Before I even had time to gather my thoughts, I was forced to drop the letter I had been writing, grab my gear, and head out.

According to the company commander’s explanation, we had been cut off from outside news, but apparently, before ascending to the throne, the newly crowned emperor had been embroiled in a power struggle between himself and the Second Prince.

During that struggle, the Second Prince had attempted to eliminate the Crown Prince but was ultimately purged. As a result, that insufferable man I had seen before had risen to the throne as the victor.

"So he did have some male lead elements after all."

When I saw the emperor again, he seemed different from when he was still the Crown Prince. I couldn't help but think his personality had shifted in a way that felt straight out of a romance fantasy. After experiencing such dark, novel-like events, it was no wonder his personality had changed.

And now, the remaining forces loyal to the Second Prince were still being hunted down.

"But why the hell are we being dragged into this?"

I never imagined that the ominous feeling I had during our last training session would lead to something like this.

I wasn’t sure what the reasoning was, but perhaps the imperial forces needed the combat style of the Arkons for this operation. The empire had selected several units from the Border Defense Army with decent marksmanship and deployed them for the purge. And, of course, our Snowy Mountain Battalion was among them.

Naturally, being forced into some sudden external operation was a nightmare, but there was at least one small silver lining.

If our shooting skills were the main criteria for selection, then the Cledore Mountain Battalion, which included Aquila, had to be here as well. After all, Aquila had demonstrated an exceptional shooting ability during the last training session.

Ishina had also done well, so there was a good chance his unit had been deployed too. That meant I could see them again. It was a shame I wouldn’t get to see Karon, though.

"Wait a minute—what if Karon is here too?"

Since our entire Snowy Mountain Battalion was being deployed, it looked like they were mobilizing on a battalion level.

Among the units that had attended that firearms training, there had been another platoon from the same battalion as Karon. If their marksmanship had been deemed good enough, then there was a chance Karon would be here too.

So, just in case, I brought the necklace—his father's keepsake—with me. I could have sent it in a letter, but there was always a risk of it getting lost. Right now was the perfect opportunity to return it.@@novelbin@@

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