Chapter 48
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Toward the Capital (2)
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The day to head for the capital had dawned. I finished showering early in the morning and was pressing my uniform when a loud commotion echoed from the lounge.
“Eek, kyahk!”
“Ah! No! Get it! Get it!”
Along with Lumia’s scream, Bell’s flustered voice could be heard shouting.
Though I didn't know exactly what they were doing, I could clearly feel that they were both bubbling with anticipation for the trip to the capital.
I had woken up quite early myself, but the two of them had woken up even earlier and were already preparing.
Putting on my stiffly pressed uniform, I stood before the full-length mirror and tidied my appearance.
As for things to bring, I only had the casual clothes I’d shopped for with Bell last time, and nothing else. After all, we weren't going on a trip; we were going to the capital to be commended for our service. There was no need to pack a mountain of luggage.
However, that was purely my own thought.
“……????”
“Haha... is this a bit much?”
“No, this is more than a bit.”
Next to Lumia were two bags tall enough to reach her thighs. No, even when going on an overseas trip, one wouldn't bring two bags of that size.
And as for Bell Mayer, she was an even bigger sight to behold.
“Aah—, ak.”
“Please, why are you bringing a parrot?”
She had relatively less luggage than Lumia, but the problem was the birdcage in her right hand. Without fail, it contained Bell Mayer's beloved parrot.
“Just in case...”
“You don't actually think Roxana and Claude would starve it, do you?”
“No, it's not that kind of problem...”
Bell Mayer seemed to have some kind of lingering unease, trailing off her words.
“This won't do. We can't carry all of this. Sergeant Lumia, go put one bag back and leave it. Sergeant Bell, leave the parrot.”
“Th-then, I'll just take out some of my luggage instead. I can buy clothes there anyway... But I have to bring the parrot.”
Why are they being like this today?
Something was strange.
Has Bell Mayer ever been this stubborn before? It felt even more out of place because she had followed my words well until now.
“Is there something inside the parrot?”
“That's... no. I'll tell you later. But I really have to bring this one.”
“Hmm. Lieutenant, I'm asking you for this too. I'll go reorganize my luggage as well. I think it's better to bring Sergeant Bell's parrot.”
Moreover, when Lumia Blue joined in to support her, it became an awkward situation for me to handle.
'Well, maybe it's something similar to Lumia's trauma.'
Bell Mayer was originally recorded in her official medical report as suffering from depression and dissociative amnesia.
She might look fine on the outside, but she is essentially someone who has been suffering from a mental illness.
Originally, mental illnesses often don't show on the outside unless they are extremely serious. Even as the platoon leader, I momentarily forgot about her peculiar condition.
It was partly because Bell Mayer hid it well, but that didn't change the fact that she was unwell.
'Among the subordinates I commanded before, there was one who showed an obsession with a specific object.'
That friend had autism...
Since I had consulted with them several times about depression, it didn't seem much different from the symptoms Bell Mayer was suffering from.
Thinking about it, it made sense that she was obsessing over the parrot to an excessive degree.
That friend had a tendency to be excessively obsessed with their dog tags, showing extreme anxiety symptoms if the dog tags were ever broken.
If it was really for that reason, bringing the parrot would actually help stabilize Sergeant Bell Mayer.
“……I'll allow you to bring it for now. But you must be careful so that no problems arise.”
“It's fine. I've trained it well.”
Now that I think about it, Bell's parrot has never been particularly loud or rowdy.
It was quiet and didn't show interest to anyone else, except for the occasional times Bell took it out for a walk.
And after all, it's just a parrot; what could possibly go wrong?
“Understood. Then the parrot is okay too.”
“Thank you, Enok Platoon Leader.”
“Then now, just Lumia needs to go. Just take out everything else and pack only the bare minimum of clothes and cosmetics. Understand?”
“Ah, yes... Understood.”
Thinking she could just slip by, Lumia slumped her shoulders when singled out. She dragged the two large bags back to her quarters and soon returned with a bag the size of a backpack.
“You could have just done this from the start... Why didn't you?”
“Hehe, I was a little too excited.”
Lumia gave an awkward laugh.
Anyway, with this, the preparations to depart for the capital were finished. Leading the platoon members, I headed to the division's main gate, which we had been notified of in advance, and there, military police carriages were already lined up and waiting.
“Glory to the Fatherland!”
I saluted Lieutenant Lanister, who was standing in front, and he greeted me back with a gentle smile.
