“Kekk?”  

A sigh escaped my lips.  

“Just when I thought I could get some useful soldiers.”  

[Trait – Intermediate Grade Fire Affinity]  

[Modified Steel Leather Command Combat Uniform created by a Junior Grade Seamstress]  

 As a Chef, I’m quite friendly with fire.  

With the stat boosts from cooking, this level of flame is nothing.  

“Ke, kekk. I’m sorry.”  

“You won’t do.”  

“Surrender! Submission! Loyalty!”  

The goblin was now groveling on the floor.  

But a dog that bites its master is a worthless dog.  

Keeping such dogs is a hassle.  

Sshhk-  

[Experience points acquired.]  

Disappointingly, there were no achievement messages, suggesting this was not the leader of the species.  

“Sergeant Shin? Are you alright?”  

“I’m fine.”  

“Then, what about these monster creatures?”  

“Eliminate them all.”  

“Yes! Boys, leave none of them alive!”  

“Kekk!!! Please spare me!”  

The remaining goblins were being dealt with by the soldiers.  

I sat on a chair in the corner office, watching the scene unfold.  

-Master.  

‘Hm?’  

The vampire baroness who was in the shadows spoke to me.  

-It’s not my place to say this, since I’ve already become one of your vassal.  

‘What is it?’  

-Keeping monsters under your command is not an easy task.  

Monsters…  

She must be referring to the creatures.  

-Beings with innate magical power generally have strong pride. It’s rare for them to submit to brute force.  

‘So, there’s no such thing as a monster slave army?’  

-Yes. Unless there is a binding as powerful as my oath, trying to suppress them with just strength will most likely result in betrayal in the end.  

Hmm.  

It seems my grand dream of a monster slave army is crumbling.  

‘Won’t they be tempted by my cooking?’  

-Hmm. The grace you bestow upon us brings the utmost happiness, but…  

Since she’s a vassal who has tasted my cooking, she seemed a bit hesitant to give a simple answer.  

-I think it would depend on the monster’s disposition.  

‘Disposition?’  

-If the monster is not particularly bellicose, it may be possible to gain their favor through your grace. But those monsters that live in tribal units are generally quite aggressive.  

Indeed.  

The lizardmen who had invaded our forces were biting our soldiers until the very end.  

The ‘Mac’, who only defended its territories while living individually, were an example of non-aggressive monsters.  

Blackie would be a case of a non-aggressive one.  

-Even if the negotiation had gone well initially, in the end, those creatures would have inevitably plotted to betray you and turn you into a ‘grace factory’ rather than cooperate to receive your cooking.  

‘Grace factory…’  

That’s a rather novel term.  

Anyway, the implication is that it’s impossible to just grab passing monsters, feed them my cooking, and instantly make them my vassals.  

That’s when,  

Ding.  

[Acquired control over the territory ‘Small Town (3)’ in the ROK.17 region]  

[While control over the territory is maintained, additional ‘Occupation Points’ will be acquired]  

[The guild’s occupied territory has expanded!]  

[The number of deputies you can select has increased by ‘1’]  

‘As expected!’  

The expected message appeared before me.  

“Huh, control over the territory?”  

“What is this all about?”  

Some of the soldiers were puzzled by the message.  

Most of them were recent recruits.  

On the other hand,  

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen this message.”  

“Ah, when was the last time we saw that?”  

The soldiers who had been with us since the beginning.  

A few of them spoke wistfully.  

‘It really took a long time.’  

The first time I saw this message was when we had crushed the forces of the Chieftain and gained control over the mountain range.  

Back then, our awakened members were barely over 20.  

It’s no wonder there are few awakened soldiers who have seen this message before.  

Toward the soldiers who still didn’t understand the meaning, Sergeant Lee Min-jae briefly explained.  

“It means we have the greatest influence in this area.”  

“Ah, I see.”  

“Our forces are now assessed to be able to impact the entire Inje-gun.”  

Unlike the mountain range, which had nothing but a hodgepodge of monsters aside from the lizardmen, there were diverse survivor groups, plunderers, monsters and beasts flocking to hunt humans.  

And even zombies wandering around the abandoned cities.  

In addition, various monsters have been occupying the military bases throughout Gangwon-do.  

By overcoming all of them, we’ve been recognized as the ‘dominant force’ in this region.  

“Haha… But in the end, it seemed pretty easy, didn’t it?”  

“You think so?”  

“The conquest of the military base too. I mean, it’s not 100% complete, but I thought it would be much harder, but we succeeded.”  

“When I first came down with the troops and saw the base, I thought there was no way we could conquer it… Guess we were lucky.”  

Lucky, huh?!  

I shook my head and interjected into the soldiers’ conversation.  

“It wasn’t just luck.”  

When we came down from the mountains, I felt that luck had played a role in our unit’s survival.  

Even though my awakening was a factor, for some reason the environment was one where zombies didn’t appear either.  

But on the surface, it’s different.  
Luck? No way.  

“We worked that hard and became that strong.”  

“Ah, I see.”  

“Yes, Sergeant-nim is right.”  

Even just this city hall building – if we were the same as when we first came down with the troops, we might have barely managed to conquer it after tremendous effort.  

But over the course of time, we did not slack off in our efforts.  

  
The results are now showing.  

[Steel Legion]  

  
[Dominant Territory in the ROK.17 Region]  

  
[Mountains – 3%]  

  
[Small Town (3) – 3%]  

The share of Small Town (3) is 3%.  

  
Even though the Mountains are much larger in area, the fact that it’s only 3% means that the existing level of civilization still has some influence.  

‘Finally, we’ve moved on to the next stage.’  

Succeeding in dominating Inje-gun.  

  
Which also means it’s now time to expand into other regions.  

‘Of course, we have already secured the tanks, as well as the subway lines for them to move.’  

As we keep expanding our territory, someday, I might even be able to reach my hometown where my parents are.