A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 23

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Why is she suddenly asking about that person? Did something happen to her?”

“No, it’s just…”

Lea spoke in a low voice. There was no particular reason. It was because she had been having strange dreams every time she fell asleep.

Although she couldn’t remember the exact contents of the dreams, whenever she woke up in the morning, she was always crying. The chest pain that felt like being pierced by needles was an extra.

The doctor only said that it could be a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder or an unknown aftereffect, but couldn’t clearly explain the cause in a satisfactory way. It was natural. The detailed examination showed nothing abnormal.

However, there was only one thing Lea remembered. She had to find that captain who had worn the black cat mask. The fact that in her dreams, she was constantly searching for that man.

But Arwen could only feel troubled. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to find him herself. From the moment she identified the strange points about the National Security Strategy Agency, Arwen actively utilized the authority of the Inspection Department to track down Karin Maven and the unidentified captain.

Still, she couldn’t find him. An organization that completely escaped the grasp of the Inspection Department, which boasted unrivaled power in the Imperial Army next to the Supreme Commander? That was also the reason she had become instantly hooked.

Wasn’t it too suspicious to not be suspicious? Arwen pondered for a moment, then nodded to Lea and said.

“…Alright, I understand for now. I’ll try to find him.”

The details of this investigation were essentially confidential. No matter how close and friendly a younger sister she was, she couldn’t bring herself to tell her the details. Even the existence of the National Security Strategy Agency was a top-level secret.

As Arwen, she had to thoroughly control what she said. There was no word that could describe Arwen Orka more perfectly than ‘flawless FM’.

“Okay… Thank you. But unni, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“What happened to our Graveyard now?”

“You’re asking a lot of sudden questions today.”

Arwen finally put down the pen she was holding. Then she turned to face Lea.

“Something’s going on with you. Just tell me.”

Lea turned her head slightly, avoiding her gaze. There was a strange power in Arwen’s eyes. If you looked into them, you unknowingly spilled your innermost thoughts.

That was how much Arwen was a person to emulate, and when such concerns were shared, she genuinely empathized and offered appropriate solutions. But… there was also hesitation about whether it was right to express this feeling now.

Wasn’t it strange to anyone? Obsessing over the contents of a mere dream and chasing after a man whose face she didn’t even properly know.

“Lea.”

“…Yes.”

However, Lea always became weak to Arwen. Just as much as Arwen cherished her, Lea also cherished Arwen.

“Actually… I’ve been having dreams every day these days. Whenever I fall asleep.”

Lea carefully uttered her emotions. She poured out everything she could remember to Arwen.

The fact that it was definitely that man, and that the very end of the dream always ended with the scene of the Graveyard being thoroughly destroyed.

“Titans rush in from beyond the horizon in a tremendous number. We fight desperately, but in the end, we are pushed back. At the moment when everyone is being brutally killed, that man cries out and commits suicide.”

“That’s… a very ominous and unpleasant dream.”

Arwen answered while rubbing her arms as if she got goosebumps after hearing Lea’s story.

“Yeah… So it’s really hard. It’s the first time I’ve become afraid of sleeping.”

To be precise, it wasn’t a nightmare. Most of the contents weren’t remembered.

However, the voice of the man who had been screaming at the very end when she herself was sacrificed kept ringing in her ears, driving her crazy.

-Lea, Lea. You promised not to leave. You promised to stay by my side!

-Yes, I was wrong. Next time, let’s leave the military together. To a place far, far away where neither the Titans nor anyone else can find us.

-Lea…! No! Even this, even living like this is not allowed? Why, why to me…!!

Moreover, the fact that the voice sometimes sounded very different was also quite concerning. As if every time she reached a different situation, she was being killed one after another.

And recently, not only the man’s voice but also her own voice was mixed in.

-I’m sorry for not keeping my promise.

-Leave? Just the two of us? What about the others…

-I loved you. Sincerely. But your place is not by my side, right? Next time, to that very place where everyone, everyone is waiting…

Just thinking about it made her feel dizzy. Lea closed her eyes tightly at the momentary spinning sensation.

