The Rookie
Finally, that day had come. The best day to escape the maknae life!
No more floor cleaning. No need to sprinkle water on the floor, and no need to open the windows in the morning to ventilate.
“Hey. Take the rookie.”
“What the fuck… Did you send us a piece of shit?”
“What the hell is this handler doing? Don't you cut corners like this?”
“I don't know. I'm about to finish my term, so I'm not interested.”
The seniors who had been grumbling suddenly looked this way and burst into laughter.
It was an unpleasant smile. The same one they wore when they wanted to bully someone.
The reason for this curiosity was about to be resolved soon.
“…I couldn't hear you well?”
“You’re a noble. Your junior. Not just any noble, but the son of a count. From a family that has connections in the central government.”
Fucking hell. Fucking hell. What a fucking guy. Why did a noble brat crawl into a place like this.
I wanted a junior I could exploit carefully and then give a break when I got some seniority.
What? A noble? Not even from some rural estate, but from a count's family in the central government?
“Well, don't worry too much. It's already been decided from above.”
“What do you mean? To treat me like a superior?”
“No.”
The squad leader brushed my shoulder and suddenly laughed.
“His name is Karl.”
“…Huh?”
“Treat him like the others. No need to be nice because he's a noble or whatever. No need to treat him well either. It came from the upper echelons, and even from his noble family's home. Since he chose it himself, this time, beat him properly and send him back to his unit.”
I thought the noble who enlisted as a soldier was just crazy, but it turns out everyone is crazy.
Even if they say that, what the hell are we, individual soldiers, supposed to do?
Noble? Huh? Noble! It seems easy to treat a noble like that?
“Fuck. Rookie. Didn't you clean properly.”
“Sorry!”
“If you're sorry, your military life is over?”
“No!”
“Fucking piece of shit? If you're a piece of shit, get out. You're a noble, right? Go cry to your father about it. Say you can't do it, ask to be sent home.”
“Sorry!”
“We don't care if you're a noble or a royal. Fuck, this is the army. Got it? You said you chose to crawl here. Not like you were drafted like us. So, do it right. Huh? We're all watching.”
Oh. It was easy. For the first three days, I was scared, but then I started to bully them like crazy.
What was his name again. Ah, right. Karl. If the name was harder, I'd really have tortured him.
“Fuck. Hey, Karl!”
“Private Karl!”
“Don’t you sort the trash? Fuck, playing around? Huh?”
“Sorry!”
Before a month passed, I turned the guy who was about to be a torture master into a private.
The only saving grace was that this Karl guy had a pretty firm mindset.
At first, I really tortured him brutally, but he endured and adapted to military life.
Of course, I thought he would report to his parents, but he endured it till the end.
Naturally, my and the seniors' evaluation of the guy became positive.
It was shocking and a bit annoying that even though he's a noble, he joined as a soldier.
But it wasn't that I hated the fact that he volunteered to suffer with us, saying he wanted to live like us.
One of those high-class people who lives a completely different life from us.
It was amazing that he came to our low place to understand us and lived there.
Then, one day.
“Fucking hell.”
“Why are you like that?”
“War broke out.”
The moment I heard that, my heart skipped a beat. War? Damn, war!
And the location was the Great Forest in the southern part of the Empire, not far from our unit.
If that's the case, our unit would have no choice but to move and take the front line.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck….”
Biting my nails, I lamented the miserable life I had.
Others said they would just live their military life quietly and retire, but why me, war?
I don't want to die. I want to live. I'm scared. I don't want to go. I'm just an ordinary person.
Should I run away? Desert and hide in the mountains and live?
“Private William? Are you here?”
The maknae. My junior. Karl's voice. But unlike usual, it was shaking badly.
“Eh. I'm here. Why.”
“Did you hear the news? War, they say war broke out! War!”
“…Yeah. Fuck, I heard.”
“Are we going too? Really going? Yes?”
This kid, looking at him, was trembling in fear.
He looked like he was about to cry. Sitting down begging to be saved.
“I have to go. What is a soldier? If told to go, I go, if told to fight, I fight.”
“But….”
“Are you scared?”
Then Karl hesitated for a moment and nodded.
Sigh, exhaling, I put a headlock on him.
“Aaak! It hurts!”
“Kid. You're scared. Hey. Don't worry. I'll handle it with the seniors. Huh? You just do as you're told. Run when told to run, hide when told to hide. Shoot when told to shoot…. Ah, thinking about it, your shooting skill is really fucking bad.”
It was really surprising. He was good at everything else, but why only shooting was bad.
“Anyway. There's nothing to be scared of. I'll take responsibility with the seniors and win.”
Honestly, I was scared too. I wanted to run away too. I wanted to live.
But I couldn't do that in front of the junior. I had shaken off all the shame as a senior, and I couldn't show such a pathetic side with tears in this moment.
