Karma

Company Commander Leonel Jorge took us to his personal office.

A private office, permitted only to officers of centurion rank or higher.

"Contrary to the rumors, your skills aren't anything remarkable. Still, after discussing with the personnel officer, I decided to assign you to the 4th Company under my command."

Lies.

He was clearly surprised.

It was all over his face.

"You'll be joining the First Squad of the Tenth Platoon in the 4th Company."

"The First Squad of the Tenth Platoon?"

"That's right. Obviously, it's infantry."

If the role of the infantry platoon's First Squad is still the same...

This is a bit much, honestly.

"I know the Tenth Platoon is infantry, but I'm trying to confirm whether it's appropriate for us to take on the First Squad's role."

Company Commander Leonel Jorge cocked his head.

"Do you know a bit about the regular army organization?"

I do.

The sixth companion, Eiker, laid its groundwork, and he made some changes based on my advice.

For example, the role of the First Squad in the infantry platoon that we just discussed.

"Yes, roughly."

"Tell me."

"Sathus Kingdom's regular army operates under five legions."

Leonel Jorge nodded.

"Go on."

"Each legion consists of three to five battalions."

"And each battalion?"

"Each battalion consists of three to five companies. A company has about 1,000 men, so a battalion numbers between 3,000 and 5,000 men."

"And each company?"

"A 1,000-man company is split into ten platoons of 100 men each. Additionally, each platoon has ten squads of ten men."

Sathus Kingdom's regular army organization is simple.

Sometimes, simplicity yields the greatest efficiency.

A squad leader commands ten squad members.

Since the squad leader is responsible for ten, his rank is Ten-Squad Leader.

A platoon leader commands ten squads, a hundred men, and holds the rank of centurion.

A company commander, like Leonel Jorge in front of us, leads ten platoons—1,000 men—and is called a centurion.

Ranks above that vary a little with unit size, but usually the battalion commander is called Five-Thousand-Man Commander, and the legion commander is called Ten-Thousand-Man Commander.

And the one commander who leads all five legions is called the Grand General.

This is the current structure of the Sathus Kingdom's regular army.

"You've done your homework. So, do you also understand what the numbers in front of each platoon mean?"

"The lower the number, the more important the role in the unit. Usually, first and Second Platoon are cavalry, third and Fourth are spearmen, fifth is special forces, and the rest, sixth and below, are infantry. All knights that handle aura belong to the First Platoon."

"Impressive. Then you also know the Tenth Platoon, which you've been assigned to, is the least important in our company."

Tenth Platoon.

I expected as much.

We just enlisted, and we're young, so it makes sense to start at the bottom.

"Yes."

"In the squad as well, lower numbers take on more important roles. Are you aware of that?"

Now, this is the part that rubs me the wrong way.

"Yes."

"So, do you know the role of the First Squad?"

"In every infantry platoon, the First Squad is the meat shie... No, in defensive battles, they stand in front of the spearmen to slow down enemy cavalry."

Why bother.

Would you really shove a newly growing sapling
into a squad meant to serve as a meat shield, company commander Leonel Jorge?

The truly ironic thing is—

The one who suggested the role for the infantry platoon's First Squad was none other than me.

Sixth of twelve companions.

Grand General Eiker had asked,

"Meat shield? What do you mean by that?"

― Look. The enemy cavalry charges at full speed straight at our spearmen, meaning our defensive line at the very front.

"Of course. Only spearmen can stop cavalry, so the spearmen are at the front lines."

― But among the cavalry, there are skilled knights. That creates a variable. Ordinary spearmen can't stop knights who handle aura.

"That's true, but we still can't put our own knights on the frontlines in a defensive battle."

― Putting that precious fighting force at the very front? That's absurd.

"So what do you mean by meat shield?"

― At the very front of our defensive line. That is, even ahead of the spearmen, we station some troops.

"What kind of troops?"

― We take the weakest squad from each infantry platoon and place them even ahead of the main line.

"Are you insane? They'll all be trampled by horses before they even get to swing a sword."

― But it can slow down the charging cavalry before they hit the spearmen. Not all cavalry are knights who handle aura.

"So the 'meat shield' means... that? That's a tactic utterly devoid of humanity."

― What do you mean? We turn the most useless squad in the unit into one that plays a crucial role. Isn't that an honor for a soldier?

Hm.

Is this what people call karma?

I ended up assigned to the First Squad of the infantry platoon, a squad I created by my own suggestion.

Originally, it was the Tenth Squad that handled chores, but with just a nine-digit difference, it's now the 'First Squad.'

The squad, fitting its number '1', performs the most important role in the infantry platoon.

