Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 362 - 361: Soldrin’s New Mission

Three days later, Gawain was interrupted by a rhythmic knock on the door while reviewing documents in the study.

He looked up and had already sensed who was standing at the door.

”Come in, Soldrin.”

The door to the study opened, and in walked the High-Ranked Ranger Sir with his shiny golden wig.

”Looks like you’ve recovered well,” Gawain couldn’t help but smile and nod upon seeing Soldrin’s complexion, ”Have you completely cleared out the last trace of poison?”

”It’s been cleared out for a while, but that old Druid kept dragging it on with the excuse ’the poison of the evil cult followers is bizarre and unpredictable, requiring extensive observation and tests,’” Soldrin shrugged helplessly, ”He made me drink strange potions every now and then and drew my blood seven or eight times—I feel like he’s deceiving me.”

”Of course he’s pulling your leg,” Gawain said offhandedly, ”I told you from the start to be cautious dealing with Pittman. It’s not too far-fetched to attribute every trick you’ve encountered in your life to him.”

Soldrin: ”...”

Seeing the High-Ranked Ranger’s dumbfounded expression, Gawain couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head, quickly changing the subject to prevent the Ranger Sir from lingering too long in his existential doubt: ”Let’s not talk about him. How are you adapting to life in the territory?”

Ever since he returned injured more than half a month ago, Soldrin had been recuperating quietly in the Cecil territory, but he hadn’t been idle. Once his injuries healed and he regained full mobility, he was engaged in military tasks within the territory at Gawain’s behest. As a High-Ranked Ranger with extensive combat experience, he took on the role of Senior Advisor and Mountain Warfare Instructor, responsible for training and guiding the Cecil Clan warriors.

Despite his somewhat delicate appearance, Soldrin’s formidable personal strength and his legendary past in pioneering new lands with Gawain Cecil still earned this ”another race ranger” high prestige among the soldiers. According to Sir Byron’s report, the ”advisor sir” performed quite well in the army.

But Gawain knew that idle roles like Senior Advisor and Instructor weren’t what Soldrin wanted. As an elf warrior, Soldrin was still young and strong. What he truly desired should be a specific military position that allowed him to directly engage in battle.

As Gawain expected, Soldrin sighed with a hint of resignation: ”Adapting... it’s better than I anticipated. This land is developing faster than I expected, but the people here are lively, and the soldiers carry out their duties well. I like this atmosphere. However, you know me—I can’t stay idle.”

While speaking, the High-Ranked Ranger moved his arm slightly: ”As you can see, I’ve fully recovered and am ready for the battlefield, so I wanted to discuss whether there’s something more for me to do besides advising and instructing?”

”If you’re looking to fight, there’s no war for you in the territory right now, at least temporarily,” Gawain said, looking at Soldrin, unhurried, ”but I guess that’s not what you meant. You’re just looking for a duty that lets you stretch your legs, not stuck in the barracks all day, right?”

Soldrin smiled: ”You do understand me.”

”In fact, I do have a task for you,” Gawain said directly, without hesitation, ”You should have interacted with the current soldiers in the territory—the Cecil Combat Corps, which includes the ordinary infantry regiment and the newly-formed artillery unit. What do you think of them?”

Soldrin had been observing the Cecil Combat Corps for a while, and he promptly gave his assessment: ”A powerful frontline combat unit. Heat-ray guns and Melting Swords can combat any regular soldiers and low-ranked Transcendents, and the Magic Crystal Railgun can destroy any fortress or directly oppose middle-ranked Transcendents. If the conditions are right, the barrage from those cannons can be a deadly threat, even to high-ranked experts. But this is limited to the frontline battlefield.”

”Exactly, the frontline battlefield. It’s during direct confrontation between two armies that the Combat Corps can exert its maximum power,” Gawain nodded, ”We’ve already equipped a powerful main force with magic infantry weapons, but now I’m lacking... some special troops.”

Soldrin raised his eyebrows slightly, immediately associating his profession with Gawain’s mention of ”task for you,” prompting him to cautiously ask: ”Are you referring to... a Ranger Corps?”

”More or less,” Gawain nodded, ”An elite combat force capable of adapting to unconventional battlefield environments, skilled in infiltration, reconnaissance, and survival. When necessary, they can launch a fatal strike like a dagger on the enemy’s weak points—I need a team like that.”

As Gawain spoke, he couldn’t help but recall the ”Special Forces” from his previous life, noting some similarities between the two from a certain perspective.

However, in this world, due to the existence of Transcendent powers, the gap between ”Special Forces” and ”ordinary troops” would be even more significant.

