselves have been locked in war with these barbarians for nearly two years means they are warriors of considerable skill.
It would be wasteful to destroy them entirely.
Let us bring them into our ranks and put them to use.

“Hmm… but no matter how strong they are, soldiers who refuse to obey orders are worthless. The military is, after all, an organization where command and obedience are paramount.”
“That may be true. And yet our forces must embrace the barbarians of Savala for precisely one reason.”
“And what is that?”
“Because the true war is only beginning.”
……!

The Commander’s eyes widened at Delram’s certainty.
He was not alone in this reaction.
Delram felt another gaze upon him—one of keen interest.
Its owner was none other than Sword Master Roel.

The Commander and Roel exchanged a look.
—Did you speak of this?
—Hardly.
—Then how does he know?
—Born brilliance, I suppose.

A silent conversation that passed between them in a heartbeat.
At its end, the Commander and Roel arrived at the same conclusion.

‘This man is extraordinary.’

In truth, the King had never intended to stop here.
What he truly desired was Continental Unification.
Throughout the long course of history, countless dynasties have risen and fallen, yet none have achieved this absolute feat.

Of course, it was a formidable task.
Perhaps even impossible.
But what knight, born into that station and dreaming of etching his name into history, has not contemplated such ambition?

‘How did he deduce this?’

Of course, this was a secret known only to a select few.
If it spread, the other kingdoms would surely move to contain them.
And internal resistance would be no trivial matter either.

The Bright Light Church in particular!
As the kingdom’s state religion, they were the most formidable opposition.
That’s why preparations had to remain hidden.
In truth, the war with Savala was itself a pretext—a chance to audit supplies and tactics, and to give young officers combat experience.
That’s why it had been dragging on for two years.
Yet how had word gotten out?

Either way, there was nothing good in this leaking.
The Commander feigned ignorance as he rebuked the officer.

“A curious thing to suggest, Commander of the Special Operations Unit.”
“My apologies.”
“Still, I take your meaning. You wish to send an emissary to Savala demanding their surrender, do you not?”
“Yes, sire. I myself shall go. But I ask only that you grant me the Special Operations Unit and ten thousand regular troops.”
“Ten thousand is a considerable force. Why do you require it?”
“If they refuse to surrender, I will slaughter them all and return. I intend to extinguish the savage race entirely.”
……!

The war room fell silent once more.
But this time it was shock, not bewilderment.

The Commander and Roel were no different.
Their eyes met again in rapid exchange.

-Let’s give him a chance?
-Are you mad? Ten thousand soldiers, no less!

Then Delram suddenly rose to his feet.
And from his chest, he removed his captain’s insignia.

Crack!

He pressed it down onto the table with his fingers.
The badge embedded itself deep into the wood, driven by immense force.
Then he continued speaking.

“If I fail, I will return everything I have received from you, sire, and go back to being a common soldier.”

A sharp intake of breath.
Delram’s resolve hung heavy in the room.
If he had been born to a great house from the start, it would have meant nothing.
But Delram had risen from the common ranks to his current station.
He was, in a word, the very embodiment of social ascension—a man who had turned his life around.

And wasn’t it always so?
A person could live from nothing from the beginning, but once they had tasted something, they could never return to that emptiness—such was the nature of mankind.

With that thought, he had staked his very life.
It was why everyone felt the weight of Delram’s resolve.

At last, the Commander, who had been deliberating, spoke.
Even without Roel pressing him from beside with keen intensity, he would have decided the same.

“I grant it.”

* * *

Deep within the forest.
A cliff face where the mountain range met the wilderness.

“Wow, this is exactly what I wanted.”

Delram sat at the cliff’s edge, grinning widely.
It was because of the sword he wore at his waist.

Delram’s title was Weapon Master.
Since he wielded a dozen weapons with equal ease, he wasn’t the type to grow attached to any particular blade.
But this was different.

Shing—

At this level, the rules changed.
The moment he drew it, the temperature around him dropped a good ten degrees.
A deep blue chill clung to the sword’s edge.
That was proof this Longsword was an Artifact.
And one imbued with Frozen Orb Magic of the fifth Circle, no less.

