8. Jaden’s Value (5)
The fourth-years who had fought the anti-troll defense battle had to fight several more battles afterward.
That was because monsters kept pushing into the safe zone that had been breached by the trolls’ attack.
As the medium-sized monsters from the third-year area surged in, the knights sent from headquarters began fighting frantically, and unlike with large monsters, the fourth-years could be of ample help against medium-sized monsters, so they lent their strength to the knights.
There were casualties again in the process, but fortunately, none of the students died.
It was the result of the knights and professors doing everything they could to ensure that, at least, no students would die.
“All personnel, salute!”
At the words of the knight commander dispatched from headquarters, everyone saluted in unison.
The object of their salute was the place where the coffins of those sacrificed in this battle had been gathered.
Rangers and knights, of course, but also soldiers from the Northeast had been deployed here, and many had died or been injured.
That was why, even after all the battles had ended and they had successfully held out, they could not simply rejoice.
War always left bitterness behind, and the battles of this life were no different.
Those who remained always grieved for the deaths of their comrades, and then forgot and lived on. With monsters pouring in endlessly, they could not remain bound to the past forever.
It was the same here. To stop the monsters spread everywhere as far as the eye could see, they had to bury the deaths of their comrades in their hearts and fight on.
“This concludes the assembly.”
After personally carrying the coffins of their fallen comrades and placing them into the transport crates carried by wyverns, the professor dismissed all the students.
But instead of dispersing right away, the students stood blankly and watched until the fallen warriors departed.
The death of someone close to them, experienced for the first time in their lives, came as a great shock to the children.
They had been warned that it was dangerous, but this was the first time so many people had died.
To those students, the professor of Large Monster Tactics spoke in a heavy voice.
“What you will experience from now on will be far worse than this. You will have to witness the deaths of countless comrades, and there is a high chance that you yourselves will lose your lives as well. After you have gone through all of that… you will likely stand at a high level, like them.”
As the professor said that, he looked at the knights who were silently doing their work even after the deaths of their comrades.
Perhaps because they had witnessed the deaths of countless comrades, their eyes were so dry that not even tears came.
“In war, heroes are sometimes born.”
Saying that, the professor glanced briefly at Jaden. Then he turned his head again and opened his mouth.
“But you must not forget that before he became a hero, there were the sacrifices of countless comrades….”
With that bitter expression, the professor watched the wyvern unit carrying away the bodies of the fallen.
After staring for a long while until the wyvern unit, now shrinking to dots, disappeared, the professor gestured for the students to disperse and entered a half-collapsed building.
After all the battles had ended and even the honors and aftermath for the fallen were taken care of, the next task was to restore the collapsed academy buildings and belongings.
At the same time, the forces of the Northeast also moved swiftly to handle the postwar cleanup.
Meanwhile, Jaden and the other fourth-years prepared for the next school year.
There was no ranking match and no danger of being held back, but the students were busier than ever.
The reason was that danger had increased as the forest of the Northeast began to stir.
The area where the fourth-year academy, a habitat of large monsters, was located had been cleared to some extent by this incident, but the problem was the fifth-year area and the lower-year areas.
As the divine beast that was the master of the Black Forest disappeared for unknown reasons and the whereabouts of several high-ranking monsters became unclear, territorial disputes between monsters began in earnest.
As a result, the chaos seemed poised to spread not merely to a portion of the region but across the entire northeastern front.
The one fortunate thing was that, since the fourth-year academy area had held out, they could use it as a temporary base and form a front line once again.
If the fourth-year academy had fallen, the large monsters would have pushed all the way down into the lower-year areas, and the situation would have grown beyond control.
With everyone’s sacrifices, they defended the academy, and as restoration work was carried out busily, a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, the Northeastern Command also seemed to have finished restoring itself to some extent, and the commander personally came to the fourth-year academy to give out the awards that had been postponed again and again.
“Everyone, assemble on the parade ground.”
At the professor’s words, the students stopped what they were doing and began assembling on the parade ground in unison.
After the war with the trolls, perhaps because they had keenly realized their own shortcomings, the students had been training like mad, and the professors had mostly left them alone, thinking that they should overcome the trauma of their first battle even if it had to be that way.
But since the academy dean and the commander had come in person, they needed to appear orderly.
“You there, stand straight.”
“Align the ranks.”
“Don’t break formation.”
The professors shouted as they straightened the students’ ranks.
And a short while later, the dean stepped onto the platform set up on the parade ground.
“It is good to see you all. This is the first time since I saw you as freshmen.”
When Dean Landon, who was in charge of the Northeastern Academy, appeared, all the professors and students stood at attention and quietly looked on.
“What happened at this academy was, from the dean’s standpoint, a deeply regrettable matter. Yet I am also pleased by the fact that you overcame it well. The reason I have come here today is not simply to praise your resolve and bravery.”
Saying that, the dean looked around at those gathered.
“You have sufficiently proven the mindset one must possess as soldiers, and as dean, I wish to repay that.”
After saying that, the dean paused for a moment, caught his breath, and continued.
“In order to repay your bravery, I proposed an early advancement, and the commander approved it. From now on, the moment you become graduating students, you will be commissioned as second lieutenants, and upon graduation, you will be promoted to first lieutenants.”
