On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human-Chapter 288 The Puppeteer (3)
Bam!
"Kahak!"
As I sink my knee into the solar plexus of the closest soldier, I observe how the Warriors behind behave. The Warriors in the troop are Fifth Wing Warriors, Sixth Wing Warriors, and Seventh Wing Warriors, which means a lot of them are seniors in the Demon King's Army.
In the Demon King's Army custom, the seniors watch as the juniors gain experience. They won't intervene as long as 70% of their juniors can still fight. Being used to it, the Warriors do the same to the human soldiers. They watch as the soldiers fight and only help after a lot of them fall.
The problem with this is that the soldiers are not Cursed Creations. They are not born killing machines, so they fall more easily. What happens as the result is the Warriors have to quickly back them up to prevent more losses. This causes the Warriors to sacrifice themselves because the human soldiers often find themselves in a situation that they never can handle.
Leaving them behind is also not a good choice for the Warriors. Most of the soldiers, especially the stronger ones, find themselves facing an opponent they can't defeat. Should the Warriors abandon these stupid people, the army will be guaranteed a defeat. It is a tough situation for the Warriors since they only have one choice.
By the end of the day, most Warriors survive. Still, this is not something that I can let become a custom. The human soldiers are becoming reliant on the Warriors. They have a higher chance to commit fuck-ups despite using their brains more often. My fellow Warriors are not there to clean up their shit, so it has to change.
Clank!
By the time I realized it, everyone is already on the ground. Velucan and Lemius look at me as if asking if there is a need to be so harsh on them, prompting me to immediately release the soldier I am lifting by his neck.
My body went on autopilot as I thought to myself. I forgot to adjust my strength, so I indeed went a bit harsh on them. Sighing to myself, I look at everyone's state. Since I focused on ruining the formation, everyone was confused. That caused the Warriors to go after me instead of protecting the soldiers.
Because of that, very few Warriors suffer from broken bones, which is what I consider dead in real battle. As I expected, the Warriors fight better once they don't have to worry about the soldiers. The soldiers, on the other hand, were too afraid to fight, knowing that the Warriors might not help them. Their hesitation caused them to get broken bones.
"Can you stand up?" I ask sternly.
"Y-Yes, Milord!" Although some of them are too busy wincing in pain, the answer still comes loud and clear.
"I have seen what makes you weaker." I gaze over the Warriors. "You are not working together. You are relying on powerful individuals, hoping they will save your asses when you do something stupid."
Knowing what I mean, the soldiers lower their heads.
"Warriors! What have you learned from General Velucan and General Lemius for the past three months?"
"Formation will raise our chance of winning, Commander!" one of the Warriors answers.
"Do you know what a formation is?"
"Yes, we know, Commander," all of the Warriors answer boisterously.
"Then, why didn't you stick to your formation?"
They open their mouth but say nothing eventually. That is the moment when they realize what they have been doing. They have never been part of the formation. They don't treat themselves as such. They think of themselves as the good seniors who will fix their juniors'—the soldiers'—fuck-ups. They have never cooperated with the soldiers.
"Those who need medical attention may leave the training ground." I wave my hand lightly. Don't forget to return once you are healed because General Velucan and General Lemius will have a lot to teach you."
"Yes, Commander!"
With this, three-quarters of the soldiers leave the training ground. Some of them walk on their own, meanwhile, some are carried by those who can carry them because their spine is broken. All of the Warriors stay. They are used to getting broken bones. Besides, they also have a high regeneration rate.
As for the soldiers who stay, all of them are elite Weapon Masters who, at some point, were Antares' Royal Knights. They are used to pain, so they don't think they need to go to the infirmary just because they have broken bones.
As I look at them one by one, they lower their head in shame. It slightly amuses me since I feel like a teacher punishing the delinquent in his class.
