Over the next three days of meetings, Rin easily resolved all the challenging questions. Using the establishment of an Expeditionary Force as justification, she secured a large amount of resources from the Imperial military, including supplies, equipment, and personnel. She also accompanied Grand General Black to the final graduation competition at the Imperial Military Academy.
Coincidentally, perhaps due to Rin's unusual presence causing a stir last year, the female cadets graduating a year after Rin all experienced a surge in potential, making rapid progress. This year, seven of the top ten graduates from the Imperial Military Academy were female generals, with both the first and second places taken by women.
Seeing this, Rin almost laughed so hard she'd bang on the table. In the final allocation of graduates, the military department generously assigned all female graduates to Rin's Seventh Legion, now called the Seventh Expeditionary Force. Subtly, Rin's Seventh Expeditionary Force had already become the assigned destination for graduating female officers.
Once everything was settled and the meeting concluded, Rin, riding the Wind God Winged Dragon, led the newly assigned officers of the Seventh Expeditionary Force on their return journey through the sky.
Rin held her precious daughter, standing on the head of the leading Wind God Winged Dragon. Little Najenda was initially a bit scared looking down at the ground from such a height, but she quickly realized there was no danger and immediately became excited, happily admiring the scenery of the vast land. The Wind God Winged Dragon is the strongest Danger Beast in controlling airflow, so the strong cold wind at high altitudes would not blow a single bit onto little Najenda.
At this moment, Suzaku, holding the reins of her own pterosaur, came to a stop not far from Rin and said with some concern:
"Big Sister, I always feel that cooperating with someone like Onesis will ultimately be like playing with fire, and won't end well. Do we really have to continue cooperating with him?"
In response, Rin, holding little Najenda, smiled faintly and replied:
"It seems Suzaku, you still haven't recognized what kind of existence we truly are. As long as Onesis is a truly smart person, he won't betray an ally who can cut off his head at any time. Without him, we can still find others. But without us, hehe, as of now, he only has a dead end. Onesis is a truly smart person; he understands his own weight and knows what extent he can reach. And Suzaku, you need to understand the difference between military power and political power."
Truth is the range of a cannon! A political power without military power is a castle made of paper, crumbling with a push. Onesis understood this very well, which is why in the original work/canon of the Akame ga Kill World, Onesis allied with Esdeath as his steadfast ally to guarantee his power through military force. Their interests were completely aligned and not at all exclusive. Therefore, even until the very end, the two, one civilian and one military, cooperated throughout, and neither ever betrayed the other.
The greatest guarantee of cooperation is the shared interests of the two parties. Since cooperation benefits everyone, who would break such a cooperative relationship? At least truly smart people definitely wouldn't, and Onesis happens to be one.
"Alright, let's go, Suzaku. We'll be there soon. Speaking of which, only this Seventh Legion, which we built together, can be considered our true home."
"Yes, I've missed it after being away for less than a week."
"With the legion's restructuring, I'm afraid we'll be busy for days and nights without sleep again. Be prepared, my dear vice-general."
"Aye."
The situation unfolded as Rin had predicted. The Seventh Legion was reformed into the Seventh Expeditionary Force, and the entire core leadership of the legion was driven to madness. The entire legion, from top to bottom, had countless details to change, add, or remove. The compilation, review, and organization of documents and data kept the entire legion's headquarters busy for days and nights without sleep. Finally, the legion's structure was reformed before the arrival of a new batch of recruits.
"How are you, Najenda? Mama has been so busy these past few days. Are you getting used to being in a brand new place?"
After nearly half a month of continuous busyness, Rin and her officers practically lived in the legion's command post. Although they completed their work with extremely high efficiency, they naturally neglected those around them. For this half-month, little Najenda was basically looked after by two female military doctors responsible for caring for the wounded in the legion. Rin barely saw her child. But once her work was done, Rin immediately ran to take care of her child herself.
"Mmm, Mama has work, Najenda is fine."
"Hehe, Najenda is so good. Look, Najenda, this is the home we are building, our true home."
Currently, Rin was holding little Najenda, riding a small flying dragon and surveying the entire encampment of the Seventh Expeditionary Force.
The Seventh Expeditionary Force's camp construction was increasingly resembling a complete city. Various shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues were gradually being completed under Rin's direct planning. The target consumers were, of course, the soldiers' military pay. They earned money, so they needed enough places to spend it. To earn money but have no life to spend it is a human tragedy... Rin had already begun planning to build new city walls on the outskirts, using soldiers as the primary labor force. The original military camp city would be transformed into a city-within-a-city, and all buildings and spaces originally used for other purposes would be converted into soldier barracks. The expanded area, ten times its original size, would be developed with everything a city should possess. Rin intended to build this into a true military metropolis.
Backed by the Forest of Dangerous Species, there was an inexhaustible source of economic income. In the future, civilians would also be brought in to settle, allowing for direct replenishment of soldiers on-site without having to wait for Imperial recruits. Within ten years, this place could be built into a completely independent military empire, requiring no reliance on the nation!
At this moment on the ground, the officers and soldiers of the Seventh Expeditionary Force were training with great enthusiasm. The more than ten thousand soldiers in the legion were now all official members of the Seventh Expeditionary Force, but the intensity of their training would only increase, with more weapon usage and combined battle drills.
The weapons wielded by the soldiers and the armor they wore were still stone-made equipment, weighing twice as much as real ones. The soldiers of the Seventh Expeditionary Force consistently used these training weapons during non-combat training. By adapting to this weight in peacetime, they could wield real weapons as if they were extensions of their arms in actual combat.
"Hoo—ha, kill!"
"Hoo—ha, kill!"
"How is it, Najenda? Is it too scary? Let's go back to the room."
The official members of the Seventh Expeditionary Force were true warriors who had killed, seen blood, and endured trials of life and death. When they trained together, the bloodthirsty and wild shouts of killing during their drills filled the air with a terrifying aura. Rin comforted Najenda in her arms, afraid of scaring her, but Najenda's reaction was beyond Rin's expectations. Instead of being scared, she watched the training scene of the warriors below with great interest and said:
"It's not scary at all. When Najenda listens, she feels so hot all over, and really wants to shout her voice out like them."
Rin looked with curiosity at the unique Little One in her arms, who was blinking her big eyes, sparkling with excitement, as she watched the soldiers below.
A child not yet two years old, yet already captivated by military life. Najenda, you truly are a born soldier...
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