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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Where’s your Guard Captain?”
“I, I don’t know!! I really don’t know!!”
I said, dragging out a guard who was hiding in an alley. He was trembling, having already lost all his fighting spirit.
‘This is bad.’
I had wiped out the Gavial gang in one fell swoop, but I had missed the most important target, the Golden Goblin.
“If you don’t answer me properly, I’ll shove that water cannon down your throat too.”
“Ye, yes!! I understand, officer!! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“Where’s the direct route from here to the Guard barracks?”
“Go straight ahead and then turn right, and you’ll see the building right away! It’s t, tall, so you’ll be able to recognize it immediately!”
I released the guard’s collar and ran straight towards the barracks.
That bastard Lamur, he must have realized that I was from the Military Police. That’s why he ran away as soon as the water cannon was fired, without even trying to fight back.
But, in the end, Lamur’s actions were extremely limited.
He could either abandon everything and run for his life, or take whatever he could and escape the city.
I believed it was the latter.
‘He wouldn’t just run away without any preparations, after embezzling so much. He’s definitely in the barracks.’
From now on, it was purely a race against time.
Even if I had plenty of evidence to prove the charges, if I couldn’t secure Lamur, there would be no way to find out who was behind the ‘artifact’ leak.
It wasn’t possible that Lamur, a mere city Guard Captain, had ordered the theft of the artifact on his own.
There must have been someone behind him, far above a mere Guard Captain.
This was a chance to complete the operation with 100% success, and I couldn’t miss it.
I ran through the darkened streets and arrived at the barracks, but it was eerily silent.
Looking around quickly, I found traces of a horse having been released from the stable in the corner.
“Damn it!”
Just one horse. It was obvious that Lamur had ridden it.
But it wasn’t time to give up yet.
I went to the stable and untied one of the remaining horses. It snorted healthily, and that felt good.
“This is my first time riding a horse, but… I’ll manage somehow!!”
I checked the saddle, leaped onto the horse’s back, and suddenly, it felt like I knew how to ride.
Well, since my character was a military academy graduate, I should be decent at riding, right?
Is this some kind of character bonus?
There was no time for admiration. As I placed my feet firmly in the stirrups and flicked the reins,
Neigh-
The horse reared up and started galloping forward.
‘The closest exit from the barracks is the back gate! I’ll go that way!’
Unless Lamur took a wrong turn, he would have already escaped the city. But if I rode fast enough, I could still catch him.
In less than a few minutes, the city’s back gate came into view.
“Huh…? What?”
Troops were stationed in front of the firmly closed gate.
At first, I thought they were guards blocking the way at Lamur’s command, but unlike the shabby-looking city guards, they were dressed in neat, high-quality attire.
Jet-black coats with gold buttons and a large reindeer emblem on their chests.
It was the National Military Police.
“Halt, halt!”
I stopped the horse as ordered and jumped down.
“The city has been temporarily closed off by the National Military Police. Present your identification and turn back!”
It seemed they didn’t recognize me since I was in plain clothes, and except for Major Lannister, I didn’t know anyone in the Military Police.
“Glory to the Motherland! Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal, 3rd Magic Battalion, directly under the Northern Army Corps.”
When I approached the man who seemed to be a First Lieutenant and saluted, he returned the salute.
“3rd Magic Battalion…? Why is an officer from your unit here?”
“I’m carrying out a mission under Major Lannister’s orders.”
I took out the Military Police badge from my pocket and showed it to him. His gaze changed.
“Ah, you’re the rumored platoon leader. I’ve heard about you. We’ll talk about the details of your meritorious service after we arrest the Guard Captain and other related personnel.”
“Understood. But has anyone on horseback come through here?”
“No one has come through the back gate except you.”
What was going on? If it wasn’t Lamur, who took the horse and disappeared?
‘Did he escape before the Military Police arrived?’
It was a reasonable suspicion, so I asked the First Lieutenant again.
“How long has the back gate been closed off?”
“We arrived as soon as Major Lannister gave the order. It’s 19:00 now, so about 10 minutes.”
According to the First Lieutenant, the timing was a bit tight.
It was around the time I was taking down the Gavial gang and heading towards the barracks.
If he had escaped with minimal luggage, he could have definitely gotten out before the Military Police closed off the entrance.
I thought for a moment and then decided to tell the First Lieutenant the truth.
“It seems that Guard Captain Lamur has escaped the city.”
