A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 47

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

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

 
Werner Grimm boarded the helicopter without hesitation.

The sun had long set, and the cold winter wind was blowing so fiercely that it seemed to freeze even his breath.

But that was not a problem at all.

Tap, tap, clank.

Whirrrr!

The electronic instrument panel lit up, and the helicopter’s rotor began to spin.

He immediately grabbed the helicopter’s control stick.

Unmanned technology was already installed, so there was no need to sit in the cockpit, but it was for faster movement.

Once upon a time, he was an elite pilot who directly piloted a helicopter and poured missiles on the Titans’ large formation.

That sensation at his fingertips had not yet faded.

The helicopter piloted by Werner soon began to soar above Forbidden Lake Fortress.

From here to the Eastern Military District where Lea was living, it was a distance of about 3 hours by helicopter.

But if he pushed himself a little, he could reduce it to 2 hours.

Assuming the timing was right, he would be able to arrive at the Eastern branch of the National Security Strategy Agency before midnight.

Of course, he could vividly see the faces of the mechanics who would frown at the state of the ruined helicopter, but now was not the time to consider such things.

Thump thump thump thump!

The black helicopter cut through the air at maximum speed.

The chaotically mixed air currents.

The cold chill of winter.

Nothing could block Werner Grimm’s way.

However, what awaited him when he arrived in Branberg after a frantic flight was none other than the news of Lea Gilliard’s discharge.

“She… discharged…?”

“Yes, we just got the news yesterday. Colonel Julia Anke, her superior, was late in processing her discharge.”

The Eastern liaison officer of the National Security Strategy Agency, who had been suddenly greeted by his direct superior in the middle of the night, said in a rigid voice.

“Why?”

It was an instinctive question that popped out.

Lea Gilliard discharged?

Didn’t she say just a few days ago that she was holding a reunion in the capital Hoenbaren?

Inwardly, even without saying it, Werner had been constantly watching their overall lives.

Of course, he knew that his old Graveyard comrades’ event led by Arwen, Charlotte, and Drake was taking place.

In the first place, it was something he had subtly mentioned on the plane returning from the Republic of Bostania to the Empire.

Surely she must have had a good time with her old comrades she hadn’t seen in a long time.

But she suddenly discharged?

As Werner widened his eyes, the liaison officer’s face turned pale.

“I’m sorry, Director!! I will correct it! I will head to the 32nd Regiment right away and grasp the truth of the incident!!”

“Ah… no. There’s no need for that. I wasn’t talking to you….”

Werner Grimm, who had faced an unbelievable fact, could only speak incoherently.

“I, I have to go… in person. Prepare the address and a vehicle for me.”

This whole situation felt like nothing but a bad premonition.

“Right now.”

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

It had already been a week since Lea Gilliard had suddenly disappeared, leaving only her discharge request.

Where did it go wrong?

Thinking back, it had started from the moment she received that letter.

A cryptic letter delivered in a way that the handwriting couldn’t even be identified by cutting and pasting newspaper articles, telling her to stop sending letters.

After that, Lea had noticeably begun to break down.

Then they should have tracked down the person who sent the letter, but the problem was that they couldn’t track that person.

Someone had definitely knocked on the door.

Julia clearly remembered the situation at that time.

If she had received it from the mailbox, that would have been different, but they had deliberately knocked on the door to make her come out.

When she belatedly went to check the CCTV, it was a bust.

Thinking that maybe, she had handed over the relevant information to the police and requested an investigation, but they couldn’t identify the culprit either.

-We checked all the CCTVs near the dormitory. Even the footage captured from different angles was all dead.

It was enough to make a ghost weep.

Then did the culprit intentionally hack the closed-circuit cameras all at once?

It was absurd.

Since the culprit couldn’t be identified, the investigation didn’t proceed.

Even this was only possible because she was a colonel with some influence in the area.

If it had been someone else, they wouldn’t have been able to start the investigation at all and would have been rejected.

-I’m sorry, Colonel. It would be better to request the Branberg Police Department’s Cyber Crime Investigation Division….

In the end, all her efforts were in vain.

Even she, who had refused to process the resignation letter until the end, could no longer kick it around as she pleased.

Since she had already used up all her leave and sick days, if she didn’t return, she would become a ‘deserter officer’.

Like that, when Lea’s discharge request, which she had finally forwarded yesterday, was just being applied to the personnel information system.

“You are…?”

“I’m Werner Grimm, the director of the National Security Strategy Agency. I need your cooperation.”

Julia Anke looked at the black-uniformed man standing right in front of her door.

And behind him was a management soldier with a truly resentful expression, waving his hands.

“Co-Colonel… I’m really sorry. Even though I told him it was absolutely not allowed, this person forcibly insisted!”

It was 1 AM.

It was never an appropriate time for a guest to visit.

Moreover, the rank of the man in front of her eyes was lieutenant colonel.

He was her subordinate.

If it had been normal, she could have made all sorts of nonsense and messed up his military life.

But the National Security Strategy Agency was an organization that had suppressed the series of terrorist attacks that had occurred at the Eastern Army Command last time.

As someone who had been saved by them, it was also somewhat awkward to harshly reject them.

