A War Hero With No Regrets – Chapter 68

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“What do you mean by that?”

When Arwen Orka asked while sipping her glass, Heinz sighed and put a cigarette in his mouth.

“You know, Arwen. My original dream was to be a businessman.”

“Wasn’t it… a joke…?”

“If it was a joke, I wouldn’t have talked about it so seriously.”

Heinz spoke with a more serious expression than ever.

Even when he led the armored company, Heinz used to relax the stiff atmosphere of the Graveyard with his unique cheerfulness.

He and Lydia, the aviation company commander, were a perfect manzai combo, to the extent that there were even rumors circulating that they were actually dating.

Of course, they actually dated but broke up in less than two months….

Anyway, it was a personal matter between Heinz and Lydia, so not only Arwen but no one in the Graveyard knew about it.

Anyway, if he, who was always cheerful and light-hearted, spoke with such weight, it meant it was the most serious of the serious.

“Yeah, I remember. What kind of business was it?”

“Ice cream.”

“You’re crazy.”

Drake Brown suddenly cursed.

Leaving the military and the business he was going to do was ice cream.

“You guys don’t know the value of ice cream. Don’t you remember how the soldiers went crazy when it came out as our side dish?”

“That’s true, but….”

“No, it’s possible! I’m telling you it’s definitely possible!”

Heinz protested, jumping up and down.

In the end, even Arwen and Drake had no choice but to raise both hands and feet at his appearance.

“But well, isn’t it already ruined anyway?”

“No, I made a clear promise. If I go on this deployment and come back, I’ll cleanly retire.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Yeah, didn’t you see it in the meeting room earlier? The old men who would wake up even in their sleep for achievements were glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.”

He waved his hand as if he was disgusted.

Indeed, recently, the Imperial Army had a particularly burning desire for promotion more than any other time.

It was literally poison for Heinz, who had especially built a wall with politics.

“And Arwen, be careful. I’m telling you this as a friend.”

“About what?”

“Don’t get drunk on power.”

“I’m not drunk on it.”

“Not drunk… Do you think the nickname Silver Guillotine came out for nothing? Commander Luthers said the same thing. An attitude that’s too strict is not good.”

“….”

Arwen shut her mouth tightly.

In fact, she wasn’t drunk on it.

She just thought she was doing what she had to do.

In fact, it wasn’t like they didn’t commit corruption, right?

If you dug into it, nine out of ten had committed acts that violated military law, and each time, Arwen acted according to what was set in the “military law” as the head of the Inspection Department.

There was not the slightest personal emotion.

…Except for just one person.

“Uh, by any chance, Heinz, are you still in contact with our former commander?”

“Huh? Commander Luthers?”

“Cough, cough! Ack! Ugh!”

Drake, who was drinking, almost choked on the sudden question that popped out of nowhere.

He gulped down the beer and coughed, hitting his chest.

“What’s wrong? Drake, why are you suddenly like this? Are you okay?”

“Ah… I just drank it wrong. Yeah. Don’t mind me and continue the conversation.”

Drake tried to avoid the gaze of the two.

Although they thought it was strange, they quickly returned to the conversation.

“No, I’m not in contact. In the first place, he left like that, so who would I be in contact with?”

“That’s true….”

“Why, now that you’ve turned him in, you feel weird?”

“Hey, you’re just—!!”

Arwen tried to say something but paused for a moment.

In fact, she did turn him in, didn’t she?

Moreover, to point out the way of speaking, how harsh were the words she had said to Luthers?

She couldn’t help but feel guilty.

It was even more so after hearing the fact that he had been donating a huge amount of money to the Disabled Veterans Association and helping his former comrades from the Graveyard even after his pension was cut off and all his honors were stripped.

“I told you to stop at that time. Wasn’t it too much? He was your superior officer at one point. You and Charlotte, both of you went overboard.”

“…You know too. He committed corruption.”

“Hey, Arwen. I think you’re seriously mistaken. Have you heard of livelihood corruption?”

Livelihood corruption.

There was no way she hadn’t heard of it.

It was also the most common excuse used by those who were caught for corruption after Arwen was appointed as the head of the Inspection Department.

-I did it to survive, to survive!

-Can you guarantee that you wouldn’t do the same?

It was pure sophistry.