“What?”
“After taking care of the thugs he hired, I immediately started pursuing him, but… I confirmed that one horse was missing from the Guard barracks.”
“Damn it…! Then there’s no time to waste, we have to form a pursuit team immediately…!!”
Right before the First Lieutenant was about to give an order to the cavalry waiting near the entrance,
“There’s no need for that.”
A familiar voice came from a nearby alley.
“Lamur is here.”
A large figure collapsed weakly in front of them. I recognized him immediately as Guard Captain Lamur.
And also the people who brought him.
“…Sergeant Belle, Sergeant Claude.”
“You owe us one, Platoon Leader.”
Claude chuckled.
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“So that’s how it happened. Ah, thank you.”
I said, gulping down the cool water. It was purified water created directly by Bell’s magic.
This was how everything unfolded.
While I was confronting the guards, Lumia successfully escaped the city.
She reported to Battalion Commander Lockhart that I was in danger and that there was clear evidence that the Guard Captain of Cherno City had committed treason.
Even though he was a bit of a slacker and impulsive, the Battalion Commander knew when to get serious.
As soon as he received Lumia’s message, he sent an urgent message to Major Lannister.
At the same time, he approved Lumia’s request for immediate dispatch, bringing Claude and Belle Meyer to the city.
Thanks to that, Bell Meyer and Claude had arrived early and guarded the side gate.
And they were able to capture Lamur, who was trying to escape. It was incredibly fortunate.
If he had succeeded in escaping through the side gate, it would have been truly impossible to track him down.
“It seems he knew about the secret passageways of the city since he was the Guard Captain.”
“But how did Sergeant Claude know about that passage?”
As I voiced my sudden question, Sergeant Claude subtly averted his gaze. At his behavior, Belle Meyer sighed deeply and answered instead.
“Well… it’s obvious. Even now, he has a history of not returning long past his return time. Usually, after midnight, the main and back gates are automatically locked down, so he must have been wandering around using this side gate. Look at him, shamelessly pretending he didn’t.”
Claude didn’t react to Belle Meyer’s words.
“Did he also do this after I was assigned here?”
“…Yes.”
“Sergeant Claude, please at least let me know next time. So that I can inform you in case of emergency. I don’t mind if you go out, but…”
“You don’t mind if he goes out? Platoon Leader!”
Belle immediately protested, but I had already given up on Claude’s reform.
He was a war hero and a Master Sergeant, so honestly, he was no different from a Colonel who had given up on promotion to General.
Long robe troops?
Don’t talk if you haven’t experienced it.
No one can stop them, really.
Rather, it was Belle, who was persistently protesting, that I found curious.
“Alright, make sure to at least report it next time.”
“I will try my best.”
Perhaps thinking that it was a big concession, Sergeant Claude showed a fairly receptive attitude.
Just then, a woman in a robe waved and ran towards us, panting.
“Platoon Leader!”
Silver hair that sparkled under the moonlight.
It was Master Sergeant Lumia Blyue.
“Are you alright!?”
“Yes, I’m not injured. I subdued everyone with magic.”
“Then those people lying around in the square earlier were all…”
Lumia must have witnessed the scene on her way here. I shrugged at her surprised expression.
“They’re probably not seriously injured. Just some broken bones, at worst?”
“Really……!! You didn’t overdo it, right!?”
“Well, who knows? I might have a sore body tomorrow.”
I had used more magic than usual today and had moved around quite a bit.
“If that’s the case, I’ll be relying on you tomorrow too, Master Sergeant Lumia.”
I made a light joke, and Lumia made a disgusted face.
“No way! What am I supposed to do if you always act like this! We need to exercise together from now on! We should build up your stamina!”
“That’s great, Platoon Leader. If you happen to get injured while exercising, come to me. I’ll take care of your fatigue recovery for free.”
“That applies to you too, Sergeant Belle. What are you going to do if you keep cooped up in your room all the time!”
“Eek…”
Belle Meyer stepped back awkwardly at the sudden sparks, and Claude watched the two with a strangely relaxed expression.
…Seeing it like this, it wasn’t so bad either?
Anyway.
“So, our platoon has resolved one case.”
“Th, that’s right……. It was solved faster than expected.”
Even I hadn’t expected to arrest the suspect in just one day… Looking at the platoon members who had helped me in various ways, I said,
“Thank you for your hard work.”
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