Free Web NovelChapter 187: Assuming Command
"In seclusion?! What the hell do you mean he’s in seclusion?!" Commander Oliver Hughes roared incredulously, "You know what? I don’t give a fuck! Get out of my way! I’m dragging that bastard out here whether he’s in seclusion or not!"
Inside the office of the Herald City Garrison Commander, Oliver Hughes unleashed a torrent of insults and curses at the cowering Captain standing in front of him who was desperately trying to block his way.
It had been almost an hour since an Aerial Knight from the Golden Wings Legion had arrived at the temporary settlement in the Eastern River District and warned the leaders there about the massive beast horde baring down on them.
Even if they weren’t natives of this city, this was a disaster that they couldn’t just sit out or avoid, and all of them knew it.
Leaving Farah, Sasha, and another Spirit Initiate comrade of his to begin organizing whatever troops they could to support the city’s defences, Oliver Hughes swiftly headed for the garrison.
Over the past few days, Commander Hughes had been at loggerheads with the local Garrison Commander as the latter had been wholly unhelpful and uncooperative, getting in his way every time he tried to improve the situation in the city.
While Oliver had managed to wrestle a few minor concessions from Leonard Manning, such as increasing patrols on the walls or allowing volunteer healers to leave the gates to tend to the wounded civilians, major policy changes such as allowing refugees into the city or sending out organized soldiers to confront the surrounding beasts were always flatly rejected.
What made things worse was that Commander Manning insisted that in order to implement any of the changes Oliver wanted, he would first have to get the consent of the local Lord.
Count Richard Baker was as petty and arrogant as he was cowardly, and Oliver Hughes, despite being a Commander in military rank, was from a commoner background, so no matter how he tried, he was never granted an audience with the local Lord.
The latter’s subordinates always found some kind of excuse to deny the Commander entry to the Manor, leaving Oliver in a difficult position.
The situation had gotten so bad that once Oliver learned that General Balfour would soon be coming to the city, he stopped trying to interact with the Garrison Commander and Count altogether, instead focusing all his efforts on setting up and securing the Eastern River District camp where the refugees from Redwood Town were relocating.
Given his experiences since arriving in Herald City, Oliver Hughes had very little hope that the local garrison and nobles would be of much use in the face of the approaching Beast Tide. Still, with the threat of total destruction looming over them all, Oliver had prayed that these fools would at least agree to defend the city if for no other reason than to save their own hides.
Unfortunately, when Commander Hughes arrived at the Garrison Commander’s office, instead of being able to immediately speak with Leonard Manning, he was met with a low-ranking Captain who informed him that his Commander had recently entered seclusion to cultivate.
Hearing that the pig who called himself the Herald City Garrison Commander actually had the gall to enter seclusion in the middle of this crisis finally caused Oliver to snap.
How someone could be so flippant and irresponsible, Commander Hughes really couldn’t imagine, but he was tired of being given the runaround.
Knowing that, at the latest, General Balfour would arrive tomorrow, Oliver decided to drop all decorum and storm Commander Manning’s private quarters.
Shoving the Core Formation Realm Captain aside, Oliver Hughes was about to smash open the door leading to the inner sanctum of the building when he suddenly felt a faint pressure fall upon him, causing him to pause mid-step.
At first, this pressure was barely noticeable, akin to a gentle wind blowing at his back, but within seconds, it turned into something far stronger, feeling like the air itself had become heavier.
Under the confused looks of the people around him, none of whom could sense the change in the atmosphere just yet due to their lower cultivation, Oliver Hughes turned and stared towards a certain direction, a frown appearing on his face as he wondered just who or what was approaching.
However, it wasn’t long before a look of realization flashed across Oliver’s face.
Ignoring the now shivering Mortal Realm soldiers who were now feeling the increased pressure in the air, Oliver rushed out of the office and ran towards an open field inside the garrison, arriving just in time to see a golden streak of light pass some 100 metres above his head.
As this golden streak flew by, Captain Hughes was barely able to make out a silver-clad figure leaping from its back and plummeting towards the ground, a trail of flaming red flowing out behind it.
With a deafening thud, Celestina Balfour hit the ground hard.
She could have cushioned her fall by releasing her Spirit Qi just before landing, similar to how she had done when she first arrived in Redwood Town, but her current goal was to draw as much attention to herself as possible, so the louder her entrance was, the better.
