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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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When Werner Grimm opened his eyes again, it was four days later.
“Director!!”
Karin Maven, whose eyes were brimming with tears, hugged him tightly.
Werner comforted and consoled his subordinate who had clung to him, then looked at the executives of the Security Agency standing right behind her.
“…Explain what happened.”
“A lot has happened while you were unconscious, Director.”
The first one to speak was Information Department Head, First Lieutenant Dante.
“First, I should tell you this. His Excellency the President has promoted the Security Agency from a battalion-level to a brigade-level unit.”
“That means…?”
“Congratulations on your reinstatement as a brigadier general, Director Werner Grimm.”
Werner let out a deep sigh at the brigadier general rank insignia presented before his eyes.
“Why was the unit level promoted?”
“His Excellency the President acknowledged the seriousness of the situation. The items Charlotte Evergreen stole weren’t just hydrogen bombs.”
Werner recalled the image of his former lover wearing an eye patch and pointing a gun at him.
“Not only the prototype stealth optical camouflage suit that seems to have been used to transport the hydrogen bomb, but also the next-generation powered exoskeleton was stolen.”
“This is crazy.”
Captain John Hobbes, who was standing next to him, shook his head in disgust.
“This is no longer a simple case of military desertion. His Excellency the President has applied the charge of national rebellion against former Colonel Charlotte Evergreen and declared that he will mobilize all the nation’s investigative power to apprehend her.”
“…”
“A bounty has also been placed. 580 million marks. The largest in history. A kill order has also been issued.”
Werner closed his eyes.
What on earth was she thinking to commit such actions?
He had known Charlotte Evergreen for a long time.
With the lineage of an old aristocrat, her gorgeous blonde hair flowing down and her blue eyes sparkling, she had a rough way of speaking that was the exact opposite of her appearance.
Others used to joke about it, calling her the Ice Witch of the Logistics Department.
Werner knew why she had developed such a personality.
-I hated people judging me based solely on my appearance. I want to do what I want to do and what I think is right, but those damn manners.
-Damn it, thinking about it again pisses me off! Back then, I wore dresses all day long. Dresses with uniforms! What kind of nonsense is that during wartime?
-That’s why I like it here. You accept me as I am. As Charlotte Evergreen, the foul-mouthed one from the Logistics Department.
It was purely a defense mechanism.
Like a hedgehog, she had her spikes fully raised so that others couldn’t misrepresent her or approach her hastily.
But Charlotte was a typical woman who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
Despite her vulgar cursing, she had a gentle heart and couldn’t refuse well.
Even when she grumbled at Arwen and Lea out of jealousy, she would throw herself into danger without hesitation if those two were in danger.
Although she openly criticized the people in her Logistics Department in front of them, behind their backs, she praised them and even called them separately later to ask if she had been too harsh.
And yet, she had detonated a hydrogen bomb in another country’s city and fired at him.
Because he had known Charlotte for a long time, her actions were even more incomprehensible.
Even if she had remembered the past, it didn’t mean she would go berserk to this extent.
“Karin.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“Were you the one who safely brought me here on the day I was shot?”
“That’s right, Director. Do you know how worried I was?”
“I’m sorry. It was my fault.”
“Ah, no, you don’t need to apologize…”
“By the way, did Charlotte tell you anything else?”
“Ah…”
Karin mumbled, unable to find the words to say.
However, she couldn’t lie in front of those sparkling eyes looking at her intently.
Under that gaze, Karin had no choice but to reveal everything.
“She told me to take good care of you, Director, and that I would be able to do what they couldn’t.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
Karin answered.
There was a message left to tell you she was sorry, but that was only under the condition that she had room in her heart.
For now, she didn’t have that room.
How could she have room when the person she adored was shot right in front of her eyes?
“I see.”
Werner could only mutter bitterly upon hearing those words.
Of course, from other people’s perspective, it was just frustrating, so Otto, who couldn’t stand it anymore, asked.
As the former head of the Discipline Department, he wasn’t the type to overlook things that bothered him.
“So what the hell happened in that damn Graveyard? Why are your former comrades so eager to tear you apart, Director?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Werner cut him off firmly.
“It’s not something you need to know, and I don’t really want to talk about it either. Especially to you whom I trust.”
One shouldn’t hastily open their heart to others.
It was one of the creeds Werner Grimm—no, Luthers Edan—had set out when starting this cycle.
Wasn’t the result of freely giving his heart the tragedy that was happening now?
It was to avoid regrets.
But in the end, he had committed another act that would lead to regret.
Human relationships were so violent and destructive.
Even Otto, who had boldly confronted him, had no choice but to back down at those resolute words.
“I’m sorry, First Lieutenant.”
“It’s understandable. It’s a personal matter, isn’t it? Everyone has personal matters, and it would be a bit funny if a former war hero didn’t have a story.”
Edmund said, as if trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.
“And there’s one more thing.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m not a First lieutenant anymore either, Director.”
He said, tapping the rank insignia on his shoulder.
“By order of His Excellency the President, all Security Agency personnel have been promoted two ranks.”
Edmund Roman, Major.
Looking at it now, the others were the same.
John Hobbes had been promoted from captain to lieutenant colonel, and Karin Maven had jumped two steps from second lieutenant to captain.
“Thanks to that, the authority of the Security Agency has also greatly increased. In the past, if we requested data, our superiors would have scolded us, asking who we were, but now they seem to respect us to some extent.”
It was a natural thing to say.
His Excellency the President himself had selected them and promoted the junior officers to senior officers at once.
The unprecedented and extraordinary news of their promotions must have already reached other agencies.
It meant that the President was blatantly backing them, so what did it matter if they were majors or lieutenant colonels?
“So, Director, what should we do now?”
The Security Agency was essentially Werner Grimm’s personal investigative organization.
Now that the captain was back on board, it was time to raise the anchor.
Werner Grimm closed his eyes for a moment, then uttered a single sentence.
“Raid the Defense Industry Agency.”
They already had sufficient justification.
A criminal whom the President was so furious about that he placed a bounty on her head.
If they didn’t raid the agency she belonged to, where else would they start?
But it wasn’t really to apprehend Charlotte Evergreen.
‘The underground of the Armaments Bureau.’
They had to uncover the secret of that place that Charlotte had gone to such lengths to inform them about.
The details could be heard later without being too late.
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Of course, the SSA led by Werner Grimm wasn’t the only one that started to move.
“Arwen Orka, Director of the Inspection Department, I’ve brought the documents you requested.”
“Thank you. Please put them next to me.”
Arwen Orka, now a brigadier general, brushed her silver hair flowing down her neckline and received the documents.
[Graveyard Battle Record Report]
[Log Records of the Central Command’s Akasha Network]
Lea Gilliard’s discharge, Charlotte Evergreen’s wanted notice.
Unsurprisingly, the one who reacted first to the unbelievable news was Arwen Orka.
As someone who couldn’t say she didn’t know the two, even as a formality, there were too many suspicious aspects to their actions.
Moreover, all of it pointed to a single place.
The Graveyard Fortress, where she had served together with them.
Once there was a point that caught her attention, her instinct to thoroughly investigate it was still valid here.
She placed another bundle of documents on top of the mountain of documents piled up like a hill.
Then, stretching her back, she shifted her gaze outside the window where darkness had settled.
“…I don’t know what’s going on.”
Then she picked up a small note attached to the edge of the window.
“I need to meet that man again.”
[Luthers Edan has gone down to his hometown. 38 Neudink, Southern Region of the Empire.]
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