A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 34

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Karin, Edward. You two can look around if you want. I’ll just stay here.”

As Werner nodded and spoke, Karin glanced at him and hesitated.

Karin, who couldn’t enjoy the banquet in Branberg because she was busy resolving the remaining Revolutionary Front members and arresting the on-site executives with the military police.

Although she said she wasn’t, it was evident that she was inwardly disappointed.

Werner Grimm hoped that Karin would enjoy the banquet to her heart’s content this time.

“I really mean it. You can go.”

“Th-then I’ll be back.”

It wasn’t a place exclusively for soldiers anyway.

Rather, since there were more civilians than soldiers, it was a good opportunity for Karin, who had been cooped up in the fortress, to meet various people outside the military.

“What about you, First Lieutenant Edward?”

“I’m not particularly fond of banquets either. I’ll stay by the director’s side and assist him, so feel free to go.”

“Yes…! Thank you!”

Karin ran off with quick steps.

Werner Grimm momentarily thought of Lea Gilliard from her figure.

Wasn’t Lea just like that at the last banquet?

However, he quickly suppressed that emotion.

He said he wouldn’t regret it.

If he started projecting Lea Gilliard onto Karin Maven, that would definitely be a mistake.

Perhaps.
It was something that he might unknowingly cross the line.

He swallowed the strong liquor that stimulated his nostrils and turned his gaze away from Karin.

Werner Grimm was once again sitting in the corner of the banquet hall without fail.

Unlike the military uniform with a distinct deep green base, the SSA’s uniform had a jet-black base.

If you didn’t look closely, it looked like the uniform of the police or other government departments, so it was rather inconspicuous in a place like this.

Werner was inwardly grateful for that fact.

If he stood out unnecessarily and ran into Drake, it would feel awkward for no reason.

As he was quietly looking around the banquet hall from the corner, just like in Branberg.

Edward, who was also sipping wine with his arms crossed, spoke up.

“Lieutenant Colonel Drake Brown… Wasn’t he a comrade who was with you at the Graveyard, Director?”

“That’s right.”

“But why are you feeling awkward about him? I’ve heard about your bad relationship with the current Inspector General, but…”

“The Graveyard is a past I don’t particularly want to remember.”

What Werner had buried in the depths of his memory was a grave of unfathomable depth.

How many people were buried there, or how many people he had buried.

Even Werner Grimm himself didn’t know anymore.

It felt like an irreversible tragedy would unfold if he dug up the grave he had forcibly sealed.

In that sense, Drake Brown was one of Werner’s weaknesses.

The assault captain of the Graveyard.

Later, he even reached the position of the 1st Assault Brigade Commander, the hammer that struck the Titans on the central front.

The dragon and the tiger, both formidable.

In strategy, Luthers Edan.
In martial power, Drake Brown.

Even putting aside all other heroes, his skills were undoubtedly impressive enough to compete with Luthers Edan for the position of the next Graveyard Commander.

Of course, although it was said they competed, the relationship between Luthers and Drake wasn’t a pure rivalry.

Rather, it was correct to see them as inseparable comrades or soulmates.

Brothers who had shared blood since their first commission.

However, just as much as the trust they had built up at that time, the bloodstains on Drake Brown’s hands were as deep as Werner’s.

It was natural to feel guilty towards a peerless comrade and friend.

“If that’s the case, I understand. Not all comrades who have fought back-to-back are good people.”

“You don’t keep in touch with your old colleagues either, right?”

“Haha, well, that’s true. I don’t care about them anymore. Those traitors.”

The reason why Edward Roman, First Lieutenant, ended up at Forbidden Lake was insubordination during wartime.

It was essentially a suicide order.

To dig trenches and engage in delaying action on a plain with no strategic or tactical value whatsoever.

It was such a poor instruction that even Edward, who hadn’t received separate higher command education as an enlisted soldier, could immediately notice the oddity.

In the end, to save everyone, Edward, who was from the Capital Corps, which consisted of the military’s elite, took the lead.

After the entire company rose up, the order from above was canceled.

However, it didn’t change the fact that what Edward had done was collective insubordination.

It was a crime that could even lead to immediate execution under normal circumstances.

Moreover, it just so happened that the commanding officer who issued the problematic order had deep connections with the local influential figures.

