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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“This is… the barracks…?!”
“A mess.” Lumia’s eyes widened.
Claude chuckled, seemingly amused by the absurdity. Even the abandoned former quarters, neglected by the previous battalion commander, were in better condition than this. Back then, it was just one building.
Now, all five buildings on the site seemed on the verge of collapse.
“Ugh…”
“I like it this way. Don’t you, Sergeant?”
“Of course not! You know me, Sergeant!”
While not as obsessive as Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart, Lumia Blyue also valued aesthetics. The new barracks were practically ruins.
“This is unacceptable. We’ll need months to renovate this entire place…!”
“Calm down, Lumia. These are temporary barracks.” A familiar voice came from behind. Lumia instinctively turned and saw familiar blonde hair.
“Platoon Leader!”
“Haha… How did things turn out like this?”
An entire platoon transferred together? Even Lumia, with over three years of military experience, had never heard of such a thing. But she was relieved to be with Enoch. At least they weren’t separated.
“What is this place, anyway? It doesn’t seem like an ordinary battalion.”
“It’s a training battalion. Once we complete the training, we’ll be transferred to the main barracks and formally assigned.” Enoch answered Claude’s question succinctly.
A training battalion? Like a training center for soldiers and NCO’s? Lumia recalled her own military enlistment: rolling around in muddy fields, enduring endless disciplinary exercises. She’d briefly considered becoming a drill instructor.
The thought stemmed from the “I can’t be the only one suffering” mentality. Of course, reality had turned her into a field NCO, but was this finally her chance?
However, Lumia’s excitement quickly faded.
“So, we’re going to be instructors and drill sergeants?”
“No, we’re trainees.”
“Wow—, wait, what?!”
“You haven’t heard about the unit organization yet, have you? I’ll explain the details once all the squad members arrive.”
“Ah…”
“Our 1st Company barracks are in the building on the right. Since you two are the first to arrive, pick any room you like and unpack.”
Claude grabbed his belongings and strode into the barracks. Lumia, about to do the same, suddenly paused.
“Wait… are you still our platoon leader?”
Even with the promotion, he still had about six months left in his platoon leader term. Would he continue as a platoon leader in this new unit?
“No.”
“Meaning…?”
“Please address me as Company Commander from now on.” That was surprising.
Company Commander?! While it matched his rank as a second lieutenant, the terms “platoon leader” and “company commander” carried different connotations. He was no longer just a leader, but a true ‘commander’.
“Th-Then, what about me…?”
“I look forward to working with you, Company Adjutant” Enoch replied with a smile.
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Following Lumia and Claude, Belle Meyer and Roxana arrived, along with other personnel from various locations. The 1st Company under my command had a total of 50 personnel.
Far fewer than a typical infantry company, which had over a hundred, but this was unavoidable, considering the special nature of this newly formed elite unit. It was called an infantry battalion, but it was closer to a magic battalion in structure.
The company was organized into a headquarters unit, including Lumia and Roxana, four platoon leaders, and their subordinate soldiers. The unusual aspect was that the platoon leaders were NCO’s, not officers.
The previous system was flawed. How can a platoon leader, who’s closest to the soldiers and leads them in battle, be a second lieutenant with only theoretical knowledge?
Apparently, both Chief of Staff Josef and Battalion Commander Sony Zeppelin shared this opinion. NCO platoon leaders were common in wartime, and in countries like Britain and Germany, NCO’s often served as platoon leaders, so it wasn’t a major issue.
And I personally preferred it this way. Second lieutenant platoon leaders inevitably made a lot of mistakes. I was an exception. I still remembered the other second lieutenants fumbling during the company evaluation at the 3rd Battalion. Even those selected by Sony Zeppelin, fresh out of the officer academy, had their limitations.
Besides, there were no second lieutenants available. They’d been deployed to the field. Finding newly commissioned officers would mean waiting until next year.
As a result…
“…Sergeant Claude Rain, 1st Platoon Leader, Sergeant Belle Meyer, 2nd Platoon Leader!”
Belle Meyer and Claude Rain became platoon leaders.
“Tsk, this is a bother.”
“M-M-Me? A platoon leader??”
“It’s a training unit. If you do well, you might be assigned to a different position.”
“Good heavens.”
Claude seemed more annoyed than anything, while Belle was flustered, sweating nervously.
“And Sergeant Erwin Luce will be the 3rd Platoon Leader, Sergeant Hilton Calia the 4th Platoon Leader.”
New faces. Thanks to Sony Zeppelin’s dubious consideration, I was leading my former squad members, but four people weren’t enough to run a company.
The first impression of the two new arrivals was…
“Glory to the Motherland!!”
“Glory.”
“Nice to meet you, Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal! I’ve heard a lot about you!!”
“Pleased to meet you—!!!”
…not bad. They were disciplined and seemed intelligent. Sergeants often tried to cut corners, knowing how the military worked, but these two didn’t seem like that type.
“What units were you originally assigned to?”
“Sergeant Erwin Luce! I was with the 2nd Magic Battalion, directly under the Western Corps!”
Erwin, with his neatly cropped black hair, raised his hand sharply. He seemed like a by-the-book type, which could be tiresome, but as a company commander, I found such people easier to manage.
“If you were with the Western Corps, you wouldn’t have any mountain warfare training experience. Have you undergone any other specialized training?”
“Ah… about that, we didn’t do much field training.”
“??”
Seeing my puzzled expression, Erwin explained, “Our unit didn’t conduct any training besides evaluations. I reported it to my superiors, and they treated me like an outcast. Fortunately, I seem to have made a good impression on Colonel Sony Zeppelin, but if I’d stayed in that unit, I would have been branded a reject.”
“I… see…”
I turned my attention to Sergeant Hilton Calia, the 4th Platoon Leader, a woman with striking Blyue eyes that shimmered like the ocean.
“What about you, Sergeant Hilton Calia?”
“Ah… I…” She averted her gaze momentarily, then, as if making up her mind, met my eyes directly.
“I want to go to war.”
“What?”
“I want to fight in a war.” I was momentarily speechless. Claude, who had been observing the newcomers, spoke up.
“You want to go to war? Why?”
“…I want revenge. I came here to learn combat skills. Under Colonel Sony Zeppelin, I’ll learn powerful, terrifying magic to wipe out those damned ‘Azov’ bastards…!” She gritted her teeth.
She seemed normal on the surface, what had gotten into her? Looking closer, I noticed a glint of madness beneath the intelligence in their eyes.
Sony Zeppelin… what was she thinking, bringing these people here? As if a chief of staff who spontaneously vomited blood wasn’t enough…
A war hero with insubordination issues.
A noble’s child with periodic memory loss.
An excessively by-the-book NCO.
And a war maniac.
What a platoon leader lineup. An all-star team of rejects. I pictured Sony Zeppelin’s cheerful face.
Ah… she was truly… something else!
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