After the Prime Minister, who was aligned with the magicians, was elected, the situation of human civilization became much less chaotic—a return to normalcy.
As the Coordinator of Defense, Mike typically doesn't have many opportunities to kill demons. The Wall Defense Coordinator is a highly prestigious position. This role commands five of human civilization's 100 armies. Although Mike doesn't have absolute authority over the five armies he commands, he is the general with the highest authority over them; in practice, he is one of the generals with the most influence over the defense.
Mike was appointed as a one-star general about 18 years ago, immediately after finishing leadership school. Fortunately for him, the general of the 73rd Army retired right when he graduated, and he was appointed to that position as the successor. The 73rd Army is responsible for delivering supplies to various stations out of the wall. During that time, he personally attended many dangerous missions and killed many demons, increasing his demonic bloodline mix to 11%; being the general of the 73rd army was very suitable for him, as most of its tasks were outside the walls, with a high chance of encountering demons.
After serving as the general of the 73rd army for years, Mike was 'promoted' to the position of Defense Coordinator of the Great Wall, a two-star general role. Mike hated this 'promotion' and strongly protested, but to no avail.
Each army has a one-star general in charge; in addition, there are two-star generals, three-star generals, and four-star generals above them. Due to the peculiar structure of human civilization's military, two-star and three-star generals, despite theoretically holding more powerful positions, may actually wield less practical power than one-star generals. This is because each one-star general commands an army, while two-star generals may serve on specialized military planning commissions, military discipline commissions, or as military judges. They outrank one-star generals but usually have no involvement in leading soldiers directly. Mike's position, defense coordinator of the Great Wall, was one of the most powerful 2-star positions; however, it was mostly office work, with little opportunity to kill demons personally; for Mike, it was more like demotion than promotion.
Three-star generals hold very high positions, such as chiefs of commissions or boards, chief coordinators, chief judges, and assistants to four-star generals. However, most of them can only influence the military from afar and usually have no direct role in leading armies into battle; there are some three-star positions, such as chief coordinator of defense, chief coordinator of offensive operation, chief coordinator of intelligence, etc., that have closer involvement to troops to the ground, but likewise, it would be extremely unusual for the chief coordinator of intelligence to personally go on any mission.
After graduating from the S-Grade School of the Capital, Mike had two choices: join the military as a soldier or apply to leadership school. Even though Mike graduated from the S-Grade School of the Capitaschool at the age of 25 as the top student in his class, they wouldn't have made any exceptions for him; upon joining the military, he would have been a soldier like everyone else. Of course, his commanders would have treated him differently than, say, a D-Grade School graduate, but still, a soldier has no say in where he is assigned or what missions he takes.
That was unacceptable to Mike, so he applied to leadership school.
After three years in the leadership school, he passed it with flying colors, breaking records in the school's history. He impressed them so much that they directly appointed him as the general of the 73rd Army. From the age of 28 to 34, he served happily in the 73rd Army and successfully supplied stations all over the world; during his time there, casualties decreased to record lows. But then, they decided to pull him away and appointed him as the Defense Coordinator of the Great Wall.
Even as the Great Wall's defense coordinator, Mike stretched his authority by going on expeditions outside the walls to kill demons. He argued that 'to defend the walls properly, it is necessary to eliminate the threats lurking outside.' Unfortunately for him, his commanders didn't see it that way. The military's Chief Inspector, a three-star general, admonished him and reported the matter to one of the two four-star generals.
The four-star general, Mike's ultimate commander, ordered him to focus on defending the walls and leave the external threats to other armies. There was no punishment beyond that. They gave him a lot of leeway in this matter, as he was responsible for defending the walls. Leaving the walls to attack demons outside was highly inappropriate.
...
"General Brightlight." Mike gave a simple salute and sat down in her office.
Mage Brightlight had been one of the two four-star generals of human civilization for about 20 years. It was rumored that her promotion was mostly due to a treasure she found on a mission. The details were top secret—even Mike couldn't get the full story. But a treasure so impressive that it could directly influence her promotion to such a high rank was no simple matter.
"Mike! Long time no see. How are you doing these days?" Brightlight, whose face cover barely contained the intense glow, smiled at Mike.
"Please, speak to General Widevision! Defense Coordinator is not suitable for me. Put me in a position where I can fight demons!" Mike bowed and pleaded.
His direct commander wasn't Brightlight but Widevision. Widevision was also promoted to four-star general 17 years ago when the previous general retired. It's said that his appointment was more about calming the protests happening at the time. After all, Widevision was considered a hero who was seen as the mastermind behind saving human captives from demonic farms, so appointing him as one of the military leaders improved public perception of the military. Although the military didn't need popular support, it certainly didn't hurt. In fact, human civilization as a whole paid close attention to maintaining the popularity of the government and especially the military.
Widevision wasn't very powerful as a magician, but he had good leadership qualities, cared about people's lives, and was popular—a very good choice for the position.
The authority to appoint four-star generals lies with the Military Leadership Committee, composed of magicians over 90 years old. These individuals hold no official rank, but their word is final. They can remove and appoint anyone they choose. The military is ultimately under their command. Of course, these elders never truly exercise their full theoretical command. Nearly all military functions are carried out by the generals. The Military Leadership Committee's primary job nowadays is to choose suitable people to fill the two four-star general positions. The two generals handle the rest of the business, including appointing and removing lower-ranking generals. The Leadership Committee rubber-stamps anything the four-star generals send their way.
"I can't do that! Four-star generals are supposed to check and balance each other. I cannot interfere at all!" said Brightlight.
Mike sighed. He had already gone to Widevision and pleaded, but the man wouldn't listen at all. He only nodded as if he understood Mike's pain, but years passed, and nothing changed.
"Please, General, I am desperate!" Mike begged again. He had no qualms about begging if it helped his cause. Even as the strongest human, he couldn't bypass the military's structure and just leave the city to kill demons. He had to work his way through the system—there is no shortcut.
"Mike, I really cannot do anything! Here's my suggestion: send a letter to the Military Leadership Committee requesting your transfer to the 13th Army. You are the strongest human, so they might actually read your letter. The 13th Army is under my command, so if they agree, you will become a general under me, and then I can send you outside the Great Wall," Brightlight said.
Mike shook his head in disappointment. Suggesting he send a letter to the Leadership Committee was akin to saying, "Pray to whoever is in heaven." The Leadership Committee had long delegated everything to the two 4-star generals. Unless the matter was of national importance, such as the Prime Minister's incident 18 years ago, the Leadership Committee would simply redirect all letters back to the two four-star generals without even reading them.
The only people who can meet directly with the Leadership Committee are three- and four-star generals, the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Police Chief of human civilization. Anyone else can only send a letter, which will not be read.
As one of the four-star generals, Brightlight has a direct line to the Leadership Committee, yet she asked him to send a letter that wouldn't be read. It was obvious she didn't want to help.
"I will remember your favor, general; please personally meet with the Leadership Committee and ask them to transfer me!" Mike was thick-skinned. Even though it was clear Brightlight didn't want to help, he still asked.
"Mike, I cannot do that! It would break tradition! Please, wait a few more years. I'm sure they will promote you to three-star general, and then you can meet them yourself," said Brightlight.
Mike stood up, looked down at Brightlight, turned around, and left without giving a military salute or saying anything.
Brightlight stared at the door in silence, with a slight worry at the bottom of her heart. She felt as if she had made a mistake; as if she had triggered a bad sequence of events.