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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Dane Schmidt and his friends were, after all, soldiers belonging to the Eastern Military District.
So they were able to roam the armory in the command’s basement without any restrictions.
As a result of indiscriminately recruiting into the military without even being able to distinguish ideological thoughts like the Revolutionary faction, Democratic faction, Nationalist faction, or Imperial faction due to a lack of manpower.
Those who had been hiding their selves and living amidst the Titan attacks started having different thoughts as soon as the scale tipped towards humanity’s victory.
In a way, it was all karma.
The karma that had been accumulating had finally exploded today.
The first to start moving was the Revolutionary faction, and among them, the Revolutionary Front, which boasted the most vigorous and extensive organization.
The Revolutionary Front’s target of overthrow had long been the Imperial faction.
Armed with the bright red ideology of communism, they extremely loathed the existing ruling forces represented by the Emperor and the nobles.
Most of them were extremists who said that the nobles should be immediately hanged on the guillotine.
Of course, this was also because the Imperial faction, which had been clashing with them at every turn, suddenly joined hands with the Nationalist faction and beat down the Revolutionary faction from both sides.
The Revolutionary Front had lost more people to those two forces than to the Titans.
“Idiots. They don’t even know that today is their own memorial day and they’re laughing and joking around.”
“There were more than a few times when I wanted to shoot that bastard commander in the face, and now I finally get to fulfill my wish.”
“But Dane, why isn’t that guy saying a word and just shutting up?”
“Ah… He said he drank too much last night and has a severe hangover.”
“Is that so? Tsk, drink in moderation. Is that why the other guys aren’t around too because they drank?”
Dane nodded roughly in agreement.
They couldn’t be around.
Because they were no longer of this world.
“But where did that bastard get the officer’s mask from? Did he knock up a female soldier or something?”
“Daphrin has a face that works, you know. That bastard seduced an officer last time too.”
“Hey, why are you talking about that? Hurry up and grab the weapons, I’m getting nervous that someone might see.”
Dane broke out in cold sweat at the sight of his Revolutionary comrades talking nonsense without fear.
Glancing sideways, Werner, who had covered his face with a mask, was indifferently distributing weapons to his comrades.
From Dane’s perspective, that was even more terrifying.
“Kekeke, look at this bastard Dane, he talked big but now that it’s time to act, he’s scared…”
“But why was the guard shift suddenly changed? I was startled.”
“I don’t know, but it’s better to prepare in advance anyway. It’s rather fortunate.”
They threw a joke or two at Dane, who had turned pale as if he had to poop.
Normally, he would have exchanged curses with them, but for now, it was best to appear as distant as possible from these guys.
“Hey… but do you guys happen to know who’s in charge of this operation?”
“In charge? Why is that suddenly important?”
“No, I’m just wondering if they’ll make only us do the dirty work while they stay in a nice place.”
He thought it was a pretty reasonable excuse for probing.
Even if it was an assassination mission, it was a bit annoying that only they were floating around like this while everyone else was playing.
He had also expressed such complaints to his comrades who had passed away yesterday.
But weren’t the clueless guys rather being presumptuous?
“Hey, Dane, watch your mouth. You’ll seriously get fucked up. Do you know the motto of the Revolutionary Front?”
“You know the temper of the Revolutionary Leaders. When their eyes roll back, there’s no subordinate or anything. Especially since we’re at the bottom, we have to be more careful. We don’t have any proper connections yet.”
Revolutionary Leaders? Bullshit.
The ones who really needed to watch their mouths were you guys, Dane thought, but the words that came up to the tip of his tongue went back down.
Even now, it felt like that scary reaper was pointing a gun hidden under his uniform.
And in fact, he was.
Werner was planning to kill them all if things went wrong.
There was already more than enough physical evidence.
Even if he didn’t deliberately reveal the contents related to the wiretapping, if he said that he found them by chance while strolling through the command building and shot them dead, the Eastern Army Command wouldn’t be able to say much.
