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Walter dismissed the lich that Jenis had brought, saying, “Wizards must be managed by wizards,” and handed it over to the combat wizards. His dissatisfaction with Jenis’s performance was absolutely not the case. Rather, capturing a prisoner who could provide valuable information about the operation and status of the Moriarty machines was an unexpectedly delightful achievement.

Nevertheless, there were three major reasons why Walter Hellhound chose to toss this problem at the combat wizards instead of interrogating the lich himself.

Firstly, Walter found that he hadn’t gained much from recent interrogations using his own power. The most recent interrogation he conducted was regarding the thugs who attacked Bernard at the tavern. Walter was certain that succubi were involved behind the attack on Bernard, and he tried desperately to extract information to root out the succubi organization lurking within the Empire.

However, since the opponent was human and there was a high likelihood that they had acted under the succubus’s captivating influence, he couldn’t resort to extreme measures like torture as a hero, making it difficult to pry information from their lips.

Even if he set aside ethical concerns and resorted to torture, it likely wouldn’t yield significant results. The mental magic on the assailants was so powerful that even a specially invited wizard from the Magic Tower couldn’t achieve satisfactory outcomes.

As far as Walter knew, that interrogation was still ongoing in the Empire’s mainland. With Walter’s tight schedule, he had no time to devote to something that could take a long time and effort without guaranteed results. Given that the opponent was a fairly powerful lich, there was a possibility they were fortified against mental magic, and he couldn’t be confident that even with all the power of his glasses and the Holy Sword, he could extract the desired information in a short time.

The second reason was that the combat wizards had considerably less to do at the moment. Wizards were powerful battle weapons, but they were also too fragile to be sent out carelessly.

Not every wizard could fight like Jeongjae or Jenis. If wizards fought in such a manner often, those two wouldn’t be revered as the greatest talents and treated as irregulars.

Already busy with arms production, the Magic Tower had barely managed to secure about five personnel by begging and pleading. Although wizards were useful, five was not enough to significantly impact the forces, especially in larger battles.

After Gwen took over as the head of the Magic Tower from Jenis, Walter had subtly probed whether Jenis could provide reinforcements from the tower, but the meticulous Jenis outright rejected the hero’s request when it came to management and administration.

Even a young man in his twenties who had just gained control over the Magic Tower was firm in refusing the hero’s request, indicating that the personnel issues in the tower were not looking positive.

Furthermore, Jenis seemed to tolerate things out of respect and courtesy towards the hero but appeared to be thinking of returning even the few wizards dragged along by the Northern Expedition back to the Empire if needed. Walter occasionally felt that Jenis was formulating her own Demon King Army strategy centered around the Southern Region and the Magic Tower, distinct from the existing Northern Expedition.

While Jenis did not seem like someone who would push her own agenda at the expense of existing military strategies, Walter disliked being meddled with regarding his own affairs, making it hard for him not to be concerned.

After all, it was said that “preparedness is key.” If he let the wizards they had brought along sit idly by, it would provide Jenis with a valid reason to order their return to the Magic Tower. The hero decided it was better to give them something to do.

The third reason was actually the most important; Walter was already incredibly busy with various tasks necessary to maintain this grand army.

The fact that he didn’t trust most of the Empire’s officers, aside from his most important aides, also contributed to the overwhelming burden of work he was shouldering.

“Hero, today our supply vehicle was ambushed by the local orc guerrillas while moving, and the contents were plundered, but they were repelled by our troops,” reported a baron in charge of a legion to Walter.

Walter tilted his head and extended his hand. “May I see the list? What was taken?”

“Two boxes of coffee beans, Commander,” the baron responded.

Walter nodded as he received the list of supplies for the day from the general. If ambushes during transportation weren’t a common occurrence, that would be a good thing, but the Northern Expedition’s rather reckless advance had lengthened the supply routes starting from No Member, and stabilizing the reclaimed areas and deploying garrison troops to eliminate the local monsters was still in its infancy.

Naturally, the relocation projects that promised benefits to the Empire’s population were also not underway, so ambushes on supply wagons by the resistant monster troops hiding in the area were going to be frequent.

The Northern Expedition had still barely moved half a target distance. Such events would continue, and as they had to split forces to deploy troops in every danger zone, the available military strength would only continue to dwindle.

For now, it was bearable, but Walter could not be sure how long they could maintain this “barely bearable” state.

“I see. As long as the other items arrive without a hitch, I don’t mind. I hope there’s been no false reporting, Baron.”

“It can’t be. Everyone knows what happens if that were the case.”

Walter, who generally didn’t meddle with his subordinates, was nevertheless highly sensitive about false reporting. As a perfectionist, the hero carried a belief that even small lies could collapse the entire army, so he imposed strict penalties for false reporting more than for any other breach of military discipline.

Many officers had lost their heads due to false reporting when Walter first seized military power. This did not mean they were merely dismissed from their positions; it meant they faced execution under military law.

“Well, I guess that’s the case. For the foreseeable future, we’ll have to cut down on beverages.”

“I-I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll make sure such things don’t happen…”

“How can you ensure such things won’t happen? As long as we can keep track of the quantities, it’s fine if we lose a little occasionally. I just don’t want anyone making off with supplies behind our backs.”