Moreover, it was directly under the President.

In addition, there were rumors that they were directly involved in the downfall of former Eastern Army Commander Heinrich Rendal, who had been practically driven out to discharge.

No matter how much of a colonel she was, she couldn’t suppress him with rank.

Of course.

Those were all just excuses.

Putting everything aside, there was only one reason why Julia Anke couldn’t turn away that man.

Lea Gilliard’s discharge approval held in his hand.

It was the reason why Julia Anke hadn’t been able to sleep properly for the past few days.

“…Enough fuss. Director Werner? Come inside.”

The moment she saw that, Julia had no choice but to let Werner into her room.

“No matter how urgent the matter is, this is too much. You know very well that it’s rude, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. But didn’t you also have doubts about this situation, Colonel?”

Werner Grimm.

His transparent blue eyes flashed.

Although he was a lieutenant colonel, Julia unconsciously swallowed her dry saliva at his dignity that didn’t seem like a lieutenant colonel.

“First Lieutenant Lea Gilliard, what happened to her?”

But she couldn’t let herself get carried away.

The rank of colonel wasn’t granted lightly.

It was Julia Anke’s honor earned in the muddy battlefield.

“First, answer this question. Why do you keep looking for Lea?”

Werner Grimm immediately answered that question.

“Because I was Lea Gilliard’s fiancé.”

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

It was the first time she had heard of it.

But as soon as she heard that his original place of registry was the Graveyard, Julia could understand why the man in front of her was reacting so intensely.

“Then… could it be that the person named Captain John Hobbes.”

“Yes, that was me.”

“…Ha. Now I understand.”

Julia let out a sneer as if it was absurd.

The reason why Lea had stubbornly sent letters even after being rejected several times.

At some point, Lea had realized.

The man she had thrown herself to protect was none other than her fiancé who had abandoned her.

Thinking that way, Julia couldn’t forgive the man named Werner.

“What were you thinking?”

When she was about to press him with a sharp voice, at that moment.

Woooong~.

The man’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

A call this early in the morning?

As Julia frowned at the interruption of the conversation, he calmly turned off the phone’s power.

“It’s nothing. Please continue.”

“Ha, what more is there to say? This is absurd. What on earth did you do that you’re showing up only now as her fiancé? And yet you casually exchanged letters, what are you trying to do?”

Werner Grimm felt suffocated.

“Lea had a really hard time. Do you know that? If you were going to disappear, you should have disappeared completely. What were you thinking, using an alias and hovering around Lea?!”

Each of Julia’s words pierced his heart like a dagger.

It was true.

Even though he said he would forget, even though he said he would leave, even though he said his existence would only be a hindrance to them.

Why was he still lingering around them?

To protect them?

Perhaps even that was his own self-righteousness and arrogance.

The fatal mistake he had made again in this cycle, which had caused all of this to happen.

Just take Lea, for example.

If he hadn’t barged into the banquet hall in Branberg.

If he had confirmed that Lea Gilliard was among the attendees and put someone else like John Hobbes as a substitute?

She might not have gotten hurt.

“…”

He had to admit it.

The fact that even though he couldn’t face her, he wanted to look at her from a step away.

The fact that he had committed another misdeed with a contradictory desire.

As Werner Grimm was about to confess to the person in front of him with a trembling voice, Julia Anke cut off his words.

“The Graveyard.”

“…!!”

At the word that suddenly made his mind clear, Werner raised his head.

“Lea didn’t reveal it, but that child went to the Graveyard where she had been with you. Because her condition definitely worsened since then….”

It was a fact she had found out after Lea Gilliard’s unilateral discharge notification.

“Rather, I want to ask first. Lieutenant Colonel, do you know nothing? You were comrades who worked together. What on earth happened in that closed fortress?”

But Werner couldn’t answer.

It was a story he hadn’t disclosed to anyone in this cycle.

“I can’t tell you about that….”

Woooong!!

A phone vibration rang out loudly once again.

“Ah, seriously. If you came to ask something at this late hour, at least take care of your phone first…!!”

But this time, it wasn’t Werner’s.

Julia Anke took out her own phone.

[Division Commander]

“Huh?”

Werner and Julia’s eyes met almost simultaneously.

Julia hurriedly picked up the phone and answered the call.

“Lo-loyalty, this is 32nd Regimental Commander Julia Anke. I received the call from the Division Commander. Yes… Yes… Yes, that’s right. Yes…?”

Julia Anke’s expression gradually turned to shock.

Watching her, Werner Grimm also took out the phone he had turned off again.

Something was strange.

He had a strange feeling.

[11 missed calls]

[16 received text messages]

Woooong!!!!

As soon as he turned on the phone’s power, the vibration sounded like crazy.

The missed calls were not only from the members of the National Security Strategy Agency.

Supreme Commander Arthur Philias was there too.

Werner, who immediately checked the messages, received news as shocking as Lea Gilliard’s discharge.

Woooooong!!!

[Supreme Command Emergency Order No. 33]

[All forces issued 1st-level combat readiness]

[A huge explosion presumed to be a nuclear detonation observed in the Republic of Bostania. Personnel receiving this message are to return to their unit immediately upon receipt]

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