Book 1-5.4 Punishment
One month into Monster Subjugation.
“Personnel report. Total squad members, twelve. Current members, twelve. No injuries.”
It was one of the two times they all gathered together and all of the Red Storm warriors were in formation outside the paoe. Each squad leader was submitting their personnel report to Yulian.
Since it was a dangerous place and each squad was in fierce competition with each other, it was important to get these reports.
“Personnel report. Total squad members, twelve. Current members, twelve. Two injured.”
Thrint frowned as he made his report.
“Two injured?”
Not only Yulian, but the other three squad leaders were surprised as they looked towards Thrint. If it was any other squad, maybe. But the squad led by the cold block of ice of a squad leader was where there were injuries? This was definitely surprising.
It’s probably the case most of the time, but the speciality of any team would change depending on the leader, and Red Storm was no exception.
The personalities of the squads were changing based on the squad leader’s personality.
All of Haisha’s squad became calm and paid attention to detail like Haisha and had been collecting a continuous stream of Monster’s Souls throughout the month.
In the case of Triquel’s squad, as if they were impacted by Triquel’s severe mood swings that had its major ups and downs, the warriors of the squad caught monsters whenever they felt like it. So some days they had more than other squads while other days they came back with miserable amounts.
Shubeon’s squad was paying attention to other squads and collecting Monster’s Souls separately without bringing them back so nobody knew where they stood in comparison, but Shubeon’s squad was definitely one of the top contenders.
He was the type to move and hunt efficiently.
And in the case of Thrint’s squad where they had two injured today, they hunted frequently like Haisha’s squad, but the atmosphere was different.
They were focused on the order but also easily fascinated by many things. On the days they were stimulated, they collected Monster’s Souls at extreme speeds.
They were the squad who were showing the mentality of an ideal squad. Of course that meant that they were treasuring their own bodies since that was Yulian’s order. But it was from this squad that there were injured warriors.
As everybody stared at him, Thrint ripped the clothing off from his leg. Underneath the clothing was his thigh which had a giant black bruise.
“What happened?”
“We were not trying to go against your order. However, all of us determined that we would be able to catch it safely, and all of the warriors agreed.”
“You ran into a Sand Dragon.”
Haisha spoke from the side as if he could tell what happened.
Thrint lowered his head at the fact that he went against Yulian’s order.
“So did you catch it?”
Yulian asked in a cold tone.
“Yes, we caught it. Other than the fact that Kiana and I received some minor injuries, it was perfect.”
“Perfect would have been avoiding the Sand Dragon. Did I not say that injuries are not permitted?! What is the point of this training if even one person loses their lives for a mere Sand Dragon?!”
At Yulian’s continued scolding, Thrint raised his head.
“We came here to develop our senses for battle. I believed that we need to face a certain degree of danger to develop it.”
“That is your thought, my thought is that I came here so that nobody would die in war. But to die like a dog here, don’t you think it would be unfair?!”
“We would have been able to catch it perfectly without any injuries if we had not made a small mistake in the middle.”
“Thrint!”
As Yulian’s expression became angrier, Haisha shouted out loud.
“No matter what, there is no excuse for going against an order. I thought you of all people would know this best. What the hell are you doing?!”
Thrint lowered his head again at Haisha’s shouting. He knew Haisha was right.
No matter the reason, something that should never happen in a brigade was going against the command of a superior officer. (TL: Really funny because of what happens in the manhwa)
“This is your new order. For the sin of going against the order, you will be in charge of watching the paoe until the end of training. Since all of the warriors in your squad went against the order of me, the Commanding Officer, for three days, they will be protecting the paoe instead of hunting monsters.”
As Yulian’s cold voice rang out, the warriors of Thrint’s squad all lowered their heads.
“Yulian-nim, it was my decision. Since I was the squad leader, they all just followed along with what I said. Please reconsider.”
Thrint yelled out to Yulian, thinking that his squad members will end up in last place from the training because of his decision.
“Denied. In this situation where everybody knew what my order was, that excuse is not enough to forgive them. I want all of you to consider whether your life is only worth one Sand Dragon and reflect.”
Nobody could speak on their behalf. It was a closed and shut case where Thrint’s warriors were in the wrong.
“The other squads are free to do what they would like. Since you all saw what happened here today, I will not speak on it anymore. Each of you think about it and act appropriately.”
As none of the warriors responded, Yulian opened his mouth again.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
As Yulian turned around and went into the paoe, each squad’s warriors looked at Thrint and his squad members before walking away.
“I….I’m sorry.”
Once only Thrint and his squad members were left, Thrint finally spoke.
It was all because of his own competitiveness. They would have been able to avoid it, and even though some of the warriors tried to convince him out of it, he distributed tasks to each member and attacked it.
“Thrint, it is not just your fault. We were all greedy. That’s why we followed you. If your plan did not make any sense, we would have been against it. We should be the ones who are sorry as you were the only one who received a significant punishment.”
As one of the warriors started to console Thrint, another one started to speak.
“This three day punishment, and for your sake as well, we will work hard to make sure that we do not end up with the worst score.”
“Don’t make that type of face. It is not like you. I can’t come to like your stoic expression, but when you have a frown like that, it’s starting to make me afraid.”
As one warrior tried to lighten the mood, the warriors all started to laugh loudly to push past their sorrows.
“That’s true, Thrint definitely has a face you can’t seem to come to like.”
“When I first saw him, I wondered why there was a monster among us. What do they call that monster that roams around in the caves out in the wilderness? Right! Trolls! I thought he was a troll!”
As one person after another started to make some funny jokes, it looked like the frown on Thrint’s face started to lessen a bit as well.
Suddenly, all of the warriors who were laughing shut their mouths. Yulian had come back out of the paoe.
“Did everybody else leave?”
The warriors responded to Yulian’s question.
“Yes, the other squads have all left, and Yulian-nim, the warriors of your squad should be waiting for you to leave.”
After nodding his head, Yulian looked at Thrint and the warriors who were standing with their heads pointing down before speaking.
“I hope that you do not think that the punishment is too severe. Thankfully, this time it ended up with just a few light injuries, but I get goosebumps just thinking about the what-ifs and if one of you ended up dying. Aren’t we all headed towards the same direction with the same dream? Don’t even think about dying a dog’s death before even seeing a little bit of our dreams come true. Today, all of you set the example, so please understand where I am coming from.”
None of the warriors could lift their heads after hearing about just how much Yulian cared about them.
“Phew, protecting the paoe is also one of the missions. Pretend that you are protecting an Oasis and do your best.”
Yulian let out a short sigh as if he did not feel good about pushing them into a corner and started to head towards the warriors waiting for him.
Once Yulian disappeared, Thrint spoke to his warriors.
“I will say it one last time. I’m sorry. However, I hate being last. I hope you all push forward as best as you can.”
The warriors all knew just how strong Thrint’s pride was and knew it took a lot of courage for Thrint to say what he just said. As such, they all smiled widely and consoled each other.