A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 54

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“The 5th safety inspection is complete. The operating method of Oracle has also been set to progress sequentially, not outputting information all at once.”

Charlotte Evergreen nodded at the words of the researcher in charge of Oracle’s maintenance and management.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid.

Just last time, hadn’t she almost died?

Even though it was just a hallucination, it didn’t mean her body wasn’t affected.

So Charlotte took a deep breath.

She steeled herself.

‘I have to do it.’

She was the project leader of the Oracle Project and the only person chosen as the prophet to foretell the future of humanity.

In a way, it was a duty of hers, for her, and by her.

“Then I’ll go in.”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, there weren’t any spectators crowding around like last time.

It was due to Director Isaac’s strong insistence that external factors should be minimized as much as possible.

Even the problematic President was watching her from beyond the observation window on the 2nd floor.

Charlotte Evergreen looked at him and entered Oracle.

Whirrrr-

As the capsule’s roof closed, her vision was once again dyed in white light.

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She was standing in that place.

The empty space of nothingness.

However, unlike last time, something didn’t generate immediately.

It was because the time acceleration rate had been reduced to one-tenth, and a separate console had been created within Oracle for Charlotte to directly interact with.

When she gestured in the air, a translucent window appeared before her eyes.

It felt like playing a virtual reality game.

As she was about to adjust the neural connection value and slowly increase the minimized time acceleration rate, small electronic particles gathered and took the form of a person in front of Charlotte.

Startled by the memory of last time, Charlotte’s body reacted first, and she stepped back.

“Charlotte Evergreen.”

But it wasn’t Luthers Edan.

Fluffy, scattered golden hair.

Lifeless but softly shining blue eyes.

She couldn’t fail to recognize her.

The broken woman was herself.

“You are…”

The other Charlotte responded to the words she had blankly murmured.

“It’s not what you think.”

“What does that mean?”

“I am the will of Oracle. The record of the future you left behind.”

The will of Oracle?

Charlotte Evergreen could recall the contents of a report written by the great engineer who had developed all of this before the Oracle Project officially got on track.

Unlike Akasha, Oracle was a huge artificial intelligence that predicted the future.

Then there was one point of contention.

If Oracle prophesied the future, in which timeline could the information stored there be said to exist?

The answer was unknown.

Humans had not yet understood even the basic laws of the world.

Even the core of quantum computers like Akasha and Oracle, ‘quantum mechanics’, was not fully understood, and they were only using fragments of it.

The Oracle Project was not something that transcended that limitation, but rather a stepping stone to transcend it.

Therefore, it wasn’t an impossible story.

Charlotte Evergreen had already glimpsed the future through one operation.

It wasn’t strange even if the consciousness of her, who had observed all futures within Oracle’s system, existed.

“The fact that you have returned here means you have decided to face the future you saw at that time, right?”

“…Yes.”

Charlotte answered without hesitation.

“Then we need to start with something else. The reason you— and your friends failed was not because you didn’t know the future. Those things you had forgotten. Those precious and terrible records stored in the Graveyard Akasha that finally allowed me to be myself.”

Oracle spread her arms wide.

“To prepare for the future, come back after facing the past.”

Whoosh!

With those final words, the world of nothingness began to transform.

It felt as if the entire world was being rewound.

“That is the duty given to you. The weight of sin you must bear for denying and ultimately betraying the person you followed and loved more than anyone else.”

‘I have to do it.’

Soon, her own voice, as if sobbing, echoed throughout the space.

Charlotte didn’t understand.

Why was she sobbing?

With the message output in an instant, the memories dormant in Charlotte Evergreen’s subconscious began to surface.

“I love you, Luthers. Enough to devote my entire future to your victory.”

And the will of Oracle standing before her eyes scattered back into the form of electronic particles and disappeared, saying those words.

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It was a morning no different from any other.

But Charlotte Evergreen couldn’t get out of bed easily.

It was the aftermath of memory recovery.

As she was lying in bed, groaning, unable to even get out of bed, Luthers Edan carefully entered her room.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

“I feel like I’m dying… seriously….”

“I’m sorry. The timing wasn’t good. I should have done it when your condition had improved more.”

“It’s fine. Are you telling me to play dumb while everyone else has regained their memories? Stupid Luthers. You really don’t understand a woman’s heart.”

At Charlotte’s words, Luthers groaned like a mute who had eaten honey.

