A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 26

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The newly prepared Eastern branch of the SSA.

Werner Grimm looked at the letters placed on the desk.

Recipient, Captain John Hobbes. Sender, Lieutenant Lea Gilliard.

There were already eight letters they had exchanged. Although he had no intention of getting involved in any form, it somehow turned out this way.

Moreover, it was because the Inspection Department, specifically the current director Arwen Orka, was snooping around the SSA that he simply handed it over. It was better to compromise at an appropriate level than to pique Arwen’s interest and make her dig deeper.

If they happened to run into each other by chance, it seemed like it wouldn’t end well.

“Phew…”

Werner sighed and put a cigarette in his mouth. He couldn’t help but feel gloomy. Of all people, Arwen Orka had to become the director of the Inspection Department.

She literally threw her former superior, himself, under the bus, so the President might have thought she was an unexpectedly useful blade. Arwen would be the perfect fit for the handle of that blade, as they were facing a major purge and reorganization of military personnel.

‘…It won’t cause any major problems, but I should prepare for any contingencies.’

Werner was already aware of the President’s murky inner thoughts.

Right now, Heinrich Rendal, the commander of the Eastern Army, was forced to choose between dishonorable discharge and having his forces torn apart. If he chose dishonorable discharge, what would happen afterward was obvious.

The choice Heinrich would make was already predetermined. With this, the influence of the Imperial faction that had been creeping up within the military would likely decrease sharply.

Naturally, the Emperor, who was now relegated to the back room, and his family would soon disappear from history forever. In fact, the reason why Werner was leaving the President alone was because he had demonstrated excellent abilities in this regard.

The fact that he had led the war against the Titans for over 10 years was already proof. He was a victorious warlord and a born politician.

He had considerable support from the Imperial citizens, and when it came to politics, he was even more outstanding than Werner, who had reached this point through continuous regressions.

But… what should he do if he eventually had to turn against him? As Supreme Commander Arthur Philias said, the President was wary of him, a war hero.

Even though he hadn’t taken any political actions, the President was cautious of him reversing his retirement with the rank of major general. Considering that in the previous cycles, the President had openly interfered with Werner’s accumulation of war achievements when he reached the ranks of brigadier general and major general….

It could be said that being wary of those who could challenge the throne was simply the President’s nature. It wasn’t just Werner Grimm.

All the extraordinary heroes born during the war. It was obvious that the President would perceive them as a greater threat than those like the Revolutionary faction or the Imperial faction, who were now reduced to mere remnants.

Therefore, there was a need to prepare countermeasures in some form. Perhaps… there might be ulterior motives beyond Arwen’s personnel orders.

There was no guarantee that the President wouldn’t try to manipulate Arwen, Lea, or others as he pleased. But the issue that needed to be dealt with right now wasn’t the President or Arwen.

It was Lea. ‘Of all things…’

Just like Arwen, he didn’t want to get involved unless absolutely necessary, but now they had even started exchanging letters. At first, he sent a letter politely declining, but because a reply came back, it had come to this point.

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Dear Captain John Hobbes,

Thank you for your concern. I have recovered a lot physically. I often got injured even at the fortress where I was originally stationed, so this level of injury is nothing.

Rather, I think it’s amazing that you, Captain, threw yourself to rescue so many people.

Do you often get assigned to such dangerous missions? Although I’m not in a position to say anything, I will pray that you take care of yourself. The recovery was fast, but the aftereffects are more painful than I thought.

Recently, I found a regular restaurant in the city. It’s a place famous for Eastern cuisine made directly by a chef from the Eastern continent.

If you ever have the chance to visit the Eastern Military District again, I hope you’ll definitely go there. I’m sure you’ll like it too, Captain.

Oh right, do you have any particular hobbies, Captain? These days, I’m deeply into growing plants.

It’s a plant called marigold, and I heard that when it’s time to bloom, it produces bright yellow flowers. When the flowers bloom later, I’ll make sure to take a picture and send it to you.

If I get the chance, I’d like to grow other flowers too. In the fortress where I was originally stationed, there were no flowers to be found.

Ah, that doesn’t mean the previous fortress was bad. It’s just that in a situation where people were dying left and right, we couldn’t leisurely grow flowers.

Have you heard the rumors about the Graveyard, Captain? The famous Major General Luthers Edan was my superior.

Although his default attitude was consistently blunt, he occasionally made jokes and took care of us behind the scenes without us knowing. I heard he retired last at our fortress, but I don’t know where he is now.

But knowing Major General Luthers as I do, he’ll do well wherever he is. It would be really nice if I could meet him by chance someday.

………

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Werner flipped the letter over and stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. He could have just ignored it.

Even though Lea was a bit clueless, if he didn’t even send a reply, she would roughly get the hint. But for some reason.

