American Isekai - Chapter 176 (Patreon)

December 6, 623

After the Chiefs were inserted into enemy territory, and after I was picked up at my rendezvous, us Pathfinders and the Snow Doves all hightailed it out of the area. 

There was no longer any reason for us to be out in the boonies, so our next objective was to get back to the Treehouse and get a read on the situation. 

Thanks to the Snow Doves, we could move just about however we wanted. We didn’t have to worry about getting into any fights with them there so we were somewhat blatant with our movements. I had wanted to take a more subtle trail back to base but Brigadier Nonnen wasn’t having any of that. Everyone was sick of being out in the field, so I had to pick a more direct route which only took us around 3 days to traverse, including all the sleepy time we got after the mission. 

With the completion of this infiltration mission, I had no more obligations. I didn’t have to navigate, I didn’t have to manage people, I didn’t have to give orders. It felt nice to relax and turn off my brain for a couple days without the constant worry of making sure the mission went off without a hitch. 

Once we got back within the vicinity of the Treehouse though, I was in for a rude awakening. 

We crested a large hill a distance away from the base, and since I was eager to see the situation, my head was stuck out of a turret. I looked in the direction of those iconic trees, and I saw a massive fortress with two extra walls well beyond the area of the trees that wrapped around the original base. 

The Treehouse had tripled in not just size but population. The outermost wall was still under partial construction, earth warlocks making far shorter work of it compared to what would be required on Earth. That was something I had forgotten about, and suddenly I wondered why Colonel Jasmine ever thought they wouldn’t try to hold their ground and fight. 

Well, I could now guess what my life would look like for the foreseeable future. I didn’t know if we would be allowed to go back to the Stronghold, especially if the Scourge wasn’t sending any monsters there. This seemed to be the battlefield now. 

I definitely didn’t prefer this though. Granted, I was glad that the Kingdom was growing a pair and fighting, but I could already imagine how much work I was about to get on my plate. I would no longer be operating in a small base where it was quiet and orderly. 

We were riding head first into a newly formed war machine. The ecosystem of this place had been turned on its head with all the tens of thousands of troops that were flooding into the walls even now. In fact, there were so many people that they had to march a lot of them here, trails of soldiers marching in the distance. 

I liked it better when I was a bit more than just a cog in a machine. Smaller bases did that for me, and I was about to lose my half decent position. 

I sighed, murmurs springing up inside the Steed, everyone moving to stick their heads out and look at the new Treehouse. 

I was mostly quiet as we rolled up to it, clicking my Aerial and finding a familiar channel. It was still live. 

“Liaison to Handler, come in.”

“...Liaison! It’s good to hear from you.”

“Likewise, Handler.”

I smiled when Jasmine’s voice chimed in. 

“We’re approaching the base. Can we still call it the Treehouse?”

“Affirmative, it hasn’t gotten any name changes yet. I must say though I’m not happy about getting kicked out of my room. There was an influx of intelligence agents and unfortunately a Colonel is still only in the middle of the hierarchy.”

“You have my sympathies. How many are slated to reinforce?”

“We’ve received about 28 thousand troops. We’re supposed to be expecting double that over the next couple weeks.”

“Fucking hell.”

I whistled. Those were big numbers, and since most of them were likely coming through the Rails over at Stronghold Charlie, I could imagine how hectic it was over there. 

I let out a breath. 

“We’re rolling in, Handler. Would you mind coming to say hi?”

“I think you should come find me, actually. I’ve got something for you from Polly, courtesy of your recent successes.”

“Is that right? I guess I’ll stop right in then.”

I smiled, having a feeling what this was.

Soon after I clicked off the channel as Jasmine checked in with the Snow Doves. Out here, and without Polly to take her place, she was still the Handler for both our platoons. We technically formed one small company while we were active together, not that the name got used very often. 

Along with all the intelligence agents and lesser soldiers that handled logistics, our company was known as Charlie Company, from Stronghold Charlie obviously. 

