Chapter 41
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Untouched Squad Members (1)
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The unrest that erupted in Cherno City was brought to a swift conclusion.
Originally, the plan was to sweep through all the units connected to the city simultaneously, but with such blatant evidence having been discovered, there was no longer any reason to do so.
Major Lanister, having stripped all authority from Ramur, immediately liberated the imprisoned Merchant Guild Chairman, Shakov.
The moment the Chairman, who had been waiting for the Military Police, along with his chief secretary, Alfera, opened Pandora's box, the city was thrown into an uproar.
The ledgers Shakov had kept on file meticulously documented the corrupt activities of the merchants and the security forces (excluding his own faction).
The evidence was so vast and detailed that even Major Lanister was taken aback and disgusted by it.
- You're not just some merchant from the sticks. You're a big shot even in the capital.
- You flatter me.
With the momentum already having shifted, the Military Police ignored everything the opposition, who had been butting heads with Shakov, had to say.
Everyone knew that the evidence Shakov presented was all recorded in a biased manner.
However, the reality is that only the victors are remembered. At the point Ramur's faction had completely crumbled, their defeat was already a foregone conclusion.
Consequently, dozens of individuals from the security forces, the merchant guild, and the city's autonomous administration were all arrested at once.
The city's security forces were reorganized, focusing primarily on those who held a dislike for Ramur and had not committed any crimes. Most importantly, Anatoly, the city mayor of Cherno City who had known about the entire situation but turned a blind eye, was swiftly ousted.
Even as officials were being hauled away in droves, the fate of the Gavial crime syndicate went without saying.
Lauro and his gang, including the boss, were executed on the spot in the central square, and their bodies were reportedly hung in the square for three days as a warning to others.
Ramur would soon be charged with treason and executed, so the brothers would soon be reunited in hell.
Good riddance.
The swift and bold punishment was highly commendable, but with even the bureaucrats being completely wiped out, the administrative affairs of Cherno City were left in a state of near-collapse.
The Military Police, including Major Lanister, had no choice but to request support from nearby units to prevent the inevitable security vacuum and administrative paralysis as much as possible.
Naturally, by the special command of Colonel Rockheart, our 3rd Magic Battalion also dispatched personnel from logistics and personnel departments to carry out those duties.
And the additional mission assigned to us, the 5th Platoon, who could be considered to have performed excellently in this incident, was...
"Platoon Leader, could you please move this?"
"Yes, understood."
...reorganizing the barracks.
"Hmm, at this point, I think we've moved just about all the furniture, right?"
The lounge, which had been sparsely furnished and incredibly empty for its size, now had a rather neat and comfortable atmosphere.
A wool sofa, a high-end rocking chair, and even an antique fireplace had been newly installed.
The cage for the parrot that Bell Mayer used to raise was also brought into one corner of the lounge.
'...It was a bit out of the blue, though. A parrot.'
The lounge was all tidied up, and she said she wanted to keep it in a larger space, so I just approved it.
Having one pet is fine, right?
It somehow looked cozy.
And the most important thing of all was that all this furniture was provided 'for free'.
It was thanks to Merchant Guild Chairman, Shakov putting in a special word.
Even if it hadn't been for me, he had plenty of countermeasures in mind, but anyway, the fact that he could be released as soon as he was detained was entirely thanks to me.
As Lumia, who had roughly finished arranging all the furniture, proudly puffed out her chest, Sergeant Bell started to whine.
"Lumiaaaaa~!! Let's call it a day now~~~!"
"Ahem! Sergeant Bell, you mustn't do that."
"Aah... I don't know... I'm tired...."
Even after being firmly rejected, Bell jumped onto the sofa, lay down flat, and started protesting.
"Tsk, if there's nothing left to do, I'm going inside to rest."
Sergeant Claude looked at her with disdain, then slipped away into his room.
With the mood fizzling out in an instant, Lumia had no choice but to give up as well.
"Sigh, fine. Then shall we finish the work for today? We've already brought all the furniture we received inside."
"That's not a bad idea. There's no need to finish it all today."
Unfortunately, my stamina was also starting to run low.
Even though I wasn't actually exerting myself and was just using simple wind magic to move things.
Perhaps I had expended a significant amount of mana with the water cannon last time, as ever since that day, whenever I used even a little magic, I would experience mild symptoms of anemia.
"Ah... that's right! I'm sorry! I should have thought about the Platoon Leader's health too!"
Only now did she seem to notice that my complexion wasn't too good, and Lumia flinched in surprise.
Bell, who had been about to play a cheeky trick, also quietly got up from her spot and approached.
"Platoon Leader, are you feeling dizzy again? Should I cast a healing spell on you?"
"No, I'm fine. I can still hold on for now. I can't rely on you two forever."
"You haven't recovered from your cold symptoms yet, have you?"
"That may be true, but..."
I had said it as a joke that I might catch a cold, but strangely, the day after I apprehended Ramur, I came down with a cold like a ghost.
The medic said it was because I overexerted myself again when I hadn't even fully recovered.
It seems the 'Slow Recovery' debuff, one of the traits I had taken, was uselessly effective.
'Damn it.'
Still, I can't rely on the two of them forever.
