Alone with the Commander (2)
Alone with the Commander (2)
"It seems this isn't the hill, Lieutenant."
"...."
Suddenly, a tactical training ghost story comes to mind.
The one where the troops struggled and huffed their way up a mountain, only for the commander to point at the opposite mountain and say, 'It seems this isn't the high ground. Is it over there?'
Having walked from lunchtime until dark, the legs of a frail count's bastard are screaming in protest.
"It looks like we'll have to camp out."
"I'll start a fire first."
"Then this commander will look for things to use as firewood."
"No. Please sit comfortably."
"Did you perhaps store all such things in your Subspace Bracelet as well?"
"All the supplies sent from my maternal family are stored in the Subspace Bracelet."
"Very good. Then I'll dig the ground."
Hildea drew her sword and began stabbing and digging into the earth.
Is it because she's a Sword Master? She's practically a human excavator.
I received a supply of military barbecue charcoal and lit it.
Grrrowl. The sound echoed in my ears like thunder.
"Commander-nim, you seem to be hungry."
"I-it's fine! In this situation, I'd be grateful just for a Milk Salt Snack Bar."
Grilled Chicken Skewers were rejected because they could attract monsters.
'In the end, combat rations are the answer.'
After much deliberation, I chose the Meatball Macaroni main, which looked the least appetizing among the combat rations.
'Food always tastes better in the field. If I enjoy Beef Brisket deliciously in this situation, my palate might decline when I eat it later at the Official Residence.'
For such a rational reason.
And just as I expected....
"Delicious, it's delicious! How can you instantly whip up something this tasty, Lieutenant!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Hildea, her face flushed bright red, wolfed down the combat rations, barely even chewing before swallowing.
While eating my own combat rations, I checked the status of the assault rifle I had left for repair with the Supply Cheat.
【M4A1 Carbine Assault Rifle】
【Status: 18 hours 32 minutes until automatic repair completion】
The barrel was seriously damaged from excessive rapid fire.
So I entrusted it for automatic repair.
For personal weapons limited to just me, I can request a 'free resupply,' but there's a one-week cooldown for each identical item type.
That's why I sent it for automatic repair.
To conserve the free resupply request ticket just in case.
As the moon rose, the temperature plummeted.
It's cold even with the fire going from the barbecue charcoal.
So while taking out the sleeping bag and blanket provided as personal basic supplies, my gaze involuntarily drifted to Hildea, who was only wearing her military uniform.
"Commander-nim, would you like to use this sleeping bag?"
"It's fine. I don't feel the cold much, so you use it."
"As your Duty Officer, I cannot let the Commander sleep on the bare ground. Please use the sleeping bag."
"It doesn't matter since I'll be standing Night Watch anyway."
Hildea adamantly refused, but I stubbornly tucked Hildea into the sleeping bag.
'No matter how sincere a commander is when they say it's fine, as a subordinate, it's absurd to be sleeping soundly in a better bed right in front of them.'
Those kinds of things accumulate bit by bit in the unconscious mind.
I threw the blanket over myself nearby.
"Your maternal family seems to be truly wealthy."
"They are on that side."
The atmosphere at the Ainshuvan Front is that conscripted noble children are 'no problem' as long as they procure supplies well anyway.
Whether they stripped the very roots of their family's pillars, or scammed their enemy's house by faking a marriage.
"The military food supplies I've seen so far are astonishing, but that assault rifle was especially impressive. To think such a small artifact could emit a thunderous roar and spray dozens of metal arrowheads per second."
"Since I have no talent for swordsmanship or magic, they packed me a lot of things, saying I should at least know how to protect myself on the front lines."
"It makes me question why you are a bastard if your maternal family is so wealthy...."
"...."
"But since you are devoting yourself to our army, I cannot pry into your personal affairs. I will ask nothing. As is customary."
"Thank you."
"So if you have good supplies, feel free to use them to your heart's content without hesitation."
Rebecca is like that, and so is Hildea.
Is it because they've fought against death for so long, carrying the lives of countless people? They possess an incredibly flexible and rational way of thinking.
If they had pestered me about the source of the supplies, I would have had to continue moving passively.
