Chapter 38
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Annihilation (2)
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Truth be told, the situation was practically checkmate for Guard Captain Ramur.
A magic officer dispatched to the city on direct orders from the Provost Marshal fails to return?
The moment he goes missing, a report would immediately reach the battalion commander. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the battalion commander would then contact Major Lanister of the military police.
However, if he could somehow succeed in winning me over, no matter the method, the entire incident would be swept under the rug.
That was why he was practically foaming at the mouth trying to capture me.
"What are you doing! You bastards!!"
One of the guards, who seemed to be an officer, shouted loudly.
"I said arrest him right now!!"
"B-but, sir…."
People need a justification for their actions. The guards were only following orders; they couldn't possibly know the internal situation.
And now, they were suddenly ordered to arrest an officer right in front of them. And that officer was actively resisting, even using magic.
From the guards' perspective, this was no different from being ordered to arrest an officer who hadn't committed any crime.
They must be quite confused.
So, what if I just scared them a bit more?
I swung my hand lightly and threw a ball of fire in front of the guards.
-Massive Explosion-
[Psychological Damage]
BOOM!!
Along with a powerful explosion, pitch-black dust rose into the air. The guards who had been cautiously inching forward recoiled in terror.
"These bastards are just pointlessly cowardly…!!"
Seeing his men completely cowed in an instant, the guard officer drew the gun from his hip.
"If you don't surrender peacefully, I'll shoot!"
"Go ahead and try."
I wasn't intimidated by the bandits who came at me with the intent to kill, nor by the spies of the Sovye Empire.
A handgun waved around by a guard officer in a provincial city wasn't even remotely scary.
In the first place, he couldn't even fire it.
Just as I couldn't recklessly sweep the guards away with magic, they couldn't actually fire real bullets either.
Shooting a respectable officer in a situation where no specific charges have even been established?
Even if it was just a threat, it was grounds for a court-martial. If they actually took aim and fired, everyone involved could be hanged.
It would be a blatant case of fragging, plain and simple.
And besides, they were making a scene right in the middle of the city. There were plenty of witnesses, making a cover-up difficult.
No matter how you look at it, I held the initiative.
'Or should I just show them my Gendarmerie badge?'
I could resolve this entire situation in one go, but the problem was Guard Captain Ramur.
Guys like him were like cockroaches; if you miss the chance to stomp them once, they're hard to exterminate.
If I revealed that I was from the military police, that news would 100% reach Ramur's ears.
And at the same time, the probability of him fleeing would be extremely high.
Even in the modern era, where mobile phones and various communication devices are commercialized, it's hard to punish regional collusion crimes.
What could you expect in a time like this, with no proper means of communication?
Right now, while Ramur still thinks he 'has a chance,' was the perfect opportunity to annihilate him for good.
Fire Ball
[Mana Intensified / Threat Display]
Whoosh!
As I deployed another Fire Ball, the guard who was threatening me with his pistol gulped hard.
It seemed he didn't want to get hit by that blazing ball of fire either.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!!"
Then, a voice brimming with rage echoed through the street. The guard officer controlling the scene jumped in surprise.
"C-captain! I'm sorry, sir! This man refused to be arrested until the very end…!!"
"And that's your excuse?!"
WHACK-! The officer, struck right in his steel helmet, fell to the ground.
A man clad in gleaming armor, boasting a massive build.
Guard Captain Ramur.
He let out a long, heavy sigh, then met my gaze head-on and spoke.
"You're Enok Levandel, the second lieutenant, right?"
When I didn't answer, Ramur forced a smile and started trying to sweet-talk me.
"Let's not do this. Why don't we go inside and talk? There's no benefit for either of us in a standoff like this."
"The side that issued the threat first was the Guard, wasn't it? I already went to the barracks with you before. I have no reason to go back."
At my firm refusal to budge, Ramur's expression twisted.
"What, I thought you were a reasonable man. Why are you acting like this? If you keep this up, my Guard will have no choice but to use force!"
"Go ahead and try. I'll respond with all my power."
Having decided that persuasion wouldn't work, Ramur resorted to intimidation and pulling rank.
"Even if you are an external magic officer, you've crossed the line. I am the Guard Captain! My rank as a Major is higher than yours!"
……And what about it?
While the military is a strict hierarchy, the City Guard is conceptually different from the regular army.
The Major rank attached to Ramur was merely a ceremonial formality.
Even with the rank of Major, he had absolutely no authority to command the regular army. In fact, within the game system, the Guard is treated as a subordinate organization of the army.
The situation now was no different from a militia battalion commander telling a serving army second lieutenant to show him proper respect based on rank.
He sure knows how to wrap his bullshit in fancy packaging.
"The City Guard only borrows the army's rank system. We don't officially belong to the army, do we?"
As if I'd hit a sore spot, Ramur couldn't answer and just trembled with rage.
I don't care. Screw it. If you're so annoyed, come at me and try to arrest me by force.
"What the hell are you all huddled up for?"
As the standoff continued, another man who looked terrifyingly similar to Ramur appeared.
It was to the point where you could say he was a carbon copy.
However, unlike Ramur, who at least had an air of a guard captain, this man had the vibe of a thug or a hoodlum.
Thick arms adorned with an alligator tattoo.
