Dragon Poor Chapter 39

"You've done well for coming this far, so go now and return."

After staring down his body with a sharp look, he spoke impertinently by gesturing him out. Jackson did not falter from his behavior as he continued to bow and show respect.

"Thank you Captain for your consideration."

From that salute, Frederik gestured him out once more.

"Follow me."

A soldier from outside the tent was waiting to guide him. Though his attitude was very rude, Jackson did not care. He didn't know when he would see this designated guide again, and with how strange this soldier's attitude was, he held more anticipation.

'Head to the border.'

When he first received the order to transfer squads, his heart became complicated. However, after realizing that he was assigned to the 24th Regiment of the border, he was full of excitement the whole night.

It was the first cavalry in the Kingdom who had erased the name of the infamous Sastane Cavalry in a mere two battles. Not only that, but he will would also belong to that famous Heavy Cavalry of the 24th Regiment. Due to that sudden realization, he wasn't able to sleep all night.

"It is here."

While he was lost in his thoughts, he had already arrived at the destination.

"Thank…"

He was about to thank him due to excitement, but the soldier assigned to guide him had already returned on his way back. Embarrassed while scratching his cheek with a smile, he breathed out once more and straightened his uniform. Then, with the anticipation of meeting the heroes of the Kingdom, he strongly opened the entrance of the tent.

"Who the hell is this guy?"
"Well well. Have you come from some apprentice knight camp? Look how well he's dressed."

Before he could even salute, complaints were already being hurled at him.

"You locked every single button up. Where have you come from, the temple?"

The elite cavalry that he was anticipating to meet were cavalry that exuded a grand atmosphere around them with noble expressions. He could feel that they were mighty warriors from the recent conflicts, but he could not feel any sort of elite, noble impressions from them at all.

But the elite cavalry in front of him felt strange in someway. Though all of them bore the odd scar here and there on their faces, rather than looking like mighty warriors that he had heard of, he sensed they were very much like delinquents, and he couldn't feel any sort of elitist oozing from them at all.

Hmm. It appears, that in the front lines, it is different.

Despite that, he worked his best to gain their favor, but it was quite difficult.

"You son of a bitch. That's my seat?!"
"Did you reserve it? Did you reserve it?"

They were already swearing at him like crazy, as the place churned in an uproar.

"Ugh…"

Forgetting about the hazing, the men were noisily quarreling amongst themselves. Then, someone grabbed his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw a man staring at him.

"Are you the last one?"
"Yes? Yes!"

It was the voice of someone who looked ordinary, but had a strong, deep tone, which caused Jackson to answer immediately while straightening his body.

"That, that asshole. He's a total bitch?"

The men in the tent ridiculed and mocked him, but all Jackson could focus on was the man in front of him uniquely wearing a blue uniform.

"Shut up, grab your luggage, and come out. I will count down from thirty."

All of the men suddenly quieted down in an instant, there were even some who held threatening glances. But these men were not as strong as they looked, they were a bit uncooperative after seeing that there was someone who looked weaker than them.

"These blue coat bastards sure are so prideful, it seems like you consider us as mere water."

The blue uniform of the border troops now symbolized the Kingdon's ultimate cavalry, and inspired the very threshold of glory itself. All of the cavalry that transferred there afterwards admired and envied the veteran cavalrymen, and there were even some talentless ones that had duelled with them a few times with unrestrained jealousy.

"I heard that you guys cut people up real well? No matter how I look at it, you don't look like it."

Even now, the men were growling at the man, but the blue coated man stood still. Rather, it was Jackson who was restless. Missing his timing, he was now stuck in the middle as the men of one side approached towards him to resolve their complaints. While the man on the other side, who definitely looked like he was from the 24th Regiment, causing Jackson to almost cry from this untoward scene.

"You take my words too lightly? Huh, if I speak, answer…"
"…twenty-eight, twenty-nine."

It was a monotonous voice that continued to pierce through the air, which reminded Jackson that the man in front had assigned them a time limit to pack their luggage.

"Thirty. Time's up. Everyone head out."
"Are you running? Looks like it's true that you and the Sastanes were all bull, ughk!"