“Anyway, gather at the rear gate of the command after the operation is over. The Revolutionary Leader said he would personally come to meet us.”
Revolutionary Leader.
He had caught a lead, but there was still more important information left.
As Werner poked Dane with his foot, he asked back.
“Ah… but where will you guys be? There are still 3 hours left.”
“There’s an employee lounge inside the banquet hall. We’ll be there. You can come hang out too if you’re bored. It’s not like there’s anyone watching anyway.”
Since the security of the entire command was lax, the terrorists were also quite loose.
Come hang out if you’re bored.
It’s not even a funny thing to say for assassins who said they would kill high-ranking military officers.
After the Revolutionary comrades, who had appropriately stolen weapons from the armory, disappeared, Dane sighed and sat down on the spot.
“Is, is this enough!? This is sufficiently useful, right?”
“Yeah.”
Werner answered as he took off his mask.
The black cat mask he had casually picked up at the command.
Since the primary purpose of the masquerade ball was to hide one’s identity anyway, there was no reason to blatantly reveal his lieutenant colonel rank.
Captain was more than enough.
He had already given separate instructions to Karin and left, so suppressing the terror wouldn’t be difficult.
But the most worrisome thing was, of course.
‘Lea.’
Lea Gilliard.
She, who originally loved parties and social activities, would definitely participate in this event as well.
He had thought she would be specially promoted to a company grade officer rank for her wartime achievements as a warrant officer.
But he never dreamed that he would be reunited with her in this way, in this place.
As a last resort, he had left a warning letter, but would she really listen to him?
Werner wasn’t sure.
If it had been in the past, he would have yelled at her or even forcibly dragged her out to avoid putting her in danger.
But now that he had chosen to distance himself from them, he couldn’t do that.
“…”
Werner was genuinely worried about her.
What if she got hurt like this? What if she was seriously injured and became disabled or fell into a critical condition?
In the worst case, if she got caught up in the incident and died.
Werner was sure he would never forgive himself.
No.
He had to prevent that.
“You said your name was Dane, right? You stay on standby at the address I’m going to give you.”
“What…? Yes?!”
“Of course, you’re free to run away. But if you do, I’ll pass your information on to the Revolutionary Front.”
“Why, why are you doing this!? Didn’t I cooperate well with you!!”
Dane shouted in a voice filled with injustice.
Werner was still as cold as ever.
Either way, the fact that he would have killed or injured dozens of people if he hadn’t come remained unchanged.
“You said you’d wipe them out. You haven’t even caught the low-ranking members, let alone wiping them out.”
“But…!”
“I’ve shown enough mercy. If you want more than that, let’s talk again after everything is over.”
With those last words, Werner put the mask back on and headed to the banquet hall.
Dane looked at his back, then checked the address while spitting out all sorts of swear words.
In the end, it was a survival tactic.
Since he had already spilled information to the Revolutionary Front, he was already doomed.
Because if the operation failed, he would have to bear the responsibility alone.
In the end, whether being chased by a murderer or the Revolutionary Front, the despair was the same.
Then it might be wiser to hold on tighter to the rope he had grabbed.
Yeah, that was enough.
Dane immediately turned around and headed to the small inn on the outskirts of the city, which was written on the address.
He had no lingering attachment to the Revolutionary Front.
It was a group he joined following his friends, and he was only tempted because they said they would give him money and honor if he worked hard.
If he had known they would give him such a dangerous mission, he wouldn’t have even joined.
Moreover, the remaining wife and children he mentioned were a lie.
==
A few hours later.
The banquet hall of Branberg Castle was filled with people wearing all sorts of fancy dresses and casual clothes.
It was a quite different atmosphere from the previous day when they were in uniform.
~~♪ ~~♬
“Wow.”
Lea let out a short exclamation.
It was on a different level from the event at the Graveyard, which was just a lecture hall decorated appropriately.
She also quite liked the excitement and nervousness of being able to meet people she hadn’t known before.
“I knew you would like it, Lea. It’s a good thing you came.”
Her superior and regimental commander of the Eastern Military District, Colonel Julia Anke, said with a smile.