He didn’t want to do that. There was no way for Lea to find out his true identity anyway.

He was using the name of Captain John Hobbes, who actually existed, so there wouldn’t be any problems. Then, it might not be bad to lightly exchange letters to this extent.

It also helped quite a bit in suppressing the signs of seizures that occasionally came up. Perhaps reading a letter from an old lover was healing his worn-out mind.

As Werner Grimm was blankly staring at the letters.

“Werner, are you inside?”

With a creak, the closed door opened, and a woman with beautiful red hair entered.

“Dorothy.”

It was Dorothy, one of the cornerstones of the tombstone and the drug dealer Hetaira Dorothy. Her nickname, Hetaira, had a lot of meanings.

Her name itself was a word that referred to a high-class prostitute and temple priestess in ancient times. Although it referred to the most prestigious and prosperous women at the time, an ordinary person would have felt greatly insulted.

But Dorothy rather accepted that word as an honor. It wasn’t particularly untrue anyway.

Drugs. Drugs are things that steal people’s souls.

They make people lose their reason and pursue nothing but instincts. They give happiness to those who have lost hope, rest to those who have lost peace, and pleasure to those who are powerless.

Even if everything that stems from it is nothing but an illusion, it’s so sweet that people fall into that dream again. That’s why Dorothy’s business was naturally very closely related to ‘prostitution’.

It was during the war. Regardless of the status, the most effective way to relieve stress on the battlefield was to do drugs and satisfy sexual desires.

Dorothy took advantage of that weakness. That was the reason why Werner Grimm, who was Luthers Edan at the time, took her in.

There may be people who have never set foot in Dorothy’s mansion, but there are no people who have set foot only once. That saying was indeed true.

The weaknesses of the big shots Werner had secured through contact with Dorothy could be used effectively during the war.

“What is it?”

“What do you mean what is it? I just came to spend some time with Director Werner.”

She sat down on the opposite side of the desk with a smile. Werner’s expression frowned.

He could immediately figure out what her purpose was.

“Dorothy, I’m pretty sure I told you not to do this.”

At those words, her eyes narrowed. Eyes that were as sharp as a snake’s, yet captivating.

“Have you ever seen a snake that doesn’t bite when told not to?”

Dorothy smiled brightly and took out a bottle of alcohol from her bosom.

“Moreover, this is really expensive alcohol. Even the President can’t get it because it’s so rare. I managed to get it with great difficulty, so you’re not going to let it go to waste alone, are you?”

“…Tsk.”

It wasn’t like he had never received this kind of approach before. During the forty regressions, Werner was well aware of the affection Dorothy had for him.

Her alluring red hair fluttered in front of Werner’s eyes.

“From now on, you’ll need my help a lot, Director Werner… Isn’t it about time you offered the reward I want?”

“No.”

“Tsk…”

“Instead, I’ll gladly be your drinking buddy.”

He was still in a position to receive help anyway. He was willing to grant her request to this extent.

“Well, I’ll be satisfied with that for today. Ah, but Director, do you have something going on with your subordinate?”

“Subordinate?”

“Even earlier, that girl named Karin was glaring at me so much. How dare she, knowing who I am? I wanted to gouge out her eyes-.”

Clang!

Werner, who had taken out a glass from the shelf, slammed it down on the desk. At that sound, Dorothy’s expression loosened, and she waved her palms.

“…It won’t be fun if you mess with my subordinates, Dorothy.”

“Ah~ of course. I was just kidding. Just kidding~.”

In fact, this was the most awkward part. Werner knew Dorothy’s true nature.

She was a criminal who belonged to the category that needed to be controlled. The reason why she first got involved with Luthers Edan in another cycle was because she had tried to distribute drugs to the Graveyard.

A hound that needed to be tightly leashed. Even the affection she had for him right now was closer to ‘curiosity’ than something loving.

As she said, there was no snake that wouldn’t bite when told not to. If Werner showed a gap, she would surely do anything to make him her minion.

So there were times when he treated her more harshly than other cornerstones as a warning. Of course, when he mentioned Arwen last time, he seriously threatened her.

Then she immediately backed down, didn’t she?

Gurgle gurgle gurgle. Therefore, Dorothy hummed and filled the glass, as if this level of warning was nothing.

However, contrary to her expectations, that time ended in an instant.

Bam!

“Director, a new letter has just arrived.”

It was because Karin Maven suddenly entered the room. For a moment, Dorothy and Karin’s eyes crossed.

“…”

“…”

Dorothy slightly raised the corners of her mouth and gave a chilling smile. But Karin just stood there like a stone statue, only fixing her gaze.

“Didn’t you say before? No matter what happens, when a letter arrives, I must bring it here.”

As she said, there was a letter in her hand. However, it was unknown why the seal was torn.

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