It seems okay to be a bit more proactive from now on.
Chatter chatter. Chatter chatter chatter. Chatter chatter chatter chatter.
One blanket must not have been enough to block the cold night wind. My teeth are chattering.
"This won't do. You use this sleeping bag."
"No. A Duty Officer cannot occupy a better bed than the Commander-in-Chief. This is a soldier's duty."
When I flatly refused, Hildea seemed to ponder something intently before opening the sleeping bag and holding the entrance wide.
"Then you get in here too."
"...Did I mishear you?"
"What if you catch a cold in this freezing night air? Having become my Duty Officer, do you intend to make me carry you on my back all day starting tomorrow?"
Wait, earlier you said not to worry because you'd carry me if I got tired?
"It's an order. Get in."
Damn, if I've heard an order, I have no choice but to follow it.
I brushed the dirt off my combat boots and carefully crawled into the sleeping bag.
Since it's a cramped one-person sleeping bag, our body heat touched directly.
Beyond the thick, rough fabric of the military uniform, a soft body can be felt.
The long silver hair brushing against my cheek and tickling me too....
"It must be uncomfortable being pressed up against your direct superior, but bear with it. It's better than catching a cold."
"...Understood."
I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.
But the body heat felt right against my side makes it too hot to sleep.
"I hear you give the supply unit's Farm Soldiers 2kg of the finest flour daily as compensation?"
"You received a report, I see."
"It's a matter concerning my unit and territory, so of course. I'm grateful. I heard that thanks to you, the circumstances of my territory's residents have improved considerably."
Come to think of it, the flour for compensation will run out by tomorrow.
'Still, we should be able to return by tomorrow.'
Hildea keeps chattering about something beside me.
Perhaps the fatigue accumulated during the day is finally hitting me, as my consciousness grows hazy.
"Settling down... count's family... good to live in... if you want... Carlton Marquis is not... think carefully...."
***
Piel fell asleep, breathing softly.
Lying side by side in the cramped sleeping bag, Hildea stared blankly at his face.
The image of him on the first day, so nervous he couldn't even properly shout his Name and Rank and made a mistake, flickers before her eyes.
Unlike the other newly commissioned second lieutenants, a delicate young master who clearly showed signs of a sheltered upbringing.
She worried he might be ostracized or bullied.
So she created the non-existent position of Duty Officer and kept him by her side.
To spread a shade over him until the frail young man, dragged into the military by his family's orders, could safely adapt to the unit.
But Piel adapted to the military far faster than expected.
As if he had always been suited for the military.
Or as if he had prior military service experience.
Now, regardless of soldier, officer, or commander, everyone likes Piel.
It wasn't just because he received support from his maternal family and distributed things like Barracks Coffee, Milk Salt Snack Bars, and Corn Combat Soup to the unit.
Above all, it's because he knows how to get along with those around him.
She recalled what Adjutant Dvil had said recently.
'Piel spends supplies and food generously. But he knows how to give in a way that makes his subordinates and superiors feel good. I hope Piel stays in our unit for a long, long time.'
Among the newly commissioned second lieutenants, there were more who failed to earn the trust of the soldiers despite the large amounts of supplies sent from their main families.
They were so arrogant and conceited that people bowed and scraped in front of them but frowned behind their backs.
But Piel was different.
"How can I make him settle down in my unit even after his mandatory service period ends...."
A dark night without even moonlight.
Over the dying embers of the charcoal barbecue, the sigh of a Sword Master hangs heavy.
***
It's still dark dawn, but my eyes snapped open.
My body must have been tense from sleeping outdoors.
"Did you wake up, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Commander-nim."
"Dawn will break soon. It's still dark, so lie down a bit longer."
"No. I'll get up."
A dawn without a single point of light.
I put on my Night Vision Goggles.
I was planning to tidy up the area since I was up anyway....
"...!"
I almost let out a sound.
'An elf assassin?'
About 30 meters ahead.
A human silhouette appeared on the thermal imaging of the Night Vision Goggles.
Judging by the slender, willowy lines, it looks like a woman.
A posture as if standing stock-still and staring this way.