This was also why Celestina was wantonly releasing her Cultivation Aura, exerting pressure on everyone within some 2,000 metres of herself.
Ordinarily, releasing one’s aura like this inside a city would not just be considered rude, but an actual crime.
Being exposed to the intense pressure of a Complete High-Rank Adept could harm weaker individuals, especially the very young and very old in the Body Tempering Realm; however, these were not ordinary circumstances.
Straightening up from her crouched landing posture, Celestina wore a solemn expression on her face as she swept her eyes over the saluting Commander and the surrounding soldiers who had begun gathering upon noticing the commotion.
Not wasting any time, General Balfour infused Spirit and Soul Qi into her voice and shouted, "In accordance with the Emergency Wartime Act of the Kingdom’s Military Law, I am assuming command of all military personnel in this city! All officer-rank soldiers are to report to the garrison’s main field within 15 minut... one quarter-hour! Those who fail to arrive in time will be subject to disciplinary action!"
As her booming voice carried over a several kilometre radius, Celestina knit her brow slightly as she thought to herself, I can’t believe how used to Lucas’ new way of keeping time I’ve gotten over these past few days. I need to be careful about it when talking to others from now on. That, or start introducing it to the rest of the kingdom...
After filing away this somewhat abstract distraction, Celestina turned to her nearby subordinate and declared, "5 year’s worth of docked pay, and revocation of your rights to use the legion’s cultivation rooms for the next 2 years."
Keeping his head bowed, Oliver Hughes shouted loudly, "Thank you for your mercy, General." ƒrēewebnovel.com
When Celestina sent Oliver Hughes to Herald City, she had given him orders to organize the local forces to provide support for the region, including Redwood Town. Having failed miserably at that mission, it was only natural that he received some kind of punishment.
Losing 5 years worth of salary and being banned from the specialized cultivation rooms of the Raging River Legion might have sounded harsh, but it was actually the lightest possible sentence Oliver Hughes had expected.
Even if Commander Hughes’ failure in Herald City was largely due to outside factors, it still resulted in a disruption of military plans and endangered the lives of both his fellow soldiers and civilians in what was essential a time of war. If Celestina had strictly followed protocol, she should have crippled Oliver’s cultivation and forced him to do hard labour for the next 30 years.
Understanding this, Oliver made no attempt to defend himself and simply accepted the punishment he was given.
With that bit of unpleasant business taken care of, Celestina swiftly moved on to more important matters, "Where’s the local Garrison Commander?"
Finally lifting his head, Oliver strictly kept his expression neutral as he reported, "According to his subordinates, Garrison Commander Manning entered seclusion several days ago and has yet to emerge from his cultivation room."
Raising her brow, Celestina fully released her Soul Sense to scan the garrison. After a thorough inspection, her expression turned extremely dark as she asked, "How long has this Commander Manning supposedly been in seclusion?"
Knitting his brow, Oliver was unable to respond. It had taken him half-an-hour to sort out some matters in the Eastern River District, then another half-an-hour to push his way over the bridge and through the chaotic streets of the city, so he had only arrived at the garrison a couple minutes ago and had yet to understand the full situation here.
Seeing this look on her subordinate’s face, Celestina immediately understood Oliver’s situation and no longer bothered asking him, instead turning to a shivering Core Formation soldier and questioning him directly, "You. How long ago did your Commander enter seclusion?"
The local Captain, named Max, was the same one that Oliver had been berating just minutes ago. Max had thought he was nervous back then, but he now realized that being loudly chewed out by Commander Hughes was still nothing compared to the sharp gaze of the woman before him.
Visibly shaking as sweat poured down his face, Max was so frightened he could barely think straight. He was a native of Herald City and had never even left the Baker County before, so his interactions with nobles and powerhouses were limited to his Garrison Commander and Count Baker.
On top of all that, Max was just a low-level officer who barely interacted with Commander Manning and had only met Richard Baker face-to-face once.
Despite being such a minor character, for some reason, 3 days ago, Max was re-assigned to the main office and handed a bunch of new responsibilities.
The reason given to him at the time was that they were short-staffed with all the chaos going on around the city, so he was being brought in to handle some administrative work.
That work, unfortunately, also included being the one to greet important individuals who didn’t belong to the garrison, hence why he was the one to meet and explain the situation to Oliver, and now Celestina.
