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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“So, the Lieutenant suddenly whoosh and bam right in the thug’s face!!”
“What!?”
“He dodged the other guys’ attacks swoosh, swoosh and beat them to a pulp.”
Belle Meyer excitedly recounted the events, while Lumia Blue felt her heart pound with each word. Even if they had started the fight, wasn’t the retaliation too brutal?
“Bell, why didn’t you stop him?!”
“Well, it’s not like we could just stand there while he was getting beaten up, right?”
“That’s true, but….”
Lumia said with a worried voice. She wasn’t worried about nothing. Cherno City was a decent place to live, but it was by no means safe.
Thugs openly roamed the city. While a proper security force remained, preventing them from committing crimes freely, some factions colluded with the authorities, subtly interfering with the citizens’ lives.
Being a soldier didn’t change anything. In fact, some shops colluded with thugs to overcharge soldiers, who were essentially outsiders.
Various illegal businesses targeting soldiers also thrived.
The red-light district north of the city walls and the illegal gambling den beneath the largest tavern were prime examples.
Soldiers, with little in the way of leisure or hobbies, frequented these places on their days off, and it had become an unspoken rule for some. Soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers alike were all involved.
Therefore, even soldiers couldn’t handle these criminals carelessly. It was more likely they’d get caught in a compromising position.
“You know what I’m talking about, Bell.”
“Of course I do. But this is different from ignoring injustice, isn’t it?”
“What if they try to harm the Lieutenant?”
“They can’t. They don’t even know who we are.”
Bell shrugged nonchalantly. There were so many units stationed near Cherno City.
Even if the criminal organization was deeply involved in the city’s administration, they couldn’t possibly keep track of every single officer.
Local autonomy and military personnel management were strictly separate.
“Besides, does our Lieutenant look like someone who’d be easily taken down by those guys?”
Bell didn’t think Enoch Levandal would be defeated by thugs, no matter what.
Honestly, she was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected the Lieutenant to be this strong. When Enoch first handed Bell his military coat, she was startled and tried to stop him. That was natural.
Bell thought the best course of action was to reason with them or, if that didn’t work, to give them some money and send them away.
Money was what mattered to thugs. They were beating up the boy because they thought he had something valuable. They might target soldiers and officials indiscriminately, but there were lines they wouldn’t cross.
If Enoch had tried to reason with them, they might have heard some harsh words, but no one would have been injured. But the Lieutenant didn’t choose that method.
You should be grateful that we protect your country, yet you look down on us. You’re worse than dogshit.
Those words were so refreshing. It felt like the unspoken frustration that had been building up inside her had finally been released.
“I like him more and more. And……”
Bell Meyer recalled when they faced the bandit group.
The flames, so massive that they dwarfed even the flare Lumia activated, were conjured effortlessly by Enoch Levandal. Bell had mistaken it for the sun in that moment.
‘No matter how I think about it, that wasn’t Solar Prominence.’
Despite her appearance, Bell Meyer held the official title of 1st Class Blue Mage. She had a deep understanding of magic, and as a mage, she could easily analyze what the Lieutenant had done.
Solar Prominence was an advanced magic spell that condensed fire-attribute mana to an extreme, manifesting it in the form of a giant sun.
Especially since it was based on ‘red mana’, which had a complex mana structure and was difficult to control.
It wasn’t a spell that could be activated just by waving one’s hand.
‘The density and quantity of mana were just absurdly high, so even a simple flare was amplified automatically.’
In Bell Meyer’s eyes, Enoch Levandal was clearly born with an extraordinary talent for magic.
Didn’t he shatter the defensive magic deployed by Debra Bennett, the head of the facilities management department, with a single Fireball?
At first, she didn’t understand, but now that she thought about it again, it felt like all the puzzle pieces were falling into place.
“I don’t know about me, but you, Lumia, have to stick close to our Lieutenant. Got it?”
The 3rd Magic Battalion, 2nd Company, 5th Platoon, directly under the Northern Army.
They were usually called the ‘Scrap Platoon’, a derogatory term that even the platoon members didn’t deny. It was the worst place to be stationed, a veritable exile.