“You're a little late?”
“Sorry, it was difficult organizing the luggage.”
“It's fine. We just arrived as well. Now, everyone, please board. We'll load your luggage into the carriage at the back.”
The moment the Lieutenant's words fell, the lined-up military police approached and quickly collected the luggage.
Thanks to my luggage being light, and Lumia having simplified hers as well, the military police lifted the luggage easily and loaded it onto the carriage.
Of course, they didn't get their hands on the problematic birdcage.
“May I ask what that is?”
“Ah, this is...”
Before Bell Mayer could say anything, I stepped in first.
“It's like our platoon's mascot. It's a parrot. Sergeant Bell was worried and wanted to bring it along.”
The military police, who was about to take the birdcage, turned his head to look at the Lieutenant. Lanister stroked his chin once and smiled softly.
“So, essentially, it's like a canary in a mine. Understood. If it's something like that, there shouldn't be a problem.”
It seemed he took the parrot as a symbol of good luck. After all, people often bring them along with that nuance.
At the appropriate response, Bell Mayer tugged lightly at my sleeve and nodded. It was a gesture of thanks.
“Don't worry too much and just act normally. It's not as if you'd cry your eyes out if you left it behind.”
“Ugh...! I wasn't that desperate to go, you know?!”
“Yes, yes, sure.”
“Enok Platoon Looead!”
It's a good day; we can't have the mood be off right from the start.
I lightly teased Bell to liven up the atmosphere, which had been down ever since the parrot issue.
Fortunately, the operation seemed to work, as Bell's expression relaxed considerably.
“Then, everyone, please board. The journey is longer than you might think.”
The luggage was all loaded.
Finally, as I boarded the black-painted military police carriage, the military police standing outside closed the door and sat on the driver's seat.
“We are departing now!”
Clatter, clatter.
The carriage shook, and finally, the 4-night, 5-day capital visit schedule began.
***
The capital, Kaev.
A name I long for.
Ever since the Mayer Barony, which managed a remote territory, was chosen by the previous Grand Duke, Orlando Ruth II, and moved to the center, it became Bell Mayer's home.
Sometimes, memories of her hometown, where she spent time with Debra Bennett, who had become estranged, would surface.
But the days Bell Mayer spent in the capital, Kaev, held the most weight in her memory.
A harmonious family, a father and family under the protection of the Grand Duke. As the second daughter of five siblings, her relationship with her older brothers and sister was not bad either.
There, Bell Mayer received the highest level of education and, utilizing her outstanding mana, was scouted for 'Ziva,' one of the capital's magic towers, at a young age.
The second daughter of a baron favored by Orlando Ruth II.
The youngest magic disciple of the Ziva Magic Tower.
It didn't take long for her life, which seemed as if it would only shine golden, to crumble in an instant.
Those with noble blood and talent possess high value as 'magical resources' just by their very existence.
Just as flowers with beautiful forms and sweet scents inevitably attract flies.
The year she turned 18.
Bell Mayer, who was on a regional tour with her father, Alexei Mayer, was kidnapped by the 'Strigoi,' a group that researches black magic and worships evil spirits.
This was because Bell Mayer possessed the magical talent to be scouted for the Ziva Magic Tower at such a young age, and because she was naturally gifted in 'Blood Arts.'
There, her mind was corrupted by horrific necromancy and demon-binding arts.
After she was barely rescued by mobilizing state power, the aftereffects continued to gnaw away at Bell Mayer's consciousness.
The reason she decided to enlist in the military was precisely because of this. During the 'purification' process, which was like torture at the time, Bell Mayer's mana core was severely damaged.
Furthermore, as the Duchy's power shifted from Orlando Ruth II to the Third, the Mayer family was naturally pushed out of the power struggle, and the family head, Alexei Mayer, along with the rest of the Mayer Barony, was dispatched as an administrator to a city slightly away from the capital.
With the Grand Duke's protection gone, there was no way to safely protect Bell Mayer.
Thus, the promising young lady of the Mayer Barony, the youngest mage who could have become of the Ziva School, became a trash-level member of the front-line magic battalion.
To Bell Mayer, who had such a past, the capital Kaev was the only place symbolizing the days when she was purely happy. A paradise where she could spread her dreams without a care in the world.
“……I've finally returned.”
After entrusting her body to the carriage for a long time, the view of a massive city over the horizon came into sight.
Bell Mayer gazed at it and murmured.