The Imperial Hearing (1)
The imperial hearing. What exactly was it? To answer that question simply: it was a place where those in power summoned problematic individuals and tore them apart in front of everyone. And there was no exaggeration in that statement.
The Emperor, the nobles who followed him, and even the core members of the noble faction would undoubtedly attend this hearing. Despite that, her expression was far from displeased. No, in fact, she looked as if she might take flight into the sky at any moment.
And why wouldn’t she? This was her one and only legitimate chance to be discharged.
In truth, there were surprisingly many ways to leave the military. If she went out right now and burned down a single village, she would be discharged immediately. The problem was that she would become a criminal rather than a reservist. No matter the details, unlike a hearing which primarily consisted of various inquiries and reprimands, she would end up facing a military tribunal and awaiting punishment.
She didn’t want that.
'I want to be discharged, not become a criminal.'
What she desired was a peaceful and comfortable life. Not the wretched existence of a maggot wriggling among criminals in prison, eating dust and bean rice.
In reality, she had mobilized every legal method available to her in order to secure her discharge. It was simply that they had all failed, which was why she still found herself in this position.
That was precisely why, for Wolfgang, this hearing represented a once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity.
However, Galina, who had no idea what was going through Wolfgang’s mind, was still seething with anger.
“Honestly, I don’t like this at all. To call a hearing over nothing but baseless rumors.”
“That’s just how those noble bastards are. They never let even the tiniest speck of dust slide.”
“Exactly! Even though you are the hero who saved the Empire, how dare they…!!”
“Calm down, Galina. Your fangs are showing.”
Beastmen instinctively revealed more animalistic traits when their anger reached its peak. In Galina’s case, her human-like teeth would transform into those of a beast.
“To show such disgrace… I’m sorry, Captain.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I understand your anger.”
Pat, pat.
“Captain…!!”
She hadn’t earned the nickname Mad Dog for nothing. Knowing that Galina becoming angry would only cause more trouble, Wolfgang quickly stroked her head to extinguish her rage.
'Ahhh, how can someone be so kind? Captain… My Captain…!!'
Something far more dangerous than anger was about to burst forth, but before Galina’s eyes could fully turn into hearts, the members of the Vendetta who had been summoned arrived and stood before Wolfgang.
And she was perfectly capable of distinguishing between public and private matters.
“Loyalty!”
“Loyalty.”
“Personnel report! Total of six present. Two absent. One on duty, one on dispatch. All preparations complete.”
“Good work.”
It seemed she hadn’t earned the title of adjutant for nothing. From the salute to the personnel report, there wasn’t a single flaw to be found.
Wolfgang smiled with satisfaction and spoke.
“The reason I called you all here is simple. It turns out I’ve been summoned to this hearing.”
“Captain.”
“What is it?”
Clear sea-blue eyes met Wolfgang’s single golden eye. The young man with black hair and an impressively tall stature was the very incarnation of beauty—like a sculpture painstakingly carved by an artist who had devoted his soul to the craft, now somehow brought to life.
The young man who looked as if he couldn’t even harm a fly spoke lightly.
“Should I just sweep the entire capital away with my breath?”
“No.”
The casual suggestion to incinerate every last person living in the capital was so nonchalant that even Wolfgang momentarily failed to register how bizarre it was. This clear-eyed madman.
He had always done utterly outrageous things without batting an eye. Like collapsing mountains. Or dropping meteors from the sky to reshape the terrain. It would be nice if his appearance matched even half— no, a quarter of that personality.
As Wolfgang wrestled with the sudden wave of exhaustion, the girl standing right beside her answered.
“Is that all you ever think about? Solving everything with brute force, Mister Black?”
“Natasha.”
Her waist-length hair was dyed gray, and dark circles pooled heavily beneath her similarly gray eyes.
Wolfgang nodded at Natasha’s words.
“That’s right. We’re not at war right now. Sweeping away the capital…”
“You have to kill them completely to resurrect them as corpses, right? We should turn them all into undead and put them to work! Or better yet, make Big Sis the Emperor?!”
“Absolutely not.”
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. What had appeared beyond the mountain was hell itself. At this point, sweeping everything away with Black’s breath almost seemed cleaner.
Wolfgang let out a deep sigh.
“Haven’t I told you this countless times? Soldiers must remain neutral. Do not harm innocent people because of personal feelings.”
