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Chapter 23: The Legendary Platoon Commander (2)

Henry continued to cast his spell.

“Clean, Clean, Clean, Clean, Clean…”

He cast it repeatedly, until a dazzling sphere appeared above his right hand.

‘That should do it.’

He had expected to face some hostility from his new unit, but all it ended up being was having to clean an old residence. Henry decided to show that a mere clean-up job was nowhere near enough to be considered bullying.

“Activate!”

Bang!

Henry hurled the dense sphere toward the dusty floor. A huge wave of light engulfed the black mansion, creating an extraordinary scene.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Iselan, who had overslept because of his hangover, arrived at his office late.

“You’re here, Captain.”

Tini greeted him as she continued to work on his behalf.

“Yaaawn. As expected of the Flaming Whisky, it put me in a real deep sleep. That aside, what happened to Henry?”

“As you commanded, I’ve assigned him to the special task force. By now, he must have arrived and is adjusting to his new unit.”

“You guided him well without making it too obvious, right?”

“Of course. It was in line with what Henry himself wanted, so it wasn’t too difficult.”

“Is that so? Perfect. It would be nice if he could get the momentum going and solve the problem over there as well.”

“Thankfully, he gave me most of the information I needed to get things done.”

Iselan laughed. “I expected no less from you, Tini. Solomon, that bastard. He should go through some proper suffering for once so that he’ll finally come to his senses.”

“But, Captain. Did you really need to make this so cumbersome?”

“Well, it’s fun, isn’t it? And I’m curious how far our Henry will go, too.”

“I see. Ah, by the way, what request did you receive this time?”

“Request? Aah, you mean the wish?”

“Yes.”

Iselan laughed again. “That guy’s completely out of his mind. What he wished for was…”

Iselan recounted the wish that Henry asked of him. When she heard what it was, Tini’s eyes widened.

“Was that really his wish?”

“Yep. He’s definitely crazy, isn’t he?”

“Wow…”

Tini couldn’t help but be lost for words at the insane information she had just heard.

* * *

“Special task platoon has returned safely at full strength.”

“Good, you’ve all done well.”

“Can we return to the barracks?”

“No, everyone wait here. I have a place to go with your platoon.”

“Wait, did he really come here?”

“That’s right. I never thought the day would come, but the Captain really sent us a new officer.”

“Whoa, there’s gonna be a huge backlash from the platoon members, right?”

“Let’s wait and see. That’s why I’ve been roughening him up ever since he got here.”

“How, sir?”

“Do you remember the old residence at the back of the building?”

“Do you mean the one that used to be yours?”

“Yeah, it’s now being used as a warehouse. I’ve made him clean it. That’s where you guys will be staying.”

“Wow, that place is massive… as expected from you, sir.”

The stand-in platoon commander gave Solomon a thumbs up.

“It’s been a few hours since I ordered him to clean it up, so I guess it’s time we slowly go and have a look. I gave him some terrible cleaning tools to work with, so let’s see how well he’s doing.”

“I’ll gather the platoon immediately.”

The platoon commander excitedly gathered the platoon, as did the company commander. The rest of the platoon who heard the news also headed to the back of the building with the company commander, also brimming with excitement. Solomon purposely called out for Henry in a loud voice.

“Henry, are you in there?”

But he was nowhere to be seen.

‘Is he inside?’

Thinking that Henry might not have heard him, Solomon quickly walked toward the entrance of the residence and opened the door.

He expected to see Henry on the floor, covered in dust like a dirty little mouse.

Instead…

“Huh?”

The moment he opened the door, his eyes met with Henry, who was leisurely having tea in the neatly organized barracks.

“Oh? You’re here, sir.”

Far from being dusty, the residence was now spotless, and the fresh scent reminiscent of a brand-new building filled the air. Solomon was bewildered.

‘T-this can’t be!’

It was originally a rundown, dilapidated building that was on the verge of demolishment. Was it even possible for such a building to look this new again? All the platoon members, including the company commander, were stunned.

“S-sir Solomon, I’ll make my way back to my own unit.”

Even the stand-in platoon commander felt embarrassed.

Despite being dispatched from another unit, he could sense the unusual atmosphere and was in a rush to leave. Henry called after him.

“Commander, would you like a cup of tea as well? And by the way, who are those behind you?”

Looking at the surprised people behind the commander, Henry casually acted puzzled.

‘I’ve lived a longer military life than you have, kid.’

The amplified effects of Clean were outstanding. After being cast multiple times, Clean’s cumulative power was able to provide Henry with the cleanest residence in the entire unit.

That’s not even taking into account the furniture and the interior.

Henry had once lived for several decades in the imperial palace, which was known as the mecca of fashion. He was able to easily create the most beautiful residence in the fortress by tapping into his sensuous understanding of fashion.

“I couldn’t finish the work on the exterior today because I was a bit short on time. I’ll finish it up in the next few days.”

“Y-you’re going to work on the e-exterior as well?”

“It’ll just be a simple touch-up. I noticed a few run-down corners here and there.”

The exterior was still run-down compared to the beautiful interior, but that wasn’t the important thing. Solomon couldn’t understand how one man could overhaul the entire residence, not just cleaning it, but renovating the interior to this extent as well.

“Y-you! Did you really do this all by yourself?”

“It was just some simple cleaning and minor repair work. This definitely does not warrant more people to complete.”

Solomon was even more confused by Henry’s nonchalant attitude, but the results were so clear that there was nothing he could say.

“What does it matter, anyway? Are you the cleanliness inspector here?”

Solomon coughed loudly in shame at Henry’s remark. He quickly changed his plan, introducing the platoon to Henry instead.

“...Say hello. These are the members of the special task platoon in charge of missions in our company.”