“It might be more serious than I thought. What did the doctor say?”

“He said there’s nothing particularly wrong… That’s why I asked. Could this be a prophetic dream? Sometimes people are born with such abilities.”

“That’s true.”

“Could it be that I awakened a superpower as an aftereffect of being shot?”

Even in this situation, Lea Gilliard blurted out something ridiculous. Arwen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter and answered.

“Say something that makes sense. Then we would all be superhumans, wouldn’t we?”

How many people in the Graveyard had narrowly escaped death? Arwen Orka was no exception, having nearly been sacrificed due to Luthers Edan’s reckless command.

Recalling a not-so-good memory, Arwen sighed deeply and added.

“The Graveyard… Right now, only the fortress walls and Akasha remain.”

“Only Akasha? Akasha is essentially the core of the fortress defense system. Why is only that left?”

“I don’t know. The technicians at the Supreme Command, the Information and Communication Corps, and the Engineer Corps don’t know the reason either. They said that in order to retrieve Akasha, all the data files it holds must be deleted, but for some reason, a huge amount of data is not being deleted.”

“That’s even more suspicious…”

“But we can’t just leave Akasha alone in the middle of nowhere, can we? So they said they’ll leave the fortress building alone until they find a solution.”

“Hmm…”

Lea grumbled as if she felt uncomfortable.

“Anyway, I’ll do my best to find that captain. It’s probably just a random dream, but maybe you’re so into that captain that he’s getting mixed into your other dreams.”

It made sense. In fact, didn’t she actually like him? If that was really the case, Lea was essentially asking Arwen to find her romantic partner.

Realizing the belated embarrassment, her face turned red.

“Lea, don’t think about anything else and just focus on recovering for now. Whether it’s romance or a blind date, you need to get better first. You wouldn’t want to do it in a hospital room, right?”

“Right…”

“Always stability, and stability again! So go to sleep quickly. I think I’m disturbing you, so I’ll just go out to the lobby and take a look.”

“Okay.”

Lea watched Arwen’s back as she quickly gathered the documents and left. Was the content really something that even her sister couldn’t easily comment on?

She thought it was puzzling even to herself. Yeah, it was just a random dream after all. Humanity had achieved victory in the war against the Titans, and she herself was a living witness to history.

But what was this uneasiness? It wasn’t because the Titans might suddenly pop out, but a more fundamental uneasiness. Something. A feeling that if things continued like this, she might lose something precious.

She didn’t know if it was because of the mysterious captain she had met at the banquet hall or because of the people from the Graveyard.

-Lea… I love you.

-I love you too.

As soon as Arwen left, the voices kept ringing out like ghosts. Lea could only close her eyes tightly and pull the blanket over her head.

***

Whoosh.

A red light flashed for a moment at the Graveyard fortress, located at the northernmost and frontmost point of the Empire.

Since the surrounding area was already devastated, and all the nearby residents had migrated southward immediately after the end of the war, there was no one to observe and resolve the unidentified phenomenon.

[Graveyard Fortress system self regular diagnosis in progress.]

[Executing the command of the top priority command authority, Luthers Edan.]

[180 days have passed since the input of the command.]
[Activating the Missing Protocol.]
[If the command is not renewed by Luthers Edan within the designated period, the memories of the main targets will be restored.]

[Primary target, Deputy Commander Arwen Orka, Colonel.]
[Secondary target, Assault Captain Brown Drake, Lieutenant Colonel.]
[Tertiary target, Head of Logistics Department Charlotte Evergreen, Major.]

…
……
…

[…Unable to locate the relevant personnel within communication range.]

[The main target of the 34th record designated as the top priority for restoration is Lea Gilliard.]

[Activating quantum record transmission.]

[In accordance with the emergency execution procedure of the Missing Protocol, an urgent return message to the Graveyard will be sent to the relevant personnel in 12 days.]

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