“I’m sorry, Captain.”
“Tsk~ Honestly, it would be better if everyone except Big Sis just died.”
“Hey.”
“S-sorry! Big Sis!”
Had she truly saved the Empire alongside these people? They had no discipline, no loyalty to the Empire, and every single one of them seemed as far from being proper soldiers as possible. No, they were downright unfit.
Yet the reason she had chosen them was simple.
Because they were strong.
Each and every one of them possessed power that surpassed an entire army—enough to rival a nation on their own. They were literal one-man armies.
In other words, even with six additional monsters of that caliber besides Wolfgang, the Winter War had still taken a full ten years to reach its conclusion.
“Anyway, for that reason, I’ll be stepping away for a while. And no matter what decision the hearing reaches, I intend to follow it without complaint.”
The Vendetta Legion was currently stationed at the border facing the Kingdom. Normally, armies weren’t openly deployed to the border during peacetime, but the Kingdom was an exception. However, that was merely a pretext.
The real reason was to lay the groundwork.
No matter what decision the hearing made, she would never disobey.
Yes. Of course, it probably wouldn’t happen, but… if the order for ‘discharge’ came down, then even she would have no choice, right?
…Indeed, this level of groundwork-laying was truly masterful. She hadn’t even secured her discharge yet, but her mind was already soaring through happy fantasies of retirement.
That was why her reaction came too late.
“Vendetta First Rule. In any situation, nothing is more precious than the Captain’s life.”
“The capital is quite far, so we’ll need at least two escorts, right?”
“Perfect. Then ‘Oppa’ and I can take on the job of guarding Big Sis.”
Huh?
In the brief moment she had been distracted by her happy daydreams, they had already heated up among themselves. By the time she noticed and hurriedly tried to put out the fire—
“Let’s settle this simply and clearly.”
“Of course. Excluding the three absent members, right here and now—”
“The stronger one gets to guard Big Sis, right?”
“…Obviously.”
It was already far too late.
The Vendetta Legion. A unit Wolfgang had personally and meticulously selected of the most capable individuals in order to win the Winter War. A group of just seven that carried the weight of an entire legion’s name—a gathering of literal monsters.
They could not be called human. They were beings abandoned by the world, monsters who hated humans more than anyone else.
In truth, if not for Wolfgang’s presence, they were such a ragtag bunch that they could hardly be called an army. This was because not only did they hate humans, but they also didn’t get along with each other.
It was no joke. If Wolfgang hadn’t been there, they probably would have spent their entire lives killing one another.
Nevertheless, they somehow managed to fulfill their role as an army protecting humans. The reason was simple: Wolfgang kept them under control.
Yes. They were merely wearing masks. Because their Captain, Wolfgang, wished it, they thoroughly restrained themselves. They forced themselves to wear ill-fitting clothes and masks.
Yet astonishingly, there was not a single complaint. Because they were fanatics who even loved being controlled by her.
The Vendetta Legion had created rules among themselves. In order to become what their Captain desired.
But there was one absolute first rule that nothing could replace.
It was Wolfgang’s life.
Of course, the fact that Wolfgang was the strongest was something the Vendetta Legion acknowledged as well. But in this world, anything could happen. As long as even a 0.1% possibility existed, the Vendetta Legion would thoroughly eliminate even that tiny chance.
Because to them, Wolfgang was their home to return to. Their family. Something even more than that.
“In the end, it’s me and Black as escorts.”
“Well, it was the obvious outcome.”
“This is unfair!! If I could have used necromancy, I definitely wouldn’t have lost!!”
“…Captain… said… not to… use it… on human… corpses.”
“I know that, Oppa!! But it’s still so frustrating!! I wanted to play with Big Sis too!!!”
She could have stopped them with force. But that would have only made the training grounds even more of a mess. Even for her, suppressing these valuable assets would require exerting a considerable amount of strength.
It would be fifty steps or a hundred steps—practically the same thing. No, the belly button would end up bigger than the stomach.
Therefore, instead of forbidding it outright, she had no choice but to allow it while warning them to restrain themselves appropriately.
They had indeed held back, but the training grounds had still become a complete disaster from their brawling. Looking at the wreckage, Wolfgang eventually let out a laugh.
It was a hollow laugh born of pure disbelief.
'Ah, seriously…'
I wish everything would just disappear.