Naturally, there were no longer any officers foolish enough to attempt such brazen thefts. The rumors about the “Eye of Wisdom” were well known. The hero, who had once drawn his Holy Sword and smashed the officials due to the leak of classified military information by foolish generals, would no doubt unleash unimaginable wrath if he discovered someone was pilfering supplies for personal gain.

While they could get away with it if undetected, this only worked if upper management passed down work without reviewing it. Meeting a commander like Walter Hellhound, who meticulously checks even supply items, made “not getting caught” a much riskier endeavor than it was worth.

The general who provided the report walked away easily, confident that he had nothing to hide. Rose, who had been quietly keeping her place, nudged Walter subtly.

“The orcs snagged some expensive stuff, huh?”

“Well, if the beans had to be stolen, I’d rather they were coffee beans than soybeans. Coffee might be pricier, but that’s not the priority now.”

“Are you sure that’s alright? Reducing coffee?”

“Aside from supplying coffee grounds to the soldiers on night watch, there’s not that much demand for it. Maybe I should just lower the coffee request for the next supply requisition…”

It was only natural, but the demand for specialty crops compared to food crops had never been that high from the start. Two boxes of coffee beans were almost equivalent to an entire month’s worth of supplies. Since Duke Jeffrey’s territory had nearly transformed all of its specialty crop cultivation into food crop production, the yield was not that high.

“Let’s just leave it as is.”

“Although you’re giving it to the sentries, most of the coffee powder consumption is probably coming from you.”

Rose spoke in a teasing tone, ambivalent as to whether she was concerned or mocking. Walter sighed and nodded.

“Exactly. I should indulge my selfish desires once in a while. Is it that wrong to request supplies for my personal cravings?”

“You’re going to have to watch out for that later.”

“Even if I end up in jail, I just gotta drink while I can.”

Walter chuckled. Rose burst into a small laugh and playfully patted the hero’s shoulder.

“Just take it easy. Honestly, you’ve gotten a grip on things now, and you can leave most matters to your subordinates. If you keep overseeing every little detail, when do you ever get to rest?”

“If you’re saying this so we can have some quality time together, Rose, I’m sorry but let’s settle for work hours.”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t have such thoughts.”

Rose stuck her tongue out and shrugged her shoulders. Walter, showing a weary expression, took off his glasses and shoved the documents aside.

“I’m heading to check the supplies now. Care to join me?”

“Sorry, but I’m not too keen on checking those stacks of flour. Plus, I’m supposed to teach Alex how to operate the Ironclad Knights today. We can go together next time there’s something to check at the grain storage.”

“It won’t just be next time; there will be something again soon. Keep an eye on your little brother. He seems capable, but he’s still sulking from that mistake he made the other day.”

“He lost four thousand soldiers due to one mistake. In a normal situation, that would be a crushing defeat, and he’s barely managing to clean up the mess. It’s no surprise he’s sulking.”

“You said that a bit of sacrifice is needed for his growth, Rose. What’s done is done. We just have to hope that a capable squad leader can help him grow.”

“You can’t think like that. That’s what’s important.”

Probably due to being her family, Rose was significantly stricter with her younger brother Alex than with others. Walter thought that her stance towards Alex resembled more of a parental role than that of a sibling.

With their mother having died when they were young, and struggling to grasp the thoughts of their somewhat stoic father, it was possible that Rose’s gentle but strict nature had taken on the dual roles of both mother and father for Alex.

“You’ll handle your family matters yourself. I’ve got various things to tend to, so I’ll be on my way…”

With that, Walter stood up from his seat and made his way out of the tent. As he confidently walked towards the supplies storage, he caught sight of Bernard.

Bernard waved lightly at Walter.

“Hey, Hero. Did you get anything useful from that lich?”

“No, I passed it directly to the Magic Tower’s jurisdiction without interrogating it, so I wouldn’t know. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know. I still need to interrogate the ones who attacked you, so I doubt anything will come up soon.”

“Well, I’m not that curious anyway. Where are you headed now?”

“To the food storage. The supply was just replenished today. It’s a big deal to make sure everything arrived properly.”

“Isn’t that something the commanders should take care of? You should be investing your time in more important matters.”

Bernard said something similar to what Rose expressed. Walter paused for a moment, then took out the glasses he had stored in his pocket.

“Bernard, as a specialist, can I ask you this: do the dead shed tears?”

“From my expertise, I can say I’ve seen undead bleed, but I’ve never seen tears.”

“Really? But in my dreams, the dead do shed tears.”

Walter began to walk slowly again, and Bernard matched his pace, tilting his head curiously.

“What are you saying?”

“The subordinates I sent to the guillotine come to me every night, bound and pleading for their lives.”

“They deserved to die.”

Understanding the weight of Walter’s words, Bernard clicked his tongue. The Empire’s military before the hero’s authority was not much different from any other army. Even with the Demon King’s army looming ahead, there was plenty of corruption, sloppy work, and various injustices.

No one dared to speak up against Walter’s actions taken to remedy that. Not even the families of those executed back then.

“Perhaps. However, for my own sake, I wouldn’t want to increase the number of prisoners appearing in my dreams. I really want to stop escaping into my work while sipping tea out of fear of sleep. The more I try to avoid it, the more I should handle it, right?”

After saying this, the hero confidently walked away, leaving Bernard there. Though Walter’s gait was proud, Bernard couldn’t help but feel that he appeared quite small compared to most people.

In reality, he wasn’t small at all, but the hero, who had initially seemed like a mountain when they first met, no longer had that imposing presence.

 

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