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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Who are you…?”
When I asked, the young colonel with light purple hair smiled brightly and replied,
“I’m Sony Zeppelin. Strange~ We should have met at least once if you graduated from the academy.”
“Huh?”
Sony Zeppelin?
The Sky Archmage???
What was she doing here?
My eyes widened. I also clearly remembered the name Sony Zeppelin.
Objectively speaking, unless one played the Ukrainian Duchy alongside similarly situated minor nations like Walter III, it was overwhelmingly weaker compared to any other playable nation.
However, even as the weakest nation, before starting a world war, whether it was the Free Allied Forces or the Imperial Alliance, they absolutely had to open a Ukrainian front.
And even if I, a seasoned player, started the war with all preparations complete, that problematic Ukrainian front always took at least a month of in-game time.
In other words, no matter which power invaded, Ukraine possessed at least the ‘minimum force’ to endure for that long.
That’s why, before possessing this body, even I judged that there was hope for victory when playing the game from Ukraine’s perspective.
You needed something to even stand a chance, right? Even I couldn’t do something crazy like conquering America with Somalia.
There were things that were possible in the game and things that weren’t. If they introduced a challenge like that, it would be truly crossing the line.
Therefore, I had intended to use Sony Zeppelin as the most crucial hidden card for Ukraine’s victory.
One of only twelve Archmages on the continent.
They were treated as a kind of strategic weapon and a powerful force even within the Hearts of General system.
In short, they were like world-renowned generals like Manstein of Germany, MacArthur of the US, and Zhukov of the Soviet Union, weapons capable of swaying the tide of an entire campaign.
In fact, if I had to choose the strongest and most troublesome enemy in the Ukrainian campaign, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose Sony Zeppelin’s unit.
‘The problem is, why is she here right now?’
Even in the game, the only opportunity to meet Sony Zeppelin was after the war broke out, so it was natural that I didn’t remember her right away.
More than anything, her appearance was a little different from what I had seen in the game.
‘She looks much younger than I expected.’
Back then, she looked to be at least in her forties, but now she was unmistakably in her twenties. Could someone change that much in five years?
“Right? You just remembered, didn’t you? I’m the one who gives the annual speech at the academy~.”
She quickly caught on that I recognized her and beamed.
“So, getting back to the main point! What were you two talking about? That secret or whatever.”
Although her expression was bright, the gaze I felt wasn’t gentle at all. It was more like sharp needles of killing intent pricking at me.
“C, Colonel Sony Zeppelin… Nothing happened.”
Belle Meyer hurriedly replied. The gaze that had been fixed on me shifted to Belle.
“You’re Sergeant Belle Meyer, right?”
“Sergeant Belle Meyer!!”
“Lying is bad, don’t you think? My hearing is quite good, you see.”
Sony Zeppelin flicked her finger, and the spreading mana instantly consumed the space. With a thud, as if gravity had intensified, my body felt pressed down.
‘Pressure Amplification.’
A high-level purple magic that amplified air pressure to forcibly crush its target. It could easily crush a person, but right now, she was only using the mana to apply pressure. It was terrifyingly precise, fast, and subtle mana control.
“I won’t touch the injured one over there. I don’t usually involve the lower ranks individually anyway.”
“Ugh, w, what are you doing…!”
Belle Meyer, barely enduring the pressure of the compressed air, struggled to raise her head. Her lips trembled.
“Your posture is wrong. Kneel first.”
“Kyaa!”
Thud!
Belle Meyer collapsed powerlessly onto the floor. She couldn’t withstand the crushing air pressure and fainted. The infirmary room was now completely under Sony Zeppelin’s control.
“Even if you’re a colonel…! You can’t treat me like this…!!”
“Sergeant Belle Meyer, stop.”
I stopped Belle Meyer, who was also trying to deploy her magic power. Not only would her power be no match, but antagonizing this woman in the current situation was by no means a wise decision.
“As expected of an officer, you know how to read the situation.”
