Chapter 26
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Stand Up Straight
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Rex could easily recall the face of Enok Levandel. He was a handsome guy, but at the same time, there was something deeply off-putting about him.
Even back when he first asked to borrow a cigarette, Rex had been swept up by his flow for a moment.
Normally, Rex wasn't the type to get swept up by someone else's rhythm.
But there was just something about that new platoon leader—an intangible aura that made him feel untouchable.
'Tch, whatever. At the end of the day, he's just a weakling. Fainting from a little stress? And he even got injured during this last mission?'
Sergeant Rex wasn't a combat soldier. Most of the soldiers belonging to the Magic Battalion were support personnel handling administrative or supply duties, or troops assigned to guard the unit.
Combat deployment was a rare occurrence.
Rex was no different. Unless a major incident occurred that required moving the entire headquarters, he was always on standby at the unit.
That's why Rex didn't know exactly what kind of feats Enok Levandel had pulled off this time.
He'd only heard from an officer working in the same department that Enok wasn't as useless as he'd thought.
So, he just brushed it off as nothing special.
'And what's going to change just because he did a good job? You think the company commander or battalion commander will so much as bat an eye?'
It was just an expedition to hunt down some bandits. How much glory could he possibly have earned?
Even the officer who was rumored to have performed quite well in the capital hadn't managed to tame Sergeant Rex.
In fact, that officer had ended up requesting Rex's cooperation first.
With him being a newly commissioned officer who kept causing trouble left and right, there was no way Rex was going to be intimidated by a mere second lieutenant.
'But damn, he really is pitiful. Of all people, he had to run into Gavial.'
Rex shook his head from side to side as he thought that.
'- He messed with our boys without any fear. He seems like an officer who doesn't know a thing about the world, so we need to teach him a lesson.'
From what he'd heard, it seemed like the rookie had picked a fight with the lower-ranking guys and threatened them with magic or something.
It was obvious without even having to see it.
"Tsk... Still, if I sweet-talk him carefully, he might be useful when I'm working my magic."
The 5th Platoon.
A platoon that was mocked as the 'useless squad' for the entire battalion, but if you just looked at their faces, they were more on the level of the Rose Knights than anything else.
Not to mention Lumia, but also Bell Mayer and Roxana Elim.
To Rex, whose greatest virtue was conquest, they were all trophies he wanted to seize.
Even Roxana Elim!
But originally, if your greed is too great, you get a stomachache. Taking it slow and savoring it as if seeping in was Rex's method of catching women.
"First, I'll threaten her carefully by using the platoon leader as bait, and then Lumia will have no choice but to fall for me completely..."
"What did you just say, Sergeant?"
The hand trying to light a cigarette froze in place. A sharp, piercing voice. When Rex turned around, a woman with wide purple eyes was standing there.
Lumia Blue.
'Ha, damn. The timing is just awful.'
Sergeant Rex let out a deep sigh and gave her a sleazy smile.
"Long time no see, Sergeant Lumia. I heard you were injured. Is your body okay?"
"I asked what you said."
"Ahh~."
He playfully stuck out his tongue.
"I was just saying that Officer Enok recently made a pretty fatal mistake."
Lumia should know about the unwritten rules of Cherno City.
"He might never be able to enter Cherno City at this rate. You know how obsessive that boss is."
"Tch..."
It hit home. There was no way she wouldn't know.
It was just yesterday, and judging by the look of it, Bell Mayer had been there too, so there was no way she hadn't told her fellow platoon member.
The corner of Rex's mouth curled up slightly.
"But you never know? If you put in a good word for me, Sergeant Lumia, maybe I could do something about it..."
A blatant appeal.
He had already crossed the line with Lumia long ago. Since there was no turning back anyway, he had to swallow her whole for sure once she got swept up in his rhythm.
"As I said before, it might block your platoon leader's path. You wouldn't want that, right? Well... since you haven't known him for long, you could just ignore him and do whatever you want."
Despite her cold face that looked like she'd reject anything, she was an excessively friendly woman.
Rex was stimulating that point little by little.
"Don't talk to me like that."
"It's not me doing it, I'm telling you? I'm just telling you this out of 'loyalty' for you, Sergeant Lumia?"
His shameless and utterly disgusting attitude made Lumia's stomach boil with rage.
She wanted to slap him right now, and if possible, use magic to make sure he could never open his mouth again.
However, when she thought about her platoon leader, doing nothing would surely be even worse.
The reason Rex received a fair amount of treatment in the battalion despite being a 'soldier' wasn't just because he was quick and efficient at his job and handled many roles.
It was because he was a member of Gavial, the criminal organization that controlled the backstreets of Cherno City.
Lumia knew.
The reason why company commanders and platoon leaders from other units gathered in groups to go to the city every weekend.
And what was happening in the backstreets of the city veiled in night.
It was a clear violation of military law, but in a highly closed-off military organization, not many people would bother to pick at it.
To be honest, how could she know if Battalion Commander Rockheart was involved?
Could she and the platoon leader overturn that?
It was out of the question.
"Sergeant Lumia, just close your eyes for me once, that's all I'm asking? It's not like you have any experience anyway."
"Sergeant!! Show some proper respect!!"
"Let's not be so high and mighty with each other. I don't want to make the idiotic platoon leader's life any worse."
Grind.
Lumia clenched her teeth. She tried to endure it, but she couldn't.
"Y-You son of a bitch!!"
She swung her arm, spewing out curses she wouldn't normally use. Slap! The cigarette flew out of Rex's mouth as he took the slap straight to the face.
