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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Lumia Blyue exited the battalion headquarters building, her arms laden with books. They were books she had borrowed from the only library in the unit.
Most were basic magic books like “Introduction to Magic” and “Elemental Theory.”
‘He’s been reading these kinds of books for days.’
It was a request from her platoon leader, Enoch Levandal. He had asked her to bring him any basic magic books from the library.
‘Why?’
She couldn’t help but wonder. She was also a mage soldier. Even if she wasn’t an officer from the academy like Enoch, she was still quite knowledgeable in magic.
She had long since graduated from reading such basic magic books.
‘Then is that rumor really true…?’
It had been a week since Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal was officially appointed as platoon leader, and he was currently the talk of the town.
From his appearance and personality to his speech and his records at the academy. Soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and even fellow officers were all focused on Enoch Levandal’s every move.
He was the center of controversy in the 3rd Battalion.
Of course, it was partly because he was a newly appointed officer, and he happened to be in charge of her platoon, known as the ‘useless platoon.’ But more than anything else, it was because he completely secluded himself outside of official duty hours.
Enoch Levandal didn’t interact personally with anyone except for Company Commander Captain Ardent Schultz and his platoon members.
Suspicions, when left unattended, tend to snowball. As a result, all sorts of rumors were now circulating.
I heard he’s a Corps Commander’s parachute. He has no talent in magic and just came here to build up his military record.
Is that why he was assigned to the useless platoon? Because he doesn’t have to do anything?
Bullshit. You believe that? And I heard he’s not a Corps Commander’s parachute, but an inspector sent from the Corps.
What? Seriously?
I overheard the 1st Platoon Leader saying something about senior units sometimes sending inspectors disguised as new Second Lieutenants.
The rumors weren’t limited to Enoch Levandal’s identity. There were even bizarre rumors that he was actually a woman disguised as a man.
Some even speculated that the reason his quarters were assigned to a separate building from the headquarters was to hide his true gender.
Of course, Lumia didn’t think Enoch Levandal was a woman disguised as a man. Even the most skilled archmage couldn’t pull off such a convincing gender transformation.
And why would anyone change their perfectly fine gender in the first place?
Lumia didn’t pay attention to such useless rumors. What mattered to her was Enoch Levandal’s true ‘identity.’
‘Is he really an inspector? Or a parachute?’
Or was he even a proper mage officer at all?
He diligently handled administrative tasks like writing daily platoon reports and approving documents that had piled up due to the lack of a platoon leader.
But he hadn’t shown any aspect of being a ‘mage platoon leader.’ She hadn’t seen him use mana, not even activate his mana core.
The reason regular mage officers had so much free time was because they were ‘mages.’
For instance, when approving a document, a mage could grasp the entire content instantly just by using ‘reading magic’ without having to read it word by word.
Magic was that kind of an unfairly advantageous talent. That was also why the Principality of Ukraine was holding onto numerous ‘unfit for service’ personnel like Lumia.
Lumia concluded that Enoch Levandal was not using magic for some reason.
‘Perhaps… he really was sent from Colonel Sonny Zeppelin’s special forces.’
Sonny Zeppelin, the Sky Archmage. The most powerful mage in the Ukraine Principality Army, and one of the twelve officially recognized ‘Archmages’ in the international community.
It was an open secret that she was actively recruiting skilled eccentrics within the military.
Sonny Zeppelin herself had visited the battalion recently, so perhaps Enoch Levandal was an officer dispatched to the 3rd Battalion for recruiting such talent.
It was a reasonable suspicion. He had a very cold demeanor. The way he looked at her and her fellow platoon members, with those strange eyes, had the air of a superior observing everything from above.
Even she felt slightly uncomfortable being alone with Enoch Levandal. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but… it was like being overwhelmed.
‘That would make sense if he was an inspector.’
As Lumia headed towards Enoch’s quarters, lost in thought, someone blocked her path.
“Sergeant Lumia, aren’t those heavy? Let me carry them for you.”
“…”
An irritating voice. There was no need to turn her head. Only one soldier would approach her so blatantly.
The stench of a half-smoked cigarette wafted from his mouth.
Private First Class Rex.
“Move.”
Lumia Blyue clicked her tongue and walked past Rex, who was blocking her way. He was a man she didn’t want to be associated with.
“Aw, you’re so cold again.”
Rex’s arm grabbed Lumia’s shoulder. Even if Lumia was a female soldier, she was still his superior officer. For a Private First Class to touch a non-commissioned officer was clearly crossing the line.
“Let go.”
The polite tone she had been using disappeared. Her voice turned cold, but Rex simply shrugged with a sly grin.
