Chapter 30

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Translator: Wjin

Chapter: 30

Chapter Title: Proper Education (4)

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After Sergeant Rex was transferred to the military police, Lumia and I were summoned to the battalion commander's office.

We were the parties involved in this entire commotion, after all.

The first thing I heard as soon as I entered the battalion commander's office was—.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Enok. I should have looked into this more carefully."

It was a sincere apology from Battalion Commander Rockheart. It was somewhat unexpected. I thought he would at least scold me, but to think he would accept it this quickly.

I don't know if this is because the Lieutenant Colonel views me favorably, or if he truly considers this a serious problem.

However, the fact that he had summoned Sergeant Rex to the military police and ensured a proper disciplinary action remained unchanged. I politely expressed my gratitude to Rockheart.

"Not at all, Battalion Commander. I also didn't expect Sergeant Rex to act so recklessly. However... it is a fact that I used magic against an unarmed soldier, so I will humbly accept any disciplinary action."

"Disciplinary action? What are you talking about. This was a necessary course of action. And..."

Battalion Commander Rockheart's gaze shifted to Lumia. Standing beside me, she snapped to attention with perfect posture.

"You must have had a hard time, Sergeant Lumia. Please continue to do so from now on."

"I will keep that in mind."

'Please continue to do so.'

It wasn't something you'd say to a victim who had been routinely bullied.

Lumia showed no words or reaction. She simply bowed her head to Battalion Commander Rockheart.

"I'll make sure that bastard Rex never sets foot in this unit again. I don't even have to pressure them; the military police will handle it well on their own."

"I'm not worried."

"Right?"

As I replied, Rockheart stroked his mustache and spoke.

"If anything like this happens in the future, you must tell me through official channels. You both know what I mean, right?"

"Yes."

"Of course."

"Good, good."

So this was it in the end.

I clicked my tongue bitterly. In the end, he was thanking me for reporting it to him before the higher-ups took action directly.

Well then.

If all he could say was, 'You must have had a hard time,' then Rockheart didn't even know what kind of bullying Lumia was enduring.

That's because the personnel officer or the company commander, who should have reported this from the middle, weren't doing their jobs.

But what if I was still considered a useless platoon commander by Rockheart, or what if Lumia had broken the chain of command and reported this fact directly to Rockheart?

I wondered if the result would have been the same as it is now.

At least, he would have punished Rex, but would the result have been this clean and free of any lingering side effects?

I couldn't know.

And that fact must have been painfully clear to the victim, Lumia as well.

"Then Lumia, you are free to go."

"Do you mean only Sergeant Lumia?"

"Yes, there is someone who wants to meet you, Lieutenant."

As Rockheart said that, his eyes turned to the pantry connected to the office.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Enok Levandel."

A man with a striking appearance walked out from the inside and spoke. I hadn't even known anyone was in the pantry due to the angle.

Unlike the mage soldier uniform, which typically consists of a white base inner garment with a black coat thrown over it, his attire was mostly black with red fabric used throughout.

A silver medal was pinned to his right chest, and on his shoulder straps woven with gold thread was a single chrysanthemum emblem.

"I am Major Lanister Kale, the commander of the 1st Military Police Detachment of the Northern Branch of the National Military Police."

"Glory to the Fatherland! Second Lieutenant Enok Levandel, 5th Platoon Commander."

The sharp gaze and the oppressive aura emanating from his distinctly conspicuous military police uniform were quite formidable.

It is true that, due to the nature of the military police organization, which originally deals with other soldiers, they are supposed to look quite rough.

But Major Lanister was also burly in build, and among the people I had seen so far, he had the most fearsome face.

This was the first time I'd seen someone who looked even more menacing than Sergeant Claude.

He accepted my salute with decorum and gestured slightly towards Lumia.

"Sergeant, could you step out for a moment?"

"Ah...! Yes, understood."

As she hadn't expected a military police officer to appear suddenly, Lumia, who had been flustered for a moment, hurriedly left the battalion commander's office. Major Lanister sat next to Battalion Commander Rockheart and spoke.

"Lieutenant, please have a seat."

'What is this?'

I didn't know why the military police commander had singled me out all of a sudden, but it was clear that it wasn't just about the incident with Rex.

It was just an incident caused by a single soldier. If it were just for a witness reference, a high-ranking commander like a military police commander wouldn't have come personally, nor would he have necessarily sent Lumia out.

In this case, rather than simply seeking a witness for reference...

He clearly wanted to do something else with me.

"I heard you performed quite well in the recent Belgorod Fortress fall incident."

"I wouldn't say I performed well."

"The one who just went out... Sergeant Lumia Blue, was it? I heard you fought alongside her."

Now I was certain.

The reason Major Lanister came to the 3rd Battalion was not for follow-up measures regarding Sergeant Rex. He had clearly come to interrogate me about the Belgorod Fortress attack.

I answered the Major's questions frankly. I just left out Lumia's desertion case.

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"An excellent course of action. Thanks to you, our National Military Police also realized that it wasn't just an attack by simple bandits."

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"I think so too. Our Lieutenant Enok really made a big splash. Kahaha!"

Rockheart laughed heartily and chimed in, but Major Lanister just looked at me silently.

"Then let me ask you one thing. Lieutenant Enok, why do you think I am here?"

A sudden question.

However, I could answer it without difficulty. Because Major Lanister's intention was blatantly obvious.

"The National Military Police believes that information has been leaked from the nearby units."

