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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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Flame Buster.
I knew about that spell. Not from a book, but because it frequently appeared in the main game.
As the name “Buster” suggested, it was an offensive magic spell with outstanding penetrating power, often used to pierce through the defenses of enemy mage units.
But why did it suddenly come up now? I had used Fireball.
As I looked at Lumia with a puzzled expression, she pointed at the neatly broken remnants of the wall.
“If it weren’t for the magic barrier, the building would have collapsed!”
Magic barrier?
Hearing those words, I noticed the patterns on the debris. They were traces of ‘defense magic’ that I had seen in the magic books. I could actually feel the mana.
So, I had broken through the magic barrier protecting the building with my Fireball, along with the wall itself. I understood the situation, except for one question that suddenly came to mind.
‘Is it possible to break through a defense magic with Fireball?’
I was a Hearts of General player with over 10,000 hours of playtime. Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, and Mage Corps.
I had practically mastered every branch, so I knew how powerful building protection magic was.
It wasn’t something that could be neutralized by a stray Fireball. Even the most basic defense magic could easily block a Fireball.
“What’s going on here!!”
At that moment, Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart Cromwell barged in, his face pale.
Since even the Battalion Commander had witnessed everything, the only option left was to grovel…
“Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal!”
“I apologize, sir.”
I bowed my head almost to the ground and apologized sincerely. I had nothing to say for myself.
“What happened?”
“I was trying to demonstrate some magic on my own and lost control. I apologize.”
“Magic demonstration?! Why in your perfectly good quarters…!!”
Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart gritted his teeth. He was clearly furious.
“Get to my office right now!”
The Battalion Commander spun around and left the scene. Watching him, I completely resigned myself.
Haha, this was a disaster.
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“Damn it.”
Facilities Officer Debra Bennett frowned. She had finished her morning work and was enjoying a nice nap when she was dragged out by the news that the exterior wall of a building had collapsed.
At first, she thought it was the external supply warehouse she had worked on last week, but… it was the old quarters building next to the headquarters that had collapsed.
“How did this collapse? The building was old, but it passed the safety inspection last month.”
“Ah, that. It wasn’t the building, it was because of magic.”
Debra Bennett put her hand on her forehead. There was only one person in the entire battalion who could collapse the exterior wall of a perfectly good building with magic.
“Belle again?”
Belle Meyer of the 5th Platoon. She and Debra were coincidentally from the same city.
They had been close friends, but they naturally drifted apart after they both moved to different places when they turned fifteen.
The two, who thought they would never see each other again, were reunited in the military. An elite mage officer and a troubled mage sergeant.
“She broke through the double-layered defense magic this time? Just how far is she planning to go?”
Out of friendship, Debra had placed magic barriers on all the buildings in the unit. Double-layered protection magic.
She was confident that even if Belle Meyer went on a rampage, the buildings would be safe from the magical bombardment… but was it not enough?
However, what she heard from a soldier in the Facilities Management section was unexpected.
“It wasn’t Sergeant Belle. It was the Platoon Leader.”
“What?”
“The newly appointed 5th Platoon Leader.”
Debra quickly searched her memories. The blonde-haired officer she had been frequently encountering in the unit recently. So he was the 5th Platoon Leader?
As if she finally remembered, Debra clapped her hands, and a soldier immediately said,
“He seems like he’s from a completely different unit, ma’am. He’s the hottest topic in our unit right now.”
“You know better than anyone how busy I am.”
Due to the nature of her work in Facilities Management, Debra Bennett had to move around a lot, rather than staying in her office. So she didn’t have many opportunities to hear the gossip within the unit.
“Well, I guess he would be a hot topic. He even caused a magical outburst. If I remember correctly, he had a decent face.”
“Ooh~ what’s this? My intuition is spot o… Cough!?”
Debra smacked the soldier on the head. The soldier, hit out of the blue, stumbled.
“Ow! Ma’am! I think I have a bump on my head!!”
“Serves you right. What good intuition? Don’t you feel it too? He’s handsome, but… somewhat off-putting.”
“Oh! I know. He feels kind of… different, doesn’t he? I guess I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.”
Cold and stiff. He wasn’t the type you’d want to get close to, even from a brief encounter.
How should she put it? He seemed competent as a subordinate, but somewhat uncomfortable as a superior or colleague.
