Noblesse Oblige and Village Visitors
“Do you think the girls can hold out if they go?”
“From what I’ve heard from the young ladies of other families, they all toughed it out somehow and got commissioned.”
“Hmm.”
Oren loved his two daughters, but not as much as he loved the family.
“Go call them in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hanrik went out and brought back the two young ladies, Cecile and Verentina, to the family head’s chamber.
Oren didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point about enlisting.
Their reaction was…
“No way! I hate it! I’d rather die!”
“Dad! His Majesty the Emperor has declared we’ll fight to the death, and now you want me to go to the front lines?! You’re basically telling me to die!”
The two rejected it vehemently.
Oren felt a surge of betrayal and anger at their response.
“You little—! You need to take responsibility for everything you’ve enjoyed up till now. What do you mean you can’t do it?!”
Oren’s emotions were so intense they seemed to crawl across his skin.
He’d always given them whatever they wanted with their tantrums, so it was natural they were flustered.
“Fine, neither of you enlists. Instead, you’ll hand over your entire dowries to the Imperial House.”
“D… Dad? What are you talking about?”
“What are we supposed to do without those?”
No one knew better than these two what it meant for a woman to have no dowry—they began trembling with anxiety.
“Can’t marry without a dowry? Some country bumpkin old noble will take you. As lord, I have to protect the family first. Hanrik, prepare everything, including the money set aside for their dowries.”
“Y… Yes, my lord.”
Hanrik averted his eyes from the young ladies’ stares as he replied.
And not long after, the two women of Viscount Detrophil’s family voluntarily headed to the training camp.
Reading the morning paper, every article was hilariously entertaining.
“The Emperor’s damn good at cracking the whip.”
The papers didn’t say it outright, but this was all face-saving enlistments to minimize contributions.
‘If they all enlist like this, it’ll just turn into a bidding war of who pays more anyway.’
The Emperor had probably planned for that too.
“Scary. Real scary.”
I couldn’t even imagine how much money would flow into the imperial treasury from this.
Knock knock.
“It’s the deputy commander.”
I set down the paper at Lieutenant Aisa’s voice.
“Come in.”
No sooner had I spoken than she entered, arms full of document stacks.
“What’s with all that first thing in the morning?”
“The battalion commander’s on leave starting today, so there’s a bit more for you to handle.”
“Right. Yeah.”
The battalion commander was off on a nice full week’s vacation.
I wasn’t the next senior officer, but as company commander of a key unit, I’d been tapped to act as battalion commander.
‘I didn’t even get a proper vacation.’
The saddest part was that everyone except Lieutenant Aisa thought I’d taken my full ten-day leave.
“And there’s a 2 p.m. appointment to meet Retop Village’s chief.”
“Can’t we push it till after the battalion commander’s back?”
“I suggested that, but he insisted on today—said it’s urgent.”
“Sigh, fine then.”
A pain, but not something I couldn’t handle.
“Also, the supply company wants to know how long the guests currently in the battalion will stay. They’re eating double portions compared to everyone else.”
“You’d have to ask Lieutenant Colonel Garen about that.”
Currently, there were about five Special Forces Command soldiers in the battalion, including Lieutenant Colonel Garen.
The reason? Officially, on-site inspection.
‘Doesn’t look like it no matter how you slice it, but since they’re helping out, better keep quiet.’
Garen personally training the company during sessions had me genuinely grateful.
“I’ll ask hi—”
“Nah. I’m seeing him later anyway—I’ll ask and let you know.”
“Understood. And this is approval paperwork for the battalion commander. I’ve already reviewed it.”
“Just leave it there. I’ll handle it later.”
“You have to read it.”
“Of course.”
She eyed me suspiciously, but sorry—not happening. Just gonna stamp it.
‘Why double-check when someone way smarter than me already did?’
Didn’t she know about administrative streamlining? This was all to minimize combat power loss—a commander’s dilemma.
“Anything else?”
The talk seemed done, but she lingered, so I asked.
“Well… there’s something I’d like to ask.”
She looked incredibly hesitant.
Definitely something huge.
‘This feels bad.’
