—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
As Werner slowly re-read the contents of the letter, he clearly realized the identity of that sense of incongruity.
Apart from the incoherent words written from the beginning, the content seemed to assume that he was ‘Luthers Edan’, not John Hobbes.
Thinking that way, Werner was able to separate the two sentences this letter was pointing to.
If you took the first letter and put it up.
Soon find me, I’ll come to you, wait, please, something is stored underground in the weapons agency.
Up to this point, it looked like a meaningless string of characters, but after removing the seemingly unimportant sentences and rearranging the letters.
Two clearly readable sentences appeared.
I’ll come find you soon, wait.
Something underground in the weapons agency.
Werner’s eyes trembled as he scribbled on the paper.
A chilling feeling passed by.
“There was a similarly strange letter last time too.”
Werner Grimm immediately got up from his seat and opened the safe where he had kept the problematic letter.
At that time, when he combined the letters that were intentionally misspelled, the phrase ‘Find Lieutenant Colonel Drake’ came out.
But what if that wasn’t the full message?
To my most beloved Captain John Hobbes.
Couldn’t sleep at all. Maybe that’s why, but the pen isn’t holding well. Did you have a good day today, Captain?
Now I want to exchange letters every day, but it’s very disappointing that the replies don’t arrive quickly.
Is the unit directly under the Supreme Command really that busy?
I went on a trip yesterday. Since it was a trip after a long time, the feeling was great.
The autumn leaves were so beautiful.
I don’t know how many times I exclaimed while looking at them. Come to think of it, I think the autumn leaves had also bloomed in the ‘Lieutenant Colonel’s’ office at our old fortress.
The memories from that time came flooding back.
The Graveyard.
It wasn’t bad.
There were a few chronic problems, but other fortresses have them to that extent too.
You know, Captain. I think I’ll slowly stop writing letters now.
The season of searching winds has already returned.
Thank you for kindly replying all this time.
If we are fated anyway, we can meet again someday, right?
Thank you.
With love, Lea Gilliard.
===================
This time too, Werner reinterpreted the letter in the same way.
Then, a phrase that he absolutely could not overlook was written on the paper.
‘The President is watching.’
Werner tore up the paper he had been scribbling on and scattered it on the ashtray.
Then he put another cigarette in his mouth.
The goosebumps on his forearms made his muscles twitch.
In fact, he had already figured out that there would be the President’s meddling or surveillance.
It was natural.
Even if war hero Luthers Edan had laundered his identity and submitted under him, where would the obsessive suspicion go?
Rather, he would have thought about what the ulterior motive was first.
The President that Werner knew was that kind of person.
Someone who couldn’t help but be suspicious of anyone.
It was also the reason why he didn’t replace the Supreme Commander with someone else even after the war ended.
He knew that Arthur Philias wouldn’t recklessly bare his fangs.
He was an old hunting dog.
He judged that he was too old to bite his master.
If there was even a sign of him snapping, he could be killed too easily.
That’s why, to the President, Arthur was the most trustworthy person.
Furthermore, he was perfect as a leash to control the military, which could be the biggest variable in his rule.
So he only called John Hobbes and Dante separately to talk.
A report assuming all cases in which the Empire entered a state of civil war.
As long as the Republic of Bostania was currently collapsing in real-time, there was no reason why such a report wouldn’t come out targeting the Empire.
It was a proper excuse to avoid suspicion to some extent.
In addition, it was also because he had been certified by White Captain Saloca, one of the cornerstones of the tombstone, that he had absolutely no contact with the President.
In the case of Karin Maven, the fact that the orphanage she had been in was receiving direct support from the President.
In the case of Otto Bichan, the fact that he had been personally awarded the ‘Silver Heart’ medal by the President as a disabled veteran.
Needless to say, Edward Roman, who had already served in a special unit under the Capital Corps.
But if such a letter came….
‘Could it be.’
For a moment, Werner’s mind reeled.
Did it mean that someone among the Graveyard personnel had regained their memory?
When he left the Graveyard, he clearly ordered Akasha to erase all the information accumulated so far.
But what if that order was rejected for some reason?
Sizzle—.
Werner crushed the cigarette he had somehow finished smoking in the ashtray.
He pressed down hard on the torn paper so that the content of the paper he had torn a little while ago would completely disappear.
A warning that the President was watching.
Saying that they would come to find him soon.
And finally, a hint that there was something underground in the weapons agency.
All the contents of this letter were suggesting the possibility that Lea Gilliard might have regained her memory.
Perhaps after recovering from the gunshot wound last time, she had awakened the memory that had been latent in her subconscious.
Once his thoughts reached that point, he could no longer hesitate.
“I have to go find Lea.”
Werner Grimm immediately got up, grabbing his coat.
He tried to go out the door like that, but.
“………”
For some reason, his feet wouldn’t move.