“Well, since he caused such a big incident, he must be getting chewed out by the Battalion Commander.”
“As expected, he was dragged away immediately.”
“Hehehe, I knew it.”
Debra shrugged and brushed away some of the debris. At that moment, she sensed something strange.
“Wait.”
“Did I hear wrong?”
“Did you hear what kind of magic that Platoon Leader used?”
“I didn’t hear it clearly. Sergeant Lumia said it was Flame Buster…”
“What?! No way! What Flame Buster!”
Even with her position as Facilities Management Officer, Debra was a proper mage. She was even on the verge of promotion to Captain. So she knew how powerful Flame Buster was.
If it had truly been Flame Buster, it would have not only neutralized her double-layered protection magic but also completely demolished the building.
“This wasn’t Flame Buster.”
“Then what was it?”
Debra carefully examined the debris. She specialized in ‘red’ magic, particularly adept at fire-related magic among the five elements. So there was no way she wouldn’t recognize fire magic.
The flow of mana, the color of the remaining mana, the way the explosion spread, and the shape of the debris scattered by the impact.
Considering everything, the magic used by the platoon leader was indeed fire-based.
“But this mana pattern…”
No matter how many times she checked, there was only one answer. The pattern was very similar to Flame Buster, but the power and difficulty of execution were unmatched.
Fireball.
The most basic, lowest-ranked spell among red magic.
It was understandable why Sergeant Lumia Blyue had mistaken it for Flame Buster.
But the problem was…
‘He broke through my double-layered barrier with that? With just a Fireball?’
Impossible. But there was no other explanation. If he really broke through the double-layered protection magic with a Fireball… it meant he was at least a 1st-class red mage.
A 1st-class red mage.
The highest level an ordinary mage could reach, someone who could at least hold their own against an Archmage.
‘A Second Lieutenant who just graduated from the academy?’
Debra jumped up and quickly headed towards the headquarters building. A soldier who was clearing the debris called out to her urgently.
“Ma’am?!”
“Keep cleaning up. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
Debra’s eyes gleamed.
“The Battalion Commander’s office.”
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“Do you have any excuse?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t intend to make excuses. It’s entirely my responsibility.”
“Sigh…! The 2nd Company Commander gave you a decent evaluation, and I trusted you because you seemed motivated!!”
Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart tapped his fingers on his desk and yelled. The tower he had painstakingly built for a week had crumbled with just that one Fireball.
It didn’t matter anymore that there was a defense magic on the wall. It was true that I had lost control of the magic, and it was true that I had destroyed the quarters wall.
“This is property damage! Do you know how serious this is?!”
“I’m sorry.”
The Battalion Commander was known for cherishing the unit’s landscaping. And of all things, I had touched a sensitive spot by destroying a building.
“This case will be brought before the disciplinary committee, so be prepared!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Damn it! I knew it. The training officer’s evaluation was spot on.”
My heart pounded. Was it arrhythmia? No, it was stress. Thinking about it, had I really done anything that wrong? No one was hurt, the building hadn’t completely collapsed, and that building was practically abandoned anyway.
It was frustrating.
Being dragged into the game was absurd enough, and the platoon I was assigned was utterly useless.
And the unit hadn’t given me any special treatment during the past week, even though I had handled all the paperwork.
And it wasn’t even my job in the first place! Why did I have to clean up the mess left by the previous platoon leader who ran away without properly handling things?
Hey, you idiot Kim Jin-hyuk! Do your job properly! You should be proactive even if I don’t tell you.
An irritating voice echoed in my head.
The Battalion Commander started pointing at me. A sudden ringing filled my ears, and I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
Ah, I wanted nicotine. I wanted to smoke.
I fidgeted, bringing my hand to my pocket.
At that moment, my head spun. My vision turned white, and my legs gave way.
“Ugh…!”
I couldn’t breathe. My mind was fading. I tried to cough, but my mouth wouldn’t open.
“Wh, what’s happening to him all of a sudden?”
“Glory to the Motherland! Battalion Commander, it’s the Facilities Management Officer!”
Thud.
A voice that wasn’t the Battalion Commander’s reached my fading consciousness.
“Huh?”
“5th Platoon Leader? 5th Platoon Leader!!”
The world turned upside down, the last thing I saw being the Battalion Commander’s face rushing towards me.
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