The Gray Fortress command was the rearmost area of the northern magical beast front. Therefore, service here was considered relatively safe. Compared to the front-line units, the mortality rate was significantly lower.
However, this was not true for every unit. The search parties' missions were known to be more grueling than those at the front. The geographical advantage of being closest to the south had become a poison.
The area around the Gray Fortress teemed with the most troublesome elements, such as barbarians, deserters, and heretical cults. Amidst this, a rumor spread that one of the search parties had pulled off something big. In the worst possible situation, with too much work and too little support, they had performed a sort of miracle.
A soldier standing guard on a watchtower opened his mouth.
“Hey, did you hear that rumor? They say those Guides of the Lantern bastards were all caught in a single day.”
Shiver, shiver.
Though they trembled in the biting wind, they did not stop chatting.
“I heard. Sarah’s squad, the Great Mage sir, and some fellow named Wallowitz.”
It was because they felt their lips would freeze if they stopped talking.
“A Great Mage…? Don’t tell me it’s Sir Valerius?”
“That’s right. I hear he’s still out there beyond the front lines, cleaning up the rest of them.”
“Wow… insane. So he comes to the north from time to time. Maybe our workload will lighten up a bit now.”
“Dream on, you idiot.”
Just then, another soldier coming up for the shift change clicked his tongue after hearing their conversation.
“Tsk, tsk, you guys don’t know anything, you amateurs.”
“Huh? What nonsense are you spouting?”
“The really important one isn’t Sir Valerius. It’s Mr. Wallowitz.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Howard Wallowitz. I heard he single-handedly took down a Giant Ice Wyrm and dealt with the High Priest of the ‘Guides of the Lantern’.”
“Nah. That’s bullshit.”
He remembered seeing ‘Howard Wallowitz’ on his way here and there. A skinny young man with black hair. With a body like that, one bad rebound would leave him crippled.
In other words, he would be completely useless in a real fight.
He continued.
“Isn’t that just an exaggerated rumor?”
“It’s true. I heard it from the combat mages under Sarah-nim.”
The soldier lowered his voice and added.
“And there’s one more rumor, should I tell you or not?”
“…What is it?”
“That Mr. Wallowitz… apparently wrote some incredible book.”
Lloyd, the leader of Search Squad 3, recalled yesterday’s events as he walked through the training grounds.
‘How… how did they do it?’
The Giant Ice Wyrm was undoubtedly a tricky magical beast. So tricky, in fact, that it had earned Lloyd his position as squad leader. …Which meant that the previous leader of Lloyd’s squad had died because of a wyrm.
‘How did Sarah’s squad alone….’
He knew well that Sarah’s squad was full of battle-crazed lunatics. Still, this was an impossible casualty ratio.
‘To fend it off without any losses, before our squad even arrived…’
He wondered if some momentous change had occurred.
‘Could it be that Sarah has reached the doctoral-level?’
If that was the case, he needed to get in line with her as quickly as possible. Lloyd decided to first observe the members of Sarah’s squad. They were gathered in a corner of the training grounds, whispering among themselves.
Lloyd carefully approached them and listened in.
“So, according to the logic of this [Field Manual], we can overhaul other spells by splitting them into ‘loading’ and ‘firing’, right?”
“How would you do that? You’d need to know the exact structure to fill in the gaps. You… do you know how?”
“No.” “Argh, this bastard, seriously!”
Lloyd cut into their conversation.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Gasp… Squad Leader Lloyd.”
The squad members, startled, saluted him. Lloyd spoke to them.
“What are you all talking about so excitedly?”
They exchanged glances and whispered.
“This… should we tell him?”
“Isaac… no, Mr. Howard said it was fine, so maybe?”
In the end, Lloyd heard from them about the [Combat Mage Field Manual]. Lloyd said, “So, that ‘Howard Wallowitz’ wrote it himself? The one who crushed the ‘Guides of the Lantern’?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How strange…”
Usually, those who excelled in practical combat were weak in theory. But to be exceptional in both. Lloyd said, “That manual… can I take a look at what it’s about?”
“Yes, sir.”
Lloyd took the manual and slowly turned the pages.
‘…This is absurd.’
Loading and firing. Did he think magic was some kind of bronze cannon? Lloyd examined the [Field Manual] with a critical eye.
Meaning, he turned the pages with a cynical posture. A moment of silence followed. Sarah’s squad members couldn’t hold back and asked.
“Isaac’s… no, Mr. Howard’s idea. What do you think? It’s killer, right?”
Lloyd was now reading the manual in a proper posture.
Lloyd replied.
“…Is this for real?”
“Yes. We caught that ‘Giant Ice Wyrm’ yesterday by following what’s written here.”
“For real? Even if you had to delay your discharge by 100 days if you were wrong?”
“Yes! I’m telling you it’s true!”
Despite the freezing northern weather, a cold sweat trickled down his back. He had no choice but to believe it.
‘If this technique were distributed to all combat mages…’
The nature of the search parties’ combat would completely change. This was an innovation in unconventional warfare. Lloyd spoke to the two squad members.
“This… can I borrow it for a while to make a copy?”
A few days later, at a tavern in the Gray Fortress. Off-duty combat mages were gathered, chatting.