“Colonel Sony Zeppelin, I promise to tell you everything, so please clear your suspicions.”
“Suspicions? I came here almost certain.”
At that moment, I had a gut feeling that Sony Zeppelin was seriously mistaken. She clearly thought that we were connected to the unidentified group that Lumia and I had fought.
‘The division commander and now an Archmage?’
I could understand the division commander, considering the significant casualties in his subordinate units. But for even an Archmage to seek me out, it meant that this fort attack wasn’t just a simple bandit raid.
‘There was definitely something in that fort.’
It had been a mere hypothesis, but now it was turning into a certainty.
“Blindly trusting judgments based on misunderstandings is dangerous. Can you truly take responsibility for that?”
Despite the intensifying pressure, I looked directly at Sony Zeppelin and spoke. I couldn’t shrink back. It was all about appearances and boldness. Since I was arguing with a colonel even after seeing Belle Meyer collapse, I would definitely attract attention.
“…Your expression is good.”
Snap!
Sony Zeppelin snapped her fingers, and the compressed air miraculously returned to its original state. The mana in the atmosphere stabilized in the blink of an eye, as if nothing had happened.
I realized anew the power that came with the title of Archmage. She was an existence outside the norm, not just another human.
“So? Go ahead and talk.”
“We were merely discussing Sergeant Lumia’s desertion.”
“Desertion?”
Sony Zeppelin’s eyes narrowed. Belle, who had gotten up, also seemed to judge that there was no point in hiding it any longer and bit her lip in frustration.
“Didn’t Colonel Sony Zeppelin come here knowing that Lumia and I fought against an unidentified group of mages?”
“That’s right. Why else would I seek out a second lieutenant?”
The colonel nodded in agreement. At this point, Sony Zeppelin had already fallen into my pace.
“Did you assume that we had some connection to that group? That we cooperated with them instead of fighting them?”
Spies. There was no way Sony Zeppelin didn’t know that various powerful nations bordering Ukraine were eyeing it covetously.
And for those nations to devour Ukraine, they needed thorough preparation. ‘Dispatching spies’ would be the first step.
Especially in the case of spies sent to the military, it was far better to dispatch them as officers rather than low-ranking soldiers.
The quantity and quality of information they could gather would be on a different level.
In other words, this woman thought I was a spy.
‘That’s a bit extreme.’
It wasn’t particularly surprising. Even in the game, Archmages were like this. Incredibly dangerous and frightening beings, but also eccentrics with a screw loose.
Sony Zeppelin was one of them, so this could be considered tame. In the Reinhardt Empire to the south, there was even a madman who would read minds and use hypnosis for investigations if he suspected someone.
The colonel’s expression wavered slightly at my pointed words. I intended to drive the wedge in further, not missing this fleeting moment.
“With all due respect, Colonel, the premise itself is wrong. There are three errors.”
I held up three fingers.
“First, I’m a newly commissioned second lieutenant who graduated from the academy less than a month ago.”
As I said before, there was no way someone like an Archmage would have meticulously examined my records. She was just suspicious and barged in to interrogate me.
I folded one finger.
“Second, our platoon is practically neglected by the unit and was scheduled to be left as reserves, not even on the flanks, in this operation.”
She had come here without even knowing my personal records, so would she have looked at the platoon records?
“And lastly, I pursued Sergeant Lumia, who had deserted the front lines in a panic, and engaged with the unidentified group of mages.”
Now that I had refuted all the preconditions, all that was left was to present the conclusion.
“I’ve never colluded with any forces hostile to Ukraine.”
“I’ve never leaked tactical maps.”
“There’s no reason for me to specifically target Fort Belgorod among the numerous border fortresses.”
“Moreover, I participated in the battle. If you had been there, Colonel, you would never have suspected me.”
Sony Zeppelin’s expression changed by the second. At first, it was like, ‘Is that so…?’, but now she seemed to realize that she had been making a fuss.
“Just what do you take me for?”
Checkmate.
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