What if she really… regained her memory?
He had run away disgracefully.
He had betrayed those eyes that had looked at him until the very last breath, saying they would fight together again in the next cycle.
In this cycle too, he had unhesitatingly rejected that hand reaching out to him without fail.
He had intentionally hurt Arwen and Charlotte.
He had deliberately chosen only actions that they would dislike, and he had actually committed embezzlement.
In fact, it was an action that he didn’t necessarily have to do.
During the forty cycles, he already knew how to manage military supplies and what weapons to stockpile.
Just in the previous cycle, Luthers Edan had succeeded in pushing the Titans to the final defense line without committing corruption.
If he hadn’t been blinded by the fact that victory was within reach and hastily entered the interior of the nest… he might not have had to turn back the past one more time.
It was just,
It was just out of spite.
The self-loathing for failing again even after facing thirty-nine deaths.
His guilt towards his fiancées who would throw their bodies without hesitation, not caring about their own lives, whenever his safety was in danger.
His apology to the comrades of the Graveyard who had always trusted him infinitely and followed him even to suicidal orders.
Unable to bear all those emotions, he had simply let go of the result.
But now, apologizing to Lea?
Then what about his other fiancées?
What about Arwen?
She had stabbed the back of the man she loved more than anyone with her own hands.
Not only that, but she had twisted the knife to make sure he could never recover again.
She had stripped him of all his honor and threw all his glory into the gutter.
Even if Luthers Edan was living an enviable life with a new identity as Werner Grimm, could Arwen Orka bear that fact?
-Without you, my life will be extinguished. If I don’t see your face even for a day, I feel like I will suffocate.
-Please, don’t say you’re going to leave me. Luthers. I’d rather you kill me. Don’t make me helplessly watch you from behind.
-That pain, that duty, that weight of responsibility, I, your loyal adjutant, also….
No.
Absolutely not.
She must never know.
Arwen must never know her past.
Because he couldn’t even imagine how much she would suffer and how deeply she would be hurt.
And because he couldn’t bear how evil, weak, and foolish he was for making Arwen make such a choice.
Then what about Charlotte Evergreen?
As a logistics officer, she should have stayed quietly in the rear, but she was always running into the battlefield, talking about weapons and whatnot.
She would directly board equipment that hadn’t even been tested for safety and fight, and at a moment of desperation when everyone had given up and was just waiting for death, she would appear spewing out brilliant flames.
-We haven’t seen the end yet! Do I really have to say this? You stupid commander!!
Like Arthur Philias, she was someone Luthers Edan personally admired.
Even he, who had regressed through dozens of lives, had to experience several deaths before he could attain the truth that Charlotte Evergreen already knew.
-Ha, haha… Shit…, it hurts like hell…. But I told you… right? That we can do it….
-See, even a fool like me did it splendidly…. If it’s you, who are more outstanding than me, you can definitely do it….
-Cough! So instead of me, please go and see this end. See you in the next cycle. My beloved….
“No.”
Charlotte must not know either.
Because it was too embarrassing.
Because it felt like his own shamefulness of not being able to endure it in the end, unlike her who had always silently endured that hardship, would be blatantly exposed, even after hearing such a story.
“…”
He couldn’t even take a single step.
But he had to go.
That’s why he had to go.
Lea Gilliard.
Even if it wasn’t her, if someone had really regained their memory.
It was a duty that Luthers Edan, the regressor, had to finish undoing it.
Whoever that person was, he had to kneel before them and confess his sins and weaknesses.
Clack.
Werner Grimm.
No, Luthers Edan, who had made up his mind, opened the door and stretched out his legs.
Even though it was already dark outside, he ran through the long corridor without hesitation.
“Director!?”
At that moment.
Karin Maven, who had been preparing to cook dinner with him, appeared in front of him.
“Wh-where are you going!? You clearly said you would make dinner today!?”
“I’m sorry, Karin. An urgent matter came up. Is the hangar closed now?”
“Urgent matter…? Hangar…? What on earth…?”
“I’ll explain in detail later. I’m sorry. Have dinner with the others.”
“Wait a minute!”
Karin spread her arms with an instinctively felt bad premonition, but Werner passed her arms as if it was nothing.
His gaze was already directed towards a place she didn’t know.
Karin Maven could only blankly stare at the spot where Werner Grimm had disappeared in an instant.
“Director Werner…!”
Even though she thought they had become much closer recently.
A huge wall with no end in sight was blocking her, as if mocking her.
At that fact, Karin could only bite her lip in resentment.
Karin Maven still wasn’t even allowed to stand right by his side.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
one small detail that’s cool is that usually MC would be referred to as Werner Grimm, yet when he get’s tangled up in the past (e.g. with that drake guy and right now), the story/author refers to him by his old name
Nice catch. What a cool little detail