Thinking that the money was running away, he approached him proudly, before screaming while grabbing his nose.

"Don't try to fight against me with posturing. Cavalrymen do not fight with their mouths."
"Cavalry do not fight with their mouths…"

Jackson repeated the words in a mutter as he realized that the man in front of him was the kind of cavalryman that he dreamt of.

"This bas…"
"And even if you guys don't whine, I'll give you an opportunity so stop, you bloody bastard."

Grabbing his bloody noise, he was swearing at the man, but he had already left the tent.

"You're running away? Running away? See? That bastard just ran."

Though the surprised guy belatedly tried to recover his pride, his bloodied appearance while whining looked very repulsive.

Jackson shook his head from that appearance and headed outside.

"Hey! Don't leave. You're our comrade from now on. Do you think you'll be comfortable leaving your comrades?"
"Are you ignoring me as well? You fucking bastard, what's your name! I'll remember it!"

Though he heard the man behind him, Jackson ignored it. What he slowly judged was that though there were more numbers on this side, he was more afraid of the blue coat.

Thus, he left the tent and met not one, but many blue coats waiting for him.

"Name!"

It was a short question, but the intention itself was much different from the questions that his comrades had asked him earlier, as there was pride and strength behind that voice. He stiffened from his spot as Jackson subconsciously became fully aware of this moment, straightening himself once more.

"Jackson Hamilton! I have come from the Paslon Estate of the east!"
"Good. Jackson from Paslon, you stand over there. You're specially exempt from the hazing."

Jackson quickly withdrew in the direction that the man gestured towards. Looking back, it seemed that the whole group was bent on disobeying as a whole.

"Good. These guys are real cavalry with this much. Obedient transfers are too boring, isn't it?"

Rather than being angry like Jackson had thought, the blue coated man laughed joyfully. But, as if his words picked on him, Jackson's pride was beaten down.

"Even if we wait, there won't be any more who will come out right?"
"They wouldn't. All of them are Sergeants who received some form of respect in their own squads."

After deciding amongst themselves, the blue coats of the 24th Regiment suddenly moved around.

"Huh? What are you…"
"You just wait here and watch, recruit."

Then, looking at the end, he saw two horses tied behind the tent with a rope. Then, the rope suddenly tightened quickly with a pull, causing the pillars of the tent to collapse.

"Ahhhhhhk!"
"Wh, what?!"

The sudden collapsed tent caused screams and groans to erupt from within the tent.

"What do you mean, 'What?' This is a hazing, you pussies."

Then, the blue coats walked on top of the collapsed tent and began to excitedly strike down on the thrashing men.

"Ahhhhhhhk!"
"My nose!!!"

The screams and groans continued for a long time. Then, after some time had passed, the blue coats cleared away the tent. There were some who had broken noses and bloody lips, while there were others with ripped clothes and blue bruises all over their body. All of those who had resisted the blue coats due to their egos had become like this.

"You, you cowardly…ughk!"

A boar-like man tried to raise his body and swear before a blue coated man punched him once more.

"We welcome you to the Heavy Cavalry of the 24th Regiment."

The man smiled brightly as he spoke a greeting unfitting of this current situation.

"I'm Sergeant Clarke. I'll be in your care, you pussy bastards."
"Ughk!"

A man who was kicked by the blue coated man named Clarke screamed once more.

Like Sergeant Clarke had expected, all of the transferred cavalrymen that were sent to them were problematic. They were always complaining and behaving like delinquents with horrible and disruptive attitudes.

Even though they were beaten down to the bone, they hadn't fully withdrawn their proud demeanours.

"Why? Feeling unreasonable? Feels like shit huh? All of sudden attacked like that without any sort of opportunity to fight back?"

Though the recent transfers did not say anything, he knew what they were thinking of. Thus, Clarke gave them one more opportunity.

"Choose one of the men here who you think looks easy. If you win, you will be the senior."
From those words, the recent recruits expressions changed. Even though their bodies weren't completely well, they had looks as if they would not lose even in their current state.

