Perhaps because they were nervous, the soldiers didn’t even understand what their lord just said. They saw that he smiled and simply made assumptions. Among them, the particularly tactless even laughed along with their lord.

“I said shut your mouths. Are my words a joke to you? Do I need to charge you with contempt against your lord?”

His tone was soft, but the words themselves were violent.

“Just look at you new recruits. At attention. Don’t you know what ‘at attention’ means? Hands on your thighs. Legs together. Back straight. Yes, like that. Attention! Okay. Don’t move.”

The lord was still smiling. However, his gaze was as venomous as that of a viper. The recruits froze at the look he gave them.

“You over there. What’s your name?”

“M, my name is Adol.”

Adol, the selected recruit, responded with a frozen expression. The lord once again let out a chilling laugh.

“Good. Adol. You’re recruit number 1 from now on. You’re number 2, and you’re number 3. Remember your numbers – they will be your names in the future.”

The new recruits couldn’t understand what Seon-hyeok was saying. They just listened to their lord in bewilderment.

“Okay. So what’s your name?”

“Ado…”

Adol began to answer like he did earlier, only to stop as he noticed his lord’s...