Shigea Karugi, 68 years old. A general of the Juka Kingdom titled as a「marshal」for his long military service.

「Become like your grandfather. A soldier cannot lose. Defeat is death」

The beloved grandma said so. Defeat is death…..Those words took their roots in the child’s heart.

The Shigea family, in which Karugi was born, was serving as the kingdom’s knights for generations. Karugi’s grandfather led a team of elites and blocked the monsters flooding out of Runo forest, thus becoming a hero.

Karugi really loved his grandfather. With his big body, he held his sword and smiled fiercely, then defeated the opponents like a demon. He loved sitting on his lap and listening to his achievements more than anything.

But even the hero will eventually meet his end. The grandfather got sick, his strong body slimmed before anyone noticed and he spent his days in the bed. In the moment before his death, he smiled and said to Karugi「live strong」, then left this world.

Even his powerful grandfather met his death. Karugi, who was barely 6 years old, became abnormally afraid of「death」from that moment.

What do I need to do to not die? He spent his days constantly thinking about it. And on the day, that was the anniversary of his death, Karugi remembered his final words.

「Live strong」

The grandfather was weak. The grandmother said that defeat is death. He was weak, so he died. That is why I need to be strong. As long as I am strong, I won’t die. Barely 7-year-old Karugi concluded as such.

From the time he entered the royal school, he was always on the top. Swinging his sword, he could defeat his seniors, during the mock monster hunts, he hunted more than everyone else did.

In addition, Karugi had a certain talent. He was good at cultivating people. He was able to determine from the first look whether a person could be useful to him or not. For those who he deemed useful, he lent his help. For those who were better than he was, he strived to catch up, for those who lagged behind he extended his help as long as they needed.

Before everyone noticed, he already became a figure of authority in the royal school.

And such Karugi had a classmate. His surname was Versam, later known as marquis Versam. [¹]

The Versam family, that produced outstanding magicians, and the Shigea family, that produced military experts, were known as「the wings of the kingdom」. However, this particular Versam was neither good at magic nor at swordsmanship. He was a man with bent back and blue slim face, who was always engrossed in books.

Karugi didn’t pay much attention to this guy. He won’t be of any use, or so his instincts told him.

In adulthood, Karugi enrolled in the army and was swiftly promoted. At the age of 15, he received several dozen marriage proposals. On the other hand, the young master Versam had already married at the same age. This woman that he saw from time to time had strong-willed eyes and wasn’t his preference. A pale and frail man together with a strong-willed woman. This became a great topic among his comrades.

He became a father at the age of 17. Following after his promotions, the number of children and concubines kept increasing. On the other hand, the Versam couple finally produced their first child that was suddenly hospitalized. Karugi interpreted it as weak parents producing a weak child.

Once, the Hideta’s army broke through the border and started plundering the border town. Karugi was deployed and he swiftly dealt with the invasion, displaying his leadership abilities.

The neighboring countries came to know of him and his fame further increased.

Once he became the head of the army, he strived to enhance the army. You can’t become strong on your own. A strong army and a strong country should follow suit. A strong country won’t be defeated. Like that you「won’t die」.

Karugi’s training was efficient if you say it lightly, or spartan, if you don’t. Although he couldn’t do it to the whole army, against his direct subordinates he was very strict. They trained harshly with the possibility of dying. Of course, there were those who became the food for the wyverns, but at the same time, there were those who somehow received almost no injuries. [²]

As the result of the severe training, he managed to greatly increase the quality of his soldiers. Just like that, Karugi’s corps was recognized as the strongest corps in the kingdom’s army.

At the same time, monster’s eggs, brought from the forest, became often seen on Karugi family’s dinner table. At one time, he found an organism that resembled a dragon in the river. He defeated it quite easily but its life force was strong and it refused to die. He brought it back and tried training it. The training was simple, if it did what he wanted, he gave it water and food, if it didn’t he almost starved it to death.

Although dragons are considered ferocious, it surprisingly succeeded and it became a loyal best for Karugi. From then on, he showed interest in training monsters and regularly brought back wyvern’s eggs and trained them from infancy to adulthood.

Against the king, who stayed in the royal palace and wasn’t interested in politics, he sent his wife to the royal palace to become the chief executive. The king granted his approval without any doubt.

Using her influence, he was basically the top figure of the army. He received the title of「marshal」and had no doubts in his own future.

Meanwhile, Versam, who became a marquis, secretly expanded his influence in the royal palace. Despite being unable to wield magic and fight, he showed an amazing talent regarding the office work. He rapidly processed the mountains of paper and was able to come up with new ideas. Before everyone noticed, he took over the financial matters of the kingdom and became the prime minister.

Karugi, who aimed for the king, didn’t welcome his rise to power. However, marquis Versam sent his wife as a tutor for the prince and she became responsible for his education.

Few years after that, there was a conflict between them over increasing the size of the army.

「The kingdom should recruit more soldiers. Hideta’s army is twice the size of ours. If Hideta decides to invade, we might get annihilated」

「The Hideta cannot afford an invasion because of the bad harvest」

「That’s more of a reason. We should use this opportunity to invade and take away some of their territory」

「We won’t be able to keep it, our supply lines won’t be able to handle it」

「Don’t spout nonsense! The food could be plundered from the surroundings! 」

「Unless people trust us, we won’t be able to operate. It’s a good idea to work on foundations of our kingdom first」

「….I agree with marquis’ opinion. The army won’t be enlarged」

The prince closed the meeting. The other ministers agreed too. It was the first time for his proposal to be rejected, first time suffering this humiliation.

Once the prince became a regent, he worked to lessen Karugi’s authority. In this world, the strong win. The strong takes away from the weak. Why can’t they understand? His frustrations were piling up. [³]

It seems that the Versam family had a strong barrier master in their ranks. Karugi built a strategy that included him for future invasions. However, it was rejected swiftly.

「It’s reckless to have Rinos create barrier while invading the other countries. It’s over when his MP runs out, you know? Besides, what good it will be to invade? I will bring him into the royal palace to serve as the royal barrier master」

Idiocy. Why shouldn’t we invade if we can? You don’t know the war, stop being selfish…..Karugi’s anger was about to spill out.

One time, he saw his reflection in the mirror. His hair became gray and resembled his grandfather’s. He noticed that he was already older than his grandfather was. How many years was left? This country is in danger. I need to do something. Karugi thought so and came to a decision.

Weak people create a weak country. Then those weak people should be dealt with.

He acted fast. He took the brother of the current king under his wing. And when he heard that Elsa and Falco arrived in the royal palace, his 800 thousand soldiers acted as his limbs and caused a rebellion.

Everything worked out better than he expected. The rebel army was able to capture the nobles and the royal family members one after another. In the end, they found the king still on his bed enjoying the company of the woman. They were captured stark naked and brought as they were.

The greatest obstacle was the great magician Falco. He sent Madoisen for this job. All of a sudden, he cut his arms off before he was able to cast any spells and caught him without casualties.

Every obstacle was erased. I probably need to kill that barrier master too. Losing a great magician and a barrier master is a pain, but it should be all right somehow. I will get stronger. If I’m strong, I won’t die. Myself and the kingdom. He thought as such and started imagining his bright future…only to see the building collapse.

「Rinos, stop! Kneel! Kneel! 」

He heard a scream from Waiton. Why? Soon after, he was swallowed by the wave and lost his consciousness.