Surviving as a Low-Ranking Soldier in a Trash Game-Chapter 63 : Chapter 63

Chapter 63
“It was nothing special. Just about entrusting you to me?”
“Hmm….”
Selina sent a suspicious glance.
Well, it was an unbelievable excuse.
Would a person of the Margrave's stature, who had a long conversation with a lowly soldier, have only talked about something of that level?
Come to think of it, Selina had the authority to distinguish the truth.
If she used it, she could find out easily.
“Is that really true? Your expression says otherwise.”
As Selina had promised from the beginning.
She never used her authority.
“I understand. You don't have to tell me. My brother probably gave you a gag order anyway. I have no intention of prying into Rian's personal affairs either…. More importantly, Rian. You have to help me.”
“With what?”
“New soldiers. I'm thinking of hiring six more people, including Sergel's vacant spot. But I can't just pick anyone. So, I looked and made a list like this….”
Selina showed me the documents she was holding.
I was wondering what these documents were, but now I see that they were a list of personal information of refugees who had been forcibly conscripted as soldiers.
In the back, there were also documents with the personal information of volunteer soldiers, not refugees, mixed in.
“I’ve sorted them once, but you can't judge a person just by looking at their documents.”
“That's true.”
“So, let's go and see them with our own eyes and judge. I'm confident in my own ability to judge people, but with your eyes, Rian, wouldn't we be able to make a more certain judgment?”
The eyes she was talking about were probably referring to the Eye that Seeks Truth.
The Eye that Seeks Truth showed many things that ordinary people could not see.
The most useful thing was that if the target was a person who had received the benefits of the nurturing system, it was possible to see not only the basic stats, which ordinary mages could not know, but also more detailed parts.
Selina must have known that and called me here.
“But are you sure it’s okay?”
“What is?”
“When you use the Eye that Seeks Truth, black mana flows out. How are you going to explain that?”
“It's fine. Refugees who have flowed in from other countries are unlikely to know the faces of the Mergan Kingdom's royal family anyway. They'll just mistake me for a member of the Mergan royal family and not say a word, right? Besides, our way of speaking to each other is perfect for causing a misunderstanding.”
“…Isn’t that impersonation?”
“They just misunderstood on their own. You didn't introduce yourself as an Archmage, did you, Rian?”
“……”
“Besides, even if it becomes a problem, it’s fine if we just use the old man's name a little.”
I wasn't sure if I could trust Selina, who was smiling like a mischievous girl.
I could only hope that we wouldn't get into trouble for something like impersonating a royal.
She tried her best to cover my face with a hood or a mask.
Selina, who stood up and dusted her hands off as if she was somewhat satisfied, requested something from the man who had been standing at attention since the Margrave was there, and the man, nodding, conveyed Selina's request using his rank insignia.
And a short while later.
We headed to a vacant lot prepared at the back of the building and came face to face with a large number of people gathered there.
The sudden downpour of curious gazes felt a little burdensome.
“…Selina.”
“Yes.”
“There are too many.”
Since she said she had sorted them, I had expected about 20-30 people, but it far exceeded my expectations.
At a rough estimate, there were over 100.
At this point, I started to think that it would have been better to be a little stricter when selecting people.
But what could I do?
I had to do what I was told.
“I’ll start.”
I used the Eye that Seeks Truth.
However, I felt a slight pain in my eyes.
When I first used the Eye that Seeks Truth, this pain was quite annoying, but perhaps because I had gotten used to it, I couldn't even feel the pain now unless I concentrated.
The people who had been staring at me with curious eyes just a moment ago were now bowing their heads as if on cue.
Some, thinking that bowing their heads was not enough, were prostrate on the ground.
Somehow.
It was a sight that made me want to look away, as if something really bad would happen if I remained silent.
“Please look at this person first. Based on the documents, he was judged to be a very outstanding talent, right? First of all, despite being a refugee, his fighting spirit is very outstanding….”
Selina was not just going to leave everything to me, as she diligently added her own comments.
I carefully examined the soldiers' stats.
‘…Most of them are average, or below.’
Selina would have focused on the parts that could not be confirmed with the system.
Things like their attitude towards battle, proactiveness, social skills, and combat abilities that could not be confirmed by the system, such as swordsmanship or spearmanship.
What she wanted from me was something that could be confirmed through the Eye that Seeks Truth.
To find soldiers with outstanding stats revealed in the nurturing system.
‘This person has high stamina, but his other stats are too low. This woman…. She has no weak points, but on the other hand, there's nothing special about her either.’
As I spent time carefully examining them one by one, time flew by.
As time passed, fatigue built up in my eyes.
Despite investing a considerable amount of time and effort, there was no one with outstanding talent.
I knew that it was not easy to find a talented person in the first place, but at this point, it was safe to say that there were none at all.
As the number of people I passed without a word increased, Selina's expression gradually changed.
The face that had started with a smile was now tinged with anxiety.
A little more and she would be biting her nails.
And so, time passed relentlessly once more.
“…Oh?”
I finally succeeded in finding a decent talent.
He was a man with dark brown hair and amber eyes.
In terms of stats, his stamina was a little low, and the rest of his stats were nothing special, just average.
If I had to pick one thing, it would be that his mental strength was just a little higher than others.
Nevertheless, the reason I could confidently call the man in front of me a talent was because he had something that most people did not.