'I have to report this.'
Fortunately, Hildea and I are both inside the sleeping bag.
I carefully took Hildea's hand.
"...?"
Hildea's eyes waver.
I know, I know.
You must be feeling like, 'Has this bastard lost his mind?'
I quickly wrote letters on Hildea's palm.
「Enemy」
Hildea flinched and stiffened.
Under the sleeping bag, I pulled Hildea's index finger to point in the direction where the elf assassin was.
And wrote letters again.
「About 30 meters」
Hildea nodded very slightly.
The two of us slipped out of the sleeping bag and tidied up the area, pretending not to know anything.
I could feel Hildea sharpening her senses towards the direction of the elf assassin.
I moved around pretending to know nothing.
"What shall we do for breakfast?"
"I think we can eat Grilled Chicken Skewers."
"Pardon? But if monsters smell it and swarm like yesterday...."
"It's fine. Since yesterday's incident happened, they'll perceive it as the meal of a dangerous predator and won't approach."
Is she saying the formula has been established?
Before the sun rose, the elf assassin disappeared.
"She's gone."
"Because the sun is rising. That's the limit of the Darkness Concealment Magic that melts into the shadows."
So it's ineffective in broad daylight.
"Did you confirm which direction she went?"
"Yes."
"Then let's head that way."
Hildea spoke seriously.
"Twice they risked danger to get close to a Sword Master and a Bow Master for reconnaissance. It seems the elf bastards are on high alert, preparing something big."
Darkness Concealment is used by high-ranking mages even among elves, and it was said that being discovered by a Sword Master means certain death.
The guess is that if they're conducting reconnaissance while risking such danger, they must be hiding something worth that risk.
'A chance to achieve a distinguished military merit!'
Hildea took the lead, following the direction I had pointed out.
While meticulously examining the traces left on the ground.
We roughly settled our meal on the move with the same Meatball Macaroni main combat ration as last night.
I ate it carelessly, but I was envious that Hildea ate it so deliciously.
"Commander-nim, I only see a desolate, empty plain."
"That can't be. Let's look carefully. The elf bastards are definitely preparing something they don't want our Leodis Kingdom Army to discover."
While scanning around with binoculars, I suddenly discovered something strange.
"The soil color in that direction forms subtly different layers."
"Over there!"
We moved for a long time and finally arrived.
I realized why the terrain's soil color had looked different.
It was a deeply carved, massive crater.
The soil color looked different because the part where the crater began and the cliff on the opposite side of the crater overlapped in view.
In the terrain that looked like a hemisphere hundreds of meters in radius had been scooped out, a super-massive black tree stump had taken root.
A size as if dozens of skyscrapers were bundled together.
On the outskirts of the tree stump, the Ancient Tree Legion individuals we had seen before were positioned like escort guards.
"A stump of the Corrupted World Tree.... Those elf bastards, they were preparing to corrupt the soil."
Hildea, her eyes wide open, muttered in despair before slumping down.
"There's no hope...."
"Can't we bring the army and subjugate it?"
"We're barely managing just defending the front line. Even if we brought the entire military strength of Ainshuvan, it's impossible to break through that thick defense and destroy the stump of the Corrupted World Tree. All the soldiers would die in the battle."
Hildea's expression, which had always seemed so strong, was crumbling.
'Damn, I can't lose everything like this.'
I searched through the Supply Cheat.
Anything beyond shells can't be requested for supply yet.
I know it's impossible with grenades or claymore-type weapons, but I still have to find a way....
'Huh?'
【M183 Demolition Bag (C4 series, 13kg TNT equivalent power)】
【Place-and-detonate type: For concentrated destruction of large targets】
【Budget: 1,000 / 1 unit】
"...Commander-nim, if we could attach multiple explosive artifacts to the Corrupted World Tree stump without being detected by those bastards, would that be possible?"
"It would be possible at night, but... Lieutenant, don't tell me? Is there a way?"
It seems possible if we install a massive amount of M183 Demolition Bags and detonate them all at once with remote ignition.
The problem is.
【※Supply request possible from Captain rank】
My rank is only Diamond 2.