At the dean’s words, the students’ eyes widened. It might seem like it was only bringing things forward by a single year, but in truth, this was an enormous matter.
It was a tremendous honor, because in the history of the academy, no one had ever graduated as a second lieutenant.
“I hope you prepare well over the remaining year so that you will not be lacking when you are formally commissioned.”
When the dean left after those words, the students began cheering. Since an unprecedented event had occurred in which an entire year was advanced early, everyone could not help but rejoice.
In that situation, the Northeastern commander himself stepped onto the platform.
Then the cheering students all closed their mouths at once.
“I am Crimson Halo, in charge of the Northeast. I believe I remember a few of your faces, so it is quite good to see you.”
Crimson smiled faintly as he looked at the young students. He wanted to give medals to all of them for the unbelievable feats accomplished by mere children, but unfortunately, he could not award medals to everyone. Still, if they grew safely like this and achieved a few more merits during their academy life, it was possible that most of the fourth-years might receive medals.
“As the dean said earlier, you have shown unbelievable bravery. All of you fought bravely and made great contributions to defending the academy, but I hear there is one individual who rendered even more distinguished service. Number 1?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Step forward.”
When Crimson personally called him out, Jaden walked forward with a tense expression. Behind him, envy appeared on the students’ faces.
“As a student, you rendered unbelievable service. You introduced new tactics against trolls, and during the defense of the academy, you made an immense contribution to saving a professor and knights. Accordingly, by the authority of the Northeastern commander, I wish to bestow upon you the Iron Cross Medal.”
At Crimson’s words, all the students’ eyes widened.
Several professors also watched the scene with surprised expressions.
The professors who had connections to headquarters seemed to have already known, but several professors apparently truly had not, to the point that they asked the professor beside them with startled eyes.
“In recognition of your service, I hereby bestow upon you the Yellow Iron Cross Medal. I hope you continue to devote yourself and grow into a talent who will bring glory to the empire.”
At Crimson’s words, Jaden saluted and accepted the small necklace he placed around his neck.
The medal, an iron-colored cross with a small yellow gemstone embedded at the top, was something unique that only the Northeast could receive.
Unlike the medals commonly pinned to the chest in other regions of the empire, the Northeast made its medals small, in the form of a necklace. On it, they engraved the mark of the region where the medal had been earned; in Jaden’s case, the academy’s crest was set into the upper part where the yellow gemstone was embedded.
Another unique point was that no matter what deed one accomplished, one always began with a yellow gemstone.
As one accumulated merit, each time a certain amount of merit was surpassed, a gemstone would be set on the ends of the Iron Cross, one by one, in the order of yellow, green, red, and blue.
Because of that, one could receive the Yellow Iron Cross Medal only once in a lifetime.
“I hope you will even set a Silver Eagle into the center of this Iron Cross Medal.”
After saying that, Crimson patted Jayden on the shoulder and stepped back.
Jayden saluted him once more, then turned around and saluted again.
Once the salute was over and he had returned to his place, the commander stepped down, and the dean also left the parade ground after telling everyone they had done well.
“Good work, everyone. Since today is a joyous day, I’ll grant you free time. All of you, rest easy!”
With those words, the professor of Large Monster Tactics disappeared, and all the students approached Jayden with excited expressions.
“Wow…… So this is the Iron Cross Medal.”
“To receive this already…… That’s insane!”
“In other people’s eyes, we’re insane too. Being commissioned as second lieutenants in our graduating year!”
“True. If things go well, maybe we’ll get at least one medal at graduation too?”
The students excitedly admired Jayden’s medal. However, Number 3, who looked at the scene uncomfortably, and Number 2, who wore an indifferent expression, lost interest and picked up their swords again.
Whether it was Number 2, who had little interest in anything besides getting stronger, or Number 3, who belonged among the near-geniuses, neither had much interest in the medal Jayden had received.
After all, a Yellow Medal was something they could receive within a few years if they put in the effort.
Regardless of their reaction, his classmates were greatly excited by the sight of a medal they were seeing for the first time, but they were not the only ones stirred by the news of Jayden’s medal.
The professors, too, were excited that Jayden’s worth had finally been recognized, and even in the Northeast, people chatted among themselves, curious about what sort of person he was after hearing the news of his medal.
As rumors about Jayden slowly began to spread through the Northeast, the title “Fourth-Year Number One” gradually became known not only at headquarters but also on the front lines.
“Ten years old……. He’ll be eleven soon, won’t he?”
“That is correct.”
When Sky Lance, a genius and elite acknowledged throughout the Northeast, spoke in a rigid posture, the middle-aged man gave a faint laugh.
“Interesting. He’d be useful if we brought him here.”
“I’ll begin the work immediately.”
“Good. Bring him here before headquarters snatches him up.”
At the man’s words, Sky Lance saluted and immediately went outside. The man then looked over the report Sky Lance had given him and dropped heavily into his chair.
“I hope he’s a brat worth raising…….”
Kaiden Wall, commander of the 1st Corps, the shield guarding the front line and the one who had reigned as the strongest in the Northeast before Crimson Halo’s arrival, let his eyes gleam like a beast that had found its prey.