The bottom line was one thing.

How did the force behind the bandits know that there was an artifact in the fortress?

'It's definitely a spy. There's someone inside leaking information.'

Soni Chepelin and I shared the same opinion. Because this fortress attack could not have happened otherwise.

The materials were left as they were, but only the artifact disappeared?

It's too suspicious to not be suspicious.

As I answered without hesitation, Major Lanister spoke with a faint smile.

"Haha... You are as sharp as I've heard."

"I've already had a conversation with Colonel Soni Chepelin once."

"Now I understand why that eccentric Archmage is aiming for you."

He took a sheet of paper from inside his coat and handed it to me.

"What is this?"

"A cooperation request. I've already received permission from Battalion Commander Rockheart as well."

I slowly read the contents written on the paper.

Not just me, but the entire 5th Platoon?

That wasn't all. The content written in the document was not just at the level of helping with testimony or the investigation process.

And for good reason.

"...You mean you're going to turn the entire city of Cherno upside down?"

"Yes, that's correct. To be precise, all military units adjacent to the city of Cherno are the target. Of course, the security forces operating within the city itself are included as well."

The scale was unimaginable.

Well, if a national-grade artifact was stolen as Soni Chepelin said, I can vaguely understand it, but...

To the point of turning the entire city upside down?

Even I was surprised by this.

In the main story of Hearts of General, espionage, sabotage by spies, and information leaks are one of the most frequently occurring events.

Whether in wartime or peacetime, those damn enemy spies, like a wild bear, would crush our information network and extract all sorts of secrets.

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So, around the time we started preparing for a full-scale war, it was an essential procedure to significantly increase the military police force or establish a separate dedicated intelligence agency to hunt down spies.

In that process, it was natural for a city or a unit to be turned upside down, but...

There were no cases like the operation plan in front of me right now, where all units in the region were being stirred up.

There was no reason to do so unless you were like the Sovye Empire, where revolutions or coups happen at any moment.

'Wait, no... now that I think about it, this is the Ukran Duchy.'

The Ukran Duchy.

A self-proclaimed weakest nation.

For them to operate the military police like this, they would have to be a country with complete military and security power.

But for the Ukran Duchy, which lacks manpower, resources, and time?

'It might be better to just burn down the whole house to catch a single flea.'

Precision quarantine is only possible if you have the corresponding control, resources, and technical capabilities from the start.

If you cause a fuss trying to do precision quarantine with capabilities you don't have, you won't even be able to catch the flea you're supposed to, and diseases will run rampant.

If a flea spreads the plague in the meantime?

A devastating tragedy would unfold, where not just the house, but the entire family dies.

'If the National Military Police is moving like this, the King must be viewing the situation very pessimistically as well.'

It was a moment when I finally understood why Soni Chepelin, a completely independent force, had the investigative authority for this incident.

Simply put, it means they can't trust the current military.

"It seems you've realized why the investigation is being conducted in this form as well."

I answered with silence instead of a reply. It felt like all the puzzle pieces were fitting together.

Why even the military police commander came to escort Sergeant Rex, who was, from a larger perspective, just a petty criminal.

And why he wanted to cooperate with the 3rd Battalion, and specifically my platoon.

This was a top-secret operation.

A secret operation known only to Lieutenant Colonel Rockheart, me, and Major Lanister.

"The full-scale investigation will begin next week. Additional military police are also being dispatched from the central command as we speak."

Major Lanister continued to speak.

"However, it is a fact that it would be difficult to proceed with the investigation using only the military police, which is why we requested cooperation from the 3rd Battalion."

"Our battalion has been cleared of suspicion."

Battalion Commander Rockheart shrugged his shoulders from the side. His expression had been good even though he had called the military police, and now I knew why.

"But why did you specifically pick your platoon, Major Lanister? When I thought about it, your platoon fought against suspicious individuals, so I judged you would be suitable for this joint operation."

"Thank you for seeing it that way."

"What, being so humble again. It's a fact, isn't it? Wahahaha-!!"

Just as expected of a man who was so temperamental. Rockheart burst into a loud laugh.

Anyway, it meant the military police side viewed his battalion favorably, so the corners of his mouth were practically hooked to his ears.

"Of course, it's partly due to your merit, but this is all the result of me living an honest life. Isn't that right, Major?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel. Of course."

Major Lanister skillfully brushed off Rockheart's nonsense and looked back at me.

"Unfortunately, you don't have the right to refuse, Lieutenant. We are that pressed for time. But since this is an official duty of the National Military Police, you can expect a reward."

Gulp, a dry spit went down my throat at those words.

This was an opportunity and a definite career.

A solid stepping stone needed to soar high after completing my service in the 3rd Battalion and being promoted to First Lieutenant.

Just like with Soni Chepelin last time, there was no way a mere rookie mage officer like me could be entrusted with such incidents.

Right now, there are many restrictions to fully unfold my 'All Stats MAX' ability.

The military is a place where, the more overwhelmingly outstanding you are, the more forces try to pull you down from your position.

As a mere Second Lieutenant, I had no choice but to be cautious.

However, if I could accumulate achievements this quickly, I would be able to rise to a position where I could spread my wings before anyone could pull me down.

I had to do that to be able to do something in the terrible war that would arrive five years later.

I stood up from my seat and shouted as I saluted Major Lanister energetically.

"I WILL DO MY BEST!"

"I will carry out this mission with all my might!"