“Oh, they are the platoon members. May I say hello?”

“O-of course…”

Until just a few hours ago, Solomon had treated Henry with disdain. However, perhaps due to shock, Solomon found himself unable to run his mouth any longer. Henry glanced at the platoon members lined up in front of his residence.

‘What unwelcoming eyes.’

It wasn’t just the officers who didn’t like Henry. It was common for independent units like this to be united with a sense of solidarity, almost like a family with a distrust of outsiders. However, above all else, Henry knew the real reason they didn’t like him.

‘The dead platoon commander was called Carter, right?’

It was their dead platoon commander, and the vacant position he left behind. The position that Henry took over was originally his.

Platoon Commander Carter was an elite among elites; a veteran officer who had served in the fortress for five years. Unlike the other officers who came from nobility, he had no sense of privilege or superiority, and was loved by everyone. However, tragedy struck when he was killed in the Demonic Beast Forest while out on a mission.

‘An independent company like this is usually tight-knit, with overwhelming affection for one another, like a family. Before they could even grieve and get over their former platoon commander’s death, a new platoon commander was appointed. That’s more than enough to incite a rebellion. But this is still the army. An army that should not be swayed by emotions.’

That was the fundamental mistake of this company. They were too easily swayed by emotions, and could not distinguish between personal and professional matters. This was especially the case for Solomon, who was supposed to be the most rational member of the company.

‘I have to correct these problems with my own strength. Maybe Iselan had that in mind and wanted this to happen all along.\'

At first glance, it might have seemed that Iselan had simply honored his word and allowed Henry to work here. However, no matter how much the top-ranking cadet was given in terms of choice of place to work, there would always be some sort of limitation.

In addition, this was a unit in charge of special missions, under the direct control of the Captain. There must have been a reason for appointing a new officer with insufficient experience to such a unit.

‘This time, I should prove it to them with my skills.’

Although the Captain’s intentions were obvious, the position still satisfied Henry’s conditions, so he viewed it as a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Henry stood in front of the platoon and spoke.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m the newly appointed platoon commander, Henry Morris.”

Even though they were addressed by their superior, all of the platoon members kept their mouths firmly shut.

‘What a shithole.’

This was an outright protest. However, considering that the company commander, who was the highest-ranking officer present, was behaving so poorly, this was not much of a surprise. When no one responded to Henry’s greeting, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Man… the level of discipline here is pathetic.”

There was no one here that would take Henry’s side, leaving him with few options. He pointed to the nearest platoon member.

“You.”

“Yes,” the soldier responded bluntly.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Hodin.”

“Hodin. Where is the residence that Platoon Commander Carter used to stay in?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Are subordinates supposed to question their superiors?”

“...No.”

“Where is it?”

“Over there.”

“Lead the way.”

Hodin led Henry to Carter’s residence.

Creak.

When Henry opened the door, he saw that his belongings were neatly organized. It was Carter’s legacy.

“Go ahead and return to formation.”

“Yes.”

Hodin looked at Henry suspiciously, but Hodin had to obey orders. After a while, Henry reappeared in front of the platoon members, holding a wooden box with both his hands. He put the wooden box down in front of them

“I am familiar with your situation. Everyone’s acting like this because you guys can’t forget about your former platoon commander Carter, right?”

Silence followed once more. Everyone was focused on the wooden box that Henry had brought out.

‘Foolish bastards.’

Henry knew this would happen. He had made it seem like he had brought out Carter’s old belongings on purpose, but in reality, the box was filled with useless junk.

‘This should be a real wake-up call for you fools.’

Henry took out a bottle and uncorked it.

Gurgle gurgle.

A strong smell of oil filled the air as he poured the contents of the bottle over the box.

“You’re all a sentimental bunch, it seems. If that’s the case, you should all be out singing a song of mourning. Why are you all pretending to be soldiers here?”

Henry took out a matchbox and lit one of the matches.

Chk!

The platoon members looked on in shock, each thinking the same thing.

‘No way.’

“No one moves even a single step. That is an order.”

He threw the lit match at the box without hesitation.

Whoosh!

The oil erupted in flame, engulfing the box instantly. The platoon members’ eyes went bloodshot. This was the final trigger.

“What are you doing!?”

A platoon member lined up in the back row couldn’t hold back any longer. He ran forward, took off his shirt, and tried to put out the fire with it.

However, a single garment wasn’t enough to subdue the oil-fueled flame. Henry looked at the platoon member with a cold gaze.

Whoooosh!

“Noooo!”

Eventually, the shirt caught fire too. It was a cruel sacrifice that nobody could stop.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The unnamed platoon member screamed helplessly as he watched the relics of his former commander’s legacy burn. He glared at Henry with tears in his eyes.

“How… how could you do this?!”

“You’re mad.”

The man seemed to have lost his mind. The rest of the platoon members belatedly came forward and tried to calm him.

“Leave him,” said Henry.

“B-but!”

“I said leave him. And I’m certain I told everyone not to move even a single step, so what the hell are you doing right now?”

The situation grew increasingly tense. However, despite the tense atmosphere, Henry casually continued to speak as he took off his shirt.

“You are all angry, I see it in your eyes. Looks like things are going to boil over. So let’s disregard our ranks for now and settle this.”

“What are you doing right now?” Solomon screamed.

“It’s alright, sir,” Henry responded coldly.

“What?”

“This is just a precautionary measure to prevent my subordinates from causing a catastrophe.”

At Henry’s calm response, the platoon member, who was weeping with his teeth clenched, replied hoarsely.

“What you’ve just said to us… Please honor it.”

Henry scoffed. “What a troublesome lad you are. Come at me then.”

At that moment, the platoon member flew toward Henry like an arrow.