No clue what, but my gut said no good.
‘She’s not asking for discharge, is she?’
For the record, I absolutely wouldn’t let her escape this hell before me.
“Wh… what is it? Speak freely.”
“With Lieutenant Colonel Garen here, I’d like to learn swordsmanship from him. Could you put in a word?”
“Huh?”
The request blindsided me—my brain short-circuited.
“Is it too much?”
“N… no, it’s not that hard.”
‘Why volunteer for that hell?’
The results were solid, sure.
But the process? Brutal.
“Then I’m begging you. This whole thing made me realize how weak I am.”
Her expression was fiercely resolute.
Word was she’d been captured by the enemy chasing her boss Jeren—must’ve hit hard.
‘She’s putting it like that… gotta do it.’
Her powering up helped me too—no reason to refuse.
“Okay. Got it. I’ll ask when I check on their departure.”
“Thank you so much!”
She bowed like I’d handed her a birthday gift.
‘Is this worth that?’
I didn’t get it, but her gratitude couldn’t hurt.
“Sure. If you need anything else, just say.”
“Then… no, never mind.”
She started to say more but clammed up.
“What, something else?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Alright. Let me know when the chief arrives.”
“Yes, sir. Have a good one.”
Lieutenant Aisa left the company office looking deep in thought.
“She’ll speak when the time’s right.”
Whatever she was thinking, I figured we had a nice, appropriately close working relationship.
‘Way better than with that Eden guy, at least.’
No comparisons.
“Anyway, busy as it is, this peace is nice.”
After clearing the magic artifacts from the mountains, monster descents had plummeted.
Bringing welcome calm.
‘Honestly, not bad compared to supply company days.’
Of course, dumping everything on the trading company back then was unbeatable.
But here, there was a guaranteed term.
‘Minimum two months. Vacation central.’
Blissful times.
But I didn’t know yet.
That someone out there might hate me slacking off.
“Welcome. With the battalion commander on leave, I’m Captain Palan Oclo, acting commander of the subjugation battalion.”
As acting commander, I greeted the guests in the battalion office.
“Oclo…? I’m Jeffrey, chief of Retop Village… er, yes.”
“Hops, president of Retop’s Merchant Guild. But… are you from a noble house?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
Shaking hands, their faces didn’t look great.
‘What’s this? Not the usual routine visit?’
Bad vibes.
“N… no. It’s an honor.”
“I’m a soldier first right now, so no need to be uncomfortable. Have a seat.”
I sat them down, and soon Aisa entered.
“Coffee okay for you both?”
“Y… yes, perfect. Thank you.”
Hops startled at Aisa, then nodded vigorously.
‘No way he clocked her as a marquis’s daughter. Just pretty, huh.’
Fair enough at first glance.
“Merchant guild president must be swamped. I’ve seen a bit from the family trading company—it’s tough, right?”
“Just doing my duty.”
Everything from speech to posture was stiff as a board.
‘Should I bust out a dance or something?’
Best to cut awkward chats short and get to the point.
“I hear it was urgent enough to insist on today. What’s up? Speak freely.”
“Well…”
Hops glanced at Jeffrey.
Jeffrey looked back—their eyes bounced at least five times.
‘What’s with the shove-fest?’
I sipped Aisa’s coffee, waiting.
‘Damn, this is good.’
Tiredness? Secret recipe? The subtle sweet steam was art.
“I’ll speak.”
As I pondered seconds, Chief Jeffrey spoke up.
“Go ahead.”
“Captain, our village relies heavily on money spent by soldiers.”
“Yeah, makes sense.”
I knew Retop was where most officers’ families lived.
‘Soldiers head there on outings too.’
Classic military-adjacent village.
“And with the recent Aditz Empire magic artifact chaos, battalion numbers swelled, right?”
“Yes. It was rough.”
Fresh memory of the ordeal.
But my suffering and theirs? Different angles.
“Hate to say this to someone who went through it, but the village finally got some life with all the new soldiers.”
“Thinking about it, yeah. Congrats.”
My gut twinged a bit, but sincere well-wishes.
Clueless to their hidden motives.