Half of our company was still back at the Stronghold, unless they had also made their way over, which was unlikely. Our company was also the only company that manned the Stronghold and us Pathfinders along with the Snow Doves were its sole combat force. We were responsible for the Stronghold, only occasionally helping out the Treehouse. Now that the Treehouse was getting reinforced though, I wondered if we were here to stay, or if they would let us go back to our home base since we were obviously no longer needed here. 

I wondered as we rolled through three different walls. There were probably a few hundred sentreis manning these new walls, all of their eyes on us as we rolled in. 

Our speed slowed as we encountered crowds of people, all of them still settling in. There were a few dozen buildings being built from the ground up, a lot of them looking like residences to house all of these soldiers for a reasonable period. 

Finally, we made it to the main base, the original base surrounded by massive trees. 

I jumped out and stretched, allowing my body to adjust. 

“Cooper.”

I got called, turning to find Brigadier Nonnen. 

He waved me along, Pollux following behind. 

“Let’s go check in.”

“Yes sir.”

I nodded and followed, feeling like I had just risen in the world. It felt like I was being acknowledged, and such things didn’t come from Brigadiers very often. 

The three of us entered the headquarters, Jasmine waiting by the entrance and beaming when she saw us. 

Nonnen smiled. 

“Jasmine, it’s good to see you without any bags under your eyes.”

“I may have lost my cushy room but they haven’t been giving me that much work. It’s good to see you all in one piece.”

She let out a breath of relief. We had been dark for well over a week. At some point, one started to worry, especially since we had just lost two squads to such recon missions recently. 

She waved. 

“Let’s move to a room. We’ve got some things to talk about.”

We followed her lead, finding ourselves an empty briefing room. Once the door was closed, she took a seat, waiting while we did the same, silence pervading for a minute or so. 

She organized her thoughts. 

“Alright, here’s the deal. They aren’t letting us go back.”

“Of course they aren’t.”

Nonnen scoffed. 

“They want us here so that we can ‘assist’ their intelligence efforts, given that we, or more specifically John, have had recent successes sniffing out the Scourge’s positions and movements. That, and there’s been absolutely no movement over at Stronghold Charlie, so they see no reason to let perfectly good soldiers go. However, not all is horrible. Our job descriptions have shifted. Both the Snow Doves and Pathfinders will be supportive forces to the entire Division that’s being moved here. There are more than plenty of soldiers to take on the combat roles in our stead.”

“Well, silver lining, I guess…”

I sighed, rubbing my face. I was indeed about to get busy. Thankfully though I wouldn’t be doing grunt work, especially if Jasmine was about to do what I thought she was. 

She looked at me. 

“Congratulations John, us two are now some of the top intelligence agents in the Treehouse, despite a Marshal, General, a Major General, and 2 Brigadier Generals all showing up. Let’s just say that your name has been passed around since your achievements this time were too big to ignore even with Polly there to try and take the credit. They’ve obviously responded to your reports with great enthusiasm, so you and I will be essentially teaching the top brass about everything there is to know about this place and the recent ongoings. We’ve been officially positioned as their advisors.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Depends on how you look at it, though for you, it’s nothing but the best opportunity you’ve ever received. Polly is currently on her way to insert herself but that doesn’t change what’s already happened. You’re about to gain a lot of influence. Do well, and it won’t be long before you’re sitting at the same level I am. To that end, I’ve got something for you.”

Jasmine waved her hand, a bundle of papers appearing. She set it down on the desk in front of my, my eyes scanning the front page. 

It was the test to become a Major.

“Once again, congratulations. Your application for the rank of Major has been accepted. Take this test, and I’ll grade it. Once that’s done, you’ll officially be a Major.”

“My, this is so unexpected.”

I smiled and looked at the test. I hadn’t put in an application, which means it was Polly who did it for me. If Jasmine’s words about my reports going around were also true, then I could imagine why it got accepted. 