“Arwen or Lea wouldn’t just sit and watch this opportunity, right? You know better than anyone how enthusiastic those two are…”

Arwen Orka and Lea Gilliard were trustworthy comrades and women to emulate, but at the same time, they were also her most burdensome rivals.

Especially with Arwen, there was a time when they had a serious fight, grabbing each other’s hair, in the eighth cycle.

Their personalities simply didn’t match.

How could she insist on old-fashioned FM in this day and age?

People should take it easy sometimes and show some flexibility.

However, both Charlotte and Arwen realized that it was something that put their lover, Luthers, in a difficult position and didn’t help humanity’s future at all, so they didn’t clash much after that.

Nevertheless, every time they recovered their memories like this, the memory of that day would come to mind, and she would unintentionally act up.

Not knowing what to do, Luthers had a foolish expression on his face, and Charlotte Evergreen, lying on the bed, stretched out her arms towards him.

“Hug me.”

“Huh? All of a sudden?”

“Ah, hurry! Ah, my arms hurt… my arms hurt….”

She was acting cute.

If Lea Gilliard was a retriever who wagged her tail at anyone, and Arwen Orka was a shepherd who silently guarded her master, then Charlotte Evergreen was a cat-like woman with a completely different nature from the two.

She was also very jealous.

She would allow Arwen or Lea to approach Luthers Edan, who was too talented, but if any other woman approached or tried anything, she would obstruct them with all her might.

Of course, she also had something in common with Luthers in that she had to achieve what she wanted and preferred to do things her way more than others.

Instead, she was always desperate to be held by her lover, so wasn’t she just like a cat?

“Ah, hug me~! Hug! Me!”

“Phew, the people in the Logistics Department should see this…”

“What? Are you really disappointed, Luthers? I only show this side of me to you. You say you don’t like it when your girlfriend acts cute. Fine. I don’t need it. I won’t do it!”

“There, there, she’s throwing a tantrum again.”

In the end, Luthers, who had surrendered to her whining, carefully picked her up.

Then, countless displays of affection began.

Charlotte, held in his arms, bit his shoulder and kept kissing his cheek.

Luthers slightly dodged his body while matching Charlotte’s pace, as if he had no choice.

“If you keep stimulating me, I won’t stay still.”

“Heh, what are you going to do if you don’t stay still?”

“I’ll do this.”

Whoosh, Charlotte was thrown onto the bed.

“Eek!”

Before she could even react, Luthers’ firm arms grabbed her hands.

Looking at Charlotte, who had been subdued in an instant, Luthers Edan showed a playful smile.

“Wh-what are you doing…! It’s broad daylight right now? We haven’t even had lunch yet? And you have a regular meeting with the Supreme Command…”

“Did you forget, Charlotte? Today is a holiday.”

“Ah…! W-wait! Wait a moment! I haven’t even washed up yet! At least let me wash up! Uhh… Ah…!!”

Charlotte screamed and struggled as his hand gripped her chest.

“Hey, you… pervert, idiot commander…! Wh-what, ah!!”

“Hehehe.”

Seeing her genuinely disgusted reaction, Luthers finally couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Charlotte, who had escaped from the restraint in the meantime, slapped Luthers’ arm with a flushed face.

“Hey, is it funny? Is it funny?! You really… don’t understand a woman’s heart? There’s such a thing as mood, you know.”

“So you don’t like it?”

At the bluntly asked question, Charlotte Evergreen also laughed.

“No.”

She raised both arms and tightly grabbed Luthers’ neck.

Then she kissed him lightly and smiled.

“But you held out longer than last time. This cycle will be a bit different, Luthers.”

“It has to be.”

“This time too, without fail, I’m on your side. You know my heart, right?”

Their faces were filled with happiness.

Even though the Titan-occupied front lines were just a few kilometers away, and several people had been seriously injured and carried away just yesterday.

Nevertheless, they tried to smile.

They tried to be happy.

Because that was the only way they could endure.

Because they could move forward by relying on each other in a hellish reality overflowing with death on all sides.

That’s how it should have been.

Surely.

That’s how it should have been until now.

“Commander Luthers Edan, here is the regular report.”

The happiness that had filled her face was nowhere to be seen, and she stood in front of Luthers Edan with a stiff expression.

“Leave it there and go.”

