“I believe they should be given the right to be treated as proper Legion members.”

“......”

When she finished speaking.

The unit members’ gazes turned toward me.

Their eyes seemed to be asking for my opinion.

Receiving those gazes, I thought for a moment.

‘...It is a problem I’ve been thinking about too.’

The idea of bringing other races in as allies had existed for a while.

The problem was that the camaraderie between Legion members was too strong.

‘Their hostility toward enemies who killed their comrades was too great.’

Because of that.

The [Green Mane] tribe and the vampires, who had fought blood battles with us where we had killed each other, had still not been able to blend in as unit members.

But.

Things like this would happen more often in the future.

Cases where monsters could form friendly relationships with us from the beginning would probably be the rarer ones.

‘Until now, we turned hostile monsters into vampires and used them as our fighting strength.’

But now that it had become difficult for Ariella to increase her retainers.

We could no longer use that method.

In the end.

The conclusion was that we had to turn other races into proper unit members.

......Nod. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

With that thought.

I nodded.

“If that is the Legion Commander’s opinion, then.”

When I nodded.

Sergeant Lee Minjae sighed and scratched his head.

“I’d like to let it pass with that... but persuading the soldiers will be hard.”

“I don’t think we can announce the vampires’ existence immediately. Even those of us who already knew about them reacted like this....”

“In some way or another, we’ll need to gradually reduce the unit members’ resistance toward enemies we fought before announcing it.”

At that moment.

Jeong Sua raised her hand and spoke.

“If it is work to reduce that resistance, I think I can handle it.”

“?”

“I don’t mean to brag, but I’m fairly confident when it comes to communicating with the unit members. If you leave it to me, I may be able to greatly reduce that resistance within a fairly short time.”

At her words.

“......”

“Communicating... you say?”

Somehow.

The unit members looked at her with uneasy expressions.

“...Well, if it works, it works, I suppose.”

A moment later.

I did not know what complicated thoughts had gone through his mind, but.

“...Then I’ll leave that part to you.”

“Leave it to me.”

Sergeant Lee Minjae eventually frowned and nodded.

Jeong Sua nodded with a confident expression.

“Then from now on, that thing... would not be the right way to put it anymore.”

Sergeant Lee Minjae looked at Ariella and opened his mouth.

“You said your name was Ariella?”

“That... is correct.”

Ariella looked at Sergeant Lee Minjae with a tense face.

And.

“...Correct?”

The squad leaders who saw that reaction made strange faces.

The reason was simple.

‘All the souls inside Ariella have been guided on.’

Because of that.

A lot of the ominous aura she had unconsciously been giving off had disappeared.

The current Ariella felt like an entirely different person from the vampire queen of the past.

The squad leaders also sensed that difference and flinched.

“...You do not need to speak so formally.”

Even so.

Perhaps hearing formal speech from that vampire made him cringe, because Sergeant Lee Minjae cleared his throat and continued.

“Your position from this point on is the official captain of the Legion’s royal guard.”

“......”

At the words that came from his mouth.

Ariella’s eyes widened.

“You will always protect the Legion Commander from within his shadow and carry out all his orders thoroughly.”

“......”

“Show us results we can accept. If you do.”

With his arms folded.

Sergeant Lee Minjae looked at her for a moment.

“We’ll prepare a place for you soon.”

“...A place?”

“...You’re the captain of the Legion’s royal guard, so we should at least hold an inauguration ceremony.”

Flinch.

I saw Ariella’s body tremble at those words.

She stood there with her mouth slightly open, as if swept up in some strange emotion.

Unlike in the past, when her position had been no different from my slave.

She had now officially become a member of the Legion.

“Ma-Master?”

Maybe that was why.

She opened her mouth in confusion.

“There is... a strange window before my eyes....”

“Ah.”

Hearing that, I blankly operated the status window.

Then.

[Guild - Steel Legion]

[Ariella Bimana Karshtein]

I saw it there, clearly stamped in place.

A rather long name.

Seeing that, I turned my gaze toward Ariella.

Saaaaaak.......

Around her neck.

A dog collar... no.

‘A dog tag.’

A silver-gray necklace settled into place.

‘The system... acknowledged Ariella as a member of the Legion.’

The moment one became a member of the Legion.

The guild system granted corrections to all kinds of abilities.

...That power, which had only sponsored humanity.

Had decided to share its strength with her too.

What that meant was simple.

...The [Steel Legion].

Had begun to be reborn as a true multiracial organization.

***

“Then will Corporal Shin’s protection be handled by two units from now on?”

“The guard unit takes charge of reconnaissance, information gathering, and bodyguard duties, while the royal guard handles full-scale combat. It doesn’t sound bad.”

In truth, that was already how it had worked.

What mattered was that now it had become an official organization.

“Squad Leader Jeong Sua originally belonged to the reconnaissance unit. We can’t leave that squad leader position empty, so....”

“I already have a successor in mind for that part. You do not need to worry about the handover.”

They talked about the unit organization after Ariella’s inclusion.

Far too naturally.

“...Thank you.”

Ariella, who had been watching them, cautiously opened her mouth.

“As you said, I shall fulfill my role from within Master’s shadow, protecting him... my role as captain of the royal guard.”

“Hm.”

At those words.

Corporal Seo Suhyeok looked at her and spoke.

“For someone saying she will only protect Corporal Shin, you came out of his shadow and spoke quite confidently this time.”

“That is... I hope you will not misunderstand. I did not wish to exert influence over this meeting or anything of the sort. I only spoke because the situation seemed difficult, and I thought I might be able to help.”

Fortunately.

