“The troops are adequately trained, I suppose.”

As he followed Dayne, Sol took the time to observe the soldiers standing guard and patrolling the camp. While he didn’t see anything particularly noteworthy, the soldiers performed their duties in an orderly fashion, alleviating some of his concerns.

Although Dayne had been tainted and assimilated by the nobles of the River Valley, to the point that he had encroached on the farmlands reserved for the army and padded the payroll with nonexistent soldiers, he was not an incompetent officer. In fact, if it weren’t for his collusion with the River Valley’s nobles, he would be considered an excellent one.

Though he had eaten nearly two-thirds of the budget through phantom soldiers, the remaining third of actual troops were trained well enough, which was why the soldiers Sol saw now still retained many of the qualities of a proper army.

However, Sol soon discovered a problem.

“Are all the soldiers here? Or does the Guard Legion of the River Valley have other encampments?”

Sol was a seasoned soldier, and after observing the troops for a while, he could estimate the number of soldiers under his command. At most, there were six or seven thousand soldiers before him—far short of the twenty thousand that made up the Guard Legion of the River Valley.

Upon hearing Sol’s question, Dayne, whose face had been full of smiles only a moment ago, paled, his smile frozen on his face. Despite a temperature that wasn’t particularly warm, beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

If the visitor from the Imperial Capital had been anyone else, Dayne might have found some excuse to stall for two days, long enough to gather the rest of his levies and put together a convincing show of force. But he dared not lie to Sol, not when he knew so well how much detail Sol would pry out of him. There was no way the recruits he’d hastily gathered could escape Sol’s discerning eye—they’d be exposed in an instant.

“Dayne, what’s going on?”

Sol had noticed that Dayne seemed off. The captain’s face was pale, and sweat beaded his brow.

Dayne was a Great Knight, in far better shape than the average person, and normally impervious to fluctuations in temperature. Yet now, he looked as pallid as if he were gravely ill, and continued to drip with cold sweat.

“Th-thump!” Suddenly, the two-hundred-kilogram Dayne collapsed heavily to his knees before Sol.

“There are no other garrison troops. These are all the soldiers I have.”

As Dayne spoke, his head hung low, and his whole body seemed to shrink into itself like a large ball flattened against Sol’s feet.

After Dayne finished, the few others who had come with Sol exchanged glances. As seasoned soldiers, they quickly grasped the situation. Falsifying troop numbers to siphon off funds was far from unheard of in the military.

Aside from the Imperial Capital’s guard, who were under Sol’s direct supervision, there was virtually no military unit anywhere in the kingdom that didn’t have a ghost issue of some kind. However, they never expected the River Valley’s problem to be so severe. The Golden Dragon Kingdom might not be at its zenith, but it was far from its final days.

The nobles and officials in the regions wouldn’t dare go so far as to blatantly fill their own pockets with public funds, and a ten percent ghost payroll was considered an acceptable norm. Though Sol disapproved, it was a situation he couldn’t control.

Yet the revelation that the Guard Legion of the River Valley had an active roster of less than half the size of its official strength shocked even these seasoned military officers. If they were pressed for their thoughts, they would have called it absurd.

“Thou art a despicable traitor!” Sol exclaimed, his voice echoing in the vast hall.

“Bang!”

After a brief moment of surprise, Sol, who had been relatively calm thus far, abruptly raised a leg and violently stomped down on the prostrate figure of Dayne. The stout figure of the two hundred kilogram man was sent staggering several meters away, crashing heavily onto the stone steps. Seeing Dayne attacked, the guard on patrol around the hall instinctively rushed forward.

“Ahem, retreat!” Dayne shouted, pushing aside the soldiers attempting to aid him. He struggled to his feet, his body covered in a layer of dust. Though he appeared quite wretched, he had suffered no serious injury. Sol’s kick was vicious, but it was powered by physical strength alone, not energy.

Perhaps a normal person couldn’t have endured such an impact, but a Great Knight like Dayne could not be seriously injured. Though battered, Dayne’s heart swelled with secret glee. He had gambled and won. Sol’s kick had been fueled by rage, but it hadn’t been made with killing intent. He still had use, still had a chance.

Dayne struggled to his knees, head raised, when Sol’s sword was already pressed against his neck. The blade pressed into the skin at the side of Dayne’s throat, the tip barely touching the artery there. Instinctively, Dayne wanted to summon energy to defend himself, but he shoved that urge aside and submitted obediently, kneeling with his head turned to the side.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you,” Sol said coldly, pressing the sword into Dayne’s flesh.

“I know the River Valley well enough. I have evidence of every noble family encroaching on military fields. Though the Guard Legion of the River Valley is severely understaffed, the six thousand soldiers before us today will not disappoint Your Excellency in battle. With me here, Your Excellency will find controlling the Guard Legion much easier.

I have plenty of leverage against the families, enough to force them to bleed for their crimes. I am still a Great Knight, willing to serve as Your Excellency’s humble soldier and redeem myself through service. I…”

Dayne rushed to speak, terrified that if he spoke too slowly, Sol would lose patience and slice off his head.

Dane’s treasonous maneuver had yielded the desired effect, and Sol’s resentment softened, though he still wanted to hack the traitor to pieces to vent his anger.

The situation was what it was, and killing Dane wouldn’t solve anything. More importantly, they needed to get the disheartening mess in the River Valley under control and send reinforcements to the northern lands as soon as possible.

The beasts’ movements at Dragon’s Breath Pass grew more threatening by the day, and Sol likely wouldn’t have much time to spare on the northern front.

Clang.

With this thought, Sol returned his sword to its sheath.

“Effective immediately, you are relieved of your position as commander of the Guard Legion of the River Valley. I will assume command temporarily; for now, you will serve as a regular soldier under my command.”

“Thank you, my lord, for granting me mercy!”

Though stripped of his rank, Dane was unexpectedly delighted—his life had been saved. Now he needed to continue demonstrating his value to Sol. Sometimes, when dealing with superiors, it wasn’t a matter of whether a person was good or bad, but rather whether they were useful or valuable.

As long as their utility outweighed their misdeeds, they would be kept around. This was a principle Dane understood well, and it was precisely how he managed to escape death.

“Summon all officers above the rank of captain to the assembly hall for a meeting.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Dane rose without hesitation upon receiving Sol’s orders to perform the summons. Though he had been demoted to a common soldier, Sol still found it convenient to have Dane handle many of the Guard Legion’s administrative tasks.

“Kutz, don my armor.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Kutz opened the case strapped to his back; the armor glistened golden in the sunlight.