So, I gritted my teeth and fought. With the squad members. With the seniors and juniors.
No matter what the fucking Gganf bastards did, we endured, endured. And endured to hold our position.
“Aaak! Aaaaaak!”
“My arm! My arm!!”
“Damn it! Karl! Grab Lock's leg!”
“Yes!”
“Lock. Lock! Calm down. Breathe! Breathe!”
The squad member who lost both arms was thrashing in pain.
It was painful. Too painful. And too scary.
It was a pitiful sight. But I couldn't just watch.
“You bastard! Calm down! Breathe, breathe! Calm down!”
“Guk! Huff!”
“Hey, Karl. Everyone up. One, two, three. Go! Let's go!”
“Private Lock! Hold on a little longer! Just a little!”
The war was horrific. Arrows and swords flew back and forth, bullets flew.
If I didn't remember, the Gganf's arrows pierced the allies' necks, and magic poured like rain.
There was no day I slept peacefully. We slept in each other's arms.
And naturally, we had to lose too many people.
“Hic!”
“Private Thomas!”
“Damn it!”
Thomas, who was covering Karl's back, fell. I checked quickly, but he was already dead.
“Th, because of me….”
“Not because of you! Karl, you idiot! Wake up! If you survive with Thomas's life, live for that bastard too! Huh?! Wake up and live!”
There was no time to grieve. No time to feel pity. Then everyone dies.
I had crossed the line of death three times already. And Karl, just yesterday, almost died.
“Kaak!”
“Karl!”
A magic bombardment fell near, and Karl was swept away by it.
While doing so, Martin, who was trying to save Karl, was shot by the Gganf snipers.
Even in the midst of it, Martin brought Karl back, but he himself died.
“Huh… huff…”
Karl, coming to his senses, looked worse than usual.
I thought he had adapted a bit, but after Martin's death, his condition became more serious.
“Hey, Karl.”
“Huh… huff…”
“Wake up, you bastard.”
I hit his head several times, but the guy didn't show any sign of getting better.
Karl finally came to his senses after two days. Still making strange sounds.
“Fuck… Why is military life twice…!”
“I must be getting punished. If I knew this, I would have lived nicely!”
I thought the guy had finally gone crazy, but I didn't say anything.
Honestly, how many guys are there who can endure here with a clear mind.
Time passed. Our unit received multiple extermination orders.
The ones we lived with died, were injured and evacuated. New recruits filled the spots.
If those new recruits died within a day, replacement troops came in.
Even that, the unit was 20% understrength.
“Hey. Karl.”
“Private Karl.”
“Don’t say your rank and name. What will you do when you leave?”
“I don't know.”
“Really? Well, when this war ends, I'll go… hic!”
Fuck. What? Suddenly, I felt like shooting stars in front of my eyes.
I turned my head, and Karl had hit my head with the butt of his rifle.
“Are you crazy?”
“Private William, are you the one who's crazy? Don't say such things.”
“Huh?”
“Flag… I mean, damn it. Don't say things like what I'll do when the war ends, who I'll meet. Don't say unlucky things.”
This guy. After taking care of him well for almost two years, the return was senior assault?
I wanted to do all the things I didn't want to say, but I held back.
If I said more, Karl would really get a bullet.
…
Ah, no. I should have done it. Fuck. If I knew this, I would have just joked.
“Karl.”
“….”
“Hey, Karl.”
“….”
“This guy. Can't you stop saying rank and name. Now I'm eating all of you?”
“Shut up.”
“You can't say anything to the senior. Do you want to die?”
“Yes. I want to die. I want to die to Private William. So, stop saying that.”
I secretly looked down. Red blood was gushing out.
I didn't know much about human bodies, but after over two years of war, I knew.
The guy who got hit there didn't survive. He would die anyway without immediate death.
No time to evacuate to the rear. So, I'm going to die now.
“Rookie.”
“I'm not the rookie anymore. I'll be a corporal soon.”
“Really. I was about to be a sergeant soon.”
“….”
“There's one thing I want to ask.”
Will? I don't really want to do that kind of thing. Why burden others with that.
Things to leave for family? I already gave them all. No more to send.
It's cold. Getting colder. Body stiffening. Vision blurring.
Scary. That feeling comes. I feel like crying.
But I didn't. Because it's in front of the junior. It's embarrassing, I can't do that.
I don't want to add one more burden to this guy by showing such a side.
“Give me just one glass of cold water.”
“…Yes.”
“Fill it with ice. No need for anything else. Just that. Got it?”
“Understood.”
“Yeah. Haa… Hey, Karl. You… don't die….”
That's because we did it. The seniors did it. The rookie, don't die.
*
The rookie was sitting blankly in his place. But soon, he raised his body.
I had to live. That was the duty I had to bear as the remaining one.