“All forces are ready!”

Corporal Jeon Gwangil looked confident.

Beside him stood Corporal Seo Suhyeok, watching the soldiers with a stern expression.

I looked at the Legion members they had brought.

“These are the ones we handpicked from among our unit members.”

Corporal Jeon Gwangil grinned.

A smile full of confidence.

“To be honest, even if we were dropped into the middle of hell, we could protect at least one Sergeant Shin.”

He was right.

There are a lot of soldiers from the 423rd Battalion, too.

There was an enormous number of soldiers.

And every single one of them was fairly skilled.

It was not just soldiers, either.

Armored cars and tanks modified or directly developed by the Legion members were lined up as well.

“...Are we going to war somewhere?”

“Come on. This much is what makes you feel secure.”

Literally.

The force the two corporals had brought.

Was a large army on a scale that would not have looked strange even if we were heading to war.

Looking at them, I thought.

Most ordinary problems could be solved with Ariella’s royal guard and Jeong Sua’s escort alone.

But Ariella’s combat power still had the weakness of being vulnerable under the sun.

I had promised to resolve it someday, but it was not a weakness I could solve right away.

In the fight against Luca, that weakness actually got exploited, and we had a rough time because of it.

That was why I had decided to bring the unit members as well.

It did feel a little excessive.

But as Gwangil said.

This should be enough.

Even if we were dropped into the middle of where reasonably powerful enemies were lurking.

With this much force, escaping at least did not seem too difficult.

Even if something happened to me.

It was a large unit with enough numbers and quality to rescue one person no matter what.

“Then let’s move out.”

“Yes, sir. Everyone, begin moving!”

With that force.

I boarded a vehicle as well and began moving toward the Church’s territory.

Just as we were about to enter the Church’s territory.

“Ah.”

“Mm? What is it?”

Suddenly.

At a thought that surfaced in my head, I looked at Gwangil and opened my mouth.

“Gwangil.”

“Yes, sir. Corporal Jeon Gwangil.”

“You know.”

It might not really be anything important.

But once things got busy, I might not get another good chance to say it.

“...Use your left hand more.”

“...Sir?”

This.

I decided to tell him in advance.

***

“Uh... my left hand, sir?”

I looked at him as he tilted his head.

No, to be exact.

I “looked up at him, raising my head so far my neck hurt,” as he tilted his head.

How does this kid keep getting bigger as time goes on?

Among the advice Mirinae had given me.

There had been something I was supposed to pass on to the big guy.

—Tell him to use his left hand more.

There was a high chance it meant this guy.

“Uh... is there something I’m lacking in?”

When I stared blankly up at him.

He asked, seeming flustered.

“If there is, please tell me. I’ll correct it as much as I can...”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I just think it would be good for you to use your left hand more.”

“Uh... then, in what sense do you mean my left hand, sir? When commanding soldiers? Or when fighting?”

“...You think about that yourself.”

“Sir?”

He seemed bewildered by the advice that had come completely out of nowhere.

Honestly, even to me, it sounded like nonsense.

But there was nothing I could do about that.

How am I supposed to explain it when I don’t know either?

I needed to know something to explain it.

I had been told to say those words.

But Mirinae had not given me any further explanation.

“Ahem.”

But still.

If I said I had told him something without knowing what it meant myself, things would only get more complicated.

“That is as much advice as I can give you.”

“Sir? But...”

“And... how you accept it is up to you.”

I decided to use the secret technique I had loved since my private first class days.

“Vaguely glossing over it and moving on.”

“What you realize from my advice, and how you correct yourself from there. That is something you have to think through and resolve on your own.”

“...!”

“You may not understand what it means right now... but once you do, I’m sure it will help you.”

Then.

What sort of enlightenment did he gain from those words of mine?

“You have to think it through yourself...”

His mouth hung slightly open.

And he repeated what I had said.

“Left hand... left hand...”

He.

Closed his eyes for a moment and muttered that.

Then.

“...I think I understand a little what you meant by that.”

“...You do?”

“Yes, sir. It’s true. Only if I think it through and realize it myself can that realization truly become mine... I’ll think hard about it. Thank you for the advice.”

He soon said that.

...I guess that worked?

I did not know what it meant either.

But for now, it was advice Mirinae had given.

It was something I threw out without much thought, but once he actually understands it, I suppose it’ll help him somehow. Probably.

And.

As I looked out the window, thinking that.

Before long.

“...More of you came than I expected.”

The unit members and I.

Arrived in the Church’s territory.

***

“More of you came than I expected.”

The Church’s territory was not far away.

To begin with, we had been in a situation where we were facing each other down at the border between our territories.

The place where large forces had been confronting each other until just recently.

In that empty space, there were people who had come out to greet us, as if they had been waiting.

“I don’t recall hearing there was any limit on Sergeant Shin’s escort force.”

Looking at them.

Corporal Jeon Gwangil and Corporal Seo Suhyeok, who were commanding the troops, opened their mouths.

“We came here to fulfill your demand, so I hope you can tolerate this much.”

“Hmm.”

A force large enough that, if one wrong move was made, a war could break out right then and there.