I was still a bit surprised though. I knew I had people watching me and all, but it had been all of 6 months since I had left basic training. I didn’t think I’d become a Major so soon. Although it was technically at the level of Authority 5, the Intelligence ranks didn’t work like the Infantry ranks did. They were climbed with intelligence, not strength. That meant there were far, far fewer intelligence agents at every level, and it tapered off exponentially the higher the rank got. There could be dozens of Brigadiers for every General, thousands of Commanders for every Colonel. 

Now I was becoming the advisor to the newly arrived generals. I would be itneracting with people who controlled the tens of thousands of soldiers here. Sure, what I could do would be limited, but to interact with them at all was a rare thing few ever got to brag about. 

“Do you have a report ready for me, John?”

“Yes, I do.”

I nodded and snapped out of my thoughts. 

“Good. I’ll take it, then you can go take your test.”

“Mm. Right here.”

I pulled out a small stack of papers. Given some days with nothing to do, I obviously had the report drawn up already.

She took them, and then turned to Pollux and Nonnen while I grabbed the test and sat down. 

“Thanks. As for you two, get the Snow Doves and Pathfinders situated within Layer 2. That’s the area between the Treehouse and the second wall. There are fresh barracks there. Nobody will care that you’re here for a while, so take the next few days off. It’s certainly nothing you don’t deserve.”

“Many thanks, little lady.”

“Don’t call me little, fatty.”

Jasmine poked back at Nonnen, who let out a deep chortle. Nonnen wasn’t fat but like all knights, he ate like a pig. 

I quickly started the test as they talked a bit more. I had memorized the books that would get me to at least Lieutenant Colonel, so this was easy. I even cited my answers like last time. I couldn’t possibly get anything wrong. 

Summoner smarts were busted. 

Still, the test was 220 questions. I found it amazing how they could come up with so many questions, and most of it was bullshit too. I wondered how anyone could ever rise to the rank of General if this shit only got more and more capricious. 

Whatever. At least I wouldn’t be hampered. The only challenge that I might ever face would be becoming a general like what Polly was trying to do. I didn’t know if that was something I ever wanted to do though, so it wasn’t something I worried about. As far as I knew, I’d have little to no obstacles to my goals beyond my personal power. 

Pollux and Nonnen left before long. Jasmine stayed behind though, sitting nearby and watching me take the test. 

It took almost two hours, but I finished before the sun set. Once done, Jasmine took the test, looked at the first and last page, then nodded. 

“Congratulations. You’ve passed.”

“Have I?”

“Please. I’ve never seen someone actually cite the book in their answers. If you can do that, then you’ve obviously memorized every word of those damned books, you freak.”

“Heh.”

“So stand up and receive your new insignia.”

Jasmine waved, making me stand. I stood ramrod straight, at attention, and allowed her to exchange my insignia. 

Thankfully I had put on my fatigues. I didn’t know what or who I’d encounter when I arrived on base so I at least put on the shirt underneath my coat, especially since I had a feeling this would be happening. 

Like that, I was given the single Arrow insignia of a Major, pinned on the collar opposite to my Master Sergeant insignia. 

She pat the Arrow when she was done, straightening out my shirt. 

“Congratulations, Major Cooper.”

She gave me a salute, which I returned properly. 

“Many thanks, Colonel Jasmine.”

“You deserve it. It may have come fast but you’ve definitely earned it. You’re smart, Cooper. Don’t let it get to you, but trust that head of yours. It’s saved the Treehouse already, including everyone inside it.”

She pat my shoulder as I relaxed. Then, the two of us walked out. 

“I’ll go file this report. Go get some rest. Tomorrow I’ll have you meet your new superior. Remember to look respectable”

“Roger.”

We separated after that with a brief goodbye. I sauntered off, now a Major, and not so daunted by the weeks and months ahead of me.