They committed corruption mainly on items that were not necessary for conducting the war, with low consumption but high prices.

Especially the worst offenders were the logistics and technical research fields, and they even pocketed huge sums of money amounting to several hundred million marks, saying it was livelihood corruption.

She referred them all to military trials.

But… Luthers Edan?

“Thanks to him, the armored and aviation units could carry out operations with peace of mind. I also complained back then… but when the war ended and I heard stories from other classmates, our fortress was the most abundant.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t notice the strange points.

What crazy person in the world would embezzle strategic materials, including atomic bombs?

If it was true, it was a crime punishable by death, but the reason Luthers was able to end with a simple “pension forfeiture” level of disciplinary action was none other than the fact that he used all those materials.

-Why do you think the prototype atomic bombs are prototypes? Only five of them were produced. But three of them went to the Graveyard Fortress. I naturally thought they would be used sequentially.

It was a statement made by a retired officer who managed the atomic bombs.

When investigating the full story, it turned out that he had received three of the weapons that might or might not be supplied to each fortress, even forging documents and backgrounds.

And those three atomic bombs….

They were used to erase the frontline trenches of the Infinite Labyrinth along with the area.

At that time, Luthers had brushed it off to Arwen and the other members of the Graveyard, saying that an order had come from above, but when looking into the facts, everything from beginning to end was Luthers’ intention.

“Have you ever heard of a shortage of fuel or shells? Probably not. Although Charlotte had an almost god-given talent in logistics, even if the waterway is wide, you can’t squeeze water out of nothing.”

Heinz spewed out his opinion like a machine gun.

“So you’re saying… Commander Luthers suffered an unjust incident now?”

“Well, that’s not what I meant. If you follow the principles, it’s natural to do that.”

Heinz gulped down the glass he had placed next to him and added.

“But at least clearly judge what position you are in. Who knows, maybe everything you’re doing now is being done under someone’s intention?”

Now Arwen couldn’t even answer anymore.

Indeed, the Inspection Department had overwhelmingly strong authority compared to its size.

Even as a brigadier general, she was the lowest among the general ranks.

Moreover, compared to other generals, Arwen was so young that she was almost like a drop of blood.

In fact, even those old generals were making a fuss trying to catch the President’s eye.

There was no guarantee that Arwen wouldn’t be seen that way in the eyes of others.

Maybe that was why the old men hadn’t been flirting with her lately.

‘Thinking I’m in the President’s line…?’

Indeed, President Mikhail Bismarck was a respectable person.

He was a victorious leader who had finally achieved victory in the war against the Titans that seemed like it would never end, and he had received nationwide support even before the Great War.

Although the atmosphere had been changing little by little recently, the wisdom and strength that could be felt from his eyes were still the same.

No.

Rather, it could be seen as having become even more intense.

Just as the aroma of wine becomes stronger as time passes, the President had also become a model of a seasoned and charismatic leader.

Hadn’t his last speech alone made even people from other countries shudder, not just the Empire?

However, for some reason, Arwen felt a sense of rejection.

She didn’t know the reason.

As a soldier and the head of the Inspection Department, who had to be more honest than anyone else, it was natural to be loyal to the President, who was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

But having a personal liking was a completely different matter.

Rather, when she was in the Graveyard, she had more of a liking for Luthers to the point of being impressed.

“Don’t be swayed too much, Arwen. Not by my words telling you now, not by His Excellency the President’s words, and not by the words of the people around you.”

The conversation with Heinz ended like that.

“Come on, everyone is saying it out of concern. As long as you understood well. Let’s have a toast for now.”

“Cheers.”

It was thanks to Drake, who changed the subject in the middle to lighten the mood.

The three silently clinked their glasses.

The bubbles of the beer fizzed along the surface of the glass with a clink.

“Now that it’s come to this, go and come back with a bang, then retire, Heinz.”

“I will.”

“Be careful and come back. And your advice… I will definitely take it to heart.”

“I believe you will do well, Arwen.”

Only then did Heinz show his usual bright smile.

However, unlike his face, it looked comfortable.

A huge storm was gradually raging in Arwen’s heart.

The inferiority complex she had tried hard to deny.

The inferiority complex she had harbored in the past slowly began to surface.

And to face that ugly truth, it was still too early for the current Arwen.

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