Enoch was their first and possibly last golden opportunity.
He had not only caught the eye of Colonel Sonny Zeppelin but had also quickly built a positive image among the battalion commander, company commander, and everyone in between.
He was someone who could change the 5th Platoon. And later, when he received recognition for his achievements and left the battalion, the only one who could remain by his side would be…
Her younger sister, standing right there.
“Bell…”
“No matter what happens, stick with Lieutenant Enoch. He’s trustworthy.”
A tumultuous era was approaching. Even though she had been practically abandoned, Bell Meyer was still the daughter of a high-ranking noble.
Though she appeared indifferent, she was more sensitive to the world’s affairs than anyone else.
The world’s political landscape was shifting. The era people praised as peaceful wouldn’t last much longer. Bell felt it instinctively.
“Lumia, I’m serious. Promise me.”
“What exactly about the Lieutenant makes you so certain? Of course, I know he’s a very good person, but….”
Bell answered with a confident expression.
“My gut feeling.”
Her red eyes flashed.
‘He seems like the kind of person who would survive even if the sky fell.’
He was that strong.
Bell Meyer trusted her gut feeling.
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Ugh, I think I’m dying. No, I might as well just die.
“Cough, cough!!”
“Lieutenant… are you alright?”
“No, I’m not alright… Please get me some medicine from the infirmary…”
“J-just a moment, please!”
Confirming his fever, Lumia dashed out of the room.
I spoke in a dying voice. Just moving my fingers slightly sent excruciating pain through my muscles.
Damn it.
My body seemed to be functioning fine, but after just one night, I was struck down by a nasty cold.
And it had to be a really bad one, too.
I was fine after beating up those thugs, but to think they’d get me with a delayed attack like this.
‘This goddamn useless body.’
My whole body ached as if my muscles were cramping. How could I possibly survive a real war with this body? It was nothing short of despairing.
“This is bad. I really need to build up my immunity.”
Five years wasn’t a long time. Unless I was suddenly abducted to headquarters, I would face the war as a field commander.
And hygiene in the field was even worse than one might imagine. It was true even in modern warfare with all the advanced medical systems.
The situation here, where a proper hospital didn’t even exist, was unimaginable.
If I didn’t want to die from some unknown endemic disease before I even faced the enemy… I really needed to build up my immunity.
And this stress.
I keenly felt the importance of stress management once again. It seemed that yesterday, I had unknowingly relieved stress by using my body.
If I hadn’t relieved the stress in time, while suffering from a cold, it would have been a disaster.
It could be considered fortunate.
It was clearly because I pushed myself yesterday, but it was better to suffer like this now if I was going to get sick eventually anyway.
‘When I decorate the quarters, I definitely need a punching bag in the training room.’
Even in reality, when things got too tough, I would go to a boxing gym instead of a regular gym and hit the punching bag until I felt better.
Wouldn’t it also be quite effective in improving the mental health of the platoon members?
Especially Claude, he would love it.
It was right after I received permission from Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart to renovate the quarters into a dedicated dormitory for our 5th Platoon.
The current quarters were moderately cozy and livable.
But the lack of windows and the gloomy atmosphere unique to basements were quite bothersome. People were surprisingly affected by their environment.
If you’re stuck in a place like that for too long, you’ll develop mental problems you didn’t even have before.
Now that I had permission to use the officer’s quarters, there was no reason to stick to the basement quarters.
‘Then I’ll use this room as my quarters and office, and decorate the next room like a common room… Then I can assign individual rooms starting from the back.’
I pictured the quarters in my mind and thought about the interior design.
‘It’s a unit I’ll have to leave in a year anyway.’
It was one of the best gifts I could give to the pitiful members of our 5th Platoon.
…But hasn’t it been twenty minutes already? Why isn’t Lumia back?
I tried to wait a little longer, but the headache was getting worse, so I got up and went outside.
If I was going to get diagnosed anyway, it was better to go to the infirmary than to stay in my room.
As soon as I left the quarters.
Slap!!!
Lumia was slapping Sergeant Rex in the smoking area not far away.
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