“No. That [Field Manual], I’m telling you it’s perfectly viable in a real fight! Our squad took down an Ice Troll with just four of us using it!”
A fortress guard scoffed at the search party member’s words.
“Please, stop talking nonsense. Do you think it’s some kind of omnipotent theory on the level of the [Principia]?”
At his comrade’s words, the mage who had been extolling the manual’s power fell silent.
‘To bring up that person’s name here…’
While stationed on the northern front, one heard the name ‘Upperhills’ very often. That was because every time the front line was pushed back, tens, even hundreds of ‘Upperhillses’ were created. Because of this, most combat mages held a strange sense of debt and sympathy for the name ‘Upperhills’.
And in the midst of that, ‘Isaac Upperhills’ had appeared like a rising star, a hero of the Magic Tower and the capital. At this point, it would be stranger not to be ecstatic. Some followers went so far as to claim that the true name of the ‘Sea-King Planet’ was the ‘Upperhills Planet’.
This was despite the fact that the name ‘Neptune’ itself was the one Isaac had proposed in the [Principia]. …It was because few people properly understood the [Principia]. But that was the way of the world. Adoration is the emotion furthest from understanding.
The soldier who was captivated by the [Field Manual] also understood this whole situation.
‘Isaac Upperhills’ had already become a sacred, untouchable domain for some.
But what needed to be said, had to be said.
“Hey… honestly, in a real fight, isn’t the [Field Manual] better than the [Principia]?”
“Bullshit. Mr. Wallowitz is clearly someone the imperial family secretly nurtured. Can you even compare someone like that to Isaac-nim, who clawed his way up from the bottom all on his own?”
“No, no. Let’s not compare likability, just pure combat power.”
“Pure combat power… that’s a tough one.”
Thus began the debate of ‘Howard Wallowitz’ versus ‘Isaac Upperhills’.
“Rumor has it that Isaac-nim can make an orc’s head explode with a single gesture.”
“Come on. Mr. Wallowitz shredded a Giant Ice Wyrm with his eyes closed.”
The gazes of the two men clashed.
“Isaac-nim defeated the Blood Mage Malakai. He’s doctoral-level.”
“Mr. Wallowitz crushed the ‘Guides of the Lantern’. He’s estimated to be at the school head level, isn’t he?”
“Hey, that’s just an estimation. He could be doctoral-level.”
As with most useless debates, they talked for a long time without reaching a conclusion. Pure combat power was just that fleeting. Just then, Gwendolyn opened the tavern door and walked in.
Their gazes all turned to Gwendolyn. They had all seen her when Count Everglow was the commander. The ‘Howard Faction’ asked the ‘Isaac Faction’.
“Should we go ask her?”
Gwendolyn would be acquainted with both Isaac and Howard. Therefore, she could put an end to this long debate.
“Hmm… she won’t get angry, will she?”
“Have you ever seen Lady Everglow get angry?”
“Can’t say I have.”
And so, they approached Gwendolyn.
“Um… Lady Everglow. Do you happen to remember us?”
“Wow. Of course. You’re Grant and Darren. It seems like it’s been a long time since your discharge date… are you still serving?”
“We signed up for the long haul, ma’am.”
“Ah…”
A brief silence fell before Gwendolyn asked them.
“So, what can I do for you?”
“Well… Mr. Howard is, at least ‘on the surface’, your attendant, is he not?”
Gwendolyn’s expression turned serious.
“And so?”
“Between him and ‘Isaac Upperhills’… who is stronger?”
“…Excuse me?”
A heavy silence filled the commander’s office in the ‘Gray Fortress’. The commander, Baron Marques, did not take his eyes off the transcribed copy of the [Field Manual] lying on his desk. After a moment, he lifted his head and looked at Sarah, who stood opposite him.
“I heard you subdued a Giant Ice Wyrm with the techniques written in this manual.”
Squad Leader Sarah bowed her head low.
“I apologize.”
Following an unofficial civilian document instead of an officially distributed imperial manual was a clear violation of military law. Normally, it was an act that deserved severe punishment. But the commander merely chuckled.
He said, “It’s fine. The existing manual for the search parties was trash from the start anyway.” Everyone who needed to know, knew.
The search party manual was a document created by people sitting at desks with not even a speck of real combat experience. If they had followed that thing seriously, the Empire would have fallen long ago. The commander pointed to the [Field Manual] and said.
“This… is far better. I’ll have to officially report it to my superiors and have them review whether it can be supplied to the army.”
“!”
At those words, Sarah’s heart sank. Howard was an alias. If this document went through the official channels and up the chain of command, Isaac’s identity could be revealed.
Just then, the commander asked in a low voice.
“This man named ‘Howard Wallowitz’…”
Sarah swallowed dryly.
“His real identity is ‘Isaac Upperhills,’ isn’t it?”
The commander’s words were a question only in form. His tone was already filled with strong conviction. Sarah’s composure crumbled.
“…How did you know?”
Instead of answering, the commander took out other papers from his desk drawer.
[Principia] [Calculus] [Ideal Gas - Absolute Temperature] They were all Isaac’s papers.
And every single one of them was stuffed with densely packed papyrus notes. The commander said.
“Just by seeing the claw marks, I know it’s a lion.”
“No wonder I felt so tense in front of Mr. Wallowitz.”