Potential.
Most of the time, it was marked as ‘Unknown,’ and it was safe to say that it was practically non-existent.
However, on the man's potential bar, instead of ‘Unknown,’ the word ‘Supporter’ was written in big letters.
‘If it’s a supporter, it’s not bad to have one in the team.’
Supporter.
As the name suggests, it means a supporter.
Heroes who receive the benefits of the nurturing system awaken an authority as they grow.
It is a complete mystery what kind of authority will be awakened.
Therefore, in some cases, the newly acquired authority does not match their combat style at all and is completely ignored.
In the worst case, the nurturing itself is completely ruined.
Potential ability plays the role of reliably correcting the randomness of such authorities.
For example, in the case of the man in front of me with the potential ability of a supporter, most of the authorities he awakens in the future will be specialized in supporting our allies.
Considering that our team is currently composed of only overly aggressive soldiers, having one supporter would greatly increase our overall combat power.
The only downside is that he's a little old?
He looks to be in his late 30s at least.
‘…But since he’s a supporter, it should be fine.’
I rationalized it somehow.
I don't know what he did before, but he has a pretty solid body.
But at that age, it's inevitable for a living being to have various physical abilities decline.
If we only think about combat power, it's right to hire a younger person, but since he's a supporter.
If his main focus is to support our allies from the rear rather than fighting at the front, age and stamina don't matter much.
Having made up my mind, I sent a glance to Selina.
Selina's eyes, which had been exhausted from the repeated failures, regained their vitality.
She cleared her throat and called the soldier's name.
“Um…. Mars Bang.”
“…Yes.”
There was no strength in his voice.
No motivation either.
I didn't particularly want to point out his attitude.
Because I was like this too.
“We would like to recruit you to Unit 917. Do you have any objections?”
“I know that I have no right to refuse anyway.”
“That's right. But if possible, I would like you to actively engage in battle for the victory of Unit 917…. and furthermore, the kingdom and the Alliance.”
“……”
The man, Mars, was silent.
He was slightly bowing his head, but through the trembling of his shoulders, I could tell that he was smiling faintly.
How could this be a smile of joy?
It was clearly a sneer.
It was a matter of course.
It was selfish to expect passion from a soldier who was a refugee and had been forcibly conscripted.
The people around him were trying their best not to show it, but some couldn't hide it and lowered their heads or twitched their lips.
However, Selina did not waver at all.
As if she had expected this kind of reaction, she turned the documents over.
“You are from the Duchy of Hakan…. Your whole family crossed the border together.”
“…That's right.”
“You have an old father, a young wife, and two children. You were lucky. In fact, it's a miracle for the whole family to be alive and well on the run.”
At Selina's words, the atmosphere in the vacant lot suddenly became gloomy.
Since they were all refugees, they must have lost their families and other precious people to enemy attacks on the run.
Whether he agreed with the words "lucky" or not, Mars nodded without a word.
“I know that the Duchy of Hakan was attacked by a surprise enemy operation and its capital was occupied overnight. You must not have been able to take much of your property with you as you moved in a hurry.”
“……”
“But you have to feed four people besides yourself, and the salary of a conscript is not very high. According to the kingdom's law, refugees cannot get citizenship for two years, and without citizenship, they cannot buy land or a house.”
…Was that so?
Since I didn't have a family to support, I had no interest in that and didn't know.
As Selina's words continued, as the harsh reality of the wall was pushed in, Mars's expression gradually hardened.
If he wasn't a fool, he would know.
If a soldier was conscripted, a lodging was provided, but the family had to pay for a lodging.
It would be a relief if they had money.
In the case of a family who could not take their property with them because they had to flee in a hurry, they were inevitably forced onto the streets.
Homelessness.
If they were lucky, they could rent a corner of a stable and spend an unpleasant night with cows and horses.
Not only Mars, but the faces of all the refugees darkened, while Selina alone was smiling so much that it was alienating.
“I believe that soldiers should be rewarded for their efforts. I think conscripts are being treated unfairly just because they are refugees.”
“……”
“It would be nice if I could change the kingdom's law, but unfortunately, I don't have the power to do so. Therefore, I can't help all of you, but at least for the soldiers in my unit, I promise the best support.”
She wasn't wrong.
Unit 917 was provided with high-quality equipment, not the cheap supplies provided by the kingdom, and the taste and quality of the meals were also very excellent.
I had never used it, but bonuses were also consistently given during vacations.
Of course, it was far from enough to provide this level of service with just the unit's operating expenses provided by the kingdom.
And the shortfall was all covered by Selina Verdin's personal funds.
“I will provide a place for your family to stay comfortably in the Verdin estate. I will also find a job for your wife that she can do while taking care of the children. I will also give you support funds for the first three months.”
“……”
How many commanders would promise this much support to a refugee?
I stared at Mars.
His gaze had changed from before.
The Mergan Kingdom whipped the refugee soldiers harshly.
To that, Selina had offered a carrot, and there would probably be no refugee who would not be tempted by it.
“Of course, it all depends on your choice. Let me say it again, I have no intention of supporting unmotivated soldiers.”
“……”
“What will you do?”
Selina gave him the choice at the end.
But I wondered if this was really giving him a choice.
Who could not grab that hand after hearing such words?
“…If you give me a chance, I will do my best.”