The voice that came out of her lover’s mouth was equally cold.

Charlotte, who had been watching that entire scene, closed her eyes tightly.

Ah.

She knew, this scene.

She had already witnessed both the happy past and the sight of Luthers Edan wailing while holding her own coldly dead body not long after.

When he burst into tears, Charlotte also ended up bursting into tears that she had been holding back.

But….

That’s why she couldn’t bear to watch it even more.

Because from the beginning, she had already noticed what mistake she had made towards her lover.

“Wait a moment, Logistics Officer.”

“Yes.”

Charlotte, who had been about to leave the office, stood still at those words.

Then she spat out a sharp answer.

“Request it directly, Commander.”

“What did you say…?”

“Yes, to be honest, I tried to endure it. Fuck. I guess I have to say it now. Please stop harassing me, Commander, okay?”

At those abrupt words, Luthers closed his mouth tightly.

“This is also fucking… You have to do it in moderation! I’m always the one who gets fucking wrecked and comes back, and even though it’s the Commander’s order, you know they’re treating me like shit, right? They can’t say a word in front of you, but as soon as they see me, they act like assholes!”

“…That. I’m truly sorry.”

“So from now on, if you have a request, please go directly, Commander. Anything else is fine, but the logistics brigade guys in the Central Command. They only pick the easy tasks and fucking dump the difficult ones on me.”

Bang!

She slammed the door as if she was going to break it and disappeared.

Even after that, Charlotte closed her eyes several times.

Later on, she cried so much that her eyes became swollen.

There were no more tears left to shed.

She had said cruel words to the lover who had supported her more than anyone else.

How difficult must it have been for him not to recover the memories of his comrades, whom he cherished more than his own life?

She could realize it.

Arwen, Lea, and Charlotte.

If they had investigated a little, if they had thought a little differently, if they had changed their perspective, they could have understood what Luthers Edan’s actions were pointing to.

It was a manic obsession with life.

Many casualties occurred in the Graveyard, but not a single death existed.

Wasn’t it too unnatural to call it good luck?

Luthers Edan didn’t push them into suicidal operations.

Among the battles of dying and overcoming, he had dragged them towards the path where they could somehow survive.

They didn’t even know that and talked about him as a cold-blooded person who didn’t value life, a scumbag among humans.

On what grounds?

On what grounds could they arbitrarily judge and criticize that lonely hero who had killed millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of Titans while repeating countless deaths?

‘That was me.’

A feeling of her heart stopping came over her.

Moreover, Charlotte, along with Arwen, had been at the forefront of Luthers Edan’s downfall.

It all started from the victory commemoration ceremony where he bid farewell to the Graveyard.

-Ah, I originally planned to stab him myself, but since he’s retiring on his own, it feels strange again.

-Here are the accounting books, Deputy Commander.

-And… if we tie this together, we can make it a big one. The guys in the Central Command don’t see Luthers in a good light anyway, so if we ask them to hand over the related documents, even the military prosecutors or the military police won’t be able to easily overlook it.

-What? Well, that’s… none of my business. He did something wrong, and he says he’s retiring. Instead of being sorry, he should be sorry to me.

Her words from the past were vividly replayed.

Charlotte really wanted to die.

She, of all people, had betrayed the lover with whom she had shared so much love, even if she had lost her memories.

“Idiot, you idiot…! Charlotte, you fucking retarded bitch…!! A hopeless case, a traitor bitch who can’t even grasp her own place…!!”

Smack!

Thud!!

She repeatedly hit her head with her clenched fist.

She couldn’t even blame Arwen Orka.

Rather, if she had really denounced Luthers with her own hands, Charlotte’s guilt and self-loathing would have doubled.

“Sob, hic… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Luthers. I… I was a stupid bitch. A trash-like, rag-mouthed bitch who couldn’t even hug you but drove a nail into your heart.”

You saved me countless times.

You finally gave me the gift of the end of the war.

What was I doing now?

“Hic… Sob….”

Charlotte sat down on the spot and burst into tears.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please, let me beg for forgiveness at least once. If you tell me to die, I will die. If you tell me to never show my face again and get lost, I will do so. So just once, Luthers, let me see you again. Let me face you and beg for forgiveness.”

But forgiveness is not something that is given just because the perpetrator wants to.

There was nothing Charlotte Evergreen could decide anymore.

She could only silently bear the consequences.

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