“Did I do something wrong? I can’t even help you as a subordinate?”
“Do you think your actions are appropriate?”
“Oh, Sergeant Lumia, you wound me~. What makes you so confident?”
Rex’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t the look one would give a superior officer, even out of courtesy.
“That newly appointed Platoon Leader? From what I see, he looks like he’s about to leave the platoon any day now.”
“Private First Class… if you keep acting like this.”
“Or what? Are you going to rely on the Sergeant Major again? He’s not really interested either, in your useless platoon.”
“I can handle my own affairs. There’s no need for those two to get involved… ”
“Hack, spit.”
Rex spat on the ground, cutting Lumia off.
“Try it. Yeah? Sergeant, what do you think the Company Commander will do?”
Even with Rex’s blatant provocation, bordering on threat, Lumia couldn’t bring herself to speak. This wasn’t the first time he had acted like this.
Every time, she went to the Company Commander and the personnel officer to file a complaint, but the only result was a light reprimand.
There was nothing she could do. Private First Class Rex was one of the most senior Private First Classes in the 3rd Battalion. And he was responsible for a lot of the unit’s work.
Mages in the Mage Battalion didn’t have much to do. They had no knowledge of administrative and support tasks like personnel, logistics, or supply.
Since the base security was handled by dedicated personnel, regular mage soldiers like Lumia were on standby indefinitely when they had no scheduled duties.
In other words, Rex’s role was more important than Lumia’s in peacetime, though it might be different in combat.
No one would take Lumia’s side. She had already been marked by the Battalion Commander due to a series of ‘incidents’ and was now branded as completely useless.
Private First Class Rex knew this all too well, which was why he always treated Lumia as beneath him.
Or rather, he was constantly looking for an opportunity. That disgusting gaze that scanned her body, the way he subtly licked his lips…
Unable to bear it any longer, Lumia threw the books she was holding onto the ground.
Just as her hand, trembling with rage, was about to strike the Private First Class’s cheek,
BOOOOOM!!
With a tremendous shockwave, the exterior wall of the building in front of them crumbled.
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My first thought was to come up with a plausible excuse. A justifiable reason for blowing up the wall of a perfectly good building with an explosion.
Should I say there was a giant spider?
‘Like the Battalion Commander would believe that, idiot.’
Then should I just tell the truth, that I lost control of my magic?
Come to think of it, that wasn’t a good idea either. I had been making a good impression on the Company Commander and other officers during official duty hours.
I couldn’t destroy the tower I had painstakingly built.
But I really had no excuse. My mind went blank. No, wait, was Fireball originally this powerful?
As far as I knew, Fireball was a low-power attack spell that couldn’t even penetrate an infantry formation.
I stared at the collapsed wall with mixed feelings. And how was the furniture still intact? It was only the wall that had been destroyed.
Just then…
“Second Lieutenant, are you alright!?”
A familiar voice came from outside the now open wall. It was Sergeant Lumia Blyue. It seemed she had witnessed the incident while bringing the books I had requested from the library.
“Ah, Sergeant! I’m fine. But this wall…”
I briefly hoped it could be repaired, but that hope was short-lived. Personnel in uniform poured out of the headquarters building like ants. It was only natural. A wall collapsing in broad daylight would definitely attract attention.
‘This is a public execution.’
As I stood there in despair, Lumia’s eyes widened, darting between me and the destroyed wall.
“Second Lieutenant, what happened?”
“Well, um… I was demonstrating magic, and…”
At this point, I had no choice but to choose the least embarrassing option. Yes, it was fate. A useless platoon leader for a useless platoon.
My grand debut in the 3rd Battalion was ruined, so I had no choice but to quietly endure my punishment for the minimum service period of one year, and then… I could start preparing for the war after transferring to another unit.
It was RE: Starting Unit Life from Zero, damn it.
What was I supposed to do when the first button was misbuttoned? I had done my best. I processed documents meticulously, attended every meeting, and even cleaned the barracks without being asked.
Couldn’t I say I had been faithful to my duties?
My only consolation was that even if I wasted a year, I still had four years left. That should be just enough time to prepare.
“Oh my god…”
Lumia muttered in disbelief, looking at the debris.
“Second Lieutenant Enoch, are you out of your mind?!”
“Sergeant Lumia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, and the Fireball suddenly…”
“Who uses high-level magic indoors?”
“Huh?”
When I didn’t understand immediately, Lumia raised her voice again,
“Not even a Fireball, but Flame Buster, a high-level magic? What were you thinking…?”
Um.
It seemed there was a misunderstanding.
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