Chapter 792: Everything I Have Is Here

Selaser nods. "Of course. As you said, Grand Marshal, this is a crisis for all humanity."

"Peace Haven wants more territory, but we want territory where humans still live."

"People matter just as much to us as land."

"We won't stand by while humanity suffers devastating losses and nonhumans seize our lands."

"Rest assured, Grand Marshal. The moment our research produces something that can be put to use, you'll be the first to know."

Clifford cuts him off with a raised hand. "I haven't finished. You can take the boy, but I have one more condition."

"I'll reinforce Pearl City with a legion. That entire force, including Pearl City's defenders, will answer to the hunting force officers stranded there."

Selaser frowns. "You want to use our officers to build your army. You want my officers to forge your soldiers into a true fighting force!"

Clifford does not deny it. "Exactly. I need an elite force that can fight the Subterranean River Bandits."

"It will be a mobile force, ready to stamp out crises wherever they appear."

"Peace Haven must send a second officer corps of the same size to take command of another legion I'll transfer here."

Selaser protests, "Grand Marshal, that's too much! The hunting force in Pearl City already contains nearly half the officers of my Eighth Legion!"

"Now you want another officer corps? You're asking to borrow far too many. It would cripple our combat strength. I can't agree."

"If you value my officers this highly, you must know how hard they were to train."

"They're the core of an army. They don't grow on trees. Where am I supposed to find so many officers for you?"

Clifford spreads his hands. "That's Peace Haven's problem."

"I'll even take officers fresh out of the Military Academy!"

Selaser is speechless. Clifford knows perfectly well that Peace Haven would never send fresh graduates.

Dangerous assignments like this always go to experienced officers.

After a while, Selaser sighs. "I'll do my best, but the total force won't exceed five hundred, with no more than two hundred officers!"

"Deal!"

Selaser clicks his tongue. "Grand Marshal, you're sounding more like a politician by the minute. You've certainly mastered the trick of asking for more and settling for less."

"Didn't you say you devoted yourself to the nation and fought this war for humanity, unlike those vermin?"

Clifford laughs. "Heh. I'm fighting for my nation's interests and for victory in this war!"

"Besides, I never said I wasn't one of those vermin. I'm the most cunning and greedy one of all!"

Selaser ignores the joke. "Grand Marshal, you know our army trains differently."

"Our weapons and equipment are different too."

"I want the equipment for the two legions in our next trade agreement issued first to the legions commanded by our officers."

Clifford replies, "That equipment was always meant for these two mobile legions!"

"But let me be clear. Your people can't return until the legions meet my standards!"

Selaser raises one finger. "One year. I guarantee we'll forge the legions you want, but casualties won't be light. Prepare for that."

"We'll also assign two medical teams to them. Those teams are our real treasures."

"Protect them, Grand Marshal. Even if the battle turns against you and you have to retreat, the medical teams must be evacuated first."

Clifford beams. "Rest assured. I'll place members of my own guard under direct orders to protect them."

"They'll answer only to me. No other officer or noble will have the authority to command them."

Peace Haven may not offer the finest medical care on the continent, but no one can match its battlefield medicine.

Two medical teams can reduce the death and disability rate by at least twenty percent.

Selaser is not sending them for Lumir's sake.

First, Peace Haven needs experience treating wounds inflicted by the Subterranean River Bandits, and it needs that experience quickly.

Second, the teams will help keep the officer corps alive.

Peace Haven cannot afford to lose these people. Tuge's group alone could fill every officer post in a reserve legion.

As Selaser prepares to leave, Clifford asks, "Do you really intend to spend the rest of your life in Peace Haven?"

Selaser laughs. "What's this? Are you hoping to recruit me, Grand Marshal?"

Clifford shakes his head. "Of course not. You're a member of the MacLeod family."

"Your mentor is Sir Gunter, commander of Lady Melissa's guard."

"Your father is Count MacLeod. You may be the second heir,"

"but no one would deny your right to return and inherit the title now."

"You're Lady Melissa's elder cousin and only two years older than Henwell. You're just forty-two, aren't you?"

"An Iron Knight at forty-two, and an outstanding legion-level commander."

"The moment you return to Eastern Mist City, you'll become its chief military officer."

"Do you really mean to stay in Peace Haven forever and give up both your title and your noble status?"

Selaser smiles. "I'm not young anymore. Twenty years ago, the chance to return home in glory would've thrilled me."

"Ten years ago, I might've been tempted. I might've hesitated over which future to choose."

"But I'm forty-two now, and I've spent nearly twenty years in Peace Haven."

"I began as one of Lady Melissa's guards, then joined the Lord Iron Guards. From there, I became a battalion officer in a legion. Now I command the Eighth Legion."

"I earned every step through my own ability. I never relied on connections."

"I married and started a family in Peace Haven. I didn't accept a political marriage like other nobles. I found someone I loved and married her."

"We have three children. Every one of them is exceptional, far better than I am."

"The woman I love is in Peace Haven. So are the work that fills me with pride, my home, and the future I look forward to!"

"Grand Marshal."

"People sing my praises now, but I know Peace Haven made me the man I am."

"It took the second son of a noble family and forged him, step by step, into the celebrated talent you see today!"

"If I leave Peace Haven, I'm nothing!"

"More importantly, the finest soldiers in the world are here!"

"You and I are soldiers. Commanding one of the finest armies in the world is our lifelong ambition!"

"What would you choose in my place, Grand Marshal?"

Clifford gives a bitter laugh. "Henwell... What a formidable man."

"He's gathered so many of the world's finest talents beneath his banner and bound them all to his command!"

Selaser corrects him. "No. That isn't what makes my lord formidable."

"His greatest feat is taking ordinary people like us and forging us, step by step, into what we are today."

"We don't serve my lord for wealth or status. We serve him for the future we yearn for!"

"A future no one ever imagined. A future no one else dared to imagine!"

"That is why we fight for Peace Haven!"

"Our home is here. Our dreams are here. Our future is here!"

"And for that, we're willing to sacrifice everything!"