They slow down the charging enemy cavalry and disrupt the neat lines of the enemy's charge.

Also, in that process, they reveal who among the enemy cavalry are knights and who are just ordinary riders.

This allows our own knights to identify the enemy knights in advance and engage in single combat.

Simply put,
they sacrifice themselves to distinguish who is a knight and who's a regular trooper among the charging enemy cavalry before contact with our line.

Commonly known as the meat shield.

I coined the term myself,
but now that I'm human, it really does reek of inhumanity.

Of course.

I wasn't even human back then—I was a sword.

Company Commander Leonel Jorge shook his head.

"They don't serve that role in every battle."

I know.

That's a tactic only used in defensive battles with no fortress walls.

It's not needed in siege or mutual charge battles.

But this is the southeastern border of the Sathus Kingdom.

Unlike the area near the capital or places with frequent invasions, not every border here is guarded by tall, strong walls.

In other words, the 4th Legion, 3rd Battalion here is a field defense force.

Bastian, who knew nothing, nudged my side.

"Hey, Evan. What's that look on your face for?"

Leonel Jorge asked,

"What's wrong, do you want to back out of enlisting now?"

I met Leonel Jorge's sly gaze directly.

... I was just annoyed, not refusing.

Didn't I say myself back when I was a sword that it was the most important squad?

Though, back then, I did not have a mouth.

"No. I'll do it."

"Good. I'll take you to where your squad members are."

And so, Bastian and I were assigned to the First Squad of the Tenth Platoon, 4th Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Legion.

This is where Bastian and I would begin our military careers.

After leaving Company Commander Leonel Jorge's private office, we passed several drill fields and dozens of soldier lodgings.

The environment grew increasingly shabby as we trudged on and finally arrived at the tent of the First Squad, tenth Platoon.

A single tent, patched together with random cloth, stood here and there.

In the narrow yard in front, leftovers from lunch hadn't been cleaned up.

Look at that?

What time is it now, and they still haven't cleaned up?

Leonel Jorge frowned as well.

"Squad Leader."

A chubby fellow emerged awkwardly from the tent that looked like a strong wind could blow it over.

On seeing the company commander, he snapped to attention and saluted.

Even his salute was a joke.

Surely that's not the squad leader, is it?

"First Squad Leader of the Tenth Platoon, Cliff Shannon! Reporting, sir!"

Great.

That's really the squad leader.

"This is a new recruit. Take him inside and introduce him to the rest of the squad."

"A new recruit, sir?"

"Yes."

"Understood!"

Leonel Jorge glanced at Bastian and me.

"This is it. The place where you'll start your military lives. Of course, based on your actions, postings can change anytime. Well now, welcome to the family."

"Welcome to the family."

That was an expression frequently used by my sixth companion, Eiker.

Even back then, it was a phrase only permitted to centurions and higher.

Looks like the tradition has continued to this day.

Squad Leader Cliff Shannon stood at attention until the company commander's figure was out of sight.

Once he disappeared around the distant corner—

"What's this? Some kids got sent in?"

His face and tone immediately changed.

"Come out, everyone! We got another new recruit!"

A hulking, muscular guy was first out the door.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with a pretty balanced physique.

"A new recruit?"

"Yeah. You're not the youngest anymore."

The youngest?

Did the regular army regulations change while I was away?

There's no such concept in a squad.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Dirk. You kids nobles?"

"I am Evan Dagon."

"I—I am Bastian Dagon."

Dirk.

From the lack of a surname, a commoner.

Outside the military, he'd never dare use informal speech with a noble,
but in the military, hierarchy comes first.

"Oh, nobles, huh? But why do you have the same last name?"

Is he an idiot?

His body's balanced, but his brain seems the opposite.

"We're brothers."

"Oh! Brothers! But you don't look alike. Anyway, nice to meet you. I was the only regular squad member in our squad. With you two, we're three now."

Ah.

So that's why the squad leader was talking about the youngest and such.

A squad normally holds ten men.

Seniority within the squad is like this:
First, there's the squad leader and assistant squad leader.
Then first senior, second senior, third senior.
These five are the senior squad members.
The other five have no special rank—they're regular squad members.

But if this big guy cheerily claiming he's the only regular member is telling the truth,
then this squad had only six members up to now.

A mess.

Even if personnel shift in other squads, the First Infantry Squad should always be fully manned at ten,
and I always emphasized that.

Isn't that so, Eiker?

That was the whole point of my meat shield tactic.

I looked at the back of Squad Leader Cliff Shannon, sticking his head into the tent and yelling something inside.

Really.

A guy like that calls himself a soldier and holds the squad leader's seat.

I can already guess the rest without even seeing them.