Unlike before, the current Ariella no longer had her arrogant attitude.

Thanks to that, the unit members talking to her seemed to have softened quite a bit too.

“Help, how?”

“By force.”

Swoosh.

Ariella turned her head and looked somewhere far away.

“I can feel a considerable number of lives.”

“...What?”

“There are also many monster scents... but among them, there is a very dense human scent. Their numbers are considerable, but their caliber does not seem low either... How impressive. To think there was another human force of this scale in this land.”

At those words.

“...You can tell that much?”

Corporal Seo Suhyeok spoke, seeming surprised.

Seeing that, I asked with a puzzled expression.

“What do you mean, can she tell that much?”

“...It is as that woman says.”

As if embarrassed that he had been flustered.

He continued with a cough.

“When we carried out operations with those people calling themselves the Church... we thought they would need quite a lot of support from us.”

“...But?”

“In reality, there was no need for that.”

Corporal Seo Suhyeok frowned.

“They... possessed greater strength than we had expected.”

“What?”

“This is only our estimate, but the strength they possess... may perhaps not be much lower than the Legion’s.”

At those words.

I could not help widening my eyes in surprise.

‘They are strong enough that the current Legion cannot be certain of victory.’

It was not China, which had possessed a considerable population.

For another Legion-class force to appear in this narrow land of Korea.

It was quite hard to believe.

“Indeed, that seems to be true.”

However.

Compared to my surprise.

“Even so, if it is me and my children, we should be able to subjugate them sufficiently.”

Ariella, who had been looking into the distance.

Spoke calmly.

“...Are you saying that after properly thinking it through?”

“Of course.”

“We know your forces are considerable, but....”

Seo Suhyeok spoke with a frown.

She had declared far too easily that she could bring down a force that might rival the Legion.

His words sounded like he thought it was a bluff.

“It’s probably true.”

“Excuse me?”

The one who joined that conversation.

Was none other than me.

“If she says she can subjugate them now, then she really can. She said it because she can do it.”

“......”

At those words.

All the unit members looked at me with shocked expressions.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Didn’t we just tell you their strength might be similar to ours?”

At that sight.

I thought to myself, ah, right.

‘...Ah, come to think of it.’

To me, it was something I considered far too obvious.

But in truth.

The other unit members besides me did not properly understand Ariella’s strength.

For quite a long time, I had placed a limit on the number of retainers Ariella could command.

Later, in Gyeonggi Province, she had even turned the great monsters of the demon realm into her retainers and increased her forces considerably.

But even that strength likely had quite a few flaws compared to the Legion.

However.

‘Not now.’

After everything that happened in China.

Ariella had become... how should I put it.

‘A little... seriously strong.’

At this point in time.

Even if the Legion mobilized all available forces, including Bimana.

Whether we could subjugate her or not was unknown.

“I’m saying that after hearing all that.”

No, to be honest.

“If their strength is on a level similar to the Legion’s, there won’t be any variables.”

“......”

Nine times out of ten.

The Legion would lose.

Even taking into account the power of the Legion I had always been so proud of.

The difference in objective strength was far too severe.

“She is... that strong?”

The unit members looked at Ariella in shock.

The woman they had been talking with until just now.

Now that they understood the strength she possessed, they stared at her in astonishment.

However.

“Separate from whether it’s possible or not.”

I looked at Ariella and spoke.

“Are you okay with that?”

“What do you mean, okay?”

“You know.”

The previous Ariella had been in a state where her essence had been diluted by the souls she had devoured.

Because of that, she had not hesitated to devour others and grow stronger.

“The current you....”

Was no longer like that.

Her essence.

Originally found it extremely repulsive to drink the blood of innocent people.

“...Even now, I have no intention of drinking the blood of the innocent. I know how terrible that is.”

But.

Contrary to my worries.

“That said, it is not as if I have become an ignorant, sheltered child who knows nothing.”

“......”

She looked at me with serious eyes and spoke.

“Master returned my past to me. Thanks to that, I was able to become my original self again... but that does not mean I have forgotten everything I experienced. I understand at least this much: that to obtain what one desires, there are times when one must fight with one’s life on the line.”

“......”

“Master returned my past to me and promised me a future... so for the sake of that future.”

She spoke with a firm expression.

“I have no intention of hesitating before struggle.”

“I see.”

A confident expression.

Apparently.

My worry that I might not be able to make proper use of her had been nothing more than needless concern.

“So just say the word. If Master orders it... hm, even if it takes longer, in about one week, I can completely....”

“Ah. About that.”

The fact that she did not avoid combat was good news for me.

With that strength, she would be able to solve most problems easily.

However.

“We probably won’t need to borrow your strength right away.”

“...Mm?”

Whether we would use that strength now or not.

Was a slightly different matter.

***

“What do you mean....”

Leaving Ariella puzzled behind me.

“Separate from the fact that their strength rivals the Legion’s.”

I looked at the unit members and spoke.

“If it were a problem we could solve by force, we would have solved it long ago.”

“......”

“Am I wrong?”

At those words.

All the soldiers looked at me with surprised eyes.

“...As expected of you, Corporal Shin.”

Then.

Corporal Jeon Gwangil opened his mouth with a hollow laugh.

“What does that mean....”

When Ariella looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Corporal Jeon Gwangil scratched his head and continued.

“It is as Corporal Shin says. In truth, it is not as if we never considered suppressing them by force. However... the strength they possess is considerable.”

“I heard that much. But as I said, with my strength....”

“No, I’m not talking about their strength as enemies we would have to fight.”

Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s eyes.

Turned a little solemn.

“I’m talking about their strength as humans... of which there are very few left in this world.”