"That old man over there."
"Hiya. What a coincidence. It's Hansen again?"

A transfer stepped forward and selected Hansen. The cavalrymen began to chuckle amongst themselves, causing Hansen to bicker as he stepped forward.

"Where exactly do I look so easy?"

Though he looked easy to fight with due to his missing teeth, it was only him who was not aware of this fact.

"Enough! Enough!"

The victor was decided in an instant. Being held in a choke hold, the recruit became unconscious soon enough. But, recognising how they did not admit their defeat to the very last, it showed the toughness and pride of these soldiers.

"I heard you were the Sergeant. If I win, will you give me the position?"

The man that stepped forward had an unimaginable frame even among the cavalrymen, he was at least a head taller than the others.

"If you can win."

However, Clarke did not hesitate from that challenge and accepted him.

"Ughk!"

Then the man with a strong physical frame was knocked out in one punch.

"I choose him."
"I choose that man with makeup."

As such, the transfer soldiers consistently challenged them aggressively, and continued to be knocked out.

"This is too unfair! Our bodies have not yet recovered! If we were to duel on horses…"
"Is that so? Then bring your own horses out."

The transferred cavalrymen unwilling to admit defeat stared at Clarke, who gave them another opportunity.

Everyone was gathered at the training grounds. Maybe due to the fact that they all had come from different places, they all had equipment that was different from one another.

In contrast, the Heavy Cavalry of the 24th Regiment had all their equipment matching, as they came out with a unified look.

There were definitely more numbers towards the transfer cavalrymen, but whether it was simply pressure from the unified equipment or what not, the gap in strength and atmosphere worsened once they mounted on their horses.

They were indeed a true cavalry.

No matter how much one were to train, Jackson exclaimed at how strong and fearful they were in comparison to his comrades.

"Then shall we start… It'll be fine if we fight in a duel, or in a group?"

There was an overwhelming confidence bearing over them, however, the dirty-tempered transfer cavalrymen began to choose their opponents, burdened from the fact of fighting in a group.

"I have heard that there was a Rider who had achieved the greatest military achievements against the Sastanes. Who is he?"

The man who had challenged Clarke earlier before fainting began searching for his opponent.

"It seems you're talking about the youngest."
"I don't care if he's the youngest or what not, I will fight him. On top of a horse, I am the best."

From that confident tone of the giant man, the expressions of the cavalrymen became strange. It was as if they were holding in their laughter, causing the man to frown being ridiculed for.

"Your confidence is good. Very good. That's what a Rider should be like. But are you truly the best on a horse?"
"Confirm it yourself."
"No. No. It's just that it'll be truly interesting. What kind of result will arise by facing the guy that's considered the greatest Rider."

As if they were hiding something, they signalled a hint before looking at a direction afar.

"It should be about time for him to come…"
"He's coming over here."

Clarke seeing the dot from afar laughed as he asked the man one more time.

"Will you really not regret it?"
"If a man has dropped his pride, then he needs to regain it through whatever means. I have no intention of changing my horse."
"Good. Good. Then fight him once the youngest arrives."

Then, after some time, the dot was approaching closer. But seeing the, 'Youngest,' the new transfers stared at him agape.

It was the eyes of a monster, raising his neck up pridefully, a scene so frightening that it would be fearful to witness even if this was a dream.

"Have you already started?"

The black-haired man on top of the Drake asked with a refreshing tone.

"He's your opponent."

Clarke burst out in laughter as the giant man screamed palely.

Kereeeeeung!

At this time, the Drake cried out, causing all of the horses to run away from fear.

TL Afterword:

Calvis: Poor guy. Horse vs Drake. That's not even a fair fight LOL.

PR Afterword:

T0ngan: LMAO! Sheesh – is that what you call a hazing, more like butt whipping! A beating when the tent falls on them, another beating in 1 vs 1, and then it is another beating on horse vs horse.. And then some idiot had to call out the Drake!
Borderline Masochist:  I feel bad for that recruit, lol.  I feel like these guys will become a LOT more submissive after this battle.

Translator: Calvis
Editor:  T0ngan/Borderline Masochist

Chapter end