The priests who saw that force looked a little concerned, but.

“Understood. We are the ones who made an unreasonable request, so I suppose there is no helping it.”

That lasted only a moment.

Soon, they nodded more easily than expected.

“Then please come this way.”

Despite the number of troops we had brought.

They began guiding us into their territory without any particular restraint.

...Can we really trust them?

No matter how confident they were in their own abilities.

If they were considering an armed clash, there was no way they could remain that calm after seeing a force this large.

Maybe.

They really did want a peaceful solution without any armed conflict.

“...I don’t see the people I saw back then. Priest Lee Haein or Cardinal Jeong Suhwan.”

“Ah, my apologies. The two of them are currently busy preparing the coronation, so they could not come out to greet you. I have come to welcome you all in their place.”

At those words.

I looked at the man guiding us.

“You look familiar too.”

“Ah. That makes sense. I was also at the meeting venue then. And in Seoul as well.”

As he said.

Maybe because I had seen him often in Seoul, his face was familiar.

No, actually, there was another reason his face was familiar.

[Lv.34 Anthony David Parker]

Because even at a glance.

His face did not look Korean.

“Please call me Tony, or David.”

“...Priest David?”

“Yes. I do have a separate official position within the Church, but for now, that should be fine.”

He had a tall build comparable to Gwangil’s and dark skin.

“I was originally an English teacher who had lived in Britain, but somehow I ended up becoming a priest.”

In truth, it was not an especially unusual case.

Gangwon Province, where the Legion had settled, had not had a high proportion of foreigners.

But in Gyeonggi Province, there had been quite a few awakened who looked like foreigners.

This man was one of them.

In any case.

Judging by his level, it did not seem they had looked down on us and sent just anyone.

I quietly turned my head here and there, examining the surroundings.

If something happens, I should at least know an escape route.

In Seoul, Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok had used a skill to find us an escape route.

But now, he was in a situation where he could not come out of the vimana.

In case something happened, I needed to learn the surrounding geography myself.

And while I was looking around like that, I realized one thing and muttered blankly with my mouth open.

“This is pretty different from the Legion.”

“Ah. The other soldiers who came to support us said the same thing.”

In Chuncheon, the Legion’s base, countless buildings of ours had been constructed.

But the Legion, whatever else it might be, was an organization rooted in the military.

Because of that.

Most of the facilities built by the soldiers were thoroughly oriented toward practical combat.

The buildings raised in Chuncheon were also fairly static and rigid in appearance.

Chuncheon and the other base cities were certainly livable cities.

But that was only in the sense that they were “advantageous for survival.”

They could not, even as empty flattery, be called cities that made you feel like life was worth living.

On the other hand.

“That building is...?”

“It is an art museum.”

This place was a little different.

“We exhibit the surviving works among the contents of destroyed art museums from the surrounding area, as well as works by members of the Church who had been involved in the art world.”

“Ah...”

“Some of them are works made by awakened, so there are also items that grant buffs simply by looking at them.”

A beautiful structure made with transparent glass windows.

A building with a modern and artistic appearance.

Something I had never expected to see again in this ruin.

“...Then what about over there? It looks like a fairly large area is being left uselessly idle.”

“Haha. That is an interesting way to put it. It is not an area being left uselessly idle... it is a park.”

“A park?”

“Yes. Besides that place, there are about three more ecological parks where we have created environments.”

Wide lawns.

Trees lined with beautiful blooming flowers.

Fairly large parks.

“Then that place is...?”

“It is a public library and community center. Around this time, there should be a reading club meeting.”

“...Then that pretty building?”

“Ah. You mean the psychological counseling center. It is also connected to the nearby hospital facilities... Thank you for calling it pretty. Our congregation will be pleased.”

After hearing that.

I thought blankly, my mouth hanging open in disbelief.

What the hell? There are nothing but facilities that look like they have nothing to do with overcoming the apocalypse.

They had said this force was comparable to the Legion.

So I had naturally thought the inside would be full of military facilities like the Legion’s.

But what was this?

The outskirts certainly had plenty of those facilities.

But the inside was filled with facilities one would expect to see in a documentary about a welfare state.

It’s not that the Legion is strange... probably.

Gyeonggi Province and China had been the same.

Most forces had only facilities essential for survival, and not a single one had built something like a park.

“...Using resources and manpower on facilities like that in an age where everyone is struggling just to survive.”

I let out a hollow laugh and muttered.

“What is this? Are they meant to show off that you have that much surplus?”

“Haha. That is an interesting thing to say.”

At my words.

David seemed to take what I said as a joke, and laughed lightly as he spoke.

“Well. I do think we are not a small force, but unfortunately, we are not overflowing with surplus.”

“Then why?”

At those words.

The man guiding us stopped walking for a moment.

Then.

“As you said.”

He spoke with a bitter smile.

“They are things we built because we were struggling just to survive.”

And.

Only after hearing what followed.

“It is an age with many wounded people, is it not?”

“...Ah.”

“I found that in order to survive, the wounds of the body are not the only things that must be managed.”

Could I understand why those facilities existed.