Turning my gaze away from them, I look at Velucan and Lemius. Without me motioning for them to come or saying anything, they come on their own. The scene slightly surprises me. They did it naturally as if they thought it was a normal thing to do. I almost think my charisma is the reason, but I remind myself that I am a Commander that Ilschevar assigned to lead them.
"It is good integrating the Warriors into the human troops, but I think you should stop doing that," I say with a small voice, so none but the two Generals can hear me. "The way they fight is too different. You can never reach harmony with how things are going."
"If that is the case, Commander, we can't call the soldiers part of the Demon King's Army. They will fight like an army, unrelated to us, who coincidentally fight on the same battlefield," Lemius retorts. "The current situation should not be encouraged, but I think we just need a little tweak to make it work."
"What is it?" I ask, knowing the answer.
"Make the Warriors stronger."
"Everyone has to get strong together. They should fight side by side, not rely on the stronger ones. I know you think of the soldiers as your juniors, but your juniors can't remain juniors. They need to spread their wings and fly one day. Doing that will only make them forget they have wings."
Finding himself agreeing with my rebuttal, Lemius nods his head with a frown. He thinks hard, probably about the best thing to do about the situation.
"When I said that you should stop integrating the Warriors into the human troops, I mean you have to stop making our Warriors fight like human soldiers. Doing the opposite is also not advised because it won't work."
I can see a question mark above Lemius' head, so I immediately explain what I mean.
"Let's do what Decima does with her troop. Group your troops based on the way they fight. Chaotic human soldiers should group with the Warriors and tame Warriors should group with the human soldiers. It will do wonder."
Lemius widens his eyes. "I know Decima is a bright Warrior but I didn't expect her to be bright enough to come up with this. I am ast—you came up with this method, didn't you, Commander?"
Quirking my eyebrow, I ask, "Why are you so sure?"
"I have been her colleague for half a century. I know that she is bad at judging people's character."
Shrugging lightly, I say, "Fair enough." Gesturing at the soldiers and the Warriors, I continue, "It is time for you to manage your troops. They need to be comfortable with you, not me." waving my hand lightly as I leave with Millonia, I stop in my tracks when I recall something. "Oh, here is a quick tip. Let the lone wolves fight by themselves."
I turn my attention to Millonia right after that and walk to the next place she wants to bring me to. I can tell that Velucan, Lemius, and everyone bow at me as I walk away; so, I wave my hand lightly. I don't think I said something so amazing that I deserve their deep thanks. It is quite absurd, even, but I still appreciate their feelings.
Millonia takes me to the laundry afterward. She tells me that everyone in the laundry works extremely hard, so I need to thank them.
I thought they didn't have a lot of work since I wash my clothes by myself; but, turns out, the clothes that the patients of the infirmary wear are also taken care of by them. Considering how many people enter that place in a day, they do have to work hard. 𝙛𝑟𝑒e𝘸𝑒𝗯𝘯𝗼𝘃el.𝒄𝒐m
When I arrive at the laundry, I watch the maids vigorously wash the clothes. When the clothes are ready to dry, they are given to the maids whose job is to dry clothes. I watch as these maids wring the clothes, flap them, and then hang them on the wire. Each of them is focused on their job, so none of them notices me.
"Good job, everyone. I will raise your pay," I remark, attracting the attention of the maids.
"Greetings, Lord Layland," they say in unison.
"Don't mind me." I wave my hand.
We are forced to leave the laundry quickly since the maids can't focus on their job after they registered my presence. Millonia chastises me for that, saying that I didn't have to say anything despite being the one who encouraged me to do that.
The next place we visit is the toilets that I built for the soldiers who train in the palace's complex. It seems hygiene is not everyone's strong suit, so the toilets are quite nasty. I feel slightly bad for the maids, so I decided to raise their pay. I didn't say that out loud, but the maids still manage to locate me.
Seeing how good the maids are at spotting me, Millonia just gives up and decided to take me outside. Before we get to leave the palace's complex, though, I finally get the call I have been waiting for.