Lumia raised her arm again. But this time, the sergeant grabbed her wrist tightly.
"Ha, I treated you nicely, and you're getting cockier? You're really going to resort to physical violence just because your rank is a little higher?"
Just then.
A soldier who happened to be carrying cigarettes approached Rex and spoke to him warmly.
"Ah, Sergeant Rex, are you smoking right n—"
"Hey, don't let anyone come near this area from now on."
It didn't take him long to grasp the situation.
The junior soldier froze up stiff and nodded his head without a word.
"Come with me for a bit, Sergeant. If you don't want to be humiliated in front of the kids."
The moment Rex took Lumia and disappeared.
"Move."
A blonde-haired officer roughly pushed aside the dazed soldier.
***
Lumia couldn't resist.
She didn't have a single acquaintance in the unit. There was no one she could ask for help, and besides, she didn't trust anyone other than her fellow platoon members anyway.
Even suffering this kind of humiliating words and actions wasn't a one-or-two-time occurrence.
Telling the company commander would only work for that moment.
Captain Arendt had clearly drawn a line, but he hadn't taken any practical measures.
It was probably because the personnel officer, who decides on disciplinary action, had a close relationship with Rex.
And the personnel officer was senior to Captain Arendt.
In a military organization that values seniority over age, Captain Arendt didn't have many ways to protest to the personnel officer.
Click, fssssss.
A spark flared up on the cigarette in Rex's mouth. Then, he blew a thick cloud of smoke straight into Lumia's face.
"Are you really trying to get screwed over?"
"Shut your mouth. I could kill you right now."
"Ha, so you're finally showing your true colors? Go ahead and try to kill me. If you kill me once, it'll be easy to kill me a second time, right? Or am I wrong?"
Rex's words dug deep into Lumia's mind.
A memory she shouldn't remember. A fact she had forced herself to deny and avoid floated to the surface once again.
"Th... That's..."
"What are you trying to deny? It's a fact everyone knows. The only one who doesn't know is your new platoon leader. Who in this battalion doesn't know about that?"
Rex's voice coiled around the back of Lumia's neck like a venomous snake.
"If I tell that great platoon leader of yours that you're a murderer bitch, I wonder what kind of expression he'll make? You killed a comrade with magic. That's not something you can just overlook, is it?"
"Ah, no... Th... That can't."
Her breath started to get shorter.
As Lumia staggered back, Rex grabbed her arm again and said.
"Where do you think you're going? Let's have a proper talk. Seriously. Like adults."
Heh.
Rex made an expression filled with ecstasy. How long had he waited for this day?
From the moment he first saw Lumia, he had decided he would make her his own no matter what.
So he got close to her step by step.
As she gradually opened her heart, he would make her obsessed with him, constantly cloud her judgment, and eventually make her obey his orders.
The fact that she was a sergeant and a mage wasn't that important.
He was a man who had toyed with a nobleman's daughter similarly and then threw her away like a used rag. Wasn't it a bit funny to be intimidated by a few rank differences now?
"Come out for a bit tonight. Then I'll put in a good word for you with Gavial."
"Who is supposed to come out where?"
However, the voice that reached him was not Lumia's.
"...Platoon Leader?"
"Ha."
The infamous 5th Platoon leader was standing before his eyes. Without even glancing at Rex, he spoke to Lumia.
"Sergeant, did you get the medicine?"
"Uh...? Ah, not yet."
"Then hurry up and get it. You kept me waiting, so what have you been doing?"
Lumia's pupils wavered with anxiety.
Enok lightly patted her shoulder and gave another command.
"Nothing will happen, so don't worry and just go get the medicine. My head has been hurting since earlier, I feel like I'm going to faint."
"Understood."
Now, all she could do was trust her platoon leader.
As Lumia forced herself to leave the scene, a heavy silence hung in the air.
"Don't misunderstand, Officer Enok. I didn't say anything special. I was just... relaying what I heard from a close friend yesterday."
It was Rex who spoke first.
He was a newly commissioned second lieutenant who had only been in the unit for about a month. He would show the minimum level of courtesy, but there was no reason to treat him specially.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, well. Since you were involved in the matter, it was a sensitive topic."
The sergeant subtly shifted his gaze to check Enok's state.
A cold, rigid face.
His expression, which was impossible to read, was no different from usual, but the atmosphere seemed to have changed slightly.
'Does he think he can say something just because he's an officer?'
"Sergeant Rex."
"Yes, Platoon Leader."
"Lend me a cigarette."
The answer he received was very perplexing.
At the same time, a premonition flashed through Rex's mind.
Collusion.
'What the, I thought he had zero situational awareness, but he's surprisingly quick to grasp the situation?'
Well, with what he'd said, anyone who wasn't an idiot would understand what he meant.
Maybe he was going to apologize and say he's sorry.
Or maybe he was going to offer to keep quiet about the Lumia incident.
Thinking about it, wasn't he going to leave the unit anyway?
With the bandit suppression mission, he'd shed the useless image a bit. It wouldn't be a bad judgment to start aligning himself with the real power players.
"Here you go."
Rex changed his slightly cocky attitude and politely handed a cigarette to Enok.
Pop! He even pulled out a high-end lighter from his pocket and lit it for him.
Sssu... Hooo.
Enok took a deep drag of the smoke and cautiously started to speak.
"Sergeant."
"Yes, Platoon Leader."
"Don't scream in pain. You wouldn't want to lose that pride of yours, would you?"
Before he could even process what that meant.
The glowing red cigarette butt was pressed against Rex's forehead.