The incompetent superior tried to persuade Edward’s colleagues to avoid escalating the issue.

The increasing pressure.

The sweet carrot clearly presented in contrast.

In the end, the colleagues who had shared the same intention with Edward ended up stabbing him in the back.

Edward Roman, who had been respected by his unit members as a non-commissioned officer, was arrested by the military police and brought to a court-martial as if he were being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

Of course, he didn’t actually receive a sentence and was instead demoted and thrown into Forbidden Lake.

Therefore, Edward strongly empathized with Werner’s attitude.

“Thinking about it again makes my blood boil. But Director, why me?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s Captain John Hobbes, who is one rank higher than me, and Dante, who is sharp. Aren’t they better choices?”

“There are some things I want the Armaments Department Head to take a look at.”

Werner said, gazing into the distance at those words.

“Pardon?”

“There’s an old saying that if you know the enemy and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.”

“…”

Edward Roman fell silent for a moment to understand the meaning of those words, then opened his eyes wide and asked back.

“What?! Director? No, no matter what, you can’t possibly mean that, right?”

“You never know how things will turn out.”

Werner looked at the President, who was happily conversing with others, with hazy eyes.

Thanks to the efforts of the National Security Strategy Agency, the domestic situation had stabilized.

It was also President Mikhail Bismarck who judged that the situation had improved and actively pursued the five-nation summit that had been mentioned continuously since the victory.

As soon as his weakness was resolved, he opened the way to the international stage.

He didn’t even have any intention of hiding his ulterior motives.

“Did you see the report submitted by Second Lieutenant Dante?”

“Ah… You mean the foreign trends. I saw it.”

The stage of the National Security Strategy Agency was not limited to the Empire alone.

The President had already set the other countries that had survived the war against the Titans as potential enemy states.

“What do you think is the reason why the President suddenly put us in the entourage?”

The answer was already determined.

Edward didn’t bother to answer and sipped the remaining wine.

His mouth felt dry.

“It means to directly confirm the situation of other countries with our own eyes.”

It was an excellent answer.

Based on Arthur Philias’s mention and Werner’s perspective, the separate mission given to the National Security Strategy Agency was to assess the war capabilities of the Republic of Bostania.

“That’s why I brought the Armaments Department Head. There will be a victory commemoration military parade, so you’ll be able to directly see their weapon systems with your own eyes.”

“So there was such a hidden meaning behind this trip… Haha, now I understand.”

Edward put down the empty glass and muttered bitterly.

“Indeed, humans never change. Not satisfied with what they already have, they covet other things with undue greed…”

Werner didn’t respond to those words that sounded like ridicule.

He agreed, but at the same time, it was a value he endlessly denied.

He knew brilliant people who had stayed by his side.

Edward and Karin, who were by his side now, were also such people to Werner Grimm, who was starting to live a new life, not Luthers Edan.

However, one thing was certain.

The fact that at least the President in front of him conformed to the human Edward spoke of.

Even if they engaged in seemingly pleasant conversations on the surface at this summit, he would surely be making his own estimates internally.

Wasn’t there already talk about ‘territory’ as an immediate issue?

It had only been half a year since the end of the war.

The Empire wouldn’t be the only one weakened after the life-or-death struggle against the Titans.

If other countries showed weakness at this summit, the cunning fox of the Empire would definitely bare its fangs.

-Weren’t they countries that would have been strange if a war hadn’t broken out immediately if it weren’t for the Titans? They may be sharing the joy of victory now, but there’s no way to know what they truly harbor inside.

Who indeed had such malicious intentions?

The President of the Republic of Bostania?
Or the President of the Empire?

If that day really came.

Where would Werner Grimm’s gun be pointed?

Just as Supreme Commander Arthur Philias said, there was no way to know for now.

It was the same for Werner Grimm, who had gone through forty regressions.

At that moment.

Someone slowly approached the two men who were conversing in a heavy voice.

Werner, who suddenly noticed that face, just sighed deeply.

In the end, he knew it would turn out like this.

“…Why are you here?”

A voice that was far from welcoming, cold as ice.

Werner also answered in a dry voice.

“It’s been a while, Lieutenant Colonel Drake.”

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