“It’s thanks to you, Regimental Commander.”
Immediately after the disbandment of the Graveyard, the most famous fortress in the Empire that had won numerous fierce battles.
Lea Gilliard, who had been in charge of the supply company at that fortress, was assigned to the Eastern Military District.
The rank of warrant officer was originally a special rank that emerged during the war with the Titans.
Therefore, the Supreme Command promoted those warrant officers to commissioned officer ranks for those who wished to do so.
Based on their accumulated achievements and years of service, they were collectively promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant and even captain.
Among them, Lea, who was given the rank of first lieutenant, skipped the position of platoon leader and took on the staff position of regimental intelligence officer.
Although she didn’t want to part with the unit members she had been with for 5 years (Lea even cried on the last day), the newly joined unit members treated her well, so she had now fully adapted.
In particular, she quickly became close with the regimental commander, Julia Anke, using her unique affability and liveliness as weapons.
It was also because Lea and Julia had become so close that they were treated like sisters that Julia had brought Lea as her aide out of the many officers.
She already had Colonel Arwen from the Graveyard, who was a high-ranking female officer she was close with anyway.
Lea also felt relatively less burdened by Julia compared to other officers.
“So? Do you think there are any good men? It’s hard to get a sense because everyone is wearing masks.”
Julia clicked her tongue bitterly.
Recently, the two of them had often talked about marriage.
Since the war was over, it was time to find their other half.
At the regimental commander’s words, Lea slightly nodded her head.
“Oh!? Really!?”
“Yes, there seems to be a good person. It’s a feeling.”
In fact, many men had approached Lea.
Even with half of her face covered by a mask, the aura emanating from a person couldn’t be hidden.
The red dress with a low back and the brown hair tied in a single line.
The subtle scent of perfume was enough to pique the interest of men.
Among them, there was even a person with the same rank of colonel as Julia.
A colonel making a move on a first lieutenant.
Lea Gilliard’s appearance was charming enough for them to put aside their pride in a place like this.
Perhaps if this wasn’t a masquerade ball, she would have attracted the attention of even more men than now.
However, among them, Lea’s gaze was somehow drawn to the man wearing a “black cat mask” symbolizing a captain.
Although the man disappeared as if running away before they could even have a proper conversation, from the moment their eyes met, she was somehow captivated.”
“Where, let me see. A captain, you say?”
“Over there…”
Lea pointed to the man who was sipping wine in the corner of the banquet hall.
The sturdy physique clearly visible even through the neat banquet attire.
Indeed, even though he was just sipping wine, there was an aura that could be felt.
Julia nodded her head with satisfaction.
“Wow, he’s nice. Even I think he’s cool. He doesn’t seem like just a captain, he has a serious and atmospheric presence, right?”
“Right? His eyes are blue.”
“Blue? That’s a rare color. Do well, Lea, since the ranks are similar, it’ll be good for dating.”
She cheerfully patted Lea’s shoulder.
The atmosphere was definitely different.
The strong aura of a male exuding from him.
He was different from the typical men commonly found in the command.
Julia, as a field unit commander who had been active in the war, could tell.
An outstanding soldier and a hero of reversal who had gone through countless battlefields.
If Lea hadn’t discovered him first, she herself might have unconsciously approached him.
“But I don’t know. It was intense enough to come straight at me… but the way he looked at me was somehow intimidating and scary.”
“Maybe he just has a scary-looking eyes?”
“Maybe that’s it.”
“If there’s another man like that in a bit, let me know. This time, I’ll yield to you, okay?”
“Oh my, Regimental Commander, you too. It’s okay…! Don’t mind me and try to have a word with him at least.”
“Hey, how can you say that? That’s crossing the line. Putting aside the superior-subordinate relationship, there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed between women.”
“Colonel Julia, you’re really an oddball.”
The two of them were having a simply joyful conversation at that moment.
Bang!!
Crash!!
With the sudden sound of gunshots, the banquet scene turned into chaos.
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