From the looks of it, he was a member of the criminal organization called Gavial or something that Rex and Bell had mentioned, and he seemed to be the younger brother of Ramur, whom I'd heard about at the barracks.
"Aah~ The guards are all useless idiots, so you must be having a hard time."
He grinned and threw his arm over Ramur's shoulder. Ramur, with a thoroughly disgusted expression, shoved the man's hand away.
"Don't piss me off, you bastard… We're staying out of this from now on. Handle it your own way."
"Hah, you're really scary, big bro."
As the man snickered, a couple of bulky guys who looked like delinquents emerged from among the guards.
"Don't get in the way and get lost!"
"Useless bastards with nothing to do…."
Even though they were supposed to be respectable law enforcement, the guards just stood there, letting themselves be humiliated.
Maybe our platoon wasn’t the only useless one?
In a situation where the supposed pillars of the people, who should be protecting citizens, were being treated this way, it was a miracle the city's security was even superficially maintained.
"Hey, is this the guy?"
Ramur's younger brother scanned my face, then asked one of his subordinates, whose arm was wrapped in a bandage.
Ah, that bastard.
The one I'd broken the arm of.
"Ah…! Y-yes! He looks exactly the same, except for the hair color!"
The thug nodded vigorously with a look of certainty in his eyes.
"So you dyed your hair because you were scared? Kahaha!"
The delinquents burst out laughing in unison.
Truthfully, it wasn't because I was scared, but because I didn't want to give them any reason to pick on me… but it was still annoying.
"If you're scared, then there's nothing you can do. Right? You were so tough when you were beating up our boys last time, but now you're shaking because there are more of us?"
I didn't bother answering.
"Don't worry, Mr. Officer. My big bro asked me to be as 'gentle' as possible. It won't hurt too much."
Crack, crack.
The Gavial members approached menacingly, cracking their knuckles.
I guess I have no choice but to do this.
"Sigh."
I let out a single sigh and changed the color of the mana emanating from my core.
From red to blue. From fire to water.
For minimizing lethality, water is the best.
The image that came to mind was a water cannon. I condensed the rapidly gathering moisture to the extreme, then unleashed a torrent of mana at the head of the thug leading the charge.
Water Burst
[High-Pressure Water Cannon]
GUAAAAAAH-!!
The thug who was hit by the jet of water, powerful enough to shatter a wooden building, was sent flying backward.
"GAAAAHK!!"
He tumbled across the ground and crashed right in front of Ramur's younger brother's feet.
"……W-what the hell!?"
"Fuck, he's really shooting magic? Everyone, rush him at once!!"
"Guhk!!"
GUAHHH!!
It was just a single swing of the surging water, but there was nothing they could do against the torrent compressed to its limit.
Ah… This is what they call a 'water cannon.'
A tool hailed as the quintessential symbol of suppression in modern civilization.
A peacemaker on the violent, armed protest scenes where various steel pipes and Molotov cocktails fly around.
Go on, try to withstand its weight, you greenhorns.
Lauro was dumbfounded.
It made no difference whether they were huge or wore thick clothes; their physical differences were completely useless.
As soon as they were even grazed by the waterfall-like torrent of water, they were sent flying like sheets of paper.
The sight of twenty of his subordinates rolling on the ground and groaning in just a few minutes was beyond comprehension, even considering his opponent was a magic officer.
"What the hell? Fuck!"
Lauro had more than a few times 'disciplined' magic officers and non-commissioned officers.
The lot of them were born arrogant, always looking down on others.
Annoying bastards who always thought they were above everyone else.
That's why Lauro, whenever he ran into magic officers causing trouble in bars or causing a ruckus in entertainment districts, would beat them senseless, even if it meant getting burned all over his body.
Magic was just about throwing a few fireballs or sending sharp winds.
As long as he charged in without fear and punched them in the face, even sergeants, lieutenants, captains, or whoever would know their place.
They were so ashamed at the mere fact that they, magic officers, were beaten by a civilian that they wouldn't even report it when they returned to their unit.
After all, both sides would be in trouble if it came out that a civilian had been attacked with magic.
But the magic this magic officer was conjuring was on a completely different level from any he had ever seen.
It wasn't just a few fireballs or water streams trickling out.
This was the first time he'd seen a person sent flying into the air by a water stream. And what was even more terrifying was that the guy didn't seem to have any reservations about firing such powerful magic.
"U-ugh… C-captain. My ribs are broken…."
"Y-you fuckin' useless bastards!"
Lauro trembled and kicked his writhing subordinate hard.
It was a pathetic sight, but honestly, Lauro himself couldn't guarantee victory against an opponent who could spam such magic so recklessly.
Then he had no choice but to resort to his own methods.
"Bro! Hurry, the gun! Give me the gun!!"
Lauro turned around frantically, intent on blowing the guy's head off right then and there.
"……???"
The guards were already running away in the distance. His older brother, Ramur, was no different.
"Sh… it…!!"
He was surrounded by idiots just like his brother, the Guard, and now they were running away just because they were being pushed back?
"Fuuuuck!! I'm Lauro of Gavial!!"
Even so, Lauro charged in, refusing to give up until the very end.
"It's over."
He took a water cannon straight to the center of his face and collapsed, burying his head in the ground.