‘Anything this cuts will freeze solid.’

An Artifact.
The general term for equipment infused with magic.
A single fact showed just how extraordinary Artifacts were.

[You could cast magic even if you weren’t a mage.]

It went without saying that they cost a fortune to hear about.
In reality, their creation required expensive Mana Stones as a matter of course.
Even low-Circle Artifacts commanded astronomical prices.

Especially this Longsword Delram now held—it was fifth Circle.
Without exaggeration, it cost as much as an entire castle.
And even with money, you couldn’t simply buy one whenever you wished.
They were, in a sense, Strategic Resources.

‘Our Commander really does think big.’

This sword had originally belonged to the Commander.
The reason he’d given it to Delram was simple.
By placing his own blade in Delram’s hands, the Commander meant that ten thousand soldiers would now follow Delram’s orders as if they were his own.
It was what they called Command Authority.

‘This is mine now.’

That also meant he should return it once the operation ended.
But Delram had no such intention.
If he quietly carried it around as his own possession, the Commander would have his pride to consider—he’d never demand it back. After all, officially, this was just the Commander giving the sword as a gift to Delram.
That was where it would end.

‘I’ve been on the receiving end of this trick from my own men more times than I can count.’

The world worked in mysterious ways.
Back then, it had infuriated him. Now here he was, putting the same tactic to excellent use.

Click.

Having examined the Longsword a moment longer, Delram sheathed it.
It was a pity, but today was not his debut.
Rather, it was a day he had hoped never to use.

“Rune Master, let’s do our best out there.”

Delram muttered the words while gazing beyond the cliff edge.
At the settlement of barbarian dwellings clustered below, huddled close together.

* * *

The Rune Master.

A title bestowed upon Savala’s finest sorcerer.
Two were the qualifications.

The ability to command all twenty-four runes with perfect mastery.
And the wisdom to unite the tribal leaders in harmony.

When the kingdom first learned of the title, they scoffed.
Just some barbarian calling himself a master—the way they elevated one of their own was nothing short of contemptible.

Of course, it was a mistake.
The Rune Master encountered on the battlefield was terrifying.
He wielded neither the broad magic of a mage nor the Aura of a knight.
Yet with a single gesture, his allies’ wounds sealed and their strength returned, while his enemies’ bodies withered, unable even to grip their swords.

In the first year of war, before the Sword Master was deployed.
It was no accident that the kingdom fell back during that time.

So what manner of man was the Rune Master?
His origins? His age? His family ties?
Strangely, almost nothing was known about him.
And it wasn’t only the kingdom’s intelligence service that was ignorant.
Even among Savala’s own people, precious few knew the truth.

Yet there was one.
Delram alone knew him very well indeed.

‘I dug into his life so thoroughly, trying to kill him, that I learned it all.’

The Rune Master did not die in this war.
Precisely as Savala’s entire barbaric population faced slaughter,
He alone succeeded in fleeing, tears of blood streaming down his face.

‘After that, he becomes a dreadfully troublesome enemy.’

The Rune Master stood at the pinnacle of sorcery.
Normally, one who reached such heights possessed such fierce pride that he would never stoop to ambush, plunder, or treachery.
The same was true of Pior’s knights.

But the Rune Master was different.
No pride remained within him.
Precisely—it perished along with his tribes.

Only one goal remained.
The destruction of Pior Kingdom itself.

The Rune Master devoted his remaining life to this purpose.
Throughout the kingdom’s conquest of the continent, he sided with its enemies.
When the first kingdom he allied with fell, he moved to the second.
If that kingdom fell as well, there would be a third one to contend with…….

In the end, it was Delram, then the Commander of the Special Operations Unit, who stepped forward.
Delram devised the strategy, and together with two of the highest-ranking knights, they drove the creature into a trap before finally managing to sever its head.
Using the Rune Master’s only child as bait.

“I’m starting to feel a little sorry about that.”

Bittersweet memories rose unbidden.
Delram scratched his head, as if seeing the past anew.

In any case, it was time to go meet him.
That Rune Master.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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