Even while I was sick, I was slowly continuing my training, so from today on, I'd have to endure it with sheer grit.
"Then I'll go to the infirmary for a moment to get some medicine."
"Should I go with you?"
"No, it's fine. You should get some proper rest too, Lumia."
Anyway, I was planning to have a smoke anyway, so there was no need to bring Lumia along.
I left the two of them behind, still looking at me with worried eyes, and trudged out of the barracks.
"*Cough!* *Cough, cough!*"
I spat out the cigarette I had in my mouth. I had only taken one puff when a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over me.
My body swayed, and my head felt dizzy again.
'Ah... this isn't good.'
I quickly stomped out the butt with my foot and headed straight for the main building where the infirmary was located.
Was it that the production rate couldn't keep up with the consumption because I had pulled out too much mana from my mana core all at once?
Normally, in such cases, it could be easily solved by receiving mana from a third party.
The problem was that the density of my mana core was 10 times that of a normal magic officer.
The medic added that even if I brought a 1st-class magic officer like Lumia or Bell, they would have to supply mana until they were almost exhausted for it to make any difference.
They said I should just rest quietly for a few days, but... this happened just from moving a few pieces of furniture.
'This is driving me crazy. Slow Recovery, this is holding me back way too much.'
In Hearts of General, some debuff traits can be changed or removed through acquired experience and effort.
For example, Frailty.
These were debuffs that could be overcome sufficiently through constant training.
On the contrary, there are debuffs that can never be removed no matter what you do.
A prime example was this 'Slow Recovery' that I kept talking about.
It was an absolutely insurmountable debuff, but it simply meant that injuries took a little longer to heal, illnesses took a little longer to cure, and it took a bit more time to recover lost mana.
In fact, it wasn't a debuff that would determine the outcome of a war. It was a trait that wasn't a big problem for securing a position and getting promoted in the early stages.
So it was one of the debuff traits I often used, but actually experiencing it was quite irritating.
Especially for a magic officer, having slow mana recovery was fatal. At this rate, I wondered if I could even fight properly on the battlefield five years from now.
"Damn it..."
Whoosh.
In my wavering vision, the foot I was placing on the step slipped, and I barely managed to hold on by grabbing the railing to keep from falling.
If I had known I would have a sudden fit like this, when I was fine just a moment ago, I should have brought Lumia with me.
I regretted my foolish choice as I struggled to climb the stairs.
"Hoo."
I took a breath again.
The most basic symptom of mana deficiency is shock due to respiratory distress, so it's important to stay conscious and control my breathing.
Still, it's been almost a month since I possessed this body that's foolish in some ways but not entirely foolish.
I've picked up a certain level of know-how.
"Phew, phew."
Each step I took made me dizzy. Was the second floor really this high?
This was a completely different kind of unpleasantness from when I fainted from stress in front of Colonel Rockheart.
The sensation of my body hitting its limit felt vivid, and at the same time, an immense sense of self-loathing washed over me.
I'm supposed to be moderately trash, but is it for real that my body is at the level of radioactive waste?
It was just as I was struggling to climb the second-floor stairs and staggering towards the infirmary.
Thump.
"Ah!"
I couldn't see properly in front and crashed head-on into someone approaching from the opposite direction. The slight impact was enough to break the consciousness I had barely been holding on to.
I fell straight backward, hitting my head on the floor with a thud.
Luckily, the floor was carpeted, so my back of my head only throbbed and wasn't seriously injured, but...
Shit, I couldn't move my body.
"Huh?! W-wait! Are you okay?!"
"M-medic. Infirmary."
As I barely managed to move my lips and speak, a woman with pink hair stuck her face right in front of mine.
"Yes?! Please say that again, clearly!"
"...Infirmary."
"Ah-! Infirmary!! Wait a moment! But these symptoms are exactly what happens when you're short on mana..."
She shook her head vigorously and looked around, then straddled my body.
"What are you doing right n—"
"Just wait a moment!"
Her small hand was placed over my heart, and a tremendous concentration of mana flowed into my mana core in an instant.
I could feel it instinctively.
What is this...?
The mana was incredibly fresh, as if it had just been generated in her mana core. Its concentration was thicker and more abundant than any mana I had ever felt before.
My blurry vision quickly recovered, my breathing calmed down, and my head naturally cleared.
The muscles I had lost control of for a moment also returned to their original state.
Mana supply.
She had injected her own mana into my mana core, as if giving a blood transfusion.
I quickly checked her condition.
They had said that even 1st-class magic officers like Lumia and Bell would be exhausted, yet she supplied enough mana in just a few seconds to get my mana core back to a functioning level.
With this much, it should have put a strain on her own mana core as well.
However, the problem magic officer just sighed in relief, saying it was fortunate, and didn't seem bothered at all.
Moreover... this person felt familiar, like I had seen her somewhere before.
I couldn't check her rank since she was in civilian clothes, but she had a light pink hair, emerald eyes, and a very thin body.
Could it be?
As I got up, she smiled and offered me her hand.
"I'm Corporal Roxana Elim. I haven't seen you in the unit before! Are you newly assigned?"
Just as I thought.
She was my last squad member, who had always been in her room.