A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 45

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

War.

War, he said.

Even after the call with the President ended, Werner Grimm kept pondering over that word.

So, it had come to this.

Werner habitually put a cigarette in his mouth.

He had long realized the true nature of the President.

The first time he faced him was in the sixth cycle.

At the time when he had accumulated military achievements and was awarded the Empire’s Medal of Honor.

Until then, the President was a person who firmly supported the Empire even in the face of an unprecedented crisis.

At that point, Luthers was still lacking in experience and had not yet stepped onto the stage of the decisive battle with the Titans.

Naturally, his head was still soft at the time, and it was also a period when he stubbornly pushed through his will.

It was no wonder Arwen Orka, who lived and died by FM, fell in love with him.

If one were to compare the early Luthers Edan and the current Werner Grimm, they could be considered completely different people.

He jumped into the battlefield with only the determination to protect, without considering the overall situation.

He threw everything into one battle without saving weapons or manpower, so even if he managed to bring everyone back alive, it was natural to be annihilated in the next one.

After understanding that, Luthers Edan’s way of thinking gradually became more brutal and cold.

Not a ‘fierce general’ who roared and charged towards the enemies.

The beginning of Luthers Edan, the ‘brave general’ who meticulously created the formula for perfect victory based on prudence and strategy, and fought passionately when fighting.

In that way, he achieved another great military merit.

He recaptured some of the Empire’s northern territory and shattered the Titan production plant that had nested there.

So, it was natural for him to receive a medal.

However, the gaze of President Mikhail Bismarck that he faced at that time was by no means friendly.

From that moment, Luthers Edan realized that the President was not as respectable as he had initially thought.

Now…

There was no need to say more.

“Phew.”

Bitter white smoke puffed out.

On Werner Grimm’s desk lay a thick stack of reports.

[Operation Plan 8293]

It was a war game report against the Republic of Bostania, which was in a state of virtual civil war.

It was a document that the President had personally ordered to be written.

Werner flipped through the report page by page with an expressionless face.

The current trends in Bostania.

Comparison of the government forces and anti-government forces.

From Bostania’s perspective, it was filled with information that would make them go crazy with excitement, but that wasn’t particularly important.

What was important was the conclusion of the report.

The report, which had somehow reached the very last page, had an appropriate summary written on it.

-In life, it is sometimes important to push through choices that are like gambles, Lieutenant Colonel.

The President’s deep voice echoed in Werner’s ears.

If we go to war, we will definitely win.

This wasn’t even a gamble.

100% probability.

It would be foolish not to do it.

In the first place, the background of how Bostania’s political situation became chaotic to the point of being close to a civil war was laughable.

Currently, the backbone of the anti-government forces was the terrorist group responsible for the Brooklyn Tragedy.

Normally, not only would they be strongly suppressed, but the citizens would not have sympathized with them, but the problem was that Bostania had entered a state of quasi-civil war.

The fact that the anti-government forces were criminals who assassinated the President of their own country and key figures including the Secretary General of the Federation at the summit remained unchanged.

But the citizens rose up in response to their cause?

It was blatantly demonstrating how miserable the situation of the Bostanian government was.

What reaction would the President, who received this report, show?

One thing was certain, even if others were unclear.

‘A war will break out soon.’

Werner Grimm had to ponder.

He was someone who had undergone forty regressions to protect the Empire and his loved ones throughout his life.

No matter how few casualties were expected, that was only a prediction.

During the forty regressions, he had rarely seen predictions truly serve as predictions in the true sense.

But what if Lea, Arwen, or other people from the Graveyard participated in the war and died?

They were war heroes.

Since many of them had not yet left the military and were building their careers, it was obvious that they would be mobilized if a war broke out.

Werner saw a vision of himself left alone in a fortress that was miserably shattered and steeped in the smell of blood.

Again.

That kind of thing must not happen again.

‘Absolutely not.’

He couldn’t do the foolish thing of destroying with his own hands what he had been doing until now.

Werner Grimm called Captain John Hobbes and Second Lieutenant Dante Bay into his office.

“Did you call for us, Director?”

“From now on, what I say must never be leaked outside. Close and lock the door.”

Creak-.

Thud.

The expressions of the two, who had initially entered without much thought, stiffened.

If Werner Grimm was saying this much, it meant there was really a problem.

As the headquarters commander and head of the information department, the two could easily understand what this suffocating and heavy atmosphere stemmed from.

It must be because of Operation Plan 8293 that was submitted today.

Gulp.

The two swallowed their dry saliva.

“From now on, you two will prepare one more separate report.”

“What kind of report are you referring to?”

Werner Grimm paused for a moment, then answered in a resolute voice as if he had made up his mind.

“Bring all possible scenarios in which the Empire enters a state of civil war.”

“…!!!”

“And carefully select the agents to be dispatched to the Bostanian anti-government forces.”

“Are you thinking of carrying out sabotage without the President’s orders?”

Werner shook his head at John Hobbes’ question.

“Not quite sabotage. But we need more precise and definitive evidence of whether there was a true mastermind behind the Brooklyn Tragedy.”

“You mean…”

Dante added, continuing Werner’s words.

“Are you saying that our Empire—the President—could be behind this incident?”

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

There were more than one or two strange points while investigating the Brooklyn Tragedy.

Although the political situation of the Republic, which had suddenly lost its head of state, was very chaotic, the National Security Strategy Agency succeeded in gathering as much relevant information as possible.

Even the fragmentary information revealed in the process was enough to raise suspicions.

The restriction on weapons of mass destruction, which was a condition that blatantly pressured the Empire, was carried out by Wales and Svarog.

And such provisions do not just pop up at a single conference on the international stage.

President Mikhail must have already received the relevant content in writing.

Moreover, the fact that he had switched places with the Secretary General just before the memorial service was also a sufficiently suspicious circumstance.

The details would have to come out to know for sure.

As someone who always prepared for the worst-case scenario, Werner Grimm had to prepare for the worst this time as well, without fail.

After sending back John and Dante, who had been stiff with shock.

He looked at the letters that were carelessly placed in a corner of his office.

They were letters that had arrived from the Eastern Military District some time ago.

They were Lea’s letters collected by the Eastern branch of the National Security Strategy Agency located in Branberg and sent over.

Didn’t she say last time that she would slowly stop writing letters?

Werner had such a question, but as someone who was personally experiencing that people’s hearts cannot be easily sorted out, he could understand.

He began to tear open and read a few letters as if possessed.

At first, he didn’t know why he was reading what he had intended to throw away.

Perhaps it was because his mind was complicated.

Maybe it was because the moment the talk of another war came out, his feelings for the precious people he had left behind in his memories resurfaced.

He didn’t know, but he didn’t refuse either.

On this day when everything started to twist, he wanted to look back on the days when he was simply happy.

“It’s the same as always….”

Most of the content of the letters was filled with trivial conversations they had always had.

News about the marigold she had been growing finally bearing something resembling a flower bud, or stories about a newly opened restaurant.

Werner burst into a chuckle, thinking that it was so like Lea Gilliard.

However, this time too, one letter was a bit strange.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