The Ranger Corps is an elite combat unit unique to the Silver Empire, but similar special units exist in the human kingdoms as well. Some of them are also called ”Ranger Corps,” such as the rangers of the Highmountain Kingdom in the south and the Augari tribal country in the west, while others have their own names, such as Typhon’s ”Wanderer Troops” and Anzu’s ”royal shadow guard.” These units are elite combat forces cultivated by their respective kingdoms.

Although each nation has its own special forces, due to the vast continent, different combat environments, and differing traditions among the nations, the combat styles of these ”elite warriors” vary. For example, the Highmountain Kingdom rangers in the south are adept at mountain warfare, similar to the silver elves, the Augari tribal country rangers in the west excel at covert operations, the Typhon Wanderers are skilled in magic and assassination, and Anzu’s royal shadow guards are adept at sneaking in halfway with a sudden Whirlwind Slash using their Two-handed Greatswords...

All are strong (for sure).

”I thought your Intelligence Agency was your version of the ’royal shadow guard’,” Soldrin curiously said upon hearing Gawain’s request. ”I saw you train them using royal shadow guard methods—at least partially.”

”The Intelligence Agency is a specialized intelligence department, its agents are better at infiltration rather than combat,” Gawain explained. ”What I need you to train is a combat unit.”

In Gawain’s view, the military concepts of this world are in a relatively backward state. This is probably because the simple and straightforward extraordinary powers are exceedingly effective, causing people to overlook technical details in warfare. None of the kingdoms has an advanced, systemic concept of ”intelligence warfare”—even the special forces are positioned as ”exceptionally capable soldiers.” The royal shadow guards are assassins, they’re warriors, but not professional spies and intelligence warfare operatives. So, Gawain established the ”Military Security Intelligence Bureau” to fill this gap, but he hasn’t had the chance to cultivate a genuine special operation unit yet.

After a simple explanation from Gawain, Soldrin understood his old friend’s request. After briefly contemplating the current Cecil Combat Corps and artillery regiment, he remarked with a half-smile, ”The unit you want me to train, it’s not just an ordinary ’Ranger Corps,’ is it?”

”Indeed, based on the current Cecil Clan magic infantry and some new tactical thoughts, I’m asking you to train a unit that’s not just more capable than the regular army, but can handle more complex battlefield situations,” Gawain said seriously. ”For this, I can equip the unit with the most advanced armaments, allocate the richest resources, and even prepare special weaponry tailored for them—and they will become the first testers of various new weapons. You can even consult with Nicholas Egg about your equipment needs and experiment with anything that current technology can realize.”

”A unit that also has an experimental nature...” Soldrin understood Gawain’s intent, nodding slowly, ”Indeed, the magic weapons you’ve created are all new, and the popularization of each can be considered experimental. Having such a special unit to try out various new weapons is very necessary.”

”You can select the top hundred trainees from the Cecil Combat Corps for initial training. I won’t assist in drafting the training manual; I think the Silver Empire’s standard training process for rangers is excellent. According to that standard, having a third persist out of a hundred would be a success. Moreover, I will have various departments coordinate with you, including setting up an interface window at the weapon manufacturing plant and mechanical manufacturing facility at the defied Fortress,” Gawain said, flashing a slight smile, ”This unit will be called the ’Steel Cavalry Scouts.’

”Steel Cavalry Scouts...” Soldrin mumbled the peculiar yet majestic name, ”Is their role ’cavalry’ then?”

”Oh, that’s not it—I just thought the name sounded cool.”

Soldrin: ”...”

After the high-ranked Ranger Sir departed, Gawain exhaled gently.

He knew the mission he had entrusted to Soldrin was quite formidable.

He only provided a broad target and various favorable conditions but did not offer a detailed, referential plan for unit training and establishment, for the simple reason that he himself did not know how such a unit should be trained or organized.

Soldrin could only rely on his understanding and experience to form such a unit.

A unit based on the Silver Empire’s ranger training process and equipped with Cecil Clan magic weapons, with an experimental nature... Gawain couldn’t help but anticipate the final form of this unit. What kind of ”Steel Cavalry Scouts” would Soldrin eventually create?

For some reason, Gawain was somewhat worried, vaguely sensing that the final nature of this unit might turn out to be rather peculiar... but peculiar or not, considering this world even has stealth users swinging Two-handed Greatswords executing Whirlwind Slashes, what could possibly appear that would challenge common sense even more?

As he pondered, the study door was knocked on again. Gawain responded with a nod, seeing Aunt Heidi push the door open and step inside.

In her hand was a large sheet of paper, still fragrant with fresh ink.

”Ancestor,” Aunt Heidi said with a smile on her face, ”the sample copy for the first issue of the Cecil Weekly is out.”